“Yeah, we were here. Why?”
“Tell me about the grandmother’s reaction.” Elizabeth glanced over at her husband coming through the doors. “Walk us through it.”
“Ms. Adare looked upset, and she cried when we uncovered the bones of both women.” He was sure she was going somewhere with this, because Elizabeth Blackhawk didn’t just ask questions unless there was a damn good reason.
“Genuinely upset?”
“Yes, very upset. Are you thinking she’s involved?” Now he saw where she was heading with it.
“I have her on my short list, that’s all. Don’t worry, Desdemona’s in the clear.”
Both men looked relieved.
“She also just asked me if she can come to work in the lab. I cleared it, but again, she does nothing that involves vital information. I don’t want to be grilled in court on why I let a family member, whose grandmother could be a suspect, handle evidence.”
“We can seal some of the information by coding it,” he offered.
Blackhawk wandered over to his wife’s side and spoke, “I don’t want Desdemona to know we didn’t have DNA on the missing fetus. I want to hold that for as long as we can. It feels like it’s part of this somehow and may be our ace in the hole down the line.”
“You don’t trust Doctor Adare?” he asked, looking over at the woman. “She’s FBI.”
Blackhawk spoke up. “I already began her paperwork for termination. She told me she’s leaving, and Ginny is processing it right now. By the time we leave Cypress Grove, she’ll no longer be FBI.”
“Once her ID and gun are pulled, Desdemona will simply be an ‘expert’ we’re having assist us in an assignment. Ginny is very efficient. I guarantee right now all her computer access is already gone. If she helps here, it’s not as an ME. It’s as a tech.”
Both doctors nodded.
Elizabeth felt like cheering herself up, and she knew exactly how to do it. “I have a question.”
“Okay, shoot.”
“Which one of you doctors requisitioned the very expensive machine that put us way over budget for the month?” She caught them both off guard and when they recovered each man pointed at the other.
Blackhawk shook his head. “Well then I guess I have to fire the one that sent the form, since I don’t know who did the actual crime. You know how rules are rules, Doctor Leonard,” he grinned, getting a little payback for his wife. “Where’s Christina?”
Both men looked alarmed, as he walked over to the door dividing the lab, but Chris looked sick to his stomach.
“Christina, can you come in here?” he asked, looking in the other room. When he turned around and saw his wife grinning. Here came the bloodshed.
Whitefox hopped up and sat beside Elizabeth to watch the festivities.
“Christina, you authorized a piece of equipment to be ordered for the lab. I believe it was a Fourier Mass Spec.”
She looked at him innocently. “I faxed over the request, but I didn’t actually order it. I just did the paperwork on my desk.”
Elizabeth leaned against Whitefox and laid her head on his shoulder. “I wish we had popcorn while we watched this all go down,” she whispered. This was going to be priceless.
“Here’s the big issue with sending over that request. It put us over budget in the lab, and that put the whole building over budget. It was over five hundred thousand dollars for that machine. We’re in the red by three hundred thousand. Imagine my horror, as my boss and seven other directors above me chewed my ass out for it on my conference call.”
Christina looked sick to her stomach, and yet she didn’t look over at the doctors.
Elizabeth grinned. Oh yeah, it was one of the men. They looked upset, and Christina was purposely not looking at them.
“Well, I have only one choice,” he said, crossing his arms. “I’m going to have to do something drastic if the guilty party isn't going to own up to it.”
“It was me, okay?” Chris Leonard raised his hand. “She just faxed it. Don’t fire her, fire me.”
Elizabeth started laughing and when her husband turned, she offered him a fist bump. “Good one, Ethan.” It was enjoyable watching all three ‘suspects’ look freaked out.
“So, we aren’t fired?”
Blackhawk winked at his wife. “No, but I think you three learned a valuable lesson. No more ordering big ticket items. Think of it like a marriage. We,” he pointed at his wife and himself, “hold the credit card, and you have to ask permission for anything over one thousand dollars.”
