James Duffy had no idea what they were going on about and decided the agents had lost their minds.
“If you wouldn’t mind, Sheriff, can you tell your brother we’ll be swinging by?” he asked, trying to ignore the need to kill his wife’s new administrative assistant. He knew her hiring a Native admin was going to be a problem from the day she mentioned it. Then and there he should have crushed it.
“Sure will, Agent Blackhawk.”
Elizabeth and her husband walked out to the Denali. “We have a few blondes to look at now at least.”
“Good job on not being too insulting in there, Elizabeth.” He laughed and took her hand, so she wouldn’t slide on the snow. Fortunately she had the fortitude to wear snow boots, and not her cowboy boots.
“Ethan, if I seriously ever lose my mental capacities to that extent, please put me down with my own damn gun. Don’t let me wander around making a jackass of myself.”
Blackhawk grinned at her. “Yes dear, and just so you’re aware, when I get back to FBI West I’m putting down your Native administrative assistant just for shits and giggles.”
Elizabeth burst into laughter and almost pulled them both down into a snow bank laughing so hard.
So much for Native eye candy.
~ Chapter Thirteen ~
When Whitefox found her, she was sitting on her bed, and looking at the vase of roses. There was no emotion on her face, but the pallor on her face said it all. When he first met her, she was skittish, and if this didn’t exacerbate the situation, he didn’t know what would.
“Sweetheart, are you going to be okay?”
“I don’t think I can ever stay here alone again, and I obviously can’t go back home.”
The look on her face showed fear and he was glad. This was serious and she needed to realize that. “We’ll fix this together, I promise. I won’t leave you alone.”
“What about when the assignments over, Callen? Then what?”
“You can stay with me on the Rez if that’s what you want to do. Or I’ll move in here until we find who’s doing this.” They were in a relationship, and he’d protect her too. Elizabeth couldn’t do it alone, and the woman before him made him want to care for her like she was a wounded child.
“You need to get far away from me. As long as I stay alone, no one will get hurt. I can handle the stalking as long as you’re not going to get hurt.”
He laughed. “Not happening. What happens when the stalker escalates to beyond just watching from afar? When you refuse to go back to the bayou and it intensifies?”
Desdemona looked at him with tears in her eyes. “Please Callen. Just go away. You and your family are going to get hurt if you try to help me or stay with me.”
It wasn’t happening and he didn’t care what she said. He’d sleep in a tent in her back yard. Okay, he’s sleep in his brother’s house in her back yard, but he’s stick regardless. Callen went to her, grabbed her by the arms and pulled her up to look him in the face. “I’m not running, and neither are you. There’s safety in numbers and we’re sticking together. Are we clear on that?”
Desdemona nodded.
“Under no circumstances are you to ever return to the bayou. Ever! Do you understand me Desi?” he demanded. “Promise me!” Her bottom lip quivered, and he felt terrible that he raised his voice to her.
But she promised, and held out her pinky. “I promise and I won’t break it.”
“Oh honey,” he pulled her against his body, kissing the top of her head, as he took her offered pinky. “You’re safe; I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Her arms were wrapped around his body tightly, and he could feel her shaking. “Desi, my family will keep you safe. You have nothing to worry about.”
Desdemona clung like a scared child.
“Let’s go to my place.”
She nodded. “Okay. I can’t be here anymore.”
Callen led her to the closet, and pulled down a second suitcase. He needed to get her out of there as soon as possible. Desdemona was scared and he couldn’t blame her at all. “Okay, Desi. Let’s pack a big suitcase and you won’t have to come back here for a while.”
She released her grasp on him and walked towards the bathroom, grabbing hair supplies and other girl products. Desdemona reached into her medicine cabinet, pulling out everything she needed. The sooner she was out of the house, the better.
Callen began grabbing clothes from her closet. The only closet he’d ever seen with more clothes in it, had been is brother’s massive collection of apparel. This reminded him of his- a great deal of black clothing and arranged to death.
“You’re going to have to help me, Desi. I’ve never packed for a woman before.” And he hadn’t. Most women in his life were temporary. Like his mother, his grandmother, all the nameless ones he woke up beside. There were only two he cared to remember, and Elizabeth never needed his help packing clothes. If she did, it would be easy. Elizabeth liked to keep it simple like him. Jeans were the foundation of their wardrobes.
“Okay, I’ll take over. I think I’m okay now. Can you throw the roses away? Shove them down the garbage disposal? I don’t want them in my house.”
“Absolutely,” he grabbed the flowers, and left the room.
Desdemona continued packing as quickly as she could, grabbing bras, panties and even some perfume. Just in case. She was still throwing clothing into the suitcase when he returned.
“The deed is done; those flowers are nothing but pulp now.”
“Thank you, Callen.”
When she tried to lift the suitcase he laughed. “I’ll get that sweetheart,” he picked it up easily and grabbed her overnight case too. “Anything else you need me to carry?” he asked grinning wickedly.
“I could use a piggy back ride,” she quipped, sarcastically, then laughed when he crouched down for her to get on his back. “I was only kidding because you were being all cave man.”
“Come on, what is there to be afraid of now?” he asked, grinning.
