Blood Shall Run (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 15)

by Morgan Kelley

  Justice had been served, and their jobs were done.

  While Chris and Elizabeth had been brought to the hospital to get stitches, and checked out, the rest of the team, led by Detective Savage, searched Detective Rolland Le Bleu’s place. Boone was the only NOPD officer allowed on the scene.

  They trusted him.

  He’d earned their loyalty.

  When they got there, they found an apartment of horrors. He’d blocked out the windows, he had jugs of blood in his refrigerator, and the place smelled like cooking meat.

  The man had been dehydrating the absconded livers, sliced into thin pieces, to make them into a protein powder.

  He was one sick ticket.

  Because of what they found, they had enough evidence to put four murders, plus Otis’s, and the thief of the stolen corpses to bed.

  Detective Le Bleu no longer had to worry about dying from the disease that haunted him. Chris had filled him with lead.

  The man had been a victim of his own insanity.

  At the hospital, they wanted to stitch Elizabeth up. When she refused, they assumed that she was going to fight them all the way.

  Well, she didn’t.

  She wanted her best friend to do it. So, after they cleaned his wounds and stitched him up, he put in his contacts and got to work.

  This was her gift to him.

  Chris hadn’t let her down, and he wanted to make sure she was okay. After the hospital numbed her up, he made sure they were perfect knots.

  As soon as he was done, Elizabeth took his face in her hands.

  “Christopher Orion Leonard, you are totally bad ass.”

  He grinned. “Can I have a raise?” he teased.

  Ethan and Callen laughed.

  “Yes,” they said together, knowing he didn’t give a shit about the money.

  This was about his family.

  There was never a prouder moment for her. She was so glad he was in her life. This man meant everything to her, and he was officially part of her. There was no way she’d ever let him go from her life.

  They’d survived a serial killer together.

  That was a bonding experience.

  “I can never repay you,” she offered.

  “I don’t want you to. You’ve always been there for me when I needed you most.”

  She was aware.

  “Well, if you ever need an organ like a kidney…” She was setting him up for the punchline.

  This was their thing.

  “Not a liver?” Chris asked, teasing back.

  Laughter was the best medicine.

  Ethan was horrified by them. “You two are sick. That’s just wrong, even for you.”

  Callen snorted. His heart had finally stopped pounding in his chest. They’d nearly lost their wife, and a man who earned the title brother.

  Chris touched her cheek. “You were worth saving. I’d do it all over again, but don’t you owe me a kiss? I mean…I did save you.”

  She laughed. “Ethan, I think Chris deserves a kiss.”

  “I happen to agree,” he said, knowing what she was thinking. Elizabeth had that smile that said it all.

  “I think he does too,” Callen said.

  Chris grinned, puckered up, and waited for it. “Lay it on me.”

  Ethan and Callen grinned wickedly. It was time to initiate him into their family.

  When Chris saw their intent, it was too late. Both brothers kissed him.

  Smack.

  Dab.

  On.

  The.

  Lips.

  He was horrified, and his face said it all.

  “I freaking meant her!”

  She started laughing. “I’m next.”

  Elizabeth took his face in her hands, and they stared into each other’s eyes. “I love you, Chris. Thank you for being my brother. Now it’s forged in our blood.”

  He grinned. “I love you too, Lyzee.”

  She kissed him. It wasn’t filled with passion, or heat, but a simply peck on the lips. Instead, it was a reminder that love can come in lots of different shapes and sizes. They might not be a couple, but he mattered and always would.

  There was love.

  More importantly was that you found it in life—whether it be a friend, a brother, a lover, or a husband.

  Everyone needed love.

  When she pulled away, they rested their foreheads against each other.

  “Know what I want now?” Chris asked.

  “Another case?” Callen teased.

  “Jesus. No. I want to go home and hug my daughter. This new division of yours…it sucks. These cases are filled with crazies.”

  She stared laughing.

  Yeah, they really were.

  “You’re preaching to the choir, Doc. You’re preaching to the goddamn choir.”

  She looked over at her husbands.

  “Family, let’s go home.”

  That was good enough for them.

  * * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *

  Airport

  Three Hours Later

  Merry hated that she had to say goodbye. The entire time they cleared the scene, he didn’t say a word to her. His eyes said it all. They were filled with pain, and she was pretty sure he was still angry.

  It wasn’t as if she could blame him.

  She’d be angry too. If she had her heart broken, like she’d done to him, she’d never want see him again either.

  Maybe that’s why he didn’t even bother to show up at the airport. He was over her.

  As they cleared their gear, ready to load onto the FBI Jet, she still hoped he’d say goodbye.

  She wanted one more look at him so she could memorize his face.

  Merry was going to miss him.

  As the rest of the team, Elizabeth, Doctor Leonard, and Doctor Magnus boarded the plane, she heard her name at the last second.

  “Miss Peyton!”

