“Okay, I’ll do that while you talk to Hansen.”
“Sounds good!”
Jessica was brimming with excitement as she called Hansen and informed him of the possible break in the case.Faith’s reaction was more reserved, but she was excited too.Jessica was showing the focus and drive that Faith normally would.For the first time, Faith thought of Jessica as an equal and not just a junior agent.And thanks to Jessica’s dedication, they had a solid lead squarely in their sights.
Faith checked Anthony’s address with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and got a listing in Garland, a city just south of Plano.He lived in the planned community of Firewheel, an upscale suburb with large scale retail including a shopping mall, a golf park, and luxurious residential neighborhoods with large homes on large green lots interspersed with wooded streets and walkways.Pictures of the neighborhood showed multiple expensive cars in every home.Faith wondered what the carbon footprint of Anthony’s five-thousand-square-foot McMansion was and how many of his ecoterrorist friends knew he was probably using more water to keep his lawn lush and his trees full of leaves than fell in the entire city annually.
So, he was a hypocrite too.That made it easier to believe he would buy his own bullshit about “judgment.”Rules for thee and not for me.
“Okay,” Jessica said.“Hansen’s going to pass the message along.”
“Wonderful,” Faith said.“I have an address for Anthony Pierce.”
She showed Jessica, who laughed.“Ha.Of course, the eco-warrior lives like a suburban socialite.”
“He’s definitely a hypocrite,” Faith said, getting to her feet.“Let’s see if he’s a murderer.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Anthony Pierce’s home was even more luxurious than Faith first believed.It sat at the end of a large cul-de-sac lined with date palms.The sprawling quarter-acre yard sported not only the massive oak tree Faith had seen online but several fruit trees, most of them varieties of citrus.A grapefruit tree appeared to be nearly overgrown with ripe fruit, some of which had fallen to the ground and formed a carpet of ripe and rotting fruit surrounded by flies and various species of wasps.It was the only blemish on an otherwise flawlessly landscaped property that included sculpted bushes and thick flowerbeds closer to the house.
“Nice to see he’s saving the Earth,” Jessica said, thrusting her chin at a late-model Porsche sports car that was definitely not powered by an electric motor.
Faith frowned slightly.The hypocrisy wasn’t too shocking, but why would someone living like this feel a need to kill people?What were they lacking in life that they had to take out on others?
That was more of a rhetorical question.Faith knew that rich and successful people killed other people all the time, but it still shocked her to see it.
She knocked on the door, which had a huge NO SOLICITING sign placed directly at eye level just below one of those video camera doorbells.Predictably, there was no answer.
Faith knocked again and called, “FBI.Come to the door.”
No answer.She looked above the sign directly at the doorbell camera.“I see your car in the driveway, Anthony Pierce.I know you’re home.You need to answer your door right now, or this is going to become a scene that you don’t want your neighbors to witness.”
Sure enough, Faith heard scuffling a moment later followed by an exasperated sigh.Turk growled low in his throat, and Faith’s hand strayed toward her shoulder holster.
The door opened, and Anthony Pierce glared at them, his short black hair streaked with blond, his short, sturdy body tense with irritation and poorly disguised fear.“What the fuck is this?”he demanded.
“Hi, Anthony.I’m Special Agent Faith Bold.This is my partner, Special Agent Jessica Torres.And this is my K9 unit, Turk.”
Anthony’s eyes dropped to Turk, and the color drained from his face.Turk growled at him again, his ears pulled back against his head.Anthony swallowed.“Is he going to bite me?”
“I don’t plan on it,” Faith replied.
She let those words hang for a moment.She couldn’t be certain that Turk’s reaction was because he recognized Anthony.It could just be a response to Anthony’s aggression or a sense that he was contemplating violence.But itcouldbe that he recognized his scent.Faith was feeling better about Jessica’s lead by the second.
“Can we come in?”Jessica asked.
Anthony very clearly didnotwant them to come in.He looked behind them, probably checking to see if his neighbors were watching.He laughed and said, “I mean… I didn’t do anything wrong.I’m not sure what this is about.”
“Would you like us to say what this is about while standing on your porch in full view of the entire neighborhood?”Faith asked.She didn’t shout, but she didn’t take any pains to lower her voice either.
Anthony sighed and looked up at the sky as though asking God why he had to deal with this right now.“Fine.Come in.But if your dog shits on my floor, we’re going to have a problem.”
Faith couldn’t resist a little jab.“Dogs poop sometimes.It’s nature.”
Anthony reddened and glared at Faith but said nothing.He stepped back, and the three agents entered his home.Inside, it was just as opulent as outside.The furniture was expansive and expensive.A sectional couch big enough to seat a dozen people wrapped around a dark hardwood coffee table that sat in front of a truly massive television mounted above an electric fireplace.Giant jade statues of dragons flanked the tv, and there were at least a dozen potted plants between the living room and the equally enormous kitchen.
Faith nodded at the couch.“Nice place.That real leather?”
