Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) (24 page)

She stared at him. “What are you saying, Chris?”

He took a breath. “When you were growing up, who took care of you and your siblings?”

She thought about it. “Before my mother passed away, she did. Once she died, Cannon was old enough to help us get on the bus and watch us until my dad got home from work.”

“I want to start having kids right away.”

She was okay with that. “I think that’s part of why eloping would be perfect. There would be less stress and that helps in the baby making department too.”

“You can think about it, but I would really like for you to stay home with our kids and raise them.” And he also didn't want her out getting killed either.

“And?” she said, waiting for him to continue.

“If one of us is going to get shot at or killed, it’s more likely you. I know this is going to sound chauvinistic and caveman like, but I want you to retire and be a wife and mom.”

She was speechless.

“Please don’t get mad. I make enough money to support us, and then there’s the other thing,” he said, alluding to the money from his trust fund. Since only a few people knew, they never said it out loud. “I don’t want you to feel that you have to give up your job, but it would mean that I could see you more. We could have a semi normal marriage, and that would take the pressure off us too.”

Cyra thought about it. What Chris was offering wouldn’t be a bad thing. She always wanted kids, and the luxury of staying home with them was something that she never thought she would be able to do.
Now that it was a possibility, it was something to think about.

Then
dread struck. There was the other side of the coin that they needed to consider. Chris’s mother already thought she was a gold digger. Wouldn’t this just play into it more? Here, she quits her job to pop out kids and go shopping for their haunted mausoleum?

This was a slippery slope. While her heart said yes, her brain was telling her to think about it.

“That’s a big request, Christopher.”

He decided to play the elopement card in his favor. “So was canceling a wedding and just getting married.”

He had a point. After all, he was going to have to tell his witch of a mother that her precious only child got married behind her back.

“I need a couple of days
to think about it, if you don’t mind,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

Chris
kissed her on the forehead, and then tucked her against his body lovingly. “You can have as much time as you need, Cyra my sweet.”

She allowed her eyes to close and the scent of his cologne to lull her into contentment.

Cyra had a big decision to make and as of that moment, she was completely on the fence over which was right.

It now had to come down
to which part of her was going to win this fight.

Her brain or her heart.

                        *     *     *

Thursday Afternoon

    Salem

Waiting in front of the sheriff’s station, it was fun to watch the locals walk by and stare at them. Sitting on the bench, Elizabeth was safely housed between the large men. Some women stared at her, but most were checking out the Native arm candy. She would be lying if she said that it didn't turn her on to know she was with two very sexy men.

As they sat there, a man began crossing towards them from a building across the street. His focus was on the papers in his hand
, and he wasn’t watching where he was going. As he approached, Ethan began laughing.

The man glanced up when he heard the sound and stared at them
, horrified.

“Oh my God,” he muttered.

“Look at who it is, Ethan. It’s Henry Forbes, or as I liked to call him, the weasel.”

The man looked like he wanted to bolt.

Ethan stood up and crossed his arms over his chest, making sure the badge and gun showed prominently. The man in front of them had published pictures of Elizabeth in the paper, making her a target of a killer.

Henry stared at them. “What are you doing here?” he asked, backing up. Messing with those two had cost him his job
, and nearly his sanity.

“We came to see you, Henry,” Ethan stated. “Have you been behaving? I do believe you were told the FBI was going to be watching your every move.”

All three of them saw the bob of his Adam’s apple. Yeah, this man was scared shitless. After what he pulled by helping Ethan’s ex-partner Lily Sanderson, he deserved every second of it.

“I own a business, that’s it!”

They all glanced at the building that he had just come out of, and Elizabeth laughed. “An internet café? Should creeps like you have access to things like that after they were stalking people online?”

The man just looked like a deer in headlights. When he turned and bolted back the way he came, Ethan took his seat and explained it all to Callen.

“Man, wherever you two go, insanity follows,” Callen teased.

“Yeah, don’t we know it?” Ethan added.

Just then, the rumble of the Denalis sounded, as they pulled into the square. Behind them were trucks acting as tech vans. If Elizabeth thought that everyone was staring before, now they really were gawking.

In curiosity.

Fascination.

And
awe.

Hopping out of the one
vehicle, Chris crossed towards his bosses, standing in front of the sheriff’s station. “Sorry we’re late. It took us a while to get in the air. Someone forgot some equipment, and we had to wait for her to go get it.”

Chris wasn’t naming names, but
Elizabeth was pretty damn sure she knew who he was referring to. God, what they all wouldn’t do to have Christina back at the FBI. As much as they missed her terribly, she refused to call her and beg. The girl deserved a little Native happiness of her own with Kane Redwolf.

At that point,
Elizabeth just wanted to get the show on the road. “Cyra.” She pointed at the agent. “You and Harper need to head over to where we found the remains. Take half the team and start searching for anything that might give us something. Maybe whoever dumped the bones left us a piece of his identity behind in haste.”

Cyra waved at her partner and nodded at the new head tech, Veronica Lords. If she took the woman, it might give Chris a break.
The gossip around the hive was fairly clear. Christopher was having a hard time getting the woman to pull her weight.

