The man nodded.
“Times have changed,” she stated. “You’re not the big dog, O’Banion, or should I say, Howie.”
Ivan crossed his arms.
Heath glared at the man.
“I get it, and I really freaking hate that name,” he muttered. “My Irish mother is rolling in her grave.”
She laughed.
“Good. You earned it. As for your mother rolling in the grave, she’s likely more upset about a myriad of your other sins, Howie.”
He said nothing.
Callen holstered his gun and took a step back.
“We’re done here, boys,” she drawled.
Oh, she wanted to kick the man’s ass for touching her, but Elizabeth knew Callen needed this.
So, she let him handle it.
“Ivan and Heath, see you in the ride.”
They stared at the man.
Heath drew a line across his throat and then pointed at O’Banion.
Well, it was clear Ethan told them everything about him. They weren’t going to let him do anything stupid.
“Have a good day, Howie. I hope you make it home alive. Watch your back. Carl is looking for you for letting his son, Kai, get shanked all those years ago.”
The man looked scared.
Good.
With that, she and Callen headed inside, leaving the man to himself.
“Aren’t you going to tell me that I shouldn’t break his arms and feed them to him by way of his ass?” Callen asked his blood pressure through the damn roof.
“Nope. He deserves it. He put his hands on me, and you gave him the clear signal that it isn’t appreciated.”
Callen relaxed.
“I don’t like the way he looks at you. I don’t like how he stares at you like you’re a big meaty burger, and he’s starving.”
She understood.
If the situation were reversed, she wouldn’t enjoy it either. Elizabeth couldn’t fault them for that.
Her phone rang, and she immediately recognized the number.
“Cal, I have to take this. It’s Oracle related, and that can’t be good.”
He got it. They’d given the team a phone to use if there was a situation.
“Are you going to mention this case to him?” Callen asked. “You know…about his father?”
She wasn’t sure.
“I don’t know.”
“I’ll continue the interviews.”
She was good with that.
As Elizabeth headed off to a corner to talk to Jagger or Maura, Callen went to handle the fun.
Every person he talked to about Mary said the same things. She was nice, and she was seen with Marc Blanchard a few times.
He already knew what they were doing next. They were heading to the liquor store.
When he saw her coming, her face said it all.
“What’s going on?”
It looked like she wasn’t the only one with a mess on her hands.
“Jagger isn’t happy. He’s on a tear. I hope he doesn’t go off the reservation. We don’t need a spectacle.”
He was well aware.
Callen didn’t ask if she gave him a heads-up about O’Banion, simply because he knew how hard it was to keep the whole ‘Oracle’ thing under wraps.
“Anything pop while you questioned O’Banion’s co-workers?” she asked, refocusing on the case at hand.
“Same as you got from O’Banion. He’s being honest at least, that slimy douchebag.”
She laughed.
“How do you really feel?”
Oh, he knew what he wanted to do to the man, only he was trying to stay out of jail.
“I feel like killing him myself.”
She gave him a kiss.
“My hero.”
Yeah, he would be. That was for damn sure. If anyone came at his wife, they were going through him.
“Let’s go talk to the other guy,” she said, as they headed out of the building. “He might have seen someone snooping around Mary Waver.”
“It’s odd to be asking potential killers if they saw another killer stalking someone,” Callen admitted.
She was aware.
This case…
It was a mess.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Morgue
Parking Lot
When Tony got the text that Jaxon had finally made it to work, he headed down to meet his wife, so she wouldn’t have to walk in alone.
He was edgy with his father-in-law being hidden in DC. Something about that freaked him out, and he was trying to keep a close eye on her.
Jaxon was going to give him a child any day now. His duty, as her husband, was to protect her.
Care for her.
Guard her.
Okay, he was a caveman, and he couldn’t help himself. Fatherhood brought it out in him—or Jaxon did.
When he finally got to her side, Tony found her sitting in the front seat of her Jeep and crying up a storm. It was a full-blown sob fest with lots and lots of tissues being used.
That said it all.
This couldn’t be good.
Now he was in a panic that something horrible had happened to her or their baby.
He was three days past worried.
“Are you okay? Is the baby okay? Jaxy, what has you so upset?”
She glanced up at him and blew her nose.
“Yes, we’re okay. I’m just having a little breakdown, that’s all.”
Yeah, that he could see that, but it didn’t look all that little to him. It was one of the worst ones he’d see while she was pregnant.
It was clear.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, trying to help his wife through this as best he could. Over the last thirty-nine weeks, they’d had a lot of emotional rollercoasters.
All he could do is help her.
Tony was outmatched by pregnancy hormones, but he was learning how to navigate it.
God!
He couldn’t wait until she had this baby. There was never a time in his life where he felt more confused and befuddled. Give him a bone puzzle any day.
This was his only child. He didn’t think he’d survive if they did this again. He was two days away from full-on institutionalization.
