“Morning,” Faith replied with equal softness.

  She sat across from him and said, “Thank you for breakfast.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said. He tapped his finger pensively, then said, “Faith, I think we should talk about yesterday.”

  “It’s all right,” Faith said. “I was tired too. There’s no need for you to apologize.”

  He tapped his fingers a moment longer, then sighed. “Actually, I meant we should talk about you.”

  Faith felt her hackles rise but kept her voice calm. “Me? Why?”

  Michael sighed. “Faith …” he hesitated a moment, then said, “Faith, you’ve been steadily less in control of your emotions since before the Cedar Hills case. Maybe you don’t see it that way, but I do. You’ve made several lapses in judgment that frankly are very unlike you. Yesterday’s slip with Lucinda Holland was the most egregious, but it wasn’t the first. You’ve been moody, incommunicative, irritable, and at times impulsive.”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way,” Faith said coolly.

  “This isn’t just what I feel,” Michael said. “Be honest with yourself, Faith. Look at your behavior the past several months and tell me you don’t notice a change. Ever since I told you about the copycat killer case, you’ve been losing more and more control as time goes by.”

  Faith didn’t answer right away. Most of her seethed at Michael’s statement, but a part of her couldn’t run from the fact that he was right. Still, he was way out of line to suggest that she was losing control.

  “Michael,” she said evenly, “I appreciate your concern for me, and I know it comes from a good place, but you’re way off base here.”

  “I know I’m being … direct … about this, Faith, but—"

  “No, listen for a moment,” Faith said, “I won’t pretend that what happened to me didn’t affect me, and I won’t pretend that knowing that someone else is out there doing the same thing to people that Trammell did to me doesn’t affect me now. That being said, I have contributed significantly to this case and the previous two cases since leaving the hospital. I discovered the pattern that led us to Eric Malvern. I identified Horace Greenwood as the Weed Killer. The most serious of my mistakes have been procedural lapses. I let it slip to Lucinda Holland that we suspect that her husband was a victim of the same killer that murdered Katherine Navarro and Amanda Montgomery. I take ownership of that, and when the Boss wants to string us both up, I’ll make sure it’s my neck that gets the rope. But to go so far as to say that my moodiness after a sleepless night and a day full of investigation and the police mishandling Doctor Porter’s interrogation is somehow a result of me losing control is unfair.”

  Michael lowered his eyes. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll back off of what I said, at least the part about your effectiveness. But you are suffering, and it is affecting you, and it will affect your performance soon enough. And I care about you, Faith. I know you don’t like hearing me say that, but it’s true. I care about you, and I don’t want you to suffer.”

  “I appreciate that, Michael, but we’re here to do a job. Look …” She hesitated a moment, then sighed. “Look, I’m going to get help, okay. I’m going to take care of myself, but right now, I would love it if we can just focus on the case.”

  “Will do,” Michael said. “Thank you for listening. Sorry you have to put up with me.”

  “Oh, enough with the pity party,” Faith said. “If you’re going to talk smack on me, then you can deal with my attitude.”

  “Fair enough,” he said, lifting his hands.

  “So,” Faith said, “speaking of the case, there is one angle we haven’t looked at.”

  “What’s that?” Michael said.

  “The wedding rings.”

  Michael thought a moment, then chuckled. “It would make sense that as soon as I call you out for making mistakes, you point out something I didn’t notice.”

  “Just be grateful I agreed to focus on the case for now,” she replied with a grin, “because for the rest of your career, I will never let you live this down.”

  “Well, I was thinking about early retirement anyway,” he quipped.

  “Anyway,” Faith said, rolling her eyes, “the killer takes the wedding rings as trophies. We don’t know if he keeps them or if he gets rid of them, but if he gets rid of them, then we might just be able to find a lead by talking to jewelers and pawnbrokers.”

