Well, that explained it. Harmony went to the man, not the other way around. She didn’t doubt that this was also a way to keep the woman from digging.
“Ethan?”
“Gabe cleared her. He said you could use the help on this one since you can’t use his name.”
“You can’t use whose name?” Harmony asked, looking around like she was missing something. “What the hell is going on? We’re in a locked room, you all look like the cat who swallowed the canary, and DC is waking up. Help a girl out. Who is dead?”
Well, here went nothing. It was clear that Harmony would likely dig into this if she wasn’t allowed on the team. Elizabeth didn’t need that.
Cops were nosy.
Feds?
Yeah, they were a million times worse. They were the keepers of the conspiracy theory.
She pointed at Chris.
“Doc, unveil him, please.”
He unzipped the body bag that was holding the dead man. That zipper was getting a lot of action as of late.
The minute Harmony saw him, she whistled, too, and had the same first impression that they all did.
“Someone really hated his guts. I don’t usually do the death thing, but I can tell someone beat him down for something.”
Yeah, that made this harder, not easier.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“Let me introduce you to our victim, hopefully, the only one, Damian Dean.”
She stared at her and blinked a few times. There was no way she’d heard…
“Pardon? For a second there, I thought you just said that was the President of the United States in that body bag. That can’t be true because that would mean someone got close enough to him and that the Secret Service missed.”
BINGO.
Give the marshal a prize.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying, and we are tasked with finding out who killed him, but we can’t mention that it’s him.”
She stared.
“How the hell does one investigate a dead man’s life if you can’t tell anyone he’s dead? I know the news has not gotten this tidbit yet. I watched the news, and there was NO mention of this on it. My contacts in DC said someone high profile. They didn’t say THAT high profile.”
Well, that was good. They had time to work this then. If the word wasn’t out, they might have a fighting chance, but time was ticking.
“We are going to do this the smart way.”
She listened.
“We have three teams here. We have myself and Callen, we have Alex and Noah, and now we have one with you on it.”
“Okay, and?”
“We are going to start with the wife. Has she been notified of her husband’s demise?” she asked her husband. There was no doubt that if anyone knew, it would be Ethan. He would make it his business to know.
“Yes, and she and her daughter didn’t take it well, at all, as you can expect when you’re told your husband went upstairs to get off without his wife.”
Oh, she could only imagine.
“Well, Callen and I get her. I want to talk to the First Lady and see what she knows. Her husband was brutally, one might say savagely, beaten. That’s a crime of passion. You don’t lose your dick unless you’ve done something to provoke someone. That’s usually a message, isn’t it, Ethan?”
She asked him because he was the profiler.
He may be wearing that expensive suit, but old habits die hard. She knew he was already working on a profile. She could see it in his eyes.
“Yes. It’s going to be sex related—whether the person was having it with him, or the person was pissed he was doing the deed.”
Yeah, she figured as much.
“It’s always the wife,” Harmony stated. “I would have done it, too, had I found out my man was dipping his dick in someone else.”
As would they all. No woman liked being played by her man, but it was time to see if the First Lady would get her hands dirty and do it.
“We’ll take the White House.”
“And us?” Alex asked.
“Ethan, did they supply the names like the vice president said he would?”
He pulled them from his pocket on a piece of paper and handed them to his wife.
Perfect.
So far, so good.
“We have two Secret Service guy’s names. Word on the street is someone was bringing hookers to the White House. Now, we know there were no hookers at the black-tie affair, but we don’t know if someone slipped the president a hookie when no one was looking.”
Callen stopped her.
“A hookie? What the hell is a hookie?” he asked.
“Well, you know how it’s ‘slipped him a mickey’?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Well, this is a hooker, a mickey, and nookie all combined. Keep up, Callen James. I’m embarrassed for my wordsmith.”
He laughed.
“I’m embarrassed you made that word up and successfully used it in a sentence without batting an eye.”
She winked at him.
“I gotta be me. Anyway, Alex and Noah will take one of the Secret Service guys, and you, Harmony, will take the other. You’ll have backup.”
“Who?” she asked.
Elizabeth pointed at Max only because he was the logical choice, and the ONLY choice. Plus, she wanted to see what was going on. Yeah, cops were a curious bunch who liked to dig, and Elizabeth was no different.
Something was up.
“Oh,” Harmony stated.
Yeah, that told her everything she needed to know. The disastrous date had definitely been with Max. They both looked horrified that they were being set up as partners.
Only, she didn’t give a shit. They would have to work through whatever was riling them up.
This was why you didn’t shack up with a fellow cop. In their world, the paths crossed, and fate would likely screw you over by sticking you with someone you had sex with.
ALWAYS.
“Can you handle it?” she asked.
Harmony’s body went stiff, and she didn’t look happy, but she took one for the team.
“Yeah, that’s good for me. I don’t mind working with Max.”
He looked less convinced.
