Chapter Eight #4
“You’re going to play Cupid, aren’t you?” he asked, expecting her to.
She shook her head.
“Actually, I’m not.”
EVERYONE stared at her.
Ivan looked up, and even he was staring from the rearview mirror.
Uriel turned around in his seat, and even Raphael radioed in over the com.
“She’s kidding, right?” he asked. “Because that might be one of the signs of the apocalypse—a horseman, perhaps.”
That amused her.
They were all funny.
“Yes, you heard me right. I’m doing nothing.
They don’t work for me yet, and they are already partners.
What do you want me to do? Staple their mouths together until they admit they like each other?
The universe put them together. I like to work on the hard cases.
If she’s not interested, she’s not interested. She knows best.”
Ethan chimed in, explaining that it might not be that simple for Tora.
“She was a stripper who likely was manipulated and abused by men,” he said. “She ran away from home, so if she’s anti-man, it might be in the best interest for her not to go there. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.”
Elizabeth pointed at him.
“See? I can read a room, guys. Don’t worry about me forgetting how to do that.”
When her phone chimed again, she pulled it back out of her pocket, to find there was a text from Alex.
Her team was doing its thing.
‘We finished the interview. The dude only gave a shit about the building not being compromised and wanting to see you. We saw the autopsy from Chris, and are heading to the local homeless encampment by the river. We’re going to ask around.
Did you know he had a missing kidney? We just saw the autopsy report. ’
She showed them.
“Well, that’s how I like my agents. Proactive. I was going to have to assign a duty, but they went there on their own. If the two cops can follow that, they have a spot on my team. That’s why Alex has been with me for as long as he has been.”
He had issues, but beneath that were good cop skills. He could Fed with the best of them.
Rattling off a text back, she clued them in.
‘Good work, Alex. Thanks for handling that for me. Later, we’ll get together and talk about what we’ve all found. Dinner at the hotel will be a good spot. Check-in and we’ll meet you there after you interview some homeless people. If you come across any more homeless veterans, let me know.’
She sent it.
While she was here, she’d help anyone she could. It wasn’t like she could take the money with her when she died.
Why not make people’s lives better?
“Well, that’s handled. If Trenton Balkin thinks I’m spending my time talking to him, so he can bitch and moan, he’s got another thing coming. I don’t do bureaucrats. Just like I don’t cater to rich, entitled men like Devon Slater. I’m an equal opportunity hater.”
Gene pointed one thing out.
“You’re rich and you’re married to rich men. On top of that, Gabe is a bureaucrat, and you’re kinda one too.”
She flipped him off.
“And you were in contention for my favorite. That isn’t happening now, Chuckles. That’s on you.”
Gene just snorted.
“Well, that love affair ended quickly,” Ethan stated, amused.
It was kind of funny, especially since she didn’t play favorites.
Ever.
Elizabeth pointed out the obvious.
“I’m not elected. I’m just a prisoner to all of this,” she admitted. “Or hostage. I’m not sure what yet. When I know, you’ll all know.”
Speaking of hostage situations, she dialed a very familiar number.
Gabe’s.
Since his name came up, she wanted to do her due diligence when it came to research. She couldn’t let it rest on the whole team when she ran this shitshow.
She needed information on an entitled rich man.
When Gabriel Rothschild answered his private number, he went there.
“What did you do?”
That amused her.
Why?
That was a joke between them. He’d been asking her that for as long as she was a Fed, and they’d known each other. Ironically, more times than not, he was right.
“Nothing yet, but the day is young. I caught a case, and your name came up.”
He sighed.
That didn’t make him happy.
“Jesus Christ. What now? Was my name carved on a body?” he asked.
She paused.
Dramatically.
Elizabeth liked to keep him stirred up. That was kind of their thing too.
“Uh, why would you put that out there? You know that shit comes true in my world. If I pull up a dead dude’s shirt and see your name, or that chrome dome, I’m puking.”
He snorted.
“I love you too. What is it then? I have to get my ass to a meeting, and you’re interrupting it. You don’t call to say hello, so this has to be a favor or trouble. If anything, Elizabeth, you’re consistently a pain in my ass.”
Yeah, that feeling was mutual.
Since she knew he was a busy man, as president, she was to the point.
“What do you know about Devon Slater?” she asked. “I need a character witness.”
He paused.
He wasn’t sure why Elizabeth was bringing up his name, but now, color him curious.
“He’s a big campaign contributor, and so was his father.
His mother was a gem. Sweetest woman I’ve ever met.
He used to bring her to the White House functions.
