Redemption is Here (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 9) (21 page)

Tony didn't doubt it in the least.

When the boss was gone, he glanced over at Zane. The man didn't look too happy.

“She’s bitchy today,” he stated.

He didn't plan on saying much about his boss. Bitchy or not, they were friends. “She’s carrying this entire assignment on her shoulders. I can’t say I blame her.”

“I’ll start testing the
samples, and then we can get the victims defleshed later,” Zane stated.

Tony pulled off his gloves and went off to find Jaxon. He hoped she was fine, but one never knew.

It looked like he had one more mess to fix.

Upstairs, they walked past a few deputies and Elizabeth ignored the comments from them. Callen did too, because there was no time for a blood bath. They had a killer who could be dumping two bodies a week, and that didn't bode well for this assignment.

Plus, Elizabeth’s mood was heading south
.

Callen was giving her some time to calm down. He could tell by
the clicking of her boot heels on the floor that she needed a moment. It was a dead giveaway.

Once in the conference room,
Elizabeth dropped down into a chair and still said nothing.

“Who are you angry at?” he asked, pouring them both more coffee from the pot in the corner.

“The killer.”

“You’re worried about something,” he said, sitting beside her at the table.

“Yeah, that’s a lot of bodies for three weeks max. If Doctor Armstrong is right, we can expect another victim this week.”

“There’s more to it,” he said, taking her hand in his.

“Yeah, my anthropologist is stirred up, I have a newbie who stormed out of the room, my ME isn't used to working with me in the field, and Ethan’s going to have to get his sexy derriere here and give me a profile.”

“AND?”

“I’m worried about Wyler.”

Now
, the truth came out. Personal life was overshadowing professional. Elizabeth could run a team blindfolded and with her hands tied behind her back. These little bumps in the road were nothing to her.

“They’ll be fine,” he promised. “I tell you what. You let Ethan sweat the profile, you run this mess, and I’ll periodically check in with Wyler. If I don’t say anything, then you know everything is fine. It’ll take some of the weight off your shoulders.”

“I love you. Thank you for being the mediator. You’re really good at it.”

He laughed. “Yeah, well we’re going to have to visit the tribe at some point. I may lose control once you start browbeating them.”

She snickered. “Am I that obvious, Callen?”

In this case, he simply shared a look.
There was no need to point out the obvious. “How about we start working on the information we have? You break it down, and I’ll be your research monkey,” he offered.

Elizabeth wiggled her eyebrows. “Deal.”

Before they could start, there was a knock on the door. “I found your two agents wandering the office. They were looking for you,” stated the chief, escorting them inside.

“Thank you,” she replied, grateful to have two more of her team
ready to work. They were going to be digging in and would need everyone’s help on this one.

“Is he being nice to you?” he asked, pointing at Callen.

Elizabeth started laughing. “Chief, you’re under the wrong impression. Director Whitefox is far from mean. He’s actually my husband,” she offered, refusing to deny him. “He’d never hurt me.”

“Oh, but you said,” he started, and then stopped in confusion.

“She meant the real boss. He’ll be arriving any day now,” Callen offered, throwing his brother under the bus.

It was hard not to laugh at that.

He shook his head before leaving the room.

Immediately, Elizabeth offered him a fist bump. “Way to go with that one, Cal. Now, Ethan will have one hell of a time.”

There was no doubt in his mind. “Yeah, well I do like to keep my brother on his toes.”

The agents sat. “You wanted us, ma’am?”

Elizabeth broke it all down, telling them what they discovered in autopsy. Once more, the male flinched. Maybe Doctor Legend had been right. Penis removal was creepy to those who had one.

“What’s the plan for today?”
asked Agent Seaton.

“First, we’re going to cross compare the victims’ ID’s to the files we have, and then we’re going dig into their lives. Today is likely going to be heavy into the paperwork for everyone.”

Pulling out the files, Callen got ready to do what she asked. “Can one of you to search the databases, and the other scour the internet?” he asked. With three of them sitting there, they could run the searches so much faster.

“Can do, boss,” offered the female agent.

They opened their tablets.

“Okay
! Then let’s start with the victim Doctor Armstrong believes was the first to die. We have Walter Dennison. Callen, you go first. Was he one of our missing person reports?”

He flipped through the names
, and then used the code to pull it up online. “Yes, he was. It’s loading now,” he offered. Immediately, he scanned it. “Well, it looks like he worked at a school. It seems that a co-worker called it in when he missed a meeting with the board.”

Elizabeth made notes to send to Ethan. “Can you tell me when?”

He flipped the screens. “Two and a half weeks ago.”

“So, our new anthropologist was right with her
guess,” Elizabeth stated. “That’s one for her.”

Callen glanced over at
Agents Seaton and Madden. “What do you two have?”

Johanna spoke first, “I did an internet search on him. It appears
that he was in some trouble before he disappeared,” she stated.

Agent Broderick Seaton agreed
with that one, “Yeah, according to the databases, there was a warrant out for his arrest, plus a bench order for failure to appear.”

That piqued her interest. “What
kind of trouble was he in?”

Madden went first. “According to the media reports, Mr. Dennison was a coach at the local high school. He was recently accused of screwing around with an underage girl
on his team.”

Agent Seaton picked it up there, “That’s what the warrant is for. He was supposed to turn himself in and the judge threw out a warrant or two. He was a wanted man.”

