Chapter Nineteen #3
They didn’t know she sang like a bird, but that legal assistant had, so that he could have even more information on her.
California.
Washington.
New Orleans.
Washington DC.
Fiji.
Puerto Rico.
Yeah, he had every address, and it was only a matter of time. With some money, he’d get the flight logs. Then, he’d make sure he took that child.
That was the problem with having so many.
You’d miss one after it was a little too late.
For Elizabeth, she’d yet to feel the fear, but he would make sure she did.
“Dad, we did it. We beat their best. We are the winners. Elizabeth Blackhawk was no match for me, or us. I hope I made you proud,” he said, talking out loud. “Now, let’s finish this game and get our crown.”
Yes, he was going to make Elizabeth Blackhawk suffer like no one ever had. The champion of the people would fall, and a new idol would rise.
HIM.
For his father.
And for men everywhere.
His rein was about to begin.
* * * The Blackhawks * * *
The Morgue
Post Notify
Afternoon
Word had gotten out, and not without them trying to avoid it. Unfortunately, someone had been watching them leave Lance RunningWolf’s home.
Oh, and Ethan knew it had likely been some Native who saw the big, blacked-out Navigator coming and going on the reservation.
The woods had eyes, and Natives were either fond of them or disliked them.
Well, this time, it was the latter, because they ratted them out to the council.
What was left of it.
Like with this asshole who was raising hell and had bought information from the rez, there were also Native spies more than willing to take them down.
And it happened.
The call came in from the other two heads of the tribal council.
Right.
To.
Callen.
So, they had no choice but to handle it, since this was their crazy, and this was their rodeo.
Now, the two men were on their way there, and they wanted answers to questions that they absolutely weren’t able to give them.
This case…
Saying shit would put Elizabeth in danger. She was out there, and they still didn’t know who had been helping the man. Because someone shared the information about Rayna, and someone had made sure that he knew where she lived.
And how to get out of there.
They had a betrayer in the mix, and for now, they were stuck playing along.
There was no doubt this wouldn’t end well for them. The day of reckoning was coming for the Blackhawk tribe.
Both Callen and Ethan could feel it to their bones.
“Well, it was a good run,” Callen stated, as they waited for Abe Crowfeather and Thomas White Deer to arrive.
Ethan was quiet.
“You worried?” Callen asked.
Ethan nodded.
“Yeah, because this is all my fault, and I’m the reason we’re in this situation. I opted to not leave. Had I just got on that jet to get back to DC, we wouldn’t have this mess.”
Callen was to the point.
“There’s no benefit from worrying about the past, Ethan.
Haven’t you learned that yet? You can run from it, you can stay and fight it, or you can pretend it’s not there, but it always works out how fate wants it.
You came, you decided, and we’re here. This lunatic would have tried this even if we didn’t come here. ”
Maybe.
Only, he felt like his selfishness had been their undoing.
“They are going to tell us to leave,” Ethan admitted.
Oh, Callen was well aware.
Lance was the calm head who prevailed, and now, that calm head was dead on their morgue slab.
“So we leave?” Callen asked. “Are you tucking tail and bailing on the rez, again?”
Ethan stood there.
He knew what his brother was asking him, and why he was. They either had to make a stand, or go.
So, Ethan was honest.
“I think that depends on Elizabeth. I forced her hand. If she comes back from this, and wants out, I think we should go.”
Callen stared at him.
“Don’t,” Ethan said.
Well, someone had to, and that someone was him. So, he was to the point.
“You wanted this. You wanted to come back here and find yourself. If it mattered at all, bailing on it…that’s a shit plan. Take Elizabeth out of the equation for a moment. What do YOU want?” he asked.
Ethan thought about it.
He wanted his wife to be okay. More than anything, he wanted her safe and to not watch her slip through his fingers. It felt like she was just about ready to check out of their marriage.
And that scared him.
Because through it all, the most important piece of his world was her.
Not Chris.
Not Callen.
Not Gene.
And now, he was losing her to all of this madness. Something had to give, and he was scared shitless it would be her.
“I want to stay and be Shaman,” he said. “But I’m not willing to lose Elizabeth over it. That's my hard line.”
Callen dropped his arm around his brother’s shoulders.
“Then stay and let everything fall into place.”
He wasn’t sure he could do that.
“And if she leaves, Callen?” he asked. “Then what?”
His brother knew that each of their relationships were different. Each one of them had a different connection to the people in their family.
