That said it all.
“Hilda is a beautiful soul. She’s this do-gooder who believes in people, recycling, and saving the world. I met her three months ago. I fell hard.”
“And?”
“I wanted him dead.”
Well, someone got their wish.
“What happened?”
“She called me Friday. I was in court. I didn’t get the call. When I finally did, I rushed over. She was sobbing. She wouldn’t tell me what happened, but I knew it was bad.”
Elizabeth saw the ice thaw. Now there was pain.
“He raped her! She won’t say the words out loud. I think if she does, she knows I’ll kill him. I’ll kill him for hurting women.”
“Have you seen the news?” Elizabeth asked.
“No, I was with Hilda this morning, and then I got the call to come here. Why?”
“He’s dead, and so is a hooker.”
“Jesus. I hope she doesn’t get sick from him. I hate that man. I’m so glad he’s dead. Someone saved me the work.”
Well, the man clearly wasn’t thinking straight as an attorney. He’d pretty much just owned up to motive. Now she needed means and opportunity.
Could it be this simple?
“Where were you all weekend?” she asked, knowing she should Mirandize him. If he copped to it, she’d take the hit. The man wasn’t thinking straight, and that was going to either help them or hurt them. If he owned it, they could work to prove it outside his confession.
As if the switch was flipped, he calmed down. Rutherford took a deep breath.
“I wouldn’t kill him. Really. I know what you’re thinking, and I wasn’t near the president.”
That would be for her to decide.
“Spill it.”
“Friday night, I was with Hilda. I refused to leave her side. She spent most of it crying and sitting in the bottom of the shower. I couldn’t leave her.”
“And the rest of the weekend?” she asked.
“Saturday afternoon, I left for a couple of hours. My sister’s youngest, the empty nest baby, had a birthday. I was going to take Hilda to meet them, but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t leave the house. I was going to stay, but she insisted I go. I called her a few times while I was there.”
“And?”
He played it back in his head.
“I left there at four and returned back to her place. I didn’t leave her side from then until this morning. I called in yesterday since we closed our case on Friday. Today is my first day back to work. You can check all of this out.”
Oh, she would.
“Can I see your phone? The personal one?”
He pulled it from his briefcase and unlocked it. He handed it to her, and she began flipping.
In it, she found the calls that fit his timeline. Still, that didn’t tell them if he was being honest. He could have met with someone to do the deed.
“Can I have your work phone?”
He stopped her.
“No, not my DOJ phone, Director. I work on sensitive cases. Without a warrant, or clearance from the Department of Justice, I can’t hand it over. I want to help.”
She pushed.
“He has raped a few women. Hilda isn’t the first. Right now, I need to get them justice.”
“I hope you do, like I hope he burns in Hell. Only, as an attorney, I know that this is going to be one hell of a mess. You need to play it by the books. Get a warrant, and it’s yours. While he’s dead and can’t get an attorney to call ‘witch hunt’, the media will.”
She was aware.
Gabe took over.
Unfortunately, the man was right.
“We have to do this by the letter of the law. The media was handed a leak, and it’s a mess. We don’t need more mess.”
Rutherford understood.
“I’ll recuse myself if you find the killer. The DOJ is going to want to handle this one. If you bring this person in, I won’t touch the case.”
Well, there was that.
IF he wasn’t the killer. Elizabeth wasn’t sure yet.
“Ethan, I need a favor,” Rutherford asked. “We’ve worked together on cases, and we have a working rapport.”
“Yes?”
“Can we keep her rape quiet?” he asked. “She’s not handling it well. I don’t want this out. I know that sounds horrible. If it were up to me, I’d be picketing the White House, making sure the world knew this went down. Only, it’s not my cross to carry. Hilda is struggling. Can you keep her name out of it?”
To her, that played both ways.
She’d been raped, and Elizabeth got that, BUT it also meant he would stay out of the limelight too. Was there a reason for that?
She hated being over-the-top suspicious, but it was something that she had to consider.
“Were you invited to the part on Sunday?” she asked before answering his question.
“We were. I was Hilda’s plus one. We didn’t attend. She couldn’t face him, and neither could I. Honestly, I would have kicked his ass.”
And now they had opportunity.
All she had to work on was means.
Unfortunately for this man, he was really moving to the top of the list.
Ethan knew what he wanted to hear, but it wasn’t up to him.
“My wife has to make the call about her name staying out of this. It’s her case.”
She didn’t make him wait.
“I think it’s feasible to keep the senator’s name out of this,” she stated. “You should go check on her.”
Yeah, she was done.
“We’ll work on that warrant, Mr. Carter,” she stated.
The man stood.
“Can you tell me if she’s in danger?” he asked. “Should I be worried that this killer will try to hurt her?”
She didn’t know.
From the outside, no, but she’d learned that when chasing cuckoos, you didn’t always have a definite answer. They could switch it up.
“I’d keep an eye on her. The other victim, off the record, had been sleeping with him, and we don’t know why she was killed. She may have known something.”
