True Love Lost (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 3)) (22 page)

Desdemona
stepped back, and gave them the privacy they deserved, even though she wanted to run in and join in the warmth they were so easily sharing.

God what she wouldn’t give to have a family of her own. In that moment she believed she’d give up anything to be
part of their circle. Desdemona would sacrifice love to just be part of what they shared.

Family.

They drove into town in one Denali, and left the second one in their driveway. Elizabeth and Ethan Blackhawk sat in the front, and Callen and the doctor in the back, as they discussed the incoming tech reports. They needed a jumping off point to focus the investigation, and before they rolled into the sheriff’s department.

“Did they find any trace?” asked Elizabeth.

Callen Whitefox leaned into the papers sitting in Desdemona’s lap and scanned the information. “Blonde hairs.”

“They put a rush on it to FBI West to find the DNA, and as soon as we get the results later, I can tell you sex. But with long blonde hair, I think we can assume woman.”

Blackhawk looked up in the rear view mirror. “Female serial killers are a possibility, but honestly they don’t happen often,” he added, throwing it out there.

Desdemona considered his words. “I had to do the psych rotation in medical school
, and I remember some of that.” She was having a hard time focusing. Callen Whitefox’s leg was brushing hers and he smelled incredible.

Elizabeth leaned back in her seat. “Did you start your base line profile, Ethan?”

Blackhawk nodded. “I need some more information before I can call it official. It’s going to come down to whether the men we found were sexually assaulted.” Part of him was infinitely grateful that the killer wasn’t going after women. At least his wife would be safe.

The papers
resting on Desdemona’s lap slid off and Whitefox caught them, and he placed them back on her lap. The entire time he was beside her he was completely aware that the doctor smelled really good, and he wondered if it was her perfume or hair.

“Thank you,” she said to him, looking at him from behind her glasses.

Callen smiled warmly at her.

“I’ll get that information for you within the first hour, Ethan,” she answered. “The tech team
would have started the preliminary if they noticed signs of assault.”

“Thank you
.” He glanced over at his wife. “If there’s no sexual assault, I’m going to say female killer. But if Desdemona finds any sign of it, it may be a man that is preying on other men. Like Dahmer or Gacy.”

“Was the blonde hair found only on one victim? Or multiple?”

Desdemona scanned the papers, and took the one she needed and dropped the rest on Whitefox’s lap. “Multiple. In fact, the team retrieved ten hairs in total. They were on their clothing and possibly transferred in transit.”

“Any other trace?”

“The usual trace was found. There were fibers, linen ones, cotton ones and a gray one that appears on all of the victims. I’m sure they’re isolating it as we speak. Christina is very thorough.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Oh she is something alright.”

Blackhawk looked over. “Elizabeth,” he warned.

Whitefox snickered from the back seat. “Don’t stir Ethan up. He has to go work with her today, and you know he gets flustered.”

Elizabeth turned and fist bumped her brother-in-law. They both enjoyed tormenting her husband over the tech that had a bad case of man lust for him.

“I don’t get it,” Desdemona answered.

“Christina lusts after my husband, and she and I have a little game between us. She tries to check him out covertly, and I try to catch her.”

Christina never mentioned that she lusted after her
boss. May be that was why she told her all about Elizabeth, and how tough she was to work with. “Really?” She looked over at Whitefox for confirmation.

“She speaks the truth,” he answered. Just by watching her eyes, he could see she was contemplating something in her mind
and weighing all the information carefully.

This was all interesting information. She stored it away for later mulling.

“Christina is an excellent tech. That’s why she runs the lab. I just let it go because I can’t kick every woman’s ass that looks at Ethan,” she shrugged. Did it bother her? A little bit, because they were married. But she had to choose her battles. There was part of her worried now that she was fat and wobbly her husband wouldn’t find her attractive anymore and find someone else.

Ethan took her hand and squeezed it, and Whitefox put his hand on her shoulder.
They knew her well enough, to pick up on the emotion in her voice.

