Devil Hath Come (an FBI/Romance Thriller ~book 7) (31 page)

Two could play at this game.

“It can’t work since they are total opposites and different religions. I know in Wicca, there are some deities that might be construed as ‘
dark
’ but there isn’t a devil. I’ve seen a lot of altars, and this one is Wiccan with a twist.”

Then
, he realized that he gave away too much. Shit, he’d just set a rabid dog on his trail. He had inadvertently tossed Elizabeth too much for him to feign expertise through books.

“Wow, Chris, you must really just like to read,” she stated, staring him right in the eyes.

“Yes, I’m fascinated.” He fought to remain absolutely calm and not show any nerves. When faced with a vicious animal, never show fear.

“
Christopher Leonard, you are such a liar,” she admonished.

Both
Callen and Ethan stared down at her to wait and see where she was taking her comment. Obviously, she sensed something that they didn't.

The man said nothing as he tried to plan a strategic escape from the hole
that he had just dug.

“Chris, we’ve been friends a long time. I know you pretty damn well. I honestly wouldn’t care either way, but I need a frame of reference on how well you know the topic. If I’m going to base everything on what you just threw out, I need to know the truth.”

He sighed and weighed his options. His back was officially to the wall on this one, and Chris had no one to blame but himself.

“Come on, Chris.
Ante up on this one. I’m callin’ your bluff, darlin’.”

Finally, he sighed
and gave up. “My mother is Wiccan. She’s a practicing witch and I grew up with it my entire life.”

No one spoke, since that was a little surprising.
Here was their head scientist throwing out a wild card.

As Chris turned to escape, he found
it was only going to get worse. Standing right behind him was the woman he was crazy about.

Cyra
said nothing and only watched him get ready to freak out. She could read it on his face.

His heart dropped into his stomach, as he knew this was probably the end. Today began on such a high note too, and now it was disintegrating fast.
Great. This was exactly what he didn't want to have happen.

His eyes went to the vee of her shirt and the
tiny gold cross around her neck. Yeah, he’d just dropped that his mother was a witch and that wasn’t going to go over well at all.

Chris couldn’t even speak.

What could he possibly say now to keep this mess from blowing up all over him?

Absolutely nothing…

Mid-Morning

Morgue Office

The crime scene had been swept and contained, and all three directors
were free to handle the rest of the items on their work list. Some of it was FBI related, and some… not so much. Once back to the borrowed office space, they decided to play divide and conquer.

Callen
was handling their personal issues, and had made a call to his father to check in with him and the ‘Bly’ situation. Apparently, she had arrived that morning with the intention of keeping it strictly work related. She was helping with the kids and doing the housework, but anything that Wyler needed personal ‘assistance’ with, was now off the table and possibly over for good.

Wyler
reassured them all that he was fine. As for the children, they were his priority and that too was under control. Hearing that update had helped take a little bit of the pressure off all of them.

Now
, they could all move onto other issues, like the Austin and Rickard situation. That little hot mess was being managed by Ethan. Since he was the calmest and most likely to maintain his composure, he was up to bat.

“I’ve sent him a text to come up here,” Blackhawk stated. “We need an update on the crime scene walk through he did yesterday, and then I’m going to send him back to FBI West.”

Elizabeth was glad. The last thing they needed was one giant emotional free for all.

After knocking
on the door, the man entered. “You needed to see me?”

Ethan pointed
towards an open chair. “You went back to the first crime scene, did you find anything that stood out?”

Agent Thomas Rickard thought about it. “Not really. We seemed to
have swept it really well. I didn't even find any trace that we had been there.”

Ethan nodded. At least he had confirmation that his team was doing their jobs.

“What’s my assignment for today?” he asked, really wishing they weren’t there. Then, he could run this his way. It was cramping his style to have to play second fiddle to the three directors.

“You’re taking a little trip.”

“I am?” He was confused. “Where exactly am I going?”

Ethan leaned forward. “I need you to head back to FBI West to be reassigned. You’re done here.”

“Why?”

“We have enough staff on duty. We’ll take over training Agent Austin
, so you’re free to go.”

“I can’t believe this
!” he raged as he pushed back from his chair.

That simple motion caused all three directors to follow suit. An angry person carrying
a weapon was a dangerous thing. They had all seen rationale being tossed to the wayside, in lieu of violence, many a times.

“I come to work, do my job
, and then get reassigned. How is that fair?”

Ethan tried to calm him down. “Listen, Thomas. You’re not being punished. We have
three directors working on this, and you can be used elsewhere.”

“
Then why is my partner remaining here?”

They all knew where this was headed.

“She’s going to stay to help with the paperwork and get some interview time in the field. She’s only a probationary agent and can use the time under her belt.” Ethan tried to make it sound as nonchalant as possible, and he definitely could see why Chris Leonard was worried.

The man was a tad bit over the edge.

He slammed his chair into the table. “This is total bullshit, and when you get back, I want to file a complaint with your boss. This isn’t going in my personnel file!”

