Dead Shall Speak (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 10) (56 page)

Callen went to object.

Chris Leonard cut him off. “Sorry, Callen. Your gun is pulled. That’s your right arm, and you’re not ambidextrous like Elizabeth. You’re on a twenty four hour medical suspension until tomorrow.”

He didn't look happy.

She touched his cheek, forcing him to stare into her eyes. “You have to be. I’m sorry.”

He could fight it.

Callen could argue, but what would be the point. If he did, he’d just make Elizabeth more vulnerable. She’d be distracted.

“Okay. I’ll do paperwork and research for the team. If you want, I’ll see if the sheriff has family and do the notify.”

She kissed him. “You are definitely my hero.”

Chris focused on the dead man. “What should we do?”

She didn't want to be a bitch, but this really wasn’t their issue. “Bag him. I’ll call over to the ME who should be doing any autopsies for Bellville. If he won’t do it, you’re up. I can tell you what killed him though.”

Chris didn't need her to tell him. It was a large caliber bullet, and it had met his skull. “Works for me, Lyzee.”

Just then, they all heard a commotion coming from the trees. There was Ethan Blackhawk dragging a fighting deputy toward them.

“Holy shit!” she stated. “I didn't see that one coming.”

“Let me up. I’m going to fuck him up before they throw his ass in jail,” stated Callen.

Blackhawk objected, “You know we can’t abuse prisoners. They’re innocent until proven guilty.”

Chris noticed the man looked a little ‘dinged up’. “What happened to his face?”

Ethan grinned innocently. “Well, I had to hit him when he fought me. The other few bumps and bruises were from where he ‘accidentally’ walked into a few trees.”

Elizabeth shook her head. “I hate when that happens.”

Then they all focused on the man.

“Why did you do it, Davvy?” she asked.

He didn't reply at first.

“You can’t even try to tell us that this wasn’t you.”

Blackhawk held out the rifle to Merry. “He discarded it. You’ll find my fingerprints and his. Swab him for gunshot residue.”

She nodded, running to the nearest vehicle to grab a kit.

Again, Elizabeth pushed. “Why, Davvy?”

“You have no right to be here and be a bully. From the minute you got here, you looked down your nose at us. Someone had to stop you.”

Callen really wanted to kick this man’s ass.

He was more than a jackwagon, he was a freaking lunatic. Who tried to kill someone because they were ‘bossy’ while trying to find a serial killer?

“Well, you screwed yourself now, Deputy,” she stated. “Just by shooting at us you earned yourself two counts of attempted homicide. Plus, you murdered your boss. That’s going to be life in prison for killing a cop.”

“That was an accident! I was aiming for you and your baby!”

Ethan saw red and slammed him off the SUV. The sickening thud caught everyone’s attention.

“Oops,” stated Chris Leonard. “He looks a little off balance. Maybe you should lay him on the ground. He might fall again.”

Callen wanted him to fall down a large staircase into the hottest pit of hell.

Maybe he’d help him…

“I want a lawyer,” he stated, bubbles forming in the blood gushing from his now broken nose. “I’m going to sue the FBI for brutality.”

Elizabeth looked around at the Feds. “Anyone see him being brutalized?”

Tony shook his head. “No, he fell.”

Jaxon pointed at the man’s shoes. “I think his shoelace is untied.”

Chris made a tsking sound. “We should test him for drugs. He looks out of it and wobbly.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. We’re going to call this one in,” she said, pulling out her phone.

“My deputies will let me go! Then I’m coming after you to avenge the sheriff.”

Chris pulled the zipper back on the body bag, revealing the man’s half missing face.

Deputy Waverly began puking.

“Yeah, this isn't my first day at the rodeo, Davvy. I’m turning you over to the state police. They can book you and handle this mess. I’m not an idiot. You redneck crazies flock together.”

Ethan yanked the man up by the arms and pulled him toward his vehicle. “Don’t puke in the Denali!”

“I’ll get this mess under control,” stated Chris. “You three need to get changed. You’re covered in sheriff bits.”

They needed to drop Callen off anyway.

Elizabeth pointed at her team. “I want all of you in that building with the doors locked. This is bound to piss off some of the people who work with these men. I don’t need to be worrying that they’re coming here to enact revenge.”

They understood.

Ethan spoke up, “Under the circumstances, I think that maybe we should skip the river today. We should hit up the pizza place, and then work the details a little more. I don’t want us out traipsing in the woods.”

Yeah, he didn't want his pregnant wife out there either.

That just screamed tactical error.

No one disagreed.

“Okay, stay inside until we get back. Don’t open up for anyone but the state police, and we’ll escort you back to the hotel later.”

“Agents Seaton and Madden are out in the field,” Chris stated. “You better warn them.”

She motioned toward Merry. “Call them. Tell them do the interview and head back here. I don’t want anyone wandering this freak fest town alone.”

The woman pulled out her phone.

“I’m glad you’re okay, Directors,” she stated, making the call.

Yeah, the sentiment was mutual on that one.

They found the man at his job.

At night he may be a thug, but during the day he was a produce clerk at the one grocery store. When they approached him, he genuinely looked surprised, then interested.

Not in the case, but in the woman before him.

It didn't take long to lure him outside where they could talk privately. The last thing they wanted to do was discuss a case in front of a town full of gossiping hens.

Once alongside the building, he lit up a cigarette.

“So, baby cakes, what do you need from me?”

