“Wyler, you aren’t going anywhere,” she demanded, the blood was slowing, but still was bubbling through her fingers.
“Please call me Dad,” he whispered.
Elizabeth’s eyes filled with tears as she heard the words, and now he had to live. He’d just made himself part of her life. Kissing him on the cheek she looked into his eyes. “Damn you, Dad. You can’t leave us yet!” Leaning down, she whispered in his ear and tried to convince him to fight longer.
He nodded and closed his eyes.
The sirens wailed and Elizabeth looked over her shoulder as the EMTs entered the room. “Hurry,” she yelled, moving off his body. As they started working on him, she ran outside to the front of the house. A crowd was gathering at the sound of the ambulance sirens and the FBI lights still flashing on their vehicle.
“Which way to the quarry?” she asked one of the tribe members.
“One mile that way,” he pointed north, noticing her jeans and hands were covered in blood.
Elizabeth pulled her gun and started after her husband and brother-in-law. It was time to save her family and put a killer in his grave. Thomas Mason messed with the wrong woman. Her family was paramount, and she was going to keep them safe and keep her promise to Timothy no matter what.
This ended here and now.
Four Blackhawks were coming home, if she had anything to say about it.
Ethan and his brother crouched in the tree line watching the man beside their grandfather. He obviously didn’t know they had found them this quickly. Their brother was holding a gun at their grandfather’s back, and he stood behind the man protectively. There was no way to make a clear shot, not without risking his grandfather’s life.
“What do we do?”
Ethan Blackhawk sincerely wished they’d thought to put on vests this morning. “How good is your aim?”
“Really good, why?” He looked worried and didn’t like that question at all.
“I’m going to go into the quarry. You need to cover me.”
Callen touched his arm. “Be careful and don’t do anything stupid, you have a child coming.” Now he fully understood why his brother was called ‘Cowboy’.
“Just cover me.” He pulled his gun and started moving into the opening, giving his brother the ultimate trust, he was his back up. “Hey Thomas, let him go! You wanted me here, and here I am.”
He was surprised; his brother had found him already. “You move fast, Ethan. It must be the Blackhawk blood or is it your smart wife? Where’s your brother?”
Blackhawk needed to remain in control, and he wasn’t going to be baited by the reference of his wife. “Don’t you mean our brother? That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? It all comes down to all three of us being Blackhawks.”
“Come on out, Callen, or I kill Grandfather right now,” he said, pointing the gun over his grandfather’s shoulder and firing a round at his brother’s feet. “I’m serious, dead serious.”
Whitefox stood in the tree line, and moved into the clearing. His own gun was drawn and trained on the man that was their brother. If he even made a move to kill his brother, he was going to make the shot to end his life. Hopefully Timothy Blackhawk wouldn’t move. “You have us both here, so now let granddad go,” he shouted, moving to stand beside his brother in solidarity.
“First we talk, and then a Blackhawk dies.”
* * *
Elizabeth did the mile in less than ten minutes; she sat in the trees and watched her husband and Callen, as they stood in the clearing with their insane half-brother. She watched him waving his arm around, and how unhinged he looked. Someone was going to die in that clearing, and she had a sick feeling it was going to be someone in her family.
She turned on her laser and waited until the right moment to take her shot.
Timing was going to be everything, and she just needed to make sure she did it right the first time.
* * *
Blackhawk knew it was going to go bad. He had seen assignments that ended this way. They didn’t have a clear shot at the suspect, because of a shield. He kept his gun trained on his murderous brother, the best he could, but his movements were erratic.
“If you want to talk to us, go ahead and talk.”
“You both have no idea what it’s like to be invisible. Our father abandoned me and my mother for you both.”
Blackhawk laughed. “You think we weren’t abandoned, Thomas? You think our father stuck around for us? The man you’re holding the gun on is the man that raised us both, and he would have taken you in too, had Timothy known.”
“My mother said he didn’t want me.”
