Dying to Love (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 18)

by Morgan Kelley

  “Can you at least give me a hint?”

  “It’s about our past. Something is going on, and I need to talk it out.”

  Then he hung up.

  Elizabeth stared down at her phone.

  “Issue?” he asked, as Callen approached.

  “I have to meet Chris.”

  “For?” Ethan asked. “It’s the middle of an investigation, and we’re interviewing suspects. If this is for the autopsy results, can’t it wait?”

  “It’s not about that. I don’t know what has him worried. All I know is he’s all stirred up.”

  “About?” Callen asked, giving her the look.

  She knew what he was thinking. If they didn’t want Ethan nosing around, this was a bad way to go about it. This would make him suspicious.

  One breadcrumb and he wouldn’t so much as bat an eye. A trail…he was following it.

  That’s why Elizabeth was trying to be as honest as possible.

  “I really have no clue.”

  Both men relented. What were they going to do?

  “You can drop me off. I’ll get a ride to the morgue with Chris.”

  Ethan didn’t like that for a whole slew of reasons.

  Foremost being something was off about the two of them. Since starting this case, they’d both been acting weird.

  He wanted to know why.

  Any husband would.

  “Where are you going?”

  “He wants to meet at a pub we used to go to when we were starting out in the FBI. I haven’t even thought of this place in years.”

  That wasn’t good enough for Ethan.

  “Why?”

  He wasn’t happy, and she could tell. Lying was a bad idea, but she couldn’t come right out and say it. This wasn’t the time or the place, and she knew it.

  “I don’t know. He told me to meet him there. That’s all I got out of him, but he was freaked out.”

  Ethan stared at his brother. “What do you think?”

  Callen knew it had to be personal, and that meant their past relationship. He’d promised to cover for her until they could sit Ethan down and break it to him.

  “I say go.”

  Blackhawk relented.

  “Okay, go, but security…”

  She knew where that was heading.

  “I know. They’ll hang out while I’m in the bar.” She tried to focus but it was damn hard.

  Callen ran his hand over her lower back in support.

  “Did you get anything out of Ralphie?” she asked, as she mentally prepared herself for what was to come.

  “Nothing, angel,” Callen said. “He clammed up, and unless we have something more, there’s nothing we can do.”

  She was aware.

  “Can we leave?” she asked.

  It was clear she was distracted.

  “Sure,” Ethan offered, as they headed out of the man’s apartment building, and toward their ride.

  “Thanks for the ride. Security will watch my back,” she offered.

  Ethan hopped in, and he was thinking one thing.

  They would too.

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

  Kelly’s Pub

  God!

  This place brought back memories. She hadn’t been there in a very long time—not since breaking up with Chris. It just never felt right after they stopped being a couple.

  When the men dropped her off, and then pulled away, she headed inside to figure out what the hell was going on with the man. With each passing moment, she was more and more freaked out.

  What had Chris so worked up?

  When she entered the bar, it was an early Sunday crowd, and she recalled it from her past.

  She and Chris came here for happy hour on Friday nights, and they came here on Sundays to watch the game and have an early dinner before the new work week kicked in.

  It had been part of their routines, and she’d loved it.

  Once inside, she saw him in their seats. They’d sat in the same place with each visit.

  Time stopped, and it actually reversed.

  He was sitting across the bar, and he looked the same.

  Well, he was a little older, a lot wiser, but he was still the same clean-shaven ME that she’d tried to build something with years ago.

  And failed.

  When he looked up, he motioned toward her, and ordered her a beer by motioning to the waitress.

  “Chris, we’re both on duty. This can’t be good if you want to booze it up in the middle of the day.”

  It wasn’t.

  “I was handed something today, and I don’t know what to do with it,” he offered.

  She sat and accepted the brew.

  Sipping it, she tried not to panic.

  What was this about?

  “What was it?”

  “It’s the woman’s relationship to our past. It’s all connected, Elizabeth.”

  She didn’t get it.

  “When I first heard Linda Yu’s name, it sounded familiar, but I didn’t put it together.”

  Elizabeth listened.

  “We had her mother on my slab.”

  “We did? Who?”

  He told her about the DNA, and how Amir found the connection.

  “Who was it?”

  “Bao Yu. She was the hooker who was garroted by Clayton Frost.”

  The beer stopped halfway to her mouth.

  “What?”

  He let it sink in.

  There was no way she’d think he was crazy after hearing that. This was no fluke.

  “How do you feel about coincidences?” he asked, knowing damn well what she thought about them.

  “Oh, holy shit.”

  “Yeah, I thought that too. We thought the killer watched you all these years, but what if this killer was part of that case, and he’s trying to finally get you.”

  “Or my attention.”

  He sipped his beer. “I know.”

  Well, this sucked.

