Page 22 of So Insane

She chuckled and leaned back on the couch. She thought a moment longer, then said, “Projecting confidence is the hardest part.”

“And why is that hard?”

“That’s technically a second question,” Faith replied, “but since you answered that question as well, I’ll return the favor. Projecting confidence is difficult because the overwhelming majority of an investigation is spent not knowing the answers. You can’t know the answers until you know the right questions, and those questions take time to determine. But I can’t tell a grieving family member or an irritated police officer that I’m still trying to figure out the questions and don’t even know where to look for answers. I have to act as though I am completely certain where to go next, even when I’m as lost as they are.”

"That must place a lot of pressure on you, especially when the murderer you are chasing is still actively killing people."

Faith’s smile faded slightly. “I think we’ll move on to casual small talk now. If that’s okay.”

“Of course,” Dr. West replied. “So tell me about yourself. The parts of yourself you’d feel comfortable sharing with a relative stranger during casual small talk, of course.”

***

Michael tapped Faith on the shoulder, pulling her from her thoughts. She turned to him, and he handed her a cup of coffee. She took it and sipped gratefully. The arrival of morning had brought a wave of exhaustion to Faith. She regretted not taking advantage of the opportunity to sleep last night when Michael took over the watch.

Turk seemed completely unaffected by his own all-nighter and continued to listen intently, pausing every few moments to sniff the ground and the air. He looked as though he had found something, but each time Faith asked if he smelled something, he snorted and dipped his head in the negative again.

She allowed the brew to settle and revitalize her, then asked, “Have you heard anything from Kinzel or Jones?”

He shook his head. “Nothing yet. Jones is pretty sure that Tooley pulled a runner.”

She nodded. "I hate to say it, but that seems most likely. Either he ran into the caves and got lost just like Tyler and Clara, or he's somewhere in Canada right now. I'm leaning toward the latter. That being said, when do the police plan to start looking through the caves?”

“Jones is sending a team after breakfast. They should be here in two hours or so.”

“Wonderful,” Faith said. “Fingers crossed we can put this behind us and go home soon.”

Michael frowned at her. “Even if that means we find them dead?”

Faith thought of reminding him that if they were dead, it wouldn’t matter when they found the bodies, but he had a low enough opinion of her already, and it wouldn’t help her case if she said she wanted this case over with quickly so she could convince Michael to help her hunt West. So, she said, “No. I hope we find them alive, of course, but I’m being realistic. The probable explanation is that they got lost, wandered around, and are either dead or trapped underground. I hope the latter is true, but at this point, it doesn’t look likely. It also doesn’t look all that likely that these are murders. We have no reason to believe that Tooley is responsible for these deaths other than the fact that he happens to be a convict. He was never convicted of murder, and neither Tyler nor Clara had money, so I can’t see why he would kidnap them. I can definitely see why he would have run north as soon as possible.”

Michael shrugged. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

“But?”

“No buts. I just don’t trust anything that makes sense anymore because as soon as I start trusting it, it blows up in my face.”

Faith lowered her eyes and nodded. “Yeah, I get that.”

Michael didn’t reply. He sipped his coffee, and after a moment, he said, “I’m thinking when the police get here, we start talking to the townspeople. It’s a small enough town that they should know our victims. We can’t rule out the possibility that someone in town is responsible for the killings.”

“Maybe,” Faith allowed, “but I don’t think so.”

“Why not? If he is using the caves, then that would require local knowledge to accomplish effectively.”

“If he’s using the caves,” Faith reminded him. “If there’s even a killer to begin with. But yes, I agree we should talk to the townspeople. I just don’t want to make any assumptions going into it.”

“Fair enough,” Michael replied. “How are you feeling?”

Faith lifted an eyebrow in surprise. She hadn’t expected Michael to show much interest in her feelings.

“I’m fine,” she said, “hanging in there. You?”

“I’ve had better days,” he admits, “but I’m learning to live with disappointment.”

She lifted her coffee cup. “I’ll drink to that.”

Michael looked as though he had something else to say, so when Faith finished her drink, she said, “Okay, what is it? What else is on your mind?”

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