Chapter Twenty-Five
En Route
Jeffrey’s Home
Tuesday
One P.M.
As Ivan drove, Elizabeth sat in the vehicle with Ethan, scanning all of the information that Corbin had sent over to her. She now knew all about Jeffrey’s mother, and where she’d been laid to rest.
With the information coming in, there was no doubt in her mind that the person behind this laid these tracks years before.
“We’re going to have to get her exhumed,” Elizabeth said. “I’m going to ask Jeffrey for his permission, but I don’t think he’ll do it.”
Ethan was to the point.
“He won’t. This person handpicked this situation,” he admitted. “He knew from studying Jeffrey and his mother, that it would be problematic for you. The man will fight it, slowing you down. Every obstacle you’ve hit was to do just that.”
She tapped her leg with her fingers.
“I already don’t like this game,” she admitted.
Oh, he wasn’t shocked.
He wasn’t a fan either.
Seriously, he knew this was going to come down to a one-on-one fight to the death, and he hated that his wife was going to be pulled into it.
It was clear this person was relentless, and like no one she’d ever battled before.
“Lyzee, my love, he’s dangerous,” he admitted. “He’s going to mind fuck you. He’s going to figure out your fears, your worries, and he’s going to twist them into nightmares.”
Well, no shock there.
“Why?” he asked.
He wasn’t sure of that.
YET.
But he could take an educated guess.
“He admires and hates you. He is afraid but in awe of you. You’ve become his poster child for adversary, and he’s going to want to rattle this cage and win. Clearly, he’s heard about you for a very long time, and you’re his goal to beat.”
She hated that.
In her youth, she had very little to lose. It was just her and Chris, and she could keep him safe. Now, she had a big circle, and it could blow up spectacularly.
And she knew it.
“What can you give me on him?” she asked.
“That he’s watched you a while, and that The Grave Robber likes his name. He would have been in his glory when the media called him that. Use that to control the narrative. When he comes at you, be ready for a personal attack.”
Yeah, one-on-one, she could do. Even at fifty, she was in her best personal shape. One-on-one, she could kick ass, but if this person hid and struck at her family, it would take her down.
Gene put his hand on her thigh.
“Maybe we need to figure out a more permanent solution,” she stated.
She glanced over at him.
“Like?”
He hated to say this, but they were too big a family to be kept safe. Security was part of their circle, too, and that would be dangerous at some point for them.
“Do you trust me?” he asked her.
Elizabeth nodded.
“Then, listen to me. I’ve done this a long time, too.
Maybe not always as a Fed, but I know when to run and hide.
The Hunter in me says abort. Not for us, but we have too diversified a circle.
We need to get the kids FAR from here. I think we need to get them to Scotland, and tuck them away.
As in no one knows they’re there. As in leave the tutors, the teachers, and anyone who doesn’t need to know, behind. ”
She listened as he spoke.
“Because if this person is watching us, hiring more security, or bringing teachers we’ve just hired might be our downfall. We don’t know where this person is, who it is, or what they’ve found out.”
Ethan tended to agree.
“I know we do the whole ‘we want the kids to have a normal life’ but this isn’t normal. This is dangerous. We almost lost Charlie, and God forbid this lunatic is better than Sally. She was tough to catch, and she remade herself. We can’t risk it.”
She agreed.
“Ivan, change of plans. We go home for this weekend, and plan to extricate the kids from the US. We’ll also get all of security out, and put a hold on hiring. We don’t need to let the fox into the henhouse.”
He didn’t argue.
“We can get the kids to Scotland with some trickery. If you give me a few days, I have a few friends who know some people. It will be an uncharted flight on a cargo plane. It’ll land in Scotland, and we can transport under the cover of darkness to the castle.
I’ve seen the layout. Once behind the fence, no one will know. ”
It looked like they were going to use an asset that they had.
“Okay, get the plan situated for post-chemo for Wyler. Keep the nannies on payroll, pay the teachers, and tell them we’re taking the kids to the Puget Sound. If we have the potential for a snake in the house, we need to be on a need-to-know basis only. I’m going to need time.”
He could get her that.
“We’ll fly jets into Puget, and that will be on record so at the same time, we go the opposite way. We can pull them into the hangars there, and have limos pretend to drive them from inside the building to the island at night.”
That worked for her.
Ivan went further.
“I’ll have Callen cancel his tour that’s coming up,” Ivan stated. “We’ll go radio silent and play Marine hide-and-seek.”
She needed that.
