When you were carrying a second body around in your own, it was hellish.
“I’ll get processing,” she said, pulling out the high-tech camera.
“Thank you,” she said, scanning the area. Already, she saw a potential issue.
“Uh, city ME at two o’clock,” she said, warning everyone. That was all she had to say.
Chris began heading toward the woman’s car, and where the city death doctor was getting ready to touch her.
“STOP!”
The man froze and looked up at Chris.
“Yes?”
“Sorry, Doctor, but I’ll take it from here. Me and my team are taking her,” Chris said, dropping his credentials over his head so the man would see his smiling FBI face on the badge.
That was the screw you grin—immortalized forever.
“I don’t think…”
Elizabeth had been to this rodeo before, and she wasn’t having it. All the research she did said Chris needed less stress, and she was cutting this one off at the pass. Normally, she’d let him ride roughshod over the jackassery, but tonight, she’d cut off the crazy.
She whistled, and Ethan headed her way while he was on the phone with someone.
“Thank you, commissioner. If you could have someone notify your ME, I would appreciate it. This is a serial killer, and we’re taking over.”
He hung up.
“Ethan, someone didn’t get the memo,” she stated, pointing at the man in the protective suit about to get his ass chewed by her ME.
He laughed.
“Lag time. Wait for it…”
The man’s phone rang.
“Well, it’s nice to have an easy one every now and again,” Chris said, as he gloved up, and put his gear on. As he did, Christina and another tech continued snapping pictures. They wanted to get her documented and on her merry way. This was getting too much attention.
Elizabeth was there.
Callen was there.
Oh, and Ethan Blackhawk.
Yeah, the media was swarming around as soon as they smelled a story. The deputy director didn’t come out all that often, and this was the reason.
Elizabeth motioned to Callen, and he followed her.
It was time to do her thing, but first, she wanted to say a few things to her husband.
As the techs did their thing, and Chris got ready to do his thing, she did the dance too.
The wife dance.
“I’m sorry for flipping my shit all over you earlier. I know you are struggling with this, but I was just overwhelmed with everything. It was a shitty day.”
He touched her cheek with his warm palm as he stared into her icy-blue eyes. Callen could see the worry there, and he sympathized.
He wasn’t the only one carrying a burden over this.
“No need, angel. I’m the one who is sorry. I get it. I was seeing it as he was yours, and there was a possibility of me being pushed out, but I see now that he’s actually ours. I want to help him. I want to heal him. I’m sorry I put you in a position to have to choose. I don’t want you to ever have to do that.”
“I would always choose you, Callen. Always.”
Yeah, now he saw that.
“I know. I’m your favorite.”
She stared at him, her mouth sealed. Like with kids, she wasn’t going there.
“Come on, my sexy Fed. Give it to me. You know you want to,” he teased.
She shook her head.
“Your silence says it all,” Callen said, handing her a pair of gloves from his blazer pocket.
“I don’t play favorites, Callen James, and you know that. IF I did, you’d never know it. I’m not an idiot.”
Oh, he was aware.
He thought back to what Chris had said, and how the way to her heart was lined with humor and laughter.
Well, that he could do.
“You like me better,” he sang teasing her. “You think I’m awesome. I’m your favorite.”
She snorted.
“Dork.”
“Want to kiss and make up?” he asked, enjoying the smile on her face. They were better, and that’s all he could ask for in life. He and his woman were good again.
Elizabeth moved closer, and he got ready to pucker up. Before he could even get close to her, she teased him.
“Know what I do want, Callen James?” she asked.
“What?” he asked.
She pointed up.
“That.”
Callen followed the direction she was pointing, and he saw it. Well, so much for some lip action.
“You want a camera? Drat. Foiled again,” he said.
That made her really laugh.
“If you get that film, I’ll make your heart pitter pat,” she teased.
“Promise?”
“Yep.”
Well, that was good enough for him. He knew she wouldn’t welch on a bet.
“Deal.”
He headed off.
“What was that all about?” Ethan asked, as his brother practically jogged toward the building with a spring in his step. “Are you two better?” he inquired. “Or do I have to play mediator?”
“Camera, apology, and the promise of morgue sex,” she stated.
Chris overheard her and laughed from the inside of the vehicle. He’d been there and done that, and it was phenomenal. The man was in for a treat.
“Uh, what’s so funny, chuckles?” she asked, as Chris continued to work on the victim.
“Bucket list,” he said. “I crossed it off mine a long time ago.”
Ethan had crossed it off his too.
“Yes, who knew the hotness of that creep factor?” Ethan asked.
She rolled her eyes.
Her life was so weird.
Three men.
Two she was sleeping with and one…one she was trying to keep alive for as long as she could. Her life had become inexplicably more difficult, and yet, better at the same time.
Yet, as crazy as it seemed, she wasn’t worried about it. The media already said she was a flagrant hussy, and she didn’t give a shit. At this point, it was all about taking care of a man who had been her rock for a decade.
