Choices will Destroy (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 14) (59 page)

Elizabeth laughed. “This is the sickest case yet.”

“It’s poetic justice,” stated Chris. “Think about it. She raped him with his own dick, and likely while he was alive. He would have bleed out, but it took time.”

Callen didn't say anything. Instead, he pointed at Merry. “Say it once for me.”

“I’m glad. He deserved it.”

Yeah, they all agreed there.

Just then, her cell rang. “Blackhawk,” Elizabeth said, answering it.

“It’s Livy. We have information.”

She put it on speaker.

“What is it?”

“We traced Carol Spade’s cell, and it just went on. She’s not far from FBI West.”

Merry gasped.

Elizabeth knew what she needed. “We need you to get a warrant and head to her home. Tear it apart. Have Gabe use his influence. I’ll send you everything I have to get it. If she’s here, she doesn’t know we suspect her.”

Livy could do that. “You keep your pregnant ass inside that building,” she stated. “Ethan, you tie her to a chair.”

She laughed before he could make a comment. “It’s like a Sunday night in our house.”

Neither of the men laughed.

“Okay! Relax! I’m here in the morgue. There’s more guns in here than in the wild west. I think I’m safe. You just get that warrant and take Gabe with you. You were my partner, and she hated us both.”

“On it. I’ll call you in a little while.”

The call ended.

She glanced over at Chris. “If this is Carol, and it looks like it, you keep your ass in here too.”

“Me?” he asked.

“Yeah, we both rode her, and she hated you just as much as me.”

“Are you kidding? She loved me. I was her favorite target. You made me your boyfriend. That tagged me.”

All the techs looked around and then back at Elizabeth for confirmation.

What was she supposed to do?

“Yeah, that one is on me.”

Ethan began laughing. “Oh, our jobs are never boring, that’s for sure.”

Callen shrugged. “I could do with some boredom now and again.”

Yeah, so could she.

She tossed the bag of bills from
‘Bubba’s’
to Merry. “Find me a fingerprint, and then find me a killer. I’ll bet my ass it’s on there. She’s careful, but she didn't think we’d go this far. What Carol never got was how to be excellent at her job. My team is the best. I find it ironic that I busted her balls for leaving fingerprints on a crime scene, and that’s what’s going to catch her.”

They got to work.

It was going to be one hell of a push to get it done.

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

Fort Whitefox-Blackhawk

Twenty Minutes Later

Wyler was outside scooping the poop from the two dogs. It was a fulltime job, and someone needed to stop feeding them this much.

As they raced around him, playing in the snow, Wyler smelled it.

Something was on fire.

There was the acrid smoke floating in the air over their house. At first, he thought it was their home. Immediately, his heart started pounding.

He thought the killer was trying to burn them out.

Then he realized their alarm was state of the art, and it would have gone off at the first inkling of fire.

It wasn’t.

Running into the house, he glanced out the front door. That’s when he saw it.

Chris Leonard’s house was on fire, and he didn't see Cyra or Bethe outside.

“Agents!” he shouted, getting their attention. “Hurry!”

They raced to his side.

“Stay inside,” Brody ordered, pulling his gun. Johanna did the same.

“Cyra Leonard and Bethe are home! You have to save them!”

Together, they raced toward the house to get inside. There was no doubt that this wasn’t a coincidence.

Cindy came to his side holding Charlie. “Oh my Lord! Cyra and Bethe!”

Wyler knew he couldn't wait. “Stay inside, lock the doors, and don’t let anyone in but us! My gun is in the cabinet. Call Elizabeth and tell her what’s happening. They’ll come. I have to go help!”

Wyler took off, racing across the street and to their neighbor’s home. He had to get that baby. He couldn’t bear to think that she’d burn alive.

How could he live with himself?

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

FBI West

When the call came, Elizabeth was sitting on one of the morgue tables. Ethan and Callen were working on searches, trying to figure out how to tie Carol Spade to the murders.

As they typed, she answered her phone.

“Blackhawk.”

“Elizabeth!” came the very familiar voice.

Immediately, she was scared shitless. “Cindy! What’s wrong? Is it Wyler? The kids?”

She listened as the woman gushed details at a fast pace. Her heart was hammering in her cheat, and her eyes roved the room, settling on Chris.

He knew.

She saw it in his eyes.

He was staring at her, as were her men. “I’m on my way. Call the fire department and stay inside where the kids are safe.”

When she hung up, Ethan was at her side. “What’s going on?” he asked in a panic. He’d heard ‘fire department and stay inside’. That didn't bode well.

She didn't have time to explain.

“Chris, there’s a fire at your house. We have to go.”

He began panicking. “Cyra! Bethe!”

They raced from the lab and out the back door. There was no time to get to the garage and into their vehicle. They opted to grab an FBI van instead. It was closer.