She stared him down. If he really thought that she’d be freaked out by a little innuendo, he had another thing coming. She was a Fed. She could harass with the best of them.

“We have some questions for you.”

“Yes.”

Agent Seaton lifted a brow at the man’s response. “Yes, what?”

“I was talking to baby cakes. I’m available for a date tonight. Tell me your address and I’ll give you a ride. Then, if I’m a really bad boy, you can give me one.”

Brody wanted to kick the shit out of him. “Not happening,” he muttered.

Johanna pushed on. “Do you work for Mr. Wilfred Monroe?” she asked.

The man shrugged. “I do lots of odd jobs. Sometimes, Mr. Monroe needs things handled.”

“Like when you kicked the shit out of Clarence Rickert?” she asked.

He grinned. “Does that turn you on, baby? I have to say you look sexy in that gun and badge. I wouldn’t mind seeing you in only that at my place. Although, come to think of it, my dick is a great accessory. It goes with anything,” he stated.

Broderick was ready to lose it.

“Yeah, that’s a definite no. You’re not my type. I like men who don’t break the law.”

He laughed. “I break bones, baby cakes. That’s so much hotter.”

She didn't miss a beat. “So, you’re admitting to giving the man a beat down?” Johanna asked, making notes in her tablet.

“He told me that some shit bag was trying to diddle with his baby girl. As a friend of the family, I had an obligation. I wanted to make sure Magdalene was safe.”

“And now she’s dead.”

His face went somber. “Yeah, that sucks. She was a good girl. I feel bad for Mr. Monroe. He loved his daughter.”

Brody took over. “Word on the street is that the night she went missing, you were playing pick up at
‘The Mad Hatter’
with his daughter,” he stated.

“Nah! You got that wrong. I was doing Mr. Monroe a favor. I saw his baby girl in there, and I was trying to talk her into going home.”

“Your home or hers?” Johanna asked.

He grinned wickedly. “Maybe mine first, but then I would have brought her back to theirs.”

Brody hated the way this man was looking at his partner. He wanted to poke his eyes out.

He just might.

“So, you worked for Mr. Monroe as his muscle, and you just admitted to us that you were trying to get into Magdalene’s pants. That makes you a suspect to her murder.”

He shook his head. “Bullshit, baby cakes. I hit on her. I tried to talk her into leaving, but I didn't have anything to do with her dying.”

“Yeah, suspects never lie,” stated Brody.

“Ever,” added Johanna.

“Listen, I have an alibi. I went home with some babe I picked up in the bar. We spent the night bangin’, and then she left in the morning.”

“I’ll need her name and number,” stated Broderick.

He rattled it off. “Magdalene was too high maintenance,” he admitted. “I like my women low key.”

“How do you feel about women with dark hair and blue eyes?” she asked.

“Nah, I like blondes myself. Or better yet, I like them to have your hair color.” He then patted her on the ass.

She tried to remember not to punch anyone. If she did, Ethan Blackhawk was going to feed her to his wife.

“If you touch me again, I’m going to break your fingers.”

She wouldn’t have to. Brody was pretty sure he was going to snap and lose it at any second.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s my bad, Agent Baby Cakes.”

She rolled her eyes.

Brody fought for control. “Have you ever seen these women?” he asked, holding up his tablet as he tried to do his job.

The man inspected each one.

“Yeah, this one is the babe at the pizza place. She smiles and is sweet as pie.”

“Ever date her?” Johanna asked.

“Nah, she turned me down.”

Yeah, that was a shocker.

He pulled off his baseball cap and ran his fingers though his ebony hair. “If you’re done, baby cakes, I have to get back to work. Look me up later. We can party.”

He winked, and then headed past her.

Johanna said nothing as she headed toward the vehicle. Once inside, she glanced over at her partner.

“He was a total dick.”

Brody just nodded.

“But I guess being a dick doesn’t make you a serial killer.”

He shrugged, starting up the vehicle.

“Are you okay? You’re not talking and you have that crease in the middle of your forehead. That usually means you’re pissed off.”

“Oh, I am.”

Johanna hated to see him this worked up.

“Want to talk about it?”

He shook his head.

She placed her hand on his arm. “Brody, talk to me.”

Everything in him was a storm. He wanted to peel the flesh off the man for talking to her like that, and when he put his hand on her, Brody was livid.

While she may not admit it yet, he knew the truth. Johanna was meant to be his. He could feel it all the way to his toes. Watching that man touch her, call her baby cakes, and flirt, was too much to take.

Now she was touching him.

It was a recipe for disaster.

“Brody?” she asked again.

He snapped. Turning toward her, Broderick Seaton did something violent. He yanked Johanna against him and kissed her.

Mouths crashed.

She gasped.

He pillaged.

All the control was gone as his lips sought hers to devour everything she had to offer. When her hands went to the front of his shirt, he swore he was going to explode right there.

He wanted her.

There would never be enough of Johanna in his life. They may be young, they might be partners, but he knew the truth.

Brody Seaton was in love.

She couldn’t breathe. The kiss was melting the polish off her toes, that’s how scorching hot it was. Johanna knew that kissing him in the front seat of an FBI vehicle was a bad idea.

Hell, kissing him was a horrible idea.

With each tangle of tongues and lips, she fell more for him. In the end, he’d get hurt.

Brody would be damaged.

They’d ruin what they had.

She was just about to pull away when she got a whiff of his cologne.

It called to her.

“Joey,” he whispered, diving back into the kiss.

She wanted to forget everything but him.