Devil Hath Come (an FBI/Romance Thriller ~book 7) (74 page)

Callen stared down at the table and the items sitting on it. There was a dead headless bird, a pile of his brother’s hair, the note and his personal effects. They might lead to something that could help them. Right then, he was weighing his options, as Chris came back into the room.

“She’s not speaking and isn’t responding to anything we say,” he said, placing his hand on Callen’s arm. “How are you holding out?”

There was no way in hell he was giving up. “I want to kill this bastard for touching my brother, cutting off his hair
, and breaking Elizabeth. That’s about the extent of it.” He wasn’t going to mention that he wanted to weep and be terrified.

He just didn't have that damn luxury
at the moment.

“Are you sure that calling
for backup isn’t a good idea?” Chris was glad that he wasn’t the one who had to make that decision. In the work hierarchy, Ethan or Elizabeth would carry this one. Now, it was on Callen, and he was about to learn if he could handle it or crumble under the weight. This was one hell of an initiation into the leadership club.

“If it were me that he had, my brother would b
uy me time. If he’s watching us, we’re holed up here until we figure out who is doing this.”

Callen could hear more sobs from the other room.

Something had to be done. “Chris, call Christina. If she’s in her hotel room tell her to head up here. Don’t tell her anything over the phone. I don’t want her to freak out and alert anyone. The fewer of us that know, the better chance we have at keeping it under wraps.”

Chris pulled out his phone and made the call
, asking Christina to join them.

Meanwhile, Callen picked up his brother’s phone and started scrolling through his notes. If he was going to play leader, then he needed to get into the mind of a true one. Flipping
through his profile updates, he began reading the last thing that his brother had been working on before he went out to get dinner.

As his eyes scanned it, it gave him an insight into the man
who was taken, and the one who stole him away.

The k
iller is highly organized. I’m updating the profile to show that he is of average intelligence. In order to catch him, we’ll need to outthink him, since he believes that he’s smarter than us. The more I see the inconsistencies, the less I believe that they’re random.

If for some reason
, he manages to get his last victim, she will have a little more time. His plan is to enjoy this and he won’t be rushed. He will need to take her someplace quiet and secluded, more so than the last five victims in the killings. He picked them for a reason, but the final place will be where it was all meant to play out. The killer picked that place first, building around it. This was always about getting Elizabeth here. The women, while offerings to Satan, they never really mattered. He needed a distraction to get to her. In his mind, he’s rationalizing it to be about the devil, but I believe it’s more. I think he’s foremost a stalker, and then a killer. He wants what he can’t have and has created this world where ‘the devil’ made him do it.

I need to advise the team to focus on the locations as a center point. He will stick to his plan
because that’s all he really has in all this. The focus is the goal. If we can find the final site, we may be able to trap him in the hole.

Before it’s too late.

Callen read his brother’s words over and over and tried to implant them in his mind. After he got Christina working on the items, he was going to start tearing apart the map and
the crime scene locations. If Ethan made note of it, then it had to matter.

At the knock at the door, Cyra peeking out and finally opened it. She wasn’t taking any chances.

When the woman entered, she looked nervous as hell. She knew that being summoned to the boss’s room that late at night was never going to be a good thing.

“What did I do?” she asked, sensing the strain in the room. There was sobbing from the other room, and by process of elimination, she knew who was crying.

Callen took over and didn't sugar coat it. “Ethan was abducted by the killer.”

Christina gasped
and her stomach knotted at the news. She loved her boss. The man had always been good to her, and she considered the Blackhawks part of her family. “Oh shit! What can I do?”

Callen explained the situation
, “We only have until tomorrow night. When he took Ethan, he left us some items. We’re hoping that you can run trace on them.”

“I can take them right to the lab.”

He stopped her. “No, you can’t. He specifically stated that if Elizabeth asked for any help, Ethan was dead. If he’s watching us, then we can’t risk it.”

She understood. “Okay, I have a kit in my room. I can get it and start working on it through the night
up here.”

