Kiss of Souls

by Morgan Kelley

  They could do that.

  Pulling out the paper, Julian began reading them off to the team.

  “We have Alberta Nicholson. She’s a florist in town, and she does pretty well when it comes to business. Detective Woods feels like she’s caught under something bigger than just Beau’s alibi.”

  She told them what he’d relayed about her breakdown when they’d showed up to do Beau’s alibi check. Her reaction had made her a suspect.

  “That’s curious,” Elizabeth offered.

  Callen raised his hand. “Where there’s smoke, there’s generally fire. We’ll take her today, Julian. I’m pretty sure Elizabeth is going to split us up because she and Tori want to raise some hell—or steal more evidence.”

  “Wait, what?” Julian asked.

  “Don’t worry, babe. I’m going to be with Elizabeth ‘shoot ‘em first and ask questions later’ Blackhawk.”

  He relaxed.

  “Well, that’s true. She is hell with a gun,” Julian offered.

  Elizabeth raised her hand with the cast.

  “Well, shit.”

  She snorted. “I can do both. Relax. Tori is fine. You guys can have the florist. We’ll take the next person. Who’s up?”

  Julian scanned the list.

  “Sabrina Adams.”

  Tori laughed. “Oh, the wife who was banging the employee behind her husband’s back. This is going to be a fun one.”

  Yeah, both women looked forward to it.

  “Run her,” Elizabeth stated.

  Roman did just that. Everyone waited as his fingers flew over the keys.

  Then...

  There was a beep.

  “What did you find?” Julian asked.

  “Well, she shows up in the IRS database, so she filed taxes.”

  Tori needed a refresher. “Wasn’t she the city accountant that the cops couldn’t talk to because the commissioner said she was hands off?”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Oops. Our bad.”

  “Yeah, she’s married to Roger Adams, and from the IRS database, it shows that she’s an accountant for the city, but her husband is filthy rich.”

  “Well, there’s a good reason to be afraid of blackmail,” stated Elizabeth. “She may make a decent salary, but when the hubby is loaded, you have more to lose.”

  They all looked at Callen.

  “What?”

  Elizabeth patted him on the arm. “You’d be the loaded husband, and I’d be the one with lots to lose.”

  He snorted. “You can have it all right now.”

  Roman was confused. “You’re loaded?”

  Tori clued him in. “Ever hear of Jackson James?” she asked.

  “Who hasn’t? I read his books. One and two were stellar. I can’t wait until three comes out.”

  “The butler did it,” Callen stated.

  Roman stared at him. “What?”

  “He’s Jackson James,” Julian admitted.

  “WHAT?”

  “If he asks for your autograph, I’m never letting you live this down,” Elizabeth teased.

  “If he asks, I won’t let him live it down either,” Tori added.

  “Are you shitting me?”

  Callen shook his head.

  “Pull out the book. I’ll sign it,” he stated. This kind of thing happened all the time. He was getting accustomed to it. If it didn’t bother his wife, it didn’t bother him.

  Roman opened his messenger bag, and inside, there was a copy of his last book.

  He handed it to Callen.

  He signed it.

  “Holy shit! Do you know how much I paid for a signed first edition of your first book?”

  He told them.

  “Thank you for paying for my kids’ college educations,” he teased.

  Roman stared down at the signature.

  “It’s the same one.”

  Elizabeth shook her head. She didn’t get any of this author stuff. What was the big deal? People followed her husband like he was the pied piper.

  She stared at him, trying to figure it out.

  Then again, she followed him too. Who was she to judge?

  “So, if Roman is done acting out his fan-girl moment, let’s focus on Sabrina Adams,” Elizabeth offered.

  Tori agreed.

  “While you men hit the florist, we’ll hit the hussy.”

  That helped her day level out. There was nothing better than that kind of suspect.

  “I love when I get someone who is a cheater. That generally makes my day.”

