Chapter Eight #3
“I’m sorry I fired you, Raphael.”
The big man laughed.
“I wasn’t worried. None of us are getting off this rollercoaster anytime soon,” he joked. “And if they didn’t stop you from firing me, I would have been rehired as soon as Elizabeth found out—right after she kicked your ass and told your wife what you did.”
He pointed.
“It’s rude to say it to my face.”
He laughed.
Yeah, but family did crazy shit.
This was the proof.
“Everyone, get some rest,” Chris said. “We’re now without Elizabeth and Ethan. If we get a case…we’ve got a million and one problems because we’re up to bat without her or the team profiler. That’s not going to be fun for any of us.”
Yeah, especially those who had only worked with Elizabeth for the majority of their careers.
Chris hoped Gene and Callen would be ready—because they would be up to bat.
How could that go wrong?
Well, they were going to find out.
* * * The Ravensmire Castle * * *
Scotland
Same Time
Mid-Morning
When they found her, she was standing by the fountain.
Oh, and she didn’t look happy.
In fact, if a look could say it all, hers showed how absolutely miserable she was.
And everyone felt bad for her too.
Moving closer, the two men flanked her, and protectively stood guard while trying to make her feel better.
“You okay, Boo?” Michael asked. “Because I can go punch Finn in the head for you if that makes you feel better. God knows I’ve wanted to slap him stupid since meeting him.”
She laughed softly.
“No, don’t do that. It’s not his fault. It just hit me hard with what he said. That’s all. I’ll be okay.”
Fishing coins from his pocket, he handed one to his husband, and one to her. Then, he nudged her with his elbow.
“Make a wish.”
Staring down at the coin, she watched both Michael and Graham make one, and then, she did too. Then, Elizabeth tossed the coin into the water.
Oh, and she hoped it came true.
“I’ll be okay,” she said. “I always am.”
And that was the problem.
Elizabeth had been forced to take care of herself far too long. She’d been the strong one, and now, when it was time to let someone else take the wheel, she was all alone.
That was what annoyed Michael. He’d never let Graham deal with something this monumental on his own. He’d be beside him in the trenches.
Yeah, he really hoped that Ethan handled this, because she was in freefall, and it sucked.
“What did you wish?” he asked.
Elizabeth didn’t hesitate.
“That for once, someone would save me,” she said. “Because I’m tired of rescuing the world, and never having the favor returned. I don’t know if I can do it anymore, Michael.”
He got it.
Again, he hoped Ethan didn’t fuck this up.
In that moment, he considered telling her that he was there, but he didn’t get a chance.
Someone cleared their throat.
When they turned, Finn and Gabby were there, and he looked worried.
“Hey, can I speak to you for a minute, Lass?” he asked. “Alone?”
Oh, it wasn’t lost on him that they were staring at him, and the look said it all.
TREAD LIGHTLY.
When she nodded, Finn knew it was time to make amends for hurting her feelings. Yeah, it had been inadvertent, but when you did something, you fixed it.
Period.
Fiona would box his ears if he didn’t do it because she raised him better, and with the premise to judge not, lest he be judged.
Holding out his arm, she linked hers through it, and he began walking along the cobblestone sidewalk in the village square.
The whole time, no one gave her a second glance, other than because there was a different woman on Finn’s arm.
“I’m sorry that what I said hurt your heart. I wasn’t aware of what happened. I never would have made an intentional bruise on your heart like that.”
Oh, she was aware.
Normally, she wasn’t so sensitive, but the last week had been rough, and it wasn’t looking any better. Before this, she would have handled it differently, but she just didn’t have it in her anymore.
That was for damn sure.
“It’s okay. I just…I can’t carry much more,” she said. “My father would be horrified I took justice into my own hands, and I’m trying to come to grips with that.”
He could see that, and that told Finn everything.
A monster wouldn’t care at all. They would have moved on without batting an eyelash.
That she was all riled up…
It told the tale.
Elizabeth continued.
