Dead Shall Speak (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 10) (33 page)

“I can take a few stitches without meds, Cal. Go ahead, Chris. Do your worst. Make them pretty. I don’t want any of those ugly autopsy stitches.”

He dug in his kit for a needle.

Immediately, Callen wanted to puke. The mere idea that the man was going to stick that corpse needle in her flesh freaked him out. Glancing over, he stared at his brother, as if asking if he was okay with all this.

Ethan was stoic and said nothing. This wasn’t a new scene to him. In fact, it took him back over four years ago to a different morgue, a different time, and a different them.

Surprisingly, his heart softened. There was no way he could ever ask her to change. She was part of his heart, and this was the path they began together.

“Do you need someone to hold your arms down?” Chris asked.

“No. I’m fine.”

It was obvious that wasn’t the truth.

“Okay, then let’s begin.” Chris moved fast, leaving three stitches in her one bicep and four in the other. When he was done, he began patching her up. As the last of the bandages was placed over the wounds, she sat up.

“You’re still badass Lyzee Blackhawk to me,” Chris whispered.

She needed that. “Thank you, Christopher.”

“I have a t-shirt in my bag. You can wear it if you like,” he offered.

Elizabeth was so grateful for a friend who wasn’t going to snap, snarl, or yell at her, making her feel like less than she was. Already, she knew the men were going to be all over her on this one.

“Thanks,” she said, pulling it gently over her arms and into place. “It’s perfect,” she said, laughing at the skull on the front. “You’re a sick man, Doctor Death.”

He offered her a fist bump, and then a kiss on the cheek. “Good luck,” he whispered.

Hoping down off the table, she got ready to break down what was going to happen next. Elizabeth’s plan was to ignore the men and get on with work. Maybe avoidance would be the best policy at this point.

“Before you start thinking that this day is going on as normal, it’s not. You’re going back to the hotel,” Ethan warned. He didn't give her time to reply. Instead, he jumped right into his directives for the team.

“Chris, keep the techs inside and when you do leave, make sure that everyone is buddied up and wearing Kevlar, including you.”

“Sure thing, boss,” he said, knowing that Elizabeth wasn’t happy about being ordered back to the hotel. He could see it on her face. In all honesty, he didn't blame her. These really weren’t big injuries, and he’d seen her get worse. He almost wanted to defend her, but he knew how the men felt.

“How’s the shooting arm?” he asked, only to have her pull her weapon so fast, he jumped. “Okay, then you’re definitely clear from my end.”

Ethan pointed at his brother. “I need you to locate a whiteboard and check in with Seaton and Madden. I want to know if they’ve dug anything else up on our other victims.”

“Jaxon was just about finished with your next skull,” stated Chris. “We can have Merry start to run it for facial recognition if you want.”

Ethan cut her off before she could even open her mouth. “Thank you, Chris. That would be helpful.”

“I’ll get everything handled here, grab the data, and meet you at the hotel,” stated Callen, not giving Elizabeth the option to fight. If she was smart, she’d say nothing while both men were close to losing it.

If she didn't, there was going to be one hell of a show, and it wouldn’t be pretty.

“Okay, Callen. Be safe, and we’ll meet you there.”

With that, Ethan took his wife by the hand and led her out the morgue doors and to the Denali. The entire time, he watched the surrounding area to make sure they were safe.

He wasn’t taking another chance.

And when they got back to the hotel, there would be one hell of a conversation.

He had a great deal to say, and Elizabeth had no choice but to listen, even if he had to hold her hostage and at gun point.

The line was drawn.

For him at least.

                                 *    *    *

Tony was worried about his friend, and the woman sitting beside him in the cramped office. With someone shooting at them, that upped the stakes a great deal.

The last thing he wanted was for his fiancée to be hurt while working beside him. He’d taken a bullet meant for her, and he would do it all over again to keep her safe.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

He lied.

“Your skull. How’s it coming?”

She grinned triumphantly. “I think I caught the real spirit of her,” Jaxon admitted, turning the tray and lifting the paper sheeting from over the finished skull.

The woman beneath had been an average looking woman, but from the pudgy cheeks, Tony could see that she was still closer to child than adulthood. Their victim was still young and just starting out life.

“That’s amazing, honey,” he stated, dropping a kiss to her cheek. It wasn’t him just flattering her. Jaxon had done a good job.

“We know she had black hair, so I added some. I don’t know about the eye color.”

He stared down at the victim’s reconstructed clay face. “Why did you go with blue?” he asked.

“I read the report on Jacey Durante, the girl who went missing from the ice cream place,” she stated. “She had black hair and blue eyes too.”

Tony got it. “You think he’s got a preference?”

“Don’t all men? If you had to pick a woman up, what would she look like?”

He laughed at her question.

“What?”

“She’d have boobs and a smile,” he stated honestly. Before her, he wasn’t one to be picky. Women were great, and when he had that biological urge to get off, he didn't really have a specific type—
unless you counted one who was willing.

That worked for him.

“That’s really bad,” she said, laughing. What Jaxon hoped was that he would have described her. She desperately wanted to know that she was his type.

That they weren’t a fluke.

“We’ll give this skull to Merry. She’ll find her identity, I’m sure of it.”

She agreed.

When he went to the door to get Merry, she wasn’t alone. Behind her were the two newer agents.

“Wow! You rocked that out,” stated Agent Johanna Madden. “She looks so alive and real.”

