Page 37 of So Deadly
Jessica leaned back and folded her arms across her chest.She pursed her lips and chewed on the bottom one.
“What is it?”Faith asked.
“I think we should be looking for a male suspect.”
Faith raised an eyebrow.“Why do you say that?”
“The violent nature of the crimes.Women do kill people, but not usually like this.If the victims were poisoned or even shot, I’d say it’s possible, but this is animalistic.This kind of rage is almost exclusive to males.”
“Almost is not completely,” Faith reminded her, “and I’ve encountered several female killers just as violent and rage-filled as men.The woman who nearly killed my husband was one of them.”
Jessica winced.“Sorry.I didn’t mean to bring that up.”
“No reason to be sorry.I brought it up.But I’m using the example to make a point.I think ruling women out is dangerous.”
“True, but—”
Jessica’s phone rang before they could continue the argument.“This is Jenkins.”
“That fast?”Faith replied.“Impressive.”
Jessica answered and put the phone on speaker.“Jenkins, you’ve got both of us.Go ahead.”
Jenkins sounded exhausted when he replied.“Guys, we’ve got another one.”
Faith leaned back in her chair and heaved a sigh.Jessica swore and kicked the desk chair, sending it sliding into the nearest bed and causing Turk to jump to his feet.
“Sorry,” Jessica said, shaking her head.“Where at?”
“Brookline.It’s just east of Newton.I’ll send you the address.We might get lucky on this one.The guy’s still alive.”
Faith leaped from her chair.“What?Really?”
“Really.For now, anyway.No clue how; I just got the call too.Paramedics are with him right now.They didn’t want to tell me if he could talk yet or anything, but maybe when they stitch him up, he can give us an ID.Not the most ideal way to find a break in the case, but as long as we’re staring at the clouds, we might as well look for silver, right?”
Faith was already pulling on her boots and grabbing her vest.“Send us the address.We’ll meet you there.”
The trio rushed from the hotel room, excitement outweighing their disappointment.Their investigation might have bogged down, but Faith wasn't too proud to get the answer she needed directly from the mouth of a victim, especially one who had thwarted the odds and survived.
Hang on,she pleaded with the unnamed victim.Just hold on a little longer for us.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
By the time they reached the small two-story house in Brookline, the place was surrounded by emergency vehicles.Four police cruisers were parked between a pair of paramedic vans, and four more police cruisers were parked across the street.An animal control van had pulled directly onto the lawn, its rear cage open.Faith pulled to a stop behind the cruisers across the street and hopped out just in time to see the paramedics wheeling a gurney out of the house.The body of a large man lay on the gurney, a respirator placed over his mouth.
She cursed and sprinted across the lawn.“Can he talk?”she asked, remaining well out of the paramedics’ way.
The one at the front of the gurney frowned at her.“Are you serious?We’re taking him to the hospital.”
“I just need a description,” Faith said.“This attack just happened.We might be able to catch the person who did this to him.”
The paramedic’s angry expression softened, but only a little.“Well, I don’t know what to tell you.This guy’s not conscious, and even if he was, he’s not saying anything to anyone.His throat’s been torn open.”
They had reached the paramedic van then.Faith caught a glimpse of the victim as the paramedics loaded him into the back of the van.He was in much better shape than the previous ones, but that was relative.His throat, as the paramedic indicated, was mangled, as was his face.His chest and limbs weren’t visible, but the amount of blood staining the sheet over him suggested they had been ravaged as well.Maybe it was too early to say he looked better actually.
The garage door began to open.Faith turned toward the noise, and Turk barked in alarm as two animal control officers carried the unconscious form of a Rottweiler out of the garage toward the animal control van.Faith could see the interior door of the garage leading into the house.It was broken nearly in half and bowed inward.
She jogged toward the dog, Turk following.Jessica headed into the house to examine the scene.
