Elizabeth ran her fingers over her lips, and they still felt warm to the touch. Just that brief contact made her whole body tingle. It occurred to her that she was out of her element with this man, and he had a way of catching her off guard and making her forget about work.
It was going to be really hard to focus all day.
Blackhawk escaped inside to the conference room, and he couldn’t believe what he just did. Christ, what was he thinking? He just kissed her in her Jeep, outside work, and during an assignment. Holy shit, day two and she already was breaking down his carefully constructed control. Elizabeth LaRue was a huge, distraction.
Then it occurred to him, she didn’t stop the kiss. In fact, she had participated in it…
Once inside, after regrouping her thoughts, Elizabeth called all her deputies together for a meeting. They met in the conference room, and watched her eagerly. She had sent out text messages for them all to reconvene back at the station for new assignments. On the way into work, she realized this was a new game, and she needed her deputies focused on the killer, and not doing the normal jobs, like speeding tickets and missing newspapers.
When both the FBI agents entered the room, she began. “Thank you for rushing in, guys and Sara,” she said, smiling at her deputies. “We’re taking a new approach to the situation. Instead of being out in the streets, I need you all to be at base and doing some leg work. There has to be a common thread that ties all the murders together. Something we’re missing, like a community event, a location, or even a person. We just need that next little piece of the puzzle to give us an idea of where this guy is taking this.”
“I agree with Sheriff LaRue. Right now the answer is in the information we can gather regarding the individuals. Something they said, did, or even saw could lead us to the killer. That will keep us from finding more victims,” said Blackhawk, standing beside Elizabeth.
“Leave no stone unturned and even the littlest information could mean the biggest piece of the puzzle, so keep your eyes open and start searching. Here are your assignments,” she paused to pull out the paper. “Chris, you get our first victim. Her name was Tara Scott. I need to know everything you can find on her. Who she liked, what she did, what her favorite past time was in town. I mean everything,” she said, handing him the paper and dismissing him from the conference room.
“Tony, you get our second victim, Melissa Martin. Again, everything you can find, who she dated, who her best friend was in high school, anything relevant.” Elizabeth patted him on the shoulder, as he took his assignment and left the room.
“Tyrell, you have our third victim,” said Blackhawk, holding out the file. “Melody Howe, she was found hanging in the square.” He handed him the file and waited until he was gone. “Sara, you have Patricia Parker. We suspect the only reason her friend was killed was that she was with her. The killer didn’t expect it. She wasn’t from this area but visiting her friend,” he handed her the file.
“Thank you, Agent Blackhawk,” she said smiling, pausing at the conference room door. “Umm, Sheriff LaRue?”
Elizabeth looked up from her papers and over at the deputy. “Yes, Sara?”
“Nice flower,” Sara teased, grinning and walking from the room, whistling a cheery tune. If she was a gambler, she would venture a guess as to where that flower came from.
Elizabeth scowled at Blackhawk, and he raised his hands in mock surrender.
“It wasn’t me who put it there,” he said, grinning wickedly at her. Just seeing the flower in her hair gave him a sense of possessiveness. What astounded him was that even after the teasing, Elizabeth still kept it in place.
She was about to say something sarcastic, when Martha appeared at her door, looking nervous and downright upset. “Martha, what’s wrong?” she went to her side, putting her arm around the woman protectively.
“Sheriff, we had a call from the mayor,” she paused, “he found a body this morning on his property.”
“Another one, already?” she said, going on alert and glancing over her shoulder at the agents. “Can you grab the missing person report, Ethan, on your way out?”
He nodded and strode to the door, already heading for the vehicles “We’ll meet you outside, Sheriff,” he said, motioning to his partner.
“Martha, tell the deputies to head out there. Let’s try not to cause a panic and riot. I want to get to the crime scene before Armageddon happens here in town.”
Martha nodded. “Be careful, Sheriff,” she replied, watching her boss rush from the building.
