“To be your partner or track Desdemona’s sister?” While he was okay with his brother being close to his wife, he wasn’t okay with the other Native man doing the same thing.
“No one’s partnering up with her but me,” interjected Whitefox. Both men shared a look about what wasn’t going to be happening, and that was Julian Littlemoon ogling Elizabeth.
“Okay, down boys. How about we get the man to say he’ll help, and then we can see who has a bigger set when we get there?”
Whitefox snorted.
“Let’s go into the office for a minute,” he suggested. “Ginny, get the driver ready to take them to the airport and two cups of coffee to go. They’re going to be in the air until about seven tonight.”
“Yes boss.”
Both Elizabeth and Callen Whitefox followed him into the office. When he closed and locked the door, they knew it wasn’t going to be official business.
This was personal.
“Get in and try to talk Desdemona into leaving. The last place she needs to be is in the middle of the stalker’s playground. Tell her whatever it takes. I don’t care if you have to use the job as an excuse, Elizabeth.”
“Okay.”
Whitefox flinched.
“Cal, I don’t want your fiancée to get herself taken out by a nutjob. I’d rather scare her home so Elizabeth and you can handle this alone. Let’s face it, Desdemona being there is a distraction for you. If you're distracted you’re not watching Lyzee’s back. Then my wife is on her own, or Julian Littlemoon is watching her.” That he let go because both men knew how that wasn’t a good option on either count.
“I won’t let anything happen to her.” He meant it. Nothing was touching Elizabeth. If it came down to it then he’d stand in front of both women.
“The stalker, if he took Desdemona’s sister, wants her there, and we need to take away what he wants. If she won’t leave, then we move to plan B.”
“Plan B?”
Elizabeth laughed. “I knock her unconscious and we abduct her.”
Whitefox wasn’t sure if she was serious or not. This was Elizabeth saying it. “Please tell me that you’re joking.”
Blackhawk patted him on the back. “She’s yanking your chain, Cal. If we could just knock women out and abduct them to get them to do what we want, don’t you think I’d have tried that already with hers truly?”
“Good point.”
“Get me evidence and we’ll call in the FBI. Until then, just vest up and watch out for the gators.”
Elizabeth snickered.
“Why is she laughing?” Blackhawk asked, paranoid that his wife found man eating monsters funny.
“She already said the same thing and told me to bring the swim trunks in case we had to go in the water.”
Now he was staring at his wife. “You don’t have gator appropriate swim wear, Elizabeth.” And now he was a nervous wreck and for a very good reason.
“I do too. I have cutoffs and a bikini top.” Elizabeth started laughing at the look on both of their faces. “What?”
Blackhawk closed his eyes and prayed she was kidding.
“Ethan darlin’, relax. You’re going to have a stroke by forty if you don’t chill out a little.”
“Okay, I will.” Ethan tried to grin. “Please, both of you be safe,” he finally said, hugging his brother and wife at the same time.
The three embraced as they had so many times before.
“Don’t let anything happen to you, Callen.”
He sighed, resting his forehead against both of theirs. “I’m so sorry that you both have to get dragged into this. I really wish you’d let me go alone, Lyzee.”
Now, they laughed.
“You better go.” It took all he had in him, but he released them. Watching his wife go out alone was hard, but he had to believe his brother would take care of her, and she’d return the favor.
Elizabeth could see the fear in his eyes and stood in front of him. “Hey Cowboy?” she said, softly. When she had his attention, she continued, “I’m going to be perfectly fine, and you need to have a little faith in me.” Then she kissed him, slow, long and deep. She held him to the front of her body by wrapping her hand in his tie and her hand on the back of his neck until she believed they’d both suffocate. Breaking away she looked into his eyes.
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” he answered, when he could speak.
“Come on Callen. The sooner in the air, the sooner on the ground,” Elizabeth licked her bottom lip and winked at her husband before walking out the door.
Ethan helplessly watched the love of his life walk away. All he could hope was she’d be returning back to him in one piece.
On the way out the door, Callen glanced over at her, dropping his voice really low. “You really were kidding about the swimwear weren’t you?”
“I brought my gator bait swimwear.” Elizabeth started laughing. “But don’t tell Ethan. He’ll have to chain you to my wrist.”
Suddenly that prospect didn’t seem like a bad idea in the least, considering.
* * *
Desdemona pulled into the parking space in front of the little house that she once called home. All the lights appeared to be out inside and that probably meant that her grand'mere was out in the swamp collecting her roots. Part of her hoped she’d get there and her sister would be running out the door to see her, and this was all some really sick joke.
When that didn’t happen, she felt crushed inside at the truth of it all. Picking up her phone, she noticed her boss called three times, Callen Whitefox called twelve times, and then two calls from Elizabeth. Well, the jig was definitely up, and she wasn’t going to listen to the voicemails. At least she could claim the reception sucked and she never got the messages, or worst case scenario a gator ate her phone. In fact, maybe she should drop the phone in the water just in case…
Getting out of her Mercedes, she pulled her bag from the trunk and wheeled it over to the back door. It was locked, but Desdemona remembered where the spare key was hidden. Beside the door was a mason jar full of old keys. She carefully dumped them out and looked for the one with the red dot on the back. When she found it, Desdemona replaced the remaining keys and opened the door to her past, stepping inside and listening to the ghosts of her horrible past.
