Damn it Desdemona!
Even from death she was turning the blade in his chest, twisting it viciously to make him bleed. Emotion overwhelmed him, as he let the tears begin to fall. This was his last moment alone, and from here on out he was responsible for a child. The words of the nurse kept replaying over and over in his heart and mind.
No one wanted the baby.
The nurse couldn’t be more wrong. He wanted his daughter. Now it was a matter of waiting to see if the woman that was giving him a son, and owned his entire heart and soul would forgive him for the pain he was about to cause her.
The next twenty four hours would set the path he’d walk.
It all came down to the woman he trusted with his life. His fate and the destiny of his daughter all rested in her hands.
She’d make them a family or hate him as much as Desdemona did before she died.
Callen wanted to be sick, but he fought through it. Pulling out his cell, he sent off a text to the woman he loved, and prayed that what they had was stronger than anything that could threaten to divide them.
That love would hold them up.
That it wouldn’t shatter.
And that it would remain in his life.
* * *
Julian walked up behind his mother, as she washed dishes alone in the kitchen. After dropping the bowl, she’s told them she’d handle the cleanup alone. That in itself was odd, because growing up Clarissa had told them she had so many babies to help with the chores. Now she’d sequestered herself in the kitchen on the day of his engagement party.
“We need to talk, Mom,” he said, touching her on the shoulder and once again, she dropped a dish into the sink. “What’s going on? This isn’t like you. You know you can tell me anything.”
Clarissa sniffled. “It’s nothing Julian. I’m just distracted today by the engagement, and how happy I am for you and your girl. She’s perfect for you, and I can’t wait to have more grandkids running around.”
“Mom, talk to me.” Julian wasn’t buying the fake façade. This woman was predictable, if anything.
She tensed beneath his hand. “Let it go, Julian. Let it stay dead, okay?”
He shrugged. “Okay Mom.” He knew exactly how to get what he wanted and was ashamed he was about to do it. “I’m sorry I brought everyone here tonight for nothing.”
She looked over at him confused. “For nothing?”
“I can’t get married if there’s something being hidden in our family. I owe it to Tori to have an open relationship with her. I won’t go through with a marriage knowing something is wrong.”
“Julian Trenton Littlemoon, you will marry that girl!” Clarissa was beginning to feel her eyes well up. All this was her fault for keeping a secret all these years.
“I’ll go tell Tori now. I hope it doesn’t make her hate me. I’m glad I didn’t buy the ring yet.”
Clarissa couldn’t let her son ruin his life. They were meant to be together. “The day your father died, when your uncle found him, there was a white feather beside the body.”
That caught Julian completely off guard.
“A white feather by dad?” he reiterated.
Taking a deep breath, she let the truth escape after years of keeping it guarded. “Your father didn't die in a hunting accident, Julian. He was murdered.”
Julian didn't know what to say.
* * *
Justin set up twenty cans all over the yard. Most were partially obstructed, making the shot nearly impossible to make. He snickered as the two women leaned against the fence. This was going to be too damn easy. While both women were great, smart and funny, this time he had the upper hand. He was a solider in a war zone. His closest competition was going to be his brother’s fiancée- only because she was trained much like him.
It was time to get the show on the road. “Okay, twenty hidden targets. The ones in plain view are obviously the easiest ones. If you hit those, you get one point. If you go for the partially obstructed ones, you get two points apiece. Winner has the most points at the end.”
Elizabeth shrugged. “We flip to see who goes first, or can I opt to go last?”
The man looked at her like she was crazy. “You want to go last?” She had to have misunderstood the rules. The easier targets would likely go first, and there were only four simple shots.
“Yep.”
A wicked grin played across Tori’s face, as she offered her boss a fist bump. “I’ll go second. You can shoot first, Justin.”
He wasn’t quite sure what the women were up to, but he was beginning to get suspicious.
Justin unzipped the case for his nine millimeter and loaded it. “Are you both sure you want to go after me?”
Elizabeth simply grinned, winking at her husband, who was struggling to not laugh. “Yep.”
Stepping up to the line they laid out in the grass, Justin scanned for the three easy shots and one tough one. It would clear almost all the simple targets and make the women have to work for it.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Justin?” Blackhawk asked, trying to keep his composure.
“Like candy from a baby,” he muttered, aiming and taking his first shot. It was an easy one and he followed it up with two more of the same. On his final shot, he took out a halfway obstructed can behind two rocks. “That makes four shots for four and a total five points.”
Tori pulled her Glock from her purse and moved to the line. “You could have cleared all the easy ones, Justin. I plan on making the hard shots,” she taunted. Scanning the area, Tori found the targets she wanted and planned for the hardest of the four first. Pulling the trigger the can flew from behind the tree branch, as did the next three from the other targets.
“What the hell,” he muttered, watching her clear her four easily. He wasn’t surprised; again, she was a soldier.
Tori strolled back over to Elizabeth. “Eight total points. It looks like you just lost, Justin. Now it’s between me and the boss lady, and since I’ve seen how she shoots, you may want to make this a bit harder for her. Make her clear eight in a row with her left hand. She’s a ringer.”
