He was important in his own home with his babies and the ones he loved.
Elizabeth smiled at the chaos. Still, there were two more kids waiting for him.
“Ethan?” she called. “You have a slow moving one over there,” she stated.
When he looked over, she pointed at Christopher Anthony crawling his way.
His eyes filled with tears.
He’d grown so fast.
Jesus!
He was already crawling.
It felt like he’d missed so much in their son’s life. He’d sat up, and he never noticed. He began feeding himself, and it went unseen, and now he was crawling.
Ethan made a mental vow that when this boy walked, he’d be there to see it. It was going to be his fingers he held.
“Dada, dada, dada,” he kept repeating.
Ethan wanted to cry happy tears. They began slipping past his cheeks.
This was all about redemption, and Ethan wasn’t letting a second of these memories slip by. That man was gone.
This was a different him.
Attentive.
Loving.
In the present.
Ethan scooped Christopher Anthony up, and opened his arms for Bethe too. She made herself at home in his lap.
Now, this was perfect.
Not only was Elizabeth home, but they were, too, and he’d never forget how this felt.
“Don’t cry, Daddy,” Cat said.
“Boys don’t cry,” CJ said. “We are tough and that’s sissy stuff.”
He touched his son’s cheek so he was staring into the matching eyes. “Boys can cry, and I’m crying because I missed all of you so much.”
Cat tipped her head as if pondering something so huge. “Then just don’t go away.”
From the mouths of babes.
Adults could learn from children.
“Good plan, Kitty Cat. Good plan.”
He began tickling all of them, and the squeals were infectious bursts of happiness that made everyone in the room smile.
“I missed you all,” he said, giving and getting kisses. “I promise not to go away for that long ever again.”
When Cat stared him in the eyes, he knew she was deep in thought. “Spill it, Cat.” She was their thinker, planner, and plotter.
“Promise you won’t leave again?”
That broke his heart. “No. I’ll be wherever momma is. It looks like we’re staying here a while. Daddy needs a vacation.”
The girl seemed to like that.
A lot.
Ethan glanced over at his father and Maeve. She was huge. It looked like she was in her twentieth month. Getting the kids to slide off him, he headed their way.
“Mom! You look beautiful.”
She punched him in the gut.
“Jesus! What the hell? Who made you mean while I was gone?” he asked, rubbing his abs.
“You know what that was for, Ethan. You need to be a husband first, then a father. Work is work. Next time, I will be kicking your ass all the way back to DC. Don’t make our Elizabeth cry!”
He kissed her on the cheek. “Yes, Mom. You still look beautiful—even when you’re vicious.”
She blushed. “Thank you, Ethan.”
He focused on the man beside her. He, too, looked like he’d aged. Ethan’s mess had damaged all of them, and he was so damn sorry.
“I missed you, too, Dad.”
Wyler hugged him.
“The prodigal son returns again. Maybe now it’s for good,” he offered. “The third time, Ethan, is not the charm. Keep that in mind.”
Oh, he would.
When Ethan turned, Chris was standing there, watching his every move.
Ethan knew why he was wary, and he was sorry he put that fear in him—in all of them.
It was time.
He headed toward him.
It was hard not to notice that the man stepped back as if he were in danger.
Ethan felt horrible about that too. It was the same fear he’d seen when he’d gone to Chris’s brownstone to talk to him. He, clearly, didn’t believe it was a new day for Ethan.
Instead of saying anything, he hugged him. “I missed you, too, Chris. Thank you for having her back in Delta Falls. I appreciate it. She told me about it, and I can’t wait to hear the rest. Maybe we can get a beer and talk about it.”
Chris patted him on the back, accepting the olive branch. This couldn’t be easy for Ethan. This was a hard road home. “It’s okay. She’s my family, too, but we still need to talk.”
Ethan set him free. “Okay. When?”
He’d learned from Doctor Gaines that the pain he’d caused would have repercussions, and the people hurt would need to decide when to confront him.
“Now.”
Well, it looked like it was judgment day—round three.
“I’m free.”
“I’d prefer to get this over with, so I know where I stand in all of this.”
They all got quiet.
Elizabeth had dreaded this, but she had faith in Ethan. So far, he was a new man. Hopefully, it would carry through.
Her fingers were crossed.
“Do you want me to go with you, Chris?” Elizabeth asked. “I will…”
He shook his head.
“No, honey. This is a long time coming. I need to talk to Ethan—alone.”
They headed out onto the patio.
Ethan followed, ready to have a verbal neutering.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked.
“I need to know if me staying under the same roof as your wife is going to be an issue. There’s an inn I can bed down at with Bethe.”
He let him talk.
“I, like Elizabeth, am done with this. If you tell me to go, I will, and there won’t be hard feelings, but I won’t be coming back. I want off this brotherhood yo-yo. I’m either in, or I’m not, and this has to be the final decision. For all my sins, I at least deserve that peace.”
He didn’t disagree.
“And if I tell you to stay?” Blackhawk asked.
“Then I expect this to be in our past, much like the things that happened between me and your wife.”
