True Love Lost (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 3))

by Kelley, Morgan

  “Ethan and I had a little fun in the snow,” he said, grinning.

  Desdemona should have been mad, but it touched her that he’d fight his brother for her. His own flesh and blood, for a woman he just met. “Come here,” she pulled his face towards hers, and kissed the mark on his cheek, and then left a whisper light kiss on his cut lip.

  “Thank you,” he added, smiling. It wasn’t lost on him that her kiss didn’t have the same affect, and the guilt came back and overwhelmed him again as his heart and mind waged war.

  Just then his brother came back down the stairs; he’d changed and was ready for the day ahead. He looked at the woman. “Don’t forget, by noon today if possible.” He nodded at her and walked away, ignoring his brother. Granted it was beneath him, but he was still irritated that the man challenged him, oh and punched him in the face.

  “Noon what?” asked Whitefox, confused.

  “He wants a list of everyone in my past I had a relationship with, and he’s going to help me get free of this mess,” she answered. “You have an amazing family, Callen. Your brother is a really good guy and Elizabeth is pretty damn amazing too.”

  Whitefox, if possible felt like even more of an ass. Yeah, what an idiot he was today, especially towards his brother. The man he just accused of being cold was going to clean up the woman’s mess, and he knew he would have done it despite the fact his brother was sleeping with her.

  “Come on, let’s get you into dry clothes, we have to get to work soon,” she said, standing and offering him her hand.

  Then he needed to talk to his brother and tell him how sorry he was to have doubted him, and risked their relationship. Now he could only hope his brother, who gave him a free pass off the Rez, was letting him love his wife, and be part of his life would forgive him.

  Or he just lost everything that mattered in his life.

  Ethan drove into the sheriff’s station with just his wife. Right now he wanted to give his brother some time to cool down, and figure out what end was up. Women could turn a life upside down, he knew that from experience. His wife had done the same to him too. Now she was turning his life upside down at every chance, and he suspected Callen’s too,

  “How mad are you at him?” she asked, as they pulled into the parking lot.

  “I’m not. But sometimes you have to beat sense into the stubborn ones,” he answered.

  “Hell, if I don’t know that,” she said, grinning. “If I was included in those ‘stubborn ones’ comment, keep in mind you probably couldn’t take me.”

  Ethan laughed at the visual.

  When he parked the Denali, she paused. “Mr. Blackhawk?” she asked.

  “Yeah, Mrs. Blackhawk,” he looked over.

  Elizabeth reached over and pulled him over to her, bringing her lips to his, starting to kiss him lightly, then gradually increasing the kiss, until he moaned in pleasure. When she broke away, both of them were breathing heavier.

  Blackhawk licked his lips. “What was that for?” he needed to know, so he could keep doing it.

  “That’s for that sexy display of manhandling your own brother in the driveway, and the fact that you evaded that punch with some excellent skill and timing. Big turn on indeed, Mr. Blackhawk. Those were some crazy mad fighting skills. Turned me right on,” she said, winking.

  “Like sex tonight turned on?” he asked, hopefully. It felt like weeks since he’d been able to put his hands all over his wife.

  Elizabeth leaned over and whispered in his ear.

  “Shit! Really?” Ethan Blackhawk sat with his mouth open, as he visualized it.

  “Really Mr. Blackhawk,” she winked, opening the door. “Come on, Cowboy, we have work to do.”

  Ethan Blackhawk watched his wife walk to the front doors, and he couldn’t help but hope the day went by fast, so when they got home he could be the victim of her manhandling.

  * * *

  She stood in the trees with her shotgun. If her lover tried to escape, she’d show him who was boss. If someone was trying to steal her man, she was going to protect her one true love no matter what.

  A girl had to do what a girl had to do.

  Watching the buildings, she prepared to make the shot, and put down the person that dared go near her lover.

  Once she found the whore, she’d take her down with one clear shot. No one touched her true love and got away with it.

  The best whore was a dead one.

