Pledging to Die (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 11) (27 page)

“On initial inspection, her clothes are missing,” Chris said, into his little pocket recorder. “She has two incisions to her lower back, just over the location where you’d find the kidneys.”

Elizabeth listened, knowing if she started asking questions, her ME would clam up. This was the best way to get what she needed.

“It’s not Poppy Gauger,” Chris stated, lifting her wet hair out of her face. According to the report, Poppy was a blonde, and this woman is a redhead.”

Elizabeth moved closer. “Can we roll her?” she asked. As Callen was pulling her out, she saw the wounds on the woman’s torso.

“Yeah, let me get a few photos first,” he said, having his techs document everything.

“Do we have any reports on missing girls?” Elizabeth asked the sheriff.

He shook his head, and then motioned to the campus cop not far away. When he arrived, he looked green and about ready to puke, especially when Chris pulled out the liver probe to get the dead woman’s temperature.

“What?” he asked, gawking at the dead girl.

“Can you tell us if anyone called in a report of a missing student?” she asked.

He shook his head. “No, ma’am.”

Chris and Callen flipped her over. When he shoved the long silver spike into her body, the deputy gagged.

“Don’t puke on the scene!” she ordered, as he looked away.

“I’m sorry, but it looks like one of those thermometers that you use to check cooked meat.”

Chris didn't look up as he calculated the math. “They’re very similar. I have one just like it beside my grill.”

The campus cop made a gagging sound again.

No one paid any attention to him.

“She’s barely been in the pond for an hour, boss. With the temperature of the water, and her inner core, maybe ninety minutes at the max. The killer just dumped her.”

Wow! It looked like their killer wanted to live on the edge. With all the people around, that said one thing about him.

He was crazy.

“Give me a minute,” she said, heading toward her agents. When she got to their side, Johanna was playing the role of a scared woman. Brody had his arms wrapped around her body, and he was lovingly whispering in her ear.

“Johanna,” Elizabeth said, keeping her voice low. “When did you guys get to the pond?” she asked.

“No later than eight thirty, boss,” she offered, pretending to look terrified. “We arrived, had dinner, and then were…”

Elizabeth looked up from making notes. “Fooling around?” she offered.

“Um…”

“Yeah,” Brody said, unabashedly. He wasn’t ashamed and he didn't plan on pretending. His boss had already done him a big favor, so there was no point hiding the truth.

“Did you see or hear anything?” she questioned.

“Boss, I was a little busy with Joey. I wasn’t looking at the pond.”

Yeah, she didn't think he would be, but she still had to ask. There was always a chance they’d spotted the killer. “I want you to make sure Johanna’s safe. Am I clear?”

Brody pulled her back against his body and was pleased when she buried her face in his neck. Somehow, he didn't think it was part of the act. She was holding onto him pretty tight.

Before Elizabeth could say anything else, a commotion behind her got their attention. From the police tape, there were shouts, drawing everyone’s attention.

“What the hell?” Elizabeth muttered, turning toward the crowd. The lights of a camera went off, nearly blinding her. She wanted to twist someone’s head off their shoulder.

“Campus news! Can you tell us why this girl found yet another body?” he called, getting everyone’s attention.

Immediately, Callen was at her side, helping Elizabeth block the reporter’s view of Johanna.

“She found Lori Denny, and now this one too! Is it possible that she’s doing the crimes and hiding in plain sight? What’s this girl’s story?”

He kept firing questions at them.

“Callen, get Johanna and Brody in our car and stand guard. We’re going to pretend they’re going in for an interview. I’ll handle the jackwagon.”

Whitefox hustled them away, but before he got too far, Callen issued her a warning as a reminder. “Keep it low key!”

Yeah, yeah.

She got it.

Gabe’s nuts were in a sling, and she couldn’t mop the floor with the pissy little college dweeb. It looked like someone’s fun was shot for the night.

“Can you tell me if you’re investigating?” he called, as Elizabeth approached.

She wanted to knock him out just for drawing attention to a scene that had been contained. Now, there was a crowd gathering. In fact, she could see some of the frat boys intermingled in the mix. Well, it looked like her cover was totally blown. She couldn’t pass herself off as a guest speaker anymore.

