Act of Blood (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 16)

by Kelley, Morgan

  Livy agreed.

  “Was there anyone who had it in for her? Who gets this job now that she’s dead?”

  “I heard her talking on the phone a few days ago.”

  “To?”

  He shook his head. “Honestly, she didn’t say. When I asked her, she told me it was someone who once worked on the troupe, and then she ended the conversation. If Selma didn’t want to talk, you couldn’t pull it out of her. She was a tough nut to crack.”

  “Do you have a list of those people?”

  He looked around. “Um…yeah, I might. I’d need to go through her files.”

  “Do your actors pay taxes or are they responsible for filing on their own?” Livy asked.

  “We deduct taxes.”

  “We can get the information from the IRS. We’re good. You can skip the search.”

  “Thank you. I have so much to do.”

  “Who is in charge of this circus now that Selma is dead?” This was a big motive for them. They were curious to see if he’d be honest about it.

  “I guess me—for the time being. There is a board of trustees, and they’ll make a decision. Until then, we have to keep putting on the show. We’ve sold tickets, and ‘King Lear’ is one of Shakespeare’s best plays.”

  “Are you familiar with them all?” Livy asked.

  “Not as much as Selma was. She went to college in DC, and she studied theater with a focus on Shakespearean works.”

  That was interesting.

  There was a knock to the door.

  “Come in,” he said. “The show must go on.”

  While a light technician talked to Hardy, Elizabeth and Livy exchanged glances. The man was just handed a promotion, he was having sex with her, and he really didn’t look all that broken up over her death.

  This was interesting.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, standing to handle a situation. “The board needs to see me. They’ve called a meeting.”

  “At this time of the night?” Livy asked, looking at the clock. It was nearly one in the morning.

  “Yeah, they’re the bosses. They likely want to know if I can keep the show going now that Selma is gone.”

  Yeah, here was the promotion.

  “If you think of anything, give me a call,” Elizabeth said, rattling off her number for him. After he wrote it down, they headed out.

  “What do you think?”

  “My gut says I’m missing something. Everyone we’ve talked to in this case is somehow tied to that troupe of crazies. There has to be a thread we’ve overlooked. Once we find it, I think we’re going to have our killer. We need to break this all down later this morning. First, I want to find Callen and Ethan, and go from there.”

  “It’s going to be a long night.”

  “Yeah, I’ll catch some sleep in my office. You might want to do the same in Gabe’s. I hope you have your go bag ready to change, or you’re in those shoes all day tomorrow.”

  “Shit.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Sucks to be you.”

  Livy knew she was right. Being back on the job was so much harder the second time around.

  Someone was off their game.

  Her.

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

  When she searched for the men in her life, there was only one to be found. That surprised her, since she didn’t think Ethan would ever bail. As she approached Callen, the actresses were all around him, staring at him with big happy eyes.

  Oh, she recognized that look before. She had the same one when she was picturing herself molesting some Natives.

  It pissed her off.

  When he saw her coming, he smiled at her. It was the Blackhawk grin, and all the women around him actually swooned.

  Seriously?

  Someone was going to get hurt.

  “Hey, angel.”

  The second their eyes met, Elizabeth stopped worrying. Callen was looking at her as if the whole world revolved around her. The other women fell away, and it was only her.

  Elizabeth’s heart actually skipped.

  When held out his arm and she linked hers through it, there was peace. There were also a lot of disappointed women in their wake.

  Good.

  This Native was all hers.

  “What did you find out?” he asked, smiling down at her with calm chocolate-y brown eyes.

  Elizabeth swore he could melt ice with that look. Still, she had to focus.

  “Uh, first, where’s Ethan? Did you lose him in the sea of man piranhas?”

  “What?”

  “The women circling you like you were a tasty snack. Did they get Ethan?”

  He heard it in her voice. “Angel, no one can get me. I’m already taken.”

  Maybe it was that she was tired, or that she was sick of hearing how Callen was some goal women were trying to obtain.

  She needed to focus.

  “Ethan?”

  “Gabe came by and ordered his ass home. He has a meeting with POTUS in the morning, and he has to be on his game. He wasn’t happy to leave, but I told him I had it.”

  She didn’t say a word.

  Callen stopped walking and stared down at her. “What’s bothering you. Elizabeth, you can tell me what’s going on in your head. I’m here for you.”

  She was irritated.

  Livy opted to help her out. “She’s had to listen to a bunch of people talk about how you were on their sex list. She’s cranky.”

  He touched her cheek. “I might be on their list, but they aren’t on mine.”

  “It was irritating,” she stated. “It looked like the bees were trying to get pollen from my flower.”

  He snorted. “They can try, beautiful, but I like a mean wasp who hurts people. She’s what gets me all hot and bothered. I’m sick like that.”

  She couldn’t help it. Elizabeth laughed. Callen always had that one skill. Even if she was pissed, he knew what to say to lighten her mood.

  “I’ll sting you later.”

