True Love Lost (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 3))

by Kelley, Morgan

  “I’m sorry Director Blackhawk; I’m just used to doing my initial assessments into a microphone and not to you both. I convert it to layman’s terms for the reports you both receive.” Desdemona felt her skin flush, and then glanced down to see Callen taking her hand in his and squeezing it reassuringly. Something about the simple action touched her and made her heart skip a beat.

  “No need to apologize Doctor. We love that we hired the smartest and the best. It’s us that are sub-par, so break us in easy please,” she said, gently. “And the other hard and fast rule is you can call me Elizabeth, the Director moniker is for the minions. You’re pretty high up on the employee list that we’re equals. When people call me Director, I think Ethan is standing right behind me. He’s more the boss, and I’m the muscle.”

  Both men laughed. Wasn’t that the truth?

  Whitefox mouthed the word ‘see’, and was happy when she relaxed visibly. He made a mental note to kiss his sister-in-law again for just knowing when a light hand was needed. It was obvious to him and probably his brother that she was walking on eggshells for the woman. Elizabeth never did that for anyone.

  “Okay, Elizabeth,” she said, and looked back down at the picture, but kept holding Whitefox’s hand for support. “Victim one had one of his feet removed at the ankle. From the pictures I can see staining of the bone and marrow, so that means that he was likely alive when the cuts were made.”

  “Great to know,” Blackhawk said. “What else do you have?”

  “Until I get access to his body under the clothing not much, but I can tell you that he’s fully dressed, and he isn't bruised on any part his visible flesh,” she paused and enlarged the screen. “Wait,” she looked closer. “I see some red marks over his mouth in a square like pattern. I could guess and say it’s tape marks, but just don’t tell Doctor Leonard. It bugs the shit out of him when I make unsubstantiated guesses,” she said deep in thought, as she stared at the man.

  Elizabeth started laughing. It entertained her that the woman used the word ‘bugs’ and ‘unsubstantiated’ in the same sentence. This woman was a puzzle.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by that,” she began to apologize, and Whitefox squeezed her hand again.

  “No apology needed. We know exactly how tough Chris is when you’re trying to dig for information. It’s nice to have it offered for a change and less draining mentally,” she laughed some more. “Frankly, I’m getting tired of manhandling the ME staff to get information from them.”

  Again Whitefox grinned and mouthed ‘go on’.

  “That’s all I have on victim one,” she said, flipping the screen to the next picture.

  “We’re ready,” said Elizabeth, as she furiously entered notes on her tablet in her lap. Anything they had before the scene was going to help them out when they arrived at base.

  “Victim two appears to be quite young,” she stated, looking at the picture. “I’d say early twenties to late twenties. The killer has removed his hands at the wrists. Again, once I get him into autopsy I can give you more.”

  “Can you tell if he too had tape over his mouth,” inquired Blackhawk.

  Desdemona zoomed into the photo and studied it. “I can’t tell. The quality of the picture is too grainy.” She studied the rest of his face. “I can tell you that he suffocated to death.”

  “How Doctor?” asked Elizabeth, surprised. Chris Leonard would never have told her that just by looking at the picture.

  She zoomed into the picture around the eyes. “Our second victim has petechial hemorrhaging in the whites of his eyes.” Then she paused realizing she used big words. Certainly directors in the FBI knew the basics. “Do you need that dumbed down?” She was being serious and all three laughed.

  “No Doctor, that one we got,” answered Blackhawk. “But thank you for offering. I’m not as smart as my wife, but even that one I knew.”

  “Okay, just making sure,” she replied and then continued. “Again, I see blood staining on the bones where they’re severed.”

  “He was alive?” asked Elizabeth.

  “He was very much alive,” she replied, enlarging the picture and drawing arrows on the tablet and then sending it to her boss. “See where I’ve indicated?” she asked, waiting.

  “I do,” answered Elizabeth Blackhawk.

  “Those are staining of the porous parts of the bone. It likely means that his heart was still pumping when the cuts were made. Heartbeat means life- for the most part.”

