Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four) (8 page)

~Chapter Two~

Desdemona
glanced over at her phone, as she drove the last stretch of her mission to get back to Cypress Grove. It was ringing non-stop, and she knew she needed to answer it, but if she did she was aware that lying to her boss was going to get her nothing but fired.

Callen’s
family or not, Director Ethan Blackhawk took the rules very serious. Here she called in sick, left the load on Chris Leonard’s shoulders, and bailed without telling any of the people who promised to keep her safe. When they found out she was in the bayou alone, they were going to all be pissed.

Yeah, she was screwed. When this was over she’d be lucky if she still had a job, let alone people that liked her at all. Well, it was in for an ounce and in for a pound. Desdemona let it ring, but reached over to hit the mute button.
As she became distracted, she swerved across the yellow line and jerked it back in time before causing an accident.

“Thank
God!” She let out a breath, and then saw the flashing lights in her rearview mirror. “Great. Cypress Grove has three cops and one was right behind me,” she muttered, putting on her blinker and pulling over. Rolling down the windows of her sleek Mercedes, she waited for the deputy to approach and give her a great big ticket as her welcome home present.

“
Ma’am, license and registration please?”

“It’s a rental, Deputy, but here’s my ID
,” she said, handing it out the window without looking at the man. Really she wanted to just get this over with and move on her way.

There was laughter that drew her attention.
“Desdemona Adare, how the hell are you?” he asked, and leaned down to look in the window, taking off his sunglasses.

She was confused, until she read the name tag. “
Jonathan Delray! How are you?” she asked, hopping out of her vehicle to give the man a hug. “It’s been a really long time and you look the same.”

The man grinned at her, taking in the woman she’d become
since he’d last seen her. It had to be seven years since she’d been back in Cypress Grove. “Here I saw this Mercedes fly by me down the road, and I was itching to hand out some big, fat tickets. Now I’m inclined to just let you go.” Now he handed her the ID back. “What have you been up to?”

She laughed
when he winked at her. “I’m a medical examiner for the FBI.”

“You're shitting me. Little Desdemona is now working for the
Feds?”

“Yeah, shocking isn't it?” she grinned back.

“Why are you in town? Is there some convention?” Then they both laughed over that one. Nothing ever happened in Cypress Grove that anyone would want to gather to discuss.

“My grand'mere called me. Cordelia is missing.” She didn’t miss that he flinched and then buried it. Something wasn’t right, or she was just hanging out with the Blackhawks a little too much and was bordering on paranoid. “She said she filed a report.”

“I didn’t check any of the reports before duty today. What can I do to help you find her? Is the FBI stepping in to work her disappearance?”

There was more hesitation in his voice, and this time she was sure of it. Desdemona’s gaze flickered
over at her phone, and it was lighting up again. “No, I’m here on my own. I just want to see if she ran off with someone she was shacking up with, or if we need to be worried. THEN I’ll see if I can get the FBI to intervene.” Desdemona didn’t doubt that she could get Elizabeth and Ethan Blackhawk to help. Well, that was before she lied to them, skipped out on work, and did the opposite that they all wanted her to do. Oh, then toss in how she blatantly disobeyed their brother. It all made her feel like she was nothing more than a child. Her temper began to flare over the mere idea that the man liked to boss her around like she was three.

“Well, how about I stop by your grand'mere’s late
r after shift and see if I can assist you in anyway?” Jonathan Delray offered, feeling bad for the woman. He remembered when her mother went missing over two decades ago, and now she was faced with that all over again. The family seemed to be cursed.

“Jonathan, I
can’t tell you how much I’d appreciate that.” It was nice to have a familiar face on her side in Cypress Grove.

“Go on, head on out to the house. I’m sure your grand'mere is torn up about all this.”

Desdemona hugged her old high school acquaintance. “I’ll see you later, Jonathan, and thank you for offering to help me find my sister.”

He nodded,
watching her climb back into the Mercedes. As soon as she pulled away his heart pounded in his chest. Jonathan Delray was sick to his stomach over the entire thing, and there were plenty of good reasons for that.

                                   *   *   *

The ride back to the development that they all called home was a silent one. Little CJ was asleep in his car seat in the back, and Callen stared silently out the window, lost deep in his thoughts. Elizabeth reached over and took his hand in hers, and immediately they twined fingers, like they always did.

It was just their thing and probably always would be.
They didn’t know why it happened or where it came from, but it just seemed comfortable between them.

“Want to talk about it?” she
prodded, breaking the silence to pull him out of the funk, he was drowning in helplessly.

Callen didn’t know how much to tell her. It wasn’t fair that he dumped all his emotional baggage all over Elizabeth
, all the time.

“Cal, you know you can come to me anytime. That’s why I’m here.”
Elizabeth was the keeper of all his secrets, good, bad and scary.

“I know, Lyzee. I just think I fucked everything up
this time.” No, not think. He was pretty damn sure it was all falling through his fingers like sand at the beach.

Elizabeth hated to see him this miserable, and she felt partially to blame. Maybe there was something she could have done differently to help them both through the issues that were obviously going on behind closed doors. She felt the tension and she could have intervened sooner.

“I don’t think Desdemona wants to marry me anymore.”

Elizabeth listened
and just continued to hold his hand securely in hers, linking them together.

