Page 18 of So Twisted (Faith Bold #19)

They reached Nathan Reed's home a half hour later. Reed lived in a lower-income area of Omaha in a dilapidated house surrounded by a chain link fence. Not surprisingly, Reed also had guard dogs. The agents only got within ten yards before two massive Rottweilers rushed to the fence, barking and snarling.

Turk bared his teeth and returned the sentiment, but Faith ruffled his fur and said, “Relax, boy. Let’s take this nice and easy.”

“How do you want to do this?” Michael asked. “There’s no way in but through the gate.”

“We’ll call Reed,” Faith said. “Go back to the car and put the lights on. Run the siren for a little bit too. We’ll see if we can draw him out.”

Michael sighed. “All right. I’m going to call those units in too. Even if we keep them waiting outside, I want backup ready in case he runs.”

“Go ahead.”

Faith waited with Turk while Michael left to do that. She could see movement from inside the house, and as soon as Michael switched on the lights and hit the siren, the curtain of one of the windows lifted, revealing a man’s face with a liberal coating of stubble.

A moment later, the door opened, and Nathan Reed stormed out. He was big, six-foot-two like Michael, but thirty pounds heavier with massive hands. He was a little pudgy around the middle, and his gray hair suggested he was a few years past his prime, but none of the victims were imposing physical specimens, so that didn't necessarily mean he wasn't capable of violence.

The furrow in his brow and the snarl in his voice suggested he was more than capable of hurting someone. “What the hell do you want? Turn that god damned siren off!”

“Nathan Reed?” Faith called.

“I don’t answer questions!” Nathan shouted back. “What are you doing here?”

Turk growled at him, and Nathan’s face changed. Faith was surprised to see it soften and hear something that sounded almost like affection. “Hey, boy. What’s going on with your mommy? Why’s she coming after me?”

“May we talk?” Faith called.

Nathan’s brow furrowed again, but he kept his eyes on Turk, and his tone was a little less surly when he said, “About what?”

“About why I’m here.”

Michael stepped next to Faith and said, “The police are on their way. They’ll stay in their cruisers unless they see Reed run or hear us call for help.”

Reed lifted his eyes from Turk, and his scowl deepened. “Tell me why you’re here, and I’ll tell you if we can talk.”

Faith considered a moment before she replied. She didn’t want to spook Reed before their backup arrived. She tried a half-answer. “It’s related to an ongoing Bureau investigation. We believe you might have information that can help us.”

“What’s the case about?”

She hesitated again. “I’d prefer to have this conversation inside where your neighbors can’t hear us.”

“They won’t be able to hear a damned thing over that racket coming from your police cruiser. If you’re not going to be honest with me, I’m not going to talk to you. How’s that?” He looked at Turk. “Boy, tell ‘em to be square with me. That’s only fair, right?”

To Faith’s utter astonishment, Turk looked at her and barked reprovingly. She looked at Michael to find him similarly shocked. Then she turned back to Reed. “We’re investigating the murders of Marcus Reeves, Alison Chen and Dr. Elena Vasquez.”

Reed's eyes popped open. There was no more anger in his voice, only surprise. "Well, shit. All right. I guess you better come in. Cookie, Brownie, that's all right."

The Rottweilers instantly calmed. They remained close to the fence, and when Reed opened the gate, they flew out and rushed to Turk, sniffing and panting excitedly.

"They don't get a lot of visitors, unfortunately," Reed said to the once-more-stunned agents. "They're happy to see another dog." He frowned. "It's too bad that so many dogs are attached to people."

He turned around and headed for the door. All three dogs followed him, tails wagging. Faith and Michael shared a look, then took up the rear. Out of the corners of her eyes, Faith could see the police cruisers pulling to the curb on either side of the house. She wondered what they would make of what they saw. Hell, she didn’t know what to make of it herself.

When they stepped inside, Reed said, “Close the door if you don’t mind. Cookie and Brownie are harmless, but the assholes next door get antsy if they see them outside without them being on a leash.”

Faith closed the door while Michael regarded the dogs, who were excitedly showing Turk around their home. “Well, they look harmless now.”

“They’re harmless always,” Reed snapped. “Unless you’re an asshole trying to hurt me. You an asshole trying to hurt me?”

“I very much hope not.”

“Then they won’t hurt you.”

Nathan Reed’s word on its own wouldn’t mean much to Faith, but when Turk trotted up right next to the Rottweilers to accept the treats the gruff old Animal Control officer provided, she started to feel they might have the wrong man.

“Always loved Shepherds,” Reed said, “but when I saw Cookie and Brownie at the shelter, I just had to take them home.”

He smiled tenderly at his dogs, but his smile vanished when he looked up at the agents. “All right. Say your piece.”

“Marcus Reeves was murdered at the Council Bluffs Animal Sanctuary four days ago. Two days later, Alison Chen was killed in her apartment, and last night, Dr. Elena Vasquez was murdered in her office at the Big Wilderness Zoo.”

“Good. Good riddance to them. They were assholes who hurt animals.”

“Did you get rid of them?” Michael asked.

