Redemption is Here (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 9) (70 page)

“Good. Text me if there’s anything you need.” Elizabeth had been doing this too long. She saw the intent and knew the minute she was gone, Tony would be abandoned.

That’s why she notified the nurses that he wasn’t supposed to be left alone. Until she could get back, someone needed to guard her friend.

“Thanks,”
Jaxon whispered before continuing, “for everything you’ve done, Elizabeth.”

“Again, you’re making a
huge mistake. You may not see it now, but I can from where I stand,” she warned, staring at her with icy eyes. “You can’t always do something rash and expect to be given a second chance. Make sure you’ve thought this out.”

She hated how the woman just knew.

Damn her!

When she didn't reply, Elizabeth headed out. Right now, she wanted to know what the team had found out, and it was a matter of wrapping this up. She was going to have a friend to heal when this was all over.

Staring down at him, Jaxon gave him her heart. “I will never love anyone but you. I know that now, but for your own good, I have to go. You deserve someone amazing, Tony. You’re a great catch, and someone will fall into your lap.”

The words hurt her.

“When you meet her, she’ll heal the mess I’ve made. I hope you go on, get married, and have a family to love.” It hurt her, because she wanted all that with him. Jaxon wanted him to be hers, but for once, she wouldn’t be selfish.

She’d make the sacrifice.

“I love you, Tony. You’re the one memory I’ll carry for the rest of my life. Thank you for these five days.” Leaning down, she left kisses across his cheekbones and lips.

God, he was so handsome.

Her only other regret was not seeing his sexy eyes, one last time.

Kissing their joined knuckles, Jaxon laid his hand at his side. With one look over her shoulder, she bid him farewell. With each step away from him,
her soul became more cold and dead.

She knew the truth.

Without Tony Magnus, her heart didn't stand a chance.

The killer had indeed succeeded in taking her life.

                                *     *     *

Elizabeth arrived at the morgue, and everyone was working overtime. When she walked in, Ethan and Callen were waiting for her. When she finally reached their sides, they closed her in their embrace.

Once wrapped in the cocoon of their arms, she could finally breathe again.

“How is he?” Callen whispered, keeping his voice down.

“He pulled through, but he’s got worse problems when he wakes up.” She told them about Jaxon and what she believed was going to happen.

“Well
, shit!” Callen muttered.

“We’ll take care of him,” stated Ethan. “While he’s recovering, he can stay with us. If we have Wyler stay in the house, Tony can use his apartment. He won’t be alone.”

Elizabeth kissed her husband on the cheek. “You’re a kind man, Ethan.”

“He’s our friend, and he’ll need the family now. Besides, he liked Wyler. He can pump him for all the Native stories his brain can hold. We’ll tell him to work on his paper on us.”

She grinned. “Yeah, that will distract him.”

Callen knew Elizabeth would take care of the whole mess. She was a big romantic, and Jaxon didn't stand a chance.

Breaking apart, she was ready to face her team.

“We brought you a change of clothes,” Ethan said, pointing to the blood staining her jeans.

“Okay,” she offered, taking the bag. “I’ll go change, and you get the team ready to tell me what they have. I want something before we head out.”

“What’s our plan?” Callen asked.

She paused, hand on the door. “For the first time, Cal, I have no idea. Nothing is adding up in my mind. Maybe I’m losing my touch with this. I don’t know, but it may be time to hang up my sleuthing badge.”

They watched her leave and were surprised by her
words. If Elizabeth was ready to quit, that was a very bad sign.

A very bad one indeed.

When she returned, she dumped her clothes in a biohazard bin and faced the team waiting for her. Now, she had grabbed a cup of coffee, was clean, and ready to regroup.

“First off, thank you all for working
so hard on this. It’s been a long night for everyone, and you’re probably tired, but we’re doing this for our friend. Tony survived the surgery, and right now, he’s lying in a bed trying to heal. While he does that, we’re going to find this killer and get him and the victims’ justice.”

They all murmured in agreement.

“If I need to say this, then so be it. From this moment out, you all work, live, and sleep in your Kevlar. I know it’s uncomfortable, especially for the ladies, but do it. Our killer managed to get Doctor Armstrong’s sidearm when she was grabbed. Now, he’s using it on Feds. If I have to stand over your body and ruin my boots, I will be pissed. Am I clear?”

They all saluted
but it was with very little enthusiasm. One of their own was hurt, and the wind was out of their sails.

“Okay, what do we have?”

Meredith stepped forward. “He didn't touch the door, other than to knock. We’re trying to figure out if he used the handrail alongside the porch. It’s going to take some time.”

She understood. “Did you get Tony’s clothes from the hospital?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Run them. There might be something there. Maybe he touched him before he fell.”

“Ma’am, we found boot marks. We know that when Tony hit the floor, he stood over him, straddling his body.”

She thought about it. “It could have happened. We heard the gunshot, and we all stopped.”

“We compared them to the print marks found at Toni Michelle’s sex shop, and they’re a match.”

That gave her confirmation. At first, there was that little sick awareness that maybe it wasn’t the killer. After all, Jaxon’s father was a mob guy. Who the hell knew where that was going to lead?

“We just need to put a face to him. We suspect that our killer was after Jaxon. She found his hidey hole, and that had to have pissed him off,” she stated.

Blackhawk picked it up, “Yes, he’s going to feel like we’re trying to stop him from doing ‘God’s work’, so he’s trying to protect his ‘job’.”

