“I made him swear that he wasn’t ever going to go back to do that again. No offense, Mr. Whitefox, but Indians are touchy about their dead.”
He could have told him they were touchy about being called ‘Indians’ too, but he let it go.
“I appreciate your help, Mr. Lewis,” Callen said.
Tyrell wanted one more thing. “Do you have any of his effects? Did you clean out Herman’s desk after he didn't come back?”
“Yeah, after a week, I assumed he moved on. I have it in storage. Do you want them?”
Yeah, they did.
“Please, sir, if you don’t mind.”
He led them to a storage area. After handing Callen the box, he shrugged. “I don’t know if it’ll help you, but here you go.”
Callen knew that anything could be a potential lead, including the man’s possessions. “This is actually great,” he replied.
Before leaving, Callen had one last personal mission. “Oh yeah, Marcus, I was wondering if you could help me with something. I hear that you keep microfilm copies of all the Spring Fling parades. Do you think you can dig me up anything on Elizabeth LaRue when she was queen?” He did the mental math and calculated the year she would have been a senior.
He thought about it. “Yeah, I’m sure I do. Would you like copies?”
Callen would cut off his own arm to get copies, who was he kidding? Elizabeth didn't give out many details regarding her past, and Callen realized why.
She had a little too much fun.
Anything that they could dig up on her was like a little uncovered gem. “Yeah, I would. If I leave you my business card, can you send them over to the sheriff’s station?”
He shook his hand. “Absolutely. Is it something pertaining to what you’re working on now?”
Whitefox wanted to skip around the room like a freaking lunatic. “No, this is something personal. In fact, you could say that that it’s incredibly personal, so can we keep it quiet?”
The man agreed to help him out and shrugged. “Sure thing. I’ll ship it over as soon as I can. It may not be until tomorrow, we’re a little shorthanded.”
Callen didn't care if it was a week from now. Once he got them, he was going to enjoy learning about his woman. “That’s fine. Mark it for me and seal it.” He knew she was tricky, but Martha was the queen of gossip. Callen didn't need her alerting Elizabeth, and he was pretty sure that the older woman would. She appeared to be incredibly protective of her.
On their way out, Tyrell shook his head and made a sound between a laugh and a snort.
“What?”
He stared at the big man beside him. “I feel bad for you.”
“Why?”
“You just signed your own death warrant. It’s official. You’re a dead man walking.”
“You just dig through Herman’s personal effects and let me worry about my death. I know my babe, and this is going to be priceless.”
“Yeah, you’re screwed.”
~ Chapter Ten ~
Driving over to Jefferson Harris’s home, Elizabeth kept her hand firmly in Ethan’s. These moments alone were cherished and special to her. There was something about his skin pressed to hers that offered her solace. Deep down, she was so proud of him for finding his strength and coming back to them as a couple. She really believed that the miracle growing deep in her body was the reason why.
“What are you thinking about, Lyzee?” he asked.
She glanced over. “Us, our child, and how you’re the strongest person I know. I’m in awe of your perseverance.”
She caught him off guard on the last part. Lately, he didn't feel strong, but now, he was getting back there. He only prayed that he didn't slip and disappoint her.
“I would do anything for you and our children, baby,” he offered, and it was the truth.
“I know you would, handsome. I just think that you’re my inspiration to be strong. I've watched you for the last few months, and my Ethan is back. That makes me want to be strong and get through this too.”
Bringing her knuckles to his lips, Ethan left a kiss over their rings. “I think that I may call Doctor Gaines tonight,” he said. He had been thinking about it the last day or so.
“Are you okay?” she asked worriedly, and then remembered how he didn't want to be babied. “Sorry, it’s become a habit.”
Blackhawk grinned. “It’s okay, Lyzee. Yeah, I just want to tell her where I’m at now, emotionally. She was one hundred percent right about me taking you away. For weeks, she has been telling me to just be open and honest with you, and I was fighting it. It really helped to take that chance. I was hiding from my pain, and my happiness, by keeping it bottled up. I’m not back to my old self yet, but I’m a million times better.”
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Yeah, you’re perfect for me. I like the new Ethan.” What she really enjoyed was that the anger that often popped up, was not showing its ugly head.
That, in itself, was a relief.
He grinned wickedly. “Oh, well, the feeling is mutual,” he said, pulling into a long driveway. “I think we’re here,” he said, as he brought the Navigator to a stop. Before getting out, he placed his hand over his child growing in her belly.
“You’re my salvation, and our child is my chance at redemption.”
Her eyes filled with tears. The man simply could turn her into a puddle with just one sentence. “I love you.”
Blackhawk leaned over and kissed her gently. “I adore you and cherish everything that we have, baby.”
Elizabeth simply stared into his blue black eyes and found so much peace there. “Let’s get this day over with. I want to curl up on the couch with some sexy Natives and fool around.”
That made him grin. “Count me in.”
“Okay, you and Callen can come too.”
When he growled at her, she actually giggled. Where it came from, she had no clue, but it felt good.
Hopping out, the two Blackhawks stared at the house. It wasn’t what they were expecting at all. Then again, the man was accused of mishandling town funds. This place could be a byproduct of that.
