Page 56 of So Deadly
Faith’s throat constricted when she heard the rasp in David’s voice.“Hi, honey.Are you okay?”
“I’ll live,” David said.“I have the data.I’m going to send it to you.They have the dogs here.We need to move fast before they move again.”
“Where are you?”Faith said, getting to her feet and pacing.
Her heart thudded in her chest.The exhaustion she felt a moment ago was gone, replaced by anxiety.Turk reacted the same way, whining and trotting next to her, hopping up and trying to look at the phone as if hoping to see David on the screen.
“Oklahoma City Police Department headquarters.Took me a little bit to convince them to let me use their computer, but when Michael backed me up, they agreed.Thanks for sending him after me, by the way.It came in clutch.”
Tears rolled down Faith’s cheeks now.She bit back her sob and nodded.“Are you okay, sweetie?Really?”
“I’m all right.Really.”
Faith took another deep breath and squeezed her eyes.“Okay.I love you so much.”
“I love you too.Any chance you can convince Smythe to send a team out here?Oklahoma City PD is going to close the roads and keep vehicles from leaving, but we really should have the FBI lead this.Oh wait.I guess I can ask Michael to do that.Sorry, I’m a little out of it.I’ve had a rough night.”
“Are you hurt?”Faith asked.
“I’ll live,” he said again in a haunted voice she had never heard from him before.“I’m not hurt badly, just shaken up.They got Jayce, though.”
Faith closed her eyes, squeezing some of the tears out.She felt almost guilty for her relief that Jayce was gone and not her husband.“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
“Yeah.Me too.Are you at home?”
“No, I’m just wrapping up a case.”
“Oh.You’re working?”
That brought another surge of guilt.She didn’t want David to think she’d forgotten about him.
Yet another reason it was time for her to step away.
But not yet.The CIA had hurt her husband.They had killed his friend.All because they wanted the right to abuse dogs and didn’t like that David wanted to stop them.
Her jaw tightened.“I’ll meet you in Oklahoma City.”
“Wewill meet him,” Jessica corrected.
Faith gave her a quick smile, then said to David.“I’ll coordinate with Michael on the way.We’re going to stop these bastards.”
Turk barked firmly in agreement.David, still sounding weary to the bone, said, “Thank you, honey.I love you.”
“I love you too.I’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon.”
She hung up and smiled at Turk.“You ready boy?One last bad guy to stop.”
Turk barked again, wagging his tail.The weariness in his eyes faded, and for a moment, she saw the young, strong dog she’d met all those years ago.
They stopped by Jenkins office for a very abbreviated goodbye then jogged to their car.Faith called Michael on the way and learned that he was already coordinating with the Oklahoma Field Office and had passed David’s data along to Director Smythe.“The mad lad did it.Can’t believe it, but he did it.”
“You can buy him a bottle of Scotch when we’re done.”
“Hell, I might buy him a case.This is going to be the biggest feather in the FBI’s cap since we busted John Gotti.”
Faith sped out of the parking lot just barely respecting Massachusetts traffic laws.Now that the finish line was in sight, she felt a rush of energy unmatched since her early days in the Bureau, back when she believed she was invincible and right and wrong were black and white.
