“Now!”the man hissed.“You want me to hurt you?”
Brandon’s blood boiled.He shouted, “Hey!Back off!”
And to his abject amazement, the man did exactly that.He flinched and stumbled backwards, staring at Brandon with wide, stupid eyes.Despite being at least six inches taller than Brandon and probably fifty pounds heavier, not to mention armed, he turned and ran away.
The woman cried out and wept, “Thank you.Thank you.”
Her voice sounded hoarse, and Brandon saw a red welt around her neck.The killer must have been strangling her.
Brandon stood in amazement for a long moment.Then his heart soared.He had done it!He had saved someone from the killer!He probably should have gone after the guy instead of letting him run away, but he had seen his face, at least.He could tell the copsexactlywhat the man looked like.
His chest puffed out, and he smiled at the woman he’d saved.“I’m going to call the police and tell them exactly what that prick looked like.”
The woman nodded and muttered another weak, “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.We’re going to get him.Don’t worry.It’ll all be over soon.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Faith frowned at the phone after ending the call with David.He had stopped paying attention to her by the end.After joking about Michael, David had playfully retorted.Faith had replied with another joke, but David hadn’t responded.Something about his tone from the beginning had seemed off, so Faith replied, “Hey, I’m pretty sure you’re hiding something from me.I’m talking cheerfully like nothing is wrong because you’re probably vaguely following my tone, but I don’t think you’re listening to a single word I’m saying.”
When he still didn’t respond, she added, “Yeah, something’s definitely up, and you’re not telling me which really sucks.I wonder what’s distracting you?”
He still didn’t answer, and when she replied, “David?Are you getting mopey again?You know I’m kidding, right?”he answered with a quip about Michael.Clearly he hadn’t heard anything after that.
This was dumb, though.What did she suspect?It wasn’t like he was cheating on her.What else could be going on in his life that would preoccupy him so much?
But he’d been like this for a while.Since coming back from Italy, it had gotten even worse.The morning they’d discovered Iris Caldwell’s body, he had ignored her when she told him about how the murder reminded him of Trammell and what happened to Turk, Jack, and to her.
This wasn’t like him.He was always so attentive to her.It was one of the things she loved about him, his ability to listen and give her his entire focus no matter what they were talking about.
Was he okay?How could henotbe okay?What could possibly be going on that she had to worry about, and if there was nothing to worry about, then why was he so distracted?
And where was he?Was he really sick at home, or was he—
“Faith!”
Faith flinched at Jessica’s interruption.Her partner winced and stepped backwards.“Sorry.I was just letting you know that we got another call, and this one looks promising.”
They were back at the Quantico PD station.Faith had called David as soon as they arrived so she could vent about the case, which had been a non-starter when it became clear that David was distracted.That call was over now, and Faith had a case to worry about.Whatever was going on with her husband would have to wait.
“Okay.Turk!Come on, boy.”
Turk jumped to his feet and followed Faith and Jessica out of the station, tail wagging.They met Meyers outside.“We got a call from Stafford County,” Meyers informed them.“They just responded to a call from a jogger who interrupted an attack near the Stafford Courthouse Dog Park.The jogger prevented an attack on a woman from a man matching our description.This man was carrying a gun.”
“Is he in custody?”Faith asked.
Meyers shook his head.“He got away, and the caller chose not to pursue, probably due to the handgun.Stafford County Sheriff’s Office is canvassing the area looking for him.”He grinned at Faith.“But our caller saw his face and heard his voice.We have a real description now.”
“Hell yes!”Jessica cried, pumping her fist.
Faith grinned, but beneath her excitement at the break in the case was a small kernel of concern for David.What was going on with him?
Later.This is more important.
That was true for now, but at some point she would have to have a heart-to-heart talk with David and figure out what was preoccupying the man she loved.In the meantime…
“Come on, Turk,” she said, opening the back door of her car.“Let’s go catch a bad guy.”
