Some things would never change.
She was the protective raven, and Ethan was hers to guard until her final days. Elizabeth already dropped that ball once before, and it wasn’t happening again.
“How about a walk around town, Lyzee my love?” he asked, dropping money on the table and holding out his free hand. “Can I take my fetus and baby momma for a stroll?”
She snorted. “Well hell. If you ask like that, how can I refuse?”
He knew she wouldn’t.
That’s what made it perfect.
* * *
Across The Country
FBI West
Mid-Morning
Callen missed his partners more than anything. Who would have thought that this much anxiety would be present as he worried about grown adults?
Over the last few weeks, he had been taking care of them, and now they were off on their own. As of yet, there had been only a few texts, and everything seemed to be going well.
At least that’s what they were telling him. In the back of his mind, Callen couldn’t help but worry.
What if they were unhappy?
What if Ethan was breaking her heart?
God, all of this stress was giving him an ulcer. How the bloody hell had his brother handled all this, and so seamlessly? The pressure that he was facing was almost daunting.
His brother was a miracle worker to pull this off every day. There were reports to sign, agents to send out, and the general chaos that ensued at the second biggest FBI hub in the world. He couldn’t wait to get on that plane and head out.
Seriously, he needed a vacation.
At the knock on his door, he glanced up, and actually prayed that it wasn’t going to be bad news.
“Director, where are the other two bosses?” Christopher Leonard asked, walking in. He liked coming into this office. It was a serene blue and had a lot of collectables. Most of them were personal little trinkets that Chris liked to stare at. Often, new ones appeared and Whitefox was never even aware they were there, until you pointed them out.
Callen leaned back in his chair and pointed to the one across from him, offering their ME a seat. “How many times do I have to tell you that calling me by my name is fine?” he asked.
Chris laughed. “Sorry, it’s habit. I forget sometimes that you three aren’t scary anymore.”
While in Circle Rock, they had become closer, all because they had been the ones who had to find Ethan. Callen appreciated Chris and Cyra, because they held up when he needed them most.
“Don’t let Elizabeth hear you say that. She’ll make an example of you in front of the whole building,” he teased.
He didn't doubt it.
“Ethan and Elizabeth are taking a break.”
That worried Chris. “Are they okay?” he asked, lowering his voice.
Callen hoped so. “I don’t know. We’re trying to hold it together, but Ethan is having a rough time, emotionally.” Callen knew that he could trust Chris Leonard. After all, they were friends above everything else.
“He’ll work it out,” Chris reassured. “Ethan’s a man of his word, and he’ll find his way back to center. What he went through was tough for even the strongest of men.”
“Yeah, I know. Is there something that I can help you with before I head out?”
“Ethan asked me to update him on the new head lab tech, that’s all. It can wait.”
Callen clicked his pen. “How is she doing?” he asked. A part of him was curious himself if the woman could actually replace Christina. She had been a force to reckon with.
“She’s making a few rookie mistakes, but I really think that it’s nerves. She’s worked for the FBI for a while, but being in charge of the lab isn’t exactly a walk in the park. It’s one thing to work on one job at a time. Christina used to do ten at once.”
Callen found that funny and could sympathize completely. “You should try being in charge of everything. It’s like a warzone. I’m waiting for the next explosion.”
“Well, since Elizabeth isn’t here, chances are you’re golden for the time being,” he added, reassuringly.
Whitefox snorted and offered him a fist bump. “Amen to that.”
“If you need anything while we’re all away, I want you to contact me, not Ethan, or Elizabeth,” he stated. “They needed time to regroup and heal in peace.
“Gotcha, boss man.”
Callen found that entertaining. He never saw that coming in all his life. He never believed that he would be one of the power players for the FBI. Yeah, he was in charge of the Rez police at one time, but this was so much different.
This was the big time.
Fate was funny like that.
“Carry on, Doctor,” Callen stated, as he went back to signing the last of the papers. Yeah, he couldn’t wait to get his ass on that plane and back to his family.
For now, Callen planned on continuing to take one for the team, but when he saw his partners, he was going to be ready for a break.
* * *
As he sharpened the tools that he would need to do the job, he stared at the prone man lying bound on the table in his shed. He must have knocked him a little hard on his noggin, since he still wasn’t awake.
That was a problem.
This need to eat was growing in him, and he was feeling out of control. Part of his brain told him to just kill him, but there was a little piece that told him to do the right thing.
The honorable thing was to face his victim and thank him for the sacrifice.
So, that was what he planned on doing.
As he grabbed a bucket of ice cold water that he intended to use to cool the internal organs with, he dumped it on the older man. It got the reaction that he wanted, and the man was pulled from unconsciousness.
“Where am I?” he gasped, as the water shocked his already distressed body. The pain was growing from his chest and radiating outwards.
Doc knew the truth.
