He completely understood.
Hell!
He was worrying himself.
“I need to ask you something, and I don’t want you to get angry or take it the wrong way.”
“Uh, you just told me before that my ass is looking less than stellar. I didn’t kick your ass for that, so you’re probably safe.”
He grinned. “I did not use those words to describe it, and you know it.”
Yeah, she did.
She took his hand in hers, ignoring the media outside the window. They were lurking and snapping pictures left and right.
“Ask.”
“Do you think I’m trying to have sex with you?”
She sipped her coffee before staring into his baby blue eyes. “Well, if you are, you’re doing it wrong.”
He laughed as she broke the ice between them. This was exactly why he loved her. She made him feel at ease. For the last fifteen years, he never had to stress being near her. Elizabeth would tell you how it was, and she didn’t play games.
He was so screwed up right now that he couldn’t handle the guessing.
“Be serious.”
If that’s what he needed, she could do that.
“Honestly, to answer your question, I don’t think you are. There’s a difference between what we have and what usually happens between the opposite sex. Before you, I didn’t think a guy and girl could be friends. Getting naked always got in the way.”
He agreed.
“Do Callen and Ethan think I’m trying to poach? While we were at the scene, Ethan was staring ice daggers through me. He’s not happy.”
She sighed.
Elizabeth had seen the looks. “Men, in general, are always wary when there’s another man sniffing around. You can’t let the looks scare you.”
Chris thought about what she was saying.
“Why are you worried about it? We’ve never crossed a line, and honestly, I couldn’t. I’m not sexually attracted to you.”
“Well, that doesn’t feel like a kick to the balls at all, Lyzee.”
She snorted. “What I meant is we all have our types. Before I met the Cowboy and Indian,” she said, using their affectionate nicknames for her men, “I would have been attracted to your type.”
“Which is?”
“Smart. Men who read books are hotter than any built stud. I like the men I’m with to be intelligent. So, had I not met Ethan and Callen, you would have been my type. Now I find that I’m attracted to a certain ethnic group.”
He got that.
“What about you? What’s your type?”
“Blondes.”
She grinned. “See? No need to worry about you trying to get into my very sexy britches. I am definitely not a blonde.”
He sipped his coffee.
“Why does this have you all tied up in knots? We’ve been close before, and we’ve never done anything questionable.”
“I don’t know if I can trust myself anymore. I feel so lost and out of my element.”
She ran her thumb over their joined fingers. “Want to vent?”
He nodded.
“I think Cyra was going to hurt me. I never thought it would happen, and now I’m afraid I’ve been wrong about everything in my life. I doubt my ability to know a person.”
“What did she do?”
He told her about the constant money comments. Chris reminded her about what Cyra’s brother had said when he tried to take Bethe away from him.
It felt good to get it out.
It felt even better that it was with his best friend. If anything, Elizabeth would walk him through it.
He hoped.
“I think you’re overthinking everything. I think you’re so hurt by what happened that you’re being paranoid.”
“I absolutely agree that I am. I just don’t know how to stop it. You know the whole money thing freaks me out.”
“And this is exactly why I don’t let you spend money on presents for me for my birthday, Christmas, Boss’s day, the random Friday…”
He appreciated that.
“I don’t want there to ever be a doubt between us. I don’t like you for your money, Chris. I like you for you.”
He stared at their joined hands.
“Call me crazy, but I don’t think that’s all that has your britches in a bunch, Newton. Come on. Spill it.”
“I feel guilty.”
“That she died?”
“Yes, but not only about that.”
“Then what?” Elizabeth asked.
“I feel horrible because when Cyra would accuse me of loving my job and you more, it was true. I loved her, but now I know what Lily Sanderson told her before she died. The last thing my wife heard was that I loved someone else.”
She moved closer. “Oh, Christopher,” she said, when his eyes filled with tears.
Elizabeth took off his glasses and wiped his eyes with a napkin on the table. “That is total BS. She didn’t believe that. Cyra knew you would have sacrificed your life to save her. Plus, you can’t trust crazy. Lily wanted maximum damage, and she’s getting it. The woman is playing with your mind from the grave.”
He was well aware.
“As for loving me and work more, that’s simply not true. You love us differently. We forged something in blood and honor. We had a love found in the darkest, vilest cracks of humanity. You don’t love me more. You just love me on a different level.”
He didn’t speak.
“Do you want to have sex with me?”
“Not really.”
She snorted. “My ego.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’d rather have you as my sister than some sweaty bed hop.”
“Me too. Where you’re thinking all love is the same, it’s not. How much do you love Bethe?”
“God, so much.”
“So, more than you loved Cyra?”
“It’s a different kind of…”
He stared at her.
She managed in minutes to make him see what he needed to see. That was better than any therapy session.
Elizabeth grinned as the waitress put their breakfast on the table in front of them.