  This was going to make the whole ‘Ethan not knowing’ thing awkward. One slip, and this could all come out the wrong way.

  Talk about tap dances.

  She was about to begin one hell of one.

  “So Linda Yu was that little girl?” she asked. Elizabeth remembered giving her a candy bar when she’d been afraid. She’d recalled pitying the child.

  Now she knew why.

  She’d followed in her mother’s path.

  “She can’t possibly be an adult.”

  “She’s not. We have a minor on our hands. She is only seventeen, and your killer is now up for rape of a minor, along with the myriad of other shit.”

  She took a breath.

  “It’s got to be connected. In three days, I’ve been hit with a detective who lost his girlfriend on that case, Noor Blackburn, the madam who I thought was trying to off her competition’s girls, Robert Donaldson, who was married to Noor then, and now his ex-hooker wife is dead. This killer is sick and messing with me.”

  “He’s been watching you for a long time. It’s someone who was part of the case.”

  Shit.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  This was not good.

  Did she miss something back then? Is that possible?

  “It’s bad enough after the first forty eight hours have passed, but fifteen years, Chris? How the bloody hell am I supposed to work that out?”

  He placed his hand over hers. “Honey, I don’t know, but this is bad.”

  She flipped her hand and held his.

  That was an understatement of epic proportions.

  They were screwed.

  Chapter eighteen

  Outside

  Kelly’s Pub

  Ethan didn’t know what to think of any of this. They were sitting in the furthest spot, but they could still see her and Chris through the window.

  They were having a beer.

  Chris looked serious.

  Then she did too.

  Now she was
holding his hand.

  None of that was extraordinary, but with the last few days, Ethan was having a hard time with it. From the looks, if he didn’t know better, the two of them were sharing an intimate moment. It just didn’t fit.

  From what they both had said, to this, and then add in the comments from the detective, the report where it said she used the Mercedes, but she admitted it was someone she was seeing.

  His gut was a tempestuous brew.

  Ethan didn’t know what to think.

  He glanced over at his brother, who was drinking a coffee. Instead of simply sipping it, he was biting at the lid. That was something he only did when he was nervous.

  “What are you worried about?”

  “That if she finds out we’re basically stalking her, she’s going to be upset. I really like a calm, peaceful life where I don’t have to get all freaked out.”

  He did too, but this was off.

  “Are you sure she doesn’t seem off to you?” he asked.

  “No. She’s tired that’s all.”

  He was pretty sure his brother had just lied to him.

  But why?

  What the hell was going on in his happy little family, where his wife was hiding something, and now his brother was too?

  “Are you sure she never told you she and Chris had a thing? Do you think she’s having an affair?”

  God!

  This sucked.

  He’d lied and betrayed his brother once before, and if this came out, the shit was going to hit the fan. Callen knew who would be wearing it too.

  Oh, this would be all over him.

  He could lose his brother over this.

  Or Ethan could just kill him. Yeah, that was what was likely going to happen, and it was going to suck big time.

  “Something is off.”

  Ethan watched them. When she pulled out her phone, and began rattling off a text, he pulled out his. Hopefully, it was going to be a message to him, letting him know what the hell is going on in their world.

  It felt like it was bursting at the seams with bad shit waiting to blow.

  When his phone and Callen’s chimed, they both looked down at them.

  ‘Meet you at the morgue. I have something to tell you.’

  Callen prayed it had nothing to do with Elizabeth and Chris having had a relationship for all those years. If it did, Ethan was going to lose it.

  There was no way he’d hold it together if this was dropped on him now.

  “We had better head there,” Ethan said, only to see his wife and Chris coming across the parking lot. She was tucked under his arm and she was letting him hold her against him.

  Beer on duty.

  This.

  What the hell?

  He was going to get to the bottom of this if it was the last thing he did.

  “Duck,” Callen hissed.

  They both did just that, sliding down in their seats so they could just barely peek over the dash to watch her. When Chris held the door for her, he leaned in, saying something.

  “See?”

  Callen was running out of options. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Before you go nuts, or do something stupid, think, Ethan. You need to stay calm.”

  “It’s hard not to go nuts when I know my wife is hiding something. This isn’t good. I can see it going shitty any second now.”

  Callen said a silent prayer to his grandfather to save their family.

  They were going to need it.

  “Just don’t flip your shit when she tells you, okay? You need to stay calm.”

  He glanced over. “Do you know anything?” he asked.

  Callen looked him right in the eyes and did the last thing he ever wanted to do.

  He lied.

  “No.”

  He was going to hell.

  “Okay, well, I will find out, and when I do…”

  “Ethan. Breathe.”

  This was exactly why Elizabeth didn’t want to tell him. Callen couldn’t blame her. This was going to be an epic mess. It was going to blow up in their faces.

  It was going to get someone hurt.

  He could feel it.

  Ethan knew one thing.

