Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) (37 page)

Now
, Cyra got it. “Well, Chief Runningwolf was pissed. That could be a potential person to interview.”

They agreed with
her. In fact, the town council had popped up a few times too, once for pressuring Duke Williams, and also for the fight between Denton Kline and Jefferson Harris.

“I guess I’ll be focusing on my real job,” stated Whitefox. “You’re looking at me like you want me to smooth the way to do some interviews.”

Elizabeth grinned. “I love when you just anticipate my requests before I even have time to ask them,” she stated. “It’s like we’re married, or something.”

It made Callen laugh.
“Yeah or something.”

“Cyra, I have a little job for you and your partner,” she stated. “It seems that we found some interesting dirt too.” Elizabeth laid out all that they had learned about the Harris couple. She detailed how they both had lovers on the side and liked to have knockdown, drag out brawls with each other. “I want you to find out who
, at the sheriff’s station, buried the domestic disputes. Then, I need you to find out all you can about Jefferson Harris’s call about a trespasser. I like all my bases covered, no matter how small.”

She made notes and was willing to handle it.

“The woman was a little too happy that her husband was gone and out of her way,” Ethan said.

“Who should I hit up for the details?” Cyra said.

All three spoke at the same time. “Martha.”

When the wa
iter came and put her food on the table, the owner, Justine Stephens, was right there behind him.

“Oh, you’re back! And look at you
, ordering more crab cakes.”

Elizabeth
took a bite and closed her eyes. “I’d marry them, if I could, and have little baby cakes.”

Callen started choking on his iced
tea, so much so that she had to slap him on the back.

Ethan couldn’t help but snicker.

“Are you okay, sir?” Justine asked.

He nodded, as he tried to catch his breath. Callen knew that he should know better. You never could expect anything that was poised to fall from Lyzee’s mouth.

“I can’t wait to get my shipment,” she stated.

The woman smiled. “I’ll be making them next week. I’m in the Spring Fling chili cook off competition. I’m entering a vegan protein inspired chili recipe. It should knock the judge’s socks off.”

Elizabeth stared at her, waiting for the punch line. When she didn't say anything, Elizabeth couldn’t help herself. “You realize you’re in the Deep South, and we like our BBQ and Chili with meat, right?”

“Yeah, but it can kill you. I’m going to show everyone how to live off plants
, not meat. We don’t need to kill animals to survive.”

Both men stared at their woman.

“Is this real crab?” she asked, the feeling of dread overcoming her. If this was some faux fish, she was going to go shit nuts.

The woman
reassured her. “Yes it’s very real. I don’t think that crabs are sentient beings. I believe them to be more like big giant bugs, plus customers like at least one ‘
live
’ option.”

Brandon stood there refilling their tea, trying not to laugh.

When they walked away, Elizabeth stared at her food.

“You okay, baby?”
he asked.

She thought about it and mulled it around in her head. With EJ, she couldn’t eat meat. Man, she had missed it. Now, some woman’s words
were creeping her out. All that she could think of was bugs and food.

Those two words weren’t synonymous
.

Finally, she made up her mind. “Yeah, I think I am.” Elizabeth rubbed her hand over her belly. “But then again, I’m not the boss,” she added.

Staring down at her belt buckle, she gave it a second and then ate more crab cake. “Apparently Baby Blackhawk is good with it too.”

And that was all that mattered.

                                *   *   *

Chris Leonard had been thinking about her all day.

It seemed like weeks since he saw her last, so he opted to go find the woman he was going to marry. By now, she should be back from the field.

When he arrived next door at the sheriff’s station, he found that wasn’t the case. Well, since he still had time in his lunch break, he figured he would wait. As he walked to a bench under a tree, he saw a florist across the street.

Tomorrow was Valentine’s Day, and he couldn’t have a hundred roses delivered, like he planned, so he needed to think of something else to be romantic. Until then, why not get Cyra something to let her know that he was thinking about her?

Walking inside, he asked the man for a single red rose, and paid for it. When he walked
out, he could see her heading down the street with her partner. Quickly, he slipped back onto the bench and waited for her.

As she approached, he could tell when she noticed him. It caused his heart to flip in his chest. Here was his betrothed
, and she was wearing his ring.

Handing her partner the files, she raced towards him. Once in his arms, the rest of the world fell away around them. When their lips met, she immersed herself in
one amazing kiss.

At the sound of her partner’s snicker,
Cyra regretfully pulled away to stare into his baby blue eyes. “I missed you, Christopher.”

When she used his name, his body tightened in want and need. “I was thinking about you, sweetheart, and I got something
as a token of my love.”

He handed her the single red rose.

Cyra melted right then and there. He was so super romantic, and she was blessed to have him in her life. “It’s beautiful.” She sniffed the bloom and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“
It’s not nearly as lovely as you.” Chris was blessed. He was the mad scientist who lucked out and got the golden haired Goddess to be his.

She went into a puddle of mush. “I also have something for you,” she said, handing him a bag. “It made me think of you.”

Chris took the bag and looked inside. He was faced with chocolate chip cookies, and they were still warm. “Oh, I’m in heaven. I got to make out with a gorgeous woman, and now I get cookies.”

