He shook his head in amusement.
“Well, don’t fight too hard.”
“Want a sip?” she offered.
Yes, yes, he did, but there was still that fear.
“I’m good, Newton,” she offered, knowing he was thinking about getting her sick. “Really.”
Chris knew he had to stop freaking out about it, but it was so damn hard.
“I’d love some,” he said, letting go of that fear and putting his trust in the people he loved. If he forgot, they’d be his safety net, and catch him.
She shared her coffee with him, and there was so much love and adoration in his eyes.
“Thank you for not treating me like a leper,” he whispered to his best friend and the woman he’d always love.
She ran her hand up and down his arm.
“Ethan, why do you look pissy?” she asked, as he hung up his phone.
“The city ME is not willing to play hardball with us. Apparently, the commissioner told him we could have THIS victim. We can’t have the other one. He won’t pass her off until he sees proof.”
She looked at her watch.
“I can go,” Chris offered. “I’ll be done with Mary in about an hour.”
Yeah, no.
Chris’s days of being run into the ground were over. Part of protecting him was making sure he was rested and calm. She would play with the city ME.
Chris got a pass on this train ride to insanity.
“No, you stay. I’m going to go pick up a body,” she stated.
Callen knew that was going to be bad. His wife didn’t play nice with others.
EVER.
“I’ll ride shotgun,” he said, hoping to be the voice of reason when they arrived there. That, or he’d have to pull her off the man, so she didn’t go to jail.
It was debatable.
Chris headed to his work table where he kept all of his paperwork. He pulled off his gloves, and from a file, he removed a form, filled it out, and then carried it to her.
“I only expect one body coming. Don’t kill anyone,” he said.
She snorted.
“I think I know that. Besides, hiding them all over DC is so much more fun. I like making a game out of it,” she teased.
“Said every serial killer ever,” he offered back.
She gave him a kiss.
“Get me answers, Newton. We have catch-up to play with this one.” She focused on her team. “Keep digging, find anything and everything you can on Mary Waver, and, Callen, let’s roll. Mr. Deputy Director, are you joining us for this little trip?”
He stared at his watch to see how much time he had. There was no way he could bump meetings for the day.
“I can join you for this fun fest, but I can’t head to the post office with you later. I have a meeting at nine.”
She was good with that.
At least she could spend some time with him. Elizabeth wanted him around as much as she could. While she loved teaming up with Callen, Ethan was her profiler.
“Chrissy, give me two techs for transport. I’m going to procure a body and see why the man is holding it up.”
Christina could do that. Immediately, she pointed at two techs, and they looked excited to be going.
Of course they were.
There was going to likely be a show.
There always was.
The two techs dropped what they were doing and headed toward the doors that led to the intake bay.
“Alex and Noah, again, keep doing your research. You have one face. Find me who it is. Max, I want to know what’s on that security camera by the time I get back. Callen should have given it to you by now.”
“He did.”
Well, then it was all on her research team.
“I suggest coffee, light fingers, and a go get ‘em attitude. You’re going to be busy.”
He began working.
“Okay, Team. Let’s go make an ME cry.”
As soon as they were gone, Alex leaned over to whisper to him. He’d been dying of curiosity all-night long, and he couldn’t contain himself any longer.
“Hey!”
Max looked up.
“Yeah?”
“What was it like at their house? I’ve never been near it, but I’ve driven by it. Share the details.”
Max looked around to make sure no one was listening or noticing them gossiping.
“Leave nothing out.”
“It was chaos. I think she hates my guts, or this is some kind of hazing. Her dogs tried to eat my shoes and her kids…they told me they were going to scalp me.”
Noah laughed.
Yeah, that sounded about right. He’d heard rumors about their home, and that was exactly what he thought would happen. Elizabeth was a hellion.
Why wouldn’t her kids be too?
“Lucky you,” he said.
Max shook his head.
This was luck?
Christ!
“Welcome to the team,” Noah stated, overhearing the two men talk.
Max was confused.
“What does that mean?”
“She likes you if she’s let you near her kids, and she’s likely trying to see what you’re made of before she gets attached.”
He still didn’t get it.
“Attached?” he asked, but neither man said anything more as the ME headed their way.
“Issue, gentlemen?” Chris asked, suspecting they were talking about Elizabeth.
“No, sir, we were just...”
Alex kicked Max under the table and gave him a look. Max got it.
He shut up.
“Back to work,” Chris stated. “You don’t want to piss off Elizabeth.”
No, no, they did not.
In silence, they did their searches.
To save their lives…
In their ride, Ivan drove, and beside him sat the new guy. Both were happy and smiling.
Well, she had to stop that.
“Who are you?” she asked the man beside her security guy.
“I’m Wilcox.”
She stared at him as he began humming something that sounded church-y and familiar.
What the hell was this jackassery?
Was someone screwing with her?
“You know all about me, right?” she asked.
