All the King's Henchmen

by Morgan Kelley

  This made it tricky for him. While he liked Dalia, he didn’t feel that kind of attraction toward her. He was attracted to another woman.

  Elizabeth.

  “Are you asking me out as in you and me alone?” he asked for clarification, “Or is this a group happy hour thing? I’ve had this come up before,” he stated, thinking back to that little disaster. “I’ve been known to misunderstand intent.”

  She smiled.

  “Well, since you brought it up, how about a date? I could use someone to show me around town.”

  Yeah, that was sweet, and he was flattered, but no.

  “Well, I’m going to have to decline your offer, Doctor, but I really do appreciate it.”

  “Oh, okay. I assumed you were available,” she stated. “There’s a lot of rumors and I didn’t think you were…”

  Were what?

  She had no clue. He’d been married, widowed, dating, but wearing a ring. She had to take a chance.

  Right?

  He laughed.

  “Well, I’m going to say no for a few reasons—rumors aside. First, is I’m sixteen years older than you, and if your mother was a bad teenager, I could be your father.”

  She laughed.

  “She wasn’t, so that kills that one. Next?” she asked.

  “Secondly, I have a small child, and the woman who is her mother would be horrified.”

  She didn’t get it.

  “Who’s her mother?” she asked. The dead woman?

  “Elizabeth,” Christina stated, cluing the woman in. She smiled while saying it.

  She loved this game. It was like a mystery in a mystery for anyone who didn’t know that Chris was a widower, Bethe had, basically, been adopted as Elizabeth’s own, and that the man was crazy about all things Blackhawk.

  “Oh.”

  “Yes, and lastly, I’m in a relationship with her. That’s why it would be a bad idea.”

  She was all kinds of confused.

  “Yeah, with Elizabeth? I saw the news. It said you were having some kinky thing. I took it as rumor since you are the king of straight-laced—and wearing a wedding ring.”

  He wasn’t the least bit uncomfortable with the discussion. What started as a way to hide gave him nothing but intense joy. He was part of their coupledom, and he loved it.

  “Yep. I am, and the ring is from her. She wears mine.”

  “Wow.”

  “Horrified?” he asked, as Christina giggled.

  “Nah, my ‘could have been’ father is a wild man. I’m good with that.”

  He laughed.

  “You’ll be fine on this team, Dalia,” he stated. “You’re a little short of a full load. Wait until you get to work with my tag team partner, Doctor Magnus. He’s going to make you insane and curious all at the same time.”

  “Is he cool? I’m good with working hard, but I hate when I can’t at least laugh.”

  Chris found that amusing.

  “Well, Tony is a special kind of crazy. He’s our anthropologist, and as a heads-up, he likes to eat bugs.”

  She stared at him.

  “We just went from kinky to creepy. The FBI has it all. This job is awesome!”

  He laughed.

  “Yep. Welcome to our happy world,” he said, smiling. “Oh, and thanks for asking me out. It was sweet of you.”

  She smiled.

  “If you know any eligible bachelors…can you point me at them?” she asked. “Being new here, this whole thing…MEs creep people out.”

  He laughed.

  Oh, been there and done that—until that special person accepted him, and he was with her.

  For the rest of his life.

  “Yeah, we do, and if I find a nice boy looking for a doctor, I’ll let you know.”

  She snorted.

  “How motherly of you. Will this be a nice Jewish boy?” she teased.

  He found that amusing.

  “You’re the doctor. I don’t think that applies to this one, but who am I to question it?”

  She smiled.

  “Really, if I meet anyone, you’ll be the first to know.”

  “Yeah, thanks,” she said, pulling the woman’s face down from her skull.

  The second she did, it had Chris’s attention.

  He nearly knocked over his tray of tools to get closer to the dead woman’s skull.

  “Wait!”

  She stopped.

  “What did I do?” she asked, her hands freezing in place so she didn’t do anything else to destroy the body.

  “You didn’t do anything wrong. I see something!”

  Oh, she had done something absolutely right.

  This was great!

  Chris was focused on the woman’s skull. They needed to get a comparison photo of Damian Dean’s cranium so he could check this out. This might be exactly what Elizabeth had told him to find.

  Perfect.

  “Christina, pull up the other victim’s skull scans. My hands are covered in goo.”

  She sent it to the screen since he was wrist deep in bile and taking liver samples.

  “There you go, Doc.”

  He looked at the man’s scan, and then looked at the dead hooker. Finally, he double-checked his findings.

  Yeah, he’d been right.

  Without saying another word to her, Chris pulled off his gloves and picked up his phone. He needed to make a call. He’d found something big, and Elizabeth was going to want it.

  ASAP!

  “Yo, Newton, what’s shaking?” she asked, answering on the second ring. “Did you miss me?” she asked, waiting for him say the same back.

  Only he didn’t. That made her concerned. She could hear him moving around and trays banging against metal.

  “Christopher? Are you there? Are you okay?” she asked again.

  Finally, he answered.

  “I need to see you!”

  “Uh, are you sick? Tired? Need something?”

  “No, on all three counts. I need to see you to show you something I’ve found. It’s huge.”