  “Oh good,” said Ethan Blackhawk. “I see that we have another person that likes technology and know how to use it. Now I really feel antiquated.”

  Desdemona didn’t know if that was a cue to something she wasn’t picking up or not. Panic started that she just insulted her one boss.

  Callen Whitefox squeezed her hand and nodded, signaling it was okay for her to continue. Something about the woman piqued his interest. Here she was super smart, and yet like a wounded small child. Doctor Adare touched his heart, and he felt the overwhelming need to protect her and keep her safe. Someone had to, and he suspected no one in her past ever had before. Just the way she nervously interacted with Elizabeth, always apologized, and was timid proved to him that she was delicately balanced between being okay, and toppling over the edge into sheer terror.

  “Victim number three is male and appears to be approximately around his mid-thirties, but I’m not seeing any visible wounds. There is staining across his dress shirt, so my assessment on his wounds is going to have to wait until I get him undressed. All his limbs appear to be intact and his face shows no sign of trauma.”

  Desdemona flipped the picture and studied it.

  “What do you see?” asked Whitefox curiously, as she studied the picture.

  “Elizabeth, did the sheriff mention if there was any blood on the scene?” she asked as she looked closely at the staining on his shirt. It was centrally located.

  “No blood, just bodies. Why?”

  “This blood pattern on his shirt is in one spot. Let’s say, if you're standing and you're shot, the blood is going to run down your body.”

  “I’ve been shot a few times, so I can attest to that conjecture,” she said, easily. “Blood definitely runs downhill, and that I learned from Newton’s law of gravity.”

  Desdemona didn’t know what to say to that, so she continued. “His doesn’t. So, I’m going to say he was restrained on his back for most of the time, and then died in that position. There isn't any blood anywhere else,” and then she thought about it. “Once he coagulated then he wouldn’t bleed out either.”

  “So, our victims were restrained on their backs?”

  “This one was, but as for the others,” she paused. “I need to get them into exam and then figure that out.”

  “Ah, and here I thought we finally had an ME that liked to live dangerously on the edge and make wild assumptions and unfounded guesses,” teased Elizabeth. “Do they teach you to hold out in ME school?”

  Desdemona took a chance and opted to joke back. “There’s actually a class that teaches us how to frustrate and irritate the lead investigators. It’s mandatory to get our licenses.” There was that moment of silence and she thought she crossed a line.

  Elizabeth snickered. “Great, now we know what we’re up against. I wish someone told me sooner, because this explains a lot.” There was more laughter from her. The ME’s were tough when they were asked to hand out information that wasn’t founded. Getting anything out of Dr. Chris Leonard was almost impossible, but Dr. Adare was a bit more forthcoming with her assessments, and that she greatly appreciated.

  Whitefox grinned over at her, noticing she looked more relaxed. Since he didn’t get to warn his sister-in-law about the situation, he had to assume she figured it out on her own. Elizabeth was playing nice and being exceptionally gentle and that so wasn’t like her at all. It was just more proof that she understood people and was good at reading the situation. It was probably why she was a really good agent and ev
en better human being.

  “Victim four, he too looks to be in his thirties,” she said, zooming into his face. “He’s missing his tongue.”

  “Can you die when the tongue is removed?” asked Blackhawk, as he shuddered. His wife had a thing about dead eyes, and his big yuck was a missing tongue. The gaping wound left behind freaked him right out. The whole premise just screamed horror movie death to him. To see mouths agape with a bloody void, it gave him the chills and goose bumps

  “Yes you can, Director. There’s a main artery in the tongue. The lingual artery, and once it’s severed there would be blood loss and the person would exsanguinate.”

  “And if that person was lying on their back?” asked Elizabeth, trying to put the pieces together. “With tape over their mouth?”

  “They could choke to death, if that’s where your train of thought is heading, Elizabeth,” she tried out the name again, and when there was no protest she continued. “It’s a painful way to go, and then to drown in your own blood no less. You couldn’t swallow that volume of blood.”

