Choices will Destroy (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 14)

by Morgan Kelley

  He snorted, knowing she was yanking his chain. “Nope. That’s why I have nurse Lyzee.”

  “Let’s go,” Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes.

  The walk up the path to his front door was slippery. Ethan grabbed her arm when she nearly fell.

  “Maybe it’s time to pack up the cowboy boots?” he inquired.

  “Or I can pack up the nagging husbands,” she replied. “They seem to be crossing lines all the time.”

  Callen slapped her on the ass.

  There was her proof.

  “I’m going to hurt you both later,” Elizabeth muttered, as she finally reached the door. “I promise you won’t enjoy it.”

  Knocking, no one answered.

  They waited.

  Ethan tried.

  Callen tried.

  Then they men opted to walk around the back of the house. Elizabeth stayed up front, watching the surrounding area. This house was pretty far back from the main road.

  There were no other houses in the general locale.

  When the door began opening, she turned to greet the doctor. Only, it was Callen.

  “Uh…”

  “We found the doctor.”

  “Where?”

  “He’s in his kitchen. It looks like someone tortured him, turned down the heat, and left him for dead.”

  She pulled out her phone. Elizabeth knew this wasn’t some weird coincidence. It was simply a killer covering tracks.

  It looked like Chris had been right.

  Someone had spilled the beans, and now he’d spilled his guts.

  All over his own floor.

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

  Across The Country

  When he wandered to the door, he was confused. It was odd to get company. What made it even more bizarre was that it was the outsider he’d met at ‘Bubba’s’.

  It was more than strange.

  “Fancy meeting you here. Can I help you?” he asked, staring at the stranger on his front step. “You’re a little out of the way, don’t you think?”

  The smile made him nervous.

  That instinct welled up, making the hair on his arms stand up.

  Something wasn’t right.

  Before he could speak again, the killer struck, slamming the rock into his head. The crunch of bone meeting stone told the tale.

  It wouldn’t be pretty.

  The visitor made sure he wasn’t going to get back up. That wouldn’t do.

  He needed to stay down.

  When there was the faint kick of his pulse, the plan could continue. Closing the door, the man’s guest got ready to take care of one more person for the game.

  “I just needed to make a little house call. You have a date with the Blackhawks. Well, mostly with Callen. I hear you know him.”

  There was laughter.

  Then the fun began.

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

  Doctor Pressman’s

  Home

  Well, someone had worked the good doctor over good. By worked, Elizabeth meant tortured.

  His fingers were broken, his eyes were bleeding, and his chest looked like someone had played ‘Tic Tac Toe’ and no one had won.

  It was clear that the man had suffered.

  Apparently, Chris had his epiphany a little too late. They weren’t going to find out what the good doctor knew or spilled to his assailant.

  That really sucked.

  Doctor Zane Legend knelt beside the dead ME, as Doctor Pressman was restrained to the chair. With gloved fingers, he ran them gently over the deceased man’s body, trying to ascertain what had happened.

  “What do we have?”

  “A body,” he stated, not even looking up.

  She shook her head. The man had been taught well by Doctor Leonard. He liked to make her work for it too. They must all be masochists.

  “Well, unless you want me to tie you to that chair and play the same game he suffered through, you’ll give me something other than attitude.”

  He laughed, hearing the tone in her voice. It was half-hearted, and she’d never go through with it. “Yes, ma’am. The man was definitely tortured. His fingernails are missing, and his fingers are dislocated. Someone worked him over.”

  “TOD?”

  He glanced up at her. “Seriously? They turned his house down to thirty degrees. He’s been in a cooler for God only knows how long. I’m going to need to open him up, check the decomp of his internal organs, and then work on a timeline. I’m not a miracle worker, and you know that.”

  “Maybe I should go to church, pray, and ask God to be my ME then.”

  All the techs glanced up.

  Livy laughed.

  She recalled these days and missed them. There was nothing like watching Elizabeth on a tear. “How about how he died, Doctor Legend? Is that a safe question?”

  The man stood and lifted the dead man’s eyelids. “We have petechial hemorrhaging. I’m going to bet suffocation. As to how, you’ll have to let me get into his lungs to find out.”

  “Fair enough.”

  They headed out through the room to search the man’s house. The techs had finished upstairs, and that was their first stop on the tour.

  In his office, she headed right for a cabinet. It was huge, and she didn't doubt that he’d kept copies of his files.

  “Chris was wrong all those years ago. He didn't destroy everything.”

  Ethan began pulling drawers open to get a look inside. When he did, something was crystal clear.

  His wife was right.

  As he scrolled through the many files, Callen dug through the desk. Someone had been there before them.

  “There’s nothing on the case,” Ethan finally said. He pointed at the location where it would have been. The doctor kept everything in dated order.

  “So, we know how the killer found out about the medallion. We also now have to hope that the fingerprint Chris pulled on the bullet wasn’t in that file.”

  They were well aware.