  Honestly, she wasn’t surprised. She could count on one hand the times Chris hadn’t found something to help her on a case. The man was just damn good at his job.

  “I’m heading in for an interview. I can be there in a little while. Can it wait?”

  “Yeah, it can, but I’m so excited that I found one of those things you love so much. I found an aberration!” he gleefully shouted. “You need to see it. I’ll be in the lounge. Find me.”

  Oh, she would, and Elizabeth knew why he was so excited. Lately, he’d been feeling like he was losing his edge. This proved the exact opposite.

  Chris Leonard was on his game.

  “I’ll see you in a few.”

  He hung up.

  “Chrissy, can we print out those scans? I know she said everything was to be kept offline but I need them. I’ll let her beat me for it later.”

  “On it, Doctor Kinky,” she teased, making the sound of a cracking whip and then some bum chicka sounds to make him laugh.

  Clearly, she was going to bust his ass, and that was more than okay with him.

  He snorted.

  Christina sent them to the special printer.

  “Wow! Director Blackhawk makes you a lot less straight-laced,” Dalia teased, sensing that they were pretty cool with stuff like that.

  He grinned.

  “You have no idea.”

  Christina laughed, but part of the Girlfriend Code meant watching her friend’s man when other women were staring at them like they were sexy.

  And Chris…?

  Oh, he was definitely Elizabeth’s.

  “Oh, Doctor?” Christina asked, glancing over at their new ME.

  “Yes?”

  “From one woman to another…love yourself. She dusts her sexy ME for fingerprints every night before bed. The last ME who copped a feel nearly died. Don’t risk it.”

  Dalia laughed since it had to be a joke. Only, she didn’t think they were joking.
Neither of them was laughing with her.

  “Really?” she asked.

  “If she finds your fingerprints on him, she’ll make you cry.”

  “Uh, you’re kidding, right?

  Chrissy shook her head, all the while Christopher Leonard smiled.

  It felt good to be taken—once again.

  Chapter Twelve

  The Hoover Building

  Washington DC

  Interview One

  Wednesday Noon

  W hen they exited their ride, parked in front of the Hoover Building, it was a bitch to even get to the front access of the FBI. There were freaking reporters everywhere, and of course, they were talking about her sexy husband.

  Not the one beside her—but the one who had a fellow piranha brought in for questioning. It was crystal clear that Ethan had a little fun of his own.

  “Will there be a cover-up?” someone shouted, trying to get her to talk about it.

  As always, she ignored them.

  “Are you really working the case of who killed the president?” someone else asked. “Are you trying to find his killer, Director?”

  Oh, she knew better than to even make eye contact with them. They would make things up to sell their sordid tales.

  “No comment,” she stated.

  “Are you having sex with three men every day?” she was asked, and it didn’t surprise her. If they couldn’t get details about her job, they would always go for the part that was none of their freaking business.

  Only, if that kept them off her ass, what did it matter?

  “If I’m lucky,” she stated, which only made them that much more brazen with questions. Fortunately for her, Saint and Ivan had cleared the way and gotten them inside.

  Once there, Callen was amused.

  “You know they have really kinky pictures in their heads,” he teased, “any mention of those pictures will likely make them go searching for something. Thank God I have my phone safe.”

  She snorted.

  Yeah, she wasn’t going there.

  As she got through security, Ethan was on the other side, waiting for her. Going to him, she gave him a kiss.

  There was a plethora of flashes and shouts from the windows surrounding the building. The media was there too.

  Shit!

  Without hesitating, she flipped off the reporters through the windows as they pointed their cameras at them.

  “Assholes,” she muttered.

  “Uh, you should be in a better mood,” Ethan stated. “You have a reporter to browbeat, and you didn’t have to see the vice president, who, by the way, is now officially the man in charge. He’s sworn in.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Yippee. Let’s send him one of those fruit bouquets to commemorate his monumental day. He was promoted because someone died. Whoopie. He’s my hero.”

  Ethan laughed.

  “She’s a might bitchy today,” Callen warned. “Watch your fingers if she snarls.”

  She elbowed him.

  “Body armor,” he said, grinning when it didn’t even hurt.

  “I owe you one.”

  Ethan touched her cheek. If she was scowling at Callen, too, she wasn’t in a good mood.

  “Rough one?”

  “No worse than usual,” she admitted. “They just have me pissed off from the start. You know how I love being called incompetent before seven in the morning.”

  He dropped his arm over her shoulder and tucked his wife against his body. There were more pictures, and he ignored them. Let them make up their shitty stories. His wife needed him.

  “Want to kick a reporter around for shits and giggles?” Blackhawk asked. “It’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

  Oh, she was aware.

  “Yeah, what did you find out?” she asked, as they got into the secured private elevator to talk.

  “She was willing to do the deal,” he stated, telling her everything that had gone down. “You just have to break her.”

  She cracked her knuckles and rolled her neck.

  “I love when she’s going to get all hardcore,” Callen stated. “It turns me right on,” he said, slapping her on the ass.

  “Callen James!” she said, knowing the men were trying their best to calm her down. Honestly, she was fine. It was just another day in paradise.