  She turned to see him heading her way. In his hand was a necklace. It was the beads she’d seen on his altar. The ones she’d used to cast her wish out into the universe.

  Merry waited, her breath held.

  As soon as he reached her, Boone pulled her into his arms, tugged her mouth to his, and sealed them together with a kiss. She fell into it, wanting to cry.

  She loved him so much.

  She was going to miss him every second of every day. Merry only hoped she’d fix this and make it back to him…alive.

  When he pulled away, he wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. “This is for you. When beautiful women come to N’awlins, they get a trinket. These are special to me. They were my parents’ beads. They’ll keep you safe. Wear them and remember me. When you’re scared, I’m with you.”

  The tears flowed.

  She waited for him to drop the beads around her neck. “I’ll never take them off. I’ll wear them until I die.”

  He believed her.

  This wasn’t over.

  “We’re going to meet again, Meredith. I don’t know when, and I don’t know how, but we will have our time together. This wasn’t all we’re meant to have together. The spell...”

  She started crying.

  “Cher, it’s okay.”

  “Do you hate me for not staying?” she asked through the sobs.

  How could he?

  She was hurting too.

  And afraid. Now that he knew that she believed she was going home to die, this changed everything.

  Boone knew what he had to do.

  “Never, Merry. I couldn’t hate you if I tried. I love you so much. Give it time. It’ll work out. I trust in the universe.”

  She stared up at him.

  “Boone.”

  He saw the flight attendant heading their way. They didn’t have time.

  “I love you, Merry. Don’t forget that.”

  “I won’t. I’ll wait forever.”

  And she would.

  She’d fix her mess, and then she’d find him again. It might take years. I
t might take a decade, but she’d wait for him. If she died, she’d find him.

  “My spirit will always find yours.”

  That meant everything to him.

  He touched her cheek.

  “I know they will.”

  He hugged her.

  “Miss, your boss said to get your ass on the plane. They want to take off.”

  She touched Boone’s cheek. “Until I see you again…”

  He kissed the beads and dropped them beneath the safety of her shirt.

  “Until then, Cher. Safe voyage.”

  He took a few steps back.

  Merry headed toward the gate. As they checked her badge and gun, she glanced over her shoulder.

  ‘I’ll love you until the day I die,’ she mouthed, right before she kissed the larger bead on the necklace, right where he’d done the same thing.

  His heart skipped.

  That was the final part to the spell. He saw it and just knew. She’d cast the last part, and it was out there in the universe for the spirits to handle.

  He lifted his hand, waved, and then she was gone.

  The gate closed, and he moved to the window. Boone watched as the gate rolled away, the fancy FBI jet began rolling toward the runway, and he braced his hands and forehead on the window as they taxied away.

  He knew she was watching.

  When he couldn’t see them anymore, he knew it was time to go.

  “It’s not over, Merry. We did the spell. We will be together,” he said, heading out of there. “I will claim what is mine.”

  It was time to do what needed to be done. He was going to free Merry from the fears that haunted her.

  There was only one way.

  It was up to him.

  And he was going to succeed.

  * * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *

  On the jet, Merry sat alone.

  She watched him from her window, and when she couldn’t see him any longer, she closed her eyes and began crying.

  Her heart was breaking.

  With every mile away from Boone, she felt more and more lost. He was her everything. She’d met, fallen for, and found her soul mate.

  When the seat next to her moved, she glanced over, ready to tell whoever it was to leave her alone.

  Only it was the boss lady.

  “Spill it. What the hell is going on?” Elizabeth asked before Merry could say a word.

  She shrugged.

  Elizabeth knew heartbreak when she saw it. This was about helping her head tech heal. One way or another, she was going to make this right.

  All she needed was to get it out of her.

  Now…

  How to do that?

  “You just used him for sex, huh? Feel guilty that you broke his heart?”

  Merry looked horrified. She hoped it didn’t look like that. “No. It’s not that.”

  Yes, she broke his heart, but it wasn’t because of the sex. It was because she had to leave so he could live.

  “Then what?”

  The dam broke. She told Elizabeth everything that she was holding inside.

  She spilled everything about Derek, and the abuse.

  Why she had to leave Boone behind.

  Why she couldn’t stay.

  Elizabeth dropped her good arm over her shoulder and hugged her. “You could have come to us, Merry. We would have fought hard to bring Derek to justice. You’re family. We protect our own.”

  “He’s crazy.”

  That was her specialty.

  “I promise you that it’ll work out,” she reassured.

  Merry didn’t believe her.

  “I don’t know what to do.”

  Elizabeth had a plan. Normally, Cupid didn’t let this kind of mess happen. Only Elizabeth didn’t see this one coming. She didn’t know that Merry had been battered by her boyfriend. Had she, she would have sent Callen and Ethan to handle it, right before they had the asshole thrown off the police and arrested.

  She would have fixed it.