Inside, Ethan hauled ass, throwing on the lights. The roads were treacherous, but he kept the speed up, praying that he didn't kill them all. Deep down, he suspected this was a trap. This killer wanted Elizabeth and Chris out in the open, and they were playing in to it.

“Callen, stick with her. Don’t let her leave your side. No matter what, you are all over her.”

He agreed.

In the back, Chris was dialing his wife over and over again, praying that she’d answer.

Only, she wasn’t.

His frantic calls went to voice mail where he begged her to answer him.

Chris was getting scared.

“Tell me it’s going to be okay,” he begged his best friend. “Tell me that this isn’t my fault.”

Chris began beating himself up over this. Had he stayed home, maybe this wouldn’t happen. A million things went through his mind, as he tried to rationalize the outcome.

He was an ME.

He knew this was going to be bad.

Chris’s gut screamed.

“Let’s not freak out until we get there,” she stated. Elizabeth met her husband’s eyes in the mirror. There was no question in her mind that this was another killing. Chris was hers, and the killer knew it.

That was exactly why they were in this position.

If this was Carol Spade, of course she was going to strike out at him. She’d make him bleed. The only way to hurt him was his family.

She’d be last, but Chris…he’d be right before her.

Jesus!

She wished they’d figured this out sooner.

“Lyzee, I can’t breathe,” he said, beginning to hyperventilate. His breathing was coming fast, and he was going to pass out.

Maybe that was for the best.

Then he could avoid all of what was coming.

She pushed his head between his knees. When he was in that positon, she leaned down to his ear. “I’ve got you, Christopher. I need you to trust me. No matter what the outcome, I have you. I’ll help you through this.”

His hand blindly sought hers as he silently gave her his word.

All he could think of was his wife and daughter. They were alone, and he’d left them. He wanted to be sick.

He wanted to rage.

He wanted to weep.

As he squeezed her hand, she was reminded of all the times he’d been her rock. Chris had had her back, and she likely caused this. The killer knew what buttons to push. She’d studied them.

She’d figured out maximum damage, and here it was.

This bitch was dead.

If it was the last thing she ever did.

As they pulled up, the house was on fire.

It was ablaze.

Chris was out fast, racing toward the house. Ethan went after him, trying to keep him from going inside. If he did, he wasn’t coming out.

No one could survive this blaze.

“Callen, get to our house,” Elizabeth ordered.

“I have to stay with…”

She cut him off. “This could be a distraction. Get to our damn kids! She could be going for them while we’re over here. I’m armed. They aren’t. I’ll be fine!”

That got the response she wanted.

He took off running.

Elizabeth glanced down at her watch and knew this was Bethe’s naptime. While Chris and Ethan tried to get inside, she had a better route.

She was going to get to that baby.

Around the side of the house, Elizabeth raced for the tree. As she began climbing it, she could see her father-in-law struggling to get the window open. There were child safety locks. Leaning over, she wrapped one leg around the trunk and shattered the window with the butt of her gun. Breaking out all the glass, she made sure he had a way out.

“Here!” Wyler handed her the baby.

Bethe was screaming like mad, and her rescuer was coughing. Elizabeth moved back, allowing him space as he climbed into the tree.

“Elizabeth, you better not fall,” he ordered, wiping the soot and dirt from his eyes. “If you do, my boys will kill me, and you.”

“You should be more worried about me going to jail when I catch this bitch and kill her,” she said, climbing down.

That said it all.

Because…

Ultimately, that was her plan.

As Chris tried to get into the front door, the two agents came out. Both were coughing and wouldn’t let him in.

“I have to get to my wife!” he screamed.

Ethan grabbed him and pulled him back, wrapping his arms around the man to keep him firmly locked against his chest.

It was too late.

They were too late.

“Let me go!” Chris shouted, struggling against his arms. He was fighting to get to his wife. He was going in to find her.

One way or another, he was going to get to her.

Ethan fought harder. He fought with everything he had to keep the man alive. Going into that inferno was a death wish.

He had to save Chris—if not for him, for his wife. They’d put him back together later.

“She’s gone,” Johanna said, crouching down to get some air. Brody was at her side. They both were covered in black soot and hacking up their lungs.

“Boss, she was in the center of it. We couldn’t…she was...” He didn't want to say it, but he knew Chris needed to hear it. “She was gone. I’m sorry, Doctor Leonard. We tried, but there was nothing we could do.”

There was a strangled sob from Chris.

It broke all of their hearts.

Ethan dragged him back as the firetrucks pulled up. They began doing their job, and Ethan did his. He refused to let Chris go. He was weeping as he was forced to watch his house burn to the ground.

In it was his wife, and she was gone.

Ethan couldn’t imagine the pain.

“My daughter,” he whispered. “I have nothing left. Oh, God, Ethan. I have nothing left.”

He held him.

All the while, Chris had one thought.

