Sacred Burial Grounds (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 2)) (71 page)

“Coffee, Callen?” she asked, hating to pull him out of his thoughts.

“Yes please, Lyzee,” Whitefox accepted the coffee that Elizabeth had poured for him.

“I’m glad you three all stayed together. Thomas Mason isn't mentally stable. No, that’s not accurate
. He’s completely and totally unhinged,” she said. Elizabeth noticed that both of them were staring at her. “Well he is. Trust me, we had a conversation before he started playing hunter and those minutes were the scariest part of the entire ordeal.” They weren’t, but why stress her husband out even more.

“A conversation about what?” he asked his wife, hoping his voice didn’t sound the way he felt. Scared, angry, and rattled were only a few of the myriad of other emotions threatening to break free at any second.

Elizabeth knew he’d be reading it in the report she’d have to file anyway, so she figured it was time they talk killer over breakfast. “He has it in for the Blackhawk heirs.”

Both men laughed.

“Heirs to what? You already claimed the tree house and that’s about all there is.” Blackhawk genuinely found that funny.

“Must be the secret family fortune,” snickered Whitefox.

“Well there are all those rocks I collected as a kid, maybe they went up in value in the last thirty years.”

Elizabeth smiled
. She knew when her husband was tense, he either joked, or went silent. “Bloodlines. He told me he was pissed he was excluded and an outsider his entire life due to your father. He wants to take over as shaman for granddad.”

“So he wants to off the competition?” Whitefox laughed more. “Here’s a news flash, I don’t want to be shaman, and I’m sure Ethan feels the same. He could have come forward and taken it without any fight from us.”

“It’s all about the name to him.”

Blackhawk genuinely looked puzzled. “What’s in a name?”

His brother sat back on the stool and looked at his brother. “That’s easy for you to say, since you’re the only one of the three of us that has the name.” He hoped he didn’t offend his brother, but it was true. That part of the killer’s issue he understood.

Elizabeth had thought about it a great deal as she was trying to escape the killer. “He wants the name in the worst way. He’s illegitimate and wants to be part of something he’s been excl
uded from his whole life. Ethan.” She looked at her husband. “You carry the name as the only son who is legitimate, so he feels envy when he thinks of you. And you Callen don’t carry the name, but you also have what he wants. You have the recognition as a Blackhawk son regardless. Wyler never said you weren’t his- ever. The killer is odd man out. Thomas Mason’s mother wanted to marry into the family, and Wyler shot her down big time.”

Whitefox looked surprised at that little piece of information. “What?
Wyler turned down a woman?” He had some snide comment, but then he remembered he was trying to heal the wound and not exacerbate it. The war was over.

Elizabeth told them what she had learned, “When she brought up marriage,
Wyler broke it off and she snapped and tried to filet him,” she added, looking over at her husband. Wyler had apparently shared the information with him; he didn’t look surprised at all. “So from birth, this woman molded her son and made him into an angry bitter outcast. When all she had to do was tell Wyler or Timothy that the boy existed. She literally created a loaded weapon that was ready to go off at any second. When I say hair trigger, I’m not kidding.”

“Granddad would have taken him in,” added Blackhawk.
“He was already dealing with us, and he would have welcomed one more grandson, without a doubt.”

“But would he have fit in? He looks nothing like either of you. He pulled all his mother’s genetic traits.”

“Granddad would have still taken on Wyler’s responsibility.”

“Agreed, but as a child
, his mother must have believed he would still be the outcast. She twisted it so badly that this was the outcome for everyone involved. Plus she was dumped. A woman scorned can be wicked, and this is the proof,” she teased. “Keep that in mind boys.”

Both men grinned.

“You may be right, Lyzee,” answered Whitefox. “When we saw him at the sheriff’s station, he looked very Caucasian, and I didn’t see anything in him that reminded me of us.”

“I still have a hard time believing it,” added Blackhawk. “Blue eyes, curly brow
n hair, and he’s as pale as you, baby.”

“That may be why the dress up. He was dressing the part in the woods. It was like Halloween
- all the war paint and feathers. Yet it wasn’t buyable. It all came off as just an act. Both of you have a different tone to your skin. Ethan is only half native, but still you both have the same skin color as your father. He was definitely pale like me.”

“You look m
ore Native than he did, Elizabeth.”

She nodded. “
If it wasn’t a bad situation, it would have been laughable. He had all these markings and symbols drawn on his body much like your tattoos, Ethan, except they didn’t have the same effect as yours. The tattoos came across cartoonish and not tribal, in the least. When he came out of the woods, I could see some were smeared. These tribal symbols on a Native American look like they belong. On someone pale and light eyed, it just looks like make believe.”

“He sounds out of his mind,” Whitefox added.

“It was like he was trying too hard, and he thought it could change the outer appearance enough to make it believable. With both of you I just look at you and see your heritage. Callen has it more so, because his parents were both Native. I don’t ever just stand here and think, ‘
oh look, two Native men’
, or not think it. You just are. If anything, both of you tend to blend. Ethan wears it hidden behind a suit and you, Callen, have an easiness with it, because it’s part of you. I guess you would call it comfortable acceptance.”

“I think she just compli
mented us, Ethan,” he said grinning. “But I’m not quite sure.”

“I did,” she laughed. “I personally think your ethnicity is sexy, and have since I first met
Ethan. Thomas Mason didn’t set off my sexy Native radar.” Elizabeth winked at her husband.

“Do all women come with that and do you know any
one else that has it, Elizabeth?” Whitefox teased her. “I am available.”

“If anyone sets that radar off but me, you’re in trouble, Elizabeth,” her husband said, trying to look serious.

