“Deal!” he said, pulling off his gloves. “I’ll send my partner a text, and I’ll be right back.”
“Have him meet up with us. I want an introduction before we head out for the night. My team is going to be working late.” She looked at the snacked on remains. “Really late.”
They all groaned.
“Hey, don’t blame me. You can thank the ME and his team. They buried you in this mess. I didn’t start dropping evidence all over you quite yet.”
Apparently, the ME figured out she was done talking to him. Doctor Perette grabbed his things and headed out with uncomplimentary things being mumbled under his breath.
“Excuse me while I kill him,” Callen said, heading toward the door.
Elizabeth grabbed his arm, laughing at that. “Let it go. I tore him down in front of a room of his peers. He’ll be licking his balls in some corner.”
“Great visual,” Merry said, trying to catch a beetle that was scurrying across the table.
When the detective beat her too it, he handed it to her.
“Here you go, Agent.”
“I’m just the head tech,” she said, staring up into his gorgeous blue eyes. She wanted to touch his sun kissed skin just to run her fingers down it.
It was warm and sexily tanned.
Merry was accustomed to handsome men, since their team had their share, but this man was unique. It was the Native/white man mix that genetics created.
“That’s a pretty important job, Miss…?” He tried to recall her name. It was probably a bad thing that when her boss introduced him, he was checking out her body and very pouty lips.
“It’s just Merry.”
“I don’t think ‘just’ does you justice,” the detective said, watching the woman before him. She was petite, had gorgeous lavender eyes, and a sweet smile.
She reminded him of innocence.
Considering what she did for a living, that was startling for him. Normally, Boone didn’t worry about the opposite sex. He didn’t date people in their field, and he didn’t get trapped in a strangers gaze.
Until that very moment.
This woman had his full attention.
Merry took the beetle and tried not to blush. “I have to get to work,” she said, trying to catch her breath.
It wasn’t easy.
The man was staring at her, and she was heating up. There was something sexy about how he was the perfect size for her. She was tiny, and in a world of giants in the lab, this detective was a little shorter than Elizabeth’s six feet.
His body would be perfect to lean against…
Merry forced herself to stop thinking about it. If she didn’t, she’d start babbling like a fool.
That would be horrifying!
“Do you need any help?” Boone asked her, as she tried to escape.
This woman tripped him up, and for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why.
Merry didn’t answer.
She simply escaped.
Elizabeth watched it going down, and she was amused. When Callen leaned down, whispering in her ear, he obviously found it entertaining too.
“Cupid hit her mark.”
If she had anything to say about it, she absolutely did.
“Boss,” stated Johanna, hanging up her phone. “You’re not going to believe this,” she said.
“What?” Elizabeth asked, hoping it wasn’t going to be a clusterfuck. She had enough BS going on.
“I called, and he absolutely wants to meet with you. He’s not in his office, but he offered to meet you at the B&B we’re staying at while in the city.”
Johanna handed her a piece of paper with the information in it. There was a lounge on the main floor.
Whatever.
As long as she got to meet with him today. That’s all that mattered in the long run. She needed to get this runaway train back on the tracks.
“Brody, keep running everyone on the list. You and Johanna can head to the hotel and do it there. I want you working on this tonight. Sometime tomorrow, I want to know if you found anything wonky in this nut farm’s trees.”
“Got it,” he said.
“I also want you to start running the dead.” She glanced over at the detective. “What’s the time frame for the next victim?”
“It’s totally random. We don’t know when he’s going to pop up next.”
Well, that sucked.
If they didn’t know when he’d strike, they couldn’t find a pattern. This, too, made it more difficult.
Still, her gut told her all she needed to know. They weren’t going to have much time. She was willing to bet that before Ethan even got there to do his job, they would likely have another victim from this lunatic.
After the butcher job the ME did to the bodies, sadly, they needed a fresh victim to get any evidence. It was a lose-lose situation.
“We’ll work all night, boss,” Joey offered. “We’ll meet up tomorrow morning at the closest coffee shop.”
She glanced over at the detective. “Where is it?”
He rattled off a name. “The beignets are amazing. You should try them.”
That was good with her. Anything covered in sugar with a side of coffee would be awesome.
“Tomorrow, seven sharp. Clear? If you two are late, I will come up to your room and wake your asses up.”
Chris looked up. “They’re sharing a room?”
Crap.
Crap.
Crap.
The only thing that saved her ass was that the techs weren’t in the room. It was only Chris and Merry.
“Um.”
Broderick Seaton started laughing. “You are so off your game, boss. Remember who outed us.”
She knew.
Damn it.
Chris was staring at her. “Well? You know something. Aren’t you going to share with the class?”
She didn’t say a word.
“You two are dating?” Chris asked, trying to get Elizabeth to talk. She always did it to him when they were trying to get shit out of him.
Nada.
“You’re having his love child?”
Johanna laughed.
“Come on!”
