Page 57 of So Savage

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“Iknow it wasn’t my fault!”he shrieked.

“Okay,” she said, lifting her hands and taking another step.“Okay.I’m just letting you know thatIknow.”

Kane breathed heavily.His eyes moved around the officers watching him.Jennifer whimpered, and he glared at her, but then looked up at the officers.“You guys are going to kill me the second she dies, aren’t you?”

“If she dies, yes, but if you let her go, then we won’t kill you.”

Kane lowered his head and stuck his lip out in a pout.“It’s too late.I’m going to prison for the rest of my life.”

“It’s a life,” Faith argued.“It’s a lot better than going nowhere at all.”She inched closer, keeping her hands raised and waiting for the moment to strike.

Kane shook his head."No, it isn't.I wish it was, but it isn't."He gave Faith a smile."Well, this was going to happen eventually, but at least I got some of them, right?"

Faith lunged forward, but she was too late.Kane fired, and a hole opened in his forehead.Blood, bone, and brain matter sprayed from the back of his head.He slumped in Faith's arms, and she lowered him to the ground.

The police officers immediately rushed to Jennifer to provide first aid and free her from her bonds.Faith looked at Peter Kane’s face and wondered when the last time was that he’d looked so peaceful.

It didn’t happen often that Faith felt any sympathy for a murderer, but when Faith trotted next to her and she thought about how she would survive if Turk was killed, she found herself sympathizing with Peter Kane.Not with his actions, but with the trauma he’d experienced that left him like this.

“It’s all right now,” Marcus said to Jennifer.“It’s over.”

“Yes,” Faith agreed, releasing Peter’s body and getting to her feet.“It’s all right now.”

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

"A reign of terror came to a swift and brutal end last night when Duluth Police rescued Sergeant Jennifer Martinez from the clutches of a crazed murderer.Peter Kane, a former Marine K9 officer who was dishonorably discharged for assaulting his commanding officer, was killed in a tense standoff with police in the hangar of the defunct Birding General Aviation Airport.According to the lead officer on the case, Detective Marcus Waring, Kane was responsible for the murders of Master Sergeant Thomas Reeves and Army Staff Sergeant Kevin Walsh along with the savage beating of Air Force Technical Sergeant Maria Delgado."

Faith smiled at Marcus and lifted her coffee while the news report detailed how they’d found Jennifer and Kane.Marcus chuckled and lifted his own.“To an end to this bullshit.”

“To the bullshit to follow.”

Marcus laughed again.“Yeah, you know how it goes.That’s what we do, right?”

“If not us, then who?”Faith quipped.“Honestly, though, good work back there.”

“Me?You’re the one who figured it all out.”

“You found the airport sticker.You made sure the right pieces were in the right places so we could respond to the situation.Don’t sell yourself short.I might have been the silent partner, but that doesn’t mean you’re just a mouthpiece.”

“Well… thank you.I admit, it feels nice to save a life instead of just figure out who took one.”

“It’s a good feeling,” Faith agreed.

“Channel Seven spoke with doctors at the hospital this morning, and they say that Maria Delgado is expected to make a full recovery.”

The news feed cut to an image of a serious-looking doctor standing in front of the hospital.“I’m not at liberty to share details for patient privacy reasons, but I can say with confidence that Miss Delgado will leave this hospital walking under her own power within a few weeks.She has a tough road ahead of her, but she’s in good spirits, and I and the rest of her care team believe she’ll be back to one hundred percent eventually.”

“That feels good too,” Marcus said.

“Yes,” Faith agreed.“Thank God for that.”She grinned.“You know this is the first case I’ve worked in years where I caught the serial killer before he killed another victim?”

Marcus raised an eyebrow.“Is that so?I guess I should be honored.”

“Yeah.We always get them, but they just move so fast nowadays.I mean, Delgado surviving was because Kane didn’t know he hadn’t finished the job, but it still feels good.”

Marcus smiled, but it was a brief smile this time and replaced with a pensive look.“They do move fast these days, don’t they?Back in the day, you had guys like Bundy, Rader, Gacy, Dahmer… They killed a lot of people, but they did it over the course of months and years.Now you have a lot of people dropping three, four, five people in as many weeks.Sometimes in as many days.”

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