“We found paraphernalia in his apartment,” Jessica confirmed.“It appeared to have been used recently.No way to tell exactly when, of course.”
“I’m pretty sure my dealer won’t vouch for me, but if you find a pretty redhead that goes by the name of Shondra, she might be willing to tell the truth in exchange for a hot meal and a roof over her head for the night.”
Faith sighed.It probably wasn’t worth talking to Arlington PD about an alleged streetwalker, but they were thin on leads right now, and it was still possible that Steve was playing them and was, in fact, their killer.
She doubted it, though.
The door burst open, and an apoplectic man of around fifty with a walrus mustache and not a trace of hair anywhere else on his head jabbed a fat finger at Faith and Jessica.“Uncuff him.Now.This arrest is a travesty, and wewillbe pursuing charges against the Quantico Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
Jessica reddened, but Faith patted her shoulder and shook her head.They had the confession for the robbery, so they had justification for his arrest, and they’d made sure he was medically cleared before they brought him here.The bluster was just the lawyer doing his job, but they had nothing to worry about.
“I really didn’t kill them,” Steve said.“That wasn’t me.”
“Shut up,” the lawyer snapped at him.He glared at Faith.“Anything my client said prior to my arrival was under duress and is inadmissible.”
That wasn’t true, but Faith truly didn’t care about the robbery.Well,thatwasn’t true, but that crime paled in comparison to the serial murders she was investigating now.
“At this time, your client is under arrest for aggravated robbery, aggravated assault, and resisting with violence, along with two counts of assault on a peace officer, one with a deadly weapon,” she informed the public defender.“You’ll have to take it up with Quantico PD if you want him released, but if I were you, I’d start thinking up a plea deal, especially because he’s still our prime suspect in three murders.”
The door opened again, and Meyers poked his head in.The dejected expression he wore said it all.
Faith sighed and rubbed her temples.“Another one?”
Meyers nodded.“Brandon Harris.The kid who identified Steve earlier.”
Faith’s heart sank.She glared at Steve, but Meyers added, “The body’s only a couple of hours old.He couldn’t have killed him and gotten back to his apartment in time to be there when we showed up.”
Faith’s heart sank even further.She looked away from Steve and down at her feet.
The public defender was wise enough not to gloat.He only said, “I presume the murder charges no longer apply.”
“They do not,” Meyers agreed.“The other charges do, and your client is staying here.You have as much time as you need to talk to him, and I’ll be here until you’re ready to talk to me.Special Agents, as arresting officer, I have to stay here.”
“We understand,” Faith said.“Tell us where to go, and we’ll handle the crime scene.”
“Front desk has the info,” he said.
“I really am sorry,” Steve called after them.“I’m not a good guy, but I still hate vermin like that.”
His lawyer squeezed his shoulder softly and gently said, “Hush.”
Faith, Jessica, and Turk left the room like prisoners heading to their execution.
Except it wasn’t their execution.It was the execution of yet another innocent person, yet another victim they were supposed to protect.They had grasped at another straw with Steve Kent, and that straw had slipped through their fingers.
Now they had to face the consequences of their failure in the most brutal manner possible.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
In the early days of their relationship, before either of them seriously considered the prospect of marriage, David’s chief complaint with Faith was her stubbornness.That same quality that led him to fall in love with her, the quality he eventually came to admire more than any other, was the cause of a great deal of contention between the young couple.
Most of it came down to Faith’s inability to walk away from a career that had risked both of their lives on multiple occasions.David had seen the bruises after Franklin West beat Faith.He had suffered bruises of his own at the madman’s hand, being beaten within an inch of his life when West invaded his home in Philadelphia.He had seen Faith come home with fresh scars from injuries suffered at the hands of other killers.He had pleaded time and again for her to be willing to let others pick up the responsibility she had shouldered.She had done enough.It was time for her to let go, give Turk a chance to rest during his twilight years, and give them a chance to spend their marriage in safety and comfort.
Now here he was, sitting in the driver’s seat of his Subaru Outback and eating a burrito, two tacos, and a baggie of the worst mozzarella sticks he’d had in his life, looking at the screen of a night vision camera he’d purchased from a store in Tyson’s Corner Center, a large shopping mall in Fairfax County near McLean, Virginia, for two thousand dollars and a long-range telescoping lens he’d purchased for five thousand dollars from the same store.That camera was trained on the loading dock of the Gunnery Sergeant Samantha R.Nielsen Testing and Research Center near Gate E114 of Marine Corps Base Quantico.The loading dock was closed, and he hadn’t seen a single vehicle enter or leave the gate since nightfall.
But here he was anyway because there was a chance he might find something, and if there was even the slightest chance he might find something, he wanted to take it.
He popped the last mozzarella stick in his mouth, chewed the rubbery supposed cheese until it was softened enough that he could follow it without choking, then put on a song.He was nine hundred yards from the base, far enough that his engine rumbling softly and his music playing softly couldn’t be heard.His lights were off, and his interior lights were dimmed enough that he couldn’t see more than ten feet past the hood of his car.
