All the King's Henchmen

by Morgan Kelley

  Only, he wasn’t in the mood to do this dance.

  Not today.

  Not on a good day.

  He stared at the woman and measured her up. Ethan was damn good at reading people. This woman was desperate. He’d seen her when he came in, and she’d altered her clothing.

  She was flashing tits—with her now, even lower button-down shirt, she was showing leg—with her hiked skirt, and there was no way it was a coincidence. If she thought sex would break either of them, she should be left alone with their wives for five minutes.

  That would be a whole lot of breaking—as in her face and limbs.

  “We’re talking about the information you spread all over DC about the president and my wife.”

  “Oh, are you willing to go on the record?” she asked, pulling out her phone and hitting the button.

  “No. We simply want to know where you found your information.”

  “I get lucky like that. Would you like to be that lucky, Director Blackhawk?”

  The other reason he didn’t like this woman was she reminded him of the flight attendant he’d degraded himself with to move up the FBI ladder. She was that straw-haired blonde with those long red claws.

  Hell, no!

  Yeah, she wasn’t worth a smile let alone him flirting.

  “So, you do have something.”

  Her smile faded, but only momentarily. She rebounded and dug in.

  “Yes, what’s it worth to you?” she asked, crossing and uncrossing her legs again.

  “What do you want?”

  She smiled.

  “I want you to confirm he’s dead, and that your wife is, indeed, working this case. That’s all. Nothing I don’t already have.”

  “You have to give us the information since it could be pertinent.”

  “To an investigation?”

  Gabe had enough.

  “Raphael,” he called, and his personal security stepped forward.

  “Yes, Director?”

  “Take her in for questioning. She’s obstructing justice. Take her phone, cuff her, and send her to a holding room at the Hoover Building. She’s irritating me.”

  The woman was outraged.

  “I didn’t obstruct anything!”

  “Technically, you’re trying to bribe two Federal officials,” Gabe stated. “Your mistake was ‘what’s it worth to you’?” he stated. “That’s where you went too far.”

  Raphael turned her around, and much to the horror of the people around her, she was cuffed.

  And led away.

  “You ruined my fun,” Ethan stated. “I was just getting started.”

  He laughed.

  “I owed your wife one. She loves browbeating a reporter to get what she wants. She’s my, I’m sorry, gift.”

  He laughed.

  “Yes, yes, she does.”

  “We can hold her for twenty-four hours. She knew details of the case. That makes her a suspect.”

  He laughed.

  No, a motive made her a suspect, and that reporter had zero motive. He’d bet money on it.

  “You’re evil.”

  Gabe was aware. He knew the woman was innocent. Only, he didn’t care. At this point, it was a dog-eat-dog world in DC, and he was going to make sure his ass stayed bite-free.

  Especially now.

  * * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *

  The news of his death was all over the news. Certainly, this would get the outcome they wanted.

  This would slow the Feds down.

  It was genius. Only, it wasn’t the end. This was only the tip of the iceberg as to what was coming.

  The people who knew, or could give them information, had to die.

  There was no way around it.

  It was the best way to bury these atrocities forever.

  It was the best way to bury him.

  In a grave.

  With his shame.

  And it would happen.

  It was only a matter of time.

  * * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *

  White House

  As they were preparing to go in, Ethan sent his wife a text to give her a heads-up. Blackhawk needed her to know what Gabe had left for her at the office so she could clear some time to interview a reporter.

  Yes, he could do it.

  Yes, he could break Suri.

  Only, Gabe was right.

  This was like giving his wife flowers or a piece of jewelry. Nothing made Elizabeth happier than kicking the hell out of an asshole reporter—one who had tried to show off her woman britches by crossing and uncrossing her legs.

  Yeah, it would be a free-for-all.

  So, Ethan would make sure she handled it, and they would get to the bottom of it. Someone leaked information.

  If they could trace the information back to the person who leaked it, they might have a fighting chance.

  As he rattled off his text, he was smiling.

  ‘I have something for you at the office. It’s my little thank you for last night. Someone gets to browbeat a reporter. You can thank me later…gratuitously like you did last night.’

  He hit send, and it didn’t take long for him to get a reply back.

  ‘Oh. Director Blackhawk, I promise to be a bad girl all over again. Want me to be in your lap? I think your handprint is still on my ass. Maybe you can make out with Callen again for me. I like his lips on your body.’

  Blackhawk would do anything for his wife and to get back to that sexy escapade?

  Yeah, anything.

  “You’re smiling,” Gabe stated.

  “Dirty text from my wife,” he stated.

  Gabe grinned.

  “Do tell, Ethan. What did the incomparable Miss Kitty do now?” he asked. “Livy was all riled up last night too.”

  Ethan laughed.

  “I can bet my night was hotter.”

  Gabe grinned.

  “Shower sex, whipped cream, and fuzzy cuffs.”

  Ethan laughed his ass off. Gabe was so vanilla that it was amusing as hell.

  “Fuzzy cuffs?”

  While they didn’t often talk about their conquests, sometimes, the boys had to be boys.

