Free Deep Dark Mire (An FBI Romance Thriller ~ book four) by Morgan Kelley

hands on Desdemona, he was going to drag her back there and there was going to be one hell of a battle between them. No, that wasn’t true. Battle didn’t explain what was coming.
    Nuclear explosion with casualties was more like it.
    Just by running towards the stalker, she was risking her neck, and anyone who chased after her. To him, a promise was very important, especially if it was the only one you ever were asked to keep.
    Callen used the code to access the back yard and rushed towards the house. The backdoor was unlocked, and Elizabeth was pacing the floor worriedly.
    “Is she okay?”
    He handed her the note and watched her face as she read it.
    Elizabeth scanned the paper and grabbed her cell phone, dialing Wyler’s number. When he answered on the third ring, she quickly spoke into the phone. “Dad, can you come over and take care of CJ?”
    “I can sweetheart, are you okay?”
    “Something’s come up here, and I need you as quickly as possible.”
    Wyler could hear the tension in her voice. Normally Elizabeth offered calm and peace, but she was stirred up big time. “Give me ten minutes. Do I need to pack an overnight bag?”
    “Yeah you better, Dad. Thank you and I love you.”
    “Okay, sweetheart. I’ll be right there.”
    Elizabeth hung up the phone and looked up at her brother-in-law. “Go pack a bag; I’ll have Ginny get the jet ready and alert Ethan. We’ll be flying out as soon as we hit the airport.”
    “You can’t leave your son. You go back to work on Monday .” Now he felt horrible that the woman who broke her promise was now pulling Elizabeth into the fray too. “Lyzee, I can go on my own.”
    “I’m off this weekend, and maybe we can wrap this up fast and get home by then.” Now she was busy texting her husband. Right now he’d be in a meeting , and he couldn’t take the call. This was important, but the man was already holding up both their positions at FBI West. This one was on her. “You can’t go on your own. Desdemona is sitting in the center of a big mess, and it’s going to take both of us to find her sister, keep her safe and then get the hell out of there in one piece.”
    “I’m so sorry.” He absolutely was for dragging her into the center of this.
    Elizabeth hugged him and took his face in the palms of her hands. “This isn't your fault, darlin’. Right now, I’m pissed at Desdemona for running headlong into this clusterfuck. This makes me seriously doubt her intelligence. The nutjob wanted her to do this, and she followed through and did exactly the worst possible thing. I get her sister is missing, but she could have come to us, and we already told her we’d help her solve it.”
    “I’m furious with her too,” he admitted , softly. Now, she had just risked his family, because there was no way Elizabeth would ever let him ride into this alone.
    “Don’t worry , Cal. We’ll get this taken care of as quickly as possible.” Elizabeth patted his cheek.
    “I’ll go pack and be right back .” Callen turned to walk away and stopped. “Elizabeth?” he spoke softly, once again unable to look in her eyes. “If you let anything happen to you while we’re there, I’ll never forgive myself.”
    Elizabeth said nothing. All she could hope was that nothing would happen to any of them.
    Now there was too much on the line.
    As soon as he was gone, Elizabeth called Ginny and asked her to call up the jet and book her two rooms at a local hotel. Something told her that Callen was going to be more than a little angry at Desdemona and would want his space. The lines of tension around his mouth were the dead giveaway.
    There was only one thing left to do. It wasn’t official business, but when she called Gabe and told him what was going on, this fell under the favor he owed her.
    She hoped.
    On the third ring he answered his private phone. “What’s wrong, Lyzee?”
    “Remember that favor that you owed me?”
    He paused. It had been over seven months since she