Slay Bells Ring (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 12) (36 page)

Seth Denton tried backing away from the crowd, only he couldn’t.

“Did you tell your fellow journalists that it gets worse? Are they aware that you stole another person’s work and attempted to pass it off as your own in one of your other classes too? Then you were booted from school and had to finish your degree at a junior college.”

The man was now sheet white, and everyone was staring at him.

“This is case in point. Before you start throwing stones, you should make sure your house isn’t glass. If it is, you’re bound to get cut. If you call my wife any more names, you’re going to have legal problems to add to your professional ones.”

He ran his hand over his blue silk raven tie.

The questions began, and he watched the pack turn on its own. They were like hyenas. If they wanted to get details from the director, they would have to choose a side.

His.

Or Seth Denton’s.

It was obvious who they chose.

To reward them, he offered up the next five minutes to answer their questions regarding the case. They were subdued, and Seth Denton had slipped away, likely in embarrassment.

No one felt bad for him.

When they were getting into the Denali, Elizabeth leaned over and planted one right on his mouth. It was full on lip lock, and there was a plentitude of tongue. When he moaned, his body waking to her touch, she slowly pulled away, his lower lip between her teeth.

“Holy shit! I’ll take more of that any day.”

She grinned. “That’s from the hussy wife to the super sexy hero who defended our honor.”

Hell!

He’d do it all over again.

“Uh, you do realize that it was my research that found the plagiarism tidbit, right? Shouldn’t it be my mouth you’re assaulting?” Callen asked.

She winked at him. “But he’s wearing a suit.”

Callen rolled his eyes. “He always wears a suit. He’d wear one into the shower if it wouldn’t ruin the pleats.”

Blackhawk laughed, and then grinned wickedly at his brother. “Don’t underestimate the power of a suit, Callen. Our hussy likes them. You should buy a few.”

“When we get home, I’m going shopping,” he muttered. “Suits it is.”

Elizabeth buckled in. “Yee haw, Cowboy and Indian.”

Her day couldn’t get any better.

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

It was time to leave that place.

They’d used it long enough, and now they would go back to their main hidey-hole. Well, after they watched the FBI scramble around like little lost puppies.

It was fun to spy on the Feds.

It was like a hobby.

Soon, the FBI would show up—if they were worth their ilk. If not, they’d get a little push in the right direction.

They’d set the scene.

The next part in this hunt was set, and as soon as the FBI arrived, they’d begin.

From not too far away, they perched in a secure location. No one would see them there, and they could study their prey.

“Are you sure it’s safe here?” she asked. “We have to go soon.”

He was well aware. They had normal lives to fill, all the while keeping their secret desires between them.

“I know, doll. Just sit there and look pretty. This is far from over. We need to watch them, so we can figure out their next step.”

She didn't say anything.

If she did, he’d get angry.

With each kill, he was getting worse.

At the beginning, it was a thrill to take lives. Now it was getting more and more miserable.

He was the reason.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“Just how smart you are.” She lied. That wasn’t what she was thinking at all. In her head, she was plotting her own little plan, and it didn't involve being his punching bag.

“That’s why I love you, doll. You completely understand and get me.”

“Do you really love me?” she asked, curious about his answer.

“More than anything.”

“Then stop screwing them.”

He glanced over. “What?”

“You heard me. If you loved me, then you wouldn’t touch them.”

He turned back to watch the house with the binoculars. “I’ll think about it.”

She said nothing.

“Okay.”

“Does it really bother you?” he asked.

She didn't really care either way.

“Yes.”

“We’ll see,” Clyde offered.

Her plan was in motion, and Bonnie smiled to herself. Yes, she would bide her time until she had total control.

She was patient.

And Clyde was becoming a loose end.

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

Morgue

When the team arrived, Elizabeth noticed there was one person visibly late.

It pissed her off.

Time was money, or in their case—lives, and she didn't have time for this jackassery.

If he was wasting her time, or yanking her chain, he was going to get her cowboy boot up his ass. Her patience, after that morning, was running thin.

“Where is Sheriff O’Neil?” she asked.

No one had an answer.

She glanced over at Callen. “You’re Mr. Calm. Find the sheriff before the team is done, or I’m going to hurt him. I’ll probably enjoy it too.”

Callen grinned. “On it, angel.”

When he was out in the hall, she turned to begin. Both doctors were there, Merry, and her agents. At least they could follow directions.

Then again, they were afraid of her.

“Anything on Maximillian and his wife, other than what you shared last night?” she asked.

They shook their heads.

“There have been no hits on the credit cards.”

“Merry?” Elizabeth stated, focusing on their head tech. “Please tell me that you found something—anything.”

“Boss, I don’t have much. There’s nothing to compare them to anyway. We’re assuming that it’s Bonnie and Clyde’s DNA, but until we have a person to really match it too…”

She was well aware.

