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

by Kelley, Morgan

  Callen kissed her and rested his forehead against hers, gently.

  “If your brother can love a child with the last name of Whitefox, why wouldn’t you be able to love a child carrying the Blackhawk name? Do you love CJ less because he’s not a Whitefox?”

  “No! I love him so much it hurts.”

  Elizabeth ran the pad of her thumb over his lip. “When you’re holding him and cuddling him, does the name matter, Cal?”

  “Not in the least.”

  Ethan stood in the doorway watching them as his wife worked her magic. She was absolutely right about what was eating away at Callen. It was the same fear he had himself that those bad genes would make him just like his father. They didn’t define the man, and that was what his brother needed to see.

  “I’m not pregnant, and we don’t need to stress this, but you need to deal with the big pink elephant in the room. We’re not going to abandon you, and if we were to have a child, no one would take it away either. Any child born into this unconventional family is going to be cherished and loved more than anything. That’s despite the mother or father. I wouldn’t do to my children what was done to you, Callen. I need you to trust me and believe I won’t abuse your children because they don’t have the same name as me. Once you trust me enough, I think you’ll be able to work through this.”

  Tears filled his eyes, and he buried his face in her neck and held onto her. Elizabeth was absolutely right. Inside his heart he feared that if she had his child, the child wouldn’t be loved the same. It was crazy, but he’d been on that side of life. Not mattering as a child damaged him through his existence.

  “I’m not your mother, Callen, and you’re not your father. We’re Elizabeth, Callen and Ethan and we define what happens from here on out.”

  He nodded.

  “I'm only a Blackhawk on paper, but you have what I’ll never have; the blood. Technically you’re more Blackhawk than I ever will be. It’s only a name.”

  “She’s irritating like that, Callen. When you think you have it all figured out, she sees the truth and smacks you with it as hard as possible.” Blackhawk entered the room and sat on the gurney beside his family.

  Elizabeth grinned. “That’s my damn job and speaking of jobs,” she paused, lowering her voice. “Spring me out of here! There will be tons of sex, as a reward for my Indian in shining armor.”

  Whitefox tried to stand up with her, but his brother wouldn’t let him.

  “Nice try, but they want a twenty four hour observation.”

  Elizabeth looked horrified. “You better be screwing with me, Mr. Blackhawk, or I will go AWOL on my own. I can string bed sheets together just as well as the next escapee.”

  Before he could answer, his phone rang.

  Elizabeth watched him walk away and whispered in Whitefox’s ear. The man’s entire body tensed as he pictured what she was saying in his ear.

  “Seriously?”

  “Get me out of here, and I’ll do that and,” she whispered more and felt himself go rock hard. “Please Cal? I really hate hospitals.”

  As much as Callen wanted everything Elizabeth was offering up, he couldn’t spring her. His brother would put a stop to it immediately.

  Ethan strode back into the room. “I have a bomb team in the air. I have to get back to the scene.”

  “Please Ethan,” she pleaded. “Spring me. I’m fine. I don’t even have a headache.”

  He shook his head. “You know that if I spring you, I have to take your gun and badge until one of our doctors clear you. If you just stay for twenty four, you keep your badge and gun until discharged.”

  She weighed her options. “Okay.” The problem wasn’t staying in the hospital, the problem was leaving him alone and unprotected. Someone was looking to kill some FBI agents.

  Suddenly, Elizabeth reminded him of a wounded child. Blackhawk moved to her side, kissing her. “I’m going to leave you a bodyguard.” He stroked her cheek, looking into the blue eyes he fell in love with when he first saw them in his dreams.

  “No, take him with you. I’ll be safe in hotel bacteria,” she stated with certainty, knowing he was down two already and would be wide open.

  “I have more agents inflight now, and if he stays I won’t worry about you. Callen can check up on Christina and update me.”

  Whitefox knew he was doing it for her. One more agent down meant he was going to have a very long night.

  Elizabeth went to Ethan and slowly kissed him. She slid her hands into the ponytail at the back of his neck and deepened the kiss.

