Sacred Burial Grounds (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 2))

by Kelley, Morgan

  He laughed hoarsely. “I believe it. My wife is out of control.”

  She rolled to the side of his body and laid her head on his chest. “I think we were pretty quiet.” Elizabeth only hoped.

  “Just so you know, Lyzee. We’re married and I can have sex with you pretty much anywhere I want. It says so on the license. It’s in the fine print on the back, and the third line from the bottom.”

  It was her turn to laugh. She was about to say something when his grandfather knocked on the door.

  “Ethan Jackson Blackhawk, when you’re done mauling your wife, breakfast is ready.”

  Elizabeth started giggling and couldn’t stop. “He so knows that you're the animal, not me.” She kissed him again, just because she could and because she was the ‘good’ one.

  When he pulled away he rolled over and pinned her again. “Keep it up and I’ll do it all over again.”

  “Really Cowboy, I dare you to try,” she whispered, and ran her hands down the length of his body, until she cupped him again.

  Blackhawk felt his body warm up again for her, as he returned the kiss. Breakfast could wait.

  Not only did Ethan Blackhawk dare, he accomplished.

  * * *

  Callen dressed, made coffee and listened to the silence of the house. The Denali that Elizabeth had driven to the reservation wasn’t outside, and there were no sounds emanating from the inside the house. Looks like his grandfather either beat Ethan within an inch of his life, or he was with his wife watching over her, still on the reservation.

  Whitefox scribbled a note to his brother and Elizabeth on a piece of paper, and he ran out the door. Duty called and there were obligations of the work kind that waiting on his ‘to do’ list. He needed to head into the office for a bit and it would just be easier to grab some breakfast along the way. No point in making a mess of Elizabeth’s kitchen for just himself.

  He had a restful sleep and wanted to enjoy his day. Peaceful Sunday mornings were a treasure for him. They were generally quiet on the reservation and that was the highlight of his day. He would have peace as he tried to get his work completed. Whitefox didn’t want to spend too much time away from his family; he just had this feeling like he needed to stick close. It wasn’t like he could pinpoint why, it was just a feeling that nagged at him compulsively.

  Call it his gut instinct.

  * * *

  Timothy waited for his grandson and his granddaughter-in-law at the table. As he was reading the paper and trying not to laugh, there was no doubt what his grandson was up to in his spare bedroom. Timothy remembered being young himself, kissing and making up with his wife after a big fight was always half the fun. It gave him peace to know his boy found happiness, and it was the kind that would last him a lifetime. When Elizabeth exited first all flushed, she kissed him on the cheek and gave him a hug, and he knew she was trying to not laugh.

  “Good morning, Granddad,” she said, winking at the older man and had him chuckling.

  “How did you sleep?” he asked, eyeing his grandson as he joined them at the table. “Before my boy woke you up.”

  Elizabeth grinned and was about to make a comment when her husband pointed, warning her to behave as he tried to not laugh. “I slept great, thank you Granddad.”

  “And you, Ethan?” he looked over at the man; his eyebrow lifted, trying to give him a stern look in jest.

  Elizabeth snickered into her coffee cup, as she stared over at her husband who was trying to look innocent.

  “I slept really well,” he answered, grinning at his grandfather. Timothy was a man, and there was no doubt he knew exactly how he was feeling. There was always that telltale smugness after a man got lucky. If that man happened to get lucky twice, well then the smugness was even more noticeable.

  “I didn’t know what you wanted to have for breakfast, since you weren’t up. I hope cereal is acceptable for you, Elizabeth.”

  She watched her husband drinking his coffee and timed it just right. Elizabeth was going to wipe the smug right off his face. “Oh, Granddad, don’t worry. I’m easy.”

  Blackhawk choked on the hot liquid and his grandfather laughed uproariously at her simple comment, as he slapped his grandson on the back.

  “Elizabeth!” Blackhawk stared at her and then started laughing.

