She looked at both of them. “Hey, I’m done playing kiss me, fuck me, with the crazies. The last time one was after me, he went after one of you. While I’m willing to gamble my own life, I’m not willing to throw either of you to the wolves.”
That helped Ethan relax a little bit. At least she finally got it. Her wearing a target was a terrifying thing.
“I need more on him, so we can collectively stop him.”
Blackhawk pondered it. “I’d say he’s going to be between thirty and forty. I base that on his strength of carrying a bunch of skeletons and abducting Doctor Trudeaux from his front yard without drag marks.”
“Okay, so we can narrow down our suspect pool.”
Callen laughed. “Do you have a secret one that we don’t know about?”
“I’m going with the obvious here. I don’t think that it’s Chief Runningwolf. We walked out to the lake, and he was out of breath. He’s in his sixties, and not exactly in great shape. I doubt that he does much hunting or dragging his kill home.”
They all thought about Wyler and how physically fit he was at his age. No, the chief was a far cry from that.
She tapped the board above Jason Walter’s name and pointed out the obvious. “The man likes sex. Maybe he’s getting off on eating people and jumping Barbara Harris.”
Blackhawk shrugged. “He could be.”
Elizabeth continued, “How discerning could he be? He was willingly shagging a lady with an STD. That just screams crazy to me.”
The men had to agree.
“Maxwell Steppapaw had an issue with Duke Williams. Maybe he got mad and decided to have himself a snack.”
Callen thought about it. “Can we connect him to Jefferson Harris?”
“No idea, but that’s where we’re going to have to head next. At some point, my research monkeys are going to have to do some work.”
“Cyra is going to be thrilled. She hates when you chain her to a desk,” Ethan said, grinning.
Callen added, “Yeah, and she’s with a probee, no less.”
Elizabeth started laughing. “She’s leaving us, so this is my way of sending her on her merry way.”
“Be nice to her. She’s training Kanje and Sungila,” Ethan warned. “She’s going to be able to make or break the warranty on our carpets.”
She snorted. “Yeah, yeah. Tell me how much time I have until this wackadoo escalates.”
“That depends,” he said. “If he’s addicted to the kill, then it’s going to be soon. If he’s addicted to just filling up his freezer, then we have some time.”
“Okay, so let’s hope that he’s just some sicko that likes eating people, until I can get a line on who he is.”
“The man is probably going to be a private person, live alone, and likely be single. If he’s having sex, it will be nondescript, just to get off. Since he only has room for one relationship in his life, and that’s the one between him and his flesh. He’s going to be egocentric, selfish, and focused on only his needs. The person doing this knows how wrong it is, but the pleasure outweighs the punishment in his mind.”
She wrote it on her board.
“This has been going on for a full year. Something kicked it off, so we need to find the catalyst.”
She put that on her list of priorities.
“If we can track it backwards, we might get lucky,” Blackhawk added.
She capped the marker and moved towards Ethan’s lap. Sitting in it, she stared at all the information, as her mind began working through it, a little at a time. As she sat there, Elizabeth realized that they had a loose end that needed tying up. Even though she would rather sit in Ethan’s lap all night long, they had a job to do.
“I need to take a walk.”
Both men looked at their watches.
“Baby, it’s dark,” Ethan said. “Can’t we run in the morning?”
She shook her head. “I want to follow that trail through the woods to wherever it leads.”
Callen was horrified. “You want to walk the path that the killer took when he was dumping the bodies? Do you know how dangerous that is?”
“Yes, and yes,” she said. “That’s why I didn't just go by myself. I’m telling the two big strong men in my life that I feel like a walk through the woods.”
Blackhawk shook his head. “Well, then, it looks like you have two Native babysitters.”
“Thank you, honey,” she said, grinning.
Immediately, he groaned.
Elizabeth continued, “I love an evening stroll down Cannibal Lane.”
Whitefox stood. “Are you going to change?” he asked, staring at the tiny shorts and t-shirt. “Dressed like that, you might as well bring your own butter to offer the horny cannibal when he catches you.”
She stared at him openmouthed. “Callen James Whitefox!”
The men started laughing as she ran up the stairs to get into her boots and jeans.
“Good one,” Ethan stated, offering a fist bump.
“Yeah, I love getting her all flustered. Now pass the butter.”
At least for now they still had their sense of humor.
Sometimes, it was the little things that mattered most in life.
* * *
Part of him was crushed at what he had said and done. Tony was ashamed of the words that came out of his mouth while he was drunk. Granted, they were how he felt, and secrets that he kept locked deep inside his heart, but he never thought the whiskey would lure them to the surface.
Some things should never see the light of day.
He couldn’t blame Elizabeth for being mad at him. If the shoe were on the other foot, he too, would be pissed off. No, that wasn’t true. If he was either of the men in her life, he would have hunted the person who uttered that nastiness and kicked the shit out of him.
Yeah, he was surprised Ethan hadn’t come knocking.
While he didn't know much about the brother, he was well aware that Ethan didn't like bullshit, especially when it came to Elizabeth.
