The men saluted her before dropping over.
Now it was time to wait.
Elizabeth and Chris headed up the steps.
“Elizabeth,” Callen said over his ear bud. “Ethan wants to go in a few seconds before you, so he can make sure it’s clear in the back of the house. If someone is going to leave, it would be out the back and over the fence.”
“Copy,” she stated. “We’ll give him a five second head start.”
On the front stairs, she waited for the team to get in place. Chris was beside her.
“Welcome home, honey?” he asked.
She snorted. “I loved coming here. It always smelled like your cologne, and there was pizza. I also liked that we lived here and then around the block. Changing up the scenery helps keep a relationship fresh,” she admitted.
Chris agreed.
“Uh, for future reference, you have two husbands listening to their wife discussing coming home to another man,” Callen stated. “Don’t make me accidentally shoot Chris when he comes through that door.”
Dakota chimed in. “Keep talking. I want to see him shot. I was the rebound guy.”
She laughed.
Chris, not so much.
He wasn’t sure if Callen or Dakota were joking or dead serious.
Better safe than sorry.
They both went to mute.
“I loved when you’d come home. You always looked beat, but you’d run in, jump on me, and we’d have sex. That was always the priority. It made me feel alive after having to play in a dead body all day long.”
She remembered those moments too. It was so much more than sex to her. That moment they connected helped wash away the atrocities of their day.
It helped heal.
“I have a high sex drive,” she stated. “You were a handy man to have around, Doctor Leonard. Apparently, you have a high sex drive too.”
“Had. I had one. Now, not so much. Oh, and since we’re being honest, if you think I’ll be insulted that you used me—think again.”
She gave him a fist bump as they both listened to the men behind his home getting into place.
“Can I ask you something? Will you be honest with me?” Chris asked, as he held her clutch piece in his hand. He couldn’t remember how many times in their past she’d always thought about his safety.
It was staggering to be loved like that.
Still loved like that.
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“Had I asked you to marry me, would you have?” he asked. “I know we said we’d never do it, unless we were old and crotchety, but at one point, we were pretty close to it, weren’t we?” he asked.
Elizabeth thought about it.
They had been close to that defining moment. She probably would have married him, but then she would have missed out on something amazing. Ethan and Callen were meant to be her partners. Chris, while an amazing man, had cheated on her. That right there told her all she needed to know.
He wasn’t supposed to be.
Fate had other plans.
“I think I likely would have,” she admitted. “You were a good relationship. Were you the ‘ONE’?” she asked. “I don’t know for sure. I guess we’ll never know.”
Yeah, he felt the same way.
Chris sometimes wished he could go back and change what he’d done.
For her.
For him.
“Get ready,” she stated. “Ethan is counting down,” she said, flicking her com back on so the men could hear her communicate.
“We’re in place.”
They waited.
“Three.”
Elizabeth had Chris’s key in her free hand.
“Two.”
She turned it in the lock.
“One.”
There was the sound of the back door crashing in, and shouts from the FBI.
“Clear,” the three men said after about ten seconds. That was all they were going to get.
It was time.
She’d given her husband the head start that she promised, and now they’d do the job.
“Come on, Chris,” she said, pushing open the door. There was a trail of blood in the foyer. “Stick where I can see you,” she stated.
Chris stayed behind her.
He’d learned in the past that there were certain things that one shouldn’t mess with.
Clearing a scene was one of them.
One mistake, and someone could die. He’d seen it happen before. Chris had countless Feds on his morgue table who broke the rules or got in their partner’s way.
Getting shot sucked.
He’d like to avoid that if possible.
“Clear,” Elizabeth said, clearing that one room before lowering her side arm. She trusted her partners to handle the rest of the space while she checked out the mess Bonnie had left her.
“Wow, I’ll never get that stain out,” he admitted as he pointed at the blood-stained wood. “They’ll have to burn this place down to eradicate that. I’m glad I’m not staying here anymore.”
Ethan called from the dining room. “It’s all clear back here,” he stated. “We found the victim. Well, we found what’s left of the person.”
She heard him, but she was focused.
Elizabeth was staring at the wall. Someone had scrawled something there.
It was hard to read.
She had to focus on it.
Finally, she was able to distinguish the message.
‘Two birds with one buckshot.’
Chris headed into his home and toward Ethan’s voice. “I’m coming toward you, so don’t shoot,” Chris teased.
Elizabeth looked down at the blood, then at Chris, and when the sun came in through the door, she saw it.
Something glistened in the sunlight.
Shit!
Tripwire.
“Chris!” she shouted, rushing at him. It was that exact moment that his foot caught the wire.
There was that click and the boom as a shotgun, rigged to go off, exploded from the hidden alcove.
Elizabeth dove, landing on top of him, and they slid through the blood and into the wall.
Ethan and Callen came running.
What they saw horrified them.
