“Trained medical official.”
Elizabeth thought about it. “I just tossed my cookies when I smelled cooked corpses.”
That surprised him. “Wow, you have a cast iron stomach. Eleven years and that’s not something that thought I’d ever hear from you.”
Elizabeth shrugged and didn’t say another word, letting the man put it all together. After all, he was a doctor.
Chris Leonard knew where this was heading, because he was a doctor. “Did you take a pregnancy test yet?”
Elizabeth shook her head.
The friend in him kicked in and took over. Chris pulled off his gloves and went for a needle. “Roll up your sleeve and we’ll have the results by the end of the day.”
She did as he said. “I’d like to keep this really quiet, Chris. I think Ethan and Callen should be the first to know.”
“I won’t say a word, and I’ll run the tests as soon as I’m done with the autopsies,” he answered.
“Please don’t even allude to it, Chris. If this gets out, the guys will be hurt they weren’t included.”
“Lyzee, you know we’ve been friends a long time. I know when it’s time to bust your ass, and when it’s not. This is a serious matter.” Chris slowly inserted the needle into her arm and drew the vial of blood. “I’ll text you later when I get the results. Meanwhile, get out of here. I can do these autopsies alone. Head back up to your office or home, and I’ll email you the results.”
“Bless you,” she said, patting his cheek. “Thanks Chris.” Elizabeth rolled down her sleeve. “I owe you one.”
Now he laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
* * *
Now it was officially time to panic and lose his mind. When Callen called Elizabeth, and she dumped his call into voicemail became sick to his stomach. Whitefox was just about to call his brother and tell him to call out a search party, when his tablet beeped at him. All this technology was new to him, but he did know what the beep meant. Elizabeth was trying to contact him through a video conference call. Grabbing the tablet, he hit the accept button, and was able to breathe again, once he saw her face.
“Elizabeth!”
The panicked look on his face made her nervous. “What?” she asked, looking behind her, just in case. No, everything was normal on her bookshelf and there were no knife wielding maniacs hiding out.
“Ethan and I were both trying to reach you. We called and you didn’t answer.”
Now she started to laugh. “Darlin’ you realize I’m singlehandedly trying to run FBI West here, right?” Just then her tablet beeped, signaling Ethan was also logging into their video call. They used it often when they were in their offices or away on assignments. As Ethan’s face came into view, it said it all.
“Elizabeth! I swear you’re going to be the death of me yet!” stated her husband.
Now she looked confused. “You both realize that I can’t always get to the phone immediately. I’m running an office here with lots of employees. I have hand cramps from signing paperwork, and may need medical attention shortly.”
Ethan started to relax. His wife was sitting in her desk chair and looked safe and definitely not out in the field. “Sorry baby, but when I lose my mind, I completely lose it.”
“Angel, did you take a field assignment?” asked Whitefox, getting right to the point. He needed to get into a meeting in a few minutes, and needed to find out what the hell was going on back at FBI West.
“I see the big feathered boss bird sicked you both on me, huh?” she asked, crossing her arms.
“Yeah, I spoke to Gabe.”
Callen confessed next. “Then Ethan called me.”
Elizabeth laughed. They both had exactly the same look on their faces. “I did take a field assignment. Someone is lighting up women, and I figured I’d help out since we’re short staffed for the holidays.”
Both men’s cheeks twitched at the same time and it almost made her laugh out loud.
“Boys, you do realize that I NEVER stand over the two of you while you’re working, making you feel incompetent. Right now I have it under control. Agent Christensen is at the last scene with the tech team, sweeping for anything the police CSI may have missed. I have five bodies in house being rechecked and autopsied again.”
“You realize I’m not really thrilled that you took a field assignment and didn’t bother to inform me,” stated her husband. “I had to hear it from Gabe.”
Now her temper was rising. Instead of saying a word, she simply picked up the name plate on her desk and held it up for her husband to see. “Oh, lookee here, Cowboy. It clearly states Director Elizabeth Blackhawk, not Ethan’s wife; funny. I hope that’s not one hell of a typo, or I’ve been bustin’ my ass for absolutely nothing.”
Callen jumped in as mediator. “It’s okay, let’s not have a battle. What’s done is done. Elizabeth, what are your plans for the rest of tonight?”
Elizabeth focused on Callen. “I have the files; I planned on going home shortly, reading over them and then having dinner. I was going to have a glass of wine, sit on the couch, cuddle my son and look at the Christmas tree. Alone or possibly if Wyler wasn’t too busy he could keep me company.”
Both men felt guilty that they weren’t there, and it was that close to the holidays.
“I’ll be home soon, angel,” reassured Whitefox.
Ethan sighed. “I have a flight Friday night after my last meeting. I’ll be home late, but before the weekend. That gives us plenty of time for wine, lights, cuddling and the tree.” He didn’t mention that he was probably going to miss the company party.
Elizabeth nodded. “I’ll call you both later,” and she logged out of the video conference call. At that moment she was too irritated to continue the call. If there was one thing that set her off, it was being treated like a child.
Callen stared at his brother. “Bro, you have to rein it in. You know you can’t boss her around. The spitefulness kicks in and bad things happen. Remember the bullet to the Kevlar lesson?”
