“So, a missionary returns from Egypt, and he doesn’t buy food or gas? He’s just lying around in his apartment, chilling out? Oh, I know what’s filling his time,” she offered. “He’s killing people.”
They all stared at her, knowing they’d missed a big one.
“It would fit,” Ethan began. “Here, he was raised with God, dedicated his life to the mission, and his brother gets caught with his dick in a teenager. It would offend him on some deep spiritual level. In fact, he’d start with him. After taking his life, he might feel justified, and it could lead to the next victim.”
“Great.”
This was something a newbie should have caught, and she knew they were all aware of that. Chagrin was clearly written on all of their faces.
She wasn’t going to stop. They needed to keep going. She’d bitch later, when there was more time. “Okay, so we have a man of God moving to the head of the pack. Now, I need to know how we can forensically tie him to this. Believe me, a judge isn't going to take kindly to my speculation.”
Ethan glanced over at Meredith and nodded.
It was now or never.
“Ma’am?”
“Yes?”
“Tell her, Meredith,” Ethan urged.
Elizabeth didn't like the sound of that at all. If her husband knew something she didn't, there was a very good reason why. It was going to make her go bat shit insane, and he was trying to keep that from happening.
“What?”
All the sudden, it all gushed out of her, “We screwed up. I take full responsibility. When we tested Tony’s clothing, we somehow got one of the hairs mixed into the evidence. It must have fallen out of a bag and was sitting on the exam table.”
“Who did it belong to?”
She swallowed. “Walter Dennison.” Immediately, she braced for the explosion. Instead, they all watched something they didn't expect.
Elizabeth turned and faced the whiteboard without uttering a word. It appeared that everyone around her had dropped away.
The entire team was on edge. This was completely unlike her.
As she stood there, it occurred to Elizabeth.
Something wasn’t right.
* * *
Jaxon was just about ready to board her plane. Her heart was heavy. There was one last thread to this, which needed to be severed. She needed to make a call.
Pulling out her phone, Jaxon dialed the private number she’d been given and hoped he didn't answer. She was coward enough to leave her resignation in voicemail.
Yeah, she was a wuss.
“Yes, Jaxon. What can I do for you?” came Gabriel Rothschild’s voice. He’d already gotten the heads up text from Elizabeth that the woman was a bird on the wing.
Now, he needed to reel her in for her own protection.
“I’m quitting, Director Rothschild. The FBI isn't for me. I don’t fit well here, and I need to move on.”
He was ready for her. “That’s okay, honey. It’s a tough gig.”
She hadn’t been expecting the ease of his acceptance, but it was greatly appreciated.
“I have something that might pique your interest and be far more suited to your skills.”
That alarmed her. “What?”
“I happen to have a friend at the University of Kentucky, and he’s working on a dig there. They found a mass grave behind some church, and he needs a reliable team to go in and excavate.”
She didn't know if she could do fleshy. “How old is it?”
“At least thirty years old.”
Jaxon relaxed. “Okay.”
“Now, I can’t promise you the head spot, but would you be willing to go on as an anthropologist and help out? Since the killings are over thirty years, we’re letting them run with it first to see what’s there. We won’t call in any agents until we see if there are any viable clues left behind. For now, it’s a retrieval.”
Oddly, it offered her comfort. She needed to forget about Tony and her broken heart. This would be the way to do it. “I’ll take it.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, grinning.
Hook. Line. Sinker.
Elizabeth would be pleased.
“I’m sure. I have to board now, Director. How much time do I have until it starts up?”
“You have a couple of weeks. How about you come to work on Monday, and we can talk about it. I promise you won’t be in the lab.” Yeah, he needed to keep an eye on her.
“Yes, sir,” she said, willing to do anything at that point. All she wanted was to forget the man she was leaving behind. Jaxon needed to heal the hole in her heart and soul.
Besides, Tony wouldn’t ever think to look for her in Kentucky. She could nurse her broken heart in peace.
“Good. Hop your flight, and we’ll see you when you get home.”
She disconnected the call and boarded. In her seat, she put in her ear buds and closed her eyes. Now, she was one step closer to getting away.
Yeah, that was such bullshit.
She’d condemned herself to hell, and she knew it.
* * *
Elizabeth believed in her ability, but everything that her team was telling her was shooting up all red flags.
Andrew Dennison owned a white Camry.
Great.
His brother’s hair was left on the bodies from his own clothes.
Awesome.
He was a missionary gone astray.
Terrific.
It was all pointing at him and yet there was that nagging voice in the back of her head, unable to accept it. When it came to it, she’d learned to trust her gut instinct. That voice had saved her life countless times.
“It’s not going to fly with me,” she said suddenly.
“What?” the two agents and head tech all said together. They were now staring at her like she was crazy. Here, they just handed her the keys to the kingdom, the proof she needed, and now Elizabeth wasn’t happy with it.
Obviously, there was no pleasing her.
