Sacred Burial Grounds (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 2)) (22 page)

“So your lab tech worked overtime
, huh?” she snickered, pretending to read a printed out email. “That’s so shocking and surprising.”

“Yeah,” he threw a pillow at her head. “She found one latent print,
but nothing underneath the lamination.”

“Basically we have nothing from it,
except the words and the picture.”

“We have Wyler’s fingerprint.” Elizabeth thought for a minute and watched her husband.

“You’re thinking again,” commented Blackhawk, knowing the look that she frequently got when she was analyzing something he missed.

“I just want to point something out, and just hear me out on it okay?”

Ethan Blackhawk sat back in his chair waiting for it. The last time she wanted to point something out, she told him his partner had betrayed them, leaking information. He’d been oblivious to it. Part of why their partnership worked was her ability to find the small things he missed. “Okay, I think I’m ready for it.”

“You said your father picked it up, Callen.”

“Yes, before I could stop him.”

“We assume it’s his finger print, but what if it isn’t? Don’t you think we should get a print from him for verification just to make sure this little detail doesn’t come back to bite us somehow?”

Blackhawk thought about it. “I think you’re right.”

“You both think Wyler had something to do with this?” Whitefox was a bit surprised.

“No, what my wife is alluding to is when this goes to court after we find the killer, if we can’t prove that we followed up on the finger print that some defense lawyer will drive a bus right through it. Little details make or break the jury, and she’s thinking about the end result.”

“I just don’t want to be called to the stand, under oath and asked if we verified all the evidence. We need to cross all the T’s on this one. That’s all.”

Whitefox could see the type of team they were together. Where Elizabeth picked up the tiniest piece, Ethan knew just where she was heading with it. It was like they didn’t need to talk it out; they followed each other’s thought processes wordlessly. There was definitely a chemistry and rhythm, and it was more than just husband and wife, but also that of partners.

“Well, so much for avoiding my father on this one,” muttered Blackhawk, sipping his beer as the feeling of frustration began to build.

“I’ll take care of it, Ethan,” his brother volunteered. “I’m used to seeing him.”

“It has to be one of the FBI team to make it official. You can do a ride along, but we have to maintain chain of evidence at all time,” Elizabeth added. “I’ll take care of it,” she didn’t even bat an eyelash.

“I don’t think that’s going to be happening,” her husband interjected, heatedly. “Which part of ‘
he’s not coming near my family
’ did I not make myself perfectly clear on, Elizabeth?”

Whitefox bristled at the tone of his brother’s voice and immediately
, he could feel the tension building. Callen Whitefox was pretty sure this was going to get ugly any moment. Although he didn’t know his sister-in-law well enough, he knew she was pretty tough, and she wouldn’t like being told what to do.

Blackhawk stared at his wife, knowing his words had come out a little harsher than he wanted them to, and he suddenly regretted it.

Elizabeth said nothing, her eyes never leaving his face as she quietly observed her husband and weighed the options.

“Lyzee,” he started, watching her stand
. He was sure that he had crossed a line. He braced for the fight, as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration.

Elizabeth wasn’t going to fight
with him. She understood her husband’s anguish and wasn’t going to use that in a battle. Reaching into her pocket, out came a coin. “Heads, we let Callen and I handle it and tails, you and I suck it up and Wyler gets a double dose of Blackhawk.”

Gratefully
, he smiled and relaxed. Elizabeth wasn’t going to get angry, and she wasn’t going to argue with him in front of his brother. Just her willingness to compromise made him want to meet her halfway. “It sounds fair to me.”

“Callen, you're the witness, so he can’t renege later
- which he always tries to do.”

“Hey, I won’t!” he objected.

“Remember the day I asked to drive your car?”

“Okay, so that is a completely different thing. You happen to be a menace, and I don’t want to pay higher insurance for some wild woman joyriding.”

“Some wild woman? Are you seriously referring to your wife as some woman?”

“My beautiful wife, whom I love more than anything in the world,” he
restated.

Elizabeth laughed and flipped. “Good save
big guy. Way to cave to the little woman,” she snickered and then winked at him.

All three watched as the coin rolled around
the table, and then landed on heads. Elizabeth and her brother-in-law would get the fingerprints. 

“Don’t worry, Ethan. W
e’ll get them and get out fast. No one will flirt with your wife.” Whitefox added with a grin.

Blackhawk just shook his head. “I’m not worried about flirting, Callen. I’m worried she’ll kick the shit out of him, because he was a piss poor example of a father.”

She interjected, “No worries, boys. I’m pregnant and turning over a new leaf.”

Both men laughed at that. “Right.”

“What? Why does everyone always think I’m going to be the problem?” With that she sat back down to go over the papers she was studying. When they kept laughing she couldn’t help but join them.

Funny, s
he didn’t buy it either.

The three of them
poured over the papers, trying to find anything that would stand out. Blackhawk was about to ask his wife a question, when he noticed she’d fallen asleep in the chair. Elizabeth looked so peaceful, but he couldn’t leave his pregnant wife in that position all night. He preferred having her sleep beside him. Crossing to her and picking her up in his arms, he carried her to their bedroom.

There was something completely alluring about holding his sleeping wife in his arms and tucking her into
their bed. It just felt proprietary, and he loved it.

Blackhawk gently laid her on their bed, pulling off her jeans. She’d had a very long day, and pregnancy was going to be draining. Softly he left a kiss on her lips and lif
ted her shirt to leave kisses over the baby she was protecting and growing deep within her body. Tucking her in he whispered to her and their child how much he loved them both, and how he would keep them both safe forever. Turning off the light he went back to work.

