She rolled to her feet and dressed quickly.Turk watched her, concern etched in his soft brown eyes.The details of Faith’s dreams faded as she grabbed her vest and her shoulder holster.She could only just remember the shadowy figure and couldn’t remember the rest of what had happened.That was probably a good thing.
“Where’s the body?”she asked Jessica.
“Tarrant County Animal Shelter in Fort Worth.One of the morning shift workers found her.”
“Got it.Do we have a name yet?”
“Linda Hale.She was the volunteer coordinator.”
Faith nodded again and cinched her vest.“All right.Let’s go check it out.”
Jessica’s brow furrowed.“Faith, are you okay?”
“Fine,” Faith said, heading for the door.
“I ask because you were really distant last night, and now that I’ve woken you up and told you about the third body… Well, usually you’re really pissed off about stuff like that, but now you’re just kind of…”
She didn’t offer an adjective to finish that sentence.Faith sighed and replied, “I’m definitely not happy about a third innocent victim in forty-eight hours, Jess.But acting pissy about it isn’t going to change anything.I’m just going to do my job and find this killer as fast as I can.”
“Yeah, that’s kind of what I’m talking about.You’re not exactly present this time.Is this because of David?”
Faith rolled her eyes.Jessica wasn’t wrong, but she wasn’t in the mood to talk about it right now.“We’re handling the David thing.And thank you so much for your help with that.We’re handling this case too, and yeah, I’m really upset about the third dead body, but like I said, the way we make sure there aren’t any more dead bodies is to put our emotions aside and do our jobs.”
She stepped into the driver’s seat of the rental before Jessica could say anything else.When Jessica opened the back door, Turk hopped in and gave Faith an injured look.She was always the one who opened the door for him.
She sighed and reached back to scratch him under the chin while Jessica got into the front passenger seat.Jessica didn’t press Faith any more, but her silence was heavy as the three of them headed to their latest crime scene.
***
The Tarrant County Animal Shelter was a zoo when they arrived.In addition to being a fully functioning animal shelter, the building also served as headquarters for both Forth Worth and Tarrant County Animal Control.There were no fewer than eight police cruisers in front of the building when they arrived, and dozens of officers crowded the porch and the lobby within.
Turk barked to clear a path for them as they headed inside.The first person they encountered was Sergeant Hansen, who they hadn’t seen since Sarah Garrett’s crime scene the night they arrived.He was talking to a pale, trembling man in his mid-thirties who wore gray coveralls with a sewed-on name badge that read Martinez.
Faith walked up to them while Jessica and Turk headed into the room beyond to see the body.Martinez was trembling like a leaf and staring through Hansen with wide, shell-shocked eyes.“I can’t stop seeing it,” he moaned.“It’s like it’s burned onto my eyes.”
“Can’t stop seeing what?”Faith asked.
Martinez blinked at her.“Who are you?”
“Special Agent Faith Bold, FBI,” Faith said.“I’m here investigating these murders.”
He nodded.“Okay.”
Faith felt a flash of irritation, then remembered that this man had just walked into an incredibly brutal crime scene.Maybe a bit of sympathy was in order.“Mr.Martinex, you have my word that I will do everything in my power to find the person responsible for this and bring them to justice.I understand you’re in shock right now, but if you can help me out at all—"
“Her eye, man!”he blurted.“It was her fucking eye.”
“What happened to her eye?”
Martinez’s lower lip started to tremble, and Hansen put a hand on his shoulder.Martinez sniffed and said, “He poked it out with a screwdriver.”
“He?”
Martinez shrugged.“I mean, I assume it’s a guy.I can’t imagine a woman doing something like that.”
Lillian Martin’s crazed grin flashed across Faith’s mind.I can.“Do you have any idea who might have done this?”
He shook his head.“No.Whoever it was really didn’t like her, though.They left a note that said ‘bitch’ on her face.”