She only hoped that she was able to find the killer before more people had to die.
Elizabeth nodded to the agents sitting in their SUV. She dialed the ME and told him the location, as she pulled out of the parking lot. The good news was this was being kept quiet; the bad news was that they had another body and were nowhere near having a viable suspect. In her rear view mirror, she could see the FBI right behind her, and it gave her a small measure of reassurance. There was no doubt that they would help her find the killer. It was just a matter of how many bodies they had before it was done.
Deep down, fear gripped her, and she pushed it down until later. Now, she had to be the one in charge of leading the investigation.
As she pulled into Mayor Argot’s drive, her blood pressure spiked. There had to be ten cars and people milling around. Jumping out, she looked ready to kill someone, and she knew who was first on her list.
“What the bloody hell?” she muttered, stalking her way over to the mayor. “Will, what’s going on?” she snapped angrily, as there was media and people all over the yard were moving in on her body and crime scene.
“Sheriff,” he muttered under his breath and through his fake smirk. “Smile, there are cameras on us.”
“I’m not going to smile at these media jackwagons! I’m going to throw everyone’s ass off your property,” she turned towards the TV cameras and to the newspaper photographer. “This is officially a crime scene,” she saw her deputies arrive. “Tape it off, and escort these fine people away from here and confiscate cell phones, video cameras, and anything else they think they can sneak out of here,” she snapped, her voice tinged with sarcasm.
The chorus of displeasure sounded from the media.
“Sheriff!” The mayor looked panic stricken that she was ruining his sound bite and media coverage.
Elizabeth gladly took him by his arm, and led him to the side of the house out of earshot. “Will, seriously? You call in a body, and then you call the media right after it?” She looked over her shoulder at the FBI agent, and he looked just about as angry as she did. “The point is to keep the town from panicking, not stir the shit pot so we have mass chaos!”
He shrugged, “Elizabeth, I have a civic duty to the fine people of this town. It is my job to show them that our sheriff and her deputies are working this and, trying to solve it as fast as possible.”
She stared at him openmouthed unsure if he was serious.
“Besides, it is an election year,” he paused, and before he could finish she took another step towards him, and he obviously saw the anger in her eyes.
“If you think for one second that I give a shit about this being an election year, you’re out of your mind. I care about the girl who died, not if I get re-elected,” she growled, menacingly. “Where is she?”
He pointed to the back of the house and replied, “Along the tree line and by the stone wall.”
“Wait here! You need to be questioned,” she tossed at him angrily, before walking away.
Elizabeth crossed the acre of property, and kept scanning the area for any sign of footprints, car treads, or anything that would give them an idea of how she got to the field. As she got closer, she pulled a pair of rubber gloves from her back pocket and slipped them on. Looking down at the body, she shook her head.
“Sheriff, what do we have?” asked Blackhawk, pulling on his own gloves, and crouching beside her.
“It looks like she was crushed to deat
h,” she said, softly. When he handed her the missing person report, she scanned the contents. “Kathy Cory- she works at the florist and is twenty one. Her father called it in when she never came home last night. She has red hair, freckles and was last seen wearing a black skirt, and red tank top. Once we get to the body, we’ll check the clothes, but so far, she matches the report.”
Everyone stepped back, as the crime scene team began snapping pictures. “Sheriff, there’s something on the one rock. It must have slid off the pile and into the grass,” the tech said, pointing and then snapping more pictures.
Elizabeth picked it up and turned it in her hand. “It’s dried blood.”
Blackhawk and Sanderson came to her side to examine the rock. “It has something on it, a shape, but it’s smeared.” Lily took a close up picture. “Maybe we can get our techs to digitally play with it, find the symbol. I’ll get this over to them.”
Elizabeth nodded, “Doc, can we start removing the stones?” she questioned, as he stood.
“Yes, Lyzee. We need to set the poor girl free.”