Desdemona noticed
again how they protectively came to the weaker of the three and offered support and reassurance. First it was Callen Whitefox in his time of need, and now Elizabeth Blackhawk. It was automatic, and she didn’t think they realized they even did it. Obviously Elizabeth wasn’t as tough as everyone thought, and her family knew the truth and was going to protect her any way they could.

“We’re here,” he said, pulling the Denali into the visitors spot.

Everyone piled out and walked up the snowy walk way to the door of the sheriff’s department. The wind was whipping wickedly and blowing the snow around.

Desdemona contemplated her clothing options for a brief moment,
and then remembered the scrubs that she brought with her. Yeah, thank God for the scrubs.

Entering the building, the men stood behind the women. Elizabeth took point and then Callen
noticed the administrative assistant. He probably should have stood in front of the women and drew her attention. Already he could see that Elizabeth was going to be the focus of the woman’s attention.

“Yes?”
Sheila asked, icily.

She
unzipped her parka and pulled out her ID. “Elizabeth Blackhawk to see the sheriff.”

“He’s on a call, he’ll be right out,” she answered checking out the woman before her. She was tall, and looked more like a model than an FBI agent. Then she noticed she was pregnant. “Have a seat
.” Sheila Court pointed to the row of chairs and went back to her gum chewing.

Deputy Bobby Lee Tills wandered over to
the administrative assistant’s desk and leaned down. “What’s with the two Indians, the knocked up model and Morticia Addams?” he snickered and Sheila joined him. “The FBI must be hard up for good employees.”

Elizabeth noticed that Desdemona flinched
and she could only imagine the response with the men behind her. As her blood pressure shot up at the derogatory comments, she knew she’d had just about enough of the town and the bigots.

“Oh crap,” whispered Whitefox
, as he saw the look on Elizabeth’s face as she stood.

It was about to get ugly fast.

~ Chapter six~

It took a moment for the rage and anger to pass, but Elizabeth Blackhawk had one major rule in her life. She didn’t like bullies, and she certainly didn’t like the way the man said ‘Indian’, tossing it out there like it was a dirty word. Compound it with the way it hurt her ME, and she wasn’t going to take it sitting down.

Literally.

Assholes were a problem in their job, but she wasn’t going to let them hurt her family or friend.

“Hey Doctor?”
Elizabeth glanced at the woman beside her, smiling reassuringly. Yeah, hurt was on her face and she didn’t understand why, but it was there. Mental note, being called Morticia was a big no-no with the Doc.

“Yes Director Blackhawk?”

“What’s with the redneck hillbilly and the walking bottle of peroxide? I guess they don’t school them out here. It’s Native American and not Indian. I mean come on, we learned that in what? Third grade?” The burr hit its mark, and both Blackhawk and Whitefox snickered.

God they loved her.

The good and bad thing about Elizabeth was that you never knew what was going to come out of her mouth. This was case in point. When she was defending her family, she’d back it up with an ass kicking if the words didn’t accomplish shutting the offending party down.

Sheila Court looked outraged, and stood while the deputy turned red with rage.

Desdemona was entertained. She didn’t know what to say to that, but she couldn’t help but smile at her boss.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” the deputy
snapped viciously, moving forward.

Elizabeth didn’t back down.
She placed her body protectively in front of Desdemona. After all, she made that promise to her brother-in-law.

“I’d back up if I were you, Deputy,” growled Blackhawk. If the man thought he was going near his pregnant wife, he was going to be in a world of hurt.

“Don’t do it,” warned Whitefox, as he moved closer to Elizabeth, pushing Desdemona behind him protectively. “Unless you want to get hurt, that is.”

The deputy assessed the situation and
wisely backed up. The look he threw out at the pregnant bitch spoke volumes. He’d teach her a lesson and the freak behind her too. He’d get the last laugh.

“Hey, is there an issue?” interjected Sheriff James Duffy
, as he left his office. His worst case scenario was Sheila and the deputy greeting the FBI, and this was exactly why.

