The Marshals.
O’Banion gave it away himself.
She didn’t think he’d be so stupid to risk his own ass by doing something so risky.
Still, she was narrowing down the possibilities.
When she arrived at his office, his male admin had them take a seat.
“He’s in with his wife,” he stated. “It should only take a few minutes.”
She snickered.
“Elizabeth,” Callen warned. “Don’t do it. We’re all stressed to the max. Love yourself and your job.”
Elizabeth smiled.
Yeah, she’d been in with her husband. If the FBI big men’s office were a rocking, don’t come a-knockin'.
It was wrong, stupid, and against the rules, but it was so damn fun.
When the door opened, Livy came out smiling, and Elizabeth knew that smile.
She was handing out the same damn one.
Gabe appeared, and he was smiling, too, until he saw who was waiting for him.
“Oh, Jesus. This can’t be good,” he muttered the second he saw her.
Oh, she was all about tormenting Gabe.
First off, his fly was down, and that said it all.
“If you’re not busy, or hard up on time, I need to see you,” she said, hugging Livy.
The woman smelled like Gabe.
Yep.
She’d Sherlocked this one out.
“Yeah, I need to see you too,” he admitted. When Callen stood, he stopped him. “Uh, I need to see you alone. Livy, can you grab a coffee with Callen? This won’t take long.”
She gave Callen a kiss on the cheek.
“Want to buy a girl a coffee?” she asked, linking her arm through his.
“Sure thing, ma’am.”
They headed off.
Elizabeth followed Gabe in, and when he asked her to lock the door that didn’t bode well. Like with Ethan, something hinky was going on there. She’d known the man long enough that he couldn’t pull one over on her either.
She’d bide her time.
With Gabe, you couldn’t rush him. He’d reveal himself when he was good and ready.
“Update me on this case,” he stated.
She did.
She gave him everything they had on the potential suspects, leading in with Brian Montany and his mother, Stephanie.
“Is he viable?”
“Yes, I think so. I have Agent Bartlett and Detective Chase on it. We’re trying to pin him down, and since he has warrants out for his arrest, we can bring him in.”
That helped him relax, but still…he pointed out the obvious.
“You know that boy is green, right?”
“Yeah, but so was I once. He’s good. I can see myself in him. We have a lot in common.”
Gabe lifted a brow.
Oh, Jesus.
That was exactly what the world didn’t need. Two of her running around might set off the end of the world as they knew it.
Or kill him.
It was a tossup.
He was caught off guard when she dropped the bomb. It looked like she’d learned a lot from him since he was planning on doing the same shortly.
“I want to offer him a position on my team.”
He leaned back in the chair.
“Are you offering him one or his dead father one because there is a difference,” he stated. “The son isn’t the man his father used to be. You paid your penance, Elizabeth.”
“I’m offering him one because I see his father in him. I don’t let people on my team out of sympathy. You told me to hire more agents since we have a country full of crazies. I’m working on doing what you asked.”
“And he’s your pick?”
“Yes, and I also want to have Alex on the team too. He’s got no business in cybercrimes, and we both know it.”
Gabe was trying to figure out a way to work this into what he was going to tell her.
“Noah can’t possibly like it in HR as a recruiter. I’ll take him too.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
He couldn’t say anything. It was against regulations, and he was keeping it quiet. While Noah told people, it wasn’t his business to spread it. Clearly, she didn’t know.
“Elizabeth.”
“Is he on his way out?” she asked.
“You could say that.”
She didn’t get it.
Elizabeth was quick on the uptake, but with Gabe, it was always a guessing game.
“I need more than that, Gabe, and you know it. If there’s something amiss with him, I should know. He’s sitting on my team right now.”
Yeah, and she couldn’t help but think back to how having a bad apple could almost cost you your life.
“He’s sick.”
She lifted a brow.
“How sick?”
“Doctor Death sick.”
That was surprising.
Then again, maybe it wasn’t.
“We bumped him so he’d have less stress. He hates it, and I’m sure this is the happiest week of his life since you’re letting him back into the action, but…”
“I’ll take him.”
“Elizabeth, you can’t run him into the ground. You’re tough on your people.”
“Yes, but with more people, the work becomes less stressful. I can distribute it easier. I’ll take him.”
“If he bleeds…”
She got it.
“Don’t let the agent get shot. Well, I think I can handle that,” she offered.
He stared at her.
“What? I’ll have to make sure he doesn’t. I want those three added to the team. With Brody down with his leg, and Johanna doing all the research, we can’t keep up. There’s a backlog on my desk.”
He was aware.
Here’s where he went for it.
“What’s it worth to you?” he asked, willing to negotiate with her. Who knew she’d come into his office, giving him this perfect opportunity to do this?
She lifted a brow.