Chris and Elizabeth were down, and they weren’t moving. On top of that, they were covered in blood.
But whose?
Chapter Thirteen
Saturday
Brownstone
F or a full ten seconds, no one said a word. It was as if everyone forgot how to speak and think. Then it was Ethan’s horror filled voice that filled the room as he yelled her name. He couldn’t handle what he was seeing. Elizabeth and Chris were down and covered in blood.
He went to move toward them, but Callen stopped him as she moved her head.
“They’re covered in evidence,” he said, once he could string the sentence together.
Honestly, he didn’t care, but this was Bonnie. There might be something on them that could put the woman away.
They had to do this by the book, even if it went against their instinct.
“Baby, are you okay?” he asked, crouching outside the ring of blood. “Are you shot?” he asked.
“Christ on a cracker! That hurt,” she muttered, staring down at Chris. He was face down, and covered in more blood.
Her body ached from the impact.
“Yeah, I’m shot. Just give me a second, okay? The vest took the hit. I just need to catch my breath.”
Ethan and Callen both pulled gloves from their back pockets to help them.
Chris moaned.
“He hit his head,” she stated, pushing off his body. Gently, she helped him roll over.
He was really covered in blood. It was soaking into his clothes.
“I feel like a linebacker hit me,” he said, opening his eyes. Thankfully, he’d been wearing contacts or he would have face planted on his glasses.
“She did. You hit a tripwire and that gun went off,” Ethan offer
ed, pointing across the room.
Chris stared at it. “Jesus.”
“She took you down,” Callen said, helping Elizabeth out of her vest. It was shot to shit.
Literally.
“Buckshot,” Callen stated. “If you were further away, this would have left pieces in the back of your damn skull.”
He was pissed.
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t. If I hadn’t tackled him, it would have left pieces in the back of my damn ME.”
Chris’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you.”
She stayed kneeling in the blood. “It’s okay, Christopher. I have about three lives left out of the nine—luckily.”
Chris knew what had been on the line.
He could have died had that hit him in the face and neck. It was aimed right for his torso.
“Bonnie’s a sicko,” stated Ethan.
His heart was finally back to a steady beat.
Dakota stood on the stairs watching, since he couldn’t get to them through the blood.
“LaRue, are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, dandy. I love taking a slip in slide ride on my ME through someone’s blood. It makes me all cheery and happy.”
They heard something at the door, and all three men drew their weapons and pointed it at the woman who stood there.
She raised her hands.
“I’m sorry, I heard something and saw Doctor Leonard’s door open,” she said.
Chris leaned against the wall as they waited for the team to arrive. They were going to have to have all their clothes bagged, as Amir picked trace off of them.
They were now part of the scene.
This really tied them up with investigating. He couldn’t help but think that had been Bonnie’s plan.
Well, killing him was the plan. After all, he was a doctor. It would have slowed Elizabeth down.
Two birds.
One buckshot.
Nice.
“That’s my neighbor Mandy,” he offered. “Mandy, meet my family, and the FBI. I’d invite you in, but…”
He pointed at the blood.
The young woman looked like she was ready to bolt, and no one could blame her.
Elizabeth and Chris looked like victims of a mass slaughtering.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” she stated. “I can see you’re…busy.”
She tried to escape.
Blackhawk needed to question her first while they waited for the team to arrive.
Since she was his neighbor…
“Did you hear anything last night?” he asked. “Someone broke into the doctor’s home and killed someone here.”
She gasped. “REALLY?” she said, with a look of disgust on her face.
Elizabeth saw the telltale look. Women often got it when they thought about what Chris did for a living. It never once bothered her.
She went into protection mode.
“No, we’re covered in blood because we have some kinky five-some going on,” she stated.
The woman stared at her.
“I hope you’re kidding. I knew he was an ME, but that’s a little…gross.”
Chris leaned his bloody head against the wall.
Why not?
The place was ruined, his neighbors thought he was a freak, and he’d nearly died.
Just another day in the FBI.
“Did you?” Callen asked. “You know, hear anything?”
She focused on him. “No. I heard nothing. I wasn’t home last night,” she offered. “I had a date.”
“What about your other neighbor?” he asked Chris.
Chris nodded toward the other brownstone on the opposite side. “That one’s for sale. No one is in it. They timed this one just right.”
Great.
They had nothing.
“I think I’ll go. I hear sirens,” she stated, backing down the stairs to escape. “Good luck, Doctor. I hope that blood doesn’t seep into my house. This used to be a decent neighborhood.”
Elizabeth opened her mouth.
“Let it go, Lyzee.”
She did.
It was time to focus.
“Tell me about the victim,” she asked. “Clearly, I have to change before I can even check it out.”
Ethan was going to set the scene, but Callen had other ideas to make their lives easier.
“Do you want me to snap some pictures?” Callen asked.
