Slay Bells Ring (An FBI Romance Thriller Book 12) (5 page)

Elizabeth, had she not been so rattled, would have likely lost it. Instead, she tried to discuss it rationally with him. “I have a gun and my brain. I think I’m…”

He cut her off. “No! You’re not. You don’t get it, do you? Someone wants you dead! You’re not going anywhere alone.”

A red flush rushed up his neck and to his face. Ethan was one step away from stroking out.

In fact, his shouting was getting louder.

“Okay, Ethan, calm down. I won’t go alone. We’ll take a couple agents and have them escort us all back.”

He closed his eyes, feeling remorse that he just yelled at his wife. That wasn’t what he wanted to do, but the control was slipping. There was that fear brewing in his belly as the claws of terror were ripping his insides to shreds.

“I’m sorry, Lyzee, baby. I didn't mean to talk to you like that. I just…”

She touched his cheek. “It’s okay. I’ll take the techs and doctors, you handle Gabe. I’ll meet you in a few, and we’ll head home, okay? I can wait for you, and we’ll handle it together.”

He was grateful she didn't fight. He was worried about his brother, their kids, and their safety. The last thing he needed was a battle of wills with his wife.

As she pulled away, he was reluctant to let her go. “Elizabeth?”

She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Yeah, Cowboy?”

“If this goes wrong and something…”

Elizabeth smiled, trying to reassure him that she’d be fine. “I’ll fight for my life and hold out until my men can save my ass.”

That didn't make him feel better, but they needed to be on the same page.

She had to live.

They were expendable, but the mother of their children wasn’t. They couldn’t let CJ, EJ, Cat, and Charlie end up motherless. It screwed them up, and the kids had to keep her in their lives.

No matter what.

He waited, quietly watching as Elizabeth headed toward the elevator, lost in her own world. Ethan never looked away from her until the elevator doors closed—that’s when he made the call.

When Gabe answered, he sounded busy. “Rothschild.”

“It’s Ethan. We have a problem. I need your help.”

That had the man pausing.

“What’s happened?”

He told him everything, and this time, he didn't hold any of the emotion back from his voice. Ethan Blackhawk was praying that the man they called family was going to be on their side.

“Shit! That’s bad. You have to get her as far from there as possible.”

The news got worse. “Actually, she’s going in.”

There was dead silence on the other end of the line, and Ethan didn't need to know what the man was thinking. At that moment, Gabe had to be contemplating his sanity.

Frankly, so was he.

Ethan knew he had to be insane.

“Are you sure about this, Ethan? It doesn’t sound like the best idea at the moment.”

Oh, he knew it was a terrible idea, but what could he do. This was Elizabeth they were talking about. She didn't like to play by the rules on a slow day, let alone one where she was being threatened. The second this note targeted her children, she was going to make it personal.

That was the way she rolled.

“I will be once all our bases are covered. I need you to get my kids and father out. Can you stash them someplace safe?”

Ethan knew it was almost Christmas, and this wasn’t a great idea. The kids were likely going to miss out on the fun of presents, family, and possibly their mother. While Ethan hated shuffling them around on the holiday, he also couldn’t stomach the idea of them looking over their shoulders every second of the day.

“I can get them out. I’ll bring them here.”

It touched Ethan that he didn't have to ask. It was what he was hoping Gabe would do.

“We can double up the boys with Gabriel, and the girls can bunk together. Wyler can have a room with Charlie. That way, it’s pretty normal.”

“I know it’s Christmas, Gabe. Your family probably has plans…”

Gabe shut him down.

“You are my family, and I mean it. Your kids are safe here. I know I wouldn’t be able to go out in the field if I thought my kids were wearing a bull’s-eye. I’ll keep them here, we’ll get them ready for Christmas, and they’ll be safe. I’ll call up some agents who will be more than happy to babysit my house.”

“It sucks that we won’t be with them.”

Gabe knew how shitty he had to be feeling. “The good news is that they won’t remember any of this. The kids are still young. With time, they’ll forget. The bad news is, you never will, and that’s one of the issues with our careers. It’s a sacrifice, and this is a huge one.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Safety trumps memories, right?”

He agreed.

“If I need you?”

“You call any time of the day. I can always post more agents here, and then head down to help if you need me. I don’t mind.”

His sacrifice was touching. They’d been through a lot the last few months with Oracle and the mistrust. Now they were rebuilding what had once been there.

“Thanks, Gabe.”

“You do whatever it takes, Ethan. I have your back. All you have to do is call. If you miss Christmas, I’ll make sure your children don’t.”

He appreciated that. “I’ll keep you updated.”

With that, Ethan disconnected the call, and he had to admit, a little of the weight was off his shoulders.

He thought about his wife.

Honestly, Blackhawk had the easier job. The Dragon Slayer was mellowing out since he’d been saved by them twice—once over the blackmail, and once over Oracle.

Now, he only hoped his wife would fare as well against the men in the lab. She was about to be the Grinch who stole all of their Christmases.

And it sucked.

Big time.

       
         
* * *
  B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x   * * *

Morgue

Elizabeth hated doing this to them. She truly believed that she had the hardest working people in the universe under her and Ethan.

They truly were the best.

Because of that, they were always given time off at the holidays because it was a way to cut back on burn out. Her team played in the dead all day long. They stared at broken, destroyed people, and had to put them together to solve a crime.

