Elizabeth laughed. Everyone that wasn’t used to the doctor had the look on their face like they lost him at broken nose. “What Tony is trying to tell us is that she was pounded here,” she pointed at the place besides her nose and under her eye socket. “Then the killer took a shot at her chin.”
“Sure you don’t want to be my lab assistant?” grinned Tony. He used the big words intentionally to keep the bosses learning and on their toes.
“Uh no. You can’t afford me with the lab’s budget.”
Tony offered her a fist bump. “To put it into laymen’s terms, he went crazy on her face.”
Chris had finished peeling back the layer of burnt epidermis. “I would even venture to say that while she was on the ground, he kicked her in the face, aiming at the chin and wearing steel toed boots. Next to the femur, the jaw is one of the strongest bones in the human body, and as you can see from the x-rays, it’s shattered.”
“That had to hurt like a bitch,” stated Tori.
Doctor Leonard simply nodded in agreement.
“Okay, what else?” inquired Elizabeth, moving further away from the corpse to get out of the view and smelling range. She hopped up on a lab table not far away and waited.
“Next please, Tony?” Chris stated, looking over his shoulder. “I’m opening up her chest now, and as you can see from the x-rays, she had massive damage there. Her ribs appear to be shattered and a few are imbedded in her lungs.” As if to punctuate it, Chris lifted them from her body.
“Are they cooked?” inquired Patrick Wells.
Chris didn’t even look up. “Semi.”
Elizabeth believed she’d never eat meat again after this entire assignment. Good bye were her days of loving food that came from a cow and pig. When Chris dropped them in the scale with a sickening plop, she was certain of it. “So again, our victim was beat pretty bad.”
“She would have died regardless with the internal bleeding after having her ribs impale her lungs. It may have taken longer, but regardless her death certificate was signed.”
“Are you going to check the esophagus for smoke inhalation?” asked the fire inspector, leaning over the corpse.
“That’s my next step, but first I have to finish with the lungs. If you skip around haphazardly you fuck up the exam.”
Elizabeth lifted a brow, sharing a look with Ethan and Callen. In all her years working alongside Chris, she never heard him drop profanity. Oh yeah, they’d be having a little sit down when it was all over. Something was definitely wrong. Oddly, if it offended the inspector, he gave no indication.
Tony pulled up x-rays of the hands and arms. He could see the tension and was going to pull the focus from his friend and onto himself. “If I can direct your attention to her hands, you’ll notice that she had extensive wounds to them.”
“So she fought back, Doc?” questioned Whitefox. The tension was getting thicker in the room.
“All metacarpals on the right hand are fractured.”
Ethan thought about it. “Possibly from fighting back? Maybe she didn’t want to go into death as easily as the killer intended.”
Elizabeth offered another scenario. “I’m guessing he stepped on her hand. While she was lying on the ground, he stepped down on the hand and that’s how all the bones were broken straight across.”
“I tend to lean towards Elizabeth’s theory more,” stated Chris, slicing off some lung tissue. “But I’d say stomped. The hand is pretty durable. I’d say he forcefully placed as much pressure on those bones as possible, with the intent to break them.”
Elizabeth watched as he sliced paper thin pieces from the dead woman’s lungs, placing them on clear slides. Right then, Elizabeth was pretty sure that she’d never eat anything that had to be carved again. How had she watched this for so many years and never been grossed out?
Elizabeth swallowed another wave of nausea.
“So he was just hurting her to damage her?” asked Detective Austin, appalled that she meant that little to the killer that he’d destroy her body.
Chris didn’t answer; he’d leave the profiling to the agents. Next he began checking the esophagus for trace of smoke.
“He’s escalating,” Tori stated. “At first, he was killing, now he’s maiming and then killing.”
Elizabeth glanced over at her husband. “I’ll have the files ready for you to look over. I’m going to need a profile of the killer and by Monday morning.”
He nodded. “I can do that. This one is pretty straight forward and by the books. I can have it written up for you later today and we can add it to your whiteboard.” Ethan knew his wife needed that part of the process in order to begin pulling the threads together. It was her methodology in solving a crime.
“Thanks, Cowboy.”
He winked at her.
“She was alive when he lit her on fire,” stated Chris from the exam table. “I have heavy traces of soot in the esophagus. She was breathing as she was burning.”
“So all the wounds were torture and foreplay before the crime?” Tori asked, looking at her boss. “This is definitely more than a serial arsonist on a free for all.”
“Yes.” He left it at that, only so he could have time to pull it all together for his wife. Plus he was uncomfortable with the fire inspector there. He looked a little too damn happy for his comfort. Maybe he just liked his job, or maybe he was going to take the information back to the captain and spread it around.
“This is one sick bastard,” stated Whitefox. Suddenly he was very glad Elizabeth was safe. At least on this one they didn’t have to worry about it.
“Do we have positive ID on this woman yet?” inquired Elizabeth. “I know we suspect that it’s the stripper that went missing, but I want air tight.”
Tony shook his head. “Christina is still working on it right now. Want me to call over and get her for you?” he asked.
“Yeah, please do,” Elizabeth replied.
