Whitefox had just fallen victim to love at first sight.
“I’m Director Special Agent Elizabeth Blackhawk, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Chief.” Elizabeth shook his hand warmly, and she couldn’t figure out why he just appeared like he was planning an escape route. “Are you okay? You look a little overwhelmed. Ginny didn’t scare you did she?” she asked, winking at her receptionist.
Ginny snorted and just shook her head, trying to be on her best behavior. “I don’t harass the guests, boss. I stick to the employees.”
Elizabeth grinned and patted the man on the arm reassuringly.
“I’m sorry, but I was expecting someone else that’s all,” he said, shaking her hand and holding onto it for as long as he could. Yeah, he was glad he came to the FBI West. This woman was going to be a pleasure to work with, he could tell.
“Come on back to my office, and we can talk about everything that has brought you here to FBI West for help.”
Whitefox followed at her request. It would give him time to appreciate the view, taking in everything about the woman. She wasn’t the typical agent, and he doubted she was the typical director. Appreciatively, he was extra happy she was wearing jeans and especially those jeans. They were riding low on her hips and drew the male attention easily. Part of him was aware he shouldn’t be checking her out like she was some woman he was picking up in a bar, but it was a completely male response to the completely female form in front of him. “I appreciate your help, Director Special Agent Blackhawk.”
Yeah, he appreciated it a great deal.
He almost felt bad for ogling the woman, but she was hot. If she didn’t catch his attention he was pretty sure the only reason would be because he was dead and without a pulse. There was something about a woman in cowboy boots, even if she was an outsider, or maybe that was the big allure. A woman that he had always been told wasn’t going to be acceptable, always caught his attention. Whitefox wondered if it would be inappropriate to ask her to marry him right then and there.
Oh, yeah, and have his children.
“Have a seat, Chief Whitefox.” Elizabeth pointed to the chair, and seated herself on the corner not far from him so they could talk. “Now Gabe called this morning, and told us that you found bones on the reservation, and you need us to intervene and help you out.”
He was having a hard time focusing. Elizabeth Blackhawk smelled like spice and heat, and she was sitting right beside him within reach. He wondered if her hair felt as silky as it looked. All those riotous black curls looked completely tempting. Now, he completely understood the warning Gabe had thrown out about her being a distraction.
Hell yeah, she was going to be one. Until later when he did something about it, and there was no doubt he’d make his move. Charm ran in his family and he was positive he could convince her to come home with him.
“Want to start at the beginning for me, Chief? Then we can figure out how we can approach this the best way.”
He forced his mind off the woman and onto the problem at hand. He could chase her down later, and he was pretty sure he would. Choice on the reservation wasn’t all that exciting, but Director Special Agent Elizabeth Blackhawk most definitely was stimulating. He didn’t see a big shiny wedding ring, just a simple gold band with stones. Something in the back of his mind made him think he’d seen it before, but he was too distracted with the woman, her jeans, and the way she smelled to register it.
“This morning, one of my officers came to my home. While on patrol he found some bones. Right now we have it cordoned off, and there are two of my men standing guard. We had the local doctor come out and check it out. We don’t have an ME or an anthropologist that we have access to on the Rez, so we had to go with what we had available.”
Elizabeth nodded as she scribbled notes on the pad that was balancing on her crossed leg. “Did anyone touch the bones?”
“Just the doctor, but I assure you that he gloved up, and he didn’t have any unprotected contact with them.” Focus was drawn back to her cowboy boots, and it took everything in him to not make a comment about her wanting to saddle up with him and ride him off into the sunset. He’d love to play Indian to her cowboy any day. Just that mere thought made his whole body react, and it was completely inappropriate but felt so right. Shit, he never thought he’d fall in love in seconds, and here he had.
“Good, that just makes it easier for the tech team. They don’t have to exclude too many people when they start checking the trace evidence,” she answered, smiling down at him from her seat on the corner of her desk. “Speaking of our tech team, I want to call them in along with our anthropologist that we work with for bone identification. Is that going to be a problem Chief?” she asked, knowing that Gabe said outsiders weren’t going to be welcome.