In his heart, Tony knew it was only a matter of time before one or both hunted him down, so he was going to man up and face them first.
Maybe there would be leniency.
Sneaking out of Chris Santana’s house, he figured it was time to face the truth of what his life had been like since Elizabeth came back to town almost four years ago. Since then, he had been fighting demons, and he was done running.
For now, he wanted to find peace.
Tony Morell had already lost everything that ever mattered. It was time to gamble with the last thing in his heart.
It was time to tell Elizabeth the truth.
* * *
Chris Leonard stood in the morgue with his scrubs on and his tools out. It was time to start autopsying the heads of all the cannibal’s victims. What he would rather be doing, is spending the night in bed with his new wife.
Yeah, fat chance there.
What made it worse was he was going to be up all night working on the severed craniums. There was little sleep the night before, since he was up celebrating their marriage, and tonight he would pay for it.
It was going to be a long, lonely night of him cutting into skulls and digging for some shred of evidence.
When the door opened, he glanced up to see his wife carrying a bag in her arms. “Cyra, sweetheart, what are you doing here? You should be at Hotel Blackhawk having dinner.”
“Well, you’re half right,” she said, pointing at the bag. “I figured we could have dinner before you started working. Then, I’ll stay here while you’re getting them done.”
It touched him that she was willing to sacrifice her night and sleep close by. “That sounds amazing,” he answered, crossing to her. When she went into his arms and her mouth met his in a very welcoming kiss, he nearly melted.
God, this marriage thing was pretty damn spectacular. He almost wished that they did it sooner.
Like the day he first met her.
Pulling away, she took him by the hand t
o the room that Doc Trudeaux had used to do his paperwork. “Where is everyone?” she asked, closing the door and secretly hitting the button to lock it. After walking towards where he was sitting on the couch, she began pulling out containers of pasta.
“Tony opted to take a few hours off to crash. He’ll be back later tonight. The techs are done for the evening. Most of the trace they found is running. I have no idea where Veronica is, she apparently bailed on work. Wait until I have to tell the Blackhawks that. Someone is going to lose their mind, and by someone, I mean Elizabeth.”
She laughed. “Are you sure it won’t be Ethan?”
“I say both are going to be equally pissed off. Elizabeth doesn’t like jackassery, and Ethan heads up the lab. It’s a personal affront to him when things go bad in here. Most of these techs transferred out here with him. Tony and I were Elizabeth’s hires.”
She handed him a fork and sat beside him.
“This is kind of cozy, just the two of us,” Chris said, grinning.
Cyra ran her hand up his scrubs. “I happen to agree,” she replied. Yeah, she knew she shouldn’t be thinking about sex in the morgue, but her husband was pretty sexy in his aqua work attire.
Chris watched her hand, and he prayed it would go exactly where he was thinking it belonged. “Cyra,” he said softly, placing his dinner on the table. When she did the same, he couldn’t help it. “Is it very wrong that I want to lock that door, have really fast sex with you, and then giggle because I never thought it would happen at work?”
She laughed. “I was thinking the same,” she replied, pouncing on him. Her mouth found his, and the kiss was so explosive that the temperature of the room shot up about a million degrees.
“Oh God, this is crazy,” he muttered.
“I know,” she replied.
“Sweetheart, the door!” Chris tried to get more of a sentence out, but she muffled the words with another kiss. Before he knew it, his glasses were off, her gun and badge were on the floor, and she was yanking his scrubs off his upper body.
Everything in him went wild, as her mouth began exploring his neck and chest.
“I love the way you feel, Christopher,” she whispered, reaching down to stroke him through the scrub material.
“Oh sweetheart,” he answered, “Get out of your pants and in my lap,” he ordered, breaking away long enough to yank his scrubs down to free himself.
Cyra watched as he sprung free and was waiting for her. All she could do was laugh like a maniac. It was all so absurd. They eloped on Valentine’s Day, and now they were having hot sex in the morgue.
Okay, the room attached to the morgue.
So, maybe it wasn’t as creepy, since it was technically a lounge.
“Hurry, sweetheart,” he muttered, as she kicked off her shoes and dropped her jeans to the floor. She pulled off her panties and hopped right into his lap.
Immediately, she was pulled down, and her husband filled her. “Christopher,” she moaned, as he did the same thing.
“This is insane,” he said, as she began moving and setting the pace. “I will never forget this day for the rest of my life. My wife is a freak,” he muttered, as she kissed him.
Chris was going to start praying it never changed. As his hands went to her hips, she began grinding down on him wantonly. “This is hot,” he said, as his entire body shook.
“I want you so bad, Chris,” she replied.
“Oh, Cyra,” he answered, as her nails gripped his shoulders. He couldn’t even look at her. Cyra was bottomless. He was topless, and they were fornicating in a morgue office.
Never in his life, did he see this coming. It was like a late Valentine’s Day present for him. He got a wife, and he got sex with her at work.
Perfect.
“Chris, I’m close,” she whispered, as her hands slid up into his hair. “Hurry,” she urged, and then decided to help him by whispering in his ear. It was the dirtiest thing she could come up with, but it worked.