  Chris Leonard stood in the doorway with her gun and badge, and was completely fascinated. They most definitely had some romantic triangle. The kiss she was sharing with Ethan Blackhawk was the same she’d just been sharing with the man’s brother.

  This time it was Callen who cleared his throat, giving them a heads up that they weren’t alone anymore

  Elizabeth looked over at their ME and smiled. “You got my gun and badge back.”

  “Yes, I did,” he handed them to her and grinned. “Do I get a kiss too?” When one of the men growled, he started laughing. “I was kidding! You both need to relax.” Now he winked at Elizabeth. “Can Desdemona and I get a ride back with whoever is returning to the bed and breakfast?”

  “I’ll be the one heading back, Callen is staying,” answered Blackhawk.

  Whitefox stood and pulled the rings from his pocket. “Ethan,” he said, handing his brother his wife’s wedding ring.

  “Chris, I’ll meet you both out there in a few minutes.” He waited for the man to leave, and then slid the ring that symbolized their union back onto her hand.

  “I love you, baby.”

  “I love you too, Cowboy. Now be safe, don’t get hurt!” Elizabeth was worried about him.

  “No worries, Lyzee. I have a driver named Sheriff Denton.” Now he grinned, because he knew his wife would love that. “He’s waiting for me downstairs as my personal chauffeur.”

  It wasn’t lost on Elizabeth that the man who fought them so hard was now at her husband’s beck and call. “Go Mr. Blackhawk. Call me later. My phone’s in the room, so call your brother.” She kissed him goodbye again, watching him leave. Now she had to start worrying about him, since he was alone and unprotected.

  “He’ll be safe. Don’t stress, angel. I promise.”

  Elizabeth returned to him and was immediately cradled against his body.

  “Why don’t you close your eyes for a while, and get some rest? I’ll hold you and be here when you wake up.” Callen dropped a kiss on the top of her head, and she held out her hand for him, waiting.

  “Do I get your ring back or have you reconsidered me wearing it?” she asked quietly, looking up into his chocolate brown eyes and waiting for his answer. “If you have, I understand.”

  “There’s nothing to rethink, Lyzee. I know where this ring belongs.” Callen slid it back on her finger and held her tight, enjoying the feeling of her in his arms as she fell asleep. When the nurse came in with the wheelchair to transport her to a private room, he shook his head and stood from the bed. “I’ll carry her. Can you get her gun and badge?” he inquired, looking at the table.

  “Are you sure? She’s on the fifth floor. The director of the FBI arranged for a private room for her, and you’re down as her guard.”

  Whitefox laughed. “I’m very sure Director Blackhawk did. Please lead the way.” He’d carry her the remainder of his life if she’d let him.

  The nurse smiled at the man, his obvious love and devotion to the woman he was holding in his arms was touching. Leading them to the elevator, they got more than a few stares, as a large Native man with dried blood on his hands and jeans stood in the elevator holding a sleeping woman in his arms.

  It didn’t bother him in the least. Let them stare all they wanted. Callen wasn’t planning on leaving her side the rest of the day. Nothing was going to pull him away from her at this point.

  “I’ll leave some scrubs for the agent in ca
se she wants to shower and get cleaned up,” said the nurse, smiling.

  “Please lock the door. I don’t want anyone sneaking up on us. You know- gun and all,” he said, looking at the woman’s hand.

  “Oh, certainly! I’ll tell the staff to knock or to just call into the room to check in only.”

  Whitefox nodded, gently laying Elizabeth on the bed and covering her with a sheet. Staring down at her, it shocked him how pale she looked. The streaks of blood on her temple and hands disturbed him. Once in the bathroom, he first washed her blood from his hands, and then grabbed a washcloth to remove the blood from her flesh.

  Sitting beside her, Callen slowly cleaned the dried blood from her face and neck. Then he began wiping the drips from her hands. Tears filled his eyes and slid down his face, as the shock of what almost happened overwhelmed him. He silently wept, holding her hand in his, feeling infinitely grateful they were given another chance.

