When she finished the bedroom, she did the bathroom, the office, and then back downstairs.
“How many sets of prints did you get?” Chris asked.
“Three.”
Ty was standing there. “What do you want me to tell the town? I have to alert council.”
She had an idea.
“Callen, I need a lot of money.”
He stared at her as he logged the DNA he’d just collected. “For what, exactly?” he asked.
“A reward.”
Even Ethan was staring at her.
“What are you planning?” Ethan finally asked.
“Well, Bonnie is going to kill regardless of what I do, so I’m going all in on this hand of cards.”
They didn’t speak.
“I’m going to offer a reward for information regarding her arrest, donated by an anonymous person.”
Chris began laughing.
His friend was back.
“You’re calling out the dogs on her,” he said. “Every person in Salem, who wants to make a buck, will be looking for her. This is a small town.”
“That’s right. I’m going to fuck her up. She’s been controlling the game. It’s my turn.”
Callen wasn’t sure this was a good idea.
“Angel, maybe you’re making this personal.”
She pointed at the body bag. “That was personal. I’m just going to make it right.”
“I say do it,” Ethan stated.
“What’s the chances this will blow up in our faces?” Callen asked. “I don’t care about the money, but I do care about the fact the last victim on that list could be our father or one of our kids.”
She got that.
“We have one victim left, Callen James. How do I just chase the end results? I have to rattle her back. I have to make Bonnie look over her shoulder. I need to find a way.”
Ethan mulled it over.
“It will either piss her off, or she’ll abort and leave Salem. It’s fifty-fifty.”
“Those aren’t bad odds.”
Callen stared at her. “Those are not good odds. By pissing her off, she’ll likely come at you.”
And that’s when it registered.
Oh, she was changing up the game by painting a bull’s-eye on her own chest.
The room got quiet.
“NO!”
Callen wasn’t having it.
“NO. FUCKING. WAY!” he said, punctuating every word. “You are not baiting her to make a personal strike at you. If you do, she’ll level us.”
“Well, thanks for the reassurance in my ability to handle this case.”
Callen looked around. “Ty, Dakota, give us a minute. We need to talk to Joan of Arc here.”
The sheriff walked out with the US Marshal behind him.
She opened her mouth, and Callen stopped her. “You are certifiable if you think I’ll ever agree to this, or even fund it. No way!”
She stared at him.
“Okay, well, then I guess it sucks that you’ve told me, repeatedly, that your money is mine. I’ll put it up, and it won’t be anonymous. It’ll be a bounty.”
He went bright red.
Ethan saw his brother ready to blow.
“Callen.”
He stopped him.
“NO! It’s not happening. I’ve watched you for the last seven weeks, broken and battered, and you’re not ready for this!”
She sharply inhaled.
His words stung.
His lack of faith wounded.
“I see.”
Chris began backing out of the room to escape what was coming. This was about to go Chernobyl.
Her being the epicenter of the blast.
“Is that what you all think?” she asked, looking around at the men in her life. “Do you all see me as incapable of handling this one?”
No one spoke.
“Then maybe someone should have told me that days, and four victims ago.”
She headed for the door.
“Elizabeth!” Ethan called.
She ignored him.
Callen sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face in clear frustration. That was NOT how he wanted that to go.
“Well?” Chris asked. “Now what?”
Ethan wasn’t sure.
They were a mess, and somehow, he blamed himself. He broke the team on the last case.
“We hold it together. We don’t have a choice.”
And they really didn’t.
Outside, she found Ty.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“No, I have a rabid case of ‘bossy-man-itis’, and they won’t let me do my damn job,” she stated.
“What can I do?”
“Can I borrow your ride?” she asked. “I need to get out of here and back to work.”
He stared at her.
“Should you be wandering around alone?” Ty asked.
She wanted to kick the shit out of someone. Heading toward their ride, she grabbed her bag. “Can I just borrow your vehicle without the lecture? I’m a grown ass woman who knows what she’s doing.”
Tyrell wasn’t going to get into an argument with her. Clearly, Elizabeth was carrying a huge burden.
He tossed her the keys.
“What do you want me to tell them?” he asked, jerking his head back toward the house.
“That their wife said she’d work it out without the money. I’m good at this. I have to focus on me. This is all about me.”
He watched her get into his jeep and head out.
Someone was on the edge, and he was glad it wasn’t him. Being a cop was hell.
Here was the proof.
The strongest investigator he knew was on the verge of collapse.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Autopsy One Lab
Washington DC
She’d worked the last few hours, and when the new data started streaming in, Christina was in her glory. She was going to start on the fingerprints and cross comparing them next.
Maybe Elizabeth had been right and Amir missed something. It had happened before.
Newbies were predictable.
When her phone rang, she glanced over. It was Kane and he was trying to connect with a video call.
