All the King's Henchmen

by Morgan Kelley

  She stood there.

  “Again, what do you want?”

  “How about you tell us what you were arguing with the president and Alfie about on Friday?”

  She closed her mouth.

  “Oh, now you decide to shut up?” she asked. “Well, let me tell you what you were arguing about. Your boss, Alfie was told about the rape of Senator Hilda Forbes. She was riding your ass.”

  She said nothing.

  “She was reading him the riot act because once more, he’d raped someone. He was having illicit sex with hookers, and your team turned a blind eye. He was raping women, and the Secret Service attached to him was ignoring their screams for help.”

  “I have nothing to say to you. Talk to my lawyer.”

  She went for it.

  “He was raping his own daughter.”

  She stopped.

  BINGO!

  “Let me get this right,” she began, as Callen stood beside her, and their security flanked them. “The President of the United States would rape his underage daughter and have the two hookers come and watch. He was so perverse, that he would use humiliation to keep her quiet.”

  Tiegan closed her eyes.

  “She was his victim. She’s the one who killed him, isn’t she?”

  “I’m not going to ruin that child’s life.”

  “Really?” Elizabeth stated. “Her life was ruined when he sexually assaulted her. No one stopped him!”

  “It’s not that easy!”

  “Oh, it’s fairly simple. You tell the police. You call the DOJ, or you…”

  And it hit her.

  “Or you let him be killed, right?”

  Tiegan stared at her.

  “He got his punishment. You had to keep digging, didn’t you? Don’t you see? He was punished. He suffered, and she is free. Now, you have dug it up, and she’s going to jail!”

  “This is my job! Had she come to me, I would have helped her. I would have gotten her out of that situation. At any time, YOU could have told us. You could have saved her. No one did, so don’t put this on me. She killed him!”

  “She was upset.”

  That’s all she needed.

  “You knew, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  Elizabeth was horrified.

  “This whole time, you knew who did it?”

  Tiegan stood her ground.

  “I knew, and I knew why. It’s not always black and white. It’s not always so damn crystal clear. You don’t understand.”

  Oh, she did understand.

  Elizabeth had to put this one to bed. She pieced it together, seeing what the woman would say.

  “He wanted me upstairs Sunday night, but he couldn’t get me, so he ordered Graycie there.”

  She nodded, tears filling her eyes.

  “Graycie went upstairs with the intent to kill him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did Griffin Maloney know she was being raped?” Elizabeth asked. “Did he know?”

  She shook her head.

  “No, she never told him. She didn’t have a sexual relationship with Griffin. She wasn’t eighteen. They were waiting. She wanted to leave the White House to be with him.”

  Yeah, that poor girl.

  “Griffin didn’t normally work at night. Damian always did it at night. When Landry was in her room, he’d go to his child’s. At the party, she went upstairs, and she killed him. Graycie ended his reign of terror.”

  Her heart broke for that child. She was seventeen, and she had to endure so much.

  “Griffin had offered to work that night, and Graycie didn’t know it. He wasn’t on her, but the perimeter. He found her covered in blood. She had already killed him.”

  And there it was.

  “And when he found out, he got her out, didn’t he?”

  She nodded.

  “And he killed the hookers, didn’t he?”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “I know he’s the one who told Alfie. He went to her and told her what had happened to the senator. That was what she was screaming at us about,” she stated. “He tried to help the woman.”

  Elizabeth was horrified.

  He hadn’t even known his own girlfriend was also being raped by the man at the time.

  “When Damian died, I really thought it was over,” Tiegan stated. “I really had hoped…”

  Before she could say anything, there was that one familiar sound.

  It exploded around them, and then Tiegan fell to the ground. Her brains splattered across all four of them. The exiting bullet just missing Elizabeth by inches.

  They all hit the ground.

  It took a second to regroup, but then she was off.

  “That way!” she shouted, up first and already moving. “Into the trees!”

  The men followed, all of them pulling their guns as they chased the shooter. When they entered the trees, they could hear him.

  “He died because he raped her! She was just a child!” Griffin shouted from somewhere ahead of them.

  Elizabeth had no choice.

  “Split up,” she whispered. “It’s the only way,” she said, knowing they would protest.

  Ivan stared at her.

  “If you get killed, I’m dead. Watch your ass!”

  She patted him on the shoulder.

  “Griffin, we understand! You were protecting her! Once you found out, you did the right thing! You were the ONLY one,” she shouted.

  There was silence as they all moved. Elizabeth was going one way, Callen another, and their security had disappeared into the trees.

  “I love her! She’s so sweet and gentle! She didn’t mean to do it! I did it! In fact, I own it! I killed him! She had nothing to do with it,” he claimed, taking the blame for the woman he loved.

  Elizabeth looked up, and in the trees, she could see a flock of birds. They didn’t move, so she readjusted her path.

  “Griffin! Turn yourself in! We’ll make sure that the truth comes out. He was a sick animal. You tried. We understand.”

  The tree above her head splinted from the bullet.

  Elizabeth ducked down behind another tree.

