True Love Lost (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 3)) (32 page)

“Ethan didn’t do anything,” she said, standing from his lap. I’m
just an emotional mess thanks to pregnancy hormones,” she said, and it was completely true. Never in her life had she cried this much.

Whitefox hugged her
to his body and kissed her on the top of the head, and whispered in her ear. “If he made you cry, I’ll kick his ass for you. Don’t cover for him, beautiful.”

Blackhawk snorted. “
I heard that, and you sincerely wish you could take me little brother,” he grinned, looking up at Doctor Adare. “Good morning, Desdemona. Coffee’s on.” He could see she was flushed, and he knew why. He looked up at his brother and the smug look was there, and he laughed.

Elizabeth punched him o
n the arm and gave him the look, as she walked by him to go speak to Desdemona. “Leave Callen alone!” she demanded.

Whitefox enjoyed how protective Elizabeth was
when it came to him, and he winked at his brother. “I am so her favorite!” And both men laughed more as Whitefox poached her coffee mug again.

“Callen, I swear to God, if you don’t stop stealing my coffee…”
She pointed at him as the cup was midway to his lips.

He took a sip anyway and ignored her
and earned the yank on his ponytail.

“
You know I like when you pull my hair,” he grinned, teasing her.

Desdemona wished she had the easiness that Elizabeth did with the men. The camaraderie, the love blatantly obvious between them was something
she longed for in her life.

“Did you sleep okay, Desdemona?” asked Elizabeth. She could see the whisker burn on her neck and knew why she was pink and flushed this morning.

“I did,” she answered, nervously.

Elizabeth
glanced over her shoulder and the men were discussing the tech report, and she took her chance. She leaned in close and whispered. “Hey, stop looking so damn scared. Ethan and I aren’t going to bite because you’re sleeping with Callen.”

“Jesus, is it that obvious?” she whispered back. Now she was mortified.

“Yes, and I’m happy for you.” She took her hand in hers and held it. “Really,” she hugged her, and more tears filled her eyes. All she wanted was happiness for Ethan’s brother, even if it meant swallowing what she already saw brewing. This was his journey to take, and Elizabeth loved him enough to back him up.

Desdemona hugged the woman back, and enjoyed having her as her friend. So this was what she’d been missing all her life. The
closeness and the strength of the bonding was an amazing feeling. She noticed Whitefox and her boss were watching them closely. Part of her wanted to be nervous, the rest of her wanted to just belong, so she took a second risk for the day and whispered back. “It was absolutely amazing.”

Elizabeth laughed and pulled away from the hug. “Don’t I know it,
darlin’?” Elizabeth picked up her new coffee cup and clinked it against the doctor’s. “To the spiders,” she said and looked over at the men, “and the flies.”

Both women laughed
uproariously at their private joke.

Whitefox
hadn’t a clue what he missed, but what he did understand warmed him right to his soul. He couldn’t love Elizabeth more and he mouthed the words when Desdemona wasn’t looking and earned an air kiss and wink back.

Elizabeth
knew that Desdemona would need the reassurance, and she kept her promise of protecting the woman. “I feel so cheap,” he said, smiling at the two women. Desdemona blushed, and Ethan pointed at his wife.

“Elizabeth, don’t
do it!” Blackhawk warned and then laughed. When she actually obeyed for a change he took it as a sign and quickly changed the topic. “Today the sheriff is going to do a press conference discussing Deputy Bobby Lee Tills. When I spoke to him last night, he told me that he has his other deputy tracking him. It seems that Julian Littlemoon has a specific skill.”

“No sign of him at all?” asked Whitefox. That made him nervous, since he already tried to abduct one of the women last night. If he was still out there, then that meant he could try again.
What if he went after Elizabeth? That made him sick to his stomach. Callen watched her smiling and he became more edgy.

“None. He’s gone off the grid.”

Elizabeth pulled Desdemona over to the table, and sat her down beside Whitefox. Easily she went and dropped into her husband’s lap, trying to show the woman that easy affection wasn’t something that had to be hidden. She was about to ask a question, when there was a knock at the door.

“Probably Christina, the tech team is assessing the outside of the house and collecting evidence to prove Tills was here last night.”

Whitefox went over to the door and opened it. “Morning Christina,” he said, smiling at the ball of energy.

“Morning, Callen!” S
he looked over at the table. “We’re all finished, Boss.”

“Find anything?”

“Tracks leading to and from the road, and then a red rose on your Denali,” she said holding up the bag.

Desdemona froze and
her coffee cup actually fell from her hand, and when she stood, the chair fell backwards.

Oh God, oh God, he found her there too
.

Everyone looked over, as the woman backed up from the room, all color draining from her face. No one spoke; it was just too surprising to see the woman run from the room.

Elizabeth stood. “Let me, Callen,” she said, leaving the room after her ME. She heard the bathroom door slam, and she followed her there, knocking on the door. There was no answer, only the sound of retching. Elizabeth checked the doorknob and when she found it open, she entered and locked it behind her. Immediately her heart broke for the woman. Something had her terrified so much, she was as sick as a dog.

“I’ll be okay,” she said, between vomiting.

Elizabeth held her hair back and knelt beside her, gently rubbing her back and trying to soothe her nerves.

When Desdemona
emptied her stomach, she stood and rinsed her mouth out at the sink. In her mind she struggled to come up with a lie, or something to cover. The last thing she wanted to do was pack up and leave another job. She just found a friend, and a man that wanted her. Desdemona didn’t know what to do.

