“Wait for me Doc, and I’ll walk you out,” Elizabeth went to her closet in the office and pulled out her sheriff pullover and her Kevlar. She noticed that once it was on and the pull over added, it was almost invisible. It was just how she wanted it. The vest could be all that stands between life and her death. “I don’t imagine I can talk you into wearing Kevlar for me, can I?” she said, smiling gently. She grabbed her keys and phone.
“Not likely, Lyzee.”
“Okay then, let’s go.” Elizabeth linked her arm with his, and again, walked right past her husband, still refusing to look at him. After she escorted Doc to the ME van, Elizabeth then got in her Jeep and pulled away from her home. There were two things she needed to get done, and the one would be to find the patrol car, the other to tell the parents their daughter wasn’t coming home. Elizabeth would rather deal with the killer and the patrol car first and the notify last.
If there was anything she dreaded, it was going to be facing Sara’s family alone.
Elizabeth swung into town since she needed to get the log sheets, to see what section of town Sara was scheduled to patrol. Walking into the office, it was silent and her heart lurched in her chest. There would be no more seeing Sara here daily, and no more of her cheery laughter. Her first instinct was to cry, but she pushed it down until later.
Now she needed to focus.
Grabbing the logs, she moved back out to her Jeep and flipped through them, searching for the data she needed. Sara was scheduled for the northeast side of town in the countryside just above Elizabeth’s home. Now she would go out and start her own search. If she was lucky, she’d find Sara’s car and hopefully the killer.
If they came face to face, she could already guarantee that one of them wouldn’t be walking away alive.
Now it all came down to fate.
And the strongest will to survive.
It didn’t take long to find her deputy’s car. It was pulled off the side of a deserted road, and she was pretty sure Sara wouldn’t just park there. Something had lured her out of her vehicle in the pitch black night.
Elizabeth found it funny that she was about to do the same thing, and only hoped it didn’t have the same outcome. As mad as she was at her husband, she didn’t want him finding her in their driveway with a bow around her throat.
She pulled her Jeep to a stop behind the patrol car, and turned on her bright lights before exiting the Jeep. Gun drawn, she walked around the patrol car slowly, taking no chances she’d be ambushed. When she cleared the back seat and then the front, her flashlight caught the scrap of paper on the dash.
Elizabeth looked around, listening for anything that would tip her off that she was being watched or stalked in the darkness. Nothing sounded out of place. Returning to her Jeep, she pulled out a pair of gloves and an evidence bag. Crouching beside her deputy’s seat, she picked up the note and read it.
No need for the challenge, you were next anyway
Sheriff Blackhawk. Kiss your husband goodbye.
- God.
“Don’t bet on it asshole,” she muttered, picking up her phone to call the tech team to get over to the car. She was going to finish the game and win, not die playing it.
Blackhawk made sure everything was running smoothly, and the last thing on his ‘to do’ list was shipping the bullet off to ballistics for fingerprinting. He already called to check on the tox report, and was told it was almost there. It would be ready in the next a few hours.
Guilt was starting to eat away at his temper, as he had watched his wife walk past him three times. She had to be pretty angry, since she wouldn’t even look at him.
Yes, he lost his temper with her, and he was beginning to believe he deserved the silent treatment. Now that he was calming down, he couldn’t believe he told her that he didn’t want to be near her. As soon as he saw her again, he planned on apologizing for his vicious words. When it came to her, he had no control and he just proved it.
It was a great start to being married.
The chaos was slowing down, as the body of Sara had just been transported. He had seen Doc leave, escorted by his wife, and then he lost track of her.
As he walked towards her office, he could hear her voice, but she sounded like she was on a phone and far away.
That couldn’t possibly be right.
Entering her personal space, he found Tony sitting at her desk. He was scribbling something on paper as he listened to her instructions.
No, this definitely wasn’t right.
“I got it, Lyzee. I’ll pass it on to the tech team as soon as I hang up with you. I’ll get them out there right away,” he looked up, nodding to Blackhawk as he stood in the door.
“Thank you, Tony,” she paused. “I’m going to lock up her car and get the hell out of here. Right now, I’m a sitting duck. It’s isolated and pitch black, and I wouldn't see him sneaking up behind me in this darkness. All I can hope is he isn't watching me from the tree line. If he is, I’m screwed. Get the team here fast and keep the deputies off site. I’ll check in as soon as I can.”
“Will do, Lyzee. Get out of there now before you get yourself hurt or killed.” Tony disconnected the call.
Blackhawk felt sheer panic at the word killed. “Where is she?”
“Lyzee went out looking for Sara’s patrol car. She just located it and was calling in to have a tech team get out there to dust it for prints and evidence.”
Everything in him went ice cold.
“Let me get this straight. My wife is out there alone?” And then he remembered what he said to her in anger. How he walked away from her and broke his promise to always keep her safe.
Yeah, this was a terrific start to married life.
Day three; scream at your wife, hurt her feelings and then let her go out into the middle of the night to be killed by a lunatic.
Yep, husband of the year.
