Chapter Ten #2
Because Elizabeth had to carry this. Now, she was back, and her family needed her.
The Raven had to Raven.
“We’re working on it,” Ethan said.
She stared at him.
“He said no, didn’t he?” she asked, and Elizabeth knew they didn’t need an explanation on who ‘he’ was. They were all on the same page.
He nodded.
That’s when Elizabeth rolled her neck. Then, she focused on Jet. When she looked back up at her husbands, she didn’t mince words.
“Then, if my family can’t be buried there, I won’t be. I don’t give a flying fuck what Lance RunningWolf thinks he’s proving. He’s a racist piece of shit, and my cold, dead body will be buried elsewhere. Get him cremated, and we’ll work it out later. We have a war to fight.”
Oh, boy.
“That means I will have EVERYONE there who matters to us interred, and buried elsewhere, INCLUDING the Shaman who put us on this fucking path.”
OOF.
Timothy would NOT like that. Only, they understood where she was coming from. If one Blackhawk was excluded, ALL of them would be.
“Also,” she began, “Tell Lance that if he cockblocks me on this, I’m playing hardball. WE will pull funding from the reservation.”
That hung there.
Ethan had to say it.
“Is that the war you want to start?” he asked.
She slowly turned her head and stared into his eyes.
“It’s the war created by him. You don’t take our money and use our resources and then shit on ANY of us. Am I clear, Shaman?” she asked.
Callen held his breath.
This was a pivotal moment, and he knew it. Ethan was protective of the Rez, and normally Elizabeth was too. This could go only two ways.
He touched her arm.
“I am with you on this one,” Ethan said. “Lance and the council happily takes our funding, so the least they could do is accept that Jet is part of our family.”
She calmed down.
“Thank you, EJ.”
He simply nodded.
In that moment, he knew he had to rebuild that trust that he’d lost when he said he didn’t have faith in her. She was the Raven, the matriarch of their family.
Leader trumped Shaman, and he knew it.
If backing down was what it took to cement their family back together again, that was exactly what he was doing.
There was silence as they watched as she headed toward Jet and crouched down.
“I got you, Boo. You’re getting the fucking nicest plot of land I can find for you. Then, I’ll be with you. You guys aren’t armor. You’re our family, and you’ll be treated as such. I promise.”
Ethan touched her shoulder, and she looked up, fully expecting him to argue.
“Can I be with you too?” he asked. “I want to be with my family, not the land that spawned me.”
She softened.
“Of course.”
Callen brushed some of her dark curls from her face.
“I call bottom,” he said. “I want to check out your ass above me.”
That chilled the mood out.
So much so, that she actually laughed.
Oh, it wasn’t a full laugh, but it was a little one, regardless.
“Do I have to remind you that we’re being cremated?” she asked. “I don’t want some nutter pissing on my grave when I’m gone.”
Callen helped her stand up, and he hugged her. Ethan hugged her too. They trapped her between them and gave her a minute to steal their strength.
That was all they could give her at that moment, and knowing Elizabeth, this was all a show.
For.
Them.
She held on, breathing in the scent of mates, and it helped stabilize her. There was the spicy scent of Ethan’s bodywash, and the cool-water smell of Callen’s cologne.
When she was stable, she set them free.
“Do I need to say we’re handling Vivian’s burial?” she asked.
Callen shook his head.
“We already are on it. We haven’t done a notify, simply so he doesn’t hear that he’s hit the target. We can’t risk it.”
Well, that was good. The last thing she wanted was Devon to know he’d taken another life. The less he knew, the more that would rattle him.
This was psychological warfare.
Besides, someone would have to go to Vivian’s family and do this personally. She wouldn’t let it be a call. They deserved more than that.
So did Viv.
Touching Ethan’s cheek, she stared into his eyes, and he was compelled to do anything in his power to protect her.
“Welcome home?” he asked.
Yeah, not in this lifetime.
It bared repeating.
She.
Hated.
It.
Here.
“Thanks,” she said, kissing him on the lips softly. Then, she focused on Jet. Ivan was staring at the bag.
The look said it all.
It was one more Marine buddy he was going to be putting into the ground.
“Want to say goodbye?” she asked.
He had tears in his eyes.
“I don’t want to say goodbye, but I don’t have a choice in the matter, clearly,” he stated. “Thank you for staying with him until he could get back to us.”
She was honest.
“He would have done the same for me. He’s family, and that matters,” she stated. “I’m also going to find that fucking last Russian assassin, and when I do, I’m going to make her pay. It’s on my list.”
Yowza.
She was definitely pissed.
“I don’t care how long it takes. She won’t be leaving the country, and I will find her.”
She moved, and Ivan, Demeter, and Gryphen headed toward the man’s prone body. Each one touched him, putting their hands on his chest.