  “How about our last victim?” asked Blackhawk. “What do we have?” He had to stop talking about the tongue death. It was literally making his skin crawl, and his wife must have figured it out. She was soothingly rubbing his leg with her hand.

  “What we don’t have is ears. The killer took them,” she answered, analyzing the picture. “While there aren’t any arteries in the ear, the External Carotid Artery is right there. If the killer hit it while removing the ear itself, the victim would bleed out. But again,” she was going to state the obvious.

  “Yeah we know. Not until you do the exam,” added Elizabeth.

  “Sorry, but I can only do so much with a picture,” Desdemona apologized for not having more to give them, and for disappointing them.

  “Don’t be sorry, Doc. You gave us a lot. Great job,” answered Elizabeth. “It’s more than I could get from the pictures, and it’s more than Chris Leonard would give me before personally examining the body.”

  Desdemona relaxed a bit more. Well tried to anyway. Whitefox was running his thumb over her pulse in her wrist, and it was making it difficult to concentrate. Really hard, as her blood pressure was elevating and soon her skin would be flushing.

  “We’ll see you in Red River,” added Ethan. “The sheriff is expecting you both, and then you’ll be escorted to the scene.” He waited a second and then said it. “Callen, watch your back, and Doctor Adare’s. We don’t know much about the town and the killer, and you need to keep her and yourself safe. Clear?”

  Whitefox grinned. “Don’t worry, Ethan. I think I can manage to keep us safe for an hour. You do know I’m a grown man, and I do have a gun, right?” Now he laughed. His big brother was being protective. Frankly, he expected it from Elizabeth, because he was accustomed to her playing guardian angel for him.

  “Doctor Adare, can you use that weapon,” Elizabeth asked, knowing her ME carried a gun, and although Elizabeth found it odd, in this situation she was glad.

  “Yes, I can, Elizabeth.” She had taken classes and was sufficient. “I’m more comfortable with a shotgun, but I can hit the side of a barn if I have to with my Glock,” she added. “People frown when I walk around toting a shotgun,” she added, grinning at Whitefox. Both of them shared the same visual.

  Elizabeth was glad she was loosening up, but this situation she took very serious. Her team and Callen mattered, and she needed her on alert at all times. Risking her family wasn’t an option, especially since she promised Timothy Blackhawk she’d keep them safe.

  “Doctor Adare, I hate to be the one to break this to you and far be it for me to scare you, but the good news is the barns in Red River aren’t going to be trying to kill you. The bad news is the killer may once we move those bodies. Serial killers get particular and testy when you touch their kills. All joking aside, once we touch those bodies, we don the bulls-eyes.”

  Desdemona stopped smiling, and tensed at Elizabeth’s icy warning.

  “See you guys soon,” interjected Callen Whitefox, cutting off the call to help calm the doctor down again. He couldn’t blame Elizabeth for being cautious. They had a history with serial killers and the family being put in danger. She was only doing her job, but then again, the woman beside him was now freaked out.

  “Don’t stress it, Desi. Elizabeth has to warn us, it’s why she’s a director and we aren’t.”

  It was too late. Doctor Desdemona Adare was already beyond worried and now bordering on scared shitless.

  Elizabeth cut off the call and thought about it. Something wasn’t sitting right with the woman they hired as their ME. It wasn’t like she was doing anything outrageously crazy by carrying a gun. She may just like having a firearm, and working for the FBI allowed that, but her gut said otherwise and now that her curiosity was piqued she needed to know.

  “Baby, you have that look on your face.”

  Elizabeth knew she did. “How much do we know about Doctor Adare?”

  Blackhawk looked surprised. “She passed the standard FBI test and background checks, why? You think there is something up with her?”

  “Not up, just off. My gut is in a knot, and now I need to find out why. She comes across as the timid kind of woman, and yet she keeps her service revolver strapped to her hip. I rarely see her without it.”

  “So do you,” he added, playing devil’s advocate.

  “Yeah, but I’m frequently shot at,” she stated, grinning at her husband.