“Now, I have to live with it. The worst part is in all of this, with the big family I have surrounding me, no one will hold me up, Finn. I’m alone and drowning.”
As someone from a big family, that made him sad. Had his Gabby run from home, he would have been hot on her tail, making sure she was okay.
He wanted to ask why her husbands weren’t here helping her, but he didn’t want to upset her more. As a cop, sometimes, he forgot to hold his tongue.
“I’m sorry you feel that way. What can we do to help you?” he asked. “Because my lass loves you very much, so that makes you part of my family too.”
He saw the tear slip down her cheek.
Immediately, as the brother of a slew of women, he knew he had to do something.
That tender part of his heart wanted to wrap around her and protect her. He’d heard stories about her from Michael and Gabby. Elizabeth was a good person, who was genuinely struggling.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I have a hole in my heart.”
Pulling out some money, he stopped at a vendor and bought her a little bunch of flowers. It was the same vendor that he picked up flowers at for his wife.
What he knew about having women all around them were that the littlest thing could sometimes help the most.
Taking the bright Dahlias, he handed them to her, and she smelled them.
“Thank you,” she said. “They’re pretty.”
Then, he said the words she needed to hear. It was clear that she was drowning, so Finn, as a cop himself, threw her a lifeline.
“You did the right thing. Back there, I didn’t take into consideration that the people you lost were your family and friends. I would have done the same thing had someone hurt one of my sisters or my wife.”
She wished it was so simple, but right was right, and wrong was wrong.
Wasn’t it?
That had been what Charlie taught her, and now, she was struggling with that more than anything.
Should she hand in her badge?
“I’m not proud that I broke the law. Trust me when I say I carry that shit deep in my chest, Finn.”
Behind them, Graham and Michael were not far away, with Gabby between them. He could see them from his peripheral, as they were making sure Elizabeth was safe.
He considered what she said and offered his opinion on it. Maybe it would help.
He hoped so.
“Sometimes, the law needs to be broken, and that’s okay.
The bottom line as a cop is that you keep the law more times than not.
It shouldn’t become the norm not to. I know for a fact, that you’ve done good work, Elizabeth.
You’re well-known for it. Now, had you been well-known for being the opposite, that is where you should worry.
Balance is everything. You’ve saved people and fought for justice. That’s all that matters.”
“Then why do I feel like I took a shortcut to get there?” she asked, honestly.
He laughed.
“Because cops are a special kind of stubborn, and we don’t like to lose. We especially don’t like to let the bad guy get away. Only, you’re forgetting one thing, Lass,” he said, his accent making his voice calming.
She was curious.
“What’s that?” she asked.
Finn shared.
“Your lady justice wears a blindfold, no?”
She nodded.
“Maybe that’s the sign that sometimes, she can’t look because she also can’t carry it all. If you’re tired, imagine how tired she is.”
He had a point.
“What you need is a break. I’m glad you chose to come here to do it.”
In a way, she was too.
“I know what we can all do,” he offered.
She glanced over.
“What?”
He went there.
“How about later, tonight, we all get together and work on that castle shit—because that’s what it is. A never-ending pile of shit that I can’t get away from because my wife is absolutely bonkers.”
There was laughter from her, and from behind him.
“I can hear you, Fineas,” Gabby admitted. “So either walk faster or talk quieter.”
He winked at Elizabeth.
“Aye, and now I’m in even more shit.”
She laughed, but honestly, he did give her some perspective on this. As a cop also, she appreciated his opinion. Lady Justice might just be blindfolded for those occasional times when someone had to make a distasteful choice.
She’d never thought about it that way. It was always that Lady Justice was blind to being judgmental.
“I can’t believe that I needed a break, and my big choice was to come to a castle with a ghost, bones in the lake, and a mystery that doesn’t seem to end.”
He grinned.
“A busman’s holiday, it seems.”
She snorted.
“It’s absolutely shit, and I don’t think we’re sane.”
Oh, well, tell him something he didn’t know.