The three directors strolled down the stairs to the dining area to meet with the team. They were all milling about and being loud as usual. Elizabeth took it all in and smiled. It was good to be back to work. One day down was sheer hell.
When her husband cleared his throat, no one acknowledged his presence. Elizabeth whistled and they all paused, like deer in headlights.
They knew that shrill whistle, it belonged to only one woman, and that meant that she was back in the saddle.
Whitefox snickered at the look of panic and terror.
“Ladies and gents, oh how I missed you all,” she stated, stepping forward. “Everyone close your mouths, yes, rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated. If you thought a concussion was going to give you all a break from dealing with my smiling face, then you aren’t as bright as your resumes say you are.”
Blackhawk truly loved his wife. When she scared her minions, it was always entertaining as hell.
“Okay, bomb crew step to the left, dead body crew to the right.” She waited until they figured it out. “Your left and right, not mine!”
Blackhawk laughed, as he drank his coffee. He tried not to, but it was just too damn funny, watching them bump into each other.
“I want the dead crew to go to the ME office and do some detecting of incoming evidence. I then want the bomb crew to remain until I’m completely debriefed and satisfied with the information you have for me. You had twenty hours of uninterrupted detecting. It’s time to shock and awe me with what you all discovered.”
They stared at her.
Elizabeth looked around her like she was looking for something. “Are you all checking out my stitches? Yes, I’m aware they’re totally bad ass, and you’ll all have a set of your own if you don’t get yourselves moving.”
Chris Leonard walked towards her and gave her a fist bump before passing her. Doctor Magnus grinned at her and followed suit. “Good to see the drill sergeant is back in charge.”
Desdemona Adare stopped in front of her. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Director.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Are you okay? You look a little pale today, Desdemona.”
“I’m okay. I think I have a stomach bug. My big concern is that I’d really like to get the bodies of my mother and sister released today for burial, but I was told you had to approve it.”
Elizabeth looked back at her husband and Ethan nodded. “Tell Chris I said release them. I think we’ve learned all we can from their remains.”
“Thank you.” She walked past Whitefox without even looking at him and out the door. Now maybe she could bury her family and move on with her life.
It was time.
She made a promise to herself when she saw Callen cradling Elizabeth in his arms after the explosion. Once they all left Cypress Grove; she was NEVER contacting any of them again. After all three were gone, it was going to mean a new life for her, and she was starting over. It was evident that he’d moved on and was deeply in love with Elizabeth. It was best for all of them if she moved on too.
That was her promise to herself and she swore on her own life. No more was she going to dwell on the past. From now on she wasn’t going to be a spider or a fly. She was going to be the person who crushed them both.
Desdemona would come first.
It was going to happen because it was about damn time. Other people’s feelings didn’t matter anymore, just like hers never did.
This was the new leaf she was turning over.
Whether they all liked it or not.
~ Chapter Sixteen ~
Elizabeth sat listening to her bomb team debrief them on what they suspected and discovered. They were concise and to the point, once again proving they were very good at their jobs. The verdict was in and the conclusion was that the bombing was done by an amateur.
All three directors were grateful for that. His mistake saved their lives. Had they gotten into the Escalade and turned it on, all three of them would have been blown to kingdom come. It had been their lucky day.
Yeah, they had a guardian angel that day, and Elizabeth couldn’t help but believe it was Timothy staring down at his family from the great beyond.
Ethan was grateful that the killer was incompetent, as he looked over at the two people he loved. Few were closer to his heart and soul; only his son.
“All of you are dismissed to the ME lab. Start with helping them process the incoming evidence. I want something by the end of night. If this wacko is going to be trying to blow us up, I also want all the vehicles scanned before we leave every morning.”
“Agreed,” Blackhawk stated, looking at his team.
“Head on out, team!” Elizabeth waited for them leave, and then observed her partners. They had that title in the field and in life, and there was a fear she’d lose them. Life would be devastating if she lost one, but both? How would she carry on alone?
Whitefox knew the look. “We’re going to be fine. We stick together, keep our eyes open and watch each other’s backs.”
She nodded, unable to discuss it further. Somethings just needed to stay buried deep and this was one of those things. “Where are we headed to now?”
Blackhawk took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles over both wedding rings. Part of him warmed at seeing them sitting side by side, like they belonged. “We need to interview the minister of the church. He’s not returning our calls, so I think we need to get some outside help on this.”
“How about the sheriff?” suggest Whitefox. “He screams ‘good ole country boy’, and I’m betting he’s lived here his entire life.”
“You think?” she retorted, grinning.
Ethan stood and readied himself for the oncoming fight. “I’ll go get the car. I’ll meet you two out there.”
Elizabeth started laughing. “That’s happening over my dead freaking body, Cowboy. You think I’m going to sit here and wait to see if my husband goes ‘kaboom’?”
“Well one of us has to go, and I don’t really feel like arguing with you.”
