“It’s pretty here,” she said, not sure what she expected, but this wasn’t it. The grounds looked nothing like a cemetery where her family was buried. There were few stone tombstones, but many handmade markers. Each was decorated with feathers and beads. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the pattern of graves, unlike in a customary site.
“I like the silence. I think that’s why they picked this location over a century ago. The first marker here is really old.” Julian led her through the grass and around graves. He came to stop at a wooden marker that was surrounded by white rocks in a decorative pattern. Hanging from the ornately carved square were beads and feathers.
Julian sat on the grave, focusing on his father’s name. “I miss him.”
Tori went to her knees beside him and stroked his cheek. “I know, Sweetheart,” she crooned, understanding that pain. “I’m sorry he was taken from you.”
“Sometimes I wonder if he’s proud of me. Justin and Claire are the warriors. Liana and Connor gave him grandchildren, and then there’s just me.”
Tori turned his face to stare into her eyes. “You’ve accomplished a great deal, Julian. You’ve done an amazing job. Your mom told me that without you, she would have been lost. You went by daily to check on her when your last sister went off to the Navy. You stayed here for her. That alone would make him proud. Then look at your life. You were a deputy and risked your life, trying to help people. Now you own your own business and seek justice. You are a warrior.”
He closed his eyes. “I love you.”
Tori kissed him gently. “I love you too, Jules.”
Julian pulled her into his lap and simply held her against his body as they sat there. Visiting his father this time, he found peace and it was most likely because of her.
“Wait until we buy a building and start the business. He’d be proud to see ‘Littlemoon’ on the sign. You’re going to make a success out of it, and I can’t wait to be there for the ride.”
Julian kissed her throat. “I’m going to be able to buy a building because of you selling your house to reside on the Rez. You do realize sane people don’t willing move here, right?”
Tori grinned at him. “The reservation is really peaceful and perfect.”
“I’ll owe you forever.”
She laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll make you work off your debt in sexual favors.”
At first she caught him off guard, and then came the laughter. “I can’t wait.”
Tori loved when he smiled. “I think for every one time we have sex I can take a dollar off the total for you.”
Now he was grinning, and it was bordering on laughter. “That’s a lot of sex.”
“Yeah, I know and I can’t wait! It’s going to take you years and possibly the rest of our lives.”
He kissed her again, enjoying the way they fit together. It was as if she was made for him.
“Want to go home and get naked, Julian?” she asked, trying to cheer him up.
He nodded. “Can I have a minute with my dad?”
Tori kissed him and climbed out of his lap. “I’ll be on the bike waiting for you.”
Julian waited until she walked away before he moved closer to the marker. Placing his hand on it, he spoke to his father. “I pray she’s right, Dad. I hope that where ever you are, you’re proud of me. I got very lucky and found a great girl. That’s Victoria, and she’s tough, ballsy and a soldier like Justin and Claire. I’m marrying her in the fall, and I wish you could be there.”
He stood, kissing his fingers and tapping the marker, like he’d done a million times before. As he walked away, the cold breeze brushed his neck and drew goose bumps across his flesh. It was his sign that his father wasn’t far away. “Love you, Dad,” he said, as he continued walking.
It was time to go home and roll around with his fiancée.
Pulling up to the cabin, not a soul was in sight. There was not a single house to be found near Chief Soaring Eagles homestead. Apparently, the man enjoyed his privacy.
Once out of the Denali, both men practically hovered over her. The last cabin they went to someone shot at them. Neither man was willing to take that chance.
“I know what you both are doing,” she said, glancing from man to man. “Do I have to tell you that it’s irritating as hell?”
Blackhawk ignored the scowl on her face and kissed her. “If I didn’t irritate you, you’d think something was seriously wrong.
Callen kissed her next. “I irritate you because it fires you up and makes for better sex.”
She shook her head, starting for the front door. “Let’s question the man and then regroup. I don’t like being out here in the open.” What she wanted to admit was she didn’t like either of them out in the open after finding that feather.
“Okay, Lyzee,” answered Blackhawk.
Banging on the front door, the three waited a few moments. When there was still no answerer, Ethan peeked in the front window.
“There’s a light on inside, and his truck is here. I’m going to go around the back. Maybe he didn’t hear us.” Blackhawk began trotting down the steps.
Elizabeth dropped her voice low. “Cal, go with him. This could be a trap.”
The man didn’t hesitate; he went after his brother around the back of the cabin.
She stood there inspecting her surroundings. Everything looked normal. There was one thing she could ascertain. The man liked to hunt. Just inside the door were two shotguns and a bow and arrows with a full quiver.
At the shout, her attention was drawn to the men at the back of the house.
“Better get back here, Angel!” called Callen.
As she raced around the back of the house, Elizabeth wasn’t sure what she was going to find. What was waiting for her was nothing out of the ordinary. Patio furniture, a grill and yard gear. “Are you both okay?”
Ethan nodded, pointing to the back window. “You’ll need a boost up, but you need to see this,” he replied, as he lifted her off her feet so her head peeked over the window sill.
