Dead Shall Speak (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 10)

by Morgan Kelley

  He stood.

  Chris didn't hesitate. He pulled him into his arms. Here was his friend and brother. Here was someone he loved and would do anything for. “We have your back.”

  He held on, so lost in the pain. “Thank you.”

  Chris let him weep. Getting it out would be the best thing for him. Unloading that terrible pain from his chest would be the thing that would set him free.

  He’d carry it for him.

  Jaxon stood in the doorway, tears filling her eyes. As hard as she might try, she couldn’t hold them back. Here was the man she loved, and he was crushed under the weight.

  She wanted to run to him, wrap him in her arms, and promise him anything he needed.

  Jaxon would take the pain for him.

  When Chris looked over, he saw her there. Subtly, he motioned toward her. Tony would need her too.

  It was going to be a difficult case and weeks to follow.

  Jaxon didn't hesitate. She moved toward the men, wrapping her arms around their bodies. Now she would help him heal.

  Her husband-to-be needed this.

  Tony glanced down to see her tear streaked face. It offered him peace to know she understood. Jaxon knew this kind of pain. She wouldn’t run from him in a moment of weakness, she would stay. It was one less thing he would have to worry about. At that moment in time, he had a little stress off his shoulders.

  “I love you, Tony. I’ll help get you through this. We’ll find who did this. They will pay.”

  He leaned against the people he loved.

  Tony knew he was lucky. The ones who stood behind him on this would also stand up for him.

  This battle would end at one point, and he trusted the people around him to make sure they won.

  He had faith.

  “I love you both.”

  They let him mourn and neither stopped him.

  When it came down to it, Tony Magnus wasn’t weak. He was a warrior coming to the end of his epic fight.

  Next came peace.

  He’d earned it.

  * * *

  Monday Morning

  When he crawled out of bed, he didn't realize it was going to be this shitty of a day. Unfortunately for him, everything appeared to be heading south.

  Before Sheriff Douglas Carlton could even have his first cup of coffee and cigarette, his phone was ringing. Anytime that happened before seven in the morning, it didn't bode well.

  Sadly, he’d been right.

  They had another missing woman.

  Shit!

  His town was falling apart.

  Heading to the place of business for the next potential victim, he was forced to think about the case.

  He’d done his research and there were no pedophiles who had children also on the registry.

  It was a dead end.

  All he could hope for now was that the FBI bitch wasn’t yanking his chain. If this was a way to keep him running in circles, he was going to be pretty pissed off.

  No one liked being jacked around, and he had more than one reason to hate the FBI.

  They killed his dad.

  He’d been a great man, trying to do the best he could in that backwoods hellhole.

  Douglas never knew his mother. She was gone long before he could walk. What he did know about her was that she never contacted him after his dad died.

  Which sucked.

  Not that he would have welcomed her with open arms. Who would? She left and that was her cross to bear. For now, he was entitled to his anger.

  Hopping out of his truck, he headed toward the business. ‘Momma’s Pizza’ was the best place to get a pie in town. He knew, because as a bachelor, he ate a great deal of pizza.

  Inside, he met up with his deputy. “Davvy, what the hell is going on?”

  The man briefed him. “We got a call about the vehicle in the parking lot,” he stated. “One of the employees was coming in to make the dough and saw it.”

  “Maybe she caught a ride home.”

  “They insist she wouldn’t. They were adamant about that little fact. So much so, that we headed over to her place. No one’s there and there’s a cat inside who is crying up a storm. Someone didn't get fed.”

  He considered it. “Okay, so you allowed them to file a missing person report?”

  He nodded. “They insisted. I assumed that’s what you’d want, since we have women going missing in town.”

  “Good work, son. Way to handle it while I wasn’t here.”

  Davvy smiled. “Thanks, boss.”

  “Who do we have missing?”

  The deputy was ready for this. He had some information in his notebook. “Bonnie Anston is her name. She’s young. I pulled her driver’s license photo.”

  He handed it to the man.

  “Yeah, I know her. She’s always working at night. I get dinner here all the time.”

  “Well, the owner is worried. He thinks something bad happened to her.”

  “Does he now?”

  Davvy nodded. “He’s been watching the news coverage. Everyone in town is freaked out. If someone goes missing for a few minutes, they’re calling it in.”

  He studied her picture. Now, Douglas Carlton had another issue. Did he try to fuck the FBI over, or play nice? “I’ll talk to them.”

  “Can I watch, sir? I’ve never seen an interrogation before.”

  He nearly wanted to laugh. This boy was overeager, as green as grass, and trying way too hard. What was next? Was he going to ask to spit shine his boots?

  “Sure, son. Come on.”

  They headed over to the owner and employees who were congregating there.

  “You call this in?” he asked.

  The man nodded. “I’m Clark Phillipe. I own ‘Momma’s’. When Lenny came into work and saw Bonnie’s car there, he called me. They closed up together. She shouldn’t have left her vehicle here.”

  “Maybe she got a ride.”

  The raven haired man beside him got angry. “You’re wasting time! You need to find her. She’s a nice person.”

