Sacred Burial Grounds (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 2))

by Kelley, Morgan

  “I’m so sorry for everything I said to you, please forgive me.”

  “Come here,” she whispered, opening her arms as he buried his face in her hair. “I’m okay, Cowboy. I forgive you.”

  “I said some pretty shitty things, Lyzee, and I can’t take them back. I’m sorry about every damn one of them. You were right about me being angry, and it had nothing to do with you. Please, forgive me for making you my target. I’m scared shitless that you're going to get hurt, and it’s making me feel off balanced. Now that he knows where we live I’m even more terrified.”

  Elizabeth just wrapped her arms around his waist and kept hugging him. “I didn’t kick your ass, Cowboy, because I know you're having a hard time with all of this. I get that the stress is crushing you and then add in being close to your family.”

  “It is,” he answered, honestly and unafraid to share his weakness with his wife.

  “You need a night off. How about we finish up here, grab some reports and head home together. We can make dinner and,” she stopped when he looked at her. “What?”

  “My grandfather called me, and he wants us to stop there tonight for dinner.” He didn’t know what she’d say, but he’d tell his grandfather no if that’s what she wanted.

  “Ethan relax, that’s even better. A night without any work, and I don’t have to clean up after you cook dinner. Score one for me,” she said, smiling and winking.

  Immediately he relaxed, grateful she was his wife. Not many women would tolerate the shit he just threw at her, and then be more than happy to spend the night on the reservation with an old man. “Thank you, Lyzee.” Blackhawk kissed her slow and deep, just needing that contact to calm what was left of his nerves. Then he pulled away. “Why are your lips salty?” he asked, suspiciously.

  Elizabeth laughed. “I have a baby to feed and grow. I’m done skipping meals and playing hero. This may be the one time in my life I get to eat whatever the hell I want, whenever I want, and no one can stop me. French fries are included.”

  “You ate without me?” Ethan Blackhawk just stared, trying not to laugh. He was glad she was taking care of herself and their child. Blackhawk would sacrifice eating daily if she would just put herself first and take care of their baby. They mattered more to him than his own health.

  “Yeah, it was a bacon cheeseburger. The salt is probably the french fries,” she paused before continuing, “Okay, not probably. It was definitely the french fries. There was also a milkshake, but I couldn’t finish that and gave it to your brother. Callen polished that off for me.”

  “And you're going to tease me too? Haven’t I suffered enough today?” Blackhawk kissed her on the tip of the nose. “Cheating on me and having burgers with my brother? I remember when it was only me that got your half-finished milkshakes.” He kissed her again, and couldn’t help but laugh as he pulled away.

  “Hey, you skipped breakfast and acted like a jerk. Callen and I had burgers, and you could have joined us if you weren’t being all tight assed about everything today.”

  Blackhawk grinned and was oddly comforted that she had found solace in his brother. “I happen to completely agree with you, but stop sharing milkshakes with other men. That’s in the fine print of our marriage license right next to the sex clause.”

  “Family doesn’t count and you know it. That’s in the extra fine print.”

  “One day, you’ll let me win, and I won’t know what to do with it.”

  Elizabeth pulled away and went to her large purse sitting on her desk. “Fortunately for you I didn’t forget that I married you and promised to take care of you.” She pulled the paper bag out and shook it, luring him over. “Hungry, Ethan?”

  “You got me lunch?” he asked, genuinely surprised that after his behavior she still thought about him and cared enough.

  “Of course I did. For better or worse, richer or poorer… yada yada yada, and you know the rest.” She handed him the bag. “I’ll even let you sit at my desk and eat there.”

  Blackhawk opened the bag, and true to her word was a big burger and lots of fries. “If I wasn’t already married to you, I’d do it all over again just for this bag alone.”

  “You’re easy,” she said, laughing.

  He sat at her desk and she went to one of the other chairs. “Want to tell me what’s going through your mind?”

  “Well, something’s bothering me, and I guess I should just throw it out there.”