She let out a breath. “Call in the tech team. We have another dead body.”
* * *
It didn’t take them long to find him, and that alone pleased him immensely. It meant that all his work and stealthiness had paid off. It wasn’t easy to get the FBI to do what you wanted, but a body… that was the surefire way to get their attention.
Did he feel bad for manipulating the man into taking his own life?
Yes and no.
Justice had a price and it was his job to protect his people. Serve and protect them until the bitter end. Well that end had come, just not for him. He couldn’t say the same thing for the man inside the cabin.
Looking down at his watch, he knew he needed to make an appearance back at work. If he was gone too long then there would be too much proof he was doing the killing.
It was a very fine line to balance between working man and skinwalker. As soon as he could, he’d slip into the basement and start flipping through more case files. After all, that’s how he figured out that Chief Soaring Eagle was indeed a killer.
Now he’d paid for his crimes, just as the outsiders he killed had paid for theirs. There was one last target, and then he’d stop his work until the feds gave up in frustration.
It was a shame; there was that pretty one he liked looking at. Oh well, everything in due time.
For now, he had a job to do and no inclination to stop until he’d taken his flesh, swallowed his energy, and became more powerful.
The Great Spirit had blessed him with the knowledge and now he was planning on giving back what was owed.
Respect.
* * *
They remained outside the cabin, until the team rolled up with the vans and the vehicles. One tech began stringing up the tape, blocking off any people trying to get on the scene. Already the very quiet roadway was showing signs of life. Soon the media would be arriving. The hounds loved the scent of blood and were greedy when it cam
e to the tragic end of life.
“What do we have?” questioned Doctor Leonard as he gloved up and covered his shoes with the paper booties.
Elizabeth led him over to the door and pointed at the lock. “We have one victim inside, and it looks like he hung himself.” As they inspected the doorframe, a tech was busily snapping pictures. It appeared no one had broken into the home.
“How are we getting in?” Chris inquired. “Am I going through a window?”
Blackhawk dropped to a knee, pulled out a tool from a little black case and had the door lock popped in under a minute.
“Forget you saw that,” she instructed the ME. “He likes to show off his B&E skills.”
Callen snickered. “When you got it, flaunt it.” It wasn’t the first time they’d had to break into a building for her, and probably not the last.
“Kicking in the door scuffs up my shoes,” Blackhawk admitted. “These are my favorite boots. Italian leather needs to be respected.”
Elizabeth simply shook her head as she rolled her eyes. “Okay, let’s go,” she answered, pulling on her own gloves and booties. Following the ME in, she assessed the scene.
Hanging from the banister of the stairway was the Native chief. His face was mottled with blue red patches. His eyes stared blankly ahead.
Elizabeth tried to not look him in the face. The dead eyes were a window into her nightmares. Turning, she scanned the room, and saw the wall. “Looks like our killer had just upped his game and changed the rules mid-quarter,” she observed, pointing at the vicious red slashes of words on the white wall.
“Yeah, it looks like,” stated Chris as he did a preliminary assessment of the body. “Petechial hemorrhaging is present in his eyes. He definitely asphyxiated.”
Elizabeth glanced back over at her ME. “I didn’t spend ten years in college and med school, and I could have told you that when I walked in, Chris.”
He laughed. “It must be that Ivy league education.”
That had Christina’s attention. “Who went to an Ivy league school?” she asked, snapping a picture of the surrounding room.
“Opps.” There was laughter from the ME at the look on Elizabeth’s face. “I guess I let the cat out of the bag. Sorry, Lyzee.”
Christina stared at her boss with a healthy dose of skepticism. “You’re kidding right?”
She sighed and figured it was too late to pretend. “I graduated from Cornell.”
Her head tech simply stared at her, open mouthed and wondering if she was kidding.
Blackhawk started laughing and redirected the discussion. “Look at the bloody clothing.” It worked. No one was thinking about his wife’s education. “Chief Soaring Eagle would look damn guilty if it wasn’t for the message scrawled on the wall in blood.”
Examining the scene, Elizabeth had to agree. “Someone laid out the clothing on the furniture like it belonged here, and then placed a white feather on each of them to symbolize something.”
“He’s laying them to rest,” Ethan said, pulling up the missing person’s reports on his phone. “It’s symbolic to him. By placing the victim’s clothing here, he’s showing us that in a way, he’s burying them. See how the sleeves of the shirts are crossed over the chest? It’s almost as if he’s making Chief Soaring Eagle own them.”
“Do we know for sure these garments are the victims?” inquired Callen.
Blackhawk shook his head in acknowledgment. “This shirt and pants match Jeffrey Hopper clothing description,” he said, pointing. “It matches the missing person’s report details.” Moving to the next set, he checked his digital report. “This one matches Andrew Sumner.”
Elizabeth stood in the center of the room and scanned it. “Did our killer string him up?”
Chris answered that for her. “I say no. I don’t see any scratches on his throat and no skin under his nails. This man didn’t struggle, which means he was either dead or willing to die.”
