Page 49 of So Bleak

A shrill laugh escaped the killer’s mouth. This was exciting! This wasn’t the killer’s original plan, but it would be fun to have one of the victims recognize the agent of their doom.

The killer grinned happily as the sedan sped toward home. Today would be a good day, after all.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

The Boss called Faith as they drove back home. Turk had once more found nothing at the scene, and the security cameras likewise proved useless, so they were heading back to Faith’s apartment in the absence of any more leads.

And the Boss, evidently, had finally caught word of Klein’s demise. “Bold, what the hell happened?”

Faith sighed. “It looks like he was already dead when you and I talked this morning.”

“What? He was killed at a steakhouse in the morning?”

“No,” she replied. “He was killed last night. PD was afraid of a media circus, so they convinced everyone to stay quiet and waited until the morning to call us.”

The Boss sighed. “Jesus. That looks really bad, Bold.”

“I know. Michael’s going to make an official complaint to PD leadership.”

“That looks really bad for us, Bold. For you.”

Faith pressed her lips together. “Well, I don’t know what you want me to do about that, Boss. It wasn’t my choice for PD to fuck up like this.”

“I’m not blaming you, but the fact is that this looks really bad. Washington’s already watching you closely, and now a case has been impacted by the fact that you’re the person on that case.”

“How does this impact the case? It’s only a few hours.”

“It’s fourteen hours, Bold. And you’re smart enough to know that even a fourteen-minute delay can mean the difference between life and death.” He sighed. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have put you on this case. It’s too close to home. I should have had Desroulaux and Chavez handle it.”

Faith’s lips thinned further. “Sir, I assure you, I am perfectly capable of doing my job wherever I’m assigned.”

“That’s not the point, Bold. Yes, I know you’re capable of doing your job. Your skill set is not in question right now. But the fact that it's here in the city West hails from, the city you hail from, where West attacked you multiple times, where he was finally arrested attacking you again, where he's about to be placed on the most visible trial of the past thirty years means that there's extra scrutiny, and I've put you right at the center of it. I should have kept you strictly for the out-of-state cases."

Faith could see where this was going, and she didn’t like it. “Boss, I want this case. I have a profile now. We’re making good progress.”

“Bold—”

“No. I know what you’re going to say, and the answer is no. I can handle this, Boss.”

“Bold, it’s not about what you can or can’t handle. It’s about what’s right for the Bureau.”

“What’s right for the Bureau is for its most capable two field agents to run the case. This killer is not slowing down. If anything, he’s escalating. We have four deaths within two weeks, three of them within the last of those weeks. Each person he kills is not only a tragedy in and of itself, but it makes PD and the FBI look incompetent. We’re making progress, and we are your best chance of solving this case.”

There was silence on the other end. Michael glanced nervously at Faith, and Turk whined softly. Faith waited with bated breath for the Boss's response.

Please make the right call, Boss. Please.

The Boss finally sighed. “You can finish this case, Bold. After that, I’m sorry, but I’m going to follow Washington’s recommendation and put you on desk duty for the time being. It’s the best chance we have of making sure you aren’t permanently removed from the field.”

Faith sighed with relief. It wasn’t good that she was going to be pulled from the field, but she could handle that problem later. Right now, she needed to find her killer, and she needed to find him fast.

“Thank you, sir. You won’t regret it.”

“I really wish you hadn’t said that,” the Boss muttered just before hanging up.

Faith sighed and ran her hands through her hair. “Okay. So you heard all that.”

“Yep. They want you hung out to dry, right?”

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