Pledging to Die (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 11)

by Morgan Kelley

  She shook her head. “Room—as in singular. I want them together in one place.”

  He looked at her as if she was crazy. “Ma’am, that’s not hospital policy. We don’t put people of the opposite sex in the same room.”

  “They were nearly killed, and I’m the only FBI agent available for protection duty. I think that if your hospital allows anyone to get hurt, they’re going to be more worried about that than the fact you put a man and woman in a room together. I’m pretty sure they’ll be on their best behavior.”

  He didn't argue because she had a point.

  “I’ll take care of it.”

  When the man walked away, Levi Seaton grinned. “You got them to bend so they could share a room. You’re a pretty soft FBI agent.”

  “Yeah, that’s me. I’m a pushover,” she stated. “Oh, actually, when I kill them for breaking the rules, this is just going to be a hell of a lot easier. It’s only one door to lock.”

  He simply stared.

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

  When they wheeled her into the room, she wanted to weep. All Johanna Madden wanted was to find Brody and make sure he was okay. She was sick as a dog, and her head was pounding in her ears.

  The meds they pumped into her had saved her life, but they were also making her want to close her eyes and hide in sleep.

  Only, she couldn’t.

  No, she wouldn’t.

  The last thing she remembered was watching the three men pound on Brody’s body. She’d saw him putting up a fight as they broke him any way they could.

  It wasn’t fair.

  It wasn’t right.

  It made her sick.

  She’d kept asking to see him the second they woke her up, but they wouldn’t tell her anything. Then again, she was so looped on the drugs, they could have told her he was gone, and she wouldn’t have known.

  It scared her.

  If he was dead…

  Her heart pounded in her chest, and Johanna wanted to weep. She struggled to calm herself down so she could focus on the task at hand. She needed to find him.

  As they wheeled her in, the orderly patted her on the shoulder. “Shhhh. It’s okay. You have a roommate to keep you company. Your boss arranged it.”

  She didn't know what that meant.

  Johanna hoped, but she wasn’t quite sure if she’d get that lucky. After all, she’d broken just about every rule, and here they were—nearly dead.

  When he helped her into the bed, Johanna pointed at the curtain, which blocked her view of the other side of the room. “Please open it,” she stated.

  When he did, she couldn’t believe her eyes.

  Yes, there was Brody, but he looked like hell.

  In fact, he looked like death warmed over. His face was battered and bruised, his arm was casted, and his breathing was labored.

  Oh God!

  What had she done to him?

  This was all her fault, and she couldn’t help but blame herself. After all, she was the one who opted to ignore their boss and get caught in one of the rooms. If he pulled through, she swore she’d never break the rules again.

  “Get some rest,” the orderly said, before wheeling the chair out of the room.

  That wouldn’t be possible. How could she, in good conscience, rest when the man she loved looked like he’d gone a few rounds with a heavyweight fighter?

  Jesus!

  Sitting there in her bed, she couldn’t stand to be that far away from him. The distance actually hurt, and there was no way that Johanna would rest alone in that bed. If the hospital put them together, this had to be a gift from Elizabeth Blackhawk. Her fingerprints were all over this.

  Gingerly, she dropped her legs over the side of the bed and used the IV pole to offer her some support. Wheeling it toward Brody, she stopped herself from touching him.

  His poor face was so abused and battered that it broke her heart. He was a bloody mess, even thought they had cleaned him up. She could see the vicious ugly bruises beginning to form on his body.

  What could she do?

  She started to cry.

  He must have heard her through his sedation because he struggled to open his eyes.

  “Joey,” he slurred, his fingers struggling to find hers.

  She touched his swollen cheek, wishing she could take all his pain away. If that were possible, Johanna would have carried it in a heartbeat. “You’re a mess, Brody,” she stated. “God! They really hurt you.”

  The tears helped him focus. “Don’t leave me, Joey. Please don’t leave me,” he whispered. “I’ll get better, and we’ll be okay. Just don’t run away from me again. I’m in no shape to chase you.”

  His words hurt more than her pounding head.

  How could she leave him?

  He nearly died to keep her alive.

  He was her hero. Brody took the abuse to try and protect her. He didn't have to come, but he did.

  “I won’t leave you,” she stated, pulling back the blankets on his bed. Gingerly, she climbed in against him, placing her body beside his. She could feel the plaster of his casted arm against her back as he struggled to hold her.

  “Joey,” he moaned, as the pain was too much.

  She kissed him on the cheek and held him safely in her arms. “Go to sleep, Brody. I’m here with you. I promise. When you wake up, I’ll be right here. I’m not moving. We’re in this together.”

  It seemed to offer him some sort of reassurance because there was an audible release of breath as he allowed the meds to pull him back under.

  Johanna ran her fingers gently over his chest, trying to soothe his aches. No, she’d never leave his side again. In fact, she was staying right there to play sentinel over her heart. As long as he was weak and needed her, Johanna wouldn’t leave her partner. She was going to stick.

  She loved him so damn much and owed him her life. From here on out, it was his.

