“What?” he asked. “Are you saying they don’t have ANYTHING on Beau Christensen?”
Tori was going to play the game.
“A little birdy might have said he’s framing my brother because they can’t solve it, or because a man who may or may not have committed suicide stole millions from the police pensions.”
He made notes.
“This is huge!” the reporter stated.
“Oh, Mr. Vestal, you have no idea,” Tori stated. “You spell the dead man’s name F.R.E.D.R.I.C.K…”
The commissioner stood up. “That’s not true!”
“Then let Christopher Leonard help in your morgue,” Elizabeth asked. “Unless you have something to hide, you shouldn’t be afraid of one of the top forensic ME’s in the country. What could he possibly find?”
Chris grinned. “Who killed Shelby Christensen, Fredrick Raymond, and maybe Xavier Lake—perhaps?”
The reporter was waiting.
When the cop on the floor moaned, she smiled. “Man, his ego is going to be dented when he comes to. He had his ass handed to him by a smaller woman.”
The commissioner was fed up.
He didn’t want to deal with this anymore. It was irritating the hell out of him.
“FINE. This is a mess anyway. Your ME can help with the autopsies. Are you satisfied?”
She was.
“I do want to point out one thing.”
“What?”
“See the state he’s in? His shirt isn’t wrinkled, his tie is pristine, and there’s not a mark on him. If I come back, and he so much as has a little scratch, I will make your life hell. I will make sure the media knows what you’re pulling here with getting bail revoked out of anger, targeting a family that’s a minority, and how you’re breaking the law.”
The reporter began writing as the commissioner went pale. Her words hung in the air around them.
Elizabeth meant business.
“If he’s even shaking, I’ll make sure I run roughshod all over your ass, and when I’m done, I’ll ship you to DC to let my husband deal with you. Trust me when I say he will hurt you in ways you can’t imagine, starting with your career.”
The man swallowed.
“AM I CLEAR?”
“Yes.”
She stood and stepped over the cop on the floor to reach Chris. “You call me if he starts his shit. I can be back here in ten minutes, and with backup. By backup, I mean Tori. She’s got a mean streak.”
He grinned.
He loved a Lyzee smack down.
They were fun to watch.
“Sure thing, honey. Take your time. I’m sure I’m safe here. The commissioner doesn’t want to start a war, do you?”
The man said nothing.
It was probably for the best.
Elizabeth dropped a soft kiss to his cheek. “Come along, Mr. Reporter. If he bothers my friend, you’re going to get a full-blown interview with an irate Fed.”
He followed.
When she was gone, Chris smiled. “Well?”
He grumbled, but he didn’t argue. “Come along, Doctor. I’ll escort you there myself.”
Chris couldn’t help but be amused.
Elizabeth Blackhawk—one.
Local law—zero.
Somehow, he wasn’t surprised—at all.
Outside, she gave the reporter her card, asked for his number, and then hopped up into her ride. Tori was shotgun, and there was a cop lying on the back seat to stay hidden.
It was so sneaky that it made her laugh.
“I love my job.”
Tori grabbed her by the shirt and kissed her right on the mouth.
“Well, hell! What was that?” Elizabeth asked.
“That was for being my best friend and letting me knock that cop out.”
Arsen sat up from the back seat.
“I don’t know which makes me more curious. You two making out with the media watching, or the fact you were kicking ass in there.”
Elizabeth snorted. “Well, she won’t be laughing when her husband is harassing her for details. It was her assault on me,” she teased.
“Please, it’s Julian. I’m just so happy you came, we saw, and you are going to conquer this.”
Yeah, her too.
Beau needed to be helped.
“Let’s get this circus on the road,” Elizabeth stated. “We have interviews to do. I hope Callen’s having just as much fun,” she said.
“No, you do not.”
She laughed.
“Yeah, I don’t,” she admitted. If anyone’s lips were near her husband, the shit was going to hit the fan.
Right after a double lip-ectomy.
Yeah, she was mean like that.
* * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *
Beau and Nyx’s
Townhouse
They’d stayed in bed as long as they possibly could. Then, when they believed the coast was clear, Nyx moved them to the living room where she had some herbs and little pouches stashed.
They needed to be cautious.
There was so much at risk.
While he sat on the couch, the woman he’d planned to marry worked to fill them.
It reminded Beau of when they had first met. She’d worked around her shop, and he’d stayed there with her, making sure she was safe.
Now he was doing the same thing, and it was helping him. It was fixing that hole that had filled his heart when his mother had been killed, he’d been accused, and he’d found out Nyx had let herself be possessed.
Well, the last one still worried him.
“Can we talk?” he asked, getting her attention.
“Sure, about what?” she asked, brushing her black hair from her face.
“Why did you do it? Help me understand.”
She sighed.
Nyx had a feeling this talk was coming. She really couldn’t blame him.
