He sighed and nodded, rubbing his eyes with his palms.“Yeah, yeah.That’s it.”
She reached forward and squeezed his shoulder.“I get it.You don’t think I do, but I do.It sucks to feel like you’re sitting still doing nothing while criminals are running rampant hurting innocent people.But I’ve been in your position before, and I’ve made the wrong decision.We both know what happened when I did that.”
David winced, but the pain wasn’t from his current, nearly healed injuries.It was a memory of his encounter with Franklin West, the vicious serial killer known as the Copycat for his adoption of an earlier serial killer’s MO.
He had adopted something else from that killer, an obsession with Faith stemming from the Donkey Killer’s death in the middle of torturing Faith.Michael had killed the Donkey Killer, but for some reason, West’s twisted mind had decided that Faith should be the object of his fixation.
David had met Faith into the middle of the FBI’s investigation into the Copycat.Faith’s career—and her relationship with David—had landed in hot water multiple times due to her own obsession with catching him.In hindsight, Faith had come to the conclusion that a lot of West’s obsessions with her was fueled by her own obsession with catching him.David wasn’t sure about that, but he was sure that West had invaded his home and beaten him within an inch of his life to get to Faith.He didn’t blame Faith for that, but he understood the point she was trying to make.
He smiled and took her hand.“You’re right.I’m sorry.It’s hard for me to take a back seat, but it’s the right thing to do, and I’ll do it even though I hate it.”
She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him.Her smile turned coy, and she said, “Are you sure you don’t want me to help you deal with your jealousy?”
He laughed.“Well, I would love to screw your brains out, but I want to make it clear that it’s not because of jealousy.It’s because I am keenly aware of how good you are in bed and would like to experience it again.”
She giggled and kissed the tip of his nose.“Okay.Sounds good.”
And, of course, that was when her phone rang.David fought to keep the frustration out of his face.Now that Faith was taking cases again, it seemed like she was called away more often than she was home.It would be averybad idea to have that argument right after resolving the previous one, though, so David kept his mouth shut.
Faith checked her phone.“Oh wow.I haven’t talked to her in years.”
David’s brow furrowed, but Faith didn’t offer an explanation.She just answered, getting to her feet and stepping into the living room.Turk looked questioningly at David, and he lifted his hands.
Faith gasped a moment later, and both dog and husband instantly came to alert.“Oh my God,” Faith whispered.“Oh no.Oh God.”
“Faith?What is it?Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, fine,” Faith said, waving distractedly at him.“Hold on.When did he die?”
David shared a sober look with Turk.No conversation that included that question was “fine.”Whatever had happened, their lives were about to be turned upside down yet again.
CHAPTER TWO
“Chaplain Hayes,” Faith explained.“He was assigned to my company in Iraq.”
She was sitting at the kitchen table, David’s arm around her.She’d spent just over an hour on the phone hearing her old Marine buddy Staff Sergeant Corinne Poulter tell her that Chaplain Hayes had been found murdered.
“He was a good man.Some chaplains, they’re just… I don’t know how to say it.Going through the motions, I guess?But Hayes wasn’t.He really believed in his faith, and he really did want to help people in need.Usually, chaplains are just there.Available if you need them, but they don’t go out of their way to reach out to you.Hayes actually cared.He actually went out of his way to get to know the people in our company.To get to know me.”
“Yeah,” David said, nodding as though he understood.“I’m glad you got to know him.”
He didn’t, of course, but he was smart enough to know that Faith needed support right now, and he was doing his best to give it.She loved him for that.David could be a dork sometimes, but he was a good husband.When he wasn’t off trying to get himself killed.
A crime of which you are wholly innocent, of course,she thought with a healthy dose of sarcasm.
She couldn’t find the energy to worry about the Sierra case right now, though.Chaplain Hayes had died, and while Faith hadn’t spoken to the man in over fifteen years, she still remembered him fondly.You never forgot the bonds forged in blood.
“Are you going to go see his family?”David asked.
Faith shook her head.“I don’t know.Maybe.It’s different, the military thing.Sometimes families want to be a part of that, and sometimes they want that part of their loved ones separate from their part.Or they want their loved ones to themselves but tolerate the fact that the military will always be a big part of who they are.I don’t know.”She sighed and rubbed her eyes.“Boy, my head’s all over the place.”
“Take your time,” David said.“This is rough news.You don’t need to reconcile yourself to it all at once.”
“Yeah,” Faith said.
She looked into the living room.TheDog Whispererhad given way to a thirty-minute infomercial on some sort of gadget designed to freshen the inside of shoes while also keeping them organized and out of the way.Turk was pretending to watch it while glancing at Faith every fifteen seconds to make sure she was okay.He understood that sometimes Faith needed private time with David, but he spent that time on constant alert to any threat to his handler.Faith loved him so much.
“I guess he was murdered,” Faith said.
