Chris shrugged and didn't care if Elizabeth told Ethan. “Go ahead,” he offered. He didn't mind if he knew, especially since they were friends.
“Our beloved death doctor is very wealthy, and let’s leave it at that,” she stated laughing. She was glad Cyra looked appalled. It meant she wouldn’t have to kick her ass later for using Chris.
That intrigued Blackhawk. “You need to quantify that for me. There’s wealthy and then there’s ‘Holy Mother of God’.”
Chris was laughing. He loved his bosses.
Elizabeth winked at her friend. For years she kept it quiet for him, hoping that some skank wouldn’t try and snag him for his money, and now she believed that he had found the real deal. “I believe he’s under that last option with a side of ‘I own a portion of a sports team’ wealthy.”
Blackhawk laughed. “Nice.”
Chris shrugged. “I have box seats in a skybox, want to go?” he asked his boss.
“I’ll dump my current football partners for that any day,” he teased, knowing who he watched sports with in the fall.
Elizabeth punched him. “Yeah, well I hope you like the couch and sleeping on it alone.”
Blackhawk grinned and dropped a kiss to her forehead. “What’s on the agenda, boss?” He winked at Chris. He wouldn’t desert Callen or Elizabeth for a game, especially since he watched with CJ and EJ beside him. Now, if he could take them…
“I want to hit up Harmony’s house and dig around. If she was walking both sides of the magick world, maybe something will pop up at her place.”
Ethan glanced over at Chris. “Still nothing on the missing DNA?”
He shook his head. “I don’t get it. We don’t misplace shit, ever. I mean, I know Christina’s been off her game, but to lose hair? It’s just not possible.”
Elizabeth decided to break it to him. “Just to make you aware, Christina won’t be staying on our team.”
“What?” He looked appalled and immediately his mind went with the most logical reason why.
She continued, “Before you think that I fired her, she’s taking a leave of absence.”
Immediately, Chris understood where this was heading. “Kane Redwolf, huh?”
“Yeah, it seems Cupid’s been working overtime at FBI West lately. There must be something in the water,” Elizabeth stated. She liked that love was flourishing where death normally hung out. The people around her who fought so hard for justice deserved it.
“You probably have poor Cupid locked in a cage. We all know you’re a slave driver,” snickered Chris.
“Oh, Chris, sometimes I forget how funny you are. I hope you’re still laughing, once you find out that you earned another day of demon porn just to entertain me.”
He groaned and slapped himself in the forehead.
“How the financial reports going on our victims?” she inquired, glancing over at Cyra.
“We’re halfway there. They should be done by tonight, and then I can cross compare them to see if anything pops.”
“Great,” stated Elizabeth, as she heard the door open. In ran Rex, dragging his leash as he charged right at her.
Cyra watched, a little heartbroken, as her dog didn't even look at her. He was her baby, but now he appeared to have a new love.
Elizabeth saw the look on her face and didn't acknowledge the dog at her feet. “Cyra, I’m so sorry. Generally, most living things run from me. There’s actually a list of things that despise me like, cops, cats, most people and small creatures. I don’t know why he’s following me around. Maybe he’s possessed.”
Chris dropped his arm around the agent’s shoulders to offer her support while she was sad.
“Elizabeth, it’s okay,” she said, trying to not get emotional. It wasn’t like it was the woman’s fault. Rex had a mind of his own, and she was well aware of that.
“What did I miss?” Callen asked, as his brother’s phone began ringing.
Elizabeth caught him up to speed. Then she noticed Ethan’s face, and it said it all.
“We have our fourth victim. That was Chief Lowry, and we need to meet her officer at the station. It’s a new location and a very fresh sacrifice.” Ethan was already slipping his badge and gun onto his hip.
“Looks like today’s plans all get bumped back a little,” she stated, heading for the door.
“Uh, what do we do with Rex?” Cyra asked, watching her former best friend walk away from her to follow another woman to the door.
“It looks like we bring him with us to the crime scene. Who knows, maybe he’ll find something that we’re obviously missing.”
Elizabeth would like to say that she was surprised, but she wasn’t. As they pulled up to the station, they were met by Officer Murphy and driven to the middle of nowhere to meet the chief of police. Standing beside her, was once again Officer Marsh.
“Does anyone feel like this is deja vu?” Callen asked, rolling his window down a little to give Rex some air.
“Yeah, I’m with you there,” Ethan stated, dropping his sunglasses on his face. He wanted to watch them unobserved.
As they walked up, Chief Lowry spoke. “I wasn’t sure that you would be showing up after your threats of walking away.”
Both men tensed, ready to tell the woman off.
Elizabeth just shrugged. “Yeah, well unfortunately, I wouldn’t be leaving it in capable hands. That kind of forced my decision. Had there been law enforcement here that could tell the difference between their heads and the holes in their ass, I would be home by now.”
The woman glared at her.
Elizabeth offered it back. If Gena Lowry wanted to be catty, she’d claw her damn eyes out. “Why don’t you catch me up to speed? Then we can drop the idle chit chat so you can get the hell out of here.”
The woman gave her the information icily, “We have no ID on this one. Once again, another note was left on Officer Marsh’s car.”
