Chapter Fourteen #4
“Copy,” Ivan said. “Hold positions until we get in there,” he stated. “Any traps?”
Raphael’s voice came over the com.
“Negative. It’s clean outside. We were right about the cameras. We’re all good.”
Well, then, they had to handle this for Caspian and Rayna.
“I have this,” she said, trying to convince herself. “This is on me,” she said. “I have to face the music.”
Before he could tell her otherwise, she got out and pulled her gun. As they both reached the door, she tapped her com.
“Secure any escape routes. We’re clearing it.”
Oh, she wasn’t expecting anyone to be inside, but Rayna, but still, she wasn’t risking herself or Ivan.
Speaking of the devil…
Ivan was beside her, and he had two guns out, one in each of his hands. He was not fucking around and finding out. He wanted to see his wife and kids again.
As she pushed open the door, the smell hit her first. Yeah, this was going to be ugly.
So, she braced for it.
“You might not want to see this, Ivan,” she warned.
Yeah, well, he didn’t, but he wasn’t making her do this alone.
“I’m good,” he said.
It couldn’t be any worse than the bloody free-for-all he’d seen in combat.
So, he’d stick.
Moving into the cabin, she focused on EVERYTHING. If he left clues, she needed to collect them on this sick and twisted scavenger hunt of crazy before they locked this place down.
Moving toward the door that would be the bedroom, she saw the blood on the doorknob.
Yeah, no.
She was not getting blood on her hands. She knew why he wanted her to do that, and she wasn’t falling for it.
That was a bridge too far even for her soul.
Kicking the door open, it flung back, and she was assaulted by what had once been Rayna RunningWolf.
She was in the bed, and he’d had a field day with her. She was naked, there were bruises on her thighs, and bite marks all over her. She was burned, cut, and tortured.
She was cut apart, brutalized, and decimated in a rage that could only be described as something from the deepest pits of Hell.
“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Ivan said, crossing himself.
And he wasn’t even Catholic.
That said it all.
Elizabeth could honestly say that this was one of the top five most brutal scenes she’d ever seen.
And she knew why.
It was a combination of her old cases. The missing eyes, the mutilation of her genitalia, the brutality…
She’d seen this work before, and he was telling her that he had her old case files.
They’d been right.
She tapped her com.
“Go to her police car. Get ANYTHING that we can take with us. I didn’t see a purse or bag inside the cabin. She might have given us something we can use to find him. We’ve got the inside.”
Raphael’s voice came over the com.
“Copy.”
As she stood there, she saw the eyes on the nightstand, and they weren’t Rayna’s. They were the wrong color. She had brown eyes, and those looked to be green.
In her head, she said two things.
He’s fucking with you.
You’re finished. This is too much.
Only, she had to finish what she started. That was one of the things her father had taught her.
“Jesus Christ,” Ivan said, again, as he saw the blood all over the walls, and the mess that had been left around the room. “He’s sick.”
Yeah, yeah, he was, and this was EXACTLY why she couldn’t let anyone get taken.
This had been her fear.
Now, they were going to deal with the ramifications of this, and how it would ruin her father’s life, and Caspian’s.
There was no doubt in her mind that she was losing Caspian.
Oh, not to death, but he’d hate her.
Because she hated herself.
At the door, they heard footsteps. When they both turned, to make sure they were safe, it was Raphael, and even he looked to be shaken.
No one blamed him.
The whole time he spoke to them, he didn’t look at Rayna, or what was left of her.
“We found her bag in her car, and a clipboard with a report on it. She was working on it at some point. It’s about a drunken brawl.”
She said one thing.
“Bring it. Put it in our vehicle. Go out there and guard the door,” she said, not wanting him to be forced to see this.
Quickly, he did what she asked.
He headed back out, and Ivan saw the phone. There was a notification on it. They could see it on the screen, blinking.
“There’s a message.”
She pulled on gloves and picked it up. When the phone went on, it wasn’t locked. She saw the voicemail message that was on it.
As she held it, she couldn’t make herself press the button. Deep down, she knew it would be of Rayna being tortured. It would be a way to break and destroy her.
To slow her down.
To derail her.
“Don’t do it,” Ivan said. “He’s going to fuck with your head. You don’t need that message.”
She looked over.
“I don’t care about me, anymore, Ivan. Caspian doesn’t need to ever hear that. I have to protect him. I’m already destroyed over all of this. Over Jet, over Vivian, and now, over Rayna.”
Then, she did something he hadn’t expected.
Dropping it on the floor, she used the heel of her cowboy boot to smash the phone, destroying it. She pounded it into oblivion so NO ONE would ever hear what had been recorded.
