Darkness Of Truth (An FBI/Romance Thriller~ Book 6) (41 page)

“She sounds chic
ken to me. I mean I am a Marine, and she should be worried. Pretty women should stick to shoe shopping.”

It was all he had to say, as both Ethan and J
ulian began laughing at the man, knowing what he’d just done.

Priceless wasn’t going to cover it. This was heading for
an epic shoot out.

“Son, you just opened a big can of
squiggly worms you can’t handle. Right Tex?” he said, glancing down at his wife.

“I do declare that man called me chicken
, and believes because I’m easy to look at I’m incompetent. I’ve heard this all before and now I have to school his ass too.” Elizabeth stood. “Come on Justin. Let the pretty, pregnant woman and the Army girl teach you a lesson. You won’t be the first Littlemoon that traveled that trail.”

Julian
grinned, achieving his goal. Justin got them to agree and keep them busy. The entertainment was going to be his brother’s face when he found out the truth. Glancing over at his sisters, he nodded at the empty cans of beer. “Bring them on out ladies. We’re having some target practice at the Littlemoon family compound.”

They all moved towards the door, and Justin held back to talk to his brother. “Make it quick.”

He nodded, trying not to laugh his ass off.

“Jules, why did he call her
Tex and what trail was she talking about?”

Julian began laughing. “
I have no idea.”

Callen ran to the tarmac and the FBI Jet. The co-pilot was waiting for him just inside the stairs. As he bounded up the steps, he nodded at him. “You have three hours to get me to Cypress Grove, this is an emergency,” he ordered, rushing to the first seat and buckling in for takeoff.

“Yes
Director Whitefox! We’re ready to go.” The pilot closed the door to the cockpit, and they began their taxing down the runway.

Closing his eyes, he wanted to punch something at the anger brewing in him.
When he and Desdemona parted ways, she could have told him she was expecting. It wouldn’t have made him stay, but he would have owned his responsibilities and the child.

She was well aware this was his deepest darkest fear. To have a baby that was disposable, like he
’d been growing up. Everything he’d fought so hard against all his life was now staring him in the face. The cold ugly truth was he screwed up, and now an innocent child’s fate hung in the balance.

Damn it! Desdemona had wanted maximum damage, and she’d achieved it.

He couldn’t help but think
about what he was risking in his life now. Callen was finally happy, at peace, and with a woman he greatly loved. It was as if everything was crumbling beneath him. To get a call that said he was already a father; what was that going to do to the heart of the woman carrying his child. How many times had she told him that their son was the eternal link to each other? That they’d created something no one else ever had.

And now the truth
was about to come out. He’d knocked up another woman and the blowback was about to cause major damage. It wasn’t his life he was worried about, but poor Elizabeth’s heart was going to get bruised over this. There was no doubt that part of the plan conceived in Desdemona’s mind was making sure there was as much collateral damage as possible in the war against Callen. His Elizabeth was the other intentional target. Wherever Desdemona was, Callen was sure she was enjoying the show.

He wondered when she planned on telling him. When his daughter was old enough to hate him? To believe she’d been abandoned? It crushed the joy in his heart
, making him want to howl in excruciating pain, for both the baby born and the woman he loved.

His sins were now on their backs.
Because he chose poorly, the spider had caught him in her web. He thought back to the animal that Desdemona had once told his grandfather she related to, and it all played out. The spider was trickery, lies and death. She fit all three, and Callen was having a hard time mourning the loss of someone that may have just destroyed his life.

Once he boarded the flight back to his family, he was going to be asking the woman he loved to swallow something so huge.
Callen was scared shitless that Elizabeth wouldn’t love his daughter, making her feel like an outsider. Granted they’d had this discussion before, but it was in reference to THEIR children. Not the child born to another woman. If someone had wanted a way to destroy hearts and love, this was it.

Damn it Desdemona!

Even from death she was turning the blade in his chest, twisting it viciously to make him bleed. Emotion overwhelmed him, as he let the tears begin to fall. This was his last moment alone, and from here on out he was responsible for a child. The words of the nurse kept replaying over and over in his heart and mind.

