Consumed by Wrath: An FBI/Romance Thriller (An FBI/Romance Thriller ~ Book 8) (46 page)

Tears filled his eyes
as he stared up at her. “I’m sorry. I didn't mean…”

Tough love sometimes hurt like a bitch.

“Get yourself together,” Chris interrupted. He wasn’t having any of the tears or pity party. They had a mess to clean up. “I’ll drive you home. Better yet, I’ll drive you to my place and you can crash there. The media will be all over your house by now. We’ll go out the back and you can lay low.”

Elizabeth stood. “I hope you get better, Tony. I hate seeing you like this,” she said, walking away from a man
who once was a boy she loved, then a friend she protected.

Now, he needed to find his own way.

Elizabeth couldn’t protect everyone, and she needed to fight her own battles. It broke her heart that he was becoming a lost cause, and she sent out a silent prayer for him.

Fate would have to make this decision.

Chris waited until she was out of earshot before he continued. “As your boss, I’m sickened by what you’ve done. You risked this office, this case, and so much more. As your friend, I’m horrified that in your drunken stupor, you tried to put your hands on a woman. If anything, that makes you a big asshole in my eyes. You’re lucky she didn't beat you to a bloody pulp. I’m sure you deserved it.”

Tony put his face in his hands and wept. Last night was going to be one of his biggest regrets in life.

It was just one more that he would never forget.

                                *   *   *

Inside the conference room, Martha strolled in with a packet in her hands. “Mr. Whitefox, you have a delivery.” When he went to hold out his hand, she grinned. “I think I’m more than that hand can hold.”

Callen blushed at her implication.

Just then, Elizabeth strolled in. “Stop sexually
harassing my husbands, Martha. Don’t you think they get enough of that at home?”

The woman winked and handed him the sealed packet. “Yes, boss,” she said, closing the door behind her.

Elizabeth took control of the meeting and kicked it off. She wanted to ask about the media, but from the look of calm on Ethan’s face, it must have gone well. And again, she was reminded that he didn't want to be babied.

“Okay, enough jackassery and tomfoolery today. Tony is no longer the sheriff. We’re going to be assisting Tyrell
in cleaning up this mess.”

She couldn’t wait until he found out the good news.

“We are on damage control today. Unfortunately, I need to know how much of what Tony spilled last night is circulating. That means that we have some undercover work to do.”

Cyra didn't need to ask who was doing it
. She already had a sneaking suspicion. Being the only two agents in the room, they were going to be up to bat.

“I need Agents Austin and Stanton to lose the badges, hide the
sidearms a little better, and head on out. I want you to go get coffee. Walk around town and into the shops. Even sashay yourselves over to the grocery store and hang out for a while by the gossiping old hens. I need to know what got out, and what we still have under wraps.”

The agents stood and headed towards the door.

“Text me anything that you get, and we’ll meet up later this afternoon to chit chat.”

When the women were gone, and the door was closed, she stared at her husband. “What’s the tech team doing?”

“As of this morning, I asked them to revisit every piece of evidence that we have. They’re going back over all the things from Doc’s home, and Doctors Leonard and Magnus are relooking at the bones. We got the reports back from the social security numbers on our missing victims. None of the three have been used to open accounts, credit cards or loans.”

“So basically
, we can assume they’re either under so deep, or…”

Ethan finished. “Or deep under water.”

“What’s our game plan today?” Callen asked, knowing that he needed to find a little time to pick up his present for Elizabeth. Since Ethan handled the big gift, he wanted to be romantic too. He was going to go traditional Valentine’s Day.

“We’re going to be busy all day.”

Well, shit.

Then it occurred to him. There was a perfectly good secretary sitting outside this door, and maybe with some begging and a little Blackhawk grin, he could make this work.

“Where are we heading first?” Ethan inquired.

Elizabeth dropped to the corner of the table and stared at the suspect list. “Well, I would really like to head out to Jason Walter’s place and ask him some questions about Mrs.
Barbara Harris.”

He was good with that.

“Then, we should follow up with the merry widow wannabe herself. She may not have killed her husband, but I wouldn’t put it past her to have one of her conquests do it for her.”

“Me either,” stated Ethan. “She’s a manacuda. Callen, watch your back,” he said, laughing. “They go after the least suspecting in the school of man fish.”

He punched his brother. “You’re funny. I’m just letting you off for that one, because you had a tough media interview.”

“Yeah, well I survived.”

“Was it bad?” she asked, trying to find the happy medium between caring wife and being worried shitless for a wounded bird.

“They went in for the kill,” he said, pointing at his hair
.

Elizabeth strolled over to him, and as he stared up at her, she ran her fingers through the black silkiness
. “I can’t blame them for asking. I know I find myself fixated on it all the time,” she whispered, before bringing her lips to his in a soft meeting of mouths. The kiss may have been gentle, but nothing in either of them was calm.

Hearts pounded.

Blood pressure surged.

Both men in the room reacted to it, even when it was only one receiving the kiss.

When she pulled away, she stared into the blue black eyes and grinned. “Yeah, I can’t blame them at all, Cowboy.”

He fought to keep his breath.

“How about I meet you outside?” she offered. “Maybe Callen can get us coffee to go,” she added.

Blackhawk grabbed his tablet and stopped at the door. “Thank you for loving me, Elizabeth.”