  “There’s no way we’re going to canvass every single jeweler and pawnbroker in the Tucson area,” Michael said. “It’s like Morgan County all over again, just digging through wells at random hoping we find something.”

  “No,” Faith agreed, “but we can recruit Travis and Derek to get some uniforms on it. It can be their penance for going cowboy on Doctor Porter yesterday.”

  “I like the sound of that,” Michael said.

  Detectives Brown and Chapman, needless to say, were not pleased to hear that their day would be spent managing uniforms investigating every single pawn shop in Tucson and its suburbs, but when Faith gently reminded them that they were responsible for yesterday’s debacle, they grudgingly accepted.

  “Well,” Michael said, “that’s that. What do we do while we wait?”

  “I’m going to take Turk for a walk,” Faith said. “Clear my head a bit and see if something sticks.”

  “Well, that’s worked for you in the past,” Michael said. “I’ll follow up with the spouses and see if any of the rings have magically turned up.”

  “You do that,” Faith said. “Call me if you find anything.”

  Turk was eager to get out of the hotel room and explore. He was seven years old, but Faith was pretty sure he didn’t know that. When he was working, he was the picture of professionalism. But when he wasn’t working, he was just a giant puppy. He flitted around Faith, sniffing at every bush and tree and chatting politely with the squirrels and birds that occasionally revealed themselves.

  Watching him enjoy himself calmed Faith. She understood now why single women often had dogs as companions. It was hard to feel depressed when you were watching a puppy play.

  Single. She wasn’t single. God, David. She sighed, and her momentary burst of joy vanished. She rolled her eyes and pressed her palms to the sides of her head. Turk, sensing the change in her mood, immediately trotted to her side. She smiled down at him and reached down to ruffle his fur.

  “Sorry, buddy,” she said, “just thinking about Dr. Friedman.”

  Turk barked agreeably.

  “Yes, I know you like him,” Faith said. “I like him too.”

  She sighed. “All right. I guess I should call him.”

  She took her phone from her pocket and sighed heavily. She wasn’t looking forward to this. She dialed his number and was ashamed to realize that she hoped he wouldn’t answer.

  He answered. “Faith,” he said, “it’s good to hear from you.”

  Faith was unprepared for the rush of emotions that came when she heard his voice. “Hi, David,” she said, “it’s good to hear from you too.”

  There was a moment of somewhat awkward silence, broken when David asked, “So, how are you? You kind of rushed off the last time we saw each other.”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry,” she said. “I was called away on a case.”

  “I know,” he said, “it’s not a problem. I just … well, I guess I’m a little afraid I might have freaked you out.”

  Oh God, not right now. “Umm … No, not freaked out, just … look, I think we should talk when I get home.”

  There was a moment of silence before David said evenly, “I see.”

  “Yeah, I just …” Faith’s eyes widened as she realized what David thought. “No! No, I didn’t mean it like that. I don’t mean we should break up, I just—”

  “Break up?”

  “No!” she sighed. “Look, David, I—it’s—there’s a lot … going on with me right now, and …”

  “And you don’t know if you can commit to anything long-term,” he said.

  “No, it’s not that,” Faith replied. “I just … it’s just a bad time to talk.”

  “You called me,” he said, a touch of irritation in his voice.

  “No, I know,” she said. “I mean, it’s a bad time to talk about that.”

  “So, why did you call me?”

  “I …” Faith sighed, “… I don’t know. I just … I feel like I’m losing—I just missed you.”

  “Faith, you’re not going to lose me just because you’re not ready to talk about the future,” he said gently.

  Faith sighed again. What she had been about to say was that she was losing control, of her career, her partnership, her relationship with David, and even her own mind. That was true, but she wasn’t ready to talk to him about all of that yet, and that wasn’t why she called him anyway.