“Wow, this is some home,” Blackhawk said, and that was saying a lot, considering Fort Blackhawk/Whitefox was pretty awesome in its own right.
“It’s an estate,” she replied. “It looks like our victim was wealthy.”
Blackhawk knew what that meant. “Yeah, and he left behind a wife and no other heirs. That could mean something,” he said.
Yeah, it wouldn’t be the first time a woman had killed her husband to get her ‘fair share’.
As they walked up to the house, there was a man in the front flowerbed pulling out the weeds and dead grass. When he heard them coming, he turned around. “Hey there! Can I help y’all with something today?”
Elizabeth and Ethan both pulled out their badges. “Yeah, we need to speak with Mrs. Harris. Is she available, and who are you?” she asked.
The man wiped his brow. “I’m just the grounds keeper, Xavier Jensen. She isn’t in the house. If you need to talk, I can drive you back to the stables. She’s out there with one of her horses.”
“We’d like that a lot, Mr. Jensen. Can we talk to you as we drive?” Elizabeth inquired.
“Sure thing, ma’am,” he answered, walking them to the golf cart. “One of you will have to sit in the back, sorry.”
Ethan wasn’t going to even let her take that chance. She needed to be protected. “I’ll do it,” he stated.
When they climbed in, he started it up and headed down the private drive to the stables.
“How long have you worked for Jefferson and Barbara Harris?” she inquired. Maybe this man might be able to give them some answers. In her many investigations, she always seemed to find that the people who worked for the rich were a wealth of information. They heard, saw, and knew far more than they let on. Elizabeth could see the wariness in this man’s eyes, and she knew that had to mean something.
“I do believe it’s
about five years, ma’am,” he replied, smiling at her, nervously. “I got out of high school and bounced around town for a few years. When Mr. Harris saw me plucking dead flowers out of the city council’s landscape, he offered me a job. I just love plants. Working here, I get to garden and take care of everything. Plus, Mrs. Harris needs help now, being that she’s alone.”
“That’s why we’re here. What happened to her husband?” she asked, pretending that she didn't have a clue.
Xavier shook his head, sadly. “One day he just up and left, right after a meeting. People say that he ran off with another woman, but he loved his wife. I don’t think he’d do it.”
Ethan could hear the conversation and was mentally making notes.
From the tone in Xavier’s voice, she wasn’t buying what he was selling. “What do you think happened?”
Xavier shrugged. “I don’t get involved. I come here and play in the flowers. I like my job, so I don’t mix myself into anyone’s private business.”
Elizabeth could smell the lie, and for him to throw out that last statement, meant that there was business to get into.
“Was it a happy marriage?” she asked.
“Sure it was. It was perfect.”
Yeah, now she certainly wasn’t buying it, and not for a second. Married people had fights. Didn't she know that personally? Elizabeth, Ethan, and Callen occasionally had at it. People disagreed, but it was how far you let it go that mattered. “Xavier, you’re lying. I can feel it in my bones.”
He stared over at her, as if measuring up the situation. “I remember your daddy. He was a good man. I got busted for truancy a few times, and he let me go. I guess you’re his child and the same type of person.”
She grinned. “I am my father’s child. Charlie lives in here,” she said, touching her heart. Then a little tingle went through her, as she thought about his name.
Yeah, it was perfect.
He stopped the cart and stared into her eyes. “I hate to say this about anyone, but they had some wicked fights. I once came to work and had to pick glass out of the flower bed. Someone tossed a bookend through a window. They told me it was an accident, but they don’t just fly around the room.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Go on.”
He swallowed and hoped that the woman beside him really was like her daddy. “Mrs. Harris likes men, and I hate to gossip, but she has been known to keep a few spares.”
Blackhawk looked up from the notes that he was making in his phone. “As in, she keeps a few on the side and didn't mind cheating on her husband?”
He nodded and lowered his voice. “You could put a revolving door on the front of the house.”
They just hit the mother lode.
“You don’t say?” stated Elizabeth, pretending they were friends just chit chatting about nothing important. “You wouldn’t happen to know who, would you?”
Xavier shook his head. “No, and you didn't hear this from me. I love my job and if I lose it, I’m screwed. I dropped out of school, how am I going to get another job that pays this well?”
She crossed her heart. “I won’t let on that you said anything. Your secret is safe with us.”
The man relaxed, immediately. “All I know is that she would wait for her husband to head to a few meetings or work, and she would be rolling around with someone. Sometimes, she would leave the house in these tiny little skirts and heels that were…” Then, he blushed. “You know what I mean.”
Ethan certainly did. He would pay big bucks to get his wife to parade around in something so skimpy. Now, if she did it for any other men than them, there’d be hell to pay.
“You can go on,” Elizabeth said. “She likes men. Did her husband know?”
He leaned forward and whispered some more. “I think so. When she would come back from wherever it was she went, there would be some nasty looks, she would flip him off, and I would run for cover. I’m not stupid. I wasn’t going to be either of their targets, if you know what I mean.”
Elizabeth understood. “I get your point.”
Looking around cautiously, he started the golf cart back up. “Okay, then I better get you there, so I can get my work done for the day. I don’t like being here too late. The less I see, the better off I am.”
