“What the hell is going on here?”
“We’re here to stop five more women from being murdered. He’s already gotten four. We’re trying to stop the last one, and then Roxanne. What you have here is more than a big problem,” she stated. “You have a dire situation.”
“You don’t say.”
Avalon stopped moving.
“What’s she doing?” he asked, looking around at the team. “She looks like she’s in a trance.”
Nate glanced over at his woman. She was getting flashes of something.
“She’s about to get a vision.”
“A what?” Joe asked.
“My suggestion is that you duck,” Avalon said, taking a step back to be out of the way.
He stared at her. “What?”
Jagger was up and moving so fast that no one saw him coming. His fist plowed into the man’s face, and he hit the floor with a thud.
Joe was out cold.
Maura grabbed the Marine before he could beat the man’s face into a bloody pulp.
“Oh, Jagger,” stated Avalon. “I just got him to stop being afraid, and that didn’t help the situation out.”
He didn’t care.
“Please let me go,” he muttered, when Maura wouldn’t set him free. “I need to get to Roxy.”
She released him.
Jagger didn’t hesitate as he pulled his wife into his arms. She was crying.
The sheriff moaned.
“That was for scaring, my girl,” he stated. “He’s lucky I’m aware he was just doing his job, or I would have killed him.”
He had a point.
“You’re going to be a menace out in the public sector,” stated Maura. “You can’t punch people out as a civilian, and you had six men ready to kick your ass outside. Get a dog and an alarm system. You’re getting sloppy.”
Maybe he was, but it didn’t matter.
He touched his wife’s cheek to wipe away a tear before looking over at the people he loved. “I guess you didn’t get the memo.”
“What memo?” Nate asked.
“Roxy and I talked last night. I’ve already texted Elizabeth. I’m in. I’m not leaving my family when they need me. Roxy is coming with us. The more the merrier.”
Avalon smiled, but on the inside, she hated every second of this. She’d seen his fate.
It was playing out, and she couldn’t stop it.
“That’s great, Jagger,” Nate said, patting him on the shoulder. “We would be lost without you.”
Avalon knew how true that was.
Unfortunately, they were still going to find out. Jagger Armstrong was not going to see his child born.
He didn’t have long.
The clock was ticking.
And when it was time, he was dead.
Chapter Nineteen
Damascus
She hadn’t been back in a few months. There was a good reason for that. She hated this city. Yes, she and Ethan had a good run here as co-directors of FBI West, but it still sucked coming back.
So much had changed here. Truth be told, she liked the East Coast so much better. In her heart, she knew that she never should have left, but then she wouldn’t have met the men in her life.
It had been worth it.
As they pulled into a very familiar driveway, she knew what was coming. This was going to blow.
Behind that door was Doctor Callista Gaines, and she was going to do a notify.
Not just one notify, but two.
Detective Quinton Gaines was there, too, and she was going to lie her ass off and tell him that his sister, Maura Gaines-Mars, was also dead.
And Luke.
And Jagger.
And…
Holy shit.
This was a mess.
“Do you want me to do this?” Callen asked.
“No, I have to in order to keep up the charade. I’m hoping she’s going to figure this out, and then keep her damn mouth shut. If not, this is going to suck.”
Callen knew they had one last stop to make when they got back to DC. It was going to be to Jaxon Armstrong-Magnus’s place. She was getting the same visit.
“I’m ready,” she said. “Stay here.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I am.”
He would do whatever his wife wanted. She knew what she needed to do.
Still…
It bothered him to watch her head across the driveway and to the door by herself. It was barely seven in the morning, and the second Callista opened that door, she was going to know.
When you were in law enforcement, you saw this visit so many times, it was hard to keep count.
Now he wasn’t worried about them.
He was worried about her.
He hoped his wife would be okay.
Elizabeth knocked.
She heard the dog barking, a baby crying, and cartoons in the background. It was a normal Saturday morning—just like she imagined it was back at her house.
God!
She wished she was there.
When she heard footsteps, she waited.
The door opened.
It was Callista, and the second she saw her, her face told the tale. She knew.
“Oh my God. Quinn!”
He came running.
She couldn’t do it to her.
Damn it!
She saw the tears, and she couldn’t lie to this woman. Just recently, she’d given her hell about not having her back with the girlfriend code.
Here she was going to do the same damn thing.
Shit!
She couldn’t do it.
“I need you to listen because I can only say this once. You’re going to get a report today. In it, it’s going to say your brother is dead. It’s also going to tell you that Avalon is dead, as is Maura, Luke, and Jagger.”
She gasped.
Quinn looked angry.
“It’s all lies. They’re going under. You can’t contact them, and for the time being, until the president is out of office, and Avalon is safe, you have to pretend they are dead.”
Callie’s heart started beating normally. “Are they really okay?”
“Yes, I just left them. They’re alive, well, and about to go into hiding.”
Well, that was a relief.
