Chapter Eleven
The Hotel
Fifteen Minutes
Earlier
When Chris arrived at the hotel, at first, he was in a panic, and then, he was just annoyed by what he saw. Why? Well, what the hell? If he had a dollar for every time he’d had to make a ‘house call’ to a hotel, he’d be richer.
Unfortunately, his family had the uncanny ability to get the shit kicked out of them, when they needed to be safe.
It was enough to make a doctor drink.
Elizabeth was one concussion away from a coma.
Ethan was one hit to the back before he was permanently paralyzed.
Oh, and their security had already bled plenty for them with Michael nearly dying to save him, and Gryphen taking multiple bullets to his back for Ian.
How much was too much?
That seemed to be a question he was almost always asking himself.
So, as he checked Ethan out, he was about ready to get bitchy. The only thing that was keeping him sane was no one was in that bad of a shape.
Except Ivan.
His nose was a mess.
Unfortunately for him, a broken nose meant setting it, and forgetting it.
They’d have to wait until they could get him to a plastic surgeon to see if his septum was deviated from the hit.
They had no time for that.
“Does it hurt?” Chris asked his husband, as he ran his fingers down his spine, trying to find any spot where he might have exasperated his back.
Ethan heard the tone.
Oh, someone was going to go insane, and it was that exasperation that he got.
Been there.
Done that.
That was for damn sure.
Honestly, he knew the feeling. This was how each one of them reacted when they got that call. It was your worst nightmare each and every time.
Oh, and they got that call a lot.
One might even say they received it a little too often for anyone’s good.
Because of the tension, Ethan opted for humor, to take the stress down in the room. Chris needed to stay calm to keep his body healthy, and this wasn’t going to help.
“No, Christopher, I’m good. Elizabeth’s breasts were like airbags. They deployed at the perfect time. Actually, I kind of enjoyed it. I’m kinky like that.”
From where she stood, up next in the exam, that amused the hell out of her. Big tits were mostly a nightmare, but in this case, they’d still cushioned the blow—even under her vest.
She snorted.
Only, she got the look from Chris. It was a scolding one, and little did he know, she liked it.
That was her kink.
“What? Come on! That was funny,” she said, trying to defuse the situation.
Someone was a man on the edge.
Granted, she got the stress.
And she understood it.
Chris spent time indoors, working, while they were almost always in danger while in the field. That had to be annoying. She knew it would piss her off if their roles were reversed.
Instead of commenting, Chris continued with the medical checkup. He placed one hand on Ethan’s hip, and one on his shoulder, and bent him to the side.
He moved smoothly, and without any pain.
Well, that helped.
Truthfully, that was a good sign. He’d held up, and the vest he’d been wearing, along with Elizabeth ending up behind him worked to his advantage.
Then, he checked his wrist. He winced when he pressed on the soft part by his pulse.
“You just bruised it. Acetaminophen for pain, ice if need be, and rest it.”
When Callen opened his mouth, Chris pointed, knowing where he planned on taking it. It was in his best interest to stop right there.
“Don’t. I’m annoyed. It won’t end well for anyone,” he advised.
Oh, he absolutely was.
So, Callen closed it.
Chris was riled up, and not in the sexy way they all liked. He was minutes from lecture, and it was hitting the second he checked all of them out.
Leopards, or Leonards, in this case, didn’t change their spots.
That was Ethan’s cue.
He knew when it was time to get out of Dodge, so he was going to make haste and do just that.
Everything left that he could do for the day was able to be done at the reservation. He had a profile to build, and his family could handle it from here on out.
Elizabeth could send him anything Chris found from DNA so he could get back to the reservation. He was having dinner with his father tonight, and wanted to prepare for tomorrow’s talk with the new chief.
“If we’re done, I’ll head out,” Ethan said, knowing that he was a big chicken, but dealing with a fight tonight wasn’t on his agenda.
He had a lot on his plate, and dealing with his worries that this killer might start targeting them, or what would happen with his father this evening was more concerning than Chris pissed off that they got dinged up.
They spent most of their time dinged up.
Ivan was in the worst shape out of all of them, and considering, a broken nose was the best outcome. This could have been far worse.
Jeffrey Von Gunter wasn’t a serial killer, or if he was, he was one hell of an actor, and he deserved the freaking Oscar because all of them were on the same page with the man.
“Just check out Raph, and we’ll go,” he said, knowing Elizabeth was supposed to be next, but he wanted out of there.
As Chris approached him, he held up his hands to stop that. There was no way he was getting a checkup.
