Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four) (20 page)

“Are you there, Lyzee?” asked her husband.

“Yes, Ethan.”

“Tell Callen
that he heard him. He has tears on his cheeks. You need to go next. He doesn’t have much time, and his breathing is shallow.”

“Okay, I’m ready.”

“Go,” he said, holding the phone to his ear.

“Granddad, its
Elizabeth. I have everything under control now. I know what you want done, and what you want said. I’ll make sure you're honored for the eighty-nine years you lived on this planet. No one will forget Timothy Blackhawk. Your legacy lives on in the men that follow you. I’ll hold them up every day until the pain is gone,” she wiped her own tears.

“I
’ll have your final wishes taken care of, and I swear to you that I won’t let anything happen to your boys. They’re mine to carry now, and as long as I live I’ll love them with all I have in me.”

Callen
sobbed openly and shook in her arms.

“I never had a granddad. Mine were
both gone before I was born, but if I had to pick one, you would have been it. You make all other grandfather’s look bad. Go be with your wife. I know you miss her and it’s time to let the pain go, and just be the free spirit I know you are inside.”

She pulled Callen’s face into her neck and let him weep. “Your great grandsons are going to be amazing too, and I promise that they
’ll know all about the shaman and the man that led this family before me. Be at peace, Granddad. I love you and your boys.”

Ethan
returned to the phone. “He heard you too, Elizabeth. I’m going to say my goodbye, and see you here when you land. Take care of my brother. He’s not going to be okay for a long while. Callen is going to need you more than ever.”

“
If you need me, you call, Ethan. I’m here for you too.”

“Thank you, Elizabeth
, for everything you said and for taking care of Callen.” He felt the tears coming, and knew he needed to say his goodbye next.

“
It’s okay, Cowboy.”

Ethan
hung up the phone and looked over at his granddad. He took his hand in his and held it reverently. The man was very special to all of them, and he knew it.

“I’m sorry I went away for all those years,
Granddad. I wasted two decades of being away from you and seeing you every day. I’ll carry that in my heart forever, but I’m glad I came back. I got to spend the last year here with you, and it meant everything to me. Thank you for being so damn hard on me growing up. Without it I would have done horrible things as an adult. You led by example and when I raise my kids, I’m going to be just like you. You were my hero, and my mom and dad. There won’t ever be anyone that can fill that void in my life.”

Blackhawk kissed him on the chee
k. “I want to tell you don’t go. I want you to open your eyes and tell me you're fine, and that I’ll have you another twenty years until my boy becomes a man, but I won’t do it. You earned your peace now, and I believe that tomorrow when I wake up that you’ll still be here guiding me, because I have to believe everything you tried to teach me is real. I need to believe that our ancestors still remain.”

Ethan
wiped his eyes on his sleeve. “Just give me a sign once in a while, and I’ll be open to it. I promise I’ll be looking for you.”

Timothy opened his e
yes and stared at his grandson, motioning him close. The brown eyes, so filled with wisdom for years, stared directly into ones just starting to learn the ways of life.

Ethan leaned down, placing his ear close to the man he loved and listened to the last words he’d ever hear from him. When he heard what he had to say the tears came, and he laid his head beside his grandfather. “
I promise I will. I’ll tell them, Granddad. I love you. Goodbye and safe passage into the spirit world.”

Ethan waited for the man they loved to leave them all.

Timothy Blackhawk closed his eyes, squeezing his grandson’s hand one last time. After a while, the last breath was released and a new adventure was to begin. It was his journey to find his wife and all those who passed before him. His time there was over, and he trusted that his granddaughter was ready to protect the boys he loved more than anything in life.

It was the end of the
shaman, and the beginning of so much more.

Saturday Evening

Elizabeth drove the Denali that was waiting for them at the airport to the Rez. Neither occupant wanted to deal what was coming, but they knew that it was inevitable. She drove with lights and sirens all the way their granddad’s house. Once the vehicle was parked, she waited, taking Callen’s hand in hers. It was time to do what she promised to do. Carry the family and lead them through all this. She swore to Timothy that she’d do it, and she never broke a promise to the Blackhawk men.

And she never would
.

“Come on, Cal. I have you,” she said, walking in with him. Once inside she saw her husband, and he was holding their son in his arms. The look on his face said it all.

Timothy was gone.

“When?” Callen asked.

“Over an hour ago,” he answered, handing the baby to his wife, so he could hold his brother in his arms. Right now, he knew that he was about to fall apart.

“I should have been here,” he
sobbed, defeated. “I should have been here and not chasing after a woman. Because of me, you had to do this alone, and Elizabeth missed being here. I’m so sorry,” he said, weeping into his brother’s shirt.

Elizabeth went to them both and wrapped her free arm around them. “Cal, it’s okay. I swear it’s going to be okay.”

Ethan held his brother against his chest and let him just get it out. He was going to keep his promise to his granddad. The old man wanted him to take care of his brother and he would. 

“Where’s
Dad?” asked Elizabeth, looking up at her husband. When he motioned to the bedroom, she took her son and went to find him. There he sat beside his father, holding his hand and crying.

Elizabeth went and stood behind him and placed her hand on his
back and rubbed reassuringly.

When
Wyler looked up at her, he looked so empty and lost.

