Page 18 of So Savage (Faith Bold #21)

Faith had learned not to judge books by their cover, but when she saw Dr. Nathan Hayes, the cover made her wonder very seriously if she was reading the wrong book. Dr. Hayes was short, slightly built and wore thick glasses through which he still squinted. He did not at all look like someone who could have overcome a high-level amateur boxer like Delgado or successfully fired a tranquilizer dart from fifty-plus yards in the dark multiple times against moving targets.

But he had a motive, and he had a connection, and Faith couldn't afford to dismiss any lead right now. "Dr. Hayes, is there somewhere private we can talk?"

Dr. Hayes blinked. “Sure. We can talk in my office. Follow me.”

He led Faith and Turk through a long hallway. On either side were laboratories of varying degrees of security and sophistication. Some contained only a few people in lab coats using gloves to look at slides under microscopes. Others were full self-contained units with airlocks and people in what looked like spacesuits handling substances in airtight boxes.

“You guys do a lot of research here,” Faith remarked.

“Oh yes. Every new product we launch has to be tested rigorously. Otherwise, we can’t expect approval. Also, we’d risk killing the animals, and we definitely don’t want to do that.”

“I thought you guys only had one product of your own. You don’t make most of your money producing for other companies?”

“At the moment yes, but we hope that will change,” Dr. Hayes replied. “We’ve been working on answering some very specific questions that the world of veterinary medicine has either been seeking unsuccessfully to answer before now or has made do without for far too long.”

“Such as how to immediately tranquilize an animal instead of having to wait several minutes?”

Hayes looked over his shoulder at her. "Yes. A tranquilized animal is very dangerous before it falls unconscious, not just to humans but to itself. As the drug takes hold, it can affect the animal's judgment, coordination and awareness. Needless to say, in the hostile environments of nature, that can be problematic. We hope to address that."

They reached his office, a small but clean and well-organized space that reminded Faith of what Marcus's office might look like if it was in a hospital instead of a police station. Dr. Hayes sat behind his desk and smiled at Faith. "Now, how exactly can I help you, Special Agent?"

Faith glanced at Turk. Like her, Turk seemed a little confused. Not what you were expecting either, eh boy?

“I’ll be blunt, Dr. Hayes. I’m investigating the murders of Master Sergeant Thomas Reeves and Staff Sergeant Kevin Walsh and the kidnapping of Technical Sergeant Maria Delgado.”

Hayes blinked. “Oh God. That’s horrible. I’ll help in any way I can.”

“You can start by telling me where you were last night.”

His brow furrowed. “Where I was? Am I a suspect?”

“You have access to powerful experimental tranquilizers. You worked with the victims’ dogs, and you have motive.”

“Well, hold on, Special Agent. Yes, I have access to tranquilizers, but I worked with thousands of dogs in the Army, and what possible motive could I have for wanting to murder service members?”

“They were all K9 handlers.”

Dr. Hayes shook his head slightly. “Why would that be a motive for me? Do you think I dislike K9 handlers?”

He seemed genuinely confused and a little upset. He didn’t seem guilty or afraid at all. Faith feared that she was barking up the wrong tree again.

What an unfortunate analogy.

“You were forced out of the Army, right?”

Dr. Hayes stiffened slightly. “I suppose you could say that. I was informed that I wouldn’t be considered for promotion to Brigadier General and asked to retire.”

“And that stemmed from your failed attempt to reform the military’s protocols when it comes to handling K9s.”

He stiffened a little more. “Yes. The Army feared that I was too diametrically opposed to its vision and would serve as a poor example to younger veterinarians.”

“How did that make you feel?”

Dr. Hayes sighed. “I wasn’t happy, but that doesn’t mean I’m a murderer.”

“But you have access to a very specific synthetic hormone. That hormone was present at all three crime scenes in all three canine victims. It’s not the sort of hormone that just anyone could have.”

His eyes widened. “Wait. Are you saying Primax was found at all three crime scenes?”

“If Primax is the synthetic hormone you guys created to shorten the time of onset of tranquilizing sedatives, then yes.”

“Oh my God.” Hayes leaned forward and steepled his hands, resting his chin on his thumbs. “Oh my God.”

“Oh yes. So, can you tell me where you were last night?”

“I was here. I’m actually coming to the end of my shift.”

Faith frowned. “Really? They work you guys overnight?”

"At the moment, the senior researchers rotate to different shifts every few weeks. I happen to be on the night shift now."

“And you can prove that?”

“I can. It will require a visit to our security office.”

“Then let’s go.”

Hayes got to his feet and led them out of the office. He was far more subdued now than he was before and kept glancing furtively behind at the FBI agents.

Still, he wasn’t showing guilt. The anxiety he showed was more general. He didn’t look worried for himself, just upset to hear the news Faith had brought him.

She began to worry that she had once more found a lead, only to walk right into a dead end.

Dr. Hayes knocked on a door marked security. A voice inside called, “Who is it?” and Dr. Hayes called. “It’s Nathan!”

“What do you want?” the irritable interior voice called.

“I’m here with Special Agent Faith Bold of the FBI,” Hayes said. “She needs to see security footage from last night to prove that I couldn’t have killed someone.”

