Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) (38 page)

Elizabeth found that funny. “And I quote ‘
I don’t want anyone babying me. It is making it hard for me to get better’
,” she stated.

“That was more like paraphrasing,” he corrected.

“Toe-ma-toe versus toe-may-toe, ace. Suck it up and let me run amuck.”

As the GPS chirped off the last part of the directions, he ig
nored her. They both knew that there was no way in hell that he was going to allow that to happen. Ethan had seen his wife in action, and that was just a bad idea all around.

“Oh look. We’re here,” she said, and then she saw it. “What the fuck is he doing?” she stated, hopping down out of the Navigator before it even came to a stop.

Charging across the parking lot, she came face to face with Sheriff Tony Morell, and he was conducting an interview.

An interview the FBI was
supposed to be handling.

Oh, he was certifiable if he thought this was going to fly
, and that there wasn’t going to be some big time retribution.

“Oh look, Mr.
Willard. It’s the FBI. They’re helping me with this case, so you have nothing to worry about. My office is here for you, and the Feds are backing me up.”

Elizabeth gave him a look, and she was pretty damn sure the one he returned was smug and meant to push every one of her last buttons.

Mission accomplished!

When she got him alone, there was a good chance his ears would be bleeding from what she had to say to him.

“Oh hello, Sheriff. I wasn’t aware that this was going to be an interview that you handled. I thought that this morning at our meeting, I was quite clear that we had this one.”

He smiled his good ol’ boy smile, and poured on the charm as the two men came up to them. “Oh, you FBI directors have so much on your plate, I wanted to personally handle Mr.
Willard’s wife. I don’t like anything to fall through the cracks. You know how I’m a stickler on the rules.”

Blackhawk and Whitefox just shook their heads. The man was baiting a pregnant tiger. This was going to have an ugly outcome.

Elizabeth pushed it aside, since the missing woman’s husband was looking a little frantic.

“How about you tell us about it
?” she asked, patting him on the arm. “We’ll listen to you.”

“I just told the sheriff everything. I have to
rehash it?”

Again, she handed out one more look, and it wasn’t pleasant.

“I’m sorry, sir, but think of it this way. The more times you go over it, something new might shake loose from your brain and help us.”

Or something might get knocked loose from Tony’s head when this was done.
Either way, this was far from being over.

Both directors could feel the tension, and Callen stepped in to calm the situation.

“How about you start at the beginning for us, Mr. Willard?”

The man took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Marjorie had a meeting last night at the civic center by the high school. She left the house around six and told me not to wait up. Of course I did, because what man doesn’t?” he asked.

Elizabeth knew her men would.

“When she didn't return by midnight, I loaded the baby into the car and headed there. I was pissed off and ready to tell her off. I know
that she loves being in the women’s auxiliary, but she has a child, husband, and family. We should come first.”

Elizabeth was big on having a career and everything else in her life, but her children did take priority over most everything,
sometimes even the men.

“When I got there,” he paused, his hand going to his mouth
in horror as he relived it all. “Her car was there. I knew she would never just leave it, so I opened the door and found her purse.”

Elizabeth patted his arm. “Do you
still have it?”

He nodded and went to the passenger side of
the vehicle. “I brought it with me, so her stuff would be safe for when she gets back,” he said, softly.

“Can I bag this up for my team to run fingerprints on it, sir?” she asked, being as gentle as possible. The man was obviously distraught. His eyes were red, his face was tear streaked
, and his hands shook as he blew his nose.

“Yes. Take it.”

“What happened next?” Ethan pushed, as Callen retrieved the bag and sealed it up.

“I called nine
-one-one. I told them what happened, and they sent out a deputy. It was some young girl who didn't have a clue.”

“That would be Deputy Silverman,” Tony added. “She’s new to the force.”

“Yeah, and looks twelve,” he snapped, angrily. “She didn't even take any information. All she kept telling me was that policy was to wait forty eight hours. THEN, she gave me a ticket for my wife’s vehicle sitting there.”

Elizabeth stared at Tony. “Yeah,
it’s quite the staff that the sheriff has there. I suggest sensitivity training for everyone.”

Tony’s
face went serious and his eyes narrowed.

“When she left, I didn't move the car. I’ve seen enough TV shows to know that someone might have touched it.”

Oddly, the man knew who but the sheriff’s dimwitted deputy didn't.

There was a shocker.

“You did the right thing, Mr. Willard. I’m proud of you. I’m going to have my team head over to the civic center and check it out, okay?”

The man nodded
, and then burst into tears. Elizabeth hugged him and soothingly rubbed his back. “Shhhhhhh, it’s okay, sir. We’re going to start working on it immediately.”

He sniffled and released her to blow his nose.

“Would anyone want to hurt, Marjorie?” Ethan asked, still taking notes, as Callen stepped away to call in the tech team to head out to the car.

