Stalked by the Past: An FBI Flashback Novel. (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 17)

by Morgan Kelley

  What the hell were they exactly?

  He didn’t have a damn idea where they stood, and he was forced to make a decision. He didn’t want to go on the date with a stranger. He wanted to roll around with someone he loved.

  If only she felt the same.

  “So what’s her name?” Tony asked, breaking the silence in the morgue.

  “Madeline.”

  “What’s she do?” Tony asked.

  “Does it matter?”

  “Not really. If you’re just hooking up, it doesn’t.”

  “That’s all it is,” Chris stated.

  Tony could see the man wasn’t happy. He didn’t get it. He was on the cusp of meeting a babe, and it was as if someone was forcing him to do it at gunpoint.

  “Why are you so damn cranky? You’re scowling, and that’s not exactly fun to be around.”

  Chris sighed.

  Well, he might as well let the man in on the whole mess, since he was the one who started him on this path.

  “I have that date with Elizabeth tonight.”

  “Oh, yeah! Are you hanging out?”

  Here was the issue.

  “I’m not sure. Dinner with her father is huge, right?”

  “Yes! When a girl asks you to meet the folks, it’s generally important.”

  “Is it though? I’m her best friend. Maybe it’s just a casual kind of thing,” Chris said, hoping someone would tell him if it was or not.

  “Did you ask her?”

  He glanced up, and then closed his mouth.

  “Dude, I want to be your friend. I know I’m not someone you trust yet, but we can talk. I won’t say a word. I swear.”

  “I can’t ask her. It’s inappropriate to say ‘hey, is this a meeting that’s going to get me in your panties’?”

  “Well, with her, I definitely wouldn’t say that. I’m still picturing her tying my dick around my head.”

  Chris laughed. “She’d do it. Don’t push it.”

  “You’ll be able to tell tonight when you get there,” Tony offered. “When you hang out, what does she normally wear?” he asked.

  “Shorts, sweats, once one of my t-shirts I left there.”

  “That’s casual. Although, the wearing of your shirt is pretty much a sign that she’s open for a relationship.”

  “HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?” Chris asked, slamming down his clipboard.

  Everyone looked over at him.

  He lowered his voice.

  “Is there a manual? I’m so screwed.”

  Tony didn’t get it. “Why are you riled up? You go, eat dinner, and see what happens. Then you make a move the next day. Ask her out to dinner at a nice place.”

  Chris told him the rest.

  “I made a date with another woman tomorrow.”

  “Oh. So, you’re worried that if it’s a real date, you’re going to have to tell her about the second date, and it won’t end well. Then don’t tell her.”

  “I can’t lie to Elizabeth.”

  “I didn’t say lie. I said don’t tell her. There is a huge difference, Chris.”

  Was there?

  “She’ll know. When she comes to my place, or asks me to hers the next night, she’s going to figure out something is going on when I’m trying to seduce another woman.”

  “Then cancel with woman two.”

  “And what if the date with Elizabeth is just dinner with her dad to meet him?”

  “Then keep date two.”

  “And what if…”

  “Stop. You’re making yourself insane, and me too. You’re not marrying her. It’s a date. So go to date number two, have a few drinks, and tell her there’s no chemistry. Don’t try to shack up. Tell Elizabeth, if it’s really a date-date, that you’re meeting someone for drinks.”

  Chris hated all of this.

  “I feel like a dick.”

  “Personally, I would risk not telling her.”

  Chris looked over. “That’s funny.”

  “Why?”

  “She’ll know in a heartbeat. We have dinner practically every night when she’s in town. We watch movies on one of our couches. We hang out, get drinks, catch a movie, or sleep at each other’s place.”

  “Wait. You sleep at her place?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you have things there?”

  He thought back to what she’d said. “Yeah, I do. We just started leaving things at each other’s place.”

  “You’re dating.”

  “What?”

  “That’s dating minus the sex. True or false. You have a toothbrush at her place?”

  “True.”

  “True or false, you’ve kissed her?”

  Chris thought back to the kiss he’d given her, and the one she’d given back. Then there were all the little ones they shared on a regular basis.

  “True.”

  “When’s the last time you slept together?”

  “A night or two ago, we fell asleep on her couch, and she was on top of me,” he stated. “The days blend together in this job.”

  “You, my friend, are in a relationship. That’s boyfriend-girlfriend shit, but without the sex.”

  He was aware, only he needed the sex part too. They both did. He didn’t even know how to begin to bring that part up, and that’s why he was going on this date.

  “I figured I can find a girl online, get off, and then continue on.”

  “That sounds so shady. I wouldn’t say it out loud,” Tony warned. “Even I wouldn’t go there.”

  Chris was frustrated.

  “What if it ruins our friendship?”

  “What if it doesn’t?” Tony asked. “Seriously. Go on the date, and just don’t tell her about Madeline. At the end, when you’re going home, figure out if this was a real date, or a farce. She won’t hate you for moving on, Chris.”

  He didn’t know if he could do that.

  “I’ll be your wingman. Tell her we’re going out, and I’ll be your alibi.”