“Oh, that you’ll drop me on my head, and that I’ll hemorrhage and forget how to do my job or that you’ll fall on me and I’ll bleed to death internally.”
Whitefox laughed. “You’ve obviously over thought it. It’s a piggy back ride. Elizabeth jumps on all the time and she weighs more than you. Stop being scared and making excuses instead of just jumping in and doing it without thinking first.”
Screw it; what did she have to lose? If Elizabeth did it, so could she! Desdemona jumped up on his back and was laughing as he balanced her suitcase, her overnight bag, and her. As she looked over at her bedroom mirror, they looked silly. Like a small child getting a ride on some male’s back.
“What do I get if I make it all the way to the car?” Whitefox inquired.
“A kiss,” she offered back, trying to get the image and the irony out of her mind.
“Deal!” And he hustled down the stairs to the front door, where she whispered the code in his ear. After setting the alarm, he navigated the front walk through the snow and then dropped her to her feet beside the door of the Denali. Tossing her bags in the trunk, he returned to her side. “Well, pay up,” he stated victoriously. “I’m not even winded.”
Desdemona loved the sparkle in his eye. When she was around him she forgot all the things that scared her. He just had that effect on her. This man just made her feel safe and like she was enveloped in his family. “I always pay up.” She opened the vehicle door, and stepped up onto the running board, so she’d be even with his face, and she leaned into the kiss. It started tentative, and when she slid her fingers into the loose ponytail at the back of his neck she deepened the kiss, tasting him, enjoying him and forgetting everything around them. She forgot the snow, and the cold, and all she felt was him, and his mouth locked to hers.
His hands slid up under her jacket, and pressed her to his body, as her mouth did really creative things with his. Already his body was getting warm, and every muscle in his frame was going taut at the idea of what he’d like to
do at that moment. It involved carrying her back up the sidewalk, into the house and right to her bed. Slowly, he felt her breaking away from kissing him.
“Good enough, Callen?” she asked, feeling lightheaded. There was no way she could beat that kiss. Never had she kissed a man like that before, and she wasn’t shocked he brought it out in her. Callen Whitefox brought out everything in her. “Winded yet?”
He grinned but didn’t answer her. It was time to claim his plan for the night. “I want my re-do date today.”
He caught her off guard. “Oh, okay.”
“It’s going to be something you never experienced before.”
She laughed. “Now I’m scared shitless.”
Whitefox put his hand on the top of her head and ducked her into the passenger seat. “Just don’t worry about it. I promise it will be the most exciting time of your life.”
“Really? Because I grew up on the bayou, and would swim in crocodile infested waters for fun on the weekends.”
He looked over at her and lifted an eyebrow. “I said most exciting time of your life. Not careless, reckless and most likely to get you eaten,” he winked at her. “There’s a huge difference there, although you are delicious.”
Desdemona did something even more reckless, more dangerous, and completely unlike her. She made the first move by reaching over and taking his hand in hers. His fingers closed protectively around hers, again the image of her on his back popped into her mind. When he didn’t twine their fingers together like he did continually with Elizabeth, she had to fight down the disappointment and jealousy. Once again, Elizabeth had reared her gorgeous head in their private moment.
DAMN HER!
Desdemona forced herself to let it go, because he already warned her that his family was part of his life. They shared a bond that she and Callen didn’t, and it pissed her off.
Callen felt her hand tense, as she shifted her gaze from him and their joined hands. “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m ready to be impressed by your date plans, Special Agent Whitefox.” Breathing out she began channeling her inner Morticia. She could do this!
Whitefox looked down at their joined hands and wondered what he did wrong now…
Thursday Mid-morning
When they pulled up to the impound yard, there was a man waiting for them, and he looked very similar to his brother, just without the uniform. He was leaning against the fence and finishing up the tail end of a smoke.
“Hey, you both must be the Feds. My brother called to tell me you were coming, let me just finish this smoke up, and we can go on in to my office,” he said, smiling at Elizabeth.
“Take your time, Randy. It is Randy, right?” asked Blackhawk, observing the man. He favored his brother in the looks department. They both had the same sandy hair and blue eyes.
“Yes, sir. Jimmy was named after my grandfather and me, well I’m named after my dad.” He flicked the butt into the snow.
The two agents followed him into the building where his office was housed. “Can I get you both some coffee?” he asked, looking over at Blackhawk.
“No thanks.”
Elizabeth unzipped her parka, and the man was staring right at her belly. “Is something wrong?” she asked.
“No ma’am, I was just thinking about smoking in front of you and I hope I was far enough away. I’ve read stories on women and second hand smoke, that’s all.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I was downwind of the drift, no worries, Randy.” It was nice that he was concerned about the smoke. At least he wasn’t pointing out the obvious that she was pregnant.
He nodded and sat. “Now Jimmy said you had questions on cars I may have impounded?”
“Yes, we think that they may be linked to the dead victims we found up at the Boy Scout camp. So I’m going to need the last six month worth of impounds.”
“Oh well, if that’s all you need, I can print it right out for you.” Randy clicked a few keys on his computer and the paper began printing. “This I can give you, but if you want to see the vehicles, then we have a problem.”