No one wanted the baby
.

The nurse couldn’t be more wrong. He wanted his
daughter. Now it was a matter of waiting to see if the woman that was giving him a son, and owned his entire heart and soul would forgive him for the pain he was about to cause her.

The next twenty four hours would set the path he’d walk.

It all came down to the woman he trusted with his life. His fate and the destiny of his daughter all rested in her hands.

She’d make them a family or hate him as much as Desdemona did before she died.

Callen wanted to be sick, but he fought through it. Pulling out his cell, he sent off a text to the woman he loved, and prayed that what they had was stronger than anything that could threaten to divide them.

That love would hold them up.

That it wouldn’t shatter.

And that it would remain in his life.

                                          *   *   *

Julian walked up behind his mother
, as she washed dishes alone in the kitchen. After dropping the bowl, she’s told them she’d handle the cleanup alone. That in itself was odd, because growing up Clarissa had told them she had so many babies to help with the chores. Now she’d sequestered herself in the kitchen on the day of his engagement party.

“We need to talk, Mom,” he said, touching her on the shoulder and once again, she dropped a dish into the sink. “What’s going on? This isn’t like you. You know you can
tell me anything.”

Clarissa sniffled. “
It’s nothing Julian. I’m just distracted today by the engagement, and how happy I am for you and your girl. She’s perfect for you, and I can’t wait to have more grandkids running around.”

“Mom, talk to me.”
Julian wasn’t buying the fake façade. This woman was predictable, if anything.

She tensed beneath his hand. “Let it go, Julian. Let it stay dead, okay?”

He shrugged. “Okay Mom.” He knew exactly how to get what he wanted and was ashamed he was about to do it. “I’m sorry I brought everyone here tonight for nothing.”

She looked over at him confused. “For nothing?”

“I can’t get married if there’s something being hidden in our family. I owe it to Tori to have an open relationship with her. I won’t go through with a marriage knowing something is wrong.”

“Julian Trenton Littlemoon, you will marry that girl!” Clarissa was beginning to feel her eyes well up.  All this was her fault for keeping a secret all these years.

“I’ll go tell Tori now. I hope it doesn’t make her hate me. I’m glad I didn’t buy the ring yet.”

Clarissa couldn’t let her son ruin his life. T
hey were meant to be together. “The day your father died, when your uncle found him, there was a white feather beside the body.”

That caught Julian completely off guard.

“A white feather by dad?” he reiterated.

Taking a deep breath, she let the truth escape after years of keeping it guarded. “Your father didn't die in a hunting accident, Julian. He was murdered.”

Julian didn't know what to say.

             
                            *   *   *

Justin set up twenty cans all over the yard. Most were partially obstructed, making the shot nearly impossible to make. He snickered as the two women leaned against the fence. This was going to be too damn easy. While both women were great, smart and funny, this time he had the upper hand.  He was a solider in a war zone. His closest competition was going to be his brother’s fiancée- only because she was trained much like him.

It was time to get the show on the road.
“Okay, twenty hidden targets. The ones in plain view are obviously the easiest ones. If you hit those, you get one point. If you go for the partially obstructed ones, you get two points apiece. Winner has the most points at the end.”

Elizabeth shrugged. “We flip to see who goes first, or can I opt to go last?”

The man looked at her like she was crazy. “You want to go last?” She had to have misunderstood the rules. The easier targets would likely go first, and there were only four simple shots.

“Yep.”

A wicked grin played across Tori’s face, as she offered her boss a fist bump. “I’ll go second. You can shoot first, Justin.”

He wasn’t quite sure what
the women were up to, but he was beginning to get suspicious.

Justin
unzipped the case for his nine millimeter and loaded it. “Are you both sure you want to go after me?”

Elizabeth simply grinned
, winking at her husband, who was struggling to not laugh. “Yep.”

Stepping up to the line
they laid out in the grass, Justin scanned for the three easy shots and one tough one. It would clear almost all the simple targets and make the women have to work for it.

