Callen and Cyra gloved up and began their search of the dead woman’s apartment. Just by looking at it, they could see that there were touches of Wicca everywhere. She had quite a few things from the ‘Mystical Merchandise’ shop. There were baubles and things all over the place.
“When I look at this place, I don’t think of a woman that’s offering herself up for raunchy sex with a bunch of Satan worshippers,” stated Cyra.
“Me either,” he answered, scanning though the bookshelves. “I guess that just proves that people can have secrets and hide them well.”
It made her think about Chris’s mother. “Can I ask your opinion on something?”
He glanced over at her. “I guess. I can’t promise that I can answer it. After all, I’m a ‘married’ man, and the little woman isn’t here to tell me my opinion,” he stated, laughing.
Cyra found that funny.
“When you met Elizabeth’s mom for the first time, did she make your life hell?”
Callen didn't hesitate to answer. “Unfortunately, when Lyzee was ten, her mom died in a car accident, and her father was killed a few years ago. I didn't have to deal with the in-law drama. I’m sure that they wouldn’t have been exactly thrilled that their little girl was sleeping with two men, especially since we’re brothers. I have a daughter myself, and the thought of two men putting their hands allover her scares the hell out of me.”
Crap! Well, so much for an objective opinion.
“Why don’t you talk it out? You may feel better.”
She tried to figure out how to do that. “I met Chris’s mom, and she said really horrible things to me. Do you think it will ever get better? Or is it a lost cause and would you just accept it?”
It was hard to answer that, without more. “I guess that would depend on what she said. How horrible are we talking here?” he asked, watching her.
She didn't know how to tell him without just spilling it. “Never mind. I’m sorry that I brought it up. We should get to work.”
Callen wouldn’t let it go. “No, you obviously need to get if off your chest, so go for it. I’m really good at listening. It’s my job,” he said, grinning. “I didn't get to be Liaison to the Native American community only because I’m Indian. Oh wait, yes I did.”
She laughed and relaxed slightly. “She called me a gold digger and told me if I ever married Chris, I’d be signing a prenup.”
“I think that’s a little farfetched. I mean he’s a doctor, but generally medical examiners aren’t millionaires.”
“Yeah, well in this case, he is one. I already said I’d sign one. I’m not with him because he’s wealthy. I didn't even know, but I don’t want to make her hate me from day one. How do I prove to her that I’m genuinely in love with him?”
Callen was surprised. “He’s really a millionaire?”
She shook her head. “Yeah, multi.”
Callen pondered his reply. He’d been the object of quite a few angry parents in his life. “Okay, here’s just my advice. You didn't know from the start, so that means you’re heart fell for his. It may be one of those things that you never can prove to her, and that doesn’t matter. What is really important is Chris knows the truth. If he believes you, then the rest will fall away.”
“But it’s his mother.”
Callen shook his head. “He’s a very smart man, and if he’s in love, then you have nothing to worry about.”
That was probably true.
“Just don’t focus on the money, and you’ll be okay. If you didn't know about it then pretend it’s just not there. Eventually after you’re with him for a long time, his mother will come around.”
“You think?”
Callen smiled reassuringly. “I believe so.”
His calm easy nature offered her enough peace that Cyra knew she could now focus on the job at hand.
“How about we work on the bedroom? I don’t really see anything in here that’s out of place.”
“There’s not a hint of devil worship going on in here,” Cyra stated, following Callen.
The room looked like that of a single girl. It was filled with makeup, shoes, and jewelry.
Heading to the bed, Callen lifted one corner of the mattress. Immediately, he hit pay dirt. “Sex toys,” he stated.
Cyra did the same thing and found nothing. “I’m going to check the drawer.” Moving to the bed stand, she pulled it out and found nothing odd.
“What did you find?”
“Nail polish and manicure sets. What’s on your side?” she asked, watching him look too.
“A book and some stationary.”
“I don’t think we’re going to find anything here. I really believe that this girl lived a clean life here, and then when she was at the Church of Satan she was another person.”
Callen sat on the bed, staring at the book on Wicca. Something about it didn't feel right. The cover looked to be a little too big for it. Picking it up, he opened the book to the first page. Yeah, he had been right. “She wasn’t living that clean,” Callen said as he handed her the book.
Cyra opened it and read the title page.
Satanic Sex Rituals for Beginners
“Yeah, you can say that again,” she answered, flipping to a page that was book marked. “Did you read that page that she has saved?” she asked, looking up at him.
“No, what’s it say?”
Cyra opened it up and began:
Sex magic is powerful when used to worship
the dark Lord. It can grant you power and strength
unmatched by anything else. In order for it to work,
you must first find a woman willing to act as the
‘offering’. Once upon the altar, you shall have the
door to greatness opened.
“That sounds like a load of crap to me,” stated Callen, shaking his head. “I’m shocked that someone actually believes that.”
She had to agree. “I guess that I should brush up on Wicca in order to deal with Chris’s mother.”