  “Don’t remind me.”

  Elizabeth leaned back in her seat. “I also don’t walk around FBI West packing heat, Cowboy. I leave my Glock in the desk. Something about her isn't adding up in my mind, and you know how I get with the details.”

  “Like a rabid dog after a small school child?” he stated, navigating the traffic.

  Elizabeth shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Yeah exactly. Nice picture there. I like how she’s the innocent school child and I’m the scary rabid dog in this scenario.”

  “Baby, I didn’t mean it like that.” It wasn’t like his wife to be this sensitive about what others thought about her. She was genuinely upset by his analogy. That was surprising.

  Elizabeth swallowed the intense feelings she was having, and brushed them off as baby hormones. It really didn’t matter what the doctor thought of her. It was funny how she had to keep saying that over and over again.

  “You okay, Lyzee?”

  “Yeah, I’m okay. I get it. I can be rabid at times. Just be careful I don’t bite you and you have to be put down, Cowboy.” Elizabeth tried to brush it off as humor.

  Ethan Blackhawk wasn’t buying it. “Well, when in doubt, call Quantico and get a check on her done, quietly,” he added. “We have the authorization to pull everything on her without her being aware.”

  “Yeah I think we need to do it.” Elizabeth pulled out her phone, placed it on speaker, and dialed Gabe Rothschild’s secretary. She wouldn’t bother her boss with this as of yet, not until she had something substantial.

  On the third ring it was answered.

  “Director Gabriel Rothschild’s office.”

  “Maddy, it’s Elizabeth. How’s it going?” she asked, getting all the chit chat out of the way first.

  “Elizabeth! It’s going well. How are you?”

  Madeline Miller had been Gabriel’s secretary for as long as Elizabeth could remember. She was the general that guarded the gates to the boss. If Gabe wanted to hide, Patton himself couldn’t break through to see him. Everyone in the FBI referred to her as Joan of Arc. No one got past her, and she’d throw herself on Gabe Rothschild if he was on fire to put him out.

  “I’m getting fat, Maddy, but other than that it’s the same old.”

  “How’s that sexy husband of yours doing?” she inquired. “If you’re tired of him, send him on back to Quantico. I miss having him in the office.”

  Elizabeth enjoyed the look on her husband’s face. He was horrified. Something about him not knowi
ng that women found him innately sexy was astounding. To this day she still didn’t get it or understand how that was possible.

  “I’ll never get sick of him, so you’ll have to look elsewhere, Maddy. Nice try though. I’m not doing this parent thing alone. He’s staying chained to my side.”

  “I met his brother and he’s just as hot.”

  Blackhawk didn’t know what to think. He really was surprised at the conversation going on between the two women.

  “Yeah, he certainly is. I think it’s a genetic thing, Maddy.” Elizabeth covered her mouth so she didn’t laugh. The look her husband was giving her was hysterical.

  “It must be!”

  “Maddy, I need a favor, and I was hoping you could help a girl out.” Elizabeth was going to cut him a break.

  “What do you need?”

  “Our new ME, Doctor Desdemona Adare, I need a deep search done on her and anything you pull sent to either me or Ethan. I don’t want the Doctor aware we’re searching for anything.”

  “Uh oh, you think you smell smoke?” she asked, scribbling the information on the notepad.

  “I don’t know, but I like to make sure all my bases are covered. I don’t want anything jumping up and biting me or my husband on the ass.”

  “Yeah, that would be a shame to take a bite out of Ethan’s ass,” she said, then laughed.

  Blackhawk’s mouth dropped open.

  Elizabeth almost burst out laughing. “Email anything you find that’s sketchy. If you don’t find anything, then just let me know.”

  “Will do, want me to pass it on to Gabe?”

  “Not unless you find some skeletons that aren’t supposed to be there. Like I said, I’m just going on instinct and curiosity.”

  “Okay, Elizabeth. I’ll handle it. Give your truly excellent husband a kiss for me,” she said, hopefully.