  Everything she had was his.

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

  Morgue

  Time was ebbing away.

  While the frat boys stewed in holding, Elizabeth knew she needed to hit up the morgue for some details on the case.

  While she wanted to stay with her team, Elizabeth knew she had to get to work. Besides, Broderick’s father was sitting there, babysitting them.

  Now, it was all about the dead women. Later, when she handed the twisted frat boys their asses, then justice would be done for her team.

  While they may not have killed the women, they still drugged and raped them.

  For that, she’d take them down.

  Entering the morgue, Ethan and Callen beside her, she must have looked like she was about to kill because no one hassled her. There were no jokes, no salutes, and no comments from the peanut gallery.

  Well shit!

  This was a first.

  “We can start with the victim who was found in the storm drain,” Chris said, pulling off his soiled gloves. “I’m sure you’re going to want to hear about Poppy Gauger first.”

  She absolutely did.

  The entire time investigating this case, Elizabeth couldn’t help but feel like they were missing a piece to the puzzle. Now, they had all the victims, so nothing would be left out.

  “Her eyes were missing, and her chest was a mess. He used a knife of some sort to butcher her.”

  She moved closer but couldn’t bring herself to look into the woman’s face. “What else can you tell me? Have we confirmed when she was murdered?”

  “She died between Veronica Libbey and Lori Denny. Decomp puts her a few days before and after the other victims. She wasn’t held captive. She was decaying. The killer isn’t keeping them long. Hours after they’re dead, the missing person reports were called in on all of them.”

  It was good to know that he wasn’t taking women to keep locked up. That was just freaking creepy as hell.

  “COD?” she asked, as Callen remained at her side, taking notes.
<
br />   “She has a broken neck.”

  “Well, at least we’ve seen that one before,” she stated. “Maybe he’s finally getting his pattern on, and that will help us catch him,” she stated.

  “Yeah, don’t bet on that. He’s getting more and more violent,” Christ stated.

  Great.

  That wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

  “What about trace and tox?”

  Merry held up the papers with all the answers as she crossed the room. “We have some things you may like, and some you may not.”

  “Okay, hit me,” she said.

  “With Poppy Gauger, we found the same five samples of DNA that were on the first victims, but this one had a surprise mixed in.”

  “What?” she asked.

  “Another person had sex with her.”

  Elizabeth stared at her. “What? You have a sixth semen sample now?”

  “We found the swimmers of another male mixed in,” Merry stated. “It looks like one more joined the party at some point.”

  Elizabeth simply stared at her husband. “What the hell, Ethan? He’s switching everything up at this point. I don’t even know where to begin with this one. There’s no way that those five frat boys could be the killer. They had our agents at the same time that the killer had the last victim.”

  He was well aware. Ethan was just as befuddled on this one as his wife. For the first time, he was stumped.

  They urged Merry to continue.

  “As for tox, she was loaded up with the same drugs used to incapacitate the others.”

  At least that remained the same.

  “There’s more,” Merry stated.

  “Okay, I can’t wait to hear this. It should be one hell of a discussion. I can’t imagine there’s more for you to drop on us,” she stated.

  “Well, there is. Remember that single flake of dandruff that we found on Lori Denny?” she asked.

  “Yes. Why?”

  “It’s a perfect match to the semen found mixed into the five other samples.”

  Well, that was shocking.

  “So, we have our victims leaving the party, only to be poached by the killer,” she stated.

  “True.”

  “Now, we only have to figure out who it is,” Elizabeth stated, “and we have to do it with some sperm and a flake of dandruff. Yeah, that doesn’t seem insanely hard at all.”

  Merry understood her frustration. “Welcome to my world.”

  “Have we tested everything from the campus cop? I know you took DNA and everything else.”

  “Not yet, Director. It’s slotted to be done today if you don’t deliver any more bodies. We’ve had to push everything else back to process the dead.”

  Yeah, well, from her mouth to God’s ears.

  “Is there anything else that I need to know about Poppy Gauger?”

  “Well, the sex was pretty rough, but she’d just spend time with some frat boys, so I can’t tell where it started and ended. That’s going to go to the grave with our victim, until you can find the killer.”

  “Okay, how about our newest victim? Do we have a name for her yet?”

  Chris shook his head. “She didn't have any ID on her, so I don’t know if there was a missing person report filed.”

  Elizabeth had a solution. “I’ll be heading back to the hospital in a little while to check on our agents, and I’ll ask Johanna. She should know her after living on that dorm floor for almost three weeks.”

  While Chris wanted to ask how they were doing, he could see that the bosses were focused on the facts, and nothing less.

  “This victim,” he said, moving the sheet to give the directors a better look.

  “As you can see, she’s missing her uterus. While Page Pinel was obliterated there, this time, the killer was a little less messy. He left nothing behind.”

  She stared at the bodies.

  They were missing something. Her head was buzzing and she had that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  “What else did he cut up on her?”

