“Can do, Mr. Blackhawk, is there anything else?”
“No thank you, Martha,” he said, turning and walking back into the sheriff’s office. The door was open, her hat was gone, and so was she. Blackhawk rushed back outside to Martha. “Where’s your boss?” he pointed at her door.
“No clue, she had two visitors. It was regarding one of the victims, and then she disappeared. I figured she went to find you.”
Suddenly, his heart began pounding. He was supposed to stay by her no matter what. The slight distraction with Lily had given her the opportunity to disappear. Maybe she had just stepped outside for some fresh air. It wasn’t easy to walk coolly towards the door, especially when he felt anything but calm. When he saw the Jeep was gone, his heart began hammering in his chest. He pulled out his phone, as he stepped outside to begin tracking her down.
Elizabeth was just turning the corner from the station, when her phone started ringing. As she read the display, her stomach knotted. It was Ethan Blackhawk. Placing the phone back down, she opted to ignore his call. Elizabeth didn’t want to have a fight with him while she was driving. All she wanted was the last few minutes to believe she still had some hope that he would still feel something for her. Once she faced him, she was sure the anger would be there between them.
Blackhawk paced and dialed again. At the sound of her Jeep pulling into her reserved spot, he looked up hopefully. Seeing her, the tension in his chest loosened and he was able to breathe again. Immediately, he rushed to her.
Elizabeth saw him racing towards her, as she stepped out of her vehicle. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but he looked panicked and relieved all at once. “Ethan,” she spoke, afraid they were going to have a fight in the parking lot.
“Where were you?” he demanded, his hands on each side of her face, as he looked expectantly into her eyes. “Never mind, as long as you’re safe. Come with me,” he practically pulled her up the stairs, past Martha, and back into her office.
Elizabeth was about to speak, but paused when he stuck his head back out to the lobby.
“Martha, my team should be here in ten minutes, send them into the conference room and buzz us. I need to speak to your boss without interruption.”
“Okay Mr. Blackhawk,” she just stared at the man, thinking the pressure was finally getting to him.
Blackhawk turned and Elizabeth didn’t know what to say. She just watched him looking frazzled and angry. She’d never seen him lose his temper before, and she wasn’t sure how to handle it. He generally was calm, collected and under control, but now he looked as if he was just on the edge. Maybe she should apologize.
“How mad are you?” she inquired backing up, as he moved towards her.
“I’m furious,” then he paused, “Why are you backing away from me?”
“Because if I shoot you, I’ll have to fill out paperwork,” Elizabeth tried to joke. “I just accused your partner of being a leak. You left here furious, and slammed my door so hard you broke the glass.”
Blackhawk looked over his shoulder at the door and was horrified that he scared her with his temper.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said, reaching for her cheek. When she tensed he felt worse, if that was possible.
“It’s okay,” she said, but her face must have said otherwise.
Blackhawk saw the fear in her eyes and stepped closer again. To his relief she didn’t move away from him. “Come here baby,” he spoke softly, and when she moved into his arms, he kissed her. There was no return to the kiss and that worried him. Elizabeth was passionate and now she was board straight. When he opened his eyes she still looked confused and worried.
“I don’t understand, you left here pissed at me,” she started, and he stopped her.
“Lyzee, I wasn’t pissed at you. I was pissed at Lily. I went to confront her.”
Surprise replaced fear on her face.
“But I didn’t have proof! You believed me on a sneaking suspicion? That’s crazy, Ethan.”
“Of course I believed you! The minute you told me I knew you had to be right. Lyzee, I’ve watched you work for a few days now. You pick up the minor details that I miss, and we work really well together. Watching your team I just knew you were right. They love their boss, and there is no conceivable way any of them would throw you under the bus and leak anything. That meant you were right, and since I know it wasn’t me leaking the information, that left one option. When I confronted her she admitted it.”
