Redemption is Here (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 9) (29 page)

“I miss beer,” she said, patting her belly.

Ethan took that moment to speak to his child. Getting down on his knees, he tugged her shirt from her jeans. His fingers lingered on the belt buckle as he whispered to her stomach. “Charlie, I love you, sweetheart. I promise to spoil you rotten. In fact, the day you’re born, I’m buying you a zoo.”

“Ethan!” they both said together.

There was one constant. He was the one who spoiled their children.

“Okay, sorry. I’m buying you and Cat a zoo.”

They just laughed. There was no stopping him. The man was over the moon about his kids. It really wasn’t a bad thing.

Going back to the sauce, he waited for the update. “We’ll talk death now, but once we eat, it’s all about us.”

No one there would argue with that.

Callen broke it all down, from the incident on the Rez, right to the last part where the two Native men were mocking Elizabeth.

“I’ll do the interview, or better yet, I’ll just kick the shit out of them. No one’s going to provoke our woman.”

Elizabeth told him what Callen had said, and he offered his brother a fist bump. “Good for you, Cal. I’ll personally help you clean up the mess when it’s over.
Don’t worry about that.”

Callen didn't doubt it for a second.

“Tony’s in love with Gabe’s new anthropologist,” Elizabeth stated, getting them to focus on anything but their male testosterone laden behavior.

Ethan glanced up
as he checked the pasta. “That’s not going to end well,” he admitted. “When this is over, she’s going back east. There’s no way with our budget that we can adopt a stray anthro.”

She was well aware.

“What if he goes with her?”

Elizabeth had already thought it out. “Since Chris
has gone with his wife on their honeymoon, I think Tony’s been feeling the loneliness. If she’s the one, he’ll be happy, and then I’ll willingly let him go. He’s my friend and deserves what I’ve found.”

Callen dropped a kiss on her head. “You’re a good person, Cupid.”

Both men were very lucky.

“Yeah, well I try.”

“What are we doing tomorrow?” he asked.

Elizabeth
shared what she was considering, “We need to tie up a few loose ends. I want to hit up the car dealership and find out if anyone was harassing Allen Payne. Then, we need to go play at the church. I want to talk to the priest and find out why he had dead bodies outside the fence, and why two of them were his parishioners. After that, maybe I’ll check in with the team. They’re going to be searching the rest of the land butting the cemetery.”

“You think
that there are more bodies?”

“
There could be. It’s better to be safe than sorry. I don’t want to miss anything.”

“Then what?” asked Ethan.

“Well, we have the name of the place where Kaylee Bain used to troll for men. I was thinking you and Callen could join me.”

“Yeah, you
while you’re pregnant, and in a bar is a horrible idea,” stated Callen.

“
I’m with him,” added Ethan.

She stared at them both. “Really?”

Ethan drained the pasta. “I’m not even going to pretend. Whenever you seem to be in a bar, there’s a brawl not far behind. You’re a trouble magnet.”

Elizabeth crossed her arms. “Okay, how about this
? I’ll bet you both that I’m not the one who gets into a bar room fight.”

Both men loved when they made
wagers. It generally ended up with Elizabeth playing naked twister with the two of them.

Yeah, this was an easy one.

There was no way in hell that Elizabeth couldn’t keep herself from slapping down some idiots.

“And where is this bar?” Ethan asked.

“It’s between the Rez and town. Black Mountain is a dry reservation. In fact, I’m going to have to arrest you for those beers, Cowboy.”

He held out his wrists and grinned, despite the situation.
This was a messy problem all around. A bunch of riled up Natives, who were intermingling with outsiders, as booze was tossed into the mix was dangerous.

Yeah, there’d
definitely be a fight.

“Is it a deal?” she asked.

Callen needed to know. “What’s the wager?”

Ethan spoke up, “I was talking to Chris before he left for their honeymoon. He’s going to be delivering his child. I want to do that too. When you give birth, I want to catch Charlie.”

She stared at him. “Will there be a doctor present and will I have drugs?”

“Yes to both of those questions.”

Callen grinned. “Well, then I want so much sex after the baby is born, I knock you up.”

“
Whoa there, Kimosabe. We’ve discussed this before. I’m getting off the baby making train at the next delivery. We have four kids, and they’re all toddlers or younger. Have you lost your damn mind?”

Callen grinned. “If
I win, I want another child.”

Ethan laughed
. He knew that his wife would rarely renege on a bet, but this one had all the markings of that happening.

There was no doubt in her mind that this
wasn’t going to happen. She’d just have to make sure she didn't slap the shit out of anyone tomorrow night.

“Deal.” She shook both their hands.

“Really?” Callen and Ethan said at the same time.

Why the hell not? “Absolutely. I won’t be the one who gets into a fight. Now, if I win, you both are swapping clothes. I know I’ve used that one before, but each time, you both outmaneuver me.”

“You’re still sadistic but for another child, I’ll risk it,” added Callen, accepting.

Ethan did too.

“Now, is it time to eat?” she asked, getting hungry. “Charlie knows we’re talking about her. She’s demanding some sustenance.”

Ethan dished out the pasta and covered it in his sauce. Handing the first plate to his wife, he watched her walk away. “Good one, Callen. I’m stealing that bet somewhere down the line.”

“You know she’s going to get us fixed if we keep it up.”