“I didn’t know about you, Thomas,” said Timothy Blackhawk. “I would have welcomed you had I known. I love my boys.”
“Your mother changed her last name, Thomas,” Whitefox shouted. “Her real last name was Teldar.”
“You lie!”
“It’s the truth. She changed her last name and took you so we wouldn’t ever know about you. She moved you to a new place and took the last name Mason. Wyler couldn’t find you if he even had a clue you existed. Your mother took you and made you invisible.”
“No she didn’t!” Thomas Mason screamed in rage at them discussing his mother.
“Even if our father found out about you, or knew about you, he wouldn’t have found you,” added Blackhawk.
Thomas Mason was confused. He didn’t know if they were lying. They had to be lying. “My mother wouldn’t lie to me.”
“Oh she lied. Our father wouldn’t have cared and maybe that part is true, but the man you’re threatening would have. Timothy would’ve cared and raised you as one of us.”
Whitefox yelled to the man. “You’d have been a Blackhawk.”
Thomas Mason screamed in fury. “Put down both of your guns, or I kill him. NOW!” He pointed the gun at the base of Timothy Blackhawk’s skull. “I’m counting to five and then pulling the trigger.”
Ethan was trying to decide, his life for his grandfather and brother’s lives. Then he saw it, the flicker of red on Thomas Mason’s forehead. It was there then gone. He knew someone had his back. The FBI was there in the tree line. The quick show of the laser offered him reassurance.
“Put it down,” he whispered to his brother. “Okay, we’ll put them down if you let granddad go,” he yelled across the opening of the quarry.
Both men squatted down, their eyes never leaving the man holding the gun on them. “Okay, you got what you want, now let him go.”
Thomas Mason started laughing and shoved his grandfather out of the way and started towards his brother. “Now, you both die!”
Everyone jumped at the sound of the gunfire. There were two quick pops and Thomas Mason fell backwards onto the ground. Both men spun to face the general area of where the gunfire came from, and both were surprised as Elizabeth Blackhawk walked out of the trees.
Elizabeth’s gun was still trained on the man that was going to kill her family. There was no remorse as she willingly pulled the trigger. Two perfect shots, both to his chest, just in case the first one didn’t do the job.
“Hello boys, can anyone join this party?” she asked, walking up behind them gun still trained on the man. “Granddad, are you okay?” she asked calmly.
“Yes, Granddaughter,” he answered, as he brushed himself off.
“Holy shit, Elizabeth!” stated Whitefox. When he heard the shots, it was good that they didn’t move. His sister-in-law took the shots directly between them both, with no room to spare. He felt the air drag as the bullet flew between them. “Did you know she was there?” he asked his brother incredulously.
“After he told us to put down our weapons, I saw the flicker of her laser sight on his forehead and assumed it was the FBI. I didn’t know it was my wife. She usually doesn’t have a scope on her gun.”
Elizabeth stood over the bleeding man, and kicked his gun away from his body. She leaned down to look him in the eyes, ones that weren’t quite dead yet and had a
tiny bit of life remaining. “Game over, and you lose Thomas. You get to die a Mason and not a Blackhawk,” she paused. “By the way, Thomas, I’m pregnant with Ethan’s child. We’re giving birth to the first Blackhawk baby and another generation that you’ll never see.”
His body shook in rage at her words. There was a gasp of air, and he was gone.
Elizabeth holstered her gun and walked over to the men in her life. She saved three of them, but she wasn’t sure about the forth. “You better call this in, we need to get to the hospital, and find out how Wyler is doing.”
Elizabeth Blackhawk made no mention of the kill, or how vindicated she felt in the end. Once before in her past, she’d felt exactly like this. She knew deep down inside, she shouldn’t have welcomed the revenge again, but she was merely human. Elizabeth was an FBI agent first and foremost, but she had to be honest with her feelings. Killing the man that threatened her family didn't even make her flinch.
