Discarded by Fate

by Morgan Kelley

  “You think I meant send him away? No, I meant, we’re going to take him back, or at least I am. We’re going to send him in with a wire, and as soon as she mentions blackmail, she’s done.”

  Wyler had hope.

  “Really? Then I can come back with you to be with the kids?”

  “Uh, speaking of which,” Callen asked. “Where are they? Aren’t you supposed to be there with them?”

  “I have an early flight tomorrow.”

  “I thought you left your wallet in Damascus,” Ethan stated. “How did you…?”

  “I had my passport that Callen made me get. Did you know you can use it to get on a plane?”

  Yeah, they were aware.

  “So, I raided the petty cash fund, grabbed my passport, and got a flight. I guess I have to give up my monthly peyote stash.”

  Callen laughed. “I’ll hook you up, Dad,” Callen offered.

  Elizabeth pointed at Chris when he opened his mouth. “Ethan, piss test them all. I think someone’s been having a little too much fun at the fort.”

  Wyler laughed.

  “Okay, let’s grab some sleep,” Elizabeth stated. “Tomorrow, we have to interview Elijah Elliot. Did you get us an appointment at the bank, Ethan?” she asked.

  “Oh, I did, but the only way I could get to him, without him getting a heads-up, was to say we were thinking about buying a vacation home.”

  She didn’t care. The man was frequenting a call girl. He needed a come to Jesus talk, and she was going to be playing the role of preacher man.

  “Then as soon as we see that squirrely reporter, the one trying to buy information on the case, we need to trap him and beat his ass until…”

  Ethan was staring at her, one eyebrow lifted.

  “Only hurt him a little?”

  He shook his head.

  “Give him a stern talking to?” she asked.

  “Yes, that’s more like it.”

  “You know, you were so much more fun before they gave you two titles before your name.”

  Ethan laughed.

  “We’ll handle the reporter, and everything will be fine.”

  Except the man wasn’t going to like it.

  She’d bet big money on it.

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

  Tuesday

  Two A.M

  When he placed her, he couldn’t help but be happy. He was done with that little display.

  As she hung gracefully, he knew what he’d done wrong with the first ‘woman’.

  He’d never hung her up.

  With this one, he smiled hugely as she danced and shimmied in the moonlight of that alley.

  She hung there, arms moving, head hanging, and body swinging.

  She was finally free.

  So, with his project complete, he planned for the second woman. He had Molly.

  And she was a hellion!

  She fought him as she woke from him stunning her.

  He’d had to put her down, and fast.

  His plan was altered but that was okay.

  With the next one, he’d have fun. He was going to strap her down, screw her brains out, and then take her apart. All this watching of the naked women was way too much for him to handle.

  The heartless bitch would pay.

  She would then be made into something far more beautiful than she already was.

  The world would thank him.

  How could they not?

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

  Three A.M

  When her phone rang, she already knew who it was going to be on the other line.

  No one called in the middle of the night just to say hello, and her team wouldn’t call her either.

  They knew heads would roll.

  So, this had to be her dead wakeup call, and she wasn’t shocked in the least.

  Apparently, Ethan was right and wrong.

  He’d up-ed his timeline and was becoming even crazier. It appeared they didn’t have until Wednesday to get this guy.

  “Blackhawk,” she muttered.

  “Ma’am, it’s Detective Chase. We were called to a scene, and they alerted me through the commissioner’s office. The killer you’re chasing has left another victim.”

  “Where?” she asked as everyone began getting up to begin the process of dressing.

  He rattled off the address.

  “That’s behind the bar,” she stated. “Right?”

  “Yes, ma’am, it is. We’ll keep it contained, but the media is already on the way here. I can see them pulling up as we speak.”

  She hung up.

  “Well?” Ethan asked, pulling on a pair of designer jeans and his shiny Italian boots.

  “We have another,” she stated. “You may need to alter your profile. He’s escalating.”

  He was aware.

  “Let me see what he left us, and I’ll give you the new version.”

  Callen said nothing.

  “You okay?” she asked.

  He yawned. “Why is it I can get up at three in the morning to write without a problem, but to do this?”

  She got it.

  “Because this sucks any time of the day.”

  Yeah, she had a point.

  “I’ll get our ME. Wake your father on the couch and have him pick a bed. He might as well get three more hours in here.”

  Callen pulled out his wallet and handed his brother a credit card and cash. “Give this to him so he has some money until we can get his shit back from Bly,” he stated.

  Ethan headed out.

  Elizabeth hopped over to Callen and kissed him. Then she finished getting her jeans on.

  “Now you want to make out?” he asked. “Bring it on, beautiful.”

  “Are you awake?”

  “Hell, yeah,” he said, pointing down. All of him was official at attention.

  “Great. Now you’re ready to go to the scene.”

  He stared at her.

  “You are a vicious, vicious woman. How did you catch two men?”

  She took her nightshirt off and stood there topless.

  “Never mind. I know the answer to that.”

