Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four)

by Kelley, Morgan

  Whitefox glanced up, as his brother motioned to him. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been watching him stare at Elizabeth. Callen hoped Ethan didn’t see the dopey grin that he was sure was on his face the entire time.

  He couldn’t help it, he was in love.

  Elizabeth wanted to laugh the entire time. They honestly thought she could sleep while they both stared at her?

  Hardly!

  It gave her pleasure to entertain their moments of softness, and let them have the caveman moment for once without her busting their asses. As soon as she had the room to herself, she sat up in bed and stared into the other room at the adjacent mirror.

  Holy shit! Elizabeth couldn’t help but see the wreckage. Her hair was a mess; her lips looked swollen from hours of kissing the two men she was sharing her bed and life with, and the bruises were starting to appear. Granted they were earned from saving Desdemona, but they didn’t make the package look any prettier. Thank God the men were gone. This was one hot train wreck going on that morning. Slowly, she stood and stretched out her body. Her one shoulder was still stiff, and that meant wearing her sidearm on the opposite side for the day. Already it was less sore and should be good in another day.

  Elizabeth thought back to the night as she lay above, beneath, and between the two men. She was still a little off balance because of the entire thing. When Elizabeth arrived there, her heart was dedicated to one man, and he was the center of her life. Now there was a second man, and he’d given her the family ring. Staring down at her finger, she was both overjoyed and scared.

  Truth be told, she was completely attached and in love. Now she had not one man to worry and love, but two. What if he decided to walk away one day to love another? Granted Callen swore he’d stay by her forever, but what was the guarantee? Elizabeth entered the shower, standing under the spray of water and let it slide down her body and ease the ache. There was pain from the scrapes and her shoulder, but the ache was from something entirely different. That was from the thought that possibly one day everything would change and she’d lose Callen. Finally she’d admitted her feelings, and her heart was at risk.

  Finishing up, Elizabeth tried to focus on work, and the need for some coffee. As she dried herself off, she put herself in the place of the dead woman. The rough sex was it consensual, or did the killer take what wasn’t his?

  So many things were going through her mind. The man in the journal was important to Trinity Adare, and yet she kept his name hidden. Why not call him by his name? If the book held her private feelings, why not just put ‘John’ or ‘Bob’?

  Elizabeth pulled out her jeans and then changed her mind. Today she would change her approach; she slipped into a black skirt. It was rare Elizabeth would dare pull it off at work, because the men would make a huge deal and torment her, but today Elizabeth felt battered and bruised. Today she longed to feel feminine for once. Slipping into a black fitted shirt, Elizabeth buttoned it up and inspected herself in the mirror. Not only was it tied to her need for femininity, but it gave her leverage over Morgana Adare. If anything, Elizabeth wanted to appear professional and unreachable. Today she wanted that FBI aura, because something was coming, and she knew they needed to work this out and fast.

  Pulling her hair to the nape of her neck, Elizabeth wrapped it into a very neat bun behind her left ear and secured it. Slapping on some lipstick, she nodded at herself in the mirror.

  As of that moment, she was going to play the part of FBI agent. Elizabeth lived her job, but generally she did it laid back. It made people underestimate her. She came across as some southern backwoods hick, but today she wanted to be the opposite.

  Cold.

  Calculating.

  And powerful.

  Today, the remaining Adare women were going to give her something to work with, or she was going to intimidate it from them. Justice needed to be done, and she needed to find who killed and impregnated Cordelia Adare. The dead women deserved someone to stand for them, and if it meant a little ass busting from the boys, Elizabeth would swallow it.

  Stepping from the room, she closed the door and walked down the hall. When Elizabeth passed one of her techs, he stared with an open mouth and had to look twice.

  Elizabeth resembled… A director in the FBI. Rushing back into the room, he dialed the other people on the team, and told them what he just saw. No one was going to believe this, and they had to see it to believe it.

  Finally, Elizabeth Blackhawk had snapped and gone Fed.

  Whitefox sat at the table with his brother having their coffee in the quiet of the morning. No one was downstairs from their team yet, and they were talking freely about the assignment.