  “I can’t go to jail! Tell her I love her. Tell Graycie that I’m sorry!”

  “Griffin!”

  There was another gunshot, and then silence.

  “He’s down,” Ivan stated over their coms. “I can see him,” he offered.

  They raced through the trees until they reached his body. He was on the ground, clutching his gun in his hand.

  His right hand.

  “Shit,” she muttered. “I really would have gotten him out of this,” she stated. “Griffin, I would have helped you,” she whispered, closing his still open eyes.

  He’d taken his own life, and the back of his head was now plastered on the trees and overgrowth. It was a shame, and it broke her heart.

  “This is a mess,” Callen stated. “What are you going to do?”

  Yeah, she didn’t know.

  If she arrested a victim, who happened to kill her father as he planned on raping her, again, who was the bad guy?

  Yeah, her.

  She couldn’t do it.

  Elizabeth pulled out her phone and called her husband. When he answered, he could see her face.

  “Why do you have blood all over you?” he asked, getting sick. “Is Callen okay?”

  “Griffin Maloney shot Tiegan Blackett. She took one to the head, and we’re wearing her brains.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Ethan…”

  “What?”

  She told him everything. She told him about the years of rape, the humiliation that the man put Graycie through, and how Griffin had told Alfie about what had happened with the senator.

  “He did the right thing, and when no one listened, he cleaned up. His girlfriend being a victim pushed him over the edge.”

  Blackhawk sighed.

  “I’ll handle it.”

  “Ethan, she’s a child. She can’t go to ja
il. He molested his own child. He raped her. I can’t arrest her. I can’t do it.”

  “Send me your report. File it now. I’ll handle it. I’ll send it to the Justice Department with my recommendation that she was defending herself at the time, and that Griffin lost his mind in the fury. We’ll make it right.”

  She didn’t know how that was possible.

  “Ethan…”

  “Baby, we can’t always get the ending we want. We can’t always expect justice to be so clear-cut when it’s the capture of someone who shouldn’t be held responsible. We do the job. You do the job. Don’t carry this. It’s not on us.”

  She was aware.

  “This story will play out how it should. Damian Dean was a monster in power, and the child he molested will be vilified. We can hold back that Graycie was his victim. She’s a minor. It won’t come out.”

  That helped.

  “Tell Harmony I’m sorry that she couldn’t help take him in. I didn’t expect it to end this way.”

  Yeah, no one did.

  “You got justice,” he said. “You chased it into the ground, and this case will never be forgotten.”

  Oh, she was aware.

  Elizabeth would never forget a single second of this one.

  Love.

  Betrayal.

  Hate.

  Sin.

  This one didn’t make-or-break her. It only did one thing. It proved that DC needed her. Elizabeth’s job was far from over, and she had many more fights left to wage.

  Justice wasn’t easy.

  It wasn’t neat.

  It wasn’t clean.

  But it was important.

  “You’ll have my report within the hour. Can you send Chris and Dalia? It’s a good thing we have two MEs. We have two to transport.”

  “Will do, Director Blackhawk. Despite the outcome, I’m proud of you. You did the job. You finished the race, and it was a grueling one.”

  Yeah, and she’d live to fight another day, another case, and chase another crazy. This case was now part of her.

  They all were.

  Justice won.

  Again.

  Epilogue

  Fort Whitefox-Blackhawk

  Saturday Morning

  A Couple of Days Later

  T he media was all over them, and there was no doubt why. This case had made her career even when it left a foul taste in her mouth. Justice was done. There were destroyed families, and there was a lot of anger.

  All of it directed at the right man.

  Damian Dean was vilified. His legacy had been written in stone on the tombstone that would be his monument. He was now known as the perverted president.

  He was nothing more than a blemish and disgrace.

  The details of Graycie’s rapes were kept classified. The DOJ, along with Gabriel Rothschild and Ethan Blackhawk, made sure of that. They’d sealed them, and they wouldn't be eligible to be opened for decades.

  By then, Graycie would be old—if not dead—and the pain wouldn’t hurt her. She’d suffered enough. When she found out Griffin had killed himself, she wept.

  She’d mourned.

  Someone had cared, and someone had protected her. While her mother never knew, he had, and he’d died her hero.

  While killing was never justified, they all felt like the man had tried. He’d given his boss the heads-up, trying to do the right thing. When she hadn’t handled it, and when Alfie had not told the FBI, he’d handled that too.

  Now, they were all recovering.

  It was a much needed day off.

  Today, they were family. Saturday in the Blackhawk home was always chaos—more so when they weren’t working a case.

  Ethan was cleaning up the kitchen since Callen had made them breakfast. Elizabeth was enjoying coffee as she sat there, and the kids were running wild.

  When Chris came in, he looked worried.

  That wasn’t the norm. In the sanctuary, he was always calm, relaxed, and at peace.

  Until now.

  “Uh, are you okay?” she asked, immediately touching his forehead to check his temperature.

  Was he?

  Chris wasn’t sure.

  “I need to talk to you guys, if that’s possible. Can you spare some time?”

  Her heart raced.

  Jesus!

