Dead Shall Speak (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 10) (66 page)

“Tell me the things about her you loved.”

“She could draw. I remember waking up on holidays and she’d make me a book full of pictures to color. We didn't have a lot, but she made it special.”

Jaxon bet she did.

“She couldn’t make cookies to save her life. She burned them all the time. So, instead she made brownies. They were gooey and filled with chocolate.”

She ran her fingers up and down his arm. “What else?”

“She wanted to be a nurse. My mom wanted to help people.”

“Know what I think?”

He stared into her eyes. “What?”

“I think she missed you and wanted to be home with you every day she was gone. I bet she loved you best, because you grew up together. Those twelve years had to be incredibly special to her.”

He sighed. “Thank you for that, Jaxon. Thank you for pulling me up out of that mire. I was sinking fast.”

She leaned over to kiss him. “It’s my pleasure. What else are wives-to-be for?”

As he pulled away, his cell began ringing. Staring down, he knew he needed to take this.

“Hello?”

Jaxon watched as his face morphed from peaceful back to troubled.

“Okay, Donald, I’ll be right there.”

Hanging up, he took her hand in his. “I have to head to the dig site. Doctor Seston is tearing the tents apart. She apparently decided to go on a booze bender last night after Elizabeth fired her.”

“Want me to go with you?”

He laughed. “Uh, no. You need to stay far away from her. I’ll handle this and meet you at the morgue.” He glanced over at Chris. “Can you hop a ride with them to the lab? I’d feel better.”

She stood up. “Yes, Dad.”

He dropped a kiss on her lips before he slapped her on the ass. “Don’t be bold, my minx. You know what will happen.”

She flushed. “I love you,” she called as he walked away.

He winked at her. “I love you too, my bride-to-be.”

With that, he rushed out to handle the shit that was hitting the fan. He had to give Ethan and Elizabeth Blackhawk credit. This boss thing was exhausting.

Jaxon watched him leave. The sight of his ass in his jeans, the way he slapped her on the behind, and the way people were staring at him heated her body. She needed to head back to the room, take a cold shower, and stop thinking of Tony naked.

That was going to be one hell of a hard job.

                          *     *     *

Elizabeth barely slept all night. After seeing Callen’s additions to the whiteboard, there was this nagging little voice going off in her head.

It was screaming that they were missing something.

She’d been so bogged down in issues with Oracle, this case, being away from the men, that she was sure she dropped the ball.

Who else could she blame?

She was running this.

When she glanced over, it was hard not to notice that both men were staring at her.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re in the zone. What’s happening in your head?” Callen asked.

“Nothing. I’m tripping myself up over this. I really need to talk to Madden and Seaton. Can you get them in here? Maybe they can help me work this out. I can’t help but believe that the surveillance video is going to break this open. The killer is slipping. He may not have covered his tracks all that well.”

“I’ll make the call,” Callen offered.

She focused on Ethan. “Can you tell Chris to wrangle the tech rats and keep them occupied at the morgue? Merry has a shit load of evidence to process. I want her to get it done today. I know it’s pushing her limits, but I worry Bonnie Anston isn't going to have long.”

Ethan pulled out his phone. “I’ll handle it.”

“Thanks. I need to go back through all of this,” she said, pointing at the board. “It has to be here.”

Or at least she hoped.

                          *     *     *

He was furious.

He overheard their conversation. It was easy to hang out around them, blending in. While they sipped their coffee, pretended to be superior, he watched.

Waited.

Saw everything.

Now he was furious.

He couldn’t believe that he had a brother. His mother never told him that. He’d always asked for someone to have as his family, and his father kept trying.

Only, he kept deteriorating.

Toward the end, he was a failure.

But now, the truth was out. The black haired man was claiming to be his blood. He was also claiming that his mother loved him best.

That was lies!

Horrible, horrible falsehoods meant to break his spirit. He was just jealous. At home, he had a wife. He had a family of his own. This man had nothing but bullshit.

It infuriated him.

They spoke of HIS mother.

It wasn’t right. She belonged to him. The day she gave him life, he was the most important thing. After all, she stayed with him until her death.

She’d left the bastard doctor.

He wasn’t even born to a real family.

He was fake.

A lie.

His life was a fairytale.

Well, now he had to do something about it. There was no way in hell he could let this man maraud as his brother. In the memory of his mother and father, he couldn’t allow it.

He was angry.

Filled with pain.

Awash with hate.

Now he had a new mission in life. He’d found his wife. He’d started building his future, and now he’d destroy anyone who threatened it.

It was time to meet this man and explain.

By explain, he meant kill.

His mother could only have one son, and that would be him. He was her blessing.

Her gift.

Her cherished love.

Now, it was under attack.