Tony hit the intercom and paged Christina, then returned to the x-rays. “Sadly, we have more war wounds on this poor girl.”
While Elizabeth waited for Christina, they might as well continue with the gruesome details. “What’s next? As if all this wasn’t enough.”
Chris looked up from her body. “The back of the skull was a mess too.” He waited until Tony pulled it up. “The majority of the fracturing takes place along the squamosal suture line. It wasn’t a kick to the head,” he stated. “The fracturing was more along the lines of him slamming her head into something solid.”
“Tony, the squamosal suture line connects the occipital and parietal bones, right?”
“Yes, right here.” He moved to her and touched the back of her head.
Chris began moving the skull cap to the brain, and Callen went to sit by Elizabeth. This part generally creeped him out, but the whole thing looked even worse now that he knew what the poor woman had suffered, as she’d been burned alive. “I think I’ll join you over here,” he said, voice low and barely audible over the hum of the saw. “I don’t have the stomach for this today.”
Elizabeth patted the table beside her, and then ran her hand up and down his back comfortingly, as everyone observed the rest of the autopsy. The tension eased in his back, and Elizabeth was glad he didn’t notice she was pale herself. The entire thing was just beyond vile. The things people did to each other never ceased to amaze her. Just when Elizabeth believed that she’d seen it all, some nut job found something more disgusting to top the last jackwagon.
When Chris finished with the saw, he popped the cap off the skull and there was silence in the room as the wet sucking sound was the only thing heard. “I’m going to cut through the dura mater, pia mater and then the Arachnoid. Then I’ll be able to tell if the woman had brain trauma, and possibly didn’t know what was happening to her.”
Ethan moved to stand by his brother and wife. He’d had just about enough of this too. Watching a crispy corpse have her brain cut into ranked pretty low on his day of things he wanted
to view.
Everyone waited on baited breath for the answer.
“I’m sorry, but she was most likely awake through all the torture. She has no hemorrhaging where her skull was damaged. Most likely it was something to incapacitate her, and not a killing blow. Possibly it knocked her out briefly, but nothing more.”
When Chris pulled the brain from the cranium, and weighed it, everyone looked a little green. It was the wet sound it made sliding in the scale tray. Squishy brains were pretty much disgusting to everyone, even the strongest of agents.
“I think next year we skip the Christmas Eve autopsy,” muttered Whitefox.
Pretty much everyone nodded in agreement over that.
Elizabeth noticed Christina was standing behind her and Callen.
“Did you need to see me Director Blackhawk?” she asked, her eyes flickering from Elizabeth and Ethan. She was unsure which one needed her help.
“I did,” answered Elizabeth. “Have we confirmed that girl’s name yet? I know we have hearsay, but I’d really love to have a definite by Monday morning.”
“I’ll make sure you get it ASAP,” she answered, turning and leaving the room. “Merry Christmas Directors!” Christina said cheerfully.
Yeah, it wasn’t for the poor dead stripper and whoever this nut took next.
* * *
Julian and Tori sat in the cafeteria having some coffee. After watching that autopsy, no one was really in the mood to eat. Both were quiet, thinking about lots of different things.
“Hey, Tori. You want to take a ride with me?” he asked, looking at her. Although they were spending Christmas afternoon with the Blackhawks, he still needed to run back home for a bit.
“Sure where are we going?” she asked, looking at him over the rim of her paper cup.
“I need to run back home and grab some more clothes, and then maybe we can grab something for dinner.”
He was crazy. “You want to drive three hours on Christmas Eve?” Tori laughed, because neither of them obviously had anything better to do.
“Yep. Want to keep me company?”
What did she have to lose? “Okay when do we leave?”
Julian stood, surprised that she was going to go for it. “Right now.”
She started laughing at him, and really believed that he had lost his mind. It was barely one, and he was planning on sneaking away unnoticed?
“I’m on the clock here, Julian. We can’t just walk out of FBI West on a fieldtrip,” she reminded him, shaking her head.
Julian nodded. “Okay, well I’ll go ask your bosses if I can get you off the clock for the rest of the day. It’s not like we’re being productive. Elizabeth is waiting on the profile, the autopsy is complete, but the reports aren’t in yet, and we don’t have confirmation of the woman’s name. Until Monday, we’re pretty much up in the air.”
“You aren’t asking my bosses if I can leave,” she stated, adamantly.
He ignored her and started walking away. “Yeah, I really am. Then we can head out and be back by tomorrow for football and dinner at ‘Fort Blackhawk’.”
“Julian Trenton Littlemoon, you get your ass back here,” she demanded and was met with purely masculine laughter.
“Sweetheart, that never worked for my mom, and it’s not really scary coming from you.” Now he was jogging up the stairs to the floor with the offices. She was right behind him protesting completely.
“You’re bullying me, and you can’t force me to go with strong arming me, Julian!” It was childish and she knew it. When it was met with more laughter, she became frustrated. “I swear that I won’t ever speak to you again!”