Memories flooded back, as everything looked exactly the same as it did seven years ago. Placing her suitcase by the kitchen sink, in case her grand'mere showed up, Morgan Adare wouldn’t think Desdemona was an intruder and shoot her. Although with her grand'mere one never knew if she was going to go trigger happy on just about anyone.
Desdemona wandered the house reminiscing about the past and the life she had many years ago. Going into her sister’s bedroom she started digging through her things. Yeah, maybe it was snooping, but if her sister was missing, then she needed to search. Pulling the woman’s purse onto her lap she began digging for anything out of the ordinary.
Cigarettes.
Some Tylenol.
A wallet.
Then her attention was caught by a slip of paper from the local post office. It was dated two weeks prior and was some sort of receipt. Around the day her sister vanished, she’d gone to the post office to mail something. The cost was about six dollars and was marked media mail.
Her interest was piqued. Now she needed to find out what and to whom the mystery shipment was made.
Desdemona exited the bedroom and snagged her keys off the counter, taking the spare key just in case it was dark when she had to comeback. There was no way she wanted to be digging through a jar of keys in the dark. Before Desdemona left the house she peeked into the refrigerator. Just as was expected, it was completely empty. Desdemona sighed and rolled her eyes. How her grand'mere and sister ever survived was beyond her. Now she’d be stopping at the local grocer on her way back home too. It was funny how she appeared to be the only one who enjoyed eating on a regular basis or being somewhat responsible.
For
now she had a mission. Get to the post office before it closed, and possibly ask around if anyone saw Cordelia before she disappeared off the face of the earth.
* * *
Elizabeth sat across from Callen as she was trying to read the dossier that her husband had pulled together for her. It was pretty sparse, and didn’t contain much information at all on Cordelia Adare. In her lifetime she only had one real job, or at least only one in which taxes were paid. It was a brief stint serving ice cream at the local ice cream parlor. After that, the woman was off the grid.
Then there was the woman who Desdemona referred to as ‘grand'mere’. Her real name was Morgana Adare. The dossier was a little bit thicker on her. Apparently, the woman had a little bit of a history in her past. Shooting at trespassers, accused of making illegal liquor and selling it as moonshine. Elizabeth started laughing, and realized it was out loud.
“What?”
“Did you know that her grand'mere was a bootlegger who liked to shoot at people as a hobby?”
Whitefox shook his head. “No, Desdemona really didn’t tell me much about her family.” Then he realized how that sounded when he said it to someone other than himself. The truth was now out in the open, and it wasn’t just a figment of his imagination. Every time he’d ask her about her grandmother and sister, the conversation didn’t get very far. How did he ever think they were on track to get married? Reality began to dawn.
“Hey, are you going to be okay?” Now Elizabeth could see his mood slipping, and although she was sure he was scared for his fiancée, they needed to be on their game. There was no way to be prepared for what was waiting for them, but they needed to focus.
“Yeah, I think so.”
Elizabeth didn’t believe that for a second. They’d be landing in a little while, and she needed him to either spill it and work through it, or let it go until later. “How about we talk about it, and then we can get through it together?” She pushed, hoping he’d spill it and share with her.
“Would you ever just wander off and not tell Ethan where you were going?” he asked, hoping she’d say yes, and then he’d know it was a crazy woman thing and not a relationship thing.
Elizabeth thought back to the sixteen months they’d been together. “Do you mean have a fight and need an hour or so to calm down or do you mean what Desdemona did?”
“The latter.”
“Callen, I wouldn’t ever pull this stunt with Ethan and then make him risk his life to come fix my mess, but I’m a trained FBI agent and director. I’m more level headed. Then again, if it was you missing I absolutely would. I wouldn’t have gone in alone, that’s for damn sure, and not if there was a stalker that ordered me back to the town.”
Whitefox sighed once again. He couldn’t understand his fiancée’s rationale on the entire thing.
Elizabeth moved to his side and took his face in her palms. “Cal, you’ll work this all out when we get there. I believe in you. Let’s just stay level headed and get this mess cleaned up as fast as we can. I’m here for you.”
Wasn’t that the truth? No matter what happened in his life, the woman staring into his eyes always had his back. Now she was going to risk her life to help him clean up the mess of a woman who just pissed him off. What Desdemona did was so incredibly selfish and stupid.
And this was why family mattered more than anything to him in life. They held you up, they brushed you off when you stumbled, and they had your back. “Thank you, Lyzee.”
She grinned at him. “Anything for you Blackhawk men,” she answered, looking into his deep brown eyes. “No worries, Cal. Trust me okay? I’ll catch you and keep you safe.”
He nodded and leaned over to kiss her gently on the lips, and he felt peace for the first time since finding Desdemona was gone. “I believe you.”