“You really believed me? The woman you’ve known for four days, over your partner?” her voice was filled with surprise. Maybe it had been a test for him, and maybe she told him everything to push him away. Now that he took her side, he cemented himself further into her heart. She knew she’d never forget him, no matter what happened at the end of it all. Blackhawk had just left an indelible mark on her life and gave her back trust. It was something that she lost a long time ago.
“Lyzee,” he paused, and was just ready to tell her how he felt, when the phone buzzed. “Damn it, my team is here,” he let out a breath, and touched her cheek. “I need to go meet them, and then we have a press conference in twenty minutes. Can you be ready?”
“I will be, Ethan,” she answered. “You better go,” she gave him a quick kiss and closed the door.
Elizabeth went to the closet where she kept a change of clothes in there for just such occasions. Pulling out a fresh shirt, and her makeup bag she started to get ready. If they were going to be on TV and in the paper, it was time to make herself look presentable. Elizabeth put on some makeup, and pulled on a fresh tank top and white button down shirt over it. The sheriff was tucking her shirt in when there was a knock at the door.
“Sheriff, are you in here?” called her secretary. “Agent Blackhawk needs you out in front of the building. The press conference is about to start.”
Elizabeth peeked out of her closet, “I’ll be right out, Martha,” she put a pair of simple earrings in her ears, a little spritz of perfume, and clipped her gun onto her hip right beside her badge. With one look in the mirror, she stepped out of the closet, and out the door.
It was time to face the media.
Walking down the front steps she saw the mayor, and remembered that she forgot to tell Blackhawk about what she learned. Desperately, she tried to get his attention, but the mayor was already in between them and the cameras were already rolling. It would have to wait.
The press conference was fairly simple. It wasn’t the hardest one that she had ever had to do, but it was certainly wasn’t the easiest. She knew she would get flak from her deputies, but she also knew that she was handing it over to Ethan Blackhawk, and there was no more trustworthy man to run it. Of that she had no doubt.
Elizabeth stepped up to the podium, and began her speech, “Thank you everyone for coming tonight,” she paused, “The reason I’ve called this press conference, is we have a great concern for all the citizens of Salem. Everyone is now aware that due to the recent murders in town, we have voluntarily called in the FBI, asking for their assistance. We all, myself included, feel very secure knowing that the FBI will be taking over the control of the ongoing investigation. In light of the situation at hand, our limited resources and the urgency upon us, I will be handing over complete control to Special Agent Ethan Blackhawk and his team. While we still will be assisting as we were before, but I would like to make it official, and let everyone know that we are now in very capable hands. Now, I would like to introduce you to Special Agent Ethan Blackhawk.” Elizabeth shook his hand, and stepped back, standing to the side of him offering her support by nodding and smiling at what he was saying.
He was willing to take the heat to save Tony’s job. It was something she now couldn’t do. Her hands were tied and she owed him.
“Thank You, Sheriff LaRue. It has been a pleasure working with you, and your team. I know I look forward to building even closer bonds, as we solve the current cases at hand. My team is just in today from Quantico, and we
will start pouring through the massive amount of legwork and data that your deputies have acquired. We’ll be working closely together to assure that Salem is safe, and the murderer is caught and brought to justice soon. We are asking that if any of Salem’s fine citizens have heard, or know of anything to please feel free to pass the information along to us. I will have a citizen liaison, which will be tasked to specifically handle any and all concerns. Thank you for welcoming us to your amazing town.”
Blackhawk stepped back and allowed the mayor to take over at the podium. When he stood beside Elizabeth, she leaned over to whisper something in his ear. Immediately his blood pressure shot up, and as she leaned back his eyes narrowed. The tension was back in his body, as he watched the mayor give his speech. Ethan Blackhawk did something he wouldn’t normally do; he signaled his team with one hand gesture and before Argot could finish, they all got up and walked away.
When he realized he was talking to a limited audience, and the camera crews weren’t even focused on him anymore, he became flustered. Looking around he searched for an ally, and he noticed that even the sheriff had abandoned him too.
There would be hell to pay.