  At the knock on the door, Merry appeared. “I found this,” she said, holding up a note.

  When Merry closed the door, they knew it wasn’t going to be good.

  “No one has seen it but me.”

  Her heart sank.

  “Okay, let me have it.”

  Before she did, she stared at her boss. “I need to say something first, and I hope you don’t hold it against me.”

  Elizabeth lifted a brow. “I can’t promise that.”

  She was well aware.

  “Director Blackhawk, I know something is going on. You’re holding back. I can feel it. We’re only getting certain pieces of evidence, and I feel like I’m being jerked around.”

  Elizabeth didn't speak. Instead, she kept her face neutral.

  “If you want me to do my job, and do it right, I need to be vetted in on this. I get the feeling something big is happening around me, but I’m missing the total picture. I can’t help if I’m being left in the dark.”

  The men glanced over at Elizabeth.

  “It’s need to know.”

  “And I don’t need to know?” she asked. “Since when is that how you run your team? Do you want to know why I respect you as a boss? It’s because as a Fed, you don’t play those CIA games. You don’t jerk your team around, treating us as if we’re nothing more than your personal tools. With this case, I feel like a tool, ma’am.”

  Elizabeth weighed her options. “Merry.”

  “This note makes you look bad. Taken out of context, it’s damaging. I’m bringing it to you because I respect the people I work under. I would like that same respect from them.”

  Elizabeth sighed.

  “Read it and think about it.”

  She took the note in the sealed plastic bag and read it over.

  ‘Elizabeth, you broke the law all those years ago. You’re a murderer. Now you pay. This game is going to come down to you and me. One of us has to die. Will you pull the trigge
r again?’

  She glanced up.

  Before she could speak, Merry laid down the law. “I come to work every day and trust my life to the agents I work with. I don’t wear a gun in the field, and I know that all that stands between me and my death is you. I put my full faith in you, and I need nothing less in return. If I’m going to follow you across the country to work here, I need to believe that I’m not just a drone, but someone you see as an intelligent person who can figure shit out.”

  She was right.

  “If I tell you, it can ruin my life.”

  “If you don’t, I can’t do my job to keep it from ruining you. I don’t think you have a whole lot of choices. This letter looks bad. If I put this in evidence, a court will see it. Your co-workers will see it. Heck! That bitch Carol will make it into wallpaper for the whole lab.”

  She laughed. “Yes, yes she will.”

  Merry stood her ground. “Well, Elizabeth?” she asked, dropping the title. “Are you going to trust me?”

  “Okay, Merry. You asked for it.”

  Elizabeth sent the two men to the door to make sure no one approached. When they were alone, she leaned against the desk. “I broke the law. I was a newbie. I thought I could get justice, but I did it the wrong way.”

  “What happened?”

  She was putting her faith in her employee. “I knew that justice wouldn’t be served, and I took a life. I didn't wait for a judge or jury. I pulled the trigger.”

  She laughed. “Is that all?”

  Elizabeth stared at her. “Uh, that’s the antithesis of who we are. I broke the law.”

  “Yeah, but how many women did you save? You killed ‘The Butcher’ didn't you, and someone is calling you out?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. He was an asshole who deserved it. I can tell you that this letter has no prints on it. It’s clean. I dusted, and as you can see, nothing stuck. I’m going to cut a sample of the paper out, and then I’m losing this note. Maybe some fluid will ‘accidentally’ be knocked onto it. I hope my bosses won’t fire me.”

  She laughed. “I will have to give you an oral reprimand.”

  Merry shrugged. “I can handle it.”

  As she headed toward the door, Elizabeth called her name to get her attention.

  “Merry.”

  “Yeah, boss?” she asked.

  “Thank you.”

  “Justice has a gray area, and we’re all taught that. At some point, we have to interpret things and navigate it. You save people every day. That’s more important to me than a jury—in this case. Those women were hunted. That’s sick, and very wrong. No one should go to bed at night feeling like an animal.”

  Elizabeth heard the emotion in her voice. For a second there, she thought she saw fear in the woman’s eyes.

  “You realize that this is a two way street, Merry. If you need to tell me something, you can always come to me. It’ll be off the record.”

  She paused, as if thinking about something.

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Then, she left.

  When Ethan and Callen returned, she felt better.

  “Is everything okay?”

  She laughed. “In our lives? Are you kidding me? This is one hell of a rollercoaster. I hope my safety harness doesn’t break. I’d hate to fall out.”

  They agreed there.

  “Let’s get back to work.”

  They had a job to do.

  And the shit was getting real.

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

  Black Mountain

  Reservation

  It didn't take long to set the scene. Where the other victims were killed like ‘The Butcher’s’ women, this one was different. This was a different crime, and a different case.

  This one had to have impact.

  It had to drive the point home.

  They were watched, and their lives had been under a magnifying glass for the longest time.

  They weren’t safe from scrutiny. While the media plastered their faces all over, making them feel bared to the public, this was different.

