Fire Burns Hot ((An FBI/ Romance Thriller~ (Book 5))) (25 page)

“I hope you hear what you’re saying,” Elizabeth pointed at him, and then winked.
“It’s sick and twisted.”

In her office Detective Austin
sat with her notebook open on her lap as she was transcribing information from the white board.

“Hello, Detective Austin.”

“Director, I mean Elizabeth,” she corrected herself.

Elizabeth sat. “If you want coffee, now’s the time to go get some. We’ll be heading out soon.” She placed her coffee down, and the
half-eaten cookie on top of it.

“Thanks, I’m good.” Then she thought about it. “Can I ask you a question not related to work?” Cyra asked.

Elizabeth shrugged, glancing over at Callen. She was pretty sure where this was going. “If I can answer it I will.”

“Doctor Leonard asked me to go to the company party tonight with him, and he didn’t know what I should wear.”

That caught her off guard. She was honestly expecting a personal question related to her and the men in her life. “It’s semi-formal.” Elizabeth was impressed Doc had the balls to ask Cyra, and she was even happier the woman accepted.

“Thank you,” she said, leaning back in her chair.

There was that awkward silence that filled a room, and Elizabeth didn’t know why. “What are you thinking about now?” questioned Elizabeth.

“Honestly, what to wear. Nothing more.” That wasn’t exactly true. She was wondering which man would be accompanying the
director to the party.

Elizabeth let it slide, because she’d been around people that lied al
l the time, and Cyra wasn’t speaking the complete truth. “Do you need some time to get ready for tonight?” she asked.

This time Cyra looked at her watch. “Possibly. Why?”

“Instead of going to the strip clubs, what if I got you copies of the facial reconstructions, and you took them over to vice for them to check out. Then you can cut out and get ready for the night.”

“Are you sure?”

Elizabeth was very sure. “There’s only six clubs. With two teams, it won’t take us long at all.”

“Okay, I can do that. I want to avoid seeing my partner as long as possible. He’s going to be steamed that he was booted from the police scene.”

“Is he going to make your job harder?”

Cyra laughed at that
, since it couldn’t really get any more difficult. “That is a possibility.”

Before she could ask further questions, there was a knock at the door, and Tori sauntered in, Julian right behind her.

“Looks like we’re all here,” she said, picking up the phone and calling out to Ginny.

“Yes, Mrs. B?” answered the woman.

“We’re going out in the field shortly. I need you to call down to tech and get the facial reconstructions that Tony Magnus’s people did on the first five victims.”

“Absolutely.”

“I need three copies of each one for the separate teams going out, and I need them soon.”

“On it,” she said, disconnecting the call.

Elizabeth pulled out two sheets of paper, passing one to Julian and Tori, and handing the other to Callen. “You two take the top three, and we’ll take the bottom three. Take the photos in and show them around. Our victim three has a name, but since stripping is mostly under the table, we need to find out if she worked the clubs, or the streets.”

“What do you want us to do after we clear the three clubs?” asked Tori.

“Well, I’m going to make a wild speculation here and assume that Julian was referring to you as his date to the party?” Elizabeth asked.

Tori looked over at Julian. “Apparently, I am.”

He laughed at the look of horror on her face. “You’d swear I was taking her to some medieval torture chamber.”

Elizabeth glanced over at Callen. “I told you that was the theme we should have gone with, not that whole ‘winter wonderland’ crap.
Devices of torture FBI agents get, but snowflakes and crystals are a mystery.”

Callen just shook his head. “God forbid we not have weapons at the company party.”

“Not even in my purse?” she asked, horrified. “But what if I have to shoot a waiter or put down one of our own?” she teased.

Tori laughed. “I vote that we bring weapons. This girly crap is lost on me
too.”

Elizabeth stood and offered her a fist bump. “Amen
!”

Now it was Detective Austin’s turn. “Don’t look at me,
ladies. I love getting dressed up and prefer girly crap to bad ass boys club bull shit.”

She was honestly appalled.
“Callen, how much trouble if I shoot a local officer?” she asked, laughing. “What if I said that she lost her mind and needed to be put down?”

Callen thought about it. “Was she frothing at the mouth at the time of
the conversation?”

She laughed. “Yes. Again, how much trouble?”

“It wouldn’t be too bad. It’s expected from you,” replied Callen, keeping a straight face.

Ginny came to the door with copies
, interrupting them. “I’m ready Mrs. B.” She waved them in the air.

“Okay, I’ll take that as my hint to leave,” said Cyra. “See you
all tonight in heels and makeup.” Somehow she wondered if Elizabeth Blackhawk would even take that route or show up in boots and jeans.

“Come on, Tori. I have things to do after we’re done,” said Julian, taking their copies and leading her out the door.
“Okay, but you have to drop me back at the house since you drove.”

Elizabeth watched everyone leave and was smiling.

“What are you thinking, Lyzee?” he inquired.

“Nothing,” she answered. It looked like love was blossoming in their office again.

“Come on, spill it.”

Elizabeth shrugged. “Sometimes
, I’m glad that I can be such a romantic.”

Callen leaned down to kiss her on the lips. The moment they touched, he snagged her half eaten cookie. When they broke apart he took a bite.

“Callen James Whitefox! What the hell? You gave me that cookie!”

He grabbed the papers and headed for the door. “I told you,
angel. Kissing and cookie saliva doesn’t deter a hungry man.”

Elizabeth stared open mouthed, and pissed that she’d now have to find a better way to protect her food.

Then it hit her. Once she told them the truth, they’d be feeding the pregnant woman.