“It’s not my secret to tell, and unfortunately, I am off my game. I blame Ethan. When there are only two of us together, I miss my other love monkey.”
Callen kissed her on the cheek. “I won’t get offended by that statement. I’ll write it off as you screwing up.”
She snorted. “Thanks. Now knock it off, or I won’t miss slugging you.”
“I don’t mind if they know,” Johanna said, knowing they could trust Merry and Chris. After all, they were likely to find out anyway.
Chris grinned. “Spill it.”
“We got married on Christmas Eve.”
Merry grinned. “I knew it!”
She held out her hand. Chris handed her a twenty. Apparently, Elizabeth hadn’t outed them after all. The techs were betting the odds behind her back.
Why was she shocked?
They were the smartest people she knew.
Brody stared at them. “What the hell? Who outed us then?”
“One of the techs saw you two making out in a movie right after the holiday. We’ve all had a pool going. I bet that you’d tell us, and he said you’d be too afraid to drop it in front of the boss lady. No one accounted that she’d be in on it.”
Elizabeth snickered. “At least I have that much. Some of my dignity is intact.”
Chris shook the young agent’s hand. “I hope you and Johanna have many years of happiness together. I’m thrilled for you.”
They all heard it in his voice.
It was there.
“Thanks, Doctor. I appreciate that.”
Merry hugged the two agents. “Love is awesome. I’m glad you found someone who completes you.” Yeah, she knew how hard that was.
It was painful.
Love really hurt.
Literally.
“Okay, team, how
about we show the locals how we do it?” she said, looking down at her watch.
Chris and Merry got to work.
Elizabeth pulled out her phone. “While you drive us to the meeting with the mayor, I have to make a little call to the boss man.”
She pointed at the detective. “You coming?” she asked.
He glanced over at Merry. “Miss Peyton, if you need anything, you can call me,” he offered, slipping a card with his number on it across the table. “I’m always available.”
Elizabeth grinned, winking at her tech. The woman looked dumbfounded, and that made it all the more awesome. Somehow, no one in that room thought the Native was talking about work.
That made it even better.
Merry was flustered.
Yeah, love was in the air. She could smell it over the stench of ineptitude.
As they headed out, Callen kept his woman close. Moving through the halls, he could see the unhappy glares from the employees there. Cops held a grudge.
Pissed off cops could be a pain in the ass, and as Elizabeth’s partner, he was going to watch her back.
When they got to their ride, the cop pointed at his car in the lot. “Follow me.”
“You can catch a ride with us,” she offered. “I swear I don’t bite.”
He laughed. “I somehow doubt that, but honestly, after the meeting, I’m going to head home to crash for a little while. I’ve pulled a double. If I’m working the day shift, I need to catch some downtime or I’ll be of no use to you tomorrow.”
Elizabeth was more than okay with that. At this point, he seemed to be more than willing to play nice. After all, she didn’t want to lose her bet to the men.
She was absolutely tattooing ‘Tex’ on their fine derrieres. If she had her way, there would be pictures commemorating the moment too.
In the vehicle, she made the call.
Ethan answered on the first ring. Apparently, he was waiting to hear from them.
“Are you safe?” he asked, before she could even say a word to him.
Elizabeth laughed. “Uh, yeah. How much trouble could I possible get into in ninety minutes?”
Callen started laughing.
He earned a dirty look.
“Good. I don’t want you in trouble. It seems to find you, and between you and my brother, you’re both likely to do something rash.”
“Hey!” Callen objected. “I don’t get into trouble all that often. I’m pretty calm.”
They knew who wasn’t.
Still, he didn’t mention the showdown at the Morgue Corral.
“Afraid of a little paperwork, honey?” she asked.
He groaned at the term of endearment. “Cal, what did she do?”
Well, so much for keeping it to himself.
“She pissed off the local ME, kicked him out of his own building, and currently, we’re heading to meet the mayor for drinks and an ass whooping.”
There was a pause.
“Drinks?”
“Don’t worry, Dad. The only man who will be seducing me is the one sitting beside me. I have a deep well of control. I won’t come home pregnant.”
They all found that amusing, especially since it would take a miracle for that ever to happen. Her plumbing was gone.
“I hope the man in question is Callen.”
His brother laughed. “Oh, well, you’d think that, wouldn’t you? Only it seems that we have another Native on the scene. He’s got all this long brown hair, and he’s our lead detective.”
She could have sworn Ethan growled over the phone. It was unbecoming of a Deputy Director.
“WHAT?” Ethan finally got out.
Callen started laughing at the look on Elizabeth’s face.
“Someone isn’t getting lucky at the B&B. ‘The Big Easy’ won’t be so easy for you, Callen James.”
“No screwing with the Native,” Ethan demanded. “Literally! Hands off.”
She laughed. “Like I even thought that was an option. Chill, boss man. He has the hots for our head tech. They were chasing beetles together.”
There was a pause. “Why were they chasing beetles, and please tell me that’s not a euphemism for something sexual? If it’s the latter, don’t tell me. It sounds kinky.”
