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Derek smiled. “Fair enough. Faith, Michael, I’m sorry that we made your lives harder while you were here, and I’m particularly sorry that we bitched at you about making our lives harder. Rest assured, if, God forbid, we ever need your help again, we will be one hundred percent at your beck and call.”
“Beautifully said,” Faith answered with a smile. “Thank you.”
Derek nodded, and Travis said, “Yeah, the kid’s right. Thank you.”
“Such eloquence!” Michael said. “Truly, his words must have touched your heart.”
“Keep it up, and I’ll take it back,” Travis said. “I like you, Mike, but my emotions are notoriously fickle.”
“Oh please,” Derek scoffed. “Your last name is Bear, first name Teddy. You’re not fooling anyone with the cranky, fake Boston accent.”
The two men bickered back and forth for several more minutes. Michael and Faith exchanged a knowing smile. Turk continued to blissfully ignore the four humans as he focused on his meal.
Three hours later, the three of them were in the air. Michael, as usual, promptly fell asleep. Turk, as a K9, was allowed to remain in the cabin with them instead of being stowed in a crate in the hold. He slept as well, his head resting on Faith’s feet.
Faith couldn’t sleep. As the worries of Tucson and the latest killer, assigned the fanciful yet unimaginative name of the Broken Vow Killer, faded into the background of her mind, the worries of home resurfaced.
She had a relationship she had to either save or let go of. She had a therapist to deal with twice a week until the next case landed on her desk.
And she had another killer, one far more prolific and elusive than Batty, waiting for her.
She closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, but sleep refused to come.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
“You know he’s only hard on you because he sees potential in you, right?” David said.
Faith couldn’t resist laughing at that.
“What?” David said, reddening. “It’s true!”
Faith shook her head. “The Boss is hard on everyone. I don’t think he’s smiled once in his life! You know I heard he failed Boot Camp because he kept making his drill instructors cry?”
“Now you’re just exaggerating,” David said.
“Not by much,” Faith said. “Seriously, though, I know he sees potential in me, but he’s hard on me because he’s hard on everyone. Always has been. He’s a good boss, he’s just hard to be around sometimes.”
“Yeah, I can understand that. My father’s a lot like that.”
“Really? Was he upset that you chose to become a vet?”
“Oh, no, not at all,” David said. “He’s not a drill sergeant type. More the passive-aggressive, ‘I’m disappointed in you, son,’ type.”
“Ouch,” Faith said.
“Yeah, it’s not that fun,” David agreed, “but it’s not all bad. He’s proud of me now. It just took a while to convince him that I could have a social life and still be successful.”
“Ah,” Faith said, “were you a social butterfly?”
He chuckled. “I mean,Idon’t think so. I just had friends, and we went out on weekends.”
“Tearing shit up, drinking, partying,” Faith speculated. “Did you party? I bet you did. I bet you were popular with the ladies.”
David reddened and stammered, and Faith laughed. “Ha! I knew it! You used to sleep around, and you’re coming at me trying to ask for commitment after only a month. How many other girls have you said that to?”
David’s face fell, and Faith quickly backpedaled. “Sorry,” she said, “that was a joke. I was just joking. I didn’t mean it.”
“No, it’s okay,” David said. “Actually, I want to apologize to you. I should have saved that conversation for later. It’s just … well, honestly, Faith, I haven’t said that to anyone else before you. I did used to … play the field, but I don’t want to do that anymore. It’s just empty, and … well, anyway, I know we have a long way to go before we get anywhere past just having fun, but I wanted to make sure that was something you wanted. If not, that’s fine, but …”