Callen was grateful. “Anything you can’t run here,
I want you take with you to work in the morning. You say absolutely nothing and you run it all untagged. Print it and then burn the rest.”

Christina would do just that. “Is Elizabeth going to be okay?”

He wished he had the answer to that. When he thought about it, his mind wandered to Ares and Artemis LaFay. He could only pray that this didn't have the same outcome if he failed. Callen went with honesty. “I don’t know.”

“Let me go get my things and start,” she said, racing for the door.

Callen knew that they need everyone on the team. “I’m going to try and get her to snap out of it. I need her on this. I have big enough shoes to fill from Ethan, but she’s a whole other story,” he stated, unsure if he could pull it off alone.

Entering the room, he closed the door. When he sat beside her on the bed, his heart broke. He’d never seen her like this before.

Pulling her into his arms, he held her tight. “Shhhh Lyzee, it’s going to be alright. We’re going to find him. Ethan’s coming home, I promise you.”

She shook in his arms and continued to cry, but now she at least was holding onto him
with her face buried in his neck.

“This is my fault, Cal. I didn't even consider that he’d come after you or Ethan. I was willing to face him, but I never thought…”

He left kisses on her face. “Angel, you couldn’t have known. He’s a sick bastard and his mind is a maze that we would never figure out.”

She clung to him, her face damp with tears. “Oh God, how do I go on
if he kills Ethan?”

He didn't have an answer for that. “I don’t know. I’ve asked myself that a few times. I know that I need your help on this. I can’t do this alone, sweetheart. I need you by my side. Ethan needs us.”

She tried to focus, but the grief was just too much. She loved them both so much, and now half her heart was missing.

How do you live if you’re incomplete?

Callen held her and allowed her to cry it all out. Maybe then, he’d be able to pick her brain.

Suddenly, she pulled from his arms and raced to
wards the bathroom. Hitting her knees, she slid across the tile floor to begin voiding everything that was in her body. She retched violently, as if trying to purge all the pain and fear.

He wasn’t far behind her, as he pulled her hair back and knelt beside the woman he loved. He let her get it all out of her body
. Callen wanted to admit that he wasn’t far behind her and that the bile was churning in his own gut too.

When she was done, he stood her up and helped her rinse out her mouth and brush her teeth. The entire time he was replaying everything Ethan had said in his notes.
It was looking more and more like Elizabeth couldn’t help him, so he would need to pull this off.

The alternative was unacceptable.

Before he knew it, she was facing him and had buried her face in his shoulder and her hands in his shirt. It broke his heart that she was holding onto him like a lost and broken child.

Lifting her up into his arms, he carried her to the bed and sat with her on his lap. There was no
more crying, as he suspected she’d used up all her tears. What could he do? Callen continued to offer her comfort as he continued to rock the mother of his children and his mate in life.

They could do it, he had no doubt.
Elizabeth would pull through.

Callen was unsure how much time had gone by, but wh
en her arm slipped from his shoulder, he knew the cold hard reality. He wasn’t going to be able to use her brain. She’d worn herself out weeping. Callen was on his own for this one, and the team would have to push forward without her.

Resting her on the mattress
, he left a kiss on her hot cheek. “I’ll get him back for you, my love. I swear I will.”

At the door, Callen paused
, finally considering something. He moved back towards the night stand and reached inside. Pulling her gun out, he discharged the round and removed the clip. As he tucked it in his back pocket, he refused to take any chances. It wasn’t that he believed Elizabeth would do something so drastic, but he also didn't want to even make that gamble.

There was too much on the line.

Callen couldn’t lose them both on this assignment.

Moving from the room, he
headed back out to his team to begin the push forward to save his brother and their partner in love and life.

Now that he
had done everything that he could on the personal front, he’d focus on the problem at hand.

“Hang in there,
bro. I’m going to find you.”

It was time for Callen to lead his family and the team.

