Not at all.
Tony had chosen to work at the FBI for a reason. The monotony of digging in the dirt was beginning to make him crazy. When this started, he never thought he’d be at the dig site and his girl would be in the lab.
That was just jacked up.
While he knew he needed to spend time concentrating on the other job, his mind was at the morgue. Rushing through his dig site duties, Tony was more than happy to get the hell out of there.
He wanted to see Jaxon in the worst way. Now, he was about to check on his minx, and maybe find a way for them to spend some time working together. If he was lucky, she’d need an assistant for her reconstruction.
The second he entered the small concrete building, it was apparent that they didn't expect him. His buddy Chris glanced up, surprise present on his face.
“Tony! Hey! I thought you were at the dig site all morning,” he blurted, standing from his makeshift desk. When he did, he nearly knocked all his papers and tablet off the table.
The man laughed. “Yeah, I was supposed to be there, but the funny thing is, I missed you guys. I thought I’d come hang out here.”
He noticed Merry move closer to Jaxon, and he didn't understand why. Then, when Chris did the same thing, his gut told him something was up.
“What are you doing?” he asked his fiancée.
She smiled up at him, her hands dirty with clay as she finished up the last skull. “I’m just wrapping up a victim now. Want to see?”
Chris wanted to throw up, and that was a first for him when it came to being in a morgue.
This was exactly what they didn't want to happen. Now that the victim had a face, this was where it had the potential to all go bad.
“Sure, sweetheart,” he offered, smiling back at her. Tony was fascinated with her skill when it came to giving the dead an identity. It was a true talent.
As he approached, Tony noticed that she was pretty far along. Already, their victim had been given hair. It looked like she was working on the eyes, because only one sat on the metal tray.
Happy to share this with him, Jaxon turned the face.
It was so sudden and like a punch to the solar plexus. All the wind left his body, and Tony felt the room spin in vicious circles. As he stared down at the dead woman’s face, he couldn’t believe it.
Something had to be wrong.
Maybe this was a dream and he was still sleeping.
He willed himself to wake up.
“She was beautiful,” Jaxon said sadly. “I think I’m pretty accurate on this one. She had amazing cheekbones.”
GOD!
Chris didn't know how to make this stop.
He could see the look on Tony’s face and knew the truth. His friend was hit hard by this and suffering. What Elizabeth had suspected, was indeed what was going down.
“Are you fucking with me?” he nearly hissed, looking from Chris to Merry, and finally back to the woman he loved.
Could they be so cruel?
Was this some sick joke?
Jaxon looked shocked. “What are you talking about?” She was confused. Did she do that bad of a job? “Did I screw it up?” she asked.
Merry glanced nervously toward her boss. She didn't know what to say. Since she was in on this, her heart ached for Tony. He was a really decent man, and this wasn’t how this was supposed to go down.
Nobody should be blindsided like this.
“Tony,” Chris began, placing his hand on his shoulder. It was now time to salvage anything he could.
Promptly, he knocked it off as he backed away. “Don’t touch me, Chris! What the hell is going on here?”
Chris tried to keep this contained and under control. The next room over held the entire team, and he didn't want Tony to say anything that might let his secret out.
“Tony,” he tried again.
“Why is my mother’s face on that victim’s skull?”
Jaxon gasped, dropping it onto the tray. Suddenly, she glanced up at her fiancé and saw what the other two people had already noticed.
Oh God!
This was horrible!
Poor Tony!
He stared down at his fiancée, realizing she didn't know what was going on. There was a tiny bit of consolation there. Unfortunately, Tony also noticed that the man he called best friend did have a clue. That lack of surprise said it all.
“You need to calm down. I can explain all of this if you give me a chance.”
Tony honestly believed that he didn't know how to do any of the basic functions for living anymore. Breathing became foreign to him as thinking shut down, and rage took over. In fact, he was so mad that he wanted to physically hurt someone.
“Do our bosses know about this?” he hissed, finally able to get out that single sentence. “Were they in on this shit fest?” Tony needed to know how deep the betrayal went.
He needed to know who to blame.
Who to hate.
Immediately, Chris tried to cover for them by softening the blow. “Tony, they didn't know for sure. At first, this was all speculation. We were covering our bases, and you weren’t supposed to find out yet. Not like this, Tony. You have to believe that.”
It was all he needed to hear.
The betrayal raged in his gut. They’d found his mother, and Tony needed to point his anger someone. He had his target.
“She knew? The woman I trusted with my biggest hurt knew and still did this to me?”
The shit was about to hit the fan.
Chris didn't say a word. He saw the rage and wasn’t going to point that at a pregnant woman, let alone their boss.
“She did. Elizabeth knew!”
To Merry and Chris’s credit, they still kept their composure, refusing to throw their boss to the angry wolf.
It was enough to break him even more. Instead of fighting with them, he would take it to the source.
He started toward the door.
Jaxon stood. “Tony! Please wait! Let me go with you!”