“What?”

The door opened, and a pudgy man who looked like he needed to show ID every time he ordered alcohol stared in shock at the three of them. His eyes fell to Turk, and he swallowed nervously.

“Don’t worry,” Faith said. “He’s harmless. Unless he needs to be otherwise.”

“He doesn’t need to,” the security officer assured her. “Yeah, come on in. I’ll show you what I have. I didn’t notice anything crazy, but… wait, you said Dr. Hayes killed someone?”

“No, I didn’t,” Hayes insisted.

“Just show me the security footage for Dr. Hayes’ office. I just need to confirm his alibi.”

“Yeah,” the officer said. “Sure. I can do that. I’m Kyle, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Kyle.”

Kyle swallowed again, then sat abruptly and began searching. Faith looked at Dr. Hayes and noted that, once more, there was no fear in his expression. Only surprise and concern.

He was hiding something, though. The concern was now laced with a little bit of guilt. Maybe he wasn’t the killer, but could he be involved in some lesser way?

“Here,” Kyle said. “This is the footage from about one a.m.”

Faith looked at the monitor and sighed. Dr. Hayes was clearly visible in the footage, sitting in his office and organizing paperwork right around the time Maria Delgado was taken. He wasn’t their killer.

But there was that little bit of guilt.

“All right,” Faith said. “So you’re not the killer. But you’re hiding something. What aren’t you telling me?”

Dr. Hayes looked at Kyle. “Would you mind if I answered that question in my office, Special Agent?”

Faith hesitated a moment, but she very much doubted that Dr. Hayes would manage any sort of surprise attack. “All right. We can do that.”

The three of them left the confused and terrified Kyle and returned to Dr. Hayes’ office. As soon as the door was closed, Dr. Hayes sighed and sat heavily. He rubbed his temples and said, “I very much hope that I’m wrong with what I’m about to say, but I think I might know who your killer is.”

I very much hope you’re right, Faith thought. Aloud, she asked, “Who?”

“My former assistant, James Cooper.”

Faith raised an eyebrow. “Is that so? Tell me why you suspect him.”

He sighed again. “James was… a troubled young man.”

“How so?”

“He was highly empathetic. I mean that in the medical sense. He couldn’t stand stressful circumstances. That’s why I had to fire him. He worked hard, and he truly cared about the animals, but he had such a difficult time with the injured K9s.”

Faith frowned. “Do you treat animals here?”

“No, not here. I apologize, I should have clarified. James was my assistant at my veterinary practice before I moved to Lake Pharmaceuticals. I closed the practice six months ago to take this job, but I’d fired James already two months before that.”

“I see. You said he had a difficult time with injured K9s. Any particular cases that stand out?”

“The military dogs.”

Faith felt a touch of her excitement return. “Can you expand on that?”

Hayes nodded. “He felt that using dogs in military and police work was unethical. He believed it was too stressful on the dogs and demanded that the practice be abolished. When they would show up injured, he would fly into a rage. He was normally the sort you might call a gentle giant, but there was nothing gentle about him when facing a dog that had been injured in combat. There was one time he got into a shouting match with a handler. I had to remove him from the room and let him go.”

“Do you remember the name of the handler?”

“No, I’m sorry. I saw so many. I can tell you that she was female and that her dog was a Dobermann named Rex.”

Faith raised her eyebrow. "Why, what a coincidence. One of my victims is female with a Dobermann. I'd bet dollars to donuts that the dog's name is Rex."

Dr. Hayes nodded. “Possibly.”

“When was the last time you spoke to Mr. Cooper?”

Dr. Hayes shook his head. “Not since I fired him. He was very disheartened when I told him his services would no longer be required.”

“What do you mean when you say disheartened?”

“Sad. Not violent. He was never violent with me. He was just very sad. He believed it was his calling to help animals. He pleaded with me to keep him, but I was firm. I couldn’t have him assaulting clients.”

“Do you have an address for him?” Faith asked.

“Possibly, but not here. I have the records of my private practice in storage. I would have to look through them. I’m willing to do that, but it might take a while.”

“That’s all right,” Faith replied. “I can probably find the info I need faster by looking him up through the DMV. Can I have a description please?”

“Sure. He was tall, perhaps six-foot-three. Two hundred pounds or so, in decent shape. Blonde hair that he kept spiked and gray eyes. A real mellow voice so long as he wasn’t angry.”

Faith noted all of that, then said, “All right. This is good information, thank you.”

Dr. Hayes offered a dejected smile. “I’m very sorry for the victims. No one should have to die like that. I disagree with the military’s treatment of K-9s, but I wouldn’t wish this fate on my worst enemies. I truly do hope you find your killer, whether it’s James or not.”

Faith returned a smile of her own. “Thank you for your time, Doctor.”

She and Turk left the building. As soon as they left the building. Her smile vanished. She understood Dr. Hayes’ reticence, but she didn’t know James. She didn’t have any special connection to him, and she didn’t feel any guilt for hoping that James Cooper was their killer. If they could catch him, then they could put an end to this mystery and prevent any more innocent people from getting killed.