Sacred Burial Grounds (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 2)) (5 page)

There was silence on the other end.

“Hello?”

“Gabe, I don’t know if you remember me. My name is Callen Whitefox.” He hoped the man would recall meeting him before. They were really desperate to have someone that wouldn’t tear the reservation apart, and for some reason he trusted Gabriel Rothschild. The man seemed very honorable.

“Callen, it’s been a long time my friend. Are you okay?”
Of course he remembered the man. He was smart, funny, and worked for the sheriff’s department out west. He had worked with him years ago when they had a killer running loose. At one time he had hoped to recruit the man to work for the FBI. There was huge potential, but the man had family obligations to handle out there.

“I have a big problem, and I need your help.”

Here it came. This was going to be the request he didn’t want. “What kind of problem, Callen?”

“It’s a messy one that we aren’t equipped to handle.”

Gabriel sat back and his mind began preparing for the issue. “Are you still with the sheriff’s department out there?”

“No, I head up the reservation police in the neighboring county.”

Well shit, if the reservation police were calling then it would only be for a few reasons. Since they weren’t part of federal jurisdiction they only called if there was something outside the scope of their investigative control. Murder, drugs, and guns were the big three. “What do you have that you need federal assistance?”

“This morning one of my men found a circle, stones
, and tiny bones.”

“Tiny bones, Callen?”
This was going to mean definite intervention.

“We don’t have the facility here to analyze them, but the local medical doct
or checked them out. Our doctor thinks they’re the bones of a child.”

Before he could comment Whitefox continued, “There were four little femurs
and all soft yet.”

There was no need to specify more. H
e’d worked plenty of assignments as an agent that had soft bones, and it was a dead giveaway. It was most likely a fetus that had still been in utero when it had been killed. “Four huh?”

“Yeah,
we found four little femurs. I would have called the sheriff in the next town and asked them to step in, but I have multiple bodies, so legally I’m obliged to notify you. There are at least two bodies and the doctor said there are repeating bones in the ash. I think I have a multiple homicide,” he said and the words stuck sickly in his throat.

Gabe knew that they had no choice in the matter. “Okay, here’s what I’m going to do. We just opened up FBI West not far from you,” he
said, giving him the address. “You need to head over there and meet up with the agents running the office. I’ll call them now. They’ll know what’s going on, and they’ll help you out.”

“I really appreciate this
, Gabe. I just need people that aren’t going to raise hell and fire up the locals.”

“I’m sending you my best. T
hey work very well together, and they’re damn fine at figuring things out. They’ll keep it under control,” he hoped, as he knew that Elizabeth would be the one that stirred the masses most. She was the wild card in any situation.

“Will they blend in?” Whitefox
was worried about outsiders on the reservation. That was going to be the big issue. Whoever he sent would need thick skin. There would be zero cooperation from the tribe. Outsiders were greatly disliked, but the FBI... there was no love lost there.

“He will seamlessly, but Elizabeth is going to stand out like
a gorgeous sore thumb. Let’s just say she doesn’t blend well,” he laughed. “Don’t worry, Callen. Just keep the crime scene intact the best you can, and meet them at FBI West in an hour. I’ll make sure that they know you're coming.”

“Thanks, Gabe,” he said, warily. “Should I be worried about Elizabeth? Is she trouble? The situation is usually tense on the reservation between the law and the
Native tribe.”

Gabe couldn’t help but laugh himself. “She’s not going to offend anyone on purpose, Callen. She’s just a full o
utsider. But don’t piss her off. If you do, then I advise you run for it.”

Callen Whitefox didn’t know if he should be worried or laugh. The woman sounded like she was going to be a handful, and he could just visualize the pot being stirred wickedly.

“Be there in an hour. I’m making the call now.” Gabe hung up the phone and stared at the desk. He didn’t want to do this to his agents. He promised them in house jobs, but his back was against the wall. Now he had to break a promise to the two people that mattered most in life to him and his wife. Both agents were his adopted family, one he kept private and safe at any cost. There were only two women in his life he loved, his wife and Elizabeth Blackhawk. One was his soul mate, and the other was like a sister. When she married Ethan, he too became family. Now he had to renege on a promise.

Damn it to hell!
Gabe hated that he had to make this call. In fact, he’d do anything to not make it. Sometimes being the boss was just a colossal pain in the ass.

Now
he had to decide which one to drop the news on first. He thought long and hard about it, finally decided to call the one that would handle it a little more rationally. There was no doubt she’d understand and forgive him for putting them back out into the field and back into danger. Ethan Blackhawk wasn’t going to forgive and forget so easily. 

That was a cold, hard fact.

~ C
hapter Two ~

Wednesday morning

Elizabeth Blackhawk stood in her new kitchen, freshly showered and back from her morning run. When she woke before dawn, she wasn’t sure she wanted to get out of bed and make the six mile trek around their new neighborhood
. After much internal arguing, she forced herself to do it and get it over with. It wasn’t like her to bitch this much about a run. Usually her husband would join her, but this morning he was sleeping like the dead. Not that she didn’t try to wake him up. There was even a kiss and then a nudge but nothing. Ethan Blackhawk’s reply was to just roll over. That was her sign that this run was going to be done on her own.