  * * *

  Sheriff Duffy waited inside for the FBI to arrive. He needed to update them on the situation that had been brought to his attention. Deputy Julian Littlemoon was back from tracking, and he needed them to hear what he’d discovered.

  When the female agent entered the building, he moved toward them quickly, not wanting Sheila Court to make any comments to exacerbate the situation. They’d yet to find Deputy Bobby Lee Tills, and he knew it was priority one with the FBI. The man tried to kidnap one of the agents, and that was a big offense. His deputy was going to jail, and he couldn’t stop it from happening. It was time to cut his losses.

  “Agents, can I see you in my office?” He rushed forward, ushering them into his space. Inside Deputy Littlemoon sat in civilian clothing.

  “Agent Blackhawk,” he said, nodding and standing to allow the female agent his chair. She may be an outsider, but she was married to a Native, and he’d give her respect. Especially since the ring on her finger had the symbols and stones of her husband’s tribe. Obviously she’d been claimed by their people too.

  “Thank you, Deputy.”

  Blackhawk nodded at the deputy and his courtesy to his wife. “I’m assuming you want to give me some information on Deputy Tills? Have you found him?”

  The previous night, Sheriff Duffy had received the call pretty late about the suspected abduction. Immediately, he called Littlemoon, and told him where to start looking for the man. “It is about him and sadly, he hasn’t been found. Deputy Littlemoon was out tracking him, and he found himself back up by the Boy Scout camp again.”

  Blackhawk looked over at the man. “Julian, what did you find?”

  “I tracked the man close to the house you're renting. He travelled from the hospital, up past the Boy Scout camp, and then down to your dwelling. Once he hit the road I lost him, but there were plenty of tracks at the camp.”

  “Okay.” Blackhawk looked over at the knock at the door, and then turned back.

  Whitefox walked in with the ME.

  “I think that he might be hiding out up at the Boy Scout camp and using the buildings to lay low. We wouldn’t think to look there for him,” he said.

  Elizabeth and her husband stood. “Then we need to get up there and search,” she said.

  “They don’t make maternity Kevlar, Elizabeth,” her husband said, as he walked past his brother and the ME. “You aren’t going.” Ethan Blackhawk wasn’t even going to negotiate this.

  Elizabeth followed him out, and wasn’t going to listen to a single word he said. In fact, she watched the men getting ready and had a plan. “Desdemona, still have my keys?” she asked, keeping her eye on her husband.

  “Yeah.”

  “Let me have them, and when he realizes I’m gone, tell him where I went,” she said, walking out the door and to the Denali. She loved her husband, but just because his brother had him pissed off, he wasn’t going to boss her around. She didn’t have any intention of going onto the scene, but she would sit there and wait for him to arrive. At some point he’d learn that snapping orders at her was just going to cause more drama and pushback from her. Apparently, at month nine of being married, he still didn’t realize that if he ordered her around, she was going to fight him.

  Independent and stubborn were about to collide once again, and this time she had raging hormones in her favor.

  Blackhawk had given out the orders to everyone that was heading to the Boy Scout camp. Everyone was to be in Kevlar, ear pieces, and to watch their backs. As he went to give his wife a kiss goodbye, he realized she was g
one.

  “Where’s Elizabeth?” he asked, looking around at the people surrounding him.

  Whitefox shrugged, but had a sneaking suspicion.

  “She walked out the door ten minutes ago,” added Desdemona. “What?” she looked at both men. “I can’t blame her; you just barked orders at her. By now she has the entire scene cleared.” She began putting on her Kevlar vest.

  “Desdemona, you aren’t going!” ordered Whitefox, adamantly.

  “Really? With the deputy running around lose you want me here by myself? That sounds like a horrible idea.”

  The look on his face was priceless.

  Desdemona just laughed, walking away and channeling her inner Elizabeth.

  “This is all your wife’s fault,” muttered Whitefox, suiting up. “She’s a horrible influence on Desdemona. Just yesterday she listened to me, for the most part.”

