As his brother carried her in, he was right behind.
Immediately, everyone looked over.
Chris and Tony were up, checking to see if she was okay. “She’s not hurt, is she?” Chris asked.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “No, I’m not. The men are just taking turns being Neanderthals. I’m beginning to like it. I must be getting old.”
Jaxon moved over so Elizabeth could be placed on the couch. As soon as she sat, Chris was beside her and waiting.
They all knew what he was expecting.
It broke her heart.
Elizabeth really hated doing this.
“Well?” he asked, finding her hand with his. As he clung to her, Chris knew she’d tell him. All morning, he’d been waiting for the confirmation.
Now it was time.
“It was her,” she said, wiping the tear from his cheek as it slid down. “I’m sorry, Chris.”
He rested his head on her shoulder as she tried to offer him some peace.
“Tell me everything.”
How he got that one sentence out, he’d never know.
Elizabeth told him all she’d learned. She couldn’t bullshit him. He was an ME. Instead, she opted to lie to protect his heart. When Chris braced for it, she told him.
“She was dead before the fire.”
There was an audible sigh of relief from him. It still hurt, but at least his wife hadn’t suffered.
“How?”
“She had blunt force trauma to the head. She was dead before it ever started.”
The tears came. “I hope you find whoever did this, and you make them pay. I want her to bleed.”
She took the risk.
“We know who it is.” Then she told them.
They all gasped.
Chris sat up, and he stared at her. “Then we have to find her. What are we doing sitting here?”
She kissed him on the cheek. “We have to find her. You have to stay here until we do.”
“What’s the plan?”
Ethan took over. “We don’t have one yet. We have BOLOs out for her, and we have to give it some time. She’ll pop up, and we’ll catch her.”
“I want to be there.”
She stared at him. “Christopher.”
“Lyzee, I need this. In order to heal, I need to be included in this. I want to watch her die. I want to stand over her and see her suffer. It’s wrong, but I need it. Please. I need you to promise that when you find her, you’ll take me with you.”
She stared at the men in her life. This friendship thing was messy. Taking Chris into the final fight was dangerous. The man didn't even carry a gun.
Ethan knew that he would have needed this too.
The men couldn’t fault him for that. So, he let his wife decide. This had to be up to her.
Blackhawk shrugged, signaling his decision on it.
“Okay. When we find out where she is, you’re in, but you have to listen to us. You can’t go off halfcocked. She’s killed six people, and she knows her targets.”
“She’s killed more than six,” Ethan stated. “She used up Doctor Pressman too. He was a means to an end for Lily.”
“Yes, you’re right. She needs to pay for his death and Carol’s too. I know we’ll catch her.”
They knew how.
Elizabeth was the bait.
“Thank you.”
Chris kissed her on the cheek and then crossed to the two men he now had watching his back. Chris did something he never saw coming.
He hugged them.
Ethan patted him on the back, hurting for him. Chris Leonard was a good man, and he respected him. Not because he played in the dead all day, but because he’d always protected Elizabeth.
Callen hugged him next. When they were pressed together, he whispered into Chris’s ear. “She’ll kill her. There’s no way Elizabeth is going to let this bitch go. Trust her to end this.”
That offered Chris a lot of peace.
He didn't doubt that his best friend would end her life. He just wanted to see it happen. Chris wanted to be the one who signed her autopsy report.
He wanted to yank her organs out and toss them onto a tray. Normally, he respected the dead. Now he wanted to revel in death.
He needed this to move on.
Wyler came toward them, Charlie in tow. Bethe was asleep, and Elizabeth looked like she needed some tea. “Here you go, sweetheart. You look like shit.”
“Oh, Dad, you sweet talker, I know where your sons get it from.”
He dropped a kiss to the top of her head.
She felt warm. “Do you have a fever?”
Those words were enough to put Callen over the edge. “What? Fever is bad in pregnancy, isn’t it?”
Chris touched her face. “You’re warm.”
“I think I’m coming down with a bug.” Elizabeth didn't tell him about the contractions, or the leaking amniotic fluid. She wanted Lily Sanderson on a morgue slab.
This job wasn’t done.
“You’re going to bed,” Callen stated.
Before he could reach her, Elizabeth’s cell rang. It was Tony Morel, and normally, she’d let it go to voicemail and call him back, but she needed to distract the men.
“I have to take this.”
Both men stared at her.
“Tony, how are you?” she said, trying to buy herself time. The husbands looked stressed.
That never bode well.
“I got your note. I’m heading there now. Did that bastard hurt you? I swear to God I’ll kill him.”
She was confused.
“Tony, what are you talking about?”
She put the phone on speaker.
“I went out to my truck and there was a note from you to meet me at ‘The Wayfarer’,” he stated.
Immediately, she stood.
“Where are you?”
“I’m about three minutes from getting there, but you didn't tell me a time, so I’m heading there now.”
“Stop!” she shouted, feeling her stomach drop. “I need you to pull off, and stop!”
