Gabe leaned back.
Okay, that was pretty shitty behavior on his brother’s behalf, but still…
Family mattered.
“Listen, we all have a past. I was raised by two men who loved this job more than me. They lived it. I’m a third generation Fed and figured I’d end up that way too. I get that the past leaves scars. You can’t back out of this talk. There are cops coming who are dying to hear you.”
He was aware.
“You won’t ambush me with him?”
Gabe laughed.
“Son, if I was going to do that, why would I be here warning you?” he asked. “What sense does that make?”
He had a point.
It made no sense.
“Okay, I’ll do the profiling symposium, but then I want the first case out of here on Saturday. If he’s coming for that, he’s coming for everything else.”
“He is. He’s scheduled to be here all week. We’re contemplating Damascus for the new FBI hub somewhere down the line.”
He didn’t care.
He was never going back to that town.
Never.
“Do we have a deal?”
Gabe held out his hand.
“Ethan.”
“No.”
He shut him down.
Well, baby steps.
Gabe was trying everything to get the man out of his shell and to live a little. He had to back off.
“Thank you for hearing me through on this,” Gabe said, thankful that the Native didn’t go on the warpath.
While Ethan was smart, slick, and good at his job, he was a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off.
He could see it.
Once it happened, the man was going to be on a one-way train to Burn-out-ville.
That was crystal clear.
“Have a good day,” Gabe said, trying to gauge how pissed the man actually was.
He didn’t reply.
Instead, Ethan escorted him to the door, yanked it open, and that tension was there.
Gabe headed out.
“Email me my next case.”
When Gabe went to turn around, he heard the door slam behind him and was left facing the red-wooden door.
Well, okay then.
Someone had definite anger issues.
Gabe hoped that didn’t come back to bite either of them.
But in all likelihood, he knew it would do just that.
Chapter Four
Office of The
Medical Examiner
A s they pulled up. Elizabeth was ready to do the dance. She had every intention to run this case, but first, she was going to make sure her team was set up for working the evidence and prepping the remains for Chris and Tony.
Gabe had called ahead, but she was nobody’s fool. That wasn’t going to help her at all, and that he thought it would…it proved that he was out of the loop.
That was only going to give the jackwagons a heads-up, so they knew when they could start the bullshit.
It didn’t matter.
Elizabeth knew what they were up against. This was going to be one hell of a fight.
Hopping out, they were met with glares and stares as she, Chris, and Tony headed into the building with their four techs following behind.
“I’m looking for your medical examiner,” she said to a technician who was leaning against a wall and reading something.
She pointed and didn’t even bother to look up at her when she spoke.
If that was a sign of what was to come, this was NOT going to be fun.
Elizabeth headed down the hall, following the general direction the woman had pointed.
That’s when she found the main room.
At the door to the autopsy suite, they found it locked. The big glass doors allowed them to see that there was a woman inside, and on the tables were the victims. They could tell by the markings around their necks and their profiles.
That’s when it hit Chris.
“She’s going to drop them in beetles before I can examine them!” he said, pointing.
Oh, that was a dirty play out of some shady handbook.
Chris was ready to have a stroke.
He was going red, and Elizabeth knew why.
Once the three bodies hit the beetles, any chance of finding any new evidence was gone. They couldn’t just pull them out and brush them off.
The bugs would contaminate each body, and if a court got wind of that when they brought the killer in…yeah, someone was taking a walk.
Shit!
This was bad.
Elizabeth, knowing she had to do something, hit the door with her shoulder as the two men banged on the glass to get the doctor’s attention.
And this was why Elizabeth didn’t believe in giving ANYONE a heads-up.
This.
Right.
Here.
The woman looked up, waved, and then proceeded to have her team do the deed.
“Oh, holy shit,” Tony muttered, as they dropped them in subpar bugs. “They didn’t even use the good beetles like I requested. They are using slow feasting ones. This just made my job harder too!”
Yeah, and still, that was the least of their concern.
“Open the door!” she shouted, knowing she couldn’t boot it. The door was steel, and she was forced to watch as the bodies were compromised.
Well, this was NOT a good start to the case. This was pretty much the shittiest beginning she could imagine.
No, she hadn’t been shot.
Yet.
As soon as all three sets of remains were placed in the plexiglass boxes, the woman in the scrubs was moseying her way toward them.
And then she finally opened the door.
“Sorry, we couldn’t hear what you were saying. Can I help you?”
Elizabeth hated idiots.
Worse, she hated spiteful ones.
“You realize that the shiny gold badge means I’m with the FBI, right?”
“Oh, does it?” she asked, playing dumb.
She stared at the woman.
Okay, she hated spiteful idiots who thought they had mastered sarcasm.
“You just compromised his remains.”
The woman shrugged like it was just another day in her life.