“Yeah, can you?”
He headed off.
“He’s pissed,” Chris said, keeping his voice low.
Oh, Ethan was, too, just not at anyone in that room. He was angry with Bonnie. This was why he wanted Dakota to be on the team. She was going to pay.
She had to.
“He’ll be okay,” Ethan stated.
At the door, the team began arriving.
Amir entered, and stared. “Holy shit, boss! You’re covered in blood. Both of you bosses are. Did you fall into the blood or were you wrestling?”
She pointed at the discharged gun.
“Oh, shit!”
Yeah, she was aware.
What she wanted to do was smack the taste out of the man’s mouth for uttering idiocy, but that was likely her shitastic mood—and the blood soaking into her britches.
“Yeah, and Chris and I have to get out of these clothes,” she stated. “You’ll be checking us both for trace.”
Amir patted his kit.
“I’ll follow you upstairs. We can check the bathroom, and if it’s spotless, you can strip, and I’ll bag you.”
Ethan stared at the man.
“I don’t like the way that sounded. In order to preserve my sanity, how about you rephrase that?” he asked.
Amir did just that.
“You can strip, and I’ll stay outside the door with the bag,” he corrected.
“Better.”
She snorted. “Because there’s a person on my team who hasn’t seen me naked,” she mumbled.
Dakota laughed. “Well, I cleared the bathroom, and it’s not covered in blood, but your choice of décor is questionable. Someone likes Doctor Seuss on the potty,” he teased.
Elizabeth laughed.
She couldn’t help it.
It was funny.
“I have a small child. You try potty training without something fun,” he stated, getting to his feet.
He immediately slipped and landed back on the floor.
Elizabeth began laughing.
Chris did too.
The entire team stared at them like they’d lost their freaking minds.
The adrenaline was crashing.
“Give them booties,” Ethan stated. “It’ll keep them from sliding once they get to the stairs.”
Amir handed them booties.
“Chris, where’s my other gun?” she asked.
He pointed.
It was coated in blood.
It was toast.
Ethan picked it up and dropped it into a bag for Amir. Carefully, Elizabeth handed over her sidearm too.
They were going to the lab.
She felt more naked now than she knew she would later. She didn’t like the idea of strolling around without a gun.
With Bonnie on the loose?
Yeah, that was a bad idea.
“I’ll get your go bag,” Ethan stated, heading around the puddle of blood.
“Thanks,” she stated, dropping her favorite cowboy boots to the floor. There was even blood in them.
Yeah, she hated Bonnie for that too.
Damn it!
She and Chris took off as much as they could right there, and Amir bagged it.
When Callen returned, he looked a little ill.
“What?” she asked.
Where to begin?
“Is it bad?” she asked, hoping it wasn’t. She’d been the catalyst to it, and she knew it.
“Bad doesn’t cut it. She’s out of her freaking mind.”
Elizabeth let him flip through the pictures so she didn’t have to touch his phon
e. Even Chris whistled.
One thing was clear from what she’d seen.
“We have a pair of sickos. They need to be put down—both of them.”
No one disagreed with her there.
No one.
Upstairs, Chris waited for Amir to check his shower. There were fingerprints everywhere, but chances were, they were his.
“I don’t see blood residue in the drain,” he offered, after he sprayed the luminol. “You should be good. I’ll pull any trace out of the drain after you both shower.”
“Ladies first,” Chris offered. “You know, since you saved my bacon.”
“I could use some bacon,” she offered.
He laughed. “You just slid through human blood. Food isn’t an option now. I may not eat until next Friday as I continually think of the biohazard we rolled around in.”
Elizabeth dropped her holster, her shirt, and her jeans in the bag Amir had left.
Chris helped her seal the bag before passing the first one out to Amir.
Elizabeth stepped into the shower, closed the curtain, and then stripped out of the rest of her clothes. She dropped her panties and bra into a second bag before handing them out.
Chris started laughing the second he saw the pink lacy garments.
“Perv,” she said, turning on the water. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“I’m trying not to be one, but I had a flashback,” he admitted.
The hot water finally kicked on.
“To what?” she asked as she soaped up.
“I slept over your brownstone before we were dating, and I actually got off staring at your girlie gear.”
She peeked her head around the corner of the shower.
“I really hope you’re kidding.”
He snorted. “Nope. Me, my hand, soap, and one hell of a fantasy.”
She stared at him. “That’s not even right.”
He was well aware.
“I don’t know why I even told you. It has to be the adrenaline crash.”
She got it.
She was feeling it too.
Ethan popped his head into the bathroom and dropped her backup bag on the floor. He pulled his jacket back, and removed one of his duo sidearms.
“My love, can I offer you a shiny new gun?” he asked, not even fazed by the fact she was naked in a shower with Chris feet from her.
Revenge has Come (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 19) Page 42