Great
.

“Listen up, whoever you are. Put the damn camera away, or I’m taking it.”

“You can’t do that. I’m protected by my rights and freedom of speech!”

She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt as she leaned menacingly over the police tape. “You’re working for the college, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Then they have final say if you can publish, correct?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Then you lose.” With that, she grabbed the camera and turned to walk away. “Beat it.”

He protested, getting the crowd riled up. When she turned, Elizabeth was no longer calm.

“I have my rights! We have rights!”

She’d had about enough. Crossing toward him, she noticed he took a step back. It was the smartest thing he’d done.

“You want freedom of speech? Well, here goes. Some poor girl is dead, and she deserves the right to privacy. No one needs to plaster her body all over your school papers so you can play reporter. I suggest you head back to your dorm, take a shower, and chill out. Am I clear? If you think I won’t have the sheriff detain you for pissing me off, you’re a fool.”

As she went to turn, he grabbed her arm, yanking on it. There was a little charge of pain shooting through her shoulder, but before she could say anything, Ethan was right there.

He looked angry.

Well, now the man-child had gone and done it. He was totally screwed, and Elizabeth wasn’t going to stop Ethan from terrorizing the boy.

He was a pain in her ass.

“Get your hands off my wife,” he hissed, low enough that only the reporter could hear it.

He must have scared the bejezus out of the kid because he raised his hands in surrender.

“I hate reporters,” she stated, as they walked away.

“I hate when men touch what’s mine,” Blackhawk added. Then he caught the camera she’d tossed him.

“Erase it and then give it back. I don’t want him bitching about me stealing his toys on the playground. I already have a bad enough rap in the press. Next, they’ll be calling me mean and a bully.”

“Uh, they already do.”

She grinned. “Yeah, I know.”

“Before I strip his camera, I think you need to see something,” he stated, leading her toward the section of the pond that was now lit up with lights and filled with techs.

“Okay, what is it?” she asked, as they arrived.

On cue, their head tech chimed in, “Boss, we found something.” Merry offered, hoping it would appease the woman.

“Shoot.”

Merry closed her mouth, and stood up. It clued Elizabeth in when her sights were set on something behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to see who was approaching.

It was only the sheriff.

“He’s fine. What do you have?”

Merry continued, “We found a blood trail. It looks like the killer brought her through the woods and to this location.”

Elizabeth looked around. There had to be four acres of trees behind them. The pond was in a pretty secure location as the make out spot for the college co-eds.

“Okay, where does it lead?”

Merry started into the trees. “In this case, I think you’re going want to see for yourself.”

Elizabeth knew that if Merry wanted to take her on a nature hike, burning her valuable time, it had to be important. “Sheriff Rakin, can you stay here and make sure the college reporter and the students don’t get past that line?”

He didn't look happy. “I could, but maybe I should come. You know…to keep you safe. What if the killer is still in the trees?”

Blackhawk laughed. That was priceless. If the killer was in the woods, he had a whole other issue. He would be running into his worst nightmare.

She gave him a look.

“Don’t worry. I’m going with her,” he added. “She’s my partner.”

He still didn't look happy.

Elizabeth tried to appease him. “Nick, we’ll let you in on what we find. I’m sure it leads nowhere. Just hang out with the team. Doctor Leonard might need someone to help out.”

He shrugged before turning to walk away.

Once in the trees, they followed Merry. As it got thicker and denser, Elizabeth pulled her sidearm.

Ethan followed suit. “Do you hear something?” he asked, as they followed Merry, and a tech, deeper into the trees.

“No, but I don’t like surprises,” she stated. The moon was blocked by the canopy, and her skin was crawling. Elizabeth wanted to be ready for anything.

“He pulled her through here,” Merry said, following the blood smears on the pine needles and dead leaves.

When they began seeing some opening to the trees, Elizabeth allowed herself to relax. When they exited the forest and found themselves on the other side of campus, she could see that the killer was definitely long gone. It was only them standing there.