“You’re the boss,” he offered.
Yeah, and with that came the shitfest.
“The biggest issue for me is if I’m seen out, and then the media puts two and ten together and comes up with ninety, this cat,” she said, pointing at the dead president, “will be out of the bag, and we don’t need that. I need everyone to keep this low-key. This is NOT the case to have a shootout during.”
Ethan cleared his throat.
“Nor is any case because I then have to explain it to the media and local law. Let’s just stop having shootouts in general.”
She laughed.
“You heard the sexy man in the spiffy suit. No one randomly shoot up DC.”
“That was directed at you, Tex.”
Oh, she was aware.
“I see you have this under control,” Marcus stated. “I’ll leave Harmony here and get back to work. Ethan, may I speak to you privately?”
While Ethan was being hospitable with Marcus, no one, who knew him, missed that he didn’t look happy.
Yeah, he was still holding a grudge.
“Fine.”
As they headed out, she continued, “We have two main directives in this. Find the person who beat the hell out of the president and keep it so quiet that NO ONE will ever know about it. I can’t reiterate this enough. If the media gets wind of this…?”
Oh, they were well aware.
This would be a nightmare.
“If this gets out, someone, who shall remain nameless,” she said, pointing at herself, “will be forced to be in the media spotlight, and do some jacked up media update where she has to dress up and play nice. I don’t like to play nice.”
They got it.
It would be Armageddon.
“The t
echs are NOT to know the ID of our victim. I’m trusting everyone in this room to keep this silent. If it leaks, it came from my team, and that will not make me happy. Am I clear?”
“Crystal,” they all said at the same time.
They knew her and how she rolled. There would be no room for pissing her off or challenging her on this.
Elizabeth had laid down the law.
“Okay. Chris, you and Doctor Duncan get started on the autopsy. I’m going to take my partner here, and we’re going saddle up and ride.”
She handed Harmony the paper that Ethan had gotten when the body arrived.
“You get first choice,” she stated. “Since you worked as a Secret Service agent, who do you know?”
She read the names.
“I know both, actually.”
“Share,” she stated.
“Clyde Adkins is a good agent, but he was, and will forever be, the president’s lapdog. He would bring the man Uranium he mined with a spoon out of a Chinese prison if so asked by him. He’s a total ass kisser who wanted to move up the ladder.”
Well, that made sense since someone had brought the president a hooker.
“What about the other one?” she asked.
“Melina Bowling is an up and comer. She started right before I left. The woman breathes, eats, and lives protection duty. She was personally assigned to the president.”
The way she said it…
“By whom?”
“The man himself. He would pick certain agents to be near him at all times,” she said.
Yeah, like she’d been.
Harmony continued, “Word on the street is that she caters to all of his needs.”
And there it was.
That said one thing to all of them. The president was doing his own mining…in the agent cave.
“Well, let’s dig into this one, shall we? Who do you want? The ass kisser or the woman on her knees for that douchebag?” she asked, pointing at the body bag.
She stared at Alex and Noah.
“She’ll relate better to two men. She’s not my biggest fan. The president played favorites, plus, I may, or may not, have given her a hard time for taking one, literally, for the team.”
Harmony looked upset, but Elizabeth didn’t have time to focus on that. She had to focus on the dead man.
This would have to work itself out.
“Alex and Noah, you get the floozy Secret Service agent. I want to know what she knows, and if what Harmony says has any validity toward this case. If she was blowing the president, she’s going to be at the top of our list. Maybe he was playing favorites again.”
They got it.
“So,” he stated. “Dust the agent for greasy president fingerprints?”
She laughed.
“Yes, that will work too. You may have an easy one. She may be one of the people who knows the president is dead. See if she’s in mourning from one less dick to play with or see if she’s shocked. Go from there. You know how to do this.”
Oh, they did, and they would get to the bottom of this.
“Ready, partner?” Alex asked Noah.
“Yep.”
Noah and Alex grabbed their coffees and headed out to handle their part of this.
“Harmony, you and Max get the hooker supplier. I want to know names, and if you have to crack skulls…”
She smiled.
“I love working for the FBI,” she stated. “We actually need warrants.”
Oh, so did they, but in this case, she had a feeling they were going to play nice. After all, they were screwed.
Elizabeth explained.
“They don’t want this to get out. I have a feeling they’re going to be a lot more accommodating. The White House wants this kept QUIET. Use that to your advantage.”
Oh, they would.
“Special Agent Chase, let’s go,” she said, icily. “I can get his home address once we’re in the car.”
He followed her out.
Yeah, Elizabeth hoped they worked this out. She couldn’t babysit on this case. She was going to be busy doing her job.
“Team, do you have your directives?” she asked.
“We have it, sweetness. I’ll hold down the fort while you’re abusing a widow.”
She laughed.
“You know me so well,” she stated, heading toward him. Elizabeth pulled a protein bar from her pocket and tucked it into the pocket of his aqua green scrubs. “Don’t forget to hydrate.”
