Dead Shall Speak (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 10) (5 page)

He went to speak and was cut off.

“I don’t know how my unborn baby is doing, Gabe. I’ve missed a month of watching her get bigger in Elizabeth’s belly. I’ve lost things that I’ll never get back. She swears this is our last child, and I’m missing all those milestones. I need this. I’m asking you, as family, to cut me a break. Give me work to keep my mind busy and let me do my job. I’m also asking you let Callen join me, because he’s hurting too.”

“Please, Director Rothschild,” Callen pleaded. His voice said it all.

It didn't take long.

“Head out. Keep your office apprised of your location. If anything comes up—where Callen has to head out, you’ll have to let him go. The entire government is under scrutiny since the Marine murders. I can’t play favorites.”

“When have you ever?” Ethan asked almost bitterly. Elizabeth had been shot, he’d been abducted, and so had Callen.

They had shed blood for the FBI.

Now, they only wanted what was rightfully theirs.

Blackhawk needed to be out in the field.

“I’ll pass on to your wife that you’re heading out in the field. She sent me something to text to you, so expect it the second I hang up.”

Gabe was tough, but he did have a heart.

“Thank you,” Ethan stated. “I appreciate it.”

“I’m just doing my job,” Gabe said. “Close this case and make it fast,” he added, right before hanging up.

“You head home and pack for us, Cal. I’ll get the team ready, and we’ll meet at the jet.”

Just then their phones beeped.

Ethan glanced down to find two pictures. One was of his wife blowing him a kiss, the other was of her naked belly with a paper over it.

               ‘I miss you, Daddy.’

It brought tears to his eyes.

There weren’t many things in the world that could. Only his wife and his kids, and he’d give anything to touch his unborn child one more time.

“God, I love you so much,” he muttered, tucking his phone away as he headed out of the room. For now, he needed to be strong.

Blackhawk had no choice.

Callen watched his brother and heard his words. He knew that his message was going to make him have the same response. Glancing at his phone, he pulled them up.

One was of his woman making a heart with her fingers. He responded to the sight of her smile and simple token of love as it overwhelmed him.

Then, he saw the message.

‘I miss you, Callen. I can feel your pain from here. When you think you’re alone, close your eyes, and you’ll pick up a trace of my perfume. You’ll know I’m there. I’m always there. I promise. I live in your heart and soul, my love.’

His eyes filled with tears as he kissed the screen. “I love you, Elizabeth. Come home soon. We aren’t doing well without you. I don’t know how much longer I can bear to be away from you.”

It was the truth.

Callen needed her in the worst way.

With that, he headed to his office to grab his gun and keys. He’d go home, find their kids to show them their mommy’s picture, and get the task at hand done.

Her message gave him enough strength to get through one more day.

It was the best he could hope for, since that was all he was going to get.

One day, they’d be back together again.

Callen just needed to cling to that hope.

                            *    *    *

Tony was having a hell of a time reassuring their team. Unlike when working with the FBI, these doctors were more accustomed to academia than decaying corpses.

They weren’t panicked, but they were bordering on morbid curiosity. It was getting hard to keep them from poking at the deceased women.

He was afraid to leave the burial site because he was certain they’d be digging them up the wrong way.

Granted, he needed their help in unearthing them, but the team there was speculating on their deaths. That was going to make the FBI team insane. It was probably a good thing that Elizabeth was away on an assignment.

Then she wouldn’t kill everyone. If there was one thing about the boss lady, it was that if she had to babysit this kind of nonsense, she’d lose her damn mind. Once that happened, someone would get hurt. There would be an ass kicking of monumental proportions.

Yeah, he missed her.

Glancing over, Jaxon was doing what she did best—
leading.
A lot had changed in the month that they were together. She was becoming a strong leader in the field. She’d moved up through the ranks of the team, easily proving that she was damn good at her job.

He was proud.

Now, she was trying to contain them. Tony could hear her attempting to instruct them in body preservation. It was funny because not that long ago, he’d been the one teaching her. The directions were his verbatim.

My, my, it was funny how things had changed.

When she looked up, their eyes met. She immediately blew him a kiss, signally that she, too, was thinking about him.

It took everything in Tony not to return it. What he wanted to do was bounce over, swing her up in his arms to share one hell of a lip lock. Yeah, the dead bodies at her feet didn't even faze him.

That said a lot.

Over time, the FBI had numbed him from the horrors of death, and apparently it was stripping away her fears now too.

Striding over, he ran his long fingers through his black hair. This was where it was going to get ugly, and he knew it.

“The FBI is on their way,” he offered.

“Why?” the one doctor asked, standing. “We can handle this situation ourselves,” he stated.

Tony had had nothing but issues with Doctor Orlando Hertz from day one. When the man rolled out of the university, not far from the site, he’d had one hell of a chip on his shoulder. It seemed that he had been promised the dig boss job, only to have it swiped away.

Yeah, that had to suck.

For him.

Tony wasn’t surprised that it had happened. The FBI, mainly Gabriel Rothschild, had pulled strings, making the switch up late in the game. Now, the man before him was making Tony pay with daily belligerence.