  “Yay!”

  Livy laughed. “Back to the job?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m simply at my max for the Jackson James poachers.”

  “Welcome to our world. We have to stare at men who are trying to get into your hive all the time. It can make you want to drink.”

  Yeah, it really could.

  “Besides, I happen to have a wife and husband that I’m dedicated to, and I’m not going to give that up. I’m not an idiot.”

  “Yeah, I’d hurt you.”

  He snorted. “You’d kill me. Who the hell are you kidding? You may look all sweet and sexy, but you’re vicious under the gorgeous.”

  Livy agreed.

  “I’ll tell Gabe you were flirting with an actor.”

  She gasped. “I was not!”

  “He’ll believe me.”

  “You are mean. Here’s your proof!”

  Elizabeth was aware, but her feet hurt, she was wearing a bra that made her boobs stick out of her dress, and her husband was being hit on by anything with a dick and a vagina. Today was NOT a good day for her.

  “Again, what did you find?” she asked, trying to focus on work. If she didn’t, someone would be bleeding.

  “Everyone was elsewhere on the stage. I talked to all the stagehands, and they said it was Selma who would get Gwendolyn hooked into her harness, and it was her job to hit the button to drop her dramatically onto the stage. It was the most dangerous part, so she was handling it.”

  “Yeah, look how that worked out for her.”

  “Not well.”

  Livy agreed with Callen.

  “What else?”

  “Most of the troupe agreed on one thing,” Callen offered. “It seemed that Selma Roth liked sex.”

  Yeah, so she’d heard.

  REPEATEDLY.

  “You were on her list,” Livy offered.

  Callen laughed. “Yeah, again, I like my women carrying guns and violent. I’m a masochist like that. Besides, I like being olde
r. When she calls me daddy, I get all giddy.”

  She hit him.

  “Do it again, but this time say it.”

  It made her laugh. “I have never called you daddy, and I’m not starting now, but thank you, I needed that.”

  He could tell.

  “Anything else?” she asked.

  “Just that she was like a freaking general and ran this show like her life depended on it. Ironically…”

  Yeah, that was ironic.

  “We need to figure out who killed her, why they were targeting this troupe, and who the hell is next,” Elizabeth stated.

  “Where to, boss?” Callen asked.

  “Back to the Hoover building. We have so much to do, and I have that feeling that there’s very little time to do it.”

  Neither disagreed.

  Elizabeth was generally right.

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

  It had gone off without a hitch.

  In fact, it was perfect.

  Being there to push her to her death, making her part of the show was exactly what was needed.

  How could this not bring attention?

  How could it not get rave reviews and the spotlight?

  It would.

  There was a purpose, and when it was revealed, it would be amazing.

  Granted, now there was a conundrum.

  They were getting close.

  The FBI was figuring it out. That wasn’t the plan at first. It was to get him to notice it, make him want to be part of it, and then to blow their minds.

  Somehow, along the way, control of the situation was lost, and that was a bummer.

  This wouldn’t become a story for all time.

  This wouldn’t be the legend that it deserved.

  There was only one way to save face, stay out of jail, and escape.

  They had to die.

  It was as simple as that.

  It looked like there was going to be one hell of a plot twist in this one.

  In the end, the hero and heroine wouldn’t make it out alive. They wouldn’t find the killer.

  In this book, there was only one outcome.

  The killer was going to get away.

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

  Hoover Building

  Back at base, they made sure the teams were settled in, getting trace worked, and the doctors had it under control. Elizabeth wanted out of the shoes, into some pants, and to shut down for a couple hours.

  She didn’t even have her damn phone, and that was irritating as hell.

  Bringing it with her to the play seemed stupid, and now she wished she’d done it. Callen or Ethan could have put it in their pockets with theirs.

  It sucked being a girl.

  Maybe the clothes just sucked. Had there been dresses with big, deep pockets, this wouldn’t have happened. She could have carried her phone, gun, and badge all at once.

  Callen tapped her on the shoulder.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Ethan sent a text. It’s to you.”

  She took his phone and read the message from her husband. It was time stamped an hour ago, right before he’d likely gone to sleep.

  ‘I want you and Callen to sleep in my office. The couch opens up. You can’t crash in yours. Your go bags are in there, and a surprise for you on the desk. I love you both. I’m sorry I had to leave. Duty called. Miss me because I miss you both so damn much that it hurts.’

  “He’s sweet.”

  “Actually, I’m the sweet one,” Callen offered. “I think we both know it.”

  She snorted. “You’re the horny one. That’s your claim to fame, and don’t ever change.”

  Oh, he wouldn’t.

  As long as she was his wife, he was going to stay crazy, horny, and lecherous.

  It was his thing.

  In fact…

  He’d been checking out her ass in that dress for the whole night. Right now, under his suit, he was hard, wild, and wanted her. Callen couldn’t help himself. It had been damn hard to keep his hands off her the entire night. When they were sitting in the theater box, he’d wanted to do something so wild that they’d both never forget it.