  She started eating her cereal, and her own smugness had settled in that she had won this round. That’d teach him to be cocky, like she was a conquest.

  Timothy definitely loved everything about this woman. She made his grandson loosen up completely and live a free life. It was the best thing he could hope for in a wife for him. Now all they needed was a house full of children, and he’d be completely satisfied. “What will you two do today?”

  “Work,” she answered, the happiness leaving her face. What she wouldn’t do for a day off with her husband. Although he apologized to her, she was wary that the hostility would be back once they were focused on the assignment.

  “Later we will, but this morning I want to head to the burial grounds. I think I need to properly introduce my wife to my mother.” He looked over at his grandfather. It wasn’t right that he’d made her go alone. When they married, all the difficult things were theirs to carry together and not her alone. It was his mother after all, and he remembered how she stood above her own parent’s graves. It was time he did the same. “Will you go with me, baby?” he asked softly and opened his arms to her.

  “Absolutely.” Elizabeth went to him and sat in his lap, kissing his cheek and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

  “I’m proud of you my boy,” he patted his knee. He was more than proud. He knew how hard coming home had been for his grandson.

  “I was also thinking,” he said, looking up into his wife’s eyes and running his thumb across her cheek. “You mentioned you’d be open to have a naming ceremony on the reservation once we have this baby. Are you still willing to do that?”

  “I want our children to know their heritage, Ethan. I’m proud that they’ll be born Blackhawks. I was attracted to you because of your Native heritage, so why would I want to pretend our children aren’t part of that?”

  Blackhawk was completely in love with his wife. “I think before we have that ceremony for our child, we need to have a ceremony first, you and I.”

  “What are you asking Ethan?” Elizabeth felt her heart pound in her chest.

  Ethan Blackhawk was going to start embracing the man he was, and stop running from the demons that chased him. “We didn’t get a wedding. We eloped, so I guess I’m asking you to marry me here on the reservation, and if my grandfather would do the ceremony. It’ll be extra special.”

  “The answer is and always will be yes, Cowboy. I’ll marry you all over again.”

  “Granddad? Will you officiate for us?” He looked over at his grandfather, whose eyes were filled with tears. It was time he atoned for abandoning his family and his heritage. If his wife could easily accept that he was Native American, Blackhawk was willing to do the same and return to his roots.

  His grandson was home and he was finally finished hiding from his past, and it would be a wedding to celebrate. “I would be honored to do it.”

  “One condition,” he said, grinning at his wife. “I want it over the top, and I want Elizabeth to have a wedding that she’ll never forget. Invite the entire tribe for all I care. I’m coming back and bringing my beautiful bride with me.”

  “Yee haw, Cowboy!” Elizabeth couldn’t help but kiss her husband again. Ethan Blackhawk was out of his shell and back. The wayward son was willing to come home and stay.

  “I want this to be a day to remember for the rest of your life.”

  Elizabeth grinned at her husband. “Ethan, it’s going to involve half naked Natives wearing feathers, how can it not be?”

  “On second thought- I’m planning this wedding.”

  Elizabeth laughed at the serious look on his face and kissed him. There was no other man like Ethan Blackhawk.

&
nbsp; Elizabeth covertly observed her husband as he pulled up to the burial grounds, and she was beginning to wonder if he had taken too big of steps to get to this point. He looked like he was going to drive away, which she would completely accept if he did. She understood how hard this was going to be for him. After all, she didn’t go back north for over a year when her father died.

  “We can drive right home and not look back,” she offered, taking his hand and giving him her complete support.

  Blackhawk thought about it, and then shook his head. “No, let’s just do it. I’ll be okay. I just feel awkward about it. I stayed away so long, longer than I should have.”

  He got out of the Denali and Elizabeth met him in the grass, taking his hand and offering him strength, as he once did for her. “Come on, baby. It’s going to be okay,” she said softly, leading him to where she knew his mother lay.

