Chapter Ten #4
“EJ, my parents are dead. Sam is dead, and so is Abigale. You guys are my family. I need more.”
He kept trying to help her.
“He’s going to see that you are all about justice. You were raised by a man who put it above everything else.”
She considered it.
“Well, yeah. Charlie was no saint, but he was anti-break the law,” she admitted.
Now, it made her ponder one thing.
“Do you think he knows about The Hunters, or what I’ve done?” she asked, keeping it vague.
While she trusted everyone here, there were limits.
He shook his head.
“Quite the opposite. He’s going to assume you will do this by the law, and he knows he’s handicapping you that way. When you no longer have the law on your side, you’ll crumble.”
Well, she had news for him.
She was going to do this however it needed to be done, in order to save her family.
That was the bottom line.
Killing Jet and Vivian was the line he’d crossed into dangerous territory.
After the fact, she’d deal with the ramifications later. For now, she had to do this.
“So, you’re saying he won’t expect me to go off script?” she asked, making sure.
He nodded.
“His father was fascinated with your skill as an Agent, and how you ‘always got your man’, so to speak. He would have trained Devon to throw everything, including the kitchen sink, at you. The premise was you’d never deviate.
In my opinion, if you trust me, it’s that you going rogue will be what undoes him. ”
Well, that hung there.
Why?
Because the one thing she feared was the one thing that would need to be done in order to win.
The question would be, would she do it?
“I see.”
As she looked around at the people she loved, her husbands, Tony, Chrissy, and her Marines, her mind was already made up.
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
“I trust your assessment,” she stated. “For now, everyone keep digging. I need to figure out how to find that one thing that will get us this piece of shit. Once I can lock him down, I’ll take out the trash.”
When Jet was carried past them, and placed on a gurney, she watched as the Marines carried him to the wall of refrigerated storage space.
In that moment, seeing Vivian didn’t register. She had other things to handle.
A goodbye.
All around them, there was silence.
Not a soul spoke, and Tony, Jaxon, and Chrissy stopped doing what they’d been doing to be respectful.
Raphael, Demeter, Gryphen, and Gunny unzipped the bag, and revealed their friend.
You could see the pain and sadness on each of their faces as everyone in the room was silently watching.
Ivan opened the cooler drawer, sliding it all the way out. Then, the four men went to lift their friend.
Chris wrapped his arm around Elizabeth, as she stood there watching it happen.
It was a changing of the guard, so to speak.
Jet’s duty was done, and they’d pick up for him.
Together, they watched as Jet was placed on the tray, and they all went to attention.
Each and every Marine in the room slowly moved their hand to a salute, and they held it.
Oh, they held it for a while, too.
They stayed like that until Ivan pushed the drawer in. Before it was closed, Ivan saluted him again.
Yeah, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place—including the Marines.
When he pulled something from his pocket and then grabbed the tape dispenser from the counter, they watched.
On the front of the drawer, Ivan taped a Purple Heart to the front, and a note card that he proceeded to write on.
‘Here rests the very honorable Captain Jet Donato. A Marine, a decorated warrior, a brother, a friend, and a man who will never be forgotten.’
“Oohrah,” they said, and then the Marines walked away, leaving the room.
Forget saying goodbye to Vivian.
Elizabeth needed a moment.
Heading toward the drawer, she placed her hands on it, and then whispered something that none of her husbands heard. Then, she walked out of the room, leaving them behind.
They heard over Callen’s com that security was on her, so they let her leave.
“I’ll go,” Ethan said.
Only, Gene, who’d been silent the whole time, stopped him.
“I know how she feels and what she’s fighting. I lived on that side of the line for a few years as a Hunter. I’ll go make sure she’s okay.”
No one fought him.
Because he was right.
None of them were equipped to handle this. They knew that in order to win this, they would be asking a lot of her. Basically, they needed her to break the code of honor she stood by for almost ALL of her life.
“Thank you,” Chris stated.
The man didn’t mind.
“I’ll catch up with you guys when I can. Let’s get dinner later,” he stated. “She needs to eat. We all do,” Gene said, and then headed out, leaving them behind.
And none of them spoke.
Why?
What were they supposed to say?
This was uncharted territory.
* * * The Blackhawks * * *
The Security Lounge
Same Time
A Little Break
Truthfully, it had been a long few days, and what Caspian needed was some food, to meditate, and to make a very personal call.
What he wanted to do was head out of there, going to find Rayna, but he knew he couldn’t.
She wouldn’t be safe around him.