Not for where he was feeling some pain.
That was hella awkward, and his husband was amused, as he stood nearby with that shit-eating grin on his face.
“I can do the exam if you want, Doc,” Saint joked. “He likes when I do it.”
Raphael could read a room.
Chris wasn’t in the mood. It was definitely time to get the hell out of there.
“I’m good, Doc. I only got hit in the balls. I’m not injured. It just knocked the breath out of me. You can take care of the last two.”
Well, if that’s all that happened to him, he would be fine. They’d all gotten a hit to the balls in their life, and it felt like death, but it was more annoying than anything.
Chris got the picture.
He didn’t want to fondle another man’s balls, unless it was someone he was married to.
That was hella awkward.
“Okay, you’re cleared.”
Thank.
Freaking.
God.
Immediately, Raphael kissed his husband goodbye, and saluted Ivan.
“We’ll be back in the morning. I’ll keep my com on in case you need us back here for something that comes up.”
Ivan was grateful for that.
Who knew what these nuts were going to do tonight?
They were down another security guy, and he needed backup for tomorrow. At least they were going to get dinner, and likely stay in.
At the worst, they’d be going to the morgue for an update. He had been doing this long enough to know that Elizabeth couldn’t start a case without DNA. Was it so much to hope she stuck to her normal pattern?
By tomorrow, her team would have something, and then, they would be off to the races.
That’s when it would get wild.
Yeah, they definitely needed one more security guy.
“Don’t forget Koda tomorrow. He’s supposed to be here, so that means Gryphen will be on him.”
The big man nodded.
“Gotcha. We’ll transport them back. See you after Ethan’s visit with the new reservation chief.”
Blackhawk headed toward his wife.
He kissed her, and whispered in her ear.
“I love you, and thank you for being so fast you saved me. I’ll see you tomorrow. Stay out of trouble, and if you need me, just call, my love.”
She stared into his eyes.
“I love you, Shaman. Knock them dead—not literally. I’m a little busy here to hide the bodies. That’s on you and Raph if it happens.”
He actually laughed.
That would be just their luck.
To keep it moving, Ethan went to Gene, hugged him, and gave him a kiss, too.
“I love you. I’m leaving you in charge of them. Good luck with that,” he joked.
Oh, great.
That was a terrible job.
This family was a nightmare.
Why did he feel like Ethan suddenly hated him to saddle him with that?
Only, before he could say anything, Elizabeth went there.
“Try me, Gene. See what happens.”
He simply snorted.
Silence, in this case, was golden.
Ethan went to the other two men to kiss them, too, and like a big chicken, he escaped.
“Pussy!” Callen yelled, knowing exactly what he was doing.
Someone was running for his life, and honestly, he couldn’t blame him.
Chris was testy.
There was just laughter as Raphael closed the door—and that laughter was from Ethan, safely out of Chris’ lecture’s reach for the time being.
Without a word, the only doctor in the room continued clearing them.
Next, he checked out Elizabeth, and he wasn’t saying shit as he did it.
That coldness told the tale.
“Just yell,” she said. “It’s better to just tell us, and let us work through it,” she said, as he checked her shoulder.
And he did.
“I’m annoyed. I don’t like seeing the people I love hurt.
I really hate it,” he admitted. “It rattles me, and it makes me really unhappy to see something happen to you guys. This could have been far worse. Ethan could have been paralyzed. You are literally one hit to the melon away from scrambled eggs.”
She kissed him on the lips.
“Hey, I know,” she said. “Only, we have really good luck. The guy was literally protecting flowers,” she said. “He wasn’t a nutjob with a gun. We gotta take the wins as they come,” she admitted.
He sighed.
“I know. I’m just tired of seeing the people I love being patched back up. It’s been a long twenty-plus years doing this. It wears a person down.”
She hugged him.
“I know, my love,” she said. “We’re good, Orion. Next time, we can go to a hospital if this makes you stressed. We don’t want you…”
He stopped her.
Then.
And.
There.
“Oh, and my wrath will be soooooo much worse if you do,” he said, lightening up. “Try it.”
Gene laughed.
He’d been keeping his yap closed because he wasn’t an idiot.
He knew better than to poke any of them when they were stirred up. Joking was a different thing, but you needed to read the room to take the tension down, not up.
“Pull your gun,” he said to Elizabeth. “You know the routine. I think I’ve said that to you more than ‘I love you’ in the last twenty-two years.”
She laughed, but did what he said.