“Thank you,” Jaxon replied, proud of her work. It gave her great satisfaction to give their victim back her face.

It overwhelmed her emotionally.

“I don’t think I’ve seen a reconstruction that perfect before. You even gave her individual eyelashes,” Agent Broderick Seaton stated.

“She deserves to be seen as more than remains,” Jaxon stated.

Broderick Seaton grinned. “You should do this for a living. It’s freaking awesome.”

Tony happened to agree. His wife-to-be had some crazy skill in this department.

That caught Jaxon off guard.

She’d never considered it more than a hobby. Working with clay was more art than science.

“Thanks, I think.”

With gentle fingers, Meredith picked up the skull and carried it away.

“We have two more coming tomorrow,” Tony stated. “The team found two women who were pregnant. I don’t know why Elizabeth is focused on that, but she is.”

Jaxon didn't mind the task. Sitting there was cathartic. She was beginning to enjoy working with the clay medium. It reminded her of her mother.

“When they arrive, you should probably put a rush on it just in case. When the boss lady is back on her feet, she’s going to need everything we can dig up for her to get her on track, and fast.”

Jaxon remembered working with her on the last case. “She’s going to work after being shot?” she asked in surprise.

“It takes more than a little bullet to stop Elizabeth Blackhawk. Wait and see.” Tony could bet easy money on it.

She didn't know if she should be impressed or horrified. “If you say so,” she offered. If it was her, Jaxon knew she’d be hiding in her hotel room.

“Trust me. I’ve been doing this with her for a dozen years. She’s definitely not going to back down. In fact, she’s going to be as mad as hell. If there’s one thing that will put the boss lady over the edge, it’s someone taking shots at her husbands.”

Jaxon imagined it would.

She’d be pissed if someone went after Tony…again.

Look out shooter.

It appeared someone made one hell of a mistake.

                                 *    *    *

The ride back to their hotel was absolutely silent.

Neither spoke, and that was the signal of a bad storm brewing on the horizon. There was something festering between them, ready to break free as it consumed them both.

Well, she wasn’t going to put up with it.

Elizabeth was just as irritated and had as much right to be pissed off.

With the shooter.

With this killer.

With the men in her life.

Oh, and with herself.

Once in the room, Ethan was just about to start the lecture when his wife beat him to the punch. Anger erupted from her, filling the room.

Honestly, he wasn’t expecting it. Yeah, she had a fiery personality, but this time, she was just plain old pissed off.

“Go ahead, Ethan. Yell at me. Get it all off your chest so YOU feel better,” she demanded. “God knows it’s a burden for you and Callen to be with someone so reckless.”

Before he could open his mouth, she continued.

“Please feel free to tell me that I’m too old to be doing this kind of work. That my reflexes aren’t what they use to be. I know that being pregnant, you would rather me be home crocheting a pair of booties for our child than at work. I can feel it.”

That caught him off guard.

He and Callen had just had that same conversation. Ethan Blackhawk was busted.

“Somewhere along the way, I stopped being Director Elizabeth Blackhawk, and instead, I became your baby making machine. You input sperm, and I grow you a child. I see how you and Callen share those looks. I’m not an idiot.”

He went to open his mouth again.

“I’m ready for you to put the old mare out to FBI pasture. Go ahead, tell me that I’m past my prime, of no use, and should just be a mother.”

“Whoa!” This time, he did get past her tirade to get a single word in. It wasn’t easy to keep his temper neutral, because if anyone else had said those things about her, he knew he’d kick their ass until they were black and blue. Yet here was his wife, thinking they were guilty of it.

And they were.

He hated that she was right. While they’d never say it aloud to her, they obviously didn't need to.

Elizabeth had read their minds.

“Admit it. I’m too old to do my damn job!”

“Wait one second. I don’t recall saying that to you, and to the best of my knowledge, neither has Callen.”

She stared at him, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Tell me what’s eating away at you,” he stated, knowing she wasn’t done. For months, his wife had been the one he dumped his issues all over, and she’d taken it.

So, he would do the same.

“Do you want to know why I really don’t want more kids?” she asked, her heart skipping in her chest.

“Of course I do.”

“Yes, it’s hard on my body, but with each one, I feel like less and less of myself. I love our children with all I have, and I wouldn’t trade a minute with them, but you don’t see me as Elizabeth anymore. You both are only seeing me as a mom. You fell in love with me when I was a Fed. Now you wish that wasn’t the case.”

Was he that transparent?

Had he honestly made her feel that way in some moment of his own insecurity?

Damn it!

This was a mess.

“To be fair, you are the mother of our children,” he stated, having her whirl around the room in an anger filled tirade.

“Be honest, Ethan. Can you honestly say to me that you and Callen like when I’m working in the field?”

The last thirty days had been a bitch. Not knowing where she was, or if she was safe, was a hard pill to swallow, so yes. They were as guilty as sin.

Blackhawk stared at her with unblinking blue-black eyes. He knew better to wade into that trap.

“See?”

“Okay, so we’re assholes for even thinking it.”

“I’m good at what I do. I was born to do this, and I want to be both a mother and Fed. I need you and Callen to support me, and I know you both won’t. If it came down to it, you’d yank my career in a heartbeat. If you could talk Gabe into retiring me, I know you would. My only saving grace is that he’s got my damn back when you two don’t.”