They leaned back and took it all in.
Their subject was so close that they could reach out and touch her.
Maybe he would.
There was always that chance he’d switch up the plan. After all, he was in charge.
He was in control.
He was… the boss.
As he began laughing, she stared at him. The crazy train was coming off the rails, and she was helpless to stop it. Bonnie only hoped she didn't die.
Only, it wasn’t looking good.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Deputy Dotson’s Home
The door flew open, crashing against the wall. The second it did, the team knew they’d found the place where the deputy and mayor had died. The stench of blood and bowel assaulted them as they entered.
Yeah, this was going to be bad.
They all knew it.
Today was probably a bad day for the sheriff to play hero. There was no doubt that he wasn’t going to be ready for what was waiting.
As they moved in, the sheriff and his deputies behind them, she signaled them to branch off. She and her men would go left, and the local law would head right.
As they moved through the one room, there was a puddle of blood seeping from the dining room floor and onto the beige carpeting.
“That can’t be good,” Callen whispered.
They already knew it wouldn’t be.
As they entered, guns drawn, they saw where it came from. The killers had dismembered the two people and strung up their body parts like some exhibit in a house of horrors. From the ceiling, a sick macabre mobile of parts swayed.
“Jesus,” muttered Ethan.
You knew it was bad when your profiler was shocked.
Callen and Elizabeth recognized it. This setup was just like the one in the abandoned building, but with fewer parts. Somehow, it was far more horrifying in the cheery dining room.
This had been someone’s sanctuary.
Now it was a nightmare brought to life.
“Let’s get this done,” she muttered, as the smell nearly overwhelmed her. This was a bad time to have a baby on board, and she knew it.
They team headed through the hanging, severed limbs. They had no choice. They had to move through them to get to the other side.
As they worked their way through the bloody dangling appendages, the sheriff and his men came into the room from the opposite side.
“The kitchen is a…”
He stopped cold in his tracks.
They didn't miss that his eyes were locked firmly on what was hanging above them. The look on his face was one of shock and horror. Apparently, he thought she was kidding when she warned him.
It was the straw that broke the local law’s back.
They scattered and began puking.
She wasn’t surprised. After all, that sick feeling was bubbling up in her own gut too.
Elizabeth shook her head. “And this is exactly why I told them to stay away. You think that a severed head is the worst you can see, and then you learn the truth.”
“Which is?” Ethan asked.
“People are damn crazy. Here’s the proof. Bonnie and Clyde are dangerous and like nothing we’ve ever seen before.”
They holstered their weapons.
“Hey, Ethan?”
He glanced over, trying to breath from his mouth. “What?”
She pointed at the white wall, dripping with blood. “You said we’d get a message, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah, when they want to up the game, they’ll contact you.”
“Well, I think we got one.”
Scrawled on the wall was a note.
‘They screamed for me. You and your boy toy will too.
- Clyde.’
“I’m thinking this means that they’ve escalated.”
It looked like they had.
They were screwed.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
One Hour Later
It took the tech team a little while to get there. It wasn’t for lack of trying. The media was camped outside the small rental house, blocking traffic. After they dropped off the severed heads, they were back on the road for the rest of the remains.
It wasn’t like they missed much.
What was left of the deputy and her lover weren’t going anywhere.
When the sheriff finally got over tossing his cookies, they were able to start processing the scene. Elizabeth cut him some slack because she was human.
If you didn't want to be sick, something was wrong with you. Yet, when he’d walked out, he wouldn’t even look at her, and she wasn’t surprised.
He must have thought she was going to tell him she told him so. While it was on the tip of her tongue, she just wasn’t catty enough to do it.
Why rub his face in it?
His only fault was wanting to be there for his employee, and she got that. She recalled doing the same when she lost someone she worked with.
As Chris and Tony suited up, they waited in the living room. They had adjusted to the smell and were over it. Unlike the locals, this was their daily routine.
If you smelled one bloody crime scene, you smelled them all.
When the doctors entered, they were ready to go.
“He left them for us in here,” she said, leading them to the macabre scene.
Chris whistled. “It’s just like the warehouse, but somehow worse.”
She agreed.
Reaching up, he touched one of the severed limbs. “They aren’t starting rigor yet. They’ve only been dead for a short time.”
Well, they were getting closer.
Now…whether that was good or bad was a matter of perspective. The crazies were getting nuttier by the second.
“The time frame is speeding up,” Chris admitted.
She was well aware.
Since the woman disappeared only a day ago, they weren’t being tortured as long. That was probably a blessing for the victim, albeit bad for them.
“Small miracles,” Elizabeth muttered.
Yes, it put the pressure on the team, but they’d worked with far less. This case wouldn’t break them.
“They look to be the same cuts to the bone,” stated Tony Magnus.
