Slay Bells Ring (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 12) (11 page)

“What do we have?” Chris asked, pulling on his gloves. With one hand, he held the makeshift towel to his head. With the other, he headed into the scene.

When he got in there, it was only Elizabeth at his side, and he took the moment to check on her.

“Are you okay?” he whispered, pointing at her midsection.

“Yeah,” she whispered back. “I landed on my ass, and nothing else hit the ground.”

Chris was glad, but still…

‘Tell him!’
he mouthed.

She planned on it as soon as everything calmed down.

Now wasn’t the best time. Callen would lose his mind, and they had media outside. She needed to give him time to relax first.

“Let’s get started,” she offered.

Chris began making notes in his recorder. As he walked through the hanging limbs and appendages, he shook his head. “We have officially met the king and queen of crazy,” he muttered.

Didn't she know it?

“What can you tell me?” she asked.

He glanced over. “Are you kidding me, Lyzee? You have hanging appendages. That’s what you have. I hope you don’t expect COD right now.”

“Just give me the basics.”

He reached up to touch the one leg hanging beside him. It was hard and cold to the touch. “They’ve been dead a while. There’s varying degrees of rigor here. Some are further along than others, and since you have blowfly larva, and no eggs, we know that the bodies have been here longer than twenty four hours.”

Well, that timeline gave her something to work with. At least they knew that the eggs had hatched.

“Wait, I found a pupa.”

She moved toward him. “And that means?”

“It means that some of these parts are about four to five days old.”

That was even better.

Before she could ask any more questions, Callen stuck his head in. “The shower is set up. You can go first.”

Elizabeth would normally stick to her ME, but she wanted to get the meaty bits off her. It was making her stomach roll with nausea.

“Chris, keep working. I want an update ASAP.”

“On it, boss.”

Outside, she found Merry with evidence bags and changes of FBI clothes for them. Their heavy winter gear wasn’t far away.

“In you go. I’ll clean off your side arms once you pass them out—badges too.”

They stepped inside the portable shower and Callen watched as she began stripping. He couldn’t get naked, or his surprise would be ruined.

It wasn’t the time or the place to reveal his gift to her.

Callen began wiggling his eyebrows at her, right before he grabbed a handful of her ass.

Immediately, she laughed. He was such a goof. Here they were, covered in splatter, and he was still trying to make her laugh.

“Uh, do you want me to leave you two alone?” Merry teased.

“No. He’s trying to get hurt, that’s all.”

He leaned into her body to whisper in her ear. “I love when you hurt me. It makes me wild.”

Even her heart skipped.

It was getting hot in there…

“I better not get naked,” he admitted. “I have impulse control issues,” he teased. “I’ll help Elizabeth. Then I’ll shower when she’d done.”

She shrugged. “Works for me.”

Callen was relieved. His tattoo would remain hidden a little longer.

As they passed their guns and badges out, Merry kept talking. “There’s soap in there, but you need to rinse off first, and then roll up the mat on the ground. Then you can use the soap to clean up. I tossed in some shampoo because between the two of you, there are miles of hair.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Thank you, Merry. Sadly, this isn't the first time I’ve had to do this in my career. I wish it was, but I’m a pro at splatter removal.”

“Really?” Callen asked, as he watched her wash her hair. His fingers were itching to get in there and help, but he couldn’t. “Were you alone or did you have company?”

She shrugged as the water rinsed the chunks from her and onto the mat. “You know me, Callen. I like a buddy in the shower. I had company,” she teased.

He wasn’t expecting that.

“What? You better be kidding. I don’t like the idea that you’re taking turns in the shower with anyone but me or Ethan.”

Merry snickered. “I love my job.”

She punched him. “Knock it off.”

Elizabeth started laughing. “Livy and I had some interesting cases before she retired. The most memorable was when a suspect decided to kill himself in front of us. There was blowback.”

Callen gave her a kiss. “My poor angel.”

Merry listened to them.

She loved how they always seemed to center each other. It was a truly beautiful thing.

“I'm done,” she stated, moving out of the way so Callen could take over. He waited for her to dress.

“Really? You’re not going to shower? It’s cold out here, Cal.”

He shook his head. “I’ve been away for ten days. If I get naked, you’re screwed.”

“Literally,” teased Merry from outside the tent.

Elizabeth laughed. “Okay, I’ll get out of here then. I don’t want you to do anything that would make the town talk.”

When she finished zipping her coat, she slipped out. Only then did Callen begin stripping from his clothes. When Merry reached in to collect his things, he jumped under the water to rinse clean.

He let the water wash the goo from his hair. “This was revolting. I hope never to do this again.”

She totally got that.

Elizabeth listened to him talk from outside the tent. What she really wanted was to blurt out her secret. In her mind, she could picture the water running down his body, and it was heating her blood. Elizabeth could almost feel his big, rough hands sliding down her wet, naked torso.

Holy bloody Hades.

She had to stop the daydream and get off ride, or she was going to jump in the tent to ride a sexy Native.

