They needed to let Callen spread his wings and take command, and that meant even with these idiots.
“I’m sorry, but no one sees the bodies until our ME has cleared them. Right now all I can offer is that we’ll be working out of the police station and sometime tomorrow the autopsies will be complete and we can revisit this then.”
The two seemed mollified.
“Now, if you don’t mind, we need to get finished up and transport the bodies back to the work area.” Callen paused. “Oh, Chief Soaring Eagle?” he called, getting his attention.
“Yes?”
“The sketch artist drawing, did it ring any bells?” he inquired.
There was no emotion on the man’s face, but the eyes gave it away. “No, it didn’t.”
Elizabeth caught it, waiting until the two Natives moved out of ear range. “He’s lying like a rug.”
Blackhawk noticed it too. “There’s no doubt that he knows more than he’s saying.”
“Then we need to get it circulated and see if anyone else does,” Elizabeth suggested.
Both men laughed. “No one is going to rat out a Native to the Feds, Elizabeth.” Whitefox added. “The only way we’ll get his name is if he happens to cross our paths, or we catch him red handed stealing livestock.”
“I can’t believe we had the FBI on the scene before being called in to assist. Are we getting lucky or what?” Ethan teased. “I’m referring to your mediation assignment and the remains.”
Callen thought about it, deciding to lay it all out on the table for his brother. “If you want bizarre coincidence then how about you try this one on for size? They believe it’s a skinwalker,” he confessed.
Ethan just stared, unsure if his brother was yanking his chain or not. “The chief and shaman believe a skinwalker stole the sheep?”
“Yes, plus a goat and a dog.”
Elizabeth glanced back and forth at both men. “Would either of you like to share what the hell a skinwalker is? Some of us didn’t grow up on a Rez and are out of the loop?”
Callen touched her cheek, lovingly. He broke down the entire legend and what the purpose behind it was for the Natives. “It was a way to explain and rationalize magic and bad mojo that happened to people. If someone died, they could simply blame the ‘boogey man’ instead of cancer or misfortune.”
She needed a recap. “So, you’re telling me that these skinwalkers take the skin of an animal and use it for magical purposes?”
“Yes, that’s generally the consensus of the legend,” confirmed Blackhawk for his wife. “Think of it like a witch doctor of sorts.”
Now Elizabeth began laughing. The melodious sound affected both men, as it always did. “I’m sorry, but we have a Native stealing livestock, two Tribal heads swearing it’s a mythical demon practicing black magic, and two rotting corpses without flesh. None of this is a coincidence boys. We got ourselves a homicidal maniac on our hands.”
Unfortunately, Callen was well aware and now his woman and child were tossed into the mix. He was pretty sure his day couldn’t get any worse.
Yeah, right.
Julian did his thing, searching for anything that gave him an entry or exit point into the area. He found two and had Tori take pictures of them. As of now, he wanted to search down the path the killer had taken, but he wasn’t willing to do it during darkness with his woman’s life at risk. Tomorrow he’d follow it to find where the trails originated.
“You’re being really quiet,” Tori stated, softly. “Did I do something to upset you?” Since she arrived at the scene, Julian didn’t look pleased.
“No. I’m fine. I’m just doing my job.” Julian realized that the words came out a little harsher than he intended.
Tori heard the cold snap in his voice, and tried not to feel sick inside. In two months, that was the first time that Julian had been anything but warm and loving. If he didn’t want to share, she wasn’t going to force him and make him angry.
“Okay, Julian.” It was time to change the subject. “If you follow this path in that direction, where does it lead?” she inquired, flipping the switch from caring girlfriend to focused FBI agent.
Julian glanced up at the stars and found his bearings. “This one eventually will lead to outsider land and into the mountains outside of town.”
She looked around getting her bearings. “Thank you.”