He wished he was dead too.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

This was his greatest nightmare.

He’d lost his family.

Chris, surrounded by the chaos, didn't know how he was going to carry on. As a Fed, he always thought if someone was going to die, it would be him. He’d built the most secure nest for his wife and daughter, so they could carry on in his death.

It was top of the line. He’d paid a fortune to secure it.

How had this happened?

As he began weeping, he heard his name.

From beside him, Ethan was pointing out movement.

“Chris,” he said, keeping his mouth near the man’s ear so he could hear over the sirens and other blaring sounds.

“Look.”

He turned his head to find Elizabeth running his way. In her arms was a bundle of familiar blankets.

There was hope.

In all of this, there was a glimmer that he’d make it. His wife was gone, but he still had his child. His sweet daughter wasn’t torn from his life.

He broke free and raced toward her. When he finally reached Elizabeth’s side, he grabbed his screaming child.

“Daddy’s here, Bethe. Daddy’s here. It’s okay, honey. I have you,” he sobbed, running his hands over her body to check for any injuries. Chris needed to make sure his daughter was safe.

She was all that was left.

Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him as he reunited with his child. “Come on, Chris. Let’s get to my house. She’s going to get sick out in this cold, and so are you,” she said, pulling him toward it.

Glancing over at her husband, she needed him to be the boss. What was coming for Chris was going to mean she needed to focus. “Ethan, send the ambulance over to our house. I have to get them inside.”

He did what she asked.

“Take care of him,” he said, before rushing away.

As they walked through the snow, Chris sobbed and held on to his daughter. “Oh, God! You saved her.”

“Wyler went in for her. I just climbed the tree to get to her,” she offered.

“You both saved her. I have my daughter because of both of you.”

Yeah, and he’d lost his wife because of her too. There was no way she’d forget that. Some killer stole Cyra away because of Elizabeth. When he realized that, he wouldn’t want to be anywhere near her.

“Cyra’s dead,” he said, the tears streaming down his face. “She burned in the house. Please tell me this is a nightmare. I’m asleep. Please tell me Cyra didn’t suffer.”

She kissed him on the cheek. “She didn't suffer, Chris, I promise. Just hold onto Bethe. She needs you now. You have to focus for her.”

He nodded.

She was right.

He had to carry on for his daughter. Kissing her smudged cheek, he refused to let her go.

At the front door, Elizabeth banged on it. When it opened, Callen was there with his gun in his hand.

“Get in here,” he said, pulling them inside and his father too. They were covered in soot.

“The ambulance is coming,” she said. “Wyler and Bethe need to be checked out. I’m fine. I didn't go into the house,” she reassured when Callen gave her the look.

The two agents hustled across the yard, covered in black carbon.

Callen held the door open for them as they coughed. They looked to be the worst.

Elizabeth got Chris to the couch, and she sat him down. “Stay here.”

She called for Cindy.

“Grab warm blankets,” she said, her own teeth chattering. They had run out of FBI West without their coats. It was the dead of winter, and they were all going to get pneumonia.

“Yes, ma’am!”

Elizabeth moved back toward her father-in-law and two agents. “What the hell happened?”

Wyler told them. “We ran right over. The house just went up.”

She focused on her agents. There was no doubt they had smoke inhalation. “What did you see?”

Johanna lowered her voice. “There was a body in there. From the burn radius moving out, it was the center point. If that was Cyra, she was lit on fire.”

“I smelled gasoline,” Brody said. “She was torched.”

Again, this was just like a case. Chris and Cyra met on a case where strippers and hookers were burnt alive.

Shit!

Shit!

Shit!

This bitch was dead.

When she got her hands on her, she was going to kill her.

As the ambulance crew arrived, Callen checked all of their IDs. He wanted to make sure he wasn’t letting the fox into the hen house.

As they began working, he crossed to his wife. “Angel, you need to get warm.”

Her teeth were still chattering. “I will. I’m just letting anger heat me up. It takes longer.”

He grabbed a blanket from Cindy and wrapped it around her body. “Don’t even think it.”

She was.

“It’s not your fault.”

“It is, Callen. She took a shot at Chris because of me. I pushed her. I made her bleed, and now she’s making him bleed as retaliation.”

They both glanced over at the man in question. He was hovering as the medics checked out his daughter. When he looked over at Elizabeth, he had so much sorrow in his eyes.

Her heart broke.

“How do I say I’m sorry for this? I got his wife killed,” she whispered. “How do you apologize to a man you consider your brother when your arrogance just destroyed his family?”

“Lyzee…”

Just then, Ethan came in.

“I need to see you two in the kitchen.”

They followed.

“What is it?”

He pulled out a paper that was in a clear bag.

                   ‘Five and six of seven’

She wanted to punch something. Elizabeth wanted to destroy everything around her. She’d been holding onto that one thread that this was some accident.