“No issue, Sheriff,” drawled Elizabeth. The southern came out in her voice, and that only happened when she was extremely pissed. “I was just becoming acquainted with your staff. Let me say, delightful individuals,” she added
, sarcastically. 

“How about we head down to the room I told you about, Agents?” he tried to defuse the situation. “I think it will work for you,” he continued.

Blackhawk and Whitefox kept their eyes on the deputy. They were ready if they had to be.

“That would be wonderful,” answered Desdemona. Her body was pressed against Whitefox’s protectively
. It wasn’t lost on her that Callen’s hand was protectively placed on Elizabeth’s hip.

“Great!” At that moment h
e just wanted to get the four FBI agents away from his staff, and then he was going to rip his deputy and administrative assistant a new one when he got them alone.

Everyone followed the
sheriff down the stairs to the basement and to the location he had promised them. There were a few of the tech staff milling about, and prepping the bodies for autopsy for the doctor.

“I hope it’ll be sufficient,” he stated, as he watched the woman wander through the workspace and drop her bag of tools on the table.

“I can definitely work here,” she answered brightly. It was ten times better than she hoped, and she could utilize the space.

“I’m glad, Doctor. If you need anything else, here’s my cell phone number. We don’t have an intercom down here so just call
me directly,” he handed her the paper and winked at her. Desdemona blushed.

Whitefox’s cheek
twitched and Elizabeth grinned at her husband. Oh, this was going to be interesting to watch unfold. For once she and her husband were going to be on the sidelines enjoying the festivities unfold.

Blackhawk patted his brother on the shoulder
in support. “Meet you upstairs Callen,” he headed for the door. “Sheriff, how about that work space for us now?” It wasn’t lost on him that the man was checking out the doctor, and he was going to help his brother out and run interference.

“Oh, yeah. Let me take you there,” he said, watching the woman over his shoulder and almost walking into Whitefox. “Sorry
, agent,” he said, tipping his hat. The testosterone battle was going to be brewing for a while.

Elizabeth was going to give them some space, and she wandered over to Christina to harass her about trace.

“Stay inside, Desi,” he said softly, as he moved towards her.

She looked up at him when the tone of his voice changed. “Okay, Callen,” she answered.

He took the paper from her fingers and ripped it in half, and pulled the pen that was tucked into her wildly pulled up hair. He scribbled his number on it and tucked the pen back into the chaos, and then leaned down to her ear. “If you need anything, you call me.” His lips were millimeters from her ear, and he answered his own question. It was her hair that smelled so damn good.

Desdemona was sure her eyes were huge.
In her entire dating career, never had a man been that blatantly forceful with her.

“Promise me Desi,” he said
vehemently, determined to have his way on this one and strong arm her into compliance.

She felt like she had no choice
and it stole her breath. “I promise, Callen.”

Whitefox stepped back from her body, and it was torture. The idea that the
sheriff had any notion to move in on Desdemona fired everything deep inside of him. It wasn’t happening. Whitefox glanced over at Elizabeth and a silent message was passed between them. She’d keep Sheriff James Duffy at a distance in his absence. Now he could focus on his job and believe that the woman would be safe from other poaching males in the station. Specifically ones that went by the name James Duffy. There were few he’d trust with the woman, but his sister-in-law’s promise was good as gold, and he silently gave her a fist bump in gratitude.

“Elizabeth,
the usual for lunch?” he called over his shoulder.

“Yeah, thanks Cal,” she
answered, moving towards the woman, smiling.

“Desi, I’ll pick you up lunch,” he stated, not giving her an option as he walked from the room.

Desdemona didn’t know what to say. She looked over at her boss and the look must have said it all.

Elizabeth dropped her arm over her shoulders reassuringly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him act like that before with anyone,” she said
, smiling. “Looks like Callen is staking his claim,” she started laughing at the look of horror on her ME’s face.

