“Curious. I’d be thinking the same thing if that happened to me,” answered Callen, chewing.
Taking a bite of her burger, she nodded. “Yeah, well it sent up red flags with Christina. It’s good to see a sexy Native didn't make her lose her mind completely.”
“We did hire the brightest and best,” Blackhawk said, eating the rest of his burger. “I am so damn happy right now.”
She rolled her eyes when both men were making yummy noises as they were chewing. “Last on the list is Melanie Freeman. She saw the sheriff’s corpse on the scene and tossed her cookies twice. I don’t think someone can be that convincing. How’s she skinning someone while retching?”
“Excellent point.” Callen shoved the last of his burger in his mouth and closed his eyes as he chewed. “I don’t have to feel guilty anymore about cheating on you with burgers,” he stated in meat bliss.
“I lost six pounds eating salads,” replied Blackhawk. I had to tighten my belt.”
Callen nodded. “I think it was starting to affect my sex drive and performance.”
Elizabeth began choking on a french fry at his comment.
Immediately, both men looked concerned.
“Are you okay Angel?” he asked, staring into her watery eyes.
She nodded and tried to not laugh. “Your sex drive? What the hell has happened to it exactly? Last I looked it was still there.”
Shrugging, Whitefox stared at her. “The salads made me feel less manly.”
“Me too,” replied Ethan.
“Unbelievable,” she uttered, torn between amusement and incredulousness.
“Where did we leave off?” Ethan queried.
“Last on our list is the chief of police. He has access to all the files, the information and the crime scene data. He’s liable to the council.” Elizabeth added.
Blackhawk tensed. “Heads up,” he mumbled.
All three FBI agents glanced up as one of the deputies from Red River’s sheriff’s department walk towards them.
“Do you have a moment?” Christian Anderson inquired, looking from one to the other. “I’d like to talk to you privately.”
Sliding into the booth closer to Elizabeth, Whitefox made room for him.
“What’s up?” she answered, the men flanking her. Reassuringly, she placed a hand on each one of their thighs, offering them the connection.
“First, I need to tell you that I’m now interim sheriff until the election, and as I was sitting in my office, I saw the news. I headed over to the police station on the reservation and your team said you were likely here.”
“What is it that we can do for you, Sheriff Anderson?” Elizabeth asked, wondering if the man was going to be a mini-Duffy.
“I want to offer my help. Unlike Jimmy, rest his soul, I’m not as anti-Native. I’m seeing a woman from the Rez, and I want her safe at all costs. I have an investment in the community.”
Blackhawk was enjoying the hand on his leg. Her fingers were drawing intricate patterns and heating his blood. “I can’t give you anything, but I will tell you that the killer isn’t after women. Does anyone know you’re dating?”
He shook his head. “It’s a new thing and still in the beginning stages, Why?”
“Keep it quiet for a while, until this all blows over,” Ethan suggested. “From one law official to another, the safest place for a non-Native man right now is far from the Rez. We believe we know why the three men were killed, but just in case, lay low.”
Christian stood. “Thank you,” he nodded. “If you need anything at all, my office is willing to do what it takes. We may be small, but we’re bodies willing to help you out.”
Blackhawk offered his hand. “I appreciate it.”
Pulling out his card, Callen handed it to the sheriff. “If you hear anything, drop us a call or text.”
The man took the card, tipped his hat at the woman and headed out of the diner.
Elizabeth thought about what Anderson had passed on to them. “We’re already on the news. This is just fantastic. It’s going to spread like wildfire now.”
“Yeah, we’ll I’m going to try and lead them away from the scent when we get back to the police station.” It was worth a try. Blackhawk could be very convincing when need be. He’d been playing the FBI game for a while now.
Callen motioned to Wilma May, handing her his credit card. “We need to pay and get out of here,” he said, turning to look out the window. “Great timing,” he muttered. “The hounds followed Sheriff Anderson right to us.”
When their waitress came back to the table, Callen tossed the cash tip on the surface and protectively placed Elizabeth behind him.
“You’re up Cowboy, work your magic.”
* * *
Yeah, he was a complete and total asshole. One of these days, his temper was going to get the best of him and get him in some serious trouble. Thinking back to what he did, he couldn’t believe he actually got angry at his brother’s fiancée. Julian was completely right; he’d jumped the gun and hurt a fellow soldier’s feelings in the process. The look on her face as she left the house said it all. Tori was in pain.
Big time!
Now it was time to smooth it over and keep the peace. He didn’t want to lose his brother to a stupid fight, where he was completely wrong. Walking outside, he found Tori sitting in the grass, watching the cars drive by on the road.
Well, here went nothing. “Can we talk?”
“You have more to say after all that?”
Justin sat, observing the smaller woman beside him. Tori had put on her sunglasses, and he suspected it was only to hide the tears he caused. “I’m an ass.”
“I noticed.”
Justin didn’t expect that, but he pushed forward. “I have a really bad temper, and unlike my brother I don’t control it well. I shouldn’t have said anything to you. I don’t know you well enough to assume you’d turn me in for killing someone.”