A sigh escaped his lips. “I’m sorry, Tori. I’m just edgy tonight. I didn’t mean to snap at you. You didn’t deserve that.” He led her to the other trail and had her take pictures of the grass. “Please forgive me?”
Tori knew he wasn’t just edgy about this. In the months they’d had together, there were only two things that made Julian this uptight. It was either other men near her or the topic of work. “Sure, I’ll forgive you, Julian.”
He ran his hand down her back, memorizing the curve of her body-just in case. His heart lurched at the mere thought she’d be leaving him and returning to the FBI.
The tension seemed to vibrate around them. Tori wished she could offer him some reassurance. There weren’t any other men around her that Julian might be threatened by, so that left one remaining option.
The job.
Inside her, there was a little voice begging to spill the huge secret that she was hiding. Tori wanted to share with him and tell him what she was planning as his surprise, but then it would be ruined. Mentally Tori prayed he’d hang in there a couple more days until everything was taken care of and it was time to drop the huge bomb.
“Where does this lead if we were to follow it?” she inquired, keeping them focused on work.
Julian thought about it. “I believe this will take you deeper into the forest. Maybe a half a day’s trek until you hit town.”
“We’re going to have to follow it.”
Julian laughed. “I’m going to follow it. I’m not letting you wander out into the woods to become some skinless body in a cave.”
Tori crossed her arms. “I see. So, you get to be the dead body then when you wander down a trail alone. I guess I’m just some woman right? I didn’t survive two tours of duty in Afghanistan, or as a competent FBI agent for four years?”
This had the potential to be nuclear, and he knew it.
“We’ll talk to the bosses, and discuss when we can go out together.” It was a huge concession to make, and it ate at his heart. If there was anything he didn’t want to do, it was risk her. Right now, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The prospect of hiking down the trail and away from her side didn’t make him happy either. Julian knew he had but one choice- the lesser of the two evils.
“Thank you,” she replied, softly. Tori glanced over her shoulder, and did something totally out of character. She planted one right on his mouth.
Julian was surprised at her public display of affection. Generally, his girl wouldn’t be so lovey dovey in front of her bosses. The kiss grabbed his attention and heated his blood. In the back of his mind he decided that when they did hike that trail, there’d only be one sleeping bag and for a very good reason.
He’d keep her safe and warm.
Breaking the kiss, she stared into his eyes. “Come on, Mr. Tracker. Let’s go share this with the bosses.” Tori knew kissing him on the crime scene wasn’t exactly professional, but she just had the need to be close to him. Over the last weeks, she’d grown desperately attached.
Life was too short and her new motto was ‘stop thinking and begin doing’.
Callen was helping pull evidence with Elizabeth when Tori and Julian approached. At the sound of footsteps, he moved closer to her body to keep his pregnant woman safe.
“Julian, you have that look on your face. The one that says you found something important,” observed Elizabeth. “What do you have?”
“I have two trails leading into the clearing. I’m going to follow them tomorrow.”
Elizabeth kept her face blank. They were looking for permission and this wasn’t her assignment. Gently, she
nudged Callen in the thigh. “They need to get your approval before they go out, Boss,” she hinted.
Callen was caught off guard. He didn't think they’d been serious about him running the assignment, especially now that they were there. Really, being boss wasn’t his thing, but how did he tell them that? “Sure, head out and make sure you keep in constant contact with us.”
Elizabeth saw her partner struggling with it and jumped in to help him. “You go in with geo tagging to cover all our bases. We don’t want to have to wander aimlessly looking for you if you get lost.”
Julian laughed. “You realize that I grew up here and can find my way home.”
Elizabeth shrugged. “Think of it as me monitoring my agent, not you. I want Tori lo-jacked.”
Agent Christensen started laughing. “Don’t even give Julian any ideas. Now he’ll want me to wear an ankle bracelet.”
To all the men the idea held merit.