“I’m not territory.
” Desdemona managed to get out in abject horror, but part of her was incredibly turned on by the man and his possessiveness. “Is Ethan like that?” she had to ask, and hoped Elizabeth wouldn’t be offended.

“Let’s just say it’s a Blackhawk gene thing, and the more you try and escape it, the more it will follow you and wear you out,” she warned.
“I say just accept it, go with it and enjoy the ride. It’s a really awesome ride.” Elizabeth pushed to help Callen out.

“I honestly don’t know whether I should be angry or …” She didn’t even have a word for it, but she was stuck on the phrase ‘enjoy the ride’.
It conjured up so many ideas in her mind, and none were appropriate to be having in autopsy or with her boss.

“
Doc, here’s my opinion. Once they set a goal, both men are pretty diligent in reaching it. They have bossy, sexy man syndrome. It takes less energy to just go with it.”

Desdemona sighed.

“If this helps, picture them in their boxers with all the tattoos,” Elizabeth suggested. “Whenever Ethan makes me really mad, I just go with that technique and believe it or not the anger just disappears.”

Desdemona started laughing.
“That I believe.”

“See?”

“Maybe we should start the autopsies,” she muttered, as she tried to regain focus. Yeah, something like lust was sitting deep inside her, urging her to just go for it as she pictured both men half-naked and covered in tattoos. Then came the jealousy that Elizabeth was close to both men equally.

“Good
idea,” Elizabeth answered patting her on the shoulder. “Let’s get started because now I’m thinking about sex in an autopsy room, and that’s just creepy and very wrong.”

“I’m with you there.” Desdemona kept dwelling on the situation
with Callen. For some reason she believed everything Elizabeth said.

Whitefox
wasn’t going to give up the chase.

Callen found the room that his brother had absconded, and taken over as their own. He was busy unpacking a white board, and setting it up for his wife. On the team, Ethan was the profiler, and Elizabeth was the one that took all the pieces they found and put it together to create the big picture.

Both agents worked well together, and Whitefox was just glad he could learn from both of them, and be part of the team. He dropped into one of the chairs and dropped his boots on the edge of the table.

“You okay
?” asked his brother. Callen had the distinct look on his face, and he’d seen it before when they were growing up and when he met Elizabeth. It was the look of woman troubles.

“Yes. No. I don’t know.”

Blackhawk laughed. “Here’s the tech finger print reports. See what you can find out. Check AFIS, and we’ll go from there.” When his brother wanted to talk, he’d spill what was bugging him. He slid the laptop over to him, and a stack of papers.

Whitefox began entering the data and pulling information from AFIS to see if it would match any of the victims. Well, minus the one that didn’t have fingers to print.

“Do you think I have a snowballs chance in hell?” he asked his brother after a few minutes, and he wasn’t talking about finding a fingerprint match.

“Depends,” his brother said, turning around and sitting on the corner of the table. “What are you looking for?” he asked. When he’d taken the risk with Elizabeth, he didn’t know they’d end up where they were today. In his heart he didn
’t believe he was worthy of her and their love. She’d convinced him otherwise and he’d fallen in love and fast. Now he couldn’t imagine a single day without her in his life.

“I don’t know.” And he was telling the truth.

He reached into the wealth of knowledge he had as a profiler and as the man’s brother. “I look at Doctor Adare, and I see that she’s afraid. I don’t get what’s scaring her, but something is making her want to run. She’s hiding things, Cal.”

“I get that feeling too.”

“Elizabeth ran her.”

Whitefox looked up and was a little angry
that they ran Doctor Adare behind his back. “Why?”

“Uh, shut it down, Cal. We’re her bosses and we can run our employees. In fact, you’re our employee too.”

Whitefox didn’t look any less pissed at the reasoning.

“Hey,
Elizabeth loves you and so do I. We didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, but what I did notice is she packs up and makes a break for it every year or so. Doctor Adare doesn’t stay in one place very long.”

