Page 46 of So Lethal

Faith tilted her head. “I hadn’t considered that our killer would be deaf too. That raises a lot more possibilities.”

“Is that a good thing?” Michael asked.

“Not by itself, but it’s another angle to consider.” She stood and started pacing the kitchen. “If our killer wasn’t born deaf but lost his hearing the way Marcus Wolfe and Sarah Martinez did, then he wouldn’t see hearing impairment as normal the way Rebecca Thorne does. He would be more likely to view it as a tragedy like Sarah and Marcus did.”

"And he would feel like it was better to die than suffer with this," Marcus added.

“Yes.”

“Well, that explains Marcus Wolfe and Sarah Martinez. They were both clearly broken up over their condition. It doesn’t explain Monica Smith and James Porter, though. They were born deaf and by all accounts happy as clams.”

“That wouldn’t necessarily matter to the killer. Just because he’s benevolent doesn’t mean he’s not self-centered. He views hearing loss as a tragedy, so it’s a tragedy for everyone whether that’s how they feel about it or not.”

“So he just sees deaf people and thinks, ‘Gee, they’d be better off dead. I should help them be dead.’”

“More or less.”

Michael sighed heavily. “That’s just not enough.” He glanced at Faith. “Sorry. That didn’t come out the way I meant it.”

“No, you’re right,” she replied. “It’s not enough. It tells us why deaf people, but it still doesn’t tell us why these deaf people. I can already say it’s no one from Sarah’s and Marcus’s support group because no one was tall enough to be the killer.”

“We can have Ferris look through Monica’s clients and Porter’s coworkers,” Michael suggested.

She bit her lip. “Yeah, we’ll do that, but that’s a crapshoot. There aren’t a lot of six-foot-five males as a percentage, but there’s bound to be a bunch of them in a metro area this size. We might get lucky, but we’d have to get lucky to find anyone that way, and I really don’t like relying on luck.”

“Well, detective work isn’t getting us shit,” Michael replied sourly, “So I’ll take luck if that’s all we’re left with.”

He sighed and dropped his head into his hands briefly. When he lifted them, Faith saw his eyes were red-rimmed with exhaustion that she was sure was mental and emotional and not physical. “Sorry. I’m just pissed at this.”

“Me too.” She gave him a sad smile. “It never gets easier to be just a half-second too late to save a victim.” Her smile faded. Except it was my fault this time.

“No, it doesn’t,” Michael agreed. “So what do we do now?”

Before Faith could answer, she heard shouting outside. She frowned and looked through the window. When she saw the bright white lights of a news van shining on a platinum-blonde reporter who was arguing with a sergeant over whether her cameramen could take pictures of the outside of the house, she swore. “Crap. The news is here.”

The blonde turned toward the window. When she saw Faith, her eyes got big. Faith swore again and closed the curtain. “Shit. They saw me.”

“Seriously? Why are you staring?”

“I don’t know, I just wanted to know what was going on!”

Michael threw his hands in the air. “Shit, Faith. Tabitha’s gonna have a conniption.”

“Hey!” the sergeant shouted. “Hey, you can’t cross the yellow tape!”

A moment later, Faith heard rapping on the window. “Hello? Special Agent Bold! Bold, can you make a statement, please? Hey! Take your hands off of me!”

“Behind that tape!” the sergeant barked, “or I’ll arrest all of you for interfering with police business! You can print that too! Sergeant Cooper, badge number five-three-eight!”

The back door opened, and Ferris walked into the kitchen. “Wolves are here.” He tossed Michael his car keys. “I’m parked on the street behind the house. Give me your rental keys, and I’ll drive it tonight. We can switch back in the morning.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Ferris,” Michael replied. He fished the rental keys out of his pocket and handed them to the detective.

“Damned vultures,” Ferris growled. “Defense attorneys and reporters are the lowest scum of the Earth.”

Faith whispered a thank-you and hurriedly followed Michael out of the house. Turk trotted next to her.

As soon as they stepped outside, Faith saw a camera flash and heard a voice call, “Special Agent Bold! A statement, please! Who do you believe is perpetrating these crimes?”

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