  Elizabeth laughed as she strapped on her bra, the body armor that they made her sport around, and then the rest of her clothes.

  “Are you wearing those boots?” Callen teased.

  “Are you wearing the couch for bedtime the next month?” she teased back.

  He stared at her. “Not unless you’re joining me.”

  Elizabeth snorted.

  The men in her life...they were crazy.

  She headed toward Chris’s room. It wasn’t like she could blame him.

  When she entered into the spare room, Chris was still sleeping. He was wearing his earbuds, and she figured he was assuming the room next to his would be rocking.

  Yeah, it hadn’t been.

  She was too tired chasing crazy.

  Heading toward him, she touched his arm. Immediately, he sat up with his gun in his hand.

  “Jesus,” she said, as he was pointing it at her.

  His eyes went wide.

  Elizabeth took the gun from him when he practically dropped it.

  “I’m so sorry!”

  She stared at him.

  “You’re a mess over this, aren’t you?” she asked. “I mean what she did to you.”

  He closed his eyes.

  “I feel…humiliated. I told Tony. I thought that talking about it…”

  She sat beside him and tucked his gun back into his medical bag on the floor.

  “I wish I could have been there to stop it. I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Don’t carry this,” he stated. “This is NOT on you. I went to her place, and I was stupid.”

  “You’re blaming the victim. Look at me, Chris. Say it. Say it and begin to heal. She drugged you, she took advantage of you, and she raped you against your will.”

  He closed his eyes.

  Then he said it.


  “I have your back, Newton. She’s not going to hurt you again. I promise. No matter what, I have you.”

  “Is it crazy that I don’t want to get close to anyone else anymore?” he asked. “Is it weird that I don’t want to form an attachment?”

  “Is that why you called Tony?” she asked, as he got out of bed. He was in a pair of boxers, and she handed him some clothes from his suitcase.

  “Yeah. You were the one.”

  She stared at him.

  “Chris.”

  “Just hear me out. You were my soulmate. I just wasn’t yours. It’s fine. I tried to have a life outside you, and I couldn’t. I know we can never go back, but I want to go forward.”

  “With?”

  “Myself. I had the perfect love, and I don’t want another one. I will carry my blame, but I want you to know that you were my other half.”

  She stood and hugged him.

  “Elizabeth is divided into three phases of life, Chris. She was the young Lyzee, and you were her soulmate then.”

  He held her.

  “She has this Lyzee, the one who is married to Callen and Ethan, and they are her soulmates for now.”

  “Who’s left?” he asked.

  “You and them. I have room for you in my heart. I may not be able to go back to that physical relationship, but I’ll give you everything else.”

  His heart skipped.

  “They will kill me.”

  She disagreed. “They won’t. Ask them.”

  He set her free and continued dressing. At the knock on the door, Ethan stuck his head in.

  “Ready?” he asked, noticing Chris was half-dressed and Elizabeth looked serious.

  “Yeah, I’m ready,” she said.

  Chris pulled on his shirt and slid into his shoes. “I’m ready too.”

  “Well, then let’s go,” she said, heading out.

  Chris followed, and he had a lot to think about.

  A damn lot.

  The ride to the scene was quiet. She’d made them stop for coffee. Elizabeth had learned from the Bonnie case that going headfirst into the clusterfuck only got you one thing.

  Exhausted.

  So, she was going to at least have coffee to deal with the Boston PD. She was expecting the worst, and with Chris being jumpy, she figured he needed to calm down.

  It gave them time to brace for it.

  After all these years, she knew to expect the locals to be bitchy—especially this early in the damn morning.

  “We’re here,” Ivan said.

  Yeah, they’d had to wake him too. Only, they found him playing bed buddy.

  That was the highlight of Elizabeth’s morning.

  Cupid was on target.

  “Watch your backs,” Ethan stated. “He’s a watcher. He’s going to want to see our faces as his ‘art’ is unveiled.”

  “Well, he’s a sicko, and I’ll pluck his eyes out if I catch him watching.”

  They didn’t doubt it.

  As they hopped out, Christina was there with the techs, and they were unloading all of their gear.

  “How bad is it?” she asked the woman.

  “I got a peek, along with all the media. This maniac is nutty.”

  Yeah, she was aware.

  “Bosses, we’ll start taking pictures,” Christina said, heading toward the scene.

  Chris and Elizabeth were good with that.

  If the techs got a jump on it, and they would need it since it was an alley, they would have time to do their jobs too.

  “Round two,” she muttered, as Chris grabbed his medical bag. As they headed toward the police tape, the cop on the line gave her nothing but the death stare.

  Yeah, gee…that was something that never happened before.

  Well, she had news for him.

  She shoved her badge in his face, enough for him to take a step back.

  It was petty, but the man actually jumped.

  That amused her.

  When he refused to lift the tape for her, that was fine by her. She wasn’t in the mood to have a conversation on manners or deal with jackassery.

  “What do we have?” she asked as she saw the detective standing there.

