She smiled as she drew a heart around the crazy figure. “This man, we’ll call him…” She pretended to ponder a name as she tapped her chin a few times. “We’ll call him Chief Love Bug, the Head of the FBI.”
Callen laughed at her faux TV Native accent and the nickname. He couldn’t help himself. It was reminiscent of the old spaghetti westerns where the Indians wore buckskin and came across uneducated.
She continued, “He had his friend—that friend is the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court—help him. When he called this judge right here,” she said, pointing at the one with the gavel, “do you know what happened?” she asked, finally dropping the fake Native-speak.
The man stared at her like she was crazy, but still, he looked a little freaked out.
“What?”
She was back to her normal Southern tinged voice. “The bail was reset, and the judge apologized for the error on his behalf.”
The commissioner looked pissed.
“Yeah, funny how that happens, right?” she asked, capping the marker.
Callen stopped recording. “You three are up shit creek, and there’s not a paddle to be found,” he warned.
Both cops looked worried.
The commissioner…he looked arrogant. That wasn’t going to end well for him.
At all.
“So, because of all of this jackassery, I’m here to play the great equalizer.”
“My men are NOT turning this over to you.”
She laughed and waved her casted arm at them in dismissal. “Oh, I’m not asking for your case,” Elizabeth offered. “I’m here to tell you that I’m also going to be investigating this case in tandem with them, and if I see one thread of evidence tampered with, you’ll be on the news and not in a good way. Picture cuffs, an orange jumpsuit, and picking trash on a chain gang in the hot sun.”
He glared at her.
“You know how I have media all over me all the time?” she asked. “They even posted my cast on the front page of some tabloid because inquiring minds wanted to know. Well, I will make sure the most salacious story I can come up with appears, and you will be the star.”
She pointed at the whiteboard.
“I’ll call it ‘When a police commissioner crosses the line and goes dirty’,” she stated. “Then I’ll arrest your ass for corruption, false imprisonment, and anything else I can make up along the way for shit and giggles.”
“You wouldn’t!”
She smiled sweetly as she fixed a curl that fell lose from her ponytail.
“Yeah, that doesn’t sound like me at all. Callen, what did I do to the last person I met who broke the law?”
“The one you beat up, or the one you shot and killed?” he asked, playing along.
She didn’t have to speak.
They got her point.
“Now, you have two choices. I get official copies of the file, just to keep your team honest, or I get them myself. Don’t think I can’t pull it off. I will call Hacky McHackerson, and do it that way, and you’ll be none the wiser until your standing before the judge on arraignment day.”
The man looked horrified.
“I guess it’s option B. Well, Detectives, Commissioner, it’s been one hell of a pleasure, I’m sure. See you in the streets. Keep your noses clean, or I’ll cut them off to spite your face.”
Callen and Elizabeth left.
When the door closed, the commissioner blew his lid.
“What the hell?”
The men said nothing.
Honestly, Arsen was grateful they didn’t out him. Had the Fed slipped, he’d be burned in effigy in front of the building by his boss, and his partner.
“How the hell did the Littlemoons pull up that kind of clout?” he asked.
Arsen spoke, “Didn’t Victoria Littlemoon work for the FBI?” he asked, already knowing the answer.
“Well, hell,” muttered the Commissioner. “This is a mess,” he admitted. “Now I have to do this by the books. This doesn’t make me happy.”
Arsen rolled his eyes.
Why was he shocked?
“We could go out and find the killer,” Arsen offered. “You know, since it’s clearly not Beau Christensen.”
It was met with two looks of disdain.
Why wasn’t he surprised?
“I want that killer found, and if you can pin this on Beau Christensen, do it!”
Arsen shook his head.
When would the commissioner learn?
Apparently, not anytime soon.
Outside, the office, she motioned to Tori and Julian to hustle up. They had people to interview. While the rest of Tori’s team worked on details, they were going to dig in and start the process.
“Callen, we’ll give you and Julian a ride back to the office, and you’ll have to grab a second vehicle. Tori and I are about to have some fun.”
Callen knew whenever she said that, someone ended up bleeding. “Are you going to get shot?” he asked.
She knew how to solve this.
“YO! Igor the Terrible!”
The man stuck his head out the window of his ride. “What do you need, Mrs. Bitchy Pants? Do you want me to lock you up for your own good?”
She flipped him off.
“Sorry, Tori, I didn’t get to do it in there, so that’ll have to do.”
She covered her laugh with a cough when the security guy gave her a dirty look.
“Try and focus, Igor. I know it’s hard with that metal plate in your noggin, but give it a try.”
Callen grinned when Ivan flipped her off in return.
“Any hoo, protection detail, you’re not going to let me get shot, right?” she asked.
“Does that count if I’m the one who shoots you?” he asked.
She laughed. “Good one.”
“Well, does it?” he asked again. In all truthfulness, he was glad she was smiling. It had been a rough four weeks, and he didn’t like the new Elizabeth. God help him, but he missed the bitchy, hell-on-wheels’ version. When she sat in her garden and wept, he didn’t know what to do.