She immediately answered.
“Hey!” she said smiling.
“Hello, Chrissy,” he said, no emotion on his face.
“What’s up, handsome?”
He was watching her, and she looked beautiful. She was wearing a lab coat, and her blonde hair was piled up on her head with about seven pencils shoved into the hive of hair to hold it up. He remembered seeing her like that on the first case they worked together.
“Got a pencil?” he asked.
She looked around in confusion. Undoubtedly, she didn’t realize where she’d put them.
It lightened his heart.
“Do you need something?” she asked, smiling sweetly at him.
“I can’t do this.”
That sucked the sunshine out of her mood.
She stared at him. “What?”
“You left. I can’t do it.”
She began getting that panicky feeling in the pit of her stomach. “What does that mean, Kane?”
“You flew out of Delta Falls pretty damn fast.”
She stared at him.
Then she realized he wasn’t in their home. “Kane, where are you?”
“A hotel.”
“Where’s Milo?”
“He’s with me.”
“Kane,” she began. “I’ll leave. Please don’t dump me and take Milo. I’ll come home right now. If I have to choose, it’ll always be you!”
He stared at her through the phone. “What are you talking about, Chrissy?”
“You said you couldn’t do it,” she said, repeating his words. “That means you’re done with me.”
He realized that she was assuming the worst.
“Oh, sweetheart, that’s not what I meant. I meant the distance between
us physically. You know…you there and us in Delta Falls. That’s what I couldn’t do. I got Milo on a flight, and we’re in DC bunked down for the night. When you leave work, it should be to your family.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“You followed me here?”
“Where wouldn’t I follow you?” he asked. “You’re my heart. I didn’t want you alone here, and Milo and I miss our girl.”
“I love you, Kane Redwolf.”
He smiled. “You’re sexy in your lab coat. Coming back was right. You need to be here. I can see that now,” he admitted.
She couldn’t love him more if she tried.
Here was her hero.
“Let’s get married here.”
“What?” he asked.
“Let’s get married as soon as this case is closed. I want to elope with you. You, me, and Milo. We will have our wedding for a party of three.”
She caught him off guard. Why was he surprised? Christina was always that firecracker.
“Seriously?”
“You just took an infant on a plane and flew here. You’re either the bravest man in the world, or the craziest. Either way, I want to be your wife.”
He smiled. “Deal. Close this case. I want a wife, and I’m holding you to it.”
She touched her hair. “Oh, that’s where they went.”
He laughed. “I love you, Chrissy. Find that killer. Then find me.”
Oh, she could do that.
After blowing him about twenty kisses, and seeing Milo asleep on the bed, she got to work.
The fingerprints began coming in.
And Christina started running them.
So she could get married to her dream man.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Salem
When the men came out of Chris Santana’s home, one vehicle was gone, and Tyrell Donnell was on the phone with someone.
“What’s wrong with this picture?” Callen asked. He’d calmed down, and now It was time to apologize. If she needed money, she could have it.
He’d keep her safe.
Ty hung up the phone. “Your wife had to go, and there’s a van coming to transport the body.”
They all stared at him. There was no way the man had said that.
“What do you mean she left?” Ethan asked as a van rambled into the driveway.
He was having a flashback from the first time he’d pissed her off in Salem.
“Yeah, she wanted you all dead, so I’d give her some space. She’s not happy. With Elizabeth ‘kick their asses’ LaRue, it’s best to avoid a fight.”
Except she wasn’t a LaRue anymore.
She was theirs.
Chris pulled out his cell while the two men stared incredulously at each other. “I’ll call Ivan. He’ll track her.”
Ethan shook his head.
There was no need.
“I know where she is.”
Callen stared at him. “Yeah, hopefully not in Bonnie’s hands.”
“The sheriff’s station.”
“She said she needed to think,” Ty offered. “She was the only person in the history of our office to ever use that gym. She’s probably there.”
Callen hoped so. When his wife was upset, she’d run or work out to burn off the mad.
It made sense.
“Let’s go,” Ethan stated.
They all climbed into their rented ride after the mayor was placed in the sheriff’s department van for transport. All the way there, Callen was staring out the window. His jaw was clenched.
“You have to relax.”
“That’s funny coming from you.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I know. Only, I nearly lost her because of my temper. I suggest you do as I say and not as I do. I’m a shitty role model—as of late.”
“This doesn’t bother you?” he asked. “You’re too calm.”
“Hell, yeah! But Elizabeth is fighting one too many battles. She’s fighting Bonnie and her new partner, Lizzie, she’s fighting the clock, and now she’s fighting us. We have to stop. She can’t carry it all. We need to cut her a damn break.”
Chris agreed.
“She needs you both. Drop me at the morgue, and I’ll get started.”
“Lock the door, and don’t leave,” Ethan warned.