  This time he was taking nothing for granted.

  * * *

  Director Blackhawk stood in the rubble of the explosion, looking around at the holy mess the bomb had made of their vehicles. When the first bomb went off, it blew the Escalade, and that in turn blew the Denali sitting right beside it. Now he needed to know if there was a second bomb, or the gas tank on the second vehicle was to blame for the wreckage.

  Holy shit they’d made a big mess of the parking lot. If the owner didn’t close the place and run, he’d be surprised.

  Julian had on a pair of gloves and was crouched beside the man who hired him to find the missing woman. He’d been off getting breakfast for himself and Doctor Adare at the time of the explosion, and when he pulled back into the lot, his heart sunk. There was relief that he didn’t lose the second part of his assignment, but there was nausea that someone had almost taken out Elizabeth Blackhawk.

  Doctor Adare was a nice woman and she was fun to be around. Even though she’d thrown herself at him a few times, he refused to take advantage of a woman shrouded in grief.

  Besides, he wasn’t interested in getting involved with anyone who was connected to the Blackhawk triangle. Desdemona had been engaged to one of the bosses and that could come back and bite him in the ass. Honestly, since losing his job in Red River because he went behind his boss’s back to help Elizabeth Blackhawk, he needed people to help him start up his private business. Julian liked making money and eating regularly. There was a fine line and he was intending to stay on it.

  Then there was his little principle rule that sex should be fun, and he wasn’t going to be anyone’s rebound lay. Not happening now or ever. For now, Julian had some time away from the doctor, and that was a good thing. Even he only had so much patience for weepy women.

  Feisty he liked. Baggage laden ones- not so much. Now that Doctor Adare was safely tucked at the lab with the remaining techs and both doctors, a break was in order. There was no question that during the last week, Julian earned his pay.

  “You going to be okay?” he asked his boss, noticing that the man wasn’t really paying complete attention to the wreckage. His attention was obviously elsewhere, and who could blame him. Elizabeth was almost blown up by a nutjob.

  The question pulled him out of his wife induced thoughts. “Yeah I’ll be fine, Julian. Elizabeth’s safely tucked away with Callen, and the team is on its way. I have an agent in route that generally handles the serial bomb cases or arson serial killings for our division. Are you interested in staying on or do you want to ship out?” Right then he could use all the help he could get, but Julian was contracted, and he’d already used the man more than intended.

  “I want to help you out. I get offended when assholes try to blow up feisty women. Just tell me what I can do to get you the answers you need.”

  Blackhawk laughed at the reference to his wife, but instead of jealousy, this time he was solely grateful. “If you want, you and Agent Christensen can try and find who built this bomb, and how the hell he got to our Escalade in the middle of a parking lot.”

  Before the man could answer, he heard the vehicles approach. There were four Denalis pulling into the lot. “Great they’re here. I’ll introduce you to my agent.”

  Julian followed the man to where the Denali’s stopped, and like ants, the techs hopped out and waited for the direction of their boss.

  His eyes immediately went to one specific tech. Wow! He was having a hard time not staring at her. The woman was incredibly beautiful, and when he said incredibly, he meant Elizabeth Blackhawk gorgeous. The tech had been blessed with a rich red hair that was only highlighted by the smoky blue gray eyes that stood out on her face. Yeah, his sexy radar went off just looking at her. Now, that was a tech he wouldn’t mind cuddling up to when he got a chance.

  He phased back in as Blackhawk updated the team.

  “Christina is in the burn unit and she’s going to be there a while. She took a hit to the head and has a severe concussion. Elizabeth is also under watch for the next twenty four hours. We have until she gets back to find out what blew that vehicle.”

  The techs started pulling out their gloves, putting them on and getting ready. They knew that the female Blackhawk would be on the warpath if they didn’t have something for her.

  “Agent Christensen, come with me.”

