Darkness Of Truth (An FBI/Romance Thriller~ Book 6) (27 page)

Ethan dropped his hand on her shoulder. “Get behind us,” he ordered, ignoring the look on her face. “If we’re opening a bunker with a potential killer wielding a twelve gauge, you aren’t going in first.”

She went to object and was silenced by Callen kissing her. “Sorry Angel, he’s right.”

Both men sto
od protectively in front of her, willing to offer up their own lives.

Elizabeth stared over at Julian. “You’d think they’d want the one with the best aim to go first, but oh well, riddle his ass full of nine millimeter bullet holes. Have at it.”

Chief Longtree went to one side of the well hidden doors and grabbed the handle.

“On three,” Blackhawk
hissed, nodding to his brother. “One, two, three…”

The doors were wrenched open and the area was flooded with sunlight. Both men stood completely still
, observing the scene below them.

“Well, William Boyd isn’t the killer,” said Blackhawk, holstering his side arm.
“If he is, that’s one hell of a magic trick gone awry.”

Elizabeth peeked
between them and down into the ‘root cellar’ hideaway. “Damn it,” she muttered, turning away. The look of death was staring back up at her from a skinless corpse. If there was one thing she hated, it was sightless eyes.

“Close the doors!” Blackhawk ordered. “We keep it closed until the tech team arrives. Now we do a full sweep of the area.
Since William Boyd can’t be the killer, then our perp may still be around here.”

Elizabeth turned towards Officer
Garrett Yazzie. “Had you not let him hide yesterday from us, today he might be alive. You get to sit your ass here and guard the doors of that cellar.”

“I didn’t know,” he said, overwhelmed.
In his heart he hoped she was wrong, but Garrett had already considered exactly what she’d said.

She didn’t want to hear it. “Blood of that Native is on your hands, not ours.” Pulling out her phone she sent the alert code to her team, notifying them of a body. “Let’s get some com equipment
first. We need to break up and search the trees, and I don’t want us doing it without a way to communicate.”

Both men knew it had to happen, but neither
was happy at the suggestion.

“It’s going to be a long one,
” muttered Whitefox.

Ethan shook his head. “When isn’t it?”

                                          *   *   *

The paperwork was done and the check was in her pocket. Now it was time to head home to see Julian and share her news. Giddiness overwhelmed her again and again. A new chapter of her life was beginning, and it was going to be with this man. Once she got home to him, she was going to have one hell of a celebration. It was going to be epic and the neighbors might even be calling the cops from the noise.

Pulling out her phone, she sent him a text message that she was on her way home. Seeing a liquor store she decided to grab a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

Tonight was going to be one of the best nights of her life; only second to the day she’d met him.

             
                            *   *   *

Thursday Afternoon

To be fair, the men did rock, paper, scissors to see who’d be accompanying her into the trees. Ethan won, promising Callen that he’d stay on her like glue.

Callen wanted to be nervous, but he knew that his brother would keep her completely safe, or risk his own life trying. Let’s face it
. When it came to instincts, Ethan was far quicker. What Callen wanted was someone with lightning fast reflexes at her side, and that meant unsuspectingly throwing the game to keep his woman safe.

As the
y swept the forest for any evidence of a killer, the agents and Julian Littlemoon were on edge. They weren’t sure if William Boyd was the man that was shooting at Tori and Julian in the woods, or if it had been the killer.

Callen and Julian went one way and Elizabeth and Ethan the other. One agent watched the ground for spent casings, footprints or any
thing that looked out of place, and the other scanned the distance.

“Tex, you see anything?” asked Ethan, using the affectionate nickname the men had for Elizabeth. She was the most accurate out of the three of them when shooting. Maybe accurate wasn’t the best word for it; deadly.

“Nada,” she answered, wearing her yellow tinted glasses as she continually swept the area with her eyes, looking for anything waiting to jump out at them. Because it was sunny, it worked to their advantage. A glint of a scope would be visible if the killer was tracking them. “How about you, Cowboy?”

He shook his head. “No trample marks or paths
that look newly made. I hope the others are having better luck.”

“I think we can head back. I don’t like being out here with a killer possibly watching me
.” Elizabeth knew that if she was stalking people in the woods, she’d take out the one she perceived to be the more problematic. That would mean Ethan, and she didn't want him wearing a bull’s-eye on his vest.

Once the search
was called off, they all met back at the underground cellar that William Boyd was calling home. Again, the men flanked Elizabeth, making sure that she was safe, even though she stood in the center of the tech team.

“No one touched anything?” questioned Chris, as pictures were taken of the dead man.

“We know better than that, Doc. We opened it, and then we closed it right up.” Callen reassured.

“Right now, we want you to give us a baseline on this. Can you look at the victim and tell us if the cuts were the same? We know he was skinned, but you should be able to determine if it was by the same knife and man, correct?” inquired Blackhawk.

“I can give you all that once I get him back to the lab and look at his body in a bright light. It’s dark down there and guessing and giving you the wrong information isn’t helpful to either of us.”

Elizabeth grinned. “Can you tell us if you have a feather down there with him? Or could the
plumage be a figment of your imagination and you don’t want to rule out a flock of pigeons molting in a root cellar? Would you like to bring it back to the lab to run extensive tests on it to be sure it’s not some crazy plant life indigenous to canning supplies?” she asked, sarcastically.