  He would get to the bottom of this.

  He would figure it out.

  When he did…

  Yeah, he didn’t know what he’d do, but everything would change, and he knew it. He was focused on the dream.

  The raven left.

  Now he wasn’t so sure.

  Was it her?

  Or was it him?

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

  Gabe and Livy

  Rothschild’s Home

  Gabe was in his office most of the day. He was handling a few things that weren’t work related. While he was always accustomed to risking his life, he knew he needed to get a few things down.

  He wrote each of his kids a letter, sealed it in an envelope, and then put them in his lockbox. Beside them, he put his will, his living will, and all the information about his burial arrangements for the day he died.

  If something happened, like he died from cancer anyway, he didn’t want his family to worry.

  Everything needed to be handled.

  Was it needed?

  No.

  He knew if something happened, Ethan would step up and help his family. It was part of their brotherhood. Now that he was a director, he and Ethan were the last remaining two.

  It was an unspoken rule you had each other’s back.

  He wasn’t worried.

  Gabe was simply being prepared.

  As he sat on his couch in his home office, he flipped through piles and piles of pictures. He’d taken them when Amy was little.

  She’d just been born, and he’d snapped as many as he could, trying to preserve the memories.

  Now that she was getting older, he knew there’d be men entering and exiting her life, she’d head off to college, and time would march on.

  These memories were precious to him. They felt like just yesterday.

  As he sat there, Livy came in. She was carrying two glasses of wine, and a bowl of popcorn.

  “Hey.”

  He looked up. “Hey, baby. I was thinking about you,” he said, holding up a picture of her fifteen years ago. It was after she’d given birth. “You were, and still are, so beautiful.”

  She handed him the wine.

  “You’re not going to die on me, are you?” she asked.

  He touched her cheek. “It wasn’t my plan.”

  She was glad.

  “What are you doing? Waxing poetic?”

  He laughed. “Remember these moments,” he said, handing her a picture.

  It was her feeding Amy.

  “Yes. You came home from work, you took that picture, and I told you I was pregnant with Aby.”

  He laughed.

  “I think I dropped the camera. I wasn’t expecting it, but that was one of the happiest moments of my life.”

  Hers too.

  She’d just had another man’s child, one the product of rape, and she’d been able to tell the man she loved she was now having his.

  “Remember what you told me?” Livy asked.

  “That she’s mine, and to stop looking so freaked out,” Gabe said. “They were tough times, but they made us, Livy. I had no way of knowing we’d end up here, but I’ve loved every second of the journey.”

  “I have too,” she said, picking up more pictures. “Wow, Elizabeth and I were damn young.”

  He looked over at the one she was holding. They were sitting on a desk, side by side, and smiling.

  “She looks the same. I don’t know how, but she’s withstood the test of time.”

  “I think she sold her soul to the devil,” he teased.

  She tried to laugh, but it hurt.

  “I know I’ll never get back there. I know that life will never return me to that moment, but I’m glad I had it. That’s love.”

  He knew she was hurting.

&
nbsp; “Are you going back to the FBI? Your suspension will be over soon.”

  “No. I’m not. I’m going to stay home, take care of my husband, and be a wife. It was a pipe dream to go back. I’m not her anymore. Then, I was tough, suspicious, and ready to be a Fed. I’m not like that now.”

  He listened.

  “You can smile, Gabe. I know you don’t want me to go back.”

  He still didn’t do it.

  He wasn’t stupid.

  NO.

  FREAKING.

  WAY.

  “Livy, if you need this, I support you.”

  She laughed and then wiped her eyes. “I can’t. I need to be here for you. I need to take care of my sick husband.”

  “Dad is sick?” came the voice from the doorway.

  They both glanced over.

  There stood Amy.

  She looked scared. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, staring at him.

  Well, none of this was going as planned.

  Gabe was officially out of control of his life, and he wasn’t likely to be getting any of it back.

  “Amy,” he said, standing.

  “When were you going to tell us?”

  “Not until after the chemo.”

  She covered her mouth with her hand. “Please don’t tell me you have cancer,” she said, her eyes filling with tears.

  “I do.”

  She started crying.

  Livy went to get up, and Gabe stopped her. Instead, he went to his daughter. She wasn’t the little baby she once was, but instead, despite her beginnings, she turned into a gorgeous woman. She looked just like her mother.

  He stopped in front of her. “I was going to tell you all later so you didn’t worry. I wanted to make sure that each and every one of you heard from me, privately.”

  She stared at him. “Are you going to die, Daddy?”

  His heart skipped. He wrapped his arms around her and she buried her face in his chest.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “You can’t know that.”

  He lifted her chin. “I can, and do know that. Have I ever lied to you?”

  “No.”

  He led her to the couch, and when there was no space thanks to the pictures and the popcorn, he sat her in his lap.