  “Who are you?” Carlton asked.

  Clark answered for him. “This is Lenny Ellis. He’s my pizza delivery guy. They were pretty close. Bonnie and he would hang out when it was slow at night. Don’t mind him, Sheriff, he’s just rattled.”

  “What makes you think she didn't go hook up with someone and is right now waking up in his bed?”

  Lenny got mad.

  “She’s not like that! Bonnie’s a good girl! She doesn’t just go home with people she doesn’t know. Stop talking about her like that!”

  Clark patted him on the arm. “Why don’t you go put on some coffee, Lenny? I’ll handle this.”

  The man angrily sauntered away.

  “I’ve been watching the news, Sheriff. All the women, who went missing, have had dark hair. You can’t tell me that you think this is a coincidence. You need to let the FBI in on this.”

  He was well aware what he needed to do.

  “You just do your thing, Mr. Phillipe, and I’ll do mine.”

  He scribbled down some notes in his notebook.

  “Stick around, okay? Someone’s going to come back here and ask you some questions.”

  He nodded. “I’ll make us some pizza. I’ll do anything to help find Bonnie. She’s a sweetheart. I’d marry her myself if I wasn’t old enough to be her father.”

  He nodded before heading toward the door.

  “Well?” Davvy asked. “Where are you going?”

  Sheriff Carlton had no choice. “First, I’m going to grab a coffee. Then, I’m heading out to the morgue. The FBI wants a meeting. When I get there, I’m going to tell them what’s going on.”

  He stared at him incredulously. “Seriously? You’re going to hand this over to them?”

  What choice did he have?

  “Yep, I’m going to play nice because they can make my life a living hell. If I kiss their asses, they might leave faster. While I’m over there degrading myself, head over to Bonnie
’s house, get inside, and feed her cat.”

  He nodded. “Okay, Sheriff.”

  “I wish this was over. I’d do anything to get that pain in the ass bitch off my tail. I need a genie to take care of her.”

  Davvy watched the man walk away.

  “I can’t believe he’s going to play nice.”

  With that, he went off to do what he was told.

  ~ Chapter Sixteen ~

  Morgue

  It didn't take long for all of them to convene inside the small concrete building. The team was assembled and ready to go. Tony was already working at a table, examining his mother’s remains.

  The rest of the team was just as busy. The two agents were working online until getting their next assignment. Merry was digging through some files to find the paper she’d purposely tagged for the bosses.

  “Okay, team. Where are we today?”

  Tony went first. “I’m in-house working on cataloging my mother’s injuries.”

  No one said anything.

  What could you say? Sorry didn't seem to cut it.

  “Merry, what do you have?”

  She finally found the paper and pulled it out. “I ran that sample we found on the one victim. It was indeed grease.”

  The head tech had their attention.

  “Okay, elaborate.”

  “It took so long to find the origin because we didn't look at organic. We were checking motor oil, cleaning products, and household items that would give us that kind of residue.”

  “Okay, and what did you find?” Ethan asked. He could tell his wife wanted more of a direct route to the answer.

  “It’s pizza grease. It was pepperoni to be exact.”

  She stared at her tech. “So, you found pizza stains on someone’s clothes. Well, that solves it. Let’s pack it up and head in. We must have some pizza eating maniac. Let’s arrest half the town.”

  The woman cringed.

  “Merry, we love you. You’re smart, hardworking, and dedicated to your job, but we can’t really use that. Just the other night I dropped pepperoni on Callen’s shirt while I was eating pizza. That’s not something a killer would leave. That’s a clothing meets food related incident.”

  She nodded. “Sorry, boss. I was just covering my bases. I know how you feel about not tuning over all the stones.”

  Merry had a point.

  Elizabeth sighed. This was proof the stress was getting to her. All night, she tossed and turned worrying about Jagger and Oracle. Neither had checked in yet. It was like they went off the radar. Not that she was surprised. Hadn’t she asked them to do that?

  “I’m sorry, Meredith. Please accept my apology for snapping your head off.”

  They all looked at her like she was the anti-Christ.

  It made her laugh. “What?”

  Callen shook his head. “That was scary.”

  Jaxon took that moment to raise her hand. “Can I stay with Tony today?” she asked, not wanting to leave him alone. “I finished the skulls, unless you want me to start on another one.”

  Elizabeth threw her friend a bone. “We’re going to be heading out to the dig site later to follow the water. You can play babysitter until then.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Tony offered. “It won’t take me long to get through this.” Or so he hoped and prayed.

  They were good with that.

  Tony held a small bone in his hand. “I found something.”

  Jaxon moved closer, taking the bone from his palm. “The hyoid is remodeled.”

  He nodded. “At the site, one of the students noticed that a few of our victims had the same injury.”

  Elizabeth moved closer. “What does that mean?”

  “Torture,” stated Jaxon. She hated saying it in front of the man, but she had no choice.

  “How so?” Elizabeth asked.

  “I can show you,” she offered.

  Everyone groaned. It looked like there would be another doctor who was fond of show and tell.

  “I can’t use you, Director. I’d have to sit on your torso. I’ll have to use one of the other directors.”

