Page 24 of So Wicked

“He could be. He might be trying to hide now that he’s defeated Turk’s nose.”

Slade shrugged and fell silent. He didn’t seem to have as much hope as Faith did. To be honest, she wasn’t particularly hopeful either, but she wasn’t ready to give up yet.

Then it occurred to her that smell wasn’t the only sense Turk had that was superior to their own. “Turk,” she called softly. “Use your ears. Listen for the suspect.”

Turk cocked his head, and Faith tapped her own ears. “Listen.”

Turk concentrated for a moment, then waggled his ears. Faith nodded. “Yes. Use those.”

Turk dipped his head and trotted forward, head lifted, ears scanning like radar dishes.

“Didn’t know dogs could move their ears like that,” Slade whispered. “He looks like a cat.”

Turk looked back and gave Slade a dubious look. The police officer lifted a hand in apology, and Turk resumed his search for the suspect.

The sky was darkening fast. According to Faith’s phone, they had two hours of daylight left, at least, but the thick tree cover meant that little of that light made it to the forest floor. Turk would be just fine without light in normal circumstances, but with his sense of smell compromised, he would be a lot less useful. They could continue this search for another hour or so, but then Faith would have to admit defeat and take them back to the car.

Then Turk stopped. He stood stock still, focused on something ahead and to his right. Faith held a hand up, and she and Slade stopped.

Turk crept forward, his paws making no sound as they hit the dirt. Both of his ears pointed forward, and after a few moresteps, he launched forward without warning, chomping down on a pile of leaf litter.

A cry came up from the leaf litter, and a moment later, Jack Thompson got to his knees, shaking his arm and reaching for Turk. Faith and Slade drew their weapons, and Faith commanded, “Stop! Jack Thompson, donotinjure my K9!”

Jack looked at Faith, his eyes wide. Turk growled and pulled him back to the ground, his jaws cinched tightly over his shoulder. Jack cried out and said, “Okay! Okay! You got me! I’m unarmed! Please don’t shoot!”

Faith kept her weapon trained on him and called Turk off. Turk released Jack and trotted back to her side while Slade handcuffed their defeated suspect.

“All right, Mr. Thompson,” Faith said, holstering her weapon. “We’re going to get you checked out at a hospital. Then we’re going to have a little chat.”

“Oh God,” Jack whimpered. “Am I in trouble?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out.”

Slade pulled Jack to his feet and called for an ambulance to meet them at Jack’s residence. The four of them headed back through the woods, and Faith dared to hope that she might have reached an end to this case without risking her career or the life of another innocent.

Still, the lengthening shadows seemed to taunt her as she followed Slade and Turk back to Jack’s cabin. It felt like a mocking warning not to get her hopes up.

After all, in Faith’s experience, things were rarely this easy.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

It was well past dusk when they finally started to interrogate Jack. Turk hadn’t injured him seriously, but he had a good hold of Jack’s shoulder, and the hospital had to disinfect and bandage some deep punctures. Faith worried a little about that. The FBI had once had to settle a lawsuit after Faith sicced Turk on a suspect who turned out to be innocent. It was possible that Jack wouldn’t press charges, but she didn’t want to bank on that.

Then again, this was what came with the job. She had chosen to involve herself in this case knowing the risks. She couldn’t waste any more time worrying about herself.

Jack was morose when the three of them walked into the interrogation room. He glared at them, but there was more defeat in his eyes than anger. “You guys gonna tell me what I did yet?”

“Well, we have you for battery on a LEO for bear spraying the dog,” Slade said. “So there’s that for sure.”

“What was I supposed to do? Let him bite me?”

“You were supposed to answer the door when we identified ourselves as law enforcement,” Faith said.

“Oh yeah,” Jack said. “Nothing I look forward to more than a chat with uniforms.”

“As long as you tell the truth, you have nothing to worry about.”

“I tell the truth when I talk, but I don’t know you. Why would I talk to you?”

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