Saving Faith By: David Baldacci

you’ve found.”

Reynolds stared at the woman. Technically what she should do was go

directly to OPR and tell them everything. The Office of Professional

Responsibility was officially under the umbrella of the Bureau but was

actually run by the Department of Justice. OPR investigated

allegations of misconduct by Bureau personnel. They had a reputation

for being very thorough. An OPR investigation could put a scare into

even the toughest FBI agent.

Yes, from a simple technical point of view, it was a no-brainer. If

life could only be so simple. The devastated woman standing before

Reynolds made her decision much less simple. In the end she went with

her human side and put aside the Bureau manual for now. Ken Newman

would be buried a hero. The man had been an agent for over two

decades; he at least deserved that.

“At some point, yes, I’ll have to report my findings. But not right

now.” She paused and gripped the woman’s hand. “I know when the

funeral is. I’ll be there with everyone else, paying our respects to

Ken.”

Reynolds gave Anne a reassuring hug and then walked out, her mind

whirling so fast she felt a little dizzy.

If Ken Newman was on the take, he had been doing it for a while. Was

he the leak on Reynolds’s investigation? Had he sold out other

investigations as well? Was he just a freelancing mole selling to the

highest bidder? Or was he a regular snitch working for the same party?

If so, why was such a party interested in Faith Lockhart? There were

foreign interests involved. Lockhart had told them that much. Was

that the key? Was Newman working for a foreign government all this

time, a foreign government that was also coincidentally caught up in

Buchanan’s scheme?

She sighed. The whole thing was snowballing into something so big, she

halfway felt like running home and pulling the covers over her head.

Instead she would get in her car, drive to the office and continue

chipping away at this case, as she had hundreds of others over the

years. She had won more than she had lost. And that was the best

anyone in her line of work could ever hope for.

CHAPTER 35

LEE HAD AWOKEN VERY LATE with the mother of all hangovers and decided

to run it off. At first, each of his strides on the sand sent lethal

darts through his brain. Then, as he loosened up, breathed the chilly

air, felt the salty wind on his face, at about the one-mile point in

his run, the effects of his crushed grape and Red Dog shooters

disappeared. When he got back to the beach house, he went around to

the pool and retrieved his clothes and his gun. He sat in a sling

chair for a while, letting the sun warm him. When he went back inside,

he smelled coffee and eggs.

Faith was in the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee. She had on jeans

and a short-sleeved shirt and was barefoot. When she saw him come in,

she pulled out another mug and filled it. For a moment, this simple

act of companionship pleased him. And then his actions of the night

before washed that feeling away, like ocean waves brutally wiping out

sand castles.

“I figured you’d sleep all day,” she said. Her tone was excessively

casual, he thought, and she didn’t look at him when she spoke.

This qualified for the most awkward moment in Lee’s entire life. What

was he supposed to say? Hey, what about that little sexual assault

thing last night.

He came into the kitchen area, fingered the mug, half hoping the large

lump in his throat would end up strangling him to death. “Sometimes

the best remedy for doing something incredibly stupid and inexcusable

is to run until you drop.” He glanced at the eggs. “Smells good.”

“Doesn’t compare to the meal you made last night. But then again, I’m

no whiz in the kitchen. I guess I’m a room-service kind of girl. But

I’m sure you already figured that out.” As she moved over to the

stove, he noted she walked with a slight limp. He also couldn’t fail

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