No, it didn’t, and that was what puzzled her.
When she glanced over at Callen, he had that look on his face. Silently, he jerked his head toward Ethan, signaling that if she wanted answers, he was where she should start.
While he wouldn’t rat him out, he wasn’t going to be pulled down in this clusterfuck. Ethan was digging the hole, and one of them had to be there to pull him out.
When Elizabeth heard this one, it wasn’t going to be her. She was going to bury him.
“Cowboy, did you find a body at the judge’s office?” she asked, trying to stay calm. Already, she had a sneaking suspicion that her husband had, once more, absconded her case.
If that had happened, he was going to be really sorry. Do it once, and she’d be pissed.
Do it twice…
Well, he was going to be missing his sexy hide.
His brother too.
No one spoke.
“Okay, someone needs to tell me what the bloody hell is going on here. I went to have some fuel, and our dead multiplied. Someone spill it.”
Everyone looked vastly uncomfortable.
Ethan figured he’d own it. After all, what was she going to do? Kill him?
There was a room full of people, and his temper was on simmer thanks to earlier. He was in the mood for a fight.
A bloody one.
“When I got the warrant, you were busy having breakfast with your ME, so I handled the house search. When we got there, Callen and I found him inside.”
Whitefox prayed that his wife didn’t kill him.
He liked being married and having sex.
In fact, he loved it.
This jackassery threatened it.
“So, let me get this straight. You got the warrant, and instead of calling the lead investigator, you took my partner in the field, and you two searched the residence without me?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t think that maybe I would want to be there for that? You know, since this is MY DIVISION and my job? It never occurred to you that I needed to be there since I’m the one trying to solve this?”
Her face must have showed how truly angry she was. The techs began backing up as they tried to get the hell out of the room. At that point, it was any man, or woman, for themselves.
“It looks like he’s been poisoned,” Doctor Perette offered, obviously unaware that he was in danger too. “He’s been dead roughly six days.”
The man had terrible timing.
He also couldn’t read a room to save his life.
Chris simply shook his head. “I don’t believe this.”
Neither did she.
If Ethan thought he was getting away with this, he was out of his mind.
“You chose to use Doctor Perette and not the man who had offered up the vampire disease angle? That doesn’t seem right to me.”
“You were busy on a breakfast date, and we had a job to do. As your boss at the FBI, I took it upon myself to handle it. I had to make a call, and this is what I decided to do. Ultimately, Elizabeth, you answer to me when we’re out in the field. I’m not just the profiler.”
There was an audible gasp in the room.
Ethan Blackhawk had lost his mind.
This was the proof.
Elizabeth didn’t understand what the hell was going on with her husband.
Had he been abducted by pod people?
Did he hit his head really hard?
Should she get him diagnosed for a bipolar disorder?
There had to be a logical reason why a sane, smart man would lose it and do stupid shit.
At that point, those scenarios were the only things that would keep him alive. She was so damn angry.
Oh, and confused.
What had she done to him that would make her husband want to be vindictive with her?
His face was ice cold, his eyes were dead, and he was glaring at her as if she’d committed some sin.
She didn’t get it.
At all.
Elizabeth crossed the room toward him. When he looked like he was bracing for her to strike him, she simply handed him the takeout bag with their breakfast.
This was jacked up.
Anger wouldn’t solve it.
Contrary to what he believed, she knew how to do her damn job. He was the one with issues and crossing lines all over the damn place.
“What’s this?”
“While I was screwing around on my ‘breakfast date’, I picked up something for you and Callen to eat. You know…for having my back while I took a break. I figured you’d be hungry after you worked so hard to get me that warrant. There’s something in there for you too, Callen. I didn’t want you to be hungry,” she offered, her voice hitching.
Elizabeth fought to keep it in.
It wasn’t easy.
She’d been betrayed by the men in her life. Maybe not with another woman but they’d stolen a part of who she was to her core. This broke her.
“Lyzee,” Chris said, seeing the hurt. He pretty much figured out why Ethan was glaring at the two of them. This had been his fear.
His family was imploding and because of him.
“I need a moment, team. I need to regroup,” she said, heading for the morgue office. “Chris, can you please start the autopsy on Daphne?” she asked. “I need to make sure she’s part of this, and not some random drive by slaughtering.”
“Yeah, Lyzee, I can.”
She headed into the office to catch her breath. When it came to Ethan, if he was angry, you couldn’t rush headlong at it with more anger. It would be volatile. Whatever he was upset about, she had to stay calm.
It wasn’t easy.
He’d hijacked her case.
AGAIN.
He’d said some shitty things.
AGAIN.
He’d humiliated her in front of her staff.
AGAIN.
When the door opened, Elizabeth prayed it was Callen. He would explain, and that would help her work through this. There had to be some rational explanation as to what had Ethan so freaked out. Callen would explain and hold her hand when she was shaky.
She needed him.
When she glanced over, much to her dismay, it wasn’t him, but Ethan.
He was still glaring at her.
