Darkness Of Truth (An FBI/Romance Thriller~ Book 6) (71 page)

Both men watched as she took a bite, neither of them tasting theirs. If she couldn’t handle hers, they wouldn’t be eating burgers.
It was their little concession they agreed to at the beginning of the pregnancy. Not eating in front of her was the least they could do. They were silently praying. It would be nice to be able to consume burgers at home again.

She swallowed and placed the burger down.

“Well?” questioned her husband.

“Please…Please…”
implored Whitefox, desperate for the burger sitting in front of him.

Placing her hand on her stomach, she grinned. “Eat up boys, the
child is either sleeping or doesn’t mind the dead cow!” Watching them tear through the burgers was entertaining. You’d think they both hadn’t eaten in about ten years. “God! Chew your food! Someone’s going to need the Heimlich!”

Neither cared. All that mattered at that point was the deliciously, greasy, dead animal before them.

“I’m glad you’re both back together again with your meat mistresses. Now, where were we?”

Callen mumbled something inaudibly.

His brother nodded in agreement.

Elizabeth snickered. “Anyway, chew and listen. We have Officer Redwolf, next on the list. He was very anti
-outsiders and that changed suddenly.” She told them about Christina, the dinner in the lab and the one night stand.”

“Curious. I’d be
thinking the same thing if that happened to me,” answered Callen, chewing.

Taking a bite of her burger, she nodded. “Yeah, well it sent up red flags with Christina.
It’s good to see a sexy Native didn't make her lose her mind completely.”

“
We did hire the brightest and best,” Blackhawk said, eating the rest of his burger. “I am so damn happy right now.”

She rolled her eyes
when both men were making yummy noises as they were chewing. “Last on the list is Melanie Freeman. She saw the sheriff’s corpse on the scene and tossed her cookies twice. I don’t think someone can be that convincing. How’s she skinning someone while retching?”

“Excellent point.” Callen shoved the last of his burger in his mouth and closed his eyes as he chewed. “I don’t have to feel guilty anymore about cheating on you with burgers,” he stated in meat bliss.

“I lost six pounds eating salads,” replied Blackhawk. I had to tighten my belt.”

Callen nodded. “I think it was starting to affect my sex drive and performance.”

Elizabeth began choking on a french fry at his comment.

Immediately
, both men looked concerned.

“Are you okay Angel?” he asked, staring into her watery eyes.

She nodded and tried to not laugh. “Your sex drive? What the hell has happened to it exactly? Last I looked it was still there.”

Shrugging, Whitefox stared at her. “The salads made me feel less manly.”

“Me too,” replied Ethan.

“Unbelievable,” she uttered, torn between amusement and incredulousness.

“Where did we leave off?” Ethan queried.

“Last on our list is the chief of police. He has access to all the files, the information and the crime scene data. He’s liable to the council.” Elizabeth added.

Blackhawk tensed. “Heads up,” he mumbled.

All three FBI agents glanced up as one of the deputies from Red River’s sheriff’s department walk towards them.

“Do you have a moment?” Christian Anderson
inquired, looking from one to the other. “I’d like to talk to you privately.”

Sliding into the booth closer to Elizabeth, Whitefox made room for him.

“What’s up?” she answered, the men flanking her. Reassuringly, she placed a hand on each one of their thighs, offering them the connection.

“First
, I need to tell you that I’m now interim sheriff until the election, and as I was sitting in my office, I saw the news. I headed over to the police station on the reservation and your team said you were likely here.”

“What is it that
we can do for you, Sheriff Anderson?” Elizabeth asked, wondering if the man was going to be a mini-Duffy.

“I want to offer my help. Unlike Jimmy, rest his
soul, I’m not as anti-Native. I’m seeing a woman from the Rez, and I want her safe at all costs. I have an investment in the community.”

Blackhawk was enjoying the hand on his leg. Her fingers were drawing intricate patterns and heating his blood. “I can’t give you anything, but I will tell you that the killer isn’t after women. Does anyone know you’re dating?”

He shook his head. “It’s a new thing and still in the beginning stages, Why?”

“Keep it quiet for a while, until this all blows over,” Ethan suggested. “From one law official to another, the safest place for a non-Native man right now is far from the Rez. We believe we know why the three men were killed, but just in case, lay low.”

Christian stood. “Thank you,” he nodded. “If you need anything at all, my office is willing to do what it takes. We may be small, but we’re bodies willing to help you out.”

Blackhawk offered his hand. “I appreciate it.”

Pulling out his card, Callen handed it to the sheriff. “If you hear anything, drop us a call or text.”

The man took the card, tipped his hat at the woman and headed out of the diner.

Elizabeth thought about
what Anderson had passed on to them. “We’re already on the news. This is just fantastic. It’s going to spread like wildfire now.”

“Yeah, we’ll I’m going to try and lead them away from the scent when we get back to the poli
ce station.” It was worth a try. Blackhawk could be very convincing when need be. He’d been playing the FBI game for a while now.

Callen motioned to Wilma May,
handing her his credit card. “We need to pay and get out of here,” he said, turning to look out the window. “Great timing,” he muttered. “The hounds followed Sheriff Anderson right to us.”

When their waitress came back to the table, Callen tossed
the cash tip on the surface and protectively placed Elizabeth behind him.

“You’re up Cowboy, work your magic.”

                                          *   *   *

 
Yeah, he was a complete and total asshole. One of these days, his temper was going to get the best of him and get him in some serious trouble. Thinking back to what he did, he couldn’t believe he actually got angry at his brother’s fiancée. Julian was completely right; he’d jumped the gun and hurt a fellow soldier’s feelings in the process. The look on her face as she left the house said it all. Tori was in pain.

