“How long?” she asked.
Ethan did the math. “Eighteen months.”
Bingo!
There was that magic number.
“He’s got to be dead,” stated Brody. “Who’s to say that the son didn't kill his father and bury him too?”
It could have happened just like that.
“Mother?” Elizabeth asked, pushing on. She needed more. A judge and jury wouldn’t buy the eighteen month theory without more.
“I have his birth certificate,” stated Callen. “His mother is listed as Tawny Antonio.”
It clicked once more.
“That’s Tony’s mother’s first name. Is there a marriage license? Did she willingly take a trip to the altar with him?” If so, that was going to shoot the kidnapping thing in the foot.
“No,” stated Ethan, finishing his search.
Whew!
They dodged that bullet.
Now Elizabeth wouldn’t have to break Tony’s heart—again.
“Want to hear something intriguing?” Callen asked, digging deeper into Lewis Antonio’s life.
“Hit me with it.”
“He was a traveling sales man. He sold books.”
She could kiss Callen, and just might. “Please tell me that he went to Indiana, because that would mean he could have taken Tawny Magnus. Plus, his son would know where he liked to ‘shop’ for women.”
“Yep. He was in the paper for winning a sales award for highest numbers in the Midwest.”
The door began swinging shut. He was almost locked in a cage.
“I want to know about Johnny. Break him down and don’t miss anything!” she ordered, directing that at her agents.
“He was a student,” stated Brody. “He didn't last long. He dropped out and his IRS records show that he’s worked for the hotel for about six years.”
“He’s a wallflower,” Ethan stated. “He’s so nondescript that we didn't even put him on the radar.”
She paused.
They all watched her.
“You okay?” Callen asked.
“The other day, when we found out Bonnie was taken, we ran into him. What time was it?”
Ethan didn't recall. “I’m not sure, but it was early. Why?”
“The media wasn’t all over this yet. We still had the staff locked down at the pizza place. They couldn’t tell anyone, right?”
“Yeah, that’s procedure,” Callen stated. “There were deputies all over them.”
“When we came here,” she began, “he asked us if another woman was taken.”
They all got it.
“He wouldn’t have known, unless…”
They all said it together. “He took her!”
Elizabeth nodded. “We told him we were close. Then, the next time he sees us, he asks when we’re leaving and lies about a convention. That’s making him look damn bad.”
“Call down,” Ethan said. “We need to bring him in for questioning. You can cuff him. He thinks you’re the easiest. He’s been plying you with cookies and milk all week.”
The man was screwed. Out of all of them, getting too close to her had been his big mistake.
As she waited for the front desk to answer, in her head she began planning out the arrest.
He was it.
It felt right.
“Front desk.”
Again, it was the female voice.
“Is Johnny there? He was supposed to drop off my laundry from the service, and I was waiting.”
“Oh, I can help you with that. He’s gone for the day. He wasn’t feeling well.”
Shit!
The rat had made a break for it.
Before the woman could speak, she’d already hung up. “He’s in the wind. We need to find him, lock him down, and end this. If he’s running, he’s likely going to kill whoever he has to in order to escape.”
That made them all sick.
They were so close.
“Get me his address. We’re going in to get him. I need to bring Bonnie home alive. We can never save the other victims we stand for, but with her, we can.”
Blackhawk looked at his wife. “With her, we will.”
Damn right.
It was on.
* * *
Arriving at his brother’s house, he wanted to be sick. Somewhere inside was his fiancée, and Tony was scared to death. As he headed toward the door, it eerily swung open on creaky hinges.
There was no doubt in his mind that he should call for backup, but he just couldn’t risk Jaxon’s life.
This was going to be a mistake.
There was no doubt in his mind, he was going to die. If it came down to him or Jaxon, he’d sacrifice himself. He’d already been shot once. Losing her would be far too painful. Tony would rather take another bullet.
Once up the stairs and into the house, he saw the most horrific sight. There on the floor was a chained and bound Bonnie Anston, and against the man was a restrained Jaxon.
He had her by the hair, and tears were in her eyes.
“It’s okay, Jaxy. I’ve come to take you home.”
The man, who he recognized as the hotel concierge, stood there with a knife pressed against her throat.
“Welcome to my home, brother.”
Tony didn't move.
“We need to talk.”
Tony swallowed. “About what?”
His sick laugher filled the room. “About the woman who loved us. We need to settle who was her favorite, once and for all.”
* * *
Wednesday
Mid-Morning
Chris still hadn’t heard from him.
That was odd. Tony, if anything, was precise when given directions. It had been almost an hour, and something had to be going on.
When he called him, the man didn't answer.
When he texted, the same was true.
Chris began worrying. It was time to alert the bosses. Since they were aware that Tony was related to the killer, that meant that he could be a target.
If the lunatic found out, the man might lose it.