Someone bring him the big trophy on this one.
“Yeah, she’s out there alone, but she’s leaving the site.”
“I have to get out there,” he said, moving towards the door.
Tony stood. “Ethan, don’t do it. Like you said earlier, he’s going to play with her, and what he’d like most is to kill her new husband and break her. If you chase her around, you’re risking her life. By the time you even get to the address she’s going to be gone.”
He hated that Tony was right.
“He might be watching her right now waiting for her to be vulnerable. You’re her weakness.”
Damn it! Elizabeth was on her own.
Ethan Blackhawk sat at his wife’s desk and knew because of him she was off her game.
She had left the house without her cowboy hat. There was no one to blame but himself. He lost his cool, and now he might lose his wife. All he kept thinking about was what she said. ‘You lose your focus and someone dies’, and he lost his focus and she might die. In all of his life, he’d never been more scared than he was in that moment.
He called her cell over and over, praying she would answer. He left message after message, telling her to call him, to forgive him, and that he was sorry. There were promises that he didn’t mean it, and to come back home to him. All he could think about was how the words wouldn’t matter if the killer had her.
He prayed.
He paced.
And he begged for another chance, where he didn’t walk away from her in anger.
Sitting there, he noticed her closet light was on and the door was slightly ajar. He knew he shouldn’t be snooping in her closet, but something was peeking out and had his attention. Going to the door, he stared in, only to find a Kevlar vest hanging there ominously.
There were blood splatters, and five full bullet holes in the back. He turned it inside out, and saw the metal plate; it was stretched to its limit, almost breaking. There were tiny fissures in the metal, a sign of failure and almost death. It caused a lump to form in his chest and squeeze the breath from his lungs.
This was the vest that she wore the
day she threw her body over her partner.
Blackhawk traced his fingers over a ridge that ran across the shoulder. It was where the bullet had glanced off the top of her vest and deflected. Then he recalled her story of how Ray died. The bullet that killed him had just missed her own neck, millimeters from hitting flesh not Kevlar. He placed it back in the closet and closed the door. He had almost lost her then too. In that car, it was almost her blood spilled instead of Ray’s.
This was the worst day of his life; the waiting to hear from her was killing him and eating away at his heart. All he could see in his mind was the bullet riddled Kevlar hanging in her closet.
Sickness rolled into his body, as he remembered her tossing the FBI vest at him and walking away angrily. Why didn't he force her to wear it right then and there?
Or beg?
Or plead?
Or…
Walking out to the living room, he saw his own FBI vest on the arm of the chair. If her Kevlar was in her closet, and the FBI vest was in his hands, that meant Elizabeth was out looking for the patrol car unprotected.
One shot was all it would take to end her life.
Panic swamped and overwhelmed him like nothing he ever felt before. All he could visualize was the killer taking aim, and the bullet hitting her and stealing her life.
His own words came back to haunt him. “I can’t be near you right now and for the first time since meeting you, I don’t want to be.”
If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself, ever.
Blackhawk stood in the kitchen, as a wave of techs wandered into the house. They were buzzing around and talking about shipping something to Quantico. They must have pulled something from the car of importance.
“What do you have?” Ethan asked, stepping around the corner and surprising them.
“Sir, we have the note the killer left. It’s getting shipped to Quantico for trace.” The tech held the bag in his hand, seriously afraid to let him see it. After all, it was his wife it was threatening.
“Let me have it.” Blackhawk held out his hand, and the tech was smart enough to offer it up. He read the words over and over, and all life began to soak from his body in a matter of seconds. He handed it back and grabbed his phone. Once more he began dialing like a mad man.
It was official.
If he didn’t hear from her soon, he’d tear Salem apart looking for her.
Elizabeth walked up to the door of the cheery, yellow house. The sun was just starting to rise, and she could see the glow beginning to spread across the sky. She wished Sara could have another sunrise and sunset, but it wasn’t going to happen.
Taking a breath, she knocked on the door and waited, knowing they would know the minute they saw her standing there.
The parents always knew.
The door opened and a woman in a robe stared at her. Realization dawned as she began to cry. The woman began to crumble, and Elizabeth moved to catch her. At this point, all she could do was just hold her as she screamed over and over.
“NO! NO! NO! Not my Sara!”
She pounded on Elizabeth’s shoulder, beating out the anger, as she tried to make someone pay.
When the rest of the family came around the corner, she saw Sara’s father begin to weep. He fell to his knees, as the two teenagers looked around in confusion.
They were too young to know that when you have a job like their sister’s, this call was always a possibility. Sara’s mother wailed and her father sobbed, and Elizabeth sat there on the floor, just holding her and letting her mother get it all out.
After sorrow, would come the anger, and then there would be healing.
The wounds would begin to close, and yet always remain very close to the surface and easily reopened by a smell, a sight or a dream.
The pain never stopped, and that she knew for a fact.
When his phone rang, he nearly vaulted over the counter to get to it, practically knocking over two techs. “Hello?”
