Page 13 of So Wicked

Turk trotted to Jacob and laid his head on Jacob’s lap. Jacob looked at the dog with almost fatherly affection. “Maybe I’ll get a dog.”

“You should. You’d be the best puppy parent ever.”

Jacob grimaced. “Puppy parent? God damn, Bold. You’ve been living among the savages for too long.”

“Wait until I tell you about my favorite socially and environmentally sustainable coffee shop.”

“Keep it up, and I’ll have you run laps around the neighborhood in full gear.”

“I might actually do that tomorrow. I ran clean today, but I don’t feel exercised.”

“See? Aren’t you glad you came over here? You can finally learn how to be a Marine again.”

Faith smiled, but her eyes shifted away from Jacob. He watched her for a moment, then stood and cleared their empty plates. “Okay. Spill it. It makes me sick watching grown adults mope, so tell me what’s bothering you before I make you do burpees untilIget tired.”

She chuckled, but there was less mirth in her laughter this time. “I just hate feeling like I have no control.”

She waited for him to crack another joke, but he nodded seriously as he retrieved two beers from the fridge. He handed one to Faith and said, “I’m going to the living room. You can follow me, or you can shout at me from the dining room, but if you do that, you have to stand at attention and address me as First Sergeant.”

“I’ve been calling you First Sergeant the first time. I don’t think I’ve used your name once since arriving here.”

“At attention, Marine.”

Faith rolled her eyes and followed Jacob to the living room. She sat on the couch while he sprawled on his easy chair and flipped the tv on to the local news. He kept the volume low and said, “I’m not an FBI agent, Faith, but I understand how frustrating it is when the brass makes decisions for the good of the policymakers and not the good of the boots in the field. Major Yeltsin used to tell me that the reason I was a good First Sergeant was that I could call the brass sons of bitches andarticulate why, then still hold my Marines accountable to their decisions.”

“I feel like there’s a lesson there, First Sergeant, but I’m not sure what it is. Will you have mercy on a poor crayon-eater and explain it to me?”

He smiled. “The lesson is a very simple and very brutal truth. Sometimes we don’t get our way.”

“Well, sometimes people die when we don’t get our way.”

“Yes. That’s the brutal part.”

She looked away, and they sat in silence for several minutes. Jacob finished his beer and headed to the kitchen. He returned with Turk, a bag of dog treats and two more beers. He handed one beer to Faith and said, “Just so you know, Staff Sergeant, I’m going to let Specialist Turk eat as much of these treats as he likes.”

Faith smiled. “Go ahead, First Sergeant.”

He handed a very happy Turk the first treat, then said. “The thing is that sometimes people die when wedoget our way. The job of the brass is to figure out how to maximize our success, minimize our losses,andkeep the bean counters happy. That’s a very, very hard job, and one I’m grateful I’ve never had to do. I don’t know if your bosses are making the right decision. Idoknow that you made an oath to follow lawful orders as an FBI agent. At least, I’m assuming you did.”

“Something like that.”

“Then you have to trust that they’re making the best decision possible with the information they have.”

“But what if they aren’t? What if I know they aren’t?”

Jacob sipped his beer. “Then you need to make a fully informed decision and be ready to suffer the consequences.Allof the consequences.”

Faith lowered her eyes. Jacob's meaning was clear. If she felt strongly enough about the Messenger case to break the rules shewas bound by, then she needed to be ready to lose her career over it if it came to that. So, was sheabsolutelycertain she was right? Or did she just want to be right because she didn’t want to accept that the Messenger might actually be able to keep killing and get away with it?

“God damn it.”

She frowned. “What is it?”

Jacob turned the volume on the tv up. “Listen.”

“…was found in Carmel Valley of Peace Pet Cemetery late last night. The cemetery is only a block from Dr. Summers’s veterinary practice at Carmel-Westfield Animal Medical Center. Police have released few details of the crime scene so far, but they have suggested the crime was unusually disturbing. At the moment, it is unclear what the motive might have been.”

The screen showed an image of a woman in her early forties, attractive with a bright smile and playful gray eyes.

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