Page 61 of So Twisted

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Wonderful! Dr. Lawson will be excited to meet you. He talks about you a lot.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. He really respects the work you’re doing at the Council Bluffs Animal Rescue Sanctuary. He tells me all the time that you’re going to be the next face of American conservation.”

Lisa felt a flush climb her cheeks. “That’s high praise.”

“He means it, too. He’s a big supporter of the Four-R Initiative.”

Her anxiety and irritation vanished at that. “Oh! I’m glad to hear it. Maybe he can mention something like that to the Ecological Association. Any endorsement helps.”

“I’m sure he’d be delighted. In the meantime, if you’d like to come in and have some coffee, I’ll call him and let him know you’re waiting for him. It shouldn’t be long at all. He’s rarely out long after dark.”

Lisa smiled. “Thank you. That’s very kind, Mr…”

“Merrick,” he replied. “Jason Merrick.”

He held the door open for her, and Lisa walked inside, her hope for the future restored.

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

Faith frowned when she saw the other car parked in front of Dr. Lawson’s house. “There’s someone else here.”

“Yeah, I see it,” Michael said, checking the load on his weapon. “Do you want to wait for backup?”

“Cuthbert texted me that he’s sending units,” Faith replied. “They’ll be here in ten minutes, but I don’t want to wait for them. We’ll go in with Turk. We should be able to handle a few people, and that’s if this new arrival is even violent.”

“I’m going to tell dispatch about the situation anyway,” Michael said. “I know we’re pretty sure we’re chasing one guy, but if we run into multiple killers in there, I at least want the police aware.” He frowned at her. “On record, I would like to point out that I think we should wait for backup, but I know that you won’t listen to me.”

“Nope.”

The three of them left the car. Turk padded silently in front of the two human agents. It reminded Faith of the wolves at Hawkins’ place. She was glad this wolf was on their side.

They heard a commotion as they approached the house. Faith heard squawking, screeching, growling and grunting along with the sound of glass and ceramic shattering and wood splintering.

She looked at Michael and asked, “Did you call animal control too? I have a feeling we’ll need them.”

Michael sighed and dialed the number. “Another reason to wait for backup.”

“Another reason to hurry,” Faith countered. “Someone could be in danger in there.”

Michael’s expression turned grim. “You think Jason brought someone back here?”

"Maybe. Or someone showed up to talk to Dr. Lawson, who was on his list."

“You think he’s hunting Lawson’s connections?”

“I think Lawson is unwittingly giving him access to the identities of potential victims,” Faith replied.

Michael alerted animal control to the situation, and Faith checked her weapon one more time. She looked down at Turk and gave him a half-smile. "Okay, boy. Let's do this."

Michael put his cell phone back in his pocket and took a deep breath. “All right. Do we knock or do we just go in?”

“We knock,” Faith said. “Then we go from there.”

Faith knocked loudly. “Jason? This is the FBI! Open up!”

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