Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) (45 page)

This was a mess all the way around.

“Someone must have called the media last night to tell them that we had Tony in handcuffs and in the back of a cruiser, because I know it wasn’t Callen, Ethan or myself. What’s happening now is going to play out in the court of public opinion.”

Because of Tony’s careless choices, they were all big losers in this one.

“I don’t know if I should be pissed off or just downright shocked,” Chris said, staring at her. “What are you going to do?” When it came down to it, this landed in his lap, but ultimately she had control. As the FBI, she could bury the details of Tony’s little sex for no reports, or she could blow it wide open.

“For now, I’m going to ask that you relieve him of duty. If you want to tell council and trust them, so be it. As far as we’re concerned, we’re going to say he tried to assault a Fed in a drunken state, and that’s why he was relieved of duty.”

Chris relaxed. “Okay.”

“Do you trust my judgment, Chris? I mean, we worked together
for a year, but you worked under my dad. He’s part of who I am. Do you believe I know what I’m doing?”

He
was a little shocked that she even had to ask him that. “You know I do. When you rolled into town, I handed you this entire case. I told the council that you would handle it, and stood behind you.”

“Then
, I need you to do one more thing for me, despite what the council says. I know you can stand up to them, and that you probably have a few that will side with you on this.”

“What is it?” he asked.

“I want you to promote Tyrell as interim sheriff. We both know that he can do the job, and I need you to stick up for him. He’s been here for years, is a family man and for God’s sake, he goes to church every Sunday with his family.”

He thought about it.

“I know this is the Deep South, and bigotry is supposed to be dead, but you and I are smart enough to know that’s a load of bullshit. We are both aware why the council didn't put him through as sheriff. Now, we need to do something about it.”

He knew she was right, but then again, it always was hard to pull one over on Elizabeth.

“Come on, Chris. Grow a big ol’ set and help me assure that when I go back home, the place I grew up loving is in good hands.”

He offered her his hand. “Deal. I’ll run interference, and use Tony as the reason. I can swing this to make it look like the people
who pushed against Tyrell now look like assholes.”

Elizabeth grinned.
“That’s a big shiny set. They almost look bronze from here.”

Chris laughed and stood. “How about we go face Tony together?”

She was more than willing to do that. “On one condition, Chris,” she said.

He looked over at her. “What?”

“If you open that cage door, and Ethan magically appears, you need to quick slam it and toss the keys in with Tony.”

He looked confused. “Why?”

She stared at him, dead serious. “Because if you don’t, we’re going to have one more murder on our hands, and this one won’t belong to the serial killer cannibal.”

“Oh boy,” he said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, tell me about it. My Native love bug is on the warpath.”

             
                  *   *   *

Ethan Blackhawk had his groove back.

Since being abducted, he dreaded facing the media. In the back of his mind, he was afraid that if they asked about his kidnapping, he wouldn’t be able to get through it.

Well, now he knew the truth.

He absolutely could, and without batting an eyelash.

When the questions started flying,
personal ones were peppered in there. Even though the abduction had happened across the country, they had made the evening news.

There
had been talk of a damaged director and comments on how his hair had suspiciously been cut right after he was found. People had fun speculating, and in all honestly, he didn't blame them.

If he was in their place, he would wonder too.

For all those weeks, he hid from it all, allowing his wife, and even his brother, to handle the media. Without a second thought, they both stood up to cover for him, and he appreciated that more than anything in the world. Ethan knew that Callen was scared shitless of public speaking, but still he stood and took one for their team and family.

He owed the people he loved so much
, and he knew that he wouldn’t ever be able to repay it. Not in one lifetime.

But, that didn't matter
for now. He was well aware that they wouldn’t want payback, they just wanted him. At that moment, he could safely say that the old Ethan was ready to own his life and be the man he once was.

In fact, he
loved every second of it. To him, this was nothing more than a game. It was a carefully orchestrated dance where they tried to get information, and he evaded like a pro. Part of him missed this, and for now, he would revel in its return.

He almost wanted to
grin like a madman.

When Callen placed his hand on his shoulder and smiled at him, he knew that his brother could sense his peace and inner balance returning.

Yeah, this was a pretty awesome present to discover on Valentine’s Day.

The shout of questions drew his attention.

“Why was the sheriff incarcerated?” yelled some woman, holding a microphone.

It was time for damage control.

“Sheriff Tony Morell wasn’t arrested last night. Unfortunately, he drank a little too much and had an altercation with another person.”

“We hear some woman kicked the crap out of him,” shouted another man.

Oh, how he would love to say something to bury Tony for even daring to touch his woman, but he knew karma was a big bitch, and they had suffered enough the past few months. He wasn’t screwing with fate.

“I’m sorry, but since I wasn’t at the scene, I can’t confirm or deny that. Since there is no report, because he isn’t under arrest, your guess is as good as mine.”

