“We can’t do this. This is exactly what he wants. Ethan just let anger happen, and look what it did. Stop being pissy. We can fix almost everything, but we can’t fix it if he wins.”
Chris touched Callen’s arm.
“He’s right. Gene, go deal with Ethan. Callen, we’re going to get ready to head to the FBI building. You have to let it go. Elizabeth told us he studied all of us, so he likely knows that you and your brother were estranged. You’ve mentioned it in interviews before.”
He had.
Callen was to the point.
“I love my brother. I love everyone here, but if she dies, I don’t want to do this. If she decides she can’t be with us, because of Ethan, I’m going with her. That’s my wife. That’s the mother of my children. We’ve all carried a lot the last few months as Ethan decided to find himself. I can’t be around if he causes her to leave. That’s my promise. If I stay, after he causes her to leave us, I will be ungodly to deal with, and I will be vicious to him.”
Gene understood.
While he loved Ethan, he knew that the man madeEVERYONEwork for it. Oh, it was worth it, but it took a certain kind of strength that was wearing thin as of late.
“It will work out. I have faith. I believe in her, and this. We’ll stay together. I know we will.”
Well, that had better be enough.
Because at this point, the Blackhawks were ready to break.
In pieces.
* * * The Blackhawks * * *
The Jet
Same Time
Evening
When she disconnected the call, Raphael sighed.
“I’m sorry,” he said, knowing she was hurting, and the reason was Ethan.
She shrugged.
“I mean, it’s never been the same since we left DC. Maybe I should have let him stay with Gene and I should have gone back home. It feels like he hates me, and I don’t know what I did. We stayed so he could find himself, and the longer he looks, the less it feels like that’s happening.”
Raphael tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
And he was honest.
“He’s scared. We’re all scared. Watching you go down, or seeing you do something so stupid as giving yourself over to Devon…”
She was aware.
It wasn’t like she wanted to do that, but if it came to one of them, or one of her children, she’d sacrifice herself.
“I’m scared too. I just don’t have the luxury to be scared right now. There’s so much on the line, and I’m balancing everything. To think someone could lose their life because of me isn’t something I can handle. I’m one minor inconvenience away from a breakdown.”
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and calmed herself down.
What choice did she have? Someone had to run this mess, and that someone was the head ofThe Violent Crimes Unit, and also Deputy Director.
HER.
So, she sucked it up.