He looked worried.
“Jesus! I have to get to her place.”
No one there blamed him. If it had been anyone they loved, they would be just as frazzled.
Only, was it an act?
That was what she had to find out.
“I’m out of here.”
They watched him race out, and Gabe pointed toward the door. Ethan closed it. When he did, Elizabeth hopped off of his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a chocolate bar.
“HEY!”
“I am skipping lunch. Oatmeal does suck.”
Callen laughed as she came over and plopped down in his lap to listen to whatever it was Gabe had to say.
“Before you start…,” she began, knowing that there was a huge pink elephant in the room, and she couldn’t ignore it. Were they insane to think she missed it?
“Yes?” Ethan asked.
“What did you mean the president threatened your jobs?” she asked. “I really hope you’re shitting me. I didn’t miss that little detail.”
Oh, they weren’t surprised.
Elizabeth rarely missed anything.
“Yes, baby, he did.”
They told her about it, and how Gordon had called open season on the FBI—specifically the upper management. They told her how he’d thought she was the leak, and how the man was a little too happy about the prospect of restructuring the FBI.
Elizabeth shared her absconded candy with her husbands.
“He’s a bag of dicks too.”
Oh, they were aware.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“Well, he’s my number one suspect,” Gabe stated. “I think he was a little too joyous to be moving on up the career ladder. Could he be the killer?”
She thought about Ethan’s profile.
“Could he be?” she asked him.
“Here’s t
he thing. Yes, I’m sure he could have killed him for his job, but he couldn’t kill the hooker. Gordon can’t move without an entourage.”
He had a point.
“The motive behind this is going to be based in violence,” Elizabeth stated. “My lead suspect is Rutherford. He’s the one it points at. While we have Harmony chasing the ex-boyfriend lead, can a man wait six years to get even?”
Ethan shook his head.
“I couldn’t.”
“Callen?”
“Nope. I would have lost it. You were abducted, and I wanted blood. If someone violated you? I’d go on a killing spree. Waiting until Sunday is viable. We don’t know if he actually showed up.”
“And we won’t,” Gabe stated. “We just burned the bridge to the White House. No Secret Service agent is going to talk to us. I hope you got all your interviews in.”
She did too.
Alex and Noah had better get their shit done.
“I can…”
Ethan stopped her.
“No. You cannot go there, baby. He’s gunning for us, and after the press conference, it’s an all-out war in DC. We’re talking the Wild West—shoot-out included.”
She got it.
This was going to be about digging into the facts, and hopefully, getting a warrant for the man’s phone.
“Can we pull some favors for a warrant?”
Gabe wasn’t sure.
“All of the people we could use are tied to the DOJ. They won’t help. You’re going to need to find evidence and do it the old-fashioned way—groveling to a judge.”
Awesome.
Her job sucked.
Then she recalled what might help rattle the killer’s cage.
“About this press conference,” Elizabeth stated. “What do you want me to do? What I want to do is make them cry for threatening my husband’s job.”
Gabe and Ethan had discussed it. If they were going down, they were going down in a blaze of glory. If they lost their jobs, there was no doubt if Gordon was reelected, that Elizabeth and Callen would be gone too.
Honestly, they had nothing to lose.
“I want you to tell them everything,” Gabe stated. “We are going with honest and open.”
They all stared at him.
“Transparency? From a Federal agency?” she asked. “Do you have a fever?”
He roared with laughter.
Yeah, he just might have one.
“I personally wouldn’t tell the media you were abducted. I would hold that.”
“Why?”
“We need to have some leverage against the White House. Ease up on the makeup. Let them wonder who kicked the hell out of you. Let them put two and two together. If they can’t hit the target, we know they’ll make up some really good shit that terrorizes Gordon Downing.”
Yeah, she could play it that way, but she wanted to be honest. What to do?
God!
She didn’t want to carry a lie on her shoulders.
“It’s your call,” Ethan stated, lightening the load for her. “We have your back.”
“This is going to be a shitstorm,” Callen stated. “We’re going to put the target on her back. It’s already on her front, Gabe,” he added. “I don’t like it.”
Neither did Gabe, but they had to make sure this was taken care of, and NO ONE threatened the FBI. Until he could come up with a better plan, they had to do it.
Ethan agreed.
“We are playing with fire.”
Gabe understood their hesitation, but something had to be done.
“I’m sick of the nonsense,” he stated.
Yeah, they all were.
“I want the White House to know we are done being their whipping boy for the nonsense in that place. This is a new day, and the FBI is not going to be used as his weapon or anyone else’s.”
She was good with that.
“Plus, don’t you think it will freak-out the killer if she goes on TV?”
She waved her hand.
“She’s right here. Maybe you should ask HER what she thinks of this.”
They all stared at her.
“I say do it, but you know this is going to cause the killer to escalate.”
Callen and Gabe glanced over at Ethan to see if he agreed with that.
