Chapter Seven #5
“I told them guard her. This is NOT guarding. This is letting the crazy run the asylum! I should be there. I need to get my ass on a plane and kick her ass after I kick their asses! I swear to God! I’m firing everyone when this is over, shutting down my business, and checking myself into a hospital! ”
They tried to calm him down.
It was clear he was being dramatic.
Right?
“That isn’t productive,” Callen admitted. “Nothing happened to her, Clearly, so stop stressing it.”
Ethan was curious.
“Where is she now?” he asked.
Oh, he wanted to rage, but he was so tired. Honestly, they were all running out of steam on this one, and he couldn’t muster the anger.
At his question, Ivan told them.
“They are in the air. I don’t know where. Again, their trackers are off, and I can’t get a lock on them. MATE won’t help me find them. Hey, maybe you can get the other husband to change that. You know, since HE MADE THE COMPANY THAT MAKES THE TECH?”
Hell.
No.
“If we have Chris go behind her back, she’s going to lose it,” Ethan admitted. “I asked The Hunters to help, and she’s still pissed at me. She might say she’s not, but she is.”
Ivan was pacing.
“I’m going to strangle her. I HAVE TO DO IT!” he stated. “No court will convict me.”
Ethan calmed him down.
“If the Marines weren’t on her, she had a compelling reason to do this. She just locked him down. Now, Devon can’t go anywhere without worrying someone would want that reward. She neutered him. This will buy her time.”
Tony spoke up.
“We need time to get the skulls here, so I can go over them in real time. Trust Elizabeth.”
Callen agreed, even though he didn’t know what his wife had found on the last scene. If anything, she was balls to the wall, but she was also smart enough to cover her ass.
“As long as he can’t get to any of us, we’re good. You’re staying here.”
Ivan left no possible misinterpretation of how he was feeling.
“I hate this.”
Well, join the club.
Blackhawk shared.
“We need to get to work on whatever she encountered, and also that MANY leads will be coming in, and we’re going to have to start categorizing them. It’ll be a team of people who need to figure out which are valid, and which are citizens seeing him on every street corner.”
Yeah, this was going to be a pain in the ass.
Bet.
On.
It.
Ethan said one more thing. Oh, he knew how dangerous this was for her.
“She’s pissed to do this. It had to be last case scenario. She must feel like she’s backed into a corner.”
MATE appeared in the room.
“Ya think?” she asked.
All four of them jumped when they heard her voice from nowhere.
“Jesus, MATE,” Ivan said.
If their AI was here, that meant that someone had an update for them. There was no doubt it would be to get them all on the same page.
“Elizabeth uploaded files from the scene she just walked. Yes, there’s been bodies found, but they are skeletal.”
Well, no shock.
Tony was working on holographic skulls.
“Not fleshy bodies?” Ethan asked.
MATE shook her head.
“No. This time, he left bones and only semi-fresh eyeballs. You’ll have access to the video of the scene, so you can start digging into it.”
Ethan was curious as to why she wasn’t telling them that, and not Elizabeth. He hoped she wasn’t still upset with him.
“Why did she send you?” he asked.
She was honest.
“Right now, she’s on the phone with the president, and she’s handling the Von situation. While she wanted to tell you, she couldn’t swing the moment to call. On top of that, I’m trying to get her to sleep. Would now be a bad time to ask to be corporal so I can knock her out?”
They stared at her.
And not a word was said.
With good reason.
“Clearly, it is,” she said. “Anyway, she’s tired, and running on steam.”
Well, no surprise there.
“Consider yourself updated as to there being new information that you need to go over,” MATE said. “My mother did say call her if you have questions.”
Oh, well, they would.
“I’m going to call her about her stunt with the media,” Ivan stated. “Warn her that it’s coming, and that her ass is grass!”
MATE said nothing regarding that.
“If you’re done, Toadstool, I need to go back to keep her company.”
He rolled his eyes.
But he was curious.
“Where are they heading?” he asked, hoping MATE would tell him.
Once more, she made that sound like the search was hitting a wall.
“Damn,” he said. “She cock-blocked us with MATE now, too. One of you needs to spank her or talk to Chris. I’m done with this bullshittery.”
The computer chortled.
“Nah, I can tell you. I’m not blocked. I just don’t want to because it annoys you, Toady. See you later, bitches,” she stated, popping out of there.
Ivan pointed.
“I HATE THAT TOO.”
Tony just laughed.
“I think she’s fun,” he stated. “MATE keeps us on our toes.”
Before Ivan could kill him, Ethan saved his life by changing the subject.
“What were we discussing before everyone began plotting out murders?” he asked. “Oh, I remember. Anything on the bodies of the already dead people?”
Tony shook his head.
“Like I was saying, I only have facial scans. I need the skulls to do the dentals. I can tell by what I saw that they were safe from the elements.”
That meant one thing.
“So, they were buried?” he asked.
He nodded.
“Likely. That or he broke into the bone room at the FBI and stole some of my bones, but I doubt that.”
Oh, they hoped not. If he was able to get access to the FBI, they had a million other problems.
“They’ll be here in a few hours,” Tony offered.
Ethan lifts a brow.
“How are they getting here?” he asked.
Tony put down the paper he was using to make notes, and he shared what he could. Honestly, there wasn’t a lot to tell them. Elizabeth hadn’t told him much.
Likely because he had a big mouth.
He did know how the bones were getting there, and they weren’t coming alone.
“They are coming back with Jet.”
Ethan was confused.
“Wait. I thought we were burying Jet in Arlington with the other war heroes? Why is he coming here? Are we keeping him for safekeeping until we can do his funeral?”
For all he knew, his wife was afraid he’d be stolen and destroyed.
That was right up Devon’s alley.
Callen shared.