Page 22 of So Lethal

“You’re something,” she said drily.

Ferris pumped his fist in the air and cheered, pulling the attention of all three FBI agents to him. He grinned at the trio and said, “Crane popped at the Amtrak station on Monterey Boulevard. Amtrak’s holding the train for us so we can pick him up.”

Faith’s irritation evaporated. She offered a cheer of her own and joined the others as they rushed to Ferris’s cruiser. Ferris called dispatch as he jogged, calling for more officers to meet them at the station and cordon off the area.

“We’ll have nine units there within seven minutes,” he told them.

“That long?” Faith asked.

“Well, for all nine of them, yes. We’ll have two units there in one minute.”

“Why wouldn’t you lead with that?”

“I don’t know! Fine! We’ll have a bunch of cops there soon. Happy?”

“You two related, by any chance?” Michael asked.

“Go to hell,” Ferris and Faith said together, to Michael’s great amusement.

Faith rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t manage to be upset right now. They had found the bastard! He had tried to run, but he hadn’t run fast enough.

They reached the Amtrak Station five minutes later. Three other cruisers were there, but none of the officers had gone inside yet.

Ferris took the words out of Faith’s mouth when he said, “What the hell are you all doing? We have a multiple murder suspect in there! Get off your asses and go arrest him!”

The waiting officers leaped into action, but Faith, Turk, and Michael were several steps ahead of them by now. Faith tried not to let anxiety overwhelm her. Damn it, if those assholes lost him again, I swear to God, I’ll kill them.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she jogged onto the platform and saw Dr. Crane arguing with Amtrak employees and station security officers. “Go get him, boy!”

Turk leaped forward, barking loudly. Dr. Crane’s eyes snapped toward him, and his face went white as a sheet. He pulled an object from his pocket that reminded Faith of a ray gun from fifties comics and pointed it at Turk.

“Hey!” she called, drawing her weapon. “Shoot my dog, and I shoot you!”

He pulled the trigger, but no bullet or laser left the small dish at the end of the barrel. Whatever he’d done was enough to incapacitate Turk, though. He yelped and dropped to the ground, whining and rubbing his ears on the platform. He got up and tried to continue but stumbled and fell to his side.

The blood drained from Faith’s cheeks. “Turk! Hey!”

She snarled and aimed at Crane, but he was already running. He’d forced his way onto the train and was now moving toward the back, shoving passengers aside. Security ran after him, but he had a good head start, and with all due respect to the hardworking security officers, they all seemed very out of shape.

Michael came to a stop by Faith, but she waved him onward. “He’s on the train! Go after him!”

Michael nodded and continued pursuit while Faith tended to Turk. He was on his feet again, still shaking his head and wobbling a little. She dropped to his side and held his eyes to hers. “Hey, boy. Are you all right?”

Turk blinked and dipped his head in acknowledgment. His eyes were clear but showed amazement. It was rare that anyone managed to take him down, and never from a distance like that. No doubt he was just as surprised as Faith was.

“Is everything all right?” Ferris asked, joining them with his officers. “Are you hit?”

“No, I’m fine,” Faith said. “The suspect had some sort of acoustic pistol that disabled Turk. Michael’s pursuing him on the train.”

Ferris looked up and swore. “He’s going out the back. He’s going to try to hop the fence at the end of the yard and escape to the parking lot.”

“Head him off,” Faith said. “Secure his vehicle and put patrol units at every cross street near the station. I’ll head to the back of the train.” She rubbed Turk’s cheeks. “Stay here, boy. Okay? Stay.”

Turk didn’t look happy to hear that instruction, but he stayed put as Faith sprinted down the length of the platform toward the train. She leaped off of the platform and rolled to her feet when she landed.

The Amtrak train had seven passenger cars. Faith looked through the windows of each one as she ran but didn’t see anyone. When she reached the last car, she found Michael on his hands and knees with his head in between his arms.

“Michael!” she cried, dropping to the ground. “Are you okay?”

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