Darkness Of Truth (An FBI/Romance Thriller~ Book 6) (56 page)

“Yeah,
they found evidence at Duffy’s house. They believe they found the area that the killer used to skin him.” Elizabeth tried not to think about the visual, as she finished her food. If she wasn’t feeding a baby, she’d skip it for coffee. “Tech team’s been notified and will be meeting us there.”

“It’s not much further,” stated her husband.

Elizabeth nodded, thinking about everything she knew about the assignment. “Is this going to be hard to profile?”

Ethan drove. “No worse than every other serial killing case. I have one ready for you. Cal, can you call the chief of police and get him to find a whiteboard? We’re going to need it
tonight. Tex has her work cut out for her on this one.”

It was a good thing Elizabeth liked a challenge.

He pulled out his phone and called. When he managed to arrange it, Callen ended the call. “He’s dropping it and the files at our rental later today.”

Elizabeth saw the other Denali up ahead. “Thanks,” she answered, hopping out when
they came to a stop. Striding around the back of the house, she found her agent and Julian standing there. “Wow, that’s a mess,” Elizabeth said. “I think this explains why the skin removal wasn’t as neatly done.”

“It’s like he was in a hurry.” Julian pointed to the pieces of
dermis that were left behind.

“Most likely because he was out of his comfort zone. Our killer seems to like the art of the ritual, and th
is had to throw him for a loop,” Ethan added.

“Why here?” inquired Elizabeth, waiting for
him to supply anything to help her.

Blackhawk analyzed their surroundings.
“James Duffy was a big guy. Height wise he was at least Callen’s size, and he had some bulk to his body. Possibly he was killed here, because it was just easier than transporting him to the other scene after the fact.”

“He was dragged,” offered Julian. “I found drag marks in and out
of the back yard. There’s a small blood trail. The killer pulled him back here, did his deed, and then pulled him to a vehicle.”

Elizabeth continued. “This is consistent with what Doctor Magnus worked out in the lab. The killer absolutely could be shorter than me and taller than Julian. I could probably drag Callen, but I couldn’t carry him.”

Ethan thought about it. “Could you heft him up into a trunk?”

“If he was skinned and wrapped in something, yeah, I could. Upper body first and then lift in his legs.”

Julian added. “I couldn’t carry Callen, but I could definitely do the same thing Elizabeth just described.”

There was a crunch of gravel and the sound of Christina excitedly directing her team.

“Looks like they’re here,” Blackhawk stated. “We should let them work back here and check out the victim’s house. We may or may not find anything.”

Tori
broke down the details of what they found in the cab of the truck.

“He definitely had company last night. We’ll hand over the phone to the tech team and get
details on the owner. That could be the last person that saw him alive, and that gives us a timeline of when he was grabbed.”

Christina and her team
rounded the corner with their kits. One tech strung up the crime scene tape, as the other began snapping pictures.

“Directors, if you’re accessing the house, use the back door. We have blood on the front porch,” stated Christina, pulling open her kit and getting starte
d with her samples for testing.

Moving towards the back of the
structure, they found it locked up tight.

Elizabeth knew what they needed to do
. “The man that picks that lock and gets the door open gets a big fat kiss from a pregnant woman.”

Ethan had his pocket knife out and was on his knees while his brother was still formulating a joke in his head. It was open in under five seconds. “I know the kissy-face rules, I’ll claim my rewards later,” he said, grinning at his brother.

“I let you win because I feel sorry for you,” he said laughing, until he earned an elbow from Elizabeth.

“Let’s spread out,” she stated. “Tori and I are taking the bedroom and bathroom. You three get the kitchen, living and dining room.”

The men headed one way, and the ladies the other.

Up in James Duffy’s room, they spread out and started searching for anything that might be an indicator that the man’s attacker had been in his home.

Pulling open a bedside drawer, they found a plethora of sexually related items. There were condoms, lubes, and some toys that made Elizabeth want to blush. Since she was sharing a bed with two men with varied sexual interests that was a big accomplishment.

“The
man liked to entertain here,” Elizabeth said, pulling out a few G-strings. “I somehow doubt these are his, but then again with his family one never knows.”

Tori scrunched up her nose
and tried to not laugh. “Which makes this job even more gross than it was a few minutes ago. The man was a panty collector or model.”

Elizabeth laughed. “This is why we took this room. The boys would be too entertained to do this.
Then I’d have to listen to them talk about my underthings the rest of the day.”

“How you pull it off with the two of them, it boggles the mind,” offered Tori, laughing. “I’m tired with just Julian alone. I couldn’t imagine
double the man lust.”

Elizabeth dug through the drawer, making a mental note of the contents. “Don’t tell them I said this, but I actually like being pregnant. They give me a break and I can fake exhaustion.”

Tori started laughing. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

“We better hit the bathroom next.” She pointed to the room off the closet area.

Agent Christensen pulled open a medicine cabinet in the attached bath. “He wasn’t on any prescriptions, but he did have a variety of over the counters.” The Tori found a tube and started laughing.

“What?” Elizabeth
crossed to her, curious to see what had her friend giggling.

“I found a tube of ‘prolong’ cream.” She held it out for her friend to see. “It seems our
sheriff had an endurance problem and was topically medicating it.”

Elizabeth shuddered. “If I find that in my house I’m going to weep.
We don’t need anyone prolonging anything for hours.”

Tori started laughing. “
I just had a visual and it was funny as hell.”

She shook her head. “Don’t share it. We don’t need them getting any ideas.”

