Page 46 of So Savage

Marcus frowned and began to correct him, but Faith held up her hand.Turk had actually suffered that injury when Jethro Trammell killed Jack Preston, but James didn’t need to know that.“What do you think should happen to people like me?”Faith asked.“Do you think we deserve to die?”

“Deserve?Sure you do.But that doesn’t mean I’ll be the one to send you to hell.”

“You sure?”Faith pressed.“Jail is a roof over your head, hot meals every day, and no more waiting around to die in the snow.”

James laughed.“I’ll rob a gas station if I want to go to jail.I’m not going to kill people.I’m big, and I won’t lie, I have a temper, but I’m not a murderer.”

"It's interesting that you bring up a temper," Faith replied."Our last victim—Miss Delgado—ran into someone who had a temper.A bad temper.She's still alive"—again she watched his face, and again, he showed no reaction—" but she's hurt very badly.Marcus here said it was one of the worst beatings he's seen, right Marcus."

“That’s true,” Marcus confirmed.“She looks like she was trampled by an elephant.”

“She’s the one who owned the Dobermann?”

“That’s her.”

“Then she got what she deserved.”

Faith sighed.“You’re making it hard for us to clear you as a suspect, Mr.Cooper.”

James shrugged.“If I said that I was sorry and felt bad and begged you to believe that I was innocent, would it change anything?”

“It would make it easier for us to provide closure to these families if we knew that you were telling the truth,” Marcus reminded him.

“But I am telling you the truth.And you don’t believe me.And I can’t prove it because I’ve lived alone for months.So…” He lifted his hands as far as the shackles would allow.

That was the real problem.They wanted a confession because right now they had nothing but an anecdote of a months-old argument with one victim and the fact that James didn’t have an alibi.If they could connect him to the murder weapons somehow, then they would have more, maybe even enough to convict, but they didn’t.

Still, it might be worthwhile to pull that thread.“Have you ever used a tranquilizer gun?”Faith asked.

"No.It's inhumane.Dogs don't need to be drugged into submission.If you're calm and direct with them and reward them for good behavior, you can gain their trust.But all of the scare tactics that law enforcement and the military use—just result in broken dogs.Do you know why I lost my business, Special Agent?"

“Could it have something to do with your assault on Kevin Walsh when you were training him and his K9?”

James frowned.He cocked his head and looked up at the ceiling.“Walsh… Wait, is that the kid who kept trying to get his dog to jump through hoops?”

“You tell me.”

James chuckled.“Well, if it’s the incident I’m thinking of, I was trying to demonstrate that dog training didn’t need to be stern and vicious.This punk kept shouting at his dog, berating it when it wouldn’t jump through these hoops that I’d taken my greyhounds through.I told him to back off and that if he shouted at his dog again, we’d have a problem.He laughed at me and said something snotty.I can’t remember what.So I shoved him into a wall.”He shrugged.“Army didn’t like that.They called a hearing and got me fired.I remember that they had a Marine Corps NCO on the board, which I thought was weird.”

"That Marine was Thomas Reeves."She leaned forward again."So you see why we're concerned about you.You have a connection with all three of our victims: a physical altercation with one and a verbal altercation with another.You seem to have a hard time controlling your anger when it comes to dogs."

James sighed.His sarcasm faded.He looked at Turk, and his brow furrowed."It's just not fair.Someone has to stand up for these dogs, and no one will.I'm doing the best I can to speak for those who can't speak for themselves.And look what it's gotten me?I lose my business, I lose my job, I lose my home, and now here I am sitting in front of you accused of murder."

Faith nodded.“So you’ve never used a tranquilizer gun?”

James laughed and looked up at the ceiling.“Jesus Christ.No, I haven’t.I can’t prove that either, because I’m afraid I don’t film every waking moment of my life.Who knows?Maybe I used one when no one was looking?”

“Sarcasm won’t help you,” Marcus warned again.

“Nothing will help me.You guys have come to your own conclusions about me, and there’s nothing I can do that’s going to make you guys feel otherwise.Look, just charge me, okay?You’re right.It’s a roof and three square.Sucks that the papers are going to tell people I’m a murderer, but hey, some people win and some people lose.It’s just my lot in life.”

Faith tried one more tack.“Do you know anyone else who might want these three dead?”

He leaned forward and looked at her with so much hate that she had to fight an urge to flinch away.“The same people that should want you dead.People who care about dogs.”

Turk growled and got to his feet.Faith held a hand to steady him.“I think that’s enough for now, Detective.Let’s give James some time to think.Maybe he’ll have better answers for us tomorrow.”

Marcus nodded and got to his feet.“I hope you take this seriously next time, Mr.Cooper.It’s looking very bad for you right now.”

---