Fatal Series 00 - Fatal Destiny

her sweetest smile. “Not if you expect to continue carrying a gold shield, Detective.”
    Faith laughed at their banter and showed them into her office. She was one of the identical triplets who served the District as assistant U.S. attorneys. While Sam had also worked closely with Hope and Charity, she was friendliest with Faith.
    “What can I do for you?” Faith asked.
    “Darius Gardner,” Sam said.
    All the color drained from Faith’s face, and she sat perfectly still behind her file-laden desk. “What about him?”
    Sam watched Faith closely. “You remember the case?”
    The AUSA shrugged. “Rape accusation a few years back. Didn’t go anywhere.” She affected a casual tone of voice, but Sam caught the slight tremble of her hand. Glancing at Freddie, she saw that he’d noticed it too.
    “What the hell is going on here, Faith?” Sam asked.
    “I don’t know what you mean. You asked about a case, and I answered you. What more do you want?”
    “I want the truth!”
    “Why do you care about an old rape case that never made it to court?”
    “Why do you remember an old rape case that never made it to court?”
    The two women stared at each other.
    “I asked first,” Faith said.
    “Fine. The place where he ‘allegedly’ raped that girl is the same house where Clarence Reece lived.”
    “The guy who killed his family and carjacked you.”
    “Right. Cruz, the clippings?”
    Freddie handed her the plastic bag containing the clippings about her father’s shooting.
    Sam placed the bag on the desk in front of Faith. “This was found in Reece’s place. Before he offed himself the day he carjacked me, he told me the stuff belonged to a former tenant who’d left it there and never come back to claim it.”
    “And you think that’s Gardner?”
    “I don’t know. He was one of several people who lived there before Reece moved in.”
    “Who are the other people?”
    “Trace Simmons is one of them.”
    “I know the name. Gangbanger.”
    Sam nodded in agreement. “Are you going to tell me why hearing Gardner’s name freaks you out so badly?”
    Faith’s eyes shifted to Freddie and then back to Sam.
    “Give us a minute, will you, Cruz?” Sam said.
    “Of course.” He got up and left the room, closing the door behind him.
    Sam waited patiently, giving the other woman a moment to collect herself. “What happened, Faith?” she finally asked.
    “This stays between us.”
    “I need to hear what’s staying between us before I agree to anything.”
    Faith gripped a pen with both hands.
    Sam had never seen the usually cool, unflappable prosecutor so undone.
    “I want to help you find the person who shot your father, Sam, but I’m not talking about Gardner.”
    “Then I’ll go to Forrester,” Sam said, referring to the U.S. attorney. “I’ll ask him why a slam dunk rape case was thrown out by one of his AUSAs before it ever got to court.”
    “Don’t.”
    “Tell me why I shouldn’t.”
    “For Christ sake, Sam! Just leave it the hell alone! You’re wading into something you can’t even begin to understand.”
    “You’re seriously saying that to me ? What the fuck, Faith? What waters do you think I won’t understand after twelve years on this goddamned job?” The other woman’s hands were now visibly shaking. “Whatever it is, you can trust me with it. You know that.”
    When Faith looked up at her there was none of the hard-nosed prosecutor Sam had come to know and respect. Rather, she looked into the eyes of a very frightened woman. In a low, soft tone, Faith said, “He threatened to have my baby niece Molly killed if I didn’t drop the case.”
    Sam tried to digest that. “And you believed him? Surely you’ve been threatened before.”
    “Not like this. There’s something truly evil about this guy, Sam. You bet your ass I believed him.”
    “Who knows about this?”
    “You and me. Hope had just had Molly. I couldn’t exactly share this with her or Charity. If Forrester ever found out, it would end my career—and theirs, if they knew. I never told anyone why we declined to prosecute.”
    “What did you tell Forrester?”
    “That I didn’t think we could win. He’s a politician. He wants wins. It didn’t take much to convince him to dismiss the charges.”
    “How about the special victims detectives?” She could only imagine what her police colleagues had thought about their solid case being tossed.
    “Gardner claimed the sex was entirely consensual. I told