  He handed him his phone so he could read the text for himself.

  Gabe was smiling until he did.

  “Jesus! You were making out with your brother?” he asked, staring at him. “You’re brothers!”

  “Half. The lower half.”

  Gabe stared at him. “How do you look all reserved and straight-laced, but then when you’re not at work you’re practicing the Devil’s work?”

  He snorted.

  “My wife doesn’t like to be called that.”

  Gabe laughed.

  As they pulled up to the gate, they both got serious the second they weren’t stopped at the checkpoint. Well, it was good to see that some things were back to normal.

  On the way up the drive, and toward the White House, both men were ready for anything the vice president threw at them.

  When they parked, and security opened the doors for them, there was no one there.

  “Oh, he wants us to sweat it,” Gabe stated. “This is a play from Damian Dean’s sick book. He wants us to be freaked-out and worried.”

  That was fine by him.

  “I’m not either of those things,” Ethan admitted. “What I am is pissed. This mess has painted a bull’s-eye on the White House, and my wife. She’s in someone’s crosshairs. While the killer isn’t gunning for her, she’s still in danger. That makes me a bit testy.”

  Gabe was aware.

  “The media will skewer her over this. I did the profile, and she’s going to be the hero or the villain. If she ends up the villain, I’m going to go shit nuts on the vice president.”

  Great.

  There was his warning. Gabe knew his deputy director didn’t exaggerate. If Ethan said he was going to do something, you could take it to the bank.

  “Let’s get this over with,” Gabe stated. “I wan
t to make sure we get back to the office. While we’re out here, the media will be making shit up as they go.”

  Yeah, especially since they’d had people follow their limo toward the White House, they both knew that was a fact. While the media didn’t know what was going on, with them, they’d toss out anything to get readers.

  They didn’t care.

  And that sucked.

  As Secret Service, and a few Marines, escorted them to the Oval Office, there were glares from everyone who worked there. It was as if they were the enemy.

  Really?

  Jesus.

  These people actually thought the FBI had dropped the ball on this one. This…this mess, it was going to ruin their working relationship.

  Gabe could tell.

  There were few things that would be able to clear it up—short of a miracle or a president who liked them.

  At the Oval Office, they were escorted in as the vice president had his hand on a Bible and was officially swearing in for his new office. It looked like someone was going to be moving up to the White House and big office now.

  Yeah, that was convenient.

  In fact, so was the fact that the man, and his wife were smiling like the cats who swallowed a whole cage of canaries.

  Ethan’s hair on his arms stood. What if his wife was overlooking this? What if the simplest explanation was the most accurate one?

  “Oh, welcome,” Gordon stated when he’d noticed they were there. “Thank you for coming.”

  Gabe stared at him like he was a few bricks short of a wall. Uh, it wasn’t like they were invited to a freaking party.

  Come?

  They’d been ordered there by the man early that morning or they were going to their own career executions. Was he kidding them?

  Was he bipolar?

  “Have a seat,” Gordon stated, pointing at the two couches in the Oval Office that faced each other.

  They waited for the Second Lady…err…First Lady part two to have a seat.

  “You remember my wife, Sofia, right?” Gordon asked, making the introductions.

  Truth be told, they didn’t know much about Sofia Downing. She didn’t like Washington, and she didn’t like playing hostess when the vice president was in charge of functions.

  Only, she was smiling now.

  They each leaned across the table to shake her hand. She smiled brightly at them.

  “Gentlemen, I saw you both at the party Sunday night. Your wives looked lovely. Elizabeth’s dress was spectacular. You’ll have to give me the designer’s name.”

  Ethan was waiting for the trap.

  He smelled a setup, and it was only a matter of minutes before they were stuck in some mess—he was sure of it. In fact, he’d bet on it. They were conditioned to expect the worst with Damian and his antics.

  They ignored the idle chitchat.

  “Sir, you called us here?” Gabe asked.

  “You have a mess,” he stated calmly. “Someone from your office leaked this, and we had to bump up my swearing in, and regroup. I thought that you said she was your best investigator.”

  Ethan bristled.

  What?

  He’d kidnapped her because she was their best investigator, and now he was going to play it like that never happened?

  WHAT?

  “Uh, beg your pardon, Mr. President,” Gabe began, “but you dragged Elizabeth into this when you had her abducted to work this case. Remember?”

  He laughed.

  “Oh, so I did. I hope you forget that little tidbit. I’m president now, and I have to fix a lot of things that have gone wrong in the government. I was just talking to my Sofia, and she said this might be something that was meant to be. I can clean up the Federal government.”

  Okay.

  This was…weird. The man was calm as hell, like the Bible had been possessed, and he was sporting a new personality. It was like they’d fallen into a parallel universe.

  “Okay, sir, then why are we here?”

  “I’d like an update and why this leaked from the Hoover Building? There was a time when the FBI was synonymous with getting it done. Now…not so much. I see changes coming to the ranks,” Gordon stated.

  And there it was.