Glancing back at the people there, she was the only one he didn't hate at that moment. They let him walk into this and get his heart damaged. At least when it was all over, he would still have her. Now, he wanted nothing to do with the people he called family.
Not now.
And likely never again.
“I’ll see you later, Jaxy. I need some time.”
With that, he headed out, slamming the door behind him. It echoed through the room, making each one of them flinch.
Chris ran his hands through his hair. “Holy shit!”
“Is that really his mother?” Jaxon asked, picking up the skull reverently in her palms. “We found her?”
Chris sighed. “Elizabeth suspected as much a day or two ago, but she didn't want to hurt him with the possibility of it all falling apart. He’s searched for her for so long, and the last thing she wanted to do was disappoint Tony by giving him false hope.”
Jaxon understood why their boss did what she did. Carefully, she wrapped up the woman’s skull to keep the clay moist. She’d have to finish this later. Right now, she needed to heal the man she loved.
“I have to go find him. He can’t be out here alone.”
When she handed the reconstruction to Chris, she stared at him with so much emotion in her eyes. “Keep her safe. Tony’s going to need this to heal. We’ll get him through this.”
With that, she headed out. Not only to find the man she was going to marry, but to find the wounded boy who’d just done what he’d always needed to accomplish.
Tony Magnus had found his lost mother.
She didn't leave him.
She was taken from his life.
* * *
In the sheriff’s office, they found the man sitting behind his desk, waiting for them. From the look on his face, there was no mistaking what he was thinking.
If he could, he’d leap over that desk and cause them a world of hurt. Elizabeth almost wanted him too. Then she wouldn’t have to let him help their
team. Because she was a woman of her word, if he brought something to the table, she’d let him play.
“What do you have?” Elizabeth asked, taking a seat. Behind her, Callen and Ethan protectively flanked each side of her.
He leaned forward. “How do I know that you’ll let me help, and this isn't some attempt to steal my information?”
She didn't have time for this. Standing, it said it all. If he was going to be playing games, it was over before it started. While he needed them, she could run circles around him.
“Wait! Okay! God, you pregnant women are a handful.”
Both men behind her didn't disagree, but they knew better than to say it out loud. Apparently, this man didn't.
“What do you have?” she asked once more. From here on out, Elizabeth wouldn’t be asking again. This was officially his final chance to amaze her.
“After digging around, I found that Mr. Monroe, Magdalene’s father, had a little secret.”
“What is it?”
He leaned forward. “Am I in?”
“That depends on what you can show us.”
“Wilfred Monroe had a predilection for young girls, and I don’t mean his wife’s age. Think younger.”
That was interesting, but nothing new.
“We already heard this from the housekeeper. So, tell me something that I don’t know. That’s how he picked up his last wife.”
“Oh, I think that you might find the rest fascinating. When I questioned Freddy Bonaparte, the owner of ‘Twist and Shout’, he said that the man was always dropping Jacey Durante off and picking her up.”
Okay, that was new. They knew that Wilfred was shacking up with his now wife, who was his daughter’s friend, but now they had another connection to one of the victims.
Blackhawk played devil’s advocate. “His daughter was the same age as Jacey Durante. Maybe they were friends, and he was simply giving her a lift.”
“I asked around, and they were best friends.” Then the sheriff grinned, getting ready to drop more details. “I don’t think the way he was kissing her goodbye was friendly. I think it was incestuous.”
Okay, this was definitely new.
“When did this happen?” Ethan asked.
“Freddy admitted that it was right when Jacey began working there. She wasn’t a day older than fifteen at the time.” It was obvious that the Feds didn't have this information, and he was proud of it. “So, am I in?”
What choice did she have? After all, the man did deliver, and it was something huge. This could lead them down a new road with more suspects.
It pained her to say it.
“You’re in.”
“Okay, what angle will I be working?” he asked, glad to have some control over the Feds. Hopefully, this showed them that he wasn’t just some hick sheriff.
“I need you to use your office to research the possibility that it may have been a sex offender who started this. Look for anyone who is on the registry and in the area.”
He didn't look happy.
She opted to continue, giving him a little more that no one had. “Here’s the big part that I trust you with,” she began. “The original bodies in the old grave, and the new ones are definitely connected. I need you to see if there is a sex offender on the list whose father was also on it. That should narrow it down.”
He grinned. “So you have two killers and they’re related?”
She nodded. “It looks that way.” Now, Elizabeth had to hope it didn't come back to bite her in the ass, especially since they were dealing with Tony’s DNA. This had the potential to explode around them.
Even he knew that the information shared was important to the case. It appeased him. “I’ll get right on it.”
Standing, they made their departure. It wasn’t until they were outside that one of her men finally spoke, breaking the silence.
“You told him a big piece of the case,” Callen stated. “That’s not like you.”
“Yeah, I didn't think I could get him to do it blind. We’ll just have to trust that he’s not the killer, and go from there. Trust me. I wouldn’t have, if I had a choice.”