Elizabeth LaRue went too far. Now she ruined his sound bite.
Elizabeth sat at her desk and smiled up at Blackhawk. Her eyes were filled with admiration. In one single move, he gave Argot the big flip off, and she had to appreciate that. In fact, it was better than flowers to her. It was the gift that kept on giving.
“You looked gorgeous up there, Lyzee. When you leaned over you smelled pretty great too,” he grinned, sitting on the side of her desk as they waited for the mayor. Since he’d be in his own element in his office, they set him up to come to them. Control was on their side now.
“I do believe I hear him,” she said, tapping her water bottle against his in a salute. “Good work, Cowboy. Way to lure in the bad guy and head him off at the pass.”
Blackhawk grinned. “I was just pissed, and this was the after effect. You found the information.”
“I got lucky.”
“Luck or not, you dug it up. Do you want first crack at him?” he offered, watching her pull a coin from her pocket just as Argot burst into her office, stuttering. Blackhawk held up his hand silencing him. “Heads,” he called watching, as it landed on her desk.
“Oh, Ethan, it’s tails,” she grinned. Fair was fair. “I’m up.”
“You two have nothing better to do than flip a coin? Now I see why you both have nothing on this killer yet,” he said, slamming the door behind him.
It was possibly the worst thing to say to them. Elizabeth stood, offering Blackhawk her chair for the floor show. She pointed at a vacant chair. “Sit!”
Mayor Argot was bright red and looked like he was going to explode. “You don’t tell me what to do! I’m your boss! I’m contacting the council and having your ass fired.”
“Make sure the media is there, when you do.” Elizabeth pointed at the chair a second time.
“Oh they will be! They’ll see the washed up FBI agent, who turned failure as a sheriff, lose this job too,” he growled, and then saw the agent stand in protest.
Blackhawk was ready to kill. Obviously, Lily had spilled that gossip too.
Elizabeth patted Ethan on the shoulder. There was no doubt Blackhawk would protect her and rip the man apart. There were just other ways to handle him, like a verbal neutering.
“That’s priceless, Will, but what I think they will find more entertaining is the witnesses that I found that tied you to two of our victims. When I say tied, what I mean to say is having sex with them, illicitly. One was under eighteen when you first had sexual contact with her, Melissa Martin. Remember her? She would be our second victim.”
He looked pale and no words came from his mouth. He looked nervous that they had found out the truth.
“Then I have another set of witnesses that say you were having an affair with Melody Howe, your secretary. Then she turns up dead, and you tell her replacement secretary that if she doesn’t have an affair with you, she’s terminated just like her predecessor. I’m sure the council will love hearing how you are forcing your employees to have sex with you, or lose their jobs. That just screams bankrupting lawsuit for sexual harassment, and intimidation in the workplace.”
“You’re wrong,” he said, now a sickly gray color.
“Oh, I think I’m right. In fact, I’ll go in there right now and bet my badge on it. Just trying to get me fired is going to take you down first. I’m clean in all this, Argot. Are you?”
Now he looked sick.
“One of us had a problem keeping his dick under control,” she paused and looked down dramatically. “Oh look, I don’t have one, so I guess that means you.”
“Well played, Sheriff LaRue,” Blackhawk said offering her a fist bump. The woman was always entertaining. Right then he wanted to kiss her senseless.
Yeah, he had it real bad.
“Okay, I’ll deal. What do you want?”
Elizabeth was outraged that he thought she could be bought and that they would let him deal.
“My turn,” interjected Blackhawk, offering her the seat of honor back. “Here is what you are going to do Argot. Effective immediately, you are stepping down from your position. Then you’ll turn yourself over to me, since I’m now heading up this investigation. I’m going to have you shipped back to FBI headquarters for questioning. You’ll be out of the job, and the FBI will work on the investigation, so you get a fair chance,” he said, looking over at the sheriff.
Elizabeth preferred hanging him over it, but she knew he was slimy enough to walk. “Okay, works for me.”