I met him when I was director of the FBI.
His father was into real estate, and even though they were divorced, they were a tight family.
Good guy. I liked him, and I like his son. Why do you bring him up?”
She went there.
“He owns a building where a body was found. Not only a vagrant, but a jar full of eyeballs, and skulls that don’t match them. I’m two hours into a mess, and I’m starting to build my suspect list.”
He paused.
“Uh, he owns a lot of buildings, and I can personally vouch for the family. He’s not some cuckoo. If he had a body dump, I’m sure he’s just as annoyed as you are. The Slater family is known for being good, decent citizens, and they donate a lot of money—almost as much as you nuts.”
To her, that didn’t sound like he would be high up on the list. Yeah, she’d have to keep him on it due to the location, but Gabe was a good judge of character.
“Yeah, so I found out. I just wanted to know if you thought he could be a serial cuckoo. This killer is taking eyeballs, skulls, jacking off with the skulls, and cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.”
He reassured her.
“No. He isn’t crazy. Like I said, I know him, and he didn’t give me the crazy vibe. He has a steady life. At the last function, he brought his significant other.”
Elizabeth was curious.
“Who?”
“It was some model. A male model. He keeps his private life quiet, and that’s the first time he ever did that. He’s gay, Elizabeth.”
When she looked over at her profiler, Ethan shook his head, and Elizabeth knew why.
The skulls were female.
A gay man was NOT jacking off to female anything. Look at Gene. Then again, he’d been naked in bed near her tits, so…
When she looked at him, Gene flipped her off, knowing what she was thinking, and she actually laughed.
The look on his face said it all.
“Uh, what’s funny?” Gabe inquired.
It wasn’t something he’d want to hear about, so she would move that conversation along.
“Don’t ask,” she said. “It’s just me being me. Okay, I needed a character witness for the man so I could move on. He’s clean on paper, and if he’s gay, he’s not taking female skulls and eyes.”
Gabe reassured her.
“He is clean. Well, cleaner than you, perv.”
Ivan went to say something, and she anticipated it. She smacked him in the back of the fade.
He shut up.
Wisely.
“Okay, so he’s a decent guy. Any memories about his name and missing organs?”
He paused.
Now, that caught him off guard.
“Pardon? Uh, where did that come from?”
She went there.
“I said what I said, J. Edgar Hoover two-point-oh. Did you ever hear about that family tied to organs like kidneys and eyes?” she asked, and then told him about the dead veteran, and his one kidney.
Gabe rationalized it.
Like always.
“Maybe he got hurt during the war,” Gabe suggested.
Only, immediately, she refuted that.
“No military record says that, and his file says he’s been homeless twenty years. If he had surgery of any kind on his body, he would have gone to the local VA.”
Then, Gabe couldn’t answer that.
“Sorry, Elizabeth. I have no knowledge of anything hinkey tied to the Slater family along those lines. Like I said, they were more normal than your family, and you’re not collecting livers, are you?”
Well, it was still early and the jury was out on CJ and EJ. They were only teenagers yet, but time would tell.
Instead of going there, she moved on.
Now that she had her character witness for Slater, she wanted to give him a heads-up because trouble was coming in DC for all of them.
No.
Big.
Shock.
“Oh, and by the way…this is off the record.”
Yeah he didn’t like that.
“Oh, shit. What now, Elizabeth? I seriously can’t handle one more thing. I’ve got Amy issues, pregnant fiancée issues, and the brink of war going on. Can we just sugarcoat this shit and cut me a break?”
She laughed.
“Become the president, he said. It will be fun, he said. I guess it’s not so much fun, Baldy. Be careful what you ask for, King Midas, it might come true.”
He snorted.
“Just tell me, smartass.”
She dropped the bomb.
“My brother is divorcing Axelle. Get ready for the blowback. Tag. You’re in the line of fire with me.”
He gasped.
“What? Why? They seemed happy! Why the hell are they getting divorced? That’s bad!”
She told him, but only because Axelle was planning on leaving the FBI. She had to give him a heads-up, because they rolled like that.
Axelle leaving put her in a BAD position—as in she was going to have to hold two offices up.
ALONE.
Axelle should have given her a heads-up out of compassion for the person who was going to be holding the whole FBI world on her shoulders.
“Well, that’s the least of your issues. She’s been offered a job by the CIA. They’ve been poaching Feds again, and she’s taking it—or so she said to my brother. She’s bailing, Baldy, so be prepared.”
Gabe sighed.
Only, Elizabeth wasn’t done.