  “This doesn’t sound like I’m going to like it one bit.” Ethan Blackhawk took a bite of his burger and tried to not get too messy. “You have that look on your face like you're headed in a direction I may not like at all.”

  Elizabeth steepled her fingers and continued, “I met your dad.”

  He put his burger down. “Did he upset you? I’ll drive out there right now and hand him his ass for upsetting my pregnant wife.”

  “No, he wasn’t rude. Wyler was actually quite nice to me, but he’s a hunter.”

  “Yeah and?”

  Elizabeth thought about it. “He uses a bow and arrows and all over his home are a collection of skulls.”

  Now he stopped moving. He hadn’t been in his father’s home in maybe twenty eight years. “Skulls?”

  “All kinds of animal ones.”

  “Okay, well hunters collect skulls and Natives collect skins and skulls too.” He was right, he didn’t like where this was headed. Not because he gave a rat’s ass about his old man, but because he didn’t want to believe he came from a killer. He knew his father gave him a lot of bad traits, but he at least could say homicidal wasn’t one of them.

  “He’s been known to carve things with ravens and foxes on them,” she added, thinking back to the cards.

  “Everyone here knows I’m the raven and Callen’s the fox. Practically the entire tribe has called us that for many years. It’s our spirit guides we took as young boys. Wyler isn’t the only one to know that information. We had tribal ceremonies as teenagers and that’s common knowledge to anyone who attended.”

  “Then you both get cards discussing the son aspect.”

  Okay, that one hit home. They could only be the sons of so many people. His mother was gone, as was Callen’s, so that left one man. “You think Wyler is the killer?”

  Elizabeth shrugged. “No, I’m just working the clues, Ethan. It’s pointing to him, and I have to ask myself why. Is it intentionally being directed at your father, or is it coincidental?”

  Blackhawk finished his burger and thought it through. It wasn’t often she missed a small detail. He’d learned that from working with her before. The things he didn’t see, she did. “I’m willing to put him on our short list.” The sticking point was he didn’t believe in coincidences either. This was just getting messy.

  “All I’m asking is that we analyze him on paper and see what pops. Your father casually touched the card left on Callen’s porch, and oops, now his prints are on it. Since he found it we always look at that person just until we can eliminate them logically.”

  He sat back and ate a french fry. “Tomorrow let’s put together a white board. See how it looks on paper and go from there.”

  “How’s the profile coming?” Soon she would need it.

  “I’ll have it for you shortly. I’m just about there.”

  Elizabeth’s phone rang and she answered while her husband finished his lunch. “Blackhawk,” her eyes never left his.

  He grinned every time she answered her phone. There was something about the way she easily adapted to the name. For a while he worried if she’d use his or hers. It tightened something deep inside him, and made him feel territorial all over again.

  “Elizabeth, it’s Christina, I have your trace results back on the feathers, and we found something you may want to check out.”

  “Thank you, Christina. We’ll be right down,” she said and then ended the call. “They isolated the trace on the feathers.”

  Blackhawk wiped his hands on a paper napkin and tossed his bag in th
e garbage. “Thanks for lunch, baby,” he said, taking her hand and kissing her.

  “Hey, you know we have a rule about kissy-face in the office,” she said, laughing.

  “So I’ve been told every day.”

  “If we break it then everyone is going to want to do it.” She couldn’t help herself. Elizabeth let him kiss her again.

  “If I find anyone kissing you in the office, they’re dead,” he practically growled when he broke the kiss.

  Funny, she didn’t think he was joking anymore…

  ~ Chapter Nine~

  Ethan and Elizabeth Blackhawk headed down to the lab in FBI West, excited at the prospect of having another detail to help them with the assignment. So far they really didn’t have much on leads, and it was getting frustrating. Right now, the only suspect that they had was Blackhawk’s own father. Despite his dislike for the man, it didn’t feel right to have his own dad on the short list. He wasn’t saying his wife’s observations weren’t completely accurate. They were, but he had to believe the killer was trying to skew it to look like Wyler was guilty as sin.