“What did they use?”
“I’d say a circular saw.”
She shuddered. “That’s nasty. We deal in shit like that all the time, but still. People are crazy.”
Here was the proof.
They all moved toward the table. Merry was scanning it with a UV light to get more of the story.
“We’ve got the same thing here, boss. There are samples of semen and another fluid. I’ll bet that it’s vaginal.”
“It’s sad that I’m only hoping it’s from one woman,” Elizabeth stated. “It’s gross that they’re doing it in someone else’s blood.”
Nobody disagreed there.
It was three days past creepy into plain old wrong.
They moved into the kitchen, and there was more of the same. It was the duplicate of the other scenes.
There was blood splatter, uneaten food, and of course… the blender.
Elizabeth bit the bullet and approached it. Once there, she peered down inside. “It’s chunky. They didn't have time to liquefy it.”
Callen scrunched up his face. “I can’t wait until this case is over. I’m never going near a blender again. I’ll forever think of this if I have to make a milk shake.”
They all would.
You never forgot any of the cases. The more brutal, the longer they lingered.
“It looks like the other scenes,” Merry stated. “We can pretty much assume that this is the same killer.”
Chris didn't often speculate, but on this one—he agreed. “From the cuts in the wrists, he bled her. I’ll note that the torso from the male, hanging from the ceiling, is missing his genitalia.”
Elizabeth closed her eyes. “We have to find a way to get these nutjob
s. If the media gets a picture of this, God only knows what the headline will be.”
Chris smiled. “Speaking of which, we saw the paper.”
She gave him a look.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m a huge hussy, and they’re my boy toys. Yada, yada, all I do all day long is get laid.”
Callen snorted, but before he could say anything, she elbowed him.
Ethan knew better.
As they were processing it all, there were angry shouts from the sheriff.
“It looks like the fun is going to continue,” she said, heading toward the front door. As a precaution, she’d called in her agents, and they were standing sentry.
Already, she knew what the hubbub was all about. Elizabeth had decreed that once the man had left the scene, he wasn’t to return.
It was for his own good.
“What’s wrong, Sheriff O’Neil?”
“We want to take this case over. We get that the FBI takes jurisdiction, but she was one of ours. This is our town and our deputy.”
Elizabeth wasn’t moved by his speech. “Technically, they’re all citizens of your fine town, so they’re all yours. What you neglected to realize that is why you’re not getting lead on this. It’s staying ours. Your duty is to protect and serve, not wig out and seek revenge.”
He fumed.
She didn't care.
This wasn’t her first day on the job. She’d seen countless law officials go rogue, seeking payback. With Bonnie and Clyde, this could be a slaughter, and she wasn’t talking about the killers dying.
These green cops didn't have a clue who they were hunting.
“Our job is to solve this for all parties concerned. We can do that. You can’t. You’re pissed, and I get it. I lost a deputy when I was a sheriff. I was out for blood. It didn't end well. So, you’re going to back your ass on out of here and stop staring at me like I’m public enemy number one. Your request is declined.”
“I’ll call your boss.”
Ethan raised his hand. “That’s me. It’s still declined.”
“I’ll call his boss then too!”
“He’ll tell you the same.”
“I’ll call his boss and work my way to the top of the FBI food chain!”
She shook her head. It was time to school the man.
“Yeah, you can say that all you want, but it doesn’t work like that. You really don’t know how this works, do you? Our boss answers to POTUS. I’m thinking the president doesn’t have time for your temper tantrum. Call me crazy, but he’s a little busy with the rest of the mayhem in the world.”
The man went red.
“We’ll investigate on our own.”
She laughed. “Have at it. If you find anything, and I hope you do, let me know. I’d like to get home for Christmas, my anthropologist is getting married, and he’d like to make it to the church on time. So, the sooner we find these nuts, the sooner we’re out of your hair.”
He stormed away.
“Well, that went about as well as they always do.”
Callen shrugged. “It’s just anger. Are you really going to let him investigate this on his own?”
“Nah, there’s no way. He’s just pissed. Give him a few hours to forget what he’s seen, and he’ll calm down. I was like that too when I lost a deputy.”
“You stayed calm,” Ethan offered. “I’m proud of you.”
She laughed. “Hell, he’s lucky I didn't lose it. Pregnancy hormones are unpredictable.”
Elizabeth pulled off her gloves and handed them to a waiting tech.
“Chris, we’re heading out to do an interview.”
“Who’s under the microscope?” he asked.
Elizabeth broke it all down. “We’re heading out to talk to Antonio Emerson. He’s the young man Lily was caught naked with.”
“That should be fun. See if you can get his DNA,” Merry offered. “It might help.”
They could ask. If he said no…well, they couldn’t hold him down and rip out hairs. It didn't quite work like that.
