Pledging to Die (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 11) (54 page)

He grinned. “It’s the least I could do.”

Blackhawk took the spoon from his hand. “I’ll finish up. Have a seat,” he offered.

Callen wasn’t going to say no to that. If his brother wanted to cook, he’d cuddle up against Elizabeth any day. Taking his seat, her hand went to his thigh like it always did.

“I love you,” she said, giving him a kiss.

“I love you both.”

Ethan dropped toast into the toaster and grabbed the plates. “Want to hear about the hospital?” he asked, dishing up Callen’s creamy eggs.

“Hell yeah, I do. Was it a bloodbath?” she asked, knowing that if someone tried to get her away from Ethan while he was wounded, it certainly would be.

A bloody one too.

“It was about to be. Johanna refused to get out of Brody’s bed. Then when the nurse threatened to make her move to another room, she agitated both agents. It wasn’t pretty.”

She laughed as she slathered butter on her toast.

“Finally, I got them situated. I calmed down the nurse, and the agents were fine after that.”

Callen was amused. “You two are like mom and dad at work.”

Didn't they know it?

“How did you work it out?” she asked.

“I pulled my badge, and that shut the nurse up. Then I ordered Johanna to get into her bed.”

“Boo! Where’s the romance there?” Elizabeth asked. “I do believe you’ve been in my hospital bed, and him too,” she added, pointing at Callen.

Blackhawk grinned. “I pushed them together, so they were side by side. Now, she can be in her bed, but within arm’s length to her partner.”

Elizabeth grinned. “Softie,” she teased.

“Yeah, well, you know me,” Ethan replied, taking a seat beside them.

“Was she up to working?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, she was excited to be helping out. Johanna is perfectly fine, and they’ll be discharging her likely tonight. She is more than happy to stay there with Brody and keep herself occupied.”

“How’s he doing?” Callen asked.

“He’s a mess. They did a number on him. They still have him pretty drugged up, but his breathing is better. Johanna is making him drink and move around a little when he wakes up.”

Callen pulled a twenty out of his wallet. “I say they’re married by Christmas,” he stated, dropping it on the table.

“I’m in for twenty,” she stated.

“Cash up front,” Callen teased.

Her purse was who knew where, so she went with what she knew. Pulling Callen toward her, she kissed him. When they finally broke the kiss, his eyes were glassed over.

“I’ll cover you,” he offered as he pulled out another twenty.

Blackhawk laughed. “You’re easy.”

“Yeah, you weren’t exactly fighting me off in the shower,” she replied, eating more eggs. “I say they don’t tell us they’re getting married.”

Ethan pulled out his wallet and threw down some cash. “I’m saying they’re too scared to get married this year. I give it a full one from today’s date.”

Callen took the money and tucked it away. “Well, it looks like we’ll have to wait and see.”

“Deal,” they all said together.

“Did we get the reports in on the campus cop’s DNA?” she asked, forcing them to think about work. “We have two interviews this morning, and I like to go in prepared—not all scattered.”

“I believe they are,” Ethan replied.

“Do you think it’s him?” Callen asked.

“He has mommy issues, and he’s been to all the scenes. For all I know, he could be.”

“Are you doing the interview?” Ethan asked.

“I was hoping that you and Callen could take that one. I’ll take Deputy Reason. I need to know how long he was dating one of the vics, and what the hell was his boss thinking when he didn't tell us sooner?”

“So, he’s your interview partner?” Ethan asked, trying not to get irritated.

“Yeah, I’ll take him in with me.”

Elizabeth noticed he didn't look happy. “Are you okay? Are we still stuck on this Dakota Rakin issue?”

Callen watched his brother, waiting for his reply.

“No, I’m good. We should head in.”

She hopped out of her chair and grabbed their dishes. At the sink, she began washing. The men headed toward their gear to grab their things.

Callen dropped his hand on his brother’s arm.

“Dude, you just lied to her.”

Ethan was well aware, but what choice did he have? The other option of demanding their woman stay away from the Rakin men seemed a little over the top, even for him.

“No, I didn’t. I’m fine.”

Callen shook his head.

This couldn’t be good.

An idiot could see that. It was as clear as day.

Somehow, this didn't bode well, and Callen knew it.

And if he saw through the lie, so did Elizabeth.

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

Sheriff’s Station

Once in Nick Rakin’s office, they had more news. The deputy, John Reason, never showed for work that morning. Immediately, Callen and Ethan wanted to drop their interview and assist in finding him for Elizabeth.

When the sheriff offered to take her to the deputy’s house, neither man was happy, and they repeatedly made that crystal clear.

Elizabeth reassured them and headed out with her old friend. If they’d been worried because of a dangerous situation, she would have conceded, but this was testosterone fueled idiocy. That wasn’t going to fly with her. If Ethan thought she was as dumb as a box of rocks, he had another thing coming.

Once they got an inch or any leeway, they’d be out of control.

She had to put her foot down.

When she walked out, Elizabeth could feel their eyes on her back, and that was fine. As long as they all did their jobs, stayed rational, and found that killer, they’d make it over this bump in the road.

When she was gone, Ethan and Callen were escorted into the interrogation room by Deputy Izak Manz. True to form, he was spouting bible verses and trying to convert both heathens.

