Pledging to Die (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 11) (60 page)

They were well aware.

As he left, Callen stopped her. “You’re putting on a vest before we do anything.”

“Will you be joining me?”

“Hell yeah! I like my organs safely tucked inside my skin. Call me crazy like that.”

She laughed.

“Let’s go catch a killer.”

That he could do.

       
         
* * *
  B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x   * * *

An Hour Later

Sitting in their vehicle, not far from Pricilla Sanchez’s house, Callen was running searches on the potential killer’s financials.

It didn't take long to find the same exact account number dumping cash into her savings. It was apparent that she didn't think she’d be caught. It wasn’t buried to deep. All Callen had to do was run a few variations on her name, and it popped.

She was definitely Doctor Hallowell’s partner in this sick, perverted crime.

“She’s guilty as sin.”

Elizabeth wasn’t shocked. “She fits Ethan’s profile of a psychopath. She randomly uses sex to get what she wants, she’s smart and blends in, and when we saw her after his death, she was all weepy and crying. She’s really good at manipulating. None of us even suspected her.”

“She would have access to his office, and as his administrative assistant and partner in this, she’d have access to his house too.”

She agreed. “It fits. Ethan said that Doctor Hallowell wouldn’t make personal attachments, but with someone he was with day after day, he’d begin to trust her. She was a psychopath preying on a sociopath. He didn't have a chance.”

“This case is giving me a migraine. I swear.”

She completely understood. That’s why she loved working with Ethan. He sorted through all the psych mumbo jumbo for her. “I’m betting that when we search her house, we find his shit there. She’s going to keep it like a trophy. She’s sick like that.”

“Yeah, she really is.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Elizabeth realized that Callen wasn’t saying anything.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

“You are a bad liar, Cal. I thought we had an agreement about not keeping secrets in our relationship.”

She had a point. “Okay, so be it, but if it pisses you off, I’m not responsible. I was minding my own business.”

“What?” she asked.

“I was thinking about kids.”

“Oh, crap.”

He started laughing. “See? You made me tell you. It was better if I kept it to myself.”

“No, it’s not,” she stated, watching the house. “Spill it.”

“I know you’re done, but I want more.”

She laughed.

“I’m serious. I don’t want you to feel guilty, so please don’t take this that way, but kids heal me. It lets me feel innocence, and that reminds me that I have a purpose here. The idea of my little ones coming to me, knowing I won’t ever let them hurt is healing.”

“Okay, but you have two kids, and you also have Ethan’s two.”

“It’s not the same. When you brought Charlie home, it hurt. I know I’m a horrible person for even going there, but when I saw her I felt a hole inside me.”

“Why?” she asked, now staring at him. “It’s not like you to be jealous of Ethan.”

He was well aware, but this ran so much deeper. “It’s not him. I’m haunted.”

“By?”

“Desdemona.”

That name spoken was enough to bring tears to her eyes. Elizabeth really hated the woman, and that was saying a lot since she’d seen plenty of assholes in her life. The abuse she inflicted on Callen was bad enough, but giving birth to their child—well, it was a constant reminder to all of them that she would forever be part of their happiness.

She was like the gray cloud on picnic day. It was going to follow them through life.

“Don’t get me wrong. I love Catherine. She’s my pride and joy, but she’s not going to ever be like you. Ethan has Charlie, and she’s going to grow up to be badass, and her momma’s little girl. Cat…she’s…”

He couldn’t say it.

“She’s going to be like Desdemona, and that scares you.”

It hurt Callen, but it was the truth. “She’s never going to look like you. She’s never going to have that spark that you have. Every day I worry if Desdemona’s nastiness is going to taint my daughter. It terrifies me.”

She took his hand in hers.

“One day, she’s going to notice that she doesn’t look like you. She’s going to wonder why Charlie is tall, and she’s short. Why she has those eerie green eyes, and the rest of our children have brown and shades of blue.”

Elizabeth understood. “You know that I love her as much as I love CJ, EJ, and Charlie, right? I don’t hold her mother’s sins against her. That’s my Kitty Cat.”

He nodded. “You’re a better person than I am, Lyzee. I’m afraid I can’t love her the same. Does that make me horrible?”

“Well, it kind of does.”

He stared at her. “Well, don’t sugar coat it or anything.”

“She’s your child, Callen. She’s mine. Desdemona gave you a gift, and then she left this world. If she didn't have any good in her, when she was dying, she wouldn’t have told them where to find you. She wanted you to have her. In those last seconds, she was asking for forgiveness. Cat won’t be bad. She’s going to be amazing. Look at the men who love her.”

He thought about it.

“Ethan cuddles her and treats her like his own. He’s always carrying her around like she’s his little princess. He dresses her in pink and built her a play village in the back yard. She’s never going to know that twisted hate that Desdemona’s mother instilled in her. She’s going to be raised in love and happiness. Wyler is going to make sure that she always fits in, and so are we. Whether she’s half Desdemona or not, she’s still half you, and you’re a damn good role model for her.”

He sighed. “Okay.”

The vehicle got quiet. Elizabeth could feel his hurt. Whenever Callen was freaked out, he would run his hand inadvertently over the scars on his arm. She couldn’t let him hurt.

“Do you really need another child?” she asked.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Elizabeth could feel him shutting himself down. With the therapy, this was Callen’s escape route in life. When he was worried or freaked out, he put up these walls. He would block everyone out while he suffered in silence.