“We will. We want to find out how long he was sleeping with Lily Schneider. When you’re done, have the team search the upper floors. We might find something.”
He saluted and headed back in to Tony and the mess.
The two men followed her out.
“So, after the interview?”
She rolled her shoulder and neck. “I think we’ll head back to the cabin. I want to regroup.”
They were good with that.
“I need some quiet so I can start working through this. My brain feels like it’s on overload. I get this feeling that something bad is coming, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
They were aware.
The men knew that if she had that gut instinct, they should likely follow it.
“I hope they don’t have the next two victims yet,” Elizabeth admitted.
Ethan pondered it, but said nothing.
The clock was ticking, and two more people’s lives were definitely on the line.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Local College
It didn't take long to find Antonio Emerson. He was a college kid living near the campus. What they found odd was that he didn't go home for the holidays.
It was sheer luck that they found him.
At her knock, he showed up at the door. He was in boxers and appeared to just roll out of bed.
“Yeah? What’s up?”
“Antonio Emerson?”
“Yep. That’s me.”
“We’re with the FBI, and we need to talk to you.”
He stepped back and sleepily wandered to his couch. “I’d offer you coffee, but I just got up. I’m going to grab some on campus.”
“Why aren’t you home for Christmas break?”
He shrugged. “I took a mid-semester course, and I have to stay. I want to graduate early. College loans suck when money’s tight.”
She understood. They had five kids to put through school. They were going to be buried in college debt. It wasn’t going to be pretty, and they all knew it.
“Do you know a Lily Schneider?” she asked.
“Heck yeah! I have sex with her.”
They all stared at him. Normally, people didn't blurt out bedroom details without provocation.
Okay, maybe she did, but that was just her.
“Um…okay,” Elizabeth said, a little surprised. “So you’re admitting to having a relationship with her?”
“Yeah, I am. She buys my books for the school year. I give her a few wild nights, and I don’t have to worry about my book tab.”
She closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. What the hell was wrong with college students? They’d just encountered horrible ones on the last case, and here they’d found more—first a panty thief, and now a book gigolo.
The world was coming to an end.
Smarts apparently did not equal common sense.
“You realize I’m a Fed, right? You just admitted to prostitution.”
“No, she buys my books. I didn't take money from her. It’s no different when a woman sleeps with a man to get jewelry or pretty things. I need books, she needs her box filled.”
Callen opened his mouth, and then closed it. This was best left for the angry pregnant woman. Anything he could add to that might just get him killed—even if it was a well-placed joke.
“Are you shitting me?” she asked.
“No. I was being honest. It’s tit for tat, so to speak. I give her the best time, riding a young guy, and she takes me book shopping. I like older ladies. The girls today are just skeezy.”
Elizabeth wasn’t going to lose it.
There was no point.
“So, when’s the last time you played ‘dick for dollars’ with the married woman?”
He laughed. “We cooled down for a while. Not long ago, I was getting busy with her, and the husband came home. He started swinging, and I had to get stitches.”
Thus the police repor
t.
“What happened after that?”
She told me she’d call me when the heat died down. I haven’t heard from her yet. I hope she calls soon. My chemistry book is four hundred bucks. I’m sure she’ll make me work for it.”
It was time to deliver the bad news.
“Yeah, not likely going to happen, Antonio. Your days of prostituting yourself out are done.”
“What? Why?”
Was he this big of an idiot?
Really?
“Because it’s against the law, and…”
He cut her off. “You didn't read me my Miranda rights, so you can’t hold that against me. Don’t you have to prove it?”
She shook her head. “They don’t cover stupid, son. Trust me. We’ve been down that road before. The reason it’s over, as I was trying to tell you, is that she’s dead. Someone killed Lily Schneider and her husband. Know anything about that?”
He looked surprised.
“Really?”
“Yes, really. I’m not here for shits and giggles, Antonio. I’m the FBI, and so are my two partners. We have better things to do than yank your chain.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“We need to talk about it. When her husband came in, what happened?”
“He flipped out for no reason.”
Ethan glared at him. “You were having sex with his wife. That’s a pretty big reason. You’re lucky he didn't kill you.”
He shrugged. “It’s not like I loved her. I was working a part time job, and nothing more.”
They all stared at him.
“We don’t have to worry about college for our kids. They’re grounded until I’m dead,” Elizabeth stated. “Better yet, it’s the military all around.”
The two men were beginning to agree.
“Anyway,” she continued, “how long were you to hooking up with Lily?” she asked.
“It was less than a year. I ran into her at the grocery store, and she was flirting. We had coffee, discussed her needs, and my terms. It went from there.”
They waited for him to continue, but their faces must have said it all.
Slay Bells Ring (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 12) Page 33