“I didn’t think you’d like me if I was just plain old Nyx. My gift is what sets me apart. When it was gone, I was afraid. She wasn’t the woman you fell in love with, and I wanted to ensure you had that woman—not mousy me.”
He was sickened by what she said.
Did Nyx really believe he’d rather the old her over the new her? To him, it didn’t matter. He just wanted her.
“I don’t think of you as ever being plain,” he stated. “Even if you never had a gift, that’s not why I fell in love with you, Nyx.”
She didn’t say a word.
She could hear Evangeline screaming in her head. The woman didn’t want her to be happy. She didn’t want anyone to be happy. Her goal was to destroy love, and she was doing a damn good job.
The sad truth was that the more Beau loved her, the harder she’d try to end it.
“I fell for you because you’re a sweet, gentle woman who knows me and what I need in life. I’m simple, and what I’ve always wanted was to have a family, be happy, and to have a woman who accepted me as I am.”
“I’m afraid to be anything but the person you met, Beau. I don’t know how to be someone who doesn’t channel the dead. It’s been with me so long that I don’t know how to be that normal woman.”
He got it.
For the longest time, he didn’t know how not to be a soldier. It was hard.
“Well, we could learn together. If you lose your gift for good, Nyx, instead of going behind my back, we could face it together as one.”
“You’re angry with me. We’ll never make it to the altar,” she stated. “I can see it in your eyes.”
“I’d marry you right now.”
“Prove it.”
She threw down the challenge.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
“What?”
He stood from the couch. “I meant it when I proposed to you, Nyx. I didn’t fall for your gift, and if I have to marry you right now, at a justice of the peace, so be it. Besides, it’ll make the conjugal visits so much easier if we’re already married.”
“Beau, I didn’t…”
He stopped her.
“You threw this down, Nyx. You’re the one who wanted me to prove my love for you, and I will. I’ll prove it right now. So, get your shoes on, and let’s go.”
“But your family…”
“My sister will understand. We’ll make this fast, we’ll tie the knot, and then maybe you’ll see that I love you more than anything in this world.”
It got colder in the room.
The doors slammed.
The windows rattled.
“She doesn’t want love to flourish,” Nyx said. “She hates when people are happy.”
He didn’t care.
Fuck that.
He was done screwing around. Beau wanted to make Nyx his wife, so he could say she was his. Then they’d work on this demon-y nightmare that was surrounding them.
“You’re mine, Nyx. You’ll always be mine, and I love you. I want you to be my wife.”
The energy that hit him was so strong, it knocked him back and into the wall.
Beau slid to the ground.
She screamed, but it was drowned out by the shrill sounds of Evangeline running amuck in their home. Against all odds, Nyx fought to get to his side.
It wasn’t easy.
Instead of focusing on the dead woman, she focused on the downed man.
When she finally reached him, she touched his face.
“Beau, come on, speak to me.”
He moaned.
“That sucked.”
When his smoky blue eyes flickered open, they focused on her. “Marry me right now, Nyx. Let’s go to the courthouse and get married.”
“Are you serious, Beau?” she asked.
He touched her cheek. “I’ve never been more serious in all of my life. I don’t care what she does to me, as long as I know I have you. I want you to be mine. Let’s do it.”
Nyx stared at him.
In her head, she could hear all the horrible things Evangeline was saying about him.
He’d cheat.
He’d abuse her.
He’d break her.
He’d kill her.
It was playing in one continual loop, trying to scare her to death, and she was ashamed that, for a while, it had worked.
She’d begun fearing him.
Evangeline wanted her to run from him, just like she wanted them all to pay for her unhappiness. She had ulterior motives, and she didn’t want to be prey to them.
She was done.
Nyx knew she needed to fight for them.
“Beau.”
“Nyxie, what does your heart say?” he asked. “Why don’t you stop thinking about it, and simply do what you think is the right thing to do?”
He was right.
She needed to think with her heart.
If she married him, they would be together forever. Fate was screwing with them.
It was trying to test them.
Nyx wanted to fight.
She didn’t want to give up.
Nyx wanted Beau more than her next breath.
Evangeline screamed into her head, and she was forced to grab her ears and cover them.
Beau held her against his body.
“Come on, Nyx. Fight! She can’t hurt us if we stand as one. She’s nothing but a scorned old hag!”
The wind exploded in the room. It was clear that Evangeline didn’t like being called names.
He didn’t care.
It was the truth.
She was hurt all those years ago by the Easton men, and now she was trying to make every other man in the world pay. Well, he wasn’t going to give up.
He would fight for them until his dying breath.
He would fight for her.
Nyx, his witchy woman, was worth it.
Beau held onto his girl, and he began to pray—not for him, but for her.
He didn’t know what else he could do to fight against Evangeline.
They were out of options.
“We have this. I love you. You’re mine, and I’m not letting her have you. Not now, not ever!”
Nyx used all she had to push Evangeline from her body. It would be temporary, but it would buy them time.
When the screaming abated, she lifted her head to stare into his eyes.
There was so much she wanted to say.