  Entering the lab, they were met with a jubilant Christina. The smile on her face was a mile wide, and she held the paper in her hands. “Elizabeth, I found some trace on your feathers, and I ran the substance.” She handed her the paper and practically bounced.

  It was written in chemical formula.

  “Christina, can you translate this?” she asked, laughing. “We don’t speak chemical-ese.”

  “It’s the crystalized form of Chloral Hydrate,” she smiled, excitedly.

  Elizabeth looked at her husband. This new information could very well lead them in a new direction. She wanted to offer him reassurance. She could tell he wasn’t happy with the idea that it was his father committing these crimes, but they just had to follow and be aware. “Where does one get crystalized Chloral Hydrate, Christina?”

  “You just can’t buy it in a store, it has to be ordered online from someone that can legally dispense it,” she answered. “Although, I have to be honest, it has been known to be made in back room labs out of household chemicals by hack lab people trying to sell it on the street too.”

  “Okay, if I wanted to order some, where could I get it and what kind of profession would I have to be in?” Blackhawk asked, curiously.

  “One would have to be a dentist, medical doctor or veterinarian- just to name a few. All of which I believe you can find working on the reservation or surrounding areas, Director Blackhawk. As to where, there are many online sites that offer it once you supply your licensing number.”

  Elizabeth lifted a brow when she used his title and not his name. In fact, she was standing further away from him than she normally would all of the sudden. Elizabeth was accustomed to Christina always touching his arm and being right by his side like a trained puppy.

  “At least we can look a little deeper. I wish we had the identity of the victim. How’s the driver’s license coming?” he inquired. “Give me some good news and tell me that you already have a name.”

  “We’re almost there; we had to do some repairs to the magnetic strip before we could pull all the information off. Decoding will be easy, since we have the software. We just need to get the fix done first, and it will be all yours.”

  “Thank you, Christina. You did a great job,” Elizabeth added. “Don’t forget tomorrow you have six interviews, and they start at nine. Please have the names of the four you like best and are the best qualified on my desk by Monday morning. I hope you don’t mind working on this little project this weekend.”

  “No problem! I don’t mind at all, Elizabeth,” she answered. “Any time I can help you and Director Blackhawk, just let me know.” The woman turned and walked away as she whistled a tune.

  Elizabeth took her husband’s hand and walked him to the elevator. “What did you do?” she asked, suspiciously. Now she knew for sure something was up.

  Blackhawk kissed her on the top of the head when the door closed. “I merely told her to use my job title.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it never occurred to me that my friendliness with the staff could hurt my wife, until I saw you being friendly, and it bothered me. You were right. I wasn’t appropriate with her, letting them use my first name, and then the way I’ve put my arm over her shoulders. It crossed a line, and I don’t want to go there and risk us or lose my lab tech.”

  Elizabeth didn’t say anything. Just doing that was sweet, but unnerving at the same time. Now she felt obligated to make her friends do the same thing, and that just didn’t sit well with her. They both knew she was more laid back and didn’t like titles.

  “It gave her the impression that I was accessible on a level that I’m not. I take my marriage very seriously, and I’m going to be a father in a less than a year. I won’t compromise my family or my wife’s feelings.”

  “I don’t care that they call you by your name, Ethan. I was merely pointing out that the people I hired did exactly the same as what your people were doing. I didn’t mean they had to stop. It was just a comparison.”

  “I thought about it, and I don’t think it’s appropriate that I allow a woman that has a crush on me to think it’s even a possibility.”

  Now Elizabeth laughed. “Oh, she knows it’s not going to happen.”

  He lifted an eyebrow and stared down at her. “What did you do?”

  “I may have indicated that she could stare at my husband, think about my husband, but if she even made a move on those ideas I’d be shutting her down quickly and painfully.”

