Christina giggled. “Oh, he’s quite the charmer,” she teased. “When do you want to marry her off? We can arrange it right now.”
Julian sputtered. “We aren’t arranging her marriage! That’s my girl!”
Tori laughed. She and Christina had fun with this.
All.
The.
Time.
“Relax, Julian. We’ll hold off until they’re twelve,” Kane offered.
Justin was amused.
“Wait, daddy-to-be,” Julian stated.
Christina put the coffees down. “I heard about Lena,” she said, wiping her eyes as they began to mist up. “That poor girl.”
Kane had clearly filled her in.
“This is a mess. What the hell was Nyx thinking?” she asked. Christina didn’t buy into the spooky shit before working for the Littlemoons.
Now…
Yeah, she’d seen some shit and there was no way to explain it.
“Yeah, well, we’ll have to get rid of Evangeline at some point, but for now, we have to handle this case to clear Beau.”
“What do you need?” Christina asked.
Tori knew she’d be in. She reached into her bag and pulled out copies of the autopsy reports.
“Can you study these and find me something?” she asked.
“Can I have all the trace too?”
Tori handed them over.
“I’ll get on it.”
They didn’t doubt that for one moment. Christina missed working, and she was going to help them as much as she could.
“What did you guys find out?” Kane asked Julian and Tori.
Tori was busy kissing Milo, but in true mother fashion, she was able to multi-task. “That the third man on our list, Wyatt Grant, was having sex with his boss’s wife.”
“Awkward,” Christina teased.
Yeah, wasn’t that the truth.
“How the hell did Shelby get that tidbit of dirt?” Justin asked. “Shit like that doesn’t circulate unless you want it found out.”
He had a point.
“He said he was caught on camera kissing the woman. Sabrina, he called her.”
Julian got it. “Wait! He said at a bar too.”
Now they all got it.
“Don’t we have a bartender on our list?” Kane asked.
“Yes, yes, we do,” Tori stated. “Now, does anyone find that odd or a coincidence?” she asked.
No one did.
“What if the calls coming in from Leon Brewer weren’t because he was being blackmailed, but because he was helping Shelby do her dirty deeds?” Julian asked. “We already know he admitted to sleeping with her. What if he was also her partner in crime?”
Tori grinned and then kissed him.
“That’s why I married you. It’s sexy when you use that brain of yours.”
“Don’t say any form of the s word,” he stated.
Justin looked confused. “Sexy?”
“Sexy, sex, or anything like it,” Julian stated.
Kane started laughing. “In the six-week hell, huh?” he asked as Christina sat in his lap.
“Yes, and it is hell.”
“Been there. I’m glad that’s over. I was about to go stir-crazy.”
Justin still didn’t get it.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“No sex for six-weeks post-delivery,” Tori stated.
Justin looked horrified.
“What? Who made that rule?” he asked. “Are you making that shit up?”
Both women started laughing.
It was always fun when Justin realized something new about the opposite sex, and he was horrified about it. It was these moments that the team had the most fun.
“The doctor tells you that after you give birth.”
“He does not! Bite your freaking tongue!”
Both men shook their heads sadly. “It’s true. Get some tissues. It’ll be a party of one for forty-two days and nights.”
He sputtered.
“I won’t make it.”
Tori laughed. “Well, Mr. Sex-Machine, you have no choice. Then again, you’re having twins. It might be longer. Twelve weeks, I think.”
Now she was busting his ass, but she couldn’t help it.
“Oh shit!”
Trey took that opportunity to chime in to torment him. “LOOKS. LIKE. SOMEONE. WILL. BE. ADJUSTING. THE. ANTENNA.”
He stared at the cell phone on the table. “What?”
“YOU. KNOW…BASTING. THE. HAM.”
“Tori, control your brother!”
“BOX. THE. JESUIT.”
“If there is a Hell, Trey, you’re going there,” Justin stated.
Tori couldn’t stop laughing. There was no way she was stopping this runaway train. She was going to pee her pants. All three men looked horrified.
“EVERY. SOLDIER. HAS. TO. CLEAN. HIS. RIFLE.”
“I’m going to puke.”
“LIKE. YOU. NEVER. FISTED. YOUR. MISTER.”
“Okay! Stop,” Julian stated. It was sick, funny, and he knew they needed to stop Trey. He could go on for days.
“GLAD. I. DON’T. HAVE. TO. UNLOAD. MY. GUN.”
“Tori, please?” Julian asked, rubbing his temples.
“Trey, stop. Not in front of the children,” she said, meaning the men, not Milo.
“YOU. GOT. IT. SPROUT.”
Justin was horrified by all of this. “Jesus, Jules, I’m so sorry,” Justin stated. “I didn’t know. No wonder you’re cranky and a tad-bit oversensitive.”
“Trey?” he called, willing to teach his brother a lesson.
“WAKE. THE. DEAD.”
“That’s so wrong. You just turned on me!” he blurted.
“WHIP. YOUR. DRIPPER.”
“Stop! Okay! I give up,” Justin said, raising his hands. “You win. I’m screwed.”