The man had to pay for even daring to mention his connection to his mom.

It was time to hurt him.

And he knew how…

He would take his wife…

                          *     *     *

Jaxon finished packing her bag.

She was going to grab her papers, get the gear, and schlep it down to Christopher’s table. She didn't know why she couldn’t just head in on her own.

She was an adult.

Then, she thought about Tony’s need to feel secure. It was anthropologically very common in the male of the species. All the way back to caveman times, they would hunt, protect, and be men.

She pictured him in a cave ravishing her.

Damn!

She needed another shower.

At the knock to her door, she was forced to stop thinking about the man she loved and focus on the unexpected visitor.

Peeking out the peep hole, she saw who it was. Opening the door, she was curious what he wanted.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, staring up into his blue eyes.

“Yes.”

Then, he hit her. He slammed his body into hers, taking her down.

Before Jaxon could rationalize what was happening and react, he slammed her head repeatedly off the floor.

The room spun.

Gray settled around her.

“Tony,” she whispered, just as the dark claimed her.

He got off her body and looked around. “I think I’ll leave my lousy brother a little love note from us,” he stated.

Scribbling it out fast, he was satisfied with the threat. Now, it was about picking her up, carrying her out the back way, and getting home.

Soon, company would be coming.

He wanted to tidy the place up. It wasn’t every day your brother came over, and then you killed him.

                          *     *     *

They were fascinated with how she worked.

The two agents sat there watching her pace, make notes, and then slip back into some trance. It was like she was processing the details over and over again.

At some point, they believed she would crack under the weight of it all. She was nervously rubbing her baby belly as she mumbled to herself.

Finally, she faced them.

“They’re all students but April Belmont. I’m tripping up over that fact. I think that’s just, and I use this word cautiously, a coincidence.”

Ethan happened to agree.

She needed more. What they had wasn’t nearly enough. There were holes in this, and she needed to plug them. “When you ran Clarence, did anything pop up?”

Johanna took this one. “We only found his connection to Magdalene.”

Ethan objected. “If you think of the probability, then you can connect him to more. Look at where he worked. He was at the Monroe estate all day. We know that Wilfred had Ruth Hildebrant working there.”

He had a point.

“Clarence could have run into her,” Elizabeth stated.

“Yes,” he said, continuing, “He also could have run into Jacey. She and Magdalene were buddies. Certainly, he was aware of who her buddy was.”

He had another point.

“We know that the same is true for Russell Beston. He worked there too. But we can’t connect either of them to April Belmont. While they both could have wandered into the ice cream or pizza place, neither have direct links to our abducted runaway.”

They agreed.

“I don’t feel like it’s either of them,” she stated. “Honestly, this late in the game, I don’t believe they are the killer. I can’t prove it, by my gut is screaming.”

They trusted her.

“Take them off the list,” she finally said.

They all knew how risky that was.

Callen spoke up, “How about Lenny Ellis? What’s your gut saying about him?”

“Can you cue up a part of the disc where he’s mooning away after the girl?” she asked.

The agent went to work.

“I don’t think it’s him either,” she added. “It’s for the same reason that I don’t believe it’s Russell or Clarence. We can’t tie them to April. She’s like the wildcard. The first person we can link to her is going to be the killer.”

“I have it, boss,” Brody stated.

They leaned over the laptop and watched the scene play out. When it was done, she shook her head. “He’s not watching her like she’s prey. He’s in love. You can see that puppy dog look on his face. People get it when they feel that way.”

She stared at her agents.

There was no doubt that if Johanna could run from the room, she would. The jig was up.

“He wants to worship her, but on a throne. Not tied up and abused.”

Ethan tended to agree.

“Shit! What the hell are we missing?”

Callen thought about it. “Maybe we’re being too complex. What if we need to break this down to the obvious?”

He stood and crossed to the whiteboard.

“Go for it,” she offered, tossing him the marker.

“What about Donald Hooper? He’s quiet. He’s a wallflower. He’s lived here all his life. If we break his life apart, he’s a good choice.”

She thought about it. While her gut still said no, she’d give him his chance. “What else?”

He told them about the birth certificate. Callen made a gutsy move. “I think you skipped over him, but I wouldn’t have. I think you’ve made a mistake.”

The two agents stared at him like he was crazy. They waited for the explosion.

“I may have. If you think he’s the one, you have to prove it to me. Find me more.”

Callen grabbed his tablet and began working.

“Ethan, I need the owners of all those cabins surrounding that dump site for Magdalene, and I need them fast.”

He got to work.

It felt like a race.

One against time.

                          *     *     *

To say she had a headache would be an understatement. Jaxon’s head was throbbing like a son of a bitch. To make it worse, she was tied to a chair.