Unless it was Walsh after all.Maybe they’d get lucky.Maybe they could put the bastard away before he marked someone else.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Trevor Walsh lived in a small, sixteen-unit apartment complex just over a mile from the shelter.The building was old, and the paint was starting to peel in some places, but the property was clean and appeared fairly well-maintained.Faith imagined the owners were more careful about keeping the place up since they were within walking distance of the police department.
She could hear Trevor shouting at the police officers as soon as she stepped out of the car.Several neighbors were leaning out of their front doors or poking their heads out of their windows to watch the commotion.One of them turned to the FBI agents and whispered something excitedly to her next-door neighbor.Heads turned one at a time to regard the two women as they ascended the stairs to the second floor.When they saw Turk in his K9 vest, several of them cursed and closed their doors and windows, probably assuming the agents had brought him to look for weed.
“This is bullshit.You guys found a gram of pot.Give me my ticket and fuck off.”
Faith stepped up to the door to see Trevor standing in his living room, his finger stuck in the chest of a female officer who watched him impassively, barely affected by his tantrum.He was a tall, muscular man with a scruffy beard and hair that was a few weeks overdue for a haircut.He blinked at the agents for a moment, then said, “What the shit?Why areyouguys here?”
“My name’s Special Agent Faith Bold,” Faith replied.“This is my partner, Special Agent Jessica Torres and my K9 unit, Turk.”
Turk approached Trevor, tail switching, ears alert.Trevor let him approach, not bothered at all.That didn’t necessarily mean anything since their killer had murdered Sarah Garrett inches away from a massive Rottweiler, so he was clearly comfortable around dogs.Turk didn’t react when he sniffed Trevor’s feet, though, and that could mean something.He was usually good at determining if someone was violent or not.
“You’re dog’s beautiful,” Trevor observed.“Shitty weed dog, though.Your sweetheart has a gram in her pocket right now, and he walked right past it.”
“We’re not looking for weed,” Faith replied.“We’re looking for the person who killed Sarah Garrett and Matthew Brooks.”
“What?Seriously?”
“You can just assume that everything we say and do is serious,” Jessica replied.
Trevor looked between the officers, and understanding dawned on his face.“This didn’t have anything to do with weed at all, did it?You were just detaining me until they could get here.”
“Let’s have a conversation, Trevor,” Faith said.“If we like what we hear, then we get out of your hair.We won’t even give you shit about the weed, will we, officer?”
“We will not,” the female officer replied.Her male partner didn’t seem happy with that, but he deferred to the older, more experienced policewoman.
Trevor chuckled and ran a nervous hand through his unkempt hair.“I mean… I’m not really sure I should talk to you guys.I don’t know Sarah Garrett or… what was the other guy’s name?”
“You definitely know Sarah Garrett,” Faith said.“Because she denied your second adoption application when you returned Cammie.”
Trevor chuckled again, this time in frustration.He dropped his head to his chest and folded his arms.“Yeah… That kind of sucked.”
“From what we heard, you weren’t so calm when you talked to her about it a month ago.”
“Well, we didn’t talk.I brought the Chow Chow back because the fucker bit me on the hand.I asked for a calm dog, something a ten-year-old boy could take care of without having to worry about getting his face bit off.I got Cammie for my nephew, by the way.Did they mention that at the Plano shelter?”
“It came up,” Faith replied.“It also came up that you broke their door on your way out.”
Trevor laughed.Apparently that was his nervous tic.“Well, come on, guys, I was pissed.I brought the dog back because it bit my hand, and they wanted to give me shit about getting another one.I thought they wanted people to adopt their dogs.”
“Good people who don’t lie about being experienced handlers,” Jessica pointed out.
Trevor glared at her.“Fuck you.”
“Quick temper, eh, Trevor?”Jessica replied.
Trevor rolled his eyes.“I lied because they said they only gave dogs to experienced handlers.”
“That dog, yes, because it was an aggressive breed that hadn’t been properly trained or socialized as a puppy,” Faith replied.“They wanted to place it in the care of someone who could handle it.”
“Well… He wanted a Chow Chow.”
“Your nephew.”
“Yeah.My sister…”