“Then that’s half the battle. Now let’s head into Cypress Grove and get Desdemona back safe and sound.”
Whitefox nodded and knew he couldn’t say anything to that point, because he was so damn mad at Desdemona. Already Callen was questioning what was left of their relationship to return to. If one more thing happened, his willingness to pursue the relationship would be dead. There was only so much his heart could take.
* * *
Desdemona pulled into the parking lot at the local post office and was very cognizant of the stares from the locals. This was part of why she never liked coming back. The looks from the people who used to judge her, and then their shock that she’d actually made something out of her life. Opening the door of the shiny Mercedes, she dropped her sunglasses on her nose and headed into the building.
Everyone was whispering and pointing. Maybe now she should have thought more about her attire and choice in vehicles a little better. Then Desdemona could have blended in and not stood out like a sore thumb.
Inside the post office she let out a sigh. It was cooler in the building and there weren’t the stares of the locals to make her uncomfortable. Walking up to the counter, Desdemona waited for the little old woman behind the counter to finish marking her packages and finally offer to assist her.
“Can I help you?” asked the woman, suspiciously. Something about the woman rubbed her the wrong way. The stranger was wearing jewelry, black in the heat and designer sunglasses.
“Yes, my sister was in here two weeks ago, right before she went missing. I need to know what she mailed and to whom.” Desdemona slid the paper across the counter and waited. Then she lifted the sunglasses hoping that eye contact with the woman would make her more than willing to help her.
“You're an Adare, aren’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am, I am.” Desdemona pulled out her official FBI identification and slid it across the counter. “I work for the FBI and Cordelia is my sister.”
“Is that ID real?” The woman picked it up, flipping it over and inspecting it to see if it was some kind of fake or joke. “Let me get my log and see if whoever mailed it wrote anything specific down.”
Desdemona felt intense relief that she was going to get a little bit of assistance from the woman, despite the fact that she wasn’t one of them anymore, but just a visitor in their town. As she waited, Desdemona felt eyes on her back and turned to look out the doors of the post office. There were people staring in at her, and she felt her skin crawl. What if one of them was the stalker and he now knew she was in town? Suddenly, the idea of telling Elizabeth or Callen before coming had merit.
“It was a book, media mail, and Cordelia shipped it to a building. FBI West. Know the place?” she asked, looking confused. “It was addressed to you. You should have gotten it by now, unless you have a mail room and they’re holding it.”
Desdemona smiled sweetly. “Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.” She went to turn and then had an idea. “When my sister was in here, did you wait on her?”
“Probably.”
“Did Cordelia mention where else she was going after mailing the package by any chance?” Desdemona mentally crossed her fingers.
“No dear, I don’t recall her saying much. Sorry.”
It was okay. At least she had an idea of what the last part of her sister’s life had been like, and now she could at least call FBI West and find out where the book was that was the last piece of her sister’s life. This investigative gig wasn’t that hard, and honestly Desdemona wouldn’t be nearly as impressed when she watched Elizabeth or Ethan find a trail. She did the same exact thing on day one of her attempt.
Walking from the building, Desdemona channeled her inner Morticia and tried to look confident and tough on the outside. The whispers were irritating and she caught little pieces of the conversations about the ‘Adare witches’, but she chose to ignore them all.
The only thing she was sure of at that moment was that she would be infinitely grateful when she could return back to the house to call it a night.
Going home was pretty much what she expected it to be.
Nothing but a bitch.
~ Chapter Three ~
<
br /> Elizabeth listened to the directions from their onboard navigational system, taking in the small town they were currently driving through in order to get to the bed and breakfast. Once there, they’d check in and unload their suitcases before going to find Desdemona.
The town looked pretty small, and she couldn’t imagine that there were going to be quite a few places to look for her. So far she counted a post office, a grocery store, a high school and a few quaint shops. Cypress Grove was relatively small and very quaint.
What it lacked in size, it made up for in people. They seemed to be like ants milling around everywhere.
“I think that’s it,” said Whitefox, pointing to the building up ahead. “It looks like a plantation house.”
“Well, at least I know that it’s not going to be a roach coach, since Ginny would be too afraid to put us up in one.” Elizabeth hated when Gabe Rothschild used to make the arrangement and claim it was budgetary restraints. Everyone knew he was sadistic and evil like that.
“At least it’s not over budget.”
It was like he was reading her mind. “The FBI isn't paying for this, I am,” she said, nonchalantly.
“Elizabeth, I can pay for my own room.”
She ignored him and pulled the Escalade into the parking spot marked ‘guests only’. “Callen, don’t stress it. If this becomes FBI related, I get reimbursed. Just try to not look too FBI-ish when we go in there.”
Now he laughed. “We’re both wearing guns. How are we going to pull that one off?” Now he was entertained. “You also have a belt buckle on that says ‘Boss’. We’re driving a brand new Escalade that screams Feds.”
“Just hold my hand and let me do the talking, love muffin,” she said, unclipping both their guns and dropping them in her purse. “This is why I carry a big bag.”
Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four) Page 7
