Darkness Of Truth (An FBI/Romance Thriller~ Book 6) (53 page)

“You have one hour to get it and be back here, before I personally come to your house and raid it. I will be bringing the news teams to watch me do it. If I even suspect that you’re using peyote for anything but rituals, I will toss your drug selling behind in jail.”

They looked horrified and stomped out of the room.

Callen sat down and let out a deep breath. “Sorry Rick. Where were we?”

Elizabeth stared at one of the men she loved. “You absolutely get a kiss for that, Mr. Whitefox!” she exclaimed
, pulling him towards her mouth. She dove in and kissed him hard.

Blackhawk started laughing. “I knew I should have told them off.
That kiss should have been mine!”

She kept kissing him.

“I personally enjoyed the ‘crypt keeper’ part myself,” stated Longtree. “I’ll think about that for years to come when I look at him.”

Elizabeth slowly broke away,
staring into Callen’s brown eyes. “I love you, Cal.”

He grinned. “I thought it felt good doing the telling off, but that kiss was so much better,” he said, giving his brother a fist bump. When he blew a bubble with her gum,
Ethan began laughing.

She winked at him and leaned against his body.

“I've never seen them quite that angry before,” grinned Rick Longtree.

“You should have seen them in front of the council then. I just stirred them up a little. Elizabeth had them at a full simmer
,” Callen stated.

“The part about the peyote was a good one Cal.” Elizabeth ran her fingers
across her baby bump.

“I want
ed a reason to go to his house and take the sheetrock off the walls just to screw with him. The peyote was the only thing I could think of in the heat of the moment.” Callen admitted.

“
It was an awesome bluff. You pissed him off and caught something that slipped my mind.” Blackhawk replied. He was incredibly proud of his brother in that moment.

“Back to the topic at hand,” Elizabeth said, redirecting. “We need those files. We’d appreciate any help you can give us on this.”

Longtree stood. “I’ll get them on it right now.”

“Thank you
.”

He grinned. “I couldn’t say no. I wouldn’t want to get yelled at by him,” he answered, jerking a finger at Callen as he left the room.

Elizabeth grinned. “That was very hot, Mr. Whitefox.” Then she leaned into his ear and whispered something.

“I’m convinced you have the dirtie
st mind of anyone I’ve ever met,” Callen replied, his entire body reacting to the words.

Blackhawk punched him. “Shhhhhhh. It took me almost two years to get it like that!”

Elizabeth started laughing. “Let’s get to the lab, boys.”

Watching the tech team was always fascinating. They ran around buzzing from station to station. At first they checked the skinless body for trace, and then began processing it. Soon the doctors would be getting ready to cut into the man they suspected to be the sheriff.

As the autopsy was about to begin, Doctor Leonard sent the techs to the next room to work there. He was sure that the Blackhawk’s would be popping in any moment.

Tori hopped up onto a counter to get a higher view of the body. Immediately, Julian positioned himself between her legs, so she could lean against the back of him, resting her chin on his shoulder. The scent of his aftershave was making a heat rise though her body. She whispered in his ear and he tensed.

“Later Jules,” she finished, nipping at his ear.

The woman was very distracting. Julian knew she was intentionally trying to keep his focus. The man on the table had once been his friend, and Tori didn’t want him to hurt.

Julian appreciated her effort, but there honestly wasn’t any remorse for the path they both took. James Duffy lived his life floating from one woman to another,
living only to find pleasure. It was sad he died, but Julian wasn’t any more responsible for that than any of them.

The killer did this and no one else.

As she continued whispering, she ran her hands up and down his back, stroking erotic patterns against his flesh with fingernails. When she told him she wanted him, he almost offered to run with her to a broom closet. The need for her was always there, even when he looked calm and aloof. Little did everyone know, that most of the time he was thinking about how to get her naked and in bed.

“I love you, Julian,” she whispered.

He simply nodded, unable to answer without the two doctors hearing him.

Tori waited for him to answer, and when he didn’t she grinned. “I want to go home, get naked and have really hot, wild sex with you on our couch.”

Julian swallowed. He knew if she was saying it, they’d be doing it.

“Maybe we can finish up on the floor in front of the fireplace,” she offered, running her teeth down his ear.

Holy God, this wasn’t easy. When the Blackhawks walked in, he was never more glad to see them. Julian knew Tori would behave herself if they were in the room. The last thing he needed was everyone there watching him getting turned on by his girl.

“What do we have, Doc?” asked Elizabeth, leaning against
Ethan.

Chris
looked up from the corpse and lifted brow. “You look pale. When’s the last time you ate?” he said, immediately.

Both men beside her
glanced down at their watches. They’d forgotten to make her have a snack. “Breakfast,” stated Blackhawk.

“Your blood sugar might be down
,” he said, glancing over at Tony. “Grab her something from our secret stash.”

Tony
hunted down Chris’s medical bag and walked towards her grinning.

“I’m not eating anything that has been sitting in an autopsy room or in your medical kit.” Elizabeth hadn’t lost her mind yet.

“Where’s your purse? I’ll get you the peanut butter,” offered Callen. He’d been so wrapped up in the new baby, and the assignment that he’d forgotten to make sure he plied her with food every two hours.

“We have peanut butter,” stated Tony, opening the bag. “
There are peanut butter cups or peanut butter snickers.”

Elizabeth stared down into the ple
thora of candy. “I take it back. I will eat the candy in your medical bag. I’m so going to come down here all the time since I know you have a sugar stash.” She grabbed one of each.

Whitefox gave them a disapproving look. “She shouldn’t be feeding my…” he stopped.

