Devil Hath Come (an FBI/Romance Thriller ~book 7) (42 page)

Now
, he too was laughing. It was absolutely true. Elizabeth was the big prize. “Yeah, well I have better shooting skills.”

Blackhawk simply shook his head.

“Callen my love, give it up.”

Thursday mid-morning

Back at the autopsy suit, the three sat in their perspective locations working. Chris was finishing up his paperwork on victim two before he transmitted the hard copies to the bosses for their review and signoff. As soon as he was finished, the autopsy on Harmony Wilcox would begin.

Elizabeth was doing some searches on
Wiccan coven rituals, so as to be not caught off guard that night. Sometimes her mind and mouth didn't meet at the same time, and she didn't want to offend a bunch of witches as Samhain approached.

Not that she believed any of it, but still…

It was better safe than hexed.

Ethan was
working on paperwork to keep from being buried when they returned home. Keeping FBI West afloat, while in the field, was weighing heavily on his shoulders. Their boss knew they were on assignment, but he was sadistic. He had been scheduling as many meetings as possible to make everyone suffer.

There was no doubt in his mind
that it had everything to do with lying about Callen being on vacation. He should have known that this was going to come back to bite them in the ass at some point.

Callen was going over the last two crime scenes
and trying to figure out why the killer was changing everything up. It was possible that he was doing it inadvertently, but working with the FBI the last year and a half had taught him one thing, and that was to overlook nothing as coincidence.

“I’m sorry to keep you,” Chris stated
as he finally stood. He motioned to Patrick Parrish that he was ready to begin. “I don’t have too much more to tell you until tox is back.”

“Can we start with Dyana Carlos first?”

He flipped through his tablet until he found the information. “After swabbing her body, we found trace of the same residue that the killer used to burn on the altar. He consistently used Demon powder for both.”

“How about the hairs found on the body?” Elizabeth asked, hoping the DNA was back.

“I haven’t gotten that report back from the lab yet,” he stated, covering for the tech team. He hated not being honest with his boss, but he didn't want her to lose it in a room full of people, including the town ME. They had accused him of being incompetent, and here they had pretty much done the same thing.

“Okay, tell Christina
that I want it back by tomorrow or I’m skipping coffee and having tech for breakfast instead.”

“God h
elp the world,” muttered Callen grinning.

“Har
har, stud muffin.”

Now
, Ethan was fighting a grin, but knew better to even make a comment. Who knew what else would come out of her mouth?

“Anyway,” Chris continued
, as he tried to get them off that topic as quickly as possible. “Both victims had the same wounds inflicted on them, from the method that he used to incapacitate.”

“
If you don’t mind, let’s jump ahead,” Ethan suggested as he stared at his ME. “I’m going to assume that there was no necklace in this woman’s throat either?”

Chris shook his head. “No
ne.”

Ethan made note of it and continued
, “What else do we have?”

“
Our team found trace on her lip,” Chris started. “I believe the residue on her lip is connected.”

“What is it?”

He shrugged, unwilling to speculate.

“Chris, you suspect something don’t you?” Elizabeth
pushed. She knew him fairly well. When he didn't say anything, he definitely was holding a card.

They’d played this game many times before.
“I can’t conclusively give you an answer and I won’t guess. You know that, Elizabeth.” He thought back to how he jumped to conclusions over Cyra’s necklace, and he wasn’t willing to make the same mistake twice.

“Okay.”

That answer had his total attention, and he stared at her suspiciously. “Why are you backing down? That’s not like you at all.”

She shrugged.
“I already know what it is.”

That caught him off guard.
He wasn’t sure if she was serious or yanking his chain. His boss was relatively smart, and she could have figured it out… or not. “Really?”

“Yeah, it’s got to be cocaine.”

Ethan jumped in to help torment their ME. “I think it’s baby powder.”

“
My guess is corn starch,” Callen added.

They saw the appalled look on his face at their unscientific method of coming up with random guesses.
Half the fun of being the boss was stirring up the minions.

“Maybe it’s itching powder. Our killer has to be a magician,” she declared.

“It could be ricin. We may have a terrorist,” Ethan tossed out there.

“STOP!” Chris demanded. “Okay, I get it. You’re going to make me nuts if I don’t tell you.”

The town ME was laughing at their antics.

“Maybe
, it’s a dried up milk mustache,” Callen offered. “It does a body good.”

“Yeah, just not in
her case,” Elizabeth retorted.

“Smelling salts!” he shouted. “I think
that it’s smelling salts!”

Now they all burst into laughter, knowing
that he finally had enough and caved. They weren’t surprised. They’d used this method of ME torture many times before.

“God, I love my job,” Elizabeth teased. “It does my heart good
, to see a team throw out suggestions so randomly as we try and solve an assignment.”

Chris was
now laughing. “Sometimes, you’re a total and complete bitch.”

Cyra gasped and stared at him in horror
. She didn't plan on tormenting Chris, but he’d just crossed a big line there. Oh crap!

It didn't faze her, and Elizabeth
laughed even more. “At least I’m predictable. You should be glad. If I came in here and didn't act exactly like this, you’d be confused and off your game.”

