Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four) (4 page)

She forced herself to stop. Again, she was being a total bitch
. Elizabeth had earned her dues as the family leader. She’d bled for the family, killed for the family and gotten banged up emotionally to keep the men she loved safe.

Knocking on the door, she heard the laughter of her friend, and couldn’t help but smile despite all
the raging turmoil. Really she did love the woman, because she was her only friend that she ever had in her life, other than her sister. Elizabeth was already cheering her up, and she hadn’t even opened the door yet.

Elizabeth peeked out the glass and smiled. “Morning Morticia, I see you came to see the most handsomest man in the world!” She hugged her friend, and stepped back into the house in welcome.

“You know I am.” Desdemona smiled at the nickname her friend had given her. In medical school once she was teased because of her love of death and pathology. It had something to do with her black hair, witchy green eyes and love of Goth clothing. It used to hurt her to be called that, but Elizabeth patched up her heart, and was the ONLY person on the planet who dared to use the nickname. It was said with nothing but love and adoration, and Desdemona never minded. It was the magic of Elizabeth Blackhawk. “Where’s my little Callen?”

“He’s on the floor rolling like a little roly poly.” Elizabeth followed her friend in and grinned, as she picked him up and gave him kisses on his cheeks and neck. He squealed and she kissed him more.

Yeah, her mood was better already. The scent of baby lotion and sight of chubby legs always had that effect on her.

“You want some coffee, Des?” asked Elizabeth.

“Yeah, I missed my little boyfriend here and had to come see him before work.” At one time the fact Elizabeth named her first born child after Callen bothered her. Okay, it still irritated her, who was she kidding?

Elizabeth wandered into the kitchen to pour her friend some coffee.

Thank God for caffeine. It was all that was saving her life the last few months. Well, that and her father-in-law. Now that she was going back to work in a few days, he was transitioning to full time care giver for his grandson, and loving every damn second of it. He’d be by later to take CJ for a walk on the Rez. The man loved showing off his little Native grandson.

The Blackhawks reigned supreme on the Rez
, and he was the next heir to the family tree house.

Desdemona kissed CJ more and then placed him back on the baby blanket on the floor, before following Elizabeth into the kitchen. It astounded her that after three months
, the woman looked better than before pregnancy. Granted, she didn’t know her personally then, but she’d seen the pictures on the book shelf. All the baby weight was gone, and if possible, she was in better shape. Elizabeth stood in her kitchen in the tiniest little running shorts and FBI t-shirt, and Desdemona couldn’t help but be jealous again. Legs that long shouldn’t be legal. Damn gene pool.

“What?” asked
Elizabeth, as she noticed her friend staring at her.

“There are days I hate you.”
Hey, the truth felt really good!

Elizabeth laughed. “Uh, should I ask why or should I assume it’s because I’m bitchy, badass and can beat you down?”

Now Desdemona laughed. “No it’s probably because you gave birth three months ago and you actually lost more weight than you gained.”

“Well
I’m glad to know that’s the only reason. You do realize I’m out running every morning at five a.m. right? I had to earn this body. Trust me; childbirth doesn’t give you your ass back as a consolation prize for the hideous pain.”

“Yeah well
, I can’t attest to that.”

Elizabeth didn’t miss the tone in her voice. “What’s up, Des? You look like you’re about to cry.”

“I’m good. I just miss Callen.” That was part of it, but the rest was just many layers of hurt, anger and sadness that she wasn’t going to dump it on Elizabeth. This was her friend and partially the reason at the same time.

“I spoke to him this morning. H
e’s coming home soon.”

Desdemona tried to not let it bother her. Of course Elizabeth spoke to him, and yet he didn’t call the woman he proclaimed to love. Oh wait, he
openly proclaimed to love Elizabeth.

Constantly.

Repeatedly.

Right after k
issing her square on the mouth with his lips lingering dangerously too long. Wasn’t there some brother rule where ‘thou shalt not kiss your brother’s wife on the lips’? If not there should be!

Wow, the green-eyed monster was up and at ‘em early today.

Elizabeth noticed the flash in her friend’s eyes, just before she buried it again. “For the record, Des, he called Ethan to check in, and I answered his phone while he was showering. Callen didn’t call me to just chat.”

“Oh.”
Immediately, she felt better. Now she felt bad that she’d thought about her friend like that. A sigh escaped her lips.

“Want to talk about it?” Elizabeth was really worried about both of them. Lately there was tension between
the two of them and she didn’t understand why, but she had a sneaking suspicion it was the affection she and Callen openly shared.

“No, I’m fine.”

Elizabeth wanted to push, but Callen was trying hard to get this woman to marry him and soon; she didn’t want to stir the pot any more than it obviously already was churned up. “Can I ask a favor?” she asked, sipping her coffee and watching the woman over the rim.

“Sure
Lyzee.”

“Can you watch CJ while I run up and shower? I’m taking him to see daddy for lunch, and I don’t think I can get him to stay still for me as I shower and blow dry my hair.”

“Absolutely, but I may be leaving lip marks all over those chubby cheeks of his. I may try to eat him too.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Leave the left arm, that’s my favorite
, and I won’t have to wrestle you for it later.”

“Go shower, and I’ll keep him company on the floor.”

“I appreciate it. I can’t go to FBI West like this,” she added, moving to the stairs. “Ethan would have a damn stroke.”

Desdemona watched her walk away. Yeah, she’d start a riot
. Ethan would go on the warpath killing all the agents checking out his wife. Part of her was glad Callen was away on assignment. Honestly, as much as she loved Elizabeth, she didn’t love her in running shorts and a t-shirt in front of him. Call it catty and silly, but it was the truth. Just the look on Callen’s face as Elizabeth stretched out was enough to put her over the edge. Yeah, she’d spied on them from the window. Come on! How could she not?

