Pledging to Die (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 11) (10 page)

It was the same with every job.

Inside, they paused at the counter. When the sheriff turned around, Elizabeth actually gawked.

She knew him.

How was this possible?

“Nick?” she asked, not believing her eyes. “Nick Rakin?”

He looked just as surprised.

“Elizabeth LaRue! Oh my God! Is that you?” He rushed around the counter, hugging her tight. When he picked her up and spun her around, there was a dead silence in the room.

Ethan didn't know whether to shoot the man or pinch himself to see if he was asleep. While they were surprised, Ethan was beyond that. He didn't know what to think. Here was a strange man hugging and swinging his wife in a circle.

AND
she wasn’t trying to kill him.

Jesus!

It was the apocalypse.

For the first time in a long time, he was speechless.

“You better believe it’s me, you dog! How the hell are you?” she asked, grinning up at the man when he put her down.

“Now that I’ve seen you, I’m as happy as a clam. We heard the FBI was making an appearance, but I was expecting some bitchy asshole from up north. I didn't think I’d luck out and get the sweetest woman on the planet instead.”

Blackhawk nearly fell over.

Did they enter a wormhole at the doorway? Was this some other time dimension?

What the bloody hell?

Where was he?

She turned. “Actually, Nick, it’s Director Elizabeth Whitefox-Blackhawk. I’m married now, and this is my husband and partner, Director Ethan Blackhawk,” she said, doing the introductions.

He pumped Ethan’s hand enthusiastically. “Wow! We get two directors for the price of one? That’s crazy! I hope you’re as easy going as Elizabeth!”

He opened his mouth, and then decided to close it. Apparently, he was asleep.

Elizabeth? Easy going? What?

“Yeah, we’re a matched set, Nick. Our other partner will be here in a few days.”

“I can’t believe you got hitched. You swore you were never settling down, and now you’re a married woman. That’s totally wild. Dak will be disappointed that he missed this!”

Ethan lifted a brow. “Who’s Dak, and why would he care if she’s married?”

Elizabeth heard the tone in his voice. Ethan wasn’t amused, and she feared it was only going to get worse once the sheriff kept talking. Here was the issue with your past. When it reappeared, it tended to be a bad thing.

“Dakota is my brother. He and Elizabeth had a thing. He popped the question, and she turned him down. Something about never marrying, and definitely not marrying a cop.”

She shrugged, trying to brush it off.

“Is that so? Dak proposed, huh?”

Yeah, she didn't have to even look at him to know he wasn’t happy. Ethan, while a softie underneath it all, had a way of going ice cold when he was pissed.

Brrrrr.

It was getting chilly in there. 

“Nicky, we’re here to help out. I’m so glad it’s a friendly face too. We need to talk. Can we head into your office?”

He dropped his arm over her shoulders and led the way. “Sugar, for you, anything.”

Ethan was sure that he was going to be the one hurting the sheriff. He’d kissed, hugged, and spun his woman. Now he was getting up close and personal with her.

Yeah, he was a dead man.

In fact, later, he might just be kicking his wife’s ass too. He was pretty sure that they’d discussed people in their past. When someone proposed, that might have been a detail he should have heard about—even in passing.

Inside the office, Sheriff Nick Rakin pulled out a chair for her before heading around the desk. “How bad is it going to be?” he asked. “Are we talking big Fed boning or just going to hurt a little when I bend over?”

She laughed. “Come on, Nicky! This is me we’re talking about. I’ll be very gentle. I promise. Since I like you, I’ll even use lube.”

He grinned. “Thank the Lord.”

“We’re really here to help out. Don’t think of us as taking over. Plus, we’ve been told to keep it on the DL. We’re going to need you to do the same.”

“What do you have?” he asked.

Elizabeth glanced over at her husband, waiting for him to say something…anything, but it looked like he was pissed. She could tell from the twitch in his cheek.

Oh, and the way those midnight blue eyes watched her. Yeah, she was seriously screwed for omitting a tiny piece of information.

Yes, she had a past before him, but then again, so did he.

“We have the four missing girls, and three have been found. At first, we thought abductions, but now we know better.”

“I want in, Elizabeth. Can you see it in that big heart of yours to cut me and my guys a break?”

She laughed. “You know I can. I’d love your help.”

Ethan Blackhawk swore under his breath. Yeah, this was going to suck. Wait until Callen heard about this love fest. He wanted to puke. In fact, he wasn’t going to stop his brother from pounding Nick into ground meat.

“Give us something to do. I trust you to take care of my town. I know the kind of woman you are.”

Ethan wanted to rage around the room. He liked when everyone thought she was a bitch. The soft side was his and Callen’s, and now he was feeling like a special gift in life was being passed around to strangers.

His anger issues began resurfacing, so he struggled to get a deep breath, but Nick’s words kept playing over and over in his head.

Obviously, the Rakin men had a good look at the real Elizabeth too. This was far from over.

“How about we task you and the deputies with handling the campus cops? Since they probably live in your town, they might be a little more forthcoming with you.”

“Deal, sugar. We’ll take that and run with it.” He picked up his phone and dialed out to his men, calling one in. When the man arrived, he made the introductions.

“Deputy John Reason, this is Director Elizabeth Whitefox-Blackhawk and her partner. When they need something, you give it to them, you hear?”

The man shook their hands.

“What do you need, ma’am?” he asked.

“Is there any way you can contact the campus cops and pick up any of their records on the girls who went missing? I need to get the interviews, or anything they did to follow up.”

“Sure thing, ma’am. I’ll get right on it.”

When he was gone, Elizabeth shook her head. “Nick, are we getting that old? He looks like a high school kid.”