He shook his head. “I
believe that it’s smelling salts. Christina is processing it right now, but it makes complete sense. The wacko is carving into her, and she passes out. He wants to revive her to make her suffer, so he puts the vial under her nose, and she’s forced to wake up.”

“Does that actually work?” Blackhawk asked, always thinking it was a
myth.

“Yes
, it does. The chemical compound irritates the mucus membrane in the nose and lungs, and it causes the body to inhale sharply. It increases the blood pressure and heart rate and forces the person to come out of the fainting spell.”

“
It’s good to know that our sicko is a bastard too. Great.” Why Elizabeth was surprised was beyond her. The killer was sadistic and escalating his method. This didn't bode well.

“We also didn't find clothing in the fire. This
, with the alteration in the depth and angle of the slice to her throat, is probably indicative of him not wanting to get dirty. Maybe, he didn't think about all of the DNA evidence he could leave before, and now he’s being more careful.”

“At this point, it could be anyone’s guess. What we do know is
that the killer is tagging two more women before it’s done,” Elizabeth added.

“Yeah, and you as the final one,” Chris added
. He was incredibly worried about his friend. Yes, he’d seen her scrape by before as she got incredibly lucky a time or two. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered, what would happen if she was off step just one time? Would it cost Elizabeth her life?

Both men in the room beside her tensed
at Chris’s words.

Callen didn't want to even think that she could die on him. He was scared out of his mind. Glancing over
at Ethan, his face said pretty much the same thing, except there was a tinge of anger there too. It was easy to read. His brother was insulted that the killer was trying to grab her from under their noses.

“Yeah, well I’m not going to let some craz
ed piss ant make me run home crying to my mommy.”

Chris didn't think he’d ever seen her cry. Not once in his entire career with the FBI. “I also have bad news.”

It was the worst words to say to them. Immediately, it caused all three to tense up.

“What?” Ethan asked.

“We have three victims and three coolers. If the killer manages to follow through and keeps his word on two more victims, then we don’t have space.”

Patrick Parrish offered a suggestion. “We can stack them in the drawers.”

Chris normally would go with that, but he had that inkling in the back of his head that told him that if something bad did happen to Elizabeth, he wouldn’t want her to be stacked like she didn't matter.

Was it morbid
to even go there?

Yes.

Was the possibility a reality?

Yes.

“I would prefer the dead to have dignity and not be crammed in there like sardines in a can.”

Cyra was touched by his compassion for the ones
who were already deceased and the ones yet to die. It was just one more reason she was crazy about him.

Ethan didn't like the idea of sending his ME off on his own. He’d learned his lesson with a killer in Red River.
The serial killer took down one of his techs and brutalized his body. Yet, with all the trace from the victims, he couldn’t afford to lose any of that either.

His back was to the wall
on this one.

“I’ll drive them personally,” Chris offered.

Elizabeth didn't like that idea at all. “If the killer strikes again, we’re down our ME.”

Patrick Parrish raised his hand. “I am an ME and this technically is my facility. I think I can substitute in an emergency.”

Yeah, she liked that idea even less. She didn't doubt that everything that he had just learned would be tattled back to the chief of police.

Ethan stared down at his watch
and gauged the time they had left in the day. The killer had escalated and they could very well have another victim tonight. “Okay, here’s the deal. You can leave as soon as you have the autopsy complete, but you’re going to have to take Cyra as your body guard.”

She snickered and it wasn’t because he was the man and she was the woman. It was all due to the fact she loved guarding his body
, preferably while he was naked and having sex with her.

Chr
is looked over and lifted a brow as he tried not to think about the meaning behind the words. He was more than okay with some alone time with Cyra.

Elizabeth started laughing
at the two of them. “If you want to do the transport, then you have to take the agent with you.”

Oh, he didn't plan on
voicing any concern over this one. This already gave him ideas of what they could do when they arrived back home.

Ethan continued. “Then
, you drop the victims at FBI West along with all the evidence for safe keeping. If it’s been processed it goes with you.”

“We can’t afford any screw ups on this one,” Callen added
. He was well aware what would happen in court if evidence became tainted.

Blackhawk agreed
wholeheartedly. “You can then catch some down time until morning. I don’t want you driving back late and after dark. You do need to be here by ten in the morning for our meeting. Can you do that?”

Chris grinned
like a little kid. “Yes, Dad. Can I borrow the car to transport some dead women?”

He laughed
at his ME. “Yes, but think back to the last time I had staff take a van out after dark.” His face went serious. “That’s still on my shoulders, Chris. I know you’re not big on strapping on your side arm, but you’re going to and you need to stay alert.”

There was no doubt
that his boss still carried the guilt. He would too if he would have been in his place.

“We’re not sending you two off on a honeymoon. Cyra, you’re still my report and research monkey. Try and focus on the dead and not the hot and bothered
doctor.”

Before she could stop herself, her mouth took over, “You’re a little t
oo late on that.”

Chris blushed, and everyone found that entertaining.

“If for some reason, we find another body,” Ethan added, “Be prepared to haul yourselves back. It’s only a two hour drive, so it’s feasible.”

They all looked
over at the town ME, trying to play nice.

“We
do have backup just in case.”

Patrick Parrish grinned.