Judged (28 page)

“Got shot?” Kane pulled his head back. “Where? When?”

I took a drink from my beer and set it on the table in front of me. “I think the term
shot
only applies if the bullet goes into or through you. A graze across the arm doesn’t qualify as getting shot.”

“Someone pointed a gun at you, pulled the trigger, and the bullet hit you. Sounds like getting shot,” Karen said. “This happened two days ago.”

I rolled my eyes and lifted my sleeve, exposing the sixteen stitches in a nice little line across my upper arm. “How bad does that look? It’s a scratch.”

Kane leaned in for a better look. “Yeah, I don’t know if I’d call that getting shot, either,” he said. “Probably won’t even leave a mark. It’s definitely not as cool as this.” He pulled the collar of his T-shirt to one side, exposing his scarred collar bone, from where a bullet had shattered it.

Callie rolled her eyes.

Kane took his hand from the neckline of his shirt. “Anyway, how was the case? The television coverage said the guy was in custody.”

“I linked him up personally,” I said. “It was, I don’t know, another investigation. Not as bad as some, worse than some others.”

“I don’t know how you can deal with that stuff,” Callie said. “Police work is one thing. Dealing with the worst of the worst is another.”

I shrugged. “They pay well.”

Callie smiled. “Are you going to have to come back when he goes to trial?” she asked.

“Maybe. I guess I’ll find out if they need me when the time comes.” I looked toward Kane. “I got to work with Lieutenant Harrington a bit down there.”

“Oh yeah?” Kane asked. “How was he?”

“Fine. He seemed like a good cop. He was right there with me when we took Wendell into custody.”

“Ah.” Kane kicked his feet up onto a planter at the edge of the gazebo. “To be out pounding the pavement again.”

“You can stop thinking about that right now,” Callie said.

Kane continued. “Yeah, I miss the action, but I have to say I’m pretty happy with where I’m at.” He reached out, stuck his hand on Callie’s leg, and then wiped some spittle from John’s chin. He gave Callie a smile and looked back over at me. “Speaking of people from the past, did you run into Top Secret Agent Faust up in your neck of the woods yet?”

The question caught me a bit off guard. “Faust? Why would Faust be up there?”

“Just what I heard.” Kane took a sip from his beer. “Jones was working on something and found a guy that was connected with what he was looking into. The guy Jones found had a federal warrant. Jones tells me, and I call Faust over at the bureau—well, at least try to call Faust. So I call his desk and get a message that he’s out of town. I figure maybe he’s on vacation or something, so I talk to someone else, not wanting to interrupt whatever he’s doing. No big deal. A week or two later, I call for him again. The number at his desk now goes to another agent entirely. So I dial his cell phone and leave him a message. I never got a call back. I tried him again a few days later, and his cell number is disconnected. I didn’t really know what to make of it but just kind of dismissed it. Anyway, I get a blocked-ID call a day or two later from Faust, saying that he transferred to DC.”

“Hmm, yeah, can’t say that I’ve seen him,” I said.

“Well, that’s not really the weird part.”

“What’s the weird part?”

Kane ran a hand over his scarred, bald head. “The last agent I spoke with at the local office down here said he’d never heard of an Agent Faust.”

“What?” I asked.

“Kind of the same reaction I had. I asked the guy how long he’d been there, and he tells me fourteen years.”

I shook my head and scratched at my chin. “CIA spook or something?”

“Who the hell knows?” Kane said. “Always something a little weird with that guy. Seems it only gets weirder the more you get to know him.” He took three big gulps of his beer, finishing it off. Kane shook the empty bottle and stood. “Another beer?” he asked.

I looked at my two-thirds-full bottle and took a big chug. “May as well.”

“All right. Back in a flash,” he said.

“Babe, can you start the grill on your way back?” Callie asked. “And could you grab me a water, please?”

“Yes, dear,” he replied, and he disappeared into the house.

Karen looked over at Callie and spoke over her shoulder. “He’s learning.”

Callie smiled. “He’s a work in progress, but he’s getting there.”

The End

Thank you!

Thanks for reading
Judged
, Book 4 in The Agent Hank Rawlings Series of FBI Thrillers. I hope you enjoyed it!

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Do you know Lieutenant Kane?

The Lieutenant Kane series follows a Tampa homicide lieutenant on and off duty over the better part of a year—though I think if anyone who worked law enforcement in reality had a year like his, they would be turning in their resignation. Through the story arc of the six-book series, you see Lieutenant Kane go toe-to-toe with some of the most twisted, homicidal, and downright ruthless adversaries imaginable—all while doing his best to juggle his often-turbulent personal life.

Malevolent
, the first book in the series, has been downloaded and enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of readers worldwide. See where it all starts today. The six books in the series (listed in order) are:
Malevolent
,
Requite
,
Determinant
,
Perilous
,
Progeny
, and
Denouement
. I hope you enjoy them all!

Again, thank you for reading!

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