“YOU’RE. SLOW. IT’S. THE. OPPOSITE. OF. SCREWED.”
“Thank you, Trey, I needed this laugh,” Tori said. She knew he was doing it to help with Lena’s death, and because he loved torturing Justin.
Who didn’t?
Before the man could say anything else, Tori’s cell phone rang.
“I don’t know the number,” she stated.
Julian took it and answered, fully expecting it to be one of the media, stalking his wife.
“Julian Littlemoon.”
He listened.
“Okay, Detective.”
He listened some more.
“Thank you. I’ll be in contact.”
When he hung up, Tori was waiting for some sort of explanation.
“What was that about?” she asked.
“Arsen was in with the commissioner, and the man called in a favor to a judge.”
Uh oh.
This was going to be bad.
“What?”
“Beau’s bail has been revoked. He has to turn himself in by Friday night. They are going forward with the trial and the evidence they already have. They feel it’s enough to sway a jury.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“He’s going up for murder.”
Tori cried.
Chapter Nine
Tuesday
Mid-Morning
O nce Tori had calmed down, and both Littlemoon men helped soothe her broken heart, they headed back to the office to tell Beau what was happening. They left Christina and Kane’s home being followed by a cloud of despair, and she felt helpless.
They were good people, and they were falling apart at the seams.
Truthfully, Christina knew what was going to happen. Without intervention, of some sort, Beau was going to be a scapegoat. She’d seen it before and she knew they only had one shot at fixing that.
They needed help.
Whether Tori and Julian knew it, they couldn’t do this alone. They were good as investigators, but this was out of their league. There was a timeline now, and if they didn’t get some sort of assistance, they could kiss Beau goodbye.
He was going into the system with no return.
It was time to act, even if Tori had told her no.
Christina only knew one person who solved just about everything that landed in her lap. This one person could level the playing field for the team.
Elizabeth Blackhawk.
Even if she wasn’t a Fed anymore, she ate, slept, and kicked criminal ass for so many years that it was second nature. Tori hadn’t been a Fed for long before she left to marry Julian. Her five years compared to nearly two decades didn’t even compare.
It was time to call in the big guns.
It was also time for the girlfriend code to kick in, and take over. Tori wasn’t thinking straight. She didn’t want to bother Elizabeth, but when you needed your friends, you couldn’t hold back.
Sometimes, you needed that one person who could help you when the deck was stacked against you.
Picking up her phone, she made the call. Granted, she didn’t know what the outcome would be, or if Tori would forgive her for going against her wishes.
Still, it was worth it.
Someone had to do it.
On the second ring, Callen Whitefox answered the phone in his normal whiskey smooth voice. Before her sexy Native fiancé, it had sent shivers down her spine.
He was one hell of a sexy male specimen.
“Hey, Cal! It’s me!”
It only took but a second for him to recognize her voice.
“Chrissy! How are you?” he asked.
She didn’t bullshit the man.
Time was of the essence.
“Not good, Callen. I need to talk to the boss lady. I wouldn’t be calling if it wasn’t that damn important.”
Callen paused, as if weighing his options. “Chrissy, she’s not in a good place. If this is about a favor…?”
She got it.
Ethan and Elizabeth had gone their separate ways. Actually, Ethan had gone insane with jealousy and anger, and Elizabeth refused to stay and take it. He told her to leave, and whether he expected it or not, she did just that.
Elizabeth wasn’t anyone’s emotional punching bag, even if that person was her soulmate.
Chrissy knew what she needed.
“I need to speak to her, Callen. It’s bad here.”
“How bad is bad?” he asked.
She told him what was going on, and how they were on the verge of losing Beau. Then she told him about Lena taking a leap off the building.
The only thing she left out was the spirit aspect of the whole deal. If she said it out loud, she was pretty sure Callen would hang up on her.
Science and ghosts didn’t live in the same continuum.
Ever.
Well, until now.
“Jesus! That’s a hot mess,” he admitted.
“Yeah, so put her on, please. I know she’s not talking to anyone. I know she’s hurt and wounded, but we need her. Please just put her on, and I’ll do the rest. I know the boss lady, and beneath all this, she’s a good person. She’ll help us. I would bet my relationship on it.”
Callen wasn’t so sure of that. He was slowly losing Elizabeth. She was slipping away, and he was having to watch his happy marriage go sour.
Yeah, thanks to a whole bunch of avoidable BS.
He sighed. “Okay, Chrissy. Maybe you can get through to her.”
There was some talking in the background, and then Christina heard her.
“Yes?” Elizabeth asked.
It was emotionless, it was empty, and it proved how far gone she was.
“Lyzee, are you okay?” Christina asked.
“No.”
“What can I do to help you?”
“Nothing. My heart is broken,” she whispered. “I’ve lost Ethan. I can’t figure out how to move on.”
Christina couldn’t imagine it.
It had to be horrible.
There were never two people more meant for each other. Elizabeth Blackhawk was meant to be married to Ethan. They were yin and yang, peanut butter and jelly, and the couple everyone wanted to be. With Callen tossed into the mix, they were damn near perfect.
Until now.
“Lyzee.”
