Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) (39 page)

“What?” she asked, beginning to get paranoid. “Is there something in my teeth?”

“I was just thinking that I love you more than anything in this entire world. Whenever I look at you, I fall more and more hopelessly in love. The day we met, I was reborn.”

That made her heart melt. “Callen, that was so sweet, and I feel that same about you and Ethan. I’m complete.”

He glanced over at his brother. “I’m proud of him.”

She immediately knew what he was referring to. “I am too. He’s pulling himself up. Already, he’s closer to being back to Director Blackhawk and our Ethan.
”

“I was worried when we took this assignment.”

She laughed. “Yeah, me too.”

“I’m glad we did it now. Other than you hurting about Doc Trudeaux, I think this is healing us.
After all, isn’t this what brought us all together? What better way to heal our relationship than with us doing what brought us together? Ethan found you on a case, and I found you both on one too. Fate is funny.”

How true was that?

Death started them on this ride, and now death in Salem had come at the exact moment it was needed to help them refocus.

Ethan strolled back over. “That was the tech team. They swept the car and got a big fat nada. The only DNA or prin
ts were from Doc and Tony, and his were isolated to the keys. They did confirm what we suspected, the bones were his, Lyzee.”

She didn't expect anything else. The rock was porous, and she knew it was a gamble. If they had gotten a print, she would have been shocked out of her mind.
Like she told them earlier, she had seen the fracture and knew.

Taking deep breath
s, both men waited for her response.

When she didn't move, they both circled her in an embrace.
Sometimes, you just needed to hug it out.

Elizabeth let them offer her comfort. When she was in their arms, she always felt safe and a little better. Maybe it was the simple connection of their bodies, or the scent of their mingling cologne.

Either way, they made the scary more bearable.

“That’s okay, Cowboy. Onto contingency plan two,” she stated,
pulling away. “I’m okay now,” Elizabeth reassured as she headed for the door.

When she got inside, she was going to track down her team and
find out what they had dug up on the Harris family. Her gut was telling her something big was going on, and she needed to rattle the tree and see what fell out. For now, she had to let go of mourning Doc, and focus on justice for all.

Strolling into the bullpen, she found her agents hard at work. “Tell me something that I didn't know before I rolled up in here,” she stated, sitting on a desk opposite theirs.

“Well,” Cyra said, looking around to make sure they had privacy. “When I cornered, Martha, she pulled me into the coffee room and told me to hush up. It seems that after being called to the Harris homestead, two days later, the sheriff buried that report.”

That piqued her interest.

It wasn’t odd for cops to bend the rules according to what they saw at the scene, but in this case, if two people were beating on each other, they needed that on record. If not, when something went down, there would be hell to pay.

Oh, like now for instance.

Tony could have filed it as a mutual dispute and no harm done, but at least then it was going to be on record.

“It seems,” Cyra said, just above a whisper. “The following day, Mrs. Harris showed up and requested a meeting with the sheriff. They were behind closed doors for an hour, before she came out.”

Ethan shook his head. “Okay, so they had a meeting. Did Martha put a glass against the door and listen in?”

Her husband had a point. “It’s speculation. We don’t know if Jefferson Harris
was on the phone or if Mrs. Harris just needed a shoulder to cry on.”

Cyra grinned. “Martha is as quick as a whip, right?”

Elizabeth had always found her to be. “Yeah, why?” Now, she wasn’t getting why her agents were grinning like they swallowed a cage full of canaries.

“When she exited the office, Martha observed something. Mrs. Harris’s shirt wasn’t buttoned correctly and her hair was out of order.”

Elizabeth stared openmouthed.

No one spoke for a few minutes. If that were true, Tony Morell was exchanging sexual favors in his office to bury evidence.

Oh boy.

Where did she even take this one? “Was she one hundred percent sure?”

Cyra nodded. “She offered to swear on a bible and Bubba’s grave, but I couldn’t tell you who that is.”

“Her dog,” Elizabeth said. “She loved that hound, so that’s a pretty big
vow, coming from her.”

“Okay, I need to let this percolate in my brain for a few minutes. I know that this isn’t my jurisdiction anymore, so if Tony is sleeping with half the town, it’s not my business.”

Ethan spoke up, “BUT, if it interferes with our investigation, you’re obligated to head to his boss to report it.”

Damn it!

She knew that he was right.

“I’ll talk to him first, before I make my decision,” she stated. “I know he’s incompetent,
but this could destroy his career.”

Callen patted her on the shoulder.

“What else did you find out today? Who were the trespassing charges against?” Elizabeth asked, changing the subject and directing the conversation from Tony. Now, she could only hope he had nothing to do with it.

This time, Harper spoke, “Yes, boss! I pulled all the records, and it took some time since nothing here is computerized. I isolated it before Jefferson Harris went missing and worked backwards. I have to say, Salem is pretty laid back. There’s not a lot of crime here.”

Didn’t she know it? Of course, then again the serial killers seemed to like the peacefulness of the town. They were two for two.

“When I dug into the files, I found the name. Jefferson Harris filed a complaint against a Native local named Jason Walters. He was brought in and questioned
, and while here, he told the deputy on duty that he had permission to be on the land and wasn’t trespassing at all.”

“What was he doing there?”

“His claim is that he was hunting.”

They all thought about it. Finally, Ethan spoke, “Who is he claiming gave him permission?”

“Jefferson Harris’s wife,” Harper replied. “He wouldn’t say anything else and just took the ticket. It was paid by the next morning.”