  “I swear to God, I’m going to drag her home and…” He didn’t think anything would stop his wife from being a complete menace to herself and his nerves. “Let’s get out there, before my partner gets herself killed.

  Blackhawk was pretty sure he felt like committing murder.

  Elizabeth hopped out of the Denali, as she heard the snow crunching beneath tires. There was something new at the camp that had her attention. Above the buildings she could see the birds and hear the caws. In fact, there was a tree full of black birds. “Shit,” she muttered.

  Blackhawk was at her side fast, and he wasn’t happy. “Elizabeth, you’re not going in there,” he said, glaring angrily at his wife.

  “Ethan, we have a dead body,” she answered, pointing at the building. “Carrion birds,” she added. “They’ve been having a snack, and we need to get in there and keep the remains from being destroyed further.”

  Blackhawk motioned to the ME. “Doctor Adare, we have scavengers. Suit up,” he said, pointing to the birds sitting in the trees.

  “Director Blackhawk, I need to go in first and see the scene in situ, wait for me.” It was time to get to work, and she was pretty sure she knew what waited for her.

  “Open the door!” He yelled over to the deputy. “Stay out until the doctor gets in there first, but look in first to make sure we’re cleared.”

  Julian Littlemoon pulled his gun and looked around the corner and visually cleared the room for the FBI agents. When he looked back, he motioned the room was clear.

  “What do we have?” Both Blackhawks moved towards the building, guns out.

  “It looks like we can stop looking for Bobby Lee Tills. Right now he’s lying against the back wall and pretty much same as the others,” he answered. “The killer has been here, and this time, our victim is missing his eyes. We can thank the killer or the birds.”

  Whitefox walked behind Desdemona, his Glock out, scanning the area around the building to make sure she’d be safe. Behind him Blackhawk began dialing the tech team for retrieval.

  Something about the birds drew Elizabeth’s attention. Carrion birds were scavengers, and they were all looking down into the dilapidated building at the meal that was going to be out of their reach soon. All she could hope was they got there before the birds pecked apart the evidence too much.

  Desdemona stood in the doorway, looking in at the deceased man, and she felt bad for him. Yeah, he tried to abduct her, but she wouldn’t wish this end on anyone. As she stepped in the room, Desdemona noticed the glassless window facing the tree line. At least with the missing sections of the roof and open window there would be plenty of light to examine the body. She stepped in to get her part of the job done.

  Elizabeth heard the telltale pump of a shotgun, and then the birds all taking off at the same time, cawing in alarm. She ran towards the building, alerting her team. “Down! Gun!” The team dove, as she slid into the building, knocking both Callen and Doctor Adare off their feet and to the snowy ground. The blast filled the area, then a second, before silence filled the clearing.

  When there were no more shots, Ethan was the first to be up and moving. He motioned to Littlemoon, and they charged off into the trees to head off the killer. All the while he was worried about his family in the building, but he needed to do his job and trust his partner.

  Elizabeth leaned over Callen and touched his leg, as fear filled her heart. Both were lying motionless on the ground. “Cal, are you okay?” she asked, tentatively touching him.

  Whitefox reached up and pulled her flat and against his body to keep her safe.

  “Are you out of your mind?” he hissed into her ear. “You could have been shot!”

  “Yeah, so could you!” she answered back, her heart was still pounding in her chest.

  “I’m wearing Kevlar, Lyzee. You’re wearing skin. I would have been okay,” he answered, exasperated. “I could have landed on you and the baby when you slid into us.”

  Elizabeth placed her hand over her belly, and was grateful that wasn’t what happened. “Oh, well next time I’ll wait and see how that thick skull of yours does against a shotgun blast.”

  “Are you both done fighting?” whispered Desdemona. “Some of us don’t do well in these situations, and you both aren’t making it easier.”

  “Yeah, we’re done.” Elizabeth placed her hand on his cheek. “You okay, Doc?” she asked, looking over at the woman.

  “Yeah, I think so, Elizabeth.”