He was in trouble, and not only because of the man who had abducted him. He was having the telltale signs of cardiac distress.
He was dying.
“I brought you to my place, Doctor Trudeaux,” he answered.
“Why?”
“Because I’m hungry and need to eat.”
That confused the bound man. “I don’t understand. I have food at my place. You could have had all you wanted. This wasn’t necessary.”
He laughed sardonically. “You misunderstand me, Doctor. I don’t want your food. I want you as the food.”
Cognizance dawned and horror flittered across his face. “What?”
“You heard me. I plan on killing you, and then harvesting your flesh as my future meals.”
Doc struggled through the chest pain as he tried to understand what the man was saying. Surely, he was confused. Did the man just tell him that he was going to eat him?
He was a meal?
“I have a little rule. Before I kill someone, I like to make peace with their souls before they die. I believe it makes the meat taste sweeter. There is no bitter taste of guilt to taint the meal.”
Okay, this man was insane.
No, that may not even describe it.
“Why me?” he whispered, as it was getting harder and harder to breathe. The time was ticking away as his heart was failing.
“You were starting to dig around where you had no business.”
Immediately, he knew and understood what he was saying.
The bones.
He was right!
This was all about the bones that they dredged from the river. Now, it was all going to come down to Tony putting it all together. His heart sank, and then he remembered the woman who came back to take a hiatus.
Elizabeth would figure this out!
He prayed that he left enough breadcrumbs for her to follow. Once they realized he was gone, it was just a matter of time. His disappearance would set Elizabeth on the trail.
“Don’t eat me. Just let me go,” he murmured,
hopefully.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I do promise to respect the gift, which you’re about to give me, and savor every bite.”
When he picked up the meat cleaver, Doc prayed to go quickly into death.
“Okay, let’s get cooking!”
It didn't take long for the screams to fill the air.
When they stopped, there was only the gleeful laughter and the growl of an empty belly.
It looked like death was just in time.
* * *
The afternoon that they shared was amazing. After breakfast, they walked hand in hand, doing what they didn't get a chance to do the first time that they were there. It was a beautiful day. The temperature wasn’t too warm or too cold.
It was perfect.
As they strolled around the town Elizabeth had grown up in, she showed him all the places that they never got to visit together. There was the high school football field where she was a cheerleader, the park where she learned to defend herself against a bully, and the little ice cream parlor where she once worked as a teenager.
Going inside, they sat at a table and shared some dessert. Licking each other’s cones, they became reacquainted as they offered up sticky sweet kisses.
As for the perfect day, this one was pretty high up there on the list. It was just what they needed in order to help heal the rift in their lives. Already, Elizabeth was feeling the tenuous strain between them healing.
Ethan was back, or at least he was trying desperately to return.
When she raced down the street, Ethan chased right behind. As he caught her around the waist and pressed her to the nearest tree, they were both out of breath. The making out that followed drew from him a sense of peace that had been long since missing.
Here was love, once battered and bruised, and now found and restored to better than before.
This was a memory that Ethan never wanted to fade. This one perfect moment needed to be preserved forever. Pulling out a pocket knife, he glanced around to assure they weren’t being watched. “You be my look out,” he whispered in her ear.
“What are you doing?” she asked, as the giggles began to take over. Maybe it was the pregnancy, or the sugar coursing through her body, but something had her incredibly high.
Oh yeah, it was her sexy Native man.
“Cover me and don’t ask any questions,” he replied, as he went to work.
While she glanced around, he continued his mission. When he was finally done, he tapped her shoulder.
Elizabeth turned and stared at the bark of the tree, right outside the sheriff’s station. On the trunk, Ethan had carved her a work of art. It waxed poetic, since this place was what brought them together once before.
Now, here it was immortalized for all eternity.
EJB Loves ERL
“I used your maiden name, since I should have thought to do this years ago, on the day I first saw you.”
She was ridiculously touched by what he had just done. “Ethan, it’s perfect.”
“I left room for Callen’s initials if you wanted to put them there.”
Elizabeth stared up into his eyes. “As much as I love Callen, and he owns half of my heart, this is our thing. It’s perfect as it is.”
Those words made him tumble even more for her. She was giving him something that he could hold onto when the cold threatened to pull him under.
Pulling out her phone, she snapped a picture. “I’ll put it in a frame for our kids to see one day.”
Ethan couldn’t help it, or contain his feelings anymore. He pressed her back against the tree and invaded with his mouth. He wanted to devour his woman in greedy gulps at what she had just given him.
No one would replace her, and he had been a fool to think their love had faded. It shone just as bright as it did years ago. He was only temporarily blinded by his fears and insecurities.
Here was his sun, moon, and stars, all wrapped up in one beautiful package.
When her arms wrapped around his neck, he pulled her off her feet and held her against him as their mouths went to war. This was the perfect way to heal him. When he returned to work, he was going to hug Doctor Gaines and thank her for saving his soul.