Blackhawk was well aware. “When are you done there?”
“I can be out of here tomorrow afternoon. I planned originally for Friday night, but I’m not willing to leave her alone until then. Plus, don’t we have a function coming up?”
“Yes, but I can’t get out any sooner. Gabe would know why I’m bailing and he’d skin me alive. I can’t give him ammo on why married couples can’t run the office together.”
Whitefox thought about it. “Let me see what I can switch around. I might be able to work through tonight and catch a super early flight home. I just have to get the Rez issues settled and once I do, they should be able to work towards resolution without me physically there.”
“Thanks, Cal.” Already Ethan was feeling a little calmer. One of them would be there tomorrow night at the latest.
“You don’t have to thank me. She’s mine to protect too.”
Blackhawk grinned at his brother. It gave him peace to know his brother was finally in a place where he could say that and mean it. It had taken a few months of reassuring him, but time healed all wounds.
“I’ll call you later,” he said, disconnecting the video call. Whitefox had to see if he could swing getting out of there tonight. Now he needed a very large miracle.
Elizabeth was pretty pissed off, and forced herself to take calming breaths, because they loved her and were worried. If it turned out she was pregnant, this was going to be a common thing, but magnified by two. Both men would be all over her non-stop. Weighing the pros and cons, she thought back to their last night in bed together, and decided that a little over protectiveness was well worth the rewards.
Stepping out into the lobby, she found Agent Christensen walking back in, and as usual the woman was sporting the blank face.
“Tori, what did the team find?”
She shook her head. “Some gum wrappers, a cigarette butt, the outside wrapper to a condom, and nothing else.”
Elizabeth thought about it
as she followed Agent Christensen to her desk. “Either the original CSI team missed all that, or we had people back out at the scene after they swept.”
“I’d lay odds that it was missed. This hasn’t hit the news yet, so we don’t have gawkers. Possibly the killer returned and wanted to look around.”
“Yeah, that could be. I really want to get to those other crime scenes and look around. Maybe there we can track the killer backwards and get more of a clue.”
“Good idea.”
It gave Elizabeth an idea. She knew just who to call in for assistance. This appeared to be a job for their friendly Native American tracker, Julian Littlemoon. Perhaps a call to him was in order.
Then she looked over at Tori. “Do you have plans for dinner?” she asked.
Agent Christensen was caught off guard. All she planned for the night was the couch and some beers. “No, I don’t actually. Are you asking me out on a date, Bob?”
Now Elizabeth laughed uproariously. “I was thinking we could work some more tonight. I have the completed files, and I’ll even make you dinner and introduce you to my little boyfriend.”
Tori didn’t know where to take that. She already knew Elizabeth was married, and in some relationship triangle with Director Whitefox, but now another boyfriend?
Elizabeth could read the look. “Relax, I was talking about CJ. You know, my son?”
Christensen finally let out the breath she was holding.
“Then you can meet Wyler. He’s one of the other loves of my life,” she said, scribbling her address on a piece of paper. “Dinner is at seven. If you’re late, you have dish duty after.”
Tori watched her walking away, wondering who the hell Wyler was, and what the hell she’d just gotten herself into. Twenty four hours ago her life seemed so well guarded and protected, and now she was going to be having dinner with her very scary boss.
They said the holidays effected people. Apparently, she was in the process of further losing more of her mind.
~ Chapter Three ~
Wednesday Late Afternoon
Sitting in his cabin, Julian Littlemoon found he was going out of his damn mind. It was the slow season for work, and he was contemplating contacting Ethan Blackhawk to see if he needed any help. Money wasn’t the issue, but boredom and over thinking was definitely killing him. When he returned back from assisting them in Cypress Grove, he’d tried to contact Tori Christensen.
Non-freaking-stop!
In his mind, they hit it off together and had a connection, but it had to be one sided. The woman was a professional at the fine art of blow off.
For weeks, he’d tried to figure out what he did wrong.
The woman dodged all his calls, and even told him to just forget about her. How the hell was he supposed to do that? They’d only slept together a few times, and each time was unbelievable. The way she felt, tasted, and ….
Julian forced himself to stop thinking about the sex. It left him wanting more, and now his body was hard and waiting to find comfort in a woman that obviously didn’t want him. The range of emotions he was feeling at that moment were overwhelming him. Part of him wanted to drive down to where she lived, knock on her door, drag her into his arms and take what he wanted. Then the rest of him didn’t want to be rejected and pushed away anymore.
Tori Christensen was an enigma. It could go either way, and that’s what worried him. He might only get one shot at luring her back to him, and showing up like a S.W.A.T team might blow up in his face.
Damn it!
The woman had him tied up in so many knots that he couldn’t even decide what to do next.
Maybe he needed to head out and get some air. Saddling up a horse and riding through the snow always cheered him up. The silence, the barely there signs of life, and the calm called to him on some level deep within his body. Nature always lured him in and gave him peace. Maybe it was the Native blood flowing deep within his body.
Pulling on his boots, Julian began to dress for the cold, when his phone started ringing. His heart leapt, as it always did hoping the call would be from her. Staring down at the caller ID, it wasn’t the woman he wanted to call him, but this one would work too.
