Fire Burns Hot ((An FBI/ Romance Thriller~ (Book 5))) (57 page)

Patrick Wells leaned back in his chair. “I was a little surprised to hear from you today. After our call, I pulled the files you requested,” he said, changing the subject.

It was obvious that the man didn’t like talking about his deceased wife. That would be easy enough to track. Glancing over at her husband, he immediately got the hint and sent Christina a text. They were going to find out everything they could about the woman that had
been married to Patrick Wells.

“Thank you for helping us with this, Mr. Wells.”

“Oh I don’t mind! Anything to help out the FBI. I love my job and like solving problems.”

Tori took over. “Yes, me too. Fire
enthralls me and how the slightest thing can change the burn pattern or affect the flame.” The agent laid it on pretty thick.

The man smiled and leaned forward. “
Absolutely! The science behind it all astounds me. Then add in a human body to the mix and that alters everything.”

“When I first learned that fat acted as a fuel, I found that fascinating,” added Tori, trying to keep him talking. Before she could continue, there was a slam of the front door.

“Dad! Where are you?” called the voice.

“Trent, I’m in here with the FBI,” he answered back. “Sorry Agents. That’s my son,” he said as the boy walked into the room.

“Hey, wow! The Feds are in our house. What did you do now Dad?” he asked laughing. “I told you pay those parking tickets.”

Elizabeth stood and offered him her hand. “It’s very nice to meet you, Trent. I’m Director Blackhawk, and this is my team, Special Agent Christensen and my partner Director Blackhawk.”

Trent shook everyone’s hands. “It’s nice meeting you!” The young man smiled enthusiastically, much like his father did all the time. “Dad, the guys and I are going to grab some pizza and beer. Can I get some cash?” he asked.

Patrick Wells pulled his wallet out. “Don’t be out too late, and don’t drink and drive,” he said, seriously.

The young man laughed. “I don’t. Stop stressing. I’m almost done with college. I wouldn’t screw that up. Catch you later, Dad. Love you!” Trent said as he hugged the man. “It was nice meeting you three,” he added, hustling out of the office and up the stairs to his room.

“Great kid,” said Elizabeth.

“Trent is going into law school next year. He’s already been accepted. The boy has always wanted to be a lawyer when he was growing up. It all seems like a lot to memorize. I’m very proud of him.”

“I bet you are, Sir.”
Tori hopped back into the conversation. “How’d you get to be Fire Inspector?” she asked, standing and moving closer to the books on the shelf.

“I was a
firefighter for the local unit and then my wife died. I didn’t want to risk my life going into burning buildings, but I still loved the work. I couldn’t sleep at night when I kept dwelling on losing my life in a fire. Who’d raise my son? When the position opened I applied.”

Elizabeth stood. “Thank you for your files, Mr. Wells.”

He looked disappointed. “Oh we’re not going to go through them together?” he asked. “I assumed you wanted my help.”

She smiled. “We appreciate your offer, but we have a large tech staff to sort through them. We’ll call you if we find anything,” Elizabeth said, moving to the door.

“Director?” he called after her.

“Yes Mr. Wells?” Elizabeth p
aused briefly, as she turned to stare directly into the man’s face.

“I get the impression that I’m being pushed off this case. You and your team are just barely being accommodating. Can I ask what I did to get black balled?” Patrick
Wells kept his temper in check, because ultimately his boss said the woman had the final say.

Elizabeth wasn’t expecting that. “Mr. Wells, we’re being as forthright as we can. We honestly don’t have that much. When we get anything, we’ll bring you in on it, but until then there’s nothing going on behind your back.”

His boss had been right, she was tough and a bitch. He could see the attitude simmering just below the surface. “I see.”

Elizabeth saw the flash of anger. “Oh, there is one thing you can help us with, Mr. Wells.”

Patrick crossed his arms. “Yes?”

She was going to save her team some leg work. “
I’m sorry, but I need to ask this. How did your wife die, Mr. Wells?”

It was obvious that her question caught him off guard.
She watched him weigh the options and then finally he spoke.

“
Unfortunately, my wife perished in a house fire.”

There was silence in the room
as they all took that little piece of information in to process. She spoke first. “Have a good day, Sir,” she said, walking out and dropping her sunglasses back on her face.

In the Denali, Ethan pulled away from the man’s house before finally speaking. “What a coincidence, huh?”

Elizabeth started laughing. “Yeah, and you know how I feel about those. Wife dies in a fire and the man moves up to a fancy house in an expensive development with his son. He was a fireman and then decided to be in charge of inspecting fires instead of fighting them. In my book, Patrick wells just became my favorite kind of person.”

“Your favorite person?” asked Tori.

Elizabeth turned grinning. “Yeah, a suspect.”
 

                                *    *     *

Back in her office, Elizabeth dropped her gun and badge into her desk drawer. Callen was on
the phone, dealing with issues that popped up from his mediation, and Ethan had a conference call. Rifling through her messages, she found one from Chris in the lab. DNA was in on the woman.

It looked like this trip down to the lab was going to be solo, and
hopefully she’d get some really good news. Strolling into the autopsy suite, there was nothing but insane chaos. Machines were humming and the techs were bouncing around doing sweeps of the evidence they brought in for analysis. She found Chris Leonard in his office reading print outs.

“Hey Doc, what’s up?” she asked, standing in the doorway.

Glancing up, he invited her in and asked her to close the door.

She knew what that meant. The dead woman’s DNA wasn’t the only results that were in.

“We not only have medical and dental confirmation, but we also have DNA on Lisa Delius. I also asked Christina to do a cross comparison of the women, in case we could find a factor linking them all together.”

