“Okay.”
“Uh, Ethan, honey?”
He closed his eyes. He knew it was coming. That one word could turn his bowels to ice.
“What did you do?”
“Chris kissed me.”
He stared at her. “With tongue?”
“Um.”
“No. Don’t. It’s best I don’t know, and don’t tell Callen. He’ll lose his mind.”
“What will I lose my mind over,” he said, walking into the bathroom.
Then he stopped.
“Holy shit! What the hell happened to your suit?”
“Our wife is an animal.”
Yeah, he could see that.
It looked like a war went on in the shower. Honestly, he was a little disappointed that he missed the fun.
“The detective and Merry are here. They wanted to know what you wanted them to do.”
Elizabeth went to speak, and so did Ethan. She covered his mouth with her hand.
“Ethan!”
He laughed from behind her hand. It wasn’t easy to shut it off. He’d have to work on that.
“My rodeo, Cowboy. Deal?”
He nodded.
She glanced over. “You and I are going to see a priestess about a certain medal that had to do with fire.”
“I figured at much. That’s one hell of a coincidence. If we weren’t taking a trip, I’d be shocked.”
“Yeah, I know. Then I want the detective to head to the mayor’s office to brief him. He shouldn’t be out in the field with a concussion.”
Callen made notes on his phone. “Okay, and Merry?”
“She’s heading to the lab with Ethan. He’s going to be babysitting an ME.”
Callen paused. “Which ME?”
“Theirs. Since he hired on the douchebag, he gets to play babysitter, after he tells his shrink to take it easy on my ME.”
Ethan rolled his eyes and mumbled something.
“What?”
“He said ‘can I talk now’?” Callen translated.
They looked at him like he was crazy.
“What? It’s a gift. I happen to understand people who are gagged. Don’t judge. We all have our special skills. I’m not just good at fornication,” he teased.
Elizabeth climbed off her husband’s body.
He was a wreck.
“Promise me you’ll be safe,” he said, as she offered him a hand. “Promise me you won’t get blown up.”
“I won’t get blown up. I promise.”
He hugged her.
“I’m sorry about taking over. It’s not easy to be Deputy Director one minute, and the switch to being a simple profiler the next. It takes time.”
“There’s nothing simple about you, Ethan Blackhawk. You’re buckets full of complicated,” she said, winking at him.
“I don’t think that was a compliment.”
“Yeah, it wasn’t,” she replied, heading out. “That’s for pulling a Gabe. Next time it gets you three to five years in sex jail. The only tail you’ll be chasing is your own.”
Callen started laughing. “I told you she was going to school you over this. Maybe you should ask my advice next time, and you might not get into so much trouble.”
“Hey! I was doing this before you rolled into town.”
Callen laughed. “Come on. You know you deserved it.”
Oh, the smirk was a little too much.
“Oh yeah?” Ethan said. “Ask her whose lips were on hers besides ours.”
“What?” Callen asked, staring at his brother. He had to have heard him wrong.
Only Ethan was grinning.
That wasn’t a joke.
“Elizabeth Renee Whitefox-Blackhawk!” Callen yelled from the bathroom. “Who the hell have you been kissing?”
Blackhawk grinned as he stripped out of his ruined clothes. She may be boss, but someone had to make her pay for telling him to kiss her ass.
Callen would ride it all day long.
Chapter Eleven
Nothing made her day like an ass kicking. While manhandling Ethan Blackhawk in the shower had been a good way to start her day, she wanted to sink her claws into a pretty Voodoo priestess.
It was going to be fun.
“You’re smiling. That generally means you want to hurt someone,” Callen stated. “Who are you plotting against?”
She glanced up at him. His long brown hair was loose, and he was wearing his customary clothes. It made her want to kiss him. Callen had stayed out of the mess between her and Ethan, and that made her proud. At least one of them knew when to be her partner in the field, and when to saddle up to be her husband.
“I’m going to screw with the priestess.”
“Great. I’ve always wanted a Lyzee-esque Voodoo doll. Maybe I can get her to do sexual favors for me. Where do you shove a pin in order to get a blow job? Just asking, you know, in case it comes up.”
He lecherously wiggled his eyebrows.
She snorted. “Yeah, about that…”
He glanced down at the tone in her voice. There was no humor, and whenever he acted like a perv, she played along.
This worried him.
“Why does that answer make me nervous?”
She saw an alley and figured why not?
“We need to talk.”
Callen really hated whenever she said that to him. Generally, it ended with good news, but there was going to be that one time it didn’t.
He knew it.
She tugged him inside the alley beside the coffee shop. They could smell beignets cooking, and rich chicory coffee brewing inside.
“Just tell me and make it fast. I hate prolonging the pain,” he admitted.
“I want to tell you thank you.”
He stared at her.
“Uh, for what?”
“For being a husband.”
“What?” he asked. “What does that mean?”
“When I came to you last night, and I was distraught, what were you thinking?”
“That I wanted to protect my wife. She was hurting, and she needed me.”
Elizabeth loved him so much.
“Yesterday, did you know he was going to pull Chris’s badge and bring in the doctor?”
