“We’d better call. MATE patch it through the watch but make sure it’s encrypted, and show him texting me inside the office, not here,” she stated.
“On it, Mother.”
When she did what was asked, Elizabeth was to the point.
“Chris, this had better be…”
He stopped her.
“Ethan and Callen went out to notify Lance RunningWolf of his daughter’s death.”
Uh-oh.
Yeah, her heart began pounding. She knew that had been the plan, but she had to hope they’d be safe doing it.
“Who got hurt?” she asked.
He reassured her.
“Not any of us. Only, the reservation chief was found dead. Devon Slater offed him, hung him from his ceiling after leaving a message for us, carved into his body. It said,‘You’re welcome’. I’m sorry to bother you, but they felt you needed to know in case this played into something he had planned for you.”
Elizabeth wasn’t upset.
Honestly, Chris had a very valid point. Ethan was profiling on the fly, so he had to assume this was vital. As she considered this move in the game, the whole time, her brain was going a mile a minute, trying to figure out if this was going to bite them in the ass. It saved them from having to tell the man, but now they had two dead Natives.
That saved no one.
In the long run, this would open a can of nasty worms, as it was dumped in their lap.
“He’s a piece of shit. Was he mutilated like his daughter?” she asked.
Oh, he was worse.
“Yeah, he outdid himself. The good news is we have Rayna’s eyes. They were found on the coffee table, staring up at him. They gathered all of him, put him into the body bag, and transported. He used his body as a piñata.EVERYbone is shattered. Ethan thinks he’s coming unhinged.”
Jesus.
Devon was a sicko, and it was clear that Ethan was right. This was definitely him melting down.
Chris wasn’t done.
“This, in a way, saved and boned us. Now, we don’t have to explain to her father what happened, but we have to explain to the council why they are both dead. When Callen called me, he said that the other council members hate us and don’t wantus around. Lance was the one who protected us. He hated Wyler, but he liked us.”
Well, fuck.
They expected blowback, but Lance RunningWolf tolerated a lot more than the other two members did. They were the more racist ones who only saw that she and Ethan were Caucasian and half-Native FBI agents.
And everyone knew how Natives felt about the FBI.
“What do you want us to do?” he asked. “It’s your call. I know weeks ago, this would be a no-brainer for me, but we’re out of my familiar territory of following the rules.”
Yeah, tell her about it.
“Have them take photos of everything in case he left any clues and get the hell out of there. He’s ballsy. He was betting we didn’t alert her father last night. I have no doubt he’s going to make our lives hell with the council and Caspian. He’d love to rat us out. He knew we’d keep it hush-hush. Make sure that they lock down Caspian. No contact with the outside world until we get this handled. If he finds out we sugarcoated Rayna’s death, heads will roll. The last thing I need is a vengeful Marine out there trying to take out the trash.”
As she said it, Maura, Jagger, and Zayn all raised their hands, proving they were listening to her.
So, she corrected that.
