“What?”
“Fire rescue just found a body by the trees.”
Wyler looked sick.
“It’s Liam. His throat is slit.”
They all got it.
This was all the proof they needed.
Bonnie came back.
New Orleans was only a two-hour flight. She would have enough time to come back and kill them all in their house as they slept. It looked like the game hadn’t ended. No one had thought to check for a return flight.
Why would she come back?
She was ballsy.
Ivan lowered his voice. “When she saw us escaping, she must have grabbed Maeve.”
Well, bloody freaking hell!
“Pull up the trackers!” Elizabeth stated.
He did.
“Where is she?” Elizabeth asked.
He pointed. “She’s moving into the trees.”
“I’ll go,” Elizabeth stated.
Ethan and Callen tried to stop her.
She didn’t have time to argue. “I have to go. She’s got Maeve. She wants me. I have to get her back.”
They knew it was a death wish.
“Elizabeth,” Ethan said. “I’ll go with you and so will the dogs!”
She looked at their kids. “You have to stay with Callen. You two have to keep our kids safe. She wanted Charlie, Ethan. I’m the competition. She’s going to want to make me bleed. Our kids are the way to do it.” She pointed at the two German Shepherds. “Look! They know Charlie is in danger.”
He saw it. The two dogs were taking sentry.
Callen refused to buy it.
Ethan came to her side, and her defense. “She’s right. She has to finish this. We have to keep the family safe.”
She touched his cheek, and then Callen’s.
“Elizabeth,” Callen said, his eyes full of fear.
The kids began screaming for her.
“Get them in an ambulance,” Ivan stated. “Security is coming.”
Chris tried to stop her.
She wouldn’t listen.
They all knew what she was walking into. She had no weapon, no Kevlar, and no backup.
It was a death wish.
“I’ll go,” Ivan stated, pulling one of his guns to give to her. “I’ll help her. We’ll try to get the jump on her. How fast can a pregnant woman walk through the trees?”
She kissed Ethan and Callen.
“You tell them about me if anything happens, okay?” she whispered.
They wanted to chase her.
Only, there were all these little lives.
Callen pulled out his phone as she headed past the inferno into the pitch-black woods. They had to hope growing up there would give her the advantage.
If not...
“Once Ty gets here, we go in as backup,” Callen stated. “We have him transport the kids to the sheriff’s station and lock them in a cell if need be.”
Ethan agreed.
Wyler shouted to his daughter-in-law. “Save my child! Please!”
She glanced over her shoulder as they raced for the trees.
She was going to try.
She was working against fate, and she was a nasty bitch.
Bonnie set the scene.
In the space by the lake, she tied Maeve to a tree. She let her sit, simply because she was in a good mood.
She was about to have Elizabeth delivered into her hands. This was her winning the game.
Oh, she was going to make the woman pay, but not by killing her. That would be way too easy.
NO.
She would make her suffer.
Bonnie could see the lights coming through the trees toward her and to be cautious, she stepped into the shadows.
The game was about to continue…
Oh, there would be more casualties.
This was far from done.
Elizabeth saw her the second she came through the clearing. Ivan was beside her, putting his body in front of her since he was the ONLY one in a vest. His need to do the job superseded Elizabeth’s desire to save Maeve.
“BONNIE!” she shouted.
There was laughter but she didn’t show.
Elizabeth and Ivan tried to find her, but they couldn’t see her in the trees.
“You’re a horrible mother,” Bonnie taunted. “You didn’t stay with your children? Right now, I have my new partner ready to kill them,” she taunted.
Elizabeth had to trust her husbands.
This was EXACTLY why she made them stay. Bonnie liked the plan B, and that could be it.
Their kids would be safe as long as her husbands trusted and listened to her.
Those two dogs…
She prayed.
If there was ever a time where she needed divine intervention, it was now.
“I chose to face you down. Why don’t you come out?” Elizabeth called. “I know you want me and not Maeve. You just used her to get into our home.”
She laughed more, and it echoed around the clearing.
They couldn’t pin point her location. It was dark, there were only the lights from the moon and stars, and Ivan’s one flashlight. Plus, the acrid smoke was blowing through the trees. Bonnie could be ten feet from her, and she wouldn’t know.
“I’m going to kill her to watch you suffer.”
Maeve began crying.
“You promised me you wouldn’t hurt me or my baby!” she shouted back.
Elizabeth stared at her. “What?”
“She said if I helped her get you here…”
She couldn’t believe it.
Maeve had thrown her under the Bonnie bus?
Really?
Bonnie took that moment to celebrate the betrayal. She took that time to rub salt into the wounds.
“Yeah, you were just betrayed by your family. How’s that for icing on this cake? First, she invited us into your home, Amara got to hold your child, and she was almost ours. Now she lures you out here to die.”
“Maeve,” Elizabeth began.