“Everything? Come on!” objected Doctor Leonard. “Ninety percent of the lab supplies are over one grand. Do you know the paperwork backlog this is going to cause?”
Elizabeth grinned at her ME. “Oh, but Chris, you love tossing around that rule book, remember?”
“Hell.” It just came back to bite him in the ass.
“I’m not fired?” squeaked Christina, drawing their attention.
“No, you’re not, but here’s your lesson for the day. Don’t let those two con you into doing their dirty work. Clear?” asked Elizabeth.
“Yes ma’am.”
“Get back to work.” When the woman was gone, the three directors started laughing.
“You’re sadistic,” mumbled Doctor Leonard. “If I didn’t confess then what?”
Blackhawk shrugged. “Nothing, but the Mass Spec is going back, so call the tech squad back home and have them pack it up for transport. You’re grounded boys. No more shopping on the FBI dime, even if you think it’s a fun new toy to play with, or next time one of you will be fired.”
“You wouldn’t.” Chris Leonard challenged laughing. “You need us both.”
Elizabeth grinned. “Oh, you're right, you have us there. But I have a solution. Now we just don’t find you a backup ME and you,” she pointed at Doctor Magnus, “You don’t get to go on scene to look at bones, they get shipped to you in-house. That should save us about four hundred thousand a year, and over ten years…”
Both men gasped. “You’re worse than he is!”
Now Elizabeth hopped off the table and went over to her husband. “I taught him everything he knows, and I couldn’t be prouder.” She wiped a mock tear and Whitefox laughed.
“Gentlemen, have a good night. See you back at the bed and breakfast later.”
“That’s one evil woman,” he said, grinning. “I love my job.”
Magnus joined in. “Me too!”
~ Chapter Fourteen ~
Wednesday Night
Elizabeth sat on their bed reading more pages of the journal and making notes. They’d wanted to hit up the church to talk to the minister to see if they could get any more information, but no one was available to see them. They left their cards and a note in the office door. Next they could only hope someone would get back to them. If not, they’d head back there tomorrow and camp there almost the entire day.
One way or another, they were going to shake the town tree from twenty five years ago, and see what fell out.
They’d grabbed dinner and ate in the room in silence as they worked. There was an invisible tension still there, even though no one wanted to discuss it.
Elizabeth rubbed her eyes and sat up. “It’s getting late. I’m going to shower and get ready for bed. The words are all starting to blur and I can’t focus.”
Blackhawk looked up. “Okay baby.”
Elizabeth grabbed her night clothes and headed into the shower, both men watching her go
“Okay, you need to talk to her or do something,” he said, looking over at his brother. “We can’t go on like this. She’s tense, you're hurting, and I feel like I’m stuck in the middle to mediate.”
Whitefox didn’t know how to fix it. “I told you, I just need to work through it. If it’s okay with you, I’m going to sleep in the other room tonight. I don’t want to make a decision based on how I feel lying beside her. ”
“Suit yourself.” He watched his brother go in the other room and clos
e the door between their adjoining suites. It was going to be a shock to his wife when Elizabeth came out of her shower. Quickly, Blackhawk started putting everything away. She was going to need him to soothe the pain that was going to overwhelm her, when his wife saw Callen was gone.
Ethan climbed into bed, waiting while the shower shut off. It didn’t take long for her to be dressed and come out. The first thing she saw was the closed door. “Are we having alone time?” she asked, curiously.
“Lyzee.” Ethan didn’t know what to say to her.
“Oh, I see.” Elizabeth stared at the door, feeling her heart clench in her chest and her eyes fill with tears. “Callen didn’t want to be near me.”
“Baby,” he tried to soothe her with a gentle smile. “I want to be very near you.” Ethan patted the bed beside him.
Elizabeth climbed under the blankets and curled against her husband. “It’s okay, Ethan. I’ll be fine,” she whispered, even as the tears began to fall, and she buried her face into her husband’s chest. This was what Elizabeth feared, but it never occurred to her that it was going to happen this soon.
