Elizabeth was good with that. It would give the woman something to occupy her time, and stay out of her hair. “Thank you. I would really appreciate your help with that.” Who said she couldn’t play nice? Meanwhile, she would have her own people follow up. If anything, Elizabeth liked to cover her bases.
As they approached the body, the techs standing there each handed them a pair of gloves. Efficiently, they snapped them on and got down to business.
It wasn’t lost on Elizabeth that her one agent was working alone. He was leaning over the altar and checking out the corpse.
“Where’s your partner, Agent Rickard?” Callen asked, scanning the surroundings for Cyra Austin.
“She’s too busy screwing the ME to come to work today.”
All three people stared at him, including the two techs, and everyone had the decency to look mortified at his reply.
Elizabeth wasn’t about to let her team have free reign with their attitudes. That was her area of expertise. As far as she was concerned, there was only one person allowed to have balls enough to say shit like that out loud, and it wasn’t a Special Agent. “I think that comment is very inappropriate, Rickard. How about you rethink it and try again, before you make me cranky.”
“I arrived at her room and I was told by a half-naked Doctor Leonard to go ahead, he’d bring her. So, as you can imagine, ma’am, I jumped to conclusions.”
It wasn’t hard to miss that the man sounded incredibly angry over the whole thing, and Elizabeth doubted it had anything to do with Cyra being late.
“Since you’re handling the altar, where would you like me to focus my attention, Director?” he asked, wanting to escape.
“Work the perimeter.” That was most likely the best place for him. It would mean keeping him far away from Chris when he finally arrived.
Elizabeth glanced over at Callen and they shared a look. It looked like Rickard was going to be a loose cannon after all.
Focusing on the body, Callen, Elizabeth, and Chief Lowry stared down at the dead woman. From outer appearances, everything seemed to be similar to victim number one.
“Shouldn’t we read the note,” Gena asked, pointing at the card stuck down in the gaping wound.
“We can’t,” Callen replied. “Doctor Leonard likes to see the body ‘in situ’. It helps him understand the methodology of the killer and gives him clues to the death. As soon as he arrives, he’ll okay it.”
Chief Lowry wondered if they were just being difficult. “I can pretty much guess what killed her, and I don’t have a medical background,” she stated, pointing at the ear to ear slice across the woman’s throat.
“Yeah, so can I, Chief, but that’s not my job. We investigate and the ME handles the murder,” Elizabeth answered. “I don’t do his job and he doesn’t do mine.”
“If you’re wondering, I can ID the victim,” stated Gena Lowry.
That had Elizabeth’s attention. “You can?”
“I recognize her from town. She works at the same deli that I sometimes eat at. Her parents own it, and they’re going to be crushed when they find out that she’s dead.”
“What’s her name?”
The woman pointed. “That’s Dyana Carlos.”
“As soon as this is over, I’ll make the home visit to give them the bad news,” Elizabeth stated.
The woman shook her head. “I’ll do it. I think it will be less cold from someone that will sympathize with them.”
Callen didn't like how the chief assumed Elizabeth wouldn’t care. That was so far from the truth. He was about to say something, but she had already moved on with the conversation.
“Have at it. If you enjoy doing a notify, then you can take it.”
“Thank you, Director. I think that in this situation, it’s for the best.”
Elizabeth gave her that and refocused on the scene. “The ground shows some wear over here,” she said, pointing to the crushed grass not far from her boot. It was one of the few spaces where there wasn’t any blood.
Callen crouched down and stared at the ground. Being Native, his grandfather had taught him to track anything that wandered the woods, and a killer wasn’t much different. “I think he stood here,” Callen offered. There weren’t any shoe marks, but the grass had the distinct impressions of weight bearing down on it for a good deal of time.
Elizabeth stared over at Callen and tried to picture the killer during the crime. If the nutjob had been standing where Callen had said, he was now behind her head. Could the murderer be changing up his technique? She moved closer to his side to get a different perspective.
“See the markings, angel?” he asked, pointing with his finger. “This looks like a footprint.”
It was hard to ignore the nickname that Callen had just thrown out, but Elizabeth wasn’t going to comment, since Ethan had just kissed her. “I think you’re right,” she answered. “Those crazy mad tracking skills are coming in handy,” Elizabeth teased.
Callen winked. “I aim to please. I’m glad my Native-ness isn’t just aesthetic.”
Before she could comment, there was the crunch of tires and Elizabeth heard her name.
“Hey, Doc, I’m glad you could make it,” she stated, checking out her ME and the agent not far behind him. They looked exhausted and yet pink from the rush of blood. Yeah, it wasn’t hard to figure out what had been going on in their room. It looked like Cupid found another pair of Feds to shoot with his arrows.
“Sorry, I was in the shower, and I knew you’d want to check the scene out first anyway. I generally have a little time before you get all bitchy,” Chris stated, already pulling out his protective gear from his kit.
She laughed. “Agent Austin, help the team. Since this is a shrubby area, we need to look through it all. Christina will give you a general idea where to start.”
Cyra nodded and was more than happy to escape her boss’s speculative stare.
“I’d like our ME to assist if that’s possible,” the police chief stated as she crossed her arms across her chest.
