The Killing Times (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 1))

by Kelley, Morgan

  Blackhawk nodded at her, and she hung up the phone. “We’ll see you at the sheriff’s office.” He turned and wasn’t quite sure what the woman said under her breath, but it must have been pretty vile. His wife was vibrating and whipped around quickly.

  “I’m sorry, did you just make a derogatory remark about him?” She turned on the woman as fury reverberated through her tense body.

  “What if I did? You’re the sheriff, and you can’t touch me.”

  Elizabeth had had enough. “Ethan,” she took off her gun and badge and handed it to him. “I quit. I’m turning in my gun and badge.”

  Elizabeth turned back to face the woman. “Now I’m no longer the sheriff, and I can touch you.” She jabbed her finger into the woman’s chest, watching her blanch as she took two steps back.

  “For your information, that man is my husband. So, let me tell you what I think about you and your backwoods, hillbilly-esque attitude. You can kiss my ass. I’ve stood here listening to you insult him, because he’s Native American. You know what? Who gives a fuck?”

  The look on the woman’s face was priceless. Yes, she just threw down the ‘F word’ in their house of God. In her opinion, it was no worse than what they had been doing all along with their bigotry.

  “You call yourself good people; well I call you judgmental, bigoted assholes! If I ever hear you utter one more word about my husband or his heritage, you won’t have to worry about the sheriff riding crazy all over your ass! You will have to deal with me!” Elizabeth swung her focus to the minister next. “Let me assure you both, the amount of sheer hell that I will reign down on you will be more than the apocalypse and the next coming rolled into one. No one talks down to my husband like that and gets away with it. Keep that in mind and pass that little bit of information around to your bigoted friends too.”

  Neither spoke, they looked too shocked at her words.

  “Furthermore,” she said pointing at the wife again. “History lesson time, Mrs. Dansforth. Ethan’s ancestors were here first, and that gives him more right to be here than you inbred, puritanical, European pilgrims. So, you can stuff that in your bible and then go push your bigoted ideas elsewhere. It isn’t going to fly in my town, or around my husband.”

  “Well I never!” she stated with such a pained look on her face.

  It might have been funny if the Dansforths didn’t make her want to crack their skulls together. “And you never will as long as you let your overly bloated, hot air spouting, bigoted asshole husband treat you and everyone around him like a second class citizen. Here’s a thought… get out of the kitchen, stop being barefoot and pregnant, and learn the bible you keep preaching at everyone else.”

  She turned and walked away, leaving them all standing there as they stared in her wake.

  Ethan smiled at them both and nodded. “You both have a good day now, and if you hear from your son, give us a call.” Blackhawk would have laughed at the way she put both racist bigots in their place, but he had a feeling this was just the beginning of the storm.

  Elizabeth Blackhawk was stirred up and it was going to take a lot to calm her down.

  * * *

  Elizabeth didn’t talk the entire way back to the station. She gave him credit. He tried to see if she was okay, and she wasn’t. Standing there for thirty minutes and having to watch the man she loved being insulted was too much for her to handle. He did give her the gun and badge back, but she locked it away in her glove compartment. Neither of which she wanted to see at that moment.

  Council was probably going to hear about it, and she was going to be fired for just threatening a minister and his wife. Then once they tossed in using profanity in the house of God, she was likely up for a public town flogging. She couldn’t believe she let them piss her off that much.

  When he stopped the Jeep, she jumped out and stormed towards her office. Once inside she slammed the door.

  Elizabeth didn’t even noticing the name change that had been completed earlier that day. As she pulled on shorts, a tank top and her sneakers, there was only one thing to calm her down. She needed to beat the hell out of something.

  Out at her secretary’s desk, she tried to remain calm. “Martha, don’t let anyone bother me. I’m not in the mood for company.”

  The woman simply watched her walk away.

  Once in the gym, she laced up her boxing gloves and started on the bag. With each hit, she began to feel a little bit more human and less likely to kill someone. A fine sheen of sweat covered her, and she just kept pounding on it, pretending that it was the minister and his wife, and she was beating common sense into their heads.

