AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They walked into the Boss’s office and were met with his typical sour frown. He nodded curtly at Faith, the closest she imagined he would come to acknowledging either of their grief.
They sat in the two chairs in front of the desk, and the Boss got straight to the point. "Goldwood, Arizona,” he said. “A little town right on the border with California. Two dead so far. Torn apart by dogs.”
Turk cocked his ears at that. Faith whistled. Michael swore. “Christ, we never get the simple ones, do we?”
“You want simple cases, go work for the police,” the Boss retorted. “We do adult work here.”
Faith suppressed a chuckle. Michael replied drily, “Glad to see you’re your normal cheerful self again.”
The Boss ignored him and said, “The first victim was killed hiking in a nature park just outside of town. The second was killed in an abandoned storage yard. The first victim looks like he never saw it coming. The second one definitely did. Defensive wounds on her arms and hands.”
“Jesus,” Michael said. “What a terrible way to go.”
“You said two victims, sir?” Faith asked.
“Yes,” the Boss confirmed. “Two victims.”
“Forgive me, sir, but isn’t the cutoff for FBI involvement three victims? And… well, are we sure these were murders? Coyotes could have killed the victim in the nature park, and guard dogs could have killed the victim at the construction yard. The company who owned the yard would be responsible for the death at the construction yard, but that would be a civil case, not a criminal one.”
“The cutoff for mandatory FBI involvement is three victims,” the Boss corrected. “You two have taken cases with fewer victims before, at least at the start of the case.” Faith’s lips thinned at the veiled insinuation as the Boss continued. “As far as if we’re sure it’s murder, it definitely wasn’t coyotes at the nature park and that lot has been vacant for years.”
“Still, sir,” Faith protested, “it seems like a leap to assume it’s murder. Unless there’s evidence we’re missing.”
“Well, the good news, Special Agent, is that you are highly qualified to find that missing evidence.”
Faith decided to avoid further protest. “What do we know about the victims?”
“First victim is Gerald Conway, 57. I liked to hike in the Sonora Nature Park. His body was found three days ago being picked apart by vultures.” Michael shuddered. “He was identified by his wedding ring.”
“Jesus,” Michael said softly. “I’m guessing not much evidence there.”
“Well, we know it was dogs and not coyotes,” the Boss replied. “Hopefully CSI in Goldwood will have more to tell you when you two arrive. The second victim might leave a little more for you to work with. Gigi Demetrious, 44. She was found last night.”
Faith’s skin crawled. Gigi had died—been torn apart, in fact—while she was in bed with David after trying to convince him to take steps to avoid the very same fate.
“Do the police have any leads?” Faith asked.
“No,” the Boss replied. “It seems these attacks were unprovoked, but there are no packs of feral dogs in the area, and a police search hasn’t turned any up.”
Now, it was beginning to sound like murder. It still wasn't nearly enough to justify FBI intervention, though. The Boss was clearly just looking for an excuse to get Faith away from the Copycat Killer case. By the time she returned, the case would be firmly in the hands of the New York field office. That wouldn’t stop her from doing some investigating of her own, but for now, the better part of valor was patience. She would take this case and allow the Boss to believe he had been successful in circumventing her involvement.
“When do we fly?”
As expected, the Boss’s answer was, “Today. Your plane leaves in two hours. Pack warm clothing. Goldwood’s hotter than Purgatory this time of year.”
“I thought Purgatory was cold,” Michael replied.
The Boss ignored the jibe, and Michael shrugged and followed Faith and Turk out of the office. When they were out of the building, Michael asked Faith, “Do you get the sense he’s just trying to make work for us?”
“That’s exactly what he’s doing,” Faith agreed, “but we saw this coming.”
“I saw it coming foryou,” Michael countered. “Not me.”
“Ouch,” Faith replied drily. “Well, you’re my partner, so until you put in a request to change that, you have to suffer the consequences of my poor decisions.”
“Relax, Faith,” he replied. “I’m just grouching. You know I’ll do that anyway.”
“I know,” Faith says, “Sometimes I think the Boss doesn’t like you because you remind him of himself.”