  There was a part of him that hoped she was kidding. “Elizabeth!”

  “What?” she feigned confusion. “It was girl to girl. No worries.”

  “You know what? Let’s just stop discussing it before I end up knowing more than I need to know. How about we head home, get cleaned up and head to my grandfather’s for dinner? He’s going to want to grill us on the assignment, you being pregnant, and who knows what else at this point.”

  “Sounds good to me. Let’s go home.”

  * * *

  Tonight was the night. The hunt would begin after dark and the next victim was picked, and she would be his prey in the darkness. She may not be pregnant or be able to offer up any of the fetus bones he needed for his ceremonies, but she was proving to be useless to him and her time was coming to an end.

  As he stood in the mirror and added the finishing touches to his war paint, his mind wandered to the woman bound tightly in the trunk of his car. Later, he would take her out to the edge of the reservation and set her free. It would begin the hunt to end her life. None of them had ever been able to escape him on the hunt. He added the black and white ceremonial war paint under his eyes and drew the markings on his body. Tonight, he would make his brothers proud as he partook in the ancient ritual of the hunt and the kill.

  * * *

  Ethan Blackhawk couldn’t help but check his wife out as she finished undressing. He was thinking about pursuing her into the shower, but when she opted for a bubble bath, he formulated a new plan for the evening. While his wife soaked in some bubbles and relaxed, he snuck down to his car and hurried to the local shop. Romance was the game plan as he grabbed some sparkling apple cider and a bunch of flowers that reminded him of her. He tucked the flowers safely onto the back seat and the apple cider in the trunk. Running back inside, he undressed, jumping into the shower. All Blackhawk could hope was that she wasn’t going to notice that he was missing for twenty minutes. Elizabeth was drying off, and he just made it back in time.

  “Why are you out of breath, Ethan?” she asked, as he stepped under the water. She was a little surprised he didn’t join her in the bubbles. Their tub was big enough, and he’d done it before. There wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t enjoy getting her naked in the Jacuzzi tub.

  “I worked out,” he lied, hoping she’d let it go. It was his turn to surprise her.

  “I’m going to get dressed, or we’ll be late,” she
exited the bath, deciding on a baby blue dress that matched her eyes. When she wandered out of their closet, her husband was leaving the bathroom with a towel around his waist. Yeah, she was staring again and honestly she didn’t care. He had that effect on her. It was all those tribal warrior tattoos. When he walked by her she snagged the towel from his waist and ran as he tried to chase her and retrieve it.

  “Elizabeth, you’re lucky we have to leave soon, or you’d be the one running around our room naked,” he warned, laughing.

  She stuck out her tongue and hopped up on the bed, waiting for him to finish getting ready for dinner. When he exited their closet, he was wearing jeans and a black polo shirt. “Black, Ethan?”

  “Habit,” he answered grinning, as he offered her a hand. “You look beautiful, Mrs. Blackhawk,” he said, leaning down to kiss her neck right below the ear, as he held her to his body.

  “Well, you’re as sexy as ever, Mr. Blackhawk, and you smell really good,” she purred into his ear, before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him slow. When she pulled away they both were breathless. “We shouldn’t be doing this. We’re going to miss dinner again,” she said, nipping his lower lip. When he moaned and kissed her again, she just relaxed into it and forgot about eating. Ethan Blackhawk had that effect on her.

  “You taste great.” He broke the kiss, holding her tightly against his frame. Already his body was waking up for his wife.

  “We’re going to end up naked on the bed of you don’t stop,” she warned.

  “Yeah, then stop kissing me, baby,” he laughed, “and I’ll try and find some control.”

  Elizabeth let go, backing away as she tried to catch her breath. “We better go.”

  Ethan Blackhawk held out his hand and grinned wickedly.

  It was nice to have a night off where they could just relax together. In the kitchen she grabbed her purse and dropped her gun and badge, inside just in case. “Which wine should we bring, Ethan?” she asked, holding them up.