  “I can’t help it. Last night was hot,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

  Her face softened. For a brief moment, gone were the tension lines on her forehead. It had worked.

  “Yeah, it was pretty awesome,” she stated. “I’m a lucky girl,” she admitted.

  No, they were the lucky ones.

  “Maybe we can revisit it again,” Ethan stated, teasing her ear with his warm breath.

  Elizabeth’s body reacted.

  How could it not?

  Look at the hotness that was her life.

  In that elevator, alone with her husbands, she let herself be Elizabeth the wife—just for a few moments. Even she needed a break once in a while.

  This was how she chose to spend it.

  “We can definitely revisit it,” she purred, as she placed her hands on both of their chests.

  They reacted.

  Callen’s body went taut and Ethan moved a little closer. Slowly, to show them that beneath the badge and gun, she was still thinking about them, she ran her fingers lower. When she hit their belts, there was that audible inhaling of breath, right before she touched them both.

  One through his dress pants.

  The other through his jeans.

  Both men went hard. Yeah, despite the chaos, her life was pretty damn good.

  They crowded her.

  Only, their luck was about to end. They hit their floor, and she turned it off. As the doors slid open, Elizabeth moseyed herself out of that confined space.

  “Later,” Ethan muttered, as their wife walked out, seemingly unfazed by the heat index in the elevator.

  Callen followed and was checking out her ass.

  “I love my life,” he said, grinning like an idiot.

  Yeah, Ethan did too. Despite it all, they were lucky. They all had their health and each other.

  Elizabeth turned and walked backward.

  “Is she in Interview One?” she asked, but then didn’t need them to answer. It was crystal clear where they’d shoved the reporter.

  There was someone frantically banging on the door.

  Yeah, someone was not amused to be held at the Hoover Building.

  It was showtime.

  Heading toward it, she pointed at Callen and Ethan. “You two watch. I know you like to watch,” she said softer, still in the mood to torment the men in her life.

  Callen licked his lips.

  God!

  Yes, he did.

  Elizabeth was amused. Callen was flushed red, and Ethan had tugged open his tie to get some air.

  “Cover me, I want to rough up the reporter on my own. She’ll talk for me. You two are too sexy for my own good.”

  That made Ethan laugh.

  “That wasn’t a compliment.”

  Oh, she was aware.

  Elizabeth was ready.

  She hit the door lock and headed into the room. The reporter hadn’t expected her and actually stumbled back.

  “Howdy,” she stated.

  The woman lost it. She recovered from her surprise and went into a tirade.

  “HOW DARE YOU?” she raged.

  It looked like Suri Collins was NOT amused to be pulled into her investigation.

  Go figure.

  Then maybe, just maybe, she shouldn’t have leaked a nightmare story. Of course there would be ramifications. Of course she would be sucked into the muck.

  This wasn’t Suri’s first day in DC.

  “How dare I what?” Elizabeth asked, pulling off her blazer in the cool room. When she dropped it over the back of the chair, the woman continued on.

  “You can’t hold me here! I have rights! This is false imprisonment!”r />
  Yeah, yeah, yeah, she’d heard that song a million times, and it was bullshit. This woman stirred the pot. Now she had to sit and take it like a woman.

  Elizabeth pointed at the chair.

  “Have a seat.”

  She ignored her.

  “My lawyer is going to eat you alive when I’m out of here. I’m going to own the FBI.”

  Elizabeth wasn’t fazed. If she had a dollar for every person who ever said that to her…she’d be Jackson James wealthy.

  “Have a seat, Ms. Collins.”

  “Fuck you!”

  Elizabeth sighed.

  “Okay, if that’s the route you want to take, then that’s how we’ll play it.”

  She grabbed the woman by the arm, pulled out the chair, and shoved her into it—forcefully.

  Suri looked shocked.

  “Here's the deal, blondie. I’m not in the mood. You tell me where you got the information that was released, and you walk. You make me work for it, and you are going up for obstruction of justice. I’m sure it will be an ugly time in prison when they make you someone’s sweet piece of ass.”

  She closed her mouth.

  “Okay. Fine. I can hold you twenty-four hours. You get to sit here until tomorrow at noon.”

  “I didn’t do anything! The freedom of press…”

  Elizabeth stopped her.

  “We aren’t telling you to retract your story, Ms. Collins. We are asking you where you got that information. Period. You can publish whatever you want, but we get to ask where it came from if it’s a matter of national security.”

  She went with that. Elizabeth didn’t want to give too much away. There was no doubt that this woman now had her clarification from them that the president was, indeed, dead. There was no way a Fed would drag a reporter in for posting a bogus story.

  The jig was up.

  “If you share with me, I’ll share with you,” she said, trying to get more out of her.

  Elizabeth wasn’t born yesterday. She’d tangled with far more vicious reporters in her life.

  “We can work together.”

  She actually laughed and rolled her eyes as she sat in the chair opposite her. That was total bullshit.

  Elizabeth leaned back and dropped her booted heels on the table as she got comfortable. This was going to take some time.

  “Nice boots. Are you going to a rodeo?” she asked sarcastically.

  “Yeah, I’m about to lasso a pain in the ass mule.”