Redemption is Here (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 9) (54 page)

“Zip it,” she stated, silencing the woman.

“When did you see Jed last?” Elizabeth asked, as Ethan made notes for later. All of this was going up on her whiteboard.

He went with honest
y. “The day he died. We were at my place, having a few beers. Out of the blue, he left to go let Anna’s dog out.”

“Around what time?” she asked.

“I think it was about eight at night. He said something about getting to bed after the game.”

Elizabeth faced down the woman. “How about you? Who do you recognize out of these pictures?”

She pointed at her boyfriend, Emelia Southland, and then Allen Payne.

“How long were you with Jed?” she asked.

“Almost four years.”

“Do you consider yourself a violent person, Anna?” she asked, leaning back in her chair.

“No. I like to think I’m passionate.”

Sticking out her hand, Callen handed her his tablet. “You have an arrest
record for being overly passionate with a knife, a brawl outside a bar, and oh look, you slapped a meter maid. I forgive you on that one, since I would like to do that on occasion myself.”

“You think you’re funny, bitch?”

Elizabeth laughed. “Nah,” she drawled. “I like to think of myself as the thorn in your side. I’m going to make it my mission to make your life hell unless you answer my damn questions.”

Ethan loved when his wife went all ‘southern’ on them. Her backwoods drawl turned him right on.

It seemed to work. Anna finally shut up.

“How did you feel about Emelia?” Elizabeth asked.

“I hated but loved her at the same time,” she offered. “If she never dumped Jed, he wouldn’t have found me. So, yeah, I hated the bitch for hurting him, but she gave me a gift. Now, he’s mine,” she answered, and then realized what she said. “I mean, he was mine.”

Elizabeth saw the emotion.

Despite her being miserable and nasty, Elizabeth cut her a break. “Have any of you been to Saint Mary’s of the Sacred Heart?” she asked.

Bruno raised his hand. “I was there once with Jed. He had just been dumped and didn't want to go to a wedding alone. So, I was his drinking buddy. We went, got drunk at the reception
, and hooked up with these two blonde babes.”

Suddenly, Anna jumped up from her seat and stormed out of the room in a huff.

“Crap! I wasn’t thinking.”

Elizabeth didn't mind. It proved that Anna Tunica had a bad temper and a piss poor
ability to control it. “You can head out, gentlemen,” she offered.

Brian hustled out, probably to get to a doctor, but Bruno hesitated.

“Can I talk to you?” he asked, lowering his voice.

She
signaled him to continue.

“I know something, but I don’t want anyone to know it came from me,” he said.

Ethan leaned forward. “We’ll see what we can do. There’s no way we can make promises, but we’ll try to keep your name out of it,” he offered.

“Jed and I had a long talk. He was getting ready to dump Anna. He told me she’s violent and a little crazy.”

That had their attention.

“Plus, he’d caught her a few times following him around
and checking up on his whereabouts. It had scared him.”

This was awesome.

“What else?”

He continued, “Jed was freaked out. He knew when he told her, Anna was going to lose it. He even told me that he was afraid she was going to hurt him. I know it sounds silly, but she was verbally abusive.”

Callen didn't think it was silly at all. When he’d been with Desdemona, some of their fights had turned ugly. She’d have a few drinks and start swinging. If it wasn’t a physical altercation, she’d throw out some ugly things about him to break him down. Then, he just thought it was part of a relationship. Now, he saw that wasn’t even close.

In fact, it was the opposite of love.

It was controlling behavior.

Elizabeth thought it over. It all fit for her, except Anna had an airtight alibi for the night of his death.

“Can I go now?” he asked, standing.

“Yes, feel free,” Ethan offered.

When he was gone, the men before them still didn't look happy.

“You three should probably leave,” Chief Molala stated. “I do believe you’ve gotten all of your questions answered. When will you be leaving our land?” he asked, referring to the cabins.

“Yeah, I may be moving in. The hospitality is amazing,” she stated, grabbing her things as she prepared to leave.

They didn't look amused.

Outside, she stood there with her men.

“Where to now, Lyzee?” asked Ethan, leading her to
the Navigator.

“We need to check in with the tech team. I want to know what they pulled from the killer’s hidey hole. Then, I think I want to hand out assignment
s and get back to the cabin.”

Ethan was worried, since it was relatively early. “Are you and Charlie okay?” he asked, touching her belly with his big hand.

“Yeah, but you told me that you’d bought me a spiffy new whiteboard, and I feel like breaking it in,” she admitted.

“Ah, I remember when she used to want to go back and break us in,” stated Callen.

She started laughing. “You’re out of your damn mind.”

Yeah, he was well aware, and this killer wasn’t making it any better.

“Are we all set?” Ethan asked, starting up the vehicle.

“Hell yeah! Let’s go stir up the techs. It’s my second favorite thing to do in the world,” she said, “besides riling up the Natives.”

“Yeah, I hadn’t noticed,” Ethan replied sarcastically, as he drove into town.

“Then maybe I should try harder.”

                                *     *     *

In the morgue, the techs raced against the clock. They knew that eventually their boss would be arriving, and she was going to want everything they had ASAP.

Once the killer touched one of her people, it was bound to put Elizabeth in a cranky mood. No one wanted to be on the bad side of a pregnant woman’s temper.

As Meredith raced around, making sure everything was getting done, Doctor Legend made sure the reports coming in were being sent to the bosses.