  Had Livy and Gabe not shown up, he pictured his wife on her knees and blowing him.

  The mere thought made his blood pressure shoot up.

  Yeah, she had nothing to worry about with the other women. When it came to wanting sex twenty-four hours a day, there was only one woman who did it for him.

  His Elizabeth.

  His woman.

  His beloved.

  Still, it struck a chord with him that she was jealous. With all the women he’d ever been with before her, none were ever possessive of him.

  It was nice.

  Well, Desdemona had been—especially with Elizabeth, but she’d been just shy of crazy.

  That was a whole different ballgame.

  Now he wanted his wife, and he’d planned to do something about it. He really hoped his brother didn’t mind fornication in his office.

  It was bound to happen. Maybe when they woke up, he’d take a few minutes to make his woman scream.

  Yeah, that sounded perfect.

  As they headed up to Ethan’s office, she keyed in the code for the door. They knew it, simply because nothing was off limits to his spouses. Ethan wanted them to be able to get to him no matter what, and this was part of it.

  Once inside the large office, they saw their two bags, and there was indeed a present on the desk for his wife.

  Three presents—in fact.

  Two were for her, and one was for Callen.

  “And that’s why I freaking love him,” she stated, picking up her phone, badge, and both of their guns.

  Ethan saved the day.

  “Yeah, yeah, he’s the man. You love him because he’s a control freak. Let’s go back to the horny part and how you really love that best.”

  Elizabeth grinned at him.

  “Lock the door, pull out the couch, and let’s crash. We only have four and a half hours to sleep,” she said, ignoring his comment. Elizabeth knew what he was thinking. There was the telltale bulge in the front of his suit pants, and he was getting red.

  That was always a dead giveaway.

  She’d have to take care of that for him.

  Callen did what she asked while she headed into Ethan’s bigger bathroom. He was a little disappointed that his wife was more interested in sleep than fooling around in the big man’s office, but she had to be tired.

  They’d been running on empty the entire case.

  He’d suck it up.

  “Being boss has its perks,” Elizabeth called from the bathroom.

  Callen was stripping out of his suit and hanging it in Ethan’s closet. “Yeah, it certainly does. This is like staying at a freaking hotel,” he admitted.

  When he turned around, she was standing there.

  She was wearing her bra and panties—the ones that had been under her dress.

  They were scandalous.

  “Jesus, Mary, and a very happy Joseph,” he muttered. “Please tell me you’re not just showing me to make me insane. I want to sleep too.”

  She laughed. “Well, here we are in this secluded office, there’s no security, and we have a bed—technically. Ethan won’t fool around in here…”

  “I’m definitely not Ethan,” he stated abruptly. “I’ll fool around in the middle of a freeway if you want.”

  Oh, she was aware.

  It was one of the things she loved about him.

  “Want to have fast, hot sex, sleep, and then do our jobs on minimal sleep?” she asked.

  “Uh huh. What did you say after hot sex?”

  She laughed as she walked toward him.

  Immediately, his focus was drawn to her feet. “And you kept those shoes on for me. Bless you, my wonderful wife. I swear I’ll crawl if you ask.”

  She stared at the tenting in his boxers.

  Yeah, what was waitin
g for her was so much better than him crawling. She was going to be riding one of her sexy natives.

  Hot damn!

  Moving toward him, she jumped and wrapped her legs around his waist. When he caught her, they both fought to find each other’s mouths.

  It was hot.

  Fast.

  Explosive.

  Callen pulled her hair, bit her on the neck, and then found her mouth again. This was frenetic, it was wild, and there was going to be carnage.

  She did battle to control the kiss. When she pulled on his hair too, he nearly came.

  God!

  It was amazing.

  “Elizabeth, fast, wild, and you.”

  She got it.

  She unlocked her legs, sliding down his body to her knees. Callen pulled his dick free from his pants, grabbed her by the back of her head, and began fucking her mouth.

  He offered no mercy.

  It was wild.

  She swallowed him whole. As Callen watched, his dick became slick with her spit.

  Oh, he couldn’t wait. While he loved watching his wife give him one hell of a blowjob, he needed something more.

  Callen needed to take her.

  Yanking Elizabeth up, he spun her around, tore off her panties and bra, and then pulled her against his body. Her back was pressed to his chest, and he wanted to take her in the worst way.

  “Please,” she begged. “I need you. Do it.”

  It was as if she was reading his mind.

  Callen knew there was only one place suitable for what he had in mind. Without giving it a second thought, he bent her over his brother’s desk.

  It was chaos.

  Elizabeth knocked some things over, but he didn’t care. All Callen could think about was his dick finding its way home.

  Now.

  He kicked her legs apart and forced himself into her body. The saliva on his dick helped him slide home. Her moan was so loud that he had to cover her mouth with his hand.

  They didn’t need security coming to see what was happening behind closed doors.