“Maybe she just likes to move around…” But he knew otherwise. The red rose kept popping into his head, and he didn’t know if he should tell his brother or not.

“Her last job was working in a lab doing forensics for a private company. She was making almost four hundred thousand dollars a year.”

Whitefox almost fell out of his chair. “
Holy shit, seriously?”

“Yeah, and she came here to the FBI and took a big salary cut. Almost half. Why?”

His brother had a point, it did indeed look shady.

“I think that if you’re going to invest the time and effort into her for the long haul, you need to find out what will make her bolt.
If she’s going to bolt in a year, and you're in love with her at the time, you’ll get your heart handed to you. Plus you need to see if she’s ‘the one’.”

Ethan suspected his brother couldn’t truthfully say that.

Whitefox nodded. Desdemona wouldn’t ever be ‘the one’, but he believed she could come close. Then the guilt returned over his feelings for Elizabeth and the betrayal of his brother.

“Then there’s the real problem in all this. If she breaks your heart, Elizabeth will track her down, skin her and laugh while doing it.”

“She’s not
Native.” That was all he had to say, and his brother’s face softened.

They were both American Indian, but Callen Whitefox was full blooded and expected to keep the bloodlines pure. Their
grandfather was old school and hard core. The only reason he accepted Elizabeth was he had a dream, and she was the one he thought was sent to heal their family.

“Cal, you have to do what’s right for you here
.” Blackhawk put his hand over his chest. “I get the whole Native-white man issue that granddad has, but you know what,” he paused. “What if she’s the one that will make you happy? What you need to ask yourself is if it’s worth waiting for a woman that’s Native and only brings you half the happiness. Is that the sacrifice you’re willing to make? Maybe she won’t be the one, but why shut out the option, because she’s not Native. Why don’t you just relax and enjoy the fact you might have found a woman you happen to have an interest in and have fun with it?”

Callen was torn. Family obligations or a legitimate chance at a future not tied to his past.
Maybe his brother was right. It wasn’t like he had to spend the rest of his life with her, there was dating.

“Think about it, and then decide. Besides you have one thing in your favor.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

Blackhawk laughed. “Elizabeth has the men in this family wrapped around her fingers.
If there’s a way to get granddad to accept her, and welcome her, Lyzee can do it.”

He laughed. “She said as much.”

“Then I say you forget the whole Native American clause granddad threw out there and just start living and decide after the fact. Her heritage and yours shouldn’t matter.”

He was curious. “If granddad hated Elizabeth what would you have done?”

“I would have had children with her, built a life and lived happily ever after off the Rez and away from the old man. Granddad made his choice, and I had to make mine. You’re heart wants what it wants.” Blackhawk grinned. “Mine wanted a bossy, bold, gorgeous woman who could kick my ass.”

He laughed because so did his
and ironically they were probably picturing the same damn woman- Elizabeth.

“I’ve never been happier, and you need to focus on the happy and forget the bullshit that’s holding you back.”

Whitefox felt a little better. Maybe his brother had a point, and then he recalled what they were discussing. Desdemona was running from something, and he was going to have to vanquish that demon before he could get her to stay in one place long enough to get to know him.

He ran the fingerprint reports, but his mind was downstairs on the unusual woman that caught his interest. Now he just had to trap her and lock her down.

Elizabeth sat on a metal counter top and watched the doctor work. She was fastidious, meticulous and did her job impeccably. As she did the internals, her voice went monotone, almost cold and emotionless. It had to be a coping mechanism that she developed in medical school or in her past. Currently her hand was stuck in the third victim, and she was fishing around for organs. They’d retrieved all of them but the stomach.

“Just the stomach missing?” she asked.

“I’m almost around all the bowel, just give me a sec,” she answered as she carefully felt around by memory. If she pulled out the intestines, she’d have twenty five feet of slippery organs to replace in a tiny cavity. It wouldn’t be easy, fun or pretty. Especially if it perforated and all the goo oozed out all over her scrubs.