“Well, that’s new. I’ve known you a long time, and you don’t negotiate. EVER. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?” she stated. “Cut to the chase.”
Yeah, he would.
“We have a problem.”
“Yeah, well, so do I. I have to figure out who leaked that O’Banion was alive and kicking. Was it you?”
He laughed.
“Until you headed to Boston, I forgot that he was even alive. That man wasn’t even on my mind. In fact, he’s so low on my radar that I haven’t thought about him in a decade.”
“Then how about the US Marshals?” she asked, trying to narrow it down. “Someone leaked it.”
“I doubt it was them. That’s their thing, Elizabeth. They have so many people hiding in plain sight that they don’t make shitty mistakes like that.”
“All that’s left is O’Banion.”
“He’d never rat himself out. He’s got a target on himself. That’s stupid.”
She was aware.
“Then how?”
“Maybe someone recognized him. That cheesy mustache doesn’t really make him look different. He wanted plastic surgery, and we denied it.”
Well, that looked like their most viable reason. Someone had to have seen him as he delivered the mail. Maybe sticking him in DC to keep him close was a bad idea.
“I wouldn’t stress that part,” Gabe offered.
“I have to stress everything,” she stated. “It’s kinda my job to do that.”
He was aware.
“You work the case, and I’ll hunt down the rat.”
She could do that.
Elizabeth stood, wanting to head out.
“Have a seat. We’ve yet to discuss why I needed to see you. You asked for Noah, Max, and Alex on your team, and here is where the negotiating comes into play.”
Well, crap.
That was why she wanted to get the hell out of Dodge. Something was up.
“I hate when you say
that. Who complained I harassed them now? I’ve been so busy…”
“It’s about O’Banion and his longevity.”
That had her interest piqued.
“What about it, Gabe?”
“When this is over, he can’t come out of the shadows, or we are all hanging in the gallows. I buried him to protect you, and it’s come back to bite me in the ass.”
“And?”
“The president.”
She got it.
That was why he wanted to talk to her alone.
“If Carl gets to him and kills him...”
“Gabe!” she said horrified. Okay, it wasn’t like she hadn’t been thinking it herself.
But still…
“Hey, I don’t like it any more than you do, but if it comes to throwing your body over his, don’t. That’s all I’m saying. He’s got an expiry date.”
“I’m trying to build a case for him to go to trial,” she stated. “I have Tony, Blue, and Jaxon working on those bones to find anything that will lock him up.”
“Don’t. He’s not going to see prison.”
“Gabe.”
“The president wants it handled. I don’t want to do this to you, but you’re in charge of the case. If Carl gets him, that’s life. He will pay for all of his sins that way. He’s had it easy. Trust me.”
She couldn’t believe that he was saying that.
“I know the look on your face, Elizabeth, but my hands are tied. You know this shit goes down all the time. The president is having enough issues with the media, and the way people are digging on him since he’s a cheating bastard. He doesn’t want it to come out that the FBI framed a killer without being able to build a legal case.”
She sighed.
“He needs to be handled.”
“Okay, Gabe, but this stays between us. I don’t need Ethan getting wind of this. He’ll flip his shit.”
Oh, he was aware.
They had a whole conversation about using Elizabeth as a hired gun.
He wasn’t having it.
“Callen either. If they need to know, I’ll tell them.”
“Agreed. Let’s call it classified and go from there. Ethan knows things he doesn’t share with you for the same reason.”
She was aware.
Only, she wasn’t done.
It was negotiation time, and since she had the FBI over the barrel, it was time to go in for the kill.
“In exchange for cleaning up your mess and breaking my own moral code, I need you to give me those three people for my team, I want an office, not that conference room, and I want it high-tech. Roll out all those new devices my way. We have MATE, but I want it all.”
“You’re using blackmail?”
Oh, she had bad news.
Elizabeth wasn’t done.
“And Ethan is on his way to Vegas, so I’ll be joining him to help him clean up the city—no matter how long it takes.”
“Uh, who will run your division?” he asked. “You realize the cuckoos aren’t going to take a holiday while you go to Vegas to kick Russian ass.”
She was aware.
That would be too damn easy.
“Callen is on deck, and that’s why he needs that team. We need to wrap that by our wedding.”
He mulled it over.
Gabe knew Callen was more than ready to do it, and he could likely pull it off with fewer issues.
She was the wild card.
“Blackmail? Really?”
“I learned it from you, Dad,” she said sarcastically. “I learned it from you.”
He had no choice.
“Deal. I’ll get your requests handled ASAP, and keep what you learned about Noah to your damn self. That’s HR private unless he wants to share.”
She figured as much.
“You know me,” she stated.
“Yeah, I do, so that’s why I’m telling you to keep your mouth shut.”
He stood up to walk her to the door, but she wasn’t done.
Oh no.
Not by a long shot.
“Oh, and one more thing.”