She winked at him.

“I’m not sharing them with Tony, even if he holds me at gun point.”

Harper laughed. “
That seems to be going around today.”

Chris looked over as Cyra gave her partner a look. “
Wait! What is she talking about?”

She motioned for Harper to head inside. “There was just a little incident today, Christopher,” she said, holding his hand. “I’m fine, so
you have nothing to worry about.”

He didn't like the sound of that
at all. In fact, it scared the hell out of him. “What happened, Cyra?”

She sat him down and told him about Mrs. Williams and the
twelve gauge shotgun.

When he swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbed. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, but it’s nothing.”

Chris
didn't even know where to begin to go with this, or her blasé statement. “When my wife-to-be gets held at gunpoint, trust me, it’s not nothing. In fact, it’s a million times more important than nothing. It’s infinitely disturbing!” he raged.

She ran her hand up his arm. “Chris, relax. I’m an agent
and people pull guns on us all the time. You know that it’s part of the job.”

His blood pressure spiked. “I can’t relax when this is the topic. What if she pulled that trigger?”

Cyra tried to reassure him, but she knew the truth. At that range, she would be dead.

“Were you wearing a vest?”

“Honey, we were less than six feet apart. A vest wouldn’t have stopped a twelve gauge.” After it came out of her mouth, Cyra realized how stupid it was to even think it, let alone say it to him. The man stuck his hands in bodies of victims who faced down bullet wounds and lost.

Obviously, this was his big freak out.

Standing, he released her hand. “When did you plan on telling me?”

She stared at him incredulously. Normally, Chris Leonard was as easy going as they came. In fact, he made laid back Callen Whitefox look tense.

“Chris, I just had to meet with Elizabeth for our daily update. I would have told you as soon as I could,” she stated.

“I have to go,” he muttered. At that point, he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that he was going to be able to
not rage around like a lunatic over this one. This could very well be his breaking point. Yeah, he would swallow her being away on the job, and their lack of private time, but nothing could make him let this go.

Nothing!

Twelve gauge shotguns weren’t something that would ever fit into their relationship. Her nearly getting shot, made him want to be sick to his stomach, and that was a feat in itself.

“Chris,” she called after him. When he didn't even turn back, she started to worry. Then, when he tossed the cookies in the garbage can, she wanted to cry and
race after him.

Yeah, this was a very bad thing. Christopher Leonard loved his junk food. If he was tossing warm cookies in the trash, he was ready to blow.

Cyra knew that she needed to fix this, and fast.

There was only one way to do it, but she was going to need a little help. Salem was a foreign place for her, and there was only one expert that she trusted.

It was time to see if Elizabeth Blackhawk really meant what she said about them being friends, outside of her relationship with Chris Leonard.

As soon as she got a minute, she was going to beg for help.

Cyra was woman enough to admit that with this one, she was way over her head.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

It was time to call in the big guns.

And fast…

             
                  *   *   *

All the way to the missing person interview, Callen sat in the back of the Navigator working. If they wanted to get onto Native lands, they knew that they needed to ask first, and not just assume.

That would take finesse and calmer heads prevailing. Yeah, so Elizabeth wasn’t going to be making the calls. She was more likely to plow th
rough like gangbusters.

When he hung up the phone, she smiled at him. “Cal, darlin’, how’s it going?”

He shrugged. “Well, I just left a message for Chief Runningwolf. He’s out dealing with something that popped up, so when he calls me back, I’ll ask him to meet with us.”

“Can I come?” she asked.

Both men laughed at the absurdity of that question. They had been down this road before, and it never ended well. The only older Native man who ever found her endearing, the first time he had met her, had been Timothy Blackhawk.

And that
they were writing off as a fluke or black magick on her behalf.

“No? Why not?” Elizabeth loved this part of her life. She thoroughly loved keeping them guessing.
When they were off their guard, it entertained her.

“I think you know why, Lyzee,” stated Ethan, still laughing. This was just one reason he never wanted to be liaison to the Native communities. He was well aware of the chaos his wife could stir up. In his daily job, he put out plenty of fires.
HR and Gabe Rothschild were number one and two on his speed dial, and for a reason. That should be indication enough of his office life.

He didn't need this one too.

Besides, Callen was good at it.

On their team, they each had their niche, and this one was his. There was pride swelling in his heart
, that he could share this part of his life with the other half of him. Not many people could say they were able to work with their spouses, but he could.

Ethan Blackhawk was a very lucky man in many ways lately. This was just the icing on the cake.

“Why are you grinning like a loon?” she asked, staring over at him suspiciously.

“I’m picturing how messy you’re going to make intertribal relations, and I’m thankful that Callen has to wade through
this mess, and not me.”

Callen crossed his arms in protest. “Really? Well, how’s this for a newsflash, bro. I’m going to let her do whatever she wants
, and you’re going to deal with the backlash. Technically, I can pass the buck on this one to a higher power. You outrank me in this war, and I’m pointing the Natives at you.”

Ethan stared at him in the mirror. “Seriously? After all I’ve been through, you’d let them do that to me?”
He played the wounded card.