“You’re really tricky and definitely catch people off guard. I keep forgetting that you’re super smart.”
“You don’t say?”
Chris felt some of the tension abate.
“You need to see love for what it is. It’s that bond between people on different levels. I love Ethan and Callen differently than I love my baby birds. It’s not the same. I love Wyler differently than I love them. I love you in a completely different way. None of them are wrong, and none of them compete. You don’t have to feel guilty for loving more than one person.”
He thought about it.
She handed him a strip of her bacon. As he munched on it, he slathered a slice of toast in strawberry jam and gave her a bite. This was something they’d done so many times before in the early days. They’d work a case, wrap it up, and then have a meal together.
It didn’t matter the time of the day.
This was their thing.
“What else?” she asked, when there were still storm clouds. “Go ahead.”
“Is it wrong I want to forget about her? I will always love Cyra, but I hate how I feel inside. That darkness is swallowing me whole. When’s the right time to move on?”
“It’s different with everyone. With my mom, I healed a lot slower. Her death changed me. With Charlie, I didn’t hurt as much. It sucked, but I was more pissed that he was murdered.”
He listened.
“When Timothy died, holy shit! I still cry at the most inconvenient times. When I look at my sons and see him, I bawl. God forbid I hear wind chimes. They make me weep.”
Chris listened.
“Now, with Doc Trudeaux? You’d think I’d weep more because of how he died, but I’ve already healed. The heart is a jacked up thing, Christopher. You’ll heal when you heal. You can’t force it, and you can’t talk it into anythin
g. Love is a bitch.”
He took the ketchup from her and put it on his eggs. “I also feel bad about using you.”
“For?”
“I’ve been using your love to heal me.”
She sipped her coffee and then stole one of his potatoes on his plate. “And?”
“I’m using you. Didn’t you hear me?”
Elizabeth laughed. “Christopher, you’re my freaking brother. If you need to use our love to heal, that’s the definition of love. Go for it. I’m here.”
“I’m afraid you’ll hurt me.”
There.
He said it.
All his fears were coming out. This was exactly why they needed to talk.
“I won’t.”
“How…?”
“You don’t know, but you can look at my track record and go from there. Have I ever hurt you?”
“Never.”
“We have a good, solid friendship. We don’t have to worry about damaging each other. Instead, we have to worry about some crazy person who’s trying to snack on random livers.”
He snorted. “Sausage?” he asked, holding it out.
“Pass.”
He thought about it. “I’m overthinking, aren’t I?”
“Yep, you are.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I need to move out of your house and get away from you.”
She grinned. “You think? You’re cramping my sex. I need you to leave too.”
He laughed. “Yeah, I’d hate to do that. After all, you like walking funny.”
“Yes, yes, I do.”
He got serious. “I’m ready, Elizabeth. I want to start my life and give Bethe a home.”
She patted his leg. “I knew one day you would be. When you figured it out, you’d tell me. I’ll miss not seeing you every morning for breakfast and coffee.”
“I can swing by and carpool in with you. I want to find a place nearby.”
That would work for her.
“Hey! It might help you lose the security detail if you’re not heading into work alone.”
“For that alone I could kiss you,” she said.
He laughed. “Know any homes in the neighborhood?”
“I’m sure there are a few. We can really get fancy and join the country club. We can be part of the upper DC echelon,” she said with some backwoods drawl.
It made him laugh. “You don’t say? Tea and tennis?” he asked, in a horrible British accent.
“Darling, it would be my pleasure.”
When she smiled at him, the pain abated.
“I have to ask something, and I hope it’s not crossing a line. After all, you’ve done so much to keep me safe over the last few months, and I don’t know how to pay you back.”
“Friends don’t keep score. You know that.”
Yeah, he did. At least he knew she didn’t.
“Will you help me find a place for us? Bethe needs that woman’s touch and her mother is gone. She needs her Aunt Lyzee. I need her.”
She hugged him. “Oh, Christopher, you know I’ll help you. As soon as we get home, we’ll start house hunting. We’ll have Tony and Jaxon help, since we all know he spends more time with you than anywhere else.”
He really did, and Chris was grateful. He knew the man was watching over him to ensure he was okay.
He kissed her on the forehead. “I love you, Lyzee. I love you so much. Don’t leave me, and don’t let anything happen to you. I can’t bear to lose you too.”
She patted his cheek.
“Christopher, I’m like a freaking black cat. I still have a good seven lives left in me. You have nothing to worry about.”
She ate some eggs.
“Um, Christopher?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not one to butt into your life, but I need one thing from you.”
“What?” he asked. “Name it and it’s yours.”
“That you still bring Bethe to Wyler’s daycare. Charlie will be sad if you take away her best friend. She loves Bethe. They nap together, and one day, they’re going to have what we have—I can already see it. One day, they’re going to be sitting in some café, eating dead animals, and bitching about their parents screwing up their lives.”
