Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) (29 page)

That made Chris grin. “That would be great. I’ll let you know when we’re going to do it,
but just don’t tell my mother. She’ll go all witchy all over me and probably curse me for life.”

“Then
, I’ll have to beat the hell out of her,” muttered Cyra.

Chris kissed her on the cheek. “
Ahhhh, that’s my girl. She’s violent, but all mine.”

Ethan went to say something, and he waited for Elizabeth to stop him. That’s generally how they did their banter. When she didn't, he was concerned.
The storm was definitely getting close.

“If it’s okay with you, I’m not really hungry, especially if Callen brings home a pizza with meat. I think I’ll just head to bed.”

As she got up, she hugged Ethan and buried her face in his neck. “Night, Cowboy. Tell Callen I love him,” she said, heading towards the stairs.

When she was gone, Chris finally spoke. “She’s not doing so well.
She was crying upstairs.” Normally, he wouldn’t rat out his friend, but Chris really believed that Ethan should be aware of it.

Blackhawk
didn't like this one bit. Despite coming there to fix him, that became the least of his concerns. All of his pain was nothing compared to what he believed was coming. His wife was barely back on her feet after he was taken, and now there was one more hit coming.

Chris figured now was the time to spill it.
If he was going to share that she was upset, he might as well go all in. Quietly, he told him about the medical records.

“Can you use them to find the identity of the last victim?” Ethan asked.

“It depends. If he had a fracture just like the bone that we recovered, then yes. I will tell you that Tony already believes that the last set of bones are much older than the first two sets. He’s putting the bones up in the seventies or eighties. Plus, we have the foot and much of the flesh was intact. It may pop as Doctor Trudeaux’s or it may not.”

Ethan mulled it over.
“As to the injuries, I can’t give you that. I didn't know the man well. This is more Elizabeth’s area, if you know what I mean.”

They did.
Chances were that he was going to have to ask her, and that didn't bode well for any of them.

“If we could find a skull, it would make it so much easier. Th
en, we could do facial reconstruction or dentals to get the ID. Without a full skeleton, we can’t even be one hundred percent sure if it’s male or female at this point. Tony needs the pelvic bones, and we didn't find anything.”

“Doctor Magnus has a lot of work set out for him on this one,” Ethan said.

“Yeah, he does, but he lives for a puzzle. He’ll get obsessed and figure it out, one way or the other. In fact, there will be some bet and prize too, I’m sure.”

That reminded him of something. “Cyra, I need to ask you a question.”

She sipped her wine, and was relaxing as she sat in their home. “What do you need to know?”

“I promised Elizabeth a Rex-like puppy if she got pregnant. I think that this would be a good
surprise right about now. Can you point me in any direction?” he asked, hopefully.

That was an easy one. “My sister’s two dogs just had puppies. They’re Rex’s parents. Want me to give her a call and have her save one?”

“Are they old enough to be weaned from their mother?”

She did the mental math. “Yeah, I believe so.” She pulled out her cell and sent a text. Within seconds, there was a reply. “She has two left.”

Handing him the phone, he stared at the adorable balls of fluff. “I know I’m going to regret this, but I’ll take them both.” Why go with one dog, when you can have two destroying your home?

Man, he
definitely fell off the crazy train on this one.

Cyra called her sister and spoke to her. She vouched for the family
who would be getting them, and told her about how Rex fell in love with Elizabeth.

There were some
‘uh huhs’.

A few nods.

And then finally a grin.

Putting her hand over the mouthpiece, she looked at Ethan. “They’re yours.”

He grinned. “Can she drop them at our house? I want to get my dad to assimilate them into the family, and then on Valentine’s Day, we’ll tell her about them.”

This was bound to cheer her up.

Cyra took care of it.

Chris shook his head. “Man, two dogs to destroy your home. You must really be in love.”

Ethan shared one thing. “Chris, if you want a really calm, peaceful, sex filled life, you buy your wife anything that she wants. You can try to play hard to get by bargaining, but ultimately, you take one for the team and just go with it.”

Chris laughed as Cyra offered her boss a fist bump, as she hung up. “Learn it Christopher,” she said, winking at him.

Before he could make a comment, the door opened and Callen came in carrying boxes of pizza. Putting them down, he stared at the three people laughing. “What?”

“I just fulfilled
a promise that I made to Elizabeth.”

Callen thought back to it, and he finally remembered. “You got her a dog?
Are you out of your mind? Our lives are chaotic and crazy enough!”

Ethan handed his brother a beer
and some pizza. He was proud that the man didn't do meat topping. “Not a dog, per say, but a puppy, and as a matter of fact, you got her one too.”

The bottle paused halfway to his lips.
“What? You got her two puppies?”

He laughed. “
Yeah we did. You and I, as in it’s now a team thing.”

“Ethan, dogs take a lot of work. Who is going to train them?” he asked
, picturing his aging father chasing four kids and two dogs while they were away on assignment. “I can see one, but two?”

Cyra raised her hand. “I’ll do it. I like training dogs. Rex wasn’t too bad, other than the shoe thing. That was the worst part. I suggest you let them lick and roll around with the kids. As soon as they bond, they’ll protect them for life.”

Callen visualized two dogs slobbering all over his kids. Then, he stared at his brother, who was smiling. It was one of the few genuine ones he had seen in a while. “I’ll pay for the training, since you bought the dogs.”