“It’s okay. I’m okay,” she lied, knowing she was anything but that. This was the worst time of her life, and she’d lived through a lot. She’d lost her mother at ten, Charlie moved to a Podunk town, and her father remarried—only to be killed by his new wife and son. She’d been shot, she’d nearly lost both men in the line of duty, and now she’d lost one to a lie.
This was her kryptonite.
“You have to pull out of this.”
“Says who? I lost Ethan. I don’t know how to do anything anymore without him.”
At one time, she had perfection. They were meant to be together.
She was sweet.
He was stable.
She was kind.
He was gentle.
Then her world got rocked.
Christina knew enough was enough. When dealing with Elizabeth Blackhawk, you had to do what she’d do.
Kick ass.
“Well, get your cowboy boots on, grab your belt buckle, and head here.”
“Christina.”
“Lyzee, Tori’s falling apart. She’s on the verge of losing her business, her brother is about to go up for murder, and one of our employees dove off a building due to nefarious circumstances.”
There was silence.
“Really?”
“Yes. She’s dying inside, too, and only you can help her. You have to get here, and fast.”
“She didn’t tell me any of this.”
“We all know how much you’re dealing with right now, and we didn’t want to bother you. She was just crying at my house. She needs you, Elizabeth. We all do.”
There was a sigh.
“I invoke the ‘Girlfriend Code.”
Oh, Christina knew how to play the game. At one time, she’d been afraid of Elizabeth. Now, she knew the truth. This woman was one big puddle of mush when it came to the people she loved.
“Come on. That’s not fair.”
“I don’t care. One of the rules is you have to do this if someone calls it out. It’s the bylaw. You told us we had to do the same. Tori needs you.”
“When you all came here, thinking I needed the ‘Girlfriend Code’, what did I do?” Elizabeth asked.
“You sent us home. Now, get your ass here, or you’ll be known as the bad friend. You don’t want us telling anyone that.”
There was a click.
Elizabeth hung up the phone. She didn’t even say a word, and that didn’t bode well.
Chrissy looked down at it in her hand, and she had to wonder…was Elizabeth so broken that she’d let her best friend fall too?
This was a mess.
One, hot, freaking mess.
Elizabeth laid back on the couch and closed her eyes. Callen stared down at her.
“Well?”
She told him what she’d been told.
“And?” he asked.
For the last few weeks, he’d let Elizabeth mope, whine, and act like a lump. He got it.
She’d had her heart handed to her in the worst possible way, and she’d even had to recover from nearly being killed. It had been a rough stretch, but it was time.
When Ethan had erupted, and told her he never wanted to see her again, her heart broke.
He couldn’t blame his wife for dying a little inside. He had too. Their family had imploded. What made it worse was Ethan didn’t come after her.
Had he, she would have been okay. When they left, he was pretty sure Elizabeth assumed Ethan wouldn’t stay behind. She was positive that he’d come looking for his wife.
Then he didn’t…
Four weeks later, he wasn’t around. Ethan was holed up in DC running the FBI in Gabe’s absence. Callen got that, but still…his marriage—their marriage—was in the balance. If this didn’t get fixed, they were both losing Elizabeth.
“Tori’s brother is
going back to jail,” she offered. “On trumped up charges that the police can’t prove. They’re hoping a jury will buy the limited evidence and go with PTSD.”
Callen knew what that meant.
“That’s not good. If there are judges and cops conspiring against him, he’s likely going to prison.”
“I know.”
“What are you going to do?” he asked, running his fingers down the cast on her arm. Over the last four weeks, he’d left poems and the kids had doodled all over it. While her arm was healing, her heart wasn’t.
“Well?”
She stared at him with tears in her eyes. “I don’t know if I can be that woman anymore, Callen James. I only came back to the FBI because of Ethan. If I don’t have him, what do I have?” she asked.
It was the first time in four weeks she’d said his name.
It was progress.
Callen had been in contact with Doctor Callista Gaines, and she’d given him some direction. It was working.
Elizabeth was healing, but would it be enough?
“He didn’t make you, Elizabeth. You made you. You need to get up, brush yourself off, and you need to be who you are inside. Ethan does not define you. He’s a man and nothing more. You’re Elizabeth freaking Blackhawk.”
She cringed.
“I’m Elizabeth Whitefox. He took my identity away. I’m still waiting for the divorce papers.”
Callen knew that wasn’t going to happen.
He’d spoken to his brother every day for four weeks, only Ethan asked him not to tell Elizabeth. He was healing, too—from what he’d learned that blindsided him, and from what he did with his shitty outburst.
Ethan was paying penance for his sins.
And Callen?
He was stuck between them.
“He’ll be back, Lyzee. I need you to trust me on this, and put some faith in him.”
She wanted to believe that, but she was pretty sure it wasn’t going to happen.
Hell!
Looking at her son, CJ, made her cry. He looked just like his daddy. Then looking at Wyler made her weep too. He was an older Ethan.
Jesus.
Love had broken her.
“I need a favor.”
She stared up at the Native man. He was sweet, gentle, and he’d had her back the last month.
Kiss of Souls Page 18