Tori glanced over at him. “You’re right. You don’t know me at all, Justin. For the record, if Julian came to me and told me he killed the man that murdered his father, I’d help hide the body.”
There was more surprise.
“I’m a soldier. I follow orders, but I also know that in war there’s collateral damage. If someone hurt Julian, I’d do the same thing. I’d hunt the person down, string him up, and take their life. I’m not honorable. I’ve killed, I've walked through the blood, and I’m not ashamed of who I am.”
“You didn’t deserve my anger.”
“No, I didn’t. I’m going to marry your brother. I’m going to start my life with him and end it with him. I would never think to stop him from being part of you, but the next time you point your damn finger at me, accuse me of something you have no understanding of then you better be ready for war. I won’t make Julian fight my battles, I’m a big girl and I’ll do it myself.”
He didn’t know what to say.
“If the killer was alive, I’d handle it for Julian. I wouldn’t allow him to get messy over it. I’d be the one that needs the damn alibi. Ask yourself this, Justin,” she said, standing. “If it was me that needed someone to lie to keep me out of jail, would you do it to save his heart?”
Tori pulled out her phone when it buzzed in her pocket. “Julian,” she yelled, waiting for him to appear in the door. “We’ve been summoned to the autopsy. We need to hustle.”
Justin watched his brother’s fiancée walk away. “Tori,” he yelled after her, as she moved towards his brother’s bike.
When she turned, the glasses remained in place. “Yeah?”
“I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
Finally she pulled the reflective lenses from her face and stared right into his eyes. “Then there’s nothing to be sorry about, Justin. We’re on solid ground.”
He knew in that moment that family would stick, no matter what- even his brother’s fiancée. As far as he was concerned, she was now a Littlemoon.
* * *
Ethan B
lackhawk refused to do the media conference in front of a diner. He liked to have complete control over every situation, and this one was certainly no different. As far as he was concerned, if the media wanted anything, they’d follow him to hell and back if that was the offer on the table.
Pulling into the reservation police department, they saw Julian and Tori hopping off his motorcycle.
Elizabeth motioned them inside, and stood between the men in her life. She was going to enjoy her husband going all ‘director’ on them.
“I’ll make a statement and that’s all we have at the moment for the press. The FBI is currently working on tracking a suspected serial killer. As to date, the suspect is still at large, although we have narrowed down the list of potential persons of interest. We hope to be making an arrest shortly.”
“Director Blackhawk!” some woman shouted. “Do you feel you’re less than enthusiastic due to the fact the killer is Native like yourself?”
Elizabeth flinched, and Callen had to place a hand on her shoulder. It was his job to make sure she didn’t kick the crap out of the reporters while on camera. It made for bad PR.
“Interesting question,” he started, staring her down. “Do you find that you’re less of a reporter when interviewing a woman because you yourself are female?”
The woman looked insulted.
“Then you see the validity of your own question. I work for the FBI, and the color of my skin, ethnicity, or any other physical attribute has nothing to do with how we do our jobs.”
“You’re giving us nothing to work with, Director!” another reporter shouted. “Will you refute the email update from the police department then?”
Apparently the reporters were out of their minds. “To my knowledge, we’re not aware of what you’re talking about. I can’t comment on a topic that I have no frame of reference to at this time.”
The three turned and started towards the police station.
“Director!”
“Directors! Can we get a one on one for tonight’s news broadcast?”
Elizabeth grinned at her husband. “Can I go back and bitch slap the female reporter once the cameras are off?”
Whitefox snorted. “She almost went after her. I had to put my hand on her shoulder, or she was crowd surfing.”
Blackhawk wasn’t worried about the reporter or her question. This wasn’t his first time in front of the media. “Her plan was to try and get me riled up, so I’d make a huge mistake and spill something.”
“What email update from the police was that reporter talking about?” inquired Whitefox, dropping his arm over Elizabeth’s shoulders.
She shrugged. “We didn’t authorize one, and I doubt that Chief Longtree would issue a statement without notifying us first. At least I hope he wouldn’t.” Elizabeth started to worry and pulled out her phone, sending the man a text.
When it came back, she breathed a bit easier. “No, he didn’t.”
“I hate when reporters try and play mind games.” Callen didn’t like facing them at all, let alone ones trying to get important details from him. One screw up and a case could be destroyed. He didn’t want that on his shoulders.
Julian and Tori were waiting just outside the doors to the lab. “It’s sealed up pretty tight,” Julian offered.
“Great,” replied Elizabeth. “The dead squad finally listened to a directive the first time. Someone mark this on a calendar for me, so when they ignore me next time I can at least look back and see it was possible.”
Knocking on the makeshift morgue doors, Tony peeked out before opening it. When he saw it was the bosses, he let them in with a grin. “You said lockdown, and we went literal.”
Elizabeth didn’t blame them. “Anyone try and gain access to the lab?”
“No one yet,” he said, looking around.
Blackhawk stared at the man on the slab. “Talk body to us, Chris,” he requested, pulling out his phone to enter anything he needed to add to the file.
Elizabeth went over to the spare table and hopped up next to Tori.
