Chapter Twenty-Five #4
He told her.
“One of the techs came in, and he was out getting a snack from vending. He overheard one of the city techs say something, and I think you should know.”
She was curious.
“What?”
“The cops went to Alexi’s house. They found him bleeding out on the floor. He was missing a kidney.”
And there it was.
Another clue. He was going to die how his father lived. He’d think that was amusing because in a way, it was a sick and twisted justice.
“Okay, I’m onto him, Callen. I’ll call you back. I love you,” she said, hanging up.
Ethan hugged his wife.
“You got him, Baby. He’s not going to see this coming. He won’t expect you to have figured this out.”
Only, she was worried.
Why?
She called the number. He was going to be all over that. The second she did, he would know that she was even closer. Now, she had to hope and pray she could catch him.
If he went under, this was a whole other mess.
A dangerous one.
“How does he connect to all the victims?” she asked. “There’s got to be a way, and we missed it.”
She thought about it.
Then, it hit her.
He’d said his father was always donating money, and so was he. Gabe said they were philanthropists.
That was how they stayed under the wire. No one would give him any thought.
“He won’t be gay, but he will use that to mock us. He knows I roll with gay rich men.”
Gene was digging around, trying to find that information for her, and he was close.
“I’m in the FBI database, and I’m using MATE’S software to go in the illegal way,” he warned.
Honestly, she didn’t care.
“Find me his donations. They will be it. I’ll bet my badge, my gun, and my life on it.”
They all sat there as her vehicle tore through the streets, heading for that office.
That’s when Gene got it.
When he looked up, his face said it all.
“You were right.”
Hot.
Damn.
She could tie him to the victims.
“How?”
Gene shared just from his last tax return.
“Devon sponsored the last church picnic,” he admitted. “The library where Lory worked is named after him. It’s the Devon Slater Branch.”
She was holding her breath.
“He donated a truckload of school supplies and computers to the school that Penny worked at. The hospital that Alina worked at has a ward named after his mother. A cancer ward.”
And there it was.
“There’s only one left. Tell me how he’s tied to Joan,” she said. “I need to make sure this isn’t a fake clue. If it is, he leaves something a little off for me to spot it.”
Gene kept digging.
“He paid a local photographer for half a year’s work up to when Joan died. He photographed real estate for him.”
And there it was.
“He’s our guy. Let’s bring him in before he can escape.”
That worked for all of them.
As they were two blocks away, she gave Ivan the warning to kill the lights and sirens.
“We go in quiet. Raph, you stick to Ethan like his life depends on it. He’ll go for anyone to hurt me. I’m safe. I’m his focus and he wants to impress me.”
Raphael nodded.
“I’ll wear him like a backpack. Do you want me to keep him in the car?”
She thought about it. Her gut instinct was to say yes, but she changed her mind.
“No, stick close. Just protect him.”
That worked for them.
As they pulled into the parking lot, there were cars, but she thought nothing of it. When Ivan parked beside a luxury car, a sleek red Mercedes, they all got out.
Running toward the building, they headed inside. As she moved toward the office they’d visited just the other day, the lights were on.
Pushing the door open, her gun was in her hand, and she was ready.
Only, she had a problem.
The place was completely empty.
The secretary was gone.
The desk was gone.
The coffee station was gone—like none of it had ever existed, and it had been a figment of her imagination.
“What the fuck?” she asked, moving toward the man’s office, and once inside, she found the same thing.
The place was deserted.
On the floor, there was a folder, and her name was scribbled on the top of it, along with a message.
‘In case you were curious…’
When she opened it, there were pictures of the dead victims they’d just exhumed. There were also pictures of her at the cemetery just a couple of hours ago. There was also a picture of a file cabinet, like the one still standing in the room.
“Oh, Jesus,” she said.
Moving toward it, she carefully opened it, and that’s when she saw it.
The dead secretary’s head, missing her eyes. Rolled up, and sticking out of her mouth, there was another note.
Unrolling it, she read it, and unfortunately, she just found all of this out. Once more, she’d been minutes behind.
‘Joan’s husband photographed real estate for me.
I donated to the church fundraisers for Steph.
For Penny, I bought the school’s new computers.
Alina’s hospital named a wing after my mother for his philanthropy.
Oh, and guess who helped build the library for Lory.
As for the rest, I cleaned up all the loose ends.
Larry is dead, I’m afraid, and right now, if you’re reading this, it's too late to save the city ME. His father was sketchy, but you misjudged him. Too bad. You’re good, but not that good. You’re missing one more note.’
She showed Ethan.
“Well, he didn’t give us anything we didn’t already know. We were so close.”