Now she was making her husband breakfast.
Once again, Elizabeth beat him out of bed and enjoyed taking care of him. It was her secret pleasure. Lately, they had been so busy that eating had taken a back seat to pretty much everything. This wife gig was all a new thing for her. They were still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, setting routines and boundaries. Since they didn’t have a yearlong courtship or a manual on how to be a couple, they were trying to figure it out. It only took four days and they were married.

Everyone who knew them said they were crazy, but it just worked for them. So far
, it had been incredibly smooth sailing, and she was grateful. They had stressful enough jobs and the last thing they needed was a rocky relationship. Marrying Ethan Blackhawk was the best thing she ever did in her life. Second to that was returning back to the FBI, so she could partner up with the Cowboy. Now they were making their mark across the country in the new FBI West headquarters. It was one big adventure, and she loved every second of it. 

Their days had become so hec
tic, as they tried to staff the agency and keep up with all the agents already out on assignments. With all the day to day monotony, it was sometimes too difficult to get in a meal together. The morning ritual had become her priority, and she worked damn hard at giving them this little slice of normalcy. Standing there making him breakfast, it reminded her of the first time he showed up on her porch, and she cooked for him. It was the start of something neither one of them had the power or inclination to stop. From day one, she knew that the Cowboy was going to change her life, and boy had he ever.

Speaking of the very sexy devil,
as he entered the room he was whistling and towel drying his hair. Just the sight of him in just dress pants and shirtless made her heart skip a beat. Ethan Blackhawk was a fine specimen of masculinity. He was Native American with inky black hair to his shoulders and eyes so dark and deep blue. They simply drew you in, making you feel completely lost. Then there were the tattoos. Oh yeah, the warrior art, as she called it. His misspent youth getting inked was her greatest joy. She couldn’t help but feel all hot and bothered by his heritage and the tribal art plastered across his flesh. She had her favorite tattoo, and it had to be the black raven adorning his chest. Although, come to think of it, she was an equal opportunity kind of gal. The other tattoos covering his shoulders and back got her just as warmed up. When dressed for the FBI you couldn’t see a single one, and just the knowledge of what he had hidden away turned her right on every time she thought about it. He was two sides to the same coin. One side was a reserved FBI Director and on the other side there was a sexy Indian warrior. There were days she couldn’t keep her eyes or hands off him, and she was pretty sure that wasn’t ever going to change. Ethan Blackhawk made her hot!

“You're staring, baby,” he laughed, entering the kitchen
, pulling her into his arms, and kissing his wife. “Seriously, are you thinking about sex again?” Now he was laughing. It was hard to miss the look and the mischievous twinkle in her eyes. Okay, it was his fault. He didn’t wander around shirtless for absolutely no reason. Blackhawk was trying to bait her into climbing all over him. It had become his favorite pastime.

“I have a paper and ring that
states that I get to stare until my heart’s content, Cowboy.” Elizabeth returned the kiss, running her fingers through his hair and breathing in the scent of her husband.

Yeah, marriage
to this man just worked for her.

Ethan Blackhawk
adored his wife. Truly loved her like nothing else in the world. When he first was sent to Salem, he’d been plagued with dreams of a bewitching beauty, and then he crashed into her in real life. The first time he heard her voice during his waking hours, he knew it was a done deal. Elizabeth LaRue Blackhawk saved his life. Not only when the serial killer went after them in Salem, but on the day that she agreed to marry him. Before finding Elizabeth, he was all FBI and didn’t believe he could have a relationship that would work. He was damaged goods. His heart had been beat around by other women and life. When he found Elizabeth, she patched him up and made him whole again. Fixing him only for her and that was the best thing ever.

“I see you made me breakfast, baby
.” Blackhawk kissed her slow and deep again, because he damn well could. That same paper gave him equal opportunity rights. One day he would actually be the first to wake up. Then he would enjoy keeping her in bed with him, until he had his fill of his sexy wife. When he broke the kiss, she was smiling up at him, and the love he felt grabbed his heart and squeezed. There would never be enough of this woman.

That was just a fact in his life.

“I missed you on my run, Cowboy,” she whispered in his ear. “We could have conserved water and showered together.”

Blackhawk felt his body clench at the words. Something in him was very disappointed that he didn’t catch her back from her run all sweaty and warm. “You should have woke me up,” he answered back, as she ran her hands down his back.

“I tried
but you were out cold. Must have had a rough night,” she snickered, pulling away. Oh he’d had a really rough night, and she laughed recalling the previous evening’s festivities.

Blackhawk
grinned wickedly. Yeah, he’d run headlong into a hurricane named Elizabeth. Just thinking about the preceding night made him more than sorry that he missed the run and a repeat performance that morning.

There was nothing like waking every morning to a wife and finding her in their kitchen waiting for him. Before her, he never wanted to get married or have a commitment. The minute he saw her in his dreams
, and then in Salem, there wasn’t a minute he didn’t want one with her. Something in him just clicked and he in love. He was a very lucky man. Elizabeth had stolen his heart from the first time he had a dream about her, even as he struggled to find her. Then fate slammed them together hard and fast. After less than a week he knew she was the one and proposed. Miraculously, she said yes and married him an hour later, and his life had never been the same again. She was wild and dangerously out of control, and he was organized and a control freak. It was a match made in heaven in his mind. Everything in life was about balance, and they had perfected it. Without her he’d be incomplete.

There was something innately sexy about his wife. Yeah, she was built and had an amazing
body, but it was more than outer beauty. Deep down, she had an amazing heart. There had never been a better woman to own his life.