“Yeah, I heard you’re the sweetest woman on the whole planet, and that you will give me cookies.”
She was going to slap Heath when she saw him. Spreading that kind of bullshit was detrimental to her street cred.
“You’ve been lied to.”
Wilcox laughed.
“I doubt that. When my boss asked me if I wanted this job, he showed me your file. You’re just misunderstood. Jesus loves you.”
Ivan started laughing his ass off the second it was out of the man’s mouth.
She was confused.
Was this guy serious?
Was this a prank?
“I’m not giving you fucking cookies,” she stated, unsure where to even take this.
Wilcox pulled a jar from beneath his seat.
“You have to put a dollar in the swear jar,” he stated, holding it out for her.
“What is this bullshit, Ethan?” she asked.
“Two dollars.”
Her eyes were huge, and Ivan was nearly pissing himself over all of this.
“I don’t like profanity. I read in your file that you’re above average intelligence, and I know you can use your words better. A smart person can talk without cursing.”
Now Callen was laughing.
The men were clearly amused.
Elizabeth was not.
“Oh, Jesus, someone hates me. Why can’t I get a normal security team?” she asked.
“You should pray about it.”
She stared at Ethan.
“Don’t look at me. Rory quit. Callen gets Wilcox.”
“No,” she said. “No, that is bullshit, and you can’t expect me to sit here and let Pastor Money Jar ride with
me. That will get him killed and me thrown in jail.”
“Three dollars.”
“Ethan! Stop him!”
Callen was laughing so hard tears were streaming down his face. There was going to be hell to pay, but this…this was some funny shit.
“Elizabeth, he’s ours for now. If it doesn’t work out, then I can request someone new, but I need a valid reason, and him making you put money in a swear jar…not valid. Gabe will not let that fly.”
“Oh, holy hell. I hate my life.”
Wilcox shook the swear jar.
“You broke the rule. You have to pay up.”
She reached into her pocket and pulled out some cash. “This is total bullshit, and someone’s ass is going to fry over this as soon as I’m done playing ‘kiss me, fuck me’ with a crazy!”
“We’re up to six,” he added.
“Ethan, you get this crazy. I get Heath.”
“Oh, no, he’s yours,” Ethan stated.
“Oh, well, if you ever want to stick your dick in my…”
Wilcox pointed at her.
“While not a curse, it’s not ladylike. Use a new word. You can do it, Director.”
She punched Callen for laughing.
“If you BOTH ever want to touch me again with the male members of your anatomy, you will make sure to keep Pastor Money Jar far from me.”
They believed her.
“I’ll swap Callen for his guy,” Ethan stated as his wife shoved a ten into the jar.
“I’ll get you change.”
“Keep the damn change, you pain in my ass,” she stated.
He handed her two ones back after adding a new one to her tab.
Ivan was in the front snickering to himself.
“If you have anything to do with this, I’ll make your life a living hell.”
He glanced up at her with tears in his eyes.
“How? Make me protect you?” he asked. “Yeah, that will teach me.”
“I think Blue is going to be going away on a lot of cases where I’m not…”
She let that hang there.
“You wouldn't!”
She laughed.
“Oh, I would. When I’m happy, we’re all happy. When I’m pissed off and irritated, you’re all miserable with me.”
“Son of a bitch!”
“That will be one dollar.”
She grinned triumphantly and even paid it for him. That would teach her security guy.
“What’s your plan?” Ethan asked, trying to keep his wife from having one hell of a stroke.
“I’m going to kill your new security guy if he doesn’t stop humming. Is that ‘You are my Sunshine’?” she asked. “Are you insane? Did you have a background check?”
He ignored her and put the jar away.
“Lyzee, baby, focus.”
She’d handle this later.
“Fine. Great. I need you to start working on a profile for me, and Callen and I are going to have to talk to O’Banion again since he knew victim one, and now victim two worked with him.”
“He’s lying low at his place,” he said. “Heath watched his place last night, and he said nothing happened. We may have to pull him off it. Gabe isn’t going to like Callen and you running around with only Ivan. You need two guys.”
He pointed at the knot on her head and then at Wilcox.
Ethan had a point.
Besides, she didn’t want the other man anywhere near her. Heath, it was.
“We still have US Marshals on him, right?”
“Yes.”
Well, that was good enough for her.
“I won’t head to his place. The last thing I need is some asshole following me there and finding him.”
“One dollar, please,” Wilcox said, holding his hand over his shoulder.
She growled and gave it to him.
“Anyway,” she said, giving him and Ethan the evil eye. “I will catch him after he arrives at work today. I want to interview him while I interview anyone else who works there.”
He got that.
“It will be safer for him, even though I don’t give a shit about that safety.”
“Director, that’s a dollar,” Wilcox stated.
Callen laughed as his brother peeled a ten off and gave it to the man.
