With Elizabeth, it took a lot.
Something had her panties in a bunch. She was stirred up like a hive of hornets in the middle of a hurricane. She took a few sips.
“Is there booze in this?”
“Yep.”
“Perfect.”
He laughed.
“Uh, want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Okay, so then we should start to talk about…”
She cut him off. “What the hell does he think he’s doing?” she asked, getting back up to pace back and forth. “Who does he think he is? I don’t need a keeper. I’m a grown woman!”
Gabe watched her pace.
This had to be about Ethan. Nothing stirred a wife up more than a husband. Besides, he had an inkling what had her pissed. It was the same thing that drove Livy bat shit insane. He’d been down this road once before.
“Protection duty has you worked up, huh?”
“Yes! Do you know how pathetic that makes me feel? I have to be driven into the office like a child. I have to be followed around by some ape with a mustache. I don’t need Ivan throwing his body in front of me when someone goes to shake my damn hand. It makes my job harder.”
Gabe let her vent.
“What the hell is he thinking?” she hissed in anger.
“He’s thinking he doesn’t want you to get hurt because people want to take shots at him. He’s thinking that you need to be safe so he can do his job. If he’s stressed about you, he’s not thinking about the million other things on his plate. That one security guy is about one million pounds of stress off his shoulders. That’s what he’s thinking.”
She stopped and stared at him.
“He’s under so much pressure, that knowing your safe keeps him going.” Gabe was speaking from experience. He’d been the Deputy Director.
“I hate that you just made me see it from his perspective. Now I feel like an asshole for punching him.”
“You hit him?”
“Twice.”
He scribbled something down on his calendar. “This is a first,” he stated. “You just admitted to being an asshole. This may never happen again. I should give everyone the day off.”
Elizabeth sat. “Har har. You’re funny. I’m hitting you next. What did you need to see me about?” she asked.
“You, my prickly friend, have a case. It’s a baffling one, and detectives on the ground have called in for help.”
She forced Ethan from her mind, so she could focus on the facts. If they were going out, she needed to know what was coming.
“What do you have?”
He hit the button on the remote on his desk. The giant screen came to life. On it, she could see pictures of dead women, and one man.
“Killer?”
“Yeah, but here’s the twist. The first four victims were stolen post mortem.”
“What?” she asked, leaning forward. “I know I didn’t hear you right. Did you just tell me someone stole dead bodies?”
“Yes.”
“That’s crazy. Who steals a dead body?”
He laughed. “That’s your job. I just hand out the fun assignments.”
“Okay, what else?” she asked.
“The local police had a report of blood in a cemetery. They investigated, and they found the original four corpses, now rotting, and missing their livers.”
“Their livers, huh? In Voodoo country? Yeah, that’s shocking. Why am I being given this case? We’re supposed to handle violent crimes. They were already dead. This is more the local law’s job.”
“It was, until they found two more bodies with the original four. They, too, were missing their livers, and they weren’t corpses from the morgue. They were fresh kills. In fact, they’re calling it the local Jack the Ripper case.”
She groaned. “Prostitutes.”
“So this makes it a violent crime. Saddle up.”
Great.
Ethan was going to lose his nut.
“I find it ironic that Miss Kitty is going to hunt down the killer of hookers. This is poetic justice. The bad guy is going to get bagged by…”
She pointed at him. “I swear I’ll tell Livy. Don’t make me hurt you, Gabe.”
He laughed.
He was so damn glad to have her back. He’d missed this. When she first worked under him, he wasn’t thrilled to be babysitting Elizabeth. Now, it was a pleasure. He saw the merit of having people around you that you could trust.
“Let’s keep this based on the case,” she stated.
“You’re cranky today.”
“Yeah, yeah, Igor pissed me off, and then so did Ethan, and now you made me feel bad about it. I have to shit my rainbows and sunshine all over someone. Tag.”
He pushed a button on the remote. “There are two detectives working this case out of the eighth district. They saw the two dead hookers, and knew this was going to be more than they could handle. They called in for help.”
She didn’t mind.
Honestly, she wanted to head out.
ASAP.
“I don’t need to take Igor, right?”
“Ivan…and he isn’t going. You have Callen as your backup, and I know you’re going to want to take your BFF Chris Leonard. God forbid you use a local ME and save the taxpayers money.”
“Last time I used a local ME, he was the killer. Remember how that worked out when I had to dig up my husband? I’m pretty damn sure that didn’t save the tax payers any money with a year of therapy.”
“Point taken.”
“Yes, I’ll need them. No bones, right?”
“No. Doctor Magnus stays in house. Your kills are fleshy. The team will have to manage.”
Well, that was going to make him insane.
Tony hated leaving Chris’s side. He was keeping an eye on the man for her.
“I hope you have something he can work on. If he and Doctor Armstrong are staying in house, alone…”
She didn’t have to continue.
