Chapter Five
Crime Scene
Holladay, UT
Monday Late
Morning
If confusion had a face, it would have been the one plastered onto Elizabeth’s. The last thing she’d expected was a strange woman to head right at them, jump up, and wrap her legs around Ethan’s waist.
Oh, hell no.
That was definitely not happening.
Not in front of her.
Why?
Well, first, his back, and second of all, no one did the leg wrap thing with these men, except her. That was only accessible with a ring, a vow, and marriage.
None of which this woman had.
That she knew of, anyway.
So, since everyone was stunned, she went there before Raphael yanked the woman off and body slammed a cop to the ground.
He was known to do things like that.
“I don’t know what you’ve heard about me, but can you kindly set my husband free?” Elizabeth asked. “I don’t share, and that’s why this menagerie has only one set of tits in it.”
It was in that moment that security went to move at her, but Gene stopped them.
“Tora?” he asked, recognizing her.
Security paused, and Ethan blinked from behind his shades. The name registered.
“Tora Quinley?” he asked, recalling the name. He’d not heard it in a long time, since he and Gene broke up, and they lost track of her.
She hoped down, and hugged Gene next. She went into his body, and he enveloped her.
Yeah, what was this?
Call Elizabeth perplexed.
But what the fuck was going on here that she wasn’t aware of? Both Gene and Ethan knew this woman?
That meant it predated her.
Right?
Ivan was staring at her, not sure what she wanted him to do. The woman was now up-close and personal with Gene, and Uriel looked equally perplexed.
For Elizabeth, she didn’t have an answer.
Clearly, they all knew each other.
Ethan was smiling.
Gene was cuddling a woman.
It was fucking pandemonium in her world, to say the least. All of security had their hands on guns, but they were also aware this woman was a cop.
Truthfully, she didn’t know what to say.
When the detective, if that was who she was, since Elizabeth wasn’t sure because the woman hadn’t introduced herself, let Gene go, she had so many questions.
“Uh…?” she asked.
The woman held out her hand.
“I’m Detective Quinley, and that’s my partner Mac Yardley.”
Yeah, that didn’t answer her questions. She was talking about the hug-fest that had just gone down.
When she didn’t offer one up, she knew who would.
“I suggest an explanation, HUSBANDS, since you know I get very particular about who jumps on my men.”
Ethan laughed.
God.
He’d forgotten about this woman. Oh, on occasion, she popped into his mind, but not for a while.
It took him back.
WAY.
BACK.
It was funny how the universe played repeat cards over time.
He could see his wife’s irritation, so Blackhawk shared what he could.
Their past.
“Gene and I worked a case, and Tora was there. We met her when she was a child.”
Tora was still holding out her hand, and Elizabeth took it, curiously.
Tora explained.
“I was underage stripping and trying to survive. Both Ethan and Gene saved me. They sent me off to Salt Lake City with some case worker, and a chance at life. I became a cop because of them,” she said, tears filling her eyes.
Immediately, Elizabeth relaxed.
Oh, well, that explained how they knew her. The fact that they’d saved a child…
That was definitely them.
“And the Dad part?” she asked.
Tora laughed.
“I called them that because they fed me, saved me, and I didn’t have one. They’re my heroes,” she admitted.
Gene ruffled her hair.
“You did good, kid. A gold badge? I’m impressed,” he admitted, dropping his arm around Ethan’s waist.
They’d done good in their past, and things like this were a good reminder.
“Really?” Elizabeth asked.
Tora nodded.
“They got me into a foster home where I was given a shot. I got my education, and got money for college. I became a cop because these two came into a strip club, working a case, and saw value in me.”
Well, shit.
That sounded like them.
“Tora, we’re so proud of you,” Ethan said. “I told you that you could be anything you wanted. I didn’t think you’d be a cop. Bonus points for creativity.”
She pulled out her badge, and there was something behind it.
“I believe in kismet.”
When she pulled the weathered business cards out, on them were Gene’s name and Ethan’s.
She showed them.
“When it got hard, I looked at these. I made it, and I owe it all to you two.”
Elizabeth could see the emotion in both men’s eyes. She knew they were good men, but this just proved it even more. She didn’t know much about their time in Philly, or working cases, not the cases, per se, but she knew they’d done good work.
“Well, I’m so glad I get to meet you, Tora,” she said. “I’m Elizabeth.”
Tora put the business cards away with their cell numbers written on them.
“It’s a pleasure, Deputy Director. Thank you for coming to help us.”
Her partner shook her hand too.
“Ma’am, thank you.”
Elizabeth nodded at Ivan.
