“I’m trying to think of it as preventative.We probably won’t find the guy this way, but maybe we’ll keep him from killing someone else.He’s going to see police presence everywhere.If he has a cell phone—and who doesn’t—he’ll know that people are looking for anyone suspicious.People are going to beactinglike they’re looking for someone suspicious, so he’s not likely to get someone alone who isn’t paying attention.”
Faith smiled ruefully.“That’s a very mature way to look at the situation.I hate it.”
Jessica laughed, far more genuinely than Faith had a moment ago.“Yeah, me too.Well, we’re just getting started.Maybe someone will actually have something useful to report.”
“Fingers crossed.”
Faith pulled into the parking lot of Ringo’s Bakery, a small café most well known for its donuts but that also sold decent coffee and slightly more decent breakfast sandwiches.Faith ordered Jessica’s bagel sandwich and got herself a turkey and cheddar on sourdough along with her… She’d lost count of how many cups of coffee this was.
She paid for a pound of roast beef for Turk, who, as usual, consumed the entire thing in three bites, then whined for more.
“Uh uh,” Faith said.“You’ll get sleepy and slow.I need you alert.You can have more food with lunch.”
Turk growled and pouted for a moment, then saw a butterfly fluttering near Faith’s car and forgot about his complaint.
“Come on, boy,” Faith said, opening the front passenger door of her Crown Victoria and setting the food and coffee in the seat.“Leave the bugs alone.We’re going back to the station.”
Turk pouted again as he jumped into the backseat.As Faith walked around the nose of the car to get into the driver’s seat, she saw a police cruiser pass her heading in the direction of Rooster Memorial.Her heart leapt, and she called Meyers on the radio.“Hey, I saw a cruiser heading to Rooster.We got something?”
“Yeah, a fight,” Meyers replied.
Faith’s shoulders slumped.“A fight?”
“Yeah.Couple of college kids.I guess the one guy caught the other guy making out with his girlfriend.They’re being children about it, so we have to go break them up.”
Faith sighed.“All right.Guess that’s why you didn’t call me.”
“Yeah.Don’t be too discouraged.This is how these warnings always go.Everyone wants their fifteen minutes of fame.I mean, the fight has nothing to do with it, but the rest of it, all the false alarms, that’s just the way it goes.”
“Fair enough,” Faith said, sliding into her car.“But I don’t have to be happy about it.”
She started the engine and pulled out.The day was warmer than usual, continuing the early spring Quantico was enjoying.It was a beautiful day to go out to the park and enjoy some peace and exercise.A beautiful day for their murderer to show his face so they could bring him to justice before he hurt anyone else.
“If only they would behave and do as they’re told,” Faith said as she pulled into the Quantico PD lot.
Turk barked inquisitively, and Faith said, “Not you, boy.Mommy’s just complaining out loud.”
Jessica’s car was in the lot too, so she had beaten them back to the station.Faith headed to the break room, calling with as much cheer as she could muster, “Provisions, fair wench.”
She entered the break room, but Jessica wasn’t there.Maybe she was in the restroom.
Faith set the food and coffee on the counter, then noticed Turk standing with his ears up and head erect, alert.Her heartbeat quickened slightly.“What is it, boy?”
Turk trotted out of the breakroom, heading for Meyers’s office.Quantico was a small force, and Meyers’s office was little more than a closet with a small desk and a single chair.Meyers and Jessica were in the office, leaning over Meyers’s desk and listening intently to a caller on the other end of the phone.
Faith and Turk entered quietly, barely fitting in the tiny space.Jessica grinned at Faith and gave her a thumbs up before looking back at the phone.
Over the speaker, Faith heard a female voice say, “I didn’t think about it at the time, but yeah, he was just sitting there with his hood pulled over his head watching everyone, hands folded in his lap.He didn’t say anything, and he wasn’t bothering anybody, but it was weird.”
Faith’s heart leaped.Had someone seen the killer?
“How many times have you seen him?”Meyers asked.
“Three or four times.He usually shows up, sits for about an hour, and leaves.”
“Can you describe him for us?”Jessica asked.
“Um… He was tall.Not like basketball star tall, but tall.And big too.Broad-shouldered, big hands.He wore work boots too, which was kind of funny since he was walking on a concrete path, not the dirt.”
