Discarded by Fate

by Morgan Kelley

  That way, he could concentrate.

  ‘The Puppet Master’ needed time to work.

  A masterpiece had to be perfect.

  * * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *

  Harvard

  Delta Gamma

  Sorority

  As they headed up the stairs of the building, there were girls everywhere. They were sitting on the stairs, they were reading on the couches, and they were doing a lot of work.

  Callen leaned over to whisper.

  “This is not what I pictured,” he said.

  Ethan laughed.

  “Had you Googled it, this sorority is about women who want to empower the world. They are feminist, strong-willed, and going into fields like doctors, lawyers, and sexy FBI agents,” Ethan stated.

  Elizabeth smiled and pointed at herself.

  “There aren’t pillow fights in panties, you big perv.”

  Then she pointed at him.

  It made Callen laugh. “Fine. Maybe there aren’t any pillow fights and sleepovers. I got my facts and fiction crossed. You can’t blame a guy.”

  She whispered to him.

  Mostly, it was to drive him insane. Callen was the easier of the two, and she knew it.

  “Oh, there were lots of them but only after dark.”

  His body reacted to the purr in her voice. He knew it anywhere, and Callen loved it.

  “Do tell,” he offered.

  “Excuse me! Can I help you?” one girl said, as she spotted them wandering the house.

  “Sure can,” Elizabeth offered. “I’m…”

  The girl squealed, getting everyone’s attention. “IS THAT JACKSON JAMES?” she shouted, nearly scaring her to death. She hadn’t been expecting that.

  Well, at his name, the place came alive.

  The girls flocked, and actually knocked Elizabeth out of the way to get to him.

  Ethan and Elizabeth stood there as Callen looked panicked. They were everywhere. In fact, there were hands on him, and his gun.

  That made any cop a nervous wreck.

  Elizabeth grabbed a mallet and headed toward the gong in the corner. She remembered her sorority having one to begin meetings.

  She wailed on it until the girls all grabbed their ears and everyone stopped the jackassery.

  “I suggest that all of you, co-eds, back yourselves away from my partner. I will start breaking faces, and there aren’t enough plastic surgeons in the area to fix what I undo.”

  They all moved back.

  Callen looked relieved. While he wasn’t big on people in his space from his sexual molestation as a child, he really didn’t like people touching his gun.

  The one that shot people.

  His wife could touch his other gun any day of the week.

  “I’m Elizabeth Whitefox-Blackhawk, and I’m here to ask you crazies some questions. I know he’s a bestselling author of amazing smut, but he’s my husband, so back off!”

  The girls all sat down.

  Elizabeth pulled back her blazer when one didn’t listen. “Gun. Badge. Angry wife. You’re smart. Figure it out.”

  She sat too.

  “Now, I’m here to talk about Tajel West.”

  “She’s missing,” the one girl said. “She’s my roommate. She headed out for a few drinks on Wednesday and never came back. I called the police, and they called her father. We didn’t know what to do.”

  “Was there anyone bothering her?”

  “Are you kidding?” the one said. “Tajel was aces. She was loved by all. She was pre-law, and she still had time to hang with us.”

  “Did you find her?” the one girl asked.

  “Nope.”

  Ethan was glad she went with that. They didn’t need a bunch of gossipy college girls spreading rumors like wildfire.

  “Her father asked us to investigate.”

  “You’re supposed to be some super tough woman,” one girl said. “Why do you need two men?”

  “Dick. I like dick.”

  Both Callen and Ethan stared at her.

  “Now, where’s her room?” Elizabeth asked. “Why don’t you show me?”

  The one girl pointed toward the stairs. Elizabeth motioned to the roommate. “You’re up, cupcake. Show me the love shack.”

  The girl didn’t hesitate.

  “What’s your name?” she asked on the way up.

  “Candice. Do you think Mr. James can sign my books? I have them all. The new noir one is so hot. I can’t put it down. I can’t wait to read the next one.”

  “Cal, sign them while I search,” she said, pulling out a pair of gloves.

  Ethan did the same.

  While they went through Tajel’s things, Callen signed books.

  “What’s it like being an author?” Candice asked.

  “It’s a job,” he said, signing all her books. Then he gave her back her pink, fluffy-topped, marker.

  “That has to be so cool.”

  “Yeah, I do it for the excitement,” he said. “The FBI life is pretty dull.”

  “REALLY?” she asked, like she was getting the juicy gossip.

  Elizabeth rolled her eyes. If the girl didn’t pick up the sarcasm, that was on her.

  “Find anything?” Callen asked, pulling on his gloves. He nearly walked into the co-ed. “Uh, excuse me.”

  “Can I touch your…?”

  Elizabeth cleared her voice.

  “His hair! I swear I was going to ask to touch his hair.”

  She stared at her. “Is it attached to his body?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who owns that body?”

  “Uh, you?” she guessed.

  “No, he does, and he doesn’t like strangers playing with his pigtails, so stop your shit.”

  Callen laughed.

  His wife was something.

  They went back to work.

  Elizabeth pulled out a pack of smokes with a pub name on them.