“No.”
“Then you’re good. We won’t let you get shot if we can’t be the perpetrators. What fun is that?”
She looked at Callen. “Feel better?”
“Okay, angel. I trust our security to keep you out of trouble when I can’t be there.”
“Sir, we have her. She’s our priority. Director Blackhawk will kill us if we let one hair on her crazy-ass head get messed up,” he admitted.
“HEY!”
“I meant that in the most loving way possible, Mrs. Crazy-Ass,” Ivan stated, grinning at her.
“I hate him.”
Callen tugged his wife into his body and lifted her chin so she was staring into his warm, chocolate-y eyes.
“Yes, Callen James?”
“Miss me, okay?”
She gave him a gentle kiss, and then rested her head on his shoulder. “I promise.”
That was good enough for him.
“You should go.”
He slapped her on the ass, and she laughed.
“You like living on the edge,” Julian admitted, as they walked toward the ride.
No, it wasn’t that. He wanted his wife to have as much normalcy as possible. It would get her through.
“Yeah, well, you only live once,” he admitted.
They hopped into the back seats and buckled in. Callen was about to take a big risk.
A HUGE one.
Ethan would flip his shit if he knew what was about to go down. He’d told him to stick like glue no matter what, and this was pretty much the opposite.
He was breaking a big promise by letting Elizabeth out of his sight.
She could get hurt.
Worse, she could burn Delta Falls down as she rode roughshod over the crazy.
Yeah, he knew which it would be.
Even hurt.
His wife was predictable as sin.
* * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *
> Washington DC
Ethan Blackhawk’s
Office
It had been a marathon kind of day. He’d gone from meeting to meeting, barely having time to grab a coffee in between. Honestly, he loathed days like this.
For the next twenty minutes, he had absolute silence, and he was going to utilize it.
Ethan was going to tell Ginny no calls, lock his door, and maybe take a nap.
Yeah, a nap.
As of late, he’d been sleeping like shit. With Callen and Elizabeth gone, Ethan couldn’t find peace at night. Most of the time, he stared at the ceiling, or found himself crying over losing his wife.
Even with Kanje and Sungila cuddling against him in bed, he was still so very alone. At first, he was happy to have them near, but now he was reminded that they were Elizabeth’s dogs.
He’d gotten them for her, and she left them behind.
It crushed him.
When that wasn’t plaguing him, he was forced to relive his dream over and over again.
She’d left.
Elizabeth, the raven in his dream, flew just out of his reach. Well, he had to get her back.
There was no way he could keep this life going. It was a lie. Without her, and without Callen, he was nothing. It was all empty and unfulfilling.
He wanted his wife back.
Before heading to his couch to rest, he stopped at the bookshelves behind his desk. On the one shelf, there was one of the last pictures they’d taken.
Callen snuck it while he and Elizabeth had been having a private moment. It was after one of Callen’s book signings, and of course he’d missed it. She’d come in wearing a gorgeous dress, her hair coifed, and smelling like the most amazing oasis he craved getting lost in.
They met in the kitchen, and he’d been helping her set her hair free. As she undid the pins, he was watching her.
Now, Ethan saw it.
The look on his face in that moment was priceless. He was gazing at her like she was everything, and the look was returned. His wife was madly in love with him.
He had nothing to worry about with her.
She was his.
God!
He’d been a fool.
Taking the picture back to the couch, he plopped down with it sitting on his chest. He stared and stared at it until tears slid down his tanned cheeks.
“I miss you.”
Then he thought about it.
“Granddad, if you can hear me, send me a sign that she still loves me and I have a chance. I’ll trust it. I’ll believe it. I’ll remake the man I’ve become.”
He paused, holding his breath.
Nothing.
Then, his phone chimed.
Pulling it from his dress pants pocket, he checked out the screen. It was from Callen.
‘I thought you’d like to see this. Xo. CJ.’
Ethan was intrigued.
As he pushed the arrow, the video came to life. Ethan watched his wife work her mojo as she browbeat some cops into submission.
God!
He missed that too.
Then he got to the best part.
Elizabeth was drawing another stick figure. Her voice came over the phone, and he wanted to weep buckets of tears at his stupidity.
‘Let’s call him….Chief Love Bug of the FBI.’
At the nickname, his heart stuttered in his chest. Then, to give him even more proof, she drew a heart around it.
She did love him.
If she did this, when she didn’t know he’d see it, she had to have so much adoration for him.
He was a fool.
Ethan watched it to the end.
“Granddad? Was this the proof?”
He heard the windchimes ringing, and he wiped at his tears. “I got it. I need to get her back. Help me. God! I want my family back more than I want this job. Help me save it, Granddad, and I’ll never do this again. I promise on my life.”
He watched the video again and again, and shortly into the fourth viewing, something miraculous happened.
Ethan fell asleep.
And this time, he didn’t dream.