“My gut says this isn't right.”
Ethan knew then that Elizabeth probably saw something that they didn't. This was her thing. He’d watched her in action and when her gut threw down, he was prone to follow her instincts.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Get me his driver’s license,” she ordered, having Johanna jump to it. She located it, and sent it over to Elizabeth’s tablet.
Once she received it, she scanned it.
Yet again, her team missed so small a detail, that it was likely the only clue to not accusing the wrong person.
“Look at the birthdates,” she said, sending the side by side to everyone in the room. She could tell that her husband caught it first.
“Twins.”
“Yep, and I’m betting they’re identical,” she offered. “They have the same height, eye color and weight listed.”
Johanna apologized profusely. “I am so sorry. I shouldn’t have missed that.”
Elizabeth wanted to be mad, but she’d made mistakes when she was first learning too. Those errors helped her become the investigator she was now. If she used the mistakes to hurt the agent, Elizabeth could likely hinder her abilities.
“It happens. Now, we regroup and move forward.”
The woman stared at her, wondering who abducted the real Elizabeth Blackhawk?
Pulling out her cell, she dialed her ME. When he was on the phone, she told them what they discovered.
“Really?”
“Why didn't you catch it?” she asked, knowing Chris Leonard wouldn’t have dropped the ball.
“Because identical twins are almost perfectly matched. It would have required a special test to determine the differences, not the similarities.”
“Explain,” she ordered.
“A genome can mutate due to something in their environment or a disease, and if that happens, it would give us the differences.”
“Run the hairs found on the victims, which we believed to be Walter Dennison, and co
mpare them to the first victim’s DNA. I want a deep run. How long will it take?”
“It shouldn’t take long. Once I run it, I can compare the hairs to the medical records for Walter Dennison. If anything pops up, that should verify it.”
“Good. Get to work. I expect you to move so fast on this one, that I’m in shock and awe.” Yeah, she couldn’t wait until Chris Leonard was back from his honeymoon. Never again would she bust his ass for being overly cautions.
Never again.
In fact, as soon as she saw the man, Elizabeth was going to give him a kiss and beg him to come back.
God, she missed her team.
* * *
Ninety Minutes Later
When he called, she put it on speaker phone and already Elizabeth could already hear it in Zane’s voice. He’d definitely found something.
“What do you have, Doctor?”
“I ran the DNA. One sample had a genetic marker alteration. In one strand, there was evidence that someone had a bout of childhood leukemia. It altered the gene slightly, giving us enough to distinguish the difference between the two of them.”
“Spill it.”
“Victim one and the hair from Tony’s clothes don’t match. The victim had survived leukemia, the hair samples weren’t showing that in the spliced DNA.”
“Okay, so who is who?” she asked, getting excited. They had something here. She knew it!
“Pulling Walter Dennison’s medical records, I can tell you that they never showed him battling cancer. So, your victim is likely Andrew Dennison, and not who we believed it to originally be. We have a twin in the morgue.”
She grinned in triumph even as her team stared in surprise. No one saw this one coming, and now they were ready to lock the animal down. Once they found the new hole he was hiding in, he was going to jail.
“Thank you, Doctor,” she said, hanging up. When she faced them, Elizabeth was ready to get this done.
“It all makes sense,” Ethan said. “He kills his brother, the classic Kane versus Abel syndrome, only Walter has a way of covering his tracks. By taking out his brother, he can assume his identity and roles in life.”
Callen understood the switch-up, but he didn't understand all of it. “But he was sleeping with some young girl. Wasn’t he just as big a sinner?”
Blackhawk began breaking it down. “He saw himself as flawed, but knew that the blood of God would wash him clean. So, he took it upon himself. By killing his brother, making that sacrifice, he elevated himself into that position. Likely, he was addicted to sex and couldn’t perform unless it was with what attracted him. He swapped obsessions, the minute he took Andrew’s life.”
Elizabeth continued, “He became so focused on God that the sexual need fell away. He simply replaced one form of crazy with another.”
“Yes, more proof that he is a sociopath,” Ethan stated.
“Why the church?” asked Meredith. Rarely did she get to be privy to the way they solved things. This was fascinating.
“It was easy to hunt there, and he likely felt safe. After all, God was everywhere there. He would watch the sinners going into the confession, and he could access the oils and the cemetery.”
“This was a new lease on life,” Blackhawk stated. “He got into trouble and found a way to start over, in a life he preferred. His brother was the missionary, and he was just the lowly organist. He was the older brother, and he should have been the ‘Godly’ one in his eyes.”
“Speaking of eyes, he took Toni Michelle’s because she could identify him. If she knew he was a twin, then she’d likely be able to spill those details. If he’s been watching us, he would have known that we visited her,” Elizabeth said. “So, his escalation happed right after his botched attempt at Jaxon. He couldn’t take the risk. In fact, he was likely worried that Doctor Armstrong saw something she shouldn’t have, and that’s why he went after her again, only getting Tony.”