“This isn’t fair.”
“You rather I hand you over to Elizabeth here? She’s the sheriff, it’s her job to collect the evidence and then contact the DA, and I’m betting he’s her friend.”
“We’re very close. One might say best friends,” she said, grinning. “Or Ethan, we can turn him over to Melissa’s family. I am sure they would love first crack at the man that was having sex with their underage daughter. I'm sure they could come up with a suitable punishment. Castration perhaps?”
“The deal is off the table in five, four, three…” Blackhawk started ticking the numbers off on his fingers, his eyes never leaving the man’s before him.
“Okay, fine. Deal.”
Elizabeth opened her door, and called for Tyrell. He was sitting outside waiting patiently. “Please take the mayor to his home, watch him pack a bag, and take him to the airport. He’ll be taking a little trip to Quantico courtesy of Mr. Blackhawk.”
“Sure thing, Sheriff LaRue,” he smiled wide.
“Oh, and Tyrell, use handcuffs,” said Blackhawk. When he saw the man panic, he grinned menacingly. “That’s for calling her washed out and a failure. I take that personally.”
Elizabeth waved as Tyrell led him away, and then closed her office door. “That was the finest bad cop, worse cop I have ever had the privilege to witness, Cowboy,” she kissed him sweetly, running her fingers over his cheek, and then wrapping her arms around his neck. “It was so titillating that I’m going to allow kissy-face in the office this one time.”
“Score,” he mumbled, as he enjoyed the slow kiss. His favorite part was their torsos pressed together.
They broke apart breathless, but she still got the words out, “Wow, nice kiss, Cowboy. I’m impressed.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet, ma’am,” he grabbed her hat off the desk, dropping it on his head. Now he looked the part of cowboy- well almost.
Blackhawk started for the door and paused. “Oh, and Elizabeth?”
“Yes, Mr. Blackhawk?”
“In regards to the DA, exactly how close are you two?” he asked, jealousy slamming into his body. Elizabeth LaRue was his.
“Not that close, why?”
“Glad to hear that, Sheriff. I was going to head over to his office and kick his ass. Now I can take it off my to-do list.”
Elizabet
h stood there with her mouth open, unsure what to say. Part of her was all hot and bothered that he was being territorial. The other part was horrified that he just might do it.
“Now let’s check on the team, and get home. I want to have something to eat. I’m suddenly starving,” he said adjusting her hat on his head.
Elizabeth watched him saunter away. He wasn’t the only one who was suddenly very hungry, and definitely not for food.
Yes, Ethan Blackhawk was very sexy indeed.
~ Chapter Ten ~
Sunday Night
When they pulled up into her driveway, she was extremely overjoyed to be home. It had been a long day, and just the knowledge that the FBI was working back at the station twenty four hours a day, meant that they could shut down for a little while and regroup.
Having Ethan Blackhawk beside her made it even more relaxing, in her opinion. With him she felt safe and at peace. The only thing left stressing her was the continual thoughts of what she would do when he left, after all this was over.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, turning off her Jeep. “You’ve been quiet since we left the grocery store.”
Elizabeth smiled at him. “I’m thinking how nice it’ll be to have dinner, a glass of wine, and not have to think for tonight,” she hoped he didn’t figure out only half of that was truth. She climbed out of the Jeep and grabbed one of the grocery bags, handing him the other. “Are you sure you want to cook dinner? Aren’t you exhausted, too?”
“I am, but we have to eat, and then we can relax and leave the mess for the maid,” he scoffed, watching her face.
“Hey now, Cowboy! I am the maid!”
“I know, and that’s why I don’t mind cooking, and making a mess.”
Elizabeth dropped her bag on the counter and slid off her boots, and it was a wonderful feeling to be flat on the ground again. “Thank God, one more hour in those boots, and I was going to weep,” she sighed, walking around him and getting two wine glasses. “Want some wine?” she opened the bottle that she pulled out of the wine chiller.
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