  They heard the clicking of heels first, but neither registered it as anything significant

  Then he saw the woman, and he almost spilled his coffee. “Holy shit!” he mumbled, sitting forward quickly and elbowing his brother. Standing at the buffet pouring coffee was Elizabeth Blackhawk, or a woman who had her face and a completely different wardrobe. He thought she was sexy in jeans and boots, but this was something so completely off the cuff, he didn’t know what to do with it. His gaze slid appreciatively from her heels to her hair.

  Ethan turned his head to see what had his brother staring, and had to look twice too. His mouth hung open, as he stared at the woman standing across the room. It was the tall lithe body of his wife and there was the black ebony hair, but it was pulled into this sinful thing at the side of her neck. Her clothing was tailored and fit her impeccably, and made her look like some stylish FBI Director. For the first time ever, she appeared more imposing than he did. His damn wife had switched up the game, pulling off a form fitted skirt and shirt, and doing it well indeed.

  When she turned, he saw makeup and a necklace around her throat, and then thought he’d lost his mind. Yes, she’d worn makeup and jewelry on dates or special occasions, but she actually had lipstick on in a shade of red.

  What the hell happened to his wife?

  “Hello boys,” she said, putting down her coffee and her room key.

  Both men stared and neither spoke.

  Elizabeth dropped a kiss first on her husband’s mouth, and then crossed to Callen and gave him the same kiss, before taking her seat and opening her binder. Elizabeth pulled out the papers to study while they had coffee together.

  When she crossed her legs, they both watched the motion and still didn’t have words to even form a sentence.

  Elizabeth glanced up, meeting their speculative gazes. Both men looked as if they’d seen a ghost. She looked behind her and around her and then lifted a brow. “What?” she asked, sipping from her cup.

  “What?” repeated her husband. “Who dressed you this morning?” Ethan just gawked at her clothing. His wife was wearing heels with a skirt. Holy God almighty, this was completely new. It wasn’t lost on him that when she dressed up, she looked better than he ever did.

  Elizabeth put her cup down. “You do realize I used to dress like this all the time when I worked under Gabe. This is standard FBI. I wore tailored clothing, fitted jackets and heels.”

  Whitefox still didn’t have words, but was fascinated with what he was seeing. He wanted to see what was under the strict attire, and unwrap her hair. “I’m at a loss here other than to say you look absolutely gorgeous.”

  Elizabeth glanced over at him and gave him a look. “Really? You find this so shocking? That I can look like him?” she said, pointing at her husband. She noticed he was wearing a polo shirt and jeans. “Well, maybe not this minute but usually. Today I want to hit Morgana Adare hard, and see what I can rattle out of the tree. She wasn’t intimidated by me before, and I need her to see me and think that I’m serious.”

  Blackhawk bought the logic, but he still couldn’t focus past the red lips and heels. Part of his body went incredibly hard, at how this little secret part of his wife existed. It was sexy. “Are you wearing perfume?” Now he was dumbstruck and he had to lean forward to take in the scent. “Callen, she�
��s wearing perfume on the job!”

  “Christ, I don’t know where to file this image in my mind. Do I place it under ‘sexy boss’ or ‘smoking hot girlfriend’?”

  Ethan ran his fingers up her leg, starting at her ankle and stopping at her knee. “Today’s going to be a long day. I applaud you Lyzee. Just when I think that you can’t possibly find another way to torture me, you pull it off. Now I have the image of having really hot sex with some strict librarian.”

  “Oh man! In the library on one of the tables too,” added his brother. “If she pulls out glasses, I’m screwed.”

  Elizabeth stared at them with her mouth open, too shocked to even have an answer.

  “Maybe we’re still asleep and she’s a figment of our dream. Okay, if this is a fantasy she’s going to climb up on the table, rip open her shirt and strip for me.”

  “Callen, do I have to get up and kick your ass across the parking lot?” she stated, sipping her coffee.

  “Nope, it’s real.”