“Elizabeth!” came the call from downstairs. “You need to hear this!” Blackhawk called, from the bottom of the stairs.

The two women headed down, finding the three men around an answering machine.

“Holy shit, do people actually still have landlines and answering machines?” she asked. “You don’t happen to have the killer on there admitting his crimes, do you?”

“No, but we have absolute confirmation on who the last moments of his life were spent with,” stated her husband.
Pushing play they all listened.

Jimmy baby, it’s Carly. I think I left my phone in your

truck just now. Can you drop it at my shop when you

come into town tomorrow? Thanks for the fun, as

always you were the best I’ve ever had, Tiger.

Julian shuddered. “Is anyone else creeped out by that message from the barracuda?”

Callen raised his hand. “I’ve been her intended target
, and I have to say, I’m right there with you.”

“I
have not a single worry,” answered Ethan. “Lyzee will keep me safe,” he said, laughing.

Elizabeth grinned. “Well, since you three have issues with her, I guess I’m the one going to talk to her. Tori, you want to ride shotgun to the skanky… I mean Carly’s workplace?”

Tori glanced over at Julian. “She’s hit on you before?”

“Carl
y Kester hits on anything with the right ‘equipment’,” he answered, honestly.

She offered her boss a fist bump. “I’m in. You want me to hold her down while you kick the shit out of her?”

Elizabeth laughed. “I love a beat down. Let’s go.”

All three men stared after them as they walked out the door. It was Callen that spoke first. “She was kidding right?”

Blackhawk wasn’t sure. “She did kiss you in front of her at the diner. So, I’m not sure on that one.”

Julian shook his heads. “Somehow gentlemen, we’re going to be in trouble for this, mark my words. Two angry women and a nympho having a talk means shit for everyone involved.
”

Amen
!

Elizabeth drove them to the woman’s book store. It had been a long time coming, and she sincerely hoped Carly made a comment about the men in her life. All it was going to take was one snarky comment and the blonde was a goner.

“You’re thinking about killing her, aren’t you?” snickered Tori. “I can tell by the look on your face. It’s
somewhere between amusement and evil plotting.”

She started laughing. “Yeah, she had her mouth on my man, and last time Carly tried playing footies with Ethan. I’m only so easy going before I lose my damn mind.”

Tori wondered if it was a good time to change the subject. “I have something I’d like to talk to you about,” Tori said, watching her boss drive. “If you don’t want to do it, you’re not obligated, but I wanted to just throw it out there.”

Elizabeth could hear the nerves in her agent’s voice. “What’s wrong, Darlin’? Just spill it.”

Here went nothing. “Julian and I are getting married in the fall, probably August. I was wondering if maybe you’d be my matron of honor.”

She glanced over. “Wow, that’s an amazing offer!”

“Like I said, you can say no.”

El
izabeth grinned wickedly. “Hell no! I’m not going to say no to a request as wonderful as that! I’d love to be in your wedding and stand there for you and Julian.”

Tori relaxed. “I don’t have a lot of family. In fact, I don’t have any at all. I have one more request, and I hope you don’t take it the wrong way.”

“You can ask. I’ll try not to be offended.”

“My dad and brother aren’t here to walk me down the aisle. I was wondering if I could borrow Ethan and Callen. You know, have them
escort me to Julian.”

Elizabeth pulled into Carly’s parking lot and looked over at her friend. “I have no problem with that. I think it’ll be amazing
, and I’m blessed that you’d allow us to take part in your special day.” Her eyes filled with tears.

“Uh, you okay?” Tori asked, taking Elizabeth’s hand.

She nodded and pointed at the baby. “Hormones.”

Tori began laughing and hugged her boss. “Save the crying until you see the dress you have to wear.”

Elizabeth snorted. “Nice. Kick a pregnant woman while she’s down. It better not make me look fat.”

Tori grinned. “If I swear it won’t will you help me with the decorating? At the Christmas party, Ginny said that you came up with all the table ideas and lights. We’re having this out by a lake at sunset
, and I need serious girl decorating help.”

“You must be hard up if you’re asking me to be girly.” Elizabeth smiled at her friend. “
Is it wrong of me to be sad that you’re not coming back to work?” she asked, honestly. Friends were hard to come by, and Elizabeth was attached.

Tori shook her head. “No
, Lyzee. It’s not wrong for you to be sad about it. I’ll be honest; I’m going to miss the job and you. This is home now, and I want to be here with Julian. He wouldn’t survive off the Rez. His mother and siblings are here and this is his center. I’m used to traveling and moving.”

Elizabeth hugged her. “I’ll miss you when this is over,” she started sniffling again. “If you need a letter of recommendation you give me a call. I’ll give you a glowing one.”

Tori was so grateful for everything that the Blackhawk’s had done for her. Without them, she never would have met Julian. “I’m getting my private investigator license. Julian and I are going into business together.”

“I happen to know
the boss out of FBI West, and I’ll keep this in mind,” she winked. “You’ll have all our business.”

That meant a lot to Tori. Family and friendship was an amazing thing. If they didn't refocus, she’d be crying soon too.
“Want to go kick the crap out of a blonde hussy?” Tori offered.

“Oh yeah I do!” she exclaimed, sliding out of the Denali. “Let’s go break the news and
grill Jimmy’s love toy.”

             
                            *   *   *

It was time to
set the final scene in the man’s chapter.

He drove
everything out to the man’s house, placing it cautiously where it would make an impact. This would kill two birds with one stone. First, the man guilty of previous sins against his people would be caught, and the trail would mess with the FBI.