Devil Hath Come (an FBI/Romance Thriller ~book 7)

by Kelley, Morgan

  Arlen James wasn’t worried. “The men behind you are possessive. I can’t say I blame them. The followers in my congregation would love to worship at your vessel. You would be an offering like no other. I can promise you the greatest sexual experience. Give it some thought.”

  She laughed in his face. “Oh sure, let me think about it. Um, NO. I get plenty of fun in the bedroom, and the men I sleep with don’t have to play dress up or sell tickets to the show.”

  “Then I guess you’ll have to get a warrant to see our inner sanctum. Those are your choices. Offer yourself up for a night of pleasure, and you may have total access. In fact, you can even bring your men to watch. If you decline, then do it the legal way.”

  She didn't even respond. If she opened her mouth, a slew of derogatory things were bound to fall out. Turning, she headed out the door. It was hard not to notice his eyes following her every move.

  Both men moved protectively to her side.

  Outside, the sun warmed her skin, and the gloom and doom feeling was dissipating.

  “You’re not considering it, are you?” Callen asked. His voice held so much disgust and disdain that any other men would be offered an opportunity to look at their woman, let alone touch her.

  She laughed at his question. “Are you out of your damn mind? I wouldn’t give him the pleasure of that opportunity. If I’m going to lay naked on an altar and be worshipped by men, it’s going to be my husbands. Not Count Creep-u-la.”

  Blackhawk laughed as the tension in his chest finally unknotted. “So, if I build us an altar…”

  Elizabeth snorted and patted his cheek. She was glad he was joking around. When they were inside, she was sure that he was going to snap. “Find a reference to it in Native lore, wear war paint and feathers, and I’ll play your sexy Indian games.”

  Both men thought about it and their bodies reacted.

  “You two are too easy.”

  Ethan knew that they needed to focus. “What now?”

  Elizabeth headed to the Denali as she pondered her game plan. “Well, I say we head in to visit Gena Lowry and give her an update. While we’re there, we can ask her officer which business he saw the victim at and then check it out.”

  “Works for me,” Callen said, preparing to climb into the back of the vehicle.

  Before Ethan and Elizabeth could hop in, there was a familiar sound that drew their attention. Both of them stared at each other and were frozen where they stood.

  That was something they didn't expect to hear while on assignment.

  “What?” Callen asked as he glanced back and forth between them. “What’s wrong?” He didn't like the look on either of their faces. It was somewhere between shock, fear, and worry.

  “Did you just hear that?” Elizabeth asked her husband as the hair on the back of her neck reacted.

  He nodded, unable to speak. It was loud and crystal clear. Turning, he looked back at the building to find Arlen James standing in front of it. The man was focused on Elizabeth.

  “What did you hear?” Callen asked as he became more nervous.

  Elizabeth kept her voice neutral, as she worried about freaking out Ethan even more. “I just heard wind chimes.”

  Callen looked around in a panic. The last time they both admitted to hearing them, someone had taken a shot at Elizabeth with a twelve gauge shotgun. If Ethan hadn’t been alert, she would have been killed. “Are you sure? I don’t hear anything.” In fact, he didn't see any either. There weren’t any other buildings where they could be hanging out in the breeze. “Maybe it was something else,” he tried to reassure them both.

  Ethan jumped in and closed the door. Once Elizabeth was inside, he looked at his brother. “I think we just received a warning.”

  “Granddad?” Callen asked.

  Elizabeth had to agree. “We’re either on the right track,” she began.

  “Or he’s telling us to watch our asses,” finished Blackhawk.

  Where they all wanted to believe it was the first one, they all knew the truth.

  They needed to tread lightly.

  Something bad was brewing.

  Cyra had never been more uncomfortable in all her life around another human being. The man working beside her was basically ignoring her, which in itself wouldn’t be a bad thing, if she wasn’t getting weird vibes from him too. He was obviously mad, and she wasn’t quite sure why. It wasn’t like she ever flirted with him or promised him more than their partnership. In fact, the only time she ever went ‘out’ with him was if they were on assignment, and they needed to eat.