“I won’t. I promise. I can crash in Doctor Trudeaux’s office until you send someone for me.”
That worked for them.
He’d be safe.
Once in front of the sheriff’s station, they found Ty’s vehicle.
“Looks like you were right,” he offered.
Well, when back in Salem, let history repeat itself.
“Yeah, she’s predictable.”
They parked and helped Chris unload the man from the van. Once he was inside and the doors were secured, Callen and Ethan hunted down their wife.
He knew the way to the gym.
It brought back memories.
Once inside, they saw their wife in her workout gear, beating the hell out of the bag.
She was holding nothing back.
Ethan pulled off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves. When he kicked off his dress shoes, Callen lifted a brow. There was no way he was going to do what he looked like he was going to do.
That would be crazy.
Their wife wasn’t stronger than them, but she fought dirty. She had no qualms with knocking balls into someone’s throat—and they’d pissed her off.
“What are you doing?”
“She needs to fight. So, we let her fight until she feels better.”
“That is the stupidest thing you’ve ever suggested. She’s going to make us bleed.”
He was well aware.
“We made her bleed emotionally. It’s payback time.”
Jesus!
His brother was nuts.
“Are you in?”
“Shit. Yes.”
They headed her way.
“Go away,” she stated, not even looking at them. If she did, she was going to flip her shit. It was better the bag than a husband.
“Well, that’s not happening.”
It was time to push her buttons to get Elizabeth to engage him.
“Personally, I don’t think you should be out in the field with that arm. You’re not even close to being street ready.”
She cringed, but kept beating the bag.
Ethan knew what would do it. “You’re a liability.”
She turned on him, and without warning, drop kicked him in his gut. She was so fast he’d never seen it coming.
And it sucked.
Ethan slid across the floor.
Well, that clearly signaled that it was on. Callen kicked off his boots. It looked like he was up next.
This was the stupidest thing he’d ever agreed to in his life, and that was saying a lot. They’d stolen cars for shits and giggles.
Well, so much for talking this out.
He went after her, and she ducked under his arm, punching him in the gut with all she had in her ‘bad’ arm.
Callen went to his knees with a woosh of air leaving his mouth. He’d never had the full fighting wrath of Elizabeth.
He might be wrong.
She could be stronger than him.
Ethan was up, and he moved back at her, and she did some crazy move and ended up behind him. Then she flipped him.
He landed on his face.
Flat.
Callen foot swept her and tried to pin her to the floor. She kicked him over her body, and he landed on his brother with a thud.
“You both aren’t street ready,” she said. “You’re the liability. You fight like old women.”
Callen looked over at his brother. Until that moment, they’d held back. Now…
It was on.
“Do we really try now?”
“Yes.”
Ethan was up first, and he grabbed her arm. When she went to counter with her other, he twisted her arm, flipping her onto her bac
k.
She punched him in the nuts.
He went down.
When Callen came at her, she warned him. “I will hurt you.”
He didn’t care.
He was already hurting for her.
Callen swung, and she dodged it. Elizabeth returned it with a shot to his face.
He landed on the floor by his brother holding his nose.
They had the fortitude not to get up.
“Know what I’m sick of?” she asked, standing over them as she shook out her arm.
“Violence?” Callen asked.
“Me having sperm?” Ethan whispered as he held his man junk.
“Men.”
They both looked at her.
Ouch.
“I love you both so much, but not a case goes by that one, or both of you, act like I’m incapable of doing this. It’s demoralizing, irritating, and it’s stripped me of my identity. Know why I stayed in a relationship with Chris for ten years? He didn’t tell me I couldn’t do it. He told me I would. Maybe, you both can take a lesson.”
They ignored that.
“Bonnie,” Callen muttered.
“Is after me. Yeah, I know. I’ve been doing this almost twenty years. I’ve had a lot of Bonnies. A lot of Clydes, but I survived each and every one.”
They listened.
“I am off my game, but do you want to know why?”
Oh, here it came.
“Both of you.”
Neither spoke.
Finally, Ethan found the strength to overcome his fear. He couldn’t lose her.
“What are you saying?”
“That I don’t want to be partnered up with either of you anymore.”
Callen stared at her, blood on his face. “What?”
“Unless you can come to work, and simply see me as another agent, I want a different partner.”
Callen closed his mouth.
He hadn’t expected that.
“I can do my job. The last two months, a man broke me. I get why Bonnie is crazy. I want to kill too. Let me do my damn job. Let me find the killer and stop making this about us. It’s not. I’m in danger all the time. Will it kill me? Maybe, but you know what, guys? I’m going down fucking swinging—not hiding. I’m sick of being beat down by the ones I love.”
Ethan sat up. “I’m sorry.”
He had been the one who hurt her.
Revenge has Come (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 19) Page 54