“No.”

“I’d like to believe you, Nathan,” Faith said, “but we have evidence that places you near the scene of Elena Vasquez’s murder shortly after she was murdered. Security footage at a convenience store near her office showed you wearing bloody clothes.”

“Yes. I was clearing roadkill. I volunteer my time to do that. The least respect we can show these animals is getting their bodies off the road.”

“Do you have the clothing for us to look at?”

“I do, but they’ve been cleaned.

“We’ll take it anyway.”

He headed to his bedroom, muttering something. Turk followed him, and he reached down and scratched the German Shepherd behind his ear.

“Well, Turk likes him,” Michael said.

“He trusts him,” Faith added.

“Nathan Reed is clearly a fan of animals and clearly not a fan of people,” Michael said. “Especially people who hurt animals.”

Faith shook her head. “I don’t know. I’m having second thoughts.”

Michael frowned. “Because of Turk?”

She nodded. Before Michael could reply, Reed returned with an armful of clothing. He tossed them at the agents, and Michael caught them. “It’s all there,” Reed said. “Go ahead and look for whatever you want.”

“We’re going to check the footage to make sure this outfit matches,” Michael warned.

“Check whatever you want. I told you I didn’t kill anyone.”

“When were you fired from Animal Control?” Faith asked.

“Ten years ago.”

“May I ask why?”

Reed’s eyes narrowed. “Something tells me you already know.”

“In your own words,” Faith insisted.

Reed took a deep breath. Faith noticed that his hands were shaking a little. "I got a call from a concerned neighbor about a house with a lot of dogs in poor condition. Showed up, and there's this skinny little bitch arguing with my partner that he can't take her dogs from her. You should've seen these dogs. Couldn't have weighed more than forty pounds. Shepherds should weigh close to twice that much when they're full grown, but these dogs were so malnourished. They were missing fur, covered in mange…" He looked at Turk, and tears welled in his eyes. "I don't get it. Why do people hurt innocent animals?"

Turk trotted over to him and pressed his head against Reed’s legs. Reed dropped to the floor and hugged Turk. Faith was all but convinced now that Reed wasn’t their man. Turk’s instincts were good. He wasn’t always right about who was a murderer and who wasn’t, but he had never treated a murderer this well. This kind of behavior was usually only reserved for families of victims or close friends of Faith herself.

Reed took a breath and said, “Well, the bitch was yapping on about how their spirits were fed and that mattered more than earthly food. I grabbed her by her hair, yanked her down and made her look at the dog. I asked her if he looked happy and healthy to her. She said, ‘Of course. Can’t you tell?’ So I slapped her around a little.”

“You split her lip and gave her a black eye, Nathan,” Michael corrected.

Reed frowned. “Yeah. I beat her up. She deserved it.”

“And was it before or after that you were trespassed from Marcus Reeves’ zoo?” Faith asked.

‘After. That was four years ago. Again, if you’d seen the conditions these animals were in, you would have understood. I can tell you care about your dog. He’s in great shape, happy, healthy and strong. You would understand if you saw what the asshole was doing to his animals.”

“Understand what, exactly?”

“I told him that if he and his zookeepers didn’t get their shit together, I’d throw them all in the cages with their animals.”

“But there was no physical confrontation?”

“Nah. Security dragged me out.”

“Can you confirm your whereabouts for the night of the murders?” Michael asked. “Four nights ago, two nights ago and last night?”

“Well, you said you saw me at a convenience store last night.”

“Within a mile and ten minutes of our latest murder, yes.”

Reed scowled. “No. I live alone, and Cookie and Brownie don’t speak English. I can tell you I was home four nights ago, out on a walk through the park with my dogs two nights ago and clearing roadkill last night. But I’m guessing it’s not enough for you guys.”

“I believe you,” Faith said.

Michael snapped his eyes toward her. Turk barked approvingly. Faith smiled and said, “Turk can tell you’re a good man at heart. But listen, keep your nose out of trouble, okay?”

“Excuse me, Special Agent Bold,” Michael said curtly. He turned to Reed. “You said you’re glad these three are dead. You’ve had run-ins with two of them in the past, and in both cases, you were punished, not them. We have you near the murder scene of the third victim.” He glared at Faith. “How are we supposed to believe you didn’t kill them?”

“I couldn’t risk losing my dogs,” Reed replied. “I couldn’t leave them alone or have them placed in a shelter. People don’t like adopting Rottweilers because everyone thinks they’re vicious. I can’t lose them. They need me.”

“I understand that,” Faith sympathized.

“That being said,” Michael interjected, “we will be talking to you again. There’s a lot of hard evidence not based on emotion or conjecture that suggests you had the opportunity and motive to kill all three of our victims. We’re going to have the police keep an eye on you. Don’t leave town.”

Reed scoffed. “I’ll stay in town, agent. But that killer, whoever he is? He’s a hero.”

This time, it was Michael’s turn to scoff. He spun on his heel and stormed from the house. Faith sighed and called Turk to follow her. He nuzzled Reed once more, then followed Faith outside.