  In her life, she had a hard and fast rule about dating cops. If it felt off at first, it was probably going to end badly. Relying on her gut was an important thing in her life, and now it was sending out big signals to warn her.

  “You want the bedroom or the bathroom,” he finally asked, breaking his silence.

  Cyra answered, “I’ll take the bathroom.”

  He didn't reply as he headed into the room with his partner. As she went to work on the small powder room, Rickard deconstructed the boudoir. “I don’t see anything that shouldn’t be here,” he said, speaking once more.

  She finished her search of her assigned space and headed out to help him. “There’s nothing in here either. All that I found in the medicine cabinet were some vitamins and her toothpaste.”

  Shifting her mattress, Rickard found a blade of sorts. “I think I have a weapon,” Rickard stated, lifting it carefully by the carved handle. “It’s some sort of dual sided knife.”

  Holding out a bag, she sealed it after he dropped it in. “It looks sharp.”

  Tommy couldn’t take it anymore and the dam broke. “You know that he’s a mistake, right?”

  Cyra looked up at her partner as he caught her off guard. “Excuse me?” Certainly, he couldn’t be talking about Chris.

  “You’re going to be bored out of your mind with him. He plays in dead bodies for a living and is a giant geek.” He was only speaking the truth. Nerds were fun to watch and maybe be friends with, but how good could they be in the sack?

  The annoyance began brewing over his words. Everything that he was spewing, regarding Christopher Leonard, was making her very angry. “I don’t think what I do in my personal life is any of your concern. Then compound that with your comments being way over the line. Chris isn’t a geek. He’s a very smart man that has a noble profession and I respect him a great deal.”

  Thomas Rickard shrugged. “It’s never going to work. You need a real man to keep you safe. Not some glorified scientist that can’t even defend himself. I bet he goes home at night to a pet fish and a book.”

  It was taking all her control to keep her patience. Fortunately, Christina entered the room and saved her from knocking her partner on his ass.

  “Uh, am I interrupting something?” she asked, feeling the tension in the room. It was suffocating and she had only been inside for a few seconds.

  “Yeah, and you should back out of here and leave,” he stated harshly.

  Christina bristled at his hostility. The man had no right to talk to her that way, and if he didn't knock his shit off, she’d file a complaint. If he thought just because he was an agent, and she was only a tech that he had a right to be rude, he was mistaken.

  Cyra shook her head. “No, Christina. Our discussion is more than done. In fact, it’s never happening again.” She focused on the tech. “What did you find?”

  “We found a little room. It must have been a pantry at one time, off the kitchen. Scarlet Red was using it as a place to worship.”

  That had her attention. “Worship what?”

  “We didn't start digging through the things in there yet to be able to give a definitive answer. We figured that the investigators would like to see it first. Right now, we’re beginning to photograph it.”

  They followed the tech as she led them to the space. Once there, they stared inside.

  “It’s another altar.”

  Christina nodded. “
I don’t think it’s the same as the one at the crime scene. We peeked underneath the cloth and there aren’t any inverted pentagrams.”

  “There are also books in here too.” Christina pulled one from the pile and handed it to the agent.

  Rickard read the title out loud, “Wicca for Women.”

  Cyra stared over at her partner. “You better call the Blackhawks. Our dead victim was a practicing witch.”

  They waited for the woman to show up in her office. Apparently, she had something important to handle before she had time to see them. Her administrative assistant, Clifford, had sent them up and asked them to have a seat to wait.

  There were a few things that pissed Elizabeth Blackhawk off big time in life. The big one was when assholes made comments about the men in her life, and the next was her time being needlessly wasted. Sitting there gave her mind time wander and instead of the assignment, she was contemplating how to torture the chief of police for playing games. If the woman wanted a contest at who could be the biggest bitch, she’d give her a run for her money.