  “I’m so hurt inside,” she whispered. “I can’t do this without him.”

  Elizabeth understood.

  “Give me some time. We’ll fix this.”

  Merry knew that was the one thing she likely didn’t have. Her days were numbered. She could feel it.

  “I promise.”

  She didn’t want to talk about it. What she really wanted was to mourn. So, she pulled away, tugged out her ear buds, and tried to hide. She couldn’t do this right now.

  Her heart was broken.

  Elizabeth moved back to sit between Ethan and Callen. When she pulled out her phone, they both stared at her.

  “Maybe you should leave well enough alone, Cupid. Sometimes, it’s not meant to be.”

  She punched them both.

  Then she shared Merry’s secret shame.

  Both men looked angry.

  “We’ll handle it.”

  Elizabeth knew they would, but there was something she needed to handle.

  She pulled up the detective’s number, and sent him a text message.

  ‘Merry needs you. She’s crushed. What can I do to help you make this right? What do you need to be with her?’

  Elizabeth waited.

  When the reply came in, she tucked her cell away.

  Cupid wasn’t done.

  She was only beginning.

  * * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *

  One Month Later

  She wished she could say that time moved fast, but it hadn’t. Every single day without Boone had been horrible. Each morning she’d wake, she’d barely function, and she’d just exist. While she worked cases, handled evidence, and did her job, the pain became so overwhelming.

  It was making her sick.

  At first it started with that feeling brewing in the pit of her belly. Then it became so horrible, she’d wake, think of him, and then start to vomit.

  Then it was all day long.

  Finally, Merry realized what was happening. So, she drew some blood, secretly, at work, and tested it.

  She was pregnant with Boone’s child.

  Her birth control had failed.

  The universe hated her. It was bad enough she couldn’t be with him, and now this.

  Now she had to figure out what the hell she was going to do. If she called him, he’d come.

  If she didn’t tell him, he’d hate her.

  If she ended the pregnancy, could she live with that?

  Bringing him there would be bad for him. All day, since testing her blood, she wanted to call him. There hadn’t been any contact between them.

  While she wanted to hear his voice, she’d abstained. Now, as she was arriving home, she needed to figure it out. She needed to make up her mind.

  It was time.

  Putting her key in the lock, she opened up the door to the brownstone. As soon as she stepped inside, she could hear the music.

  She could see the trail of rose petals. They led from the entryway into her kitchen.

  She wanted to be sick.

  Derek was back.

  He was going to hurt her and the child growing in her body. Suddenly, she was grateful she’d never called Boone. He’d be spared this.

  As she pulled her gun, she pointed it toward the room as she headed there. She was going to shoot him and say he broke into her home.

  She had every right to kill an intruder. She’d clean up the petals, lose all the evidence, and end his life.

  It was the only thing she could do.

  As she reached the kitchen, she could hear pots and pans being moved around.

  She was ready to do whatever it took.

  Stepping into the room, she trained her gun on the figure. When he turned around, her heart skipped.

  “Boone? What are you doing here?” she asked, staring at him. Merry was shocked, and she didn’t know if her mind was playing tricks on her.

  “I’m making you some dinner after work.”

  She looked around.
“No, I meant what are you doing here in DC.”

  He put down the saucepan and faced her. “I was dying without you. Each day was painful and terrible. I know you couldn’t stay, but I couldn’t either—not without you. My cabin was empty.”

  “But your job?”

  “I heard what you said when you thought I wasn’t home,” he admitted. “I heard it all, Merry. I gave up my job, and I packed up my things. I donated my home to a charity, and I moved all my things here. They’re out in that moving truck down the street. I came for you.”

  She couldn’t believe it.

  “I know Derek scared you, forcing you to let him move in, so I won’t do it. If you’re not comfortable with me here, I’ll buy the place across the street. We’ll go slowly. We’ll work through it, but we have to be together, cher. I have to be with the woman who owns my heart.”

  She holstered her gun.

  This was all…crazy.

  “But your job.”

  “Elizabeth got me an interview with the DC Metropolitan detective’s unit. It’s next week. If they offer me a job, I’m taking it. I told you, Merry. If it was meant to be, it would work out. Everything happened that needed to happen.”

  She stared at him.

  “Boone.”

  She knew what she was hiding.

  “You left to protect me. I don’t want to live without you. If your asshole ex is going to come at me, I’ll face him. I’ll win. I have love on my side.”

  “Boone.”

  “Let me protect you. Let me love you, Merry.”

  “Boone.”

  “Let me love you to our last day.”

  He headed toward her.

  “I have to tell you something.”

  Boone stood in front of her. “Tell me.”

  “I’ve been sick.”

  His heart skipped in his chest. Fear filled him. Was his sweet gardenia ill? Was something seriously wrong?

  “What kind of sick?”

  She pulled the lab printout from her purse and handed it to him. He read it, but didn’t understand it.

  “What is it?”