Devil Hath Come (an FBI/Romance Thriller ~book 7) (8 page)

“Hey Gabe, how’s it going?”

“Elizabeth, it’s going well. How are you and the kids? Livy sends her love. When are you three coming to visit?” he inquired.

“Soon, I promise. As soon as EJ is able to handle a flight,” she paused. “Now, how about you tell me why you really called, Gabe? You don’t call on work lines to chit chat.”

“What are you doing today?”

She looked around. It was like he had the place bugged and knew they were all going to skip out for some jackassery and tomfoolery. “Nothing, why? This is the only meeting we have today, since you bumped
all the conference calls until tomorrow.”

“Pack your things, Lyzee. You have an assignment.”

“WHAT?” both men said incredulously.

“You heard me. We have a killer that’s called her out
personally. It seems someone wants your private attention, or he’s promised to slaughter more women.”

“I’m going out in the field?”

Both men were now horrified at what this meant.

“Saddle up. You ship out to Circle Rock today.”

Well shit!

~ Chapter Two ~

To say Ethan Blackhawk and Callen Whitefox weren’t amused would be an understatement. Yet, they knew there wasn’t anything they could do about it. When they’d taken this job, they were aware that there would be times beyond anyone’s control that forced someone out in the field.

Callen had to go out all the time, but generally, Ethan and Elizabeth
only took fieldwork when they wanted to accept an assignment.

“What can you tell me?” Elizabeth asked
as she watched both men begin to simmer and boil. At least they couldn’t tell her she wasn’t going. This one was from their boss.

“The chief of police from Circle Rock called into Quantico. It seems that the killer left a note
personally addressed to you.”

Blackhawk finally found his voice. “I don’t think this is a good idea.
No, I know this is a terrible idea. The last thing we should do is give a killer what they want.”

Gabe
understood their angst. “It’s not like we have a lot of choice. The media has been infatuated with her lately. Now she’s going to have squirrels coming out of the woodwork, and we need to put out this fire fast.”

That didn't make anyone feel any better.

“I’m going with her,” stated Blackhawk.

Gabe laughed
and knew Ethan was already going to go there. “She can take either you or Callen. You know the budget is strapped and I can’t allow three directors out in the field, even if you’re slow there. I’m being called on every penny as it is. You’ll have to pick, Lyzee.”

Elizabeth stared back and forth. She couldn’t
choose one without hurting the other. “Gabe, I’m going to take Ethan,” she finally answered.

Callen looked crushed and
wounded by her words.

“That’s fine. Callen can stay in house and run the place while you’re away.”

Elizabeth went to stand beside her other partner. Gently, she touched his shoulder with one hand as she signaled her husband with the other. “He can’t Gabe. Ethan just approved his vacation twenty minutes ago. We have kid things going on this week, and he’s going to be playing mom and dad at the doctor for shots, checkups, and all the rest.”

Callen relaxed as Ethan began typing furiously to get the vacation approval filled out.

“I didn't get any vacation request,” he replied suspiciously.

Blackhawk hit send. “Oh, you should refresh your tablet. Mine
has been sluggish lately. You should call the tech department and ream their asses over it too. I hate when technology screws with me.”

Elizabeth fought
valiantly to not laugh.

“
Oh, yeah, there it is.”

Callen couldn’t help but grin. He couldn’t believe he ever thought she’d pick Ethan over him.
Old fears had resurfaced, only to be pushed back down again. He needed to start working on the trust issue a bit more. Sometimes, the irrational feelings reared their ugly head.

“Why do I think that you three are snowballing me?” Gabe
asked, over the phone.

“You’re suspicious, distrustful, and believe everyone is as sneaky as you,” Elizabeth added. “Now, who else can I take in?” she asked, refocusing them on the assignment.

“We need this contained. You can take Ethan and two Agents. They have an ME on site.”

She wasn’t happy with that answer. “I want my own ME. I don’t trust anyone to do the job right but the people that come out of FBI West.
If this wackadoo is calling me out, I’m going in fully prepared and ready to go.”

Gabe sighed. “Send in Doctor Leonard. The new guy is green. I don’t want
Doctor Zane Legend out there butting heads with another ME. At least if Leonard goes in, he’ll play nice. In fact, tell him get a spine and be more aggressive. Sometimes, he’s too nice.”

Elizabeth touched her lips with her
finger to signal that Chris needed to remain silent.

He
honestly wondered if he was really too pleasant. Chris tried to utilize manners as much as possible and didn't let anger win often. Maybe, he’d work on that while on this assignment.

She continued
, “Okay, send me the file. I’m going to mobilize and get everyone ready for the field.”

“Callen, have a nice vacation in Circle Rock. I hear they have some excellent museums
that you can visit when you’re not standing watch over Lyzee,” Gabe added, hanging up.

Blackhawk started laughing. “We would have got away with that had the man not been
the ‘king of trickery’ himself. That was pretty slick, Lyzee. Good thinking.”

She nodded. “Chris, I’m going to have you head back to the lab to get everything ready. I need to contact the next agent on the list to go out and get them prepped too.”

Callen pulled the file up on his tablet. “Oh look, it’s Thomas Rickard and Cyra Austin.” All three of them knew that the ME had a thing for the woman, but since she’d been back it had been awkward between them.

