No, two cops, in their office, under about three hundred other cops’ noses.
This was the worst-case scenario.
“I hope Ethan is ready,” Callen said.
“Yeah, me too,” she offered.
Boston was about to go nuclear, and she was the one going to set off the bomb.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
As they kept searching, it was Detective Chase who found the next damning piece of information.
“I have a receipt for wings a month ago on a Sunday at ‘McCory’s’,” he offered.
“Anything else?” Brody asked. “She’s not going to like one receipt. It could be a fluke.”
He kept scrolling.
“Nope. Nothing. Maybe he’s big on cash.”
Yeah, that wasn’t their call to make.
“Let’s pass it on,” Johanna stated. “We can’t take a chance.”
They agreed.
No one wanted to risk Elizabeth’s wrath.
No one.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
The walk through the police station was not a fun one. It was like they were the conquering army, and the rest of the soldiers wanted her head on a pike.
Well, they’d have to take a freaking number. She was accustomed to cops getting their hate on. This wasn’t about her or them. It was about the dead in the morgue.
They could kiss her ass.
This was just another day in her life.
As she was escorted to the interrogation room, she headed in and had played this one right.
There sat Tom Nealson and right beside him?
The captain of homicide.
The fun was about to begin.
“Ethan, can you wait behind the glass?” she asked.
It left Callen in there with her, and Heath outside the door. He agreed to it—only because this was her rodeo, and his wife ruled in an interrogation room.
She was about to get her bitch on.
“Howdy,” she said, sitting down.
When her phone chimed, she quickly scanned it. She was going to kiss her team when she got back to the hotel.
That was good digging.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, arresting my detective? You’re out of you mind!” Captain O’Brien stated.
She laughed. “Yeah, probably. Only, your detective put his hands around my throat. Guess what my profiler says about this killer? He’s going to be easily enraged and hates women. Who in this room sounds like that?” she asked.
She and Callen both pointed at the detective.
“Well, he’s not a killer. I vouch for him, and that’s all that has to be said. He’s been with this department a long time, and he’s a damn good cop.”
She stood, and both men leaned back.
Clearly, they knew her—or her reputation.
“Relax, I’m getting you out of those cuffs,” she said.
“If you apologize for putting your hands around my throat, you can go. I won’t press charges, and you won’t lose your job.”
He stared at her.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“I’m sorry I put my hands on you.”
Yeah, no one in that room bought it, but this wasn’t the battle she was willing to fight. She had a different target in mind, and he was smiling like he’d won a war.
Well, it began.
“Then why the hell did you drag me in here? You must have nothing on your case to pull this?”
She let the insult go.
“I could bust your balls for touching me, but let’s face it. I told you that you had a small dick. Apparently, that set you off. I live for fact, and I can’t prove that.”
The man went red.
“For now. I can’t tie you to these victims.”
He stood.
“Bitch,” he muttered.
“Yeah, sticks and stones will break my bones but stupid can’t hurt me,” she said, pointing at him. “You’re free. YOU,” she said, pointing at Captain O’Brien, “are not.”
The man stared at her.
“What?”
“Why?” the detective asked.
“We can tie you to Lucy O’Donnell, Kellie Benson, Suzie Golden, and you’ve been to ‘McCory’s’, the epicenter of this hot mess, so that’s likely a tie to Molly Flannigan.”
No one spoke.
Finally, he broke his silence.
“You’re out of your mind. I’ve been to the hospital. Does that mean I killed Melanie Coffman too?”
She smiled. “Well, I almost forgot that one. Lookee here. You are tied to five out of six women. Know what else is funny?”
“I can’t imagine.”
“You also didn’t want me handling this case from the start.”
“That has nothing to do with me being a killer and everything to do with you being incompetent. Here’s my proof. You just dragged a decorated detective in for shits and giggles, and then me.”
“Well, I only brought him in because I knew you couldn’t wait to come here and rub my incompetence in my face. See, I baited him, and I caught you. That’s not being a bad cop. That’s actually using the law to get an interview.”
The man stared at her with his mouth open.
“Know who else likes attention? Our killer is trying to get mine. He’s playing to me like he wants to prove he’s smarter. Sound familiar Detective O’Brien—I mean Captain? I forgot that we go way back to when you were partnered up with Detective Chase’s father,” she stated. “The same man you placed on my team like his father was placed on my team too. History is repeating. Did you have to argue with the commissioner a little in order to get him on there? You know…reverse psychology?”
He glared at her.
“I hate your fucking guts.”
“And there is the woman hating anger. It looks like I wasn’t far off base.”