“I’ll pay in advance. I curse a lot after my wife causes mayhem.”
“I can see that.”
Callen covered her mouth with his hand. He knew that look, and it was going to be ugly.
“Breathe. Heath is behind us.”
That was the only reason she was staying relatively calm over all of this. Well, that and Ethan was going to take on the crazy in the passenger seat.
Ivan snickered from his spot in the driver’s seat.
“Comment?”
“Nope.”
“You know that makes me want to hurt you,” she stated.
“Well, since I’m not marrying you, Little Red Riding Bitch, I think I’m good.”
“We are not immune from the need to use better words,” Wilcox said, holding the jar again. “One dollar.”
Ivan didn’t even get upset. He was having one hell of a day, and he didn’t care how much he got soaked for money at this point. It was all about Blue.
“Where are you getting married?” she asked innocently.
“No idea. We haven’t discussed it. I want it to be a big wedding. I want Blue to have everything she wants.”
“You can use our place. Your parents could even stay with us if they need a place.”
He looked up in the mirror.
That was…nice of her. Now he felt bad about calling her bitch.
“Thank you, Elizabeth.”
He let his guard down.
That’s when she went in.
“It’s no problem. I want to ask them why when hell spit you out, they thought they could make you human.”
He started laughing.
Then he gave her a fist bump.
“Good one, Tex.”
When Wilcox went to say something, Ethan stepped in for his wife.
“Let her have this one, Wilcox. Our jobs are hell. She’s talking from experience.”
It seemed to work.
Callen was working beside her, and he was no longer focused on their bedlam. That alerted her that something was up.
“Are you okay?”
He sent her the information to her phone.
“Yeah, I was doing a little legwork. I found the supervisor’s name at the post office. You said you wanted to do an interview, so I thought we can start there. We can’t roll in and focus on O’Banion.”
He was right.
Only, he wasn’t the only one who had been working while she was dealing with wacko Wilcox.
Ethan had been working, too, and her phone chimed, signaling that he also sent her information.
“It looks like my sexy research monkeys were working hard,” she teased.
“I was. I emailed the marshals while we were in the morgue, and I just received a response. The man guarding O’Banion will get him to work this morning, so you can safely talk to him without drawing attention. He’s already in route.”
Perfect.
That would help her out. First, she’d school a city ME, and then, she’d dig around in O’Banion’s current life—just like last time.
Oh, this should be good.
Now that the media was beginning to sniff around, that was dangerous for everyone involved—mostly O’Banion. They’d ask her about the upcoming wedding, her shoes, and what it was like to be married two to of the US’s most eligible bachelors, to which she’d freak out because they were neither bachelors nor eligible.
She knew herself.
And that was never good.
As they pulled into the city morgue parking lot, there were a few reporters there, asking a lot of questions. Of course the fact that all three of them were there was going to make people ask a plentitude of uncomfortable things for an investigator.
“Does DC have a serial killer?” one shouted as she was moving from the vehicle with Ivan at her side.
Ethan was being guarded by Wilcox, and there was a physical change in him. He went from smiling, happy man to someone doing an important job.
Well, that was good.
If Elizabeth was taking Heath, she wanted her husband to be safe.
Then there was Bruiser, as they called him, and he was leading the way in front of Callen, and that alone kept the reporters back. The man was scary enough that the media knew better than to start any nonsense when he was around.
Yeah, tag.
Heath was going to be on her team.
“What can you tell us?” someone else asked as they headed toward the door to buzz for access.
Elizabeth had a hard and fast rule about dealing with the media. Unless she was held at gunpoint, she wasn’t doing it. So, until Gabe told her to play nice, which in this case he wouldn’t, she was going to pretend they didn’t exist.
That made her day better.
“Mrs. Blackhawk! You’re getting married, aren’t you?” someone shouted.
She did give them that answer.
“Yes.”
That was for Callen. She didn’t want to ignore the fact that this wedding mattered to him. She’d answer shit about her personal life—to a degree—as long as they were respectful and didn’t piss her off.
“Are you changing your name?” another asked.
She stopped.
And there was the jackassery.
Here it came, and it was best to get it over with. Some of the media couldn’t get it into their thick skulls that Callen was not only himself, but also Jackson James. Why would she change her name when he had the same name? She already carried Whitefox in her legal name. They’d made that change a long time ago to legitimize his feelings.
“You all realize that polyandrous relationships are not legal on paper, right?” she asked. “So there’s no changing of names.”
They all made notes.
Why the hell was this so difficult for them?
Honestly, she didn’t get it.
“Well, aren’t you having a fivesome?” one of the men snickered. “You, the director, your partner, your ME, and the author.”
She stared at him.
“Oh look. You’ve pissed me off with your stupidity. So now I’m going to ignore all of you and do my job. You went stupid, and now I’m done.”
There were hisses and boos as the one reporter pissed her off. They knew she had a short fuse.
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