“Can you work with them?” Ethan asked, knowing the last thing they needed was relationship drama in the field.

“Yeah, Thomas is fairly easy to get along with when he’s in the lab.”

Just the fact that the man didn't say a word about the woman spoke volumes. Plus
, it was clearly on his face. There was trouble on the horizon.

“How about Cyra?” Elizabeth asked
as she pushed for an answer.

Chris didn't know what to say to that. Not because he didn't want to give anything away to his
bosses, but simply because he wasn’t sure if he could pull it off or not himself. “I think so.”

“Okay, go get the team ready,” Elizabeth said, walking him towards the door. As she was about to head out to the agents to give them their assignment, Ethan called to her.

“Oh, Elizabeth Renee Blackhawk, can we have a moment of your time?”

H
ell! Here it came.

“Yeah?” she asked, leaning against the door and crossing her boots at her ankles. “What about?”

“I don’t want you to do this,” stated Callen. “I know I say it all the time, but I just have this sick feeling in my stomach.”

Blackhawk had to agree. “I wish you
would tell Gabe no.”

She stared at them both. “I can’t say no to my
boss. You knew when we took this job, Ethan, that this could happen. If it were you, would you tell him no?”

Blackhawk knew their backs were to the wall.

Callen stood. “Please. Don’t do it.” How was he supposed to explain to her that there was something that didn't feel right about it all? They had one body and the note calling her out. It freaked him out. Callen couldn’t handle the idea she could be harmed. Elizabeth was the mother of their children.

“One day
, we’re going to be able to stop having this conversation. I’m safe. I’m good at my job, and I don’t think that because I have breasts that I should get told to stay home. You go out all the time, Cal. Ethan travels too. It’s the same damn thing.”

Blackhawk laughed. “No, it’s not. No one left a note with a dead woman and specifically wants us on a scene. That’s all you
and while I’d like to be surprised, you’re a trouble magnet.”

“I’m going to ask that you both support me on this. I want you to help me and have my back
. What you’re doing is the opposite, by making me feel like I’m in danger and a liability.”

Neither man spoke.

“I see. So, which is it?” she asked, and then shook her head. “Never mind. I don’t think I want to know. It’s just going to piss me off even more than I already am. I’m going to go get the team ready. I’ll see you later.”

Both men flinched as she slammed the door.

“Well, that went about as horribly as I could have predicted. One day, I hope that I master handling all this a little better,” Ethan admitted. He really hated fighting with Elizabeth.

Callen crossed his arms over his chest. “
I just feel off about all this.”

Didn't he
get that? “Yeah, I understand.”

Callen didn't think he did. “No, I really have this feeling that this is a very bad idea, Ethan. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like when Granddad would tell us to not do something or bad was coming.”

Yeah, that didn't sit well either. While he believed in gut instinct, he didn't believe in Native mojo, even when it was what brought him and Elizabeth together initially. It was his dreams that brought him to Salem. “Cal, don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”

The man looked at him
and hoped that he was right. “Okay, I’ll go find Elizabeth and make sure she has a tail until you’re ready to leave.”

Blackhawk nodded, watching his brother walk away. He looked up at the ceiling. “Granddad, if you’re watching, keep her safe. We can’t lose her.”

He sat back down at his desk and began taking care of the details of lodging and hotel for the staff.

Christ, he only prayed they all got home in one piece.

Elizabeth walked through the area where the agents sat doing their paper work. There were rows of cubicles for them to stay in when they were back in from the field. Spotting the blonde across the room, she headed to their location.

“I don’t want to
eat, Tommy,” Cyra said adamantly. “I think I know when I’m hungry and I’m not right now.”

“Cyra, it
’s going to be lunch time soon. We can pop out and back in before anyone notices we’re gone.”

Elizabeth could hear the angst in her female agent’s voice and decided to step in and handle the situation.

“Well, since your boss is right here, I actually would notice,” Elizabeth stated. It gave her great pleasure when the man jumped, especially since he was trying to strong arm the woman. “Are you two ready to head back out?” she asked, staring at her agents. Her mood was shot, and she just wanted to get on the road and take care of business.

“Yes,
boss,” stated Cyra. Reaching into her desk, she pulled out her weapon and clipped it to her hip. “Do we need to pack?”

Elizabeth nodded. “
You’re heading to Circle Rock. It’s about two hours from here. We’ll have hotel assignments ready shortly.”

Special Agent Thomas Rickard looked a little too happy over that bit of news.
Elizabeth made a mental note to not assign the man the room beside her female agent. She had other plans when it came to that.

“Head out, but first Cyra
, I need you to meet me in my office.”

Elizabeth began walking away.

“You better leave, Tommy. I’ll catch a cab back to my place. It’s not that far.” Right now, she wanted to get as far away from the man as possible.

“I’ll swing by and pick you up.”

“Great,” she answered through clenched teeth. “Text me when you’re coming. I don’t know how long I’ll be tied up here.” It would give her time to be outside on the porch waiting for him. Cyra watched him walk away, and already she knew there was trouble brewing.

The man was just getting a little too friendly
and overbearing.

Walking towards Elizabeth’s office, she prayed there wasn’t
an ass chewing on the schedule, not before an assignment. As she knocked, she found her inside packing her messenger bag.

“
Please come in and close the door.”