Elizabeth started laughing that the jig was up.
“I’m going to kill my brother,” he stated, unequivocally. His own flesh and blood set him up against two babes.
Now the women laughed even more. “On our last assignment here I was pregnant, and Julian mocked me when I was given the tactical shot gun. Did he ever tell you about the mountain lion?” she said, walking up to the line. “I’ll shoot lefty, and I’ll do eight in a row and the last one is going to be that one you have hidden behind that cinderblock.”
Justin wasn’t sure if she was serious or kidding. That last shot was a joke. No one could make it but a trained sniper. In fact, he’d hoped they try and fail when he set it up.
“No, my brother didn't mention anything, but I’ll beat it out of him later,” he muttered.
“I’ll even toss in another hundred bucks that says my wife can do it, but it’s going to cost you if she pulls it off. You a gambler, Justin?” inquired Blackhawk, grinning.
“Yeah, I am. I gambled with my life daily for twelve years. What do you have in mind?”
Elizabeth was entertained and curious at the same time. Ethan was really getting into it, but yet, his eyes gave away something troubling him below the surface. If he thought she couldn’t see it, he was dead wrong.
“She clears eight more targets, including that almost impossible one, and you get a tattoo on your ass that says ‘Tex was here’.”
Tori began laughing as Justin’s sisters stared open mouthed. “Oh hell, you back down you look like a baby, and if you lose you get inked. This is what happens when you swim with the Federal Piranhas,” stated Tori, snickering.
“If I win, you can have the money to pay for the tattoo.” Elizabeth offered. “Right now you should be thinking ‘are they screwing with me’? I may be bluffing or I may be dead serious, but in Blackhawk-land if you throw down, you go
hardcore all the way. Are you in, Justin or you backing away, Marine?”
He stared her down.
“Scared of a pregnant girl?”
His sisters started laughing, knowing she got him.
“I’m in, Sweetheart. You shoot lefty only, eight targets and eight bullets only. You miss one and I win, but let’s really go all in. You lose and my name goes on that tattoo on your ass, Elizabeth.”
She offered him a fist bump. “Done.”
Blackhawk wasn’t worried. “School him, Baby, because if you have to get his name on your ass, I have to kill him. I’m pretty sure Callen’s going to say the same thing.”
Justin stared at the big Native, unsure if he was kidding.
Elizabeth scanned the targets. “Tori Darlin’ count for me,” she said, southern accent coming out.
“You got it, Tex.”
“They call her that because she shoots well?” Justin asked, knowing his brother set him up with a ringer.
Ethan answered for Tori. “No, because she kills first and asks questions later.”
Elizabeth was completely focused; lifting her left hand she found her target and took the shot. The can flew from behind the log.
“One.”
She picked her next one and fired quickly.
“Two,” counted Tori.
The next ones were side by side behind some brush. Aiming she let two shots go back to back.
“Three and four.”
Justin blanched almost ready to go find Julian and beat him down. It wasn’t looking good for him. His only hope was that when it came to the last shot, the Fed couldn’t pull it off.
Elizabeth found another hard one. “Wow, Justin, that’s a tough shot. Could you make it?” she asked, pulling the trigger. Bark flew and so did the can.
“Five.”
The next one was wedged in a tree.
“Six.”
There was a can dangling from the wind chimes and swaying gently in the breeze. “Does that can there count as easy or hard?” she asked, before taking the shot. “I don’t want you to win by a technicality.”
Staring at the can she was referencing, he considered it. “I say hard because it’s moving.”
She fired at the last word out of his mouth, and the can ripped apart as bullet tore through it.
“Damn it,” he muttered. “This shot’s almost impossible.”
Elizabeth looked at it. “You might have me this time, Justin. I have to get down on the ground for a shot, and I do have a baby bump.”
He laughed at the visual in his head. “Oh, are you trying to make excuses now?”
She winked at her husband.
“She was giving you an out before she made the shot, Justin,” Blackhawk said, drinking the rest of his beer. “That was her way of keeping her name off your ass.”
Dropping down to the ground, she gaged the distance from her to the can, knowing her gun and how it would pull once she fired. Sliding to her right, Elizabeth found the one possible shot. It was between the holes on the cinderblock.
Justin prayed she’d miss or that tattoo was going to suck when he got naked with any women. Tex was a man’s name, and that was going to draw speculation.
Pulling the trigger the bullet flew straight as planned, entering the cinderblock and exiting through the back of the can. Ethan helped his woman up and kissed her. Watching her school the man was very sexy.
“Shit! Julian you’re a dead man!” he yelled towards the house.
Elizabeth pulled away from the kiss. “Give the boy child the money. I don’t think anyone’s ever gotten my name on their ass before.”
Ethan started laughing. “My life is never dull, Mrs. Blackhawk.”
Justin took the money and grimaced. “Before the weekends over I’ll get it.”
Elizabeth went to him and hugged him. “Good job, Justin. Be glad it didn’t say ‘my ass belongs to a pregnant woman’.”
He grinned and hugged her back. “That was truly excellent shooting, Tex. I’ll wear it proud, but I’m still killing my brother.”