Shaking her head, Cyra protested.

Chris stared at his fiancée and suddenly ideas began percolating in the back of his mind. “I think you should do it,” he stated. “Rex is well behaved. Give it a shot.”

Cyra stared at him. “Okay, but
I’m not charging you. Besides, I love your kids and can’t wait to see the puppies rolling around with them. I hope they’re good with kids.”

It was hard not to freak out. Callen was just barely hanging in there.
In his mind, he pictured a pack of wild mongrels chewing on his babies.

Ethan shared his plan for Valentine’s Day with his brother. When he agreed, he knew this was going to be one that she never forgot.

“Hey, where is Lyzee?” Callen asked, finishing his pizza. At first, he thought that maybe she was taking a shower or changing, but she had been gone too long.

“She wasn’t hungry and went to bed,” Ethan answered. “Now you see why I went with two dogs.
Bad things are brewing, bro. I’m not above bribing her with cuteness.”

Callen
stood and headed for the stairs. “I’m going to go up and check on her.”

Ethan dumped their dishes in the dishwasher. “If you both want to sit on the couch, watch the fire
, and have some alone time, you can,” he offered to Chris and Cyra. “I need to work on some paperwork for a little while. I’ll keep my eyes closed when I leave the office,” he stated, laughing.

Chris took Cyra by the hand after cleaning up their dishes.
That sounded like a perfect way to end the night. When Ethan closed the office door, the two of them sat on the couch.

“Want to make
out with me in our boss’s home?” he whispered, as he ran his lips across her earlobe.

“What if,” she began, only to have him silence her with his mouth.

When Chris pulled away, his heart was pounding, his palms were sweaty, and his body wanted so much more. “I love you, Cyra.”

She cuddled into him and sipped her wine.
“I love you too,” she replied. In fact, she really was incredibly happy just spending time with the man she loved. It was the little things in life that mattered most.

Chris Leonard relaxed, and let the woman he adored rest against him. This wasn’t too bad of a night, despite the evil that they were chasing in the sleepy town.

For now, he’d take what he could get.

Maybe this was part of his
karma too.

Life was damn good.

Now, if he could only talk Cyra into sex at Hotel Blackhawk, life would be perfect.

Callen quietly opened the bedroom door and found her asleep in the center of the bed. Heading to the bathroom, he brushed his teeth and decided to
join her. Even though he couldn’t protect her in her dreams, he was going to give it his best shot. For now, he’d guard her here while her fears chased her.

Slipping out of his clothes, he slid into the bed and spooned her body lovingly. When she didn't move, he placed his hand over her belly and spoke to the child growing there. “I love you already, and I can’t wait to meet you. If possible, and you
’re still trying to figure out your gender, your daddy really would like a little girl. If you can pull that off, we would appreciate it. Plus, you have a sister and she could use a tag team partner in the insanity. Either way, we’ll love you, but try and work on that.”

Cuddling down, Callen pulled her into his
arms. When she rolled, and rested her head on his shoulder, he was at peace. For now, he would stay awake and play sentry over the woman they loved, until the other part of their unit could come to bed.

Then, they’d do it together.

                        *     *     *

He waited for her to leave her meeting. In fact, she was the last one to
walk out, and that couldn’t be more perfect. Being the president of the committee, it was her job to close up shop at the end of their monthly meetings.

It had been a while since he found a woman
who looked delicious. Normally, he found the men a bit meatier and more of a meal, but something about this woman called to him.

He just knew that she would be the perfect ingredient for his dinner recipes.

In fact, he could almost taste her now.

A little salt.

Some coarse ground pepper.

Oh, and maybe a spice rub too
. It would have to be something tangy and with a little kick. Yeah, that would be ideal, since she reminded him of someone who could handle spice.

Now, he only needed to grab her, bring her home
, and face her when she woke up. Then, it was more meat for the freezer and more food for his belly. Deep down, he couldn’t believe how hungry he always was. The more he had, the more he wanted.

I
n his mind, he contemplated the amount of space that he had in the freezer. Most of it was meat, but there were the heads. For some reason, he had been wary of just tossing them away. They had faces and eyes, and that meant something.

Didn't it?

Now, it was becoming a space issue. If he could toss the skulls, he could fit a whole other person in there.

That meant more dinners.

More recipes that he could try out.

More food to last him through the season.

That was the most important part of all his reasoning. The last thing that he wanted was to go hungry.

So, his mind was made up. When he dumped the woman’s bones, he would toss another burlap sack full of heads too. He shouldn’t have to weigh them down, since
they would be in the bag. That meant no one would ever find them.

In fact, he would take them further up the river and drop them there. He knew of a spot that would be
ideal. It was on the Rez land, and no one would ever think to look there.

It was perfect.

When she walked out into the night and digging in her purse for her keys, he knew the time was right. As he crept up behind her, he called to her.

As she turned, he struck her in the center of the forehead
with the meat mallet.

It wasn’t a crushing blow.

The hit would only knock her out for a little bit.

It would on
ly last long enough to get her back to his house and into position.

Dragging her to his car, he tossed her in the back and raced around the side.

There was so much to do tonight.

In the back of his
mind, he began making his plans. The most important thing brewing was his hope that she didn't stay out very long.