It wasn’t easy work.

It was soul crushing.

Now she was going to take it away.

Elizabeth felt like a total asshole for doing it too, but she needed them. Callen was in danger, someone was after her family, and she was likely the reason. She was easy to dislike.

All she could hope was they’d cut her a break and not bust her balls too much.

What made it worse was that Tony Magnus was going to be getting married in a little over a week, and both Elizabeth and Chris were his best ‘men’. There were preparations that had to be made, and they were dumping it all in Jaxon’s lap.

Well shit.

Then add in that this was Doctor Christopher Leonard’s first Christmas with his new child, and the guilt became more like inescapable quicksand.

While she and Ethan would suck up a bad holiday, she hated to see her friends have to do that.

This was screwing with so many lives, and that was unacceptable.

As she strolled into the morgue, it was decorated with Christmas lights and everyone was laughing. Around this time of the year, there wasn’t as much killing. Suicides were up, but the FBI didn't handle those kinds of cases unless it was a cult taking itself out.

Thankfully, murder took a holiday.

Now it was back on, and she had to prepare for the worst. As she crossed the room, Chris and Tony were singing
‘Jingle Bells’
and laughing.

While it should have made her feel a hell of a lot better, it didn't.

No, it was definitely worse.

They didn't hear her coming, but a Fed was a Fed, and Chris must have sensed her approach. Well, that or he had the place booby-trapped to alert him of bosses arriving.

“Elizabeth!” he said, grinning when he turned.

And then he saw her face.

“Oh, shit! No! You can’t! You can’t come down here when we’re about to start vacation and take it away!”

Her people knew her so damn well that she didn't even have to tell them she was going to ruin their day.

Immediately, Tony turned. His laughter stopped too. “Oh boy. We just got boned.”

“Hey, guys,” Elizabeth said, trying to keep her emotions in check. She was a mess from pregnancy hormones, her children being threatened, and ruining their holiday.

“You’re sending us out, aren’t you?” Chris asked, moving toward her with his skull head cane.

She handed him her phone. Ethan had gotten a picture of the message, and he forwarded it to her. She didn't have to speak. It was going to say it all. Elizabeth trusted these men. They were like brothers. If they opted to choose Christmas over helping her, she’d take one for the team and call in backup.

She loved them too much to do it.

Chris and Tony hovered over it reading.

Then they looked up.

“Elizabeth!”

In that second, she knew they were quality people. Gone was the outrage that they were heading out, and in their eyes was the concern.

“You’re the target.”

She simply nodded.

“We’re in.”

Then the worst thing ever happened.

Elizabeth was helpless to hold back the tears. Maybe it was all the emotion from Callen being there by himself, or that they’d played this game before—nearly losing Ethan, but she couldn’t help herself.

Chris’s eyes went wide as tears filled hers.

Elizabeth burst into tears.

Taking her hand, he and Tony led her into the small office they shared. The last thing they wanted was for any of the tech team to catch their boss weeping. It would blow her badass persona out of the water.

“It’s okay, Lyzee,” Chris crooned, holding her to his side. “Let’s talk about it.”

She wiped furiously at her eyes. She hated that she couldn’t stop this from happening.

She hated that they were being stalked.

She hated… just about everything at that moment.

“It’s okay, Lyzee. We’ve got you,” Tony said, circling his body around one side of her as Chris did the same thing. There, in the lab’s office, she was cocooned between two men she loved.

“I’m sorry. I’m a mess,” she whispered. “I just don’t know what to do.”

They both hugged her.

Elizabeth felt safe. There weren’t a lot of men in her life that could give her that, but these two were special. They’d been through a lot in all the years working for the FBI. She’d saved them, getting their blood on her hands, and they’d saved her, always having her back.

This was family.

They were just as much hers as the children or Wyler.

The tears continued.

The men stared at each other helplessly. This wasn’t like her at all. Something was wrong.

Then it hit Chris.

“Are you having a baby?”

She nodded. “I’m pregnant, and I didn't tell Ethan or Callen yet. Then we get this. Someone’s going to have a stroke. I don’t know what to do.”

It wasn’t like Elizabeth to break. While she may crack, she always stayed intact. This time, she was in pieces.

Tony gave her a kiss on the cheek. “It’s okay. No one is going to take you. We’ll get ready. What do you need us to do? I’ll talk to Jaxon, and we’ll postpone the wedding. I can’t get married knowing that a woman, who I call sister, is suffering like this. I won’t do it without you. You’re my only family.”

She cried harder.

Chris punched him in the arm.

Tony shrugged helplessly.

“Tony’s right. You and I are his best men. We’re going to have to put it off until we can all be together.”

She buried her face in Chris’s neck. “This sucks. I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I’m ashamed to say that if it weren't my kids, I’d do it without you, but I can’t risk them. I can’t do it…”

They understood.

Chris held her against his chest. “Lyzee, honey, it’s okay. It’s a holiday. I’m not even Christian. I can have Cyra and Bethe hold off on Christmas until we get back. It’s not a big deal. She’s a baby. She’s not going to know if we celebrate on the twenty-fifth or the fifteenth of January. The day doesn’t matter. Only family does,” he offered.

She held onto Chris as she wept. It reminded her of a few times she leaned on him in their past for strength.

He was a good man and an even better friend.