He laughed. “Yeah, we are, Elizabeth, and he’s not that far off the school circuit. Do you have any little ones?” he asked. “Tell me you didn’t procreate and have little Elizabeth’s all over the place.”

Ethan wanted to slap the man. He loved having little mini Elizabeths. If it were up to him, he’d have more. Finally, Ethan spoke, “We have four children,” he stated.

“Golly, girl, you’ve been busy. Again, Dak is going to shit a ton of bricks when I tell him all this. I can’t believe you tossed over my US Marshal brother and had babies too.”

“Uh, I’m the guy she tossed him over for, so let’s remember I’m right here,” Ethan stated.

Elizabeth heard the tone in his voice. Normally, Ethan was a lot calmer. It was a little unnerving.

“I’m sorry, Director. I meant nothing by it.”

She knew it was time to get him out of there before there was a bloodbath. It was amusing that this time, it wouldn’t be because of her.

“We’ll meet up tomorrow, Nicky. You get the information for us, and then meet us at the morgue. My ME is working on the autopsies right now.”

He tipped his hat. “See you, sunshine.”

She snorted.

“I didn’t forget.”

Ethan headed out with his wife, saying nothing. Outside, he climbed behind the wheel of the Denali, still keeping his mouth shut.

“What?” she asked, finally breaking the ice.

“Who the hell are you?”

She stared at him openmouthed. “What?”

“I have never seen you be so damn happy in a sheriff’s office, including your own. He called you sugar, spun you around, and then ended with sunshine. You’d normally lose your damn mind, but today, you ate it up like candy.”

Her eyes went wide. “Whoa! You better take a deep breath and get back in control,” she stated. “I don’t see why any of that pissed you off. You’re the one who tells me to play nice, and finally, you get your wish, and you’re pissed off at me?”

He seethed.

“Nick is an old friend. He didn't do anything wrong. We’re probably lucky, since we have to keep this quiet. I can trust him not to say anything.”

“Why? Because you were sleeping with his brother and he proposed?”

She stared at him. Well, that was a first. Ethan Blackhawk never threw out their past sex lives.

Ever.

“What the hell, Ethan?”

“Well, when were you going to tell me that you had some man propose to you? I was under the impression I was the first.”

With that, he slammed out of the Denali and walked away. Elizabeth didn't know what to do with this.

It was shocking.

She watched him cross the street and enter a coffee shop. Giving him a few minutes, she headed in after him. When she found him inside, he was drinking a coffee and on his phone. He didn't even buy her one.

Well, that spoke volumes.

She paid for her coffee and crossed over to him. “Can I join you, or do you want to sit here and be a dick all by yourself?”

He glanced up at her. “Sit.”

It wasn’t easy, but she managed to ignore the tone and how he was barking at her like she was one of his minions. Ethan had better pray that she stayed calm, or there would be an ass kicking, only it wouldn’t be to the local law.

“I guess I should start at the beginning. It was right after Livy nearly died. I was working a case and ran into Marshall Dakota Rakin. Someone introduced us, thinking we could find something in each other. We hit it off, so we got more than casual.”

“How long?” he asked, not looking up. There was a piece of him dying that she’d had a relationship with someone else.

Elizabeth was his.

Callen’s.

Theirs.

“It lasted a whopping six months. Dak was the relationship I had right before I jacked my career up with Ray. We went out one night for dinner, and he proposed. In the middle of this place, he dropped down on one knee and whipped out this ring. I didn't know what to say.”

“Why didn't you say yes?” he asked, feeling his belly knot at the mere thought. His fear was one day Elizabeth would look back and regret what they had. Now he wondered if she ever looked back and wished that she’d said yes.

Let’s face it. He and Callen weren’t easy to love. They had more issues than a normal man. The Blackhawk boys made her work for it.

“I wasn’t in love with him. When we were together, he was fun, and it was great. We talked work, we rolled around naked,” she began. When he looked up, she pointed. “How many times did I have to hear about the skinny blonde flight attendant? You and Callen still joke about it, so don’t give me that look. I had sex before you. Yes, it happened.”

She had a point, but as God as his witness, they’d never bring it up again.

Ever.

“Anyway, he asked, I said no. I wasn’t ready for a husband. I always thought that
IF
I did get married, I’d want to do it right. You proposed four days in, and I knew the night we made love. I knew from that second that I was going to spend the rest of my life with you. In fact, I wanted kids with you, and that’s just not who I ever thought I would be. When we went to Gabe’s house for dinner, I knew that we could have that. I didn't see that with Dak.”

He took her hand. “I’m sorry.”

She squeezed it. “You don’t have anything to worry about. That’s my past. If I recall, neither of us were virgins when we nearly burnt Salem to the ground.”

He laughed. “Yeah, you’re right. I just hate the idea that some other man asked you to marry him.”

“Callen asked.”

He gave her the look. “You know that’s not the same thing. Callen is part of us. We have something powerful.”

“You should chill. I bet you’d like Dak too. Maybe you can be friends? Have a few beers. Talk about how kinky your girl is,” she teased.

“I’ll carry you out of here over my shoulder. Don’t push your luck, Elizabeth.”

She grinned. “Better, sexy?”

“Yeah, but if I ever see him, I’m going to punch him in the face. Then I’m going to let Callen do it a few times too.”

Elizabeth started laughing, only she noticed Ethan wasn’t, so she stopped. “You can’t be serious.”

“I’m as serious as a heart attack. It’ll be like the one Callen is going to have when I tell him this.”

“Ethan!”

“Elizabeth!”

She dropped her head to the table. Life used to be so simple, and then she fell in love.