She kissed him on the face. “Let’s go forward. I don’t want to look back anymore.”
He held her. “You’re right. I’m ready.”
So was she.
Ethan helped her up. As he was pulling up his pants, he heard the knock on the door.
“Shit!”
Elizabeth started laughing as she pulled on her jeans. The look of horror on his face was entertaining. As he struggled to pull himself back together, she laughed even more.
“This is not funny,” he said, pointing at her.
“You’re right. It’s beyond that. I wish I had a picture of your face. Where the hell is my phone? This should be my screensaver.”
He growled.
When she was dressed, he moved to the door. Pulling it open, he hoped he didn't look like he’d just fornicated with his wife.
To his surprise, there stood Callen.
“Hey, uh, is it my turn?”
“Zip it, Cal,” he muttered, checking to make sure the coast was indeed clear.
Elizabeth laughed. “Is there a line forming? I don’t know how many more times I can go.”
Blackhawk gave her the look.
Callen was amused. “Actually, I saw you two go in, and I’ve been standing guard.”
Ethan stopped scowling. “Really?”
“Yeah. I figured if anyone found you in there, you’d stroke out.”
Elizabeth moved around her husband to get to the other man. This was more proof that her other Native spouse was sweet. “Callen, you’re my hero.”
He kissed her. “Gabe is in autopsy. He’s looking for you two.”
She patted his cheek and headed off whistling.
“Thank you, Callen.”
“Are you two okay?” he asked.
“Yeah. We’re better.”
“Good. We have a problem.”
Ethan lifted a brow. “What?”
Callen told him about the conversation he had with Chris Leonard, and how he was thinking about leaving the FBI.
“Oh, shit. That’s not going to be good. Elizabeth won’t take that well. ”
“Yeah, you can say that again. We have another mess brewing right behind this insanity.”
Both men knew the truth. This was going to blindside Elizabeth, and now…it was the last thing she needed.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Morgue
The autopsy was done, the body was put away, and the team was only waiting on the boss lady. Merry stood there with trace ready to give her report.
And she looked like shit.
Apparently, when she said she was working all night, she wasn’t kidding.
She’d been trapped in the lab for hours.
“Merry, give me your report, and then I want you to head back to Gabe’s and get some sleep. You look like a zombie.”
“That good, huh?”
“Yeah.”
Everyone took their places. Gabe stayed against the wall, handling some emails, Elizabeth and Livy sat on a table, and both men weren’t far away from their pregnant woman.
“I pulled all the trace, cross compared it, and found something you might find interesting.”
“What?”
“There was a blonde hair on each of them.”
“Really?” Ethan said, glancing over at his tech. “Run it for DNA.”
“I can’t. There’s no root. While the shaft contains trace amounts of mitochondrial DNA, it’s not enough to test it.”
“Shit,” muttered Elizabeth.
“Since neither victim was a blonde, I found that suspicious. All that I can tell you is they are the exact same length. Maybe they had sex with the killer?” she suggested.
Jay Melrose glanced over at his old partner, waiting for him to drop the bomb.
“Tristan was gay. He wasn’t shacking up with a woman, so that’s probably out of the equation for him,” Ethan said.
“I found evidence of that,” Chris offered.
“Okay, so it wasn’t a sex partner with him, but how about with the director?” Elizabeth asked.
“I didn't find any vaginal secretions,” Chris stated. “I swabbed him, and even if there was a condom, there would have been something on his skin.”
Okay, that was a dead end.
“Other than that, the bodies were clean,” Merry said. “We found traces of fibers, but since they had likely been wearing clothes, they would have transferred.”
Callen made notes.
“Chris?”
“The killer was sloppy on this one. The cuts were hurried.” He saw the agent in the room flinching. “You should probably recuse yourself from this.”
He glanced over.
“Why?”
“He was your partner. I don’t want to be blunt with you in the room, and I have to be. So, I need you to go home.”
“It’s not happening. He was my partner.”
Gabe stepped in. “Head out, Agent. Take the night off. We’ll regroup in the morning. You lost your partner, and that means you’re too close to the fire on this one.”
Jay didn't look at any of them. Instead, he moved toward the door, but his body language was clear. “See you tomorrow.”
With that, he slammed the door behind him.
“What I wanted to say, but couldn’t,” Chris stated, “was that I ran the semen found in Tristan Case, it came back with a match.”
“Who?” Gabe asked.
Ethan already knew, so he saved his ME the time. “It’s going to belong to Jay Melrose.”
They all looked over except for Elizabeth and Ethan.
“What?” Gabe said.
Livy laughed. “I told you that agents had sex with each other. I don’t know why you’re surprised.”
“Maybe because they’re two men?” he asked. “I’m sorry if that catches me a little off guard.”
Elizabeth shrugged. “Okay, so at least we know he wasn’t sexually assaulted.”
