She took a deep breath and smiled at him.“Okay.We’ll get back to work.”
“We will.And we’ll find the bitch who hurt Turk.You have my word on that.”
Faith thanked him and followed him back to the office to deliver the news to their superiors, but even though she agreed with his opinion on retirement, she knew he couldn’t keep his last promise.Maybe they would find the Messenger.Maybe they wouldn’t.Since Faith wasn’t allowed to touch the Messenger case, Michael wasn’t either.It was out of their hands.
She was still out there somewhere, and as long as she was, Faith would never feel truly safe.
CHAPTER THREE
Faith reviewed the case files while Michael drove to the crime scene.A retired veteran had been murdered and buried in a shallow grave near Hancock, New York, a few hours’ drive north of Philadelphia.Master Sergeant Paul Martinez, a former Air Force NCO who had retired just over a year prior after thirty years in the service.
“Why are we being called to this?”she asked Michael.“There’s only one victim.”
“He just so happens to have been killed within the only thirty acres of land in the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River owned by the federal government,” Michael replied.“That makes his death a federal case.As for whyus, it’s like Tabitha said.You’ve investigated cases of military members being targeted before.You’ve got experience with this, and you’re the resident guru on highly organized spree killers.”
Faith frowned.“He’s not a spree killer, though.There’s only one victim.”
“Only one so far, but come on, Faith.Look at the crime scene photographs.The man was posed for a funeral.”
“They found him with his hand sticking out of the ground,” Faith countered.
“A graduate student at the archaeological dig where the body was buried grabbed the hand thinking it was an artifact.”
Faith raised an eyebrow.“Really?And we buy that?”
“He’s got an alibi for the time of death.Speaking of, that time of death is between twelve and twenty-four hours before the body was found.Rigor was still set when they found him.”
Faith grimaced.“Poor kid.”
“Yeah, that’s a shit way to earn your extra credit.”
“So you said the body was buried at an archaeological dig?”Faith asked.“That’s not reflected in the report.”
“Last page.”
She turned to the last page and found a single sentence at the bottom of the location that identified an archaeological dig overseen by Dr.Anna Winters.“Ah.Is Dr.Winters going to meet us at the crime scene, or are we working with local officers?”
“No locals.Federal case, remember?As for Dr.Winters, she’ll be meeting us there.The archaeological dig is still going on.They hadn’t gotten to the crime scene yet.”
“But the person who discovered the body was digging there.”
“His story is that he had a hunch that he’d find something important, and he wanted to impress Dr.Winters.I guess he has a bit of a thing for her.”
“Hmm.”
“We can talk to him if you want,” Michael said, noticing Faith’s suspicion.
Faith shook her head.“Not yet.We’ll look at the crime scene and talk to Dr.Winters before we figure out our next steps.”
She closed the file and looked over at Turk.He lay in the back seat, eyes closed.She watched his chest rise and fall, his breathing strong and unobstructed.It was hard to believe that only a few weeks ago, she had watched him die on a hospital bed.
“I talked to David before we left,” Michael said.“He told me that Turk’s vitals are all clear.The poison’s been completely flushed from his system, and there’s no permanent damage.”
Faith knew all that.David had told her the day Turk was released from the hospital.“He’s very lucky,” she replied.
Michael nodded.He tapped the steering wheel, a habit of his whenever he was about to talk about something that made him uncomfortable.She sighed and turned to face the front.“Go ahead.We’re not going to be able to work together if you don’t get this off your chest, so go ahead.”
Michael nodded again.“I one hundred percent stand by my exhortation to you to remain an active field agent, but I do have to ask: why did you decide to retire?”