Callen laughed. “Yeah, good luck with that. We better bag that book and bring it. Maybe there’s a clue in there.”
She dropped it in the evidence bag. “There are only two more rooms to go.”
“Let’s hurry up. I don’t want to leave Elizabeth with just Ethan. I like to be that third set of eyes while my brother’s off balance,” he stated.
“After what I watched last night, I can’t blame you.”
It was always a little weird to be standing in the home of someone who was violently taken from life. You looked around the space, and it looked just like your own, and it made you wonder.
Would someone be thinking the same thing about me one day?
For her, that was more prevalent. Now that the killer intended on her being the final victim, she was scared shitless. Granted, she wasn’t letting Ethan see that, but it didn't negate that she was definitely worried. If she looked nervous, it would just push him and Callen closer to the edge.
“Find anything?” he asked, glancing over at her.
“No, nothing yet,” she stated, going back to scan the bookshelves.
“I know you’re keeping your fear from me,” he stated out of the blue. “I can feel it.”
She sighed and rested her forehead against the one shelf. Elizabeth should have known better to believe that the ‘king of profiling’ couldn’t see though her façade. “You’re absolutely right,” she stated, not even denying it.
When she turned, he was standing there staring at her. Here was one of the fearless warriors in her life, and he was being driven to madness by some lunatic. It hurt her heart. His own pain was there. She could plainly see it across his features.
“I’m going to be okay.”
Ethan wanted to say so much to her. He wanted to spout all the love that was living in his heart for her. “Please don’t leave me. Promise me that you’ll never leave my side.”
She crossed to him and leaned against his body. “Oh, Ethan, I sw
ear on everything in me that I will fight to stick by you. You have nothing to worry about. I promise.”
He stared into her icy blue eyes and needed that reassurance. “I will follow you to the ends of the earth to find you,” he stated, just in case something were to happen. He prayed it wouldn’t, but she needed to know the absolute truth in the matter. She would never be forgotten. “I found you once, and I would search again until we were together.”
She didn't doubt it. “I would search for you too, Ethan.”
Lowering his forehead to hers, he took a minute to use her to re-center himself. At that moment, she was the anchor that kept him from drifting off into the panic and fear.
After a while, she spoke. “Is it all better, love bug?”
He snickered. “Yes, sweet cheeks.”
“Okay then. Let’s get this search done and get moving. I’m dying to roast some male witch over the open flames of infidelity.”
Blackhawk started laughing. “I am so glad I’m on your side. You’re scary and vicious.”
“That’s funny since you’re not the first person to tell me that,” she retorted.
They divided and conquered, going through everything to find what they were looking for in her home.
Starting with the living room, they found the usual.
A TV.
DVD’s.
Magazines.
There were even some Pagan crossword puzzles.
Scanning the bookshelves, most of the books were romances. Moving to a lower shelf, they found all the ones related to Wicca and Paganism.
Nothing seemed out of place. The books referenced spells, protection and herbal books about concocting potions for one’s health and wellbeing.
Elizabeth pulled that one from the shelf and began flipping through it. “A lot of this herbal stuff is the same thing that I’ve seen Granddad and Wyler do,” she stated.
He stared over at her. “Where are you heading with this?” Ethan asked warily.
“I think I can respect this aspect of a nature based religion. People for centuries used plants to heal and some still do.”
“Uh huh.”
“Do you think Wyler would teach me?”
Ethan looked around as if he was trying to find something. “You, the woman who calls most religions bunk, hooey, bullshit, crap, garbage, malarkey, and prosperous idiocy wants to learn Native American herbalism? Are you feeling okay?”
“What if it’s not all made up nonsense? Maybe if I was more open to it, our kids would one day feel the same way. I don’t want my opinions to influence their heritage.”
Ethan smiled. “I think that he would love to show you. I know he has Timothy’s medicine book.” He loved how his wife was so willing to embrace and accept his culture.
Not only for him, but their children.
Refocusing, Elizabeth went back to work. After a while, they headed to Pandora’s bedroom.
“Do you want to help me in here or hit up the bathroom?” he asked grinning.
“I’ll take bathroom. It’s smaller.”
Splitting up, they each began their search.
Ethan pulled the room apart as he dug through drawers and looked for anything out of the normal.
There was absolutely nothing there that screamed devil worship.
“Any luck?” he called, hoping that Elizabeth may have found something in the medicine cabinet.
“She was on birth control, and yesterday’s pill is gone. So, we know that she was at least home to take it.”
“This bedroom is squeaky clean. Nothing in here even describes her sex life at all.”
Elizabeth shrugged. “I don’t think if someone walked through our bedroom, they’d think we were a threesome. The only thing that we have that speaks of our sexual fantasies is the lingerie drawer.”
She had a very valid point. “I guess that you’re right.”
“Not every woman is going to own toys. I mean look at me. I don’t have anything like that. I like mine living and breathing,” she teased, winking at him.
Blackhawk snorted. “You won the plaything lottery, baby.”
There was no way she’d disagree with that assessment. In fact, she was willing to do cartwheels over it.