  Still neither man laughed, because the entire thing was still incredible to behold. Ethan was about to say more, but the tech team came around the corner all together and collectively stared at his wife. It wasn’t lost at him that every man was ogling her body.

  Yep, long day ahead.

  Elizabeth leaned back in her chair, recrossed her legs in the opposite direction and tolerated their stares temporarily. Now she wanted to laugh. The team looked confused, like she’d been replaced by some pod person, and they didn’t know whether to be afraid or rejoice.

  “Are you absolutely sure we hired the brightest and the best?” she inquired. “I have to say; right now they don’t appear to be the sharpest tools in the shed. If me dressed as the Director of FBI West confuses them this much, should they be handling evidence?”

  Blackhawk laughed. “I think they’re just shocked. It’s like waking up and finding out the grass was never green, it was actually vermillion.”

  “I’d be shocked if I woke up knowing what the hell Vermillion was and started using it in a sentence,” snickered Callen, as he too checked out her legs. In the heels they looked spectacular.

  Elizabeth ignored the men and lifted a brow, watching her team sit at tables far enough away to observe her. Unfortunately for them, they all sat facing her. It was a dead giveaway that she was going to be the specimen under the microscope.

  Whitefox leaned forward to speak softly, so only they’d hear the conversation. “I’m going to say what they can’t. You are beautiful in jeans, but you look unbelievable right now. You have this tough, unapproachable, serious look going and it’s hot. I want to have you interrogate me right now.” He held out his wrists waiting to be cuffed.

  She snickered, and reached out to touch his cheek. “Maybe if you're both bad boys later we can work something out,” and she winked.

  Ethan laughed. “This day is getting better and better. I’m going to top whatever bad thing he does. In fact, I’ve been to jail more than he has and that should be taken into account, Warden.”

  Elizabeth snickered at being called that. “We’re on the clock boys, so let’s talk about the assignment and worry about sex later.”

  “Damn, but just so you know, I can multi-task,” offered Whitefox. Now he was picturing her as a strict warden. Hell!

  She went serious and sipped her coffee. “I was showering and thinking about the journal. Something occurred to me, and I need to bounce it off the opposite sex.” Still she kept her voice low.

  “Okay, shoot,” said Blackhawk. When it came to figuring assignments out, she always picked up the tiniest of threads.

  “Read this paragraph.” She slid it across the table to the two men, and they both read it and glanced up at her.

  “It’s about Mr. Sexy again. You mentioned it last night,” answered Whitefox. “I don’t get what is so shocking. She called him by a nickname.”

  Maybe it was just a girl thing. “Okay, here’s what I was thinking. I have a journal, and I’m writing about my sex life.”

  “It would be on the best seller list,” snickered Whitefox, and his whole body shook, as her foot slid up his leg and intimately rubbed him under the table.

  “Multi-tasking my ass, ace,” she said, laughing when his eyes went completely blank.

  Ethan laughed. “Cal, you asked for that one.”

  “Anyway, back to the journal. As I’m actually writing it, I would write names. I might write that Ethan and I did this or that. I’d write Callen said that, and I felt this. Not once would I call you Mr. Love bug and him Mr. Love Muffin.”

  Both men snickered at the nicknames.

  Blackhawk knew where she was taking it, and got it immediately. “So you think that she kept names out for a reason?”

  “What if he’s a married man, and she’s worried that the journal gets out and the jig is up? If I’m having consensual sex with the men in my life, and they are aware of each other, then why do I use Mr. Sexy? I may write that you’re incredibly sexy Callen, and he’s a sex god, but I’d use your names.”

  “Because you're not bouncing in a man’s bed who has someone else in his life.”

  “Exactly my point. I wouldn’t use nicknames unless it needed to be kept a secret.” Elizabeth heard the whispers and she leaned forward. “Excuse me gentlemen. I have some asses to kick.”

  Elizabeth Blackhawk stood, walking towards the team. “You all seem to think that me not wearing my normal attire means I’ve lost my damn mind? If you think I won’t hand you all your asses for not doing work, I absolutely will. Christina, stop leering at my husband and Callen and take your team to the lab, or the airport for transport back. You have one minute to be out of here or on a flight back to a little world I like to call unemployment.”

