Redemption is Here (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 9) (5 page)

Gabe grinned. “See, you can borrow my new one.” Yeah, and train her to be efficient. It wasn’t like he couldn’t use some
‘in the field training’ for the woman. She was good, but as green as the grass.

“Thanks
, Gabe,” Ethan offered. “Can you send her to Callen ASAP? If we have four bodies, then we need to get them out of the ground and into a facility.”

That was easy. “I’ll send her now. She’ll beat Elizabeth and her team there.”

Callen cleared his throat. “Shouldn’t we ask Elizabeth if she wants to do this assignment before we assume that she’s up for it? I mean, she’s pregnant and that’s a hit or miss.”

Ethan agreed. “You can ask her. I’ll help Maggie get the files together for you on our borrowed anthropologist and the Black Mountain Reservation.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Callen answered.

“I’ll be heading there as soon as I’m done in Quantico, Cal. Just hang in there and run it. You’re doing a good job,” he reassured.

Gabe laughed. “Umm, three directors? I don’t recall clearing all of you to be there.”

Ethan fixed the knot in his tie and said nothing at first. He knew this was a delicate dance he had to do. “I personally think that I should be there to supervise. Let’s look at the last few assignments. They took all three of us, and when we closed them, you looked really good,
right? I wouldn’t want your shiny reputation to be marred by a slip up.”

He stared at his director. “Well played, Ethan. I’m going to
take that total bullshit as a promise from you that it’s going to be closed, and fast.”

Blackhawk took his seat
before brushing a piece of lint from his tailored suit. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Callen is excellent with handling the Native issues, Elizabeth is amazing with putting it all together, and I have been known to toss out a good profile now and again.”

“That’s great, Ethan, because if you don’t keep delivering in the field, you w
on’t be going out again as a threesome. That little adventure will need to remain in your bedroom.”

Callen stared at his phone in shock. He didn't have a lot of experience with Gabriel Rothschild, but he didn't think the man would be that blunt.

Great.

No pressure on his shoulders now.

Ethan understood. If they couldn’t do the job, they wouldn’t be allowed the leeway. “I hear what you’re saying, but I would like to point one thing out.”

Gabe waited for it.

“We have a relatively new ME, our head lab tech-number five is brand new too, and you’re giving us your anthro. That’s three newbies in the field. It’s going to take each of us to make sure this is coordinated perfectly. I’ll take the head tech, Lyzee will likely ride the ME, and that leaves the new bone doctor for Callen. If we were working with our old team, it could be pulled off with only two of us.”

“Excellent maneuvering, Director,” Gabe said with pride. Yeah, the reports were right. Ethan Blackhawk was on his game once more.
“Your wife’s trickiness is wearing off on you. I’m impressed.”

“Thank you. Now, someone needs to notify the team and get them in the air. A drive would take too long, especially if t
here are bodies in the ground. We need to get the scene contained now.”

“I’ll clear the jet. Have at it, team.”

Callen was glad his brother could pull this one off. “On it, bosses,” he said, disconnecting the call. He needed to make sure it was run perfectly until his partner could get out there. Then, he would gratefully pass it off.

When the call was disconnected, Ethan stared at his boss. “
Are we done with your test now?”

He laughed uproariously. “
Am I that transparent?”

Blackhawk merely lifted a dark brow.
“Well, how did I do?”

Gabe leaned back in his chair
to grin at his friend. “Apparently, you’re back and ready to pick up where you were before Patrick Parrish.”

At the mention of his abductor’s name, he didn't even flinch.

Kudos for him.

“I guess I am.”

“Good, let’s get back to what I wanted to discuss with you.”

Ethan pulled out his tablet to make notes. “I’m ready.”

“I hope you are, because something big is coming. We’re going to take a leap of faith on this one.”

That intrigued Ethan.
Generally, the FBI was all numbers, charts, and rules. They didn't really do leaps of anything. “What is it?”

Gabe got up, locked his door
, and pulled the blinds.

Immediately, Ethan went on alert. “What’s with the secrecy?”

Taking his seat, Gabe stared into the man’s eyes. What he planned on dropping on him was going to be the FBI’s biggest endeavor yet. “I have one word for you, Ethan.”

He waited for it.

“Oracle.”

Blackhawk wasn’t quite sure why that single word sounded so ominous, but it did. Something big was definitely on the horizon, and he had a feeling he wasn’t going to escape it.

Not this time.

             
                  *     *     *

FBI West

Working for the FBI had moments of excitement, fear, and boredom all rolled into one. When Elizabeth was out in the field, there were times she longed to be back in-house where it was safe. Now, she wished
that she was anywhere but there in her office.

Paperwork was the bane of her existence.

Doing it all alone simply sucked.

As she arrived that morning, she’d already said goodbye to Ethan and Callen. One was heading to Quantico and the other
off to a mediation case. She’d been left alone with the three kids, her father-in-law, and their housekeeper.

Normally, she loved being at Fort Blackhawk/Whitefox, but as of the last couple days, t
here was tension in their home. It was so damn thick that she could cut it with a knife.

Wyler was on edge.

Bly was cranky.

Even the dogs were off their game.

Generally, Wyler was a private person, keeping his feelings to himself. Yet today, he looked like he wanted to say something.

Only, he didn't.

That put her on edge.

