Free Darkness Of Truth (An FBI/Romance Thriller~ Book 6) by Morgan Kelley

Although, before leaving Julian’s, I bought us some time,” Elizabeth whispered, taking his hand in hers momentarily.
    “How?”
    She pointed at Christina. Her husband’s tech supreme was walking around the clearing but staring at Ethan. “I let her ride in with the boss man. She was wrapped around his back.”
    Callen offered her a fist bump. “God, I love a sadistic, evil woman that gets off on torturing people. It’s so damn sexy and gets me all hot and bothered.”
    Elizabeth snickered. “ It’s a good thing, huh?”
    Blackhawk wandered over to his wife and Callen. He threw his arms around his younger brother, genuinely glad to see him. “I missed you, Cal.”
    “I missed you both too, but what the hell are you thinking bringing her out into the field six months pregnant?” Callen raged, finally saying out loud what was bouncing in his head.
    Blackhawk laughed. “You know how she is. You try stopping Tex. She’s got a mind of her own.”
    The female Blackhawk interjected. “Uh boys, TEX is standing right here, and she’s packing heat,” she replied, patting her Glock. “It would be a shame if in some hormonal rampage I shot you both in your very fine native derrières.”
    Both men ignored her threat. If anything, they were accustomed to her promise of violence, with zero follow through. “Walk me through the scene, Cal.”
    Whitefox led them over to the bramble , slipping on a pair of latex gloves, before pulling the shrub out from the opening. Immediately, the stench of dead wafted up towards them.
    “Holy disgustingness,” muttered Elizabeth, feeling the need to retch as she backed up. This pregnancy was running her through the ringer. Baby didn’t like the smell of meat, cooking flesh or now decay. Then again, she really couldn’t blame little EJ on any of that, with the exception of the meat thing.
    No one enjoyed the process of death.
    “Hello there everyone and how are we all today?” cheerfully greeted Doctor Chris Leonard, as he pulled on his own gloves.
    She took that back. There were a few people that enjoyed death, and her ME was one of them. The man was working in the right field.
    “Chris, can we get them pulled out as soon as possible?” inquired Blackhawk. “I don’t like us sitting out here in the shadows while the killer could be out there observing us.”
    “Give me a moment, Boss.” Doctor Leonard squeezed past them and into the cave to check it out, before giving him the answer. It would all depend on the state of the bodies. Taking off his stationary light, he placed it not far from the corpses. It would give him enough illumination to work with for now. Pulling out his flashlight he moved even closer to the skinless men, searching for trace.
    Approvingly, he noticed that the killer had d efinitely done a good job of removing their skin. Searching for wounds, he slid over as Doctor Tony Magnus entered, mimicking his actions.
    “Wow, this one’s new. I don’t think we’ve ever worked one where a maniac was skinning his victims,” he threw out there, grinning.
    Chris pointed to the side. “Bones are over there.” Pulling out his chart he started marking off a few things, and then he grabbed the camera to begin taking pictures. Once done, he backed out of the space and handed it to Elizabeth. He knew she was still having issues with certain smells, but would want to see what was happening in the cave.
    “Thanks Chris, you’re a lifesaver!” Elizabeth held the equipment so both men could see the scene with her, as her ME went back to work.
    “Shit, I really hope those people were dead or that had to be excruciating,” muttered Whitefox. Immediately, he moved closer towards Elizabeth in a manner of protectiveness.
    “Doc, how did he die?” Elizabeth shouted back into the cave after her ME.
    “When I get him back to the bright lights, you’ll have your answer, Director.”
    That was pretty much how it was going to be. Even though the directors liked the