He was beginning to panic, but he remembered the trouble he’d had with a killer. He wouldn’t wish that on his worst enemy. Pulling out his phone, he dialed the boss.
She’d want to know about this.
He was sure of it.
When she answered, sounding distracted, he almost felt bad for bothering her. He knew how hard it was to function while pregnant. His wife was struggling with it. Now, Elizabeth was carrying a team.
“What, Christopher?”
He told her everything. From the minute Tony arrived, to the fact that he wasn’t answering his phone.
She paused. “Okay, do me a favor.”
“What?”
“Lock yourselves in. We figured out who the killer is, and he’s in the wind. I want you to take a headcount and stay there until one of us shows up.”
“Who is it?”
She told him.
“Shit! He was in the breakfast room this morning.”
Yeah, and now she couldn’t find him.
“Sit tight for me and keep calling Tony. If you catch him, tag me. If not, I’m going to be busy.”
“Got it,” he said, hanging up.
There was no doubt what that ‘busy’ was going to be. He was going to be having another ‘patient’, and soon.
Now Chris had to pray it wasn’t Tony.
Elizabeth hug up her phone and looked around at the four people sitting there. “Agents, go suit up. We’re leaving in ten minutes.”
They raced off.
“Callen,” she began.
“Don’t tell me I’m not coming. It’s been over twenty four hours. My arm is fine.”
“Actually, you are coming, but I need you to head to Tony’s room and look for him first. Before we go crazy, I want to make sure he and Jaxon aren’t shacked up and having sex.” She explained how the woman and man had gone missing.
“Jesus,” he muttered. “Okay,
but don’t leave without me!”
Off he ran.
She stared at Ethan. “Would he go after his brother if he found out about him?”
He didn't have to think about it. “Yeah, and he’d view him as an adversary. He’s attached to his dead mother. Tony is the older brother, and that would resonate.”
“Shit! Why would he go after Jaxon?”
“Other than to use her as leverage, if he’s looking for a ‘wife’, he might covet what his brother has. He could be bitter and jealous.”
“Great. This is a mess.”
Blackhawk was sick to his stomach at what he was about to do. “I’d ask you to stay, but if he has Tony, you’re the best shot.”
It was nice that he had faith in her.
“But after this, you’re done.”
She wanted to remind him that after this, she had worse things to worry about. A crazed killer was low on her stress scale.
“Suit up, Cowboy. We need to roll.”
* * *
Callen raced toward the room. As soon as he approached, he knew that something as horribly wrong. The door wasn’t secured, but instead open a crack.
His heart began racing.
Tony wouldn’t leave his room like that. They had tons of electronics, and even guns, inside. Immediately, his mind went there. This was a very bad sign.
Approaching the door, he was pissed that he didn't have his own gun. With the toe of his boot, he nudged it open.
The inside was a mess.
It looked like someone had tossed it, looking for something or someone.
Now, he was downright panicked.
Searching, he called out for both occupants. When no one replied, he knew the truth.
They weren’t shacked up in the bedroom, something bad had definitely happened.
As he approached what appeared to be the epicenter of the mess, Callen saw it.
There on the desk was his proof.
Scanning the note, he pulled a tissue from his pocket and carefully grabbed the corner.
Elizabeth had to see this.
NOW!
Tony’s life depended on it.
When he raced into the room, she was just strapping on her Kevlar. His face said it all.
“What happened?”
He held out the note.
She read it while he carefully held the corners.
“I’m going to boot his ass to Unemploymentville after I make him cry,” she stated. “If he went after this nut job, instead of coming to us with it, he’s shit canned!”
Ethan rushed over to read it. The second he did, he knew the truth. “We have to go now! We have two anthropologists to save. The minute Tony shows up there, he’s going to kill him and Jaxon. Then he’ll come back for the note. He’s tying up the loose ends in his life.”
“Johnny Antonio can’t have them,” she added, running to the door. “I’m going to kill Tony myself.”
* * *
It was a showdown.
It was just like an old western that you might find on TV. On one side of the room stood good, and the other was nothing but the spawn of pure evil.
Johnny Antonio held Jaxon tightly against his body, and it scared Tony to death. At first, he thought he could do this. Now, he saw how hard it was going to be.
How the hell did Elizabeth do this? There was an innocent life between him and the crazy man, and now that was on his shoulders.
Jaxon’s life depended on him.
God!
He needed back up.
If he could, he would have rewound the last hour and rethought the entire thing.
This wasn’t going to have a good outcome.
“We can talk about our mother all you want,” Tony began. “The truth will still be the truth. She didn't leave me of her own volition. She was taken by your father. He abducted her, just like you took all the women you killed. She didn't leave. She was stolen.”
The man got angry.
Tony knew he needed to take it easy.
Jaxon’s life depended on it.