She walked ahead of the men into the woods. For now, she wanted to dwell on Wyler, and if they were destined to lose him.
“Is she going to be okay?” asked Whitefox, watching her roll out her shoulder as if it was stiff. He’d seen people shot and he’d seen death, but he’d never seen a woman do the kill. Let alone one he cared about.
“Our Elizabeth has morals that’s all,” said their grandfather. “If she didn’t then you should worry. Give her some time to adjust. I suspect she’ll be fine.” He thought back to the raven in his dream, watching and guarding the other bird as they walked in blood. Now he knew which one was the stronger.
None of the men commented on the blood on her hands, the visible or invisible.
Blackhawk was glad she made the kill. It was justified, and the report would clear her. Three witnesses would say he had intent to kill an FBI agent, an elderly man, and a civilian police chief.
Deep down, he wished he was the one that got to pull the trigger. Not for revenge, although that was there too, but to spare his wife the remorse. He certainly wouldn’t have any.
“Hey, Ethan, about that job offer?”
“Yeah, Callen?”
“I’ll take it.”
“You’re hired. After all this, consider today your job interview.”
All three men followed the only Blackhawk woman in their family away from the quarry.
It was time to wait in see if they were going to lose one of their own.
Wednesday evening
The waiting room was hectic, but not because of the Blackhawk family. There was hustle and bustle all around them, and yet they seemed to be trapped in slow motion, just barely moving forward as everything moved around them. All four Blackhawks sat in a row, waiting to find out if they were going to be celebrating or mourning one of their own.
The reports had been filed, and Elizabeth had been cleared immediately of the shooting by her boss, Gabriel Rothschild. He took her into her own office, closing the door and asking her one simple question.
Did she enjoy it?
And when she said no without hesitating, he handed her back her gun and badge and signed the paper putting her back on duty and in charge of FBI West.
The last time they’d had this conversation, she’d done it to save Livy. They never spoke of it, and it was for the best in his opinion. When the Director of the FBI covered for an agent that broke the law, it was best to just keep it silent.
In the time he had to see the office being set up and prepped to be fully staffed, Gabe realized one thing. He had indeed picked good leaders.
Where Elizabeth was tough and like a drill sergeant, she gave the people under her a good example to follow. Ethan Blackhawk on the other hand was the quiet one and more the backbone of the team. He made sure everything was done on time and to the rules. It seemed the cowboy had become a rules man after all. Both Blackhawks had earned the job as Directors of FBI West, and he was proud of both of them.
As they all sat there, her head on her husband’s shoulder, while holding the older man’s hand in reassurance, she firmly believed things happened because of fate. Gabe had sent Ethan to her, and they chose to come back here and now the family was healed. They were just waiting for the last member to make it back to the living side of it all.
“So, you both are done. There’s no more field work for either of you. I see that you hired the rest of your lab staff and your agents and you’re both ready to just be the boss.”
Both Blackhawks laughed.
“Did I miss something funny in that statement?” asked Gabe.
“We’re staying in the field,” Ethan Blackhawk answered. “Right, baby?”
“Oh yeah, we are.”
Gabe was perplexed. “I thought you both wanted this job to stay out of danger?”
Elizabeth kissed her husband’s cheek. “We did, and then we still got shot at, abducted, and had our lives placed in peril. If we stay in the field, at least we know what’s coming.”
“Can we still be in the field and run FBI West?”
Gabe didn’t see why not, but he wasn’t sure they were making a good choice. “You can, but Elizabeth you’re pregnant and Ethan, you’re going to make yourself nuts watching her risk her life.”
“We aren’t saying we’re going out tomorrow, Gabe. It may not be until she has the baby, but at some point, playing desk emperor is going to lose its luster for both of us. We did it for a month straight and trust me we missed the field.”
“Don’t you miss it Gabe?” asked Elizabeth, smiling at her friend.