Beau held his breath. The last thing he needed at that moment was for Nyx to be under the possession of Evangeline. She could kill them both.
“Let’s get married.”
He hesitated.
“Did you change your mind?” she asked calmly.
“Is this Nyx talking, or someone else,” he said, refusing to say her name out loud.
She laughed. “It’s Nyx.”
“Prove it.”
Slowly, she moved in and met his mouth with hers. The kiss was soft, gentle, and filled with love.
When she pulled away, there were tears. “I want to be your wife.”
“Then let’s go.”
They left the chaos behind, took each other’s hands, and raced the hell out of there.
They were going to do it.
And nothing could stop them.
Chapter Twenty
Florist
Thursday
Mid-Morning
W hen they arrived at the florist, it was just opening for the day. It looked like every other shop in the area, but it was so much nicer—especially for a small town. They had to wonder if that had something to do with the owner being blackmailed.
If she was on Shelby’s list, there had to be one hell of a reason—and they all knew sex or greed made the crime go ‘round.
It had to be one of the two. For Christ’s sake, the woman sold flowers for a living. What kind of secret could she possibly be hiding?
Inside, Callen opted to let Julian handle the interview. Since he wasn’t generally the one running the show, he didn’t mind taking the backup position. This was his case, and he had more on the line.
Callen would simply observe and make notes.
“Are you Alberta Nicholson?” he asked when they walked up to the counter.
“Yes, can I help you?”
Julian pulled out a picture of Shelby Christensen. “The other day, the police came here to question you…?”
She cut them off.
“Yes, but I don’t know her.”
Okay, that was suspicious. She looked freaked out, and Julian wasn’t buying her innocence.
Something was up.
He’d been a cop, and he knew when people were slinging BS, and this woman was definitely doing that.
She looked freaked out when she recognized Callen behind him. There was no doubt in his mind that she knew he was a Fed. This was no longer just a local case.
She knew the stakes were higher.
“Really? You didn’t know her?”
“No. I was here when the man being accused came in to buy flowers. That’s all I know.”
He glanced over at Callen.
The man pulled out his phone. “We have been told differently by an anonymous source,” he bluffed.
Kind of…
The detective wasn’t anonymous, and who said you couldn’t use cops as sources?
They could see her struggling to find an excuse. It was written all over her face.
“They’re lying. I didn’t have anything to do with that woman’s death. I was here selling flowers when he came in. I couldn’t have possibly been here and there.”
Callen laughed.
She was fighting hard to convince them. It was time to up their game.
“Okay, we’ll play it that way then. What about the hard evidence we’ve found?” he asked.
Julian stared at him.
To his knowledge, they didn’t have anything but a cop’s gut instinct. Where was Callen taking this?
“We, Alberta, have bank statements that say you did know her. I think you should own it, and soon.”
The woman looked horrified. As she opened her mouth, some
one cut her off.
Callen’s hand actually went to his sidearm.
“Don’t talk to them, Alberta,” a man said, rushing from the back room to wrap his arms around her protectively.
“She’s not doing anything, and you’re not going to come in here and intimidate her. Do you hear me?”
Callen relaxed when he saw there was no viable threat. It was just a man protecting someone he cared about.
“We aren’t here to intimidate, but let’s just be blunt. When you lie to police, that’s obstruction, and that’s jail time.”
She patted the man’s arm. “It’s okay, Clarence. I’m okay. I can’t keep doing this.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“Who are you?” Julian asked. This man wasn’t on anyone’s list as a suspect. He wasn’t on the call list, and he wasn’t on the blackmail list.
“I’m her boyfriend, Clarence Reynolds. I work here with Alberta. I do all of her deliveries. She’s not lying about being here when that man came in. I was returning from my late-night deliveries at the hospital, and she was still here. I’m her alibi!”
Callen made notes as the man kept going.
“She’s being harassed by the police, and now you. I’m going to put an end to it.”
Callen pulled his blazer back. “The FBI doesn’t harass, but I can up the stakes more and go with really pissing her off. I get bitchy like that.”
Alberta sighed. “It’s too late, Clarence. I need to come clean.”
The man tried to talk her out of it.
She simply shook her head.
“It’s time.”
“What did you do, Alberta?” Julian asked, impressed that Callen had gotten her to crack in under three minutes. Someone had learned a few things from Elizabeth Blackhawk and was his own force to reckon with too. “Shelby was blackmailing you for something big, wasn’t she? It was just a coincidence that Beau Christensen came in here, wasn’t it?”
She nodded. “Yes, on both counts.”
“What happened?” Callen asked.
“I threw out some bribe money to get something I wanted, and as a business owner, I knew that was wrong.”
Clarence looked shocked at that information. “Alberta! You told me you didn’t know what was going on! You lied to me!”
She faced him. “I’m sorry, Clarence. I did it to protect you. I couldn’t let her come after you too. Nothing was safe from that money hungry bitch.”
Kiss of Souls Page 39