  “I haven’t been here in so long. I don’t remember where she was laid to rest.”

  “I do. Come with me.” Elizabeth kissed his cheek and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’ll get you through this, I promise.”

  Blackhawk nodded and let his wife lead him to his mother’s grave.

  “Your mom and my mom had the same first name.” She tried to give him some comfort and put him more at ease.

  “I was so young. I didn’t know her name. She was just mom to me then. How horrible is it that I didn’t know her first name?”

  Elizabeth stopped in front the stone, with his mother’s name carved into it, and patiently waited for him to decide what he wanted to do. “Ethan, you were just a boy. Your mom wouldn’t be upset that her son didn’t know her name. She was ‘mom’, and that’s all that really matters.

  Blackhawk just stared at the stone blankly. This wasn’t how he remembered her and maybe that was a good thing. All the thoughts of her were good times, like her laughter, making cookies and the moments they shared together. It gave him peace.

  “Tell me about her,” she asked, wanting to know what he was thinking.

  “We used to get up really early on Saturdays and watch cartoons on the couch under a blanket. Then she’d make me breakfast every day, just like you do.”

  Elizabeth hugged him. “Sounds like a great way to spend the day.”

  “Then we’d ride our bikes around the reservation, and up to the quarry. She’d help me find the rocks that I wanted to keep. I found almost all the rocks you saw at granddad’s house.”

  “He gave me one,” she offered, pulling it from her pocket and opening her hand and showing him. Elizabeth saw the flash of recognition right before he buried it deep. “Now that I know its significance, I’ll treasure it even more.”

  “My mom held that stone in her hand a lot.”

  Elizabeth Blackhawk clutched it tight in her pocket. It was a treasure to her now, and like the wilted daisy it would be cherished.

  Blackhawk stared at the tombstone, and his body was as stiff as a board.

  Elizabeth knew he couldn’t do it, so she did what she promised. She carried him when he couldn’t handle it on his own, much like he did for her when they were at her parent’s grave. “Mrs. Blackhawk,” she released him and moved closer to the stone. “It’s Elizabeth again. I came back with Ethan. I just wanted to tell you that you have an amazing son. He’s loyal, smart, and a kind man with a big heart. Thank you for loving him while you were here, and making him the man he is today. I love him with all I have in me,” she paused as her husband moved to her side, and they both sat on the grass holding hands. “We’re having a baby. Granddad tells me it’s going to be a boy, and I wish you were here to see him born. Your son is going to be an amazing father. I can already tell.” Elizabeth glanced over at him, a single tear breaking free and rolling down her cheek. “He kisses my belly and makes me eat salads, because he’s already worried. You did a really good job. I promise I’ll keep him safe for the rest of his life. Granddad passed the job off to me, and I won’t let either of you down.” She kissed her fingers and touched the stone lightly. “He gave me your ring, and I love it. It’s beautiful and I promise to take care of it, and cherish it until the end of my days. Thank you for the gift of an amazing son.”

  Ethan couldn’t breathe. Just holding in the emotion was overwhelming as he listened to her words. So many tears threatened to fall. He didn’t realize how much he missed his mother, and he didn’t know how his wife understood so well. Leaning on her strength, he found he could finally speak.

  “Hi Mom,” he said softly and took a deep breath, closing his eyes. “I miss you, and think about you every day when I see little things that remind me of you. I know that I should have come back sooner to see you, and I hope you can forgive me. I just wasn’t ready. There was no way I could make this trip alone, and I needed to wait until I found the right person to join me.” Blackhawk stared down at the flowers that his wife had to have placed there the day before. “Remember, how I always told you that I was going to marry someone just like you? Well, I did Mom. I found my miracle, and I have to believe that you had something to do with it,” he said softly, and then he looked over at his wife and wiped the tear from her cheek. “I’m really happy, Mom. After watching you be so sad for so many years, I didn’t believe this kind of happiness could exist. I was so wrong, Mom.”