He thought about it for a second. “Very much,” he answered, and he absolutely did. If his wife would let him, he’d be back out on assignment in a heartbeat. “Just promise me that you both will go out together and watch each other’s backs?”
Now, Callen snickered. “Yeah, I think I’ll have to intervene and watch those two. They’re a menace together. I can be the calm logical one in the family.”
Both Blackhawks stared at him before breaking down into laughter.
“You can do that, Cal,” she said, winking at him. “I trust you to have my back any day.”
Ethan had to agree. It was good to have his brother back in his life. “Mind too, bro.”
“It looks like that solves it, Gabe. We have it all under control.” She offered both men a fist bump. “Right boys?”
“Deal, baby,” Ethan answered.
Callen grinned, finally finding what he’d been long missing- a family that loved him. “Deal.”
“Team Blackhawk is going to get the office up and running, get Callen off to training, and then regroup and see what comes up. We’ll pick and choose what we take since we can, but we have to be who we are inside. That’s FBI agents and part time directors.”
Gabe understood, and as he was about to say as much, the doctor walked in, stopping in front of them. “Blackhawk family?”
“Yes!” They all said together, because that’s what they all were. From the patriarch, the sons and even one married into the mix. All of them were in one shape or form a Blackhawk to the core.
“I’m Doctor Hajin, the surgeon, and Wyler is out of surgery. We fixed the knick to his heart and he should be okay. The next twenty four hours are the most critical. If he pulls through those, he’ll be back on his feet before too long.”
“Can we see him?” asked his father.
“Are you all family?”
Everyone but Gabe nodded.
“Through those doors, and the nurse will be waiting for you,” he turned and left the family, as they began hugging each and celebrating the miracle that they were just handed.
There would be no mourning today, only celebration.
Inside Wyler’s room he lay in his bed, tubes everywhere and dripping IVs. His family stood above him, and each placed a hand on his body in silent support. He was going to pull through, and they were all going to have a long road back to being cohesive. They all burned bridges, but with the help of Elizabeth, they were going to build them back stronger and better. It
was time for all the Blackhawks to come together and be a unified front.
New and big things were on the horizon, and they’d face them together.
When Wyler’s eyes fluttered open, he stared at all four of his family standing above him and emotion swamped him. Everyone was there, his two sons, his pregnant daughter-in-law, and his father. His eyes filled with tears and began to roll down his cheeks. Elizabeth wiped them for him and then laid a kiss on his lips.
“Told you that you weren’t going to die, Dad,” she whispered in his ear. “I always keep my promises to the Blackhawk men.”
He nodded slightly, and then whispered something in her ear that made her smile.
Timothy touched his forehead and spoke in a language that no one there but the eldest Blackhawks understood. When he released him, he took a pouch from his neck and placed it in his son’s hand. “Welcome home, Wyler,” he said, and he didn’t mean to a physical home but back to the family.
Callen Whitefox leaned over his dad, looking him in the eyes. “I leave for FBI qualification tomorrow, but when I get back we’ll finish talking and fixing us,” he said, kissing him on the forehead. “Bye Dad. I love you.”
Again his eyes filled.
Ethan went last and put his hand on his father’s face, wiping the tear with his thumb. “When you get out of here, we’re having Elizabeth’s Turkey Bash at our house.”
Wyler nodded, too choked up to speak.
“I love you, Dad,” he said, and for the first time in thirty seven years, he meant it completely and with all his heart. “Now get some rest.”
Both Blackhawks and Callen Whitefox left the older man with his son and headed out of the hospital. Elizabeth linked her arm through her husband and her brother-in-law’s arms, joining them as one.
“What did my father say to you?” asked Blackhawk curiously.
Elizabeth laughed. “When he was lying on the couch bleeding, I promised him if he survived he could be in our wedding. He told me that was the only reason he fought so hard to live. Well, that and to see his first grandchild born.”
Sacred Burial Grounds (An FBI Romance Thriller (book 2)) Page 54