They had plenty to work with now, thanks to their little gossipy gardener. Elizabeth had been right. The staff always had the best dirt. She almost wanted to kiss the man.
This day was getting better and better. It was time to talk to the woman married to the missing man. Deep down, Elizabeth was going to enjoy it. If there was one thing that she despised, it was people who cheated.
Men or women.
A cheater was a cheater in her book.
If you couldn’t grow balls and just tell your partner you weren’t happy, then you shouldn’t lie about it. Granted, she was with two men, but she would never cheat on either of them.
Marriage was sacred.
Once at the big red barn, Xavier escorted them inside. “Mrs. Harris!” he called.
When there was a response from up in the rafters, he pointed up. “You have company, ma’am. I’ll head back up to the house, so just call if you need me.”
“Thank you, Xavier,” she replied, as she began climbing out of the hay storage area. “Have Mildred prepare some lemonade for me. I’ll be up shortly,” she replied.
The man rolled his eyes at the Feds as he ran out of there pretty fast.
Elizabeth watched the woman climb down from the hay storage area. It was hard not to notice that she was a proponent of plastic surgery. She knew that Barbara Harris was in her late forties, but her skin looked like it was as taut as a twenty year old.
“Yes?” she asked, turning around.
First, her eyes went to Elizabeth, and then the man beside her. “Hello, sir. What can I do for you?” she purred, moving closer.
Elizabeth wanted to toss her cookies. She had seen this song and dance plenty of times before. Yeah, her husband was sexy, and women liked looking at him and Callen. If anything, this proved that the woman was a walking hormone. Now, she didn't need to doubt the gardener. This broad was a definite man chaser.
Blackhawk led, since she was focused on him. Hopefully, his wife could refrain from kicking the older woman’s ass. He glanced at his wife and the lifted eyebrow.
There was sign number one that the Tyrannosaurus Lyz was close to stopping in for a snack. Thank God that he was wearing washable clothes and not his suit. Blood stains were a bitch to get out.
“Yes, my name is Director Ethan Blackhawk and this is my partner, Director Elizabeth Blackhawk. We’re here to talk to you about your husband.”
She stared first at the man, and then the badge and gun on his hip. “You found him?” she asked.
Elizabeth honestly believed that the woman sounded sad that it was a possibility. It spoke volumes of the relationship they had together, and helped their motive along. Unhappy wife meant a dead husband, in quite a few of their cases.
Where there was smoke, there was fire.
“No, ma’am,” stated Blackhawk.
She headed towards a stall. “Good. I just spent a small fortune to declare him dead. I want to move on with my life.”
Yeah, that was a tad bit chilly.
Heartless.
Cold.
And possibly bitchy.
“We need to ask you about the day that he went missing,” Ethan said, following her as she crossed over to a stall.
“He went to a meeting for the council. Jefferson sent me a text stating that he was cleaning up and heading home shortly. I finished up what I was doing, and waited for him. He never showed.”
Elizabeth went there. “What were you doing?”
She stared at the woman. “I had company. I was working on networking with other townspeople.”
It took everything to not laugh. Oh, she was doing someone alright, but Elizabeth doubted that she wanted her husband to find out.
The woman stroked the stalli
on behind her, running her hands over him appreciatively. “Jefferson had his loves in life, and I have mine.”
Yeah, no doubt.
“When he didn't come home, I assumed he stopped for something to nibble on after work, and I don’t mean a sandwich,” she stated.
Both Blackhawks glanced at each other. The woman wasn’t shy in pointing out that there was a whole lot of dual infidelity going on.
Since she went there, Elizabeth was going to take a trip down cheaters lane too. “How many snacks were you supplementing your marriage with, Mrs. Harris?”
The woman didn't look insulted. In fact, she looked proud. “As many as I could. I like sex, Director. Just not with my husband. He wasn’t exactly exciting in bed. When he did feel like putting out, he only liked it one way. Let’s just say that it took up only a few minutes of my time, and always ended in a fizzle.”
They got the hint.
“My husband got himself a side piece, so I took a play from his book and followed suit.”
Elizabeth was astounded that the woman was gloating. “Who has the money in the marriage?” she asked.
The woman’s face changed, and then the cool southern belle was back in place. “It was his, but I guess it’s all mine now.”
Yeah, lucky her.
“Men are like a box of tissues to me. You grab one, blow, and then discard.” She ran her hand down the sexy Native’s arm. “I feel a cold coming on.”
Ethan jumped in and took it elsewhere. Both women looked ready to go at it. He didn't want to see his pregnant wife kicking the shit out of an older woman for hitting on him. Then, there would be paperwork, and that put a damper on his evening plans.
“Did Jefferson have anyone that was bothering him, or was there anything that happened to alarm you as to his disappearance?”
“Not particularly. We had a trespasser, but he handled it.”
Elizabeth made notes. “Did you call the police?”
She shrugged. “My husband did. I wasn’t home at the time,” she stated. “But I’m sure it was nothing, so I doubt that it’s connected. I don’t even know why I felt compelled to bring it up.”
Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) Page 25