  When the gloves got too cumbersome, she pulled them off, willing to bare hand the bag, even if it caused her pain. It was that or cry. She went at it with kicks, knees, and back handed swings, anything and everything to make the hurt in her heart lessen. Now she was using all the fighting techniques that she’d learned in the FBI. It all came back, and she moved quickly and easily. Her body found its rhythm and she worked out a great deal of her aggression.

  She knew he was there before he said anything.

  “I told Martha that I wasn’t to be bothered.” She wished for Ethan’s sake he would have just listened. Elizabeth grabbed the tape off the wall and wrapped her sore knuckles, so she could continue on with her release of aggression.

  “I may have a problem with my wife beating the hell out of her body, so I don’t think that order applies to me.”

  “I’m mad, Ethan.”

  “I get that, but at who? Is it at the Dansforths or me?”

  She looked up at him surprised. He was standing there all cool and collected, and she wished she had the icy control he had, but she just didn’t. “No, not you, Ethan. I’m pissed at them and myself.”

  She went back to the bag, hitting it hard, feeling her shoulder sing in pain, but pushing through it anyway. Hand to hand combat calmed her.

  Apparently, violence was cathartic.

  Blackhawk flinched, as he watched his wife fight the invisible demons. “Want to talk it out? Or you just want to continue until the bag surrenders?” He was pretty sure she kneed it a few times to prove her point. Gabe was right, she would fight dirty. Better the bag than him.

  Looking up at him with sweat dripping in her eyes, she didn’t look any calmer. “I’m angry that I lost control. I’m angry that they’re assholes. I’m just angry that I had to stand there for thirty minutes while they insulted you. I don’t even think that angry is even the word for it.”

  “People are going to be assholes. That’s job security for both of us.” Ethan tried to make her smile.

  Elizabeth looked at him with no emotion on her face.

  “I’m sorry you had to stand there and watch it, but I’m used to it, and you can’t defend me against every bigot in the world, baby.”

  “I can try.” Elizabeth sighed and sat down on the mat, leaning her head against the wall.

  Blackhawk took a spot beside her, taking Elizabeth’s hand in his. It took him a while to figure out what he wanted to say. Finally, he found the words. “The south is a pretty tough place when it comes to judgmental assholes, Elizabeth.”

  “Then I guess we’ll live in Georgetown, because I’m not going to let you be ripped apart every day here. Screw the job; I’ll toss it to preserve your heart.”

  Just the willingness to leave her town and job meant everything to him. “Do I get any say in this?” he asked, leaning down to kiss her. “Or have you decided you're going to be the boss in the marriage?”

  “I’m not the boss, Ethan. I’m the one that probably just signed her own pink slip,” she said, laughing. Now that her temper was gone, it was funny in a ‘fired and unemployed’ kind of way.

  “Unemployment means more time to have sex,” he joked, kissing her on the top of her head. “I know that has to cheer you up.”

  She grinned. “Might as well get started on having kids,” she quipped, teasing him back “I’m pretty sure the �
�F word’ in the church will be the council’s breaking point.”

  “Come on, let’s check on the team, and then head home to start on those kids.”

  “Sounds good to me,” she laughed, the anger breaking up. If she was going to lose her job, it was all worth it defending her husband.

  “Oh, and Elizabeth?”

  She lifted an eyebrow, as he pulled her to her feet. “Yes, Ethan?”

  “That little display in the church was the sexiest thing I have seen my wife do. It was sexier than punching out my partner, and threating to ass kick my ex. You going ghetto on the minister and his wife was very hot.”

  Elizabeth snorted, as her husband picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder.

  “Ethan! You can’t carry me to my office like this!”

  “Want to bet, Sheriff?” he threw back at her.

  For the first time, Elizabeth Blackhawk didn’t have anything funny, or clever to say.

  She was too mortified!