“Please, call me Callen. Chief sounds way too formal,” he grinned his best seductive grin. God she was beautiful.
Elizabeth smiled back. “Then by all means, Callen, please call me Elizabeth. It’s just easier since we’ll be working closely together.”
Callen Whitefox thanked the powers that be for that sentence alone. Then he started picturing how close they’d be working, and he forced himself to refocus and answer her question.
“It shouldn’t be too bad, Elizabeth. The locals aren’t going to be jumping for joy, but they won’t stop your teams from doing their work. Besides with a name like Blackhawk you’ll fit right in, and chances are no one will question you.” It was all too ironic.
Elizabeth grinned, almost wanting to tell him that probably wasn’t going to be true. “Did you take any pictures of the scene?”
Callen Whitefox stood, and pulled out his zip drive. “I had time to upload them for you, granted the resolution isn’t FBI quality, so I apologize in advance.”
Elizabeth hopped off her desk, taking the zip drive from his hand and smiling. “Oh, I was a sheriff in a tiny town. I completely understand the whole ‘lack of funding’ situation. Let me upload them to my laptop, and then we can start going over them together,” she smiled easily, and then motioned for him to follow her around the desk.
Callen Whitefox stood as close to her as humanly possible without actually having contact. Man, she smelled like heaven. “So, small town sheriff now heads the FBI office out here?” he grinned down at her. “Who did you know to get this job?” he teased, trying to not think about how close she was to his body. “Are they hiring?” What he wouldn’t give to work with her daily. Her scent was driving him wild.
“I happen to be very good friends with Gabe Rothschild. The position opened and my partner and I jumped at the chance to work together here. He was FBI, and he helped me solve a serial killer assignment in my town. The rest is history. I think you’ll like him. He’s from around here.”
All Callen could think about was how lucky that guy was that he spent his days by her side. He completely missed the last part. Those blue eyes were hypnotic, and he wanted to taste her.
“You’ll be meeting him shortly. He’s picking up some files, and he’ll be joining us.” Elizabeth smiled at the chief of police, and she was thrilled how well it was all going. Maybe Gabe had been worried about nothing.
Because of Ethan’s last name, she would be accepted, and her husband could back away from liaison duties after all.
Technically, she was a Blackhawk now too.
“Can’t wait,” he said absently. Callen Whitefox was too busy checking her out and leaning over her. The scent of her hair was nothing he ever smelled before in his life. It tightened everything in his body, and he could actually feel the heat crawling up his torso.
“Okay, looks like they’re uploading, Callen. Shall we take a look?” she asked, smiling brightly. “Let’s see what we have.”
“Yeah let’s,” he said, as he decided he loved her eyes. In fact, suddenly he loved the FBI and everything they stood for despite the shady past with Native American relations. Now he just had to figure out how to invite her back to his place after work, and the
y could spend the evening trying to get better acquainted.
Today was definitely looking much better now that was hopelessly in love and finally found the woman that he was going to make his wife.
This was the best day of his damn life.
Blackhawk stopped by the front desk to talk to Ginny. She was furiously typing and talking on the phone at the same time. Her multitasking skills blew him away, and he wished they had two of her in the office. They were very lucky they found her. The woman was a phenomenon at office duties and task management.
“Hold please,” she said into the phone and smiled up at her boss. “Yes Mr. B?”
“Elizabeth and I are going out in the field later, and we need you to hold down the fort. Can you manage, Ginny?” he inquired, already knowing she could and would.
“Oh, boss man anything for you and the boss lady. It should be a slow day until more of the team returns from the field,” she replied.
“Thanks Ginny.” Ethan headed for his office.
“Oh, Mr. B?”
“Yeah?” He turned at his name.
“The police chief is in with Elizabeth, and can I just say WOW!” she winked and fanned herself. “You better get in there fast. He was checking out Mrs. B, big time.”