When he finally pulled from sleep, he knew he must have been out a while. His body was lying on a concrete floor and the chill was creeping into his body. Trying to make out any objects, he struggled to get his eyes to adjust to the very dim light coming through the very small windows.

His brain fought to process it through the pain that was throbbing in his head. The need to save his life was returning and Ethan knew he had to fight for it now.

Trying to get his eyes to adjust to the very little light, he took in his surroundings the best he could. That would be his first step to getting an escape plan together.

Okay, he was in a concrete building.
The ground was cold and when he coughed, it echoed.

At least that was a start.

Trying to sit up,
Ethan realized that his arms were restrained above his head. With numb fingers, he began to feel what was holding him captive and in place. It seemed to be a chilly pipe. Moving as far as his bindings would allow him, he felt along the curve. Recognition began to dawn as there was the familiar feel of plumbing under a sink. He’d done enough home repairs to know what he was touching, even in the dark.

Focusing on the sounds around him, he could hear hammering
in the distance. The asshole was building something, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be pleasurable. Ethan tried not to think of all the torture devices that the sick bastard might be coming up with to end his life. For now, he couldn’t focus on anything but what was happening in that moment.

It meant his survival.

Breathing in the cold air, his body shook. There was the smell of sanitizer and blood lingering around him. Then it hit him. He’d smelled it all before. It was the same scent that his cleaning crew used in their building.

It smelled like a bathroom.

Wherever he was being held, it had at one time housed that type of facility. Okay, that narrowed it down. At least he wasn’t in the middle of the woods somewhere. That meant that his wife and brother had a chance of figuring it out. This was an actual building and would be on a map.

He prayed
that the man left some sort of clue.

His teeth began to chatter, as his body gave off the tell-tale signs of shock and distress.

God, he was so cold.

He wished he had a nice warm pull over, or better yet he was home in bed with his family. Focusing on that, he swore he could now smell her perfume and Callen’s aftershave. It gave him
momentary peace as he let it be his focus.

Then he realized, it was his brain shutting down. His head was pounding
, and he was pretty sure that he had one hell of a concussion. If he smelled his mates, then his mind was playing tricks on him. He started concentrating on his surroundings, in hopes that he would stay awake long enough to get more information. If he was going to try and escape at first opportunity, Ethan knew he couldn’t be stumbling around blindly.

Reaching back into his memories
and training in the FBI, he struggled to hold onto the proper plan in an emergency.

And this was definitely one of them.

First, he needed to assess his injuries. Looking down, he didn't need to see the crisscross cuts in his skin to know they were there. Right now, they were burning like a bitch. As his body was shaking, trying to get warm, he knew that this was just the beginning. It wasn’t lost on him that from the angles of the slices, he already knew what the man was making.

It looked like he too was getting his very own pentagram to take to the grave.

Awesome.

Using the pipe as leverage, he used his strength to drag his body up to check his chest with his fingers. The strain nearly broke his wrists, and he let out a pain
filled gasp as he probed his chest.

Okay, he wouldn’t die from the wounds, but he knew why the man was doing it. The blood loss would keep him weak.

Next, he slid low on the ground until he could reach the next object with his toes. He wasn’t happy the man took his shoes. One, because an escape would be harder and more painful and two, he really loved those boots.

He started laughing
, and realized that it had to be shock and delirium settling in, because none of this was funny at all.

Just then
, the hammering went silent. He braced for what he knew was going to be coming.

Shit, he’d given himself away.

It was blatantly clear that he wasn’t working on full capacity or he wouldn’t have made such a rookie mistake. Oh well. Round two was about to begin.

Soon
, he’d be in pain again.

As the door opened
, the lights flashed on and temporarily blinded him. When the footsteps moved closer, Ethan fought to open his eyes and see where he was being held.

Blackhawk
had been right. He was currently in a bathroom. In fact, it looked like a state rest stop. They all generally looked the same. On their way up here, they’d pulled into one to make a pit stop.

“Glad to see you’re awake. I’m pretty sure if you take another hit to the skull, you won’t be
, so the good news is I won’t be hitting you there.”

