Page 35 of So Sinister
“This is something the CIA might find out about too,” Jeff said, still watching the road.“If someone tells someone else that some random person looked into someone’s death, and the CIA finds out it’s one of the people they killed, then they’ll know you’re not behaving.”
David’s face fell.That would put Jeff and Greg at risk too.“Oh, never mind.I don’t want you to—”
“Stop,” Greg said and meant it.“We don’t mind the risk.Butyouneed to know what you’re gettingyourselfinto.Are you sure you want to go this far?”
David thought of Turk and imagined the life in those eyes gone, imagined him reduced to a tool to be used and then discarded.
“I’m sure.”
“Okay,” Greg said, turning around.“We’ll make that happen.”
David’s spirits lifted again, but a stone formed in his stomach as well.They might be willing to accept this risk, but it was a very serious risk.David wasn’t just sticking his own neck out.He was sticking the necks of a lot of good, innocent people out with his own.Were there lives worth less than the lives of the dogs he was trying to save?
He thought the question was unfair, but that was only because he knew the answer.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Faith allowed Jessica to drive them back from their abortive interview with Kylie Wilton.She was exhausted from the encounter, the general frustration of the case, and the problem with the news.She wanted time to let her thoughts float free and see if any of them settled to the bottom.
She intended to focus on the case, but her mind chose to focus on the Bridgette conundrum.The reporter was the stereotypical example of give them an inch and they’ll take a mile.Faith never really considered Bridgette an ally, but she had underestimated just how much of a thorn in their side she could be.Now their careers were in jeopardy, and almost certainly, Bridgette would leverage that to get more from them in exchange for presenting the FBI in a more positive light.
The challenge was going to be minimizing the impact of Craig Daniels’ defamation lawsuit.At first, Faith thought the attention would at least keep him off the street, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized it could backfire badly on them.If it turned out he was their killer, his lawyers could use the interaction in front of the warehouse to build a case for coercion.There was a potential—slight but still there—that he could walk entirely free.
And Faith was trapped.The only way they could get out of that was if Bridgette admitted fault in her actions earlier, and there was no way of that happening.Maybe there was nothing they could do about this, and she would just have to accept what came of it.
She glanced at her partner.Jessica’s lips were pursed, and her knuckles nearly white around the steering wheel.This wasn’t fair to her.If Faith were barred from field work and forced back into full-time instruction, that would be hard, but she could live with it.She’d retired once before and done okay.Turk was getting old, anyway, and she wouldn’t feel horrible about giving him a few years of relaxation at the end of his life.
But Jessica was just starting out.She was a young, ambitious agent, and already her reputation was tainted just by association with Faith.It wasn’t fair, but as Jack Preston used to say, fair was what you paid the airlines to fly.
She sighed.Jessica looked at her and asked, “Everything okay?”
“Yeah.Just thinking.”
“Careful.I hear that’s fatal.”
Faith snorted.“Sure can be.”
She pulled her phone from her pocket and snorted again when she saw five missed calls from Bridgette.She’d silenced her number in her phone, apparently for good reason.
Then again, why would Bridgette call her so many times in a row?Did she have information?It might gall Faith to use information from that source, but if it was good information, and it helped them catch their killer, then she would have to bite the bullet.
She returned the calls, and almost instantly, Bridgette’s cheery voice answered, “Hi!Oh my God, I thought you were mad at me!”
“I’m furious with you,” Faith said calmly, “and you should take that very seriously.”
Jessica frowned, then frowned more deeply when Faith mouthed,Bridgette.
“Come on, Faith, that’s not nice,” Bridgette singsonged.“I really am just trying to help you.”
“Let’s make a deal,” Faith said.“You don’t bullshit me, and I won’t bullshit you.”
“Yes, you will.Of course you will.That’s what law enforcement does.They bullshit people because it’s the only way to get the answers they want.That’s another thing you and I have in common.”
Faith took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.“Bridgette, your little stunt is going to cost your network and my Bureau a lawsuit.”
Bridgette scoffed.“So what?We’ll settle for fifty grand, and Craig will be the happiest little murder suspect on Earth.Do you know how much advertising revenue our network made for the story we just ran?”
“It could also cost us our case,” Faith said.“He has grounds for defamation and possibly for coercion.”
