Tracking him would mean watching each and every step, and she was holding her breath when it came to the next victim.
That would tell her who was in danger in her family.
At some point, Elizabeth knew that she’d have to take this game right toThe Grave Robber. That would mean playing dirty.
“You’re worried,” Uriel said, sitting beside her.
She laughed sardonically.
Worried?
That was an understatement.
“Yeah, I’m worried. I don’t think I can catch him,” she admitted. “The shittiest part is I have his name, and I have his face, but… he’s got a few weeks on me. Then, he has a few decades of his father’s planning on his side. I don’t think forensics will help me this time.”
They knew what that meant.
Honestly, he knew she was hesitant to utilize The Hunters, even though she’d been given carte blanche by thepresident to do so. If he knew Elizabeth, she’d try to do this on her own first.
And that was dangerous.
“Don’t change your mind about using them,” Raphael stated. “The Hunterswill handle it. I know you’re worried about the risk of using them, but there’s more issues if you don’t. Pull them even if they aren’t finished overseas. Call them back if it gets sketchy.”
She was aware, but still...
“How do I put the safety of the country beneath my safety, Raph? I’m here to serve and protect, and I’m balancing on the razor’s edge.”
He was aware.
“If you don’t pull the trigger on this, Ethan will,” he said, warning her. “He will call his buddies in the military and get them recalled so damn fast your head will spin. He’s going to save his wife over everyone else.”
Oh, she was aware.
And that would cause issues in itself.
“Tell him don’t do it, Raph. That’s going to be a bad call on his behalf. I can’t handle dealing with marital issues now, too. It’s one thing to go behind my back toThe Hunters, it’s another to go behind my back to the US military. It’s taken me years to build this rapport.”
Only, he didn’t think Ethan would listen to anyone. The men were trying to save her life and were willing to take the wrath of Elizabeth being usurped.
And he didn’t blame them.
He’d call the military too and use every ounce of his power to save his spouse.
What wouldn’t he do to protect Emmy and Saint?
Before he could say anything else, Raphael’s phone chimed, and he went to take the call. As he did, Uriel grabbed a sandwich from the galley and returned to sit beside her.
“Eat,” he said.
“I’m not…”
He turned her seat, so that she was facing him. It pulled her feet off the table and made her sit upright.
“I’m going to say this with love, so don’t get bitchy,” he stated. “But if you don’t eat, and get some sleep, he’s definitely going to win. Do you think he’s losing sleep right now? He’s not. You are. We all see how tired you are, and you need to fuel up.”
She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, there were tears in them.
“They had lives,” she whispered. “They won’t see their families again, and he mutilated them for a game. He mutilated them because twenty years ago, his father saw me as an up-and-coming agent, and thought I’d be fun to challenge one day.”
