Free Deceitful Moon by Rick Murcer Page B

blinked at Josh. “Still do.”
    Josh stepped closer to Manny , away from Sophie . “ Ah. I think it’s time to go . Let’s get down to the station, talk with our special guest , and then see about getting some rest.”
    Manny watched relief landscape Josh’s face as he changed the subject . But there was little doubt Sophie would pick up the matter again at the first opportunity.
    That’s twice she had flustered Josh , and she seemed to be enjoying the hell out of it. Still, they would have to talk about professional conduct. But not today. For the moment, life was too good to go the downer route.
    Just then, Sophie’s cell began playing a tune from Phantom . She scowled, looked at the number, then up to Manny.
    Thinking back, he had no inkling how quickly the good mood would change. How one call could disrupt not only the moment, but turn part of his world upside down .
    “It’s the office. Hello — whoa. Wait. Slow down, Buzzy .”
    Manny watched the color drain from Sophie’s face as she handed the phone to him, tears already glistening in her big , brown eyes.
    “ Buzzy . What happened?”
    He heard her sob and then make a heroic effort to get control of the hitch blocking her throat. “I tried your cell a hundred times . . . so much blood . . . ”
    Panic punched Manny’s ches t. “Who se blood? Tell me what’s going on, Buzzy . ”
    There was a brief silence as Buzzy caught some air. “ J ust get back here. Gavin’s been shot.”

 
    Chapter -21
     
    The FBI’s jet lifted from the runway, banking gracefully over the thick, shadowy green of St. Thomas and straightening over the glassy ocean just as the sun began to climb over the eastern h orizon. Manny looked away from the window and down to his watch. They had lifted off before the pilots had gotten their FAA - required eight hours of continuous rest. But with the FBI, everyone did what they were told. This time, he was ok ay with it. Getting back to Lansing was the only thing on his mind .
    “Just get back here . Gavin’s been shot.”
    Putting the cuffs on Argyle had been special , and there was no telling how many lives would be saved because of it. If the profilers could get him to eventually talk to them, which was something Argyle was helpless to resist, he might reveal an insight or two into how these psychopaths thought, how they worked. Even if Argyle talked just to hear himself speak, they would learn something. Manny wouldn’t be there for the first run. Josh, Max, and Chloe stayed behind to brief a crack team of the FBI’s Behavior Analysis Unit, which could lead to an opportunity to learn more about Argyle . Josh wanted Manny to leave the Lansing PD to work for that unit . He ran his hand through his hair. Changing jobs, even for one with the BAU, was the last thing on his mind. He had to get home. Nothing was more important .
    Buzzy had been near hysteria. He had finally talked her into handing the phone to one of the EMTs.
    Gavin had been found in his office with one shot to the chest. He was hanging in there, but barely. “He’s lost more blood than anyone still breathing has a right to lose,” said the tech. “Just keep praying we weren’t too late.”
    Praying was something he could do, and did. He believed that God listened and even intervened from time-to-time to show the world He was God and the rest of mankind wasn’t. This was one of those times, he hoped, that God would listen.
    And what of Stella and Mike? How much more could they take? What Argyle had done to Lexy was hard to digest , maybe even impossible to reconcile fully. A quick vision of how she had looked when she’d been found in her stateroom gouged his thoughts. He flinched. Only animals did that to people, especially to some one as beautiful, inside and out, as Lexy .
    Now Gavin. If he died, and it was past touch - and - go for him, Mike and Stella would lose two of the most important people in their lives just months apart. Talk about a recipe for the