Chapter Five #5
Well, then, if this was his wish, Jet was going to get his last wish if it was the last thing she did.
The plan had officially changed.
Pulling out her phone, she made a call, knowing he’d answer.
Callen would always take her calls, even if they were eyeball deep in shit.
“Angel,” Callen said, his heart thumping in his chest. “God! Let me come help you,” he said. “You shouldn’t be alone out there. I’ll get on a jet..."
That was sweet, but no.
He was safer where he was.
“Callen James, I can’t let you do that, my love. It’s not safe. Stay with Chris and Gene. Stay with Ethan. Please.”
He missed her.
“Are you okay? We heard and…”
She downplayed it for Callen.
He was the big worrier of the three men. The last thing she wanted was for him to put himself in danger.
“Don’t I sound okay?” she asked, even as she had tearstained cheeks. The three Marines kept their hands on her in support as Dex and Max weren’t far away.
“No,” he said. “I know you. You’re not okay. None of this is okay,” he stated. “Our whole family is under attack, and you are the center of our unit. He’s trying to break you. He’s trying to throw you off.”
Oh, well, she was aware.
Only, she’d hold up now that he’d given her a job. By killing one of her Marines, she now had a duty, and that would be what took him down.
This was a line, and he’d crossed it.
Again, she lied.
“I’m good, CJ.”
As he listened to his wife, the truth of the matter was that Callen was struggling with this.
“Elizabeth, please don’t die on me,” he said. “We won’t be okay. We love you. We can’t be us without you. Chris is worried, as is Gene, and Ethan is falling apart. He didn’t mean what he said about not having faith. We’re all rattled by this. Please don’t be upset with him.”
She wasn’t.
Oh, she was aware that they were all under an exorbitant amount of pressure. Honestly, she had been angry, but when Jet died, and they’d come close, she knew holding a grudge was a stupid thing.
Ultimately, she might be next, and that was the last thing she wanted them to remember about her if she did go down was a fight.
So, she reassured him.
“I’m not upset, handsome. I’m good. I’m also very safe. Right now, CJ, I’m in a room with Johnny, Gunny, and Gideon. Plus, Max and Dex are ten feet away, and I’m sure Raphael and Uriel are outside the door.”
The one Marine agreed with her.
“They are,” Gideon admitted.
Well, that helped Callen a little bit. There was no way he was getting past five Marines, a cop, and Max to get to Elizabeth. That would be incredibly difficult.
“Thank God.”
When the door opened, and in came Kate, she waved her in, and had to get this done.
“I need to get some sleep,” she said, “but I need a favor. I just spoke to our Marines. Jet wouldn’t want to be in Arlington. They said he likes nature and wants to be with family. We need to do a one-eighty on his burial plans.”
Callen listened.
He wasn’t sure why she was calling him, but if his wife needed assistance with something, the last thing he wanted was for her to be distracted.
Not while chasing this lunatic.
“Okay? Want me to get him a cemetery plot?” he asked. “I’ll get him the nicest one out there with trees, and it’ll feel like a park. I know he loved a good hike.”
Elizabeth appreciated that.
Only, this…
This was going to be much trickier, and it was a big ask—she knew it.
Oh, well, here went everything.
“I want him buried at the grounds with our family. I want him put in next to Naomi and Granddad.”
That hung there.
It took Callen a few seconds to regroup from that request because he’d not expected it.
That’s how wild it was. His wife wanted a non-Native person buried in the grounds?
What?
The?
Heck?
“Elizabeth!” he finally said. “You want me to ask the chief if we can plant a white man in the Sacred Burial Grounds where Timothy, the Shaman is? Is that what you’re asking? That can’t be what you’re asking.”
Yes, yes, that was exactly what she was requesting from her Native husband, the liaison to the Native community.
“Callen, he has no other family. I want him planted, as you called it, with us. He’s ours. He’s like a child to me. They all are. I don’t care what you have to do. Where were we going?” she asked.
He knew this was going to be problematic.
“Angel, we are all getting cremated. All of us. It’s going to be one big orgy in an urn.
Remember? Then, we’re being put there, but that’s a bit different.
I’m full Native. Ethan is half, and he’s the current Shaman.
You’re married to us. Our kids carry Native blood.
The ones who don’t carry the Blackhawk name. ”
Well, yeah, she was aware, but still…
She wasn’t done.
“Yes, but there are ways to make this happen, are there not?” she asked.
He sighed.
Oh, this was going to be one hell of a tap dance for Chief RunningWolf. He might just owe him his kidneys, his jet, and his kids by the end of this.
Because the man was NOT a fan of the Blackhawks, thanks to Wyler and his ways. Oh, he tolerated them because they saved his life, but…
That only went so far when it came to favors. This was beyond favor.
This was a ‘Jesus turning water to wine’ kind of a miracle.
The Marines beside her were waiting and holding their breaths as they knew what Elizabeth was asking for their friend. It would mean everything to Jet to be with them.
Callen said nothing, and she knew why. This was a logistical nightmare for him.
Then, he acquiesced.
“I’ll do it,” he finally said. “I’ll offer the chief something they need there and use money to get him that space. We might have to cremate him. Did he have a problem with that?” Callen asked.
Johnny shook his head.
“He didn’t.”
Well, Callen might be able to pull this off. Worst-case scenario, they might have to get tricky.
As in lie their asses off.
“If we put his urn with ours when we get put into the ground, we might be okay, or if we put him with Catherine. Ethan’s mom might have to have some company by way of a Marine.”
Elizabeth wasn’t shocked. Knowing what Ethan had told her about Catherine, there was no way she’d mind having a little company, even if it was just sharing her headstone. They could get something made to work.
“Thank you, CJ.”
He sighed.
“I loved the guy. Don’t thank me. I’ll make it happen, even if I have to have Dad make a totem pole, and we put him INSIDE it, and put it right on the burial space we have.”
She knew he’d do it, so once more, she shared her appreciation.
“Thank you, CJ.”
Again, there was no need to thank him a second time. Especially since he didn’t make it happen yet. That would be the time to thank him—or buy him a new kidney when he gave the old Native his to bribe him.
“Come home, and we’ll call it even,” he said. “I love you, Angel.”
She loved him, too.
Endlessly.
Before he let her go, Callen needed to say one more thing to his wife.
“Don’t let him fuck with your head. Just beat him and laugh while doing it for hurting our goddamn family.”
Well, that was the plan.
While he was playing with her, she was getting ready to fight dirty on this one. She just needed to find him, and pin him down. Now that Gabe gave her permission, and sanctioned it, she was going to get it done.
“Kiss everyone for me. I’ll see you when I can.”
He hoped so.
“Be safe.”
When she hung up, Kate went there.
“They want to move you back to the White House. Jet is handled for now. Gabe is having him moved now that he’s cleared for burial. He’ll be held at the FBI in the morgue until you’re ready to have him moved. Your two MEs are riding with him to make sure he makes his destination.”
Holy shit!
They worked fast.
For that, Elizabeth was grateful.
The last thing she wanted was for that piece of shit to get Jet’s remains and defile them.
That wasn’t happening.
Not on her watch.
Glancing over, she focused on Dex.
“Be safe tomorrow, and call me when you find something,” she stated.
He only said one thing.
“IF we find something.”
Oh, Elizabeth knew the truth.
Devon Slater had already dropped the bodies. He likely planned this all out, step-by-step. He would have known who the victims were to be months ago.
By now, they were in play, and he was on to the next stop. It was just a matter of time for Elizabeth to find them. Then, she’d figure out where he wanted her next.
This game was just beginning.
Unfortunately.