When he kept going, her heart filled with emotion.

“I’ll grab us coffee,
” Callen offered, standing.

Elizabeth closed the door and locked it. “I need to talk to you,” she stated.

Callen shrugged and sat back down. What he wasn’t expecting was what happened next. Elizabeth walked over to him and straddled his lap before settling into place.

Now
, his heart was really racing.

“I know how much of a sacrifice you’ve been making the last few days, giving Ethan more alone time with me
than you’re taking for yourself.”

“He needs to heal,” he stated, trying to not focus on the woman in his lap.

It wasn’t easy.

“I see it, Callen, and it’s appreciated. You’re a really great brother, and I don’t know many men
who wouldn’t feel like they were getting short changed.”

He stared into her eyes. “When I was broken and needed your comfort, Ethan never once said no. I knew that there were times that he backed off, so you could patch me back up. That’s what I’m giving him.”

“It’s very sexy, Mr. Whitefox. In fact, it makes me really wild, and when that happens, you never know what I’m capable of doing.”

He swallowed.

Running her fingers through his shorn hair, she grabbed it roughly and offered him the pain that made him wild.

“Oh God,” he whispered, right before her mouth devoured his. It wasn’t the same kiss as his brother had received
. It was more like a nuclear explosion, leveling everything in its path. It was strong enough to take down the toughest of men, and it did.

As he
r mouth invaded, devoured and stole anything that it wanted, he simply held on for the ride, praying that he survived it all.

When she released him, she was breathing heavy. “When we get a moment alone, I’m going to show you how thankful I am for your kindness,” she promised.

“Yee haw,” he said, licking his bottom lip. It tasted like his woman, and it drove him wild.

“I’m lucky to have you as my partner and husband too,” she said, climbing off his lap and holding her hand out to him.

“Not as lucky as I am,” he replied, letting her pull him to his feet.

“Let’s get to work. It’s big puffy heart day, and I have two men
to impress later.”

Callen
had to know. “Are we talking fun and props?” he asked, trying to think of all the sexy scenarios that Elizabeth could come up with. Last year had been pretty spectacular, as she made their night magical in the treehouse.

“Oh yeah,” she said.
“I’m pulling out all the stops for the men in my life.”

He didn't have anything to add. His brain and lower anatomy were on disconnect. One was doing all the thinking, and it wasn’t the organ that
controlled talking.

“You going to be okay?” she asked, laughing.

He nodded. “I’ll grab the coffee and meet you at the Navigator.”

She blew him a kiss from the door and walked out, satisfied that both men knew that today was all about love, and she was madly, wildly, head over heels in it for them.
Now, tonight was about something so completely different.

It was about showing them.

Whitefox watched her leave, and took a moment to catch his breath. He prayed that she got him alone, and if not, he knew tonight was going to be one hell of a Valentine’s Day celebration.

If anything, he suspected it would be worth the wait. Running his tongue back over his lips, he was reminded of the woman he love
d.

Yeah, he could wait. The explosion was going to be magnificent.

Cyra and Harper stopped in the café to grab some coffee and a muffin. As they sat there, silently observing, they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

Most people were stopping in to get food to go, or sitting down with a paper, their laptops
, or just a caffeine hit. Not a single word was being said about Sheriff Morell’s loose lips.

“Where to next?” Harper asked, sipping her coffee.

“We’ll wander over to the grocery store, since the boss said that was the gossip mecca. We don’t want to miss anything,” she stated. “In fact, men gossip just as much as women, so we’re going to go buy some nails at the hardware store too.”

She grinned. “I love working with you. I’m learning so much. Thank for being an awesome partner, Cyra.”

Yeah, she had bad news for her. “Harper, I haven’t told the bosses yet, but my days here are numbered.”

The woman looked at her. “Why? Is it me?”

Cyra shook her head. “No, you’re doing great, and the Blackhawks will get you an awesome handler to train you. I’m just getting ready to move on.”

“A better job offer?” she asked, lowering her voice. “Is it with the CIA? You can tell me.”

It was hard not to laugh. “Even better. It’s an elite group. It’s called M.O.M.S.”

It took the woman a few seconds to process it. “You’re pregnant?”

She shook her head. “Not yet, but when I do become a mother, I’m retiring. I don’t know how Elizabeth does it with three kids and one on the way, but I want to have kids and be a wife.”

Her partner stared at her like she was out of her damn mind. Cyra found that entertaining, but then again, there was a ten year age difference between them, and at twenty four, she didn't really have plans of settling down and getting married
either.

My, my, how that had all changed once she met Christopher Leonard. While they didn't have a perfect life, with their work schedules and their crazy families, it was still damn close.

“Please don’t say anything. I haven’t told the Blackhawks yet. You’re the only one that knows.”

Harper nodded. Man, it was a total shame that her partner was tossing away her life and career to settle. Harper knew that she would never do that, as long as she was breathing. She had fought too hard to become an agent, to toss it all away to have kids and a husband.

Poor Cyra.

Harper kept her mouth closed and respected her partner’s wishes. She just hoped that the wom
an didn't end up regretting it.

She knew that she would.

             
                  *   *   *

Pulling up to the small house, the three looked around to see what they were up against. From the outside, it looked like just another little innocuous house on some tree lined street.

Which was probably a good thing, since they didn't know how the man inside would be react
ing to the Feds on his doorstep.