  “It says ‘McCory’s’.”

  “Yeah, she goes there all the time. She likes a beer at night while she’s studying. We can keep them in the room, but she swears a cold one on tap is best.”

  “She’s right,” both men said at the same time.

  On this one, even Elizabeth agreed.

  “Candice, was she seeing anyone?” she asked. “I was in college once. I know what it’s like.”

  “Way back when, huh?”

  “Yeah, I could be your mother, but I was also a Gamma when it was more than French manicures and puffy pens. So, zip it, sister.”

  The girl did.

  “As I was saying, I didn’t go to a bar alone. Who was she seeing?”

  The girl tried to stare blankly.

  “Jock?”

  No reaction.

  “Professor?”

  Still nothing.

  “Dean?”

  And there was that telltale flinch.

  “How long was she playing office fun with the dean? And which one?”

  She closed the door.

  “You can’t say I told you, okay? Sister’s don’t rat out sisters.”

  She shrugged. “Okay.”

  “It is the dean of the law program, and since she started school. They meet, they hook up, and she comes back. You can’t say a word about it. She could get kicked out.”

  Oh, she was pretty sure the dead girl didn’t give a shit about that.

  Callen made notes.

  Ethan did the search. “Lucca Carmen,” he said. “He’s a senior dean with the law program.”

  “Great, I think I know who else we’re going to add to our list. Do your boss man mojo, and figure out a way to get us in to see him. Don’t blow our cover.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, because when the three of us are together, it doesn’t scream murder.”

  “Tell him you’re doing research,” Candice said to Callen. “He’s big into your books. Tajel mentioned it. She said her dad knew your boyfriend.”

  She’d forgotten the girl was even there, lurki
ng around to be near Callen.

  “Uh, he’s my husband.”

  “Whatever. Where you get off is not my business, sister. All I know is he’s a fan. He’ll love seeing you.”

  Great.

  “Are you really one of us?” the girl asked. “If you are, what’s our top-secret pledge?”

  It was a good thing she had a decent memory. Elizabeth recited the Delta Gamma pledge.

  The girl clapped.

  “Harvard?”

  “Cornell.”

  She stared at her in doubt. “Well, then you should dress better.”

  Ethan laughed as they headed out.

  “How come everyone always rags on the way I dress? I’m not bad today,” she said.

  Callen snorted.

  “Really? Do you want to sleep next to your boyfriend?” she asked. “You know, instead of me?”

  He shut up.

  And fast.

  “You don’t dress horribly,” Ethan stated. “It’s the jeans and boots. Try dress pants and Italian leather.”

  Callen snorted. “Your stylist knows best.”

  She was accustomed to it.

  Only, she didn’t really care.

  Why?

  They were getting lead after lead, and that was, ultimately, how you solved a case.

  As long as they kept pouring in, the world could hate on her beat-up boots and jeans.

  Screw them.

  “Ethan, did our team get you the college kid’s info?” she asked, putting on her sunglasses.

  “They are working on finding Joseph Gates, and so am I,” he offered, trying to help them out.

  “He’s our next stop. Someone had better have details on Joseph Gates ASAP,” she stated.

  “Baby, would I ever let you down?”

  She knew that answer.

  And for this case, that was a good thing.

  Chapter Eight

  Monday

  Mid-Morning

  B lue was terrible at few things in her life. In fact, she grew up excelling at just about everything. People began hating her at an early age, as they felt threatened by her intelligence. So, as she aged, she stayed an introvert, afraid to even try to make friends.

  It affected everything in her life.

  Like now.

  She was sitting across from Johanna Seaton, and the woman intimidated the hell out of her. She was tall, had this warm straw-colored hair, and everyone seemed to like her.

  She wanted to talk to her, as they worked, but she was afraid to open her mouth.

  “I can hear you thinking over here,” Johanna said. “What’s bothering you?”

  “Nothing is bothering me.”

  “Then why do you keep staring at me?”

  Busted.

  “Do you make friends easily?” Blue asked. “You know…when you go to a party, can you be yourself?”

  Joey glanced over at her.

  “Well, yeah. Part of being a Fed is being able to talk to people and get to the bottom of things. Like now. I knew you were agitated. It’s our job to know.”

  “I don’t know how to do that.”

  “Talk to people? You’re doing it right now.”

  “I don’t know how to make friends. Can you teach me how to do it?”

  Johanna laughed.

  Then she realized Blue was being serious.

  “Wait, really? You don’t have any friends? How is that even possible?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t. I noticed you and Elizabeth were friendly.”

  “Well, yeah, we work together. I don’t know if I can teach you how to make friends. It kinda just happens.”

  “I see.”

  She went back to work.

  Johanna felt bad.

  The girl was trying, but sometimes, super smart people were isolated and alone. They just weren’t social. They lived in their heads, and not the real world.

  “So, what’s between you and the security guy, Igor the Terrible?”

  Blue looked up.

  “I don’t know. I’m confused.”

  “About?”

  “So, he brought me a pizza. He taught me how to fold it and eat it. It was only my second time.”

  “Having sex?”

  She stared at her.