“What would that problem be, Randy?” asked Elizabeth.
“After three months, if the owner doesn’t pick up, we retain rights and sell them at auction.”
“It’s okay, we really just need to ID the rest of the victims, and this will make it a little easier.”
Randy handed them the paper. “I hope this helps. Is there anything else I can help you with or do for you?”
“How many people do the towing?” Blackhawk was looking at the paper and he saw all the victim’s names they had already identified. He was willing to bet the rest were on the list. Since there were a total of twenty names he gave them, pulling up their picture ID and running it against missing persons reports should be easy.
“Just myself during the day and then one guy I have specifically for nights. His name is Jeffrey Teller and he’s a real good guy. I hope you don’t think he had something to do with this,” he looked concerned for his employee. “We’re a small town. We don’t get real busy here. Most of the calls we get are people breaking down on the roadside or outside of town.”
“No, we’re looking for a woman,” added Elizabeth. But they both knew the woman could have an accomplice.
“Oh, well that’s good,” then he paused. “I didn’t mean it to sound like I was glad there was a killer running around, so beg my pardon.”
Blackhawk nodded. “Not a problem, Randy. Thanks for the information.” He shook the man’s hand.
“If I get anymore impounds that are abandoned, should I bring them by the sheriff’s office first?”
Elizabeth shook his hand. “Just give us a call and we can come to you.” Out came the card with her contact information, and she offered it to the man.
“Okay.”
Both Blackhawks left the building, and outside Elizabeth spoke. “How’s the list look?”
“We have our victims on here, this is going to get the rest, I’d bet lunch on it.”
Elizabeth grinned. “I tell you what, Cowboy. I’ll buy you lunch and you can buy me dinner.”
“Deal.”
Whitefox was getting nervous. Never in his life had he brought a woman home sober, and with the intent of keeping her in his house for more than some sweaty quick sex. Usually it was get drunk, pick a woman, bring her home, and hope she had the common sense to be gone when he woke up. Like his brother, there’d been a string of regrettable women in his life, and now he believed he found the one he needed to work on keeping.
It wasn’t like he wanted that kind of relationship with women. He just didn’t know how to relate to them. The only experience he had was what he saw growing up, and his mother was a pretty shitty example. Now he was watching his brother with Elizabeth and trying to learn on the fly.
Growing up impoverished, he and Ethan had been challenged early in life. They joked about the Rez now, but it wasn’t funny as a child. In fact it was hard to swallow when he thought back to it. Their grandfather did the best he could, even when his mom would choose partying over working for a living. So, things in his life weren’t elaborate even today. Granddad gave them stability, food, and clothing. The rest they had to work for, or ‘appropriate’ creatively. Now that he was bringing Desdemona to his home after just being in hers, he felt a little uneasy about what she’d think about it. As he pulled up to the house, his truck was in place, and everything looked exactly as it did as he left three days ago.
“We’re here,” he said, putting the Denali into park. “It’s not as big as your home, but it’s all mine.” Whitefox tried to reassure himself, hoping it wouldn’t be a huge disappointment to the woman sitting beside him.
Desdemona released his hand and hopped out of the Denali, she began wandering towards the house just taking it all in. There were trees surrounding it, tall trees that had been alive for many years. There was a porch that sat facing them, and she wished she had the seclusion of trees around her home. When you g
rew up surrounded by nature, you missed it when it was replaced with concrete.
Whitefox quickly grabbed her suitcase and rushed after her.
Desdemona walked up onto the porch, and there was a table made out of wood, and she wished it wasn’t winter. It would be the perfect place to just sit and enjoy the silence. All in all, she’d trade her house for his log cabin any day.
“Did you build it?” she asked, running her hands over the table and then leaning against the rail of the porch.
“I didn’t build the house, my granddad had it built for me. When Ethan left the Rez and went off to the FBI, he sent granddad money to upkeep his home, and when there was more money than he needed, he built me mine. So I guess technically it’s Ethan’s house, but he wouldn’t ever live on the Rez, unless it was by gunpoint or the last safe place on earth.”
“I think I’d live here in a heartbeat. I love the trees and the silence. It just feels safe and secure. You can think here,” she said, watching him. “Why do you have that look on your face? Did I say something bad?”
His first instinct was to lie and cover the look, but he tried for something new with a woman- the truth. “I just wondered what you’d think of my home. Yours is very different.”
“I like yours better. Want to trade?” she laughed. “Mine comes with a stalker- free of charge as an added bonus.”
Whitefox laughed. “Yeah, we can trade but we better get you a tan so you blend in, you don’t exactly scream Native American.” He held out his hand for her. “Come on, I’ll get you inside. It’s cold out here.” Whitefox unlocked the door and dropped her suitcase beside the wall and held the door open for her. Then it occurred to him, he was bringing a vegetarian who dealt with death into a house with deer heads, animal skins and… crap.
“Uh Desi, it didn’t occur to me until now that there’s animal heads on my wall.”
“You mean someone snuck in and hung them there while you were gone?” she asked, laughing at him. “You should call the police and tell them there’s a random serial decorator in your neighborhood.”
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