That was the best that he could do.

“How are you doing, Director?” someone shouted
, getting everyone’s attention.

Yeah, here came the questions
that were going to be aimed right at him.

Instead of panic building, the calm remained as he planned out in his mind how to handle and react.
With his dark blue black eyes, he located the reporter asking the question. As he stared at the man, he prepared to give them just enough to be satiated, but not enough to infringe on their privacy.

“I’m doing really well, but I guess that is
all depending on whether or not my wife likes her Valentine’s Day present.”

There was laughter from the men in the crowd, since they
all knew what he meant. Even some of the women snickered in response to his evasion.

Where he hoped the questions
would then stop, they didn't.

“Is it true that ‘
The Black Magick’
killer cut off all of your hair while you were abducted?” someone shouted.

It still bothered him a little, how could it not? Someone violated his personal self by loping off his
identity. Now, it was a matter of facing it down and giving an answer.

“As a matter of fact, during my captivity, he wasn’t in love with it like I was, and cut it. I don’t see why, because I think it was pretty darn spectacular.
Since he was the abductor and I was merely the detainee, I didn't get to voice my opinion.”

Again, there was more laughter.

Ethan could feel Callen move closer in support.

“Is that why your wife and brother cut theirs?” the same reporter shouted.

Although it wasn’t terrifying him, it was getting old. This would be the last thing he said about it.

Ever!

“I think when my wife and brother saw how good I looked,” he said, running his fingers through his hair, “they were damn jealous.”

Callen grinned and nodded. Not at the answer, but how his big brother had won this one.
At first, he feared the cracks in the carefully constructed veneer would show, but his brother was tough and held up under the scrutiny.

Ethan Blackhawk was bad ass.

“Now, if you don’t mind, we have an investigation to work on,” he said, ending their round of questions.

With that, both men headed for the station, ignoring the shouts and calls of more personal
inquiries.

“I’m proud of you, Ethan,” Callen stated
, knowing that he didn't need to say anymore.

He grinned, because so was he.

~ Chapter Thirteen ~

Elizabeth and Mayor Chris San
tana passed the conference room where the Feds were already starting to work. Her team was assembling, but before she could deal with that, she needed to handle the Tony situation.

Once inside the jail part of the station, they saw him s
itting in what they called ‘the tank’. It wasn’t the typical jail cell, because it had padding, benches, and no way for the man to harm himself. They mostly used it for town drunks, since it easily hosed out if there were copious amounts of vomit or other bodily fluids.

When she unlocked the door, she only had one thought
in her mind. Please, oh please, don’t let Tony puke on her boots. They were her favorite ones.

Where she had sympathy for the man, Elizabeth was damn tired of cleaning up his mess. The last time, he had slept with a victim and hid it. If it weren’t for Ethan, he wouldn’t have had a job. Now in hindsight, maybe
they should have let him take the fall and earned his knocks. If he didn't learn last time, he shouldn’t have his position with the sheriff’s department.

Sometimes, tough love worked best.

“Time to wake up, Tony,” she said, loudly.

When he moaned, rolled to his side
, and covered his ears, she grinned. Yeah, payback was a bitch. Stepping inside, she spoke in the echoing room. “How are you feeling today?”

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhh
!”

Elizabeth wasn’t going to even entertain his request. This stop
in there was a colossal waste of her day. “It’s time to get up, Tony. You’ve had quite the bender, and playtime is officially over for you.”

When he sat up, Chris entered the room. “Tony, I’m relieving you of duty.”

That snapped him out of it pretty damn fast.

“Why? What did I do?”

Elizabeth crouched down to eye level. “You don’t remember physically attacking me, calling me every name in the book, and telling a bar full of people that we had a cannibal eating people in town?”

He stared at her
, horrified. She had to be screwing with him. Tony glanced over at his boss, praying someone would start laughing and let him in on the joke.

Chris confirmed
everything that she had just said. “Yeah and right now, we have a media feeding frenzy outside. It seems that they’re all curious about what the hell got into you, Tony. Are you out of your damn mind?” he asked.

He shook his head and the room spun. “I remember being mad at you,” he said, pointing at Elizabeth. “I went there to have a few drinks to calm down, before I confronted you
, and that’s all I can recall.”

“Oh, well you definitely confronted me, Tony. You took three swings at a Fed. Oh wait, it’s worse than that. You took three swings at a pregnant woman.”

“Oh shit. Ethan’s going to kill me. “Oh my God, so is the other one, too”

She started laughing. “
His name is Callen, and they certainly may at this point. What concerns me is your drinking, Tony. You can’t touch that shit, and you know it. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to pull you out of a bar and take you home. Last time, I had to shove my damn fingers down your throat to keep you from dying of alcohol poisoning.”

Chris spoke up, “
I’ve had to do it too, Tony.”