“You were supposed to lie to me, weren’t you?” Callista Gaines asked. “You were supposed to lie to both of us.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?” she asked.
“The girlfriend code supersedes everything. You’re my friend, and I had to make a choice—my career, a stint in Leavenworth, or our friendship.”
That stunned her.
Then it didn’t.
Callie got it. She’d recently hurt Elizabeth but the woman wasn’t returning the favor. She was walking the walk and talking the talk.
This changed everything, and she knew it.
Callista Gaines owed her.
“Will we see them again?” she asked. “Will we see our family ever?”
“I’ll make sure of it, but in order to keep them safe, you’re going to both have to pretend they’re dead. You’re going to have to mourn them, have a funeral for them, and move through life like they’re gone.”
Callie’s eyes filled with tears. “You didn’t have to tell me. You could have just…”
“I had to tell you. I care about Nate, Maura, Luke, and Avalon. They’re your family, but they’re mine now too. I would hope that if you were in my position that you would do the same for me.”
“Elizabeth.”
“My ass is on the line, Callista. I trusted you once, and you burned me. If you tell anyone the truth, Ethan, Callen, and I are going down. I wasn’t kidding about Leavenworth. We’ll lose our jobs, our family, and possibly our lives. You don’t screw with POTUS. He’ll call out the dogs and I’ll be the big meaty bone they’ll chew on.”
There it was.
This all came down to trust.
“I swear
I won’t tell anyone.”
“Take some time off and call into work to tell them you’re planning some funerals. As soon as I can get into contact with them, you’ll know where they are. I’ll pass it along.”
“Thank you,” she said, hugging Elizabeth. “I love you.”
“I love you too. I’m sorry I scared you, but I couldn’t do this over the phone.”
Elizabeth took a step back.
“The FBI offers you their condolences on the loss of some damn fine agents and amazing people. Their faces will be placed on the wall at FBI DC, and they will never be forgotten,” she stated, wrapping up the conversation.
Elizabeth turned and walked away.
Callie went into her husband’s arms. “Tell me they’ll be okay, Quinn. Tell me that we’re not bad people for not being by their side. When I needed them, they came running.”
“They’ll be fine, Callie. Your brother is smart. My sister is badass, and they have their spouses with them. We’ll see them again.”
“Promise?” she asked.
“Yeah, I promise.”
And he did.
Quinn had a feeling.
Elizabeth climbed into the vehicle.
Callen shook his head. “You are going soft in your old age,” He teased.
She punched him really hard in the arm.
“Jesus! Come on!” he said, wincing. Maybe soft wasn’t a good word for it.
“Let’s go home,” she said, the weight on her shoulders wasn’t nearly as heavy as before. She’d done the right thing, and Elizabeth could live with it.
She had to.
Now, she only had one thing left to do.
Elizabeth prayed her good deed didn’t come back and bite them in the ass.
* * * O R A C L E * * *
Happy
His head was pounding and his face was throbbing. It was as if he went a few rounds with some boxer in the ring. He’d never hurt this bad before, and that was saying a lot. He had five brothers, and they beat on each other all the time.
When he opened his eyes, they were all staring down at him. He immediately went for his gun.
Only, it was gone.
“Yeah, you can have it back later when we trust you won’t shoot us,” Nate stated.
He sat up.
Jagger was glaring at him.
“I’m sorry, okay? I really thought you guys were impersonating Feds. I was only doing my job. You can’t blame a guy for that, right?”
Roxy was tucked beneath Jagger’s arm as he focused on the sheriff. “That’s the only reason I didn’t kill you,” he stated.
Avalon called to him across the room. She was having tea and sitting on the couch. “I suggest you go out to your men, set them free, and tell them this was a training drill. Tell them you couldn’t tell them in advance. They’re waking up, and there’s going to be chaos.”
Maura held out her hand to help him up. “Apologize for me. A few of them are…battered.”
Luke shook his head.
What was he going to do with her?
Sheriff Joe Gilespie did just that. He raced out the door to check on his men.
“Can we trust him?” Jagger asked.
“Yes,” Avalon offered. “He’s really upset by Joann Rice’s death. He’s a good man, and he’ll help us out.”
They trusted her. Avalon was never wrong about things like this.
Her hand shook as she tried to drink her tea. Maura saw it and moved closer.
“Who the hell gave her sugar?” she asked, glaring at them until one of them cracked.
Jagger shook his head. “It wasn’t us. We were here the whole time,” he said, knowing how Maura really hated that.
Nate pointed at Luke.
She glared at her husband. “Really, Lucas? You’re riding the couch until our tenth anniversary.”
He was appalled.
“Really? You just outed me?” he accused.
“Your wife just took out six armed deputies by herself. I’m not stupid. You, my friend, get to deal with her,” Nate admitted.
Luke smiled sweetly at his wife. “I love you?”
“Lucas Mars!”