She could hear his truck slowing down.
“Lyzee, did Ethan hurt you?”
She glanced over at her husband. He didn't look happy, and she wasn’t going to go there. The men in her life had a love hate relationship with Tony Morel.
He loved her.
They hated him.
“I didn't leave you that note. I need you to turn around, head back to town, and go sit your ass at the sheriff’s station. Your life is in danger.”
“I’m not afraid of Ethan.”
Blackhawk spoke. “I didn't hurt her, and she didn't send that note, Tony. We’re working a case, and someone is killing people Elizabeth loves. You’re next. Listen to her.”
He thought about it. “I’ll go there, catch whoever it is, and you’ll be safe.”
Bless him.
Tony was a little touched in the head.
Here was the proof.
“Callen, get the jet ready,” she whispered. Then she focused back on the call.
“Listen to her, Tony,” Blackhawk warned.
“I can handle it.”
Elizabeth knew there was a better way to handle this. She couldn’t tell Tony what to do. He wouldn’t listen. She had to outsmart him.
“Okay, you can help us.”
“Great!”
“I’m going to be flying in. We all are. I’m bringing the FBI. You’re going to be bait, but I need to plan this out, and Chris Santana needs to be in on it. I need you to head to the station, get all the deputies in there, and I’ll start sending you details. You’ll be my bait, but in order for this to go to court, we need you wired.”
Chris went to object, but Elizabeth placed a hand over his mouth. She mouthed, ‘trust me’.
So, he did.
“Awesome! I can do that. When are you arriving?”
She knew it would take an hour in the air, thirty minutes to get to the jet.
“Two and a hal
f hours. I’m across the country in Damascus.”
He glanced at his watch.
“Okay, I’ll get everything ready here.”
As long as he did what she said, he could dress like a clown and make freaking balloon animals.
“This is very important, Tony. I’m giving you the most important job. Don’t blow it!”
By it, she meant his life.
Ethan grinned. She was playing this just right.
“Okay, Lyzee. I’m heading back to the station now. Are you coming there?”
“Yes. I am. Stay there, and give me time. I have to mobilize my team.”
“I love you. Be safe.”
“Love you too.”
She hung up.
“Jet is fueling up,” Callen stated. “The pilots are waiting on you to arrive for takeoff.”
“You’re not really going to let him help. Tony is a walking disaster,” Ethan stated.
“Hell no! I figure we’ll land, I’ll call to stall, and we’ll wrap this up. I’m not dangling Tony or Chris Santana in front of Lily. She’ll eat them alive.”
Elizabeth kissed her father-in-law. “You’re on duty. Shoot anyone who comes here. No one leaves, clear?”
He patted her cheek. “You be safe!”
Elizabeth pulled the pouch from her neck. “Some sexy Blackhawk gave me herbs wrapped in the ass of a dead dear. How can I not be?”
Tony Magnus laughed.
Chris grabbed her hand. “You said I could go. You can’t take it back now.”
She was aware.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “You are a pain in my ass.”
He wouldn’t let go of her hand. “Please let me see this through.”
Tony was watching her.
Ethan was staring.
Callen too.
She had no choice. Love and friendship outweighed commonsense.
“You’re in, but you wear a gun.”’
He kissed her and then rested his forehead against hers. “I love you. Thank you for this.”
She sighed.
“We better get moving,” Elizabeth suggested.
“I need a gun. Mine was in the house,” he said, softly.
Callen dropped his arm over the man’s shoulders, and he led him away. He knew Ethan wanted to talk to his wife without the man there.
“I have an arsenal in our office. We’ll get you one, and a holster.”
“Thanks.”
When he was out of earshot, Ethan pointed at her. “You can’t let him put forty holes in her. This is going to go public. The more attention this gets, then the higher the chance that the old case will come to light.”
She was well aware.
“He needs this. You make sure he doesn’t play Annie Oakley, and I’ll make sure Lily Sanderson dies in a logical manner.”
“Elizabeth,” he warned. “This is a bad idea.”
Oh, she was aware.
Only, a line had been crossed. This woman was going to hell in a hand basket.
In pieces.
And a one way trip.
There wasn’t a choice.
“Saddle up, Ethan. We have a job to finish. Then I think I’ll have a baby, pack up a house, and head back East. The Natives out here are just too much for little ol’ me to handle.”
He watched her walk away, and Ethan had a bad feeling.
“Take care of her, okay?” Tony Magnus asked. “She needs a babysitter.”
Ethan took off his gun and handed it to the man. He’d get another to take with him. “Tony, you’re here to watch the family. Shoot to kill. I’ll babysit Tex.”
They all knew how impossible that was going to be.
Elizabeth Blackhawk was pissed.
And she was going off the reservation.
In a big way.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Everything was perfect.
She’d managed to break into the house, clipping the alarm wires at the box.
Being a Fed had its advantages, and this was it.
She was going to have something to eat, plot Elizabeth’s death, and then skin a backwoods deputy alive.
