“Are you going to burn it down?” he asked. “Are you going to do what everyone thinks you’re going to do?” Callen asked, while his brother waited for her to answer.
She didn’t know.
It was a tossup.
“I haven’t decided how to handle it. I’ll wait until the last minute when I have all of the evidence and no other choice, I guess.”
“We have your back.”
She was glad.
For now, she had other priorities. She was thinking about the dead women, and the ones the president raped.
They had to be her focus.
They needed justice.
The dead man?
It was funny.
For the first time in her career, she didn’t give a shit if he got justice, and that was an issue. It blurred the lines of her job, and it made it confusing.
Her duty was to the dead.
And for all she cared, Damian Dean could burn in Hell, and she hoped he was.
He deserved it.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Nine P.M
Wednesday Night
Harmony’s Home
Together, they were working at her dining room table. Between them, they were tasked with running the people on Elizabeth’s list. They’d started with the hookers.
Maybe they connected somehow.
Only, they’d struck out.
“Elizabeth is not going to be happy. None of the women on this list are popping.”
He was aware.
For the last hour, they’d come up with nothing.
“Lala Landers is from Jersey, she’s an only child, and both parents are deceased.”
She crossed her off the list.
“Well, I had Wilma Morton, and she’s not pulling anything either. She looks to be a hooker and that’s it. Why is she making us run everyone?”
Yes, Harmony researched daily, but it was to find a person. It was vastly different than trying to find a killer. This was…harder. She preferred going through doors after someone on the run.
It was an adrenaline high.
It got her off.
Much like this man.
“I haven’t worked with her long,” Max said, “but she’s a stickler for the details. She wants everything eliminated—no matter how crazy the stretch to connect it.”
She got that.
She really did.
“Who else do we have?”
“I’m working on Melina Bowling. She’s the agent who willingly mounted the president in his limo.”
She didn’t say anything.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?” he asked out of the blue.
“Yeah, it is. He took my power away. For the longest time, I looked at men like they were the enemy. I wouldn’t let them close.”
“And now?”
She stared at him.
“Well, clearly, I’ve let you close. You have a hickey on your neck, and it’s one of my finest ones.”
He laughed.
“What’s after this?” he asked.
“Bed?”
“No, I meant for us.”
“Yeah, bed.”
“Harmony.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I fell for some guy, and then he dropped the ball. I’m afraid.”
“I get it. You have every right to be afraid. Do you want me to back off?” Max asked, trying not to feel like he’d lost something so amazing.
“If I said yes?”
“I would keep hounding you with baked goods and sex until you saw that I’m not like them. I’m Max, and I deserve a chance. I deserve it because I won’t drop you.”
“Oh, Maximus,” she said when he placed his hand over hers on the table.
“I promise, Harmony. Give me that chance. Please. Have faith in me.”
She was about to say more when someone rang her doorbell. She glanced at her watch.
“Who could that be?” she asked.
Harmony picked up her gun and slid it into the back of her sweatpants.
“I’ll go,” Max offered.
“No, it’s likely a neighbor. I have an older man next door. He’s always deprogramming his remote. It’s probably him.”
She headed for the door, and he couldn’t help but follow so he could keep an eye on her.
When she got to the door and she saw him, she couldn’t be more surprised.
It was Scott.
She opened the door, and he stood there.
“Yeah?”
“Can we talk?” he asked. “I wanted to see you and talk to you.”
“Yeah, we can talk,” she said, hoping he had something to add to the case. “Shoot.”
“Can I come in?” Scott asked.
Yeah, well, this was awkward.
“I’m not alone, Scott. I have someone here,” she stated. “I don’t think…”
Max came around the corner and stood behind her. He protectively placed his hand on her back, like he had that day they’d gone into the crack den to pull out a suspect for Elizabeth.
“Oh,” Scott stated. “It’s him.”
Yeah, she was aware.
“What do you need?”
He paused for a moment and then opted to just go for it. What did he have to lose?
“I want you back.”
Well, shit!
Max didn’t like the sound of that. In fact, this was his worry. They were just beginning something.
Now this.
His life really sucked.
“What?” she asked.
“I think you heard me, Harmony. I said I came here because I want you back.”
Max held his breath.
“Scott.”
“We had something good, Harmony. We were living together, we were laughing, and we could have made a future. I made a mistake,” he said in front of Max. “I was going to propose, and I know what I felt for you.”
Max knew he couldn’t force her.
This had to be about Harmony. His fate was in her hands, and he had to believe.
“I want you back in my life. You were the one. I let that go, and I selfishly held this grudge. I saw you today, and I realized that you completed me. We have a lot in common.”