She grinned. “This war’s mine yet, Cal. Wait and see!”

Julian and Tori pulled up to the first club on their list. It looked seedy on the outside, and Tori could only imagine what the inside was going to look like.

“How do you want to do this?” asked Julian.

Tori shrugged. “I’m technically the federal agent, so I think I should be doing the questioning. You just do your thing with finding the trail.”

He allowed her the lead; beside it would give him the opportunity to watch her in action. Feisty women were his thing and Victoria Christensen was definitely that.

Entering the darkened business, Tori noticed there were some patrons in random places around the room. Girls were strutting around with almost nothing on, giving lap dances, and swinging artfully from poles on the lit up stage. She never got the allure of places like that, but then again, she wasn’t a man. It had to be a man thing and something she’d never understand.

Standing at the bar, she finally got the attention of the woman wearing a string bikini and an incredibly tight skirt. How the woman bent over or breathed was a big mystery.

“Can I help you two?” she asked, staring at the man. “Are you two here to have a little fun together?”

Tori was appalled. “No, I’m actually here because I work for the FBI.”

The woman looked uninterested.

“Have you ever seen any of these women?” she inquired, laying the photos on the counter.

The woman looked at each one. “No, never seen them before. Are they dancers?” she asked, drying a glass.

“We believe so.”

Again she scanned the pictures. “No, none of our girls.”

Julian leaned forward. “We had another woman found dead, but we don’t have the photo yet. Are you missing anyone?”

“No sugar. All our girls are present and accounted for right now. If you leave your number, I can call you if someone goes missing.”

Tori pulled out a card, sliding it across the bar. “We’d appreciate it,” she stated, and then turned to Julian. “On to our next stop?”

Exiting the building, they both re-entered the welcoming daylight, even though the cold wind made him shiver. Maybe there’d be snow for Christmas.

“I’m ready
for the next club,” he said, trying to keep the conversation going with anything at this point.

“Great
to know, Julian. Let’s get this over with. Strip clubs skeeve me out.”

Julian laughed
at the serious look on her face and the way she said the word. “Yes, ma’am.”

Elizabeth listened to the onboard navigation system, and followed the directions. It wasn’t hard to ascertain which building up ahead was the strip club. It was the only one with a large neon, semi-nude woman flashing on the roof.

“Looks reputable,” said Whitefox laughing.

“
That wasn’t quite the ‘R’ word I was thinking about. I was going more with repulsive, rat infested, raunchy, and really really wrong.”

Callen laughed
, as she turned off the engine. “I don’t think you can count ‘wrong’ as an R word, but that was a good try.”

“You win some and you lose some,” she stated,
snickering. “Come on, let’s get this over with. I need to paint my toes tonight.”

Whitefox had a thing for her toes. It was sexy how the polish changed sometimes daily, and matched her clothing. It was an innately feminine action, hidden beneath her tough
exterior. It turned him right on. “Can I watch or better yet help?” he requested, following her from the Denali to the club. Opening the door for her, he whipped out the famous Blackhawk grin.

“
Cal, you better put that deadly weapon away. You’re in a strip club. You’ll have the half-naked women swarming at you.”

“I’m not worried. You’ll keep me completely safe,” he answered snickering. “Won’t you?”

Now she was laughing. “Knock it off, try to be serious, and keep your hands where I can see them,” she warned, smiling at him.

Callen was currently having sex with the
most amazing woman in the world. The other women in a strip club had nothing on her and never would.

Once inside, Elizabeth tapped a large man on the arm. When he turned fast, both Elizabeth and Callen braced and reached for their guns. It was an automatic reaction.

“Whoa sweet thing! You shouldn’t startle big guys like me. It could get you hurt,” he said.

Elizabeth wasn’t impressed. She’d taken down bigger drug dealers, killers, and strung out murder
s. Besides, the man wasn’t that big. He was an inch or two shorter than Callen, and maybe three taller than her. “Yeah, okay. I need to ask you some questions. Are you working or here for the scenery?” questioned Elizabeth.

“I’m Mick
, and I’m the bouncer,” he said, taking her hand and kissing the knuckles in some attempted gallant gesture. On him it looked bizarre and out of place. Elizabeth was pretty sure he was the first burly bouncer to ever kiss her hand. Strip clubs were an element she’d never comprehend.

Whitefox stepped forward and placed his body against the back of Elizabeth
protectively, or maybe it was done possessively. “Now we can test that saliva he left on your hand for any DNA and see if he’s a wanted man,” retorted Whitefox, unabashedly. The man’s overt gesture pissed him off. If his lips came anywhere near Elizabeth again, he was planning on a lip-ectomy. That went for any other part of Mick that touched her too.

The
bouncer dropped her hand fast and looked worried.

It took everything in
Elizabeth to not snicker. “Relax Mick. I’m here to talk about dead girls. Can you look at these pictures for me and tell me if you’ve seen any of them before?”

He nodded, following her over to bar and watched as she spread them out.

“Any look familiar?” Elizabeth asked.

“No, sorry.” He
stared over at the man. “While you’re here, why don’t you get a lap dance? You look a little uptight. Our girls can work that tenseness right out.” Why not bring in a little greenback while the day was slow?

Whitefox laughed. “I have two reasons not to do that
, Mick. The first is the woman I sleep with would go shit wild and kill everyone in the place, including you for making that suggestion.”

“Our girls are very discrete
and your old lady won’t have a clue. A little lap tickle never hurt any man,” Mick added. “You should try Ecstasy. She’s heaven and her ass is a thing of beauty. I sample the goods on a regular basis, if you know what I mean.”