“He didn't! He picked them because they were special. She was special to him, and to me. I’m the only child born from all those women. She gave him a life to love.”
Tony saw how twisted the man truly was.
“What happened to him?”
Johnny got quiet.
“You can tell me. We’re brothers.”
“He didn't want me to look for women. He told me I wasn’t ready. That I was stupid, lazy, and couldn’t do what he’d done. He’d taken thirty women and made them his, but he didn't trust that I could do the same thing.”
Tony tried to figure out how to play this.
Okay, he was going to be the man’s friend.
“He wasn’t being fair. You’re a grown man. You needed to find your way.”
“YES! I needed to.”
“So you fought with him?”
He nodded. “I didn't mean it. He hit me. I got mad, and I hit him back. He was so brittle. He broke in front of me.”
Tony took a step closer, his eyes never leaving the man’s face. If they did, he risked missing his intent to hurt Jaxon.
“What happened?”
“He fell. Then he stopped breathing.”
“You didn't bury him with the women, did you?”
He shook his head. “He’s in the shed out back. He used to send us there when we were bad. He was horrible father to hit me, so I sent him there as punishment. I just wanted him to learn his lesson. I miss him. I’m all alone.”
Tony thought he had him.
“I’m alone too,” he stated, trying to keep the man calm.
Johnny looked up, his eyes clouding with anger. “You’re going to join him in that shed. So is your wife.”
“She’s not married to me, yet, Johnny. Why don’t you let her go? Then we can talk.”
He hesitated.
“She’s not your wife?”
He shook his head. “I don’t have a wife like yours,” he added, motioning toward Bonnie.
It appeared to be that he was thinking about it. Then the tides changed. Tony could see the mask of hate and anger cover his face.
“No, she’s dying with you! I’ll be the only one in this family who managed to do what my dad did.”
Shit!
He’d lost him.
“She’s dying first. Then you!”
When he went to hurt Jaxon, and Tony heard that whimper of pain, he knew what he had to do. He had to get the man to hate him.
“Our mother never loved you,” he said, drawing the man’s focus.
Now, he’d piss him off.
Maybe he’d charge him.
“What did you say?”
“Your father kidnapped and raped her, just like you did to Bonnie. You’re just as bad as he was. You’re nothing more than a sick fuck and rapist.”
Jaxon and Bonnie’s eyes went wide.
He stayed focused on the man.
“Yeah, well, our mother never mentioned you. So, she didn't miss you at all.”
Tony shrugged. “She told me about you.”
His eyes lit up. “Did she?”
“Want to know what she said?”
He lowered the knife from Jaxon’s throat.
“YES! I miss her! She’s been gone a long time.”
Tony could see this guy was crackers. “She told me you were the one she didn't love. She had you because she had to. Our mother thought you were a weak, scared, little nobody. She laughed about you.”
The rage was there.
“No!”
Tony braced for it.
“Yes. You were a mistake.”
Sanity snapped.
Well, Tony poked the psycho, and here it came.
The man howled in pain before pushing Jaxon aside to rush him.
Tony watched her fall, and then saw the knife go up as the man who shared his DNA raced toward him.
So it began.
* * *
She was three
days beyond pissed.
Elizabeth was swamped with irrational fear and needed to kick someone’s ass.
When she got her hands on Tony, he was screwed. Friendship or not, she was going to make him cry. If anything happened to him, she was going to be crushed.
As Ethan drove like a maniac, they all held on. When they turned down the back road, she pulled her sidearm, checked to see that it was ready to go, and reholstered.
“When we get there, we spread out. Get to Tony and Jaxon. I’ll take care of Johnny Antonio.”
They didn't argue.
They knew the truth. If you were being held, you wanted Elizabeth going through the door first. Her excellent skill at shooting was going to work in your favor.
As the Denali slid to a stop, they all bailed.
“Move,” she hissed, racing toward the door.
On the outside, she was pissed, but on the inside, she was scared shitless that they were going to be too late.
* * *
Tony had little time to react. As the man barreled toward him, he went for his gun. He’d seen Elizabeth do it a million times, and it looked so easy.
It was deceiving.
He got hooked on his shirt, slowing his reaction time down. By the time he had the weapon in front of him, his brother had struck.
The downward arch of the blade slashed toward his chest and barely glanced off his vest. Thankfully, he had the common sense to put it on.
Instead of giving him a second chance to stab him, he pulled the trigger once.
The loud pop startled everyone in the room—including Tony.
He’d never killed anyone before or fired a weapon into someone’s body point blank.
The man stumbled back.
He looked…surprised.
Tony couldn’t take any chance that he’d come at him again, or go for one of the women. He fired two more times, hitting his target. If it came down to taking the life of his brother to save Jaxon, there would be no hesitation.
She would always be his first thought.
As he fell back, there was a splintering of wood.
Dead Shall Speak (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 10) Page 55