“Okay, and?”

“Two had brown hair, the rest all varying shades of blonde, red, and even one with pink. Eye color was random, one green, two brown, and then the normal blue and hazel.”

“Crap, I was hoping for something to tell me who
the next possible victim could be. We have nothing?” Elizabeth wanted anything at this point, no matter how tiny.

“Sorry Lyzee. Heights varied, body types and even ages. It looks like he’s randomly picking women.”

Elizabeth didn’t believe that. All killers had a methodology. It was just a matter of figuring out what it was, and the she would have him. “Thanks Doc. Tell Christina that I said good work.”

Chris interjected before she could escape.
“Your DNA is done too.”

Her stomach lurched. This was a tricky situation all around. One man she loved was going to be ecstatic and the other hurt.
You’d think sleeping with two sexy men would be a positive all around, but there were still little bombs in the mind field of the relationship. Who had impregnated her was the biggest one they would have to face yet.

“Okay, from the tone of your voice, I’m going to speculate that Ethan isn't the father.”

Chris shook his head. “The DNA matched, but there was a portion that was exclusive of both you and him. It can only mean Callen is the father.”

“How sure are you? You said there’s a thirty percent chance of error. I can hold off for amniocentesis if need be.”

Again, he shook his head. “No Lyzee. It’s pretty safe to say this one’s on target. I’d bet my season tickets on it. I ran it a few times, just to make sure.”

Elizabeth let out the breath she was holding. “Okay, thanks.”

“I’ll destroy the test and keep my mouth shut,” he said, knowing how hard this was going to be for her friend. “Tell Callen I said congrats on fatherhood, and I’m really sorry for Ethan.”

She nodded
because so was she. Even though Ethan wanted the child to be Callen’s baby, she was sure this was going to sting. “I’m heading home to work there. If your team finds anything from the scene that’s pertinent, text me.”

Chris watched his friend leave.
“Good luck,” he said after her, hoping for his friend’s sake it all worked out.

Elizabeth stood in her husband’s doorway watching him work. His hair was pulled back, his suit jacket was off, and her heart skipped a beat in her chest. The man still made her all warm and mushy, just by looking at him.

“What’s wrong, baby?” he asked, not even glancing up.

Bull
shitting him with flowery compliments wasn’t going to work, so she went with what she knew.

Honesty.

“We need to talk, Ethan,” she said, closing his office door and locking it.

At the click of the lock, Elizabeth had his full attention. With his very dark midnight eyes, he watched her cross the room and
stand beside his desk. There was concern, love, and a little fear in her eyes.

He dropped his pen and leaned back in his chair. “I’m ready for it, Elizabeth. You can just say it.”

That was easy for him to say, he didn’t have to deliver this news. Knowing how he tended to lean toward the blunt, she tried to answer how she believed he’d want to hear it. “I’m sorry Ethan. The blood testing came back, and you’ve been excluded.”

His cheek twitched at the words, and he absorbed them all
like a painful blow to his heart. “I see.” It was all he could say in the moment. Had he been more in control, Ethan would have reassured her and given her something to make her feel better. But what did you say to the woman you love when she confirmed you weren’t the father of the child she carried?

“I’m sorry.” Tears filled her eyes as she watched the man she loved hurt silently. “Please say something
to me. Anything, Ethan?”

Ethan refused to let her hurt. When the three of them came together, he was smart enough to foretell this somewhere down the line. Blackhawk was a planner, and prepared for worst case scenario at all times. Here it was and now he needed to deal with it.

“Elizabeth, it’ll all be fine.”

Somehow t
hose words made her feel worse. She knew in his heart it was far from fine. The look on his face said it all.

“You should take Callen home and celebrate.”

She moved towards him, and he simply held up his hand, stopping her. “It’s okay, head home. I have a meeting at five. I’ll be home after for dinner. See you then.” Essentially he dismissed her from the room.

It stung when he rebuked her attempt to offer him comfort. But the man had every right to hurt
and need space. “Okay, Ethan. See you later,” she said, turning on her heal and leaving the room. When she closed the door to his office it was a little harder than she should have, but inside her heart there was ache too. It hurt that he didn’t see that she needed the comfort too.

Blackhawk watched her leave and closed his eyes against the impending emotion. It swamped him and squeezed his gut. He was man enough to admit the reality hurt far more than the scenarios he’d run in his mind.
The love of his life was carrying another man’s child. Yeah, he’d said he wanted this for Callen, but it was still crushing.

Ethan did something he rarely ever did. He picked up the phone and dialed his boss and shirked his duties
by bailing on the meeting. The lie came easily, and perhaps that was a good thing. Hanging up the phone, Ethan sat in his chair and watched the sun setting over the Rez. There were so many thoughts and emotions flooding through him.

Right now he just wanted one thing.

To be alone.

Elizabeth knocked on Callen’s door, and plastered a smile on her face.
This wasn’t the place to tell him the news. She was going to do it at home.

“Hey,
angel,” he said, waving her into his office. “I was just finishing up the paperwork and getting ready to send it to you and Ethan.”

“I’m going home to work, want to come with me?”

Something in her voice didn’t sound right. “Yeah, are you feeling okay?” he asked. His eyes immediately went to her stomach. “Are you sick?” Concern filled him.

“No, Cal. Ethan has a later meeting
, and I’m going to start processing the files. Fred Hillstone brought the tapes in from the club, but I’ll work on them tomorrow here. I just thought maybe you and I could escape this place and work in our living room instead.”