“Elizabeth Blackhawk, what can this Native man do for you?” he asked, grinning despite his inner turmoil.
Her melodious laughter came over the phone. “I was calling for a teepee tour.”
Now it was Julian’s turn to laugh. “If your husband and Callen wouldn’t kill me, I might take you up on it.” He knew he wouldn’t. His mind was stuck on another woman that he wanted even more, but he kept their private joke going.
She snickered. Wasn’t that the truth? “How are you, Julian?” she inquired.
“I’m surviving. You know us Natives. We tend to hang in there for the long haul. Are you and your family well?” He knew they’d just lost the head of their unit recently, and death always rocked anyone to the core.
“We are Julian. We’re just waiting for Christmas to get here. Are you busy for the holidays?”
Littlemoon felt hope blossoming. “No, I’m completely free. We do Christmas Eve and that’s about it. I can skip it and no one would notice.” Since his father died many years ago, the family didn’t have the same love for the holidays.
That bothered Elizabeth. Christmas was a time of peace and love. “Want to get a way for a while?” she offered.
“Elizabeth, for you I’d run away from the teepee and everyone else,” he teased.
She snorted. They shared a joke about coming to his teepee, because on an assignment he’d misjudged her and Elizabeth had to school him. “I have a job if you're free, and in exchange I’ll offer you some work and Christmas with the Blackhawks.” No one should be alone on Christmas, and that meant even their friends. Julian may have been chauvinistic, difficult and a pain in her ass at times, but he was still a friend who she trusted to have her back.
“Wow, I was just sitting here thinking I was bored out of my mind and you called. Christmas came early.” Julian started hoping Tori would call him next, and then his holiday would be made.
“You can stay with us if you like, or we have a house on the Rez that you can use,” Elizabeth offered. She knew that Julian and Tori had a fling, but she wasn’t sure if it was still ongoing.
“I appreciate that. When do you need me there?”
Elizabeth thought about it. “Can you be in my office tomorrow morning? Say eight in the morning?”
“I’ll be there,” he paused. “Thank you, Elizabeth.” He was thankful, because he knew the Blackhawks kept their lives private, and an offer to come to their home was a very big deal.
“Friends are always welcome, Julian. We’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Have a good night, Elizabeth,” he answered, disconnecting the call and heading to his closet. It looked like it was going to be a far better Christmas this year than last year. If he had anything to say about it, Tori was going to be his big present too.
* * *
Chris Leonard ran the blood he’d drawn from Elizabeth. It was being processed, and then he’d be able to give his friend an answer. They went way back together in fact, all the way back to Quantico on the East coast. There was a warm spot in his heart for Elizabeth, and deep down he was glad she found happiness.
When he first met her, he’d been like a puppy, following her and staring. He’d been new to the FBI, and she’d been his secret little crush. Who didn’t think she was hot and sexy? Most of the men in the tech lab thought she was, and he was sure a few women did too. He’d been a young doctor fresh out of med school, and she’d been a green agent out in the field.
After years of trying to build up the courage to ask her out, he did, and fortunately for him she let him down gently. Ever since then, they’d been friends and over time he realized that was more than enough. Watching her now, he knew she’d found her happiness, and he was glad his friend was at peace.
At the beep, his attention went to his lab work, and C
hris pulled up the pregnancy results and typed them into a text message.
Now he could shut down his work for the day and head home.
Damn it, he wished it wasn’t to an empty house and alone.
* * *
Elizabeth stood in her kitchen and began prepping dinner for herself, Wyler, and Agent Christensen. Having her to their home was something she felt the need to do. The woman was pretty uptight, but Elizabeth believed if she could get through the cracks, there might be hope. Tori seemed pretty funny, and Elizabeth had to admit, she was more than a little curious.
There wasn’t much in her personnel file. Elizabeth knew she’d done two tours in the Middle East as a soldier, coming home to join the FBI. Her work record was immaculate. If anything, Tori was the ideal employee. Now Elizabeth wanted to see what made the woman the person she was inside. If they were going to be partners, Elizabeth needed the insight.
When the doorbell rang, Elizabeth crossed to the peephole. Turning off the alarm, and opening the door.
“Hello Tori, please come on in,” she stepped back, allowing access to their sanctuary.
Christensen was nervous as hell. It was tough enough being partnered with the boss, but now she was in her house and having dinner with her. This ranked up there with most intimidating moments in her life. It was only second to boot camp.
“I brought you these, Bob,” she said, grinning and holding out flowers to Elizabeth. “It felt like a date.”
Elizabeth started laughing and offered her a fist bump. “The men will be jealous as hell when they get home and find out someone brought me flowers.”
Tori accepted the bump, and followed the woman into her home. It was nothing like she expected. There were splashes of bright colors and warmth. It looked like a big happy family lived there. As to the size of the home, it was huge. Tori remembered seeing it from Doctor Adare’s house, when she was working the break-in there. Up close the house was bigger and looked more like a fortress.
Fire Burns Hot ((An FBI/ Romance Thriller~ (Book 5))) Page 6