“I hate this asshole,” Gryphen said. “Dibs.”
Oh, well, he’d be fighting them all for that honor, beginning with Ivan.
“Take a number,” he stated. “Jet was our brother. We don’t let shit like this go.”
No, they didn’t.
Blackhawks took care of their own, and her Marines were part of the family.
Gently, Ivan zipped up the bag, and he then focused on Elizabeth.
“You’re a menace. Get your ass in that bullet proof car.”
Oh, that was the plan.
“He’s here, and now so am I. I saw the footage from the parking lot. Gene got it to me. Now I know where he’s hiding,” she stated. “We’re not trapped here with him. He’s trapped here with us.”
Oh, well, that was a damn accurate statement.
Elizabeth checked the time on her watch.
“For now, I have to get our two mystery victims to Tony. I need to know who they are. That’s going to be a clue as to what his next plan is. I wouldn’t put it past Devon that he dug them up here, and transported them to DC to play with me.”
Ethan went there.
“He didn’t give you fresh victims for a reason. He wants to slow you down. This will make it more difficult. Tony said they have been deceased a while.”
She was aware.
Elizabeth knew freshly dug up bones from ones that had never seen interment. She’d bet her boots and badge they’d been prepared for burial by a funeral home.
“Well, I have the best team, and I’ll get the answers. I have to focus on the clues and nothing he throws at me to fuck with me.”
Yeah, she really did.
That was her superpower.
“They get moved next,” she said, pointing at the bins. Already, she had an inkling where this was going, but she wanted to make sure.
She needed proof.
Then, she’d make her move.
When Demeter uncovered the two sets of remains on the floor in the clear boxes, he shuddered.
“They are looking at me.”
Yeah, and now, they knew why they had been covered. That was kind of creepy, even for them.
Uriel popped his head in.
“Second transport arrived. It’s Saint. He’s dropping the vehicle off. He transported from FBI West.”
Good.
It was almost time to go.
Only, they didn’t get to say anything else. There was the telltale sound of boots running up the stairs to get inside of the jet.
Security reacted but then relaxed when Saint came rushing into the jet, past them, and at his husband.
“WINN!” he said, reaching him, and going against his husband’s body. There were tears in his eyes, and it was clear that he needed that contact.
Raphael held him.
“I’m okay, Baby. No worries, I’m home,” he said, kissing his husband on the forehead as he held him.
Oh, well, there were worries all over the goddamn place, unfortunately.
Ivan was curious.
“If you’re here, who is on Chris and Gene?” he asked.
The man shared.
“They are locked down in the morgue, with the door sealed. The only one inside with them is Chrissy. I told them even if the building caught fire, not to leave the morgue.”
Well, it was a safe place to be.
“On top of that. Ian has locked the place down like it’s the White House. He’s not playing.”
Yeah, Ian wouldn’t.
Since they were safe, the team could get moving.
Ivan pointed.
“Let’s transport,” he said.
Lovingly, Demeter and Gryphen picked up the ends of the body bag, carrying Jet off of the plane. Ivan and Uriel each retrieved a clear box to follow them. As Raphael and Saint headed off, the men waited with Elizabeth.
“Are you going to lose it?” Callen asked. “Be honest.”
She started laughing.
And laughing.
And laughing.
“Lose it, Callen James? I’ve already lost it. When I’m done with this piece of shit, he’s going to wish his momma swallowed or his father wore a condom,” Elizabeth stated, following her Marines off the jet.
The two brothers just looked at each other.
This was bad.
VERY.
VERY.
BAD.
For Devon Slater.
And Elizabeth’s mental well-being.
* * * The Blackhawks * * *
One Hour Later
Monday
Evening
They headed to the back of FBI West and unloaded there. Mainly, they sent Elizabeth up in the body elevator with Jet and the plexi-boxes of remains.
When the door was opened to the elevator room, Chris was waiting for her.
“Sweetness,” he stated, opening his arms.
Without an iota of hesitation, Elizabeth went into them and let him hold her.
“I missed you,” Chris stated.
Elizabeth leaned into him, tucking her face into his neck. The whole way there, Ethan and Callen were looking at her like she was about to go off the reservation.
Oh, and with good reason.
She was.
Vivian’s death was her thirteenth reason to lose her shit, and it was taking everything she had not to do something drastic, or break down and weep.
Like WEEP weep.
Like full-blown mental breakdown.
What wouldn’t she give to go back to DC before coming here and forget that Damascus and this mess ever existed?
“I missed you, too, my love,” she admitted. “I’d like to say I was off having fun, but it’s been anything but that.”
Where is everyone else?” he asked, kissing her on the forehead to offer her some reassurance.
Tenderness.
Love.
She told him.