  This was silent stalking.

  This was making them pay for being above the law. They wielded power, and in the end, that had to stop. They’d ruined so many lives, and they had to pay.

  It was time.

  As he lay on the floor, his body destroyed, eyes wide in shock, and blood pooling under his body, it was time to set the scene.

  It was time to alert them.

  The fun began.

  It would take them a while to get there, and in the meantime, it was off to another city.

  Another place.

  Another part of their disgraceful existence.

  It was time to break them.

  Pulling out the phone, they would trace the call. It was a given. It was procedure.

  They were transparent and the typical Feds.

  The only way to beat them was to think like them.

  And that was easy.

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

  Hoover Building

  FBI Autopsy

  He was accustomed to them watching as he worked. When you served under Elizabeth and Ethan Blackhawk, they were very hands on, and you couldn’t let it rattle you.

  In fact, they made it a point to run their labs with an iron fist. He didn't mind. Zane was familiar with the scrutiny. He was used to Elizabeth breathing down his neck.

  “If you get any closer, we’ll be attached at the hip,” he said, picking trace off the dead ME’s body.

  “Sorry, Doctor, but I need something, and I don’t have a lot of time.”

  “Merry bagged some trace. Why don’t you bug her?”

  Elizabeth focused on the woman at the microscope. She didn't even look up.

  “I have some cotton,” she said, examining it. “Give me some time to isolate it.”

  “Where is everyone?” Ethan asked, looking around. Usually, the lab was busier.

  Merry laughed. “Most of them called in sick. Apparently, they had issues with us invading their space. By us, I mean the boss lady.”

  They all glanced over at Elizabeth.

  “What? Like you’re not thrilled? Now you have space. I did you two a favor.”

  “It’s going to be interesting working here,” Merry admitted. “All that love is overwhelming.”

  “If you’ve changed your mind, we understand,” Elizabeth said, hoping she would. She hated to break it to them, but her transfer was looking slimmer by the minute.

  “Heck no! I love it here. Don’t get me wrong, but FBI West isn’t as big. Plus, I just broke up with my boyfriend. I need a change, and this is it.”

  Again, Elizabeth heard something in Merry’s voice, but she didn't know what was going on, and again, she sounded worried.

  “I see.”

  “Whoever killed this man was wearing a freaking Hazmat suit. He’s clean,” Zane stated.

  “Can we start the autopsy?” she asked. “I’m not sure if you noticed, but our killer is dropping bodies left and right.”

  He grinned. “I can do that.”

  They all took their spots. Merry worked the trace and Zane got cutting.

  Some time went by, and finally, he glanced up. “COD is asphyxia. There’s nothing in his lungs, but the hemorrhaging is proof enough. His hyoid is intact, no bruising on the neck, so I would say he was suffocated.”

  “How?”

  Merry raised her hand. “We pulled a plastic bag from the trash. Look at the inside.”

  She flipped it inside out, and there was some sort of print.

  “What is that?”

  “I believe it’s his face. I think I found your murder weapon. This was over his head.” She walked it over to the ME, and they placed it cautiously over the man’s face and the oily facial residue lined up.

  It was how he died.

  “Okay, so our killer bagged him to death. This is one sicko.”

  “Anyone w
ho tortures is sick,” Zane suggested. He continued with the autopsy.

  Livy watched from her husband’s side. “Who do you think is next?”

  Elizabeth had no freaking clue. She wished she did, but this killer was out of his mind. There was no rhyme or reason, other than people in their lives.

  That was one hell of a list.

  “We know how he found out about the medallion through the good doctor, and we know that the killer now has a copy of the casefile. What’s next, Ethan?”

  “He’s not going to stop. This is war. The game is going on, and he has us emotionally invested in the outcome. We’re helpless to stop it, and that’s the likely plan. I think that our killer is getting a big kick over how we have to play. We don’t have a choice, and that is empowering for the person.”

  Elizabeth listened to her profiler, making mental notes in her head.

  “The person doing this likely had their choices taken away, and that’s why this is so important. We have someone who likely thinks we crossed a line and ruined them.”

  Elizabeth sighed. “I run roughshod over hundreds of people a year. That’s going to be one hell of a list.”

  He was well aware.

  She needed to know who was next. “Okay, this nutbag attacked someone important to Gabe, Livy, and you, so who’s next? Me?” she asked. Elizabeth hoped the two agents watching their kids were on their toes.

  “Likely, you’ll be last. I can’t even guess who will be next.”

  Callen was listening. “What about me?”

  “You were never part of our life before a couple years ago,” Ethan stated. “This feels personal, so I’m really not sure.”

  “The only person who really comes to mind for me is Desdemona, and the killer is a little too late.”

  They were aware.

  Hopefully, they would figure this out sooner, rather than later.

  The team watched the ME work, and no one spoke. Ethan was mulling over the details, Elizabeth was thinking about their kids, and Callen was running searches on the ME’s financials.