Chapter Four #2
He was absolutely pulling the best friend card, and it was probably going to work.
Shit.
“That’s dirty, EJ, and you know it. You just went so low, your ass got burned in Hell.”
Ethan grabbed his hand.
“Please, Winn. Please. I just need you to get me out of the house, and I’ll do the rest. Hell! I’ll knock you out if that helps.”
He stared.
“You’ve lost your goddamn mind. No one is going to believe you overtook me, Ethan! I’m a freaking Archangel. If you could take me down, I shouldn’t be one!”
Yes, yes, he had, but Elizabeth…she needed him. He could feel it in his gut. Their world began with them, and he needed to be there as she found herself again.
It was more for her than him.
He’d done the crime, so he’d do the time, but he didn’t want her out there thinking he wouldn’t fight Heaven and Hell to get to her.
He would.
And it started with convincing an archangel to save his ass on this one.
“Please.”
He kept his voice low.
“You want me to lie to Ivan, slip you out, and get you on a flight? My dude, there’s a Russian spy out there, and you guys are still not safe. Just because she took down one issue, doesn’t mean there’s not others. If we both go missing…”
He stopped him.
“You don’t have to come.”
He laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
“Yeah, it’s official, Doctor. You just lost it. You can’t wander around without protection.”
That’s when Ethan told him where she was, in hopes that would calm his fears about him being out there alone.
“She’s with Michael.”
And that hung there.
“In Scotland?” he asked.
He nodded.
“If you can get me out of here, I’ll get to the airport, and head there.
I just need you to buy me a few hours to get to her.
Then, I’ll be safe. Michael is ALSO an Archangel, and at one time, he was the head Archangel.
He can protect us both at one time. Add to it, his husband is Black Watch. Where else would I be safer?”
Jesus.
H.
Christ.
He was out of his mind.
He was also forgetting that Michael didn’t work security anymore. He was part of a different business for the Blackhawks.
“And how are you going to delay them finding out you’ve stolen a jet, skipped the country, and are in Scotland?” he asked. “Because I can’t wait to hear this. I imagine a hostage situation is on the horizon.”
He told him.
“The same way she did. Trackers off, no flight log, and a head start. I just need six hours to get in the air and be out of Ivan’s range.”
He was staring at him like he was loco.
Because he knew he was.
Ethan was crazy in love with his wife and needed her to know that. Clearly, she didn’t.
“And how are you going to magically make six hours appear where NO ONE asks where you are? I’m good. I’m not that damn good. The second your tracker goes off, Ivan will know. He has it set to…”
And then he got it.
“You’re going to ask me to fuck with the security protocols. Only two people have access, and it’s Ivan and myself. Goddamn it, Ethan. You are absolutely going to get me fired! Ivan has a few rules, and that is the BIG ONE next to DON’T LOSE A BLACKHAWK!”
Yeah, that was exactly what he was going to do.
“I’ll be safe. Once I land, I’ll get to the castle, and there’s an Archangel and a Black Watch soldier there. That’s safer than anywhere else, not including with you guys. Ivan will not fire you once he realizes he can still monitor long distance.”
He was actually considering it.
Why?
Ethan had tears in his eyes.
“I broke us,” he said. “I put doubt in her mind that I wouldn’t be there for her, and I have to fix that.
I know what I did and how bad it is for a relationship.
Last time, I let her wander without me. This time, I have to be beside her as she fights to find herself.
She’s lost because I made her feel that way.
This isn’t about taking a life or breaking the law.
It’s about me not being there to support her. ”
Well, fucking finally.
Ethan got it.
Because everyone else ALREADY knew why she left, and it wasn’t because she broke the law. She was broken by a man she didn’t think would ever do that AGAIN.
Ethan had ninety-nine problems, and ALL of them were self-made.
As for all of them…
No one liked to see Mom and Dad fight.
NO ONE.
“Just get me out of here, and I’ll handle the rest. If I disappear from here, they’re heading right to the airport where the jets are.
I have some military favors I can pull. I can get the flight log switched up.
I can go dark. I can get on a military transport.
I just need someone to get me out of the house, and to wear my tracker. ”
He shook his head.
“Nope.”
Ethan wanted to weep.
There went his only chance. While he could just tell the family, he wanted to see Elizabeth alone. It wasn’t that he didn’t love his brother, Chris, and Gene, but in order to fix what was broken, he and Elizabeth needed time.
Alone.
He’d done the crime, so he’d do the time.