Most of his days and all of his nights were spent doing the same thing, so he wasn’t really surprised. Basically, he’d had to learn to control his temper when men ogled his wife.
Elizabeth could take care of herself.
“Good luck to him,” he laughed. “She’ll hand him his ass and fast,” he paused. “Ginny, how do you know he was checking her out?” Now the smile was slipping and doubt began creeping into the back of his mind. He wasn’t sure how he felt about another Native man being attracted to his wife. Many times, she expressed how his exotic looks were what made her notice him. There was habitually that fear that another ‘exotic’ man would lure her away. Deep down, he knew it was wrong, but he couldn’t help it; he was territorial, especially with Elizabeth, and he’d be crazy to not be.
“Uh, because I was checking him out,” she said, winking and going back to her phone calls and typing. “I’ll bring coffee in shortly, boss. Buzz if you need me sooner.”
Blackhawk dropped the personnel files on his desk, and he headed into his wife’s office. The melodically laughter was floating from her room to the hallway. As the co-director, he was glad that she was breaking the ice with the chief of police, and that Elizabeth was being accepted by the Native American easily. Again, Ginny’s warning had taken root.
Granted, it would make their job easier once they got out to the site. They would need complete and total cooperation from the law enforcement there, but still...
Ethan Blackhawk didn’t expect the scene when he stepped into her office. His body froze as the icy claws of anger began their ascent through his body. There was a man leaning over his wife as they looked at the laptop together. If it were any other man, he probably wouldn’t feel the rage rising up through his body, but this man was completely different.
The flirtatious grin plastered on the man’s face was one he knew all too well, and he felt the rage rip through him. The intense anger began bubbling up as he started walking towards his wife and Callen Whitefox. Although he hadn’t seen him in a decade, it didn't chance that much. The face had the same teasing smile. Blackhawk imagined that was the same look he had given Elizabeth on the first day in Salem. Just the visual of him standing over his wife made him understand how people could kill out of jealousy. Blackhawk was on the verge of doing just that himself.
Elizabeth looked up at the sound of her husband entering the room, and she immediately knew something was horribly wrong. The pure rage on his face was completely out of place. The anger was directed at the chief of police, and he appeared to be planning on committing murder right there in her office.
“Ethan?” she said softly, bracing herself for whatever was about to explode from her husband. Elizabeth felt like she was watching a movie unfold in front of her. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, and she was helpless to intervene and save the chief of police from what was about to happen.
Callen Whitefox stood up and turned at the sound of the name, knowing it was all about to go to hell in a hand basket. There was only one Ethan Blackhawk on this planet. As far as he was concerned if he was anyway related to Elizabeth Blackhawk, he was about to be screwed royally. Maybe he should have had the sense to run when he heard the name after all.
Anger over came sanity as Ethan Blackhawk swung out, punching the man in the face. It was just at the last second he pulled back on some of the anger, as to not kill him in front of his wife. He was going to have to explain all of this now. This was what he didn’t want her to see when they discussed his past this morning. This was his biggest fear, and it was hovering around the one person in the world he loved most.
“Get away from my wife, Callen! Stay far away, or I swear to God you’re a dead man!” Ethan Blackhawk’s body vibrated as he stood over his brother, lying on the floor. “I’ll kill you if you get that close to her again. Am I clear?”
Callen Whitefox just nodded and rubbed his jaw, afraid to incite him further.
The only coherent thought Elizabeth was able to put together as she stood there watching her husband, mouth open, was that Gabe was worried about her causing a problem on the reservation. Here her husband just sucker punched the reservation chief of police. Her being out of control was the least of their problems right now.
It looked like her husband’s past wasn’t all they had to worry about now that he just physically assaulted a civilian.
~ Chapter Three ~
If possible, time may have stood still. Ethan Blackhawk saw red, as he saw the man standing over his wife. Then he heard her laughter and just the interaction between them both brought him back almost two decades into his past. When he recognized Callen Whitefox, it made it that much worse. He’d lived this once before, and he wasn’t letting it happen again. The last time it cost him a woman that he didn’t even love, this time he had so much more to lose. This time he had his heart on the line.