Chris looked up laughing. “You know, when you act like a bitch, people start to believe it.”

Both the men in her life laughed.

She offe
red him a fist bump before he made the decent down the rickety steps.

“Give me a few minutes to root around down there
, and I’ll get your answer for you, Boss.”

Blackhawk
grinned at his wife. “Had I known he responded better to sarcasm, I would have led in with that instead of a serious question.”

“For the record,” he called up from the cellar, “I generally only respond well to her sarcasm.”

She grinned. “I was his first.”

Both Callen and
Ethan looked over at her, quizzical expressions plastered across their faces. The implications of her words weren’t lost on them.

Doctor Leonard laughed from beside the body. “If you get me killed, I can’t
give you answers,” he added, snickering. “Relax scary Native men. She was my first Agent. I drew working with her on my first day on duty for the FBI.”

Blackhawk laughed. “Ruined your entire career
, huh?”

Elizabeth sucker punched him in the gut.
“Any feather, Doc?” she nagged, needing that little bit of information.

Chris gently rolled the skinless man to his side and searched beneath him. That’s when he found it stuck to his body. “Yep.
It’s stuck to his muscle tissue on his back.” He peeled it away from the sticky adipose and dropped it into an evidence bag a tech was holding.

“That’s what I needed to see. Thanks Doc!” Elizabeth was about to continue, until Julian tapped her on the arm.

“Can I bother you for a moment?” he asked, keeping his voice low. “It’s important.”

She followed Julian off to the side. “What’s up?” The look on the man’s face pretty much told the story. Something wasn’t right in relationship
-land for Tori and Julian.

“I need to head back to the cabin for the night. Do you need me anymore today? I have some personal issues to handle before tomorrow.” Julian didn’t want to tell her what he was planning. He’d noticed that Tori and Elizabeth had formed a budding friendship. Not that he didn’t trust the woman if he asked her to remain quiet, but he didn’t want to tip Tori off before he confronted her. Julian didn’t want to give her time to form a lie.

Confrontation needed to be hard and cold and without warning.

“Whatever
’s going on, Julian, you can tell me. I can see something is damaging you. Tori’s missing, and you look like you lost your best friend. We’re here for you if you need us.”

He nodded. Julian may take her up on her offer after he cut
the woman free. Even thinking those words were gnawing away at his heart. He believed he finally found the one, and he was just glad this time he didn’t miss the signs and fall for it again.

“You can cut out. Tomorrow we’ll meet up at the lab. We’ll have the autopsy findings in and tox back.”

Julian shrugged. “I may back out of this assignment. I don’t need the paycheck.”

Now Elizabeth knew she was right. This was a bad sign if he was willing to run from the FBI and Tori.

“If that’s what you think is best for you,” she simply stated, staying out of it until she couldn’t watch from the sidelines anymore.  Elizabeth did something she tried to refrain from on the crime scenes. She hugged the man. “Good luck, Julian.”

He accepted the
embrace willingly, and began his trek through the trees.

“D
o you want a ride home, Julian?” she called after him, unsure how she felt watching him walk away alone.

“I grew up here, Elizabeth. I know these woods like the back of my hand.” With that, he walked into the
trees, never looking back.

Ethan and Callen
moved to her side, having watched the entire scene play out.

“What’s going on,” asked Blackhawk. “Where’s Julian going?”

She shook her head. “Something bad is coming. He told me he may be leaving this assignment and doesn’t want the money.”

“Oh boy,” muttered Callen. “That’s a bad sign.
Someone’s about to get their heart handed to them emotionally.”

“I know. First Tori texts me she needs today back in Damascus, and now he’s walking away, literally and figuratively. I get the feeling
bad blood is brewing boys.”

Blackhawk dropped his arm around her shoulders. “We’ll be here to help pick
up the pieces when it’s all done,” he reassured.

Yeah, for two badly broken hearts.

Thursday evening

When
Tori pulled up in front of the cabin, she was so excited to finally be home. In her stomach there were butterflies over what was planned. Part of her couldn’t wait to see Julian’s face when she told him all about it. Tori was finally ready to walk away from the FBI and make a life with Julian, if he still wanted her by his side.

She’d taken the comments and subtle hints and stored them all away. He’d ask about her going back to the FBI, and then get that wistful look when she didn’t have an answer. Well tonight, she had an answer to the entire thing, and it was all in the envelope in her
back pocket. All the paperwork was done and she’d even begun to work on getting her private investigator certification.

Tori was
about ready to explode in excitement.

Hopping out of the SUV, she grabbed the bottle of champagne and raced into the house. At first she wasn’t sure if he’d be home or still with the Blackhawks. When he finally answered her text messages, he told her he’d meet her at his cabin.

Tori found that odd, but maybe he was simply busy at the time. Walking into their living room, she found him sitting on the couch, a beer open on the table and his arms crossed over his chest.

A wave of unease washed through her, as something felt out of place. The room was filled with
energy she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

“Hey Julian,” she cheerfully called
, trying to stay positive, despite her early warning system going off. Dropping her purse and walking towards him, she leaned down to give him a kiss, but he pulled his head away. Tori could see the look on his face, and knew something had happened. “What’s wrong?” she asked softly, before sitting down beside him. Again, he moved away from her touch, and it slashed at her heart.

What had she done
to be rejected twice?