“I do. I’ll send them out on a dig. I don’t really want her here. I thought when I sent her across the country, she’d stay there.”
“Well, her marrying my bone guy wasn’t my fault. I didn’t make them fall in love.”
Okay, she played Cupid, but that wasn’t any of his business.
“He stays. You can take your team. If you run into bones, or you legitimately need his expertise, he can head out.”
“And Ethan?”
Gabe leaned back in his chair. “He has some meetings, and then he’s freed up. Once his work is handled, I’ll send him. Can you survive a day or two without him?”
“Yes.”
“Say what you’re thinking.”
“That you better not pull a fast one. We had a deal. We go out in the field, he comes. We stay here, he returns to Deputy Director duties, and I get Livy or Callen.”
“I’ll keep my word. He has an important meeting in thirty minutes. Then he’s booked all day tomorrow. After that, he’s all yours. You and I both know he doesn’t give you a profile the first couple days anyway.”
“Good point.”
“You need to stop thinking I’m going to screw you over, Lyzee. I told you. I have your back. I wanted you here, and I’ll keep you here.”
She got up. “I’ll go notify my team.”
He nodded. “I’ll tell Ethan you’re heading out.”
Elizabeth was pretty sure he wouldn’t care. After their fight, it would serve her right if he didn’t give a rat’s ass.
Pushing it out of her head, she focused on the job at hand.
They had a killer to catch.
And this was their first time out as a new and improved team. They had everything to prove.
They were being watched.
By everyone.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
When Ethan’s phone rang, he stopped his meeting with the two agents in need of being disciplined. As Gabe’s backup, he had the shitty job of being the
bad guy.
Then again, with his mood, it wasn’t a stretch.
“Blackhawk.”
“Your wife is heading out on a case. She’s on her way to the morgue to tell the team. You might want to head down and kiss her goodbye.”
Ethan tensed.
He hated this part.
He knew when they took the job that this was a possibility, but he still cringed when he thought about her going out without him there.
Yes, she had Callen.
But…
This was his wife too. They were a team, and it felt like he was losing that. It scared him.
“Thanks. I’ll head there.”
He hung up the phone, still perplexed as to why Gabe was tossing him a bone. That wasn’t like the man to play nice. He was generally all about the job and getting it done.
“If you’ll excuse me,” he said, dismissing the agents. “We’ll discuss this later. I have something to attend to that’s come up.”
They didn’t stick around.
Ethan couldn’t blame them. They’d gotten lucky.
He pulled on his suit jacket and headed out. He couldn’t let his wife get on that flight without saying goodbye.
He couldn’t.
It would kill him.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
She headed into Autopsy Suite One. It was new, improved, and ready to be their home base. Gabe had spared no expense in luring the best of the best back to the Hoover building.
They had all new equipment
Space to work.
It was a tech teams wet dream.
And it was all theirs.
Chris had the dubious job of setting it up to be a functioning area. Ironically, he placed everything exactly where it had once been when they had been newbies.
Familiarity made things easier to handle.
Maybe it was a good thing.
As she entered, the team was all there.
Chris was doing paperwork, Doctors Magnus and Armstrong were laughing, and Merry was doing an inventory.
“Hello, team.”
They all turned.
“Do we have a case or is this a social call?” Tony asked, smiling like a loon. There was that good-natured humor in his voice.
Her people loved a dead body. They were definitely in the right field. Nothing brightened their day like guts and entrails.
They were sick tickets, and she loved them.
“We do, and it looks like we’re heading to New Orleans. More specifically, the French Quarter.”
“Wooo! Hooo! I love that city,” Tony stated. When he dropped his arm around Jaxon’s waist, he wiggled his eyebrows.
“Down boy,” Elizabeth stated.
Chris put his pen down. “What do we have?”
She told him everything that she knew about the case. Immediately, the men began laughing. Elizabeth knew right where they were heading with it.
How could they not?
They’d worked with her too long not to make the connection.
“Don’t say it!” she warned. “I’ll have to hurt both of you if you do…”
“Miss Kitty! We want Miss Kitty!”
Yeah, her threats fell on deaf ears. Honestly, she didn’t mind. Chris was smiling, and that was important. She’d let them toss Miss Kitty around for that alone.
She shook her head. “That’s not happening. Sorry. Anyway, gentlemen, we have six bodies. We have to get moving. We’re going to be taking over for the New Orleans police out of district eight.”
“What you mean is you’re going to be kicking cop ass,” Tony said, rubbing his hands together. “I can’t wait to watch it all go down.”
“Your buddy, Chris, will have to record it. You aren’t going.”
He stared at her. “What? Our first team case and I can’t go? What the hell, Lyzee? You wouldn’t be that mean. I know you.”
This had nothing to do with her.
She had to answer to a higher power. With Ethan, she could bribe. Gabe…
Yeah, not so much.
“They’re fleshy. Gabe said you have to stay unless we need a bone man.”
He actually pouted.
It was funny as hell.