“Is it bad that I want to see him?” she asked through the tears and sobbing.
Immediately, he knew who she was talking about, and he couldn’t blame her in the least.
He didn’t know the man who abandoned him and his mother, and even though Tony loathed him, he still would see him to ask him why.
That need to have at least one parent was there.
He tried to reassure her.
“No, baby. It’s not. He’s your father. You have to miss him even if you hate him.”
She did.
She was an idiot, and she did.
“I want to call Jagger. I miss him so much, and I’m struggling with all of this,” she said, trying to pull her baby-filled body out of her Jeep.
He helped her out of the vehicle and grabbed her bag, so she didn’t have to carry it.
“Call him. I’m sure he’ll want to know that you’re days from giving birth. I would bet he wants to be here with you more than anything.”
She held onto him.
“I wish he was here,” she said. “I’m so scared.”
Yeah, she wasn’t the only one. He was terrified and trying to put on a strong facade to make her think he was good.
He wasn’t.
“Call him. If he can come, he will.”
He was right.
Jagger would sit in a tree and watch her through the hospital window if he had to for his sister. Before Tony, Jagger watched over Jaxon like a father. To her, that was what he was, and Tony was glad.
His wife had family.
He was envious of that blood relationship.
“I know it’s dangerous, but I need him, Tony. I know he’s struggling now, but I need my big brother.”
; He gave his wife a kiss.
“Give him the option. You know that if he can pull it off, he will, Jax. You’re the other love of his life, and we all know it, honey.”
She would.
As they walked into the building and toward the elevators and morgue, she needed to know.
Tony would keep her focused.
“I shouldn’t see him, right?” she asked. “I know you’ll help me navigate through this.”
Oh, seeing that asshole was a bad idea. Mostly because he had a killer chasing him. That was dangerous, and the last thing Tony wanted was to see her get hurt.
Or their baby.
Tony was honest.
“No, baby, you shouldn’t. Nothing good will ever come out of seeing that asshole. People don’t change, even if they try. Deep down, he’s going to be the same man.”
She believed him.
“You’re right.”
And that was the worst part of it all.
He wished he wasn’t.
For Jaxon.
Chapter Ten
Saturday Morning
G etting the job done was proving to be difficult. Why? Because Callen was walking so close to her that she had almost tripped on his cowboy boot. Something was riling him up, and she didn’t know what was going on now.
“Uh, mind if I walk with some space?” she asked, as she could see the vehicle with Heath and Ivan not that far away stalking her too.
Seriously.
They were out of their minds. They knew Bonnie was in New Orleans, and she was in no danger. Yet, they had her pinned down like an invasion was coming.
“I feel off,” he stated.
Really?
Gee, she couldn’t tell.
“Care to share with me why you feel that way, Callen James?” she asked.
He needed to talk it out.
“Yeah, this case is giving me that feeling in my gut. I feel like something is wrong.”
She listened to him.
“Okay, talk it out,” she said before they headed into the liquor store.
“We have Carl, who for all intents and purposes was working for one of the most powerful mob men, right?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“He picked up this ‘helper’ really easily.”
“Yes.”
“How do we know there’s only one?” he asked. “What if he’s got more than one ‘trainee’ waiting in the wings in case this one is a screw-up?”
“We don’t. All we do know is Carl has some medical issues. He’s not going to be able to do the heavy lifting on this one. He needs new, fresh blood.”
“My issue is the rape,” Callen admitted. “Carl, to our knowledge, didn’t sexually assault his victims, did he?”
She wasn’t sure.
“Tony can’t give us that. Those bodies aren’t fleshy anymore. We may never have that answer,” she admitted.
Yeah, this was still off for him.
“I don’t, for one damn second, believe that you weren’t meant to be part of this.”
She let him go on.
“You were the one who put that bullet in him, you were the one O’Banion was obsessed with, and you were the investigator that caught his son Kai. You threw the boy in jail, and he died there.”
“All very true.”
“If he wants revenge on O’Banion, he’s going to want revenge on you too. Max Bronson’s death brought his son here. Chris was the ME, and he’s working it too. Tony did the bone work to lock Joey ‘The Thug’ away. It feels like this is a setup with all the same players in the game.”
“You think Carl wanted me in on this?”
“You don’t?” he asked. “Do you really think that if the man is so damn hell-bent on revenge he’s not going to take a shot at the woman who sent this shit fest off the tracks? He had a good life, and his son was in college and on his way to being one of O’Banion’s wise guys. You put this all into motion, and if he’s gunning for his old boss…”
He had a point.
“He didn’t call me out.”
“Yeah, but where did he pick to do this fun fest? He came to DC, and who lives in DC and is in every fucking paper and tabloid?”
“Me.”
He stared at her.
Yeah, this was why he was leaving the notes. This killer needed her to play, and that had gotten her attention.