Until she could play this game without her family being in danger, she’d be hampered and on a leash. Elizabeth didn’t want to go months, or years, having to live in fear. It was time to be proactive if this nut got past her.
Which she hoped he wouldn’t.
Glancing over at Gene, she knew what else she needed.
“Alert Maura,” she said. “I know they’re in the UK right now, chasing down leads on Von Donore, but I might need backup.
I might need to borrow some Hunters. If this person gets away, I can’t do this above board.
I’m going to have to risk playing dirty to keep my family safe.
If I’ve been studied, or God forbid this person works for our government, I’m fucked. Only Gabe knows where we are.”
Ethan was worried about that.
“Just be careful. We don’t know how much this person knows. I’d keep him out of the loop, too.”
She was aware.
If Ethan thought that was for the best, it was for the best.
Radio.
Silence.
“We’ll play dirty,” she said. “If it costs my badge, it costs my badge. I’m not losing a kid, a spouse, or a family member. The kids are going under. We use ONLY encrypted phones to communicate with them. I know that sounds crazy…”
Ivan stopped her.
“We don’t know who this is. Crazy is not being paranoid when there is a lot on the line. We have to be ready. If this person has been playing this game for over twenty years, we don’t know how many layers this chess game has.”
He was right.
“I want both houses in DC emptied out after this award this weekend. No security left behind. My dogs go to Scotland, and Shadow goes with, too. I’d rather not get a call, they’re dead in some random poisoning.”
They got it.
“We’ll handle it,” Raphael said from the passenger seat.
She believed them.
When Ethan’s phone chimed, it was a text from Gabe, and it was proof that he had some sort of bat sonar to know when people were talking about him.
Reading it, the message said one thing.
And not what they wanted to hear.
‘I have nothing to report. All is quiet, and no one’s heard anything. Be careful. This makes me twitchy. My files are on their way here, and I’ll go over them in my downtime. Be safe.’
He showed his wife.
And she didn’t like it either.
Twitchy was an understatement.
“If the alphabet agencies haven’t heard shit, and the FBI is off the radar, there’s a reason,” she admitted. “Someone played this well. We have to figure out who this is.”
No one argued there.
Ethan thanked the man, and he said nothing about their plans. Gabe was going to be missing his grandson for a while. Oliver and Coraline were going international.
“Alert Michael and Graham that we’re having a horde descend on them. The castle isn’t done yet, but we can convert the library into a giant bedroom for the younger kids, and use the tower rooms,” Gene admitted. “It’ll only be temporary.”
That worked for her.
They had a wedding happening at Halloween, and she needed to have this handled by then.
As they approached a dirt road, Ivan warned her.
“We’ll be there in a mile,” he stated. “The cemetery on the left, and house on the right.”
She was curious.
“They are that close?”
He nodded.
“The cemetery is across from the house,” he admitted. “Talk about convenient and weird. She was killed in front of the cemetery that she was buried in, and likely so her son could keep her company on the weekends.”
Yeah, that was definitely off.
And creepy.
When the phone chimed, this time, it was hers, and Chris was reporting in.
‘We opened the last coffin, the one belonging to Penny Rich, and inside, there was no head, a rotting body, and some dried pansies. We found one under the pillow. We’re transporting in.’
Well, she didn’t like that.
Not.
At.
All.
She showed Ethan, and he knew what was going on. Now that he knew the game, he was able to anticipate it.
“He was setting this up for later, when you eventually got to the bodies in the ground. I don’t doubt for a second that he knew you’d think…Jeffrey Von Gunter. He’s a genius.”
Well, great.
“Don’t fan boy him too much,” she said.
He laughed.
“Baby, I’m scared shitless. I want to hide in a cave with my family. I have to be in awe of his brain. He’s played this out in so many layers that he could quite possibly be the smartest serial killer the FBI has ever encountered. That you’ve ever encountered—so far.”
Gene sighed.
“Well, great for us. I can’t imagine how this is going to bone us good.”
Her either.
Texting Chris back, she said one thing.
‘We might be moving all the victims back to the FBI office later when I get in. Get inside, and hold until further notice. I have to get a bead on this nut, and then, I’ll know if we’re locking down. Give me a little time. Stay with Callen, and be safe. I love you both.’
She sent it, and just as the vehicle was coming to a stop.
“Ivan, I want those kids, Wyler, Caryn, and Janet in the air within the hour back to DC where we have more Marines on duty. Capice?” she asked.
He nodded.