“With each child I have, at this age, there are risks—not only to me, but to the baby. I’m over forty now, and it’s not getting easier.”

“I told you it’s okay. I’ll get over it.”

Clearly, he wouldn’t.

Elizabeth had to make a choice, and she knew it couldn’t be about her. She’d made a promise to Timothy Blackhawk that she’s always be the protective raven in their lives.

Now, she had to walk the walk, since she talked the talk.

“I don’t want to risk any of our children, but I’m willing to make that gamble.”

He started panicking as he thought about her losing her life in childbirth, just like Desdemona had. There was still a part of Callen that believed his genes were jacked up. 

“Forget I brought it up. You’re right. I should be grateful with what I have. I’m blessed.”

“Do you really need this here?” she asked, touching his chest over his heart. “Be honest with me.”

“Yes.”

“It’s not just a big tribe thing?”

He shook his head.

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

Callen stared at her like she’d lost her mind. “Really? You’re going to get pregnant again?”

“Yes, but really, this is it. I need a few months to recover from this last pregnancy, and I’ll start pumping up the folic acid and other vitamins. You get one last shot, and if we have a boy, that’s it. I’m not going to pop out twenty kids until you get the sex you want. You’ll have to name him a girly name and put him in dresses.”

He touched her cheek and grinned. “You don’t have to do this, Lyzee.”

Yes, she did—for him, for the promise she made to a dying old Indian shaman, and to the family she’d die to protect. 

“I don’t think I can do more than what we have. Four children is one hell of a handful. In all honesty, I’m wearing down.”

“I won’t risk you. If you think you can’t pull it off, then we’ll stop discussing it. I’ll let it go.”

She knew that wasn’t the truth. Callen needed this, and so she’d give him what he longed for.

It was the least she could do.

“Cal, I need to do this. Part of loving someone is giving them want makes them happy. If you need to heal, let’s do it. Ethan had Charlie, and you get one more.
THEN
I’m having my tubes tied. At this rate, I’ll be seventy before our kids graduate from college.”

He kissed her. “I love you so much.”

She touched his cheek. “I feel the same too, my love.”

At the use of her nickname for him, Callen’s heart skipped in his chest. When she tucked the stray hairs behind his ear, he knew that he’d definitely won the wife lotto.

“Thank you for healing me like you always do. Without you, I’d be lost, Lyzee.”

Just as she was about say something sweet, Elizabeth saw the porch light go on across the street.

“She’s leaving.”

They ducked down in the Escalade as they watched the woman leave with a duffle bag and cooler. When she threw it in her trunk and got behind the wheel, they knew it was going down.

“Yeah, she’s going hunting for some bone marrow,” Callen stated.

“We have to follow. Don’t lose her, Callen. We only have an account number to tie her to this. We need to get more.”

As he drove, Elizabeth called her husband. “She’s on the move.”

“Let me know where you end up, and I’ll meet you there.”

She hung up.

“It looks like she’s heading back to the university. She’s going to their favorite hunting grounds.”

Elizabeth rolled her neck, trying to alleviate some of the tension. “Good. Let’s make her life a living hell.”

They followed her back onto campus, and when she got out of her car at a local pizza place, went inside, and ordered dinner, and then headed out, Elizabeth was appalled.

“She is a total psychopath. This broad is nuttier than granny’s fruitcake. She’s going to eat pizza and then debone a human? That’s just wrong.”

Callen agreed.

As they walked behind her in the crowded college campus street, they held hands and pretended that they were lovers taking a stroll. As long as she didn't see their faces, they were in the clear.

When the crowd began thinning out, they gave the woman more space. At one point, they had to jump into a cluster of trees to stay hidden, but they didn't lose her.

“We need to move quietly,” she whispered, spotting the woman heading toward the frat house.

When she ducked alongside the building, Callen and Elizabeth both popped their coms in their ears. They immediately heard Ethan talking to them.

“She’s behind the frat house,” Elizabeth said from across the tree lined street. “I think she’s going to use the shed or take her into the woods.”

Callen watched Pricilla as he recorded everything on his camera. If this woman even tried to get out of this, they’d have their proof. She may not have killed the first six women, but she was going down for their murders too, as an accessory.

“Wait,” Elizabeth said, directing his attention further down the sidewalk. Under the light posts, she could see a college girl heading their way. “She’s going to take her,” stated Elizabeth. “I’ve seen her at the sorority house.”

Callen spoke into his com. “Ethan, we have our mark.”

“On my way.”

“Lyzee, I’ll watch Pricilla. You keep your eyes on the target,” Callen stated. He zoomed in on the shrubs where the woman had disappeared.

Elizabeth didn't like having to use this girl as bait, but there was no other way. They needed Pricilla to make a move before they could step in. Once she did, they’d have her dead to rights, and she’d hang for these crimes.

They waited.

They watched.

As the girl moved closer, the shrubs shook as if Pricilla was getting into position. 

When the sorority girl was right in front of the place where Pricilla went in, they saw the glint and the motion.

Then the girl was gone.

“She’s pulled her in!” Elizabeth said, running from the trees. They knew there wouldn’t be much time. They had to move fast.

Entering into the trees, they could hear the soft sobs of the girl not that far ahead. There was also Pricilla’s voice warning her to shut up.