Only Bonnie cut her off. “I know your husbands will be here soon. They don’t leave you alone ever. So, let’s make this fast. Her, or me.”
“Me,” Elizabeth offered. “Take me!”
Ivan went to protest.
Only, it fell on deaf ears.
There was the sound of one bullet being fired. Everyone flinched. Only, it didn’t hit Elizabeth.
Or Ivan.
It hit Maeve in the chest.
Time stopped.
Then there were footsteps running away from the scene, and they couldn’t chase her. These woods were a bitch in daylight.
At night?
In the smoke?
They’d never catch her.
Elizabeth’s decision was made for her.
They both raced toward Maeve. She was bleeding from her chest.
It was bad.
Ivan helped cut her free, using the knife from his cargo pants.
“We’ll get you help,” Elizabeth stated. “We’ll get you to the hospital,” she promised her mother-in-law.
“Do you want me to go after her?” Ivan said. “I can track her.”
Maeve grabbed his hand. “Get my baby out,” she muttered, as they laid her on her back. “I’m dying. Save my baby.”
There was blood bubbling from her mouth and nose. Elizabeth had seen that death when her partner Ray had been shot. She’d watched him bleed to death beneath her.
It was history repeating itself.
Only this was Maeve.
Elizabeth kept her hands over the pumping wound. She knew what she needed to do. Making the hard decisions weren’t easy.
This wasn’t easy.
“Call Chris.”
Ivan did.
As soon as he was on the phone, she held it to her ear with her shoulder.
“Elizabeth! Are you okay?”
“Move away from Wyler. Hurry!”
He did.
“Maeve’s been shot in the chest. She’s bleed
ing badly,” she stated. “She’s asphyxiating on blood. What do I do?”
There was a pause.
“We can call an ambulance. Keep pressure on the wound. It’s a long shot but…”
Maeve’s head dropped to the side, her eyes open.
“No pulse,” stated Ivan “WE do CPR or the baby dies too.”
Chris heard him.
The shit had just gotten real.
He didn’t hesitate.
“Cut the baby out. You have about one minute. It doesn’t have to be pretty. Just don’t cut the baby, and you have a better shot. If not, he’s gone. I can’t get there in time to do it!”
She was horrified.
Yeah, Bonnie wanted her to bleed, and this was it. She’d lost Wyler’s wife, and now she had to hack her open to save Timothy Jackson James.
Well, shit!
“I can walk you through. Cut through her belly, but not too deep.”
Ivan held the phone and shone his light on the deceased woman. Her belly was going crazy as the baby began suffocating without air.
Time was ticking.
She couldn’t believe she was going to do this. “Okay, tell me how.”
He talked her through it. When she had the incision open, she saw the membrane he was talking about.
“Remove the whole sac and then puncture it.”
She did it with steady hands.
In that moment, Ivan had more respect for her than anyone else he’d ever served with before. Elizabeth didn’t falter—even under the immense pressure.
“Cut it open, and pull the baby out. You need to clear out his airway.”
She cut the baby out, roughly pulling him from the membrane to get him air.
All the while she was focused.
“Come on, Timothy. If you’re watching, help me save your grandson,” she muttered, trying to get the infant to breathe. He was tiny. He couldn’t be more than six pounds.
Everyone held their breath as she scooped the goo from the baby’s mouth.
Ivan gave the baby a smack on his back as Elizabeth held the slippery little guy.
He began screaming.
It was the best, and worst, sound ever.
It meant his life, and as Maeve lay there, opened up by Elizabeth’s hand, it meant death.
Ivan stripped out of his vest and pulled off his shirt. They used his bootlace to tie off the baby’s umbilical cord before wrapping him up.
He was amazed.
Elizabeth didn’t cry.
She didn’t even show any emotion.
“We have to get him to the ambulance,” he said. “It’s not safe in the woods.”
She stared down at the baby.
“Mrs. Blackhawk.”
Still, nothing.
“Tex, Bonnie could be watching.”
It worked.
She grabbed him by the front of the vest to get his attention. Her fingers smeared blood across his shoulder.
“You never repeat what you heard. Do you hear me, Ivan?” she said, meaning that Maeve betrayed her—that her mother-in-law, part of their circle, was willing to throw her to Bonnie and it had backfired.
“Elizabeth.”
“Please,” she said. “Wyler won’t handle it well. I’ll carry this one. Let me handle it.”
He knew she was going to suffer because of it.
It was noble.
He’d served with the brave, but none braver than this Fed. She’d earned his respect.
His allegiance.
“Okay.”
That was all she had to hear.
They hurried back through the trees, trying to get to the family.
“You’ll find her,” Ivan offered, trying to keep positive. This was going to blow up.
He could see it.
“I know,” she said. “I’ll get her.”
She knew she would.
Then she’d kill her.
Once and for all.
Chris must have told them that she was coming and what had happened. When Elizabeth exited the trees, not far from her totally destroyed home, she was covered in blood and carrying a small swaddled bundle.
