Sacred Burial Grounds (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 2)) (64 page)

There were people who could be heartless and do the job without consci
ence, and those who felt, loved, and were going to crumble. He cared about Ethan Blackhawk, but he was pretty sure that Elizabeth would be the backbone in the team. Now that she was missing, her husband wouldn’t hold together well. Unlike him, he was ‘the dragon slayer’, given that name because he was able to hide all emotion until he was alone. For a long time, people believed he had no heart, and he liked it that way. Those with no heart didn’t feel what he felt right now.

“Get me to FBI West fast. Lights all the way,” he said to the driver
, as he hopped in. He was barely buckled in as they tore away, lights and sirens screaming.

           
                *     *     *

Hours abducted~ six

Elizabeth felt like throwing up
. She was moving as quickly through the woods as she could, staying in the thick underbrush for cover. If he thought she was going to make an easy target, he was dead wrong. One of his big mistakes was he left her watch on her wrist. On the face was a compass for just such an occasion. She’d kill for her gun, but that just wasn’t happening.

Every now and again, she could hear birds take off behind her, or his yells taunting her, promising to make it a quick kill if she just gave up.

There was no way in hell.

They were two hours in and all her training said to head north. Elizabeth was
going to get home alive and to her husband. When she did, she was getting her gun and this asshole was a dead man.

Not for abducting her, but for fucking with her husband.

Just the taunts were making her more and more angry. He called her weak, a woman, and every other derogatory term he could to break her. Elizabeth smiled at them all, because they gave away something important. Little did he realize they showed his growing frustration at losing her early on in the game and repeatedly handed her his location. 

Elizabeth moved low and through the brush,
until she could hear him off to her right almost parallel with her. Scanning her surroundings, she was pretty sure he couldn’t see her.

All she wanted to do was get some water,
and put some distance between them. Elizabeth was grateful that he had taken her boots, and left her with the soft moccasins. Her boots would have made more noise in the forest, but the soft moccasins were comfortable. Now, she got why Natives wore them. She may switch over herself if they got her out of the woods alive.

Hell, she’d move to the reservation and change her damn name if it got her back to her husband. She moved silently down a little incline and began to stand,
and that’s when she felt the movement and the hand over her mouth pulling her backwards.

First
instinct told her to fight hard. The hand over her mouth prevented her startled cry. When she heard the hiss in her ear, she almost wanted to rejoice.

“Elizabeth honey, it’s Wyler.
Shhhhhhh, I have you now. Don’t fight me.”

She went lax and let him move her back
wards. Had she not seen the killer, she might have fought Wyler. He was on her white board as a possible suspect. Elizabeth could still hear the killer moving through the woods, taunting her, and she relaxed momentarily.

There was the immediate
flood of relief and adrenaline, as she wanted to hold onto her husband’s father and weep. When her body began shaking, he just held onto her and closed her into his arms protectively.

Wyler had been watching her
since he happened across the scene hours ago. When he saw the tracks and roar of the ATV, it drew his attention. This was his hunting grounds and there was a trespasser. While hiding in the brush, he watched in horror as the white man unloaded the bound woman into the camp clearing. When he saw the hooded woman, he contemplated going for help, but once the hood was removed, and her identity revealed, there was no way he was going to leave her. It was his son’s wife and by fate or divine intervention, he wasn’t leaving her alone in the woods to fend for herself.

Wyler owed it to his son.

Elizabeth looked up at her father-in-law and nodded. She would keep very quiet, as she had the entire time.

Wyler followed her the last two hours, watching her slip through th
e woods. He stayed with her until he could get to her quietly and safely.

Now that he had her, they needed to hide.
The incline she just came down had a little vine covered crevasse. Wyler pulled her body to the ground with his, and they rolled into the opening, his camouflaged body blocking hers as he pulled the vines back into place. He used the spot to hide when hunting, and now it was going to save their lives.

“Are you okay
?” he whispered into her ear, so low he wasn’t sure he she heard him.

Elizabeth nodded but continued to shake.

“Is that the killer?” he asked.

Elizabeth nodded again.

“I don’t have my gun, only my bow. We’ll wait until he passes far enough in front of us, and I’ll get you out.”

Elizabeth nodded more and this time she buried her face in his shoulder, so grateful that she wasn’t going to have to do it alone.

Wyler let her cling to him. He imagined what she’d had to endure was more than anyone should have to face.

“Thank you, Wyler,” she whispered.

“It’s going to be a three or more hour hike out. Can you do it? We have to go the long way since he’s following a common path. I want to get you as far from him as possible.”

She clutched his hand and squeezed
, as she just remained against the man protectively. All her thoughts were focused on how happy she was that her baby and husband wouldn’t be destroyed by this madman.

Wyler kissed her on the top of the head and ran
his hands up and down her back reassuringly. “I’ll get you home to Ethan. Just hang in there for me, okay?”

Elizabeth couldn’t express how overjoye
d she was. Now she had a chance. Wyler Blackhawk was going to get her back home. They may have to fight the killer, but now she had someone by her side and that meant the odds were in her favor.

Thank
God she told him to go hunting and he listened. That one decision may have saved her and Baby Blackhawk’s life.

Ethan stood in his wife’s office on the phone with the lab. He and his brother had dropped the clothing off, given the tech team the picture
, and told them they had one hour to get them something. His brother had gone to his grandfather’s house to ask him about Angela Teldar. Hopefully the older man knew something about the woman. Time was running out and right now there was a tech pulling data off his smartphone regarding the pictures the killer had sent.

