Chapter Fourteen #2
As Ivan parked on the road that winded through the cemetery, Elizabeth pulled out her phone.
And gave a warning.
“Shadow, for the love of God, don’t bark. Eagle ears will shit his fancy pants if he even smells a dog via phone call.”
Callen laughed at the absurdity and truth in that one statement. It was one-hundred percent accurate.
Ethan was over dogs, and Elizabeth was not over collecting them.
“Oh, he’s going to be cranky,” he admitted. “You’ve got a whole lot of issues on your hands as you do this tap dance. That dog is going to animal control before the night is over.”
Oh, she hoped not, but she knew how much Ethan was on team ‘No More Dogs’.
He was the founder and only member.
And she got it.
Their lives were chaotic, but her dogs played a huge role in their lives. Not only did they wrangle their kids, but they kept their home safe.
And this dog was decent.
Jonathan Miller had trained his dog well. Shadow sat in the seat the whole time, and hadn’t caused any issues. They’d rolled the window down and he’d stuck his big-ass head out the window the whole time Ivan drove so he could let his doggy tongue flap in the breeze.
He was living his best life.
You could tell this was a moment for Shadow, and that he had never been in a car before.
It was fun to watch him experience it, and honestly, as of late, her life had very little fun.
“I’ll deal with Ethan,” she said, knowing that was easier said than done. “I just need to figure out how to spring this on him.”
Her new puppy was in training, and there was no way to undo that. She just hoped he’d be understanding. This dog had been through a lot.
When her phone rang, she saw it was a video call, and she declined it, quickly.
And that was why they called him Eagle ears. Ethan had an uncanny ability to call whenever you said his name. Somehow, she believed it was because of him learning Shamanism.
The man was connected on a different level.
“Oh, shit. He heard us talking,” Elizabeth muttered, redialing, but this time not on video call. “I’m so screwed,” she muttered.
Gene wasn’t saying shit.
Although, he did hope Elizabeth won on this one. Honestly, he liked dogs. It didn’t bother him one way or the other if she had a pack or not.
They were all good dogs, and if the worst thing Sungila ever did was eat a loafer, that was minor.
Willa loved playing with the dogs, and he liked when they herded his kid, so that she was safe.
If Elizabeth wanted a pack of dogs, that was her business. Then again, it wasn’t his shoes that tended to be the target.
He was rooting for her.
“Hey,” she said, when Ethan answered. “What’s going on?” she asked, ignoring that she didn’t call back on video call. All she could hope was he didn’t ask questions she couldn’t answer.
At the tone in her voice, Ethan knew what was going on.
Yeah, he was amused.
“I talked with dad, and we’ve settled down for the rest of the night. I was working on your profile, and thought you’d like an update.”
Hot.
Damn.
Anything but the big, fluffy near-elephant in the doggy vicinity.
“Absolutely. Hit me with it.”
Ethan was going to play with his wife a little. If he couldn’t have some fun, why bother? It was rare she was sneaky, but if she was going to be, it was almost ALWAYS about a dog.
Or if she was trying to escape security.
“Is that Callen breathing heavy?” he asked. “It sounds like he’s panting.”
Oh, shit.
“Uh, it must be static in the call,” she said, making something up to buy time.
Yeah, it was absolutely the dog.
His tongue was hanging out of his mouth, and he was a heavy breather.
Clearly.
“Yeah, it's me,” Callen said, laughing. “You know how I get around the woman. I’m a dirty, dirty dog.”
She stared at him.
It made him laugh even harder.
“Oh,” Ethan said. “Well, he is a dog. I guess it’s a good thing you like dogs,” he joked.
Shit.
Gene was shaking his head.
Just tell him. He’s going to find out, he signed. If you don’t, he’s going to be bitchier. No one likes a cranky Ethan. Oh, wait. I do. Don’t tell him.
She rolled her eyes.
“I guess so. How about that profile?” she asked, redirecting. It was wild, she ran a whole division, but had to ask permission to get a dog.
Hell.
She was about to be running the whole FBI, and here she was playing stupid games.
At her question, Ethan knew she wouldn’t give it up. He’d been to this rodeo before, and he knew his wife was always going to adopt a dog if given the chance.
He’d heard the Babylon stories from Chris.
“Okay, let’s start with this,” he said.
Elizabeth relaxed.
But it was a miscalculation.
“Why is there a dog in the car with you, Elizabeth Renee LaRue Leonard-Whitefox-Blackhawk?” he asked.
Well, shit.
Someone had ratted her out.
And now she was being full-named by her husband.
Oh, heads would roll.