Blackhawk wandered over. “Julian, can we leave the ATV’s parked by your cabin? I don’t have a location to safely leave them. The last thing I need is a bunch of out of control Native youths going for a joy ride with FBI equipment.” Ethan knew as a boy the sight of all the fun toys would have lured him and his brother into a little larceny and out of control racing. They had a few issues with stealing things with wheels.
“You know you can. Do you three need a place to stay? I have a spare room.” Julian offered.
Elizabeth took the opportunity to bust him. “It’s spring, where’s the teepee?” She and Julian had a little joke about him trying to get her into one, and they tried to keep it going as long as possible.
“My teepee days are over, Elizabeth,” he replied, staring over at Tori. There would never be another woman in his life, not after he got her to marry him.
She offered him a fist bump. “I’m glad to hear that, my friend.”
Christina raced across the clearing, tripping and practically falling onto Callen as he was sealing up his evidence bag. Fortunately for her, he caught her before she knocked him over or took them both down.
“Are you okay?” he asked, worried about the woman that was flushing and staring up at him, as he held her against his body.
The giggles came and overwhelmed her. This had to be the best damn day of her entire life. First holding onto her boss on an ATV and now staring up at Callen and in his arms.
Elizabeth fought valiantly, but started laughing at the entire scene. The poor woman was giddy. Christina was drunk on Native sexiness.
“I’m good Director. Sorry, I must have tripped on a tree root.”
Blackhawk was fighting a grin himself. “What caused the rush over here, Christina?”
“We’re done with evidence collection. The team is ready to begin transporting back to the vehicles. We found some trace, and can start running it once the portable lab is set up at the police station.”
Just then the ME and Anthro doctors exited the cave carrying one of the two body bags.
“I have the bones bagged up for transport too,” stated Tony Magnus. “I’m going to speculate here and tell you that they’re too small to be human and the texture is off. I believe they’re animal in origin, but I’ll confirm back in the lab.”
Elizabeth nodded, once again nudging Callen. When he didn’t answer, she stepped in and helped him out. “Strap everything to the back of an ATV on the body boards and let’s get the hell out of here. I don’t like being stuck out here in the dark. We can return tomorrow if need be.”
“Gotcha, Boss.” Christina and another tech helped remove the last body and secure them in place.
“If we can’t transport everything, leave the equipment that we can live without. We’re far enough back that it shouldn’t walk away. We can retrieve it another time.” Blackhawk supervised the team loading everything up.
Elizabeth pulled Callen aside and touched his arm. “You okay?”
He wasn’t. This whole running an assignment had him all stirred up and a mess inside. What if he screwed it up or forgot to do something. “I’m just worried I’ll make this assignment a horrible disaster.”
She understood the fear; it was the same for all agents on the first timeout of the gate leading. “I have faith in you, Cal. You can do this.”
He watched her walk away, still feeling incredibly sick to his stomach. “Yeah, I wish I had faith in me too.”
~ Chapter Three ~
Reservation Police Station
Tuesday Night
Loading everything up had been a quick job. Everyone on the team was generally used to being under the gun and time restraints when it came to Elizabeth Blackhawk. Once the bodies were onboard a tech van, they followed Callen, Ethan and Elizabeth to the rural police station.
Hopping out, they stared. It wasn’t huge, but they’d worked in worse conditions in the field. This was the Rez, and that meant limited resources.
Leading them in, Callen stopped at the office of the chief of reservation police. At one time, before his brother came back into his life, he’d held the same job on a small Rez, looking just as bored and out of his mind too. Knocking on the door, he announced their arrival.
“Chief Rickard Longtree, these are my partners, Directors Elizabeth and Ethan Blackhawk,” Callen introduced, watching the man take in Elizabeth. He was used to it, but it still rubbed him the wrong way. From the look on his brother’s face, he didn’t miss the full body scan either. Obviously Rick Longtree didn’t care or bother to notice Elizabeth was pregnant; he missed the same last name too.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” he answered, hand out and smile on his face. “I’m sorry I can’t offer you a high tech lab and bigger office to work with, but this is the Rez. We’re lucky to have four walls at this point. The internet’s working because we just swapped out the gerbil in the wheel.”
