“You’ve mentioned that twice now. If you aren’t here to killme, and if you aren’t trying to kill the Secret Service agents, then why are we having this lovely chat? If you wanted to leave a tip, we have a tip line. And my guess is you have my phone number. You could have sent a text.”
He laughed again. “I do like you, Agent Malone. I do.”
“Why don’t you tell me your name?”
“You haven’t guessed?”
“Guessing isn’t a wise move in my line of work.”
“Come on. Humor me.”
“Fine. But I should tell you, David, you’re getting on my nerves.”
LUKEHAD NO IDEAhow he’d come to be standing beside his bed, weapon in hand and pointing toward the door. But in the dim light sneaking through the heavy curtains, he could see Zane in the same position.
A knock, no, a pound on the door drew him to full attention. “Agents.” Someone from the security detail outside yelled through the door. “Wake up. We have a situation.”
“We’re awake!” Zane yelled. “What’s going on?”
“Check your phones, then come out.”
“You check,” Luke said to Zane. “I’ll stay where I am.”
Zane didn’t turn on any lights, but Luke could hear him running his hands over his bed and pillows. “Got it.” The light from the screen illuminated Zane’s face, and Luke alternated between keeping his eyes on the door and stealing glances at Zane.
“No.” Zane whispered the word.
“What is it?”
“Put the gun down and get dressed.” Zane flipped on the lamp. “It’s Faith.”
DAVID LAUGHEDagain. A long chortle. If Faith survived, she’d be hearing that laugh in her nightmares. No doubt.
“Ah, Faith. I assume it’s okay for me to call you Faith since we went straight to first names? I knew you knew it was me. But I’m curious. Who else might it have been?”
“I’m only actively hunting two people right now, David. You and the man they’re calling the Tiger.”
“Who says I’m not the Tiger?”
“I never said you weren’t. Why did you kill the bomb maker?”
“Excuse me?”
“They told me a couple of the techs puked at the scene. It wasn’t nice, what you did to him. Especially after he gave you all those lovely bombs for blowing up Luke and Zane and Jared.” She was winging it. Poking the bear. Shooting, literally, in the dark.
“You’ve got it all wrong.”
“So the Tiger did it?”
“No.”
Was it possible that David Lee was the Tiger? Maybe he had some kind of personality disorder. Faith had dealt with some messed-up minds over the years, but she didn’t know much about split personalities.
“He was found dead yesterday by a United States Secret Service agent and a Seattle sheriff’s office investigator. There was evidence of torture. The body is going to be autopsied today. The bomb-making shop has been turned over to the ATF, and they’re doing their own investigation into the types of explosives present. We’ll know soon if there’s a match. But there was one in the workshop, and it had a unique signature.”
Why was she telling him this? She didn’t know, but the compulsion was strong. Maybe the Lordwashelping her and giving her the words? She pressed on. “Luke and Zane recognized it. Samekind of bomb was used to try to kill them on Monday. We’re also checking to see if this is the same type of explosive that was used to kill Special Agent Baker. And Mi Cha, of course.”
David Lee didn’t respond.