  Then she thought about all the news reports that she and Callen had seen where Ethan was seen out with that beautiful woman.

  It made her sick and angry.

  Elizabeth had to let it go. She was there to help Tori, and that’s all that mattered.

  “I won’t mind hitting up the cheater,” Tori stated, trying to distract her friend. “I like hitting people.”

  “Victoria.”

  She winked at him.

  “Who else?” Elizabeth asked.

  “We have Regina McCann, but we already know the police haven’t seen her. She hasn’t been interviewed yet,” Claire offered.

  “Well, we’ll have to change that. While we’re out, can you dig something up on her?” she asked. “Check her credit cards, bank accounts, and anything that might tell us where she went. Hopefully, she doesn’t turn up dead.”

  Yeah, they were all hoping that exact thing.

  No one wanted to call the police.

  Again.

  “What about Marshall Wolff?” Callen asked.

  “He claimed, per the police, that he was a one-time call, and it was accidentally.”

  She thought about it.

  “I say we interview him. I’ve always found it best to retrace the local police’s steps just in a case. We don’t want to miss a single thing. Callen and Julian, you can have him. Then we’ll regroup.”

  “That works for me,” Callen stated.

  They were just ready to leave when the tablet began beeping. Callen knew that sound.

  “What did you find?” he asked.

  Mattie and Roman both read it. Then they stared up, wide-eyed, at the bosses.

  “Well, the cops missed something,” she said. “Something really big.”

  “What?” Tori asked.

  “Regina McCann wasn’t born Regina McCann,” Mattie stated. Then she glanced over at her husband. “Am I reading that right?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Oh, yeah, you are.”

  “What?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Regina was actually born Reginald.”

  No one spoke as they let that soak in.

  “So, we have a cross-dresser thrown into the mix?” Justin asked. “We get the weirdest cases.”

  He got that right.

  Roman scrolled down the page until he found the information he was searching for, and it added up.

  “No, we don’t have a cross dresser. Reginald petitioned the courts to change his gender. He went from a male on his taxes to a female about two years ago.”

  Elizabeth wasn’t shocked.

  “So she’s transgendered?”

  “It looks like,” Roman stated.

  “Well, if I were a man, and I was trying to pass myself off as a woman, I’d be pretty pissed if the truth came out,” she offered. “Maybe that was what Shelby found out, and she was using it as leverage to get money.”

  Tori didn’t get it.

  There was still one thing that had her tied up in knots over the whole thing.

  “Speaking of money… Where the hell is it?” she asked. “The cops didn’t find it, and it wasn’t at the hotel.”

  “That’s a good question. We need to find the money. It might lead us back to the person who killed her. It would be pretty tempting to steal it if it was sitting there after her death.”

  Callen agreed. “Especially if the person was being blackmailed. They could recoup their losses.”

  He had a point.

  A ve
ry good one.

  Just as they were grabbing their things, preparing to split up, they could hear their names being called from out in the main entrance.

  It sounded like the detective had decided to pay them a visit. Hopefully, he would have something to share.

  What they couldn’t share was their information. The team was wary.

  Even borderline paranoid about the man.

  So, they closed up the tablet, hid the papers, and waited for him to find them in the conference room.

  “We’re in here!” Tori called once the coast was clear and they were situated.

  Arsen Woods headed their way.

  When he stuck his head into the room, he was in street clothes. Gone was the suit jacket and dress pants, and in their place were jeans and a polo shirt tucked beneath a light jacket.

  That was odd.

  He was mid-case.

  “Come on in, Detective,” Tori said. “We were just briefing the team. Maybe you can tell us about the autopsies, and we can be prepped to hit the streets.”

  He entered and took a seat.

  “Well, I can’t really do that,” Arsen offered, much to their dismay.

  “Why not?” Tori asked. “Are they still not done?” Then it hit her. “Wait! You’re not going to start dicking us around, are you?”

