What to do?
Then it hit her.
Bonnie stared down at the sharp knife on the counter.
Yeah, it was time to cut their losses.
Picking it up, she headed back to the couch to stand behind Amara.
“We can’t save him.”
Lizzie started crying. “We have to!”
Bonnie didn’t hesitate. She quickly grabbed Amara by the hair, yanking her head back.
Then, she sliced her throat.
The woman’s eyes went huge as she realized what had happened.
Her hands went to her throat as the blood splattered everywhere.
“You killed them, Amara, and that’s my story. Meanwhile, I’m getting out of here. I’ll be back to fight another day. I’m too smart to rot in jail.”
With that, she grabbed her bag and took anything she’d left detailing her plan.
Elizabeth Blackhawk may have won this round, but this time…she was going to walk away the winner.
She knew when to leave.
Exit.
Stage left.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Salem
Sheriff’s Office
When she got the call, they were just finishing up with the highly entertaining press conference. Elizabeth had played nice, and hopefully, that karma would pay off.
“Yeah, Ty, what do you have?” she asked, answering the call.
“We found Wil, but he’s dead.”
Shit!
Bonnie moved fast.
“Where is he?”
“Not at his home. It seems he got a text message from some teenager he was trolling online for sex.”
Well, that sounded like the pervert.
She was having a difficult time sympathizing with his murder. Yes, that was a bad attitude to have, but still…
A child?
“Who?”
There was a pause. “His cell has the name Tillie Lipton in it.”
Yeah, and there they go.
Someone had been catfishing with some child porn to lure in a slimy, perverted snake.
“Lottie Tipton, when will you ever learn? She’s a funny little trollop,” Elizabeth stated, pulling off her blazer as they headed for their ride.
She motioned to the two US Marshals.
They hoped in.
“Send me the address. We’ll be there.”
“It’s a bitch to find, Elizabeth. It’s in the middle of the woods, and near some rental cabins.”
She wasn’t surprised. “If the perv was going to have sex with a minor, he’d want it to be away from his home. Send me GPS locations then, and we’ll get there.”
That he could do.
“I’ll send it. We’ll wait outside.”
She hung up.
“Well?” Ethan asked as she entered the coordinates into their GPS as soon as it arrived.
“Will was trying to have sex with a minor again.”
“Didn’t he go to jail for that?” Callen asked.
“Yep. I put him there. Bonnie nailed this one on the head. I definitely didn’t like him. I won’t be feeling guilty about his death. If he went after Tillie Lipton, you know he preyed on other children too.”
Chris laughed. “You once told me you wanted to cut out his liver and feed it to him,” he said, from the seat next to Callen. “Maybe you’ll have gotten your wish.”
Yeah, maybe.
People who preyed on children deserved it.
“She’s moving fast,” Dakota stated from the back seat. “She’s only got one left.”
“Yeah, that’s my family, so we better catch her soon.”
Everyone got it.
Bonnie was a dead woman.
There was no way her kids, or Ethan, were going to get hurt.
Not on her watch.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
One Hour
Later
At the airport, she bought a first-class ticket, and then used the man’s credit card for a good meal. She was craving some red meat. She was sick of that vegetarian shit that Amara called food.
It was time to be herself.
That was what life was all about.
She wanted a good meal, to get on that plane, and pray that Elizabeth didn’t catch her. For now, she looked like she was about to escape.
The airport was eerily quiet, but that was okay with her. That meant she’d see or hear them coming.
Besides, she wanted to think.
What had she done wrong?
This had been so damn easy and infallible. She’d meticulously planned, plotted, and arranged.
How did Elizabeth figure it out?
Bonnie finished her food because she needed the fuel, but she was worried. Was this part of the plan?
Was this a set up?
She wasn’t sure.
All she knew was she had to get out of Dodge, and fast. Her life depended on it.
Then, the announcement came over the intercom.
‘We are now boarding a commuter flight to New Orleans. Please begin boarding the flight.’
Well, it was time to get moving. In one hour, she’d be home freaking free, lost in a sea of people, disappearing in plain sight. The wig would help.
She was ready.
It was time to go back under and hit the drawing board. This plan…it had been flawed.
It was time to regroup.
She had no choice.
Elizabeth was tricky.
Then again, so was she.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Cabin
Woods
Once there, they all suited up. The windows of the place had been covered with what looked like sheets.
Yeah, that made her nervous. Even though Ty had said they’d found him, and he was dead, there was no way she was going to risk that Bonnie had snuck back in.
She was tricky.
You couldn’t out think crazy.
Being careful was the most important thing they could do to save their own lives.
Well, that and shoot the woman on sight.
