AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The homeless man blinked and looked hopefully up at him. “Really? I can?”
“Sure,” the guard said, “I’ll bet there’s a hole with your name on it somewhere around here. You want me to find it for you?”
His grin widened into the vicious leer of a crocodile. The homeless man blinked in confusion. “You said there’s a bed somewhere?”
The guard sighed. This man was clearly too far gone to understand humor. He stood straight and said, “This is private property. I’m afraid I have to ask you to leave the premises.”
“But you said I could stay here,” the man whined. “You said—”
The guard looked back down at the homeless man. Something in the guard’s eyes broke through the haze of alcohol and drugs, and the homeless man quieted.
The guard kept his eyes on the homeless man for a long time. He wasn’t smiling anymore. His grip reflexively tightened and relaxed on his heavy steel flashlight. The homeless man, whose name at one time was Leon Montgomery, didn’t retain enough discernment to truly recognize the danger he was in, but all animals have instincts, and his was to run.
He shuffled backwards and got warily to his feet. “All right, man,” he slurred, “I’ll move on.”
The guard inhaled deeply. When he exhaled, he smiled again. “Have a pleasant evening.”
The man who had once been named Leon didn’t waste any time. He turned and shuffled away, looking back only once he was past the wrought-iron gate.
The guard kept his eyes on the homeless man until he turned the corner onto the cross street. Then he took another deep breath and resumed his patrol.
CHAPTER EIGHT
They decided to order in for dinner. With no leads to follow until Missy got back to them about the cemetery employees, they decided to head to the hotel for the evening.
“Can you eat dinner in the same room as me or does Ellie consider that cheating too?” Faith teased.
Michael frowned at her, and she lowered her eyes. “Sorry. Bad joke.”
He sighed. “No, it’s all right. We can eat together. No big deal. It’s just…”
His voice trailed off, and Faith rescued him. “You don’t have to explain yourself, it’s okay. I get it. I didn’t exactly leave the best first impression.”
Michael shrugged. “It’s not your fault.” He glanced at Turk, who sat in between the two beds of Faith’s room and watched TV. “It’s that asshole’s fault.”
Turk cast an injured glance at Michael, who chuckled and walked over to scratch his chin. “Just kidding, buddy. You don’t know any better.”
“Would it help, you think, if I came over and apologized?” Faith asked.
Michael sighed. “No, probably not. I think we just need to give it a little time. She’ll come around. It’s just tough with her ex still dragging his feet on the divorce.”
“I get that,” she said.
She let the subject drop, having learned from experience that the less she pried into Michael’s personal life, the better.
They ordered the pizza and right after Faith hung up, her phone rang. She looked at the number and swore. “It’s Dr. West,” she told Michael. “I forgot to tell him I’d be missing this session.”
She stepped outside and answered. “Hey, Dr. West, sorry. I totally forgot to tell you I was on a case.” She frowned as a thought struck her. “The Bureau didn’t tell you?”
“They don’t share schedules with me,” he replied. “It’s a new privacy policy. They don’t want agents thinking I’m spying on them.”
“Got it,” Faith said. She didn’t really, but the Bureau often issued policies that made no sense, so this didn’t surprise her. “Anyway, I’m really sorry I missed the session.”
“Not a problem,” he replied. “Duty comes first. Can you tell me what case you’re working on?”
“No, sorry,” she said, “I can’t share details about an ongoing investigation.”
“It’s not the Copycat Killer case, is it?”