She snorted.
Then she told him what happened.
“WHAT?” he blurted again.
You could tell how dire the situation by how many times Ethan was caught off guard in a conversation.
This was a good one.
“Are you more angry that they jacked with the remains or that I had to raise hell?”
“Uh, the remains, Lyzee. You raising hell is the common practice. That’s something I’m accustomed to and expect.”
He had to know.
“Did we win our bet? Did she piss off the lead detective?”
Yeah, Callen had more bad news.
“Not exactly. She’s letting him assist us. He’s taking day shift with us, and his partner has the night shift.”
“WHAT?”
Elizabeth was now officially snickering. That was the third time he’d said that, and she loved every second of it. “I see tats in your future.”
If that’s what it took to keep his wife safe, she could draw on him with a Sharpie. “Just don’t piss off anyone with a gun.”
Yeah, that was probably a good idea.
Elizabeth had more bad news. “Uh, honey, we still have an issue.”
“Oh, Christ. This job is going to kill me.” He really hated when she called him that.
“I have bones. I need Tony.”
He got silent.
“Uh, hello?”
“I’m emailing him. He’ll be there by morning.”
That was it?
Her budget-orientated husband wasn’t going to hem and haw over giving her another doctor in the field?
Really?
She should have just snuck him onto the jet. It would have saved fuel.
“What about Gabe?”
Ethan didn’t give a shit. Technically, Elizabeth didn’t answer to him, but still. It was after hours, and he’d figure something out.
“You handle the bones, and I’ll handle the guy in the big office. It’s the least I can do. Besides, what’s he going to do? Fire us?”
There was laughter. “He’s sadistic. You better pray he’s in a good mood.”
“I’ll hit him where it counts.”
“The nuts?”
Ethan laughed. “Uh, I was thinking something bigger, like the budget. I’ll find the money. It’s not like I’ll be sleeping tonight anyway.”
“Worried?” Callen asked.
“Yeah, a little. I hate being apart from both of you. I feel…”
“Lost?”
“Empty?” Callen added.
“Alone?” Elizabeth offered.
“Yes, yes, and definitely yes.”
Then he told his partners about Wyler. “I need to get out of here before the Blackhawk love shack starts shimmying.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Well, I know if his sons take after him, we better pray his room is soundproofed. I’ll start getting ready to call her mom.”
Both men snorted.
There was nothing wrong with the Blackhawk woman molestation gene. It worked for them.
Hell!
It was a thing of pride for the men in their family.
“Will you kiss the kids for us, Cowboy?” she asked.
“I’ve already done it a million times, and I’ll be sending pictures later, especially for Chris.”
“Thanks, handsome. He’s going to need it. This one is going to be a test to see if he’s doing okay or not.”
“Well, is he?”
She didn’t say anything.
“Baby?”
“I have this bad feeling, Ethan, and you know how my gut is. Chris is too calm, but I can see the control slipping.”
Callen agreed. “It’s like he’s going to lose it. He’s trying so hard to keep it in that it’s g
oing to blow. It’s only a matter of time.”
“I can remand him to therapy.”
She was aware, but if they did that, there was a chance he’d hate them.
He needed his family.
They were all that was holding back the meltdown. Chris didn’t have anyone else in his life at this point. They couldn’t let him slip away.
Callen told them about the deal he’d made with the man. He spilled the beans about teaching him to fight. He had to. The boss needed to know. This was what he warned Chris about when they had their first lesson.
If it came up, he had to share it with them.
There was no way he’d let them walk into this blind, catching them off guard.
It wasn’t happening.
“That’s not good.”
Ethan was aware.
“When this is over, he’s going to have to have a psych evaluation and not that BS one that they give everyone. I want Doctor Gaines here, and she’s going to get to the heart of the matter.”
Elizabeth didn’t disagree.
She’d been trying to buy Chris time, standing between him and Ethan, but she was out of maneuvering room.
It sucked both ways.
She was between a rock and a hard place on this one. On one hand, she felt the need to protect Chris, but on the other, she wanted to slap the stubborn out of him. She had to let Ethan do his job, despite the relationship with the man in question.
Ethan was the boss, and what he said went. There was no longer a vote between them. Elizabeth had willingly stepped back to do what she did best.
Solve things.
“We’re here,” Callen said, pointing at the hotel in ‘The Quarter’. It was a red brick building, and it didn’t look like a normal hotel. It was only three stories and had quaint balconies. It overlooked the busiest street in town.
This was going to be fun.
“Take care of our woman,” Ethan said. “I’m going to handle some things here, and I’m going to bed early. Tomorrow is going to be a long day for me. I have back to back meetings, and one with Gabe and the President.”
They knew he was buried.
“I love you, Ethan,” she offered. “You’re half my heart. Please be safe.”
His heart skipped.
“I love you, bro,” Callen said. “Don’t worry about us. I’ve got Lyzee’s back.”
Blood Shall Run (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 15) Page 10