“What?” he asked. “Do you want my kidney so you can kick it down the damn hall?”
She snorted.
The visual was funny as hell.
“You were having sex in your office or getting head. Your zipper is down. I figured I’d tell you before you went into your next meeting and your dick made an appearance. I was being nice.”
He gasped and fixed the situation.
“That’s going to cost you a coffee station that would make an addict weep, and since Chris is my ME and from this day forward ONLY my ME, he gets a desk in the new space too.”
He rolled his eyes.
“I made a monster.”
“And I need a new ME as a backup,” she tossed in, “and no one from the staff. I want to hire outside the FBI.”
“Why?”
“Because like you told me to take it easy on Noah, I plan on cutting back on Chris too. We run them hard in the Violent Crimes Unit.”
He was aware.
“Anything else?” he asked sarcastically.
She laughed.
“Nah, that should do for now. If I think of anything though, I’ll make sure I bring it right to you.”
He rolled his eyes.
“A damn monster,” he muttered.
“You think?” she said, heading out of his office and toward her own.
Gabe watched her leave. At least she followed directives, got shit done, and was on their side.
That was the important part.
Or so he thought.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
Third Address
The hunt for eyes on Brian Montany continued. The second address wasn’t viable either. While that was the address the courts had when they put out his warrant, it was clear he’d moved on a while ago.
There was no one in that building either. It was condemned and a flop for homeless people.
They had been running out of options and calling out the US Marshals to hunt him would take all the fun out of it. Alex knew he wouldn’t be getting another shot at fieldwork. He was in his forties, and past his agent prime.
There was a part of him that wished he’d stuck with Elizabeth. Had he, then he wouldn’t be riding a desk when he still had so much to offer the world.
“We have one left,” Max said, as they drove toward the location.
“Yep.”
“You look pissed,” Max stated. “What’s wrong?” he asked. The man had been fine when they grabbed burgers.
“Kid, if you ever get a chance to do something crazy, wild, and insane, do it. Throw caution to the wind and jump in with both feet so you don’t end up forty-five and with regrets.”
“I have a long way to that age.”
Alex laughed.
“I thought the same damn thing. Just heed my advice, okay?”
“Yes, Dad.”
He shook his head.
As they neared the third house, Max saw Brian on the front porch smoking. He was covered in tats, his blonde hair was sticking up in spikes, and he definitely was the man they were hunting.
“That’s him,” Max said, as they drove past and tried not to look like they were cops or feds.
If he ran, they might never find him. This was pure luck, and he knew it.
“We should get back. We’ll tell Elizabeth, and she’ll work up the plan,” Alex stated.
Max was good with that.
He had faith in her and the team.
He had to.
They were all the ONLY link to his father.
And that, to him, mattered.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
When she headed into the morgue, she wanted to check up on her team, Chris was sitting by Tony, and they were going through each, now laid out, skeleton.
She could see Mary and Beverly not far away.
Tony’s prize beetles were having a snack.
They would do their job, and hopefully, her team would do theirs.
At this point, it was all she could hope for with this case. It was a tough one. While they knew the killer, they didn’t have a lock on his helper.
That made it dangerous.
“Find anything?” she asked, coming up behind Chris. He turned on his stool, and he was wearing micro-goggles.
“Hey!”
“Sexy,” she stated, “if you wanted to look like a big bug.”
He snorted.
“They amplify certain things,” he teased, pointing at her chest.
Callen cleared his throat.
“Let me have those,” he said, taking them from Chris as he tried them out himself.
He actually giggled.
“Are you out of your mind?” she asked.
He pulled them off.
“It was his fault.”
Chris got up and grabbed his cane. It was leaning against the counter.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Mom, don’t.”
She closed her mouth.
“As for the question, yes. The cold in here sometimes bothers my war wound,” he said, laughing. “I can manage. It’s not from overworking.”
“Yes, I noticed it was chilly in here,” Callen said, grinning at his wife.
“I will hurt you.”
He shut it.
“Did you guys find anything?” Elizabeth asked, getting them back on track.
“We are still on victim five. There are three more, and Tony and I should have them done before tomorrow,” Chris offered.
She was glad.
They were running out of anything to use—which reminded her.
She pointed at Noah.
“You. Office.”
“I so love being bossed around by women,” he teased, “said me never.”
Chris laughed.
They all genuinely liked Noah. He brought humor to the team when they needed it. Chris hadn’t been up for making people laugh, as of late, but Noah had stepped up and handled it.
“Good luck,” Tony said. “Bob and weave. She leads with her right, a kick to the balls, and then her elbow to the bridge of the nose,” he warned.
She stared at him.
“You’re next.”
He shut up.
Noah laughed and followed her into the morgue lounge that the doctors often crashed in when they were working around the clock.
Dead are Forgotten Page 43