  * * *

  The team had everything under control, but the tox reports were still out. For now, they needed to be patient and wait on them. What they needed was the poison in its natural form, and there was a lab hold up. So, with nothing else to do, they decided to home and have a quiet dinner.

  Once there, Elizabeth showered and changed, meeting her husband in the kitchen, where he was making her dinner.

  “This is nice. You're cooking again,” she said, pouring them both a glass of wine.

  He accepted it and took a sip. “You look much calmer, so I’ll guess that the storm has passed?”

  “Yeah, I’m better.” Elizabeth put down her glass. “I love you,” she stated as she enjoyed watching him move around their kitchen. It reminded her of the night he proposed and always would.

  “I love you too, baby,” he answered back. There was something cathartic about being with his wife. “What do you say to a quiet night involving some dinner, us on the couch cuddling with some lab reports, and maybe some making out?”

  Elizabeth grinned over the rim of her glass. “Will there be more booze, and us getting naked involved in this plan?”

  “Probably,” he grinned wickedly.

  “Sounds good to me, Cowboy.” Elizabeth liked the way this evening was turning around. When the doorbell rang, she cursed. “Seriously? Can’t a girl have dinner and sex with her husband without someone interrupting? I swear this is the worst honeymoon ever.”

  Ethan grinned. “I promise when this is all over, you and I are going to a beach to lay topless in the sand.”

  That had its merit. “I have a bikini and can have a bag packed in under ten minutes if you want to go now.”

  Now he started laughing. “Go answer the door.”

  “Spoil sport!” At least there was a honeymoon on the horizon. Thinking about debauchery with her sexy husband, might get her through the rest of this assignment.

  “No growling at the guests,” he reminded her, laughing as she walked away. He sipped his wine, seriously terrified for anyone who came to their door tonight. Unless if it was Tony. After hearing his comments today, he wouldn’t mind watching his wife chew him up and spit him out.

  Elizabeth opened the door, and there stood her step-mother and half-brother. On a good day, she didn't want to see the woman, but today…

  It was official. Someone hated her.

  With the kind of day she was having, them just showing up like this was going to have a horrible outcome. Her patience was already worn thin.

  The woman marched right in like she owned the place.

  “Gee, come on in Abigale,” she sighed, waiting for George to enter too.

  “We were in the store, and we heard a horrible rumor about you. Someone said you married that Indian man from up north.”

  Yep, the day was rapidly deteriorating and the ‘topless husband’ at the beach fantasy wasn’t going to be enough. If he wanted to keep her calm, he should start stripping right about now.

  Elizabeth laughed, and it wasn’t a good laugh. It was the kind that was followed by some horrible act of violence.

  “It’s not a rumor, Abigale. It’s absolutely correct. I married Ethan yesterday.” Elizabeth turned and walked away, knowing it was happening again. First, it was the minister and his wife, and now her father’s ex-wife and her half-brother. This was her proof. Someone above was testing her patience to the extreme today. This had to be her karma for cursing in church.

  Elizabeth just knew it.

  “By the way, not that you’ll get this, but the ‘Indian man’ has a name, and in our house, use it or get the hell out.”

  Abigale looked appalled and made some strangled noise at being corrected.

  “Ethan, you remember Abigale and George,” she reintroduced them, going to stand by his side in unity. “Abigale and George, this is my husband.”

  The woman blanched.

  “Oh yeah, I recall them vividly,” he smiled, dropping his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “This time I’m dressed thought.” Since they weren’t involved in his investigation, he didn’t care if Elizabeth lost it now. In fact, he leaned back with her against the counter and sipped his wine, waiting for it. Surely, the evening’s entertainment would be starting soon. Maybe it wasn’t Tony, but it was still going to be fun to watch.

  “You ran off to the north to get married to him?”

  “Again, ‘HIM’ has a name. Try using it.”

  “You went off to marry the FBI man?” Abigale rephrased, refusing to use his name; he was nothing to them but a stranger in her house.