Elizabeth shrugged. “I have to defer this one to our doctor. He’s in charge of the lab and knows how I like it done. You need to make that request to him.”
Chris was in a damn good mood. “I can use someone to help with the autopsy. It’s not easy to do it alone. He can be my Magnus.”
The woman looked confused.
“He misses our anthropologist,” she clarified. “The two of them are inseparable. You can inform Doctor Parrish that he’s more than welcome to jump in and assist our ME. Doctor Leonard will be transporting soon, since he generally doesn’t like to dig around at the scene too much.”
The woman hustled off to go do the notify, but before she even made it halfway to her car, she turned. “I’d also like copies of all the reports too,” she tossed in, figuring why the hell not. The woman was being pretty accommodating today.
Elizabeth shrugged. “You’ll get them,” then her voice dropped low enough for only her team to hear her. “When little baby pigs fly around me singing bacon related lullabies.”
Callen snorted and Chris offered her a fist bump. There was only so much leeway the cops would have when it came to Elizabeth, and Chief Lowry was apparently at her max.
“So, Christopher, tell me all about it,” Elizabeth stated.
The man looked over at her with his mouth hanging open and a horrified look on his face. Surely, their friendship had a limit, and he wasn’t expected to discuss his relationship with her too.
Whitefox found it all amusing. “Doc, for clarification, she meant the body on the altar, not the naked one that was in your bed this morning.”
There was nervous laughter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “Chris, here is just a little piece of advice. Don’t cover up the blatantly obvious. It only gives away the answer. When you immediately went with sex as the meaning, it proved it was bouncing around your brain.”
“Oh.” Well, crap
!
“Besides, Cyra’s partner already told us that you came to the door butt nekid,” Callen added.
He looked appalled. “I was wearing a towel!”
Elizabeth offered Callen a fist bump. “And we just got more details out of you by switching up some of the information. You know better than this. This isn’t your first day at the ‘Elizabeth Blackhawk’ rodeo. It’s more proof what’s going on in your noggin. You, my friend, are off your game.”
What could he say to that?
“How about we discuss work?” she offered.
Chris shifted his focus towards the dead woman, and he began doing his job. His brain began working it, and he allowed everything else to fall away but the victim before him. “It looks the same as the other one. Her hands were restrained, and I don’t see defensive wounds,” he paused, offering nothing more.
“You’re going to make me wait on everything else, aren’t you?” she inquired.
“Yep.”
“All because I was busting your ass?”
He grinned at her. “Yep.”
Elizabeth and Callen began laughing.
“Fair enough,” she said. “Can you at least let me have the love note from the killer?” she inquired, pointing at the woman’s throat.
“That I can do,” he answered. Cautiously, he opened it and bagged it to pass to his boss.
As she read it, Elizabeth was pretty sure both men in her life were going to go nuclear.
Now you have two of my women. I’m watching you and before long it will be you on my altar, Elizabeth.
“Well, the good news is the media hasn’t gotten wind of this yet. If they do, it’s going to be a circus.” Elizabeth sucked it up and handed Callen the note. As he read it, his face went red with anger.
Yeah, he was going over the deep end.
“Over my dead body will you be found like that,” he hissed. “When I find this asshole, I’m going to make him bleed for even thinking this shit.” Besides the anger, the only other thought in his head was that he would offer up his own life before the killer even got close enough to Elizabeth. They had children, and he didn't want them growing up motherless.
Callen Whitefox had been there and done that, and it sucked. He was still fighting back from the damage it caused in his life.
She patted his arm reassuringly. “I’m not going down like this, Cal. Breathe and stay focused for me.”
That was going to be easier said than done and he knew it. This killer was a dead man if he even tried for Elizabeth.
Sensing the tension, Doctor Leonard tried to get the man to refocus. Sliding his fingers around in the throat wound, he inspected the cut. “Yeah, it’s relatively the same depth. I’d say likely the same weapon too, but I’ll know more as I get her back to the morgue.”
Suddenly, he stopped. “We go way back, right Lyzee?” he asked as he kept his voice low.
She paused from entering information in her phone to look up at the man. “Yeah we do, Chris. We’ve been together a long time. What’s up?”
“I need a favor.”
Well, this was a first in over a decade. “Is this going to be a boss related one or a friendship kind of deal? Because if it’s personal, you know you only need to ask. If this is work related, I can’t promise, but I’ll try to the best of my ability.”
He told her all about the altercation at the door of the hotel. “Cyra said you were aware, but I’m getting that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that Agent Rickard is a problem just waiting to happen.”
Elizabeth motioned to her husband, who was watching her from across the scene. Immediately, he crossed towards them and stood protectively at her side.
“Yeah, baby?”
She pointed at Chris. “Tell him what you just told us.”
Chris once more voiced his concern. “I know it’s not proper protocol. I’m a big stickler for rules, and I’ve ridden you three repeatedly, but I really need to keep Cyra away from him. Is there any way you can help me out?”
Elizabeth would do it in a heartbeat, but she tossed it to Ethan, since he was the one who generally had issues with needlessly breaking the rules.
