Choices will Destroy (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 14) (21 page)

“And?”

“She shot me down. We shared one passion filled kiss, only to realize that it was like kissing a sister. Neither of us felt it. We laughed about it afterwards, and for years it’s been the running joke.”

Ethan believed them.

“Are you pissed?” Chris asked. “I’m not in love with your wife. Well, I am in love with her, but in a very sister and brother kind of way. At the beginning, I was turned on by her looks and sweetness. Now I realize that she’s not my type. Cyra is. I love my wife.”

Blackhawk grinned. “I know.”

“Then why are you heading up the inquisition?”

“We’re friends. I wanted to see if you’d really just say it to my face. There’s tension between your family and mine, and I need to figure out where it’s originating from.”

Chris held his breath.

Was he that transparent?

“What gives, Chris?”

Like he didn't lie about the kiss, Chris couldn’t lie to Ethan since he threw down the friendship card.

“It’s Cyra. She’s not adjusted to my life in the FBI. She’s also a little wary of Elizabeth. I think the two men thing freaks her out.”

“Why?”

“I think she believes Elizabeth is a man collector.”

Chris removed the man’s liver and placed it on the table to begin slicing off a section to do the tox.

“You realize that’s not even close, right?”

He laughed. “I came first. If she was collecting, don’t you think she would have had me by now?”

Ethan laughed. “Likely.”

“Besides, I told you. Gabe and Livy broke her. I slept beside her for those days, and I didn't take advantage of her. Now I’m married, and I made a commitment to my wife. I wouldn’t go there even if she was available.”

“I believe you.”

“Thanks for that. I figured you’d be angry.”

Ethan leaned against the wall. “If I thought you were trying to have sex with Elizabeth, I would be. I see how you are around her. Even with Tony, you two act like big brothers. I know. I have the distinct pleasure of being one.”

“So we’re good?”

“Hell no!”

“What now?” Chris asked, the scalpel pausing in his hand.

“What killed him?” he asked, pointing at Tristan.

Chris laughed. “Are you kidding me?”

Ethan grinned.

“Was all this leading up to that question?”

“Yes.”

“You’re devious.”

“She is more straight forward, but I like to study people. You are an interesting man, and the more I find out about you and Lyzee, the more curious I am.”

“I love her, and he’s dead. There you go. Run with it.”

Blackhawk grinned. “You can do better than that.”

“He died a horrible death. That’s all I have.”

Ethan knew the man hated giving out details, so instead, he offered up a few of his own. “Tristan Case wasn’t tied down, and that’s one more thing the original
‘Butcher’
would have done. If there are no ligature marks, then that likely means he has to have been killed another way. If the killer came at me, I would have fought tooth and nail. So, I guess what I’m asking you is does he have any defensive wounds?”

Chris put down his scalpel and began running his fingers across the man’s head. He had the throat open, and he could tell he wasn’t strangled. Tristan’s hyoid was intact and there were no bruises or ligature marks on his neck.

As he examined the victim’s skull, his fingers passed over something on the back of his head.

He stopped.

“I think I found something.”

Ethan moved closer. “What?”

“There seems to be some damage to the occipital bone on the back of his head. We might have blunt force trauma. I won’t know until I open up his skull, but that’s likely what took him down.”

Ethan made notes.

“Tristan still has all his blood, unlike the director.”

“Wow, Doctor Leonard, you’re being helpful and didn't even put up a fight. That is so unlike you.”

“Yes, I’m aware. She tolerates my jackassery a little more than you will. I’m not baiting the boss man tiger.”

Blackhawk was amused. Little did the world know, but he was the easier going of the two directors.

As Ethan was about to ask more questions, the autopsy suite door swung open and a man raced into the room.

Ethan went for his gun and moved between the man and their ME.

Then he recognized him.

Ethan was more than a little surprised.

“Where’s my partner?” Jay Melrose asked. He frantically looked around the room, before his eyes fell onto the form on the metal table.

Blackhawk didn't move.

It took seconds for Jay Melrose to realize who stood before him, blocking his route. “Ethan?” he asked, his eyes focusing on the one man. “What the hell? Is that really you?”

Ethan moved closer.

“Jay,” he said, holding out his hand.

Instead of taking it, Jay hugged him.

Blackhawk patted him on the back.

“What the hell happened? I was sleeping, and I got a call from another agent that Tristan was dead. They have to be yanking my chain, right?”

“I’m sorry, Jay, but they aren’t.”

He stared at him. “I don’t get it. We were out on a case, and then we took yesterday off. We were due back in this morning to head out. How did this happen?”

Before he could say anything, Callen entered the room, a folder under his arm. Immediately, he stopped dead in his tracks.

“Uh, I guess I’m a little late,” Callen stated. “I was coming to give you Tristan and his partner’s file.”

Ethan stared at his old friend. “You really shouldn’t be here,” he stated.

“Since when do you follow the rules, Blackhawk? Your one goal in life was to break as many as possible.”

What could he say about that?

It was the damn truth.

Instead, Ethan took control and made introductions.

“This, Jay, is Director Whitefox, and this is our ME, Doctor Christopher Leonard.”

He stared at the doctor holding the scalpel. “I remember you. A while back weren’t you working here?”

As the introductions started, Chris pulled the sheet over the victim. He wasn’t sure what Ethan planned on doing. This had the potential to be volatile.

“Yes, I’ve worked a few cases you were handling when I was here at this office. I’ve worked with both of you back then.”