As they approached the cabin, they split up. Ethan and Callen had the back, Elizabeth and Chris had the front, and the two marshals had their backs.
Once the door was kicked in, the smell hit them.
It was one of cooking flesh.
“Jesus,” Dakota muttered, covering his mouth and nose to block out the offensive smell. “What the fuck is that?”
Oh, they all knew.
This wasn’t the first time they’d smelled it.
“I’m going to say that they boiled him,” Chris said, without having to even see the scene. He’d smelled cooking person before, and it had a distinct scent.
He knew his death.
As they cleared the room, they found Will in the kitchen. He was actually affixed to the floor through his hands and feet with long industrial screws, and his skin was gone. They’d boiled him in order to peel him like a grape.
Kudos to Bonnie on creativity.
“That’s a new one,” Chris stated, as he headed over to the large pot on the stove. It was covered with a lid.
“Anyone want to take a bet?” Chris asked, pulling on gloves and then grabbing a hand towel to lift the hot lid.
Yeah, no.
She didn’t.
Elizabeth was pretty sure she could guess what was in there by just the smell alone and the fact the dead man’s head was not attached to his body. One only needed so many gross pictures in their mind at one time, and this case had filled her with plenty.
Chris lifted it.
“It’s his head,” he said. “They seasoned the water. I smell garlic and onions.”
Sarah began gagging.
“Get her outside, Dak,” she offered. “She can’t puke on this scene.”
He led his partner outside, and honestly, he was glad to go. He was going to puke next.
“I don’t know how you do thi
s,” he stated, as they headed out the door.
The four remaining Feds stared at each other.
Neither did they.
Only, this wasn’t over.
“Chris, call in your limited tech team. It looks like we have one more job to do,” Ethan offered, holstering his gun.
Yeah, she was aware.
“Team, it looks like we’re pulling trace. Chris, you’re going to be busy at the morgue.”
Yeah, he knew it.
Then again, what the hell was new?
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Sunday Mid-Morning
It was one hell of a mess. The team had arrived, they swept the place, and they’d found all the trace they could use. They also found the note that confirmed that Will had been the fifth of six victims.
Yeah, they figured it out.
After Chris had fished the cooked head out of the pot, they found the medallion shoved in his mouth.
Saint Mary Magdalene—the patron saint of sinners.
Well, that was appropriate.
That wasn’t the only thing they found. As they swept for trace, they also found about a trillion old sperm lying around, and that was just gross enough for her not to feel sorry for the asshole who’d died.
While no one would ever dare to say it out loud, Bonnie and Lizzie did the world a favor on this one.
Standing over his body, she was waiting for Chris to say something.
“What?” he asked.
“COD?” she asked.
“His head was taken off.”
She stared at him. “You’re telling me this without a fight? Where’s the real Doctor Leonard? Will he please stand up?”
“Honey, I have bodies stacked up at the morgue. Time matters at this point, and we all haven’t slept since…I don’t know when.”
Yeah, she knew.
Elizabeth was getting punchy. She actually wanted to do cartwheels over someone’s death.
That had to be sleep deprivation.
Or so she hoped.
“I’m beat.”
Yeah, her too.
She’d forgotten when her head had hit a pillow, or at least a sexy Native.
“Do you want help with the autopsies?” Ethan asked, coming up behind them. He’d been on the phone coordinating with Gabe.
“What do you mean?” he asked, feeling a little more hopeful. His leg was killing him, his neck hurt from staring down, and he was sick of smelling cooked person.
Chris was officially at his limit.
“There’s an ME from the neighboring town that usually handles all the cases in Salem. Ty just gave me his information. If you need help, I can call and ask if he’s available.”
“Could you?” he asked.
Elizabeth knew how tired Chris had to be in order to hand off some dead bodies. He didn’t like to share.
Ethan patted him on the back. “Yes, Doctor, I can. I’ll handle it now.”
When Ethan was gone, she pulled Chris aside.
“What gives?” she asked.
“I’m exhausted.”
She stared him in the baby blue eyes, seeking the truth. In those eyes, she saw it.
“Liar.”
He didn’t say anything.
“Don’t, Chris. We all promised honesty. Our family is built on it.”
He caved.
“I’m worried. You’ve pissed her off. I just want to make sure you have a bunch of people all over you.”
“You included?” she asked.
“Yeah, well, we didn’t see the Amir thing coming. Who knows what’s next?”
She wasn’t sure.
“We’ll get through this,” she promised. “This is just one more case in a long line of them.”
Chris prayed she was right.
He wanted more time.
Gently, he patted her cheek. “We always do. Just watch your back. I lied before.”
She was confused. “About what?” she asked.
“Being able to do your autopsy. I couldn’t. Don’t make me even make that choice.”
