Chapter Two #2
“You don’t have to worry about hate. You have to worry about her kicking all of your asses. The only one she won’t beat to a pulp is Chris. She likes him the most.”
The man laughed.
Oh, while he wished that was true, Chris knew it had nothing to do with that.
“No, she’ll be more sadistic and take away my new ME backup. She’s my boss, and I’ve been to this rodeo before. She might beat all your asses in the gym, but she’ll strip back my funding, and I’ll have to hire a hack who likes to speculate.”
Ehhh…
He wasn’t wrong.
“Where are they?” Ivan asked. “So, I can calm down enough to do my goddamn job without her sabotaging it.”
Ironically, she was his job.
That wasn’t lost on them.
“NOLA,” he said. “The Hunters have no choice but to get the Von Donore thing handled. Gabe called out the dogs on him. The military is getting bitchy. They want that itch scratched, and since she uses their intel, she owes them one. They’ve given her information to help The Hunters, and it’s payback time.
She’s getting them ready to move on Donore outside of the country. ”
Well, that sucked.
This had to be distracting for her and annoying all at once.
Ethan continued.
“So, she’s heading there, and then, she’s off to wherever she’s going next as she tracks the cuckoo.”
Chris was curious.
“Do we know where that is?” he asked.
Ethan shook his head.
“No. She wouldn’t talk about it. She’s trying to keep us safe, and we need to help any way we can. Ivan, what’s the situation with the kids?” he asked, wanting to be proactive with helping Elizabeth to lighten her load.
To answer, Ivan pulled up information.
He’d been on his tablet, working on just that. Keeping the kids moving was a pain in the ass, but it was the safest bet. They were prepping to move the kids any day now to keep them safe.
“Chris gave me a list of homes that his business owns under a whole lot of secrecy. Those shell companies are buried deep. That will keep us a step ahead. We’ll utilize them, and worst-case scenario, we’ll use Chartres in NOLA. No one knows where that is, and it’s not in our names.”
Well, that was good to know.
“Where are they heading next?” Callen asked. “Asking for a grandpa who is scared for Oliver.”
Oh, they knew what he meant.
They were all feeling that.
Their grandson was the smallest Blackhawk, and they wanted to keep him safe. He was still a newborn in their eyes, and the most precious of cargo along with their own children.
He clued them in.
“Fiji,” Ivan said. “We sent one of Chris’ other jets to Europe, and we made it look like someone wiped the manifesto.
Meanwhile, we chartered a whole commercial flight, buying out all the seats through different sources to get them all to Fiji tomorrow.
They have bogus passports thanks to the US government’s US Marshals.
Who knew the kids would have witness protection so early in life? ”
Well, there was that.
At least they were able to use the tools afforded to them.
“I mean, EJ and CJ were likely going to jail, and they rat their siblings out all the time,” Chris stated. “So I’d pick them.”
It wasn’t like he was wrong.
“They head out in the morning. We have a house that Chris owns, and instead of using it, we’ve had cameras put in, and we rented another house under a bogus name.
It’s tied to a crypto account that MATE set up that ties to Jethro Von Gunter.
Elizabeth thinks Devon won’t be smart enough to look into his own backyard. ”
Ethan agreed.
His wife had been pretty smart to use that tactic against him.
“He won’t. He’ll try to crack our information. If he’s been watching Elizabeth for years, with his creep father, he’s going to know all about all of us.”
That was the worst part.
“Are we safe here?” Chris asked.
Before he could answer, MATE appeared.
“Hey, Fam,” she said, wearing a black stylish suit, her hair was pulled up in a bun, and she was wearing dark glasses. “I’m checking in for the boss.”
They all focused on her.
“Is she okay?” Callen asked.
She nodded.
“Where is she?” Gene asked.
MATE shook her head.
“Sorry, but I’m prohibited by the Deputy Director of the FBI from giving you that information.”
Well, they already knew, but they wanted to see if they’d be cock blocked by their AI.
Clearly, they would be.
“What the deputy director wants is for all of you to stay in the house. She found some concerning things on the crime scene, and she wants you safe.”
Chris sat on the edge of his seat.
“Are we talking forensics? Can I help her?” he asked.
She considered what he was asking, and it seemed as if he understood the assignment.
In fact, that was exactly why she was here. Elizabeth wanted to ensure her family was helping her with this, specifically her ME and her profiler.
“The Corpus Christi FBI office is working the scene, and the local ME is handling the autopsies. You’ll have full access to the remains via the city office.”
Hearing that, Chris offered it up.
“I can go there…”
She stopped him.