  If he did, she’d have Kane boot his ass out of there.

  “Never. I’m the one being dicked around. Here’s the deal. I’m now officially off the case.”

  They all stared at him.

  “The commissioner flipped his shit all over my partner and myself.”

  “Why?” Julian asked.

  “I wouldn’t frame Beau, and I wanted to find that pesky thing called justice. Let’s just say he didn’t like that too much, and it caused a problem for him.”

  Okay, that pissed them all off, and it also made them like the man that much more. He was clearly a good person who had a moral code.

  “That sucks,” Julian stated.

  Yeah, he was aware.

  “When I refused, and I wouldn’t play the game, I was bumped. I don’t know who he gave it to now, but I’m sure they’ll be heading your way to make your life hell.”

  Great.

  More cop crap fest.

  “But I do have some good news.”

  “What?” Elizabeth asked. She wasn’t sure what the hell could possibly come out of this that constituted good news.

  He slid the file across the table.

  “Since this is going to mar my record, I figured why not go all the way in on this one? Here’s everything the new detectives will have. I wish I could get you the new autopsies. They haven’t been done yet, or they’d be in there.”

  “It’s okay,” Tori offered. “We have a plan.”

  They told him about it.

  It upset him.

  Not because they had planned to work around the cops, but because he wanted to help and his chances of doing that were slim. These people were being harassed by the law. Why would they let him assist?

  They’d have to be crazy.

  “Thank you for your help. We appreciate it,” Julian stated. “I’d like to say it was nice working with you, but your boss has made this miserable.”

  Yeah, he got that.

  Still, he couldn’t help but go with his gut. The Littlemoons were good people. They might…

  “I want in.”

  “What?” Julian asked.

  “I took a vacation from my job, and I want to help you solve it. I hate leaving stones unturned. Run me. Check me out, but let me help. I can be an asset. I worked hard for that gold shield, and I hate that my boss is tarnishing it by trying to frame an innocent man.”

  They all waited for Elizabeth or Tori to say something. When no one did, Arsen continued.

  “Come on! Let me help! I’m serious. Run me! You won’t find anything. I play it by the rules.”

  They laughed.

  “What?” he asked, not getting the joke. Clearly, they found something amusing. He just wasn’t sure what.

  “Um…yeah, about that. We already ran you,” Elizabeth offered, smiling at him.

  Tori laughed. “We do shit like that when a cop wanders into our lives and magnanimously wants to play ball.”

  He got it.

  He would do the same too.

  “So, I’m in?”

  Tori glanced over at her husband. This was his business, too, and he should have a say.

  “It’s up to you,” he offered. “If you want the backup, then I say go for it.”

  Tori suspected her husband would say just that.

  “I have one question, Detective.”

  “Arsen, please. If we’re going to work together, I’d like you to be on a first name basis. It just seems right,” he said, waiting for her to interrogate him.

  “Okay, Arsen,” Elizabeth stated. “Now, answer Tori’s question,” she said, not quite sure what her temporary partner was up to with this avenue of questioning.

  “Sure. Shoot.”

  He wasn’t sure what she could want to know, but he’d play by their rules. “What do you want to ask?”

  “Women or men?”

  He stared at her. “Pardon?” he asked.

  “You heard me. Women or men?” Tori repeated.

  Was she asking which way he rolled? Was she asking who he preferred? Or was she asking some trick question like which one had more represented in the room? Her vague question intrigued him.

  He went with his gut and tossed out his sexual preference. It was odd, but again, he rolled with it.

  “Uh…women?”

  “That works for me,” Tori admitted. “After we drop Doctor Leonard off at the police station, you get to saddle up with Elizabeth and myself. You’re our third wheel. Congrats! You picked us.”

  “Uh, great?” he asked.

  “God help you,” Julian stated.

  Callen laughed.

  “I will hurt you, and not in the fun way,” his wife threatened.

