Page 23 of So Savage

The footsteps stopped, and a moment later, the voice said, “Holy shit.”Without opening the door, the voice called, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Daniel Ross?”Marcus asked.

“None of your business.What are you doing here?”

“My name is Detective Marcus Waring.This is Special Agent Faith Bold of the FBI and her K9 unit, Turk.We need to ask you a few questions.”

“What?The FBI?Bullshit.I need to see some ID.”

“We’ll have an easier time showing it to you if you open the door,” Faith suggested.

The curtain in front of the window moved aside, and an irate man in his mid-forties glared at them and tapped the glass.White, snarling teeth set in the broad face of a mastiff shone underneath Ross’s arm.Turk jumped toward the window, but Faith pulled him back.“Hold here, boy,” she said.“Wait.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her FBI ID.She held it to the window, and Daniel examined it for a moment before nodding and turning to Waring.The stone-faced detective pointed at his badge.Daniel's frown deepened, but a moment later, he pulled the door open.A chain stopped it after a few inches, and Daniel tried to keep his guard dog inside by sticking his leg in front of him."What the hell is this about?"

“You want to put him away?”Faith asked, pointing to Caesar.

“You want to puthimaway?"Daniel replied, pointing to Turk, who was giving as good as he got in the nose department.

Faith’s eyes narrowed.“Mr.Ross, we need to talk to you regarding the murders of Master Sergeant Thomas Reeves and Staff Sergeant Kevin Walsh.We’re showing you the courtesy of allowing you time to put your dog away.I suggest you take advantage of that.”

Daniel’s eyes flew open when he heard those names.“Really?Reeves and Walsh are dead?”

“They’re dead,” Marcus confirmed, “and you had good reason to want him dead, didn’t you?”

Daniel sighed and ran his hands through his hair.“You couldn’t call ahead and let me know you were coming?”

“People have a tendency to run away when we do that,” Faith said.“We don’t like when that happens.”

Daniel rolled his eyes but admitted reluctantly.“Right.Okay, give me a minute.Caesar, knock it off!”

The big dog flinched and looked fearfully up at Daniel.Turk growled again, but this time, he looked at Daniel.Faith reached down and patted his shoulder to calm him, but she could understand the anger he felt.

He raised his hand, and Caesar flinched again and trotted away, his tail between his legs.Faith resisted an urge to tell Daniel that committing animal cruelty was an arrestable offense and followed Marcus and Turk into the house.

Caesar sat in a corner and curled up into a ball, keeping wide, terrified eyes on Daniel.Turk trotted to the dog, growling at Daniel on the way.Caesar cowered in front of Turk, but when Turk leaned over and licked his face, Caesar relaxed.Turk sat in front of the big Bullmastiff and glared at Daniel.It was a bit comical to see Turk protecting a dog half again his size, but Faith knew that if it came to a confrontation, there would be nothing comical about what Turk would do to Daniel.

“All right,” Daniel said.“So you think I killed them.Is that it?”

“Did you?”Marcus asked.

“If I say no, will you believe me?”

“Probably not,” Faith replied, “but maybe you’ll get lucky and convince us otherwise.”

Daniel scoffed.“Well, I didn’t.They fucked me, but if I killed them, I’d just be fucking myself, right?”

“That’s not the technical terminology,” Marcus replied drily, “but you’ve got the right idea.”

Daniel nodded.“Look, I don’t know what to tell you.I didn’t do shit to them.”

“You said they wronged you,” Faith interjected.“How so?”

“They reported me for animal cruelty.It’s bullshit.I was just teaching the dogs to be tough.What, do they want wimpy ass dogs that are gonna cringe and cower in combat?”

Faith looked pointedly at Caesar, who buried his muzzle in Turk’s chest and kept wary eyes on Daniel.

Daniel chuckled contemptuously.“Yeah, he’s a little bitch sometimes.But he listens to me.That’s the important thing.If he didn’t listen to me, he’d tear right through your little dog and right through the two of you.”

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