“I’ll take pictures and send them to you,” Chris offered. “I’m sure it’ll be boring,” he offered, trying to cheer his buddy up.
“It’s New Orleans. It’s going to be epic, and you know it!”
“I’m not saying I don’t want your help, Tony, but this isn’t my rodeo anymore. I have to answer to a higher power, and the ‘Dragon Slayer’ laid down the rules on this rodeo.”
They could tell.
“Yeah, you’re wearing a skirt and heels.”
She was aware.
And it still sucked.
“So, get the team ready. As soon as you’re ready to go, we’re flying out. Pack your bags, kids. It looks like we have killers, hookers, and dead bodies, oh, my! Miss Kitty is running the show.”
They all began laughing.
When she turned, she stopped.
There stood Ethan, and he didn’t look happy at all.
His face said it all.
The war was brewing, and she had to deal with it before they could head out.
Someone wasn’t happy.
Miss Kitty was his, and she knew it.
Ethan was as mad as hell.
Chapter Two
She wanted to go to him and apologize for getting angry with him before, but from the look on his face, he didn’t look like he’d welcome any kind of contact.
Ethan was in his suit, his tie was back on, and he looked like he was ready to throw down.
Crap!
This wasn’t going to be good, and it was the last thing she needed right now.
“Can I speak to you in the doctor’s private office, Elizabeth?” he asked.
Everyone in the room heard the chill.
When he wanted to make a point, all Ethan had to do was put that iciness in his voice. It wasn’t often that he used it with his wife, and they all knew the shit was about to hit the fan.
“Sure, Ethan. I have some time.”
Elizabeth kept her cool, only because she’d lost it once today, and it wasn’t happening again.
Heading toward the office, Elizabeth could feel his eyes bore into her back. She deserved what was coming, and she knew it.
Once they were inside, the ominous sound of a lock slipping into place told the tale. Yeah, this was going to be a knockdown, drag out battle of the wills.
When she turned around, ready to face down the anger, she wasn’t ready for what was coming. Ethan reached out, tugged her into his body, and his mouth found hers.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and fell into the kiss. It was warm, gentle, and filled with love. Slowly, when he pulled away, they were eye to eye, thanks to her heels.
“First off, you look beautiful today, and that’s how I wanted to greet you when you rolled into my office, Elizabeth.” He gently pushed a curl from her cheek.
“Ethan.”
“It’s my turn, Elizabeth.”
She closed her mouth.
“Secondly, I apologize for making you feel inept by forcing security on you. It was my hope you’d do it for me, and we wouldn’t have to have a battle of wills over it. I should have known better. This is YOU we’re talking about.”
Again, she opened her mouth, and he silenced her.
“Lastly, if you ever walk away from me in anger, slamming my door in my office in front of people who have no business knowing we’re having issues, I won’t be this calm. This is your one and only warning. Am I clear?”
She lifted an eyebrow.
“I said…am I clear?”
“Are you out of your damn mind?” she asked.
“Yes, I have to be. I’m in love with a difficult woman who makes me work for it.”
She softened.
Elizabeth knew she wasn’t easy to love.
Hell!
&n
bsp; The men in her life deserved medals and hazard pay for the shit thrown in their direction.
“I’m sorry I punched you.”
“No, you’re really not.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry it wasn’t harder.”
That made him laugh.
Dropping his forehead to hers, they took a moment. He needed it. What was coming scared him.
“I’m not going out with you, am I?” Ethan asked.
“Gabe said you had to clear your meetings. It’ll be about two days.”
That terrified him. With Bonnie still loose, the only thing he could hope was his brother would be on his game.
“I’ll clear it fast and be there as soon as I can.”
She knew he would.
“I’m sorry I rode your ass about Igor. I was pissed, and I understand why you’re doing it. I love you for it, even if it makes me insane.”
“It’s Ivan, and it’s okay. I knew it was going to happen at some point. I had hoped it wouldn’t be today.”
Elizabeth touched his cheek. “Bad one?”
“Tough one, and we’ll leave it at that.”
She needed to know. “Do you regret coming here? Do you resent me?”
He laughed. “Here’s the sick part. I love it. I freaking love playing Deputy Director. I know that Gabe’s job is around the corner. A part of me can’t believe that in a few years, I may be director of the freaking FBI.”
She touched his cheek.
She could believe it.
“I mean…me—an Indian—a poor one who started with nothing. Look at me. I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and it’s all a dream, including my beautiful wife.”
She left kisses across his lips. “I’m not shocked. I knew you could do it, and I’m not going anywhere, Ethan. I swear.”
“The only thing I regret is not being free to drop everything and go with you right now. It scares me. My wife and husband—of sorts—are going out alone. That makes me nervous.”
She totally got it. He was a control freak, and he wasn’t able to put his hands all over this one. Ethan had to trust they’d be okay, and for him, that was hard.
Blood Shall Run (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 15) Page 6