“Look over here,” Merry directed, pointing at a shed. “The tracks lead to that structure.”

Ethan and Elizabeth got in position on either side of the door. She watched him give the signal, and she was ready. On three, he pulled the door open as Elizabeth stepped around the corner flashlight and gun in hand.

She whistled at what she saw.

“Holy shit!”

Yeah, they’d found where the killer had been. There was blood all over the workbench, on the floor, and seeping into the cracks of the wood.

Someone had gone shit nuts on the girl in that small enclosed space.

“I think it’s safe to say that we found where he killed her.”

Ethan looked around, trying to get acclimated with his surroundings. “Lyzee?” he said, getting her attention.

“Yeah?”

“Look behind you.”

She turned, and there was a big house. “Okay, and?”

“It’s the frat house.”

She started laughing. “Oh, Arman, it looks like you and I are going to have a little chat about this little turn of events.”

Ethan didn't know if he should be happy or scared shitless over that.

“Merry, I want you to get the team here. We’ll stand guard until you do. I don’t want to risk that anyone is going to mess with our ground zero.”

She took off through the trees to get back to the pond and the rest of the team.

“This is big,” stated Elizabeth.

Ethan couldn’t disagree there, but it still bothered him.

“Elizabeth,” he tried to warn.

“I’m going to nail his college ass to the wall.”

Chapter Nine

When the tech team got back to the shed, Ethan and Elizabeth had it cordoned off. They had another crime scene, and believe it or not, that was a good thing. The killer was slipping up, just like Elizabeth had predicted.

As they began moving around the back of the frat house, it drew attention.

Of course, Arman Smithfield was the first at the police tape voicing his concern.

“What the hell?” he asked, pointing to the parking lot where all the cars were now blocked in by tech vans. “What are you doing?”

Elizabeth and Ethan sauntered over, taking their time. When they approached him, he didn't look so smug. Either he was guilty as hell or scared shitless of Ethan Blackhawk. 

Elizabeth hoped it was a little of both.

“We’re collecting evidence,” she stated, knowing he wasn’t going to be able to stop her. While he may live in the frat house, the university owned it all. Since she was called in by the board of trustees, this was now her kingdom.

This arrogant man-child was screwed. It looked like she was closing in on him. Oh, gee! Just like she had predicted.

It was funny how that worked. 

“What happened?” he asked, trying to get a decent peek over their shoulders and to where the tech team was now standing.

“It seems someone killed a girl in your back yard. Know anything about that?” she asked, glancing down at her watch. “Where were you about two hours ago?”

He crossed his arms defensively over his chest. “No, we don’t know anything about this, and if it’s any of your damn business, we were here, bitch.”

Ethan moved forward, grabbing the kid by the collar. “Learn some manners before I beat them into you.”

Nels made the wise decision to stay where he was. While he might have been a big man on campus, Elizabeth could see the worry on his face. Ethan Blackhawk was an imposing man in his own right.

Elizabeth stared into the college boy’s eyes. “I’m going to be making a stop here tomorrow. It’ll be in your best interest to make yourself available for questioning. This is the only time I’ll be coming to you. Next time, it’ll be at the police station,” she stated. “Oh, and this isn’t a request. If you screw with me, I’ll make sure I make your life hell. If you call daddy, and he wants you to have an attorney, make sure he’s here on time. I’m not playing games.”

He flinched at her words.

When Ethan released him, and they turned to walk away, Arman glanced over at Nels. “Clean up the basement. Now!”

With that, he headed back into the house.

“We’re screwed,” stated Sutton. “Oh my God!”

Arman gave him a dirty look. “Shut up, keep your mouth closed, and say nothing to that bitch. They don’t have anything on us, so let’s keep it that way.”

He glared at Elizabeth Blackhawk with nothing less than hate and malice.

He’d show her.

The Blackhawks headed back through the trees. When they arrived at their ME’s side, he was already slipping the victim into a body bag.

“Well, here’s the front of her,” he stated, giving Elizabeth a look. “He hacked the shit out of her pelvic area. I have no idea why, but he did.”

Elizabeth was already processing everything. “When are you doing the autopsy?”