Ethan said nothing.

“How about you talk to me about your family? I really want to know about your wife. How do you share her with that other man?” he asked, trying to provoke him.

It occurred to him that the man didn't know that Callen was his brother. That may keep the nutjob from going after him. At least that offered some solace.

When Ethan still said nothing, he kept going. “I’m glad you like to pass her around. I’m going to have her last, and she’s going to make my master very happy. I promise to take very good care of her.”

He tried to remain calm
and breathe through the rage.

“I have to say, I went through your wallet. You have really cute kids. After I kill her, I’m going for them next.”

It was all he could take. He tried to lunge for the man, only to miss touching him with his feet.

“Oh,
I see that they’re your weak spot. Okay, tell me about your wife and I won’t kill those little babies of yours.”

Blackhawk
closed his eyes and prayed that he had set up a strong enough safety net to keep Wyler and the kids safe. It was their only chance at this point. They were only two hours away, and Ethan didn't doubt the man would do as he said.

“I’ll peel the skin from them as I offer them up to the dark
Lord. I think he’d like an offering of little pudgy babies, especially the little girl. She looked sweet.”

His eyes filled with tears, as he refused to give anymore away. He’d die before he’d tell him about his children. It wasn’t happening.

“I’m building you something special, Director Blackhawk, or can I call you Ethan? Anyway, I couldn’t figure out how to get rid of you, because I don’t have any need for a man. I was going to slice you up and leave you here, but then I thought that’s leaving a mess for someone to clean up, and I hate doing that.”

Ethan refused to talk to him. He kept his eyes closed and tried to block out the words.

“You can’t hide, Director,” he said, laughing.

He could feel the cold tip of the knife touching his skin and when he sat on his legs, he knew what was coming. The man was going to carve him up
and finish his artwork on his chest.

“I’m offended
that you dared to put her name on your body. She was obviously meant for me and my Lord. So, I’m going to just redecorate a little bit.”

As the knife scratched across his abs, the pain was immeasurable. He fought to not scream, but ultimately he had no choice.

“Now, tell me about your wife and how to break her.” he asked laughing.

When that didn't even make him talk, the man got frustrated and hit him in the chest
, directly across the oozing wounds.

Ethan
howled in immeasurable pain and this time blacked out. The agony was too much. As he slipped away, he could hear the man mocking him.

He didn't know how long he’d been in the blackness, when he was ripped back into consciousness.

“Did you forget about the smelling salts, Ethan?” he laughed sickly. “If I used them on those women, why not use them on you? You’re going to have a very long night ahead of you.”

He gasped for air, as his body reacted to the chemicals. Yeah, Chris was right. They most definitely worked.

It looked like his hell was about to be prolonged.

“Oh,
just so you know. I’m building you a coffin. I’m cutting out the middle man for my Elizabeth and personally burying you. No one’s going to ever find your body.”

At the killer’s
laughter, Ethan fought to not break under the weight of his words.

“I’ll make sure of that.”

~ Chapter Nineteen ~

  
Monday morning

      Halloween  

They
had worked through the night, digging through everything that they had at their fingertips. Everyone there was praying for an outcome that wasn’t going to end in Ethan dying and losing Elizabeth in the process.

Callen
was three days past exhausted and was finding himself catnapping as he scrolled through his brother’s tablet. After eight hours of reading his words and thoughts, Callen knew two things. He was ready to start with other information and his brother had an amazing mind. What Ethan saw when he looked at each person who was a suspect, was so much deeper than what Callen had observed.

His brother was incredibly intuitive, and that
insight was going to help Callen find the abductor.

All through the night, he’d been torn on calling his father to tell him the news. Finally
, at three in the morning, he broke down, and made the call.

Wyler was borderline hysterical himself, wanting to rush up there. It took everything Callen had to get him to be quiet. If the agents downstairs got wind of it, Ethan was dead.
They were breaking FBI protocol for an abducted agent, and they might pay for that in the end.

