So Twisted (A Faith Bold FBI Suspense Thriller—Book Nineteen) by Blake Pierce

Author:Blake Pierce [Pierce, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2025-02-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The inside of James’s house was sparse. His money clearly went to maintaining his animals. He led them through the nearly bare interior to a backyard where several chest freezers sat, their cables snaking underground.

There was a slab near one of the chests where several thick cuts of beef sat. "This is for the tigers and bears," he explained.

Michael put a hand on his shoulder. “I think this is where we stop,” he told the suspect. “I’m not looking for a fight with a five-hundred-pound cat.”

"I don't enter the enclosures with food," James replied. "There are pullout drawers in each enclosure. I put the food in there and push it through for the animals." When Michael was still wary, James said, "You can do it yourself if you don't believe me."

Turk barked, and James frowned and looked at Faith. "Is he going to attack me?"

“If you behave yourself, then he’ll behave himself,” Faith said. “Although I’ll be honest, I do find it interesting that he’s reacting this way around you. He typically only does that when he recognizes a smell he’s picked up at a crime scene before.”

“Well, I’m working with a lot of animals,” James replied. “Considering the careers your victims chose, I imagine your dog is smelling something similar on me.”

Faith frowned. That was actually a logical explanation. It still didn’t absolve James of suspicion.

The animal trainer was pushing a pallet jack underneath a pallet piled high with sides of beef. He lifted the pallet and pushed the meat toward the enclosures. Faith heard growling as the animals rushed to their feeding troughs anticipating the meal.

“Can you explain to us your association with the victims?” Faith asked as they walked.

“Sure,” James said, pointedly ignoring the still-growling Turk. “I reported Dr. Vasquez and Marcus Reeves for animal abuse. I don’t know who Alison Chen is.”

“She worked at the Reptile House in Henry Doorly when you reported Dr. Vasquez.”

“I see. Well, I deal with large carnivores and occasionally large herbivores, not reptiles.”

“So you didn’t report her for stealing exotic animals from the zoo?”

“I didn’t. Did someone say I did?”

“No,” Faith admitted.

“Then why are you asking me about it?”

“Because she was murdered two days ago. Someone jabbed a two-pronged roasting needle into her neck but dipped it in snake venom first. A couple nights before that, someone tore Marcus Reeves’ throat out. And last night, someone gouged pieces of Dr. Vasquez’s flesh from her body until she bled to death.”

James grimaced. "Sounds brutal." He pulled to a stop in front of an enclosure housing two beautiful Bengal tigers and unloaded some of the meat into a large metal trough that extended outward from the enclosure. The tigers growled and clawed at the cage, waiting for their meal.

“All right, all right, calm down,” James said. “You know you’re going to get the meat in a second.”

He pushed the trough closed, and the tigers fell on the meat savagely. Faith was grateful to be separated from the animals by thick steel bars.

James pushed the forklift ahead and said, “Okay, so I’m clearly a suspect.

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