“Who shot her?” he asked, looking at Elizabeth.
“Not me. You know I go for head shots. If I pulled the trigger, she would have been in hell.” She pointed toward the ax and told him the story.
Ethan holstered his gun, relieved that his brother and wife were safe.
In the not too distant parking lot, they could hear the scream of sirens as the sheriff and the medics arrived.
“Well, we solved this one,” Ethan said, grinning at his partners. They weren’t only the people he admired most, but they were the ones he loved with all his heart.
As the people rushed the scene, they moved out of everyone’s way. The cleanup would begin, and they could add one more notch to the team’s belt. It was close, but this one wouldn’t be a cold case.
They caught the killers.
“Yeah, we certainly did. I say we wrap this up and head out of here. I want to see my kids, and we should give Wyler a couple of days off,” Elizabeth stated.
“Speaking of kids, we should get to making one,” Callen stated, only to have his brother laugh.
Then he realized Elizabeth didn't protest. For the first time in a year, she didn't argue.
“I told you I needed a couple months to overdose on Folic acid. Let’s aim for Christmas. I hate being pregnant in the middle of summer. It’s hotter than hades.”
“What the hell?” Ethan said, staring at his brother incredulously. “How did you swing that one?”
He smiled wickedly. “Ahhh, grasshopper, the student has become the teacher.”
“Come on! I want more kids too!”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Yeah, this is going to come back to bite me in the ass. You give the Blackhawk boys an inch, and they take a mile.”
Callen grabbed his woman and planted one on her lips. When he released her, she was grinning.
“I love you, angel.”
She patted his cheek.
Ethan wasn’t sure if they were busting his ass or not. So, instead of being left out, he did the same thing.
Now, this was heaven.
Elizabeth Blackhawk couldn’t be happier if she tried.
They’d won.
Evil lost.
And they’d have another day to do battle.
Sometimes it wasn’t how neatly you tied it up, but just that you got it done.
And her team did it.
Again…
Epilogue
Three Weeks Later
She couldn’t believe that Brody was moving into her place. It was something so crazy that she should have probably been freaked out, but she wasn’t.
This felt right.
As he carried in his things, she watched the pile of personal stuff grow. It was funny to think that a few months ago they were only partners.
Now they were so much more.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Brody asked, dropping his dog’s bed on the floor. “You look really freaked out.”
“I am.”
“Oh. Did you change your mind?” he asked, brushing a stray piece of hair from her cheek with his casted hand. “If you don’t want me here, I can go.”
Brody would do anything Joey needed to be happy. They’d been through a lot, and he didn't want her to bolt. If moving in with each other was going to be an issue, he’d slow down.
“What? No! I was thinking about work. Are we really going to be able to pull this off? We’re going to be driving into work together every day. Won’t people figure it out?”
He started laughing, a weight lifting off his chest. Johanna still wanted a relationship with him. She was only sweating the small details.
That was so like her.
“We can drive to work in different cars, or we can borrow a Denali. Our co-workers will just assume you’re picking me up before the day starts.”
She relaxed. “You know, you’re an idiot.”
He looked surprised. “Umm...why?”
Johanna turned to face him. “For thinking I didn't want you to move in here. We’re a couple, Brody. I don’t want anyone to ever come before what we have. The job is the job. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“The Blackhawks could break us up.”
“You know…before that seemed like a bad thing, but after what we’ve lived through, that’s really nothing. I almost lost you, Brody. I don’t want to wake up and not have you by my side, so stop thinking that I don’t want you here.”
“Even with my dog?” he teased, moving closer to her.
She went into his arms. “Even with that mangy mutt of yours.”
He brought her mouth to his and let his lips show her exactly what lived in him for her.
There was love.
There was peace.
There was the beginning of their love story.
When her hands tugged his shirt from his pants, and then slid up his body to his chest, Broderick Seaton knew they needed to do something.
Christen their place.
“Couch?” he asked, as Johanna rubbed wantonly against his body.
“God! Yes,” she muttered, his mouth running across her throat and collarbone.
All the testosterone in his body fired, and suddenly, moving was forgotten.
With a push, Johanna found herself on the couch with Brody over her. His hands tugged at her clothes, and hers did the same. He had just gotten her shirt unbuttoned when the doorbell rang.