  Callen turned his head and kissed the palm of her hand. He was grateful she was still fast on her feet and had no sense of self-preservation.

  “That was close. If you didn’t plow into us and knock us down, that wouldn’t have ended well.” She let it hang in the air as she looked over at the giant hole in the wall from the bullet.

  “Close calls keep me on my toes,” she said, joking.

  Desdemona was shaking. “Elizabeth. I love you,” she said, kissing her boss on the lips. “Thank you for saving us!”

  Elizabeth laughed at the entire situation. She was the pregnant woman lying between two lovers, and was just kissed by her ME.

  Whitefox snorted. “Ethan is going to be pissed he missed that kiss,” he said, and started to stand. “Speaking of Ethan, I better go after him. Both of you stay down. Elizabeth you aren’t vested!” He gave her the look.

  “I know, I know.”

  “Keep down, until Ethan or I get back.”

  Elizabeth watched him run from the building. “Slide back against the wall, and keep your eyes on that window,” she said getting into position with her ME. “Got your gun?”

  “Uh huh,” she said, her hands shaking. “How are you not completely scared and rattled?”

  Elizabeth shrugged. “I’m just used to getting shot at and more so now that I’m pregnant.” She patted the woman on her leg. “Or maybe it’s a statement of my mental status. Possibly a little of both,” she joked, trying to hide the fact she was badly rattled. Callen Whitefox almost didn’t walk out of that building.

  Desdemona didn’t understand how the woman could be so blasé about the entire episode. It was possible she was completely insane. “Next time a field assignment comes up, I think it’s Doctor Leonard’s turn.”

  Elizabeth heard the crunching of snow, and elbowed her ME. “Get ready,” she whispered. “Someone’s coming.” Both women lifted their guns. Elizabeth’s steady and Desdemona’s shaking. “Don’t shoot unless you don’t know who it is,” she whispered.

  “I'm good with a gun when I’m not scared shitless,” Desdemona whispered.

  “Elizabeth, it’s me,” her husband said, knowing she’d be ready to kill whoever came through the doorway.

  “Hey honey, just hanging out with Desdemona and the dead guy,” she said, pushing the ME’s gun down towards the snow, so she didn’t accidentally shoot her husband.

  “Do you see why I didn’t want you running around without a vest,” he said, peeking around the corner.

  “Yeah yeah, so you keep saying, but if I wasn’t here there may have been a vastly different outcome.”

  Desdemona squeez
ed her hand. “I don’t know how you knew the killer was going to shoot, but thank heavens you did.”

  “I heard the pump of the shotgun, and then the birds took off out of the tree.” Elizabeth pulled her friend to her feet. “Did you catch the shooter?”

  Whitefox appeared behind his brother.

  “Whoever it was, they took off in a car,” answered Blackhawk.

  “I called the tech team, so we can start processing the scene and then get the hell out of here,” he said, staring around the abandoned space. “I don’t like working on scenes where people are shooting at me and my family, or my wife is playing cowboy.”

  Elizabeth ignored him and stared down at the man that just last night was trying to kill them. “Get to work Doc,” she stated, patting her friend on the ass as she walked past her.

  Desdemona laughed and felt a little less shaky.

  “That was for the kiss,” she replied, winking and walking past her husband.

  “Wait, what kiss?” he asked, staring at his brother. “There was a kiss?” The tone of his voice was sheathed in unadulterated disappointment that he missed out on that.

  Whitefox snorted. “Oh yeah, you should have seen it. Desdemona was kissing your wife and I got to watch.”

  “Son of a bitch. I hate this killer.”

  Wednesday Afternoon

  Desdemona once again stood on her stool looking down into the face of death, and as usual she felt pity for the violent end to his life. Yes, he was a vicious man who wanted to do her and Elizabeth Blackhawk harm, but in the end no one deserves to have their eyes removed or pecked out by scavengers. With her micro-goggles she examined the wounds in the orbital sockets for any trace or sign of what happened. Just as she was leaning over the body, she heard someone clear their voice.