They rushed toward her.
“Jesus!” Callen said, pulling her and the baby into his arms. “Maeve?” he asked.
Ivan shook his head.
“One shot to the heart. She’s dead. Bonnie hid in the trees, shot her in the chest, and made Elizabeth choose to chase her or save the baby.”
It was clear that the baby had won, and they were grateful. It had to be hard on her.
Elizabeth wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve. “Ivan couldn’t go after her. I needed his flashlight and for him to watch my back.”
“We’ll put a BOLO out on her,” Ethan offered.
Chris took the baby and carried him toward the ambulance. Then he was going to check on Elizabeth.
She looked like she was in shock.
“I have to tell Wyler,” she stated, staring over at her father-in-law as he huddled with their kids and the local cops.
They all looked over.
At that exact moment, he saw the baby.
He was staring at Chris as they rushed to get the infant air. His face said it all.
When he looked over, he shook his head in disbelief.
“I’ve got this,” Blackhawk said. There was no way he was letting his wife do this.
He knew what was coming.
Callen held her. “I have you.”
She wanted to die inside.
Bonnie had gotten them.
She’d taken them down.
Ethan headed across the driveway to his father. When he reached him, he said something no one else could hear. Immediately, Wyler dropped to his knees and wept.
And then so did Elizabeth.
Betrayal sucked.
And in this round, Elizabeth was not the winner.
Epilogue
Washington DC
Wednesday Morning
The mess was handled. Christina had worked two days straight to get everything Amir had touched put back together again. What was scary was that that man had screwed with so much of the case, changing evidence, that had he lived, there would have likely been a mistrial for him, his sister, Amara, and Bonnie.
The lab was stirred up.
Not only were they wearing a smudge against their honor and their professionalism, they were definitely freaked out. By chance, and that alone, Christina figured it out. Had she not, with the help of Special Agent Blue Garrick, Amir might have gotten away with it.
And that sucked.
Christina, as her first official job, once she was back, was going to find a way to overhaul the procedures. Something had gone wrong when one man, the head tech, could screw with a case, allowing six victims to die by his judgment.
Even worse was the garbage they’d found in Amir’s apartment. He’d been stalking the Blackhawks for his sister and Bonnie.
He’d followed her around, recorded her, taken pictures, and kept detailed logs. It wasn’t Bonnie doing the legwork, it had been one of their own. It appeared that Amir was a sexual sadist, and Bonnie had planned to gift him one hell of a prize.
Elizabeth.
That horrified everyone.
There was so much betrayal over this.
The team.
The directors.
And Elizabeth.
They all were hurt.
When she’d called to thank them for doing the job, something different was there. She sounded different, and that worried everyone.
This had been a personal attack to the Blackhawks, but everyone knew it was aimed at Elizabeth more than anyone else. The bad guys were gunning for her.
And Christina was glad she was back to help stop them.
It wasn’t a perfect world, but she’d keep fighting.
Why?
She was holding him in her arms.
That morning, they had breakfast at the hotel, got dressed, and headed to the courthouse.
Christina Hart was going to keep her word, and she was damn excited to do it too.
For the last year, she hesitated in marrying Kane Redwolf. It wasn’t that she didn’t love him.
She did, and with all of her heart.
She just couldn’t get out of the funk. While he was an amazing man, giving, caring, and sexy as sin, Christina had been miserable.
Kane’s mother disliked her with a passion.
His family thought she was the wrong choice.
It hurt her heart to think that he would have to choose sides in it all, and that’s why she stalled.
Now that they’d come back to DC, him following her—no questions asked, she saw the truth.
She wasn’t marrying Kane’s family.
She was marrying Kane.
And that made all the difference in the world.
While she stood on the marble stairs, leading into a building she went to a lot to testify in court, she was holding her son.
“Milo, it’s a big day,” she said, nuzzling the sweet baby. “I’m finally going to have the same last name as you,” she offered.
He cooed and drooled.
“Ah, a man of so many words.”
He played with a handful of her blonde hair.
“Where is your daddy?” she asked, scanning the busy street. “He’s late.”
That wasn’t like Kane.
Christina prayed that he didn’t get cold feet.
That would suck.
Then, in the distance, she saw him coming her way. He stood heads above the crowd, and people moved out of his way to give him space.
It made her smile.
Life…it was full of twists and turns that you didn’t see coming. This was one of them.
He was one of them.
For the first time, she was absolutely ready. Christina was tired of being a baby momma.
She wanted to be a wife.
As he approached, she noticed the second he saw her. It was clear how he felt. The strong Native features broke from the look of seriousness to one of happiness.
Kane was smiling.
When he reached her side, he pulled them both into his arms and planted a giant kiss on her mouth.
As soon as he set her free, he stole his son from her.
Revenge has Come (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 19) Page 59