“Well?” Callen asked.
“Yes, he will. Right now, this is about revenge. This isn’t about just killing the president. Someone is stirred up.”
“Why?” she asked.
“What makes a person kill?”
“Money, sex, greed, or love.”
He smiled.
“Go with any or all of those. In fact, I’d go with love. You have a cop whose girlfriend was raped. You have a lawyer whose girlfriend was assaulted. That’s a powerful motivator.”
“Clearly, I’ve missed something,” Gabe said. “Who else did he rape?” he asked.
They told Gabe about Harmony, and her now ex, Scott Rogers.
“She is interviewing him today,” she added.
“Good. I want to know what’s going on. Capitol cops carry metal batons.”
Yeah, they were aware.
“Maybe our killer screwed-up,” she stated.
They could only hope.
“It’s all a little too coincidental that Senator Forbes is raped on Friday, and the president is dead on Sunday.”
They agreed.
“Maybe we should research the Department of Justice?” Callen asked. “They will love us for that,” he added sarcastically. “How could that go wrong?”
They were all aware that this was a slippery slope. From here on out it would have to be cautious and by the law—not that it hadn’t been, but still…
They had powerful people pissed at them.
“Love is the angle I’m taking,” Elizabeth stated. “Love will make you do stupid things.”
“Yeah, like making out with a man to get your wife hot,” Callen stated.
Gabe gagged.
“Stop. Please.”
“Don’t tell them that!” she objected. “It took four years to make this happen! I’ve been a very good girl!”
Blackhawk laughed.
“Bullshit.”
She winked at him.
“Anyway, tomorrow, I’ll drop the details at the press conference. That should shake it up.”
“What are you thinking about doing now?” Gabe asked her. “What’s your plan?”
“I was thinking about being naked with the men,” she said, just to frustrate him.
A girl had to have some fun.
He closed his eyes.
“I meant with the case,” he stated. “I don’t want to hear about what’s going on in that X-rated brain of yours.”
“Callen does,” he teased, talking in the third person.
Oh, she was aware, but Gabe was right. It was still time to focus on work.
“Chris called. There’s something he needs me to see. Apparently, it’s big. That’s my next move, and then Callen and I are going out to find some hookers.”
Callen opened his mouth, but Ethan put his hand over it to stop him.
“He’s red. That’s one-step from making you leave your job and work with Margaret in records.”
Callen wisely closed his mouth and nodded.
“On that note,” Ethan began, “I have a meeting,” he said before leaning across his wife to kiss his brother. He let it linger, just to irritated Gabe.
The man sputtered.
Blackhawk then kissed his wife.
“Be safe and be good.”
“Jesus. I’ve seen too much for today. I need an aspirin for this Blackhawk migraine.”
None of them bought it.
They hopped up, and Callen dropped his arm over his wife’s shoulders.
“See you at home?” he asked his brother.
“Yeah, later. Love you two.”
“Love you,” Elizabeth said.
When they headed out, Gabe shook his head. “And you w
onder why the media is following you three? You pretend to have this kinky thing going with each other, and the ME.”
“We don’t pretend.”
He stared at him.
“Chris is part of our unit. We don’t…”
He stopped him.
“If you say sex, I’m leaving.”
“It’s your office.”
“Then you leave. I need a drink. If you weren’t a power-hungry bastard, who wanted to take over the world, Ethan, like myself, I wouldn't know what we have in common.”
He laughed.
“It’s a partner thing. We work well together. Don’t question it,” he said, as Ethan patted him on the back and then headed out.
Gabe dug around in his desk.
He wouldn’t.
Honestly, it was best he didn’t know.
ANYTHING.
Out in the hall, Callen stopped his wife as they were getting in the elevator.
“Can I meet you down there?” he asked.
“Are you okay?” Immediately, she was alarmed. His voice was off.
“I need to talk to Ethan privately since he headed to his office. I’m good. I promise. It’s just something on my mind, and I need to say it out loud.”
She got it.
“Okay, my love. I’ll see you down there.”
When the elevator closed, Callen walked back down the hall and toward Ethan’s office. He stopped at Ginny’s desk.
“How much time does he have?”
“Ten minutes max.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Callen knocked on the door.
“Come in!”
When he opened it, his brother was gathering some files and paperwork. When he glanced up, he looked worried.
“What?”
“Can you spare five minutes?”
Blackhawk pointed at the couch. Somehow, he had a feeling that this wasn’t going to be work-related.
“Yeah, Cal, I can always spare time for you. What’s going on?”
“About the sex the other night,” he said, sitting down. “I need to say something.”
Ethan joined him on the couch.
“Okay, what?”
“I just wanted to thank you.”
Blackhawk was curious.
“For?”
“For letting me touch you.”
Ethan didn’t know where this was coming from. He was both curious and worried. With Callen, you never knew what was going on in his mind.
“Can you elaborate?” he asked.
All the King's Henchmen Page 47