  And win!

  When she walked in, Chief Lowry was drinking coffee and didn't look the least bit in a hurry.

  Yeah, Elizabeth got it. The woman wasn’t in the mood to play nice. Well, now neither was she.

  “What can I do for you?” Sitting back in her chair, her focus was on the fellow law enforcement officer in front of her. She had just gotten a call from the town ME, and he had spilled all the details about her. As a collective front, they decided to keep their eyes on her and share information between them. There was a saying; ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer’, and they found it very apropos in this case.

  Elizabeth Blackhawk was a thorn in her side. Obviously, she planned on making all of their lives hell. The woman was bossy, rude, and a pain in the ass. Parrish had told her about the medallion, how he’d missed it, and how the FBI was making a huge deal out of it. That didn't fly with her. People made mistakes all the time and allowances should be made. Look at the huge one that she had made by calling the FBI in as soon as she saw the note. In hindsight, Gena never should have dialed the phone.

  “We came in to update you on what we have so far,” Elizabeth offered neutrally.

  “That’s surprising. I didn't think you needed our help. You stomped into town, took over the morgue, and are running this assignment without even asking my opinion.”

  She didn't have time for this. “I don’t know what your problem is, Chief, but let me assure you that we’re not storming your castle. This is how the FBI works. We arrive and we manage the situation. I’m here to find a killer, not see who has a bigger set.”

  “You’re being disrespectful.”

  Elizabeth stood. “I’m being honest. Your one cop tossed evidence in the trash, and that’s blatant ignorance on how to be a law enforcement officer. He didn't wear glove to pull a note from his windshield and then filed it under ‘G’ for garbage.”

  “We’re not accustomed to murders here. My officers are competent and very good people. They are trying to learn on the fly.”

  “I don’t doubt that they’re really spectacular human beings. What I don’t trust is their ability to run a case. THUS the reason we took over. If you want to really get technical, your town coroner didn't do a full autopsy. He looked at a victim and called COD. No one in their right mind would trust that. What if she was poisoned first?”

  “He said she was drained of all her blood. She was alive while it happened.”

  “I’m going to assume that you’ve never heard of a little thing called gravity. If you hang a body upside down or just elevate the legs above her head, a victim will completely bleed out. Our ME had to do a full autopsy, because it’s his job to be thorough. Whether you like me or not, I’m here to get justice for the woman that was killed. I don’t play games, and I also don’t have pissing matches. I don’t give two shits who loves me or hates me in the end.”

  “I’m guessing more people hate you.”

  Ethan stood and Callen followed.

  “How many murders have you investigated in your time as a cop, Chief?”

  The woman shrugged. “I’ve been a cop fifteen years. We don’t get many so maybe ten.”

  Elizabeth stared down at her. “I covered those ten my first six months in the FBI. I’ve been in law enforcement for almost twelve years. So, you do the math. I’m not going to apologize for the death I’ve seen, waded through, or had nightmares about at night. I’ve earned my attitude and my battle scars. When you come out of murder kindergarten to play with the high school kids, we’ll talk. Until then, you think whatever you want.”

  The woman stood. “Your attitude is insulting.”

  “So is your behavior. Making us wait while you get a coffee is very childish. When the next body pops up and I don’t stop it, pat yourself on your back. You helped buy the killer time by wasting mine.”

  “You’re crossing the line, Agent,” she stated.

  The blatant disregard of her title only spiked Elizabeth’s temper. “For the record, I’ve also earned Director before my name. Calling me anything less is like me calling you officer and ignoring your rank. If you think you can intimidate me, you have another thing coming. You may be a bitch, but I’m the queen of them all and have a track record to prove it.”

  “I’ll call your boss,” she demanded angrily, when she couldn’t come up with anything more to add.

  “Great, tattling too. I’m glad my assessment was right. His name’s Gabriel Rothschild and he’s the big man in Quantico. Tell him I send my regards, oh and be sure that you tell him about your ME and the way your officer mishandled evidence. I know I will when he calls me to ask if I want more agents shipped in to babysit.”