Julian stopped on the landing between floors. When he turned around his eyes were filled with anger. “Really Tori? Because you’re good at that aren’t you? I called you every damn day for two weeks when we got back from Cypress Grove, and you blew me off like I didn’t exist. I tried to forget about you and just kept telling myself you were just a fling, but it wasn’t for me. I hurt every day for three months, until I saw you again.” His body shook in anger. “Do I mean that little to you that you’ll throw those words at me so easily?” he demanded. “Don’t worry, Victoria, I am well aware it’s not an empty threat.”
She was shocked at his anger and more importantly his words. Tori didn’t realize her actions hurt him like this. “Julian,” she began, stepping towards him.
“No, I need to know Victoria. Was I that easy to walk away from three months ago? Because if you say yes, then I’ll leave right now and never bother you again. I’ll get the picture perfectly that you’re not interested in me.”
Her heart skipped in her chest. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t know.”
Julian swallowed his anger, because he knew it wouldn’t get them anywhere. “Nevermind.” Before she could continue he started walking away. “I’m probably better off not knowing the truth anyway!”
Tori didn’t move, only watched him exit the stairwell. Her heart ached for him. She never once thought about the man she pushed out of her life. Tori’s hand went to the necklace around her neck. Even after she hurt him, Julian still left her with something so valuable to him.
“Oh hell,” she muttered, exiting after him. Her life just went from complicated to damn messy.
Julian was pretty pissed off, and knew he probably shouldn’t have snapped at her. Pulling out his phone, he sent Ethan a text asking if he could head out to resupply back at his cabin. The immediate affirmative reply came, and he headed out the door.
She was absolutely right. Julian couldn’t force her to come with him, so he wouldn’t. He’d scrap his plans, head to his house grab some things and head back as fast as he could. Still, there was a part of him that was wounded, because Tori wouldn’t just trust him and do something important to him. If he thought they couldn’t be spared during the investigation, then he wouldn’t leave.
Entering the elevator, he stood inside, watching the doors close. Maybe when he got home he’d bail on Christmas with the Blackhawk’s too, and just be back for Monday instead. Space between them might be a good thing right now.
Almost two hundred miles should do it.
Who was he kidding? He’d feel every single solitary inch of the distance between them.
Tori couldn’t find him and rushed into Elizabeth’s office. She and her husband were working on paperwork.
“Excuse me, did Julian come in here?” she asked, feeling borderline worried she’d just made him madder than she could fix.
“No, but he sent me a text asking if he could cut out early.”
Tori didn’t hear the words ‘if we’ in there, and knew he was truly pissed. “Can I cut out too? I think I did something really stupid, and I need to find Julian. I know it’s personal shit, and I’m sorry.”
Elizabeth nodded. “If you need his address I’ll text it to you,” she offered. “See you tomorrow and GO now!”
Tori smiled and raced out of the office, through the lobby and to the stairwell. Racing to where Julian was parked earlier, she found him closing his trunk.
“Julian,” she called to him.
He froze, not even turning around. “Yeah Tori?”
She jogged across the parking lot to his side and moved to stand in front of him. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I was selfish and didn’t think about how you’d feel after we got back. I never meant to hurt you, Julian. I swear.” She placed her arms around his body and hugged him, laying her head on his shoulder. “I hope you can forgive me for being an asshole.”
Julian wasn’t expecting any of this. He fully expected her to fight him until the bitter end.
“It wasn’t easy to walk away from you. I thought about you every day,” she admitted, quietly. “Every damn day, Julian.”
He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back. “I’ll run home and be back as fast as I can while you work.”
Tori looked up in his eyes. “I have a better idea, let’s go pick up my things, and I’ll go with you back to
your place.”
Yeah, this was definitely not what he expected. “You’re coming with me?”
Just then her phone beeped. Reading the display she held it out for him, as if to prove how serious she was at that moment.
Julian read his own address.
“I would have followed you. Elizabeth gave me the address just in case. I’m absolutely going with you, if you still want me to, that is.”
He bent his head to kiss her gently and slowly. None of this was what he anticipated, and it was kind of like a Christmas miracle. For a brief moment Tori wasn’t pushing him away, and now he needed to make his move. Breaking the kiss, he walked her to the passenger door. “I definitely want you to come with me.”
Tori slipped into the car and buckled her seatbelt.
“Are you ready?” he asked, starting up his vehicle.
She grinned. “Yep.”
Julian smiled at her, and took her hand in his as he started their trip. There was a little guilt overwhelming him as he thought about what was going to happen on the Rez.
“Have you ever had authentic Native American cuisine?” he asked, glancing over at her.
“Not that I’m aware of why?” she inquired.
“Well then that’s what we’re having tonight,” he answered, grinning. What he wasn’t telling her was where they were having it, or he was pretty damn sure she’d freak out. He needed to get her closer to his home, where she couldn’t bolt.
“I can’t wait,” was her reply.
Julian exited the parking garage and started laughing.
If she only knew that the entire Littlemoon family was having it with them, she might not be so excited.
* * *
Finishing up her last report, Elizabeth stood from her desk and stretched. Her paperwork was done for the rest of the day, and from the look of it Ethan’s was pretty much right behind her.
“When are we jumping ship?” Elizabeth asked, going over and sitting on her husband’s lap.
Fire Burns Hot ((An FBI/ Romance Thriller~ (Book 5))) Page 27