“Honestly, though, guys, it wasn’t my idea. My kid was tormenting her brothers. Charlie told MATE to scare the shit out of them for stealing a brownie that she put away for later. The next generation is far more tech-savvy. That genius plan was all on my daughter and her desire to torture her brothers.”
Maura wasn’t shocked that one of Elizabeth’s kids had come up with it. They were a lively bunch of teens who tended to be just like their mother.
“We’re using that again. Bet on it,” she stated.
Zip tying his hands, they dragged him back toward the cabin, making sure not to set off any explosions along the way.
“Let’s make our little friend a little more uncomfortable. Rogue, raid his tech, and get us something. We’re about to have some fun,” Maura stated. “I hate baby killers. They make me all kinds of mean.”
Oh, and the men knew one thing.
Jace was about to be in some bad shape. Moms were the last people you wanted to piss off after blowing up children on a bus.
It was judgment day.
For him, and for Devon Slater.
* * * The Blackhawks * * *
The Reservation
Same Time
Honestly, the Blackhawk boys didn’t know which was worse—having to tell Lance RunningWolf that his child was dead, or worrying about Elizabeth out there doing who knew what?
Both were shitastic outcomes for today, and both made them hella twitchy.
As husbands and men, there was always the overwhelming need to protect their wife, but as partners who knew their wife well, they also knew they had to let her do her thing. She was, after all, the boss at the FBI, and quite capable of handling shit all on her own.
Loving Elizabeth was loving all of her—the scary and the not-so-scary parts. This was a major test in putting faith in your partner, and believing she would be okay.
They had to hope that Gene, andThe Hunters,would keep their word, and bring her home safely.
As they were being driven to the man’s home, both brothers had to come to grips with the bottom line.
Their lives were messy at times.
After all of this was done, there was definitely going to be a clean-up on aisle relationship. You’d have to be deaf, blind, and just plain old ignorant to not see the small fractures in their unit.
Mostly, it was all between Ethan and Elizabeth.
While she wasn’t angry with him, Callen could see that not only was his brother’s faith in his wife shaky, but hers in him was now rattled too.
Relationships had bumps in the road, and all he could hope was this one wouldn’t be like the last one. That one had been really difficult for everyone involved.
Ethan was stubborn, and hopefully, he learned what not to do when there was a hiccup in the relationship.
“Hey,” Callen said. “She’ll be okay,” he offered his brother, seeing the worry lines around his mouth.
Blackhawk looked over. They were safely in the back of the blacked-out ride, with Ivan behind the wheel and Gryphen, and Raphael riding shotgun.
“I know. I just hope Elizabeth and I are okay. That’s my concern now.”
Callen reassured him.
“I wouldn’t stress it too much.”
Yeah, well, that was all that Ethan was doing. He was stressing his choices, his words, and just about everything around him. Now, he was stressing what was about to happen.