  “Uh, no. Having pizza.”

  “WHAT?”

  Johanna had to have heard her wrong.

  Who doesn’t eat pizza?

  “Why does everyone do that when I say I’ve only had pizza once, and I didn’t like it?”

  “Because that’s the common junk food of kids, teens, and working adults everywhere. Pizza on Fridays…Not having to cook…”

  She shook her head.

  “Pizza in your dorm room in college?”

  She shook her head again.

  “I would be less shocked if you said that you were a virgin.”

  “I am a virgin.”

  Johanna closed her laptop.

  This was unbelievable.

  “I’m going to laugh, but it’s not at you. It’s at the situation, so don’t get offended.”

  “Okay.”

  Johanna grinned. “How did you get through college and remain a virgin?”

  She sighed and went into it again.

  “I graduated from high school at twelve, I graduated from college at fourteen, and I graduated from medical school at eighteen. By twenty-two was a full-fledged doctor. I didn’t think sex at thirteen was advantageous.”

  Johanna was enthralled by all of this. She’d heard her on the plane, but she didn’t mind hearing it again.

  “You have a very valid point. It’s just you seem normal when you’re in a group.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Yeah, I think you still are, you’re just different.”

  “That’s what Ivan called me. Is that good? Is that bad?” she asked.

  “It depends. Let’s regroup and start again,” Johanna stated. “Okay, so you didn’t eat pizza, and you are a virgin.”

  “Yeah, and I’m confused.”

  “By?”

  “Ivan.”

  “Want to talk it out?”

  “Are you good at relating to men?”

  She laughed at that. “No woman is. We just try to co-exist. It’s like my husband. I love him, but when he went paragliding and broke his leg, I wanted to kill him.”

  “Okay, I’m with you so far.”

  “So, we try to exist with men, but they don’t always work with us on it. What was Ivan doing as he kept you company?”

  “He brought me pizza, tucked me into bed, and finished my reports.”

  “Yeah, I heard you tell the boss. I just thought you got lucky.”

  “He woke up with me.”

  “In the same bed?”

  “Yes.”

  Then she looked confused.

  “What?” Johanna asked.

  “Then he did something weird.”

  “What?”

  “He gave me the key to his room, and I went over, and there he was, post shower.”

  “Doing?”

  “Naked. Full frontal nudity. I think he did it on purpose, but I’m not sure.”

  “Okay. What happened after you caught him doing ‘The Full Monty’?”

  “Then he puts on a towel, and he goes in the bathroom, but I can see him in the mirror, and it’s like he’s posing. Trying to lure me in—or agitate me.”

  “He was posturing.”

  “What?”

  “You know when the peacock shows his feathers to the female. He spreads them, trying to get the female bird to come touch his pea cock.”

  She laughed.

  “See? You get people. You read him. You are a good Fed, Blue. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”

  She wished that was true.

  “So what did you do after he was trying to get you all hot and bothered?” she asked.

  “Well, after I wiped the water off his back…”

  She stopped her. “Pardon?”

 
Blue explained.

  “Oh, he was totally testing out the water. He has a hot body, right?”

  “Oh yeah. He’s perfect.”

  She smiled. “Well, then he wanted you to admire him. Totally a peacock flashing the plumage.”

  “When you put it in science-y explanations, I get it. Science I know.”

  She was aware. Johanna talked this way to Christina, Chris, and definitely Tony.

  Birds of a feather…

  “What happened next?”

  “I figured out what he was doing, so I kissed him. I pushed him onto the bed and jumped him.”

  “You’ve kissed before?”

  “Yes. I’ve fooled around. I just haven’t really found that person I wanted to have sex with and gone all the way. I think it should be special.”

  “Until?”

  “Yeah, now. He infuriates me but he is sweet. There’s something about him that makes me want to be near him.”

  Johanna got it.

  “Men are simple. They are like that bird. Just keep thinking that. Look at my husband. He flew himself over me on the beach right into a cliff. It’s some crazy gene they have as they are trying to dazzle us.”

  “So what do I do?”

  “I can only tell you what I’d do. You have to make up your own mind. If it were me, I’d jump him. I’d throw caution to the wind and do it.”

  “So you think I should pluck the bird?”

  Johanna stared at her.

  Then she began laughing.

  “Yes, and for the record, you were wrong.”

  “About?”

  “You said you didn’t know how to make friends. You just did.”

  It took her a second, but she got it.

  “Really?” she asked hopefully.

  “Yeah, and after you pluck the bird, we get to talk about it. You know. Discuss the pea cock.”

  Blue laughed. “I think I’ll enjoy that.”

  Joey patted her on the back.

  “Honey, that’s the whole point.”

  As Blue’s laptop beeped, she pulled up the screen. “Well, this might be our lucky day.”

  “What?” Joey asked.

  “We found a link between the two victims. They both drank at the same bar.”

  “Where?”

  “A place called ‘McCory’s’.”

  “Send the boss lady an email. She’s going to want to get her hands on that info, and fast.”

  Blue sent it.

  “Let’s keep digging,” Johanna offered. “Who knows what else we’ll find?”