“Okay, give me anything you have. I’m desperate here. I’ll take speculation.”

“I may have something.”

“What?”

She pulled out an evidence bag before handing it to Elizabeth. “Here you go.”

She took it and stared down at it. “A ticket for a cruise? I sincerely hope this is a belated birthday present because I don’t know how the hell this correlates with our case.”

She laughed. “Check out the issuing agent on the top.”

Elizabeth read the name out loud for everyone’s benefit. “Okay, it says Juliet Singer. I’m not getting the connection.”

“I didn't either until I saw this.”

She handed her another ticket.

“They were both found in two separate desks of two different victims. I know you like coincidences.”

Elizabeth held the bags in her hands and grinned. “Both couples had booked a vacation through the same agent?” she asked.

The woman nodded. “It appears so.”

Elizabeth walked toward her and hugged her. “You get a gold star and a raise.”

Ethan cleared his voice. “You don’t have the power to hand out raises. You tend to like to use them to motivate our staff. HR frowns upon that.”

He had a point.

“It doesn’t matter.” She grinned. “Merry, I could kiss you.”

There was chortling from behind her. Immediately, she spun to face her doctors.

“Don’t or you’re going to get hurt. I’ll tell your wife and your fiancée that you’re being pervs.”

They closed their mouths.

At least she had some control.

Turning, she focused on the agents. “I want you to dig up all you can on Juliet Singer. She sold vacations to two couples, and now they’re dead. It may be nothing, but it’s all we have to work with for now.”

She was grateful for any little tidbit at this point.

“Ethan believes that Clyde is a watcher, and what better way to get information from them?”

Both agents gathered all their gear. They were going to hit this angle hard. If the boss lady wanted dirt, they had to find it. As they headed into the next room to begin working, she faced her ME.

“What can you tell me about Max and Lily?” she asked.

“We don’t have much.”

“Christopher…”

He raised his hand to stop her. “Lyzee, we’re trying. The issue is we have nothing to compare the DNA to on our end. If somewhere, there was a site with Bonnie and Clyde’s DNA, we could have a comparison. Right now, we’ve tagged it as theirs, but it’s in limbo. That makes our jobs hard.”

She got that.

“What else can you give me?”

“We know that she was hit with a Taser. We found some burn marks on the back of her neck. She must have had her hair up when they stuck.”

“So we have nothing new?”

Chris wished he could give her something else to go on, but there just wasn’t anything there to work with. He wasn’t a miracle worker.

“It’s the same MO. I’m sorry, Lyzee, but we have nothing substantial for you.”

She wanted to kick a table around the room. It would get the anger out of her system. Elizabeth knew it was only a matter of time before the killer dropped the next set of bodies.

Time wasn’t on their side.

As she was about drop some serious profanity, the door to the morgue burst open and the sheriff rushed in, and he wasn’t calm and collected. The man looked like he’d swallowed a hive full of hornets.

“Sheriff, you’re late. We had an interview set for today. Why the hell isn't your deputy’s ass in here and ready for us?”

“Yeah, about that—she didn't show up. She’s MIA, but that’s only the beginning of the problem.”

“Okay, what’s the issue?”

“A citizen called in.”

It was like playing jump rope blind. She was getting nowhere.

“Who was the call from, and why is it a problem?” she asked. He must have thought she was a mind reader.

“A call just came into my office that there are two suspicious packages on a front porch. Apparently, the resident saw the morning news, and your husband was on it tearing some reporter a new one.”

Blackhawk grinned. “I’m glad I made the morning news.”

“Who is it?”

“It’s the mayor’s wife.”

Immediately, the team went into crime scene mode. As the doctors and techs got ready to head out, the investigators needed more information.

“If she has heads on her porch, that’s a bad sign.”

The sheriff was aware. “She also hasn’t seen her husband in a while.”

Yeah, that was bad too.

It was going to get ugly, especially since Bonnie and Clyde were taking out ‘guilty’ people. That meant the mayor might have been dipping his stick in someone he shouldn’t.

“Was he seeing anyone on the side? Since Bonnie and Clyde like making people pay for their indiscretions, this might be one of those moments.”

He had to think about it.

“Not to my knowledge.”

“And she just noticed the packages?”

“She was away until last night. She woke up this morning and there they were. She’s scared shitless to open them.”

“Yeah, she should be.”

“We have to get over there on the double.”

“I have deputies on their way there now to secure the scene. I told them we’d be close behind.”

Elizabeth was working something out in her head. A part of the conversation had her perplexed. “And you say you can’t find your deputy? Is there any way that she was getting more than her paycheck signed by him?”

“No.”

“Are you sure? When’s the last time you saw her?”

He had to think about it. “She didn't show up yesterday, so I’m guessing the night before when she went off shift.”

“And you weren’t alarmed?” Elizabeth asked.