“I’m Doctor Heather Julliard, and this is my morgue. They are my remains until I get the official paperwork, so I just put MY BODIES into the beetles. Normally, we don’t do that part, but I like to be helpful—you know since the FBI was coming in to take over.”
Chris handed the papers to the blonde woman. She was pretty but really ugly on the inside.
He could tell.
This stunt gave it away.
“Oh, see? Now they’re your remains.”
Chris was about to go nuclear, and Tony and Elizabeth knew it. If there was one surefire way to make him insane, this was it.
Chris was laid back unless you touched the bodies—or pulled a stunt like this—again—to his bodies.
Now, he couldn’t re-examine them. He was forced to work off of her paperwork, and he didn’t trust anyone but himself if his name was going on it.
Subpar in the public sector was the norm.
Heather Julliard held up the key to the morgue. “I’d give you this, but I don’t trust you with it. This is my place of employment, so while you’re here, you won’t have full access to MY ‘home’. Please remember that you’re a guest here.”
Chris was furious.
He’d never been told he couldn’t use a morgue. He respected people’s places of employment almost as much as he respected the dead.
Until now.
This woman pushed his buttons.
“Oh, this place is yours?” he asked. “You mean this kindergarten masquerading as a lab? You have it set up as if children work here.”
She looked insulted.
Oh, he wasn’t done.
He really piled on the shittiness.
“I had better equipment when I was seven.”
/>
The woman laughed to cover her irritation as she fought to let it go.
It stung.
No ME wanted to be told their set up was shit.
None of them.
“Well, then you must be Doctor Leonard. Who the hell are you?” she asked Elizabeth. “His lackey?”
Again, she tapped the gold badge.
“I’m your worst freaking nightmare once I get that key. I may fill the room with gloves stuffed full of shaving cream before I leave.”
The woman laughed.
“Yeah, well, neither of those things are happening. I was told to hand over the bodies. I was not told to give you this key. Oops. Technicality.”
When the doctor went to tuck the key into her scrubs, Elizabeth had enough. She stuck out her boot, and the woman fell backward toward the floor and landed on her ass.
Elizabeth grabbed her arm in faux concern.
“Be careful,” she said, pulling her up. “You could have hit your head and ended up on your own table.”
The woman flushed red in embarrassment.
“Thank you,” the woman stated. “Anyway, the remains are officially yours. I’m done with my work for the day. I’ll be in my office upstairs. Lock up when you….”
Then she headed out laughing up a storm.
“I hate her,” Chris muttered. “If I see her again…”
Yeah, she wasn’t too high up on her list either.
Only, now that left Elizabeth with one huge issue. She knew she couldn’t leave Chris there. He’d kill this woman and shove her into a box with the beetles, and his work was officially done for the day. The ‘good’ doctor, and she used that term loosely, had jacked up his chances of rechecking her work.
Chris had that look on his face.
It was time to save his job and this case. It wasn’t protocol, but at this point…she didn’t have a whole hell of a lot of choices.
Dead ME.
Pissed off Gabe.
Distract Chris.
Yeah, she’d go with option C.
“Tony, get the team situated. I’m taking Christopher with me. He needs to calm down before I let him loose on anyone in this room.”
Elizabeth knew the woman wouldn’t have the sense to stay away, but instead be picking at Doctor Leonard until he blew.
Tony saluted her.
“Good call. I’ll handle everything. It’s going to be a long night watching these slow-ass beetles do their job,” he said, picking one up and holding it out to Elizabeth.
“Jesus! Tony! It’s been eating a body! Come on!”
He laughed.
“Yes, ma’am,” Tony said. “I’ll keep everyone in line,” he promised.
Yeah, but who was keeping HIM in line?
Elizabeth gave him the name of their hotel. She passed out all of the room assignments that Gabe had given her.
“Thanks!” Tony said, noticing that Chris had been assigned his own space.
The man didn’t look happy about that either.
Chris Leonard was NOT having a good day.
“Get to work, team, since the bodies are compromised, find me something in the trace.”
They grabbed their gear.
Tony got to work, and Elizabeth grabbed Chris by the arm to pull him aside.
“You have to take a breath. You’re all red,” she said. “I need you to calm down. When I’m not here, you’re in charge of this circus.”
He was aware.
“Honey, she ruined remains. She could have cost us the case,” he stated. “Now I can’t recheck the evidence. Who does shit like that?”
Oh, she totally got where he was coming from.
“And she won’t give us the key to the lab? What if I want to come in early to work, or we get a body? We have to call her to get access. She’s in control.”
Elizabeth grinned.
“It’s not funny! I’ve never been told I can’t have access to a lab. I’m a freaking ME for the FBI. I’m the gold standard of trustworthy!”
Well, that she could control.
Elizabeth pulled the key on the lanyard out of her pocket. “Merry Christmas, Doc. Don’t say I never gave you anything. Here’s your key.”
He stared at it.
Then her.
“I would kiss you right now if people weren’t looking.”
