Darkness Of Truth (An FBI/Romance Thriller~ Book 6) (8 page)

As they came around the corner, s
tanding there was Wyler, his arms wrapped around the woman as she laughed.

“Hi
Dad,” stated Blackhawk grinning, as his palm remained firmly secured over his wife’s mouth.

Elizabeth
’s eyes began watering when the two adults jumped apart. She had to admit that it was funny to see them look so horrified.

“Ethan!” Wyler exclaimed going bright red.
“I didn’t expect you both home.”

Blackhawk finally released his wife’s mouth. “I can see that, Dad. We’re on our way out into the field and needed to pack.”

Elizabeth crossed the kitchen and hugged Wyler. When he placed a kiss on her forehead, her heart flipped. The simple action always made her feel loved. Since her father was gone, Wyler had adopted her as his own. She cuddled into his embrace as he gently rubbed his grandson growing in her belly.

“Hi Bly, how
’s it going?” Elizabeth inquired, grinning. The first few weeks with the woman were rough. From day one, the relationship was very rocky. Their housekeeper was a very stern woman who liked rigorous rules and being in control of the situation. The only problem was, it wasn’t her home. It was Elizabeth’s and this made it tumultuous between them.

Stubborn met stubborn in a showdown, and Elizabeth came out on top. In concession, she agreed to monitor the profanity, since it bothered the woman. In the spirit of trying to get along, Bly stopped rearranging her cabinets and setting up
everything her way.

“It’s going well, Elizabeth. Are you hungry?” she asked, finally able to speak. “I can make you something to eat for the car.”

Ethan stood in the doorway grinning wickedly at his father. As a teenager, his grandfather always tried to catch him and Callen with girls. His father missed out on it, but he was going to enjoy this while he could.

Somehow i
t was poetic justice.

“Please pack her something, Bly. She needs to keep her blood sugar up. Elizabeth had an apple less than an hour ago.” Ethan wanted to make sure
his wife was taken care of on the trip. “I also need to pack up some provisions. We’re heading to Red River to meet up with Callen. I rented a house, and we won’t have time to stop for food.”

The woman began whipping around the kitchen preparing some things for them to take with them. “I’ll have it ready in ten minutes, Ethan.”

Wyler followed them out of the kitchen, speaking in hushed tones. “I want to apologize,” he said, staring into his son’s face.

Ethan didn’t get it. “For what?”

“My behavior with Bly in your home.”

Elizabeth took his hand in hers and gently offered reassurance. It was obvious to her what was bothering her father-in-law. “Dad, we don’t have a problem with you having a relationship with Bly. You’re a grown man and deserve to enjoy life too.”

Blackhawk got it finally. “Dad, are you not with a woman because of us?” meaning his brother and himself.

Wyler wasn’t going to lie.
“Yes.”

“
Mom’s been gone a long time, Dad. You’re allowed to stop paying for that sin. I know Callen feels the same way. We don’t hold you responsible for what happened in our past. We forgave you and moved on already.”

Wyler thought about it. “I know I hurt you both.”

Blackhawk hugged his father. “You gave me a brother that I wouldn’t have had otherwise. If you didn’t sleep with Callen’s mom, he wouldn’t have been born. I wouldn’t have left the Rez and met Elizabeth.”

She picked up for her husband. “I wouldn’t have married into this amazing family and met Callen. I wouldn’t have had CJ and soon EJ. If fate didn’t lead you the way it did, none of this would have happened.”

Blackhawk grinned. “She likes you and you like her. Have at it, Dad.”

Wyler grinned. “Go pack. CJ is asleep in his crib.”

Elizabeth reached into her purse and pulled out her tablet. “Keep this here and later I’ll call to see him and you, Dad.” She patted his cheek and walked up the stairs to their room.

“I meant what I said,
Dad. I forgive you and love you. This isn’t just our home. This is your place too.”

Wyler watched his son follow his wife up the stairs. His heart was so full at that moment.

“Are you okay, Wyler?” Bly asked, coming to his side.

Out came the
infamous Blackhawk family grin. “Yeah, I’m doing really well.”

She smiled up at him. “Want some tea?”

Wyler followed her into the kitchen.  “Yeah, and I think I’m in the mood for some pie too.”

             
                            *   *   *

Julian and Callen sat side by side against a tree
, watching the cave and bramble. It had to be the longest three hours of their lives. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky and there was nothing exciting about the prospect of being there in the dark with the dead corpses not far away.

Unfortunately, the team was going to have to do
the retrieval after dark, and that generally took longer. Callen had already called the police chief of the Rez, informing him of the issues that had popped up. He immediately offered his staff of three to help out if Callen needed them. Whitefox accepted the offer, since he would be working out of the police station. It would give them a central location to have the ME and anthropologists do their jobs.

Julian tapped him on the shoulder. “So what were you working on here at the Rez before this?”

“I was mediating between Chief Soaring Eagle and Sheriff Duffy,” Callen stated.

“That had to be awkward since the last time you saw him you were punching the shit out of him for insulting Elizabeth.” Little moon couldn’t help but grin.
He remembered it fondly. No one deserved it more than James Duffy.

“Yeah, well the man holds a grudge, as does that shrew of a secretary. I ran into her today too.” Whitefox was glad he was done
babysitting, and now focused on ironically a less volatile assignment.

“What
were you mediating?”

Whitefox pulled out a stick of gum and offered Julian a piece. “
Someone outside the Rez swears that they saw a native sneaking onto a ranch, grabbing a sheep, and then slaughtering it.”

Julian considered it. “Chances are it happened. You know the life on the Rez is tough. Stealing to feed the family isn’t exactly an oddity.”