Elizabeth was mentally crossing her fingers.
Getting into the Denali, Ethan hopped behind the wheel. Starting it up, he glanced over at his wife. “Where to now, Tex?” he asked.
She thought about it.
Her mind was going a mile a minute.
What she wanted was to head back over to the Monroe estate to slap the taste out of the man’s mouth for touching a child, and then spend some quality time with her whiteboard until she figured this out.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t do that.
She needed to play this cool and keep pushing forward.
There was too much at stake.
“I think we should head to Clarence Rickert’s home and find out if what Wilfred Monroe said about him is true.”
“We’re going to chase the money?” Callen asked.
Yeah they were.
“It usually leads us right to one thing.”
They all knew it.
Sex was behind this.
They could feel it.
~ Chapter Fourteen ~
It was interview time, and the man who was on their suspect radar lived in the middle of nowhere. He was so far back that all three Feds prayed they’d find their way out after the interview. Oh, and no one would shoot them in the process.
This was, after all, the Kentucky backwoods.
Bad things could and would happen to a wayward traveler if they got lost back here. There was no doubt that neither Callen nor Ethan wanted to have to trek aimlessly through the trees to find their way out of there in case of emergency.
That would suck.
“Crap!” muttered Elizabeth. “We have no reception back here. I hate leaving the team on their own. Who the hell knows what they’ll do?”
“I smell some debauchery,” stated Callen.
“Thanks. We needed that. Now I have so many pictures going through my head,” Ethan added. “I think this is the place.” He pointed toward the small cabin.
As they pulled up, there was a man already sitting on the steps, cleaning his gun.
“Great. An armed hillbilly,” Callen muttered. “Can this day get worse?”
Immediately, they both turned back toward Elizabeth to lay down the law.
“You’re staying in the vehicle,” they demanded at the same time.
She was entertained. Not because they were being ridiculous, and they were, but because they said it in unison—like it was practiced.
There was only one thing to do.
Before they could stop her, she was out of the vehicle and moving toward the man on the porch.
Ethan nearly lost his mind.
Callen wanted to throw up.
She was going to be the death of them.
As she approached, she noticed the man stared directly at the gun and badge at her hip. If he lifted that gun, she was going for her sidearm.
It wouldn’t end well for him.
While Elizabeth may be pregnant, she was still really fast when it came to drawing her weapon.
“Mr. Clarence Rickert?” she asked, allowing as much southern to creep into her voice as possible. When in Hillbillyville, play the part.
“What do you three want?” he asked, standing to stare at the two Native men who now flanked her.
“We’re with the FBI, and we’re here to ask you some questions about Magdalene Monroe,” Elizabeth stated.
At the mention of her name, his whole demeanor changed. Immediately, he moved toward his door to place the gun inside. When he turned, the look on his face said it all.
“I heard the terrible news. I can’t believe she’s gone.”
Ethan let out the breath he was holding. At least he was now unarmed. That was the best case scenario for this interrogation.
“Yes, sir, it is an awful thing,” she admitted. “Can we come up on your porch and talk to you?”
>
He looked surprised. “Yes, come on up. I’ll do anything to help you figure out what happened to her.”
Elizabeth didn't take her eyes off the young man. He was tall and lanky, had a dark beard, and bright blue eyes. He appeared to be peaceful enough, but one never knew when something could go wrong.
There was always the possibility that he had a concealed weapon.
When they were all sitting, he was the first to speak. “I can reckon that the reason you’re here is because of her daddy. He pointed you at me, didn't he? Magdalene and I had a relationship.”
“We heard, Mr. Rickert. Do you want to tell us about it?” she asked. “Don’t worry about her daddy. He has enough to worry about now.”
Wasn’t that the truth?
The entire time their woman questioned the man, Ethan and Callen were sitting there ready to pounce. Blackhawk let his brother take the protection duty, so that he could analyze the conversation.
“There isn't much to tell. I wanted to marry Magdalene, but when her daddy found out, he went nuts. He told her that I was a worthless hillbilly, and to look for a real man.”
“That had to make you mad,” she began.
“It did, but not at Magdalene. I was hired to work a little on his property, and that’s how I met her. She was sunny and bright. I fell for her immediately. Then, we snuck around a bit behind her daddy’s back. I just asked her to marry me out of the blue. I didn't even have a ring for her, and I certainly didn't have a trust fund to support her.”
He pointed at his cabin.
“This is all I have.”
Elizabeth could tell the man wasn’t going to get violent, so she opted to relax a little. “We happen to like cabins, so that’s her loss,” she stated.
The man grinned. “Thanks for that. It’s not easy to live out here in the woods. This is the poor part of the state. If you’re not moonshining, or bootlegging, you’re struggling to feed yourself.”
The two men before him got that.
It was the story of their lives.
“What happened when you both told her daddy that you were getting hitched?”
He took a minute to find the right words.
Dead Shall Speak (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 10) Page 39