“Whenever I bring up
the wedding, she pushes back that I’m rushing her. That she isn't ready, or any other excuse that she can toss out there. I don’t think she’s happy with our arrangement.”

“Has she said that
to you, Cal?” Elizabeth pulled into the road leading to her house.

“No, but you know how you say go with your gut?”

“Yes.” Elizabeth was a big believer in gut instinct, and it saved hers and the Blackhawk men’s lives many times.

“My gut says something is very wrong.”

Elizabeth pulled into the driveway and put the SUV into park. “Cal, then we’ll work through this together, okay? Your brother and I are willing to do whatever it takes to help you out with this. If you want some time away, come crash here. You know you’re welcome. Move in with us, and we’ll keep you safe while you navigate whatever is eating away at your heart.”

He nodded. “I’m going to go see if Desdemona’s home. I’ll ask her what’s going on and talk to you later,” he said, hopping out of the SUV and pausing. “I love you.”

Elizabeth was a little surprised that he didn’t look over at her. “I love you too, Callen.” Then she watched him jog around the side of their house to get to the one he shared with Desdemona. All the muscles in her stomach knotted tightly. None of this sat well. Lifting her son out of the SUV, Elizabeth took him inside to place him in his crib and finish his nap. Elizabeth knew she’d be pacing until she heard from him, and Callen confirmed everything was fine.

Or so she hoped
, but again she too was going with her gut instinct, and it wasn’t boding well for what she believed was coming for them all.

Whitefox entered the house, shutting off the alarm and dropped his keys on the table in the living room. Everything looked in place, and he calmed down immediately. Part of him expected to enter the house to find it torn apart in a struggle, and Desdemona dead or gone. Maybe it was his overactive imagination, or maybe it was just the fact he knew that the stalker was crazy. He’d already blown up an FBI vehicle, and then went off the grid, like he knew they’d catch him if he kept it up.

Running up to their bedroom, he saw the closet open, and clothes
lying on the bed. That definitely wasn’t right. He looked inside and one of the suitcases Desdemona owned, the one covered in skulls, was absent from its normal spot. Now his heart began pounding in his chest. Back down the stairs he ran, sliding down the mahogany banister and landing at the base of the stairs looking around.

The k
itchen!

Callen
raced through the doorway and found a note lying on the counter. Pulling it open he read it three times before the anger grabbed him and shook him violently.

Callen,

If you're reading this you came home early. I got a call

from my grand'mere that my sister is missing. I had to

catch a flight back home to help find her. I know you’re

going to be pissed, but I had to help my family.

I’m sorry
and don’t be too mad.

Desdemona.

Too mad? Oh there weren’t words to express how angry he was over the entire situation. The one thing he asked her to not do was go back to Cypress Grove. Not because he was being bossy or controlling, but because the stalke
r specifically ordered her to return. That meant one thing, she was a target, and now if her sister was missing, it was even worse.

His heart
ached as the woman he planned on marrying had broken the only promise he ever asked of her, and to make it worse, she didn’t take the protection that was available to her. Any of the Blackhawk family would have talked her out of it, or gone with her to help her find her sister. Yet, she chose to lie about being sick and sneak off behind their backs.

Mad wasn’t the word for it at all. Furious was a better choice at this point
or betrayed. That word fit the bill accurately.

Now
, he needed to have a plan, and although he didn’t know what to do, he knew who would. Locking up the house, Callen headed back to his brother’s home to confer with Elizabeth. Right now, he needed her calm, rational mind while he was all stormy and ready to explode.

When he got his hands on Desdemona, he was going to drag her back there and there was going to be one hell of a battle between them. No, that wasn’t true. Battle didn’t explain what was coming.

Nuclear explosion with casualties was more like it.

Just by running towards the stalker, she was risking her neck, and anyone
who chased after her. To him, a promise was very important, especially if it was the only one you ever were asked to keep.

Callen
used the code to access the back yard and rushed towards the house. The backdoor was unlocked, and Elizabeth was pacing the floor worriedly.

“Is she okay?”

He handed her the note and watched her face as she read it.

Elizabeth
scanned the paper and grabbed her cell phone, dialing Wyler’s number. When he answered on the third ring, she quickly spoke into the phone. “Dad, can you come over and take care of CJ?”

“I can sweetheart, are you okay?”

“Something’s come up here, and I need you as quickly as possible.”

Wyler could hear the tension in her voice. Normally Elizabeth offered calm and peace, but she was stirred up big time. “Give me ten minutes. Do I need to pack an overnight bag?”

“Yeah you better, Dad. Thank you and I love you.”

“Okay,
sweetheart. I’ll be right there.”

Elizabeth hung up the phone and looked up at her brother-in-law. “Go pack a
bag; I’ll have Ginny get the jet ready and alert Ethan. We’ll be flying out as soon as we hit the airport.”

“You can’t leave your son. You go back to work on Monday
.” Now he felt horrible that the woman who broke her promise was now pulling Elizabeth into the fray too. “Lyzee, I can go on my own.”

“I’m off this weekend, and maybe we can wrap this up fast and get home by then.” Now she was busy texting her husband. Right now he’d be in a meeting
, and he couldn’t take the call. This was important, but the man was already holding up both their positions at FBI West. This one was on her. “You can’t go on your own. Desdemona is sitting in the center of a big mess, and it’s going to take both of us to find her sister, keep her safe and then get the hell out of there in one piece.”