“I’ll be conducting it first thing in the morning. Should I expect company?” he asked.

“Yeah, we’ll be there for a little while. Then I have to break down some frat boys. I’ll take both men for that. They love when I make the opposite sex cry.”

“We’re weak. What can I say?” Ethan added.

Chris laughed. “I’ll wait until you arrive before I start. I know how much you love a good Y-incision first thing in the morning.”

“Ah, Chris, you do know your boss so well.”

He motioned to the remaining techs to load up the victim. He wanted to get them back to the morgue so they could start working on the trace.

When he was gone, Ethan glanced down at his watch. “What’s next? It’s nearly midnight.”

She glanced over at their escalade and Callen standing guard to keep the nosey college reporter at bay. “We have to deal with Madden and Seaton. If we look like we’re not seriously interviewing them, we’ll have issues.”

He agreed. “How about we do interrogation over coffee at that little diner? Chances are it’s going to be relatively quiet, and the few people there might not know what’s going on.”

She was good with that.

It looked like they weren’t going to be getting any sleep that night. It was probably a good thing that she was still used to having a newborn. Frankly, shut eye was overrated. Give her caffeine and sugar any day.

As they headed to the Escalade, she motioned to Callen. He hopped in the front, so she could sit in the back with their agents. “Are you two okay?” she asked.

As they pulled away, the transformation occurred. Johanna didn't look like a scared little girl anymore, but Brody still held her in his arms.

It spoke volumes.

“Yeah, we’re fine,” he stated. “Where are we going?”

“Interrogation,” she said, knowing that they’d understand. “We have to make it look good. That damn college reporter is all over you, Madden.”

Johanna was well aware, and she explained what had happened the other day outside her dorm.

Brody looked pissed. “You should have told me,” he stated. “I don’t like some creep putting his hands all over you.”

Johanna blew it off. “He wants a story. He’s a leech, and nothing more.”

It still pissed him off. Brody knew he was going to have to up his game a little more. He couldn’t risk leaving Joey alone with some creep. It went against everything he knew to be right. She was his girl, and he was supposed to keep her safe.

Pulling into the diner, they all piled out. Inside, they ordered coffee and pie.

As soon as the waitress left their dessert and coffee, Johanna broke everything down for them. When she was finished, everyone took a minute to let it all sink in.

This had the makings of a huge mess.

“You have to watch your back until we know who we fished from the pond. There wasn’t a party, so for all we know this may not be related.” If that was true, this is where it got complicated. She had to hope this wasn’t some sick copycat. If it was, they were privy to way too many details. They might have a leak.

“I didn't see her face. Do you have a picture?” she asked.

Elizabeth texted Meredith and within seconds, one of the pictures arrived to her tablet. She turned it around and showed her agent.

“Shit! She’s one of the sorority girls. Her name is Page Pinel, and she wasn’t nearly as trashy as the others,” she stated. “I didn't mean that to sound as bad as it did, Directors. It’s just being embedded with a floor full of sorority girls is hell.”

Ethan made notes, and then sent them to Chris for identification.

“I hear you. I’d rather eat my own spleen than play sorority girl.”

Callen pushed his pie away. “Great. Thanks for that visual.”

She winked at her agents. “Mmm…pie.”

Stealing some of his dessert, she focused on her agents. “You need to be careful.” Then she told them about the shed behind the frat house.

“I doubt that Arman even knows how to use a lawnmower,” stated Brody. He was fascinated with how his three bosses shared their pie, without even saying a word. They were a well-oiled machine. This was definitely the kind of easy relationship he wanted with Johanna.

It appealed to him.

Elizabeth understood, but she had a bigger issue to worry about. “You saw him in class. He loved pointing out that he’s smarter than I am. This could be one hell of a setup.”

Ethan picked up where she left off because he’d already been thinking about this. “This is too coincidental. We think it’s the frat boys, and voila! A crime scene shows up right behind their place.”

The agents thought about it.

Finally, Brody got it. “You think that if it’s him, he’s intentionally pointing this at himself?”

