Chapter Fifteen #2
“We got a bunch of calls. NONE were from this area. Apparently, he’s been seen all over the US and in Europe.”
Well, shit.
Why wasn’t she surprised?
“For all I know, he’s calling for himself to bog me down. That won’t help us for long. At some point, he’ll figure out it’s a circle jerk.”
He was aware.
“Maybe we’ll find something in what you brought in.”
That was her hope.
“She was working on a report for the bar brawl. I’ll have to piece it together, but if I make a call, the deputies will be alerted, and then we have a whole other set of issues. Mainly, Lance RunningWolf.”
Oh, boy.
He hadn’t thought about that.
“This is going to blow up,” Chris said, knowing they lived on the rez, and it would be just like the man to lose his shit on them.
Well, on Wyler and Caryn.
Oh, and on Ethan.
Yeah, she was aware.
“I fully expect a war. Lance RunningWolf is just waiting for a reason to hate the Blackhawks more than he already does. While he might have forgiven Wyler, this is going to be the straw that breaks that relationship. His only daughter was just killed, and he’ll blame us.”
Yeah, this wasn’t going to end well for them.
Before he could say anything, Chrissy poked her head into the elevator, and she paused.
“Sorry, Boss. I was looking for Chris.”
The man looked over.
“It’s okay, Chrissy.”
She came in and headed right for her friend. Elizabeth looked like shit, and she felt horrible for her.
“Hey, you,” she said, hugging her. “When this is over, want to go get our nails done?” she asked. “Mani-pedi day for the girlies?”
Elizabeth hugged her back.
“No. I want to get drunk, pass out, and forget it all. Can we make that a thing?”
Chrissy smiled.
“Sign me up. I love being a fall-down drunk who makes passes at your husbands, mainly Ethan. Then I can blame the alcohol.”
Suddenly, she got ballsy and slapped Chris on the ass.
“Or the ME.”
He gasped and stared at her.
“WAY TOO FAR. Your hand does NOT belong on my ASS!”
Only, she knew he didn’t mind. Elizabeth had laughed, so she knew he was more than willing to play into it.
“We’ll make the date, Bestie,” Chrissy said.
Yeah, if she lived that long.
“Chrissy, keep your ass in this building. I don’t care if you have to sleep on a morgue slab. We shipped Kane and your kids off for a reason. You’re my family, and that puts a target on you. He’ll know how valuable you are to me.”
She patted her friend on the back.
“Already am, Boss. Already am.”
Well, that was good. She didn’t need to lose another friend to this sicko.
Now, though, it was time to do the dirty work.
Elizabeth took a deep breath.
“I’m going to go talk to Caspian. Then, I’m going to take a break. I need to sleep. The Hunters are coming, and I’m going out.”
The only reason she said it in front of Chrissy was that the woman knew who they were. She’d helped once or twice.
“I wish you wouldn’t,” Chris stated. “I’m worried about your mental well-being.”
She turned at the door to answer her husband’s concern.
“And I wish I didn’t have to. Only, we all know the only way to catch this person is to play dirty. I’m down in the mud, Christopher. It’s about to get as dirty as it can get. Keep everyone in the morgue safe. Saint needs to be all over all of you.”
Yeah, well, he was doing his job, and Chris was watching Saint too. Safety was paramount, but still, his only concern was hers.
Elizabeth pointed.
“Her bag and clipboard are there. Get it to Gene to go through. Maybe he left us something as a clue. He’s pulled back on hints, and I don’t know if it’s because I’m close, because I pissed him off, or because I’ve missed something.”
With that, she left the body elevator.
When they were alone, Chris’ head tech was brutally honest.
“She looked bad,” Chrissy stated.
Oh, he knew.
“We need the morgue locked down until I finish the autopsy. Everyone out but me and Saint.”
Chrissy stared at him.
“Uh, why? My equipment is in there.”
He said nothing.
And she got it.
“You’re going to do something that’s questionable, aren’t you?”
He simply nodded.
Well, then, she was in.
“I’m staying.”
Chris warned her.
“Chrissy, it could end your career. It’s that kind of a thing,” he admitted.
She shrugged.
“Family sticks. Isn’t that what you guys always say?
I’m in. Let’s go do some sketchy shit. It was a good run while it lasted.
If I’m going down, it’s going to be in a blaze of glory—or naked under a hot Native husband.
Those are the only acceptable ways to put a cap on this career. Retreat is for pussies.”
Chris actually laughed.
Then, he shared.
“Same.”
And then, they got to work giving Rayna RunningWolf some dignity that Devon stole away from her.