“Yes, and I told him you were going to be pissed.”
Again, Callen had her back.
“What we have is hard at times.”
“Us, or the three of us? Because I don’t think it’s hard at all. Last night, you were scared. You needed me to be your husband. Yesterday, after that crypt blew, you needed your partner to hold you up.”
He did get it.
God!
Fifty percent of her men got it, and that was a pretty damn good set of odds in her life.
“Ethan has a hard time with separating work from personal. I don’t.”
“I know. I wanted to thank you for being able to tell when I needed my man, and when I needed my field partner.”
He grinned. “Angel, you know I’d do anything for you. You’re the mother of my children, and the boss when we’re working. This is your team. I’m just the sexy Native.”
“Hell yeah, you are. You look mighty fine in those jeans, too.”
He wiggled his eyebrows. “I look better out of them.”
She snorted. “Cal, I love you. Thank you for being you. When I need you, you’re always there.”
He got serious.
It was time to save his brother’s ass.
“Ethan is too, Lyzee. In his own way, he’s trying. Imagine how hard it was to see his wife nearly blown up on the news. He couldn’t get to you. All he had left was being the boss. He went into work mode to keep from melting down.”
“I know.”
“But you had to kick his ass, huh?”
“Do you think I’m too cozy with Chris and Tony?”
He laughed. “This is a minefield. Lyzee bombs hurt like a bitch.”
“Be honest.”
“Are you talking to, Callen, your husband or, Callen,
your best friend?” he asked. “You’re going to get two different answers.”
“Both then.”
“As your best friend, I understand it. I was in that role once. I wasn’t able to have you as mine, so I had to pretend I could just be your friend. It was hard.”
“Tony is happily married.”
“I’m not worried about Tony, and neither is Ethan. We know you’re not going to do anything to hurt us.”
“But with Chris?”
“There’s something there that we can’t handle. I’ll be honest because that’s our rule, but it’s always there in our minds that maybe you think you made a mistake.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “I’ve never made a mistake, Cal. I’m right where I need to be. I love Chris, but I’m not in love with him. I’m madly, crazily, stupidly in love with you two. I have my Cowboy, and my sexy Indian.”
“Just promise you’ll never leave us. If you promise, I know you’ll keep it.”
“I promise I’ll never leave you. I love you too much. Ethan, while infuriating at times, he gets me. He knew mauling me in the shower would get me through the anger. You, while trying to play it cool, knew I’d forgive him if you played mediator. You’re a smart man, Callen James.”
He kissed her on the tip of the nose. “I am because I found my girl.”
“Want to help me scare a priestess?”
He snorted. “No, but what chance do I have of escaping that crazy train, Mrs. Conductor?”
She touched his cheek. “I love you.”
He loved her too. “Ditto, angel. You’re my girl.”
As they walked out of the alley, there were some reporters not far away. Apparently, they were being followed.
“Wipe your mouth,” he muttered.
She looked up at him, thinking something was on her face, so she did it.
“Why?”
“We just came out of the alley, and I wanted to entertain myself.”
She stared at him. The media now thought…
Oh, he’d gotten her on that one.
He started laughing.
“Well played, Callen James. Well played.”
Yeah, he was well aware.
He wasn’t just sexy. He had his devious side too.
At Marie Babineaux’s home, or temple, or whatever the hell she called it, they knocked on the door. It didn’t take long for her to answer.
She looked like she’d been sleeping.
“Sorry, some of us are nocturnal.”
Elizabeth didn’t care. When she had a case, she’d knock on doors at any hour of the day. “Yeah, so are bats.” She paused. “Then again, you’re a bit batty. My bad.”
The woman stared at her. “What do you want?”
“Can we talk?”
“Sure. Come on in. Coffee?” she asked, pointing at the French press on her table.
“If you think I’d drink or eat a single thing in this house, you’re out of your damn mind. I’d rather French kiss an alligator with halitosis.”
She started laughing. “I like you.”
“Yeah, that makes one of us because I don’t really like you.”
“All the best friendships start that way,” Marie said.
Yeah, Elizabeth didn’t need to collect a Voodoo priestess for her circle. She was crazy, but not that nutty.
“Yeah, well anyway, about asking you questions.”
“I saw you on the news yesterday. I’m glad you didn’t get hurt.”
“That’s why I’m here. You handed me a medallion of a fire god, and then BOOM! I nearly get fire bombed. That’s a funny coincidence.”
“Is it?”
“It’s funny in a ‘you’re going to jail unless you spill your guts’ kind of way.”
Callen held out his handcuffs.
“You can use them on me any time, sexy. I like cuffs.”
Elizabeth slammed her hands on the table, and the woman jumped. “Focus on me, not my husband. If you keep drooling, I’m going to rip that fake mop off the top of your damn head and wipe the stupid off your face.”
She closed her mouth.
“How did you know about the fire?” Elizabeth asked.
“I saw it in the smoke.”
“And you couldn’t just warn me that I was going to get my ass blown to kingdom come?” she asked.
“Maybe I wanted a shot at your man?”
