Page 54 of So Silent

She reached Turk, who finally shook off the whistle and looked to his left down the street. He barked and shot forward.

Faith and Michael looked his direction, and Faith’s eyes widened.

Ahead of them, maybe twenty-five yards away, a man stood in the shadows on the side of a house, blowing a dog whistle.

The front door opened, and a tall blonde woman stumbled onto her porch, her hands pressed to her ears.

The two agents broke into a dead run. The killer readied a long dagger, its hilt gleaming in the sunlight.

“Hey!” Faith shouted. “Stop!”

The woman on the porch shrieked in pain and fell to the porch. The killer jumped in the air and turned toward Turk, eyes wide.

“Drop the weapon!” Faith cried.

The killer looked up at Faith, then sprinted behind the house. Turk followed, barking and growling.

“Get him Turk!” Faith cried. To Michael, she said, “Go to the woman on the porch. Stay with her in case we lose the suspect and he comes back.”

He nodded. “Be careful, Faith. Get that bastard.”

“I will,” she promised.

Then she ran after Turk.

Chapter Twenty Five

The killer was tall and lithe with long legs and a track star’s build. He maintained his distance from Faith even though she was running faster than she ever had in her life.

But Turk could outrun any human, and he quickly closed the gap. The killer looked over his shoulder and saw there was no way to outrun Turk. So, he lifted his whistle to his lips and blew.

Turk yelped and slowed, stumbling over his paws and crashing into a fence. He bared his teeth and tried to resume the pursuit, but the killer blew the whistle again, and Turk slowed once more. He growled and pressed forward, but every few seconds, the whistle blew and Turk lost ground.

Faith leveled her weapon at the killer and shouted, “Drop your weapons! Both of them! Do it now!”

The killer ignored her and blew the whistle again. Turk cried out in pain and came to a dead stop.

Anger surged through her. “Don’t you dare hurt my dog!”

The killer ignored her again, and she called. “Damn it, I will shoot you if you hurt him again!”

She couldn’t really follow through on that threat in a residential neighborhood, but she was hoping he wouldn’t realize that.

He didn’t, but unfortunately, instead of stopping and surrendering, he just veered right down a street, taking him out of her sights.

“Damn it,” she swore. “Come on, Turk! Just a little more!”

Turk got up and, with a deep snarl, lunged forward. He quickly outpaced Faith, and though he still cried out and stumbled every few seconds, he managed to keep moving forward.

They rounded the corner, and Faith swore. The killer was gone.

“Damn it! Turk, go find him. Come on, boy.”

Turk growled and put his nose to the ground. He trotted forward, and Faith noted that the killer didn’t use his whistle anymore. He was hoping to lose the dog, but he didn’t count on Turk’s sense of smell. A moment later, Turk barked and rushed toward another house.

He leaped into the air, and the killer emerged from behind the house and blew the whistle directly into Turk's ear. Turk twisted in the air and fell heavily to the ground, whining like he'd been shot. The killer drew his knife with a snarl and lunged for him.

“Hey!” Faith cried, leveling her weapon again.

---