He’d protected her.
He’d had her back.
If this was how it was going to go down, then Elizabeth was cool with that. She owed Chris, and she loved him.
That meant the world to her.
“I want to see the note,” she said, reminding the two men that playtime was over and that she was driving this bus to Crazytown.
Chris was aware that she wanted it, and he would give her whatever she wanted at this point. He was in a damn good mood.
“Done?” he called to Christina as she wrapped up the documentation of the body.
“Yep, Doc. She’s all yours.”
That was all he was waiting for, so he got down to work. He opened her mouth and tugged the paper out. It had been peaking from her lip like some sick fortune out of a fortune cookie. This killer wasn’t all there.
Carefully, he opened it for Elizabeth and Ethan. Then, he slid it into an evidence bag that Christina was holding for him. They didn’t want to risk any fingerprints or trace.
Who knew what they’d find?
‘I’m coming for you, O’Banion. Payback is mine. You put me in this hell.
C.’
She read the words.
Yeah, the ex-mob man was heading up shit creek without a paddle and with a leaky canoe.
Only, how did Carl find out?
That seemed to be the biggest mystery yet, and one she was going to figure out.
Chapter Nine
Saturday Morning
Morgue
O h, it had been a bitch of a night at the crime scene. The media was on overdrive, and the news teams were asking all those uncomfortable questions that could blow up in their faces if they answered—or if they didn’t answer.
It was a tossup.
Two victims in, and the mayhem was already happening. The rep
orters wanted to know if women were being hunted, preyed upon, and if the city was no longer safe.
Well, what did they say to that? If they told them the truth, the shit would really hit the fan, so for now, they were making it up as they went along.
Thanks to the FBI cover-up years ago, they had no choice in the matter.
The questions were getting more and more uncomfortable with each passing hour.
For now, Elizabeth was waiting for the woman’s ID before she made any decisions as to what to release to the media, and what to keep close to her vest. If she didn’t, the O’Banion debacle could become a nightmare and fast.
As the dawn began breaking in DC, the whole team was back at it, and they were already working on the case.
“Who do we have?” Elizabeth asked, waiting on ID. She couldn't do her thing without it. It was hard to investigate a case without ID or COD.
Chris was standing over the dead woman on the morgue table and making notes for his report.
“Did we get a driver’s license?” she asked.
“We didn’t find one, but one of the techs pulled the VIN off her car and they used that to pull up her driver’s license.”
“And?”
“May I present Mary Waver. She was forty-three, single, and she was employed by the federal government,” he said, sending her picture to the screen on the wall.
“Where?” she asked.
Alex, Noah, and Max weren’t far away. Max had hitched a ride in with security while they worked on the scene as Alex and Noah did the interview with Landon Turner at lockup.
“Mary worked for the USPS,” Chris offered.
Elizabeth let that sink in.
“As in ‘she works with Howard Flint. AKA O’Banion’?” she asked.
Max hurriedly did the search and then put the information on the screen for everyone to see.
“Well, that’s not a coincidence,” he said. “Howard Flint works in the same place. He heads there in the morning to pick up his mail for the delivery route, and she’s in the mail room—sorting.”
Well, that was a little too close for comfort for her liking. This was a clear sign that something foul was afoot.
It was definitely Carl trying to mess with O’Banion. He was likely hoping that the authorities would start to approach him and out him.
They were going to have to be careful.
Very.
Careful.
“What can you tell me about the victim, Christopher?” she asked. “I’m going to take a wild stab at it and say her COD is going to fit our killer’s MO.”
Yeah, she could say that again.
“We have one wound to the base of the skull, and it looks consistent with the first victim, but I can’t tell you that unless I have victim number one’s body. If you want accurate, well, then I need all the pieces to the puzzle.”
They all looked over at Ethan.
“I get it. One body, coming right up,” he teased. “I’ll go drive it here myself,” he said.
“Really?” Max asked. “You’d do that?”
Ethan stared at him.
Was he serious?
“Son, stop.”
Elizabeth snorted.
Ah, her team was at it already.
Elizabeth needed to cross one more person off the list, and she was going to start with Landon Turner. He may have hated his ex, but there was NO way he had killed Mary Waver. He’d been in the tank sobering up. Unless he was freaking Houdini, he was off the list.
Still, she asked anyway.
“Uh, Alex, how was the interview?” she asked.
He was grinning a little too much for her liking. She sent him there to torment him—not get him giddy.
“I loved it.”
She stared at him.
“Are you out of your damn mind?”
He grinned.
“I know you sent me there to drive me batshit insane. If you were up, we were all up.”
Yeah, yeah, she had.
“Well, Mr. Turner was delightful, as he puked all over the interview room.”
Max was staring at him.
“And you’re happy about that? Did I miss something?” he asked.