“Actually, I dislike blondes. I do like the mother of my children.”
Elizabeth smiled. “Oh lookie, that would be me. Now spill it!”
“If I told you, I’d be a suspect. The medallion was going to keep you safe.”
She stared at her. “Did your momma drop you on your damn head as a baby?”
“No.”
“Well, now you’re a suspect, and for pissing me off, you’re going to spend some time in interrogation, unless you can give me something to work with here.”
She sighed. “I didn’t tell you for another reason.”
“Why?”
“Well, I need your help.”
Elizabeth stared at her. “Uh, this is an interview. You don’t get to ask for my help.”
“Well, I think you’re going to want to hear what I have to say, and then you can decide.”
“You’re bossy, Marie.”
“Oh, well, you can spot your own characteristics in others. What else do you see in me? Any pigheadedness? Crankiness? Maybe a touch of bitchy?”
Callen had to cover his laugh with a cough.
His wife stared at him.
“What do you want my help with?” Elizabeth asked.
“Someone is trying to frame me.”
“For?”
“All of this.”
Elizabeth waited until the woman took a sip of her coffee. The second she put it down, Elizabeth stole it.
“Hey!”
“I figured if you died, I wouldn’t drink it.”
Callen looked mortified.
“That’s for laughing,” she said, pointing at him.
Marie Babineaux knew that the woman before her was a good person. The spirits told her, and that was all she needed to know.
She poured more coffee. “I think you’re being pointed in my direction.”
“Why do you think that? You seem paranoid.”
“That crypt yesterday?”
“Yeah? I vaguely remember it as I was trying not to die.”
“What do you know about the person buried in it?” Marie asked, sipping her coffee.
“Nothing. I never thought to ask. It was a dumping ground, right?”
“It was anything but. You have someone leaving bodies in a tomb where Marie Laveau is entombed.”
“Who the hell is that?”
Callen was already typing.
“She was the foremost practitioner of our faith. If there is someone synonymous with Voodoo, it’s Marie Laveau.”
That gave Elizabeth pause. “So, you’re telling me that our killer left bodies in a tomb that housed a dead priestess, and you think you’re being set up?”
“Yes, and I know by whom.”
This was getting interesting. Elizabeth didn’t know if the woman was setting them up, or if she was being genuine.
Then again, she might be plain nuts. It wouldn’t be the first time they dealt with crazy.
“I’m not yanking your chain, Elizabeth.”
She crossed her arm and tried to work it out in her mind. Could this woman be behind all of this?
Did she fit?
Yeah, to Elizabeth, she didn’t.
“Who is it, Marie? I’ll check them out. Before you look all giddy, you’re still not off the hook for the medallion. That was too crazy to be a coincidence.”
The woman looked relieved.
“It wasn’t a coincidence. The spirits told me to give it to you. That was my own personal medallion. They wanted me to keep you safe. What’s coming is going to be bad. You’re facing down a darkness.”
The woo woo shit made he
r crazy.
“Are we talking a talk dark man cloaked in darkness, or a creepy soul sucking darkness that doesn’t have a body?”
Callen stared at her.
She knew she was trying to provoke a priestess, but she had to have fun too.
“The kind that will steal your life.”
“Here’s a little newsflash. I always face down darkness. This is my gig. You see things in the smoke, and I take down crazies who see things in the smoke. We have a lot in common. The big difference is one of us is borderline cuckoo, and the other gets to sleep with her husband.”
“You’re difficult. How do you live with her?” she asked Callen.
“Lots and lots of alone time, and I know who’s the boss.”
Elizabeth gave him a fist bump.
He certainly did, and the later led to more of the former. Callen was a smart man.
The woman wasn’t offended by their joking.
“I’m being serious. I think someone is pointing you at me.”
Elizabeth waited for it. “Okay, who?”
“There is only one person in this city who would try to mess with the darkness of Voodoo. His name is Kaleb Meeks.”
“Oh, it’s not all sun and fun in Voodoo land?”
Marie stared at her. “How do you get two men to love you when you obviously have one hell of a chip on your shoulder?”
“I rock their world.”
Callen stared at her. “Really? If I said that, you would have hit me.”
“You like when I hit you,” she added. “Just last night…”
“Elizabeth!”
She started laughing.
It was time to be serious.
“Okay, so this Kaleb Meeks has it in for you. Why? Are you his Voodoo competition?”
“He doesn’t practice the same religion as I do. He’s dabbling with the dark arts of JuJu.”
Elizabeth couldn’t help herself. “Really? It’s seriously a thing? You didn’t just make that up, did you? Wait! Isn’t that a candy?”
Callen was typing on his tablet. “It’s a thing, and you’re thinking Jujubes. That’s the candy.”
She loved working with him.
Callen could play along with the best of them.
“Great. Why not? It couldn’t get any weirder anyway. Why is this man trying to point me at you?”
“I don’t know. You’d have to ask him that. All I know is that I was told to give you the medallion in the smoke, and that the crypt, where one of the most famous Voodoo priestesses is buried, was destroyed.”
Blood Shall Run (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 15) Page 30