Not Caspian.
Not Lance RunningWolf.
Not anyone.
Then, because she needed to regroup for a few minutes, she turned around and walked out of the room.
And Ivan knew one thing.
Devon Slater just made the biggest mistake of his pathetic life. He’d just opened the gate of Hell and let a new monster free.
He’d pushed Elizabeth Blackhawk beyond her breaking point.
It was a matter of time.
Before he was dead.
* * * The Blackhawks * * *
Outside Of Rayna’s
The Car
Elizabeth hadn’t been exaggerating.
She needed a minute.
If she didn’t take it, she was going to break down, and light the fucking world on fire. Not only was she heartbroken, but she was three days past angry.
The rage had her by the balls.
What she wanted to do was go to Devon Slater’s father’s grave, dig him up, and then blow his pathetic ass to kingdom come with a bazooka.
Then, dance around in the raining remains falling from the sky.
Yeah, that angry.
Not far away, Raphael was there, watching her, as he also watched the reservation lands around them.
“You good, Boo?” he asked.
She took a deep breath, as she clenched and unclenched her fists. It took all she had to calm down.
When she was, she nodded.
“I’m good.”
Raphael moved closer and kept his voice down. Only he, and Ivan had seen Rayna’s body other than her. Oh, and he understood what she was feeling.
“You can’t let him know what was done to her,” he said. “He raped her. If Cas finds out about that, he’s never going to be the same again. He did it to make Caspian hate you. That was his intent.”
She was aware.
Raphael continued.
“He’ll never hate you, but that in there will break him, and he’s going to leave. I’m going to ask you to not tell him the severity of it. For him, and his sanity, please, Elizabeth.”
She looked over at him.
Then, she made a decision.
Was it her proudest moment?
NO.
Was it deserved?
Yes.
Without saying a word, she pulled out her phone and called Chris. When he answered, he sounded worried.
“Do you need me there?” he asked.
She stopped him.
Then, she broke the law in ways she never thought she’d do it.
For family.
“No. You’re to stay put. This is a game. It is bad, possibly one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. I’m going to bring her in. We can’t leave her here, but Christopher, I need a favor.”
He wasn’t sure where this was going.
“Actually, I need a couple of favors.”
“What?” he asked, keeping his voice low. He was in the morgue, making sure Tony wasn’t burning the building down, and now, he was curious.
“I’m about to fuck up a crime scene,” she said. “He left a message for me on Rayna’s phone. I can’t let anyone hear that. I destroyed it.”
He didn’t react.
“No techs here. We’re going to have to do something I’ve never thought I’d do. I’m going dark side.”
Oh, boy.
“Okay, Elizabeth.”
She wasn’t done.
Now, she was going to hit him up with the favors. When she got Rayna in, she’d ask the rest.
“I need two bodies exhumed and shipped to a specific location—not the morgue.”
He was curious.
“Who?” he asked.
Before, she’d said something, and it truly resonated with her. He was desecrating bodies, so…so would she.
Tit.
For.
Tat.
It was now on, and the gloves were off. Killing Rayna and doing her dirty like that was a bridge way too far.
“I want both of his parents. I want them dug up, and I want them sent to this address,” she said, rattling it off.
Immediately, Chris recognized the address.
It was a field.
Not only was it a field, but it was a field with a warehouse on it. The place had once been a business, and Callen had bought it to build apartments on it for the people they’d dragged out there.
The teardown hadn’t begun yet, and the dilapidated warehouse was just sitting there, waiting for its removal.
What better place to house the person who started this all with his sickness?
Now, he had to know.
“What are you going to do?”
She didn’t mince words.
As Raphael stood there, his body blocking hers, she shared what had been done so he’d understand.
Plus, she’d ask the bigger favor.
This might be a deal breaker. Not only was she going dark side, she was asking her by-the-books man, who actually wrote the FBI books, to break the law with her.
As her partner in crime.
“He raped her and did disgusting things to her body. He did it on purpose to break Caspian, and to break me. I need you to not only get those bodies there, but I need you to lie on the report for me. I want her cleaned up, and I want her presentable for when Caspian does see her. I need you to help me save his life because he’s going to go after him and then eat his gun. ”
There was silence.
She could hear the ticks on her watch. That’s how silent the call, and reservation was.
It took about five seconds for her to wait, when she couldn’t anymore.
“Christopher…”
He stopped her.
“You don’t know me that well, do you?” he asked, catching her off guard.
Oh, boy.
Immediately, she began apologizing. It was one thing for her to break the law, but to ask him…
“I shouldn’t have asked.”
He stopped her.