Big time!

Now it was time to smooth it over and keep the peace. He didn’t want to lose his brother to a stupid fight, where he was completely wrong. Walking outside, he found Tori sitting in the grass, watching the cars drive by on the road.

Well, here went nothing. “Can we talk?”

“You have more to say after all that?”

Justin sat
, observing the smaller woman beside him. Tori had put on her sunglasses, and he suspected it was only to hide the tears he caused. “I’m an ass.”

“I noticed.”

Justin didn’t expect that, but he pushed forward. “I have a really bad temper, and unlike my brother I don’t control it well. I shouldn’t have said anything to you. I don’t know you well enough to assume you’d turn me in for killing someone.”

Tori glanced over at him. “You’re right. You don’t know me
at all, Justin. For the record, if Julian came to me and told me he killed the man that murdered his father, I’d help hide the body.”

There was more surprise.

“I’m a soldier. I follow orders, but I also know that in war there’s collateral damage. If someone hurt Julian, I’d do the same thing. I’d hunt the person down, string him up, and take their life. I’m not honorable. I’ve killed, I've walked through the blood, and I’m not ashamed of who I am.”

“You didn’t deserve my anger.”

“No, I didn’t. I’m going to marry your brother. I’m going to start my life with him and end it with him. I would never think to stop him from being part of you, but the next time you point your damn finger at me, accuse me of something you have no understanding of then you better be ready for war. I won’t make Julian fight my battles, I’m a big girl and I’ll do it myself.”

He didn’t know what to say.

“If the killer was alive, I’d handle it for Julian. I wouldn’t allow him to get messy over it. I’d be the one that needs the damn alibi. Ask yourself this, Justin,” she said, standing. “If it was me that needed someone to lie to keep me out of jail, would you do it to save his heart?”

Tori pulled out her phone
when it buzzed in her pocket. “Julian,” she yelled, waiting for him to appear in the door. “We’ve been summoned to the autopsy. We need to hustle.”

Justin watched his brother’s fiancée walk away. “Tori,” he yelled after her
, as she moved towards his brother’s bike.

When she turned, the glasses remained in place. “Yeah?”

“I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

Finally she pulled the reflective lenses from her face and stared right into his eyes. “Then there’s nothing to be sorry about, Justin. We
’re on solid ground.”

He knew in that moment that family would stick, no matter what- even his brother’s fiancée. As far as he was concerned, she was now a Littlemoon.

                                          *   *   *

Ethan Blackhawk refused to do the media conference in front of a diner. He liked to
have complete control over every situation, and this one was certainly no different. As far as he was concerned, if the media wanted anything, they’d follow him to hell and back if that was the offer on the table.

Pulling into the reservation police department, they saw Julian and Tori hopping of
f his motorcycle.

Elizabeth motioned them inside, and stood between the men in her life. She was going to enjoy her husband going all
‘director’ on them.

“I’ll make a statement and that’s all we have at the moment for the press. The FBI is currently working on
tracking a suspected serial killer. As to date, the suspect is still at large, although we have narrowed down the list of potential persons of interest. We hope to be making an arrest shortly.”

“Director Blackhawk!” some woman shouted. “Do you feel you’re less than enthusiastic due to the fact the killer is Native like yourself?”

Elizabeth flinched, and Callen had to place a hand on her shoulder. It was his job to make sure she didn’t kick the crap out of the reporters while on camera. It made for bad PR.

“Interesting question,” he started, staring her down. “D
o you find that you’re less of a reporter when interviewing a woman because you yourself are female?”

The woman looked insulted.

“Then you see the validity of your own question. I work for the FBI, and the color of my skin, ethnicity, or any other physical attribute has nothing to do with how we do our jobs.”

“You’re giving us nothing to work with, Director!” another reporter shouted. “Will you refute the email update from the police department then?”

Apparently the reporters were out of their minds. “To my knowledge, we’re not aware of what you’re talking about. I can’t comment on a topic that I have no frame of reference to at this time.”

The three turned and started towards
the police station.

“Director!”

“Directors! Can we get a one on one for tonight’s news broadcast?”

Elizabeth grinned at her husband. “Can I go back and bitch slap the female reporter once the cameras are off?”

Whitefox snorted. “She almost went after her. I had to put my hand on her shoulder, or she was crowd surfing.”

Blackhawk wasn’t worried about the reporter or her question. This wasn’t his first time in front of the media. “Her plan
was to try and get me riled up, so I’d make a huge mistake and spill something.”

“What email update from the police was that reporter talking about?” inquired Whitefox, dropping his arm over Elizabeth’s shoulders.

She shrugged. “We didn’t authorize one, and I doubt that Chief Longtree would issue a statement without notifying us first. At least I hope he wouldn’t.” Elizabeth started to worry and pulled out her phone, sending the man a text.

When it came back, she breathed a bit easier. “No, he didn’t.”

“I hate when reporters try and play mind games.” Callen didn’t like facing them at all, let alone ones trying to get important details from him. One screw up and a case could be destroyed. He didn’t want that on his shoulders.

Julian and Tori were waiting just outside the doors to the lab. “It’s sealed up pretty tight,” Julian offered.

“Great,” replied Elizabeth. “The dead squad finally listened to a directive the first time. Someone mark this on a calendar for me, so when they ignore me next time I can at least look back and see it was possible.”