Didn’t Callen know that for certain? He remembered growing up poor and hungry. Many nights he went to bed starving, contemplating theft to survive, and that was at a young age too. He could only imagine what he’d do to feed his kids if need be. There’d be no limits. “The issue is the council doesn’t want to cooperate. I called in a sketch artist to draw the suspect, and Sheriff Duffy is getting all pissy due to the lack of cooperation.”

“
Is Chief Soaring Eagle giving you a hard time?”

Callen laughed
at the absurdity of it all. “He swears it’s a skinwalker doing the poaching.”

Julian didn’t find it very funny. “My father swore he saw a skinwalker once.”

“Julian, you can’t tell me you believe in that bullshit. It’s a myth. There’s no scary monster out there that’s stealing power and the energies from animals it slaughters. Man is the evilest thing in these woods.”

He thought about it. “All I know is my father was adamant about seeing one
following him in a bear skin. I remember that being the final thing he ever told us kids. Then he died in a hunting accident shortly afterwards.”

“I’m sorry you lost your dad, but there
is no such thing as a skinwalker.”

Julian thought about it. “Hey Callen.”

“Yeah?”

“I probably shouldn’t point this out right now, but we’re sitting outside a cave at dusk with two
skinless corpses. Don’t you find that a tad bit ironic or at least coincidental?”

Callen blanched. “Thanks Julian,” he said. “I
’ve already thought about it, but I was trying to not dwell on it for obvious reasons.”

The man laughed. “
Sorry, my bad.”

             
                            *   *   *

The crunch of tires in the driveway brought her
racing towards the window. Outside there were two tech vans, Denali’s and a bunch of ATV’s being offloaded from trailers. It looked like the cavalry was rolling onto the Rez and ready to go.

Tori exited the cabin
, carrying the gun that Julian wanted over her shoulder. “Hey guys,” she shouted, drawing Elizabeth’s attention. When the woman turned around it was hard to not notice the baby bump and how pale and exhausted she looked. “Wow, someone is growing a child!”

Elizabeth laughed. “
Yeah I am! How are you feeling, Tori?” she asked, hugging her friend.

“Not bad. I miss working, but at least I get to watch you guys in action.” Tori
was trying to not be distraught. Her job mattered a great deal, especially using her mind to solving things. Although, truth be told, Julian meant far more to her in the grand scheme.

Ethan
sauntered over, grinning. “You tell her yet?” he inquired.

“I was just about to,” answered Elizabeth, holding out Tori’s gun and badge. “You want to work for a while in the field? We’ll call it your test to see if you’re ready to come back full time.”

It was like Christmas morning for Tori. “Hell yeah I do!” She grabbed the badge and gun and actually kissed them both before putting them on her hip. Then she shrugged. “Screw it!” Tori hugged and kissed Elizabeth square on the lips and then repeated it with Ethan. “I’m so damn excited!”

Elizabeth laughed. “Callen’s going to be so sorry he missed this.”

“Yeah, he will and Julian’s going to go insane,” Blackhawk added, grinning. “I’m so going to bust his ass that I was kissed by his feisty girl.”

Both women laughed.

Ethan got down to business. “Can you lead us in, Tori?”

“I certainly can. We can access the trail through the paddock or around the back. I’d prefer to keep the ATV’s away from the horses. I don’t
want to spook them.”

Elizabeth wandered over to the gate to look at the two mares. “I love riding horses.”

“Not happening.” Blackhawk immediately threw that out there, just in case she was contemplating it. “Callen is already going to stroke out once he sees you here. You on Julian’s horses will put him in a coma. We need him to manage the Natives, or I have to do it.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Okay, I promise no horses
until after I give birth.”

Ethan
was extremely happy that he’d gotten his way on this one. Slapping her on the ass, he winked at her. “It’s so nice to see you being agreeable. It’s like a miracle. This child has made you almost easy going and manageable.”

Elizabeth lifted a brow
, contemplating his words. Oh, she’d show him a thing or two yet. “Are we ready to head into the woods?”

Turning around, Blackhawk yelled to his team. “Everyone doubles up on a quad. Ride carefully and slow. We go in and pull out the bodies. It’s
a night retrieval, and we can’t bring in tons of lights, so bring something portable.”

Elizabeth took Julian’s gun from Tori’s shoulder. “Watch this,” she whispered. “I’m riding shotgun with Agent Christensen.”

Ethan didn’t look pleased. His plan was to place Elizabeth protectively in front of him. His concern was the baby. At six months pregnant, he didn’t want her falling off and getting either one of them hurt.

“Hey Christina, Director Blackhawk needs an ATV partner.
Why don’t you saddle up and keep him company?”

Her husband flushed bright red and appeared mortified. “Elizabeth!” he
hissed, knowing she just threw him under the lecherous Christina bus.

She winked. “That’s for calling me agreeable and letting down your guard. I took it easy on you this time. Next time
be careful, who the hell knows what I’m capable of doing in my overly manageable state.”

Ethan Bl
ackhawk stared as his wife, as she hopped on the back of the quad, blowing him a kiss over her shoulder. “Load up and let’s get in and get back out!” he yelled, preparing to race after his pregnant wife.

Christina climbed onto the back of the quad and sat incredibly close to her boss. This was like the best day of her life.
Later she was going to walk up to Elizabeth and give her the biggest kiss of her life.

“Hold on, Christina,” muttered Blackhawk.

“Oh, don’t worry, Boss. I certainly will.”

When he caught her, he may
kill his wife.

Callen heard the engines before he saw the headlights. “Loo
ks like we finally have company, Julian. I think the team just rolled into town.”