Meanwhile…
Walking into Ethan’s office to deliver this news was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do. While losing Jet had been tough, and finding Vivian had died was difficult, this…
This was brutal.
No one liked a notify, and now, she was having to do just that with someone personally connected to her.
She’d seen what had been done to Rayna, and that would haunt her for the rest of her life.
Know what else would haunt her?
Facing Caspian was about to be ungodly.
As she walked in, Ethan was in the waiting area outside his office with Caspian and Callen. They were trying to keep the man busy.
When the Marine looked up, the look on his face said it all.
Deep down, Caspian knew.
You always did when someone died. Those invisible strings that connected people together were strong, and once broken, the soul was the first to know.
“Cas?” she said, not sure how to do this.
When the man stood, he was anything but calm, in his eyes, she saw the storm brewing.
Quickly, he moved toward her.
“Where is Rayna?” he asked, his voice filled with worry and panic that she wasn’t there with Elizabeth. “You were gone a long time. Where is she?”
When she didn’t answer, he actually got the answer to his question.
Oh, she’d seen the response a million times before, and each time, it was just as horrible as the last. One never got over hearing their partner, someone they were in love with, had died.
That raw, festering pain…
It exploded around them, and the man she thought of as one of her children dropped to his knees, and the wail of anguish was one she’d never forget for as long as she lived.
It was so loud and painful that security came in behind her.
“NO!” he screamed. “NOOOOO!”
There was no doubt the whole building heard that pain-filled wail.
Moving toward him, she tried to comfort him.
“I’m sorry, Caspian. I’m really sorry.”
He stared up at her.
In his eyes, she saw the finality of it all. She saw his hope shattering, and that faith escaping to a place where it would never come back.
So, it began.
No matter what she did to make this right, she’d never be able to fix that hole in Caspian Carter. Evil reached into his soul and ripped a piece of him out.
Security moved toward him, and Raphael got down on his knees to hold the man.
They all circled him, like a family would. They crowded him so he wouldn’t be alone.
Mom.
Marine.
Brothers.
“She can’t be gone!” he said. “She can’t be! She was all I had!” he said, tears streaming down his cheeks. “I wanted to marry her! I wanted a life!”
Tears filled Elizabeth’s eyes.
And she wanted that for him.
Desperately.
“I’m sorry, Caspian. I’m so very sorry,” she said, touching his shoulder.
He viciously slapped her hand away and stared up at her in the rage she knew would be headed her way.
Yeah, she’d called this, and she’d carry it.
The messenger was the one who always paid the deepest price, and she was the harbinger of shit.
“You didn’t protect her!” he accused.
Elizabeth braced herself, but it still stole her breath.
“You let her die! You were supposed to keep her safe! It’s your job!”
She said nothing.
What was there to say?
It was the truth.
On top of that, he wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t already know. Hindsight was something that was unchangeable.
Unfortunately.
From where he stood, trying to help Raphael hold onto Caspian, Ivan didn’t like this.
Not.
At.
All.
He’d had to see Rayna’s remains, and he had to see Elizabeth, their friend, standing over her dead body as she punished herself.
“Cas.”
He got up.
Then, he shoved her.
He pushed Elizabeth so hard she went backward into the wall, and that caused mayhem.
Ivan went to grab him, and Callen stopped him. The last thing Caspian needed now was a pounding.
His heart had just been given one.
“Don’t,” he said, knowing what Elizabeth would want them to do, and it wasn’t to explode at a victim’s boyfriend. “She can handle it.”
Could she?
This was a fate worse than death for Elizabeth.
It was the destruction of their world. What she wanted was for this to be a dream, and for her to wake up.
As her shoulder sung in pain, after hitting that wall, she braced for more of the onslaught.
He glared at her.
“You promised me!” he raged.
Elizabeth didn’t move. It wasn’t because she was afraid, because she wasn’t. Honestly, her whole body felt like she’d been dipped in concrete. The weight of the world was almost too much to bear.
Devon Slater had won.
Plain and simple.
The victory this round was his. He’d taken one of her children from her.
Oh, she might find him and make him pay, but the damage was already done.
So, she said the only thing she could.
“I’m sorry, Caspian.”
As he moved toward her, Caspian punched the wall by her head so hard, his fist went through the drywall. His skin tore, and a splattering of blood hit her pale cheek, leaving the spray of red over her freckles.
And her heart broke all over again.
“I’ll never forgive you,” he said, needing someone to hate. “I’ll never forgive you for this.”
And she knew the truth.
“And I’ll never forgive me,” she stated. “I’m sorry, and I love you.”
When he shoved her again, she reacted, grabbing his arm, twisting it, and bringing the much bigger man to his knees. Only, there was no anger in her voice.