True Love Lost (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 3)) (69 page)

“Okay, so how about I order from the Italian place, no meat tonight, just because,”
Ethan said, knowing they all saw the autopsy.

“That sounds like a plan,” answered Whitefox.

“Great,” said Desdemona, “and then you all can explain to me why there’s a card downstairs with lip marks on it and Callen’s name followed by a big heart in evidence?” asked Desdemona, staring at each one of them with the look.

“Gig’s up boys. You better
circle the wagons, because ‘
Chief Cut ‘Em’
up is about to attack. Women and children to safety first.”

Ethan laughed at the reference. “
Good to see that even though you turned over a new leaf, you didn’t give up on the Native American comments.”

“Hiatus baby, nothing more than a small break from being crass and completely politically incorrect. Besides, it feels wrong unless
I’m wearing my cowboy boots. I just can’t get into it. All this snow is ruining it for me.”

“Hello!
You both are trying to change the subject to protect him,” she pointed. “Callen James Whitefox, why are there lips downstairs?” Now she was looking back and forth at all three of them in the circle.

“Oh crap, she used your full name,” laughed his sister-in-law.

Callen did what he promised. “She made me do it,” he retorted, laughing when she tried to object.

“Seriously? You just threw a pregnant woman who stood up to granddad
for you, under the girlfriend bus?”

“I certainly did,
beautiful. It’s called self-preservation,” he answered, kissing her on the cheek.

“Are you three always like this?” asked Desdemona laughing and deciding to stop being a spectator and join in for a change.
She wanted family and here it stood.

“
Always.” Elizabeth snorted. “Okay, who just pinched my ass?”

“O
ops, sorry, Elizabeth,” said Desdemona. “Wrong ass.”

“First the kiss,
then the ass slap and now this,” snickered Whitefox. “This has to be the best week of my life and very hot.”

T
hey all broke apart laughing, and Blackhawk objected.

“Hey! I didn’t get to see the kiss!”

“Baby, you snooze and you lose,” she answered, patting his cheek. The storms had cleared from his eyes, and she knew he’d be okay now. The turmoil had passed and the man she married was back.

“Let’s clean this up, there’s nothing we can do here until the DNA reports are in from FBI West.”

“Come on! Just one kiss?” he begged, and then laughed when his wife sucker punched him in the side before linking arms with Doctor Adare and walking away. “The lingerie was awesome but a kiss would make it even better.”

The woman laughed.

“Wait, what lingerie?” questioned Whitefox curiously.

Now Blackhawk grinned wickedly. “You have the kiss, but I have my wife sharing sexy lingerie with the
doctor.”

“HEY!” interjected Whitefox wanting more details.

Blackhawk grinned
, feeling very smug indeed.

                            *      *      *

Julian Littlemoon knew his town well. He wished it was his exceptional Native American skills, but really it was mostly about finding all the secret spots as a kid, and remembering which ones would be big enough to hide an entire van. There weren’t many places in Red River, and if the van was indeed here, he’d find it.

As for tracking his deputies last steps, that hadn’t been easy. He had people see him leave the sheriff station and head south, and then that was it. Somewhere out of town he’d disappeared. He had his feelers out, and someone should have seen something. It was only a matter of time.

Crossing another location off the list, he hoped he found the van before it was too dark. If someone was hunting down men
after dusk, he didn’t want to be caught off guard. Moving on foot through the trees, he kept his steps steady, and his eyes open.

Julian would
find the killer for Ethan Blackhawk. People of their heritage had to stick together.

                                 *      *      *

Dinner was meant to be a time of socialization. It was a coming together of people to meet and discuss the day’s events-Especially if you worked for Elizabeth and Ethan Blackhawk. For them, dinner was a sacred thing, and if you joined them at the table, you brought your sense of humor and no baggage from work. When you looked at death all day long, no one wanted to talk about it over food. Food should be celebrated, even when death was knocking at your door.

Callen loved his family, and he loved that his brother and
Elizabeth welcomed the woman that he had every intention of marrying with open arms. It made it easier, that all of them were having a decent dinner and sliding together without issue. This is what he wanted, wasn’t it? An outsider like Elizabeth to fill the void in his life.

Here sat the brother he loved, lost and loved again. A
woman, who patched up the holes in his life, made everything better and held his heart. Then there was Desdemona Adare. He was still perplexed how to get her to marry him. Just the way he felt when he looked at her, the knots in his gut, and then her smile made him forget about being lonely. It was the same things he felt for Elizabeth on a daily basis. That had to mean he was making the right choice, but his brother’s words kept playing into his mind over and over.

“Callen, you okay?” asked Elizabeth. He had the same look his brother got on his face when he was completely lost in thought.

“Yeah, just thinking,” he said, eyes flickering to Desdemona. He was thinking about her again, and he was at a loss.

Elizabeth knew him well enough to just see how whatever it was on his mind was plaguing him. Then the eye flicker gave it away. “So, Desdemona,” she started, and drew the woman’s attention. “Want to help me clear the table?” she asked, trying to get the woman to join her alone in the kitchen.

“I’ll do it, baby,” said Blackhawk, and when she kicked him under the table he got the point. Girl talk was coming up, and they weren’t included. “Or Callen and I can work on something completely irrelevant, because I just dug a hole I have no hope of recovering from. One day I’ll learn to not ask my wife anything and question her motives because I am obviously out of her league.”

Elizabeth pushed her chair back and leaned down to kiss him on the lips. “I married you because you’re so slick
and can talk yourself out of everything,” she winked at him and patted his cheek.