Elizabeth grinned, already liking the man. He was friendly, honest and not hostile. Outsiders must not be an issue with him. “Thank you for your hospitality. We appreciate it greatly.”
“Can I offer you a seat, Ma’am?” he pointed to a chair.
Callen relaxed a little. The man was just being conscientious of her being pregnant. That stopped him from wanting to rip his arms off for checking her out.
“Thank you, Chief.” Elizabeth sat and crossed her legs. She might as well enjoy it while she could still do it. Although six months pregnant, this baby wasn’t as large as CJ was at the same time frame. Maybe it was the fact that CJ was ravenous and on a feeding frenzy all the time, where EJ could care less.
“Gentlemen, I just made some coffee, can I offer you both some?”
Blackhawk declined. “No thank you, but I would like to get the tech team situated. Can you tell me how to get to the basement? I’ll take care of that while Director Whitefox handles catching you up to speed.”
“Certainly,” he said, grinning. “The only access to the basement is through the back of the building and down the concrete steps. There are three unused rooms down there. We figured one could be used as the morgue, one as the office for your doctors and then the tech lab.”
Blackhawk nodded. “Thank You, Chief.” Leaving the room, he went to supervise his staff.
“Chief,” began Elizabeth, only to have him interrupt.
“For the record, it’s Rick. I run a very laid back boat here. This is a fairly quiet reservation.”
She spoke up. “Please then by all means, call me Elizabeth. We tend to be very informal in the field also.”
The man sat and grinned at the woman. “I have to be honest, Elizabeth. I’m a little taken aback by a pregnant FBI agent. I didn’t expect it, so excuse me if I stare.”
It wasn’t like she wasn’t accustomed to it. When it came down to it, most people thought that once you got a baby bump your brain was magically sucked from your body. “No offense taken. I was pregnant last time I was here with the team in Red River. This is our second child.”
Rick Longtree nodded. “I have two kids myself,
and I can’t imagine being away from them.”
Elizabeth shrugged. It wasn’t easy, but this was the element of the beast. They were FBI and that meant sacrifice. “Our son is at home with my father-in-law, so he’s in good hands, and our other son he’s still portable and along for the ride.
Just then there was a knock to the door. “Can I get your trash,” inquired Thomas Aster, pointing at the cans.
Longtree smiled. “Come on in.” Then his focus was back on the FBI again. “Well congrats to you and your husband,” he said, grinning.
Callen tensed beside her at the implication.
Elizabeth let it go, because other than Doctor Leonard, they opted to keep the father’s identity secret until the day EJ was born. “Thank you, Rick.”
“Maybe we should talk about the bodies,” Callen threw out there, changing the subject. It bothered him that he couldn’t claim his own child. Yes, they made the decision, but it irritated the hell out of him.
The child growing in her body was his.
His son.
Elizabeth glanced over at him, and touched his thigh lightly, offering him some reassurance. The twitch in his cheek gave away the tension in his body.
The janitor dumped the trash and brought back the empty cans as quickly as possible, slipping back out the door trying to not disturb them.
“Sure thing, Director Whitefox.”
Callen broke it all down for the man, explaining how their tracker found both trails in and out of the clearing and was going to search them tomorrow. He explained the location of the bodies and the bones found beside them.
“Have any other remains been found on the Rez?” inquired Elizabeth, pulling out Ethan’s tablet to enter notes.
“Not to my knowledge. We don’t get a great deal of crime here. I’m not saying we don’t have issues, but mostly it’s the normal shit,” he paused. “I beg your pardon Ma’am.”
Elizabeth laughed at the possibility that someone believed that would bother her. She spouted worse in her sleep. “No offense was taken, Rick. What kind of crime are we talking about?”
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