Then again, he was technically on vacation
, so that might be his one loophole or technicality.

As his father started to focus, his next question was about Elizabeth. Callen didn't lie. He was seriously concerned for her. He wanted to
lie beside her and hold Elizabeth in his arms, but he didn't have the luxury of time. She was curled into a ball and trying to block out the pain, and he couldn’t blame her.

Wyler told him to keep his eye on Elizabeth, and if he needed him, he could be there in two hours.

Meanwhile, he would set up a vigil to their ancestors to help anyway he could.

Callen was accepting any
assistance that he could at this point, even if it came from the afterlife.

Standing
up, he needed to stretch. As he looked across the room, the rest of their team was out cold. Christina had fallen asleep at the table beside a microscope. Going to her, Callen patted her on the shoulder.

“Christina, you need to head to work to run those samples,” he whispered in her ear.

Her eyes popped open and she glanced around at her surroundings. Once the initial confusion had passed, she quickly packed up her things as she hurried around the room. Most of the work had been finished, but she still needed to run the trace through the bigger machines.

“What did you find, Christina?” asked Callen hopefully.

“We have fingerprints on the inside lid of the box. I’m going to go do a search of it and get you the owner. Also the raven is just the common one you find in this area. I don’t think you can get them from a distributer, so I’m going to say he’s catching them himself.”

Callen nodded. “Go get me that print.”

She patted her pocket, where she placed the sample. “On my way, boss,” then she paused. “If you talk to Elizabeth, tell her I’m sorry.”

He knew what she meant. “Thank you, Christina.”

The woman took off like a bat out of hell.

When the door slammed behind her, Cyra jumped. She
had been lying on the floor, with her head on her arms as she had been scanning the porn. They only had four more discs to get through.

“Oh God, how long was I asleep?” she asked, getting up.

“About two hours, but you needed it.”

Cyra
felt bad that she had gone down. “I’m sorry. I just closed my eyes for a second.”

He understood
, because so had he. “Can you get me that map printed out? I want to see the locations and try and figure it out.”

“Sure thing,” she said, heading towards Chris. Gently, she touched his cheek. “Come on, Christopher, rise and shine. We’re back on duty.
”

The man stood up. “Crap, I feel like the walking dead,” he stated, watching Cyra wince at his words. Then it hit him. “Oh shit, Callen, I’m so sorry. I didn't mean anything by that!”

There was no doubt in his mind that the man meant no harm. “It’s okay, Doc. I know that you didn't.”

“What can I do, Callen?” he asked, pausing. “I had an idea last night, and you may want to consider it.”

Callen was ready to consider anything.

“Since the killer has Ethan, wouldn’t it stand to say that we go around and look for
whoever isn’t at work? The person that’s not there will be the one that has him.”

At first, that idea had merit. Then
reality kicked in and he started thinking about it. His brain was saying to do it, but his gut said it wasn’t the right thing. “He’s going to want to watch us to see how we react and respond to the abduction. He won’t skip anything in his normal routine, because then he can’t monitor us. If I could narrow it down to a suspect or two, we might be able to scare him into bolting back to Ethan, but we don’t have that much yet.”

Cyra spoke up. “We know it’s not Ares. He killed himself and then the director was taken.”

Callen nodded. “We also have alibis for Officer Marsh, but we don’t know if they can be trusted. When your girlfriend is your main alibi, she could be lying.”

“Okay, who else do we have?” Chris asked.

Thinking about it, Cyra spoke. “What about the CPA, what was his name?”

“Lewis Keys, and you have a point. He was the one that pointed us towards Artemis,” Callen stated. “Yet
, nothing points to him.”

Chris took a shot at it. This wasn’t his thing and he wasn’t sure he’d be helpful or a hindrance. “What about the other police officer? Was it Officer Murphy?”

“He was working a few of those shifts when the women disappeared,” Cyra stated. “He couldn’t grab a woman and have the time to kill them and make a ritual sacrifice.”