  Elizabeth was about to toss them out, when her husband stroked her back. This woman was a hopeless battle, and she didn’t have the energy to fight it now.

  “No, I ran off to the north to have my father’s body exhumed, and then while I was there we decided to get married.”

  You could have heard a pin drop in the room, that’s how silent it went at the word ‘exhume’. The look on Abigale’s face was priceless. The older woman looked like she sucked a bag full of lemons.

  “How dare you defile his grave,” she hissed at the woman.

  Elizabeth stood next to her husband and stared into her step-mother’s eyes. “How dare I defile my own father’s grave? Listen up! Charlie was murdered. Someone defiled his life. I had to have him exhumed to find out what killed him, so I can nail this murderer to the wall. As for the legality of it, he was my father and I was the executor of his will. I had the legal choice, when the FBI requested it.”

  “He was my dad too, E.L,” George said softly. “I would have liked to at least known.”

  “Yes, he was and I’m sorry. I didn’t have time to confer with you, George. We have a killer here in Salem, and I needed to not waste precious time with dramatics from his ex-wife,” she emphasized the word ex.

  Abigale looked like she was slapped.

  “I apologize to you, George. I should have called, but we were trying to keep it quiet, and word in this town travels like wildfire.”

  “So did you find anything?” George inquired. “What killed dad if it wasn’t his heart?”

  “Can’t discuss it while the case is ongoing,” she replied, placing her head on Blackhawks shoulder, as if almost daring them.

  “Why did you get married?” Abigale asked, giving the FBI agent a dirty look. “What happened, did he get you pregnant?”

  Blackhawk almost choked on his wine.

  Elizabeth waited for him to recover. “Are you okay, Ethan?” she asked, and then turned on Abigale venomously. “Why does everyone find it so hard to believe that I fell for a good man, and that is the only reason why I would marry someone?” She wrapped her arms around his waist, and held onto him, possessively. “I married Ethan because I’m in love with him. That’s it.”

  “You haven’t known him long enough to know if you love him. You can’t know anything about him, Elizabeth. Think about this. There’s time to get this marriage annulled.”

  Abigale just kept digging the h
ole deeper.

  Elizabeth felt the tension start in her husband’s body, and it passed right into hers. Enough was enough. “You're absolutely correct Abigale. I shouldn’t stay married to him.” She turned towards Blackhawk. “Ethan, I have a confession to make. I’m using you.” She noticed he looked confused, unsure where she was going with it.

  Abigale looked shocked. “Elizabeth!”

  “How are you using me, Lyzee?” Blackhawk asked curiously, as he continued sipping his wine. Part of him trusted her completely, but the broken part kept screaming ‘told you so’. All he could do was hope she didn’t mean the words.

  “I’m just after you for your smoking hot body, wild heathen sex and your fast shiny car,” she admitted and this time her husband did choke on his wine. “We better get a divorce quick now that the truth is out.”

  “Take me home, George,” Abigale muttered, disgustedly. “You always were such a handful, wild, and out of control. I told your daddy to beat the spitefulness out of you, but he wouldn’t listen.”

  “Thank God that he didn’t,” said Blackhawk, grinning wickedly. “It would have downgraded the heathen sex considerably if he did that.”

  “You stay out of this! You’re an outsider here.”

  “Correction, she’s my wife, and honestly I don’t like you upsetting her in our home. George, please leave with your mother and keep her away from Lyzee. No offense, but she isn’t welcome until she has learned the basics in manners required to come here.”

  “Who do you think you are?” accused Abigale.

  Before Elizabeth could open her mouth he answered her. “I’m the man who is going to keep you from insulting my wife and myself in our home. You aren’t her mother, so stop trying to force your will on her. We’re married, we’re staying married, and that’s the end of this discussion. Now, please get out of our home.”

  Even George looked surprised at how angry the agent sounded. “Uh, okay. Come on Mom, we better go before this escalates further. Dad wouldn’t want us fighting like this. Bye, E.L,” he said, leading his mother out of the room.