“Sorry Ethan, but all the Blackhawk men set it off. I look at your
father, and see you in thirty years. Still sexy, and then granddad, and I still see the sexiness.”

Callen cleared his throat.

Blackhawk laughed. He was glad she’d find him sexy for the rest of his life. It answered a question he always wondered. Somewhere, in the back of Ethan’s mind, he wondered why his wife calling his brother sexy didn't bother him in the least.

“Callen, if I tell you that you’re sexy
, then your brother is going to kill you,” she winked at him. “But you’re a Blackhawk, so do the math and make your own conclusions.”

His heart skipped in his chest.

Elizabeth went one step further, mouthing
‘you’re definitely sexy.’

Ethan Blackhawk kissed the top of his wife’s head and grinned at his brother. Now
, he understood how his brother felt. Without the last name, he believed he was the outsider. He was glad his wife was including him in their life.

Something inside Callen tightened at the mere idea that Elizabeth thought he was sexy.

“Anyway,” Elizabeth continued, “you both know what I mean. If a man is sexy, he’s sexy. You can’t fake it. I’m attracted to your ethnicity, because it’s obvious but not overstated. Thomas Mason wasn’t even close. I think he was trying to make himself resemble what he believed a Native American looked like. It was like he searched it on the internet, trying to mimic it. Don’t get me wrong. You both are distinctively Native, but not over the top.” She paused to think about it. “He was over the top. The feathers, the war paint, the outfit. I’ve never seen Ethan’s hair braided, but I imagine he could pull it off, both of you easily could. Thomas Mason looked out of place.”

“We’ve both worn war paint and feathers,” Blackhawk teased as he leaned down to kiss his wife. “I believe I was half naked at the time and my hair was
indeed braided.”

Elizabeth had a distinct picture of that in her head, and the warmth started creeping up her body at the mere idea. “Don’t tease the pregnant woman, she has a voracious appetite for her husband,” she said back, laughing. “I’ll explore that option after we finish this assignment.
You bring the half-naked and the feathers, and I’ll bring the ogling.”

“Hello, third person in the room.
Unless I’m invited too,” he added, wiggling his eyebrows.

Blackhawk punched his brother in the arm. “Uh hello, this is our house. We can talk sex if we want. I pay the mortgage
for ‘Fort Blackhawk’.”

They laughed until Elizabeth got serious and continued. “He wanted to be you both. If he could be both of you at once, he’d have been happy.”

“That had to piss him off, when he saw us together again.”

“I think everything pissed him off about you both. He doesn’t see you as brothers
. Thomas Mason sees you as competition, and his dear old mother probably had her hand in that one. He wanted to use me to hurt Ethan, he’d use Ethan to hurt you Callen, and losing you both would hurt your father and grandfather. It was his progression of the plan. When I told him what we knew, he was genuinely surprised. I get the impression he was going to take you both out, and then come forward as the replacement.”

“That’s incredibly sick,” added Whitefox.

Blackhawk served them both an omelet and sat beside them with his. “This isn’t going to be over then,” he said, biting into his food. “He’s going to try and finish it.”

Elizabeth nodded. “I have no doubt.”

Everyone ate in silence and when they were finished, they all just felt uneasy.

“You're thinking again, Elizabeth,” said her husband. “You have that look.”

She pushed back from the table and began pacing. The killer couldn’t take out the brothers, so the next logical step would be that he moves from the opposite end of the family. “He wanted to come out after you both were dead, and he’d step in as the new son. We ruined that for him. I'm replaying everything he said to me before he tried to kill me,” she paused.

“What’s his next move, Elizabeth?” asked her husband. “I trust you to put it together.” Blackhawk knew the game was now in her hands. He’d profiled the killer, and now she needed to see the full picture.

“Little bit of pressure on her there, Ethan,” said Whitefox, as he watched her face. He linked their fingers, giving her support.

“I know, but our lives are on the line here. I believe in Elizabeth to figure this out.”

Before Callen Whitefox could remind his brother what she just went through, his sister-in-law spoke.

Elizabeth knew his next move.
“We have to get to your grandfather’s, he’s going to go after Timothy!” she rushed to the front door to grab her boots, the men behind her.

As they all climbed into the Denali, Whitefox questioned her. “What makes you think granddad is in trouble?”

“He had it in for you both to become the only Blackhawk son, but that wasn’t his only goal. He’s been fine tuning his craft as a shaman, if he can’t be accepted as a Blackhawk,” she paused and her husband who was driving continued.

“He
’ll want to replace the shaman and reach his other goal. At least he’ll complete half the mission, so all isn't lost.”

“He’s crazy eno
ugh to think he can do it, too,” added Elizabeth.

“
With Timothy gone he hurts everyone, and he gets to be shaman in his mind. Remember, he’s not all there. We can’t even assume there is any logic behind his thinking. If he can’t step in and make Timothy love him and teach him, he’ll go after the top of the family for retribution. Now he wants to show us that he’s smarter, tougher, and better at being a Blackhawk. He’ll do that by taking out the head of our family and paying us back just to watch us bleed. ”

Both men
refused to let that happen.

Elizabeth hit the lights, as they tore towards the reservation and to their grandfather.

One hour earlier…

Thomas Mason
watched from the shadows as the other son left. Time would come to kill him too, but he would wait.  First he would break them all, and then finish picking them off, one by one.

When he was sure Callen Whitefox was far enough a
way, he crept towards the house and past the totem that didn’t even recognize his existence. The bull shouldn’t be a tiny carving above his father’s signature. It should be the center of the entire piece.

It enraged him further, that he wasn’t even seen by them. It was the fox that was invis
ible, the bull was mighty. After today he would be part of this family, because he would be the last one surviving it all.