She hugged him.
Chris wrapped his arms around her and they stayed like that for a few minutes. She wasn’t sure who was leaning on who. Was her best friend holding her up, or was she doing the heavy lifting?
Did it matter?
There was a moment of peace.
When Callen approached, he took it all in. It was sweet. One of them was obviously needing it. He got why Amir had helped his sister, in some sick and twisted way.
What wouldn’t he do for Ethan?
The man had gone to jail for him.
Shared his wife with him.
Helped change his life.
That bond, blood or not, mattered. Chris and Elizabeth, born of different parents, carried it too.
What wouldn’t the doctor do for a woman he called sister?
“Hey, are you two okay?” he asked, as he approached.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Your wife wanted to hug me.”
She snorted. “I’m such a hussy, hugging all these men,” she teased.
“Well, you can hug me now.”
She lifted a brow. “For what, Callen James?”
“For the fact that there is a fine, upstanding citizen of Salem outside who saw your news conference. He knows where they are, and he wants that reward from your sugar daddy.”
She smacked him. “Shut up!”
He laughed. “While I like being hit by you, that wasn’t even your best effort,” he teased.
She jumped on him and kissed him.
“Hey! I only got a hug,” Chris teased.
She set Callen free. “If you’re lying…”
“I know, I’m dying. He’s outside.”
“Run him.”
She wasn’t taking any chances.
“I did. He owns this cabin too. He rented it to Will Argot. He said the man used it occasionally for a place to take the ladies on a romantic date.”
Yeah, that wasn’t close, but she was to amped on the other news.
“Take me to him!”
Callen led her outside to where the man was standing. She’d seen him before from when her daddy had been alive.
“Lester Henderson, this is lead investigator Director Elizabeth Blackhawk.”
“I know you. Your daddy was a good man.”
She immediately reverted back to good ol’ southern girl. “Yes, sir, he was. I miss Charlie every day.”
“He’d be proud of you.”
She smiled.
“I was proud of him. I came from good law stock,” she stated. “Now, what can you tell me?” she asked.
“I saw the pictures you showed on the news.”
“And?”
“The last name sounded familiar. I rented a cabin to some young guy named Amir Hayden.”
Yeah, Bonnie was in trouble. That one piece of information opened this all up.
“Where?”
He gave her the address. “Will I get the money?”
“If she’s there, and I can take her in, yes. I’ll pay you in any currency you want, including one dollar bills.”
“I think a check might be better.”
She laughed.
“You be careful, little lady.”
Oh, she was going to be real careful.
When she pulled that trigger and ended Bonnie’s life.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Forty minutes
Later
Outside the cabin, they braced themselves for what would be inside. This one isolated building butted the deepest part of the woods in Salem.
This was going to take everyone in order to pull it off. The sheriff’s deputies were placed by the trees, hidden from sight.
They’d been told to shoot anyone who tried to escape out the back. The FBI didn’t give the ‘shoot to kill’ order lightly.
But Ethan had.
He was following his boss’s orders.
Tyrell
and the US Marshals had the back door, and Elizabeth and her men took the front. With earbuds in, guns drawn, and their hearts thumping in anticipation, they were about ready to go in.
Callen was braced on the door, his booted heel ready to bust it in. He was waiting for her signal.
“Watch for tripwires,” she warned him.
He saluted.
When she heard that everyone was in place, she held up her fingers.
It was time.
Three.
Two.
One…
She pointed at her one husband and Callen booted the door. It crashed in as he spun and went in low. Across the room, they could see Tyrell and the US Marshals entering the open space.
That’s when they saw her.
And all the blood.
Elizabeth headed toward Amara Hayden’s body. She was sitting on the couch, head back, and a spray of blood all over everything in front of her.
It was ironic that the TV was playing repeated broadcasts of her news conference.
It was clear what went on.
Bonnie killed her and bailed, cutting her losses, just like with Clyde.
How did she know?
A sliced throat was her calling card. That’s exactly how Clyde had bought the farm.
“We have a note,” Ethan said, pointing to the paper on the counter beside the ax.
Elizabeth headed over.
It was addressed to her.
Pulling gloves out, she read it.
‘Elizabeth, darling,
We almost meet again. It seems you’re so much smarter than I gave you credit for, and that’s a shame. That means next time, I have to come at you even harder. I have to up my game. Thank you for the fun. Since you’re all about throwing the guilty in jail, I didn’t kill any of the victims. I let Lizzie do that. I was training her, and she was a failure. Next time, I’ll choose better. Kiss those sexy men for me. By the way, I was going to take that little girl of yours. Charlie was going to be my next victim or maybe I can raise her as my protégé. Who knows?
Revenge has Come (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 19) Page 57