Maybe it was a damn good thing that they’d drawn this duty. Had Elizabeth been there, the shit would have hit the fan.

She hated random attempts at religious conversion. Since they’d begun having their children, she was learning everything she could about shamanism, so unless the man wanted to discuss that, he’d better stay far away.

The second the two Feds entered the room, they were met with wide eyes. The campus cop looked nervous as hell, and he immediately began blurting out random information regarding the case.

In their experience, if you were in an interrogation, you’d be nervous. If you were this far gone, there had to be a reason.

A damn good one too.

“You have to bring in that sorority girl who found the bodies. I’m telling you that she has something to do with this. I can feel it in my bones.”

Callen wanted to laugh. Oh, she was definitely involved but not for the reason he assumed.

“Why do you think it’s her?” Ethan calmly asked, pulling out his tablet to get ready to make notes. “Did you see her killing the women?”

He shook his head wildly. “Come on! Cop one-oh-one! She’s the most likely person. She found the bodies and one was dumped right in the dorm’s backyard.”

“Yeah, about that little detail, Roddy. How did you know there was a body there?” Callen asked.

“I was following her. Every day, when I was on duty, I made it a point to find her and track her footsteps. It was easy. I just told the office I was following a suspect. They gave me her schedule.”

“They did?” Ethan asked.

“Well, I told them I was helping out the FBI, but it wasn’t exactly a lie. I was helping you out. As soon as I found that dead woman, I called it in.”

“And you touched her. Do you know that we have the trace reports back in, and your DNA is all over her? You left fibers on her body from your clothes, you had her DNA under your nails, and they found residue of what they believe to be sweat on her skin.”

He looked horrified. “I didn't kill her. I was carrying her out of that storm drain. I got her skin under my nails when I tried to hold onto her. She was slippery.”

While his DNA didn't match the semen found in their victims, it was still odd that he’d been more than happy to cuddle up with a dead body. Most sane people ran the other way. Smell plus decay usually equaled a freak out of epic proportions.

Yet not with this guy.

“You have to believe me! That sorority girl is up to her pretty brown eyeballs in this. She goes to the parties, and she finds the bodies. That’s more suspicious than me pulling a body from the drain.”

Ethan leaned back in his chair. “Actually, it’s not. You see, being Feds, we like to be prepared. The woman you were chasing down, the one you think is guilty, is actually an undercover agent. She was placed here by us, and you nearly blew her cover.”

He looked surprised. “What?”

“Yeah, she’s an agent, and the man who was with her a great deal of time…he’s one of us too.”

“But they look like college kids.”

“Well, maybe that’s why they drew this assignment. They can pass as young.”

“I don’t understand,” Roddy said. “I really thought…”

Ethan got why he did it, but he wasn’t so sure that his motives were pure.

“I wasn’t the only one following her.”

That surprised them.

“Who else was tracking her, Roddy?” Callen asked. He was going to take over asking the questions so his brother could do what he did best.

“It was that reporter from the school paper. I think his name is Archy Saba. I saw him digging around at the main office. He was asking a lot of questions. There was a man there feeding him information.”

That alarmed them.

“Like what?”

“Just the basics. I think he asked what her major was, and if she was enrolled in the psych program. He called her by name, so he might have asked that too. Maybe the office guy was in on this too!”

Callen pulled up a picture of Agent Blaise. They’d planted him in the main office for such a reason, and here it was. They wanted their asses covered just in case anyone went digging. Then he could send them on a wild goose chase.

“That’s him! He’s involved.”

Ethan laughed. “You’re good, Roddy. You managed to pick out another agent—not a killer.”

The man looked disappointed.

“But I really thought…”

Callen didn't give him any time. Instead, he dove right into the man’s past, and wanted to rattle his tree.

“Did you go to college here?” he asked.

“No, why?”

“Just routine questions,” Callen stated.

“I went to a state school. I didn't have the money to go to a private university.”

“So, all of this had to make you very angry. When you saw all these kids wasting their educations, that had to piss you off.”

“Well, yeah! Any responsible person would feel that way when they saw the madness that goes on here at this school.”

“You were obviously raised right.”

The man flinched.

Callen knew this was where he needed to get tough. He’d watched Elizabeth and Ethan be ruthless, and it was his turn to show he could do it.

“Do you miss your father?”

There was an audible hiss in the room.

“What? Why would you bring him up?” he asked.

Callen noticed a flush was creeping up his throat and to his face. It was a sure sign that the man wasn’t happy that they were willing to go there.

“Well, since you’ve decided to help us out, we need to ask some questions to make sure you’re on the up and up,” Callen stated.

The man slowly nodded. “He was an alcoholic. My mom decided that she could fix him, and instead, he ended up dead. He became violent one night, and she killed him. That’s all there is to discuss about him.”

“What’s your relationship with your mother like?”

“I know why she did what she did, but I don’t understand it. She killed him, and then I lost both parents that day. He went to hell, and she went to jail. It was a miserable experience for a kid.”

“I bet it was.”

“Do you hate her?” Callen asked. “When you think about her, do you feel like hurting women?”

He looked mortified.

“NO! I love women. I wouldn’t hurt them. I don’t like where this is going,” he said standing up.