“Special Agent Blackhawk?” inquired the familiar voice in hushed tones. They were almost a whisper.
“Yes!”
“It’s Martha. I just got to work. The boss is in her office, and she doesn’t look so good. I hope you don’t mind, but I thought you should know.”
He was going to kiss that woman, as soon as he got there. Well, right after he kissed his wife.
“Thank you for calling! If she leaves, stall her. I’m on my way!” Ethan caught a pair of keys from a tech, and he raced to the door.
This was his second chance and he wasn’t going to blow it.
Elizabeth was on the couch in her office, and it was hideously uncomfortable, but it let her get horizontal, and that’s all she really wanted. If she could hide for an hour, she could regain her focus and balance and be back on her feet.
The morning spent with the Bishops was grueling. She had to wait until the weeping slowed, and then she explained what had happened, and then the tears began again. It was evident why law enforcement did that miserable job in pairs. One person couldn’t do it alone. Not with a family of four.
She stared at the ceiling and couldn’t sleep. It had been a crushing morning, and she was overwhelmed. Elizabeth gave up, and sat on the couch, elbows on her knees as she contemplated her next step. It would take all her skills and abilities to stay one step ahead of the killer. There was always the possibility he left some trace on the note or patrol car.
Maybe they’d get lucky.
Her life now depended on it.
Blackhawk ran across the parking lot, charged up the steps and into the building. He rushed to Martha’s desk and stopped. “Where is she?” he asked, praying he didn’t miss her.
Martha pointed to the door and watched him rush it.
The minute he flung it open, he saw her, and his heart started beating again. Elizabeth Blackhawk sat on the couch, leaning forward as she stared at her wedding ring.
Blackhawk wanted to howl in pain. Just seeing it off her finger was a horrible sign and again dread gripped him.
He’d been horrible to her that morning.
There was a good possibility that his temper may have cost him her heart. What made it worse is he spewed cold, vicious things in anger. Words couldn’t be taken back once they were set free into the universe. He’d stooped to a very low level by fighting dirty.
He closed the door and dropped to his knees before her, taking her face in his hands. His breath caught in his throat as he stared deep her eyes. They didn’t sparkle and they weren’t full of life, and in fact they looked cold and empty.
“Hello Ethan. Can I help you with something?”
He knew for sure this one woman might be able to make him cry, beg, and promise anything at that point just to have her back.
“You left the house, and I didn’t know where you were.” Blackhawk wanted to weep now that he found her. He knew his own eyes had to have so much emptiness too, because his soul felt hollow. It was almost crushable, as if it were made of fine paper and ready to collapse in on itself. He almost didn’t think he could remember how to make his lungs work anymore.
“You told me you couldn’t be near me and didn’t want me around you. This was my other option since you were at our home.” It was said without emotion. It wasn’t cold or angry, but stated matter-of-factly. It was truth as she saw it. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go to stay out of your way.”
He had come into her life and was welcomed with open arms from the first day, and yet he had been so mean. It hurt him immensely that she had to retreat alone to her office, and not her own sanctuary.
“You went out looking for the patrol car alone?” He saw the reaction in her eyes. There was the brief flash of anger, and then the emotion was gone again as the emptiness returned. It was as if she was preparing for another fight, then deciding to just give up. That crushed him.
His Elizabeth didn’t give up.
“It’s my job, Ethan. I couldn’t take a deputy, and you just told me tha
t you didn’t want to be near me. What were my other options? Who was left, Doc? I’m supposed to make a sixty year old man stop what he’s doing and babysit me on the job?”
Just her words cut him. He pushed her away and luckily, she didn’t get gunned down out there.
“Besides, I had something to take care of anyway. I haven’t been here that long,” she added, unable to look him in the face.
A million things flooded his mind as to what she had to take care of that morning. Find an attorney, file for divorce, ask for an annulment or run away and never return. He waited for the angry barbs to be hurled at him, for her to call him names and to insult him, yet nothing came. She put up no fight and that scared him. His wife was fiery and tough. She didn’t back down, and he desperately wanted to know where she was, but knew after what he did there was no way to ask.
As if she knew what he was thinking, she answered. “I had to make a visit to the Bishops, and tell them their daughter was dead.” Elizabeth pulled away from him and walked to her window to stare outside. “Someone had to tell them, and I couldn’t chance that the rumor would find them before their daughter’s boss showed up. I had to go break their hearts into a million pieces and change their lives forever.”
“I’m so sorry, Lyzee.”
“Again this is my job. I can’t stop doing it because I’m scared, or having an argument with my husband. When you lose focus, you die.”
He forgot she would insist on making the visit personally. He would have gone with her, so she didn’t have to do it alone. Once more his anger damaged a little piece of them. It made him cold to the one woman he swore he wouldn’t hurt. He thought back to his wedding vows where he promised to keep her safe and protect her. He failed by his own anger. He wanted to go back to that moment when he said the words and stop.
He didn’t want this chasm between them.
Ethan didn't know how to fix it and make it right.
The Killing Times (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 1)) Page 38