That was the most precious gift she had ever given him. There was beauty in it. His daughter would be loved.
“I can only hope she gets to love Charlie that way. I can only hope that one day, my child gets to see that her best friend is her rock too.”
“It’ll happen.”
“You think?”
She clinked her coffee cup off his. “Darlin’, I know.”
And that gave him immeasurable peace.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
You’d think finding a vampire in a city known for the craziness wouldn’t be too difficult, but it wasn’t as easy as you would think. Agents Seaton and Madden were digging through files, newspaper stories, and the internet in hopes of making the boss happy.
If they didn’t find something, Elizabeth was going to be draining them of their blood—the hard way.
She was sadistic like that.
“I think I found something,” Johanna said, sliding the tablet toward her husband.
“What?”
“Check that winner out.”
Brody read the article and studied the picture. “Did Mistress Bella Rose file her teeth to points?” he asked.
“It appears so.”
“Holy crazy, Batman. That’s just insane. Talk about living in a fantasy world.”
“Well, she not only thinks she’s a vampire, but look at the name of the church, and I use that term loosely.”
Brody scanned the IRS forms.
‘The Church of the Dead Flowing Blood.’
“Yeah, that’s catchy. It makes me want to don my Sunday best and head there.”
She laughed. “You think? They do haunted tours of New Orleans and the crypts. Guess which one they have special permission to tour?”
“Saint Louis number one?”
“Yep.”
“Well, that’s handy that it happens to be where our killer left the dead and where the mad bomber struck.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a coincidence. The city is pretty strict about letting tour groups into the burial sites. They restrict them and force the businesses to get permits.”
Brody studied the photo she pulled up. “Who’s the man in the picture?” he asked.
“That’s her vampire lover and co-founder of their ‘church’.”
“What’s his name? Count Dracula?”
“Steve.”
“That was a total letdown,” he said, laughing. “You think with a name like ‘The Church of the Dead Flowing Blood’, they could jazz up his name.”
“You’d think. Here I was picturing everything about them, including the sex would be vampy, but Steve looks like a computer programmer.”
Speaking of sex…
Looking around, Brody tugged her rolling chair toward him. When she slid into him, he pulled her mouth to his.
The kiss was scorching hot.
When they came up for air, he looked around. “We technically could do it in here and no one would know,” he offered. “Callen and Ethan are out with the techs. It’s just us in the morgue.”
She thought about it.
Only before she could give an answer, his phone began ringing.
Without looking, he answered it. “Agent Seaton.”
“Brody, it’s Dad.”
Well, shit!
He’d used another number to get him to answer his phone. The man just wouldn’t stop.
“Hello, Dad, what can I do for you?”
“I hate to do this over the phone, but I’m sick, son. I just found out that I’m not doing so well.”
Brody started laughing. “Yeah, we’ve been down that road, Dad. Remember when you called and told me it was an emergency? I rushed across the country and it was a hoax. No thank you.�
��
He hung up the phone.
“So, where were we?” he asked.
“What did your father want?” Joey asked as Brody nibbled on her throat.
He told her.
“Wow. Our parents are insane. I can’t believe they’d try that again.”
“Oh, I believe it. Don’t answer your phone if you don’t know the number. He hit me, so that means that your mom will be calling you next.”
She agreed.
As he continued to tease her ear, Johanna was very distracted by her husband.
“So, you want to do it in the morgue?”
She giggled.
Brody needed to know. “Is that totally wrong and creepy?” he asked, whispering incredibly dirty things in her ear.
“It’s totally wrong, but very hot. We can cross it off our bucket list. You’ll have to be fast.”
Oh, he could do fast.
He was already hard and ready.
“Let’s do it,” she muttered when his hand slid between her legs.
Broderick giggled like a kid on Christmas morning. When he raced toward the door, to make sure it was locked, he was grinning like a fool.
“You are the woman of my dreams. Anyone else would tell me I’m a freak.”
“Oh, you’re a freak, Brody. I just think that’s sexy in a husband.”
Well, thank God for that.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Friday Mid-Morning
When she and Chris arrived at the morgue, there were two bodies on the tables, and one of them was rank. For a minute there, she was confused as to where the hell it came from.
“Uh, are we so bored at our jobs that we’re now collecting remains?” she asked.
No one answered.
Even Chris was a little confused.
He glanced over at his lab buddy, and Tony was avoiding eye contact.
That had to be bad.
“Who brought in another body?” he asked. Normally, his team would call him.
“I was at the scene,” Doctor Perette offered as he held a clipboard in his hand. “I brought him in and I’m about to start his autopsy.”
Chris stared at Elizabeth. “What did we miss? My phone didn’t ring, did yours?”
Blood Shall Run (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 15) Page 48