He backed up, making sure security gave them a little wiggle room. It was clear that the woman wasn’t going to hurt them.
“I’m sorry I jumped on your man. I just saw him, and it all came back to me. They legit saved me. I wouldn’t carry this shield without them. No one ever believed in me until they did. I was doing anything to survive, and they are my guardian angels.”
Gene was honest.
“We kept tabs on you with my attorney friend for a few years. We heard you got your GED and into college. Like I said, you did good, kiddo.”
She smiled at him.
“Thanks, Dad. I mean, Agent,” she corrected, not wanting to upset the director.
Elizabeth reassured her.
“They have so many kids, what’s a couple more?” she asked, definitely softening.
Why?
Ethan was smiling, and so was Gene. It was clear this woman meant something to them.
She laughed.
“Does that make you mom?” she joked.
Elizabeth shrugged.
“I answer to that in public when my kids aren’t around, so I won’t bust balls if that comes out in private. If you meant something to these two nuts, then you mean something to me,” she said, and meant it.
Ethan squeezed her hand.
Once more, his past was back, but this time, it wasn’t a bad reunion.
It was a good one.
Elizabeth made the introductions.
“Detectives, this is my team. This is Doctor Christopher Leonard. He’s my ME. Is yours still on scene?” she asked.
Mac nodded.
“Yeah, he’s guarding the vagrant that we found that led us to this building. He’s inside for you. He said he can’t tell if it’s part of the crime scene, or a whole other one. He didn’t want to move him.”
Chris sighed.
“FINALLY! An ME that gets it. I’m going to have to autopsy the dead dude, even if he’s not tied to this, and we’ll keep him on hold, just in case. He might not be part of this, but if he is…”
She got it.
He was making sure her job was easier.
Not harder.
“Thank you, Christopher. Take the techs,” she said. Then, she introduced the rest of her team. “Detectives, this is Special Agent Alexander Bartlett, and his partner, Special Agent Corbin Price. We’re all here to help you figure this out.”
She shook everyone’s hands.
Gratefully.
It was rare she got a good case, and she was hoping she’d be able to tag along.
She was crazy like that.
“It’s a pleasure. I wish it was under better circumstances,” she admitted.
Before they headed in, she was giving Chris a head start to get the techs into place.
He had a much harder job.
God.
She missed Chrissy.
“What happened? Walk me through it. I know what your captain said, but I need your impression.”
Tora did just that.
Out came her little notebook, much like the one Gene carried, and she flipped it open.
The whole time, Elizabeth saw how proud Ethan and Gene both looked. Yeah, this woman mattered to them.
Tora continued.
“We got the call that there was a body found. We showed up, and found a vagrant man shanked in the chest. As our ME was doing his thing…we wandered around. There on the second floor, we found a locked door and an unlocked door. On the door with the lock, it screamed suspicious, so curiosity always kills the cat. We had to investigate.”
Elizabeth let her talk.
It was clear she was a decent cop. She was painting the full picture, covering all the important parts. Yeah, she’d been a detective for enough time to know how to do this.
That was helpful.
Tora finished.
“There was a big, shiny padlock. I thought that was strange, so I went out on a ledge, literally, and we peeked into the windows. Inside, we saw the craziness. That’s when I called my boss, and he didn’t want to handle this.”
Elizabeth understood that.
It wasn’t like she could blame someone for not wanting to dive into vats of eyeballs.
It took a special kind of crazy.
HER.
It took her.
“He said it’ll drain resources, and make it damn difficult to figure out who the victims will be. We had to pass on it, which sucks because I always get the crap cases with Mac.”
Mac agreed.
“It’ll take months to do the DNA, and we would have been yanked anyway—seniority and all. I’m sorry if we wasted your time. This won’t be an easy one without DNA.”
She stopped him.
Oh, she had news.
They rolled like this all the time.
“It’ll take us today to find DNA. We move fast. I’ll have the victims’ names by tomorrow, as long as they were in a database. Then, I’ll be able to work that part of it.”
Mac laughed.
“Man, to have the FBI resources.”
Yeah, it was nice.
That was why she got paid the big bucks. Oh, wait. She absolutely didn’t get paid the big bucks. She had a plethora of husband sugar daddies.
Which was a whole other issue for her.
Tora was to the point.
“We kept the room intact. The CSIs went in through the one window, but only after your ME cleared it. They are in PPE, so they touched nothing. We had them wear full protective gear, so no contamination happened.”
Elizabeth looked around.
What?
Was?
This?
Did her ears hear this woman right?
“Uh, are you okay?” Tora asked, not sure what the woman was looking for, or why she looked so confused.