“Can we keep this quiet?” Ethan asked. “Jay admitted it to me, but he doesn’t want this in the report. He loved his partner. This is hard on him.”
Gabe sighed. Keeping things out of reports was a mess in the making, but if the military had ‘Don’t Ask and Don’t Tell’, the FBI should too. “That’s fine.”
Chris made notes to delete it.
“Anything else on your end, Merry?” Callen asked.
“We found a shitload of prints. Most of them we accounted for, but there are a few that I can’t answer for yet. I’m still running them. You know how long that’s going to take.”
They did.
“Head out, Merry,” Elizabeth said.
“I’ll have an agent escort you to our home,” Gabe offered. He didn't want anyone wandering around alone.
“Bless you,” she said, grabbing her gear. “See you in the morning.”
When she was gone, Elizabeth spoke up. “We have a huge issue.”
They all waited.
“What?” Gabe asked.
“We thought that this was a closed case when it came to Seamus O’Brien, but it’s not.”
They didn't get it.
Livy did.
“We went and interviewed his brother today at his house. PS…his sister hates our guts, in case anyone didn’t see that one coming.”
No one was surprised about that.
It wouldn’t be the first time or the last.
“Then we arrived at James O’Brien’s house, and found something rather troubling.”
“What?”
“Callen, pull up his driver’s license along with Seamus’s. Do a side by side for me please.”
They all waited and watched.
When the two pictures appeared on the screen, side by side, they got it.
Gabe gasped.
He couldn’t believe it.
“Seamus was an identical twin. Now I don’t know if I killed the right man, or if I screwed up. Once more, the age-old question is back on the table. Did I stop a seria
l killer?”
They all knew how hard it was going to be to prove it.
“Without fingerprints, we’ll never know,” Chris stated. “Identical twins have matching DNA. The only thing that sets them apart is when they’re developing in utero, they touch the amniotic sac, and their prints develop.”
Oh, she was well aware.
They now were right back to where they started.
She told them everything that the man had said to her. “His father and grandfather were butchers, and the brother confirms that Seamus knew how to use a knife.”
“That’s still good, right?” Chris asked.
Livy shook her head.
“He offered it up way to easily. It was like he wanted us to have the information.”
They glanced over at her.
“Hey, don’t look shocked. Once a Fed, always a Fed.”
Gabe heard it in her voice. This had to rattle her. She had just come face to face with the man who looked like her assailant. He wished he’d been there to take care of her.
“Callen, can you look up a person for me?” she asked.
“Sure, who?”
“Helena Brennan.”
There was typing, and finally her face appeared on the screen. She looked like an angel. She had red hair, green eyes, and looked a lot like the dead women from fifteen years ago.
“Okay, who is she?” Gabe asked.
“This is the woman who broke ‘The Butcher’s’ heart,” she admitted. “James mentioned that she was his brother’s muse, and when she drop kicked his ass to single-dom, he went off the rails.”
Callen was still typing.
“He was in art school,” Livy stated, sending the pictures of the sculptures to Ethan. He used his tablet to put them on the screen. “We would have asked to take this with us, but then his sister would have lost it. There is no love lost between her and us.” By ‘us’, Livy meant Elizabeth.
They all studied it.
“We were hoping there might be some cut marks in it,” Elizabeth stated. “Then you could compare them, Chris.”
He sauntered toward the screen, leaning heavily on his cane. “There aren’t. I can’t do a comparison. If you have knives, I can pull up the old autopsies and go from there.”
“Yeah, only, I tossed the knife after he attacked Livy. I wiped my fingerprints and threw it in the Potomac.”
“What about the brother? If you get me his knives, I can compare them.”
Ethan hated to burst their bubble, but he had to be the voice of reason. “We’d need a warrant to get them. I doubt James O’Brien is going to hand them over.”
Callen started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Elizabeth asked.
“I think I know how to get that warrant.”
They all watched as he pulled a document up on the screen. It was a marriage license.
“By any chance did James O’Brien tell you who his brother was dumped for?” he asked.
“No, why?”
He pointed to the name. “It looks like Helena Brennan got married, and to a man named James O’Brien. Does that sound familiar?”
Livy and Elizabeth stared at each other.
“Uh, he didn't mention that.”
“Well, there might be a reason. How about we throw this at a judge and see if it sticks?” Callen suggested. “One of us has to have enough pull with a judge to make him see that there could be something there.”
Elizabeth couldn’t believe it. She crossed to Callen and gave him a huge kiss. “I love my research lust monkey. Where would I be without you?”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “You would be getting manhandled by only one Native. What fun is that?”
Gabe ignored Callen’s comment, and instead, he got on the phone. “I’ll get that warrant for us by tomorrow. I’m going to play it as a scorned man trying to make the FBI pay for not finding his brother’s killer,” he stated, heading out.
That might give them a fighting chance.