That seemed fitting.
It made her laugh. Lily wanted this so badly that she could taste it. She only hoped it would break Elizabeth.
It would be the best part.
Putting down the knife, she grabbed the cell phone she’d swiped from the dead tech.
Everything was in place.
Now, it was a matter of waiting, and getting ready.
Death was coming…for Elizabeth Blackhawk the skank.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
In The Air
The entire time in flight, she paced. It wasn’t because she was worried about getting hurt. Elizabeth knew this was a long time coming, and so many people needed Lily’s death.
Director Donnelly was a good man. He served his country well, and he didn't deserve to be hacked apart.
Tristan Case had been used. As an agent, he’d worked with good men and women, and he should rest at peace. Lily’s death would do that. It would give him vindication, even in death.
Then there was Kay Feinstein. She’d lived a long life, but she didn't deserve the slaughter. Taking down Lily wasn’t about her as much as it was for Ethan. She’d been his surrogate mother, and that mattered.
Elizabeth wanted to give her husband peace.
As for Dean Quinlan, may he burn in hell. Elizabeth hoped he suffered. That went against everything in her when it came to being an officer of the law, but in this case, Callen came first. The man had raped him, repeatedly, and while Callen was moving on, she wouldn’t.
Not until she could kill the woman who killed his tormenter.
Then there was Cyra Leonard. Chris had always had her back. He’d broken the law, focusing Lily on him. Elizabeth knew that this was on her. While he might not say that, she still had to live it every day.
Cyra had died because he loved her. He was loyal, and that alone earned him this. Yes, she let him come, but she did not intend to let him get his hands dirty.
In their family, that was her role.
She was the killer, and she was doing her damn job.
Lily had crossed an ugly line, and it was time to pay. As she paced, the three men watched her.
“What’s the plan?” Chris asked. He wanted in, and he wanted an active role. “How are we going to get her?”
Ethan patted him on the leg. “I don’t know. She’s probably already worked this out. We’re going to be her backup.”
Chris watched her. “I know this is going to cost her, and for the record, I feel bad about it. I know she’s going to take her life.”
They didn't doubt it.
She was pissed.
“She loves you, and everyone else this touched. Lily did the unthinkable. She hurt her family.”
“Are you two really okay with me moving in, invading your life, and being near her?”
Ethan wouldn’t say this to just anyone. “Yes.”
Callen patted him on the shoulder. “Unless you think you’re sleeping with her. Then I’m killing you myself.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Chris and I came to a realization a long time ago. We’re meant to be family—not lovers.”
“Ripples in the pond,” he said.
She gave him a fist bump. “I told you so.”
She sat.
“Okay, here’s the plan. It’s going to be early. I want to do a little recognizance around town. We’re going to go, drop our stuff at the house, and make some calls. I can have Tyrell drive around and check things out on the DL. Lily won’t remember him. She was too focused on hating me.”
They listened.
“Then we’ll move on the roach coach.”
Ethan knew why Lily had picked that place. He and Lily had stayed there until he’d moved in with Elizabeth. She would take this back to where it began.
It was symbolic.
It was
time for Ethan to give her the last piece of the profile. “Lily is out of her mind. You’re going to have to kill her. If this goes to court, she’s going to be telling everyone you’re a killer. She researched enough, tortured Doctor Pressman, and she likely will spill it.”
Oh, she was well aware.
There was no way Lily was walking out of that motel. She’d paint the walls with her blood first, and burn the place down around her.
“You need to be safe,” Callen said, pointing at his son growing in her body.
She laughed. “That’s my plan.”
As they were about to discuss Lily more, the captain opened the door.
“Directors, we’re landing in five minutes. There’s a non-descript vehicle waiting for you. Director Rothschild made sure you didn't get anything Fed-like.”
She was glad.
They needed to be quiet.
When they touched down, Elizabeth went to grab her gear. “I’ve got it,” Callen stated, carrying it out.
On the tarmac was a minivan.
She couldn’t help but laugh.
They all stared at her.
“What? It’s one hell of a sexy ride. I’m a mad mom in a mini-van. It seems appropriate.”
They followed her.
Somehow, they didn't find any of this amusing.
Instead, it was terrifying at best.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Vacation Home
Salem
They hadn’t been back since Ethan started therapy and his path to healing. Coming here had been hard.
Not only for him, but for her.
Doc Trudeaux’s death left a hole in her heart, but she suddenly realized something. Had he not died, Lily would have gone after him. There was no doubt, only he probably wouldn’t have been strong enough to fight her off, or aware enough to call her like Tony had been.
She could see now that mourning his death was normal, dwelling on it wasn’t. Fate would have stolen him away regardless, and Lily would have tortured him.
That helped her heal a tiny fissure in her heart.
Fate planned to take him regardless of her actions.
As they pulled up, Elizabeth checked the place out. So much death had come here, and then again, so much life had too. Without Ethan, she never would have found Callen.
Choices will Destroy (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 14) Page 51