  “I was just returning your text,” she said, “to be honest. I miss you, and I do want to talk to you, but I’ve been caught up in the case, and when I got your text yesterday, I just felt bad because I haven’t been talking to you, and—”

  “Faith,” David interrupted, “it’s okay. I can’t even begin to imagine the level of stress your job brings you. You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”

  It was as though a weight were lifted from Faith’s shoulders. With the Boss refusing to trust her, Michael growing suspicious of her mental state, and the looming nightmare of the shrink when she returned home, hearing someone tell her that it was okay for her to be stressed and distracted was like a ray of sunshine bursting through the storms in her mind.

  She sighed and said, “Thank you. I really appreciate that. And I do miss you. A lot. Can we see each other when I come home?”

  “Absolutely,” he said, “and when we do, I’ll have your wedding dress picked out and a nice house with a picket fence for us to move into.”

  Faith didn’t answer right away, and a moment later, he said, “Sorry, that was a joke. Listening to it back in my head, it was a really bad joke even if we hadn’t parted the way we did last time. I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

  She giggled, and he added, “Oh, so crickets to my attempt at humor, but my embarrassment gets a laugh?"

  Faith giggled again, “Get used to it, Buster. I live to cause pain to those I care about.”

  They bantered back and forth for a few minutes until David had to hang up to see a patient. Just before he hung up, he said, “I’m glad you called, Faith.”

  “Yeah,” Faith said, “me too.”

  “Bye.”

  “Bye.”

  She hung up and smiled softly to herself. The demons weren’t gone, but they were quiet now for the first time in a long time. She was so glad that she overcame her anxiety and called him anyway.

  She smiled down at Turk and said, “I feel better, boy. How about you?”

  Turk barked in agreement, and Faith laughed, then stooped down and hugged him. Turk allowed the embrace but cast Faith a quizzical look when she stood.

  “I guess I’m just in a good mood,” she said. “Shall we head back?”

  Turk whined and reluctantly turned around.

  “I know,” Faith said. “Don’t worry. When we get home, I’ll take you to the Nature Park and let you chase birds.”

  Faith barked exuberantly and wagged his tail, and Faith grinned. Today was a good day after all. If she could hold onto this feeling a little longer, then she could make it through this case without falling apart.

  Hell, she might even be able to handle therapy without tearing her poor doctor’s face off.

  Maybe.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Faith’s good day got even better when she reached the hotel. Michael was just walking back inside. He waved to her, a big grin on his face.

  “Did you talk to your sweet thing too?” Faith asked.

  “Yes,” Michael said, “but that’s not why I’m smiling. For the record, I will be teasing you for calling David your sweet thing, but I’ll save that for another day. Right now, I need to apologize for ever calling you ineffective.”

  “The ring angle worked?” Faith asked hopefully.

  “The ring angle worked,” Michael replied sunnily. “Travis just called me. They’re bringing in a Julius Masterson, thirty-seven. Runs South Tucson Pawn and Trust. Apparently, Mr. Masterson has recently come into possession of three wedding rings matching the sizes worn by our victims. He failed to provide receipts for those rings and was apparently quite reluctant to come to the station for questioning. Reluctant enough that he chose to assault the officer who confronted him.”

  “Really?” Faith said, eyes widening.

  “Yep. Took a swing at him. Fortunately for the officer, Mr. Masterson isn’t much of a pugilist. That one punch was all he managed before he ended up in handcuffs.”

  “Well, well,” Faith said with a grin of her own, “looks like a certain Special Agent has a little crow to eat.”

  “And I shall eat it thoroughly, feathers and all,” Michael promised, “but first, I would like to talk to Mr. Masterson and make sure this isn’t another case of mistaken identity.”

  “What a coincidence,” Faith said. “I would like to talk to him as well. I’m sure he has a perfectly good reason for trying to punch a police officer in full view of his patrons, not to mention the officer’s partner.”

  “I can’t wait to hear what that reason might be,” Michael said.

  ***

  Julius Masterson fidgeted nervously as he sat in the interrogation room. His eyes were as wide as saucers, and he kept looking around as though expecting someone to sneak up on him.

