Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four) (17 page)

“Absolutely.”

Elizabeth handed her a sealed envelope. “I appreciate it.”

“I hope you don’t mind me saying, but you two look so happy together.
It’s nice when couples come in and you can tell they’re very much in love. It’s evident between you two.”

Callen tensed.

Elizabeth giggled, going up on her toes to kiss him, sharing with him reassurance. When she pulled away she patted his cheek. “Love is a beautiful thing. When people find it they should embrace it and not hide from it.”

“So right,” the woman
answered, smiling.

Callen
reached for her hand and led her away, their fingers twined together. He wasn’t sure if she meant with her or with Desdemona. But regardless her words touched him deeply. He was grateful he’d found love with her. It eased the hurt that he was feeling over his fiancée at that moment.

“You okay, Cal?”
Elizabeth inquired, hopping up into the Escalade. “I didn’t upset you did I?” Now she was touching his arm.

“No Lyzee, you’ve actually made my heart hurt less today, so thank you.”

Elizabeth would do anything to make him feel better. All she wanted was for the man to see how valuable he was, and if Desdemona wasn’t the right woman, one would come along and would be perfect for him. Sometimes it took a little bit to get love to fit the right way. He’d make it work. Elizabeth’s heart fluttered.

As they drove down the road
, she pointed to the building. “I think that’s it.”

“Good cop
, bad cop?” he asked, grinning.

Elizabeth hated dealing with
sheriffs of small towns. She was allowed to say that, because she’d filled the role and knew how big of control freaks they could be. After all, she was case in point.

“Good cop
, good cop to start.”

“Well I
’m generally good cop all the time, so looks like you're the one that has to work on that,” he grinned, wickedly.

“Nice one
!” She offered him a fist bump. “Let’s go Director Whitefox. Maybe I still have some magic left inside me to pull this one off.”

Elizabeth walked up the stairs into the station
. Callen flanked her protectively and tried to not look too intimidating, but really a six foot six full Native garnered attention everywhere he went. That he couldn’t help. Callen kept his sunglasses on, observing everything happening around them inside the building. The man from the previous night was there, watching them walk into the building.

“Agents,” he said, nicely.

Apparently, there weren’t going to be any hard feelings after the fact. He was pretty calm, considering he’d been lying face first in the grass unconscious as a girl stole his gun right from his hand. Jonathan Delray had a pretty decent disposition.

“Hello
, Deputy Delray,” Elizabeth said, putting out her hand and lifting her glasses from her face.

“This is Sheriff Louis Denton,
and he’s in charge of the law in this here parish.” The man stepped back and let his boss take over.

Elizabeth could see the cold speculation in his eyes, and then the way he checked out
her partner. Deep down she hoped he didn’t make this a nightmare when it didn’t need to be one at all. They just wanted some information, and they’d be on their way.

“Agents.”

“Actually Sheriff, I’m one of the directors at FBI West. I’m Elizabeth Blackhawk, and this is my partner in the field for this assignment, Director Callen Whitefox. We’re here working on something that has been brought to our attention.”

“If it’s Indian related, you need to head to the
reservation. The local tribes have their own police department. We don’t have jurisdiction over anything related to it.”

Strike one
.

“Native American, Sheriff. ‘Indian’ isn't appropriate to use in open conversation when discussing indigenous people of The United States of America.
Indians are from India. I’m sure you see the difference.”

He started laughing. “I beg your pardon
, Mr. Whitefox. I meant no disrespect.”

Elizabeth would have preferred the apology without the laughter, but there was a fine line right now and she was forced to walk it until
they had a body.

Whitefox nodded. He was proud of Elizabeth. Usually she’d kick someone’s ass by now.

“Our situation has nothing to do with a tribe or reservation. I’m here looking for Cordelia Adare. Two weeks ago she went missing and I need a copy of the missing person report.”

“Are you telling me, that the FBI sends two directors from hundreds of miles away to find a missing person?” Now he was chuckling. “
Ain’t this tax payer money at its finest? I’m so glad that I pay taxes to a government that uses it wisely.”

Strike two.

Elizabeth bristled, and then regained her temper. “I’m actually here because our medical examiner is Doctor Desdemona Adare, and she’s concerned for her sister.”

“So personal police
, paid for by the tax payers. That’s just great.”

Strike three
.

“We believe that the woman’s disappearance is related to a stalker issue tied to our ME. This individual has been tracking our co-worker across the country. Thus this gives us federal jurisdiction. We have proof of stalking and threat to cause bodily harm. We also have an incident where the stalker blew up an FBI vehicle. Federal property, if you will. That alone should outrage you as a tax payer in this country and make you want to assist anyway possible to bring him to justice. I know personally, as someone who also pays her taxes and is a civil servant, I have nothing but the desire to find this individual and bring him in.”

The man glared
at her.

“If Cordelia Adare turns up alive, we’ll be out of your town
. If she doesn’t…” She let it hang out in the air.

“I have no choice then?”

Elizabeth smiled. “We all have a choice. I have a choice to walk up and down your quiet streets in Kevlar, my FBI pull over, my Glock and badge in plain sight making everyone’s life hellish, or I can ask questions quietly. Very quietly in fact.”

“I feel threatened by your words
, Director.”