“Curious,” stated Elizabeth. “So,
Barbara Harris, the man eater, gave another man permission to hunt on her land, behind her husband’s back.”

No one missed the double entendre of her words.

Blackhawk laughed. “Oh boy, this just got more fun,” he stated, knowing his wife was going to make it her mission in life to dig this one up and bare all the skeletons in the Harris closet.

“It sure is, Cowboy. I love when someone lies to us in a questioning. We
’re going to make Mrs. Harris sorry that she wasted my time and our resources.”

Callen pulled out his phone. “I’ll see if I can find out if Jason Walters is part of Chief Runningwolf’s tribe. If he is, we’ll need to tread lightly there too. The man technically paid the fine and this is over.”

“Oh, it’ll be over when I say it’s over,” stated Elizabeth getting up. “For now, it’s only begun.”

Staring over at her agents, she offered them each a fist bump. “You both did really well. I think I know just about everything that I needed to know about our missing people.”

Harper Stanton couldn’t help herself and blurted out, “Mr. Williams liked collecting stamps.”

They all stared at her, and Cyra began to laugh. She was giggling so hard, tears were filling her eyes.

“What?” Elizabeth said, staring at her. “What’s with the detail Tourette’s?”

Harper looked just as confused, which made her partner laugh even harder
. “You told me to learn everything about him, including hobbies.”

Cyra actually snorted, as she fought for composure
, trying not to fall out of her chair.

“Agent Stanton, I didn't really mean that I wanted to know his hobbies. That was me trying to make my point about leaving no stone unturned.”

The woman turned red.

Elizabeth pointed at Cyra. “Seriously? You let her walk right into that one.”

“Yeah, well she told Chris that I had a gun pointed at me today, and he’s pissed, so now we’re even.”

Yeah, she had a point.

“Good one, Agent Austin. Keep up the good work.” Elizabeth laughed, along with Callen and Ethan. “Agent Stanton, thank you for the chuckle, and we’re not laughing at you, but with you. As you’ll find out, I do appreciate moments like this when they’re timed just right.” Elizabeth remembered being green once too and offered the woman a pat on the back.

“Carry on, ladies.”

Cyra watched them walk away. “I’m sorry, but that was pretty damn funny.”

Harper could have been embarrassed, but why bother.
Instead, she joined in the laughter, and worked on fitting in on the team.

In the conference room, Ethan put the names of the potential suspects on the back of the whiteboard, in case anyone came in and tried to see where they were heading with it. When Ethan turned around, Elizabeth had her boots up on the corner of the table and was staring off into space.

There was a profound sense of déjà vu. Here she was i
n the same shirt that she wore on the day he met her, and in a very similar contemplative state. Ethan’s heart skipped at the visual. This was his reason to live, and she looked torn up over something.

“Hey,” he said, getting her and Callen’s attention. “What are you thinking about?”

“I was working out the details on burying Doc when this is done. He didn't have any kids of his own, and I want to take care of it for him.”

Et
han wouldn’t let her do it alone, and he suspected neither would Callen. “We’ll be right by your side. Where do you want to do it?”

She knew immediately. “I believe he wanted to be cremated. I want to talk to Chris Santana, but I’d like to get a marker placed in front of the morgue. He built that place and made it what it
is today, sinking his own money into the equipment, and sometimes staff. I think he needs to be laid to rest where his heart lived.”

Callen kissed her on the cheek. “You’re a good woman, Elizabeth. He’s proud of you, wherever he is now.”

God, she hoped so.

At the knock on the door, they all looked over. There stood Cyra, and she looked perplexed.

“Hey, what’s up?” asked Elizabeth.

There was the brief moment of hesitation, before she finally spoke, “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure,” she answered.

When the men didn't get it, she looked at them. “No offense, but its girl stuff.”

That had both men rushing out of there, dramatically. It had its effect, because it made both women laugh. It was obvious that neither wanted a part of the babe banter.

When the door was closed, she sat down and stared at her. “A while back, you told me that you were going to be offer
ing up some friendship, because Chris loved me. You trusted his judgment and loved him, you knew he wouldn’t screw up picking a woman.”

She nodded.
“I stand by that comment. So far, you’ve lived up to it.”

That offered her some relief. “I really need your advice
, and a friend, right now. I know we had a rocky start, with me not approving of your relationship choices, but I’ve really come to love you and your family, and see past the surface. Chris has a special place in his heart for you, and now I do too.”

Elizabeth waited.

“I know I can trust you with my friendship.”

“Girlfriend code.”

She stared at her. “What?”

Elizabeth broke it down, telling her all about it. At one time, she had handed it out to someone very unworthy
, and it made her skittish. Since then, she offered it up to Tori Littlemoon, and that had been a great decision on her behalf. She was one of her best friends for life.

“I’m offering it up to you. I
don’t do it often, so take it as a sign. From this moment on, I’ll have your back no matter what, and it’s now us against the men in our life, when it needs to be.”

That touched Cyra.

“I’m in. I could always use someone I can trust.” Especially since her family wasn’t exactly supportive of her upcoming nuptials.

“Okay, Cyra, get it off your chest. I can tell that you’re really worked up about something
, and I’m here for you.”

She was
and most of it was because of the fight that she and her fiancé had, but that wasn’t what she really needed help with. “Christopher is very romantic. He’s always showing up and doing something sweet for me.”