Okay, maybe a lot over the edge.

Rickard stormed out of there and slammed the door as he left. There was no doubt how he was feeling about the situation.

“I think we have a problem brewing on the horizon with him,” Elizabeth finally stated, breaking the astounded silence. “I’m surprised that you didn't lose your temper
with his belligerence.”

Ethan wanted to, but he
preferred more to have him leave without an incident. “I better update Gabe as to what just went down. I don’t want him to be surprised to see that report he’s going to file against us.”

Callen just shook his head. “See if you can get him some
anger management evaluations. I’m betting he’ll fail them.”

He agreed. “Then I can get
Gabe to terminate him. We can’t have a loose cannon running all over the place toting a gun.”

“Amen,” muttered Callen.

Now they could get to the job at hand.

“Cal, can you run the victim and find me anything that might help us out?”

He began working on the tablet and searching for anything on Dyana Carlos.

“I’ve been thinking about what Chris said about the altar,” stated Blackhawk, pulling up the picture.
This time the killer had used a set of stone slabs that looked like they had once been part of a building’s foundation.

“
I’ve been thinking about that too. Maybe we should revisit the Church of Satan.”

Callen glanced up. “
Yeah, and you should stay here.”

Ethan agreed. “You’re Arlen James’s focus. He’s trying really hard to get into your pants.”

To hear Ethan, the more reserved of the two, state it like that, made her snicker. “I don’t think that’s what he had in mind, exactly. Me naked on his altar was more his thing. I doubt the killer could catch a woman if she fell on top of him. I wouldn’t lose any sleep on it. He couldn’t charm me out of these britches if he tried, boys.”

Neither man was entertained
at her attempt to be humorous. In their heads, there were two possible scenarios that kept them from laughing. There was the one where she was tied there like the victims and murdered or the second where Arlen James was using Elizabeth as some sexual sacrifice.

Both options raised their blood pressures.

“The more I think about it, the more it makes me want to punch holes in something,” Callen admitted.

“Stop
getting all stirred up. We’ll all go in together and get the re-interview done. I’m not worried.”

Yeah, that was a lie. It was
hard to not think about the chimes and the way the man stared at her. She was woman enough to admit that she was a little nervous about the entire thing. Here, Halloween had once been one of her favorite holidays. How do you not like a day devoted to free sugar? Now, it was rapidly slipping down the list. This whole assignment was leaving a bad taste in her mouth.

“
Maybe he’ll know if any of his devotees were part of any covens before wanting to worship the devil,” she added.

Ethan tried to
remain calm.

“Hey, we have two victims now, and that means you can start working on the profile,” Elizabeth
continued. Her master plan was to distract him enough that he could refocus his attention.

Tapping his head, he grinned. “
I’m already working on it. I just need a little more time until we get the autopsy results.”

Elizabeth glanced over Callen.
“Can you text, Cyra? We need to see if she found anything when she did the search on ‘
Mystic Memorabilia’
.”

“Sure thing, Lyzee,” he replied
as he pulled out his phone. It might be good to get out and start working. Then he wouldn’t be forced to sit there and think about how his gut was churning.

He may be a
newbie at all this, but deep down, Callen knew something bad was brewing, and it wasn’t the shit in the local coven’s cauldron.

~ Chapter Eight ~

Cyra sat in the autopsy suit quietly observing everything that was going on around her. From the techs to the ME, the staff was hustling around. The only person in the room who had her full attention was Christopher Leonard and unfortunately, it was unrequited. In her opinion, he was purposely moving around and trying to avoid her.

Or at least that was
the impression he was giving her.

Doctor
Leonard was working on the trace removal from the body as Christina stood at his side. Not once had he looked up at her or even given her a reassuring look. Her mind was a jumbled mess over the entire situation.

What had she done?

Why was he pushing her away?

Yes, she’d heard what he said at the crime scene about his mother, but that didn't matter to her.
Why would she hold him accountable for his mother’s choices in life? Chris Leonard was his own person, and she of all people understood that you didn't judge a person by their family.

Before her father remarried, they
had been staunch Catholics. As soon as he met his new wife, he converted to Judaism. She didn't hold that against him or stop caring about her father. What he chose in life was his decision. If the man who she was crazy about wanted to believe in Wicca, who was she to stop him?

Cyra wanted to say something, but she was afraid to get rejected. Maybe
, it was best to just let him have his time and hope that he would get over it at some point.

Just then, her phone went off.

Thank God! She could escape the tension that was filling the room. Who would have thought that she would want to be summoned to talk to her bosses? Hopping down off the counter in the corner, she walked towards the door to escape. Part of her hoped that he would say something to her as she was leaving.

Anything
at that point.

When he didn't speak, she glanced back at him.
Chris didn't even look up to see if she was fine. Tears threatened to fill her eyes and slide down her cheeks, but she fought them. Cyra refused to let emotion win.

Her heart ached as she walked out.

Everything that morning had seemed so perfect. Maybe that was the problem. Now it was crumbling and she was helpless to stop any of it.