When fear came in, sanity went out the window.
“I specifically didn’t want to letThe Huntersin on this because I want to bring Devon in legally. There’s a fine line in my life, Ethan.”
He went there.
“And I crossed it by asking people we consider family to help you?” he asked.
She blinked.
Oh, she didn’t like that tone.
Not.
At.
All.
“Uh, bad news. You four always cross it. I’m talking about the line between legal and illegal. I don’t want to get comfortable with killing people for my own benefit.”
She focused on MATE.
“Are we on an encrypted line?” she asked.
MATE nodded.
“And the signal is being bounced from here to Timbuktu and back,” she admitted. “No one is hacking into the call, Mom.”
Great.
That worked for her. Now, she could share what was bothering her about all of this.
“Ethan, for me, it’s easy to kill indiscriminately. It’s supposed to be difficult. I’ve killed too many people in my world to be comfortable with it. I can’t become the monster. I have to stay the one who chases him. Crossing the line shouldn’t be easy. Period.”
He was honest.
“That you know there is a line and that it could make you a monster means you’re not a monster. The people we chase who are legitimate monsters don’t realize that.”
While she appreciated him telling her that, the truth was the truth.
“I don’t like the feeling I get when I do it. I killed the Butcher for Gabe, and I’ve killed people who should have come before a judge. I don’t want to kill him. This case is going to beHIGHprofile. I’m going to be judged by how I handle it, and he just can’t disappear. You don’t yeet a millionaire off the planet without there being some blowback.SOMEONEwill notice, and if that someone is in power, that will bite our family in the ass.”
He was aware.
Only, he didn’t think she realized how bad this really was. Now that she said her part, Ethan took a turn.
“I just need to say one thing. He’s going to hurt us in ways no other killer has done before. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill nutbag, Elizabeth. This is a cuckoo on steroids. I’ve profiled him, and his goal is to get you and take you apart. He’s not going to stop until he does that.”
She didn’t say a word since she knew what she was sitting on.
The autopsy report.
Elizabeth couldn’t be sure they’d gone over it yet.
Blackhawk continued, and he was getting riled up just talking about it.
This was his goddamn wife that was going to be on the front line for this.
She was his target.
