Free Slay Bells Ring (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 12) by Morgan Kelley Page A

would only make their jobs so much easier in the long run, so he gave her a break.
    Ethan was focused on the man. “Since you’re here, we’re going to need a morgue facility to work out of. You wouldn’t happen to have one lying around, would you?”
    The man nodded, trying not to watch the gorgeous woman holding a severed head in her hands. How the hell didn't that make her sick?
    There was no way he wanted to deal with this. Let the FBI run it however they saw fit.
    They were off this one.
    “Yes, we do. It’s right next door to our office. You can use it for as long as you wish.”
    Now that was the kind of assistance she was looking for in the local law.
    Elizabeth put the head back in the box. “I tell you what. We’ll deal with this, and then head there. I’ll be more than happy to let you in on the details as soon as we get them. We’ve only been here fifteen minutes. We don’t know much more than you do.”
    “So you’ll play nice?” he asked.
    “Hell yeah, we will. I always play nice,” she said, holding out her hand.
    The second he reached for it, she knew he realized what he did. She was gloved up.
    He wasn’t.
    The blood and goo was now on his hand.
    It had the effect she wanted. The man started gagging and raced for the door. The second he was outside, they could hear the telltale sign of vomiting.
    Chris started laughing. “You’re evil. I can see you have the FBI Christmas spirit.”
    She shrugged. “Jingle fucking bells, Christopher. Hey, he rolled up in here with three deputies and their cranky faces on. I’m absolutely calm. When you start out aggressive, it never ends well. That’s why I always try to play nice.”
    All the men began laughing at that.
    “What?” she asked.
    “Yeah, right,” Callen stated. “You’re the queen of aggression. You tend to make pit bulls look tame.”
    Elizabeth shrugged.
    “I think you’ve got me confused with my twin sister. She’s the queen of withholding sex. I’m sure you don’t want her to visit and set you straight.”
    Ethan laughed.
    Callen looked mortified.
    That wouldn’t work for him. He was trying to have another child. He needed as much bed time as possible. In fact, he wanted to slide into her chimney as they stood there.
    “I retract my previous statement.”
    She snorted. “I thought so.”
    “Boss, we’re going to take the heads over to the morgue. We have one woman and one male. We’ll start the process of stripping them for trace and ID,” Tony offered.
    She was good with that.
    “We’re going to start breaking down what we know and the note,” Elizabeth stated. “I want everyone paired up for safety’s sake. It’s almost Christmas, so let’s not take unnecessary chances.”
    He understood.
    When they were gone, they all took a seat on the large couch.
    “Where’s the note?” Ethan asked.
    Callen immediately pulled it out. It was sealed in a large storage bag. “I didn't want to get the evidence contaminated.”
    Later, they’d let the lab team pull trace. For now, they wanted to compare it against the other notes Bonnie and Clyde had left across the country and in California. The federal database had them scanned in, and they were going to use the Marshal’s legwork to get a jumping off point.
    Ethan held it in his hands. As he read it, again, he was still sickened by it.
    “I know. It freaks me out too,” Callen admitted. “I've read it a few times, and I want to puke each and every time I look at it.”
    Ethan passed it off to Elizabeth. As she held it up to the light, she saw something.
    “Wait.”
    They both glanced over.
    “What?” they said at the same time.
    “There’s a watermark of sorts.”
    They moved closer, and Elizabeth moved the paper until the ceiling light caught it.
    “She’s right. It’s right there.”
    Ethan grinned. This was why he loved working with her. Despite her carrying all this weight on her shoulders, their woman was so good at her job that it was coming