The last thing he wanted to risk was getting inadvertently placed in the line of danger. God knew that this lunatic was willing to hurt anyone to get to Elizabeth.
For now, the best thing for her was space. If this nut couldn’t tie her to them, she would be perfectly safe. Deep onto the reservation, she was just another Native.
Thank God.
Since he missed her, what he would do was call her, and hope that this was over sooner, rather than later.
Dialing her number, Caspian smiled when she came on the screen in the video call.
Immediately, his heart skipped.
His girl was gorgeous.
Not only that, but she was so damn sweet. He loved it when she smiled because it made his whole world better.
Being away from her sucked.
Big.
Time.
“Hey, Baby,” he said, feeling so damn lucky to have her in his life. Since meeting her, everything was so much better. For the first time in his life, his stuttering was MIA, his heart was full, and he had joy.
Seeing him, she smiled.
Now, this was how she wanted to end her shift.
Rayna was just about ready to go off duty, and head to her cabin to call it a night.
Instead, she’d rather find him, and it was shitty that she couldn’t see him, but she had to be patient.
It was that or let the Blackhawks put her in protective custody. Only, she wasn’t a pussy.
“Hey! Are you home?” she asked. “Because I can be there in three point two seconds. I’ll be the naked one.”
He laughed.
Oh, he wished.
There was nothing he wanted more.
“We’re back, but I can’t get to your place. We’re still on lockdown.”
She sighed.
“Goddamn it. I miss watching you stand on your head naked in the morning. That’s better than coffee.”
He wouldn’t argue that. Having her admire him was better than meditating.
Being with her felt good.
“Well, give us a few more days. Elizabeth is working on it. We have to keep her location protected, but then, when we catch this dude, I’m going to be all over you. Be prepared to call in sick for a week.”
She laughed.
Well, that was something she could get behind.
“Oh, absolutely. I like looking at my sexy man. How’s my one and only Caspian?” she asked.
He grinned at her.
Hopefully, she realized that she was his one and only Rayna.
“Tired. Horny. Missing my lady. Exhausted. Need a shower. Probably should shave. That’s the top part of the list. All of that is before cuddling with my lady. No one likes a musky Marine.”
That amused her.
“Well, I like you anyway I can get you, Cas. Trust me. I’m not having fun myself. Imagine having to be babysit by my father. That was cold, Cas. Really cold. Having Ethan tell him to check in on me regularly since I wouldn’t go into lockdown…”
He laughed.
Yeah, he knew that was likely a touch-and-go issue with her, and her father, but he was covering his bases.
When he’d gone to Elizabeth begging she hide Rayna, she had. Honestly, he hadn’t expected the woman to put the kibosh on that.
Rayna wouldn’t budge.
That meant plan B.
If he couldn’t be there, at least her nosey, anti-white-boyfriend-hater father could be.
“A guy has to do what a guy has to do. You do recall the other option, right? You could be trapped with me.”
Oh, she did, and trust her.
She was questioning her thought process on this.
Now, though, she was curious.
“Is this guy really that dangerous?” she asked.
He nodded.
“He’s got us behind the eight ball. On top of that, he’s got a body count that’s growing and two sets of remains so far. He’s wracking them up. It’s been a rough three days for all of us.”
Yeah, she bet.
“I’m safe, Sexy. You look like you need a vacation, though.”
Yeah, tell him about it.
“I’m aware, and I’m stressed about my girl.”
She reassured him.
“Don’t worry about me. There’s nothing here on the rez that can hurt me. I mean, maybe some Wendigo,” she joked.
He snorted.
“Too soon, Rayna. Too soon.”
Honestly, her being safe on the rez was the ONLY reason he wasn’t losing his mind.
What wouldn’t he do to lock her in the FBI building?
It wasn’t easy loving a strong, independent woman. He’d even wanted someone following her, but then there was the worry that would point her out.
A Fed following her was a neon arrow pointed right at her.
“No one knows about us being a couple, so you’re likely safe, but just be careful. If it feels off, get the fuck out of there. Hell! Shoot anyone you get that creepy feeling over. I’ll hide the body after the fact for you. It worked for your last chief.”
That amused her.
“I mean, some girls get flowers. I get body removal. How hot is that?” she joked.
God!
He missed her so much.
“How long is this going to go on?” she asked. “Because I might have to take things into my hands.”
He lifted a brow.
“Like what kind of ‘things’?” he asked. “The only things I like in your hands are my ‘things’.”
She grinned.
“Phone…video sex?” she asked.
Well, that had promise.
Immediately, he grinned.