Whitefox noticed his brother looked anxious. “Is she okay?” he asked, taking a sip of beer.

“It was a long day for her plus the strain of pregnancy on top of it. Normally she goes until she drops, and I don’t think that’s going to change anytime soon.”

“You're worried about her, and I just don’t mean the pregnancy,” he added.

Blackhawk sat back in his chair, meeting his brother’s eyes. “I’m scared shitless. These women were all pregnant, and I can’t help but think about her and our child. I keep getting tripped up on the correlation.”

“I don’t blame you, but between the two of us
by keeping her close she’ll be fine,” he stated, trying to reassure his brother. He didn’t mention that keeping her close was hell on his body.

Blackhawk rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I thought that in Salem too, and it almost cost us both our lives. I tried to get our boss to pull her off this assignment. You can see how well that plan worked on my behalf.”

“I don’t blame you for trying. You love her and want to keep her safe.”

“I want to keep her locked in a box and hidden away most of the time,” he laughed and grabbed his papers, trying to focus on the victims and keeping his wife out of his mind
, at least for now. 

“Did we get a full tox report?” Whitefox
asked, yawning. He suddenly wished that he had slept better the night before, with no dreams and lots of peaceful rest. His body was paying for it now, unlike his brother who looked alert and unfazed. That was another thing he remembered about his brother. Blackhawk was a night owl.

“No, not yet. Tomorrow morning we should have one and have a direction to head in then. It’s a lucky break we found a body with flesh and blood intact. Now we have a way to figure out how
they died. We may have an excellent tech team, but they aren’t miracle workers. Even they need something to start with at least.”

Both men went back to all the data that the tech team had started emailing
. There were pages of forensics on the campsite, the river bed, and reservation dig site. Blackhawk didn’t know how long he was lost in the papers, until he looked up and his brother was leaning back against the couch asleep. There was a flashback to them as teens, late nights, beer, driving their truck too fast, and then passing out drunk on their grandfather’s couch. It made him smile. Looking down at his watch he noticed it was definitely late, and he should get to sleep too. He walked around locking the doors to the front and back of the house, setting the alarm and loading the dishes in the dishwasher. Elizabeth would be the first one up as usual, and he didn’t want her to have to deal with the mess. He tossed the pizza in the fridge and then tapped his brother on the leg.

“Time to get up, I’m not carrying your ass up the stairs too.”

Whitefox looked around. “I better get home.”

“Not happening. You’re staying. You had beer and it’s late. We have plenty of rooms upstairs. Ours is top to the right, there’s four other bedrooms. Pick one.”

“Are you sure, Ethan? I don’t mind the drive home. I don’t live that far.”

“You’re my brother, and you’re welcome here, Callen. If Elizabeth knows I let you drive after beer, she’ll skin me alive and laugh while doing it. Do it to save my life.”

Whitefox laughed, standing up.

“All the doors and windows have alarms, so don’t sneak out.”

Both men walked up the stairs and Blackhawk waited for him to pick a room. “That one has a bathroom in between, spare toothbrush in the medicine cabinet, and towels are in the closet. See you in the morning, Callen.” He closed the door and went to go join his wife in bed.

Callen Whitefox lay in the bed in his brother’s guest room, staring at the ceiling. So many things were going through his mind, but the most prevalent was how he couldn’t quite grasp
how lucky he had gotten. His brother not only was back, but had forgiven him for his stupidity. Both he and Elizabeth had welcomed him completely, and without hesitation. Right then and there he made a promise that he’d do whatever it took to stay in his brother’s life, and help protect his new sister-in-law and their child.

It made him smile that he was going to be an uncle one day, and he wanted to be part of their lives and their child’s life too. That gave him a renewed sense of hope and life.
Part of him was ignoring how he felt about the woman his brother had picked as a wife. It was hard to not be enamored by the woman. Now he just needed to tread lightly, and he should keep a distance or try.

More uneasiness began creeping into his body. The dreams waited for him, and it would only be a matter of time before they found him, even in the safety of his brother’s happy home.  If his choices were to dream about Elizabeth Blackhawk or the dead women, he’d pick the nightmares.

At least they wouldn’t get him killed.

                                 *   *   *

The killer watched th
e house unobserved from his car parked on the tree lined street. He saw when all the lights went off, and the three had retired for the night. Following Callen Whitefox had been easy, and he led him right to the raven’s home without even noticing him. So much for him being an officer of the law. He had no clue that he had just given away the house that held one of his future victims. Ethan Blackhawk could thank him later, when he mourned the loss of his wife. His own brother had betrayed their location, and he made it easy to observe them.

It was obvious he was staying there for the night, but he would just give it an hour just to make sure. Sitting in a plastic bag on the seat beside him was the little presents he planned on leaving to welcome home the prodigal son.

                             *   *   *

~ Chapter Seven~

Friday Morning Dawn

When Elizabeth woke, she found herself tucked into her own bed
. Her husband was sleeping peacefully against her body. His hand was on her hip, and his larger frame was curled around her protectively. The soft inhale and exhale of his breath on the back of her neck was cathartic, and she contemplated rolling over and kissing him awake. Then her second thought was about how late he had probably stayed up, and today was going to be a long day. The need to take care of him outweighed the need to climb all over him. Great, the ‘mothering’ instinct had kicked in, and it was clouding wanton need of her husband. She almost laughed out loud over the mere thought.

Slowly she slid out from under his arm and out of their bed.
Blackhawk was so exhausted he rolled onto his belly, and went back to sleep. Elizabeth took in the naked back of her husband and couldn’t help but admire it. It was covered with tribal art and all kinds of black ink. Something in her clenched and she knew she better get out of there, or she was going to jump him.