“Why, Ethan?” she asked, keeping her temper in check. “Why would you do this? We just discussed this the other day. You can’t take over my cases. This is my job.”
Yeah, and she didn’t need him anymore. That was his fear. Here it was, and it was staring him in the face.
He crossed his arms over his chest. Instead of being honest, telling her that he was terrified, he went with his rage and indignation.
“You were busy. I figured you had your hands full, babying a grown man. I was worried about the case.”
Okay, so this was about Chris.
That helped her to focus a little more. It gave her a direction to navigate.
“For the record, if it even matters, I wasn’t babying him. I was talking to him. I needed to gauge if he could work in the field or if he was better off going home. I wanted to have a private conversation with him. I wasn’t gone so long that you had to panic and take over working the case.”
“You were gone three hours, Elizabeth. Where the hell were you? It doesn’t take three hours to have breakfast.”
She felt a trap.
He was setting her up.
Ethan was the hunter, and she was the helpless bunny wandering into the steel jaws of death. He wanted blood—hers.
It was crystal clear.
She stared at him. “What? You’re angry at me for being gone for three hours?”
“This is what I’m angry with,” he said. “You can add this to why I’m furious.”
When Ethan turned on the television in the lounge, there she was having breakfast with Chris. Unfortunately for her, the media was captioning their meal as a secret rendezvous.
Of course they were.
Well, shit
.
“That’s not what it looks like, Ethan. I wasn’t off having an affair with Chris. You can’t possibly believe that. You know me. That’s not how I roll.”
Callen took that moment to walk into the room.
“Then where were you? That looks awful cozy to your husband. In fact, when you walked away earlier, your arm through his, it looked very romantic and sweet.”
What?
She stared at him.
It was official. She’d fallen down the rabbit hole right into insanity.
“Seriously? Did you just accuse me of having an affair, and with a man who’s my freaking brother? Christopher Leonard? Our ME? Really?”
Ethan knew he was out of control.
Deep down, he knew Elizabeth wouldn’t cheat on them.
Still, a part of the anger was eating away at him. There was that irrational fear that she would leave him.
“Ethan.”
“Where the fuck were you?”
At the violent temper and profanity, Callen moved to flank Elizabeth. It was getting ugly in there. If his brother was going to start cursing, Callen had to have Elizabeth’s back.
Or take her gun if she went to shoot him in the ass.
Either way…
What was she supposed to say?
“It doesn’t really matter now, does it? You already accused me of doing something that I’d never do. Why should I stand here and try to rationalize it to you? You made up your mind. Apparently, you have a low opinion of me if you’ve accused me of something so horrendous that I can’t even bear to address it. I’m too shocked.”
She turned to stare at Callen. “Do you think I’d cheat on you too? Do you, Callen James?”
He shook his head. “No, angel, I don’t. We can work this out,” he offered.
She didn’t believe it.
“You should have texted me about the search. You let me walk into this blind. You don’t do that to your partner.”
He was aware.
Had he seen this confrontation coming, he would have. Before, all he was really worried about was a gay man grabbing his ass.
Yeah, who knew that was going to be the highlight of his day?
At that moment, he was stuck between the two people he loved most in life. He had been trying to keep this from happening. When they found the body, he didn’t have time to think about later when they would have to tell her.
He should have seen this coming.
“Lyzee.”
“It’s okay, Callen. I get it. He’s been your brother longer. We all have to make our choices. He’s your blood. I’m not. I'm apparently nothing to either of you.”
Callen was horrified that she saw it like that, but before he could say anything, his brother kept digging the hole.
“Well? Where were you?”
She wouldn’t engage him.
Ethan wanted her to fight with him. He wanted her to be angry, to yell, and to call him names. If she did, it would mean she cared. If she fought, there would be that fire that meant she still felt anything for him.
Only she didn’t.
There was nothing there.
This had been his fear. His wife was falling out of love with him.
Her silence pissed him off even more.
“Ethan,” Callen began. He’d spoken to Chris, and he knew what they’d been doing. Elizabeth’s spare Glock had been on his hip. She didn’t give away her guns, and the ME rarely carried them.
That meant one thing.
They’d been working, and it had been dangerous. Their woman deserved time to explain. She had a right to defend herself without anyone going over the edge.
Like this…
Jesus!
This was bad.
“I’m going to go find YOUR agents. I have work to do,” she said, trying to put as much space between them as possible. If she wanted to save her marriage, and her heart, she needed a safe place to escape.
She needed to find some space to think all of this over.
“This isn’t done. I’m over all of this,” Ethan said. “I’m sick of watching you for the last four months fawn over another man in our home. You expect me to take it, and it’s too damn much. He’s destroying our marriage. You’re destroying it.”
Callen knew this was bad.
He really wanted to puke.
Ethan was officially out of his mind.
“Guys, the team can hear us out there. This room is not soundproof, and it’s making us look bad. Our team will see us falling apart. Let’s shelf this until later when we have some privacy,” Callen suggested.