* * * L i t t l e m o o n * * *
Thirty Minutes Later
Fredrick Raymond
Interview
Delta Falls
After dumping off the men, Elizabeth and Tori headed to the attorney’s office. There was no doubt in her mind he’d meet with them. Oh, call it a hunch, but she had a feeling that he’d be more than willing to meet with a Fed.
If not…?
Well…
The games would begin.
“I really appreciate you coming here,” Tori said, once they were alone.
“You came to see me when I was a hot mess,” she stated. “I had to come. You know…that pesky ‘Girlfriend Code’ and all.”
Okay, she was still a mess.
“I would have stayed had you let me. You’re so damn stubborn sometimes.”
Elizabeth got that. It wasn’t the first time someone had said that to her. Honestly, she was beginning to think it was her stubbornness that may have ruined her marriage.
“I wasn’t in the right state of mind for anyone.”
“And now?”
She glanced over at Tori Littlemoon. They’d grown close. It all began on the case where she, Ethan, and Callen had come together.
She trusted her.
“I lied about my past, and I had to pay for it.”
“Want to talk about it?”
Not really, but this was ALSO part of that friendship crap she had thrown around. This was her fault. She let people in, and that bit her in the ass.
“My lips will remain sealed.”
Well, since she put it that way…
“Chris Leonard and I dated when we were first in the FBI,” she offered.
“So?”
She laughed. “Yeah, if only it could be that easy,” Elizabeth offered. “Ethan found out, and he flipped out. We didn’t tell him we’d had a sexual relationship. I lied to avoid his explosion, only that’s what happened.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, and he went nuclear once he found out that we were a couple for almost a decade.”
“Yikes. That’s like being married.”
“Now that I look back at it, it was like being married. We did everything together, but we kept lying to ourselves too. We told no one and in the privacy of our homes, we had sex like rabbits.”
She snorted.
“What?”
“I didn’t picture Chris Leonard being the fornicating rabbit type.”
It made her laugh. “Are you asking if he was hot in the sack?” she asked.
“You know it.”
Elizabeth thought about it, and a tear fell.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry,” Tori stated. “I wanted to cheer you up.”
“I miss him.”
“Ethan?”
“Yes, but Chris too. He was my brother, and he was booted from my life. He didn’t deserve it.”
“Call him.”
She snorted. “Yeah, gee, why didn’t I think of that?”
“He’s dodging?”
“Yep.”
“Want me to call him?” she asked.
Elizabeth sighed. “No. He’s made his choice. I forced him to hide behind a lie, and now he’s free. Maybe it’s for the best. I’m a hot, freaking mess.”
Tori patted her leg.
“Was he good in bed?” she teased.
Elizabeth shook her head. “You’re a pain.”
“You love me.”
“I do, or I wouldn’t be here. I’d be in Salem, in bed and crying my eyes out like I have been the last four weeks.”
“You keep avoiding the question,” Tori stated.
“He was very good in bed. There. Now don’t repeat that, okay?” she asked. “I’m down to one husband, and I can’t lose him too.”
Tori knew the truth.
Callen would never leave.
&n
bsp; “I still can’t believe Ethan lost it like this,” Tori offered. “He’s normally calm.”
“Yeah, until he was abducted, tortured, and buried alive. That broke something in him. He never fully came back to me. He left a little piece of himself in that grave.”
She got it.
“That sucks, Lyzee.”
“The worst part was that he told me to leave, and that he never wanted to see me again.”
“Oh, Elizabeth.”
“Yeah, so I did what he asked, and now I regret it.”
“That’s not like you.”
“I know. I normally stand my ground, but I was so tired, Tori. It’s been back to back cases, and honestly, I’m worn down. I’m busted up,” she said, holding up her arm, “and I’m broken inside.”
Tori got it.
“You need a vacation, and here you are helping me. You can go home if you need to, Lyzee. You bought Beau time, and I can take it from here.”
No, she couldn’t do that.
“I need to do this,” she admitted. “Then I’m not thinking about Ethan.”
Tori got that.
“Tell me about your new little angel,” Elizabeth asked, changing the subject.
“She’s perfect. I never got why a mother was so important until I became one.”
“And now that yours is gone?” Elizabeth asked.
Tori stared out the window.
“Hey, I shared. You don’t get to dig into my issues and then pretend you don’t have any. Your mother was murdered, and you talk to dead people. You’re one level up on the crazy meter than me.”
Yeah, she supposed so.
“I want to mourn, but I can’t. I can’t seem to muster up enough love to shed a tear for her.”
The radio popped to life.
“SHE. DIDN’T. DESERVE. LOVE. SHE. BAILED. ON. US.”
“Trey, zip it,” Elizabeth ordered, not even batting an eyelash. “You have your opinion, and it’s time for Tori to work out how she feels.”
Elizabeth talking to her dead brother like he was in the backseat made Tori’s eyes fill with tears.
“I really thought you’d hate this part of me,” she admitted. “I thought you’d mock me.”
Kiss of Souls Page 27
