Both men in her life stared at her. They were shocked and angry that she didn't even stop to ask their opinion on the matter. Then again, it was very Elizabeth-like to jump in with both feet.
“Since we lost another member, we will call the coven and schedule a circle for tonight. I will have to tell them you will be joining us, and they may not all come, so be warned.”
“Okay, so what does one wear to one of these little parties?”
Ares moved from his wife’s side. “You must wear something that will not offend the elements or the Goddess. Nyx is particular with our dress.”
Elizabeth had no clue who this Nyx was, and why she should be critiquing her clothing. But alas, when in crazy town, do as the crazies did.
He pulled a white gauzy ceremonial robe down from the closet and handed it to her. “It is one of her spare robes, and it is very appropriate for tonight,” Aries added, motioning to his wife.
“Generally, we do this barefoot, but we’re used to walking on rougher terrain like that. What size shoe do you wear?” Artemis asked, staring at her beat up cowboy boots. “They will not be appropriate. You’ve walked through a great deal of death in them.”
Elizabeth loved her boots, but she’d play the game if it meant saving a life. “I’m a size nine.”
She stood, going to her collection and handing her a pair of sandals. “You may not bring your weapon either.”
Okay, now that she didn't like at all. Elizabeth would play dress up, lose her boots, and do what it took to save another person’s life, but not carrying a weapon was crossing a line.
“It is a symbol of death. Have you taken lives with it?” she asked, staring at the sidearm.
“Quite a few,” she answered, and it was the absolute truth and she didn't regret it. Anyone who she killed was on the wrong side of justice.
“If you wish to join us, then that is our other condition,” stated Ares.
Elizabeth found it ironic that a man who was named after a war deity was bitching about her sidearm. “Okay,” she finally stated. It didn't really matter in the long run, since she had a contingency back up plan to set into play.
Standing from his spot, Ethan walked out. He was fighting hard to stay in control.
Callen gave her a very telling look as he went to join his brother.
“Be here at eight tonight, and we will leave for the circle,” Artemis stated.
Elizabeth took the garb and headed out to catch up with the men. There was no doubt that she was going to get an earful, and she planned on letting them vent first. When they were finished, she was going to school them and teach them a lesson for even questioning her.
Outside the shop, they closed around her as they tried to not make too much of a scene. What they wished to convey was how unhappy they were over the events.
“You should have cleared that with your partners first. You would never let one of us go in alone without a colossal shit fit,” Ethan finally blurted out angrily.
Callen piled on next, “You know better, Elizabeth. We have a serious situation here and you’re being careless with your life.”
“You may not care, but we do!” Ethan added in frustration.
She didn't say a word.
“I can’t believe you did this without asking us our opinion at least. We’re supposed to be a unit and a family, or is that only when it’s convenient to you?”
She stared up at them and lifted a brow. Oh, when she told them her plan, they would be eating crow.
“I’m disappointed in you,” Ethan stated.
Callen agreed. “I’m hurt by your disregard for our feelings.”
Okay, she’d had about enough. “Are you both done berating me in public?” she asked, crossing her arms across her chest.
They only stared at her angrily.
“How long have you known me, boys?” she asked, staring back and forth between them.
“Years,” Ethan said. What he wanted to state was his whole life. His heart knew she was meant to be loved by him from the second he was conceived.
“Same here,” Callen added, hoping that he would still have many more years ahead.
“When have I ever given up my gun without a backup plan?” she asked.
They looked back and forth at each other.
“Let me answer that for you. It’s never. So, that should have been your first clue that I had something up my sleeve. The next question is when would I risk my life and leave my children motherless? Since I grew up that way, do you really believe that I would condemn CJ, Cat and EJ to that same fate by being reckless?”
Neither man spoke. They knew that if anything, her babies came first.
“Exactly. The witches said that you couldn’t accompany us. They never said that you couldn’t have night gear and track us through the woods with guns, now did they?”
The serious faces began to change.
“I’ll be miked and with an earpiece. You’ll hear it all and be able to see us the entire time. While both of you have been known to miss your target, you’ll do in a pinch,” she teased.
Ethan began to relax. “We’re going to be your backup?”
She smiled. “I didn't become one of the bosses by sleeping with some sexy Native man.”
He grinned at that, knowing that she could be skewering them big time over the shit they had just pulled. Instead, she had opted to keep a cooler head through it all, and he was grateful. “Well, technically you did.”
Okay, he was right. If they didn't get married, Gabe wouldn’t have offered them the job. “Okay, so you have a point. I rode you to the top, Cowboy.”
Now he laughed at the visual and her lecherous grin.
“I have three children and two husbands. I’m not playing games with some witches and a Satan worshipper right before Halloween. I’m crazy but not certifiable.”
They led her to the Denali.
“You’re my tail. I mean, how hard can it be for two men that have tracking in their DNA, to follow some white clad people through the woods with night gear?”
Callen chimed in with a comment, “I’m technically better at tracking so I should carry the night gear.”