“No, I won’t shelf this. This is my breaking point. I don’t care if they hear me. I intend to say this to Doctor Leonard next!”
Elizabeth gasped.
“You will not drag him into this madness. You will not hurt him in your anger.”
Oh, that made him even more furious.
Now she was defending him during their fight.
It was his breaking point.
“It’s him or us. I want you to choose. He moves out, and he’s gone from our home, or I do. You have to make your choice, Elizabeth. You have to show us where your allegiance lies. I’m sick of being asked questions by the media if I’m letting my wife’s boyfriend shack up with us!”
It was as if he slapped her.
The tears filled her eyes.
She stepped back from him, and right into Callen’s body. His arms went around her, trying to offer her some strength.
Callen was now officially scared too.
This was beyond bad.
It was destructive.
Their universe was caving in around them. Ethan had just given the world’s most stubborn, pigheaded woman an ultimatum, and he didn’t think she’d go the exact opposite way he wanted?
He didn’t see this minefield a mile away?
Shit!
Shit!
Shit!
There went their marriage. He was going to lose his wife by his idiot brother’s proxy.
“Decide.”
Her heart ached. She pulled away from Callen and headed toward the door.
“I’ll take that as your answer,” Ethan said softly. “I’ll take that as your choice. You don’t have to say the words. I get it. I guess I’m the one leaving.”
This had been his fear.
She’d proved him right.
Elizabeth turned, tears streaking down her face. “I choose you and Callen. I’ll always choose you both over the world, over right and wrong, and over my own heart. You should know that, Ethan. Chris is already moving out. That was part of the conversation we had. I was helping him get to that point so he could move on with his life. It was time for him to go, and he’s strong enough to do it. I just didn’t think I’d come here and be treated like this. I never thought you’d accuse me of infidelity when you two are the center of my world.”
Callen stared at his brother.
Ethan looked rattled.
“I can’t believe you’re asking me to choose. Yes, I’ve loved him a long time, but I’d give him up for either of you. I’ll even forgive you for making me kick him out of my life. I just won’t forgive you for doing this here where I have to walk through a room of my peers as I’m crying. You’ve stripped who I am away, and that hurts more than you’ll ever know. This job is my armor. It keeps my soul intact. You have the audacity to pull rank on me, treat me like I’m a complete stranger, and belittle me at work? And you think you’re being a good boss? If I were any other employee, you’d be losing your job in HR for this kind of behavior. I’m not the one out of line. You are. I can do my job, but you…it’s questionable, and here’s the proof.”
She was right, and he knew it.
“Elizabeth.”
He moved toward her.
She held up her hand and then wiped her eyes on her sleeve.
“No. It’s too late. You’ve burned that bridge, Ethan. You did worse. You blew it up. I don’t think you can rebuild it.”
> His heart ached.
Now that she’d chosen them, told him Chris was leaving, and cried, he felt horrible. It snapped him back to reality.
Unfortunately, he’d really screwed up.
“If it’s okay with you both, I have to do some work. I can’t be here. I have to figure out how to say good-bye to Chris, and not let him know that you’ve kicked him out of our family—after you told him he was your brother.”
Yeah, Ethan remembered that conversation.
“I have to figure out how I’m going to boot him from my team, and out of my life for you. I have to think. I have to have space because my whole world just came crashing down around me. In a matter of minutes, I’ve lost everything, but I still have a case to work. My heart, as always, comes last.”
With that, she walked out.
Out of the room.
And possibly out of their lives.
When the door closed, Callen glared at his brother. This was far from done.
“Really? Are you out of your fucking mind? First of all, you didn’t have the right to speak for me. I know where she was, and I’m smart enough to not let anger destroy the precious gift I was given.”
Ethan struggled to work through it. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
“Where was she, Callen? Where was our wife?”
Callen knew he probably didn’t deserve to know, but he was done playing this game.
“Marie Babineaux gave her a lead. She was interviewing a man the priestess was shacked up with last night. She was working the first two hours, and then fueling up since she hadn’t eaten since God knew when.”
Ethan closed his eyes. “I needed to know.”
“Well now you know where she was. You should feel like a total douchebag for accusing her of cheating.”
“I meant that I needed to know if she’d choose us. I know it was wrong, but I needed to know if she still needed me in her life. I’m watching her slip away. With each new case, she needs me less and less. I’m so scared she’s going to fall in love with someone who deserves her.”
“Well, newsflash, Deputy Director, this was not the way to show her you deserve her. She’s a tough woman, but if you want to break her, you throw this into the mix. She needed to help a man she loves. She’s carried us for years—when you were taken, when I was abused, when Dad needed to heal, when our kids need her, when you wanted to go to FBI West—she carried all of us. The only thing she’s ever asked for was to move back East to escape the demons that haunted her. Now you’ve taken the one thing that helped her heal, and you’ve tainted it with suspicion, anger, and hate.”
Blood Shall Run (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 15) Page 49