“So, who’s next?” Callen asked.
Ethan knew the answer. “He’s not going to stop until he makes the catalyst for his downfall pay. He’s going to go after the woman who caused him to fail so miserably and make him feel out of control.”
“Is she safe?” Meredith asked, hoping Doctor Armstrong was okay.
“Yeah, she’s on her way back to Quantico,” she offered. “He’ll never get her there.”
“Where is he hiding out?” Callen asked. “We took away his lair, so where’s he crashing at night.”
Blackhawk had a pretty good idea. “If he thinks he’s Andrew Dennison, he’s going to use his place. We searched Walter’s home, but we never even considered checking his brother’s.”
Elizabeth knew what they needed to do. “Well, we’re going to make sure we do that now. If we’re lucky, we’ll catch him there.”
Ethan pulled out his phone. “I’ll get an emergency search warrant. We can send our two agents here, and let them check the place. If he’s not there, they can assist the techs in searching it.”
They stood.
“Good luck, Agents, and don’t forget to suit up.”
Callen watched them go. “You just let them walk out of here really easy. You don’t want to be there to kick his ass?” he asked warily.
Elizabeth didn't believe they’d find him in that apartment. “He won’t go there. He’s coming for Jaxon. What he doesn’t know is we’re going to be ready for him.”
Callen didn't like the sound of that. “I think I want to puke.”
Ethan wasn’t too far behind him on that.
* * *
The rain was beginning to fall.
He didn't like getting wet. It made his clothing stick to his sore back. Maybe he could hide in the cabin and wait for her. Then, when she finally came through the door, he could make her pay.
Creeping toward the dwelling, he found an open window. Raising the blinds, he slithered in, all the while staying low. As he closed the window behind him, he found a safe place to hide.
Now, it would be all about keeping quiet and out of sight. Like always, he would blend in.
Thankfully, it was an excellent skill to have.
He began praying, his rosary in his hand. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…”
~ Chapter Twenty One ~
Sunday Morning
They searched the entire place, looking in every crack and crevice they could find.
And… they didn't find him.
Yes, they knew he’d been there.
In the kitchen, there was food in the refrigerator, cold coffee in the pot, and dishes in the sink. Elizabeth had been right. He had been using his dead brother’s apartment as his place to lay low.
Now, they had taken that away from him too.
As they continued their search, hands on their sidearms just in case, they found something appalling in his bedroom. Taking pictures, they sent it to their bosses.
It looked like the inside of a church. Well, one if the priest was out of his damn mind. There were statues everywhere, facing the bed, where the man would sleep every night. On the bedding, they at first thought there had been candle wax, since there was a plethora of red candles everywhere, but it turned out to be blood.
Where did it come from?
They didn't have to puzzle over it long. That question was answered when they opened the top dresser drawer. Inside, they found a whip, and on it was more blood. Obviously, the man had punished himself in order to pay for some sick twisted sin.
Yeah, he was totally nuts.
In the bathroom, they found even more evidence that he was out of his mind. On the walls of the commode, there was writing.
I will die for God.
I will die for God.
I will…..
It looked like Ethan Blackhawk was right too. The man had a break from reality and was a few bricks shy of a wall. After sending those pictures too, Madden and Seaton stood guard over the techs working on finding more proof that the man was a killer.
Yeah, som
ehow, they didn't think that was going to be too difficult.
The perp had left them a pretty clear picture.
* * *
Elizabeth had gotten all the details from her team. She was pacing as they waited for Walter Dennison to make his move. Ethan was watching the road, and Callen was making her something to eat.
It was only going to be a matter of time, and he would show. He needed to take out Jaxon in the worst way, and that’s when they’d get him.
“Are you sure Tony’s safe?” she asked, worried about her friend.
“Yep. He’s got three deputies outside his room. It would take a miracle from God himself to get in there,” Ethan said, accepting a cup of coffee from his brother.
“Lyzee, you should eat something,” Callen said, handing her a plate of toast. “Do it for Charlie.”
She relented. “That’s not fair,” Elizabeth said, accepting his kiss along with the plate. “You just used one of our kids to manipulate me.”
“Yeah, I know. I get off on the power,” Callen teased.
Ethan laughed.
Going to the window, which was facing the other cabin, Elizabeth began eating her toast. In her mind, she was measuring the probabilities and weighing all her options. All she could hope was the man would be predictable, even as he lost control.
It was rare for them to wait for a killer to come to them. More often than not, the team had to chase them down.
This was definitely new for her. Elizabeth was finding out that patience was not one of her strong points.
As she scanned the surroundings, something miniscule caught her eye.
“Wait!”
Both men glanced over at the tone in her voice.
“No one went in the other cabin after we locked up, right?”
“Correct,” replied Ethan. “Why?”
Redemption is Here (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 9) Page 50