His brother began laughing. “Yeah, as kids you were. You used to stalk lots of women. This is right up your alley.”
That brought laughter from Elizabeth.
“Hey! That’s not true!”
Ethan helped her up into the vehicle. “I used to lure them in and you scooped them up.”
She was practically weeping at their little game. If anything, the mood had calmed and everything was right in the world once more.
Callen buckled his seatbelt. “Name one instance where that happened!” he objected.
Ethan hopped in and pointed at his wife. He didn't need to say anything else, since it spoke for itself.
She seriously was going to pee herself if this continued.
“Okay, that’s one. Name another.”
Ethan turned around and started the engine. “Cal, none of the others matter. You bagged the mother of all conquests because of me.”
Now, he too was laughing. It was absolutely true. Elizabeth was the big prize. “Yeah, well I have better shooting skills.”
Blackhawk simply shook his head.
“Callen my love, give it up.”
Thursday mid-morning
Back at the autopsy suit, the three sat in their perspective locations working. Chris was finishing up his paperwork on victim two before he transmitted the hard copies to the bosses for their review and signoff. As soon as he was finished, the autopsy on Harmony Wilcox would begin.
Elizabeth was doing some searches on Wiccan coven rituals, so as to be not caught off guard that night. Sometimes her mind and mouth didn't meet at the same time, and she didn't want to offend a bunch of witches as Samhain approached.
Not that she believed any of it, but still…
It was better safe than hexed.
Ethan was working on paperwork to keep from bei
ng buried when they returned home. Keeping FBI West afloat, while in the field, was weighing heavily on his shoulders. Their boss knew they were on assignment, but he was sadistic. He had been scheduling as many meetings as possible to make everyone suffer.
There was no doubt in his mind that it had everything to do with lying about Callen being on vacation. He should have known that this was going to come back to bite them in the ass at some point.
Callen was going over the last two crime scenes and trying to figure out why the killer was changing everything up. It was possible that he was doing it inadvertently, but working with the FBI the last year and a half had taught him one thing, and that was to overlook nothing as coincidence.
“I’m sorry to keep you,” Chris stated as he finally stood. He motioned to Patrick Parrish that he was ready to begin. “I don’t have too much more to tell you until tox is back.”
“Can we start with Dyana Carlos first?”
He flipped through his tablet until he found the information. “After swabbing her body, we found trace of the same residue that the killer used to burn on the altar. He consistently used Demon powder for both.”
“How about the hairs found on the body?” Elizabeth asked, hoping the DNA was back.
“I haven’t gotten that report back from the lab yet,” he stated, covering for the tech team. He hated not being honest with his boss, but he didn't want her to lose it in a room full of people, including the town ME. They had accused him of being incompetent, and here they had pretty much done the same thing.
“Okay, tell Christina that I want it back by tomorrow or I’m skipping coffee and having tech for breakfast instead.”
“God help the world,” muttered Callen grinning.
“Har har, stud muffin.”
Now, Ethan was fighting a grin, but knew better to even make a comment. Who knew what else would come out of her mouth?
“Anyway,” Chris continued, as he tried to get them off that topic as quickly as possible. “Both victims had the same wounds inflicted on them, from the method that he used to incapacitate.”
“If you don’t mind, let’s jump ahead,” Ethan suggested as he stared at his ME. “I’m going to assume that there was no necklace in this woman’s throat either?”
Chris shook his head. “None.”
Ethan made note of it and continued, “What else do we have?”
“Our team found trace on her lip,” Chris started. “I believe the residue on her lip is connected.”
“What is it?”
He shrugged, unwilling to speculate.
“Chris, you suspect something don’t you?” Elizabeth pushed. She knew him fairly well. When he didn't say anything, he definitely was holding a card.
They’d played this game many times before. “I can’t conclusively give you an answer and I won’t guess. You know that, Elizabeth.” He thought back to how he jumped to conclusions over Cyra’s necklace, and he wasn’t willing to make the same mistake twice.
“Okay.”
That answer had his total attention, and he stared at her suspiciously. “Why are you backing down? That’s not like you at all.”
She shrugged. “I already know what it is.”
That caught him off guard. He wasn’t sure if she was serious or yanking his chain. His boss was relatively smart, and she could have figured it out… or not. “Really?”
“Yeah, it’s got to be cocaine.”
Ethan jumped in to help torment their ME. “I think it’s baby powder.”
“My guess is corn starch,” Callen added.
They saw the appalled look on his face at their unscientific method of coming up with random guesses. Half the fun of being the boss was stirring up the minions.
“Maybe it’s itching powder. Our killer has to be a magician,” she declared.
“It could be ricin. We may have a terrorist,” Ethan tossed out there.
“STOP!” Chris demanded. “Okay, I get it. You’re going to make me nuts if I don’t tell you.”
The town ME was laughing at their antics.
“Maybe, it’s a dried up milk mustache,” Callen offered. “It does a body good.”
“Yeah, just not in her case,” Elizabeth retorted.