“I don’t have to listen to this.”
“Oh, you can walk out. I can’t hold you, but behind that glass…your boss is there, and he’s buddies with my boss. I’m betting your boss is going to care more about the bad PR than mine when I mention in a press conference that you are a suspect.”
“You wouldn’t.”
She laughed.
Yeah, this was going to be fun.
In the room attached to the interrogation room, Ethan was standing there with the commissioner.
“Can she really tie him to all of those people?”
“Yes. He either has something to do with this, or the killer wants him to look guilty.”
The man considered his options.
“Listen, Ronan, we don’t want to bust his balls if he’s not guilty, but he can’t be anywhere near this case. You know how that’s going to look. Elizabeth is a loose cannon. No one contains her, including me.”
“But you’re her husband.”
“Yeah, but she’s been solving murders for years before me, and she’d damn good at it. If she’s smelling smoke, there’s a fire nearby. You don’t contain her. You buckle up and pray she leaves a location standing.”
Oh, he was aware.
She was notorious.
“You don’t want reporters digging, right?”
He was using the media right back at the man. He’d tied his hands more than a few times, and Ethan was going to share the love right back.
“If he isn’t guilty, and we DON’T catch this killer, the media is going to scream coverup. It won’t be the FBI who looks bad. It’s going to be all about you and your men.”
He knew he was right.
“What do you want?”
“Send him off work a couple of days. He needs to be put on administrative duty.”
“While you work on finding the evidence to hang a good cop?” he asked.
“Or set one free. We aren’t here to take him down, but you have to admit…he arrested two of the girls while he was in vice on a sting. So he knew Lucy and Kellie. He has bee
n to the hospital. I can call over and get his medical records. If he went to the ER…”
“He was shot two years ago. He was there.”
Well, at least someone was being helpful.
“So he could have known Melanie Coffman. Then we have a picture of him standing with Suzie Golden.”
“Yes, at one of my functions.”
Ethan waited.
“And at that same function, Dorian was there.”
And there they had it.
He was connecting each and every dot, but Molly Flannigan’s. Since they didn’t know if she was dead, he was hoping they could find her before it was too late.
“He went to the bar…”
The commissioner ran his hands over his face. “I’ll pull him, but if he’s innocent, I want this to disappear. Let’s keep this quiet. I don’t need a mess on my hands. Well, a bigger one.”
He got that.
“Agreed.”
They shook hands.
He’d cleared the way.
Now his wife had to do the hard part.
Prove it.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
She had all the time in the world and she knew it. As she kept asking him the same questions over and over again, he was getting flustered.
He was getting angry.
Well, she had news for him.
She didn’t give a shit.
Now that it was just her and him in there—and Callen, she was going to get to the bottom of it.
“So, you arrested two prostitutes…”
“I’ve arrested many people, but you know that. I worked with five people on that arrest.”
“Are you telling me that any of those people could be the killer helping you?” she asked.
He sputtered.
“Did you just throw a fellow cop under the bus?”
She was calm.
He was not.
“You and Judge Golden seemed awful close in that one picture. Were you having a relationship?”
He stopped talking.
“Were you?” she asked.
“I want my representative. I’m done talking to you. If you’re arresting me, do it. If not, you can suck my…”
The door opened.
It was the commissioner.
“Patty, take a break. You’re going to have to stay off duty the next couple of days until the FBI handles it.”
There was rage in his voice.
“WHY?”
“You connect to all of them. You’re the only one who…”
The man got up and flipped the table.
“I’m not letting that pussy with a big ego ruin my career! She is nothing!”
Elizabeth laughed.
The man stared at her.
“Well, that takes care of the anger issues part of the profile. It looks like we nailed that one too.”
Clearly.
“Head home, Patty. We’ll clear this.”
The man glared at her. “This isn’t over. I’m going to sue your ass for tarnishing my career!”
“I’m sure a judge will see it otherwise since you connect all the victims…oh wait. We’re missing a judge. That’s definitely…convenient. We’re missing your mob buddy too.”
He slammed out of there.
Callen shook his head.
“What?”
“He’s going to be gunning for you. Let’s get the hell out of here. I want to make sure we’re out of this building before three hundred cops hear about this.”
Ethan peeked his head in the door.
“I agree. Let’s go. Heath, get us to the ride,” he said to the man beside him.
In Boston, they loved a few things.
Their cops.
Their beer.
And their history.
Elizabeth had just taken a shot at one of them. This was going to blow, and fast.
The big man stormed out of there, walking into the cops who had already heard about what had happened. They were glaring at her like she was the enemy.
Well, maybe she was.