In that moment, Ethan gave up. It was crystal clear that Winn was NOT helping him.
He sighed.
“I’m sorry I put you in this position,” he said. “I’ll just have to hope she forgives me,” he said, going to walk away.
That was when Winn stopped him.
“Wearing your tracker isn’t happening. If you want out, I’ll get you there, but you’re doing it my way.
Let’s call it what it is. You men are NOT the reigning hide-and-seek champions, or she never would have slipped away.
You definitely need help with this. There are multiple layers of security in place to keep you guys watched. You need help.”
His heart skipped.
“You’ll help me?”
He kept his voice down.
“The ONLY reason I’m doing this is because Elizabeth deserves someone to be there for her. Michael isn’t the one she needs. I happen to agree that you fucked this up, and you should fix it.”
When Ethan opened his mouth, he stopped him.
“No, now you listen.”
And he did.
“I truly believe that you’re one mistake away from blowing this fucking family up, and destroying it with your ridiculousness—and telling your goddamn wife, who does EVERYTHING for the men in this family that she doesn’t have your faith, or letting her believe that is the dumbest shit I’ve seen from you since the time you got pissy that she had a previous sex life before you! ”
He laughed.
“Sugarcoat it for me.”
Winn was to the point.
“Your wife puts up with a lot of fuckery from the men in this unit. You’re a moody bitch, she’s carrying Chris and his HIV, and she has to watch women hit on Callen when he’s suited up to be Jackson James.
It’s a lot. She deserves someone to have her back, and if you’re going to FIX THIS, and stop being a cuntwaffle over stupid shit, I’ll help you, but this is the last time I’m saving you from shit like this! ”
He would take it.
Why?
Because he was right.
Beggars couldn’t be choosers, and nothing he said was wrong. Gene was the ONLY one not making her carry a burden, and that was likely why she trusted him.
“Deal. I’m an idiot. Help me fix this.”
He told him.
“You’re going to tell Ivan you have to go to work. Tell him there’s a profiling issue, and you’re going to work in the office. He won’t question it, and he’ll not worry about you being safe if your tracker shows you there.”
He kept listening.
“I’m available, and your security, so he’ll ask me to take you. That’s what we’ll do. Let him decide I’m taking you, so it doesn’t sound like we plotted this. He’s easily made suspicious.”
Oh, he was aware.
Raphael continued.
“We’re going to go to the office, and you’ll take your tracker off there.
I’ll temporarily take mine off to drive you to the airport.
It will look like we’re both at FBI West the whole time, and no one will be any the wiser.
He doesn’t have immediate access to FBI cameras to double-check on us, and as long as he’s not suspicious, he won’t. ”
He let him plot it all out.
“I’ll get you to the airport, and you can get into the air.
Periodically, text your husbands, so they think you’re working.
Tell them you’ll be there late. That will give you the excuse, and they aren’t going to check your location because there’s no reason to be suspicious.
Keep harassing Gene to tell you her location so he also doesn’t get suspicious. ”
Oh, someone was good at planning.
“When it’s about eleven our time, I’ll go ‘find you’, and you’re going to be gone. Oops. Where is Ethan? My bad. He slipped away.”
Ethan liked this plan.
“Turn your phone off each time after you text. Prewrite the texts because the security hardware needs over a minute to put a trace on your phone if someone does get twitchy and suspect something. Ivan won’t immediately suspect, but at some point, he’s going to get a bug up his ass and check on you.
If you drop a text in seconds and turn it back off, he can’t trace you. ”
Ethan hugged him.
“Thank you, Winn.”
He wasn’t done.
“Callen keeps vehicles there at the airport. You know the code into the storage unit at that hanger. Use it to borrow a car. Jim isn’t available to fly you, because he’s on his way back from Scotland and going to Fiji.
You’ll have to do the legwork with the military for that.
I can’t get you clear with that. I don’t have authorization to wipe logs. That’s a Gabe thing.”
Yes, yes, it was.
So, he knew who he was calling next.
“I’ll handle it.”
Raphael went there.
“I’ll go into your office tonight, and oh my god! He’s missing, and his watch is on the desk. You’ll be on your way, and if the jet is not trackable… they won’t know when you went. Oh, but they’ll find out because that’s when Ivan will get access to the FBI security cameras.”
Oh, he was well aware.
“At some point, your husbands will be bitchy. That is also your cross, not mine. You made the mess, so…”
He got it.
“Just get me out of here. I have to get to my wife. She needs me, and it’s time I took care of her.”
He stared into his eyes.