His and Chris’ were not the same as his and Ethan’s.
Elizabeth’s and Ethan’s were not the same as Elizabeth’s and Gene’.
But they were all still important and mattered.
“I can’t answer that for you, EJ. This has always been about finding yourself.
You have to figure that out. If she leaves, you have to decide if your relationship will hold up with distance, or if you have to swallow all that pride you carry and chase the babe down.
While we’re one big unit, we’re still individual pieces of the puzzle.
You have to either chase the girl or set her free and see if she comes back to you. ”
He said nothing.
Why?
Because he was a runner to his core. He ran from the rez, he ran from the FBI, and he ran from Gene. When Gene asked him to leave with him, and walked, instead of following, he ran in the opposite direction.
“Time will tell, EJ. You’ll figure it out. I have faith in you,” he admitted.
That seemed to be the theme of his life as of late. He had faith in Elizabeth when he told her he couldn’t leave Damascus this time.
They all had faith in her that she’d figure all of this out.
It all seemed to be on her shoulders, and for once, he wanted to be the one who carried it for her.
Callen saw the two men approaching with security.
Abe Crowfeather and Thomas White Deer had arrived, and the shit was about to hit the fan.
Glancing over at Gunny, Ethan gave him some work.
“I need you to go find Caspian, and keep him as far from the morgue and those two men as humanly possible without it looking like you’re trying to do that. We’re going to be talking about Rayna and her father.”
Gunny nodded.
“Stay inside,” he warned, and then headed away.
As the two men approached, neither looked thrilled.
“Why is that we hear from one of the people on our reservation that Lance is dead, but we don’t hear it from the Shaman, or his brother?” Abe asked.
Well, so much for a hello.
“A’ho, gentlemen,” Ethan stated, being calm so that they could make the best of this situation because it had the propensity to blow up, and he knew it.
There was already tension.
“Explain,” Thomas stated.
Ethan did just that.
“Our wife is working on a very sensitive case. A serial killer is stalking people in this area, and unfortunately, he has chosen victims on the reservation.”
Ethan kept it simple, not wanting to go into too much detail.
Abe went there.
“Is this the same killer she offered a million dollars for as a bounty?” he asked, arms crossed over his chest.
Ethan nodded.
“He’s dangerous, and we are trying our best to make sure no one gets hurt,” Callen stated. “You know our highest priority is to protect our people.”
Abe stared at him.
“And in the process, Lance was killed. If that is the way you protect, Callen, we’re not fond of it.”
Oh, well, they were all fighting for their lives, but he wasn’t going there. The worst thing they could do was let the council know that people died because of them.
“And neither are we.”
Thomas was to the point.
“We take great offense to our chief being killed. Have you told his daughter yet?”
Oh, Jesus.
They.
Didn’t.
Know.
Ethan took one for the team, not wanting Callen to take any of the heat in this. Yeah, he was liaison, but Ethan was Shaman. The line they walked was a precariously thin one.
“Rayna was also killed.”
That hung there.
In the silence of the moment, they could tell that Abe was NOT happy.
“Are you telling me that both RunningWolf tribe members are dead?” he asked.
Well, it wasn’t like they could lie or bring either back. So, they had to be honest.
“Yes,” Ethan stated.
Thomas was curious.
“So, Rayna, who was entangled with one of your bodyguards, a white man, is dead, and so is her father? We wish to see them.”
Callen was direct.
“No, you really don’t want that. What was done to them is abhorrent, and disgusting. Trust me when I say once you see it, you will never unsee it.”
That seemed to deter them.
“Still, we want their bodies. As members of our tribe, it is our right to claim them. They were taken from the rez without our knowledge, and they will be returned to our land.”
Ethan tried to placate them.
“We want to pay for the burial.”
Abe wasn’t having it. In fact, his anger came through. With his finger, he pointed into Ethan’s chest and let him have it.
“Your guilt over this will not taint their burial. We are going to take care of our own,” Abe said. “As the new chief of the reservation, making us come to you tells us how you view us. We believed you were one of us, Ethan. You’re not.”
Callen slapped his hand away from his brother’s chest. There was no fucking way he was letting the man touch him. What he also wasn’t letting him do was talk down to him.
“Tread lightly, NEW chief.”
The whole time, Ethan said nothing.
Well, that feeling of belonging for the first time in his life was over.
It had been short-lived.
“That’s foul,” Callen stated. “Back off.”
Abe stared at him.