“No. You are not to leave this location. The only place any of you can go, and this comes directly from the boss lady, is the bathroom and the office, but as a group.”
Gene tried to be funny.
“Oh, goodie. Golden showers for everyone.”
MATE glanced over.
“What you do in the privacy of your bathroom is your kink, not mine, but I do watch to learn just so you know…”
He laughed.
It was half-hearted, but it was still better than crying.
Right?
“Anyway, Doctor, the killer murdered a nun, and two hookers. In a jar, he put the nun’s uterus, and a rosary that had Christ snapped off. You all now have the records in your encrypted emails. Feel free to dig in. Then again, that’s what he did. He dug into her body and jarred her up.”
Gene shook his head.
“NOPE. Too soon, MATE. Back off of that, okay?” he asked.
The AI just blinked as if she was trying to understand why it was too soon.
As she did, Ethan was profiling in his head.
“He’s telling her something.”
Oh, MATE knew her mother was well aware. She’d cleared this, but the men were NOT to engage the nutbag. She was handling that.
Help—yes.
Involvement—no.
“Their eyes were all taken, and she fully expects them to be in the next set of victims, since we took all of his other eyes. It seems the collector is getting spicy.”
Ethan wasn’t shocked.
“Where does she think the next set of remains will be?” Blackhawk asked.
The system made a weird sound, like it had hit an electronic wall and couldn’t get past it. Then, it did it again, with the same outcome.
Did their AI just deny them access?
Really?
“MATE,” Ethan said. “Are you shitting me right now?” he asked.
She shook her head.
“I’m sorry, but the boss laid down the limitations, and before anyone tries to make my father help, she’s already threatened to kill switch me. I don’t want to die again. Please let her handle this."
Chris wasn't shocked.
Not only had she warned them, but she promised it would happen.
“I swear to God, she’s going to break my R & D team if she keeps erasing MATE’S memories. I’m not telling them if she kill switches her.”
Well, they wouldn’t push.
Because she’d do it.
“Thank you, MATE. Can you make sure Chris gets the information from the crime scene, and he can link up with the ME who is doing the autopsy?” Ethan asked.
She nodded.
“Like I said, you all have the information in your emails. Have at it. As for the rest, I will keep filtering the information in. That’s my job, and I will handle it, Doctor Leonard, you will be called as the autopsy is beginning.
I’ve just sent contact information to the ME in charge at the Corpus Christi city office, and he will link up with you.
Give it a few hours. They haven’t made the scene yet.
It’s still under the sheriff’s office control. ”
Well, he’d be ready.
Bet.
On.
That.
“If you guys need to get some information to Elizabeth, you can do so through me. She’s safe, and Winn and Caspian are all over her. No worries,” MATE offered.
Ethan was thinking about the information, and he needed to be able to catch up to Elizabeth as she did this.
It wouldn’t be easy.
His wife used her ADHD superpower for picking out a pattern in the chaos. He didn’t have that skill. He could get into the minds of killers, but she was more advanced with her gifts. She saw the fallout in real time.
“Please tell my wife to be careful and not to hold anything back. I can’t accurately profile without the full picture.”
MATE turned and focused on him.
“If I call her ‘MY WIFE’ for you, she’s going to get bitchy. You know that is a button you don’t want to push. Also, she is giving you full access to the scene through the techs. You could always use the information there to figure it out, too. Couldn’t you?”
Yeah, likely not.
Again, Elizabeth’s superpower was not his.
As for the rest, Ethan didn’t care.
“She is MY WIFE. I’ll push whatever fucking buttons that need to be pushed,” he said, harshly. “That’s my job.”
Yeah, everyone there looked at him, and even MATE cringed.
That set the temperature in the room, and it was ten degrees below chilly in there now.
MATE did the best thing.
She didn’t engage the angry man.
“And on that note, I’ll get out of here,” MATE said. “I don’t understand aggression in conversation. I’m sorry,” she offered. “I apologize for upsetting you.”
Then, she was gone.
When she popped out of there, Ethan just stood there and said nothing.
AT.
FIRST.
Then, he was honest.
“I need to take a break,” he said. “I’m going to go take a shower and regroup, so I’m not a dick. I’m struggling with this, clearly.”
With that, he walked out.
When Gene went to follow, Chris stopped him.
“I’ve got this one. I know how he feels, and right now, he needs to know that he’s not the only one feeling like this. I’ll talk to him, so he can mellow out a bit. Going at Elizabeth while angry never ends well. I know that from personal experience.”
As he got up to leave, no one tried to stop him.
Why?