“How long has he been hanging there, Doc?” Callen questioned, knowing that Chris Leonard wasn’t going to give them too much more. He liked to wait until the autopsy was done first.
“No more than eight hours.”
Before Elizabeth said anything more, there was a commotion outside. Glancing towards the door, she saw Rick Longtree and his deputies. “We have company, boys.”
Blackhawk knew that was his cue to run interference. Elizabeth didn’t want them on the scene. Not until all the evidence was collected and secured. If one of them was the one that touched the feather found on James Duffy, she wasn’t going to risk having them be able to say it was crime scene contamination.
“Why weren’t we called?” grilled Longtree. “I am still chief of reservation police, and that man is technically my boss.”
Ethan and Callen stood in the doorway like two crime scene bouncers. If Elizabeth wanted to be bought time, they’d get her as much as possible.
“Rick, don’t make this into some giant conspiracy. I was planning on calling you once our tech team cleared the evidence. It’s a small area, and they need the least amount of people walking all over it.” Ethan took in their body language.
The logic seemed to mollify the man.
“Oh, well we’re here now, what can we do?” It was apparent that the men had no intention of allowing him access.
“We could really use your help controlling the scene. Can you station your officers at the driveway? I noticed traffic is picking up. It won’t be long before one of the passers-by calls the media.” Blackhawk figured that would be the best place for them- away from the evidence.
“Sure thing,” Longtree said. “Garrett, you and Melanie take the driveway. Kane, there’s a path that leads to the property back here. Anyone that’s familiar with the lay of the land will know about it.”
The officers all split up.
“Now, what can I do?” he inquired.
Elizabeth came to the door. “You can come in, Rick. Just booties on and glove up,” she paused. “Is your DNA or trace going to be on the scene?”
He stared at her. “Are you asking if I murdered the man?” his temper began to rise. Did they actually believe he was the killer?
Her brow scrunched up. “Uh, no. I was asking if you’d been here in the last few days to talk to the man or if you stopped in for coffee.”
Immediately he calmed down. “Sorry, I guess I’m a little rattled by this entire thing. Does he still have his skin?”
Blackhawk simply nodded.
“I was here about a month ago. Ben wasn’t feeling well, so I ran over the reports he wanted. I didn’t come inside. I stood at the door, but I did touch the door handle, door frame and glass.”
Christina rushed over. “Boss, I found something and you need to see it.”
All three turned and headed after their head tech. Rick Longtree followed. At the desk, they all waited for Christina to explain what had her so excited.
“I was photographing the desk and found this,” she lifted two envelopes and handed them to Elizabeth.
The first one was marked ‘last will and testament’ and was sealed.
“We’ll have this one opened at the lab, but it’s probably exactly what it says,” she admitted. “What’s the next one?”
She handed her boss the final envelope. It wasn’t sealed, and opened easily.
Elizabeth unfolded the letter over the desk, in case anything fell from it. They might have additional trace. Scanning the letter, she finished and handed it to her husband.
“Well?” asked Callen, watching his brother’s face as he read the note.
“We can stop looking for the man that murdered Julian’s father, Officer Kevin Clark and Chief Runningbear. Benjamin Soaring Eagle admitted to the killings,” Elizabeth relayed the confession.
“Did he admit to the outsiders and William Boyd?” questioned Rick Longtree.
“Nope.”
Blackhawk gingerly folded up the confession. “I’m going to call Julian and Tori. I think it’s safe
for him to come here now. We were worried, but he can’t snap out and kill the man.”
Elizabeth had to agree there. It looked like the killer had already scared the man into doing it.
* * *
Julian stared down into her face as he glided in and out of her body. The way she made him forget his pain, lifted his heart. “Victoria,” he mumbled, the overwhelming need to push them into the bliss called to him.
Need surged as the desire to find refuge in her body urged him on. Having Tori by his side gave him strength to carry on and be at peace.
“Julian,” she moaned, her body quaking. “I want you, always.”
He quickened the pace and they both shattered, shouting each other’s names. As soon as he could focus, he rolled off her body.
“Nice one,” Tori quipped, giggling.
Julian joined in the laughter. “I blame you.”
Instinctually, she rolled, cuddling against his side. The contact soothed them both, just for different reasons. “I love you,” she said, leaving kisses across her name healing on his chest.
The scent of her skin heated his blood. “I happen to love you too.”
“Are you feeling better?”
Julian thought about it. “Sex is very cathartic. I used you,” he snickered.
“I feel so cheap.”
He laughed and winked. “How much more do I owe you now?”
Tori ran her hands down his lean frame. “By my calculations you owe me two hundred forty nine thousand, nine hundred ninety eight dollars.”
“Good to see I knocked two bucks off with this one.”
“It was pretty spectacular.”
Julian loved her and would be completely lost without her. “I need to ask you something.”
Tori looked up at him. “Okay, ask.”
“Do you want kids?”
That wasn’t what she was expecting and it caught her off guard. “Yes and no.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “You may need to clarify that answer for me, because I don’t know where you’re heading with it.”
Darkness Of Truth (An FBI/Romance Thriller~ Book 6) Page 49