“Shhhhhh. I have you, baby. I’ll always have you,” he promised, kissing her gently on the forehead. It only caused her body to shake harder.
“I understand.” But she didn’t know what she did.
“It’s not you baby, he just needed to think through some things. Callen’s smart. Give him a night to think about it.”
Elizabeth nodded and just let the pain come in the torrent of tears, all the while her husband just held her tight in his arms.
When her body stopped shaking, he finally closed his eyes and joined her in sleep. His last thought was he hoped he didn’t make a huge mistake trusting his brother with Elizabeth’s heart.
* * *
One of the most difficult things he’d ever had to do was lay in bed and listen to the love of his life sob in the room beside him. Twice he almost got up to go to her and yet he couldn’t. The truth remained. He wanted to be a father one day, but he didn’t want a child without his last name. It mattered to his heart.
The line he drew in the sand years ago was staring him in the face. If he gave up that last piece, could he live with himself? It always seemed so damn important to him, and now he had to make a decision.
It came down to loving a woman who opened her life for him or something that shaped his entire existence.
The crying continued, as he tried desperately to block it out. Finally he rolled to his side, covering his head with a pillow. The more he tried to pretend he hadn’t broken her heart, the harder it became, until finally he slipped into sleep.
Vicious dreams chased him. Callen found himself waking continually in terror. Each dream had one thing in common.
Callen always ended up alone, losing Elizabeth.
* * *
Thursday Morning
It was an epic fail when it came to sleep.
Elizabeth tossed the entire night, and in the process kept her husband awake beside her. It wasn’t her intent to break down in tears all night long, but she just couldn’t help herself. Her heart was wounded and hurt.
If ever a man had earned sainthood, it was indeed Ethan Blackhawk. Although he looked exhausted, he didn’t blame Elizabeth in the least. When his wife finally climbed out of bed, fighting more tears, he knew whose ass he wished to kick at that moment.
“Do you have the tech reports?” Elizabeth inquired, digging through the papers after she finished dressing. “I know we printed out the drug report that Doctor Leonard ran for us.”
“Maybe Callen has it in his room?” he suggested.
Elizabeth stared at the door, weighing her options.
“Want me to ask him?” offered her husband, knowing she was afraid she’d see him and break down.
Elizabeth shook her head. “No Cowboy, I’ll do it.” When she knocked on the door, she felt sick to her stomach. Maybe he’d not answer and she’d get lucky.
“Come in.”
She pushed the door open and stared in at the man who had her so screwed up, that she couldn’t think straight. Only one other man had that power over her, and he was behind her getting dressed. “Do you have the drug lab report?” she asked, trying to show him no emotion, but she was sure her face said it all.
“I left it in the Escalade last night. Want me to run out and get it for you?” he asked. His heart was aching as he couldn’t help but see how miserable Elizabeth looked. She looked almost as bad as he felt inside. Right then and there he wanted to run to her. Damn this hang up he was having with his stupid last name.
“No, I need coffee anyway. I’ll go get it. Thanks.” She went to close the door.
“You can leave it open. I’m done dressing.”
She didn’t look up at him, only did what he requested. Elizabeth slipped on her boots, grabbing the keys. “I’ll be right back, Cowboy,” she said, not able to look at him either, or she’d break down again.
“Okay baby.” Ethan watched her leave and he looked back over at his brother. “I hope a fucking last name is worth all this,” he snapped, staring at his brother.
“It’s easy for you. You didn’t spend your life the outsider like I did. Why is it so wrong that I don’t want to pass that onto another child?” he yelled back.
Blackhawk decided to let it go, or he’d be forced to beat his brother’s brains in to knock some sense into his head. “Sure Cal. Whatever you say. This is perfectly logical. I only hope you don’t regret this in the end. Not everyone gets a second chance when they screw up this big by breaking her heart.”