Harmony stood there and had this man come back before this case, before her date with Max, she would have jumped to have him back.
She’d been lonely, she’d been sad, and she’d been missing something.
Only, she’d moved on.
“Scott, I loved you then. You are a good guy, but I can’t. I can’t reopen that door.”
“Because of the rape?” he asked angrily. “Is that it? Are we back there?”
She stared at him as he snapped at her.
Yeah, Harmony was glad to be off that ride.
“No, because I’ve fallen for someone else, and that wouldn’t be fair to you. I’m crazy about Max. We have something good, and it’s too late.”
Max’s heart thumped.
Jesus!
He could feel the weight lifting from his chest, and he was able to breathe again. Moving into her body, he wrapped his arm around her, and she placed her fingers on his forearm.
That touch healed.
Would it work?
She didn’t know.
But she wanted to find out.
“You’re a good cop, a smart man, and you deserve happiness. I let that part of my life go, Scott. I let that anger go. I had to move on. You haven’t let it go. It’s trapped you there, and it’s eating away at you. By going back to that moment, it would just eat away at us. We wouldn’t make it.”
He stared at the man.
“I see. You’ve really moved on.”
Well, it was six years later.
Did he expect her to pine away for him when he’d been the one who made the decision to walk?
“I came home one day, and you moved out. You didn’t want to fight for me, Scott. You made that choice. Now I have to make mine. I want to be happy, and I found a wa
y. I’m sorry.”
He heard her.
She wanted him to fight.
“Harmony.”
“I’m sorry. Thank you for those moments, Scott. I won’t forget them, but it’s never going to be the same for us. I’m happy.”
And she was.
Max made her happy.
“I see.”
He turned.
She watched him go. When he left the porch, Harmony closed the door.
“I’m sorry about that,” she said, as he lifted her chin to stare into his eyes.
She was embarrassed.
They hadn’t known each other long.
“Did you mean it?” he asked. “Did you mean what you said to him?”
“Yes. I’ve fallen for you. Please keep your word, Max. Please don’t drop me. I’m putting what’s left of my heart and soul in your hands. I’m trusting you.”
He pulled her into his body.
“Oh, Harmony, I’ll never let you fall. I promise. I swear to God that I’ll keep you safe.”
He kissed her.
Her arms went around his waist, and she fell into the mating of mouths. When he pulled away, he stared down at her.
“I’ve fallen for you too.”
She rested her head on his shoulder.
“I was wondering…,” he began, crossing his fingers behind his back.
“Yes?”
“Need a roommate?”
She looked up at him.
“Wow. That’s fast.”
He laughed.
“Yeah, well, my Mom had one regret in life. She let my Dad go, and she told me if you saw something you wanted, go for it. I want you.”
He could see she was worried.
“While he moved out, I can pretty much guarantee you’d have to have me evicted once I move in. I don’t take up much space.”
She laughed.
“I disagree. You take up lots of space.”
He waited.
Finally, she caved.
“Okay, we can get a bigger bed.”
He smiled.
“I have a dog.”
“WHAT?” she asked.
“He’s at my mother’s house in Boston. How do you feel about dogs?”
She laughed.
“Oh, Max.”
He smiled at her, and any doubts fell away. Harmony was willing to take a chance on this guy. He was handsome, sexy, and sweet.
“Your dog can come too.”
“I have an idea.”
She lifted a brow.
“Yes?”
“Let’s go to bed. I need you, Harmony.”
That touched her. It felt good to know that she wasn’t alone, and she was safe.
With Max, she’d always be safe.
She could tell.
“I think I can help you out.”
He grinned.
It charmed her.
“Let’s lock up.”
He turned off lights and followed her around. He’d never leave her. Max knew that truth. He didn’t just fall for her. On that day, when she threw her body over his to take those bullets, he’d fallen hard.
Max was in love.
Now, he was going to make her see that he was a good choice beyond boyfriend or roommate.
He wanted that unit.
He wanted that family.
He wanted Harmony.
Forever.
She was worth the wait.
Outside, Scott watched them shut off the lights and lock the doors. In that moment, he hated him, and he wasn’t too fond of her either. He had swallowed his pride and showed up at her place. He’d told her what he wanted, and she basically told him to pound sand.
Oh, Scott was pissed.
It took everything to head there and share what was in his heart, and she didn’t get it.
She didn’t understand.
Well, Harmony would.
Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but there would be a time where she would be sorry that she turned him down.
He was back.
And he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
Never again.
She was his.
And he was going to have her.