As they drove off with one of the vans following them, Elizabeth directed her conversation
to the men in front of her. “Christopher Leonard, I now dub you the new acting ME of Salem. You need to step in and take over.”

“I can’t imagine
that this place has a lot of death,” he stated. “Other than dying of boredom and old age,” he teased.

She stepped closer, standing toe to toe with him as she tried to be menacing. “Let me give you some advice, Doctor Leonard. Don’t piss off a pregnant woman with pot shots at her hometown.”

When the news finally registered, he grinned and hugged her. “Congrats, Lyzee! As my present to you, I’ll do it and not even argue, but don’t get used to that. It’s a gift and not the norm.”

She patted him on the back as he hugged her. “I also need you to go through the last year of Doc’s files and check to see if there’s something there.”

He pulled away and looked appalled. “The whole year? That will take me months.”

Elizabeth laughed. “This is Salem, not the hood. Skip the deaths
that were natural causes and there are probably three files left, and two of them are from the remains we have now.”

That sounded plausible
and like a cake walk. His day was looking up. “I’m on it,” he said, as she pointed to the building off to the right.

“The morgue is in the basement and Doc’s assistant is named Harry
Fillmore. He’s waiting your arrival.”

They waited until Chris headed off, motioning at the remaining lab techs to follow.

Elizabeth snickered. “He’s like the damn pied piper leading the mice.”

Callen stared at her. “Better him than you.”

“Amen to that,” muttered Ethan, offering his brother a fist bump.

She chose to ignore it and focus on the most important part of their team.

Their anthropologist.

“Tony,
Doctor Trudeaux had some burr under his saddle over the bones. He called the sheriff and had questions. I think we need you to get out your equipment and tell us what had the man all twitterpated.”

He laughed. “I love coming down sout
h. I especially adore your hometown. We’re going to paint it red tonight.”

She crossed her arms. “Yeah, you think? So you want to raise some hell?”

Ethan knew where she was taking it. He could see the set up a mile away. Being married and working with the woman had given him an insight on how her mind worked.

“Yeah! I want to be up all night!”

She didn't bat an eyelash. “Well, as for hell, you’re in the sleaziest, cheapest dive of a no-tell motel that FBI money could buy.” Elizabeth relished the look on his face. “Now, for the being up all night part, the bugs in that God forsaken roach coach will keep you company, and chatter in your little bone loving ears all night long.”

Callen and Ethan both offered her a fist bump.

“God, I love a sadistic woman,” Ethan said, grinning. Here he was worried about the team being upset, well now he didn't have to break the news. Tony Magnus would.

“Come on, boss! I was yanking your chain. You wouldn’t do this to me.”

She shrugged. “You saw the size of Salem. We have one motel here. We didn't have a choice, but please know that we’ll be in our nice roach free home thinking about you.”

“Shit,” he muttered.

“I want you to look at the newest bones. The missing ME was over seventy and stood for long periods of time for the last forty years or so. I’m sure the bones will tell the tale. Find out the identity, because I need to know ASAP!”

He headed towards the morgue.

“You’re the worst boss ever,” he muttered, as the men laughed.

She simply watched him go. “Wait until he finds out that his lab buddy isn’t staying there
and is going to be living under our roof. There are days that I love being in charge. The best part is that HR can’t say a single thing to me either.”

Ethan grinned
and lovingly placed his hand over her belly. “If you’re a girl, please don’t be sadistic like your mother. We can’t handle two evil geniuses.”

Two could play that
game. “It’s a scientific fact that the first child tends to be more like the father, and the second, the mother. You’re screwed.”

They stared at her, unsure if she was yanking their chains.

“Lyzee,” Callen said, warily. “Are you serious?”

Part of the fun was ignoring them and making them wonder.
“Okay boys. I want to hit up Mayor Santana’s office, and then drop into the sheriff’s. We have lots to do before it’s time to call it a night.”

Both men were hoping that the trip to the office wasn’t going to be fraught with drama. Maybe for once, something would work to their advantage.

What were the odds?

“Elizabeth, we need to talk,” stated Ethan, following his wife.

His only reply was her melodious, maniacal laughter.

Walking into the office, they stood in front of the mayor’s secretary. She was busily answering the phones.

Holding up one finger, she signaled to them to have a seat. When they crossed the room and got comfortable, they noticed that all the calls were pertaining to them.

Well, not them specifically, but the FBI.

Apparently, word had travelled fast that the Feds had just dropped anchor in town and were ready for the long haul.

“Damn
! We should know better with all the black vehicles,” teased Blackhawk. “Next time, we should get sunny VW Bugs to throw everyone off.”

That was one hell of a visual.

“Funerals use all black too, and I bet no one calls their elected officials when they roll through town to the cemetery.”

Ethan was about to make another comment, but he was interrupted by the woman behind the desk.

“Mayor Santana is available now, and expecting you. Please head on into his office, Mrs. Blackhawk.”

If the woman had been snide, Elizabeth would have corrected her and put her in her place. For now, she’d ignore that the woman dropped her title.

Opening the office door, the three strolled in and it brought back memories. It was the same décor, but a different man
, and wow, Christopher Santana had filled out in his time as mayor. She prayed that her face didn't give anything away.