“
Are you sure you want to do this, Justin?” Blackhawk asked, trying to keep his composure.

“Like candy from a baby,” he muttered, aiming and taking
his first shot. It was an easy one and he followed it up with two more of the same. On his final shot, he took out a halfway obstructed can behind two rocks. “That makes four shots for four and a total five points.”

Tori pulled her Glock from her purse and moved to the line. “You could have cleared all the easy ones, Justin. I plan on making the hard shots,” she taunted. Scanning the area,
Tori found the targets she wanted and planned for the hardest of the four first. Pulling the trigger the can flew from behind the tree branch, as did the next three from the other targets.

“What the hell,” he muttered, watching her clear her four easily.
He wasn’t surprised; again, she was a soldier.

Tori strolled back over to Elizabeth. “Eight total points. It looks like you just lost, Justin. Now it’s between me and the boss lady, and since I’ve seen how she shoots, you may want to make this a bit harder for her. Make her clear eight in a row with her left hand. She’s a ringer.”

Elizabeth started laughing that the jig was up.

“I’m going to kill my brother,” he stated, unequivocally.
His own flesh and blood set him up against two babes.

Now the women laughed even more. “On our last assignment here I was pregnant
, and Julian mocked me when I was given the tactical shot gun. Did he ever tell you about the mountain lion?” she said, walking up to the line. “I’ll shoot lefty, and I’ll do eight in a row and the last one is going to be that one you have hidden behind that cinderblock.”

Justin wasn’t sure if she was serious or kidding. That last shot was a joke. No one could make it
but a trained sniper. In fact, he’d hoped they try and fail when he set it up.

“No, my brother didn't mention anything, but I’ll beat it out of him later,” he muttered.

“I’ll even toss in another hundred bucks that says my wife can do it, but it’s going to cost you if she pulls it off. You a gambler, Justin?” inquired Blackhawk, grinning.

“Yeah, I am. I gambled with my life daily for twelve
years. What do you have in mind?”

Elizabeth was
entertained and curious at the same time. Ethan was really getting into it, but yet, his eyes gave away something troubling him below the surface. If he thought she couldn’t see it, he was dead wrong.

“She clears eight more targets, including that almost impossible one, and you get a tattoo on your ass that
says ‘Tex was here’.”

Tori began laughing as Justin’s sisters stared open mouthed. “Oh hell
, you back down you look like a baby, and if you lose you get inked. This is what happens when you swim with the Federal Piranhas,” stated Tori, snickering.

“I
f I win, you can have the money to pay for the tattoo.” Elizabeth offered. “Right now you should be thinking ‘are they screwing with me’? I may be bluffing or I may be dead serious, but in Blackhawk-land if you throw down, you go hardcore all the way. Are you in, Justin or you backing away, Marine?”

He stared her down.

“Scared of a pregnant girl?”

His sisters started laughing, knowing she got him.

“I’m in, Sweetheart. You shoot lefty only, eight targets and eight bullets only. You miss one and I win, but let’s really go all in. You lose and my name goes on that tattoo on your ass, Elizabeth.”

She offered him a fist bump. “Done.”

Blackhawk wasn’t worried. “School him, Baby, because if you have to get his name on your ass, I have to kill him. I’m pretty sure Callen’s going to say the same thing.”

Justin stared at the big
Native, unsure if he was kidding.

Elizabeth scanned the targets. “Tori Darlin’ count for me,” she said, southern accent coming out.

“You got it, Tex.”

“They call her that because she shoots well?” Justin asked, knowing his brother set him up with a ringer.

Ethan answered for Tori. “No, because she kills first and asks questions later.”

Elizabeth was completely
focused; lifting her left hand she found her target and took the shot. The can flew from behind the log.

“One.”

She picked her next one and fired quickly.

“Two,” counted Tori.

The next ones were side by side behind some brush. Aiming she let two shots go back to back.

“Three and four.”

Justin blanched almost ready to go find Julian and beat him down. It wasn’t looking good for him. His only hope was that when it came to the last shot, the Fed couldn’t pull it off.