“We can take her out in the field with us. We’re doing an interview today, and she can tag along. We have to head to ‘Mystic Memorabilia’ to discuss Scarlet Red working there.”
“What about Rickard?” Chris inquired.
Ethan contemplated it. “I’ll have a little talk with him and go from there. I need to mull it over in my head and find the proper way to handle it. I just can’t send him back without a reason. I’ll work on it.”
“Thank you for this.” At least Cyra would be safe for now. It would help him focus. “I owe you one,” he stated.
Callen began laughing at that one. “You just handed your soul over to the devil.”
They all looked over at him.
“Come on! That was very apropos considering…”
Blackhawk shook his head. “It looks like Callen needs sensitivity training,” he stated. “He’s been hanging out with a very bad influence lately.”
They all looked at Elizabeth.
“Seriously? You’re going to blame me for Callen. I want you both to think back to your childhoods. Who here has stolen a car?”
Ethan and Callen raised their hands.
Chris tried not to laugh.
“Who here has been arrested for breaking and entering?” she continued.
Again, both men raised their hands.
“Who here has…”
Ethan stopped her. “I think you’ve proved your point.”
“I rest my case,” Elizabeth said. “I didn't corrupt the man. This is all a Blackhawk gene thing. I’m just the one who potentially passed it on to our children.”
Now, Chris started laughing. He really loved when the three of them came together. There was always something funny revealed about them.
“Now, back to the job,” she stated as she pointed to the now bodiless altar. “It all looks the same to me,” Elizabeth added in frustration.
Chris looked up from his clipboard. He was logging details as his team carried the woman to the van. “It’s definitely a Wiccan altar.” He pointed at the different objects. “Over here you have the elements being represented. North is Earth,” he stated, touching the cauldron of dirt and blood. “South is fire.” He pointed at the candle covered in splatters. “East and west were moved, probably for the body to be placed in the center, but here’s air,” Chris motioned to the incense stick that symbolized east. Then he gently picked up a shell filled with now bloody water. “This is supposed to be indicative of west.”
They all watched him and were thinking the same exact thing. Their ME was smart, but this was a little too weird of a topic to be an expert in all of the sudden.
“A Satanist doesn’t use the elements and call quarters,” he added. Then he pointed down at the ground. “The killer used salt and in Wiccan rituals, it’s meant to protect the circle and keep anything unwelcome out.”
Elizabeth was getting more and more suspicious as the conversation continued. Her bullshit detector was going off big time.
Chris went back to logging information on his clip board. “I’d hazard a guess, that the killer at one time was a practicing Wiccan or was at least trained in it before he decided to go the other way. Too many things here scream white magick.”
“So he’s incorporating them both. Will that work when you’re worshiping the devil or is it strictly a witch thing?” Elizabeth asked, setting him up.
Two could play at this game.
“It can’t work since they are total opposites and different religions. I know in Wicca, there are some deities that might be construed as ‘dark’ but there isn’t a devil. I’ve seen a lot of altars, and this one is Wiccan with a twist.”
Then, he realized that he gave away too much. Shit, he’d just set a rabid dog on his trail. He had inadvertently tossed Elizabeth too much for him to feign expertise through book
s.
“Wow, Chris, you must really just like to read,” she stated, staring him right in the eyes.
“Yes, I’m fascinated.” He fought to remain absolutely calm and not show any nerves. When faced with a vicious animal, never show fear.
“Christopher Leonard, you are such a liar,” she admonished.
Both Callen and Ethan stared down at her to wait and see where she was taking her comment. Obviously, she sensed something that they didn't.
The man said nothing as he tried to plan a strategic escape from the hole that he had just dug.
“Chris, we’ve been friends a long time. I know you pretty damn well. I honestly wouldn’t care either way, but I need a frame of reference on how well you know the topic. If I’m going to base everything on what you just threw out, I need to know the truth.”
He sighed and weighed his options. His back was officially to the wall on this one, and Chris had no one to blame but himself.
“Come on, Chris. Ante up on this one. I’m callin’ your bluff, darlin’.”
Finally, he sighed and gave up. “My mother is Wiccan. She’s a practicing witch and I grew up with it my entire life.”
No one spoke, since that was a little surprising. Here was their head scientist throwing out a wild card.
As Chris turned to escape, he found it was only going to get worse. Standing right behind him was the woman he was crazy about.
Cyra said nothing and only watched him get ready to freak out. She could read it on his face.
His heart dropped into his stomach, as he knew this was probably the end. Today began on such a high note too, and now it was disintegrating fast. Great. This was exactly what he didn't want to have happen.
His eyes went to the vee of her shirt and the tiny gold cross around her neck. Yeah, he’d just dropped that his mother was a witch and that wasn’t going to go over well at all.
Chris couldn’t even speak.
What could he possibly say now to keep this mess from blowing up all over him?
Absolutely nothing…
Mid-Morning
Morgue Office
The crime scene had been swept and contained, and all three directors were free to handle the rest of the items on their work list. Some of it was FBI related, and some… not so much. Once back to the borrowed office space, they decided to play divide and conquer.
Devil Hath Come (an FBI/Romance Thriller ~book 7) Page 21