  With that, Elizabeth left the woman staring as they exited the office. She wanted to slam the door behind her, but she refused to play childish games.

  Ethan walked beside her. “I already apprised Gabe of the situation,” he said, offering her reassurance.

  “You know what? If I’m lucky, he will yank us all off this one. Right about now, I’m ready to toss it and walk away.”

  Callen stared at her. That was something new coming from her. Never before had he heard her say anything like that while on an assignment in the field. Usually, she loved the hostility and fed off of it.

  “I need a vacation,” she stated, unequivocally. “I know I say that all the time, but today I’m feeling it. That woman is a pain in my ass and makes me want to lie on a beach and be oblivious to the world around me.”

  Blackhawk reassuringly ran his hand over her back. He was well aware of how much pressure was sitting on her shoulders. The minute the FBI took over, it all became their responsibility. If another person died, it wouldn’t be Chief Lowry who was skewered. It would be Elizabeth and the team.

  “You have this, baby,” he stated.

  She didn't respond.

  As they arrived downstairs, she stopped at Clifford’s desk. “Mr. Bean, where can I find Officer Larry Murphy?”

  The man flipped through his papers and looked up the information. “He’s on the other side of town doing patrols.”

  “Great. Now I have to track him down too. Can this day get worse?” she practically snarled.

  “Actually, it’s slow over there. You might check at the coffee shop. He’s a lover of their jelly filled donuts. They’re light and airy and can lift your spirits. You look stressed. Maybe you should have one or two.”

  Somehow, she didn't believe there were enough donuts in the whole damn town to brighten her mood. “Of course he’s having a donut and coffee break,” she stated as she really wanted to kick the crap out of something. “Thank you for your help, Clifford.”

  Walking out, both men were silent.

  “You’re about to lose it, aren’t you?” Callen asked, taking her hand in his to offer her some sort of calm. He wasn’t sure if it would upset her more, but when she squeezed his, he was pleased she was leaning on h
im.

  “I’m close to the edge.”

  Ethan took her other hand. He really didn't care if they were a spectacle as they walked towards the Denali. “You need to look at this on the bright side.”

  She glanced over. “Yeah?”

  “You love jelly donuts.”

  Elizabeth stared incredulously at him. Finally, she gave in as the laughter overcame the irritation. She giggled all the way to the vehicle. “You’re a funny man today, Cowboy, and just for that, you’re buying me one.”

  He winked as he dropped his sunglasses onto his face. If donuts would cheer her up, he’d buy her a whole damn dozen.

  Once across town, they found the only coffee shop on the street. There was the aroma of warm baked goodies in the air, and thanks to Ethan and the promise of sugar, her mood was getting marginally better.

  Of course, she had yet to have a discussion with the cop inside and in her mind, she was already prepping for the oncoming debacle.

  Walking in, everyone in the place stopped moving, talking, and pretty much breathing. They stared over at them, measuring the visitors to their town.

  “Wow, it’s like no one’s ever seen Feds before,” she stated loud enough for the room to hear. Elizabeth was almost hoping someone said something to her.

  With her current mood, there could be a bloodbath.

  Ethan and Callen each touched her on one of her shoulders, offering their woman reassurance. If anything, they were accustomed to the speculative glances. It wasn’t the appearance of the FBI, but the two large, gun toting, Native men behind her that were the likely culprit.

  Circle Rock was a small town, and pretty much everyone in it was Caucasian. Not that it was a bad thing. It made it easier for Ethan to profile the killer. If the entire population was white, odds were in his favor that the suspect was also going to follow suit.

  Now, he hoped that no one brought up the ‘Indian’ word, in front of Elizabeth. Where Gabe would be okay with her handing the sheriff a verbal beat down for incompetence, he wouldn’t tolerate kicking the crap out of locals.