“Feel better, okay?When I get home, I’m going to need a lot of comfort.You’re going to need to have good stamina.”
David felt another pinch of longing, but it was easier to handle this one since it was more physical and less emotional.“Trust me, babe, I can go as long as you need me to.”
She giggled again.“I meant emotional stamina so I could complain to you, but thanks for that.”
“I mean, I can be there for you emotionally, but you know it’s not going to be free.”
“Ugh, I’ll just call Michael instead.”
“Okay, I let the joke pass before, but now you’re just asking for it.”
He frowned when he saw a flicker of movement inside the loading dock.Another five-ton was pulling up to unload something, but it wasn't the truck that caught his eye.Inside the dock, just barely visible, was a dark-skinned young woman with short, curly hair and a stern expression.
And behind her, wearing a vacant expression and staring listlessly at the truck as it backed up to the loading dock, was Sierra.
“David?Are you getting mopey again?You know I’m kidding, right?”
David blinked.He had no idea what Faith had said.As soon as he saw Sierra, he forgot entirely about their conversation.He faked a laugh and said, “Yeah, I know.If you really wanted Michael, you’d have stayed with him.I mean, the guy’s easily the most attractive man I’ve ever seen, so Iknowyou love me for letting that go.”
“Right,” Faith said.She sounded distracted.“You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.Go ahead and get back to work.I have a vague recollection of making chicken noodle soup once before, but I’m sure YouTube has some helpful instructional videos I can use.I’ll be fine.Go catch bad guys.”
“Yeah.Okay.I love you.A whole, whole bunch.”
A lump formed in David’s throat.“I love you too.”
She hung up, and David dropped his phone onto the passenger seat and buried his face in his hands.He hated this.All of it.So much.Why couldn’t people just be decent?Why did they have to abuse dogs and lie about it?Why did they have to kill innocent people in parks and take his wife away from him?Why couldn’t people just live their lives and try to do the right thing from time to time?
He put his car in gear and headed back down the hill.His driver’s side front tire dipped into a hole and mud splashed over his windshield.He hit the wipers and decided to stop by a car wash before heading home or Faith would realize he had been somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be.
He was halfway through the car wash before he realized he hadn’t taken pictures of Whitaker and Sierra.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Brandon Harris jogged along Accokeek Creek in the Creekside Park in Stafford, whistling along to the tune of an old metalcore song that he privately admitted still sounded as cool to him as it did twenty years ago when he wore his hair long and moppy and every shirt he had was a size too big and had a picture of a band logo on it.
The shirt he wore now fit him much better and had an Under Armour logo.His hair was cut short, and he was fit and muscular instead of skinny as a rail with knobby knees and elbows.He actually knew how to talk to women, although since meeting Carly five years ago, he only talked to one woman.In short, he had grown up, but if he wanted to listen to some teen angst music, he was gonna listen to some teen angst music.
He crossed a bridge over the creek and entered the portion of Creekside Park that abutted the Stafford Courthouse Dog Park.He glanced over at the park with a dark frown that deepened as he realized that if he had been running this route two days ago and looked over his right shoulder, he would have seen that dog standing over the dead body of his owner.If he had been running early morning instead of midday, he would have seen the murderer and maybe been able to stop him.
He laughed at that and looked ahead.“Yeah.Sure, Brandon.Because you’re the next great superhero.You’d probably just get shot and end up lying next to the other guy.”
He tried to focus on the humor of that thought, morbid though it was, but he couldn’t get the image of that poor dog out of his head.That was the problem with this world.Everyone ignored violence because it was easier to ignore it than to stand up to it.He couldn’t blame himself for not being there, but what if hewasthere?Would he have really done something about it, or would he have been too scared?
He kept running, trying to focus on the song now playing.This one was about crying over the grave of a woman the singer had loved in high school, so he changed it to a different song, an old rock standard about partying hard and enjoying drugs.Good clean fun.
That brought a genuine laugh, and his mood improved.The cops were after that guy.They had his face all over the news.The FBI was helping, but most importantly, people were looking out for each other.They were watching for people like that asshole, and when they found them, they were going to report them.It was going to be okay.
The route led back to the creek for the last mile.Once Brandon reached the end, he would walk back, which would take an hour or so but would allow him a chance to enjoy the scenery and cool down slowly.It was warm out, so there were birds singing in the trees and fish swimming in the creek.He could focus on life, and then he could go home and talk to Carly.Maybe he’d get lucky and convince her to join him in the shower.
The song ended, and Brandon heard a scream.His blood froze.He came to a dead stop, heart pounding from more than just the run.
That was fake.He was imagining things.He couldn’t have heard that.
He heard another scream, cut off by a gurgling noise, and his heart dropped to his feet.He tore his headphones out and sprinted toward the sound, not entirely aware of what he was doing and with no clue what he planned to do when he reached whatever was going on, just knowing that he had to do something.
He crested a hill and looked into a shallow depression to see a woman on her back with her hand raised, tears streaming from her face.A man stood above her, pointing a gun at her through his coat pocket.
