Choices will Destroy (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 14)
Page 1
Choices will Destroy
By Morgan Kelley
Copyright © 2016 Morgan Kelley LLC
All rights reserved. Without limiting rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, introduced into a retrieval system, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including without limitation photocopying, recording, or other electronic or technical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
The scanning, uploading, and/or distribution of this document via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and is punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. For permission requests, email author.m.kelley@gmail.com
Content Advisory: This book is intended for mature audiences and contains graphic violence, explicit sexual activity and disturbing imagery
©Copyright 2016 cover by Lillian Asterios
Other works by Morgan Kelley:
Standalone Thrillers
The Junction
Serial Sins
The Blood Betrayal
FBI Romance Series
The Killing Times (Book 1)
Sacred Burial Grounds (Book 2)
True Love Lost (Book 3)
Deep Dark Mire (Book 4)
Fire Burns Hot (Book 5)
Darkness of Truth (Book 6)
Devil Hath Come (Book 7)
Consumed by Wrath (Book 8)
Redemption is Here (Book 9)
Dead Shall Speak (Book 10)
Pledging to Die (Book 11)
Slay Bells Ring (Book 12)
Past will Haunt (Book 13)
Choices will Destroy (Book 14)
Croft & Croft Romance Adventure Series
Celestia is Falling (1)
Vegas is Dying (2)
Christmas is Killing (3)
Love is Bleeding (4)
Heaven is Weeping (5)
Hell is Burning (6)
Littlemoon Investigations
Blood Red Rage (Book 1)
Lost & Broken (Book 2)
Unthinkable Games (Book 3)
Truth is Found (Book 4)
The Carter Chronicles Trilogy
Sinner Repent (1)
Sinner Realized (2)
Sinner Reborn (3)
Oracle/The Phoenix Files
Oracle Rising (book 1)
The Harcourte Vampyre Society series
Dangerous Revelations (1)
Dangerous Choices (2)
Dangerous Misery (3)
Dangerous Retaliation (4)
Behind Closed Doors Anthology
Illegal Fantasies ~ Behind Closed Doors (1)
Romance Under Arrest~ Behind Closed Doors (2)
Holiday Reinforcements ~ Behind Closed Doors (3)
~~~~ About the Author ~~~~
Morgan Kelley lives in the beautiful Pocono Mountains with her husband and two children. After attending college at Penn State University and studying Criminal Justice, Morgan knew her only true passion in life would be murder and books. She put them both together and began her career as a writer. Other than books and writing, you can find Morgan hanging out in her garden and digging in the dirt.
Her other works include: The Junction, Serial Sins, The Blood Betrayal, The Killing Times (1), Sacred Burial Grounds (2), True Love Lost (3), Deep Dark Mire (4), Fire Burns Hot (5), Darkness of Truth (6), Devil Hath Come (7), Consumed by Wrath (8), Redemption is Here (9), Dead Shall Speak (10), Pledging to Die (11), Slay Bells Ring (12), Past will Haunt (13), Choices will Destroy (14), Blood Red Rage (1) Lost & Broken (2), Unthinkable Games (3), Truth is Found (4), Celestia is Falling (1), Vegas is Dying (2), Christmas is Killing (3), Love is Bleeding (4), Heaven is Weeping (5), Hell is Burning (6), Dangerous Revelations (1), Dangerous Choices (2), Dangerous Misery (3), Dangerous Retaliation (4), Sinner Repent (1), Sinner Realized (2), Sinner Reborn (3), Oracle Rising (1), Illegal Fantasies (Anthology 1), Romance Under Arrest (Anthology 2), and Holiday Reinforcements (Anthology 3)
Please feel free to visit Morgan at her website: www.morgankelley.com, email her author.m.kelley@gmail.com, or visit her blog at www.morgankelley.blogspot.com.
Gabriel Rothschild, you and Elizabeth Blackhawk aren’t above justice…
Now…
Present day.
PROLOGUE
Georgetown
Monday Early Morning
It was time for payback, and it would be sweet. Revenge always was.
This whole plan was years in the making, and surely, in the end, it would be poetic. Who didn't like a cliffhanger, where the heroine had to fight for her life?
Where she had to struggle?
Where she had to beg for mercy and none would be given?
Yes, there was nothing quite like watching some bitch being blindsided by retribution.
Oh, it was going to be sweet.
It was going to be just.
When it all collapsed around her, she wouldn’t know what hit her.
Before it was all said and done, there would be so many bodies, so many broken souls, and blood, sweet blood. She would weep at the sight of it.