“Oh shit!” he shouted, as he exploded deep in her body and she ruptured around him.
The fell together.
No one spoke, until Cyra began giggling. “I just thought of something,” she said, lifting her head.
“Hmmm?” he mumbled.
“If I just got pregnant, what are we going to tell our child? We love you, oh, and daddy knocked me up in the morgue.”
That thought alone made him laugh uproariously. He opened his eyes and kissed her. “I suggest you lie. If not, you look like a pervert for accosting me in here. I was obviously the hapless victim.”
She snickered. “I can’t help it. My husband’s really sexy. It must be those innocuous scrubs.”
“Please tell me that you locked the door before you committed felonious fornication.”
Cyra fixed his hair. “I absolutely did,” she answered, as she picked up his glasses and put them back on his face. “Yep, my husband is very sexy,” she stated once more, only this time smugly.
Chris helped her up, and they both began getting dressed.
“I want to pick out wedding bands soon,” she said. “I want the entire world to know that I’m married to the most amazing man in the universe.”
That touched him. “I’ll make sure that we get them immediately. Want to have dinner and shop online?” he asked, pointing at his tablet. “Tiffany’s has really pretty ones for women. They have stones the size of marbles,” he teased.
She blanched. “On second thought, let’s have dinner and I’ll shop while you work.”
“My credit card is in my wallet. Have at it.”
Cyra Leonard added, “And I’ll pay for them myself.”
He pulled her down onto the couch. “My money is your money,” he said, grinning.
Cyra stared at him. “Then what do I bring to this relationship, Christopher?”
He touched her cheek and stared into her eyes. “You just jumped me in a morgue. Not a lot of women would go there. You can’t put a price tag on that kind of kinkiness. It’s priceless.”
Cyra stared at him, and then began laughing. He may have a very valid point.
When it came to her ME, she was a freak.
Somehow, Cyra didn't believe that this was the end of her new husband fetish.
* * *
When they arrived at the location to park their vehicle, they slipped into their gear and made sure that their sidearms were accessible.
The men, of course, insisted that she wear Kevlar as she strolled into the woods. They weren’t taking any chances that the lunatic they were chasing, was going to find Elizabeth on the menu next for his tasty snack.
To make extra sure, they placed her between them, with Ethan going first to block her body, and the little growing life in her stomach.
“This is kind of creepy,” she muttered, as she kept scanning the area.
They had given Callen the night vision gear, since on the last assignment he did a good job keeping them safe.
“Which part is creepy, Elizabeth?” asked her husband, as he kept moving and checking the ground in front of him with the flashlight. “That the cannibal is, right now, watching us or that he’s at home eating someone?”
“I guess both,” she said, placing her hand on his lower back. At her touch, she could feel his body relax marginally. She loved her husband, and in that moment, he was riding high on adrenaline in an effort to keep her safe.
“This path is pretty well used,” Callen stated. He could see the details clearly.
“Yeah, well maybe the local kids use it to sneak around. You know how teenagers are,” Blackhawk said.
“Yeah, we’re going to have four of them within months of each other,” Elizabeth reminded them. “There will be two boys trying to get with babes, and possibly two babes trying to find boyfriends.”
“Over my dead body!” Callen stated.
Blackhawk wasn’t amused either. “I’m not worried about the boys. It’s the girls that scare the hell out of me. If you’re having a gi
rl, both she and Cat are going to a nunnery.”
That made her laugh. “Not happening, Dads.”
“I will kill anyone that puts their hands on our daughters,” Ethan said, not even joking around. “Boys will be boys,” he began.
“And if you finish that, you’ll be a dead man,” she warned. “You’re not treating any of our daughters like they’re any different than the boys.”
“But they are,” stated Callen. “Horny boys will tell naïve girls just about anything to get in their pants.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “These would be MY girls that we’re talking about. My daughters will know better, and I plan on teaching them how to kick the shit out of any boy who comes within a hundred feet of them with rampant hormones or anything else that’s raging.”
Blackhawk laughed. “We are so screwed.”
“Yeah, you think?” she answered. “I hope you don’t change your mind about more kids, because I can’t put them back if you do,” she teased.
He stopped suddenly, and she walked into his back. Turning, he stared into her face in the moonlight. “Why would I change my mind? Have you? Is this your way of telling me you don’t want more kids and only are having one to appease me?”
The air around them crackled with energy. Anger was swirling around them.
“I didn't mean,” she began, and then stopped. She didn't want to argue with him, and she was sorry that she brought anything up. For a while, she had forgotten that this angry Ethan still resided deep inside him. Here he was, and he was poised to strike.
“Children aren’t trouble, they’re a blessing. I don’t know what kind of person you think I am!” he declared, his temper rising. “If I find out that you only got pregnant to make me happy, then maybe it is best that you don’t have this baby.”
Immediately, Elizabeth stepped backwards to give herself some space as her heart crushed down on itself. This was the part of him that she dreaded. The anger was clearly visible across his face. It looked like it was back to walking on eggshells and thinking twice before speaking.
Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) Page 45