  Max Chase was asking questions, scribbling down information, and he looked like he was doing the job of five detectives.

  Why did that kid look so damn familiar?

  She couldn’t place him, but she was good with faces.

  “She’s behind the bar, and she’s hanging from a metal rail attached to some fire escape,” he said, pointing up.

  They all looked in that direction. The most garish part was that the light from the pub’s neon sign was flickering, and it was casting shadows all over her.

  Yeah, he’d done a number on this one.

  “We have an all Caucasian one,” Chris stated. “He didn’t go with mixed races this time.”

  Ethan wasn’t shocked. “It fits my profile. I still say he’s going to be white.”

  “What do you have, Doc?” she asked, trying to get anything.

  “A human piñata. I’m always shocked at how the human mind thinks this is okay to do something like this to another living being.”

  Her too.

  This guy put the cuckoo in clock. The little beer-drinking, lederhosen-wearing men weren’t making a full circle on this one.

  “Can we get her down?” Elizabeth asked. “At that height, the media can get a really good shot with a telephoto lens, and I don’t want them plastering a naked, human marionette all over the news.”

  He waved to the techs.

  “Screens and bag her. I’ll work on her in the body bag. I don’t want to risk trace. I also need you to pull anything around this area,” he stated. “It was windy.”

  Yeah, Elizabeth knew what that meant.

  Any potential trace was blown to hell and back.

  Damn this nut bag!

  As she was being lowered, Elizabeth glanced over at her two agents.

  “Start canvasing. Find me anyone who heard anything. There is no way that this guy hung her up without a car, someone hearing footsteps, or a camera.”

  Again, she was beginning to think maybe they did have a little Houdini action after all.

  Johanna and Blue headed off. From the corner of her eye, she could see Ivan. He wasn’t watching her.

  He was watching Blue.

  She cleared her throat.

  When he looked over, she jerked her head toward the two agents.

  He grinned and disappeared into the crowd of growing onlookers. With the bars just emptying out, they had drunks-a-plenty to interview.

  Great.

  That should be some reliable information. The worm in the bottom of the tequila bottle did it.

  Case solved.

  “Want me to start questioning the patrons?” Callen asked, taking one for the team.

  “Yeah, take Ethan too. We have a shitload of them. Find me the person who called this in. I want someone to question him on anything they saw, and let’s pray the person was sober.”

  They started walking away.

  “Boys!”

  They turned.

  “What?” Ethan asked.

  “Stick together. I have a bad feeling in my gut. Something is going down, and I’m missing it.”

  Callen and Ethan could do that.

  “You stick with Chris, since you sent your protection off,” Ethan stated.

  It never ceased to amaze her that he had eyes in the back of that damn skull of his.

  The raven, her ass. He was old eagle eyes.

  She watched them start at the front of the crowd. Behind them, trying to blend in was Heath and Rory.

  They were doing a horrible job of it.

  Anyway, she couldn’t check out her husbands all night. As they did their thing, she did hers.

  Elizabeth crouched beside Chris, watching him work. When the detective did the same, it was driving her insane.

  “Why do I know you, Detective?” she asked. “I’v
e seen you before.”

  He stared at her.

  “Uh, yesterday…”

  “Really?” she asked. “I hope you’re trying to be funny, or I’m going to string you up like the killer did to her, only you’ll be alive as I beat you like a piñata.”

  He tried not to laugh.

  “I don’t know why you think you know me. Maybe I look like someone you know.”

  “Have you ever been to DC?” she asked.

  “No, I stay pretty close to home. My father was a cop here in Boston. He was killed on a case.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Yeah, I was a little kid. It happened about ten years ago. My mom—even though they broke up—was never the same.”

  “I’m sorry for her loss,” Chris stated.

  “Thanks. He was working with the FBI.”

  And that sent up warning bells for both Elizabeth and Chris. It was like that slap of reality from their pasts.

  “Really?” she asked.

  “Yeah, he was working on the mob task force. From what I’ve heard, it was his first day. The whole thing sucks, but you know how the Irish Mob is in Boston. It runs rampant.”

  Chris looked at her and his face said it all.

  “And his name was Chase too?” she asked, crossing her fingers that she wasn’t thinking what she was thinking.

  He shook his head. “No. His name was Detective Bronson. My parents weren’t married. They broke up when she was pregnant with me, and then they battled for custody for me for a full year.”

  “Can you help with the drunken interrogation? They have their hands full,” she said, trying to get him away from her. Now she knew why he looked so damn familiar.

  As soon as he was gone, Chris went there.

  “Detective Bronson?” Chris asked. “Wasn’t that the cop who went down in the line of duty while we were here working that case?” he whispered.

  “Yeah, he was. We were the Feds that his father was working with. It was the one where O’Banion was gunning for me.”

  Oh, this whole thing was all kinds of ironic.

  She’d just told Ethan this felt off, and here the universe dropped this in her lap.

  “We need to run this kid upside down and inside out. Something is up and you know how I feel about coincidental things happening.”