  Elizabeth squeezed his hand.

  “Now that I’m going to be a father, I completely understand that kind of love. Thank you, for sticking around when it would have been easier to run. Thank you for giving me the last part of your life, Mom, when you could have been out enjoying your last days, instead of focusing on me.” Ethan Blackhawk closed his eyes again and took another breath, struggling for composure.

  Elizabeth tried so hard not to cry. All she wanted was to be strong for him, but hearing his words and seeing what was locked so deep inside him touched her. Maybe it was because she was going to be a mother, and she would have a son of her own one day. All she hoped was that he turned out just like his father.

  “I love you Mom, and I kept my promise. I saved those words for the only woman other than you that deserved to hear them. You were right, Mom. If I waited to share those words with the right one, it would mean everything.”

  Yeah, she loved him more than anything in the world. If him control freaking her to death was what would make her husband happy, she’d suck it up and let it go.

  Ethan Blackhawk stood, pulling his wife up against his body. “We have to go, Mom,” he said, then he paused to continue, “Remember how I used to tell you I wanted to be a cop or a robber?” he laughed. “I chose the right path, and I know you were worried I’d be the robber.”

  Elizabeth laughed with her husband.

  “Now I have to find a killer, but I promise that I’ll be back.”

  “We’ll be back,” Elizabeth added. “I promise too.”

  Ethan nodded and didn’t say anything else. It was as if he was having a private conversation with his mother in silence. Elizabeth just remained at his side, as she would until the end.

  “Let’s go baby,” he took her hand and walked her back to the car. “I want to go home.”

  Callen Whitefox sat in his office and signed off on everything he was responsible for and then the next day’s work too. At this point he needed to stay ahead, as he would be out in the field with his brother the next day. They had to interview a few people for the assignment. Then it occurred to him that maybe his brother’s wife would be doing it, and they wouldn’t need him. Something like disappointment started growing in him as he dwelled on it. He found working for the FBI intriguing and exciting, and he was going to miss it when it was over. A part of him would miss being near his brother and the bond that they were rebuilding.

  Looking down at his watch, he was perplexed. Chester Biggs was due into the office and was late. They were both going to swing over to the Montgomery family home and deliver the bad news. He’d give him a few more minutes, and then he was going to go to his place and see what was keeping him. Once
this was all taken care of he wanted to head back to his brother’s house and spend more time with his family. It had been such a long time since he felt the attachment to others that he found himself desperate to be with them. After years of no family, it felt amazing to have what he had been missing back in his life.

  Elizabeth was in her kitchen making them lunch. Her husband was lying on their couch barefoot and shirt off, and she had to force herself to keep busy. Dressed he was distracting, but shirtless she was finding herself creating little fantasies in her mind. Unfortunately, he was very aware of his effect on her. There was no doubt it was intentional. Oh yeah, she was aware of his little game. He’d take his shirt off, she’d get all hot and bothered and they’d roll around more. Well she wasn’t falling for it this afternoon. She wanted to plan for tomorrow’s interviews without distraction. Maybe if she thought about death and the killer, she could keep from climbing all over him.

  Maybe.

  Or maybe not.

  Elizabeth made his sandwich and placed a pickle on the plate before carrying it in, placing it right on his well-defined abs to prove she was in control. Deliciously sculpted abs, and her mind wandered again.

  Damn him!

  “Thanks for lunch, baby,” he said, picking up the plate and sitting up. Ethan Blackhawk lifted a brow. Not a comment about the shirt being off? That was just very unlike his wife. Usually she’d make some comment, or forgo lunch to make out with him. That had been his master plan for the afternoon.

  “You're welcome,” Elizabeth answered, without looking up. “Do you want to talk about our strategy for tomorrow?”

  “Okay.” He warily took a bite of his sandwich. “Your area is connecting the dots, so who do you want to go at first?” He was still nervous about her being out in the field, but he had to let this play out, or he’d drive her away.