  This was a switch. At least she was off the hook.

  “Not happening,” stated Callen. “She’s pregnant, you’re a woman, and I’m not falling into the hormone trap on this one.”

  Ethan offered him a fist bump. “Ditto.” Plus, he didn't really want another woman perched on his body.

  Elizabeth pointed at her agents. “Can you use one of them?”

  Agent Madden stared at the table. “I’m not playing victim. That’s just wrong and twisted.”

  Her partner would do it.

  “I’ll take one for the team.” Hopping up on the empty table, Broderick Seaton laid back.

  Jaxon saw the look on Tony’s face. He wasn’t exactly happy that she was going to be sitting across the man’s body. “Agent Madden, want to try and kill your partner?” she asked.

  Johanna grinned. “Hell yeah, I do, and practically every day.”

  She headed toward the table with a wicked look on her face.

  Brody didn't mind in the least. Joey could sit on him any day. In fact, just the other night she was riding him like that.

  He had to stop thinking about that, or he would lose control of his lower anatomy. When he felt his libido stirring, he realized how screwed he was about to be.

  “Climb up, straddle his hips, and then wrap your fingers around his throat.”

  She unclipped her sidearm and his, so no one would get tangled up. When she handed them to Chris Leonard, she climbed up to do what she was told.

  Staring down into his face, she found it hard to concentrate.

  The three directors watched it all unfold.

  Ethan glanced over at his wife and lifted a brow. They’d all been part of the show and tell, and the ones who were involved sexually always got that look.

  Their agents had it plastered on their faces.

  Callen tried not to snicker and was forced to cover it with a cough.

  “Now, I need you to apply some pressure, but not too much,” Jaxon stated, standing near the table. “You’re supposed to be pretending, not really murdering him.”

  Johanna did just that.

  “Okay, so our killer strangled his victims. I know that’s torture,” stated Elizabeth, “but how is this important?”

  Tony replied, “They lived. If you look at my mother’s hyoid, she was repeatedly strangled. Each time, the hyoid was damaged, but not to the point it was fully broken.”

  Elizabeth finally understood why this was important. “By looking at the remodeling to that little bone, you can tell how long she was with him, can’t you?”

  He nodded. “I can.”

  They waited for it.

  “She was a prisoner for years.”

  Elizabeth knew this was the time where she had to share the rest of the details with Tony. Chris and Merry were watching her, waiting for their boss to deliver the next blow.

  “Madden and Seaton, I want you to head out to Russell Beston’s place. Callen will transmit the details and notes. You have an interview to do. Don’t jack it up. He’s had contact with our victims and is a goon. If he tries to touch you, kick his ass.”

  Johanna hopped down and held out her hand for her partner. The second their fingers met, she regretted it. Surely, there had to be a flush crossing her flesh.

  It was getting hard to breathe.

  Brody jumped down off the table. While he didn't want to let her hand go, he knew it wasn’t the time or the place.

  “Yes, ma’am,” he stated, saluting.

  As they headed out, Elizabeth motioned to the rest of the team.

  “We need to talk to Tony. Everyone but the doctors and Meredith can take a break. Go smoke, drink coffee, or any other vice you have in mind. You have five minutes to do it.”

  They hustled out.

  “Uh oh. Why do I feel like I’m about to be sick?” Tony asked, seeing the look on Chris and Elizabeth’s fac
e.

  This was going to be bad.

  He knew it.

  “We need to talk.”

  As she crossed to him, Chris pushed his chair toward his buddy. “You’re going to want to have a seat, Tony.”

  Instead, he opted to stand.

  Jaxon took his hand in hers, offering the man she loved support. Whatever was coming, they would face together.

  As a team.

  “We know you hurt over finding out that your mother was in that grave, but you don’t know how we figured it out,” Ethan began.

  He had a point. Tony never thought to ask. He had been too shocked to question the information. Out of thirty original bodies, how did they narrow it down to two?

  Elizabeth pointed at their head tech, signaling that she was up for this one. He was a doctor and hopefully, they’d be able to rationalize with the scientist in him.

  “When we did the DNA test on the zygote of our pregnant victim, I ran it through our system. I had already entered all of our DNA to minimize cross contamination of any sort. Since the last case, I’ve been double and triple checking everything.”

  Tony listened. “Okay, and?”

  “When I ran it, we got a pop against our team.”

  Still, he stood motionless.

  Meredith continued, “You were a genetic match to the woman’s unborn child.”

  He stared at her. “What? Wait! How is that possible? My mother has been dead for a long time. There’s no way that April Belmont was related to me. I don’t have any relatives.”

  Elizabeth stepped in to soften the blow. “You do have one. I need you to not lose it when I tell you what we found out. I really need your head in the game on this one.”

  He faced her, his eyes full of confusion. “It’s like ripping off a bandage. Just say it. I’ll be okay.”

  “The reason we suspected your mother was a victim was the fact that her bones showed pregnancy. Only one other did. It got us thinking. If she was taken and gave birth again, that would give you a genetic match. We tried to pin it to your father, but as you said yourself, he had her for a while.”