  He stared at the man. “See? Wear a cup. She’s mean when she’s out in the field. She gets all aggressive.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “You like me aggressive, Callen James. So why are you complaining?”

  “I’m not,” he replied. “I’m bragging. There is a huge difference, angel.”

  She smacked him with her good arm. “Let’s get this shit going,” Elizabeth stated. “We have suspects to harass, and a man to get off the hook.”

  Arsen couldn’t believe any of this. This team was borderline insane. They talked to the dead, the place was haunted, and they conjured up Elizabeth freaking Blackhawk on a whim.

  Someone was practicing witchcraft.

  That was the only possible answer.

  “Seriously, I get to help?” he asked. “You’re not yanking my chain?”

  Tori nodded. “Yeah, you do, and you may wish you didn’t ask,” she offered.

  “Why?” he asked.

  He didn’t get it.

  This seemed like a pretty safe bet. Going out on his own to try and save the day had far more risks.

  There was safety in numbers.

  Right?

  Callen lifted Elizabeth’s casted arm. “You picked the team that gets shot at and beat up,” he stated, his face totally deadpan.

  “Are you kidding?”

  No one said a word.

  And now he was worried.

  As hell.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Delta Falls

  Police Department

  O n the way there in Elizabeth’s rented ride, they discussed a myriad of things—the weather, the mood of the case, and that night. Elizabeth was really excited—not only for the Native cuisine, that she’d come to love, but the séance. There was a deep longing in her to speak to Timothy one more time.

  As of late, she couldn’t dream about him. Even when she took her baby birds to their backyard to learn the shaman’s way, she couldn’t seem to feel him.

  Yet here, ne
ar Tori, there was no doubt that Timothy was all around her. When she took the pouch off, the one made for protection, there was the touch of his old energy.

  While really not a believer in the woo-woo shit, the things happening around Tori were interesting, and she had no doubt that their deceased patriarch had something to do with it.

  After all, no one ever said no to Timothy Blackhawk. He was badass to the core, and one hell of a bossy Native man.

  “When did it all start?” Elizabeth asked, hoping her friend didn’t mind talking about it in front of people.

  Tori shrugged. “From what I’ve researched, I guess it’s always been there. The PTSD triggered it and made it surface. They say everyone has a gift. I guess this one is mine.”

  “Are you weirded out by it all?” Elizabeth asked. With a stranger, she absolutely would be, but with Tori, her friend, it didn’t feel creepy at all. Don’t get her wrong…Bethany did some weird things that would send shivers down Elizabeth’s spine.

  “Not really. I think I’m pretty immune to anything the dead can send at me.”

  “Ghosts DO NOT exist,” Chris said from the back seat beside the detective. There was no way he was going to believe any of this.

  Yes, he’d seen some shit, but there had to be a logical, realistic reason.

  “Chris,” Tori began.

  “I’m sorry, but the scientist in me can’t believe it.”

  As if timed, the radio chirped to life, flipping through the stations.

  “WE. DO. TOO.”

  Chris stared at the console. “Nope. It’s a trick. It has to be a trick.”

  Elizabeth snorted.

  Tori didn’t want her friends to be uncomfortable. Then again, she wasn’t sure she wanted the detective getting too much of a sneak peek into her gifts.

  “Trey, don’t argue with Doctor Leonard. He’s a scientist. They always have the hardest time.”

  “WELL. WE. DO. EXIST. IN. FACT. HIS. FATHER. IS. WITH. HIM.”

  That freaked Chris right out. “What? Wait! He is?”

  “HARRISON. SAYS. HELLO. SON.”

  Chris’s eyes met Elizabeth’s in the mirror, and she reached back between the seat to take his fingers with hers. She knew how powerful those four words were for him. He’d met his father as a baby, but knew nothing about him once he died. His mother erased the man from the boy’s life to protect him, but it didn’t have the outcome she’d wanted. Chris was always curious about his father.