“We’ll find the killer, Lyzee,” Blackhawk said softly, he could see the anger and frustration on her face. If she wouldn’t get pissed, he would have offered her reassurance. Knowing the little he knew about her, she wouldn’t welcome it.
Now it was about the dead girl, and no one else.
“Thanks, Ethan,” she said, hoping he was right.
All three began the slow process of removing the rocks from the girl, listening to the ME give instruction. It was tedious and painstaking work. The medical examiner insisted on seeing the girl ‘in situ’, and the techs needed to check each rock for trace. They had bagged the red stained rock and were just trying to get to the young woman beneath the crush of stones. The killer had used the rocks from the stone wall surrounding the property. One by one piling them on her chest and body, until all the air was pushed from her, and she couldn’t even take a breath. It had to be a horrible way to die. On two of the top rocks, they found tread marks from shoes. At some point, he had stood on top of her, to make sure the job was done.
Just as they got to the last layer of rocks, she heard a shout, but it was more a howl of excruciating pain. Immediately, her attention was drawn to the house, and the large man rushing towards them.
“Shit,” she muttered, stepping into his path to intercept the man. Elizabeth knew it was going to hurt, as he plowed right into her. The wind was knocked from her, as she landed on her bad shoulder and slid in the grass.
“Let me see my baby,” he yelled, in pain and anguish.
Blackhawk saw the sheriff go down, and needed to stop him before he could reach the body and contaminate the scene. They had yet to bag her hands, or check for any evidence on her person. He restrained him, as he fought hard to get to the victim.
“That’s my baby!” he screamed in pain. “That’s my Kathy! Let me see her!” He fought to get past the agent, talking swings at him and connecting with his chin.
Blackhawk had no choice; he took him to the ground, placing his body over him to keep him from their scene and from taking any more shots. He was relieved when Elizabeth moved towards them, helping him subdue the hulk of a man. “Are you okay?” he asked, watching her nod.
“Mr. Cory! Stop! You have to stop right now!” she hissed through gritted teeth, as they tried to reach the man beneath the grief. “You have to let us help her now. She’s mine now and I’ll care for her, I promise.” Elizabeth peered down into his eyes when he calmed. They were so filled with pain and sorrow, she knew the look. Elizabeth had seen it before in the eyes of all the families when she had to tell them their child was a victim of a horrible crime.
“We have her, sir,” said Blackhawk. He motioned to Tony to come over and escort the man back behind the police tape.
“Yes, Agent?” he acknowledged, looking pale.
Sometimes crime scenes did that to those who weren’t used to seeing life stolen and wasted. “Mr. Cory needs to sit down, take him inside the mayor’s house. Please get him some coffee, and keep him sequestered until we can take care of his child.”
Tony nodded, “Yes, sir.”
Ethan stared down into the man’s face. “We’re going to let you up. You need to go with the deputy and stay inside. If you charge us again, you will end up back on the ground or booked for assault on a federal officer. Am I clear?” His voice was tough and stern.
The man nodded, defeated.
Elizabeth heard the toughness in his voice, but saw it didn’t reach his eyes. He too, felt the pain this man was feeling. “Please, Mr. Cory, let us do our job now,” she said, rolling off his body.
Blackhawk did the same, and watched the man be led away. When he turned, he saw that she was staring at him and holding a tissue.
“Come here Ethan, your lip is bleeding. You must have bit it,” she delicately blotted his lip, and the trail of blood to his chin. “It’s split pretty badly; you should have the ambulance guys check it out.” She took his hand and put it over the tissue. She had to go back to the girl who was now her responsibility.
“Thank you, Lyzee.” Ethan used the name again, wondering if she’d correct him. Blackhawk was oddly touched at the way she tended his lip, and didn’t give him a look at the use of the nickname.
She rolled her shoulder and felt the pain.
Damn it!
“He hit you pretty hard, and you slammed into the ground even harder. Are you going to be okay?” Blackhawk watched her carefully.