“And so you should,” Elizabeth admitted. “He set you up for this one.”
Before Justin could comment, Julian exited the house. The look on his face said it all. The time for joking was officially over.
“I need anyone that has an FBI badge to come inside and anyone who doesn’t to stay out here,” Julian demanded, holding the door open.
All three agents went in, leaving the remainder of the family out in the yard.
“What do you think’s going on?” inquired Claire, drinking her beer.
Justin shook his head. “No idea, but it can’t be good. Julian looked like he was ready to go over the edge.”
Clarissa Littlemoon sat on her couch, crying into a handful of tissues. When the FBI came back into her house, she sobbed harder.
Tori glanced over at her fiancé. “What’s going on?”
Julian stood there with everyone. “When she dropped the bowl on the floor, something seemed wrong to me. My mother is unflappable, but I could see it in her face. There was fear there. I asked Justin to get you all outside, and I confronted her.”
Elizabeth glanced over. “What’s she crying about?”
Julian took a deep breath. “When I was a little kid, my dad went out hunting one day and never came home. We believed it to be a hunting accident.”
Tori didn't understand. “It wasn’t an accident?”
The woman on the couch began sobbing harder at Tori’s question. It pretty much answered itself.
Blackhawk lifted a brow. “Okay, so it wasn’t an accident? Then what was it?”
Julian didn't know where to start. Finally, when Tori squeezed his hand, he dropped the bomb. “She told me beside my father, they found a white feather.” There was so much pain in his face, as he struggled to get the words out.
Tori gasped. “Jules, I’m sorry.”
Elizabeth dropped her voice to a whisper. “I’m going to have to talk to her. I need to ask questions that you may not want to hear. You should go outside and stay with your family. I have her now.”
Julian shook his head. “No, I need to be here.”
She understood, because she’d probably do the exact same thing in his situation. Crossing the room to sit beside the woman, Elizabeth knew she was balancing between witness and victim. There was a fine line and she needed to walk it. “Mrs. Littlemoon, we need to ask you a few questions.”
Clarissa nodded. “I’m ready.”
Elizabeth took her free hand in hers, stroking her knuckles with her thumb. “Your husband didn’t die in a hunting accident, did he?”
She shook her head, looking up at Julian. “I’m so sorry. Your uncle didn’t want you kids to suffer. I wanted to tell you the truth, but he insisted it was best you didn’t know.”
Julian knelt before her. “Mom, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. We’re all big now and can handle it. Right now you have to tell Elizabeth, Ethan and Tori everything. Leave nothing out, please.”
She nodded. “Your father went out to get a deer. That part is absolutely true. When he didn’t come home that night, his brother went out searching for him. When he came back he told me what he found. Your father was dead in the woods.”
Elizabeth needed to know if anything else was the same with the scene. “How was he killed?”
Julian cringed at the words.
“I’m sorry, Julian. I need to ask,” she said, softly.
Ethan came over and placed his hand on the man’s shoulder in support. “We’ll get you and your family through this, Julian.”
He nodded, believing that they would. There were no people he trusted more than the Blackhawks.
The woman touched her son’s face gently. “Someone had stabbed him in the chest.”
Julian stood, his stomach rolling and the nausea rising up in his gut. “I have to go outside. I can’t listen to the details. I thought I could, but I can’t.” He hurriedly left the room, the back doo
r slamming behind him.
“Tori, you should go with him,” Elizabeth suggested, knowing the woman wanted to be by his side. If it was one of the men she loved, she’d want the same thing. There was a time for the job, and a time to be a partner to the one you loved.
When she was gone, they both flanked the woman. “I know this is hard, Mrs. Littlemoon, but think back to that day.”
She shook her head. “My husband was a stubborn man. He did what he wanted to do, and my job was raising the kids. I did just that. Connor is a great father, Justin served his country, Julian is independent and caring, Claire loves being in the Navy and Liana is a great mom. I did my job. I know nothing about that night.”
“Okay, stay calm. Breathe for me, Mrs. Littlemoon,” said Elizabeth, pulling her against her body and offering the woman comfort.
Ethan spoke up. “You mentioned that Julian’s uncle found him. Can we get in contact and meet with him? He may have some answers for us.”
Clarissa had more bad news. “My husband’s brother died of heart disease three years ago.”
It was obviously going to be a dead end on a very cold trail. There was only one thing to do. “You take the night, and you spend it with your kids. If you think of anything that can help us, please tell Julian and he’ll let us know. Okay?” she said, squeezing her hand.
The woman sobbed as Elizabeth held her tight. Just then her kids came in through the back door. It only made her weep more, that all these years she’d lied to them all. What kind of mother was she?
“Mom, don’t make yourself sick,” whispered Justin, as he held onto Liana as she cried. “We’ll get through this.”
Julian nodded standing between them all. Tori was by his side and holding onto Claire. “We’re strong, Mom. You raised us to be tough, and we’ll get you through this.”
The woman nodded and stood, going to her children. They all moved around her in a big circle, holding them to her body.
Darkness Of Truth (An FBI/Romance Thriller~ Book 6) Page 30