“Because we found bodies that weren’t supposed to be here, that’s a problem,” stated Tony. This wasn’t his first day working a dig. He’d done his time in college, the field, and some of the most horrific locations the FBI came across.

This was a cake walk.

He only wished that the people before him were a little bit more seasoned.

“This is university property. We should have full control of this,” Doctor Hertz stated, again strongly insisting on who he believed should remain in charge of their current mess.

Tony had heard this a million times in the last month. It was the same old song and dance, and frankly, he was getting damn tired of it.

“The FBI is footing the bill. As before, I’m in charge and under the authority of the FBI, so that’s just how it is, Doctor.”

“I should have been running this site. Your bureaucratic nightmare of an agency has made this a mess. We’re bogged down in red tape, and it’s slowing this process down.”

“Bogged down? It’s called proper procedure. We need to collect evidence. That’s our first and foremost job.”

The man snorted. “Please. This is being done wrong, and we all know it. You’ve been out of the university far too long, Tony.”

There was no doubt why the man dropped his title. It was to make him seem less competent. It was an old academic trick to make one person appear more ‘valuable’ than the other.

It pissed him off. Tony had earned his stripes in hell. If any of these classroom clowns doubted that, they should do his job for a few days. They’d be puking in their morning coffee over the horrors he had to swallow.

As Tony was getting ready to say as much, Jaxon spoke up. “Suck it up, Doctor. If this is the first time you’ve had a Federal agency take over, then you haven’t been on nearly enough digs. As for the man before you, show some respect. He’s a doctor, just like we are, and he earned his title. Use it, and don’t be a dick. Well, we all know you are one, so try to not be as big of one.”

That burr hit its mark.

The man walked away in a huff, giving her a look over his shoulder.

In that moment, Tony really could have kissed her.

“What do we do next?” inquired Doctor Bridget Seston, ignoring the outburst to move closer to the man in charge.

Jaxon wanted to roll her eyes when the woman batted hers at Tony. For the last four weeks, the doctor had been trying to get his attention and into his pants. To say that it was getting irritating would be an understatement.

“We finish uncovering them and wait,” he answered.

When the woman touched his arm, he could see Jaxon’s eyes narrow, and the lines form in the center of her forehead.

“Can you help me?” she asked. “I seem to have lost my dig partner. He stormed off in a huff. I promise I won’t leave your side.”

Jaxon wanted to puke.

On her.

Tony was well aware what was going on. When he’d been given this assignment, he did his research. The woman, who was eyeing him up like a snack, was Jaxon’s biggest competition. They started out at the same time, worked a few jobs together, and were rivals. There was no doubt that the woman wanted to make his fiancée a nervous wreck.

Yeah, not on his dig site.

He wasn’t going to allow himself to become a weapon to hurt the woman he loved.

Tony was way too smart for that BS.

“Sorry, Doctor, but I have to go get ready for the FBI. You’ve done this a while. You should know how to manage without a partner. Although, if you need help, then Doctor Armstrong can show you how do it the right way.”

His comment hit its mark.

Tony owed his girl this. After all, she schooled a pompous doctor. Why not return the favor?

Immediately, the woman clammed up.

He’d worked with Elizabeth Blackhawk enough to know how to place a well-timed barb.

Tony Magnus had learned from the best.

As he headed off, he could feel Jaxon not far from his side. Once in the tent, she practically jumped him, crushing his mouth beneath hers. Jaxon’s lips caressed his, drawing him into the kiss. As her tongue slid across his, promising so much more heat, Tony nearly wanted to weep with the pleasure of it all.

When they both finally surfaced from the mating of mouths, he stared at her in shock.

“That’s for being my hero and putting her in her place,” she stated.

Tony was glad he had done it. “I’d do it all over again,” he stated. Then, he got serious. “Are you okay with the fleshiness?” Tony inquired.

She went silent for a second. “No, but I’ll get over it. I have to get this done, so we can wrap it up. I want to go home when this is over. I miss the luxuries of a house.”

He paused, waiting for the bad news. “Home? Where’s that going to be, Jaxon?”

She looked worried. Maybe he’d changed his mind about getting married. After all, he’d proposed and that was it. Since that day, he hadn’t really said anything else.

“I don’t think we’ve discussed that yet.” She backpedaled the conversation like a big giant chicken. She couldn’t help it. The thought of losing him scared her.

He stared into her eyes. “Jaxon,” he began, only to have her cut him off.

“I have to get back to work, boss,” she stated, heading out. It was lame that she was still worried, but Jaxon couldn’t help it. Tony Magnus turned her already chaotic world upside down.

Tony followed, watching her pull gloves from her back pocket. “Oh boy,” he muttered, a little shocked that by now she couldn’t just give him an honest answer.

Somehow, this was becoming a mess.

Normally, he was incredibly astute. What he didn't notice was that he wasn’t the only one watching Jaxon.

There was another set of eyes.

And they saw everything.

                                          *    *    *

Somewhere in Bayou Country

Location Classified

She’d had lots of tough assignments in her career with the FBI, but none had made her life this hard. Not only was she away from the men in her life and pregnant, but she was babysitting a creep fest.