  “Oh yeah,” Travis said, “he’s guilty.”

  “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Detective,” Michael said. “Remember what happened the last time we jumped to conclusions.”

  “Well, he’s guilty of something,” Travis said. “Look at him.”

  “He could just be scared,” Derek suggested.

  “You don’t sucker punch a cop ‘cause you’re scared,” Travis said.

  “I agree with Travis,” Faith said, “but I also agree with Michael. Let’s go talk to this guy and make sure he’s guilty of what we think he’s guilty of before we start reading him his rights.”

  “Well, he’s going down for assaulting a peace officer no matter what,” Travis said.

  “Fair enough,” Faith said. “Let’s go make sure he’s not a serial killer as well.”

  She and Michael walked into the interrogation room. As soon as he saw Turk, he shrank back nervously.

  “You can’t keep me here! I got rights! You had no right to arrest me at my place of business and drag me all the way over here without so much as a charge.”

  “Well, you punched a cop,” Michael said, “so your goose is cooked no matter what. Why don’t you make it easier on yourself and tell us where you got those rings?”

  His face blanched when Michael said that. Faith leaned forward and waited for him to answer. When no answer was forthcoming, Faith said, “I’ll help you out. Three wedding rings, one a size four-and-a-half, one a size five and the third a size eight. The smaller ones are gold with diamond inlay, the larger one is a solid gold band with the inscription E.H.”

  “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Julius said, sweating profusely. “I get a lot of rings. I don’t look at all of them to see what’s inscribed on them.”

  “You don’t inspect your products before you make an offer to the seller?” Michael asked. “I have a hard time believing that. If I were a pawnbroker, I would want to know that I’m not spending three thousand dollars on a painted nickel ring.”

  Julius scoffed. “I never spend more than a thousand on a wedding ring. You can always talk people down to 995.”

  “How wonderful!” Faith said, “if that were even remotely the point, I would be overjoyed at that little tidbit.”

  Julius licked his lips and looked nervously between the two of them. “Look,” he said, “I already told you that I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Well, let’s back up,” Michael said. “You assaulted a police officer. Why?”

  “I …” He tapped his fingers on the table. “Look—”

  “We’re looking,” Faith said, “but you’re still not talking.”

  “I was nervous, okay? Wouldn’t you be nervous if two cops started busting your chops when you’d done nothing wrong?”

  “Honestly?” Faith said, “No. But let’s say I’m the nervous type. I still don’t see myself getting so stupid that I’m going to punch a police officer. Not unless I’m nervous for a very good reason. Why don’t you start telling me what made you so nervous that you assaulted a police officer.”

  “Will you stop saying that?” he said, “Look, I …” he ran his hands through his hair. “Look,” he said again.

  “I’m going to start getting really irritated if you don’t learn a new word real fast,” Michael said.

  Turk growled at Julius, emphasizing Michael’s point.

  Julius swallowed. “Loo—Okay, I just … in my line of work, you don’t ask a lot of questions, all right? People come in with stuff all the time, and I can’t do a whole investigation on every single piece of jewelry that comes through my pawn shop, all right. I just have to appraise it, make an offer, and then hold it for thirty days before selling it. I don’t know where those items come from. I don’t know if maybe some of them are obtained through illicit means. I just take the product and make an offer.”

  Michael sighed and rubbed his temples. Faith leaned even closer to Julius, who shrank back and licked his lips again. “Mr. Masterson,” she said sweetly, “I don’t care in the slightest about how ethical you are or aren’t as a businessperson. I’m talking about three rings in three different sizes, two with diamond inlay and one with the inscription E.H. Where did you get those rings?”

  “I told you; I don’t know.”

  “Not good enough. Not even remotely good enough.”

  “I told you, all right? People sell me stuff, and I don’t always know—”

  “Who, Mr. Masterson? Who sold you the rings?”