“You left DNA all over him.”
She closed her mouth.
“If he didn’t die right after you were cramming your tongue down his throat, he would have drank something, washed his face, brushed his teeth, and it would have been gone. That tells us that it was right before he bit the big one. See, there was a can of soda right in front of him. Care to explain? Did the smoke put it there?”
She was going sheet white.
“Did he frame you from the grave? On top of that, you let him touch your hair. When he was kissing you, he took some of your hair. It was wound around his finger.”
She still said nothing.
“What happened, Marie? Did you fear for your life? Is that why you did it?” she asked, giving her an out and a confession too.
“Yes!”
Her face changed, and she began crying.
“He told me to meet him there. We were going to bury the hatchet. Instead, he attacked me.”
They didn’t buy it. The place wasn’t disturbed.
Filthy?
Yes.
Tossed?
No.
“When I left, he must have taken his life, or maybe he accidentally touched that stuff behind his house.”
Gotcha!
They’d never told her about that part.
Come to think of it…
Now Elizabeth was focused on something else. She was far from done.
“Funny, before we went to his house, you told me to be careful. You warned me that he might try to hurt me, or one day, he’d accidentally hurt himself. Here’s how I think it played out. You went there and tried to seduce him to get into his place. When he was wandering around, maybe getting you something to eat or drink, you poisoned him. How hard is it to get the poison, Boone?”
“In our religion, you can get it from a frog in the swamp.”
She continued, “You brought your own. You killed him, wiped the table down where you sat, and then you set the scene. You went outside and doused those fibers to make him look bad. You wanted to cover your bases if he was found. Then the local cops, knowing about what he did, would call it accidental death.”
Boone shook his head. “Marie, this makes all of us look bad. You just darkened our religion a little more.”
She glared at the woman.
“You can’t prove it.”
Elizabeth stood. “We have motive and opportunity. That’s enough to get the police a search warrant. Once we do, if they find even a drop of that poison, you’re going to jail. That’s means. That’s the trifecta for a cop. Tag, Marie, you’re it.”
She picked up her handcuffs.
“You have the right to remain silent.” Immediately, she saw the woman’s intent.
They had a runner.
Goodie.
Marie was up, and she threw a chair at Elizabeth before making a break for it.
The men were out of their seats, ready to chase her down. Only Elizabeth had her own plan.
“Oh no, she’s mine for slowing me down on this damn case. I’m going to kick her ass.”
The race was on as Marie hit the back door. She ran through the gate to escape into the city.
Elizabeth followed, hopping the fence. If this woman wanted to race, she was ready. Before Marie could even get two houses away, Elizabeth was on her.
And she made sure the woman hit the ground hard. Elizabeth full body tackled her mid body with all she had. She heard the woman gasp as the wind was knocked from her.
Still, Marie didn’t give up. She had youth on her side. When she hopped up, grabbing a trash can lid to hit Elizabeth with it, the fun was about to start.
She swung and missed.
Elizabeth didn’t.
She punched Marie in the face, knocking her back, and then foot swept her feet out from under her. She had her cuffed and to her feet before her husbands and the detective even got there.
“You’re under arrest for being an idiot, a murderer, and for trying to outrun me in a dress and flip flops. Seriously. Freaking flip flops? That’s like trying to outrun a lion on stilts you jackwagon!”
Ethan laughed as she handed the woman off to Boone. He couldn’t love his wife more than he did right then. She was fiery, dangerous, and really good at her job.
It was an honor to be her profiler.
“She’s your collar, detective. Merry will get you the evidence. You can send her into processing.”
He smiled. “Thanks, Elizabeth. I appreciate that.”
He led her away.
“That was so freaking hot,” Callen said, slapping her on the ass.
Ethan agreed. “What’s even hotter is the media just caught Callen playing grab ass after a collar. It’s going to be on the news.”
She pointed at him. “Someone’s ass is going to get kicked later if BNN plays that in a loop, Callen James.”
He figured he might as well live on the edge, so he kissed her.
Blackhawk laughed as she sputtered.
“Are you insane?”
He didn’t care.
“Do we have our team search the place or do we let the police do the dirty work?” Ethan asked.
“Let the cops do it. We handed them a killer. They can have the fun of sorting through all those chicken parts.”
Yeah, she had a point.
They headed toward the front of the house. The media was shouting questions at them. One of them got too close to her and she ‘accidentally’ bumped his coffee.
It spilled down his shirt.
Ethan whispered, “That’s going to be paperwork, Elizabeth, and that’s definitely going to be on the news.”
She grinned. “That’s for laughing when he slapped me on the ass.”
Blackhawk laughed.
She was back.
They were okay.
He’d willingly do all the paperwork in the world to know they were on solid ground.
“Let’s check in with our team, get the evidence packed up, and then focus on the real killer—now that I’ve taken care of the distractions.”