They all stared at the man in question.
“You’re telling me that out of four notes from the killer, your one officer received three of them?” Elizabeth inquired, waiting for them to rationalize that one.
“Yes.”
She started laughing. “Alrighty then, before I go take a gander at the body,” she drawled in her southern hick accent, “how about you prepare yourself for a formal interview, Officer Marsh? You may want to bring an attorney or police representative.”
Blackhawk watched the man’s face. He and Elizabeth had worked together enough to know how to work it. She’d fire them up, and he’d gauge their reaction to the entire thing. It was their version of good cop bad cop.
“What? Why?” he asked, suddenly alarmed at that prospect.
Even Chief Lowry looked stirred up. That was just the side bonus for the team after her shitty comments.
Elizabeth shrugged. “You were given three of the notes, and as a law enforcement officer, put yourself in our position. It looks suspicious and we need alibis for all the times. I hope you don’t have any skeletons in your closet, because we’re about to throw them all over your squad room.”
Lowry crossed her arms, but said nothing.
Walking away, Ethan dropped his voice. “They were both nervous. Something is definitely up.”
She saw it too. “After this, we add it to our list of things to do. We’re going to rattle their cages like they’ve never been shaken before,” she promised.
“I can’t wait,” Callen stated, scanning the area.
As they approached the victim, Chris was already prepping to work on her body.
“It looks about the same to me,” he stated, giving his initial report. “Do the police know her name?”
She shook her head as her eyes never left the woman. “They don’t have to give me her ID. I know her. That’s the same woman that was with Ares and Artemis as they led me to the circle.”
Blackhawk lifted a brow. “Really?”
She was one hundred percent positive that the woman who way lying on the stone sl
ab was her. “Yep. That’s Pandora Bilmore,” she stated, as Cyra pulled out her tablet to search DMV records for a photo that they could use to do a visual match.
When she located it, she turned it around. “I’m with the boss, that’s her,” she added.
Chris checked the faces. “I’ll accept it as a positive ID.”
“You didn't by any chance, see her on the satanic porn, did you?” she asked both her agent and ME.
They shook their heads.
“I’m almost afraid to do this,” Chris stated, handing Ethan Blackhawk the note the killer left. He had already scanned it, and he knew that there was a massive explosion coming. Not that he could blame him. He was feeling protective over his boss now too.
Blackhawk took the note and stared at it through the sealed evidence bag. Where to even begin with the rage that was steadily building in him? First, there was the anger that the asshole was admiring his woman. Next, there was the hate that was building as the killer threatened to take her life.
Never before, in all his life, had he wanted to snuff out someone’s existence like right then and there.
Elizabeth,
What you see here is nothing compared to what I have
planned for you. You will be my bride that night.
I can’t wait to run my hands all over your body and make
you mine.
Be ready.
I’m coming for you.
Signed,
Your new husband.
After reading it for a third time, he knew he needed to walk away and catch his breath. If he didn't, there was going to be a tirade of epic proportions.
Handing the evidence bag to Elizabeth, Ethan stormed as far away from his team as possible. As she read it, Callen stared over her shoulder.
He too, was feeling much the same, but he knew that they had to keep their cool. This is exactly what the killer wanted. If they were pissed, they wouldn’t keep her safe.
“Cyra, stick with Elizabeth and don’t leave her side,” Callen ordered. He ignored her objections to being given a body guard as he went after his brother.
Elizabeth watched him walk away and knew that both men were both ready to lose it. She didn't need a babysitter. What she needed was a way to stop time.
Sadly, she was well aware that it was running out.
Callen found his brother across the scene, smoking. That was something new, since he knew that he had quit a long time ago. “Are you going to be okay?” he asked, waiting for his brother to take a drag.
“No. That’s why I’m killing myself with lung cancer.” Ethan liked to believe that he would never relapse, but this was pushing him over the edge. He needed to explode and beat something into oblivion. Since the FBI frowned upon murder and drugging to forget, bumming a smoke seemed like the best option.
It was followed up by abducting his wife and shipping her home to Wyler.
Knowing that Callen had to be just as shaken up, he held it out to his brother.
Callen took it and stole a drag. He and his brother used to sneak up to the tree house and smoke all the time. Only then, it was to be rebels. Now, it was to get though something insurmountable.
“I want to kill, Cal. I want to physically cross that line from just thinking about it, to doing it. I’m on the verge of doing something I would have never thought possible before. I actually want to murder someone.”
Callen handed the smoke back. “I’m right there with you, Ethan, but I have to tell you that this is his plan. If he’s been watching us, he knows we’ll lose it. We need to be stoic and look like we can handle this. When we get back to the room, then we can fall apart.”
“I don’t know if I can handle all this. It’s crushing down on me and I feel like I’m going to break.”
Callen understood. “I have you, Ethan. For all those years that you took care of me, let me help hold you up. I’ll keep Elizabeth safe and give you strength.”
He knew his brother would, and he opted to be honest with him and share everything going on in his heart. “I can’t go on if she’s taken from us. I know it’s wrong, but I’ll curl up and die. We have kids, and they would need me, but I don’t think I can live without her.”