She didn’t get to finish.
The sheriff returned, and he was shaking his head. “Are you sure you’re human? You have six grown men scared out of their minds out there.”
Maura smiled. “I’m a Marine.”
He didn’t know what to think.
“What are we supposed to do about all of this?” he asked. “You said we had a killer, but how do you catch someone you can’t see? He’s not leaving anything behind.”
They were well aware.
“I suggest you sit down,” Avalon stated.
He listened.
“You have another body.”
“Oh, great. How the hell am I supposed to explain all of this?” he asked. “I answer to a council and a mayor. I can’t pretend people aren’t dying. Word is already started up, and people are talking.”
They figured it was only a matter of time.
“The media will be all over this. Kathleen Hale was a nice person, but she was a pain in the ass. When she started digging, there was no stopping her,” Joe stated.
Nate pulled out his phone to where he made his notes. “We think that’s why she was targeted. We think she crossed paths with the killer, and asked the wrong questions.”
He thought about it. “That’s going to be tough. She was all over the place.”
Bishop tossed him her cell. “Check out the pictures.”
He scanned them.
“She was working on a story about psychics? You think she got too close?”
“Yes,” they all said.
“Great. I can’t tell anyone any of this. No one would believe it.”
They were well aware.
He also couldn’t tell anyone about them. If he did, they’d be outed, and that wasn’t a good thing.
“We don’t know how the rest connect,” Nate stated.
“Do they connect?” he asked.
Bishop took a seat in her husband’s lap. He had been quiet, and she wanted to check on him. He felt warm, and she knew he needed to crash soon—the same with Avalon.
They’d been up all night playing games with the sicko.
“I’m going to work on finding a connection today,” she stated. “I want to connect the first five victims to the second five.”
“And the coroner?” he asked. “Not you, Doctor. I meant the one before you.”
Jagger still had her against his body. He knew she was calming down, and he didn’t want her afraid.
“We think he was killed because he was doing the autopsies,” Luke stated.
“Well, this is getting worse and worse.”
Nate had news for him. It was about to get a million times more horrifying.
“You’re going to have to help us.”
“Help you do what? I’m not psychic, and you’re chasing a ghost. What exactly is it that I’m supposed to do?”
“We need to see the next victim. This is personal. This killer is taking revenge.”
Nate hoped that Avalon and Lucian’s impression of the killer was spot on, or they had one hell of a problem.
“I don’t even know where to start with this,” Joe said. “I’m not trying to be difficult, but the biggest case we’ve had here in Happy is when someone stole one of the floats in the parade. It was because of booze. We found it in a swimming pond.”
Yeah, the sheriff was green.
“We’re not going to make you investigate on your own,” Luke offered, trying to help the man out. He’d been through a lot so far today.
There was no point putting him over the edge.
“Thank you, I think.”
Nate continued, “We don’t know why Brianna Moyer was targeted.”
“How about Joann?” Joe asked. “She was really a sweet lady. I’m sorry that she died.”
They heard the emotion. They needed kid gloves on
this one. The sheriff was mourning too. Maybe they didn’t have a long-term thing, but when from a small town, you knew the people around you. The guy had feelings, and they would be cognizant of that.
Nate handled this one. “We think she was part of this because of ‘Lucky’s’. The killer might have been screwing with us. He knew we were headed there. That’s why we pushed hard at you. You’re the one who sent us there.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t do the research.”
“Who did?” he asked.
“It was my one deputy. I think you met him already—Kirk Oliver. He’s one of the men your Marine beat up.”
She snorted.
Luke pointed at her.
“And I’m very sorry about that,” she added, trying to make her husband happy.
Yeah, she really wasn’t sorry in the least, and Maura knew her husband wasn’t buying it. That deputy was the one who was staring in the window through a scope, ready to kill Jagger.
Screw that.
He asked for it.
“I’ve asked him who he told, and he swore he only mentioned it to the deputies.”
“So we don’t know where the information was spread, but we know how.”
Damn gossip.
It would get them every time.
“I’m almost afraid to ask. Who did he kill this time?” Joe inquired. He mentally crossed his fingers.
“Do you know Tanya Ware?”
“Oh, shit.”
They’d take that as a yes.
“Tell us about her,” Nate stated.
“She’s young. Maybe twenty-five, and she just started working at the post office. She’s a sweet thing. She hands out the mail and sells stamps at the window.”
“What about her personal life?”
He shook his head. “She kept to herself. I know I saw her out and about with one person a lot.”
“Who?” asked Nate.
“I think it’s her best friend, Amelie Schmitz. They are usually together.”
Nate and Luke both made notes.
“I’m going to want to talk to her, but she’s going to have to take a back seat right now,” Nate stated.
Luke agreed. “We have to talk to Bob Buck and Harold Fry,” he added. “We didn’t get to them yesterday.”
Oracle Saving (The Phoenix Files Book 3) Page 34
