Page 48 of So Twisted

“We don’t know that Nathan Reed is innocent, either, but if you can trust the way Turk’s tail wags, I can trust the mountain of evidence that suggests that Nathan Reed is quite fine brutally murdering people who mistreat animals. Including his repeated, proud admission that he is.”

“But he wouldn’t leave his dogs. You believe that, surely.”

“I believe that he’s the sort of person who will see something, get pissed off, and act without thinking.”

“Well, it takes thought to build the weapons our killer built. These are planned killings, not heat-of-the-moment killings.”

Michael was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his tone was quieter, but he was still irritated. “We have him in a convenience store minutes after Dr. Vasquez’s murder wearing bloody clothing. Come on, Faith. Look at the evidence. We have a connection with all three victims, bad blood with two of them, violence against one of them, and Reed in a bloody outfit a mile away from the third one ten minutes after she was killed. All of that versus, ‘Well, my dog likes him, so he must be innocent.’ Think. Use your head.”

Faith took a deep breath to control her anger. They’d been through this so many times before. Michael would be convinced that the evidence was ironclad and immovable and would only point to one conclusion. Faith would get a hunch that suggested a different conclusion. Invariably, Faith was right. Well, not invariably, but far more often than not. But hestilldidn’t trust her.

And the worst part was that, in this case, he had a valid point. She really didn't have anything other than Turk's behavior to justify her position.

“Okay,” she said. “Fine. We have the police watching Reed now, so they’ll let us know if they get anything. In the meantime, we should explore other possibilities. We have a chance to look into Reeves’ personal life now, like you wanted to earlier. When we get to the hotel, we can—”

“We’re not going to the hotel.”

Faith frowned. “We aren’t?”

“No. I’ll send your stuff home after you.”

Faith stiffened. “Send ithome?”

“We’re going to the airport,” Michael said. “I’m putting you on a flight home, and I’m waiting for Ralston.”

Faith was too shocked to react at first. She just stared at Michael in disbelief.

Then the hurt settled on her. “You’re sending me home?”

“Yes. That’s what the Boss ordered us to do.”

“But… you backed me up. When I was talking to the Boss, you backed me up.”

Michael sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. That was a mistake.”

“Amistake? And the answer is to replace me withRalston?”

“The Boss is replacing you with Ralston because your presence here could be a liability to the Bureau.”

“Don’t you dare hide behind them,” Faith hissed. “You agree with him now.”

“I never disagreed with him. I was just willing to overlook things because I valued your input, but… Look, you have some things to come to terms with regarding Turk, and right now, it’s affecting your ability to do your job objectively.”

An angry lump formed in Faith’s throat. “So you’re sending me home.”

Michael lifted his hand and let it drop. “It’s the right thing to do. Turk’s sense of smell is unreliable, and your mental state is unreliable. You two need some time to process.”

Faith sat ramrod straight in her seat. At the moment, the only thing she could process was that her partner was sending her away from the case they were working on because she trusted her K9s opinion and disagreed with his assessment of a suspect. It was a kind of betrayal she never would have expected from Michael.

“What’s wrong, Michael?” she asked softly. “We’ve disagreed before. You’ve never done anything like this.”

Michael sighed again. “I told you from the beginning that I understood the Bureau’s position when it came to you and Turk. In the past, keeping you in the field has proven to be the correct thing to do. But it’s dangerous for you to decide that a suspectis innocent based on Turk’s reaction to him. That concerns me, Faith. Honestly, it does. When I heard they were pulling you out of the field, I thought it would be a good chance for you to decompress. You’ve never taken a vacation before. You’ve never shut down the crime-solving part of your brain. You’ve suffered immense stress along with actual psychological and physical torture in the meantime. You’re in the middle of a confusing time in your personal life, and you’re struggling with Turk’s mortality. And you have this new killer chasing you. It’s a lot to handle. I think you need some time to handle it.”

“I can still do my job.”

“It’s affecting you,” Michael insisted. “During our last case, you were so convinced that you’d never be able to talk to anyone else your whole life that you confessed to still having feelings for me because I was the only person who understood you. And now… Look, if it wasn’t directly affecting the case right now, I’d just deal with it, but it is, and I can’t.”

Faith’s head hurt. She was rarely shocked so deeply but hearing her best friend and partner saying all of these things had thrown her for a loop. Michael didn’t trust her anymore? The only time he’d ever questioned her like this was when she was trying to learn the Copycat Killer’s identity while balancing her job. That time, she’d nearly gotten herself fired, and shehadmade mistakes.

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