  Julian watched as the woman he’d just been staring at followed her boss directly to his side. Well holy shit, he just hit the partner jackpot. The gorgeous woman was going to be his tag along on this little mission and this made his whole day.

  “Julian Littlemoon, this is Special Agent Victoria Christensen,” introduced their boss.

  Agent Christensen held out her hand warmly. “It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Littlemoon.”

  Julian stared into the smoky eyes. “Same here, Special Agent. I hear you’re the explosion and arson expert and my new partner for a little while.”

  Agent Christensen smiled. “I don’t know if I’m an expert, but I do generally handle a lot of fire and arson issues for Director Blackhawk. If it has flames involved, I usually can find the reason. What can I say, I like things that explode.”

  Littlemoon hoped that his face wasn’t giving anything away. The woman was going to be interesting to work with and that was for sure.

  “Julian is the best tracker I’ve ever met, and he can find pretty much anything that’s lost and needs to be found. What I need to know is how the individual got to our cars, the path he took, and if he left behind anything we can use to find him.”

  He looked around the surrounding area taking it all in, before he made any comments. “Boss, I’m going to bet that he staked out the vehicle from the overgrowth, and then crept in that way. So once Agent Christensen is settled, we’re going to be creeping through the marsh to find his way in and out.”

  Tori Christensen nodded. She liked a challenge and more importantly, she enjoyed working for the Blackhawks. There was some elusive mystery surrounding them, but they ran the best unit in the FBI, and she hoped to stay there for the rest of her career. “If you give me five minutes I’ll drop my gear and be ready.”

  Julian nodded at the woman. He was having a hard time enunciating anything in full sentences. Usually he had no issue around beautiful women. Look at how he managed to deal with Elizabeth Blackhawk on a regular basis, but something about Agent Christensen just sent awareness through his body.

  Blackhawk noticed he watched the woman walk away. “You going to be okay teaming up with her?” he asked, pretty sure that working with her wasn’t going to be the problem. What came after working was going to be where it all went to hell in a hand basket for the man.

  “No problem at all.” That was complete and total bullshit and he hoped his boss didn’t recognize the lie. Working with her was going to be distracting. He pushed it down and started walking the perimeter of the parking lot. All he needed was to just find the trail, and they’d be on their way. Now it was about thinking about the bomber and not the bombshell.

  Tori Christensen dropped her g
ear and was ready to start the assignment. There were few things in her life that gave her as much joy as solving a problem and finding an arsonist. Maybe it was her past, and maybe it was the fact she was always on the hunt for justice, but one way or another, Tori was damn good at her job. Jogging out to the parking lot it was time to begin, again. With a pat to her chest, she felt the telltale comfort of the clinking metal around her neck and readied herself for the job ahead.

  The man was lost in his own world, staring at the grass leading into the swampy area. Tori took a few moments to just watch Julian, appreciating that he was really an attractive man. Something about the dark hair tucked behind his ears was innately sexy. Maybe it was the gold flecked eyes that made him attractive too. Working around Native men didn’t generally affect her; after all, she was accustomed to being around Director Blackhawk and his brother daily at work. But they didn’t attract her attention quite like Littlemoon did. Possibly because they were attached or perhaps because the man before her was a mystery, and she loved a puzzle to solve.

  Either way it was going to be an adventure.

  Julian didn’t hear her approach him from behind. When her hand touched his arm, he didn’t jump, even though the tingle was startling. Looking into the stormy gray eyes he searched, as if looking for some answer he needed to find. What was it about this woman?

  “I’m ready Mr. Littlemoon. Just tell me what you want me to do.”

  “Julian. Please Agent, call me Julian.”

  “I’m Victoria, but I don’t really go by that, so call me what most the agents call me in the field; Tori.” She was having a hard time focusing around this man. Julian was staring at her like he was staring straight into her soul. Something was making her dizzy around him. Then again, it could be the way his jeans were fitting on his body that was causing the lightheaded feeling.

  Yeah, probably.

  “Okay, Tori. How do you feel about swamps, alligators and snakes?”