They moaned.
“Are you expecting someone?” she asked, stroking him through his jeans.
“Hell no! I’ve been plotting this molestation all day.”
Johanna snorted. “Well, you’re on top, and your clothes are still intact. Welcome home. Now get the door.”
Brody pushed off her body and growled. “When I get back, I’m going to really show you bossy.”
Johanna grinned wickedly at him. “Promises, promises, Agent. You better bring your handcuffs.”
He laughed on his way to the door.
His brain flooded with thoughts about Johanna in the shiny silver bracelets, pinned beneath him.
“Holy hell,” he muttered, running his fingers through his hair. When he got to the entrance, he made sure his clothes were still intact and covering the evidence of his arousal.
Opening the door, he saw a woman standing there. “Yes, can I help you?” he asked.
“I’m sorry! I must have the wrong address. I was looking for Johanna Madden.”
He checked the older woman out. “She’s here. Let me get her.”
Brody turned to call for his girl. “Joey, honey, it’s for you!”
He could hear her coming.
“Who is it, Brody?” she asked, coming around the corner. When she did, Johanna stopped.
“What do you want?” she asked, all the color leaving her face.
“Hello, Johanna. I’ve missed you too. I’ve moved back, and I thought I’d stop in and see you.”
Brody moved to her side.
Johanna really didn't look good. “Honey, are you okay?” he asked, dropping his arm around her shoulders.
“No. I’m not.”
He didn't understand what was going on.
“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” the woman asked.
Johanna moved toward the door and slammed it shut in the woman’s face.
“Joey, honey, what’s going on?”
“If she comes here again, I don’t want you to let her in. Do you hear me, Brody?” she said.
He took her face in his hands, and already tears were beginning to fill her eyes.
“Joey, who was that?”
She sniffled. “Please promise you won’t let her in.”
He’d do whatever she wanted. “Of course.”
“I really hate her.”
“Honey, who was that?”
Johanna wanted to weep.
No, she wanted to rewind the last few weeks, and instead of Brody moving in there, she should have moved into his place. Then she never would have shown up
on her doorstep.
“Joey?”
“That woman is my mother, and I have nothing to say to her.”
He didn't know what to say.
Johanna had told him that she was absent from her life, but that’s all he knew. “Okay, honey. It’s fine. She won’t bother you.”
She went into his body and held on.
Then the tears came.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Sheriff Rakin’s Office
Life had settled back into the normalcy that he loved so much. The university was trying to put Doctor Hallowell’s mess behind them, and everyone was grateful.
The FBI was gone.
The media was gone.
Life was returning.
Nick liked that best. After all, the mess had left a blemish on his town, and the people who lived there.
Sitting behind his desk, there was paperwork to handle before he could go home. When his cell rang, he glanced down at the number.
He grinned.
“Hey, bro! I’ve been trying to find you,” Nick said, answering his phone.
“Yeah, I got your messages. I was working on something here, and I couldn’t get back to you. You know…US Marshal stuff.”
Nick totally got it.
“What did you need?”
He laughed. “Have you seen the news?”
Dakota Rakin was a busy man, but he’d managed to pick up a few stories while out in the field. “Yeah, I saw the fun you were having there. Is everything settling down?”
Nick laughed. “Yeah, Dak, it is. We had the FBI here. They sent three directors to handle it.”
“Yeah, I saw Director Blackhawk on the news giving the media an update. He’s some hotshot out of FBI West.”
“What else do you know about him?” Nick asked.
“That he’s one of the up and coming power players in the Federal government. He was hand-picked by the president’s BFF, Gabriel Rothschild.”
Nick laughed. “What do you know about his partner?”
“Nothing. I don’t usually handle the west coast. When they send me out, it’s usually the east. Why?”
“You’re going to want to pick up some jobs out in Damascus,” he began.
“Why’s that?”
Nick started laughing. “Guess who’s partnered up with Director Ethan Blackhawk.”
Dak didn't have a freaking clue. “How the hell should I know?” he asked.
Nick couldn’t wait to drop this bomb.
“It’s someone you know.”
“Who?”
“Elizabeth LaRue.”