“Don’t worry, I’m coming,” said Desdemona. “Far be it for me to pass up being locked alone in the kitchen with a hormonal pregnant woman with a gun.”

“Good luck.” Blackhawk laughed. “She leads with her right, just a warning,” he yelled over his shoulder. His brother looked mortified. “Don’t stress it, what’s the worst that can happen? It’s not like she can divorce you,” he teased.

Callen wasn’t amused. This was the woman he was trying to get to say ‘I do’ not run from him like a maniac screaming.
If the plan was going to end with what his brother had, he couldn’t have the woman terrorized.

“Chill out bro,” he said, standing. “Let’s go sit on the couch, and let Lyzee do her thing.”

“Great,” he muttered. Elizabeth was an amazing woman, but there were two things that she was notoriously known for, the first being her temper and the second being… well her temper. This was going to be a disaster. He just knew it.

Elizabeth rinsed dishes and put them in the dishwasher. The woman helping her was smart, pretty and funny when she opened up. If Whitefox was just jumping the girl, and had no intention of marrying her, she’d stay out of it. But this was different. This was the girl dragging her feet and looked scared shitless and someone needed to find out why.

“Are you just shacking up with Callen or do you have
genuine feelings for him?” she asked, off the cuff and catching the doctor off guard. “I had to go to bat with Timothy for you to be allowed into the family, and I need to know what your intentions are with him.”

“Excuse me?” Desdemona was surprised that the conversation had to do with her just sleeping with the
man; she didn’t think she’d lead in with that as the starting point.

“I love him, and I like you a great deal.
You might even venture to say I love you too. But if you’re not serious about him, you need to cut him free, and I’ll make sure he heals and gets back on the horse to ride again.”

“
I see why he’s in love with you.” Desdemona hoped there was no animosity in her voice, since it was flowing through her body.

“
Is that why you’re hesitant? You think there’s some chance you’ll come home one day and find me in bed with your husband?” Elizabeth watched her face. That certainly wasn’t it. “Because let me assure you, I like my bed and my husband a great deal. I don’t cheat on the man I’m with.”

“Now, with this bed scenario is your husband included and is there a swap?” she asked, rebounding from the surprise and coming back with the things that Elizabeth got.

Humor and sarcasm
she could appreciate, but not when Callen’s heart was at risk. “I don’t think so, Doctor. I’m attached to Ethan, and you’re evading the question. You’d swap Callen?” That didn’t bode well for her, and granddad had already warned her about what he was feeling.

“No, I wouldn’t. I happen to be crazy about him and hopelessly in love with him.”

She took Desdemona’s hand. “Talk to me. What has you so freaked out about being with Callen?”

“I don’t want this nutjob to touch him. If he gets hurt because of me, how do I live with that, Elizabeth?”
She told her about the card and the warning, but kept her intense jealousy to herself about how she believed Callen didn’t just love Elizabeth, but was IN love with her. Big difference.

The woman was genuinely scared; she could see it in her face. “I won’t let anything happen to him or you.”

It was said with such certainty that Desdemona almost believed it. “Timothy said the same thing.”

“
Listen to the sage advice from the old Indian. He’s wise and tells it like it is. As for both of you, I’ll keep you both safe. I promise,” she added. “I’m really good at defending the ones I love. I’m ferocious; I’m like a pit bull. I can guaran-damn-tee that nothing is going to touch either of you.”

Desdemona thought about that, and looked over at her friend seriously. “He hasn’t really asked me, he’s ordered, demanded and told me
that I’m marrying him. In fact, he told Timothy that he was going to have more kids than you and Ethan. Not once was I asked. A girl wants to be asked not ordered into a marriage. Then there’s the whole ‘moving very fast thing’ and please don’t tell me it worked for you, because I’m not you.”

Elizabeth picked up on the hostility, and prayed her love for Callen wasn’t the source. That she couldn’t remedy, but first
part of the problem she could.

“He didn’t ask?” That was
a typical man, although, she remembered the way her husband proposed. He got down on one knee, and her heart still fluttered thinking about it. “Go take a shower, and let me handle the man issues.”

“Elizabeth,” she didn’t know what to say. “I want him to ask out of his free will, not you holding him at gun point.”
What she wanted was him to tell her she was the love of his life. Maybe it was petty, but more than any other woman in the entire world.

“Damn, I can’t use my gun?”
She tried to keep a serious face.

“Elizabeth!”

“I promise I won’t tell him to propose. I’ll be so subtle no one will even know what I’m doing,” she said, grinning. That scenario wasn’t likely, but why freak the woman out?

Somehow she didn’t buy that. “This is going to bite me in the ass, I can tell. Why am I letting you talk me into this?
I’m not sure I want to get married. I’m a logical person and this is going way too fast for me.”

“Love isn't logical. When he asks, decide then, and go with your heart.”

“I’m a scientist, logic is my baseline. I use my brain all day.”

Elizabeth
shrugged. “Be Morticia or be the scientist. You have to choose.”

Desdemona stared at her, and weighed the options. It was a great family, and she was lacking one. Callen was sexy as sin, and he wanted her. There was a crazed maniac after her, and they would keep her safe. Even to a logical person it was a no brainer. Did love really matter in the long run? Maybe love would grow
with time. “Crap,” she muttered and then left the room to go upstairs to shower. If he did ask, she could always insist on a long engagement to buy her time. If she said no, there was no guarantee he’d ever ask again.

Damn it!