Elizabeth stared at the screen, studying the details between both men. All she could think about was how when she had first interviewed Seamus O’Brien, he’d pointed her at a co-worker to get away. Never once did he direct them towards his own flesh and blood. He could have.
They shared DNA.
That was the ONLY reason she wasn’t weeping. Her gut was still clinging to that last hope. He’d lied to the FBI, but had an out and didn't take it.
That had to mean something.
Right?
“What are you thinking?” Callen asked.
“That I’ve screwed up bigtime on this one. Even when we get those knives, we can’t prove if I killed the right man.”
They all knew it.
“Anyone want to tell me how we fix this one?” Elizabeth asked.
No one spoke.
Yeah, she was afraid of that.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Tuesday Night
The mood was somber.
On the way back to Gabe and Livy’s, there was very little discussion. Everyone was focused on the case. For each of them, there was something at stake. This case was weighing heavily on the team’s hearts and minds.
The personal stake was making it hard to look at it from a professional point of view. ‘The Butcher’s’ return was turning all of their lives upside down.
For Gabe and Livy, their future was uncertain. If the rapist was still out there, then they had a huge problem. Their eldest child, Amy, was at risk. If the killer was alive, they feared he might come for her next. After all, she was the product of his sickness. If the O’Brien family found out about her existence, would they want to see her too?
It made Gabe and Livy sick.
Now they truly needed to make sure Amy’s real paternity remained hidden. Their secret horror became their number one priority.
They weren’t the only ones worried.
Ethan and Callen were trying to figure out a way to find the answers Elizabeth sought. They wanted the bullet that killed Seamus O’Brien to have been the end to a killer.
It would have given their woman desperately needed peace. This case was tearing her apart from the inside out. She was the most stressed they’d ever seen her, and frankly, they were worried.
How much strain could a pregnant woman take before it became detrimental to the child she was carrying?
Already, the worry was etched into her face. The lines were there, and her eyes were filled with nonstop concern. Anymore, and she was likely to break.
They didn't want to see that happen.
This case could very well be the one that broke her, and they knew it.
Then there was Chris Leonard. Gone were his worries about covering for his ‘sister’ and friend. Now he had bigger problems.
His wife had been texting him, and they didn't bode well. Cyra was laying down the law. They had gone from ‘I miss you’ to ‘If you don’t come home, I’m going to leave’.
He didn't know what to do.
With each text, they were deteriorating, and he didn't know if he could handle the outcome. He was on the cusp of losing his wife and daughter.
It was slowly killing him.
He saw the writing on the wall, and it didn't bode well for him. The end was coming. Only, Chris had to choose his destruction. Would it be losing his family, or losing his…family.
Shit!
His life was a mess.
So, as they sat in the kitchen eating takeout, no one said a word. It was uncomfortable for everyone. Normally, there would be banter, talk of the case, or just easy silence.
There was none of that, and no one could miss the tension. There had to be a breaking point, and they were nearing it.
“Thank you for dinner,” Chris said, standing. “I need to go check in with my wife and daughter. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Elizabeth heard the stress in his voice. She’d known the man for a very long time. Something was very wrong. She’d bet her life on it.
Chris, whi
le almost easy going, had worry lines etched into his features. They encapsulated his normally smiling mouth, and marred his brow.
Something was up.
She could see it.
When he was gone, she glanced over at her husbands. “What’s up with him?” Elizabeth asked.
“He’s having some issues at home,” Callen said, making sure Ethan didn't say anything. While they had allegiance to Elizabeth, Chris had trusted him.
“Maybe I should go talk to him.”
Neither man spoke.
“I hate to see him this riled up. I know we promised to leave him at the office more, but this came up.”
No one blamed her.
They knew Chris didn't fault her either. This case had blindsided them all, and that meant they had to fix the mess or it would haunt them for many years to come.
This was Elizabeth’s issue.
It was Gabe’s.
Hell!
It was Chris Leonard’s too.
“Maybe you should talk to him,” Ethan offered. He knew that if there was one person who could calm the situation, it would be his wife.
Or he hoped that was the case.
“Livy and I are going to head to bed,” Gabe said, dropping a kiss to her cheek. “Aren’t we, honey?”
She smiled up at him. He was wiggling his eyebrows, and she knew what he was thinking. Of course, the entire time they were eating, she was tormenting him with her hidden hand on his lap.
She was in the mood to forget, and Gabriel could give her that. He was the one way to calm her nerves and knotted stomach. Like always, this man was her solace.
“Yes, we are,” she said, closing the pizza boxes.
“We’ll clean up,” Ethan offered.
Gabe grinned. “Bless you.”
Livy hugged her friend before leaving the room. Quietly, she whispered in Elizabeth’s ear. “Thank you for today. I couldn’t have done it without you. I’m so lucky to have you as my friend. Thank you for sticking all these years, even when it would have been easier to run.”
Choices will Destroy (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 14) Page 23