Ethan laughed. “She can’t force us to get vasectomies,” he reassured.

“Yeah, I’m not worried about a doctor doing it. I’m scared shitless that she’s going to take it into her own hands.”

Both men cringed. “
You may have a point.”

                                 *     *     *

Laying him on the cold granite, he stared down at the dead man and his dog. It was time to make the cuts and prep him for his burial.

It would all be done right
and in God’s name.

With the hacksaw, he began sawing through his fingers.
Since he was already dead, there was very little blood. This might actually work to his advantage. Why the hell didn't he think of this sooner?

When he hit bone, it became harder, but he managed.

With God’s will, he got it done.

Th
e canopic jar needed to be a little bigger, to contain all ten digits, but that was fine. The FBI was also getting another little treat.

The yappy dog would be mummified too.

When he hid them, he only hoped they wouldn’t be found for a long time.

As he finished the fingers, he dumped the oils all over him and the dog. With the saturated strips, he began the tedious job of wrapping and preparing them.

This was the hardest part, but he was sending him off to his maker the way it should be done. Since there was no coffin, this was the least he could do.

Besides, God
gave him the instructions to follow.

Who was he to disobey?

He was only the Angel of Death.

Nothing more.

             
                   *     *     *

Sitting on the couch, they finished their dinner. Ethan was just about ready to clear their dishes when he remembered the other present. “I have something else for you, but you have to promise not to use it until tomorrow.”

That piqued her curiosity
. “Uh, okay.”

“Callen told me you wished for a whiteboard. There’s one in my trunk.”

She kissed them both. “I love you two. I swear if I could build a man in a lab, he would be just like you both.”

“Only one man, Elizabeth?” Callen asked.

Ethan lifted a brow. “So, you’d choose to combine us into one, instead of having us both?”

She started laughing. “You realize this conversation is useless since I can’t actually stick you together, unless I use handcuffs.”

Ethan glanced over at his brother. “Here, I was planning on slow and romantic, but her comments have made me a tad bit irritated. It’s like we’re some toy she can swap out the parts.”

Callen snorted. “Yeah,
I’m a little offended. I don’t think she appreciates that she has two amazing men who practically worship her.”

“Maybe we should show her what happens when she forgets that we’re not two things she can stick together, like peanut butter and jelly.”

“Or blow and job,” she added, finding herself pretty amusing.

Only, they weren’t laughing with her.

“I see. That’s it. Dishes can wait,” stated Ethan, placing them on the table. The men lunged, grabbing her.

Elizabeth began struggling to get free. “Come on! I was only kidding. Of course I wouldn’t combine you into one person!”

It didn't matter. As of that moment, they were going to teach her a lesson.

Once in the
bedroom, Callen pulled the handcuffs from his and Ethan’s belts. When his brother laid on top of her, he managed to get her arms up above her head. With very little difficulty, they secured her arms to the headboard.

She was still laughing.

Ethan sat across her hips, using his weight to keep her from bucking his body off hers.

“Now, let’s see what we have here,” he said, unbuttoning her shirt. When it was open, both men ran their hands over her flesh.

The laughter stopped.

Callen unsnapped the latch in the front of her bra, setting her free. When her breasts were splayed there for them to
devour, she was finding it hard to breathe.

They looked like two starving animals, about to devour some helpless creature they had trapped.

“Get off me!” she demanded, wanting to run her hands all over their bodies next.

Neither man listened to a word she said. Instead, Ethan began sliding
backward, to get to her belt buckle and jeans. Callen lowered his head, seeking out each nipple, one at a time. With tongue and teeth, he worked her into a heated frenzy.

“Do you want more or should I set you
free?” he whispered in her ear, only taking a break for a few seconds.

“
NO! Don’t set me free.”

Ethan shook his head. “You insulted us
, Elizabeth. If you want us to continue, you’re going to have to convince us a little better than that,” he stated.

She stared at him
as Callen was now using his fingers to torment her breasts. The teasing, rolling motion was sending licks of heat through her body.

“What do you say, Elizabeth?”

“Please?”

Still, it wasn’t good enough.

“I’m sorry. Please touch me.”

Ethan lowered the zipper on her jeans. “You’re getting warmer. How about you try again?”

At that exact moment, Callen pinched her, sending delicious pain through her body.

“I want you to thank your Native men for filling your life with so much pleasure, Elizabeth. I think you honestly believe we’re just your arm candy. The opposite is true. You’re ours.”

Callen loved watching her trapped beneath them. What he wanted was to bury himself in her body over and over again until he exploded.

“I’m sorry,”
she whispered, as his lips continued exploring her nipples. “You’re so much more than just my arm candy,” she admitted, as Callen’s mouth did truly wicked things.

When she was distracted, Ethan
pulled off her jeans. There was something so erotic about his wife on the bed, trapped and in nothing but a tiny pair of panties. While his brother tormented her unmercifully, he decided to join in. Holding her legs apart, he ran his fingers across the silky material.

When she squirmed
, he yanked them aside to find her wet and ready for him. Diving in, Ethan enjoyed his wife. As he lapped, licked, and teased, she started to breathe heavy.

Callen enjoyed her gasps as he grabbed handfuls of her ample breasts
to feast on her flesh. First, he’d start on one, and then skip to the other. With her moans, he got more and more rough, just to hear her beg.