Page 4 of So Lethal

Faith scoffed. “You and I both know I can bribe you with my body every night, and you’ll succumb to my wiles. But I will allow you to make healthy food tomorrow.”

“You’re right and thank you.”

She laughed and patted his rock-hard abs. She was unashamed to admit that his six-pack was her favorite feature of his. “I appreciate your willingness to succumb to my wiles today. After that therapy session, I really needed to unwind.”

“I thought therapy was supposed to help you unwind.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” she replied. “But Dr. Keraya is more the type of doctor who likes to pick at a problem until it’s completely understood and solved.”

“You mean like you?”

She frowned slightly. “You’re only saying that because you know it’s too late for me to deny you sex.”

He laughed. “You know I can’t resist the urge to tease you at every opportunity. On a serious note, though, that’s a good thing, right? I mean, she’s helping you confront things. That’s what a good therapist does.”

“It’s what an annoying therapist does. But yes, I supposed it’s good.” She sat up. “I just…”

She wasn’t sure exactly how to put into words what she “just,” so she ended that sentence with a sigh. David gently rubbed in between her shoulder blades. “I know. It’s tough.”

“We talked about the Messenger Killer,” Faith said. She wasn’t sure why she was bringing this up with him, but it felt better to talk about something than nothing.

“Oh yeah? How’s that going?”

Faith sighed. “Well, there’s a reason I told you I didn’t want to watch the news.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Yep. West is the face of the media again, and somehow I’m the heel despite the fact that he’s a serial murderer, and I’m the person who spearheaded the effort to stop him. Everyone loves the idea that the Messenger Killer is Juliet to his Romeo, and for some reason, everyone loves the idea that it’s somehow my fault.”

“Really? I haven’t heard anyone blame you.”

“No one’s coming out and saying it, but I can tell that’s what they think.”

“How can you tell?”

This was starting to sound like a therapy session, so she deflected the subject. “I don’t know. I think I’m just pissed that she didn’t show herself. I thought that publishing those letters would cause her to come out of the woodwork.”

“You thought she’d take credit for writing them?”

Faith poked at a nearly empty carton of chow mein. “I didn’t think she’d walk into the Field Office and say, ‘Hi guys, it’s me. I’m the killer. Don’t you like those letters I wrote?’ but I thought they’d send an anonymous note that we could follow up on and start narrowing down the field.”

“Yeah? I’m sorry, Faith.”

Sorry didn’t do shit for anyone, but one lesson Faith had managed to take to heart from therapy was to accept sympathy from people, so she managed to reply, “Thank you,” and not feel the accompanying rush of irritation that typically followed such a statement.

She crossed her legs on the couch and said, “I’m just worried that she’ll fade into the background. West is going to be found guilty eventually. This little media circus gave him a momentary breath of life, but he’s going to be found guilty, and when he is, interest in him will fade. He’ll be sentenced to life without parole or to death, and—”

“You think he’ll avoid death?”

Faith shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s talk about the prosecution asking the governor to lift the moratorium on capital punishment, but I don’t think they’ll fight very hard for it.”

“It’s a federal case, though, isn’t it?”

“There is a federal case, but this is the state trial for Pennsylvania since all but one of his murders took place here. We could pursue the death penalty for killing in multiple states and crossing state lines to flee, but I'm fine with life without parole. That's life with no relevancy, and for West, that's a fate worse than death.

“Anyway, the point I was making is that he’s going to be sentenced, and the world will move on. He won’t be interesting anymore. The Messenger will probably stay underground now that she’s spooked, and no one will want to look for her.”

David shrugged. “I mean… as long as she’s not killing people anymore, right?”

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