That made her laugh. “Well, I know what to give you for holidays—random keys. They get you giddy.”
He took the key and pocketed it. He loved that the tables had turned. By the time she found someone to replace that lock, in a city building…yeah, they won that round.
“Let’s go,” she said, tugging him along.
He was still confused.
“What am I supposed to do?”
She tossed him the keys to their rental ride.
“You can drive. I’m going to be doing some research. We have to hit up the police station, and then I’m going to start talking to the first victim’s neighbors. You get to be my partner.”
He stared at her.
Was she being serious?
Really?
Was he being sprung from the lab?
“Uh, are you coming?” she asked.
“I don’t care,” he said, pulling her into his body and kissing her. She didn’t fight him. Instead, she fell into the kiss.
When he pulled away, he was grinning.
“That was my thank you.”
Oh, and she loved it, but people were staring.
“Uh, I’m pretty sure there should be a rule about making out on the job,” she said, getting those damn butterflies all over again.
Shit!
He had that effect on her.
“Then you should probably make one. Call it the ‘no kissy face rule’.”
She laughed.
“You realize that most people don’t need a rule like that, Doctor Leonard. This may be a first.”
Somehow, he didn’t think it would be the last. Well, not if he had anything to say about it. While he knew he had to keep anything regarding their relationship quiet, he desperately wanted her to see him.
To see the real him.
“Let’s go,” she said, trying to shake off that quake in her gut.
As they headed out, she pushed her way past the onlookers and toward their ride. It was only eight blocks, and they knew the way. She and Chris had been to Boston before.
The last time was VERY different. He’d asked her out, and she told him no.
Man.
Had she been an idiot?
Who would have seen this twist in the plot?
Once in the vehicle, he started it up and drove her there. Something was bothering him, and he needed to know.
“Why do we have separate rooms?” he asked.
“Because no one is supposed to know we’re sleeping together on occasion. Besides, we aren’t a couple. We each have our own space.”
And that sucked to say it.
Chris got quiet as he drove them. That sentence upset him. He didn’t want his own space. He wanted her in his space, and he wanted to be up in hers.
He wanted more.
“Elizabeth?” he called, getting her attention.
When she turned her head, she saw the look on his face, and she knew what was coming.
“I want…”
She stopped him.
“Chris. We need to focus on this. We can’t now. You have to be thinking about the job. You came here to watch my back, and I need you to do that.”
She didn’t want to talk about their arrangement. It was what he wanted. It was just sex.
“Okay.”
He got quiet all over again.
Elizabeth knew he wasn’t happy. She decided to toss him a bone.
“We can stay in the same room, but we need it to look like we aren’t. That was what you wanted.”
She didn’t need to remind him.
He was kicking himself over it.
Chris was aware that he was an idiot for having sex with
a woman, feeling something, and then tossing out casual sex. That was a total dick move.
Honestly, he wished he could go back in time and tell her he didn’t just want sex. He wanted more with her.
“If we have time, can we grab some dinner tonight?” he asked.
“Sure,” she said, refusing to look over at him. If she did, she’d say something stupid.
Elizabeth wished she knew what to do. She wished she could navigate this, but she was freaking clueless. Men, in all honesty, scared the shit out of her.
Kicking their ass?
That she could do.
Giving them shit?
She was queen.
Telling the man beside her that she had feelings for him…?
No.
Freaking.
Clue.
This was why she’d never wanted to venture into a relationship of any kind. She didn’t know how to navigate it. Elizabeth might be a girl, but she was shitty at the things that went with it. No one had ever taught her to be a girlfriend. While all the other women fell into it, like ducks to water, she needed training wheels.
“We’re here. Want me to wait in the car?” he asked, glancing over.
“No, you can come in with me. Just try and look official,” she said, “and no kissing!”
He laughed.
“Sorry. I lost my head. I happen to like kissing you. I think about it a lot.”
She stopped, her hand freezing on the door handle. This man was constantly catching her off guard.
“You do?”
“Yeah, especially when I’m not doing it.”
“Chris.”
“I know. Stop.”
She looked over and wanted to be honest with him. He deserved that.
“I don’t know how to do this. I’m a bad bet either way.”
“You don’t know how to do what?”
She pointed at him, and then at her.
“I know I’ll say the wrong thing. If I don’t do the right thing, then someone gets hurt. I’ve broken hearts when I didn’t mean to. I’m a disaster.”
Yeah, and she’d had hers broken too.
She’d left her home to head to DC after two guys she dated cheated and destroyed her. It hadn’t been fun. She was beginning to think it was her.
Elizabeth would never cheat or have an affair. If she wanted out, she’d just say it. The people she let in hadn’t been so kind, and she was still damaged by it.
“You’re a disaster at a relationship?” he asked, trying to understand. He could see she was really struggling with this. There were worry lines in the middle of her forehead, and her nose was all scrunched up.
Dawn of Evil_FBI Flashback Page 9