Elizabeth stood to stand toe to toe with her husband. She wasn’t quite as tall as him, in fact even with her cowboy boots on, she only came up to his chin. “You aren’t making yourself our sacrificial offering to the bomb gods, Ethan. We have a child at home, and I don’t plan on telling our son that you took one for the team, because you’re the man.”
When her eyes filled with tears, his temper cooled. “Okay, baby. It’s okay. I’m sorry that I upset you.”
“I happen to agree with Elizabeth on this. We all go together.” Whitefox moved closer to them both, leaning against Elizabeth. “The bomb team is outside; let’s let them do their job.”
Immediately she wrapped one arm around him, and one around his brother, connecting them together. “I won’t risk either of you.”
The owner of the bed and breakfast came around the corner and stopped dead in her tracks. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” She backed out of the room with a horrified look on her face.
Elizabeth started giggling.
“I think we just freaked her out,” Blackhawk said, laughing.
Whitefox kissed Elizabeth on the neck. “Then it’s a good thing she didn’t see last night’s performance.”
He took an elbow right to his rib cage.
“Come on boys, we have work to do,” she stated adamantly, grabbing her papers and heading to the door. “No more kissy-face or touchy-feely until we’re off duty, and I’m serious.”
Both men followed her out of the building not buying that for a second.
“Gentlemen, this is what makes me smile as a boss.” Elizabeth pointed at her bomb team sweeping the cars. “I didn’t even have to scare them a second time. They heard us say it once, and they actually complied. Now if only I could get the ME and body retrieving teams to do that, life would be so much easier.”
Blackhawk grinned. “Don’t get too excited. The bomb techs probably know if you blow up, you’ll be haunting them from the great beyond.”
Wh
itefox laughed and gave him a fist bump.
“Damn straight I will, and you both, too.”
* * *
Sheriff Louis Denton stood at the counter, observing the three agents walking across his parking lot. The woman was back on duty, and she didn’t look too worse for the wear. What had him confused is why they were there. Each time they came to his station, turmoil followed. Now he just hoped he could keep them from knocking out any of his deputies or arresting them.
“Directors, what can I do for you today?” he asked nodding, as they entered his building.
“We came for some information,” answered Blackhawk, looking around the quiet station.
The man glanced over at Elizabeth Blackhawk. “You seem to be one tough broad, Director.”
Both men stepped forward, and Elizabeth opted to not get angry, but laugh it off.
“I’m not that easy to kill, if that’s what you mean,” she said, smiling. They needed to play nice and get the information they needed. She could ass kick him into the swamp at a later time. Right now they needed to put this one to bed. “Better criminals have tried, but I do appreciate that he attempted to blow me up. Now I can cross that off my list. Been shot, abducted, blown up and I can’t wait to see what’s next.”
Both men tensed at her making light of their worst fears.
Sheriff Denton stared at her, unsure if she was yanking his chain or dead serious. Either way, he decided to let it go. “What kind of information can I possibly have for you three? I don’t know anything about explosives, or who is perpetrating these crimes.”
“Have you lived here your entire life?” inquired Whitefox.
“Born and raised here in Cypress Grove.”
Gee, that was shocking news.
“You have a big church in town, and we’re curious about it. Is it the only church?” Blackhawk threw the next question out, watching the man switch focus.
“It’s pretty much the only church. Why? Do you think this is a religious hate crime against the Adare family?”
Elizabeth gave him credit. The man was fast. “We need to speak to the minister, but he hasn’t gotten back to us. Is there any way you can point us in the direction of who is in charge there?”
The man laughed. “I think God runs the place.”
She gave the sheriff his moment to laugh, then continued. “All the heathens in the room that don’t worship at a Christian church, please raise your hand,” she retorted back, and the three of them all raised their hands.
“Okay, I get it. Indians aren’t big into Christianity.”
“Native Americans,” corrected Elizabeth, almost automatically. “And they don’t mind Christians, it’s the white man that they have a problem with,” she added, grinning. “You know, good ol’ boys whose families came from Europe, stole their land, killed their men, raped their women, and forced them into impoverish conditions on the Rez…”
“Okay there. The point is taken, Director Blackhawk. I beg your pardon, gentlemen.”
Both men nodded, and tried to not laugh. If there as one major hot button for Elizabeth it was non-Natives using the word ‘Indian’ in a derogatory manner. It pushed her right over the edge. Granted she used it frequently, but context meant everything.
“I can get you in contact with the minister.”
“Can you tell me if it’s been the same minister for the last twenty five years?” asked Whitefox.
The man thought about it. “I do believe it was the same minister. Hold on,” he picked up the counter phone and buzzed someone. “Can you come up here; we need your help with something.”
Elizabeth didn’t know what the man was doing, but she humored him for the time being. Maybe he kept the minister locked up in the basement of the building during the day. With this town, who knew?
When Jonathan Delray walked through the door, he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who was waiting for him. “I didn’t do anything! I was here the entire time. I swear!”