Now…that was just revenge.
This moment was simply the beginning of it all. Little did Elizabeth LaRue Blackhawk know that for the last few years, she’d been watched.
When she went out, there were eyes on her every move.
When she stayed in her safe little stone castle, she was still being cautiously observed.
As she traveled to her precious FBI career, each step was marked by the shadow of someone else.
She was never alone.
Elizabeth was never safe.
Yes, she had been studied and notes were made. Each step she took was marked, dictated, and calculated into the plan. Maybe it was an obsession at first, but now…
It was everything.
This was the beginning of her end.
In stone, her fate was now cast, and it was just desserts.
In the last few years, Elizabeth’s days had been tracked and mapped out so that when the time came, she would suffer.
Well, it was time.
Justice was coming and the reaper of the death sentence was about to make a move.
Fate had allowed everything to fall into place. Before this game was finished, the target would be dead. After all the players were in the game, it would be Elizabeth’s blood spilled on the field of battle.
It was about damn time.
It wasn’t only about making her pay with her heart and soul.
No…
It was more about making her bleed and suffer. This wouldn’t be over until she was a weeping shell of humanity and the loser in the oncoming war.
Oh, she’d won the small battles, but this was far greater than anyone realized.
In war, there were casualties.
In revenge, there was spilled blood.
In Elizabeth’s life, there would be pain.
It was time.
There could be only one victor, and it wasn’t going to be that miserable Blackhawk bitch.
Not this time.
Her winning streak was over.
There was payback on the menu, and it was best served cold.
Over the years, studying her, one thing had become crystal clear—Elizabeth was a worthy opponent.
Truth be told, planning her destruction wasn’t easy. After all, the great Elizabeth L
aRue Blackhawk didn't make mistakes very often. She was a worthy adversary, and a force to reckon with, and that would make this even better.
The mighty would fall.
The pristine would bleed.
The truth would come out in the end.
Granted, her death would be sweet, and there was no need to point out what she’d done in her past, but it would be fun to watch her suffer.
It was all part of the game.
It was part of the enjoyment.
There was going to be a new sheriff in town, so to speak, and it wasn’t going to be that bitch. The tides had changed, and Elizabeth was going to be on the opposite side of the barrel this time. When the bullet met its mark, it would be her chest.
Or maybe that baby belly of hers.
Time would tell.
Elizabeth was going down, and she wasn’t the only person who deserved it. This was a long time coming, and in the next few days, years of planning would come to fruition.
As the media splayed them all over the news, there was amusement from the shadows.
Her humiliation was just.
She was a hussy and deserved to be mocked.
There was nothing quite like watching her suffer. BNN had their faces all over every newscast, and that was icing on the cake.
As they speculated to the romance between the threesome, questioning everything about them, the one watching was amused. How could one not be?
This had to be mortifying for them.
Yet, they deserved it.
Callen Whitefox was her brother-in-law and husband, and Ethan Blackhawk was her lawfully wedded spouse. They were being dragged through the muck with her.
Good!
For sticking with that bitch, they needed to pay too. They needed to bleed alongside her, so they would feel wrath’s justice.
If they wanted to be a team, so be it. When one hurt, they all would go down for the count. That was easily done. They could be damaged too. Maybe Callen Whitefox didn't deserve it, but then maybe he should have picked a better woman.
Maybe he should have thought this through.
Ethan Blackhawk deserved to see his carefully guarded world come crashing down. When he lost Elizabeth, his soul mate, he would crumble.
No…payback wasn’t only for Elizabeth.
That would be too easy and swift. In order to make her truly suffer, there had to be a killing blow to everyone she held dear.
No one was safe.
Her family was in danger.
She was at risk.
Then there was the one man who protected her. Oh, Gabriel Rothschild wasn’t innocent either. He was tainted with the stench of foulness.
In the end, he had covered for that skank, and that meant he had to suffer too, and suffer he would. He wasn’t titanium. He had a chink in his armor.
His family was vital to him.
Well, that was where the first blow would land—more specifically…his wife.
Olivia Spencer-Rothschild had a history with Elizabeth. As best friends, they had an incredibly close bond. Well, that meant she wasn’t safe either.
Anyone who Elizabeth loved was a target.
From here on out, they were all going to find themselves in the middle of this game.
Past.
Present.
Future.
They would all collide.
Doctor Christopher Leonard mattered, and from the pictures of him, the Blackhawks, and his family on the news, that put him in the spotlight too.
No one was safe.
The long reach of retribution would find each and every one of them. They would fall into the web and be destroyed.
It was only fair.