One way or another.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Fort Whitefox-Blackhawk
Eleven P.M.
He was beat.
No, he was bone tired.
Chris couldn’t do what he used to be able to do, and he knew it had everything to do with the meds that were keeping him alive.
It was something he would have to adjust to in his life. He was going to have to live with it.
There was nothing he could do about it and getting upset wouldn’t help.
This was his new norm.
If they kept him going, he’d suck it up.
So, as he arrived home, Ivan following him in, he grabbed something quick to eat, popped another med, and headed upstairs.
At his old room, he contemplated the bed.
It was big, roomy, and empty.
Then he thought about their bed.
It was crowded, filled with hair that he’d get tangled in, and loud with snoring men.
It was what he wanted.
Changing and showering, Chris washed away the death and pulled on his pajamas. He headed toward Bethe’s room, and couldn’t find her.
Going across the hall into Charlie’s room, he found her sleeping with her ‘sister’.
They were cuddled up, Bethe sucking her thumb, Charlie holding her other hand.
His heart skipped.
God!
His biggest regret, other than cheating on Elizabeth, was that he’d never have more kids.
He loved them.
They were sweet.
Tucking them in, he kissed his little blonde moppet, and then gave Charlie one too. She looked more and more like Elizabeth. She had the black glossy curls, but the sharper Native features of Ethan.
In his heart, he loved this little girl as his own. She’d bonded with his child, and she was, like her mother, a good person.
Quietly, he walked out of the room, closing the door.
Heading toward their room, he opened the door and walked in. Callen lifted his head, checking out who had entered their space. With all of their kids, it happened a lot.
“Bed?” he asked.
“God, yes,” he whispered. “I’m exhausted.”
Callen rolled to his side, making room for him.
Chris crawled into the bed, sliding beneath the blankets to his spot beside Elizabeth. Immediately, she pulled him closer, Ethan readjusted, and Callen spooned him.
There he was.
Protected.
Surrounded.
And at peace.
Their scents mingled, and their feet touched at the bottom of the bed. It was comforting, and when she took his hand, much like Charlie had with Bethe, there was that sigh of peace.
Yeah, he was home.
Here.
In this moment.
Christopher Leonard had found his peace.
And he was going to fight to hold onto it.
No matter what.
He found his love.
And it was them.
Chapter Seventeen
Thursday Morning
Office
T hat morning, she stood in her closet staring at the sea of clothing to choose from for the day. She didn’t know what she should wear to the press conference that would convey the message she needed to get across. This was some serious shit, and she didn’t want them focused on her clothes.
That meant the jeans and boots were out. They were her comfort zone, and she was going to be out of it today.
The world would be watching the second she opened her mouth. That wasn’t a dramatization either. The world was waiting to see what she’d say about the President’s murder—and what she was going to do about it.
They’d study her.
They’d want to know
how she was faring as she tried to solve it.
Was she winning?
There was no doubt in her mind that this case was the turning point in her life. Fifteen years ago, she never would have seen this high-profile case coming.
Elizabeth would never have thought she would be balanced on the knife edge of being the biggest failure or biggest success.
But here it was.
That morning, the terror manifested in her choice of clothing. She was scared. It wasn’t like her, and she, simply, couldn’t shake it.
When Ethan had come in, still slick from his shower, he did two things.
He took her in some sweaty romp against the wall of their closet, making her focus on him, and not the what if’s, and then he dressed her.
He picked out her shirt.
He picked out the skirt.
He even picked out her tailored jacket.
It didn’t stop there.
He’d picked out hosiery, and he even selected the heels that he thought would make the most impact.
She let him.
By God, she let him play Barbie dress up because, in that moment, she couldn't do it. Her mind was empty, her gut was raw, and she was scared like the first press conference she’d ever done.
He’d catered to her needs, and then he’d dressed her in her armor to take on the media.
She was impeccable.
She was dressed like someone on the cusp of taking on the world because she was.
Flash forward an hour and the stress was still there. At work, she was pacing.
In her office, behind that frosted glass door that held her division name, she was wearing a path in the flooring.
“Baby, it’s okay,” Ethan stated.
Callen was there to reassure her too.
“You have this.”
“I don’t know what to say or do. Your job is riding on this, Ethan, and so is mine and Callen’s. The pressure is incredible,” she admitted because with these two men, she could be scared.
They were strong, and they would help her hold up. They would keep her on track. What she’s learned over the last few weeks was there was nothing they wouldn't do for her, and she was a better person for it.
“I can’t fuck this up.”
They got it.
All the King's Henchmen Page 60