“Your sister.”
“Yes.”
“You fucked my wife, Chris. That’s a huge pill for any man to swallow.”
“Yes, I did. It was many times, and it was always good. Your wife is hot in bed.”
Ethan started laughing.
Chris waited.
Doctor Gaines had told him to be ready for test after test. It was his penance.
He had earned this suspicion, so he couldn’t blame the man.
“You’re trying to make me mad,” he stated.
“Yeah, because I don’t like surprises like seeing you break her heart all over again. This damaged all of us, you, her, the kids, Callen, me…”
He got it.
“Did she ever dress up in kinky things and rock your world?” he asked.
“Honestly, that’s not really my thing. I’m a straight sex kind of guy, and that’s mostly how we rolled. I bust her ass about Miss Kitty, but I liked having sex with her, not a hooker.”
Ethan valued his honesty.
“Well?”
“I’m good with that.”
“I was her past.”
“No, you aren’t, and that’s what I learned in all of this. I was angry because you both had something together, but it didn’t occur to me that we all need our pasts to forge our future. You will never be ‘her past’. That implies she’s done with you, and that it’s over. You’re still in the middle of your story. I was upset because…”
He paused.
“What? Help me understand,” Chris said. “Help me figure out how to make this better on all of us.”
“For so many years, I didn’t see myself having any value. I was some scumbag Native from the rez. I was born in poverty, I grew up stealing cars, and then I bailed like a big pussy. I ran from everything.”
“Okay.”
<
br /> “When I look at Elizabeth, I think how much more she deserves. You’re a smart man, a doctor, and you’re loaded. You’re a much better fit for her than I will ever be, and it pissed me off. Even as Deputy Director of the FBI, and powerful, I still wasn’t good enough.”
He listened.
“That threatened my masculinity. I forgot that she digs me as I am. Elizabeth has always seen past it, and she fell in love with me because of my tan skin and Native good looks,” he teased.
“I’d do you if I was gay.”
Ethan laughed. “Thank you, I think.”
“Elizabeth and I were a couple, Ethan. We lived together, worked together, and played together. That’s all true, but she chose the man she wanted. She could have come back for me, and we could have gotten back together, but it wouldn’t work. While we had fun, and each other’s backs, we weren’t marriage material. We were a safe harbor in a wicked sea.”
He saw that now.
“I was meant to be the bridge, not the destination. She’s a freak in bed and needs two men,” he teased. “I have the money, prestige, and geeky good looks, but I wasn’t enough for her. She needed more, and in you, she found that. You’re the winner here. If anything, I should be jealous of you both.”
“Are you?” he asked.
“Not in the least because I didn’t lose Elizabeth. I gained you both. Bethe gained a circle. We aren’t alone in the world, and that’s worth more to me than sex. I choose to see the glass as half-full, and that’s why I’m not wracked with jealousy.”
That made sense.
More importantly, Ethan believed him.
“I want to stay in her life, and I want those little moments that remind me that we had something good, but not at the expense of the family. If me being here hurts, tell me.”
“You leaving hurts. Her leaving hurts. I’m the one who should adjust. Just don’t lie to me. That hurts too. That’s the one factor that can be controlled. You can’t help that you had a past, but you can stop lying about it.”
“I’m sorry about that. I knew it was going to come back to bite us in the end, but I was stuck between a rock and Elizabeth. The truth would have hurt too.”
Ethan wanted to close the gap between them.
“Just go with truth. Then I know where I stand.”
“Even if it’s uncomfortable?” he asked.
“More so. Life is messy. I can’t control freak all of it. I have to trust my gut and fate.”
He understood that.
“Can we be family again?” Ethan asked.
Chris offered up his hand. “Yes.”
Ethan pulled him into his arms and gave him one hell of a hug. Then, he heard Elizabeth coming their way.
“Can anyone get in on this action?” she asked. “I missed the group hugging.”
“Don’t forget me too!” Callen said, running toward them with four beers in his hands.
He handed them out.
They all uncapped them, and Elizabeth held it up in the air to say a few words.
“I’d like to propose a toast.”
They waited.
“To all my sexy men.”
Callen stared at her.
“Really?” he stated.
“Wait for it! Geez, someone lost his sense of humor in the last few days.”
“I didn’t get to jump you twice. That’s why he’s smiling. He got laid.”
He held up his three fingers. “It was three times.”
“Son of a bitch!” Callen muttered, teasing them. “Totally not fair.”
Ethan continued to grin, but added in an eyebrow wiggle.
Elizabeth stared at Chris. “If we go by your theory, Cal, Chris is smiling, too, and I know I didn’t have sex with him.”
Chris snorted. “I was thinking about all the times we did have sex,” he teased. “That’s why I’m smiling.”
“Really?” Ethan asked.
They all glanced over, praying he wasn’t going to lose it. That fear was there.
He wasn’t smiling.
“I have something to say about that,” he stated.
They waited.
Ethan put his thumb in the opening of his beer bottle and shook it.
It sprayed all over Chris who sputtered.
Elizabeth started laughing until Callen did the same thing and sprayed her too.