Well, shit.
Elizabeth was about to say something, when there was a giant blast. The whole building rocked, and all the windows exploded in.
Gene grabbed Elizabeth, and put his body over hers, as Raphael protected Ethan.
Ivan took a bunch of glass to his body, as the window exploded in and he was in front of it, scanning the parking lot to ensure they were safe.
The whole area went wild.
All of the car alarms went off in the parking lot, as the Mercedes they’d parked next to blew up, taking their vehicle to kingdom come.
A very familiar Mercedes.
It looked just like the one Chris drove back home.
Elizabeth got up, and crawled toward Ivan, who was on the floor, bleeding.
He was out cold.
The whole time, her ears were ringing.
“Ivan,” she said, shaking him. Finally, he came awake, his eyes fluttering open. His face was all cut up from the flying glass shrapnel.
Gently, she put his head in her lap.
“What the fuck?” he muttered as he tried to figure out what the hell had just happened, and why he felt like he was being stuck by a million pins.
Well, it was a good thing she had Ethan and Raphael stick close, or they’d be dead.
“We must have triggered something when we came in,” Raphael said, as sirens filled the air. The cops were coming since half the city likely heard that blast.
Yeah, well, that was close.
“The car. We parked beside a red Mercedes. Did it look familiar to anyone?” she asked, grateful they’d narrowly dodged the bullet.
Ethan gasped.
“It looked like Chris’!”
Yeah, she was aware.
“Elizabeth?” Ivan asked.
Looking down, she knew he had one hell of a concussion. He’d taken that blast hard.
When Ivan blinked, focused on looking straight up, Elizabeth was checking on him to see if his eyes were dilated.
“You’ll be okay.”
He shook his head.
“Why are there words on the ceiling?” he asked, disoriented. “Why are they swimming around?”
What?
She immediately looked up.
Oh, shit.
That’s when she saw it.
He said she missed a note, and now, she knew where he’d put it. This nut left her a love note, and they’d not looked up since it had twelve-foot ceilings.
‘What pretty eyes your ME has. I like to collect things in pairs. I’ve always been fond of baby blue. You’re smart, but not that smart!’
Oh, shit.
She pointed up, and scrambled to get her phone out of her pocket before the shit hit the fan. They had incoming cops, Ivan needed a trip to the hospital, and Chris was in danger.
Like she’d suspected.
When Callen answered, she didn’t give him time to say anything to her.
“LOCK THE MORGUE DOWN NOW!” she ordered. “HURRY! GET EYES ON CHRISTOPHER!”
Callen didn’t know what was wrong, but he knew his wife didn’t scream into a phone unless it was dire.
“Saint! Lock the doors!” he said, as the Marine ran toward them, grabbed a broom, and shoved it through the handles.
Callen was curious as he put his body beside the ME—their husband.
He heard alarms in the background.
“What happened?”
She shared.
“He blew up a car outside that looked just like Chris’ Mercedes and left us a note. Chris is the target. Don’t let anyone into the morgue! Ivan’s down! I can’t get there fast enough!”
Callen pulled his gun, and that’s when they heard it.
The elevator in the cooler turned on, and the lift began moving upward.
Oh, shit.
While Callen appreciated a good horror movie, or scary plot, he didn’t appreciate this.
“Someone’s coming up in the morgue cooler,” he said, shoving Chris behind him, as Saint leaned against the cooler to make sure no one came bursting out of it.
Chrissy pulled out a gun, and she held it.
“Be careful,” Elizabeth said, desperately wanting to get there, but she needed Callen and Saint to handle this. “He mentioned his eyes.”
Chris was protected between his husband and the Marine. When the lift in the cooler stopped, they all held their breath.
“No one’s coming out,” Callen whispered.
She knew there was no choice.
“Open it, but shoot first, CJ, and ask questions later,” she added.
Well, he would gladly do that.
When Saint counted them down, he flung the cooler door open, to reveal the inside by the lift.
And that’s when they all saw it.
“Oh, Christ,” Christina said.
“WHAT?” Elizabeth asked, as MATE patched them into Saint’s vest.
And she saw it too.
Inside, was a head. It was sitting on the lift, and it was a very familiar head at that.
It was Ben’s.
His eyes were gone, but there was a note. Oh, and she could see it as plain as day.
‘I couldn’t quite get your husband, but I was so damn close. Next time, he’s mine. The game is only beginning. You know who I am, and I know who you are. The winner takes all. Oh, and by all, that means I take you. I know all of your secrets, and now, you can learn mine.
The Grave Robber.’
And that said it all.
This had just begun.
And it was going to be bad.
Call it a hunch.