Elizabeth poured her coffee and took a second to just enjoy the scent. Maybe caffeine would help get her through the nightmare the day was turning out to be. After taking a few sips, she looked over at Christina standing beside her.
“Director?” she said, quietly.
“Yeah, Christina?” Elizabeth didn’t even enjoy that the woman was scared shitless.
“I need to get a tech kit out of your trunk.” She really hoped that her boss wasn’t mad at her for the whole mass spec issues. “We’re out of specimen containers in the other kits, and you have the last full one.”
“I’m going out now. I need a report out of the car anyway.” She started for the door, realizing she forgotten her room key on the buffet. “Here Christina, I’ll be right there, I forgot my key.” She handed the woman the keychain and turned around to go back to find it.
When she found it, she sighed. She was a holy mess if she was forgetting shit, and it was only one hour into her day. Hustling out to the car, Elizabeth just started down the stairs of the building when she heard the telltale beeping of the vehicle’s locks being unarmed, and then the worst sound of her life.
The explosion rocked the air and slammed her to the ground. Her first thought was her tech, but the smoke was everywhere, and her vision was going gray.
Great, on top of it all, she was going to pass out.
Well hell! Yesterday, at the doctor’s office, was the signal of the oncoming apocalypse.
* * *
Ethan rushed to the window, his brother right beside him at the sound of the explosion. The windows in the building actually rattled as debris flew through the air.
Then his heart stopped. “That was the Escalade,” Ethan said in horror, as he looked at the burning vehicle parked where they left the rental. The both jumped when the second explosion went off.
“Oh God,” bellowed Whitefox, rushing from the building, his brother right behind him. Everything moved in slow motion at that point. They both charged down the stairs, his brother yelling for his wife, the woman on the phone calling for fire trucks. Everything stopped existing for him, especially as he ran out the door. In the parking lot were two very still bodies. Both were women, and his voice was suddenly gone.
Blackhawk charged down the stairs to the prone women, instinct kicking in, as he grabbed the woman closest to the fire. Dragging her away from the burning car, everything in him went c
ompletely dead. As much as he wanted to go to his wife, he had to help the woman in the most danger. Christina lay unconscious in his arms, and from the look of the burns on her flesh, she had been fairly close to the explosion.
Callen ran to the second downed woman, and he could have died right then. Elizabeth lay motionless on the ground a wicked gash to her forehead, and blood seeping down her pale skin in sick rivulets. Life stopped for him, as the prospect of losing her took root in his heart.
“Elizabeth,” he screamed, picking her up in his arms and pulling her away from the fire. She didn’t move and didn’t reply to her name.
He dropped to the ground next to his brother, as Ethan was checking Christina for a pulse.
More of the team poured out of the bed and breakfast, as training kicked in and they went into FBI mode.
“Maintain the scene,” yelled Blackhawk, to the three remaining techs.
Chris Leonard dropped down beside Elizabeth and tried to pull her out of Callen arms. When he resisted, he touched his shoulder. “I need to see if she’s breathing. If she’s not I have to get her air. Time matters or she’s going to have brain damage or die.”
He freed her go at the word ‘die’, as it horrified him.
Desdemona dropped down beside Ethan and began basic triage on Christina. “Director, let me get her flat. I don’t think she’s breathing.”
Ethan released the woman to Desdemona’s care and stared over at his wife. All ability to speak was gone. When his eyes met his brother’s, Ethan instinctually knew that one of them had to carry the weight of the situation. It was him. “It’s okay, Cal. She’ll be okay. Elizabeth is the toughest woman I’ve ever met.”
Whitefox shook his head, unable to even understand what just happened. Elizabeth was just fine. In fact he’d just… broken her heart.
Desdemona recognized how dire the situation was and tapped her boss. “Christina’s in bad shape. She needs to get to the hospital now. Pulse is thready, and she’s barely hanging in there.”
Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four) Page 42