Darkness Of Truth (An FBI/Romance Thriller~ Book 6) (25 page)

“I’m okay, it was just that last couple of seconds that hurt,” he offered, opening his eyes. “I swear.”

Elizabeth examined the blue black pupils, and they reacted normally. “Next time you get to relax, and he can do the work,” she said, pointing at his brother.

“Hey!” Callen started laughing. “He has a headache. Let’s not baby him too much.”

Blackhawk grinned. “You won’t hear me complain,” he winked salaciously at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth kissed him slowly
, enjoying the moment with him. “I love you, Mr. Blackhawk,” she whispered lovingly, stroking her fingers down his cheek and gazing into his eyes. The love between them was shared in that simple look, as it always would be. From day one, they’d had that unbreakable bond of soul mates.

“You’re my heart,” he answered, placing his hand on the baby bump between them. He offered her comfort, and also some for his brother.
Elizabeth was a smart woman, and not for one second did he believe that she didn't know the pregnancy affected him. If anything, she’d been more gentle with him, loving and willing to share her love. She always knew, and for that Ethan was grateful.

“I can’t wait
to hold you, EJ. I love you too,” Ethan said, lovingly stroking the bump.

Callen’s eyes filled with tears, as he mouthed ‘
I love you’
over her shoulder to his brother.

Ethan grinned back
, knowing that their bond as brothers would hold up under the weight of anything they came up against.

Because their l
ove was indestructible.

                                                 *   *   *

Standing above the bound man, he shook his head in disgust. “You brought this on us, William, with your poaching off the Rez. Because of your stupidity, you led the Feds and the outsiders to our doorstop. Now you must pay for your sins.”

William Boyd struggled to get free from his bindings. When the man came to his secret place, he should have suspected something, and ignorance was his downfall.

Only so many people knew where he hid out.

He’d been betrayed.

The man added the herbs to the fire and allowed the smoke to fill the air. It was risky doing the ritual here, but the other location could be watched. This was his best option.

Breathing in the fragrant smoke, he pulled out his knife and tested the tip. It had been sharpened earlier today, and would remove the skin easily. Then he’d wear it, taking in the man’s energy and making it his.

William fought to get his arms free, as the knife moved close to his heart.

“Hold still, William. If I miss you
’ll suffer. I don’t want to see that happen. I may be taking your life, but I’ll still show mercy.”

The captive fought harder to gain
freedom. When the knife arced through the air, the metal glinting in the firelight, he knew his time was done.

The first strike missed its target, and he lived.

“I told you to not move, William,” he tried again, this time finding the sweet spot right into the center of the heart.

William stopped moving, as life slowly leached from his body into the dirt. Waiting, the man had nothing but patience. The FBI wouldn’t be out here until dawn at least
, and wouldn’t they be surprised?

As death came, the man danced around the fire, sprinkling more herbs into the flame and reveling in the power of his ancestors.

It all mattered.

He’d just proved that in death there was life.

~ Chapter Seven ~

Middle of the night

Elizabeth was jolted awake by the motion. It took a few second to realize what was happening. Inside her the laughter bubbled up, threatening to break free. She reached for Callen, shaking his arm to get his attention. “Cal, hurry wake up,” she whispered into the darkened room.

He was alert, sitting up in seconds, and reaching for his gun. “What is it?” he hissed in alarm, ready to protect the mother of his child at any cost.

Blackhawk was also awake and reaching for his sidearm.

Elizabeth started laughing. “Quick, give me your hand,” she said, placing it on her belly. “Your son is awake and moving. He wants your attention,” she added.

Callen was completely enthralled. Until th
at moment, Elizabeth was the only one that could feel him. “Oh, EJ,” he whispered, already in love with his child. “Daddy’s here.”

Ethan watched his brother. He w
as happy for him and moved by the emotion in his eyes. Oh, how he remembered it well.

She laughed as the baby responded by f
uriously kicking at the man. “The bad news is he’s a night owl.”

“I’ll get up with him every night,” he answered, unwilling to miss a single second of it. “I can sleep when he’s older.”

Blackhawk grinned, recalling having the same conversation and then begging after three weeks to be let out of it. Why burst the man’s bubble? This was his moment.

Callen placed a kiss on her belly, glancing up at his brother. Immediately, he took his hand and placed it beside his own. “Our child is amazing,” he whispered, tears sliding down his face.

Blackhawk was moved beyond words. “Yeah, Cal, our child most certainly is.”

Lying back on the bed, Elizabeth watched the two men in her life come together over the small little
Whitefox that she was growing in her body. This was why she loved them both with everything in her. All the times that they believed they were the lucky ones, they were wrong.

Both of the men, delicately embracing the new life growing deep in her body made her the fortunate one in the family.

“This is the best wake up I’ll ever get at night,” he stated with absolute certainty.

“I love you both,” Elizabeth
whispered, emotion swamping her. “More than you’ll ever know.”

Both men curled against her, their heads beside her chest and their hands protectively resting over the newest member of their family.

To all three of them, there was nothing more enjoyable than watching life blossom. When you lived with death, the tiniest spark of happiness meant the most.