That shocked Blackhawk.

“Did you?”

Chris nodded.

Ethan began wracking his brain as he tried to recall ever working with Chris before Elizabeth.

He just couldn’t place the memories.

Why didn’t he recall him?

Chris wasn’t surprised that he had blended into the surroundings, and that he’d been invisible. Frankly, most of the agents never even paid attention to the ME or tech staff. They were merely a means to an end. They needed information, and the ME got it for them. Unlike Elizabeth, most agents didn't bother to get attached or pick a specific ME for their team. They took whatever the rotation provided. Other than Elizabeth, most Feds back then only wanted a hard copy of the report. There was very little interaction.

“I feel angry and scared all at once,” Jay admitted.

No one blamed him.

Agent Melrose glanced down at the sheet covering the man on the table. His eyes filled with emotion. “I need to see him. I need to do this.”

“Jay, you don’t want to do that,” Ethan warned.

Only, it was too late.

His old partner moved around him before whipping the sheet off the victim. His horrified gasp filled the room.

“Jesus! What was done to him?” Jay asked, as he stared down in horror at the man’s destroyed body. “What animal did this to him?”

Ethan didn't want to tell him too much, but he trusted the man who was once his partner. They’d been through a lot, and he deserved that much from him.

“Remember
‘The Butcher’
case about fifteen years ago?” he asked.

Jay thought back. “Yeah, wasn’t some newbie handling it and jacked it up? She let him get away. Everyone rode her ass for being handed a gem of a case and then dropping the ball.”

Yeah, he was well aware.

Ethan had been one of those agents too.

More and more of the details were coming back to him. Ethan hadn’t just walked away from the chance to be her partner. He was now beginning to recall how horrible he’d been to her.

Shit!

He’d been an asshole.

God!

He regretted it.

There was a life lesson in all of this.

Callen glared at the agent. “So, you rode her ass, huh?” he asked, wanting to punch the man in the face for contributing to Elizabeth’s pain.

“We all did. Ethan, remember when he got away, and all the agents left a card on her desk wishing her our condolences on burying her career?”

Shit!

Yeah, he did.

Ethan glanced over at his brother. Instead of anger there, he saw the sympathy. Well, at least his brother didn't blame him for hurting their woman. When this got out, and he was pretty sure it would, he was screwed.

Blackhawk wished he could take it back. At the time, he was just following the crowd, trying to fit it. He’d let his insecurities win.

Ethan needed to get everyone refocused. “Well, it looks like we have a copycat killer.”

“How do you know it’s not the real deal?” Jay asked, his eyes never leaving his deceased partner.

Ethan was busy studying Jay, and something wasn’t right. He wasn’t mad. Jay looked like he wanted to throw himself on the dead man’s body and weep.

It was subtle, but it was off.

If someone had killed his partner, he would have been on a bender trying to get justice. With each tear Jay wiped away, Ethan became more and more puzzled.

“Ethan?” he asked.

“Sorry. I was thinking about your question. All I can tell you is that the set up isn't the same. The killer isn’t hitting his marks with the murders. It’s definitely a different person.”

“What do you mean?”

Chris spoke up. “The butchering of the victim is wrong, and he’s not setting the scene correctly. Certain unknown facts aren’t lining up.”

Ethan glanced over at that cue. He knew what the doctor meant. In not so many words, Chris Leonard was answering all the questions Ethan had.

“Are you saying you found it?” Blackhawk asked, regarding the medallion. He hoped to hell Chris hadn’t. There was always that chance that this wasn’t related.

“I just did,” Chris said. “I was about to remove it from the body before our guest rushed in.

Ethan went to move Jay from the room.

“I’m staying.”

“Jay.”

“Ethan, we went through a lot together. I’m asking as a friend. I need this. He mattered to me.”

Callen stared at him, waiting for his brother to make a decision. When Elizabeth wasn’t here, it fell on his shoulders.

This was Ethan’s call.

“Remove the medallion.”

Chris trusted that Ethan knew what he was doing. Picking up the oral forceps, he removed the medallion from the man’s throat. “It was crammed down there pretty far.”

Immediately, Merry was by his side with a jar. She was going to test for fingerprints

Maybe they’d get lucky.

“He shoved it down his throat?” he asked. “Where was the first killer putting them?” Jay asked.

“They were placed in more intimate locations,” Ethan said, not giving away too much information.

Jay’s face said it all.

He was a trained investigator. He got it.

“Jesus.”

“Yeah, we know.”

“I want to help. What can I do?” he asked. “Tristan was a good man. He was great at his job, he was tenacious, and he never gave up. In fact, he was a lot like you. Maybe that’s why we worked so well together.”

Ethan didn't say anything, but he was still waiting for the man to erupt in anger.

Yet, it didn’t happen.

“Come on, Ethan. Let me in. Aren’t you some bigwig now?”

It wasn’t that easy.

“I’m not the agent in charge of this case, Jay. I’m sorry.”

“You’re one step below Gabriel freaking Rothschild. Don’t give me that. You have pull. You can get me in if you try.”

Callen laughed at that comment, garnering all their attention. He knew the truth. “Sorry, but I know who is running this, and trust me when I say that no one has any pull over her. She’s the boss when she runs a case. God could come down from heaven, and she’d tell him to pound sand.”

They all knew Callen was right.

Ethan grinned. “He’s correct, Jay. My partner is in charge of this. I’m simply here in a profile capacity and to make sure no one tries to push their way into the autopsy.”