Elizabeth sat on the side of the tub, and watched the woman. The trained investigator in her knew she was biding time, to cover for the reaction to something she viewed
as frightening. When Desdemona faced her she still waited her out.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She didn’t want to lie to her friend. For once she wanted to believe that she was worthy of someone shouldering this alongside her. She wanted a friend, and she wanted to believe she was finally accepted
by a family.

“How about we try this,” she said, patting the tub beside her. “You tell me the truth. We can’t help you if you lie.”

Desdemona’s eyes went wide.

“Yeah, I’m good at my job, Doctor. I’m also thorough. I ran you, so I know that you are running from som
ething that has you scared. Now as I see it, you have two choices.” Elizabeth patted the tub edge again, and reached into her pocket to pull out the keys to the Denali. “You can either believe that I’m your friend, and am going to have your back, or you can take these keys now, walk out that door and head back home to escape. I won’t judge you either way.”

Desdemona stared at the woman. It wasn’t what she expected
, and she caught the keys in the air.

“If you run, you leave a friend behind, and you leave Callen. Is whatever has you scared worth more than that?”

“Did you really run me?”

“Yep, you left a four hundred thousand
dollar a year job in the private sector to take a civil service job with the FBI, when we pay half that. It’s still a decent deal, but confusing as to why. I could say maybe you just wanted a change, but I looked at your records. Every six months to one year, you pack up and run. That screams one of two things. You’re being chased or you're completely flighty.”

Desdemona sat beside her.

“I don’t think you’re flighty since you just bought a very pricy house right behind mine. I know how much we shelled out for ours, and I doubt that yours was much less. Flighty people don’t drop six figures on a house they plan on abandoning. It seems to me like you wanted to lay down roots, take a stand, and fight against whatever is scaring you.”

It was the last part of her resistance that cracked. She broke down and began crying. Sobbing and falling apart in front of her boss.

“Let me stand up against it with you,” said Elizabeth, as she wrapped her arms around her, and let the storm brew, crash and pass. When the tears stopped and the woman could breathe again, she handed her a tissue. “We can help you. If you just trust me, Ethan, and Callen. I promise you, Desdemona. We’ll stand with you on this.”

Desdemona wanted to believe. Desperately, she wanted to feel like she belonged.

“Girlfriend code,” Elizabeth said, holding her hand. “Come out there and let us stand with you. Stop running, Desdemona, or at least let us run with you.”

She nodded. It was time she trusted someone. “
Promise you won’t hate me once I tell you the truth? That you’ll still be my friend?” Desdemona wanted a friend so bad.

“I promise. Well unless you’re a crazed serial killer and then I’m kinda obligated to either shoot you or arrest you
, but if it makes you feel better I’ll visit you in lockup. FBI law sometimes will supersede some parts of girlfriend code. Not all, but some.”

Desdemona laughed. “
I think I’m ready.”

Elizabeth stood, and took her hand. “I’ll get you through this, I promise.”

Somehow, Desdemona believed her. The woman looking down at her was a kind woman, and her eyes showed it too. If there were any people that she could trust, it was these three. She took a deep breath. “Okay let’s do it. I don’t want to run anymore.”

Whitefox paced back and forth in the living room of the rental house. He desperately wanted to go to the door, knock and check on Desdemona. Worry filled his body, as he could only hope that Elizabeth wasn’t making the situation worse by being alone with her. She tended to be a little
harsher at times than most people.

“You know, she’s pretty good with things like this,” stated Blackhawk.
“Don’t underestimate her. Rarely does she kick a person while they’re down.”

Th
e muscle in his cheek twitched, and then he thought back to all she’d done for him and there was an intense feeling of guilt that he was questioning her compassion.

“You should have some faith in
her. If Lyzee knew you were thinking she was abusing Desdemona, she’d be crushed,” he paused. “Then I’d have to kick your ass for upsetting my wife.”

Whitefox was about to comment when the door to the bathroom opened, and Desdemona exited with his sister-in-law, their arms around each other’s waists. One woman had tearstained cheeks, the other looked tough, and strong. She was doing exactly what he asked, holding up the weaker of the two and bearing the burden.
Desdemona Adare was safe beneath the Raven’s wings, and he’d been worried for nothing. Love overwhelmed him.

“We’re ready to talk about it now,” said Elizabeth, pulling her new friend closer, protectively.

Both men sat in chairs facing the couch, as Elizabeth pulled Desdemona down beside her, and took her hand in hers, offering her as much warmth and support as she could. “Come on Morticia, you got this,” she said softly, whispering the quote to her friend.

Whitefox bristled. This was going to be a disaster.

Desdemona laughed, it was weak but it was still a laugh. “It all started in college. One day I was at class, and when I returned home there was a flower arrangement for me. Roses. I wasn’t dating anyone, and when I read the card, it said ‘watching you’.”

Whitefox felt his blood pressure rise.

“Go on,” pushed Elizabeth.

“I figured I’d be extra careful and just not go out alone, stay on well-lit trails, and I’d be fine. Then it stopped.”

She finally looked up at her boss sitting across from her. His face was emotionless, as he listened to her. The Blackhawk glare was what the techs called it, and it was very intimidating. Then it occurred to her that she’d been very wrong. The scary one turned out to be the gentle soft one, and the quiet one was definitely the scarier of the Blackhawk bosses.

“Off I went to medical school, and one day a rose appeared. Then
more time passed and nothing. One day, I came home from a thirty-six hour rotation, and someone had been in my apartment. Little things were moved, like I was going crazy. Blankets flipped, shoes moved from one closet to another.”

“That had to be scary,” Elizabeth added
, sympathizing.

“I really thought I was losing my mind. Then it occurred to me, take
a picture. I snapped pictures of everything. Then I came home after my next rotation, and they were all moved. Everything was touched. I knew I wasn’t insane and had a big problem.”