“Yes, son. I missed being out in the field interviewing. In Cybercrimes, I sit behind a desk all day. For this fun, I’ll take a little puke.”
Noah agreed.
“In HR, I have the same life. This was fun.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Mental note, don’t give Noah and Alex shit work. They like it. Now tell me what you found.”
“Well, he clearly wasn’t Mary Waver’s killer. He was in the tank, and now he’s sweating bullets for clocking a Fed with a weapon.”
Yeah, her head still hurt.
“I figured as much. We can eliminate him off our list and move on. I just like to cross all my T’s.”
They understood.
Elizabeth focused on the next person on her list to harass for their daily briefing.
“Tony, how’s the ‘identifying the bodies’ thing coming?” he asked.
He stood over the fifth set of remains. “We’re coming along,” he stated. “We have three more after this, and once I get them all cataloged, you’ll know everything I know.”
She was good with that.
Then, Elizabeth noticed Jaxon wasn’t there.
“Is your wife okay?” she asked, worried for her. They knew she was close to giving birth, and the last thing they wanted was to tax her body.
This job wasn’t easy when you were in shape.
When you were growing a human…it was brutal.
“She will be here. She needed sleep. The baby was moving all over the place last night. She needed more rest. I told her you wouldn’t mind.”
Elizabeth was fine with that.
Blue was there, and she was working.
And smiling.
BIG.
HAPPY.
SMILES.
When someone was doing that in the morgue, that meant something good happened, or they were loco. She was going to bet it was the former.
Yeah, something was up. The dinner with Ivan must have gone really well.
Then she saw it.
“Hey, Blue, why are you wearing a ring on your finger?” she asked.
She actually giggled in glee.
Yep.
Something big.
“Ivan proposed last night, and it was his grandmother’s ring,” she said, holding it up.
Christina was all over it. If you wanted to see her haul ass, give her food or give her something to chitchat about as she worked.
Christina actually swooped in like a vulture about to ravage a carcass.
“Oh, Blue! That’s so pretty! It looks like it belongs on your hand!”
She agreed.
“I love it. I’m so happy.”
Well, there was no place for that in a morgue. It was time to buckle down.
“Congrats, Blue. Now, how about you all make me happy? How many drawings do you have done?” she asked. “Not that I’m rushing you.”
“You aren’t?” she asked.
“Nah, you should take the day off and spend it with Ivan.”
She smiled.
Elizabeth wasn’t.
That was her clue.
“You’re about to chew my ass off, aren’t you?” she asked. “I missed some cue.”
She had no choice but laugh at that. Working with Blue was not like working with say…Johanna. One of them got sarcasm, and Blue did NOT.
“I won’t chew if you have something to give me. If you don’t, be glad we have government healthcare, and it’s pretty comprehensive for wild animal maulings.”
She got it.
It was time to do her job.
“The first one is done. I’m waiting on Jaxon to get the second clay rendering finished. Once she does this next face, this morning, I can get the detective and agents the second picture.”
She was good with that.
“We need to get their IDs. If I want to lock up a criminal, I need them. They might tie us to O’Banion, and I want him swinging from a noose.”
Chris laughed.
“Did you find that amusing, Doc?” she asked.
“Sorry. I pictured it. For the record, we had to personally deal with him years ago. That gives me the right to want to see that happening,” he stated, as he began cutting into the woman’s chest.
Just then, Ivan strolled in with two takeout trays with coffee in them for Elizabeth and her team.
Ethan must have ordered up caffeine.
Before she could say anything to the man to bust his ass about getting engaged, everyone around him stood and clapped like a lunatic.
He stared at Elizabeth.
“They’ve been around you too long,” he stated, smiling like an idiot.
Yeah, she was aware. It rubbed off on them.
“Congrats on your engagement, Igor. I see you found one to lock in that bell tower.”
He snorted.
“Yeah, well, thank you, but we can’t all get evil sea harpies as brides,” he stated, teasing her back.
She laughed at that. He was probably right. She’d gotten the far better spouse deal on this one.
“And the dodo bird brings presents back to the nest,” she stated.
He shook his head.
“There’s something wrong with you. Besides, I’m in a good mood. I’m not even going there. Look. I even brought you coffee.”
“I gave up coffee.”
The whole room went silent as if she’d said she ate babies, under a bridge, and in her spare time.
“What?” she asked.
“This is bad,” Christina stated. “There are ill winds blowing, my friends.”
She laughed.
“It’s coffee.”
Chris spoke up, willing to save them from the potential killing spree that could happen if Elizabeth detoxed.
“Honey, drink the coffee. We don’t need mass casualties. I’m going to be busy all day as it is, and I can’t do more autopsies on friends.”
He had a point.
Who was she kidding?
“Well, if you say so,” she said, grabbing a coffee, flipping it open, and relishing the hot, steamy brew.
Dead are Forgotten Page 34