“Smelling salts!” he shouted. “I think that it’s smelling salts!”
Now they all burst into laughter, knowing that he finally had enough and caved. They weren’t surprised. They’d used this method of ME torture many times before.
“God, I love my job,” Elizabeth teased. “It does my heart good, to see a team throw out suggestions so randomly as we try and solve an assignment.”
Chris was now laughing. “Sometimes, you’re a total and complete bitch.”
Cyra gasped and stared at him in horror. She didn't plan on tormenting Chris, but he’d just crossed a big line there. Oh crap!
It didn't faze her, and Elizabeth laughed even more. “At least I’m predictable. You should be glad. If I came in here and didn't act exactly like this, you’d be confused and off your game.”
He shook his head. “I believe that it’s smelling salts. Christina is processing it right now, but it makes complete sense. The wacko is carving into her, and she passes out. He wants to revive her to make her suffer, so he puts the vial under her nose, and she’s forced to wake up.”
“Does that actually work?” Blackhawk asked, always thinking it was a myth.
“Yes, it does. The chemical compound irritates the mucus membrane in the nose and lungs, and it causes the body to inhale sharply. It increases the blood pressure and heart rate and forces the person to come out of the fainting spell.”
“It’s good to know that our sicko is a bastard too. Great.” Why Elizabeth was surprised was beyond her. The killer was sadistic and escalating his method. This didn't bode well.
“We also didn't find clothing in the fire. This, with the alteration in the depth and angle of the slice to her throat, is probably indicative of him not wanting to get dirty. Maybe, he didn't think about all of the DNA evidence he could leave before, and now he’s being more careful.”
“At this point, it could be anyone’s guess. What we do know is that the killer is tagging two more women before it’s done,” Elizabeth added.
“Yeah, and you as the final one,” Chris added. He was incredibly worried about his friend. Yes, he’d seen her scrape by before as she got incredibly lucky a time or two. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered, what would happen if she was off step just one time? Would it cost Elizabeth her life?
Both men in the room beside her tensed at Chris’s words.
Callen didn't want to even think that she could die on him. He was scared out of his mind. Glancing over at Ethan, his face said pretty much the same thing, except there was a tinge of anger there too. It was easy to read. His brother was insulted that the killer was trying to grab her from under their noses.
“Yeah, well I’m not going to let some crazed piss ant make me run home crying to my mommy.”
Chris didn't think he’d ever seen her cry. Not once in his entire career with the FBI. “I also have bad news.”
It was the worst words to say to them. Immediately, it caused all three to tense up.
“What?” Ethan asked.
“We have three victims and three coolers. If the killer manages to follow through and keeps his word on two more victims, then we don’t have space.”
Patrick Parrish offered a suggestion. “We can stack them in the drawers.”
Chris normally would go with that, but he had that inkling in the back of his head that told him that if something bad did happen to Elizabeth, he wouldn’t want her to be stacked like she didn't matter.
Was it morbid to even go there?
Yes.
Was the possibility a reality?
Yes.
“I would prefer the dead to have dignity and not be crammed in there like sardines in a can.”
Cyra was touched by his compassion for the ones who were
already deceased and the ones yet to die. It was just one more reason she was crazy about him.
Ethan didn't like the idea of sending his ME off on his own. He’d learned his lesson with a killer in Red River. The serial killer took down one of his techs and brutalized his body. Yet, with all the trace from the victims, he couldn’t afford to lose any of that either.
His back was to the wall on this one.
“I’ll drive them personally,” Chris offered.
Elizabeth didn't like that idea at all. “If the killer strikes again, we’re down our ME.”
Patrick Parrish raised his hand. “I am an ME and this technically is my facility. I think I can substitute in an emergency.”
Yeah, she liked that idea even less. She didn't doubt that everything that he had just learned would be tattled back to the chief of police.
Ethan stared down at his watch and gauged the time they had left in the day. The killer had escalated and they could very well have another victim tonight. “Okay, here’s the deal. You can leave as soon as you have the autopsy complete, but you’re going to have to take Cyra as your body guard.”
She snickered and it wasn’t because he was the man and she was the woman. It was all due to the fact she loved guarding his body, preferably while he was naked and having sex with her.
Chris looked over and lifted a brow as he tried not to think about the meaning behind the words. He was more than okay with some alone time with Cyra.
Elizabeth started laughing at the two of them. “If you want to do the transport, then you have to take the agent with you.”
Oh, he didn't plan on voicing any concern over this one. This already gave him ideas of what they could do when they arrived back home.
Ethan continued. “Then, you drop the victims at FBI West along with all the evidence for safe keeping. If it’s been processed it goes with you.”
“We can’t afford any screw ups on this one,” Callen added. He was well aware what would happen in court if evidence became tainted.
Blackhawk agreed wholeheartedly. “You can then catch some down time until morning. I don’t want you driving back late and after dark. You do need to be here by ten in the morning for our meeting. Can you do that?”
Devil Hath Come (an FBI/Romance Thriller ~book 7) Page 29