  He could do that.

  Maybe it would work.

  “I’ll cover for you.”

  “Why?” Chris asked. “We just met.”

  “I feel like we’re going to have a long future working together, and I don’t have many friends. I have bugs. I have bones, but the living…they confuse me.”

  He got that.

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “No problem. Let me know.”

  Chris didn’t know what to do. There was one thing he knew for sure.

  He was going to try to score with one babe when he was thinking about another.

  He was a total asshole.

  * * * E l i z a b e t h L a R u e * * *

  Robert Donaldson’s

  Home

  When they did a search on him, nothing came up. He was clean. Then again, the last guy was, too, until they had the opportunity to interview him. He’d given dirty a whole new perspective.

  While the searches came back with nothing, what interested Elizabeth was a little tidbit she’d found on his taxes.

  He filed as ‘married’.

  And yet, he was filmed visiting a hooker.

  Yeah, that couldn’t be good for a person’s marriage. This was one more reason she’d likely never get married. Men couldn’t be trusted. In her line of work, if she had a buck for every guy, who was breaking that trust, she’d be rich.

  Elizabeth was sticking to her best friend. At least with Christopher Leonard, what you saw was what you got, and she liked it.

  Yeah, single was the way to go.

  “How do you want to handle this?” Gabe asked.

  She shrugged. “I figured we’d ask him why he was getting his rocks off with a hooker when he has a perfectly good wife at home.”

  “Always a good ice breaker.”

  “Are you watching me for an evaluation or something?” she asked.

  “No, why?”

  “I still don’t get why you’re out here with me.”

  “I’m your ba
ckup.”

  She stared at him.

  “Okay! I feel horrible.”

  “For?”

  “When the shit hit the fan last year, you were left holding the bag. You feel like we bailed on you.”

  “You did bail on me. You two eloped at the judge’s office, and neither of you invited me. She was my partner. You were my…never mind.”

  “I was your what?”

  “You were my brother. You tossed me over for a girl.”

  He stared at her. “Do you really think that?”

  “It’s me. I get it. You met Livy, and you had to choose. I lost. I’ve had that happen a lot in my life. I’m not easy to love. I get that from my father. I’ll thank him tonight.”

  “I do love you, Elizabeth.”

  She went to get out, but he stopped her. “Livy isn’t doing well.”

  She glanced over.

  “Is she sick?”

  “She’s not over this whole rape thing. She has nightmares, she’s afraid to leave the house, and the only reason she does is the security detail. She’s falling apart.”

  Elizabeth listened.

  “I didn’t bail on you. I’ve just been trying to hold her together. It’s my fault he hurt her. That’s on me. I left her alone. I put work first, and I promised I’d never do it again.”

  “So, I’m just work? Was I just work when you needed a date to the reunion? Or when you wanted to go see a game? Was I just work when I helped get you two together?”

  He didn’t know what to say.

  He was trapped between two women he loved.

  “We’re naming her Amelia Elizabeth. She’s carrying your name. I picked it. I needed it to include you. I want you to be her godmother.”

  “Livy hasn’t talked to me in almost eight months, Gabe. Let it go. You have to choose, and I want you to be happy. I want you to have your family, your kid, and everything you’ve earned. I’m thrilled for you.”

  He believed her.

  Elizabeth didn’t lie.

  “I just wish you went about it another way. It sucks to be tossed over, even if it was just a friendship. I cried for days over you two. While you were on the beach having a blast on your honeymoon, I mourned losing you both. I lost my partner, my backup, and my brother that day.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She heard that a lot from people she once trusted. “Don’t worry about it. I’m tougher than people think. I want to get this interview done, and I want to get the cops handled. We’re holding them, and that’s going to piss them off.”

  “What can I do to get you to forgive me?” he asked.

  “Have a bunch of kids, get a dog, and be happy. I have to live vicariously through someone.”

  That said it all.

  He hurt for her.

  “Elizabeth.”

  “No, Gabe. Work is work, and personal time is personal time. You’re the advocate of not mixing them. Take your own advice.”

  He stared at her. She never looked away. There was so much pain and anger in her eyes.

  He put it there.

  Livy did too.

  “Okay.”

  “Let’s go. I have a lot on my mind.”

  She headed toward the house, and unfortunately for Robert Donaldson, she was in a shitty mood. It was funny how the day was getting worse and worse.

  Hopefully, dinner would be good.

  She needed a break.

  At the door, she knocked. A man opened it, and he was wrangling a herd of kids.

  Shit!

  There had to be four of them and they all looked alike.

  “Hey! Can I help you?”

  They flashed the badges and immediately, he didn’t look so calm and laid back as he was a few moments ago.

  She went on alert.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “Naima.”

  It was all she had to say.

  It had his attention.

  “Oh, Jesus.”

  “Yeah, this might not be the situation to be asking for his help. Although, you were calling out his father’s name a lot as you played some fun games. I know. I saw the videos.”

  He swallowed.

  “She was blackmailing you, wasn’t she?”

  He nodded.