“Ben Soaring Eagle, age sixty seven was relatively healthy. He had some liver issues that he was probably well aware of too. When I cut him open I found no trauma to any of his organs. I removed the scalp and cranial cap. His brain was mostly pristine for a man that age. It appeared that at some point he’d had a small stroke, but it was most likely something so minuscule he never noticed.”
“So COD?” requested Callen.
“Hyoid is broken and the man asphyxiated as I first believed. He was wide awake when he was strangled with the rope. The abrasions match exactly, and he didn’t struggle. None of his own DNA under his nails, and that proves that when he took the step off that upper banister, it was with the intent to die.”
“He never changed his mind?” Elizabeth shuddered. She couldn’t imagine hanging there and not contemplating the need to get free.
“There is no indication that he wanted to save himself.”
Christina popped in with her tablet in her hand. “I have blood results on the message left on the wall,” she said, not looking up.
“Okay, what do we have?” Blackhawk was ready for it.
She sent them all the information, keeping it a paperless trail. “The blood was definitely the same person’s sample. The drop that Julian found in the woods was an exact match for the words left for the victim.”
“Great, we only need to look at every person’s arm that works here and find needle marks. Gee, it’s damn simple.” Elizabeth’s tone showed her exasperation.
“So we think it’s someone here?” Christina’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Yeah, we do but we have no proof.”
She swallowed. “What if I had a way to eliminate one of the possible suspects?”
“Go on,” Blackhawk urged.
There was that tiny bit of hesitation. “I’ll go on record and say that if he is the killer, it may not stand up in court.”
Elizabeth didn’t care. She didn’t want any more people to die. “It won’t be the first or last time that this lab skirted the law to get a killer off the street. If you have a way to eliminate or find a suspect, you need to tell me. I’ll take the brunt of it in court.”
This had to be the most mortifying moment of her life. “I kind of…may have…you know.” Christina stared over at Elizabeth for help, “had a one night stand with one of your suspects.”
Doctor Leonard got the meaning first. “So you had unprotected sex with one of the men. Which one?”
Christina flushed six shades of red. “Kane Redwolf.”
Elizabeth grinned. “Are you willing to submit to a swab, Christina?” she asked. This could help them eliminate him and narrow their focus.
“Yeah, I guess I can, but I want to keep this quiet. I don’t think he’ll ever want to see me again if this gets out. I mean, if he’s not the killer. Then again, if Kane is the killer, he’s definitely going to want to see me. He’ll probably break out of jail and murder me.”
Ethan went right to the woman and hugged her. “You’re my favorite tech for just this reason!” Blackhawk kissed her on the forehead.
“Okay, I feel a little better,” she admitted.
Callen mimicked his brother’s actions, hating to see the embarrassment on her face. “Totally bad ass, Christina,” he said, hugging her and whispering in her ear. “Possibly more than Elizabeth.”
That cheered her up even more, and when her boss winked at her, she started laughing.
Chris pulled out some swabs and was ready. “It won’t take long, Christina.”
She swallowed. “Uh okay.”
“I’ll stay with you,” Elizabeth offered, taking her hand in hers.
Tori hopped down off the table. “Me too. All the men need to get out of here.”
They headed towards the door.
“We’ll be upstairs in the office waiting for you,” Callen added over his shoulder.
Elizabeth gave them both a look. “Nei
ther of you leave this building without me. Killers like arrogant men who think they’re invincible, and I’m really attached to your sexy Native hides.”
They started laughing.
“You too, Julian,” admonished Tori. “Keep that skin of yours safe.”
He winked at her and grinned. “Yes, Victoria.”
Tony locked the door behind them. “I’ll head into the lab and keep the techs in there. You’ll have privacy.”
Christina stood there, unsure what to do next. “This has to be the most mortifying thing.”
Elizabeth shrugged. She’d had to submit to the test when a killer abducted her. “It goes by really fast if you’re distracted.”
“No, I mean Chris doing the test. It’s like having your big brother seeing things that he really shouldn’t.”
He started laughing. “You all realize I am a real doctor, and I actually did rotations in obstetrics and the ER. I’ve seen it all. Then you can toss in that I’m a heterosexual man who’s had sex before. I’m familiar with the female anatomy. Trust me- a vaginal swab isn’t a big deal.”
Christina was creeped out. “Please don’t call it that. It makes it sound… ick.”
Everyone started laughing that after playing in bodily fluids, handling skin flayed from a body, and decaying corpses, that what amounted to a pap smear had her freaked out.
“Strip from the waist down and up on the table. Cover your lower half of your body,” he directed. He turned around to give her privacy.
When she was up on the table, Elizabeth and Tori each took a hand. “Thanks, guys.”
“It’s the least we can do.”
“I’m going to do two swabs, just in case we need a second one,” he paused. “As a doctor, I’m going to tell you how dangerous one night stands are,” he stated, looking up at her.
“I know, I know.” Christina never did anything rash, stupid or out of control. “Tequila is not my friend.”
“Are you on birth control?” he asked, being the big brother now.
Christina had to believe this was possibly one of the worst conversations she’s ever had in her life. “Yes, Dad.”
Darkness Of Truth (An FBI/Romance Thriller~ Book 6) Page 52