“Good to see you too, Ethan,” muttered Whitefox, as he picked himself off the floor and wiped the blood from his lips. “I see your temper hasn’t lost any of its edge, since the last time you punched me in the face.”
“Do you both know each other?” Elizabeth went to her husband and stayed protectively at his side. This wasn’t normal behavior for him. Something had to be very wrong for her husband to actually resort to violence against another human being, especially a police chief from the Reservation. Punching out a civilian could and would get you fired and he knew that.
Once she placed herself at his side, Blackhawk immediately relaxed. Temper slipped away and so did irrational fear. Blackhawk was sure his wife was going to be pissed; he just punched someone in her office. Instead she came to him and stood with him, trusting him, and having his back despite the rationale behind it. It spoke clearly of the loyalty they shared and their bond. The blind trust meant everything to him in that moment.
“You could say that we’re acquainted,” muttered Whitefox. “I should have known there was no way in hell your last name was Blackhawk, unless he was involved somehow.”
“Elizabeth, let me introduce you to my brother. Callen Whitefox is my half-brother, but he’s been dead to me for about two decades.” So much animosity came out in the words.
He couldn’t have surprised her more if he tried. She wanted to be mad that they had just brawled in her office, but Ethan wasn’t a violent man, and if anything he was cool under fire. She was the one with a propensity for violence. “I wasn’t aware you even had a brother,” she said softly, as she ran her hand up and down his back reassuringly. When some of the tension began to drain away, she took his hand in hers. Elizabeth gave him the silent signal that it was going to be okay and that they were in this together.
“Yeah, well I didn’t find it mention-worthy.”
Callen Whitefox didn’t know what to say, but the words definitely stung. Yeah, this was going to be ugly. “I should go, because this definitely won’t work,” he finally said, as his eyes never left his brother’s face. He wasn’t sure if Ethan planned on swinging again.
“Gabe’s my boss, and if he sent you then I have to deal with you. Have a seat, Callen.” Blackhawk wasn’t going to lose his temper again. The moment had passed. In fact, he was starting to feel bad he acted like a teenager again, and that wasn’t something that made him proud. It was his damn past creeping from behind him to haunt his present. All this was over a woman. Granted that woman was his wife, and she was worth the fist fight. The last one they drew blood over wasn’t.
Callen Whitefox took a seat, and didn’t miss how Elizabeth Blackhawk had immediately sided with her husband. She offered him her seat behind her desk, and stood alongside him, almost protectively like a sentinel.
“Chief Whitefox, do you want some ice for your jaw?” she asked, not using his name. Aware that the only reason her husband reacted was because of her proximity to the other man. If possible she was going to keep her distance, so not to hurt her husband and stir the pot anymore.
“If you don’t mind, Director Blackhawk,” he answered, also using her title. “Your husband has a wicked right hook,” he muttered, rubbing his jaw. “It didn’t hurt as much when I was eighteen.”
Elizabeth laid her hand on his shoulder. “Ethan, I’ll be right back.” She rubbed the tense muscle in his neck and then left the room. They were going to have to work this out on their own, if they were going to be working this assignment together. But if the man upset him she wouldn’t mind taking the next shot. It wouldn’t be the first or last time she would knock someone on their ass for her husband.
Blackhawk waited until his wife left the room, and he leaned forward in her desk chair, taking in the man before him. “She’s off limits, Callen. Do I make myself clear? I’ll help you with this assignment, and so will she, but if I even smell inappropriate I’ll kick your ass back to granddad. My wife is just that. Mine, and I don’t share what I own, and I own this relationship!” He held up his ring finger, showing him the band. He made it very possessive and very proprietary, and Blackhawk didn’t care if his wife heard them. There was no doubt on how he would stand on this. Elizabeth wasn’t going to be a piece of ass his brother could chase and play games with behind his back. She was all his and he didn’t care if it made him sound like a Neanderthal caveman.
Sacred Burial Grounds (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 2)) Page 6