When the water shut off, Merry handed him a towel and some FBI gear.

“You can come back in,” he offered.

Elizabeth didn't hesitate. “Merry, off you go.”

She winked at her boss. “Have fun.”

When she walked away, Elizabeth stepped back inside. Unfortunately, he was already dressed, and that was a big disappointment.

There was nothing sexier than a wet, warm Native.

He laughed when she actually looked disappointed. He couldn’t wait to get her back to the cabin and naked. It was what he really wanted most for Christmas.

“Callen,” she muttered, trying to stop staring. It just wasn’t easy. She hadn’t touched him in ten days, and it was starting to drive her insane.

She wanted his hands on her in the worst way. In fact, she had to be desperate to be thinking about him buried in her body as they stood in a decontamination shower, surrounded by people.

Grinning, he pulled her toward him and kissed her. They didn't have a proper one before, and he needed this. When that bomb went off, he was scared shitless, and now he needed to feel her in his arms.

“Angel,” he whispered, as his mouth sought hers. The second their lips touched, he devoured her.

Sue him.

He couldn’t help himself.

While they were out in the open, only blocked by tarps, he still couldn’t resist.

“I love you,” he whispered. “I’ve missed you so much.”

She rested against him, refusing to let go. “I love you too, Callen James. I’m glad we’re back together.”

As she was about to tell him they were expecting, Ethan peeked in, interrupting the moment.

“Chris is transporting all the body parts back to the lab. We should probably do some research tonight. If you two are done with the body bits and a polar shower, do you want to head back to the cabin and maybe get some work done?”

They could do that.

It was late enough in the afternoon that they knew there was little else they could do until the team gave them something to work with.

“Chris said he’ll have a report by tomorrow morning. He wants us to head over to the morgue and meet him then. I’ve arranged for them to buddy up on the reservation. The chief was more than happy to rent the cabins out. He said Callen was a great mediator.”

He nearly laughed.

Here, he was going to bail on them too. At least he didn't tell the Natives that. Now they didn't have to worry about lodging.

“Great.”

As Callen pulled on his winter gear, Elizabeth was pondering the situation.

“We have a serious psycho here. That adds the stress to this. We won’t have a lot time before the next kills, and if Bonnie and Clyde are focused on me, they might make a mistake.”

Ethan was well aware.

Already, the wheels were spinning as he tried to classify the maniacs they were chasing.

Were they psychopaths?

Sociopaths?

Schizophrenics?

For the first time in a long time, he was stumped. He was pretty sure they’d never met anyone quite this desensitized to killing.

This was a whole new breed of killer.

Bonnie and Clyde were taking this one to extremes.

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

When he saw them exit the building, he was pissed. No, that wasn’t even close to how he felt. If anything, seeing them fine and unharmed was enough to boil his blood.

Now he really had to hurt them.

Elizabeth Blackhawk was going to pay. She was a media whore, who liked the limelight, and that had to stop. That spotlight was for him and Bonnie.

It was theirs.

Before this was all said and done, they’d have their name up in lights, and no one would forget them. They wouldn’t be invisible anymore.

They would be the most wanted people in the world.

That notoriety was intoxicating.

It was addictive.

He wanted it.

His attempt to kill her might have failed, but he wasn’t giving up.

No.

He would end her life, and the Native she was having a relationship with too.

They were going to pay.

In the end, with them, the beautiful people always did.

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

One Hour Later

Reservation

Their team was settled in. Most of the staff remained at the morgue to process the evidence. They would sleep in shifts, so they could have the work done by morning.

The investigators…well, they were another story. They were back on the reservation and getting settled in for the night. Their jobs really couldn’t start until the team gave them something to work with.

An ID.

A clue.

Some DNA.

They could do the basic research and wait until the meeting in the morning.

As Callen finished getting cleaned up, washing the rest of the residue from his body with a real shower, Ethan and Elizabeth were in the small living room waiting.

“You need to tell him,” Ethan whispered. “If you don’t do it now, he’s going to be pissed. We don’t need anyone on this team angry. We’re in enough trouble as it is.”

She was well aware.

“I’m going to do it as soon as he’s done. Can you go pick up the pizza and maybe give me some time? I don’t know how he’s going to react if he finds out he’s the last to know. It’s best not to have any catalyst to add to that explosion.”

Ethan hugged her, and she smelled like her shampoo. That scent was cathartic.

It calmed him.

It heated him.

It reminded Ethan that she was his sanctuary in a turbulent life filled with killers and madmen.

“I can do that for you. I’ll pick up some beer for us, and I’ll get you a salad. You need to feed that baby something with nutrients. What makes you sick?”

“Killers, murderers, and lunatics, oh my...”

“Good thing we don’t eat those. You’d starve,” he teased.

“As for food, honestly nothing really. The only reason I thought I was pregnant was the dizziness. I seem to have dodged the morning sickness bullet. It’s like with Charlie. I may be having another girl.”