When her fiancé was home, he’d often go running in the morning with his brother and Elizabeth, and she’d watch CJ. After all, she didn’t run. Not unless someone was chasing her, or there was a big clothing sale
somewhere up ahead. It was just one more thing that left her odd woman out.

The green eyed monster crawled back into her chest and ripped viciously at her heart. Not only because she was jealous
of her friend’s hotness, but because now she was pissed that they were doing something as simple as a morning run as a family. FBI agents had to stay in shape, their lives depended on it. Maybe she’d buy Callen a treadmill and lure him inside, far away from the distraction of Elizabeth. Yeah, he would shit a proverbial brick if she even tried.

Taking her coffee to the floor with the baby, she kissed his toes and tickled his chubby little legs, trying to forget that she was irritated. As he smiled up at her, the cell phone in her purse began ringing
, and he cooed and sucked on his fingers. Digging for it, she hoped it was Callen calling to talk to her, but surprise surprise. It wasn’t.

Damn
it!

“Hi
Grand'mere, how are you today?”

The older woman spoke into the phone, “Not good Desdemona. Your sister is missing.”

Her heart started pounding in her chest. “What do you mean she’s missing?”

“I left to go pick roots and my herbs for the season two weeks ago. I was staying out at the root shack in the deep woods while I was working. I just came back yesterday and there’s no sign of her.”

“Did you call the police?”

“I filed a report. I just wanted to
tell you.”

“I’ll come home and help look for her,” she answered, quickly.

Morgana Adare refused. “You’ll do no such thing. You know how your sister is, and she may just be off with a man.”

Just like everyone said her mother had done.

Desdemona knew how that ended. Twenty five years of questions and never to see the woman again. “I’m coming, Grand'mere, and that’s the end of it. I’ll catch a plane and be there later today.”

“What about your job?”

“I’ll call in sick today and then I’m scheduled off this weekend. I worked last rotation in the lab. Doctor Leonard will be on call this time.”

There was hesitation. “Okay, I’ll be back and forth into the swamp. I have to harvest for the fall.”

Desdemona couldn’t believe her Grand'mere was so calm. It felt like her world was shifting and rotating upside down. The hairs on her neck were standing. The stalker tried to get her back to Cypress Grove in his last note, and now her sister disappears. This screamed bad all around. “See you in a few hours, grand'mere.”

She went online on her phone and booked a flight and called work,
telling them she wasn’t feeling well. It wasn’t exactly a lie, she felt sick to her stomach over all this. The other thing was how she was going to not tell Callen? She was intentionally going to disobey his direct order to not go home alone. He’d made her promise months ago when the stalker had left them the last vicious death threat. Desdemona pinky swore to him, and now she wished she hadn’t. Maybe in the back of her mind, she always knew she never intended to be bossed around into keeping the promise.

While he was on assignment as Liaison to the Native American Community for the FBI, the last thing he needed was to freak out and find out she was doing exactly what the stalker wanted. The nutjob demanded she come home or the people she loved would die, and here she was doing it.
But she had a perfectly good reason…

Desdemona loved her sister; she
and her grand’mere were all that she had left. Well, other than the surrogate family she now had because of her fiancé- a family she didn’t feel like she fit into at all. Her mind was made up, she wasn’t going to even tell Elizabeth, but sneak off like a thief in the night.

Elizabeth came back downstairs and was dressed.

“I have to get going,” Desdemona stated, calmly. Hopefully she could go and be back before Callen Whitefox returned next week, and she was due back into work. “Duty calls,” she added, cautiously. Here she just called in sick and was lying to the big boss right to her face. Yeah, she better not get caught. There was so much more on the line now.

“BBQ on Sunday?” Elizabeth inquired, scooping up her son and kissing him lovingly. “I’ll make you a killer veggie burger,” she offered, knowing her friend was a vegetarian
and wouldn’t like the ribs they were planning on making.

“I can’t
. I have some errands to run while Callen is away. But I promise the following weekend I’ll be here.”

Elizabeth found that odd
. She had never missed a Sunday dinner. “Okay, well you come back and visit me and my new boyfriend,” she cooed.

“Back off!
He’s mine,” Desdemona countered, smiling. “I will fight you for him!” She went to her friend and kissed her on the cheek, and then did the same for the baby. “I love you, CJ.”

Elizabeth watched her friend walk out the back door and across the yard to the fence. “Well
darlin’, I may have been off duty for the last twelve weeks, but that just screamed suspicious to me. What’s wrong with Auntie Des? What did she tell you?”

CJ just played with a piece of her hair and tried to eat it.

“Okay, I get it. Breakfast time again, and then off to see daddy. Wait until he sees the outfit I found for you.” Elizabeth snickered wickedly at what she had found for her chubby little cherub.

Elizabeth tried to put the uneasiness on the back burner in her mind, but something was rubbing against her brain
, warning her that something just wasn’t right.

Her bullshit detector was going off hard and
fast, and rarely was it wrong.

Four
Hours Later

Ethan Blackhawk sat in his office on the phone dealing with the mundane responsibilities
as the director of FBI West. Normally, it wouldn’t be so tedious, because his partner in crime would carry half the load, but she was out on maternity leave until Monday. The second she was back, he was going to dump every meeting on her and run. For twelve weeks he’d been on his own, and he learned one huge thing.

Elizabeth was really good at multitasking and making all she did look easy. When he tried to do her job and his, he actually contemplated smoking again because of the stress. She ran her part of the office perfectly, and he suspected it was her administrative assistant
, Jameson Crow, who made it run smoothly.