“He wanted you to play this game, Elizabeth. This feels like some twisted plot to me. I write them. I see this whole thing going bad, and not only is O’Banion in the middle of it, but you are too. What if you’re also the main target?” Callen asked.
She held his hand.
This was tricky because she’d already thought about all of this, and that was why she had Ivan and Heath riding shotgun with them.
Elizabeth knew she was in deep, and O’Banion wasn’t the only one who was in potential danger. That was why she had to shut this shit down.
When she didn’t respond, he made her look up at him.
Callen saw it in her eyes.
“You’ve already thought all of this, haven’t you, Elizabeth?” he asked.
She wouldn’t lie.
“Yes, and you’re likely right,” she stated, “but I need you to have faith in me. This is my rodeo, Callen James. You see it from your perspective, but I have my angles too. I can’t always explain them to you, but I need you to trust that I’ve been doing this a damn long time. I see things you don’t, and while I may look like I’m aimlessly wandering through it, I have a plan B. I swear I do. There is a contingency plan.”
His heart thumped.
While he knew he should trust her, it was so damn hard. His wife…she was his all.
“Please?” she asked. “Have faith in me. I’m not some newbie chasing a killer. This is handled.”
“Really?” he asked, needing that reassurance to feel better about it all.
She smiled up at him.
“Darlin’, this isn’t my first day at the crazy rodeo. I need you to trust me. I’ve got this one down.”
She tapped her head.
“For the first time in a while, I’m on my game. I know I was distracted while you and I argued, and I know that Chris is sick, but I’m on top of it. Trust me. I am ready for this person. This is like telling a story.”
He listened.
“We have the beginning, and that’s my past. We are working on the middle, and I have accounted for everything, and then we’ll have the end…when we lock this killer down. Let me be the author of this tale.”
He could do that.
This was her thing.
Still...
With each day they got older, and with each cuckoo they chased, it was getting more and more dangerous.
The crazies were getting smarter, and they were having to up their game to keep up with it.
The odds were NOT in their favor on this one, and he knew it, but he’d give her the benefit of the doubt.
“Listen, you watch my back for me, Callen. You keep your eyes on me, and I’ll make sure that I keep on my game, okay? With you, Ivan, and Heath, the odds are better. If it goes bad, I need you to trust me. Carl is almost sixty, he’s got a bum leg, and if he’s training a new recruit to help him, I can do this. Newbies screw up. This is my jam.”
He hugged her.
“Promise me that you’ll do whatever it takes to survive,” he said, “And you won’t risk yourself.”
“Callen.”
“Elizabeth. I need this. We’re getting married in a little over a month. I can’t do this without you. You were meant to be mine from the start. I was put in your path, you saved me, and I need you.”
While she knew the media was watching her, she knew Callen needed this more. So, she kissed him.
Three seconds in, Ivan honked the horn.
She kept kissing Callen but took the time to give her security guy a message. She flipped the man off.
They could hear his laughter from the vehicle.
“I have this.
Trust in me. I’ve got some tricks up my sleeves yet, and Carl is out of his element. He’s been off the streets for a while, and I haven’t been. I fight dirty.”
He hoped she was right.
“Okay.”
“Now, let’s interview this guy and find out why he was so obsessed with Mary, and possibly gunning for O’Banion.”
“We know Carl’s buddy was young and blonde. Maybe we should run everyone we interview and look for family, associates, and connections. If Carl took on a young man, who’s to say he wouldn’t have some daddy who played with the mob?”
Callen had a point.
It was also a damn good route to take.
Yeah, she wasn’t going to lose this one. Elizabeth already knew it. She had it planned out, and her gut had been screaming too. She was well aware of the jackassery going on around her.
It was only a matter of time.
She was waiting for her turn to blow this killer out of the water, and she would.
She pulled out her cell and texted the two agents and one detective, who were working the details for this case.
The text was sent, and Max replied faster than any agent had ever done before.
Callen watched her.
“Uh oh.”
“What?” she asked.
“We’re getting another bird for the nest.”
She stared at him.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“You like the kid, don’t you?” he inquired, seeing that look on her face before.
Elizabeth laughed.
“You had him stay with us because you’re going to mother that baby bird to death. I’ve seen you do it with Tony, and Chris, and…”
She stopped him.
“Maybe I am, but I have ulterior motives,” she admitted. “I don’t always tell you and Ethan everything that’s going on in my head.”
He stared at her.
“Calm down. It’s not a ‘husband’ thing.”
“I hope not because if you try to add more, I’m going to flip out. The Chris thing I swallowed. I’m not accepting a young man who…”
She stopped him by going into his body and resting her head against his shoulder.
“I love you.”
“Oh, hell.”
“Breathe. I’m going to offer him a job. I am repaying my debt to his father. I was saved that day when he went through that door first. I owe Max Sr. I’m going to pay him back by making sure his son has a shot at it.”
Dead are Forgotten Page 38