If Boston was crooked…that was on them. She’d clean it up.
AGAIN.
The irony wasn’t lost on her that before, she was here working a case, and she’d handled the mob issue. Now she was here handling more filth.
Boston was batting a big fat zero in her book.
Outside, they loaded up.
“Where to, Mrs. Blackhawk?”
“Director. I’m in a badge,” she said crankily. Elizabeth was irritated that the commissioner halted her interview.
“Awww, I’m sorry, Mrs. B. I meant no offense,” he said, heading out of the parking lot.
“I’m sorry, Heath. I’m cranky as hell.”
They could see it.
“What’s eating at you?” Ethan asked.
She felt edgy.
“Something is off. We are definitely missing something. He’s not the killer.”
That had their attention.
“What?” Callen asked. “You hit him hard.”
She was aware.
“What do you mean?” Ethan asked.
“We connected him, but it doesn’t feel right. Why? Why would he do it? We don’t have motive. We can tie him, but we can’t explain it. Maybe he’d want to play a game, but I think he’d rather come right at me. If he was the killer, he’d be shooting at me—literally.”
They could be grateful for one thing.
“So you did all that without believing that he was guilty?” Callen asked. “Why?”
“I needed to see him react. He isn’t going to be the one,” she stated. “We’ll keep working it, but this feels like a set up.”
“What kind?” he asked.
“The one where someone frames a cop for revenge, and then uses me to destroy his life.”
They stared at her.
“And we just played into it. Hook, line, and sinker. In that room, I was the bad guy.”
And that was a huge issue.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Captain O’Brien’s
Home
As he positioned the bodies, he was excited that this had really worked out. It was meant to happen exactly as it unfolded.
He was going to make sure that he handled the rest, and that he got his revenge.
At first, he really thought he couldn’t do it.
It was a monumental task, and he wasn’t sure he was up for it. Then again, he could do anything.
After all, these six weren’t his first bodies.
There were others, and they were hidden so well that only two people knew the whereabouts.
One was dead, and then there was him.
He’d killed a lot in his life, and now he was back on the job. No one was going to stop him.
No one.
He almost felt bad for the law agencies waiting to work on those past cases. While the cops in Boston, and the FBI, couldn’t see the forest through the trees, he could.
This was due.
Only, he wasn’t the only one unleashed on this mayhem. His partner, the one he worked with, was out there too.
They had a bigger fish to fry.
And it was coming.
So now, as he placed his precious piece of art on the couch, he made sure everything was just right.
She would be found.
And when the cops did, it would be more chaos. After all, this was years in the making.
And his art couldn’t be contained.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
McCory’s Pub
She needed to regroup and think this all through. After she dropped the bomb in the car, everyone was thinking she was bat shit insane.
Well, that came with the territory.
A LOT.
What she needed to focus on now wasn’t the same as before the interview. Going in, she was sure they had him.
Now…
Not so much.
�
�Talk it out,” Ethan said, as they had a bite to eat. They were forcing food into her body, since she hadn’t eaten all day. Running this kind of operation, and not fueling up wasn’t a good idea.
Ever.
“This killer found me and likely waited to begin all of this. He’s picked me to play.”
They listened as she DIDN’T eat her food.
“Why?”
“Because you’re the best at this kind of thing,” Ethan stated. “They all want to go head-to-head with you because when it comes to thinking like a killer, you’re the pinnacle.”
She shook her head.
“No, it can’t be that. There is something I’m missing. It’s like my brain is skipping over something, and I don’t know why.”
“Baby…”
“I’m dropping the ball on this. I can feel it.”
She was riding her own ass on this.
“Angel, clearly, you need some self-love.”
She stared at him.
“What does masturbation have to do with anything I’m talking about?” she asked, keeping a straight face.
Ethan started choking on his soda.
Callen stared at her.
“I meant faith in you, and believe that you have this under control. Your mind goes right to the gutter.”
“It’s autopilot,” she said.
Then she began laughing. “I’m exhausted. This case feels like the days have gone on forever. On day one, we interviewed a shitload of people, chased leads, dealt with personal shit, and it’s barely day four.”
The men were worried about her. She was running on very little sleep, she was worried about Wyler, them, Boston, her team, and playing Cupid.
Something had to give.
“Keep talking it out,” Ethan stated. “Then we can go back to the hotel and call it a day. We’ve been going since three in the morning. We did twelve hours already.”
She was aware.
“What if this killer has studied me?”
They listened.
“What if he knows I’m going to try and connect the dots? What if that’s not what’s going on? What if they aren’t connected to someone I suspect, but part of a story?”
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