“No, she was as sweet as pie. Her momma was on the committee, and so was her grand
mother. This was her way of keeping the tradition alive.”

“What was the meeting about?”

He looked at Ethan like he was crazy for even having to ask that question. “It was about the Spring Fling, of course.”

“Of course it was,” he replied. Here was more proof that he didn't miss anything growing up on a reservation. Small towns were a bit crazy
, case in point.

“What am I supposed to do?” he wailed. “We have a baby! I don’t know how to take care of a small child. Do you?” he asked, staring at the four of them.

Three of them nodded, since they were well aware of the work involved in parenthood. “You just need to love that little baby now even more, until you get your wife back,” Elizabeth said, reassuringly. If this had anything to do with the other disappearances, she doubted the man was going to be able to hold up under what was coming.

It was bad enough that your wife was gone, but eaten?

Yeah, that was a tough one to swallow.

“Thank you for coming here,” he said, hugging Elizabeth again. “I’m glad someone is on my side.
You’re just like your daddy, and he would be proud,” the man added.

“Thank you, sir,” she replied.

He spun and faced the sheriff. “If anything happens to my wife, I’ll never forgive you,” he spat, directing that at Tony.

The smug was gone, and in its place was a completely different look. It was anger that Elizabeth was now the one smiling.

If Tony wanted to play a game, she was willing to serve it up. She had more years doing the job, and saw the twists and turns a mile away.

“I’ll keep you updated, sir,” she said, patting him on the shoulder. “I’ll see you at the station, Tony,” she
stated, leaving nothing out of her voice on that one.

There was going to be a showdown
, and certainly there would be hell to pay. It was a matter of time.

Heading towards the Navigator, none of them looked back. They were all thinking the same thing.

They had a nutjob on their hands.

                                *   *   *

At the morgue, Chris was pacing nervously. He wasn’t listening to anything anyone was saying, since he was locked in some nightmare.

A part of him knew that he shouldn’t be upset that someone had pulled a gun on Cyra, but the rest of him was out of control and irate. This was his fiancée
, and she needed to be safe.

If anything happened to her, what would he do?

As he angrily walked back and forth, his friend just watched him, unsure if he should interrupt the silent torment he was inflicting on himself.

“Are you going to be okay, Chris?” Tony Magnus asked
, taking a chance.

The man shook his head.

It had been a long time since he saw his work buddy get this frazzled. Wait, he never saw him this angry, so that meant this had everything to do with Cyra and their relationship.

“
Babe drama?” he asked.

Chris stopped mid pace and exploded in rage. “Someone held her at gun point!”

Tony stared at him incredulously. “Is she okay? Did she get hurt?” he asked.

“No, she didn't.” Then
, the anger started back up again, and nearly pushed him over the edge.

“
Maybe you shouldn’t be this mad.”

Chris looked over again and stared at the man like he didn't have a freaking clue in the world. “Did you hear what I
just said? Someone held her at gunpoint. She could have died, or been wounded. How am I supposed to not be mad?”

“Yeah, I get that, but she wasn’t
hurt. You and I both know the cold facts. Most people in that situation have a very different outcome, and it’s never good. Think about all the bodies that we see on a daily basis. Most of them are riddled with bullet holes.”

“Your point, Tony?”

“I’m just thinking about their families, husbands, and fiancé’s. I bet that if someone gave them the opportunity to have their woman escape unscathed, they wouldn’t be storming around like some lunatic on a bender. They would probably be grateful and hugging their loved ones like crazy. I mean after all, we don’t all get a second chance, but today wasn’t her day.”

His friend had a point.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be mad, but glad.”

Now
, the anger was seeping away at his words.

The man had a very valid point.

“I’m not in a relationship, but from the outside it looks like you’re over reacting a bit.”

The good thing about friends
is that they would point out when you were being an asshole, and then help you work through the anger.

“Thank you, Tony. I appreciate it.”

“Hey, what’s a friend for?

Chris calmed down, and now he needed to find a way to apologize for his outburst. Before he could call Cyra or run over, he was interrupted by Veronica. She was standing there with a report in her hands.

“We got nothing on the rock, Doctor Trudeaux’s car or keys. Prints only matched him and the sheriff.”

Well, that was good news.

She continued, “DNA also came in. The last set of remains was definitely Doctor Trudeaux.”

“Damn it,” muttered Chris.

“Want me to tell Elizabeth?” she asked.

Chris stared at her
in irritation. “It’s Director Blackhawk, and I’ll tell her myself.”

The woman rolled her eyes as she handed him the file. Yeah, someone was a tad bit touchy and moody today.

Apparently, it was going around.

~ Chapter Eleven ~

   
Sheriff’s Station

     Late Afternoon

Elizabeth,
Ethan, and Callen were just walking into the sheriff’s station, when a phone began ringing. They each reached for theirs, to see who won the call lotto.

Blackhawk grinned and answered it.

As they waited, Callen leaned against one of the trees and stared at her.