Here was the proof.

She was furious.

She was bitter.

She was willing to cross the line.

Ethan took her by the shoulders. “I need you to let the tech team handle this. I need you to distract Chris long enough that they can check Bethe for any trace.”

She could do that.

“Lyzee, angel, Ethan’s right. We need to work this like a crime scene.”

Blackhawk continued, “If she was in that house, she might have touched the baby. We have to run this as if he’s not our family. We have to be by the books, because she’s going to screw up, and this might give us the proof to lock her away.”

“She’s dead, Ethan. I won’t let her go to jail.”

He was well aware.

“Let’s get this done. Chris needs you in control. You have to solve this. We’ll run this, and you handle him. He’s going to need all of us to circle around him. Chris needs his family, and we take care of our own.”

He was right, and she would solve this.

Oh, she would find this woman if it was the last thing she ever did.

Then she’d kill the bitch for messing with the people she loved.

Justice had a name, and it was going to be Elizabeth Blackhawk.

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

Washington, DC

Getting that warrant was a bitch, but he swung it. Somehow, he found a judge and now Gabe owed him a big favor. He hoped his wife was right because he was now going to be indebted to a huge asshole.

He hated being under someone’s thumb.

As they headed to Carol Spade’s house, they knew there was a chance they might get lucky.

She might have left something there that would tie her to the killings.

Evidence would be nice.

As they approached the house, Gabe glanced over at his wife. “Stay…”

She shut him down with one sentence.

“Sure if you fire your secretary.”

“What?”

“If you’re going to boss me around, I’m doing the same. You have your job, and for the record…you haven’t been on the street in ten years. I think you may be rusty too.”

He stared at her.

“Well?”

“Fine. I’ll fire her, and you better keep your ass right behind me.”

“Two asses in a line. Great.”

“You know…you being near Elizabeth is beginning to seem like more and more of a horrible idea each and every day.”

She pulled her gun and grinned. “Yeah, I know. What the hell were you thinking?”

Together, they headed to serve the warrant. Gabe sent his agents around back. They were still staring at him as if he was loco. They had never seen him out in the field before now.

Well, screw them.

It felt nice.

Sticking the warrant to the door, he reminded his wife. “We can only search for things on the surface. It’s limited. If you find something, we tag it.”

“Gabriel, kick in the damn door before I do.”

He pointed. “Oh, by all means.”

Livy lined up with the lock. When he counted them down, she booted it with her foot. The door burst open, and she went in first.

That’s when she stopped.

“Uh, do you think that’s relevant?” she asked, pointing at the body on the floor.

He stared down. There was Carol Spade, and she was dead. By the glaze in her eyes, it wasn’t recent.

She’d been dead a couple days, frozen in her own home.

“Yeah, I’d say so, but if she’s here, who’s in Damascus after Elizabeth?”

She didn't know.

But they needed to find out.

And fast.

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

The medics cleared Bethe and Wyler. Unfortunately, the two agents were a little worse for the wear. They had to take a little trip to the ER to be checked out by a doctor.

As Callen loaded them up in the ambulance, they both promised to be back.

He gave them credit.

They ran right for that fire, and didn't give their safety any concern.

They were heroes in his book.

As he headed back across the snow, he glanced toward Chris’s massive burned out house. It was destroyed.

Everything he owned was in there, along with his wife. Callen couldn’t even imagine. He wanted to be sick. Silently, he said a prayer to his dead grandfather, begging him to keep his woman and unborn child safe.

He had a bad feeling, and it was brewing in his stomach. From where he stood, he could see the techs working the scene. They were pulling that house apart, like no one’s business. If there was trace, they were going to get it.

He didn't doubt it.

Callen headed toward the house, knowing his brother had just returned to their home. So much for no one knowing where they lived. He didn't doubt that Carol Spade had done her research.

They were screwed.

Their once safe home was compromised.

Glancing back at his home, he wanted to weep for the man inside.

Poor Chris.

It was going to be a long hard road.

As he crossed to the scene, the entire tech team was there. Anyone not working on a case had showed up, and he wasn’t shocked. Doctor Leonard was loved by everyone.

He was a good guy and didn't deserve this.

Inside, the fire marshal had cleared the ME. As Zane knelt beside the charred body, Callen could see it in his eyes.

“She was torched,” he said, when Callen approached.

“I can only hope she was dead at the time.” Callen remembered the stripper case. They’d been alive.

“Where’s the director?” Zane asked.

“Ethan’s tied up at the house. I’m going to stand in here. Get her back to the lab, check dentals ASAP, and call us. Do it fast. We don’t need Chris seeing her like this, if this is Cyra.”

They got it.

Merry unrolled a bag and they carefully lifted her wearing asbestos gloves. She was one lump of twisted flesh.

“Pull everything,” Callen yelled. “We’re getting justice for Chris and his family.”