Elizabeth grinned. “If I have to waste time
, and I end up finding that Cordelia Adare is dead, I’m calling in my entire tech team and anyone I can get on a jet and into this town. I will make sure you have so many headaches that you don’t get to ‘go on down to the fishin’ hole’ for a month.”

The man bristled.

“Now, do we play nice and I get the official missing person report, or do I dig up the muck in your lovely town of Cypress Grove?”

The man began laughing. “Cypress Grove is a giant swamp. It’s going to take you months to comb it to find a body, if she’s dead. Good
luck and we’ll see how long this takes you.” Now he turned and walked away laughing. “Stupid broad, probably slept her way to the top to be boss,” he muttered under his breath.

Callen flinched and moved forward. He was going to rip the man’s internal organs out through his face.
The last sheriff who called Elizabeth names had his teeth punched out. Whitefox wasn’t above a repeat performance.

“
It’s okay, Cal. I generally get the last laugh, and Sheriff Donut Eater is going to regret not playing nice.”

“Can I hurt him later?”

Elizabeth laughed. “Absolutely.”

Both agents strolled right back out of the office and towards their Escalade. Tucked beneath the windshield wiper was an envelope.
They looked around and saw only one person anywhere near the outside of the building. It was Jonathan Delray, and he tipped his hat and walked back inside.

Elizabeth picked it up and hopped into the vehicle. On the front it was addressed to ‘Agent Sexy’.

“God, for once I hope someone is talking about you,” snickered Whitefox.

Elizabeth laughed and grabbed a pair of rubber gloves from behind the seat. Carefully opening it up, she looked inside. “Well lookee here, Cal. We got ourselves an unofficial, bootleg copy of the missing person report.”

“I guess sexy has its advantage.” Right now he was highly amused. Then he pulled out a notepad and scribbled something on it.

“What are you writing down?” She tried to look over his shoulder. Finally she succeeded. “Why are you keeping a list of men’s names?”

“Ethan told me to keep track of all the men he might have to kill when he got here, and I just put the deputy on the list, right beneath Julian Littlemoon.”

Elizabeth just stared at him.

“Hungry, Lyzee?” he asked, as if he didn’t just do something completely insane.

“What am I going to do with you?” she asked
, rhetorically.

Callen just grinned and drove out of the parking lot
to find them something to eat, because answering that question would take too long.

                                *   *   *

Desdemona parked her car in front of the
bed and breakfast and glanced around. She didn’t see the big black Escalade, but she figured she’d stop in and see if they were staying there. Really there were only a few places to stay in Cypress Grove. This was the nicest one and she doubted that Ethan Blackhawk would let his wife stay in a dump.

Entering the establishment, she looked around until she saw a woman cleaning up the breakfast service.

“Yes, can I help you?” she asked, walking out of the dining room towards her.

“Yes, I’m wondering if my friends are staying here. Callen Whitefox? He’s a very large Native American man and is probably with a woman, gorgeous, blue eyes and black hair.”

“Oh, you mean the Blackhawks? Yes, they’re staying in the Rose room. What a really nice couple. They checked in yesterday and so very much in love. They’re always making out and being super affectionate.”

Desdemona felt like she was sucker punched
right in the chest. “I’m sorry?”

“They are always holding hands and kissing. So sweet when two people belong together
, and they find each other. Are you Desdemona?”

She was caught off guard
by the question. “Yes I am.”

“They left you a note when they went out to see the sights. They were sorry they missed you.” The woman handed it to her and smiled.

“Thank you so much,” she said, taking it and walking out of the building. Her heart was aching in her chest, and she felt like she was going to throw up. They were kissing and holding hands? She climbed into the Mercedes and pulled out the note and opened it.

Desdemona,

Julian Littlemoon is in town, he’ll find your

sister. We’re working the town today

a
nd trying to find a last location. We’ll swing by tonight

t
o see you. Try and keep your grandmother from shooting

u
s. Text me if you need me.

Director Blackhawk

Something inside her fell apart as she read the message. There was no warmth. No friendship and certainly no love lost. It was day two, and they were making it perfectly clear how they both
felt about her.

Callen hadn’t called at all today
or so much as sent a text, but then again why would he? He was holding hands and making out with Elizabeth. This was her worst nightmare, and she’d caused it by running here. Coming back to Cypress Grove had done the opposite of what she intended.

Not only had she lost the man she loved, but her only friend was treating her like shit now too.
This was a great way to start the day. As she drove away the only thing that kept playing over and over in her head was what the woman at the bed and breakfast said.

‘They are so very much in love
.’

The tears started
, and they wouldn’t stop. This was all such a mess, and she’d created it herself. Seeing the liquor store, she decided to stop in for some wine. She really needed a drink, and if there was any day to have one, it was today.

                                *   *   *

Ethan called his father and checked up on his son. If he was too much trouble, he’d come pick him up and bring him to the office. He could do his reports and manage a baby. After all, he had Ginny out in the lobby who would love to babysit for a little while.

When he got through to his father, he didn’t sound right. “What’s wrong
, Dad?” he asked, feeling a bit panicked. Maybe the man wasn’t up to watching a three month old.

“Timothy isn't looking well this morning
, and he won’t let me call Doctor Wolman.”

Blackhawk didn’t know if he should be nervous or not. “If he isn't better in a couple of hours, call me and I’ll bring the doctor myself. Can I talk to him?”