She was a miracle worker. He may have been the profiler extraordinaire, but she was far wiser than he had given credit. In fact, Callista Gaines was a certified genius in his book.
When a car honked and someone yelled ‘get a room’, Ethan finally let her go.
There was laughter in her eyes, even as she fought to catch her breath. “Wow! That was some kiss, Mr. Blackhawk. Holy shit! You have some crazy mad making out skills.”
He dropped his arm over her shoulder and led her away from the tree that would forever be theirs. “Yeah, well my wife brings it out in me.”
Elizabeth tucked her hand in his back pocket as they walked down the street. “How about we hit up the grocery store, and then head home? Callen should be arriving in two hours. He’s already in the air.”
He was good with that. As much as Blackhawk loved monopolizing her time, Ethan also loved having his brother with them. They were a united front against the world and an amazing couple.
“Sounds like a plan,” he replied, as he nodded at the people they passed on their way to the store. This time, he didn't care that they were staring at the ‘Indian’.
Finally, he was at peace.
It didn't take them long to fill a grocery cart. Every time Elizabeth mentioned something that sounded good, Ethan tossed it in. He was more than willing to spend any amount of money to please his woman and feed the little life she was growing in her body.
He’d been down this road once before, and knew that a happy pregnant wife was the best option for everyone involved. Secretly, he still wanted to tell the world that once again, he was going to be a daddy.
There was nothing sweeter to his ears.
As Elizabeth bent over the meat case to inspect something to make for dinner, he couldn’t help but check her out. “Tony was right,” he stated.
When she looked over her shoulder, she finally got what he was talking about. It was the lecherous eyebrow wiggle that clued her in to it.
“Well, if you help me pick out dinner, we can head home and you can check it out naked, just to make sure.”
That had him focused. He began grabbing anything that he saw. “Meat is meat. Hurry up so we can get the hell out of here.”
She found that entertaining.
Then suddenly, her gut began warning her.
Someone was watching them.
After years of being a Fed, she knew to listen to her instinct, and especially now, since ignoring it almost got Ethan killed. As she tensed, so did Ethan. He had obviously become good at reading her body language.
“What’s up?”
Elizabeth scanned the area around her, and finally found the man who was quietly observing them. From the look on his face, she knew he wasn’t thrilled to see them.
Honestly, the feeling was mutual.
“Well, lookee here, Cowboy. It’s the ex-mayor, William Argot. How’s parole, Will?” she asked, leaning against Ethan. She wasn’t afraid of the man, but she also knew that Ethan needed her to rely on him to heal his heart. He didn't want to be babied, and she was giving him the lead on this one.
Blackhawk held her protectively against his body. It was instinctual, but also because his Elizabeth was now carrying his child. Nothing was getting near her.
The old protective Ethan roared back to life, as that primitive need kicked in.
The man turned bright red.
“I see that you’re working here,” Elizabeth said, pointing at his apron. “I hope that doesn’t violate your conditions of release. I do see young kids walking around.”
He stalked towards her. “I’m not on parole!” he hissed. “I served my time for my crime, and I’m trying to start my life over again. Unfortunately, that takes a job, and no one will hire me, thanks to you, bitch! Do you think I like working in
a grocery store?”
Ethan was ready to tear the man limb from limb. He probably should have kicked the shit out of him the last time they were in Salem.
Lesson learned.
Elizabeth’s melodious laughter broke free. “I think that’s funny, Will. You see, I wasn’t the one that was chasing young girls and blackmailing women to have sex with me. You were your own worst enemy on this one.”
“I’m screwed because of you arresting me! I was once in charge of this town!” he raged.
Elizabeth shrugged. “Hey! We’re not the perverts who were dipping our sticks in all the underage female townsfolk. You did this to yourself.”
He took a step closer and Blackhawk intervened. “If you even think about it, there won’t be enough of you left to throw back in jail. I’ll make sure of it.”
The man must have believed Ethan, because he took a step back and walked away. When he headed to the meat room and away from them, Blackhawk grinned.
“Wow! All the oldies are popping up today. First we get to see Tony and now the ex-mayor. It’s like a strong wind shook the tree and all the nuts and squirrels fell out.”
She was entertained. “It’s like some really jacked up high school reunion with the creepy men crawling out of the woodwork. It’s odd how all the crackpots think they’re perfectly normal and the Feds are the bad guys.”
He considered it. “You know, you were wrong about one thing,” he began.
“Oh, really?”
“He’s not the only pervert hanging out around you,” he whispered in her ear.
The chills raced up her flesh and made her flush with heat.
“I’m thinking about some truly depraved things, and I’m pretty damn sure that they’re illegal in this state.”
She swallowed. “Well then, let’s get home so you can get your debauchery on!”
Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) Page 9