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“I promise.”
They parted with another kiss, and Faith drove home grinning like a schoolgirl.
Michael put on a show of being relieved at Faith’s presence, but he lingered for a solid half-hour while he scratched Turk behind his ears. Turk was clearly upset to see him go, and Faith placated him with a promise that Uncle Mike would come to visit soon.
“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” Michael said resignedly.
“Hey, if some detective from Tucson gets to call you Mike, your partner of almost nine years should also have that privilege.”
Michael grumbled, and Faith patted his cheek. “Grumble, grumble, grumble. Grr, grr, I’m Michael, and I’m a big, strong man.”
“I’m going to tell your boyfriend you touched me inappropriately,” Michael groused.
“I’m going to tell your girlfriend you slept with me,” Faith countered.
“Too late,” Michael said, “she already knows. I told her that a few minutes after I told her she was the best I ever had and a few seconds after she asked better than who.”
“Ouch,” Faith said drily. “How will I ever recover from that insult?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Michael said. “Hey, good luck with therapy next week.”
“Thanks for bringing that up,” Faith said.
“You’ll be fine,” Michael said. “I looked up Dr. West. He’s a teddy bear. An insufferable teddy bear, but a teddy bear.”
“Thank you,” Faith said. “I look forward to never needing to see him again.”
“That’s the spirit,” Michael said, giving her a thumbs up.
He left, and Faith turned to Turk. “All right, boy. Playtime’s over. Time to sleep. We have a long day ahead of us.”
Turk whined but went dutifully to the doggy bed in the kitchen that Faith knew he would leave the moment she herself was asleep. She brushed her teeth and dressed for bed, and as she slept, she thought of Jared Greenwood.
She had a lead on him. It might be nothing, but a security camera had picked up his car outside of a convenience store at a small town in upstate New York.
If they woke early enough, they could reach that town by lunchtime.
She closed her eyes, and this time when she dreamt, she was the one holding the knife, and Jared Greenwood was tied to a chair.
She grinned at him and said, “All right, little man. Let’s see how you bleed.”
***
Michael saw her car as soon as he pulled into the driveway. She had parked it in the driveway this time. He supposed that was an improvement.
He walked inside and found her sitting on the couch. She smiled at him, and as always, he was utterly staggered by that smile.
There was no guile in it. It was clear and bright and earnest, and he fell in love with Ellie all over again.
That made the fact that she had lied to him even harder to handle.
“Hey,” she said, smiling a little tentatively. “How was babysitting?”
“Good,” he said. “Turk’s a good dog. I almost wish I had kept him instead of giving him to Faith.”
“Yeah, German shepherds are good dogs. Bill and I had one for a while before we were dating.”
“Oh yeah?” Michael asked coolly.