She gave him a kiss on the cheek.
“Be safe. Whoever did this is not afraid to make someone bleed, and I don’t want that someone to be you.”
She patted his cheek.
“Got it.”
Callen dropped his arm over his wife’s shoulders to reassure Chris that he was on duty.
“Come on, Tex. Let’s go back into the lion’s den and poke the remaining kitty cats.”
She laughed.
Well, why the hell not?
This whole case was absurd.
Who tried to solve a murder and never mention the victim’s name?
Only her.
Yeah, why the hell was she not surprised?
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
In his office, Ethan took a seat as Marcus paced. They were both stirred up over the whole situation. It was a hot mess, and now three agencies were being pulled into it.
The FBI.
The Secret Service.
And the US Marshals.
Ethan assumed the man was just as frustrated as they were. How could he not be? This was a bureaucratic mess that would have long-term implications on what people thought of Washington.
“What do you want to talk about?” he asked, dropping his feet onto the corner of the desk. “I’m busy, so I need to get this done.”
Marcus stopped pacing.
“I need a favor.”
Ethan found that outrageously funny.
Seriously?
The man didn’t give him a heads-up, his wife ended up being abused, and now, Marcus wanted him to help him out?
WHAT?
Ethan actually laughed, refusing to hold back.
“Uh, I really don’t think you’re in any position to ask anything from me. Are you nuts?”
“I need you to keep Elizabeth off of the First Lady. Pull her, Ethan.”
He laughed even more.
There seemed to be some misconception there. Ethan couldn’t control Elizabeth. As her boss, he knew she was a wildcard on the best of days. During an investigation?
Yeah, no.
As her husband, he wasn’t putting his relationship in the crosshairs of his wife’s anger if he did try to control his ‘employee’.
Not for this man.
“Please. It’s important.”
“You know I can’t do that as a Fed—let alone one of the top two Feds. When a husband is bludgeoned to death, guess who the number one suspect is, Marcus? THE WIFE. Landry Dean is in the hot seat, and Elizabeth is holding the matches on this one. I can’t, and won’t, call her off.”
“I’m having an affair.”
Ethan was surprised, but he didn’t know why Marcus was telling him.
“Uh, your wife will kill you, but I’m not your priest. There’s no need to confess your sins to me.”
“I’m aware,” he stated.
“Why do you want my wife to lay off of…?”
And then he got it.
Ethan actually stood and leaned over his desk.
“Oh, Jesus H. Christ, Marcus! You are sleeping with the FIRST LADY?” he asked. “How the hell? No, why the hell would you risk your marriage and career? Had Damian found out, he would have ended both, and you know it!”
Marcus was aware.
“Landry and I go way back. We’ve been friends for years. While the president was out of town, I would stop in to see how she was doing. We began a hot and heavy affair, and I can’t stop it. I’m balls deep in this.”
Ethan couldn’
t fathom this.
Any of it.
As someone who didn’t believe in cheating, and as someone who was Marcus’s friend, this was…horrifying.
“You’re screwed. It’s coming out, Marcus. If I were you, I’d start preparing for it.”
That said it all.
Ethan was not wading into this mess. He could keep his dick in check, but clearly, Marcus couldn’t. Boning another woman while you were married was shitty. Sticking your dick in the president’s wife? Even if he wasn’t…
It was a VERY bad idea.
While the president may cheat, he was going to take his wife’s infidelity as a shot right to his ego. He would have made them all pay.
“I need you to pull Elizabeth off of her. I’m asking as one man to another man. Help a brother out.”
Oh, he could pull the boy’s club card all he wanted. They may both be men, have dicks, and high sex drives, but Ethan didn’t cross that line. He wasn’t stupid or tempted.
Ever.
“Marcus, I’m not going to do that. You are going to have to handle the outcome since you made the choice to do the deed. If I wade into this, I’m implicated. I can’t. With the FBI handling this, we have to do it to the letter of the law. I can’t play this game. It will make Elizabeth’s job harder. If it gets out that I helped cover it up for you, she’ll be the one who takes it in media. I won’t do that to her.”
“We were discrete. She wasn’t in love with Damian. He was a sadistic bastard, and…”
Ethan stopped him.
“I can’t tell my wife, who is in charge of this, that she needs to back off of the First Lady. First, she’s been doing this almost twenty years, Marcus. She’s going to know something is up the minute she talks to her. Then she’s going to dig and dig. That’s what she does.”
“I didn’t kill him.”
He laughed.
Well, that sucked.
“That you thought to add that freaks me out. The guilty ALWAYS say that. Nine times out of ten, the person is lying their ass off. You, my friend, are screwed. Get your shit in order. Judgment day is coming, and the reaper is wearing cowboy boots.”
“I was at that party, and I was upstairs. I was with her. We were in the middle of…”
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