Chaos ensued.
They ran around the yard, dumping beer all over each other.
It had to be one hell of a sight.
In the doorway, Wyler stood there with Cat as they watched the bedlam and jackassery.
“Why do they do that, Grandpa?” she asked. “They are going to be smelly.”
He smiled.
“It’s simple, Kitty Cat. The Blackhawks always behave badly.”
And this time, it was a beautiful thing.
Chapter Three
Damascus
Late Afternoon
W hen their plane touched down, Dakota was in a hurry to get to the scene. He had the address in his phone, and he needed to see if this was Bonnie’s doing or some sick copycat. His heart was racing, and he was excited to get this lead.
They needed this in the worst way.
With each passing day, his hopes of catching her were getting slimmer and slimmer.
They were running out of chances.
As they pulled up to the home in the well-to-do neighborhood, there were cops, police, and even the FBI still on the scene.
Well, shit!
This sucked.
Dakota had hoped to stay ahead of the Feds, but if they were already there, nosing around, he was going to have a trickier time keeping this under wraps.
Sue him.
He was going to keep the Blackhawks in the dark if this was, indeed, Bonnie.
If he wanted to keep this case to himself, he was going to need to keep Elizabeth Blackhawk from taking it from him and there was no easy way to do that.
She had eyes and ears everywhere.
He took a deep breath.
It was about to begin.
As he strolled to the police line, the Damascus cop let him pass and pointed him in the direction of the lead detective.
“He’s the man running this show,” the uniformed cop offered.
“Thanks,” Sarah replied, following her partner. He appeared to be in a hurry. She could read him.
He was excited.
“What do you have?” Dakota asked, as they reached the Detective not far away.
The man turned.
“And you are?” he asked.
Dakota and Sarah pulled their blazers back. “We’re US Marshals, and we’ve been hunting Bonnie for a while. I was sent here to verify the scene. I’m the expert.”
Detective Quinn Gaines held out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you both. I’m just preserving the scene to make sure it’s ready for the Blackhawks.”
That was NOT what Dakota wanted to hear.
“Like I said, I’m here to verify. My boss didn’t want to waste her time if it’s not Bonnie. She’s really busy these days, and we’re here to help out.”
Quinn lifted a brow.
Busy?
He didn’t know much about what was going on between Elizabeth and Ethan, but he knew it wasn’t good—as in good for a marriage.
“What kind of busy?” he asked.
“Deputy Director Blackhawk just took a vacation—excellent timing of course,” he said, trying to keep it light. “You know how it is.”
Quinn didn’t say a word. He simply kept chewing his gum.
“And Elizabeth is out on the injured list. There’s no reason to bother either of them.”
He knew that wasn’t protocol, but this man intrigued him. He was shoveling a ton of shit.
Quinn could smell it a mile away.
He was going to give him enough noose to hang himself.
“Anyway,” he said, continuing to ramble. “My boss wants me to assess, and if I can give them a hand, I will.”
/> Yeah, as in takeover, keep it quiet, and take out Bonnie—once and for all.
Dakota was done messing around.
“You can head out,” Dakota offered.
Quinn didn’t like the man.
Something about him made his gut scream. “Well, I can’t do that until there’s verification, but I can show you around, and you can make your assessment.”
Yeah, and he was still reporting this to the FBI. He wasn’t a fool. The killer called Elizabeth out, and she headed the violent crimes unit for a reason.
This was her thing.
He knew from his wife that Elizabeth was on call. She’d been in Delta Falls working, so if this was, indeed, Bonnie, she was back in play.
That’s why she was tagged by the Feds to head it. Clearly, this man didn’t know that.
“That would be great. Can you show me the body?” he asked.
“I can’t do that.”
“Detective…”
He cut him off. “If you want to see the victim, you have to head to FBI West. The second we saw the message, we called that office. Their ME came and took him to begin processing for trace. Director Miles Lane runs a tight ship.”
Okay, he could calm down. Dakota was getting edgy for no reason. This was within his grasp.
“So, if you want a sneak peek at the victim, you need to address Doctor Legend. He’s the head rooster in this murder henhouse.”
He smiled.
That was not what he wanted to hear either.
Shit!
That meant strolling right into FBI West.
This sucked.
“That will be awesome. Thanks for the heads-up! I love working with the Feds.”
If by love, he meant he’d rather be picking pimples off a porcupine while blindfolded.
“Don’t we all?” Quinn stated.
Something was up.
Quinn had been a cop a long time. Maybe he’d been a fool in his youth, but he saw a train wreck coming. This man was throwing down a truckload of bull.
If this US Marshal thought that Quinn wasn’t going to report this to Elizabeth, or Gabriel Rothschild, in their absence, he was insane. The DPD worked hand in hand with the FBI. He wasn’t rocking that boat.
Not now.
Not Ever.
Quinn liked his job.
Plus, he was friends with the Blackhawks. Callie, his wife, loved them, and that made him want to watch their backs from assholes like this.
And this guy was definitely bordering on asshole.
Revenge has Come (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 19) Page 10