“Come on. Let’s get out of here. We’ve looked everywhere and there’s nothing.”
“Okay, but let me send a text to Callen. Maybe they found something.” Elizabeth pulled out her phone and typed it up. “Done.”
On their way out, she received her answer. “Wait Ethan. They found a satanic book under the cover of a Wiccan one. We might have missed something.”
They headed back to the shelf to scan all spines. Pulling down all the ones with jackets, they checked it out.
There weren’t that many that they needed to go through to find their answer. Even with that lead, it was a dead end.
“It looks like our victim had nothing in common with her namesake. She didn't have an ounce of curiosity at all.”
Elizabeth stared at the bookshelf and one item caught her eyes. In fact, it did more than that. She’d found something that gave her a clue.
“Ethan, look,” she said, picking up the picture frame.
He moved to her side and stared at the women in the picture. “Wait, isn’t that all the victims?”
She nodded. “We have all four women that were killed in one picture.” Then her finger traced the bottom of the silver frame. It ran over the words ‘Best Friends Forever’.
Yeah, every hair on the back of her neck stood up.
“Can you call Callen and ask if they have a picture just like this there?”
“You think they will?”
She did indeed. “I have one just like this on our shelf. It has Livy and myself in full tactical gear when we were partners in the FBI.” Then she paused, thinking about it. “We also have one of you and Callen before our relationship.”
He saw where she was taking it.
“Livy has a matching one of us, and your bother has one of you guys.”
He started dialing and when Callen answered, told him what to look for in the apartment. When he found it, Ethan nodded and hung up.
“Our killer may have been grabbing the women after the circles, but he wasn’t doing it randomly. He took these four friends specifically,” stated Ethan.
She was excited to have the first thread to begin connecting it all together.
“Now, we need to figure out why.” Ethan sent an email to Christina to research the other apartments for photos.
She stood there staring at the one woman who appeared to be at the center of it all, and didn't have an answer to that question. Somehow, she believed the dead woman had gotten in over her head.
“Harmony, what did you do?”
~ Chapter Sixteen ~
Saturday Afternoon
Cyra dropped him off at the shop and headed back to the morgue office. Callen had instructed her to work on the financials for their dead victims and to locate the deed to the newest crime scene. That should give their probee plenty to do until they were back in-house.
As he was standing outside the shop, he could feel them moving towards him. When he turned, he found his brother and the center of his life, crossing the street with Rex leading the way. Opening his arms, she raced towards him and he sweep her up off her feet in one of their hugs.
“I missed you, angel.”
Elizabeth kissed him on the neck as she buried her face against his shoulder. “I feel the same, Callen. I really am glad we’re back together today.”
Callen gently lowered her feet to the ground. “I can’t wait to watch you in action in there. Does that make me sick?” he teased.
“Pretty much,” Ethan replied.
“Hey!”
Elizabeth stared over at Ethan. “Don’t pick on my love monkey,” she stated, trying to keep a straight face. Callen was always complaining that he didn't have a nickname like ‘love bug’ or ‘sweet cheeks’, and he didn't like ‘stud muffin’, so
here it was in all its glory.
“Really? That’s my redo?”
“You didn't like the other one. I didn't give Ethan a chance for a new one if he didn't like it, so you pretty much have to suck it up.” Sometimes, she really loved teasing them both.
“She has a very valid point.”
They watched a customer walk out, and they made their move. Leaving Rex tied outside to enjoy some fresh air and sun, Ethan flipped the sign and Callen locked the bolt on the door. Their actions drew the attention of the proprietors and had them moving towards them.
“What has happened? You have the aura of death surrounding you,” asked Artemis.
Elizabeth didn't feel like sugar coating any of it anymore. Someone was jacking her around, and it was a matter of life or death to get to the bottom of it. “Yeah, well when you hang out with the grim reaper on a daily basis, you tend to stink like him,” she stated harshly.
They stared at her uneasily.
“Did you have a circle last night?” she added.
“No, as a matter of fact, we stayed in the entire night. It takes a great deal of work to prepare for Samhain. It’s our New Year festivities. What has happened?” she asked once more.
“Then you both were together?” Elizabeth inquired.
Artemis replied, “Yes, we were.”
“The entire night?” Elizabeth pushed more, needing the answer.
Well shit! That meant that Ares couldn’t have abducted Pandora. This ruined her hopes of closing this here and now. There was only one shot left, and it rested on letting Artemis find the truth about her husband. Maybe then, she would rethink her corroboration. “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but last night the killer took another member from your coven.”
“Please, let’s go sit in the back,” Ares said, feeling his wife’s hand shake in his. “I’ll make tea.”
They followed them back, but declined the beverages. After she dropped the bombs, Elizabeth somehow doubted they’d want to chit chat over a drink.
Sitting, she prepared to give them the bad news. “Last night, Pandora Bilmore was taken and murdered.”
Devil Hath Come (an FBI/Romance Thriller ~book 7) Page 44