“It’s going to be okay,
Dad. I promise. You're going to go out there with your sons, and you're staying at our house for a while. Tomorrow, I’ll go get you some things from your cabin. Okay?” She kissed him on the cheek and wiped a tear.

“I’m going to miss my dad,” he said, softly. “He was the last parent I had
, and now I’m alone.”

“You're far from alone. You have Callen, Ethan, CJ and me. We’re going to get you through this. Go be with your sons. I’ll take care of him now. I know what he wanted, and I have his instructions. I’m going to do what I promised to do, and you just need to go be with your boys. They need you, Wyler.”

The man nodded, and leaned down to kiss his father goodbye one last time. “Bye Dad.” He turned to Elizabeth. “Can I take CJ? He’s my little buddy.”

Elizabeth kissed her son and handed him to his grandfather. “Go ahead. I have him now.”
Elizabeth watched him walk away and pulled out her phone.

The lab picked up on the third ring
. Fortunately she got lucky, and it was her husband’s favorite tech. “Christina, it’s Elizabeth.”

“Oh Director! It’s late, what can I do for you?”

“I have some evidence in my car, and I also need a body retrieval, but there are circumstances involved.”

“Okay, what do you need?”

Elizabeth sighed. “It’s Director Blackhawk’s grandfather. He just passed away. Because he’s Native they have strict burial rituals. I need him transported to the morgue. No one is to touch him but me. Am I clear?”

“Yes
, boss.”

“No body bag and no one pokes at him. I’ll follow transport, and then I’ll take care of the details there. But right now I need him treated like he’s a king. Because to us he was
, and I need everyone to be very respectful of that.”

“I’m sorry for your loss, Elizabeth. I’ll personal
ly pick him up for you and drive him back.”

“I don’t want him gawked at or to be a spectacle. I’ll be transporting his regalia with me. Tell anyone that touches him or does anything that I haven’t specifically requested that they are immediately terminated, after I inflict the maximum bodily harm possible.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Send out transport
, and is Chris Leonard there?”

There was a pause. “Yes.”

Elizabeth looked down at their granddad. “Tell him put him where no one is going to touch him. I’m very serious about this. It’s strict custom. Only family can touch him after death. I’m not screwing around with this.”

“Okay
, boss. I’ll be there in twenty.”

“Thank you, Christina.”

Elizabeth went to his closet and found the sealed clothing bag, and the note attached to the front with her name on it. She tucked it into her back pocket, and pulled out the bag. Laying it over the back of the chair she walked out to the men in her life.

“Transport is coming.
I need you all to say your goodbyes now. Granddad is in good hands. I will do exactly as he asked in the instructions Timothy left for me.”

“We can help,”
offered Whitefox.

“No, his wishes specifically stated that you’re not to do it. I’m to handle it and then the next time you see him will be for burial.”

“Doctor Wolman called the council. The teepee will be set up and ready for you whenever you need it,” said Wyler.

“Ethan, take everyone to our house, tuck in the baby, and the three of you sit on the couch and
drink some beers. Remember granddad and celebrate eighty-nine kick ass years. I’ll be home as soon as I take care of everything on my list.”

The boys went into the bedroom and each one laid a hand on their grandfather, and closed their eyes. Wyler began speaking in a
language that none understood. When he was finished they all laid a kiss on his forehead and said goodbye. Even little CJ’s lips were placed against his great-grandfather’s cheek.

Elizabeth stood guard over him, and waited until the men were loaded into the vehicles and gone. Then Elizabeth picked up her phone and started making calls to everyone
on her list that granddad had instructed her to call. She made the plans and then prepared to transport the patriarch of their family for his final preparation.

                                *   *   *

Julian wandered back into the bed and breakfast completely exhausted after searching the swamp all day for a body. When he dropped his gear in his room, he finally got reception on his phone and read all his messages.

There were three from Elizabeth Blackhawk. He read them and then logged into his email to send Ethan a condolence on the loss of his family member, and then he pulled out his map and crossed off one more section. According to the local tribes, there were only three more possible dumping spots, and one of them could hold the remains of a body.

He stripped out of his clothes and looked at his
body in the mirror. No leeches this time. At least that was a plus. Julian stood in the shower for at least ten minutes to wash the filth of the swamp from his body.

Next time
, he was going to ask WHERE he has to track first, before accepting an assignment. Swamps and bayou are not ever happening again.

                                *   *   *

Desdemona was sobering up, and
her high school acquaintances were re-accounting the events to her. When they got to the part about her slapping Elizabeth, everything in her went ice cold.

First Ethan warned her and then she physically put her hands on her boss and her fiancé. This was a disastrous mess, and she needed to apologize in the morning.

Her head was pounding.

“You slapped her so hard her head turned,” said Holly Delray. “It was really loud!”

“Oh my God! The look on her face, it was scary. You’re lucky she didn’t kill you. I swear, her hand went to her gun and I really thought you were going to get shot,” added Ivy Delray.

“If it matters, your fiancé is really hot!”

Desdemona shook her head and wanted to cry. “I think you could call him my ex at this point. I think tonight’s drunken performance was the end of the line for me.”

Both women sympathized. “Hey, there’s plenty of fish in the sea. You just have to go fishing.”

Desdemona wanted to curl up in a ball and die. The woman she slapped was her friend, and that was certainly a dead end too. Who’d forgive that behavior?