  Oh, no he did not just throw down that kind of threatening hint that they were about to lose their jobs. There was no freaking way he was that crazy.

  Did this man, someone who had two abductions set up, actually try to blame the FBI for the shit that went down?

  A man who was derogatory and brutal?

  A hooker buying president?

  A rapist hopped up on Viagra?

  There was no possible way that this man expected them to forget about all that just because the man was dead. If that was his hope, they had news for him.

  It.

  Wasn’t.

  Happening.

  Ethan opened his mouth to give it to him, but instead, Gabe stopped him.

  “Since it appears you’ve had one hell of a brain fart,” Gabe began, “Let’s recap. You moved a body and destroyed a crime scene to cover-up your predecessor’s murder. You abducted two Feds, and you caused bodily harm to one. If you even try to play this game, Mr. President, where you make us your scapegoats, I will make sure the truth gets out.”

  The man’s smile was gone. It vanished by Gabe’s second sentence.

  “Are you threatening me?” Gordon asked. Gone was the calm and the niceties. In fact, Sofia didn’t look so happy either.

  Gabe didn’t say shit.

  This was a standoff.

  Finally, Gordon cracked.

  “Let’s just say that if I run and win the next election, there will be some restructuring going on in DC. I’m not happy, Gabriel, and you’ve been head of the FBI for too long now. Play along or move along. That’s my campaign slogan.”

  Ethan was horrified.

  Jesus.

  They had just been threatened by this man, and his wife was patting his arm like he’d just scored the game-winning goal at some weird-ass game.

  What?

  The?

  Fuck?

  Gabe wasn’t having it. He’d been part of DC for far too long to be intimidated by this pussy.

  He’d been shot at.

  He’d hunted criminals.

  He’d worked the Violent Crimes unit.

  Shit!

  He’d worked in the field with Elizabeth and her lunacy.

  THIS WAS NOTHING.

  Gabe was no stranger to danger or standing up for what was right. There was no way he was going down like this. He’d served the country admirably with only a few stumbles.

  “Oh, you’re clear, but see, the leak wasn’t on us, Gordon,” he said, dropping his title. He was NOT feeding into this man’s ego.

  NO WAY.

  They’d all had to do that with Damian, and his reign of terror was done.

  The man was nonplussed.

  “Oh, and how do you know that? Can you prove that someone on your team didn’t try to get some glory from this case?”

  Ethan was seconds from blowing. He could feel the tick in his cheek when he was just about out of patience.

  There was no doubt to who that comment was directed at, and it wasn’t cool to do it. She’d been dragged into this.

  She didn’t deserve this.

  Gabe was done too. It was time for the president two-point-oh to learn how HE ran the FBI.

  “If you’re referring to Elizabeth, let me assure you it wasn’t her. In fact, she’s been playing by your rules—up to now. You tied her hands by not allowing her to let her techs know who the body belonged to, and you tied her hands when you destroyed a crime scene.”

  He opened his mouth and Gabe shut him down. He was not finished.

  “Well, her hands aren’t tied now, and I’m going to unequivocally say that the chase is on. I’ll put my money on that pony any day. She’s mean, she’s smart, and she’s going to get to the bottom of this.”

  He didn’t speak.

/>   “Furthermore, Gordo, I don’t like to be threatened, and I don’t like to have smoke blown up my ass. I have one year left, according to you, and I’m going to make the best of it. Starting with how someone in this building leaked intel to the media. Was it someone protecting you?”

  He looked shocked that someone would even dare accuse him of being the bad apple.

  “Pardon? Me? I can’t take a leak without a babysitter, so it couldn’t be me. The only people who come and go around here, or around that venue, were the Secret Service and the Capitol police. Who, I can assure you, are the epitome of trustworthy.”

  Gabe wasn’t done.

  This battle was just beginning, and he was willing to go all in to clean up his town. Yes, it was his. He’d bled for DC, he’d fought for DC, and he would go down fighting for it too.

  “The killer screwed-up. See, I didn’t catch it myself since I wasn’t privy to everything. They found the hooker last night.”

  “Yes, as the media stated.”

  “Only, the person who leaked it also leaked the murder weapon. A baton.”

  “And?”

  “My people didn’t do the autopsy last night. The president’s prostitute wasn’t even unbagged until this morning—and in front of me. Elizabeth, while generally a workaholic and predictable, didn’t follow through with her ‘beat her team into the ground’ methodology. She gave them the night off, and that meant that NO ONE was in the office last night to figure out how the hooker was killed.”

  The man stared at him.

  It clearly caught him off guard.

  “Really?”

  Ethan spoke up.

  “We stayed at the Four Seasons last night. My wife and I had an argument about this whole case, and she showed up there after the hooker was found. She, Callen, and I slept there. We were too tired to drive home.”

  He listened.

  “Our ME’s dropped the body and left.”

  Ethan showed them the logout time where Chris entered his password to lock Autopsy One. The logs showed no one reentered.

  “She wasn’t touched,” Gabe stated. “The killer didn’t know that. He or she assumed that Elizabeth would go into the night with it like you just did…”