The men flanked her as they walked down the street.
“I love a cranky woman,” Callen admitted.
Ethan grinned.
Yeah, he did too.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Friday Night
Boone’s Cabin
Merry didn’t have much time. She wanted to stay with Boone all night, but work had to be done. Instead of blowing him off, she opted to take a rare dinner break to see him.
She wanted to explain.
She wanted to tell him she loved him.
Merry didn’t want to head home when this was over and have him think she didn’t care.
The opposite was true.
When she pulled into the driveway, his truck was there, but the lights were off inside. Heading to the door, she knocked. When he didn’t answer, she touched the knob.
It wasn’t locked.
Merry wasn’t sure what she should do.
Then she saw a flickering light inside. It looked to be coming from the man’s altar.
Slowly, she walked in, calling his name. She didn’t want to get shot for trespassing. That would be one hell of an ugly accident.
“Boone? It’s Merry. Are you here?”
There was no answer.
“Boone?”
Flicking on the lights, she didn’t see any sign of him. The house was silent, but it smelled like the incense he liked to burn.
“I can’t stay, Boone,” she said, still waiting to see if he was there. “I have to work late, processing trace. I wanted to come by to see you.”
Nothing.
Merry gave up. Instead, she headed toward the altar. One candle was indeed lit.
He’d been there at one point. On the glass jar was a picture of some saint. Gently, she ran her finger over it.
“Oh, Boone, what am I supposed to do so you don’t hurt?” she asked no one in particularly.
The silence and scent of h
im in the air made her want to weep. Merry stared at the altar.
Then she had an idea.
What the hell?
Maybe this faith thing had some merit.
If it would give her an answer, she’d test the hypothesis and try anything. She was out of logical choices.
Getting down on her knees, she mimicked the position she’d seen him in the other night. This was totally new to her, but she’d wing it. It didn’t really look like Boone followed a manual, so how hard could it be?
Besides, what did she have to lose?
She stared at the candle as if waiting for some answer. Finally, she spoke, “I don’t know what to do. I’m a scientist, so I don’t even know how to pray.”
She waited.
Nothing.
“If you’re real, and this isn’t some malarkey, give me a clue how to do this.”
She saw the matches and more candles. Merry stared at the one on the shelf above his altar. Picking it up, she stared at the male saint on the glass.
It felt like they belonged together. She didn’t know why, but when she placed them side by side, they were a match. In fact, they were staring at each other.
Well, here went nothing.
Pulling out the matches, she lit the second candle.
It flickered to life.
“This is totally weird,” she muttered. “I must really love you, Boone, because if my co-workers saw this, they’d ride my ass until I retired.”
Then again, she didn’t care.
Staring at the pre-lit candle, she thought back to the spell she’d watched Boone do.
There was blood.
Merry looked around.
She couldn’t find any.
Okay, desperate times called for desperate measures. She pulled a knife off the altar and cut the tip of her finger. “If I get sepsis, or some killer infection, Boone, I’m going to blame you.”
She dripped her blood onto the male candle.
It felt right.
She should be saying something, shouldn’t she?
“I need your help.”
Merry picked up the beads and feathers that he’d worn and dropped them around her neck. She carefully held the beads between her fingers like she’d seen done with a rosary.
Didn’t she read that Voodoo and Catholicism were closely related?
“If you exist, and there is indeed a higher power, I need an intervention. I want to stay with him. I want to quit my job, pack my shit, and come here. I love him more in these four days than I’ve loved anyone in my entire life.”
She stared into the flame.
“I can’t stay. If I do, my ex will find me. He’s promised to get me back or end my life. If I stay here, Boone will get hurt. If he gets hurt, how do I recover from that?”
She wiped the tears on her cheeks.
“If I go home, he’s going to be safe. If you can’t find a way to fix this, make him forget me. Make him find someone who will be good to him. He deserves that. I know my fate, and I’m going to die. If you can’t find a way to keep us together, let him be free from me. I don’t want him to suffer.”
She saw the little trinkets on the altar.
As offering!
She didn’t have her purse. All she had was what was on her. Merry remembered the earrings she was wearing. She pulled them off and placed them in front of the two candles. “They were my mothers. They’re important to me, but I’d rather lose them than him. Here’s my offering.”
Merry wiped the tears from her cheeks.
“Don’t let him hate me. I know he’s angry and believes I don’t feel anything for him, but that’s not true. I’d give up my happiness to make sure he lives. I’d sacrifice my own heart to have him survive this mess. I’m lost, and he can’t save me. I made horrible choices, and now I have to face the mess back home.”
She picked up some dirt and sprinkled it on a skull. She’d seen him do that too.
“If I go home alone, I can try and stop Derek. If I fail, Boone will go on, and be safe. If this is meant to be, let him be here when I clean up this mess. I swear I’ll come back for him if Derek doesn’t kill me. I swear I’ll give everything up once I survive what’s coming.”