There was a pause at her name. Dakota hadn’t had anyone say that name to him in a very long time. In fact, he hated hearing it. Elizabeth LaRue broke his heart, and honestly, he still wasn’t over it.
“Dak?”
“What?”
“Did you hear me?”
“Yeah. I gotta go, Nick. I have to get back to work. I’m in the middle of chasing two crazies across country. Talk to you later.”
The phone went dead before Nick could tell him anymore.
“Dak? Are you there?”
Apparently, he wasn’t. Nick put down his phone and shook his head.
Wow!
If his brother was this pissed over hearing her name, it was probably a damn good thing that he didn't tell him that she was married to him too.
A damn good thing.
Who knew what Dak would do?
Meanwhile…
They were the perfect couple. Everything about them was exactly what they were looking for in victims to add to their collection.
She was beautiful.
He was sexy.
Yes, they would be perfect for what they had in mind. They’d traveled the country, and for a full year, when they located the perfect town, they studied their prey.
They watched.
They waited.
Now, they’d move on them.
Before this holiday was out, they’d have them as their own. Why they needed to take them both was simple.
It was a Christmas gift to themselves.
There was nothing like a little bloodshed around the holidays. The screams, torture, and the destruction of love made them very happy.
It was twisted.
It was sick.
They’d take these two and make them pay for having it all. The beautiful people in life had it easy, and it wasn’t fair. So, this year for Christmas, they were getting a gift they didn't see coming.
They were going to die. It would be slow and painful too. There’d be six couples, just like there had been in all those other cities, and before it was over so much blood would be shed.
In the end, they’d leave a path of destruction in their wake, and they wouldn’t feel bad. Why should they?
It was the season for giving and taking, and once more, they weren’t going to sit back and watch.
No, they were going to enjoy the holiday.
It was time.
They could hear it now.
Slay Bells Ring…
Coming Next:
Hell is Burning
Croft & Croft Romance
Other books by Morgan Kelley:
Standalone books
The Junction
Serial Sins
The Blood Betrayal
Romance/FBI Thriller Series
Elizabeth, Ethan, and Callen
The Killing Times (book 1)
Sacred Burial Grounds (book 2)
True Love Lost (book 3)
Deep Dark Mire (book 4)
Fire Burns Hot (book 5)
Darkness of Truth (book 6)
Devil Hath Come (book 7)
Consumed by Wrath (book 8)
Redemption is Here (book 9)
Dead Shall Speak (book 10)
Pledging to Die (book 11)
Sleigh Bells Ring (book 12) Winter 2015
Past will Haunt (book 13) 2016
Choices will Destroy (book 14) 2016
Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Series
Greyson and Emma Croft
Celestia is Falling (book 1)
Vegas is Dying (book 2)
Christmas is Killing (book 3)
Love is Bleeding (book 4)
Heaven is Weeping (book 5)
Hell is Burning (book 6) Fall 2015
Justice is Dead (book 7) Spring 2016
The Littlemoon Investigations Series
Julian and Tori Littlemoon
Blood Red Rage (book 1)
Lost & Broken (book 2)
Unthinkable Games (book 3)
Truth is Found (book 4) November 2015
Haven of Nightmares (book 5) Spring 2016
The Carter Chronicles Trilogy
Callista, Nathaniel, and Lucas
Sinner Repent (book 1)
Sinner Realized (book 2)
Sinner Reborn (book 3)
The Oracle Chronicles Series
Nathaniel Carter and Avalon Miller
Oracle Rising (book 1) March 2016
Harcourte Vampyre Society
Jolie, Jacques and Flynn
Dangerous Revelations (book 1)
Dangerous Choices (book 2)
Dangerous Misery (book 3) summer 2015
Dangerous Retaliation (book 4) summer 2015
The Justice Series
Greyson, Emma, and team.
Dark Justice (book 1) 2016
Anthologies
All the couples in one book
Illegal Fantasies-
Behind Closed Doors(1)
Romance Under Arrest- winter 2014
Behind Closed Doors(2)
Holiday Reinforcements-
Behind Closed Doors (3) 2015
Please feel free to visit her at her website
www.morgankelley.com, or visit her blog at
www.morgankelley.blogspot.com
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Morgan Kelley, Pledging to Die (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 11)
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