  “Yes ma’am,” she motioned and the techs all scrambled.

  Doctor Leonard and Magnus laughed.

  “You two should know better. You’ve seen me dressed like this before. I used to look like this every damn day.”

  Chris Leonard grinned. “You also dressed like Miss Kitty, and I was hoping she was coming out next.”

  “Funny, go get the remains ready. Desdemona is coming in to view them this morning.”

  “Yes, ma’am!” They both saluted simultaneously.

  Elizabeth took her seat, and glanced up when they paused at the table. “What now?”

  “Are you sure Miss Kitty isn't in there too?”

  “Get out of here!” She shook her head and laughed, along with Whitefox.

  Ethan looked back and forth between the two of them, obviously missing some reference. “Which one of you is going to tell me about Miss. Kitty?”

  Whitefox raised his hand and got a kick to his shin for his wicked grin.

  “Shit! Those shoes hurt. Hurt me again, angel.”

  Elizabeth snorted. “Back when I worked under Gabe we had a killer going after prostitutes.”

  Blackhawk lifted his brow. “You played the role of a prostitute?”

  “Don’t picture it Ethan, because I can guarantee it will stick in your head all day and make it very hard to concentrate,” laughed Whitefox. “Don’t picture the tiny little skirt, the fishnets, and the red heels. If you do, stop there, and don’t think of the corset and the really large,” he motioned, grinning.

  “Callen!” Elizabeth started laughing and had to stop him.

  Blackhawk started thinking about it, and it did indeed make his body tighten. “Now, I’m torn between Miss Kitty, the strict librarian and the prison warden.”

  Whitefox tipped his head and actually thought about it.

  “Back to work boys. Keep your sex thoughts to yourself while we’re on the clock.” Elizabeth went back to the discussion they were having previously. She gave them a moment to compose themselves.

  “What if we have a married man, and he’s having an affair. She threatens to tell his wife, and…”

  Whitefox cleared his throat, signaling to his partners as Doctor Adare came into the room. To El
izabeth’s credit, she didn’t even look and it was probably a good thing. It would have looked suspicious if they all looked over at the little woman at the same time.

  Julian nodded at his boss, and poured himself a cup of coffee.

  “Doctor Adare,” nodded Blackhawk, as she stopped at their table. “I’m sorry for your loss. You can head to the ME lab and view your mother and sister at any time.”

  “Thank you, Director Blackhawk.”

  Elizabeth finally spoke. “Please have a seat Doctor Adare. We have some questions that we need to ask you, regarding your mother.” Elizabeth kept her voice monotone and even. It was a voice she perfected years ago for interviewing suspects.

  “Certainly,” she said, looking curiously at the woman. She wasn’t dressed normally, and if anything it pissed her off. The staunch black attire should have made her look non-descript, but it only made her eyes more blue, her skin fairer and more beautiful. Damn Elizabeth Blackhawk and her perfect everything!

  Then she noticed the ring on her finger. It was the one that had once been hers. Apparently, stealing her man wasn’t enough, but now she had to be reminded by looking at the ring. “Wow, you didn’t waste any time. Already she’s wearing my ring,” she said, nodding at the ring, and meeting Callen eyes. “You said you loved her, and I still hoped you didn’t mean that kind of love.”

  “I absolutely meant that kind of love,” Callen stated back.

  “Of course you did. I have no idea why I’m surprised.”

  Ethan rarely got involved in relationship drama, but he felt the need to step in and protect his family. “That’s the Blackhawk family ring, and now it’s back in the family. I think you need to stop worrying what’s happening between my brother and my wife, and worry about your own life, Doctor Adare.”

  Callen and Elizabeth looked over surprised.

  “I understand.”

  “I don’t think you do, but let me make it perfectly clear. I expect this topic to die right here and now. What happens between the three of us is our business. We aren’t bringing it to work, and it’s not up for open discussion. What happens in our personal life is just that, personal. If my brother is in love with my wife, that’s our issue. If he gives her the family ring, again it’s our business and not yours.”