“I don’t care, Christina. We
’re supposed to have the finest tech lab money can buy. I want you to swab every ounce of her clothing and find me a trace of something. I want some lint, fibers, or anything that’s going to find Director Blackhawk!”

Blackhawk
glanced up to see Gabe standing doorway.

“You have one hour to find it, and then I’m coming down. If you think my wife is scary when she’s mad then you’re in for a huge surprise. I don’t give a damn if you
have to resort to a Ouija board! Get me something and make it fast!”

Gabriel Rothschild was sure he was going to find Ethan Blackhawk in a pile of despair over his wife being gone
. What he saw was a man pushing his team and working hard to get her back. He knew then that he didn’t make a mistake letting them work together, and he knew the man was a lot tougher than he would be in the same situation.

“Gabe,” he said, nodding and pulling up a report on his
tablet. “The killer sent me pictures; there’s a tech in my office trying to find a location. The killer stripped her and redressed her. We know what she’s wearing from the pictures, and right now two agents are on their way to the reservation tourist store. Callen thinks he’s seen the dress and moccasins for sale there.”

“Okay,” he dropped his bag and took off his jacket.

“We searched my dad’s house, and we found one picture and some letters with a woman’s name. I have my team searching for her now, and maybe we can find a connection.”

“What do you need me to do?”

For a moment he showed weakness. “Tell me she’s going to be okay.”

Gabe didn’t know if she would, but he was willing to lie to his friend. “Your wife is the smartest, toughest woman I know
. Elizabeth was top of her class. My wife tells me stories of how she got her through the survival classes and the obstacle courses. When they had to do basic survival, she never once got tagged by the S.W.A.T guys, and you know how hard that is to evade. Livy told me she was the only one in her group to evade the paintballs. Elizabeth Blackhawk isn’t going to lie down and cry. Right now she’s fighting damn hard, and I know she’ll get home.”

“Thank you
for that.” Sometimes he needed someone to be the voice of reason and remind him how bad ass his wife could be.

“What’s the woman’s name? I’ll call Quantico and have everything we can locate on her pulled.”

He gave him the name and watched him make the call. “How much time do we have?”

Blackhawk looked at his watch and tried to pretend they weren’t talking about his wife. “We’re at the halfway point.”

“Then I suggest we get busy and figure this out.”

Elizabeth held her father-in-law
’s hand as they moved in the opposite direction of the killer. They traversed quickly but silently through the brush and between the trees. The cuts from brambles were ripping into the already raw cuts on her arms and legs, but she didn’t care. The pain was worth the knowledge that she was getting away and going to live another day. Watching the man with her, she didn’t care what he had done in his past. There was going to be a big wet kiss for him as soon as he got her home. Every time she looked up at him, he reminded her of her husband and a couple of times she felt her eyes filling with tears.

“Elizabeth, are you alright?” he asked
, looking back at her.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “I’m just worried about Ethan.”

Wyler nodded understanding. “I am sure Ethan is frantic. I’ll get you back there. We have another three hours if we don’t stop. Once it gets dark he won’t have a chance of tracking me. I’ve been doing this a long time in these woods.”

Elizabeth didn’t know if she should tell him who the man was, but she thought she
probably should. When he stopped to give her some water, she looked up at him. “Wyler, the man killing all those women, he’s impregnating them.”

“Did he touch you, Elizabeth?”
He felt angry, this was his son’s wife, and the idea that he violated her sent fury through his body.

“I don’t know, but I’m already pregnant, so he can’t hurt me.”

He was surprised to know he was going to have a grandchild. Then he remembered that his son wasn’t going to ever let him see the child. He pushed the hurt down and masked the pain. “Congratulations honey. Now that I know that, we’ll make extra stops so you can rest. You can’t stress your body too much.”

“I’ll be okay. I’m just relieved that you found me in the woods.”

“Me too, Elizabeth,” he said, handing her some venison jerky. “Eat this, so we can keep your strength up. I can probably carry you out towards the end, but I’m not the young man I once was.”

“I’ll be okay; I just need to get home to
Ethan.” She bit into the jerky. “Well, now I’ve had venison and decided that it may very well be my favorite new food,” she grinned. “Next to bacon.”

Wyler patted her cheek very fatherly, and knew how his son had fallen in love with her. “I’ll get you more when you get home. I promise.”

“You look alike,” Elizabeth finally said it, her bottom lip quivered. “Every time I see you, I see my husband.” Then her eyes filled with tears again.

Wyler Blackhawk pulled her into his arms and hugged her. “Sinc
e I know how handsome my son is, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Elizabeth sniffled. “
Now I get to see what Ethan will look like through his life. The Blackhawk men are and always will be incredibly handsome.”

“Eat your jerky. Yo
u're delirious,” he smiled, and then went on alert when he heard a twig snap. He pulled her down behind some brush and placed her protectively behind his body. “If he finds us you run that way,” he pointed and whispered into her ear. “You keep running. It’s going to be brutal, but I’ll buy you time.”

Elizabeth nodded and touched his cheek, watching as he pulled out a wicked hunting knife. Now
, she would just pray the killer didn’t find them both, because Elizabeth Blackhawk didn’t run.

Apparently
, no one told Wyler Blackhawk that.