“He’s sick,” stated Meredith.

“Yeah, and he’s an asshole,” Elizabeth added.

Just then the door swung open, and everyone jumped as a man rushed in. It was one of the deputies.

“Are you insane?” she asked incredulously. “We just had one of own shot, and you rush into a room full of edgy Feds?”

He was out of breath. “Sorry, ma’am. We had a police report, and the sheriff told me to hustle down here and tell you.”

She waited for him. “Well?”

“We just received a nine-one-one call. Someone found a body while she was arriving at work.”

“Who?”

He rattled off the details.

The three looked at each other. They were well aware of who lived at that address. After all, they’d just been there visiting the man.

“What the hell is going on in this town, ma’am?” asked the deputy.

Yeah, in her opinion, Devil’s Lake was appropriately named. Something evil was definitely hanging out here.

“Half the team stays here to work on Tony’s trace, the rest of you get ready to roll out. Again, I want you in gear, guns on your person, and for you to be ready for anything.”

They nodded
as they all started getting ready to head out.

Who knew what the hell they were walking into
?

It wasn’t like it could get much worse.

                                *     *     *

“Well, holy shit!” she muttered. Apparently, she had been wrong. It wasn’t just worse, but a travesty.

Elizabeth was pretty sure that this was a sure sign of the killer being one hundred percent crackers. What he did to Wade Dixon was nothing short of a
slaughter.

He was mutilated.

No, that was an understatement. The man was three days past that. If the killer wasn’t proving Ethan’s profile correct, she didn't know what he was doing.

Callen whistled.

“Yeah, I know.”

Ethan stood there, staring down at the man who was now splayed out in his really expensive home. He may have had it all in life, but in death, the killer stripped him of all dignity.

“He’s way out of control.”

She didn't even have words. Where Toni Michelle had been eviscerated, so had this man, but to add to that, the killer had found some power
tools and used them to his advantage.

Wade was now nothing more than
a bloody mess.

“Okay, Doctor Legend, I know this is going to sound insane, but what do we have, and can you pinpoint any of this to be COD?”

He glanced up from kneeling beside the body. “Well, he used a saw to take off the top of his skull. His brain is severed and hanging out of his cranium. I can’t imagine he’d hold still for that, and I don’t see any wrist abrasions.”

Yeah, she agreed there.

“His heart is missing, but when I stick my fingers in the hole, I think I feel something metal.”

“Like a bullet?” she asked, hoping for his sake that he was dead before the lunatic went shit nuts on him.

“Yes, and once I travel lower, you’ll notice not only are his entrails on the outside, but it looks like he pulled them out viciously.”

“Like he was digging in there?”

“Yep.”

“Awesome,” muttered Callen. “Welcome to the crazy train. First stop
is a padded cells and competency testing.”

Yeah, wasn’t that the truth.

“Oh, it’s not done yet,” Doctor Legend said, lifting a part of the bowel. “He’s had his genitalia removed too.”

Elizabeth glanced over at her husband. “Well, oh profiler of the crazies, what do you think of this one
?”

He
stared in horror. “Yeah, I’ve NEVER seen anyone escalate this fast. Generally, it happens slowly over a few kills. He went from his methodology, to Toni Michelle, shooting Tony, and now this. He’s unhinged and another true sociopath.”

“Awesome. I love when I get back to back killers
who are certifiable.”

“I’m going to guess there was no need to strangle him,” stated Callen, “or knock him out.”

Zane picked the skull cap up off the floor. “No damage from a strike. There are just bone chips from the saw cutting through the skull. I do have to say, I’ve removed quite a few cranium caps, but even I’m grossed out by this. I won’t ever look at power tools the same again.”

“Amen,” stated Ethan. Him either.

“Meredith!” Elizabeth called. “What do we have?”

She pulled out her tablet.
“We checked the gate. It was open when we got here, so either he got in while someone came in, or he scaled the fence. It surrounds the perimeter of the entire property. It’s fifteen acres. So, we’ll have one hell of a time fingerprinting all of that. Right now, we’re walking along it, trying to find footprints. The ground is soft, so if he jumped from an eight foot fence, he may have left impact marks when he landed. If we don’t find any, he walked in off the street up the driveway.”

She closed her eyes. “Okay, how did he get inside this fortress?”

“We contacted the alarm company and the house alarm was deactivated by the master code. There are three different ones which can be used. The housekeeper, who found him, didn't have to use hers. When she unlocked the door, went to the keypad, and tried to enter it, she saw that it was already off.”

“Okay, who has the other one?”

“We believe it was the one which was used by Emelia Southland. It hasn’t been used since the day before her death. Apparently, she stopped by the previous night.”

“What door did he come in?” Ethan asked.

“Wade Dixon made it easy for the killer. There’s a sun room off the kitchen. It has those doors that open all the way across to make it an outdoor space. He left them wide open. Our killer literally walked in off the street and right into the house.”

Callen thought about it. “Of course it wasn’t locked down. He lived his life arrogantly. He believed he was safe behind this gate and nothing could touch him. His wife was killed
, and he was cleared of that, since he was with his mistress. Then, she was killed, and he wasn’t responsible for that either.”

“Callen’s right. He believed he was untouchable.”

Elizabeth stared down at the wasted mess. “Yeah, this was probably a very bad thing to be wrong about.”