“Well, well, well,” said Elizabeth, as she strolled into the room. It made her happy to see her team working. One of the best things about her new ME was he ran a tight ship. He didn't like to break many rules when it came to his job.

“We have everything you’re going to ask for,” stated Meredith, as she stopped in front of them.

“How about you tell me what’s not going to be ready for me today?” Elizabeth asked.

“We did pull trace off of Doctor Armstrong’s clothing and it’s running right now. It was hair and a few stray fibers.”

“Okay and?”

“The blood stains on the floor were a mixed bag. Half of them were viable, but the older ones weren’t. We have them running now too.”

Elizabeth was patient since so far Meredith had impressed her, and that wasn’t easy. Christina, her predecess
or, was amazing and set the bar high.

“How about what you do have for me?”

“We ran the bindings he used on Doctor Armstrong. It’s common and found in any hardware store. What isn't common is that the only DNA we found was the doctors.”

“So, he gloved up.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Why do I feel like you’re saving the big finish for me right about now, Merry?”

The woman stared at her, face blank. “I found your distributor of the frankincense. It came right from a supplier who does big orders, which explains why the killer had what seems to be an endless supply of it.”

“This makes me very happy.”

Ethan and Callen grinned. Already, they could tell Elizabeth liked the woman. She was taking it easy on her and letting her play the game.

“I’m glad
, ma’am. The company is The Catholic Guild. They supply holy water, bibles, crucifixes and other religious paraphernalia.”

“That’s fascinating.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll keep their number for you in case there’s an apocalypse or we get a rampant pack vampyric werewolves.”

She stared at her. “You know, you saved this all by that conversation alone. I know you can’t get the personal sales information without a warrant, but you’re sarcasm made my day, Merry.”

“I’m glad, ma’am. When you want me to ramp it up to bitch, just let me know.”

Elizabeth laughed when the woman didn't bat an eyelash.
The legend of Christina had met her match. This woman was just as smart, witty, but not as bouncy. She may become super head tech after all.

Ethan
continued typing on his tablet without looking up. “I’ll submit the warrant. You should have it in a few hours.”

Elizabeth glanced over. “That means by tomorrow, I want the name of the buyer or buyers. We found a shitload of the oil. Hopefully, the killer is out of sorts now and can’t continue on without the stuff. It may buy us a little time.”

“You’ll have it, ma’am.”

She
suddenly didn't doubt that. Her team was back on its feet. “Agents Madden and Seaton, front and center.”

They both
stepped forward.

“We have a little problem. It seems that the killer is now going to be pissed off. I want everyone to double up. You have a partner and are responsible for them. Am I clear?”

“Director, do we get to pick partners?” asked Broderick, already knowing who he was going to go with.

“Do I look out of my mind?”
she asked before laughing. “You and your partner are a pair. Doctor Legend, you get Merry. Keep her out of trouble. Each tech, look to your left. That’s your partner.”

They all started moving around.

In all honesty, it was like being a kindergarten teacher. She waited for them to pair up, and then continued, “When you’re out in the field, vest up.”

There were mumbles.

“Hey! Do I have to tell you the story about the woman named Elizabeth and her partner who didn't vest up? He’s dead. I’m not. So wear it or I’ll staple them to your body. Am I being clear?

They still mumbled
, but they knew she wasn’t kidding. When it came to this subject, she didn't mess around. Their safety was paramount.

They were her
ducklings in the field. Momma duck wasn’t going to lose a single one. They’d come a little too close today.

“Director, if we need you, where will you be?” Meredith asked.

“I’m heading back to the Rez. I’m going to pull out my whiteboard and try and figure out who the hell this wackadoo is, so we can get the bloody hell out of Devil’s Lake.”

Ethan and Callen followed her out, each taking a hand.

“You know, we should probably follow-up with the man upstairs,” Ethan stated.

“God?” she asked.

He began laughing. “No, the sheriff. We are in his building and trying to play nice.”

Callen gave her a fist bump. “He set you up for that one.”

“Yeah, I know. We work well together. While we’re telling the sheriff all about it, can you locate the number to a pizza place? I need to feed our anthropologists and this child,” she said, rubbing her barely there bump.

“Yeah, angel. I can do that.”

Heading to the front of the building, they entered. Once inside, Deputy Turner smiled at her. “Hello there, ma’am,” he began.

Immediately, Callen tried to drop her hand.

Yeah, it wasn’t happening. If the killer was going to come after anyone, it was better to be her. While she wouldn’t say it out loud, they couldn’t stop her from thinking it.

“Are we going to pray?” he asked, motioning at their joined hands.

Elizabeth stared him in the eyes. “No, they’re my partners and husbands. Yes, put the shocked face away. I have two.”

The man didn't know what to say.

“Can you give Director Whitefox the number to the best pizza place in town?”

When he nodded, she went up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Oh, she could tell he wasn’t happy. Here, she’d done exactly the opposite of what he told her to do.

Yeah, she couldn’t help it. That was how she rolled.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Is your boss in?”

When he pointed, she led Ethan back there. Knocking on the door, she waited to be called in.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“We thought we’d give you an update since you’ve been so darn hospitable to us.”

He offered her a chair. “Have at it, sweetheart.”

Ethan wanted to roll his eyes, but the man was older than his father. It wasn’t like he should feel threatened.

Elizabeth broke it all down for him, explaining how the killer tried to take a Fed.