Family would pay for her sins.
Even Wyler Blackhawk, Elizabeth’s father-in-law, was marked. He was more like a father than anything to her. It was easy to see, as he doted on the spawns of Satan, that he loved his family—specifically Elizabeth.
Even he may pay for that.
Only time would tell.
When it all came down to it, the entire family would each pay a little of the price for the woman they loved. Ultimately, this was going to be the way to break her.
To crush her.
To destroy what made her happy.
Oh, going at Elizabeth LaRue Blackhawk head on was too easy, and this would hand out the maximum destruction. It would hit her where it really hurt, taking her to her knees.
It was too easy.
The plan took years, but the actual vindication would only take days. It was about staying one step ahead of her.
When you studied your prey then you knew the response. It was going to be perfect.
In fact, it was almost like stealing candy from some half-breed baby. Yes, her chubby little cherubs would pay too. Even her pathetic children would be marked for justice. They came from her vile, sick womb, and they would be sent to hell.
In the end, there would be nothing but pain. It had to be this way.
It was all because of the choices made, the lies, and the deceit.
Now it was time to begin. Reminiscing could wait. There was blood to be spilled, and this first victim was marked for his death.
He would start it all.
As the knife was sharpened, he was begging through the gag. Oh, this waste of flesh wanted to live, but it didn't matter. What he wanted was the least of anyone’s concerns.
The game had to begin, and there was only one way to get the Blackhawks’ attention. This first strike would stop their hearts and make them fear what was coming.
Death was calling, and it was going to get the attention it deserved.
So, it began.
Crossing to the victim, it was easy to map out the oncoming destruction. From studying the news clippings, reading up on the case, and just using common sense, a plan had been formed.
This was a no brainer.
“I’m sorry, Director, but it’s time for you to die.”
His eyes went wide in fear as he shook his head, begging for mercy with muffled pleas. The terror was easily seen across his aging features.
His begging was futile.
It didn't matter anymore.
“You get to be the victim who kicks this all off,” said the voice, flicking a finger over the razor sharp blade.
He begged more, trying to plead for his life.
“I wish it could be different, but we can’t let this opportunity pass us by. I may never get another chance to level her quite like this. All the stars have aligned, and it’s time.”
Tears filled his eyes, and he began choking on the gag in his mouth. It was exactly like the ones that had been used on other victims for the other crimes. The little things mattered. If anything, the devil was in the details. If it wasn’t perfect, she wouldn’t come. Elizabeth had to believe.
She had to be afraid.
If not, then it was going to fail before it even began, and that couldn’t happen. This took too much planning and work. It had consumed so much life already. It was time to end this obsession.
“How do you want to die?”
The man begged more.
There was laughter and very little compassion or mercy. He wasn’t deserving of it.
None of them were.
“I guess you have your mouth full. How about I just wing it? You aren’t my type, but I think I’ll leave a calling card for Elizabeth LaRue Blackhawk. She’ll understand. As soon as she sees it, she’ll get it.”
His eyes went wide at the mention of her name. There was that flicker of recognition. There was that momentary hope that his death wouldn’t be in vain.
He had fear, but he also had hope.
The laughter broke his focus, as did the quick kiss of pain in his leg. With a quick lop, the knife sliced through his femoral artery, and he began to bleed out.
“You won’t suffer long. You’re not my true victim. I want Elizabeth’s head on a silver platter, and I will have it. Before this is over, she’ll be mine.”
He screamed and shook his head, but no one heard him. His pleas fell on deaf ears.
It was too late.
There would be no salvation today. No one even knew he was missing. He’d fallen into the shadows where he once stood in the spotlight.
“When you’re out of blood, I’ll get to work. You’ll want to be dead for that part of the fun. Trust me…you don’t want to live through what I’m going to do to your body. You can thank me in the afterlife for sparing you of that, Director.”
He struggled against the bindings that were holding him down. When he was nearly out of blood, everything slowed. His heart skipped as it tried to pump—only there was nothing coursing through his veins.
It was all on the floor beneath him.
He could smell his own death.
It was bitter sweet. Life had gone by so fast, and now he was facing his imminent destruction by the hands of a killer.
To him, it was ironic.
“We’ll do a little carving and then transport you there. I bet the second they see you, someone is going to freak out. I can’t wait to watch this unfold.”
Yes, this was the perfect plan.
“Are you about ready to bid this world adieu?”
He was.
Already, his eyes were glassed over, and his face had gone slack from death. He had emptied himself all over the floor of the abandoned building. On the tarp, he had no choice but to welcome his death.