  What could this be about?

  “Why do I feel sick?” she asked suddenly. “Why do I feel like having a freak-out?”

  When Chris didn’t answer, both Callen and Ethan moved to her side.

  Yeah, something was coming, and it was going to be life-altering. They could feel it.

  “Kids! Outside with the dogs!” Ethan shouted, and the tribe cleared out. When they were gone, they waited for Chris to find the strength to get out whatever was eating at him.

  “I don’t know how to say this.”

  Elizabeth visibly paled, and both Ethan and Callen went with the worst. Clearly, she did too.

  “Please don’t say you’re leaving,” she said. “It’s been a rough week. I can’t…”

  She left it there.

  “Well, that’s part of it.”

  Tears filled her eyes.

  “Christopher,” she whispered.

  “I need you to hear me out.”

  Oh, that wasn’t good. Ethan and Callen braced for it. They were going to be on clean-up duty in a bit.

  “This case has gotten me thinking, and I’ve lost some sleep over it,” he said.

  Oh, they knew.

  He’d not slept with them the last couple of days, and he was restless. They knew something was up, but they had hoped it wasn’t this.

  “What about?” Ethan asked, placing his arm around Elizabeth as he braced her for what they thought was coming.

  “Life is not what I thought it would be.”

  She fought the emotions.

  That was hard to hear—especially since she was part of his past—a huge part.

  “When we started out, we said we’d never get married, and neither of us wanted kids.”

  She listened.

  “Well, we fast-forward twenty years, and there are kids, marriage, love, and family. I didn’t see myself here, Elizabeth. I never thought that it would look like this.”

  “What are you saying, Christopher?”

  “When we were together, I wanted to marry you. I was going to propose, but you know that. I began wanting all of this. I guess MY biological clock began ticking because you set it off in me.”

  She was aware. At one point, hers did too.

  “I understand.”

  Did she?

  How?

  He couldn’t understand anything but that overwhelming desire that was overcoming him. It was consuming him, and it was making life hard.

  “Christopher, just tell me.”

  “I want more children, Elizabeth. I want more kids to call my own.”

  She was confused.

  “Okay, but I don’t get what that has to do with you possibly leaving.”

  “After what happened to Graycie Dean, I felt compelled to do something, and I know it might seem like it was behind your back.”

  None of them knew where this was going.

  He held out his phone and handed it to her.

  “Her name is Addison. She’s nine, and she’s had a hard life. No one wants her because she has emotional issues brought on by years of physical abuse.”

  She looked at the little girl. Addison kind of reminded her of Bethe.

  “I want to adopt her. I want to give her a chance for all the little kids we couldn’t save along the way. I want to give her a home. That’s where the leaving comes into this.”

  They all looked up at him.

  “I need to help her.”

  “Chris,” she began.

  “If you don’t want her here, I have to leave. It’s not an ultimatum, or a way to manipulate this situation,” he stated. “I know this is your home, and I know that I am a guest here, but I’m driven to do this.”
/>
  She stopped him.

  “Christopher, this is your home.”

  “She has no one, Lyzee. She’s lost. We can save her. I guess, what I’m asking is will you be her mother? Will you let me help one more lost soul?”

  Was that all?

  Jesus.

  He’d scared the hell out of her.

  She hugged him.

  “Oh, Christopher.”

  “I know that the three of you let me be part of this because I’m sick, and I know that asking you to be my partner in this is a lot to ask, but I need it. You’ve always said a couple tells the other person what they need. Elizabeth, I need you to be my other half and help me save her.”

  She kissed his ear.

  “Oh, Christopher, my sweet, sweet Christopher.”

  The man had a huge heart, and it was why she’d loved him for those ten years.

  “I saw her face, and I can’t get it out of my head. I can’t stop thinking about what I read about her. I know it’s going to be hard, and God knows I have no business doing this since we lead chaotic lives, but I know what miracles are. They happen here. With you three, they are possible,” he said.

  Callen moved toward the closet. They’d gotten him something, and they had been waiting for the right time.

  This was it.

  “Will you not only be my partner in the rest of my life, but will you be my parenting partner?” he asked. “Ethan and Callen, can you accept that?”

  She glanced back at Ethan when she heard the wind chimes.

  He was smiling.

  “There’s your answer,” he stated. “The tribe has spoken, and we can fit more kids into our lives.”

  Chris didn’t understand what he meant, but he’d take it as a win.

  Miracles did happen.

  They were one of the biggest ones out there.

  “God! I was so worried,” he stated. “I was so afraid that I’d lose this.”

  She stared into his eyes.

  “This is your home. You can’t lose family. We stick, Christopher. Instead of stressing out, you should have told me days ago.”

  He was aware.

  “I know there’s a chance I won’t see her grow up either, and I know it’s so much to ask Ethan and Callen, but I have to do this.”

  Callen cleared his throat, and they both looked over at him. It was time.

  “Ethan and I picked this up before the honeymoon,” he stated. “We wanted you to have this from him and myself. With the craziness of the day, we forgot, and I just remembered it. I think it’s apropos.”