Callen understood. “Do you trust me?” he asked, staring at his brother.
“Yes. I don’t trust anyone more than you and Elizabeth.”
“I swear that I will stick to her like glue the next few days. If he wants her, he’s going to have to get through me. I won’t let her be taken, and I’ll protect you while you’re scared.”
He hugged his brother. “I love you.”
Callen didn't doubt it. “I love you too, bro.”
“Hand it over, boys,” stated Elizabeth pointing at the cigarette in Ethan’s hand.
“Crap,” he muttered, knowing the jig was officially up. Tentatively, he gave it to his wife. He was fully expecting her to toss it and say something. Instead, she took a long drag herself.
Both men stared incredulously.
“What?” she asked, blowing out a slow stream to help calm her own nerves. “If one of us is dying of lung cancer, we might as well all go that route.” She handed it back to her husband and finally smiled.
“I love you.”
She winked. “I’m going on the record to state when dad finds out we’re smoking, I’m blaming you.”
Callen took a drag after his brother and crushed it out. “Me too.”
Finally, he broke down and laughed as he hugged the two people he loved most in life. “I’ll willingly take the beat down on this one.”
“How about we get this scene handled, and then start the interviews? We now have even more on our plate today, thanks to this fruit loop.”
The men flanked her to make sure that her body was protectively housed between theirs. Nothing was happening to the mother of their children.
Not now, and sure as hell not ever.
Returning to the altar, they waited for their ME to give them anything else that he may have found. They knew it wouldn’t be much, but at least it was something.
“If I were to venture,” stated Chris, as he continued, “she was alive, like the last girl, as he carved her up. Her hands and ankles were also bound in the same manner. She struggled. Look at how torn up they are.” Chris pointed to her face. “She had tape over her mouth too, and at one point he ripped it off violently. There’s missing skin.”
Elizabeth knew why he took it. “He didn't want to leave us anything to track him. Nothing at this scene is traceable,” she stated.
Chris agreed. “I can also tell you this; the elements on the altar are out of order. If you look at north, it’s in the east position and west is in the south.”
“What the hell is that supposed to tell us?” Elizabeth asked. She was confused to begin with when it came to the whole witch craziness, but now there was more nuttiness thrown into the mix.
Ethan knew what it meant. He had seen it before. “He’s losing it. Now, he can’t even keep the basics in order. His mind is chaotic.”
She ran her hand over his arm. “That’s okay. It means he may have left us something here.”
Christina jogged over to them. “I checked the fire and searched around. I didn't find any clothing in the ash.”
There was more that was changing. “Look at the altar, Christina,” stated Chris. “Check out the powder. It’s different.”
She stuck the tip of her gloved finger into it and gave it a sniff. “It isn’t the same at all. We can add it to the list of things that he’s altered.”
“Great. All this gives us is more confusion,” Elizabeth said, shaking her head. “Well, this now means one thing. We have to split up. We have two things to handle and four agents. Want to divide up into boys against the girls?” she teased.
Both men had the same look on their faces. Without saying a word, they rolled right into rock, paper, scissors. When Ethan won, he picked Elizabeth.
Cyra started laughing. “I think I should be
insulted that you’re both trying to get out of escorting me.”
Elizabeth grinned. “You got the funny one, so stop your bitching. Hey, you didn't see Callen’s tattoos yet. There’s something to look forward to today,” she added.
“They’re yummy,” stated Christina inadvertently. Then she covered her mouth. “Oh screw it! That may have been my last time to openly ogle one of them. I’m not apologizing and if I can check out Director Blackhawk before I go, I plan on doing it too.”
Elizabeth roared with laughter at the woman’s blatant honesty. She appreciated that in her employees.
Chris looked far from pleased at that idea. “Uh, Callen won’t be taking his shirt off around my girlfriend unless he’s using it to put out a fire. She saw plenty of tattoos today,” he answered, pointing at Blackhawk. Yeah, he was going to consider getting one now too.
Christina went to say something, but Elizabeth pointed at her. “Think twice. You said you wanted to ogle, you didn't say you wanted me to kick your ass.”
She zipped it.
“Cal, you and Cyra get Harmony’s place. We’re going to take Pandora’s apartment and see what turns up.”
“What are we looking for?” he asked, as they walked towards the Denali.
Ethan took this one. “Anything witch or Satan related.”
Elizabeth glanced back at her ME, as he stared after Cyra like a lost, worried puppy. “Go ahead,” she stated to the woman, grinning. “Make his day.”
Cyra wanted to give him a kiss goodbye, but didn't want to piss off the bosses. “Thank you,” she replied, rushing back. Going up on her toes, she planted one right on his lips. “I’ll be safe, Christopher, you do the same.”
Racing back towards the bosses, he stared at Elizabeth. She gave a nod and saluted.
Chris relaxed, knowing his girlfriend was in good hands.
Callen grinned at Elizabeth as they prepared to divide up. He lowered his voice so only she’d hear his words. “You’re such a softie.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.”
* * *
Devil Hath Come (an FBI/Romance Thriller ~book 7) Page 43