Now, she was sitting
behind her desk, running the first meeting of the day. The people in her office were a nervous wreck. Yeah, she had a reputation for being difficult, only because she expected the best. If she had to give one hundred and ten percent, then they should too. It wasn’t like she expected anything more than what she was willing to give of herself.

Before her sat the new ME, Doctor Zane Legend, and he was a bit of an enigma. While her buddy, Doctor Chris Leonard
, was off on his honeymoon getting his lovin’ on, Zane was in charge of the chaos.

So far, he was doing a
good job, but Elizabeth wasn’t ashamed to say that she missed Christopher. After working with him in the field for years, and now in the office, she was accustomed to his idiosyncrasies. He liked to joke, make light of a morbid situation, and cheer up everyone around him. Doctor Legend was a watcher, much like her husband. He was quiet, introverted, and also very Native.

Unfortunately for him, she saw right through his façade. T
here were moments when he’d slip and the team would see the real him. On occasion, while working, he would crack a joke, realize what he’d done, and then clam up.

She didn't get why. It wasn’t like she didn't let the team have free rei
gn of their space. As long as the work was spot on, the Blackhawks let them have at it. Yet with Doctor Legend, it was like he was studying them, unsure what to think.

Yeah, Elizabeth needed to crack that nut.

The quiet was getting old. She wanted to be able to have a good working relationship with her team. When you dug through the bowels of death all day long, you needed some humor, maybe a prank, or at least some fake vomit.

Anything would be relished at this point.

Elizabeth wasn’t worried. She’d crack him yet. It was just a matter of time.

Oddly, he was the least of their problems.
Beside Zane sat their fifth head tech for the year. They’d burned through them like flames in a bucket of kerosene.

The first few
didn't last long, quitting days into the job. Plus, the last two had run for their lives. Elizabeth was beginning to lose hope. At this point, she was willing to abduct a pregnant Christina and drag her back to FBI West. Yeah, she told her to stay with Kane and be happy, but right about now, she was going to renege on that one. She wasn’t above it at this point.

The woman sitting beside Doctor
Legend was the final straw. If she didn't work, Elizabeth was throwing in the towel. In fact, she already wanted to, but Callen had talked her down off the ledge. Opting to take some stress off her, he did the last round of interviews.

Meredith Peyton was his pick
for the job.

Well, why the hell not?

Ethan and Elizabeth repeatedly had struck out. Maybe Callen would have better luck. After all, he was a little calmer and the mediator. Possibly, he would see something they didn't.

It wasn’t like it could get worse.

They’d had techs who openly wept, quit in the middle of an assignment, and just stopped showing up to work. It took balls of steel to run from the FBI. That said a lot about the pressure they placed on the team.

Now it had nothing to do with
replacing Christina. It was solely about finding anyone to stay in the position. With Chris Leonard out, they needed a leader.

Training newbies was a tough job, especially if they were scared shitless of you. Hey, it wasn’t her fault.
The rumors spread that she was pregnant and that put the team on alert. An expecting Elizabeth Blackhawk was a dangerous one.

It cracked her up.

As of that moment, she wasn’t feeling cranky or pregnant. She had to admit that if this was what having a girl was like, she’d do it again. She got to eat more and people ran from her.

Every day was pretty darn awesome
.

Glancing up, she focused on the conversation going on around her. Meredith was speaking and Elizabeth fought through the tech talk to get to the point.

“You can simplify it,” she offered. Yes, she was fairly smart, but Elizabeth liked her team to believe that she had slept her way to the top. It gave her the element of surprise when they least expected it.

Yeah, she loved
to screw with them.

Plus
, if they thought she was a hick, they kept it simple. She didn't have time for long drawn out explanations. Elizabeth needed the basics, and fast.

“We’re finishing up the transport of the last few cases to the courthouse,” she stated. “All the files are complete, I’ve signed off on them, and they’re ready for Doctor Legend
’s signature.”

“Good,”
Elizabeth replied, marking it off the list.

“Ma’am,” she began, hoping not to upset the boss.
Meredith had heard rumors about Elizabeth Blackhawk, and she wanted to keep her job.

“Yes?”

“No offense, but I found that there are some process improvements that could be implemented in the lab to speed up production. I would like to run them by you, so you can take a look at them before I try to roll them out.”

This was new.

“Like what?”

Meredith pulled out a file folder and handed it to Elizabeth. “I
put together some charts for you.”

Elizabeth flipped through the fold
er. She almost wanted to giggle in glee. At one time, Christina did the same exact thing when they started working together.

Finally,
Elizabeth had hope.

“I’ll look at them later
when I have some spare time. I appreciate the effort you put into making our lab work more efficiently, Meredith.”

“Merry, ma’am. If you don’t mind, that is. Meredith sounds like some strict older school marm.”

Elizabeth examined the woman in her office. She was petite with black hair, and very peculiar colored eyes. They were somewhere between blue and lavender.

Doctor Legend sat beside her
, trying not to grin. They’d already had this conversation a couple of days ago. He’d explained the hierarchy and what she needed to do next. If anything, the tech was making a dent in the backlogged work.

He was impressed.

Elizabeth stared at her. Hell! If the woman wanted to be called Joan of Arc, she could accommodate that. If Meredith ran the lab as well as Christina, she could have anything she wanted- including half her spleen.

“Very well, Merry. You can call me Director Blackhawk.”

Now, Doctor Legend did laugh, only because Merry didn't get it.