Blackhawk lifted a brow. “How is he going to help us, Sheriff?” he asked, staring at the skittish man in front of him.
“Well Jonathan knows the minister of the church personally. It’s his daddy.”
Elizabeth glanced back and forth between her two partners and each of their faces said the same thing.
Coincidences were a bitch.
* * *
Special Agent Christensen waded through the boggy water, scanning the area for anything dangerous. It reminded her of walking through the streets in the Middle East. During her final tour of duty she saw some horrible things, and the swamp reminded her of that. Snakes and leeches ready to creep up and take your life, like the enemy she’d faced many times.
“Hey are you okay?” asked Julian, watching the woman’s face. “You look like you're gone somewhere.”
She shook her head still unable to speak. When she slipped back into the warzone, Tori found it was best to just not speak. Jibberish would sometimes find its way out, and people then thought you were crazy.
There was something about the woman that confused him. After a sweaty bout of really amazing sex, they had pizza and she sent him back to his room, unwilling to let him spend the night. It seemed kind of odd, since they were bunking across the hall from each other, but what was he going to say? Now she seemed out of it, but not out of it at the same time.
This woman was a big mystery.
When he tried to get her to talk about herself, she wouldn’t give him any more details other than she spent time in the military, and the discussion was shut down from that point.
“Look,” she said, pointing and wading over to the object that caught her attention. Pulling out some gloves from her back pocket, she pulled them on before picking up the floating debris. Tori rolled it in her hand and studied it closely. “It’s detonator wire.”
Littlemoon looked around. “Chances are the rest is underwater somewhere.”
Agent Christensen sighed and unclipped the Glock on her hip. “I know I’m probably going to regret saying this, but I’ll do the dive and feel around.”
Julian was impressed and completely horrified at the same time. Not many women he knew would go under water in a swamp to find some wires. “Are you sure?” he asked, taking the Glock she held out for him and her badge.
“I’ve submerged in worse,” she answered, leaving it at that. She pulled the hair tie off her wrist and quickly braided her hair down her back in a long single braid. “I’m diving blind so I’m going to probably stir up some creepy crawlies, so you're on snake watch for me.”
He nodded, and he was pretty sure he wouldn’t have balls big enough to go underwater in a swamp. This woman had him perplexed and made him want to know more.
Agent Christensen pulled off her t-shirt and tossed it to him. “I’ll need something dry after,” she looked around and felt with her foot that the water went deep.
Julian’s eyes immediately went to the tags around her neck. He was pretty sure they weren’t there last night during sex. It would have been hard to miss them dangling between her breasts. When she flipped them over her shoulder to hang down her back, it reminded him of something his brother, who was die hard military, did out of habit. Now, he was really curious, and knew that her past was more than just a ‘little’ military experience.
“The bomber probably is familiar with this swamp. He knew it dropped off here, and that’s probably why he dumped the goods in this location.”
“Are you sure about this, Tori?” Julian was starting to look worried. A deep end meant branches and other things she could get caught in down there and be helpless.
“No, this is a damn terrible idea, but so is pissing off Director Blackhawk.” With that she took a few deep breaths and stepped off the ledge and submerged herself under water, sinking feet first into the mess below.
Littlemoon watched the air bubbles to assure she was still moving, and then kept an eye on his watch. Thirty seconds in, he saw the ripples end, and then silence in the
swamp. Every five seconds he glanced down at his watch, and it occurred to him he probably should have asked her how long she could stay down. It was almost one minute and still nothing. There were little pieces of debris starting to float up to the surface, but no Tori.
His heart started to pound in his chest. Glancing at his watch, she was close to being down for ninety seconds. Now he was looking around looking for air bubbles. None were visible.
“Tori!” He started yelling for her. This had to be incredibly bad for her to be under this long. Then at the two minute mark he saw a bunch of bubbles in front of him, and slowly she stood in the water holding a black trash bag in her arms. “You scared the shit out of me!” he moved towards her, as she handed him the bag.
“Sorry, it was wedged down there under some tree branches. I had to dig for it.”
Julian stared at her incredulously. The woman just found a black bag at the bottom of a sludge hole. Everyone who ever thought that he could track and find things should meet her.
She took the shirt that was over his shoulder and used it to wipe off her face and neck. “It’s pretty messy down there.”
Littlemoon stared at her.
“What?”
“You have a leech on your shoulder,” he said, pulling it off for her and then turning her around and removing two more from her back. He glanced at the tags, and they indeed were hers. “I have so many questions for you right now and no idea where to start with them.”
Tori laughed at the way he said it. “How about we open that bag and see what we found?” Discussing any questions he may have wasn’t on her list of things that were happening. Ever!
Julian stared down at her, as she pulled a military style pocket knife out of her back pocket and slit the bag open.
Again, Tori ignored the questioning look on his face. “We found more evidence. I think the bosses will be pleased. I bet we have trace and DNA on the loot. Let’s get it back to the bomb techs.”
Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four) Page 48