Elizabeth laughed.

Blackhawk grinned.

Tony got really excited. “You’re the father! Admit it!” he stared at Elizabeth. “He’s the baby daddy, and I was right!”

She lifted a brow as she ate a peanut butter cup. “Right about what exactly?
As far as I know the office baby pool isn’t official until I deliver and confirm.”

Chris began the autopsy
, speaking to them. “He’s writing a paper for the Anthropological society’s yearly journal. You three are the topic.”

Blackhawk stared at him. “I see.”

“Wait! Before you get mad, I need you to know that you’re fascinating and it’s the scientist in me that makes me want to study you.”

Elizabeth watched both men, finding it hard not to grin. The doctor was all jazzed up over their relatively boring lives
. She was willing to throw him a bone.

“Are you using our names
,” Blackhawk asked, “or our job titles?”

“No, it’s very nondescript. I don’t use the specifics of your lives. Most of it is based on your ethnicity and the premise that it’s hardwired into your DNA to be acceptable.
It’s mostly about the Native American cultural norms versus that of the European genetics.”

“I don’t care if you study us,” Elizabeth said. “I trust my friends to not endanger my family. That’s what this all comes down to Tony.”

“You can study me,” Callen said. “I’m the father.”

Blackhawk shrugged. “As long as we
’re not named, then have at it.” It was probably time to talk to the two men about what recently happened in Cypress Grove. “This brings us to a topic we need to discuss.”

Elizabeth knew where he was heading with it. “Guys, we
have to give you some news.”

Chris and Tony had worked with her a long time, and they knew the difference between serious and jest. Their boss wasn’t being jovial
at all.

“Callen
received a call yesterday. Doctor Adare went into labor and passed away during childbirth.” She tried to be gentle. They were all co-workers and friends while they worked together.

Both men stared open mouthed.

“I just talked to her the other day,” stated Chris, and then he realized they didn’t know that or need to know it. “She never told me she was having a baby. I swear!”

Callen didn’t speak.

“Anyway, she had a successful live birth- Callen’s daughter.” Elizabeth let it hang in the room. “We’re only telling you because we know you were very friendly with her.”

Chris didn’t know what to say. “I’m really sorry, Callen. If there’s anything I can do, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Same goes here. I didn’t know she was pregnant either. I haven’t spoken to her since Cypress Grove.” It was the truth. Tony wasn’t as friendly with her as Chris had been.

“Onward to part two,” stated Elizabeth.
“We’re raising the baby as ours,” she said, pointing at the three of them. “We’re only telling you because if you ever see her, you two will be the ones that ask the most questions. It’s also because we trust you to keep our family safe.”

Callen dropped his arm around her shoulder. “Lyzee is going to be her mom from here on out. She’s our daughter and that’s what
we plan on showing the world.”

Julian and Tori watched
everything unfold. They’d never spill a secret that they asked them to hold. Elizabeth, Callen and Ethan were their friends and that mattered. “Our lips are sealed,” stated Julian.

“It’s not a secret, but we have no intention of explaining it to anyone outside of this room. It’s no one’s business but ours,” Blackhawk said,
staring at the two men. “We trust you both enough to not spread this all over. If it becomes a point of gossip, we’ll know where it came from. Since you’re studying us, you might as well know the whole truth.”

Chris pulled off his gloves
, undoing the protective covering over his scrubs. He crossed the room to Elizabeth and hugged her. “Congrats on your daughter,” he said, happy for his friend.

“Thank you, Chris,
” Elizabeth answered.

Next he went to Callen and hugged him, patting hi
m on the back. “Congrats on being a dad, and I’m also sorry for Desdemona’s passing.”

Callen didn't say anything, since he was emotionally
exhausted.

Chris stood in front of Ethan. “Uh, yeah, you have to help me with this one. Is it congrats on your new niece?”

Blackhawk grinned. “How about ‘congrats on your child’, and we’ll leave it at that and not over emphasize the small details. Catherine is our little girl.”

Elizabeth took his hand in hers and squeezed. She did the same with Callen’s
, joining them together.

Julian and Tori grinned at their united front. “We need to have a baby shower,” stated Tori, laughing at the look of horror on Elizabeth’s face.

“No we’re not. Do I look like a baby shower kind of woman, Agent Christensen? If I do then you need more damn therapy! I’m shipping you back to the VA.”

Tori started
giggling. “Yes Ma’am!” When she saluted, they all laughed.

“Okay,
fun time is over and back to work and the case at hand. We have a victim and need some facts.” Elizabeth walked over towards the table and stared down at the man. “What can you tell us, Doc?”

He grinned. “Okay, let’s go with the obvious. I ran his blood, and he was
indeed intoxicated.”

Julian chimed in. “Whenever he wasn’t on duty, Jimmy was drinking. Well that and screwing. He honestly only
had two favorite things in life- beer and babes.”

Tori pinched him.

“Ouch! I don’t ever reference women as ‘babes’. That was me channeling my inner Jimmy. I call you bad ass women or ladies,” he smiled at Elizabeth, and when she winked he laughed.

“What else?” inquired Blackhawk.

“Without pathology even in the process yet, I don’t have much more. I can say he was knocked out, and that’s how he was grabbed. Look at the hematoma that’s formed on his occipitofrontalis muscle.”

Elizabeth backed up. “Sorry Doc, but that’s a bit too close to his very dead eyes. The boys are going to have to ride that bull. I’m not getting near it this time.”

“Not a problem, Lyzee. Needless to say, someone clocked him one in the head.” He gave Tony the signal.

“Is it show and tell time?” he asked, getting excited.