Her heart flipped.
“I love you, Boone. I’m so sorry.”
She wept for a little bit, kneeling in front of his altar. Then she knew it was time to get back to her job. Standing, she stared at the two candles.
“I can’t believe I’m going to do this, but I won’t blow you out.”
Merry took off the beads, kissed the big one in the middle, and placed them back in place. Then, she did the hardest thing she’s ever had to do.
She turned to walk away.
“Boone, you’re an idiot for leaving a candle lit while you’re not home!” she said, knowing so was she.
Heading out the door, Merry left.
As soon as her Denali left the driveway, he stepped out of his room. He’d heard her show up, and he didn’t want a confrontation. His plan was to see her after her shift, but he’d changed his mind. His heart was broken, and he needed time.
His mind was made up. He was going to let her go.
After he’d dumped the priestess off, he wanted to hide where he was safe. He did some spell work, begging for clarity and advice. He asked for a sign, just like she did.
Then he heard her coming, and he wasn’t ready yet. He needed some time, so he’d opted to hide.
He watched her from the darkness of his room. In all honesty, the second she headed toward his altar, he was lost to anyone but her.
Boone never saw anything more beautiful in his life. Merry, kneeling in front of his sacred space, trying to slip into his life had answered his questions.
He got it now. She thought she was going to save him by leaving him behind. She believed she was going to die.
Well, that wouldn’t happen.
She was worth it.
He’d asked for a sign and here it was.
Her words explained it all. Now that he knew she loved him and did want to be with him, he’d make sure he found a way.
Boone headed over to the candles and stared at them.
Then he started laughing.
Of all the candles on his shelf, all twenty of them, representing all the different saints and spells, she’d picked the one that matched the candle he had lit.
It was the mate candle.
It was to find your love.
“Merry, cher, I heard you. I won’t let you face this alone. I promise we’ll figure it out. Give me time. I won’t leave your side. I love you too. You’re my soul mate. You’re mine.”
With that, he picked up the blade, cut his own finger, and anointed the other candle like she’d done.
This was her spell.
And he was going to finish it.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Detective Rolland Le Bleu answered the phone on the first ring. He already knew who it was going to be. He recognized the number.
“Officer DuChamp, what can I do for you?” he asked, lighting another cigarette.
“Word in ‘The Quarter’ is that you’re looking for a pimp. I just busted a girl and she gave me the address. Do you still need it for the FBI?”
“Yeah, I do. What is it?”
The man rattled it off.
“Will you pass this on to them?”
“I’m going to meet up with them now to get caught up on the case. I’ll tell them you’ve been most helpful.”
“I don’t need the credit. I’m just doing my job.”
“You’ll be a detective before you know it, son.”
He hoped so.
“Good luck,” Clifford DuChamp said, hanging up.
Rolland knew he needed to get started. He’d head to the B&B to meet up with Elizabeth Blackhawk.
Grabbing breakfast, after his smoke, he walked out the door. It was going to be another long night.
There was so much to do.
Sometimes, being a cop was hell.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
B&B
She paced the floor as she worked the case out in her mind. Something was wrong, only she couldn’t put her finger on it. From the start, she felt like she was being misled.
She’d had to deal with personal issues.
A killer priestess.
And this mess.
Her gut was screaming, but there was something missing from her board. When Gabe said these cases would be harder, he hadn’t been kidding.
There was a damn good chance that she wouldn’t solve her first case in her new job.
That was going to suck.
There were people relying on her.
As she mulled it over, lost in her thoughts, Callen, Ethan, and Chris watched her.
“She’s stressed.”
They could see it on her face. Ethan was absolutely right. Elizabeth was struggling with getting back on track after being stirred up by the priestess and her bullshit.
“I wish I could give her more,” Ethan offered.
Callen patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I have faith in her. Our agents are searching for the pimp. He might be the missing piece. Once we find him…”
He knew his brother was right.
“What can we do?” Chris asked. He wasn’t accustomed to seeing this part of the case. The only reason he was there was because he’d needed a break. It had been a long day, and his team was handling the morgue. Tony could supervise while he crashed.
“Nothing. We have to just wait.”
That killed all of them. Waiting, in their jobs, was never a good thing. It meant lives.
“We can get dinner,” Callen offered. “There’s a Thai place a block away.”
Just as they began picking dinner options, Elizabeth’s phone rang. Ethan knew she wouldn’t answer it, so he did.
“Blackhawk,” he stated.
“It’s Detective Le Bleu. A cop in ‘The Quarter’ found Otis. I just got a call with an address.”
Ethan pulled out some paper. “Elizabeth is working here, but Callen and I will cover it. Where is it?”
He gave him the information.
Blood Shall Run (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 15) Page 55