  “Why were you cheating on your wife?”

  “Daddy is a cheater,” one of the blonde kids started chanting.

  “Do we have to do this…?”

  She cut him off. “When you have relationships with hookers, yes, you have to have this conversation.”

  “Hookers!” yelled another kid.

  He went pale.

  “She’s gone. As in DOA,” Elizabeth stated. “Where were you?” she asked, rattling off the date.

  “I was here with my wife and kids the entire time. I swear to God. You can’t believe I had anything to do with this.”

  Elizabeth pointed at a kid, and she began chanting ‘Daddy is a cheater’ all over again. “I think that alone makes my point.”

  He looked at Gabe as if seeking some kind of male comradery in the mess.

  “Yeah, he’s not going to help you. Trust me. He doesn’t cheat on his wife.”

  Gabe smiled. “Nope. That’s plain stupid. A happy wife is a happy life. An unhappy wife is a very short life.”

  The man swallowed.

  “What does your wife do?”

  “She’s a business woman. I’m a stay at home dad. I take care of the kids.”

  Yeah, and the local hookers at night when he had an evening off from dad duties.

  “I saw the videos. Why was she blackmailing you? You live in a normal neighborhood, you’re a dad—not a CEO of some company. I don’t get it. What did you have that she wanted?”

  “I don’t know. We had S.E.X,” he spelled.

  “S.E.X,” one of the kids said, mimicking him as she ran through the house.

  “My wife is going to kill me. She has a temper, and she doesn’t like when I screw up.”

  “Well, buying hookers does make a woman angry. I think that may be more than a screw up.”

  He looked scared.

  “So you really want to use your wife as your alibi? I’m going to have to ask her.”

  He swallowed.

  “I don’t have another one. I was here with her, in bed.”

  “What’s her name?” she asked.

  “Do we have to involve her?”

  “Yes.”

  “Noor.”

  She looked up.

  That was the second time she’d heard that name in twenty-four hours, and she didn’t think it was a coincidence. Last night, Cathy had slipped her the name of the madam.

  It was Noor Blackburn.

  What were the chances?

  Suddenly, she was beginning to see why this simple father was being blackmailed. If his wife was the same Noor, Naima was holding that over him—as in he didn’t want her to know.

  Bingo.

  They had their reason for blackmail.

  “What’s your wife’s maiden name?” she asked, keeping her fingers crossed.

  “I don’t see how…”

  She focused on the kids. “Hey, guys, tell your mommy daddy likes buying hookers.”

  They began running around chanting it. “Daddy likes buying hookers.”

  He was horrified.

  Gabe, not so much.

  “It’s Blackburn, okay? Now stop telling them things like that. You can tell you don’t have kids.”

  “Or a husband who pays for sex. See why?” She looked at Gabe. “She’s on our list now too.”

  “What does my wife have to do with this?” he asked in horror.

  She smiled. “Don’t you worry about that. We’re going to check your alibi. You have a nice day, sir. Stay out of trouble,” Elizabeth stated, walking away.

  Gabe was confused. “You’re done?”

  She laughed. “I just caught a bigger fish.”

  “What?” he asked, getting into the Denali and buckling his seatbe
lt.

  “His wife came up in this investigation. She’s not a businesswoman.”

  He was confused. “What is she?”

  “She’s the local madam who is going head to head with Clayton Frost. He was sleeping with the competition’s hooker.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, the hooker buying letch is married to a hooker selling jack wagon.”

  He laughed.

  “I didn’t see that one coming.”

  This is why she loved her job.

  Neither did she.

  * * * E l i z a b e t h L a R u e * * *

  Airplane

  Damascus

  He hopped the flight home. It was about to take off.

  Ethan Blackhawk just wanted to get the hell out of Damascus, and he didn’t care what anyone thought. He needed a vacation.

  He needed to forget about what had happened.

  More importantly, he needed to re-heal.

  The scab had formed over his heart until he saw his brother again. It was ripped away, and the raw festering wound was oozing again.

  As he sat there, he kicked back a beer.

  As soon as he finished chugging it, he immediately calmed down. He would be fine. Ethan just had to keep telling himself that.

  This would all heal again.

  He just needed time.

  When his phone vibrated in his pocket, her remembered that he’d forgotten to turn it off. He quickly muted it and studied the number.

  He didn’t recognize it.

  It was a DC number, but still…

  Was it Gabe screwing with him and trying to reach him? Was Ethan willing to take that chance?

  Hell no.

  He sent it to voicemail.

  Ethan waited until the person left a message. Leaning back in his seat, he listened to the unfamiliar female voice.

  ‘Hi there! I’m the flight attendant you met on your flight to Damascus. Your friend gave me your number. I live in DC, and if you’re ever in town, give me a call. I travel a lot, but at home, I like to have fun. My name is Melinda. Call me, sexy. I think men carrying badges are totally hot.’

  He stared at it.

  What was fun? It had been a long time since he’d had any of that. As he went to push the delete button, he stopped himself.

  Maybe he’d keep it.

  Just in case.