Elizabeth lied. “Yeah, I’m good. He just knocked the wind out of me. I’m much better now,” she answered, moving back to the rocks.
That he didn’t believe for a second. She seemed to be favoring her right shoulder. Elizabeth was lying to him and he would find out why later. Now it had to be about the girl, and the heat was rising. They needed to get her bagged, and to the morgue before she, and the evidence, deteriorated even further.
Finally, they reached her. Beneath the last layer of rocks, was this tiny little woman. At the most she had to be about one hundred pounds soaking wet. Her hands were bound in front of her, and her lips were blue, and there was a blood smear from her nose to her cheek.
“Time of death?” she asked Doc.
He pulled the liver probe from her body, and checked the gauge doing the math. “No more than eight hours ago, Lyzee. I’ll be able to give you more, once I get her back and get the toxicology and internal done.”
“Thanks Doc,” she replied, watching the woman being lowered into the black bag. “I’ll get a deputy to escort you back, and run interference with the press.”
“This is a field day,” he added, shaking his head in disgust. “Who alerted the dogs?”
“None other than our fine mayor,” she said, sarcastically.
“It figures and I’m not surprised. He’s a media whore. He probably thought this could help his political career and keep him in the office another term.”
“That’s what he said,” she answered. “Doc, get me all you can and as fast as you can. I need the tox and results an hour ago.”
Blackhawk touched her right shoulder, and she flinched. It was slight, but it was there. “Get them shipped to Quantico. The FBI will get the results much faster. In fact, all the results need to be shipped there.”
His eyes said it all.
Someone in this town was doing the killing; they needed to protect the samples and evidence at all cost.
“Ship it all, Doc,” Elizabeth said. “We’re in bed with the FBI, until we find the killer.”
Ethan knew it was completely inappropriate to be going there, but he liked the sound of that- especially since it involved Elizabeth.
Doc Trudeaux nodded, taking the information from the agent. “I’ll start the autopsy in two hours, after the crime techs go over her body for trace. If you want to be there, stop in and join me. I’ll be taking a look at your shoulder too,” Doc ordered. “You took that hit with your body, and I think it exacerbated it.”<
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“Thanks Doc,” she said, kissing his cheek and rolling her eyes. “I’m perfectly fine and to prove it, I’m going to go chew the mayor a new asshole. I’ll try to not to enjoy it,” she said, heading to the house, pulling off her gloves and handing them to a tech. The anger was back, and she had her target.
“Lily, can you follow the ME back? I think we need to make sure the media doesn’t cause anymore of mess. If we have to, give the standard statement.” Blackhawk knew his partner would take care of it.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to keep the sheriff from murdering the mayor, and then talk to the father,” he watched Elizabeth LaRue storm the house. “I’m going to try to anyway.”
“Good luck with that,” she muttered, putting on her sunglasses and following the ME to his van.
The FBI was going to make sure this all worked out to their favor. There was no doubt in her mind how she would handle it.
~ Chapter Five ~
Inside the mayor’s house, she found her deputy keeping the victim’s father sequestered and alone. Tony was sitting beside him, just allowing the man to talk, weep, or grieve for his daughter. The look on his face said it all, and he reassuringly patted the man on the knee, handing him another tissue. But for now, the father would have to wait. Elizabeth needed to talk to the mayor.
“Where’s that asshole, Argot?” she asked Christopher Santana, as he stood watch at the front door.
“The mayor said he had to go to work. He bailed pretty fast, and the media followed him.” He jerked his thumb towards the door. “I tried to stop him, but he said he’d fire me.”
“He can’t fire you,” she reassured him. “I can fire you, the town council can vote to have you removed, but ultimately only I can pink slip you.”
“Good to know,” he didn’t sound reassured.
“I want you to head to the morgue and keep the media off Doc Trudeaux’s ass to buy him some time. When I say keep them off, I mean far enough away that they can’t get pictures or anything that’s going to go to press and cause chaos. Clear?”
The Killing Times (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 1)) Page 10