He wasn’t sure he could do that.
“And if she leaves, Callen?” he asked. “Then what?”
His brother knew that each of their relationships were different. Each one of them had a different connection to the people in their family.
His and Chris’ were not the same as his and Ethan’s.
Elizabeth’s and Ethan’s were not the same as Elizabeth’s and Gene’.
But they were all still important and mattered.
“I can’t answer that for you, EJ. This has always been about finding yourself. You have to figure that out. If she leaves, you have to decide if your relationship will hold up with distance, or if you have to swallow all that pride you carry and chase the babe down. While we’re one big unit, we’re still individual pieces of the puzzle. You have to either chase the girl or set her free and see if she comes back to you.”
He said nothing.
Why?
Because he was a runner to his core. He ran from the rez, he ran from the FBI, and he ran from Gene. When Gene asked him to leave with him, and walked, instead of following, he ran in the opposite direction.
“Time will tell, EJ. You’ll figure it out. I have faith in you,” he admitted.
That seemed to be the theme of his life as of late. He had faith in Elizabeth when he told her he couldn’t leave Damascus this time.
They all had faith in her that she’d figure all of this out.
It all seemed to be on her shoulders, and for once, he wanted to be the one who carried it for her.
Callen saw the two men approaching with security.
Abe Crowfeather and Thomas White Deer had arrived, and the shit was about to hit the fan.
Glancing over at Gunny, Ethan gave him some work.
“I need you to go find Caspian, and keep him as far from the morgue and those two men as humanly possible without it looking like you’re trying to do that. We’re going to be talking about Rayna and her father.”
Gunny nodded.
“Stay inside,” he warned, and then headed away.
As the two men approached, neither looked thrilled.
“Why is that we hear from one of the people on our reservation that Lance is dead, but we don’t hear it from the Shaman, or his brother?” Abe asked.
Well, so much for a hello.
“A’ho, gentlemen,” Ethan stated, being calm so that they could make the best of this situation because it had the propensity to blow up, and he knew it.
There was already tension.
“Explain,” Thomas stated.
Ethan did just that.
“Our wife is working on a very sensitive case. A serial killer is stalking people in this area, and unfortunately, he has chosen victims on the reservation.”
Ethan kept it simple, not wanting to go into too much detail.
Abe went there.