      
                                          *   *   *

Thursday early Morning

As the alarm softly went off on the nightstand, Tori slipped from their bed excitedly. Pulling on the clothes she placed on the floor, she dressed hurriedly.

Today was the day
, and she could barely contain herself from the giddiness threatening to break free.

After everything in her life,
waking this last time would be the final thread that held her between her world and Julian’s. After this morning, Tori would be free to offer everything the man sleeping peacefully beside her. It was going to be cathartic to sign the papers, get the check and return home.

Home.

God, that sentence alone made her want to explode into outrageous fits of giggles. Growing up, never had that word meant anything. To an Army brat that traveled around so much, a place to belong meant the world. More than that, it was all about Julian Littlemoon. The man that saved her was all that mattered anymore. She’d walk over hot coals to repay him for rescuing her. Without him, she’d be a shell of a human being. Because of him, Tori was alive again.

Reborn.

Renewed.

Resurrected.

And finally coming home.

Tori’s heart soared in love and peace
, knowing that the soldier wasn’t lost anymore, but found everything that she’d earned in life. This man was her redemption and salvation all in one.

“I’ll be back, Julian. I love you
so damn much,” she whispered, dropping a gentle kiss to his cheek.

Hustling out of the bedroom, she raced to the coffeepot to make him some coffee and scribble a note. Once she was done, Tori grabbed her keys and raced out the door to get on the road.

This was the beginning of it all.

Julian watched her from the window of his bedroom. Dialing his brother, he alerted him. “She’s heading straight for you,
Justin. Don’t lose her.” The anger was palpable in his voice, especially how happy she seemed leaving him.

“Bro, she isn’t Tina. Don’t do this to her,” he warned, hoping to get through to
the irate man. “There has to be a mistake or a miscommunication. Tori wouldn’t play you like this.”

Julian didn’t doubt that for a second. “The mistake was believing she loved me and was fixable.
I gave her all I had and she betrayed me.”

His brother had that sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Being a soldier, he’d learned to rely on his gut to keep him alive. Maybe because his brother was so wrapped up in anger he didn't see it all clearly.

But he did.

“Jules, man- you need to think this through. Once I do this, it’s all over.
You can’t go back and undo it.”

“You’re my brother
, and I need your help. Are you going to make me track her myself and find her wrapped around another guy?”

Justin sighed in frustration. “Okay, Julian. I sincerely hope you know what you’re doing
by opening Pandora’s Box.”

“I do.”

Again, Justin’s gut raged, trying to get his attention. “I’ll send you pictures as soon as I have anything.”

With that
, Julian hung up the phone, grateful he had family to fall back on and get him through all this. Maybe he’d let his sisters kick the shit out of Tori for breaking his heart.

It might serve her right.

At the smell of coffee, he wandered into the kitchen. It was there he found the note from her.

Jules,

I love you! I had to run back to Damascus
to

handle some business
. I miss you already.

Xoxoxxoxo

Victoria

He simply crumbled it up and threw it into the garbage. His heart crushed at the words, and the sheer darkness of truth in it all.

Love didn't exist, and he was nothing but a fool.

                                                 *   *   *

Elizabeth sat in the office on the Rez waiting for the
chief of police to roll in for the day. It was hard to not be in a good mood, since both men in her life had worked out their issue and the baby made his debut movements earlier. The only thing that was incredibly irritating was the chief of police being late.

“Rez time isn’t Fed time,” stated Callen, knowing what it was like. When he was the chief sometimes he didn’t roll in until the afternoon.

At the sound of footsteps, everyone looked up expectantly at the door, only to find Julian and not Longtree.

The man entered and dropped into a chair, saying nothing.

Blackhawk lifted a questioning brow, and nodded over at the man. “You okay, Julian?” he asked, cautiously. The man’s face was completely blank, but the energy he was giving off was another story.

“I’m
fucking fabulous.”

Now he had
everyone’s attention. One of the things they all enjoyed about working with Julian was that he generally remained at an even keel. It took a lot to get him to freak out or lose control. That meant only one thing…

This was woman related.

Elizabeth was about to comment and ask if it had something to do with Tori going home for a couple of hours, but Chief Longtree entered the room at that moment. It figured. Great timing when they didn’t want him there. It was going to have to wait now. They were all on duty again.

He stopped in the doorway. “It’s not often that I walk into my o
ffice and find it this full of Feds. What’s going on?”

Elizabeth crossed her legs, leaning back in the chair. “You told me yesterday that William Boyd had a secret place to hide. Did you not?”

He shrugged. “I told you because it’s not really that big of a secret. Anyone that’s chased him for drunken disorderly knows that’s where he heads to hide out.”

Ethan picked it up then. “So basically the entire police department knows that he has a bunker of sorts.”

Again, Longtree shrugged. “Yeah, why? What’s going on that I’m getting the third degree? I’ve been completely forthright with you agents. Why do I feel like I’m being interrogated in some secret federal crime conspiracy?”

Callen drew the man’s attention when he leaned against his desk. “Yesterday Ethan, Julian and Officer Yazzie went to the man’s house and searched for him.”