There was no doubt how it got back to him. Everyone was accounted for in this car, and no one had pulled out their phone, or said shit.
That meant it came from overhearing it on an open com.
She’d been betrayed.
“You tell Raphael that when we get into the gym, my memory is long, and horribly mean. I’m going to whip his Marine ass across the room, laugh, and do it three more times just because I’m a spiteful, spiteful woman. By the time I’m done, he’s going to want his mommy!”
Ivan laughed.
The good part of this was he’d not said shit. No one liked to go up against Elizabeth in the gym. Raphael was taking his life into his hands.
She wasn’t kidding.
Elizabeth was fast, mean, and she fought dirty. Add in that beating on a woman made them hesitate, it gave her the upper hand each and every time.
“Oh, look. He’s up next in sparring with you,” Ivan offered, tossing the other Marine under the bus because it was fun to watch, and he, too, was spiteful.
He heard the cursing over the com.
And it was that much funnier.
“Ethan, I can explain,” she began.
Only, her husband stopped her.
“Call me on video,” he said, right before hanging up the call.
Yeah, that didn’t go well.
She sighed.
Here came a fight.
Elizabeth was sure of it.
“Tell Raphael I’m also not speaking to him,” she said, muttering under her breath as she reconnected the call, but this time in video-chat mode.
When Ethan answered, he was staring at the screen, a dead stare on his face, and nothing in his eyes.
Play time was on, and it was RARE anyone of them could make their wife sweat. She tended to be the master of that little technique. Ask Callen every time he bought a building for her.
“Show me the dog.”
She tried again.
“Ethan, he’s a good dog.”
He didn’t even blink.
Jesus.
Someone had his ‘I hate doggos’ undies on today, and now, it was her problem. She really liked this dog.
Yeah, she said she was going to give him to Jonathan Miller’s family, if they wanted him, but she had hope they didn’t. They didn’t seem to want Jonathan Miller, since he was homeless and alone in the world.
She flipped the camera, to show the view, and he got a look at the dog.
“Jesus. H. Christ. That’s not a small dog, Elizabeth. That’s a huge-ass horse. What the hell?” he asked.
She sighed.
“I’ll call animal control,” she said, not even fighting. There was no point. The men let her pretty much do whatever she wanted, but this was a hard line for Ethan. “He can go to the pound. I’m sure he’ll get adopted.”
When he heard it, there was something in her tone he didn’t like, and he needed to figure it out.
It was defeat, and as someone who lived in that hellhole, a lot of his life, he knew it was the first step to someone’s demise.
That his wife sounded so sad…
He put that there.
“Can I have a few to talk to my wife?” he asked, knowing everyone heard him.
Immediately, they began getting out.
“Good luck,” Gene said, kissing her on the forehead. “I’m rooting for you and Shadow, honey,” he said.
Yeah, it didn’t matter.
Elizabeth knew there was literally one thing that Ethan would fight her on every step of the way, and dogs were it.
For some reason.
When the doors closed, he was curious.
“It’s not like you to not fight a little. What’s up?” he asked. “You rolled right over on this one. You don’t like the dog?”
She shrugged.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ve been through enough. I’m not going to make it more difficult for you now. He can go. It’s fine. I have dogs. You need this. I don’t.”
Oh, Jesus.
It was never fine when the woman said it was. In fact, it was ready to blow up when a wife said that.
And Ethan didn’t like that.
Why?
Because he knew she gave more than she took, and that she was putting his happiness first, again, worried him. At some point, she’d get tired of giving and never receiving.
At some point, it would erode away at her soul, and it would damage them. She never once took away his free will, and here he was, squashing hers to make himself happy.
That wasn’t how a marriage worked.
If your wife wanted a dog, and it made her happy, she should have a dog.
A cat.
A goat.
A mini cow.
Who was he to police her happiness when she never policed his.
Maybe busting her ass on this had been a bad idea. He really expected her to ask to keep him, but that wasn’t what went down.
It was alarming.
“It does matter. You’ve been through plenty with me,” he said.
Elizabeth said nothing.
And that silence was incredibly telling for Ethan.
“You’re exhausted, aren’t you?” he asked. “With me?”
She shook her head.
“No, but I know that between the two of us, you need the grace right now. I can handle it. I’m stronger and I can hold up. I don’t need this to be your thirteenth reason why you are unhappy.”
Shit.
That was startling to hear.
His wife was bending her joy around his because she was afraid, and he’d given her reason to be too. That was what made it a million times worse.
After all, he’d blindsided her and told her she could go back to DC.
Without.
Him.
Ethan had to readjust, and fast.