She nodded. “The most obvious person is seldom the guilty one. Who would make themselves look guilty? I’m going to bet that by tomorrow, that basement is spotless, the door is unlocked, and all five of his circle have airtight alibis. Want to bet they use each other?”

They knew how hard it would be to break them too. The brothers would stick together no matter what.

Brody thought about it. “He’d love yanking your chain. He’d want to screw you physically and mentally. Women are nothing to him.”

Both Ethan and Callen tensed.

“Yeah, you’re going nowhere by yourself,” Callen stated. “That’s happening over my dead body.”

Blackhawk agreed but with one caveat. “She has to be the one who confronts him. He’ll be offended that some woman had the audacity to come at him. He’s smarter, better, richer, and untouchable.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m more worried about our agents. They’re unarmed and undercover.”

“Ma’am?” Brody said, knowing he needed to say something, even if it wasn’t going to go over well with them or Johanna.

“Yes?”

“I don’t trust Jason Blaise. He’s gung-ho, and I’m sure a great agent, but he doesn’t give a rat’s ass that Joey is wearing the target. I’d like permission to stick close.”

Ethan lifted a brow. “How close are we talking?” he asked. “You’re supposed to be trolling for babes. How are you going to manage that?”

Brody shrugged. “She’s the only one I’m chasing down.”

She gasped, giving him the look. “Brody!”

He laid it out on the table. “I need to ask something, and it’s got to be off the record,” he stated. When no one objected, he continued, “What are my chances of getting Johanna reassigned as my partner? Heidi is a good agent, but she’s not a good fit for me. We’re not meshing, and I would really like Joey back.”

She stared at him as if he was crazy. Why the hell was he bringing this up with the bosses?

They had other issues to worry about right now.

This wasn’t a priority.

Elizabeth stared at the two agents. One was freaked out, and the other was standing his ground. It said a lot about the two of them—maybe more than they thought.

Ethan leaned back in the booth. “You know there are rules, right?”

“Yes, I do, and we’ve broken them. I’ll be the first to admit that we’ve slept together. Yes, we’re going to keep doing it, but I think we can prove that we’re able to work well together at the same time.”

Johanna was appalled. “This is my worst nightmare,” she mumbled.

“Look at you three,” Brody began. “You’re a happy couple, and you still manage to make it work. I want to prove we can pull this off too.”

She stared at him. “Brody! Are you trying to get us killed?” she hissed. While everyone knew the bosses were a threesome, you didn't point it out. It was just the unspoken rule.

“Good point,” Ethan stated.

Callen kept his mouth shut. This was always his big concern. He didn't want his family to suffer because they came out of the closet for his heart.

“When did you start sleeping together?” Elizabeth asked. “Was it when you screwed up and missed evidence that nearly got Doctor Magnus killed?”

Brody knew he had to go all in on this one. He was fighting for their relationship. There was no time to back down or lie. 

“No, ma’am. It was the last case where we all went out together. I know your concern, but I think we can pull it off. I’m asking for a chance to prove it.”

Callen and Ethan said nothing. They both knew this was a slippery slope. After all, they were a couple, and that wasn’t exactly something the FBI accepted. The only reason they could stay together as partners was they closed cases, and they kept it out of public eye.

“Are you going to get married?”

Johanna actually dropped her fork. “Jesus. I have to be dreaming. My sex life is being discussed over coffee, the man I’ve slept with has lost his mind, and now we’re discussing a wedding like I’m not here.”

Callen hid a grin behind his coffee cup.

“One day.”

Johanna stared over at him. “Do I get any say in this?”

Brody kissed her on the cheek. “When I ask, yeah, you get to make the final decision.”

Joey stared openmouthed.

“Do you want to be his partner?” Elizabeth asked. “It has to be both of you, or I’m not putting my neck on the line. It also has to be kept out of the workplace.” They’d had a similar situation with some of Greyson Croft’s staff, and that was working out just fine.

He stared at her. “Well, Joey? I told you this was all going to come down to you. You get the final say.”

This was the defining moment.

While she still didn't get why he wanted her as much as he did, especially when he could have any woman in the world, she wanted to believe they had a chance.