Callen needed to know. “When?”

They looked at the dates and compared them. “Less than three weeks ago,” stated Johanna. “If the papers are right, and according to the arrest warrant, he disappeared the day before he was supposed to appear before the judge.”

Elizabeth leaned back in her chair and sipped her coffee. “So, we have a man who had his dick lopped off after diddling around with an underage girl. Does anyone find that to be poetic justice?”

“
He wouldn’t be the first sex offender to be handled that way,” added Johanna.

“Yeah, that’s one hell of a coincidence. I want everything on him,
the school, and alleged victim. Maybe we have some father who went too far and is now trying to cover his tracks with making it look worse.”
              Callen made notes.

“
Are you ready for number two?” Elizabeth asked her team. When they all nodded, she continued, “Doctor Armstrong picked Allen Payne as the next victim. Do we have a missing person report on him?”

Callen flipped. “We do.
It was called in by an employee. It seems that he owned a car dealership. When the employees couldn’t reach him for two days, they got worried. The police were called in, and they searched his home. Nothing was found out of place.”

“What do we have for a date on that report
?” she asked.

“It was filed two weeks ago, so fourteen days.”

Elizabeth was impressed that the new doctor was right, two for two, and that was just by looking at the victims. Glancing over, she waited for her team to continue. “What do you both have?”

Agent Seaton searched the police database. “He’s clean. He doesn’t even have a parking ticket. There are no arrest warrants or criminal activities.”

“Well, the media hasn’t been as friendly to Mr. Payne. It seems there are a few articles regarding his business,
‘Payne Free Auto’
. He’s had numerous complaints about the vehicles he’s been selling,” Agent Madden stated.

Elizabeth shook her head. “Well, now
he’s certainly Payne free. I have to go on record and state that he picked one of the worst names for a business that I’ve ever heard of in my life,” she stated.

“Uh,
how about a little place you love called,
‘The
Pussy Cat Club’
?” Callen reminded her.

“Second worst name
,” she clarified.

Callen laughed. “Well, does anyone find it odd that a car salesman with shady practices had his tongue cut out? That’s ironic.”

Elizabeth began processing everything. “What about Doctor Armstrong’s third pick?”

Yeah, this was all bizarre. There was no way she was going to
believe that a severed penis on a pedophile and a missing tongue from a lying salesman wasn’t connected, somehow.

Callen flipped the pages and found nothing listed in the police reports. “No one called in Kaylee Bain.”

Broderick pulled up the police registry. “Well, she’s in here about forty times,” he stated.

“For?” Elizabeth questioned.

“It looks like she was a woman of the night. Kaylee Bain participated in the oldest profession.”

“So, a hooker had her genitalia removed?” Elizabeth had her proof that the killer wasn’t just picking random people. “We have a watcher.”

Callen didn't like that at all. The last one they ran into had been Patrick Parrish. He’d stalked his prey and picked them specifically. Then, he took his brother and nearly destroyed their family. “Shit,” he muttered. “Ethan’s going to hate this.”

There was no doubt in her mind he would.
“What about Emilia Southland?” Elizabeth asked.

Callen dug through the files. “Nada. No report was called in for her.”

“How about you two?” she asked, pointing at the agents.

Madden kept skimming. “I found her social media page. It seems she worked as a receptionist for Dixon Industries.”

“Why was her heart removed?” Callen asked.

Johanna Madden kept digging. “Her status has her as single. So,
I don’t think she was dating anyone. If you look at her page, it’s mostly kittens, funny pictures, and then her updates. Apparently, she liked to run, shop, and get pedicures.”

“Okay, well, we’re going to have to figure out why no one reported her missing,” added Elizabeth.

“She was the last one,” Callen suggested. “Maybe they haven’t realized she’s gone yet.”

Elizabeth was up and pacing. She really didn't want to be trapped inside doing reports all day. Time was
ticking away, and now that they knew they had a watcher, she was scared shitless. Elizabeth wanted to get this closed before Ethan arrived.

“Madden and Seaton, you’re going to stay here and dig up everything you can on the land and other victims. I want to know
everything about them.”

“Where are we going?” Callen asked.

“You and I are going to hit up the school and Dixon Industries. Then, we’ll rally back here and work on the other two victims.”

He was go
od with that. After what they just found out, he wasn’t leaving her alone for a second. “We also need to swing out to the Rez. I need to update the chief about the bodies. We’re going to have to search around. Maybe there’s more than four.”

“Great. That’s just what we need,” she stated
. Glancing at her two agents, she hated chaining them to the desk, but there wasn’t really a choice. “You’ll be in here all day. Order lunch, dig deep, and find me something. If you locate anything at all, call me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” they said. Then, t
hey got down to work.

As they headed out, a deputy blocked their way. “Ma’am, I was wondering if you needed any help. I’m not really doing anything right now.”

“How are you with detached penises and severed tongues?”

He went pale. “Uh, never mind. I think I have some paperwork to do.” With that,
Deputy Turner scurried away.

Callen watched him leave. Before she could say a word, he slapped her on the ass. “That’s for being bad,” he teased.

Elizabeth burst into laughter. “Saddle up my Native arm candy. We have one hell of a day ahead of us.”

If this was how it was starting, Callen had no doubt.

At least he had the sense to be nervous as hell.

                                 *     *     *