  Chris shrugged. “Nothing. He cut open her pelvis, and that’s it. In fact, there was very little damage to her other than that.”

  Again, this was new.

  The killer was trying to keep them on their toes.

  “Were there any samples left behind?” Ethan asked.

  “Not from sex,” Chris stated, “but Merry found those expensive wool fibers again. They were all over her.”

  So they had something at least.

  “But he didn't mutilate any other part of her?” she asked one more time. She was still having a hard time believing it.

  “No. He didn't. Maybe it was because he was in a hurry.”

  That didn't work with her.

  A killer did things for a reason.

  A serial killer tended to be more methodical, and each move meant something—or at least that’s what she learned, the last few years, working with Ethan.

  “Chris, pull all the girls out of the cooler and place them out in order. I want to see them side by side. I’ll be in with Agents Blaise and Flowers. That should give you plenty of time.”

  He stared at her. “You really need to see them all laid out? That’s six women, Lyzee. I don’t have time to play around. We’re backlogged here.”

  She gave him the look. “Do it, or you’ll have plenty of time on your hands when you’re collecting unemployment.”

  He shut up.

  Again, her face and voice held no humor. Apparently, she was dead serious.

  “Get the bodies,” he said, as they left the room. “Make it fast. She’s in a bad mood and someone’s head is going to roll before this day is out. I’d prefer it be a killer’s and not any of ours.”

  The tech team hustled.

  They knew that today would be a bad day to piss off the boss.

  A really bad day.

  Inside the other room, she found her agents doing paperwork. One was still running the victims against anyone they had tagged as a suspect, and Jason was working on the transcript of the previous evening’s debacle.

  “What do we have?” she asked, trying to keep calm.

  “We have audio from last night. Do you want to hear it?” he said, turning his tablet around.

  “Sure.”

  He hit play, and for the next fifteen minutes, Elizabeth was horrified. It was quite obvious when Johanna had gotten into trouble, and instead of immediately calling in backup, Jason let her be taken.

  While she was angry, Ethan looked three days past pissed—even Callen looked horrified.

  All three of them were beyond irate. This was something that couldn’t, and wouldn’t, be tolerated.

  While each of them were willing to risk themselves, none would ever let their partners get in trouble. You were supposed to always have their back.

  It was obvious that Jason Blaise didn't rush in when he was supposed to, and for ulterior reasons. Had he, then Brody and Johanna wouldn’t be in hospital beds.

  He’d risked two good agents, and that wasn’t something they took lightly.

  How could they?

  While they wanted to get angry, telling the man off, instead they continued listening. When they got to the part where Johanna’s com was picking up the confession, Elizabeth wanted to be sick.

  What Jason Blaise risked was astronomical.

  Their female agent was minutes from being sexually assaulted.

  It was horrifying.

  It was clearly heard over the com how they intended to rape her. Yet still, her partner did nothing. It wasn’t until the men were ready to hurt Brody that the other agent called for backup.

  What pissed them off even more was that the man was a little too happy over the entire thing. He was actually beaming—like a child who received a really great present or one who got straight A’s on his report card.

  Yeah, not exactly.

  Jason continued, “So, we have them admitting to drugging the women, and also having sex with them. Plus
, with this recording, we also have them assaulting two Federal officers. They’re going away for a long time thanks to this undercover operation.”

  Ethan was going to let Elizabeth handle this one. Out of the three of them, she could strike like a viper, and the victim wouldn’t even know it was coming.

  This should be fun to watch.

  If he dealt with this mess, he could see himself beating the man to a bloody pulp.

  “That was a good plan,” she stated, trying to keep calm. “I like how you dangled the prey in front of the sharks, waiting for them to take a bite. You knew they’d implicate themselves, and you didn't want them to slip away.”

  “Exactly.”

  Heidi Flowers looked horrified.

  She didn't know what he’d been planning, but she saw where this was going. Jason Blaise would have too, if he wasn’t so arrogant.

  Shit!

  They were in trouble.

  “Agent Flowers, were you part of this?” Ethan asked.

  She shook her head. “Not that part, sir. I was aware that Johanna was going to search the rooms. I wasn’t listening in on the com. I was doing searches.”

  They believed her, since she had the common sense to look scared shitless. She obviously got it, unlike the smiling man beside her.

  “Dismissed,” Elizabeth stated, watching her run from the room like she was on fire.

  Jason Blaise actually looked confused. “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “You risked their lives to close a case.”

  He didn't argue that. “Yes, I did, and because of it, we now know that they were the ones who were drugging the women all along. With the new body, they’re eliminated from being the killer. My gamble paid off and in a big way.”

  She wanted to punch him.

  “Seriously? You let your partner be taken, nearly raped, and you’re thinking big shiny star for this? You can actually sit there with that dumb ass grin on your face, and not see the bigger picture?”

  He stared at her. “My job is to get it done. I could hear Johanna the entire time, so she was completely safe. I did what I thought was right, since she was going in anyway. That was on her, but I had her back. When this opportunity came up, I knew it would work. Besides, Gabe gave me…”