Pledging to Die (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 11) (32 page)

Both men stared at her.

When Ethan closed the door, he shook his head. “God help whoever we interview next.”

Elizabeth was on the edge, and now the pressure was really on. This was going to be a clusterfuck, and nobody was walking away clean.

It just wasn’t going to happen.

       
         
* * *
  B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x   * * *

University Main Office

While she wanted to head straight at the frat boys with all her anger, Elizabeth was talked down by Ethan. He’d pointed out that pissing off the potential killers, whose parents were high up the food chain, probably wasn’t a good idea.

Instead, they opted to visit the bane of their existence.

Doctor Hallowell.

He was stirring the shit pot with Gabe, and that was putting pressure on them.

So, he got lucky.

He was about to get his ass handed to him by a sexy Fed in cowboy boots.

Once in the office, Hallowell’s administrative assistant was right there, holding down the fort. When she saw them, she stood.

“Sorry, but he’s busy.”

Elizabeth laughed maniacally as she leaned over the woman’s desk. “Listen up, Ms. Sanchez. I’m a little busy too. I have a frat house full of fornicators, a morgue full of dead bodies, and the doctor riding my boss’s tail. So, you buzz him and tell him to get off his suit wearing derriere and take a meeting, or I will kick in that door and laugh while doing it.”

She opened her mouth.

“Don’t make me hurt you. I swear I’ll enjoy every damn second of it.
Buzz. Your. Boss
,” she hissed, punctuating every word.

The men behind her tried not to smile, but it was so hard. This was the Elizabeth they loved, and she was in her pissed off glory.

Pricilla Sanchez brushed lint from her suit jacket before picking up the phone. “Doctor Hallowell, the FBI is out here, and SHE’S making another scene. Do you want me to call security?”

Oh, she wished that would happen.

If someone above loved her, there would be campus cops in there, so she could kick them around.

Elizabeth might feel better.

“You haven’t seen one of those yet, princess. Wait until I get up on your desk, and like a monkey, start flinging shit around the room.”

The woman looked appalled.

Elizabeth was glad.

When she hung up, she pointed to the chairs.

No one moved.

This appeared to be one hell of a standoff. Elizabeth had to give her credit. Pricilla Sanchez, with her brown overly coifed hair, didn't even bat an eyelash. She was holding her ground.

At a different time, Elizabeth would have appreciated that. Now, it pissed her off.

When the door opened, a frazzled looking man appeared. His face showed stress, and his eyes were red, like he’d gone on a sleep deprivation bender.

“Come in,” he stated, leading them into his room.

“Before you start,” Elizabeth stated, “let me give you a heads up. When you call my boss, stirring the shit pot, I’m going to be a bitch. Not only am I going to be miserable, difficult, and downright evil, I may leak to the media that you’re blackmailing a Fed.”

He looked surprised that she’d go there.

“Oh, if you think I care that you have Gabriel Rothschild by the shorthairs, you’re out of your mind.” She hoped that little lie would take the pressure off her friend—or at least off them for that matter.

“I have so many media buddies who would love to get in bed with me on this one, so tossing your ass to them would be a pleasure. This is a colossal waste of my damn time!”

He sat.

“I was shocked to see that it showed up on the website, and I may have reacted rashly.”

“You think? You have one little thing on the head of the FBI. Do you realize that right now, Gabriel Rothschild is digging into your past trying to build a dossier on you and what you’ve done the last twenty five years? You’re three days past screwed. I suggest you calm your ass down and let us do our job. I can’t keep this quiet if you’re running around like a chicken with your head cut off. When it comes to the media, the best defense is to look calm, play stupid, and avoid them!”

He looked even more stressed. “You really think that he’d blackmail me back?”

All three Feds laughed.

Think it? They knew it.

“I knew having you here was a bad idea. I wish the board of trustees would have listened to me in the first place.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. You don’t like me. Boo hoo. If I had a dollar for everyone on the planet who has said that, we’d be rich.”

He closed his mouth, obviously rethinking his next thought. “I was just shocked. Enrollment is dropping, and we can’t afford to get any more bad press. This community needs this university. I need it.”

Elizabeth sat, crossing her legs. “I don’t have time to stroke egos here. You have one college kid playing reporter. You control the university. Make his reports disappear. Do whatever it is someone in your place can do. Ground him. Send him to bed without supper, but don’t be calling the FBI to cry like a toddler. It’s insane. I can promise the skeletons will be hanging from the flagpole if you piss Gabriel Rothschild off. The man has the president’s direct cell number. Use your damn head.”

Ethan agreed. “If you’re lucky, you’ll only turn up on the government’s watch list. If you’re unlucky, you’ll be getting a one way trip to Guantanamo.”

He started pacing. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have called yelling at him. That was a big mistake, and I see that now. Trust me. It won’t happen again. Do you have anything on this mess?”

“Yeah. We’re tracking the killer. Now, if you don’t mind, I have to get back out there. Your frat house is a shit mess, and I need to babysit a bunch of horny college boys.”

“I can shut them down. I can talk to the board of trustees, and we can work on that.”

She was good with that. If he didn't realize that would make the nightly news, that was on him. She wasn’t babysitting him too.

“Maybe you should give that a shot. If they’re killing women, and doing it in their back yard, that might be advisable. I’m on my way there now.”

“Is it too much to ask to…”

“Shut up,” she stated, heading for the door. “If you say ‘keep this quiet’, I may lose my mind.”

Out in the office, Elizabeth practically growled at Pricilla Sanchez when she opened her mouth. She’d had about enough of the craziness, and she was getting off the train.

From here on out, she was running this her way.

While she loved Gabe, protecting him wasn’t her job. He’d screwed up, and if it was going to come out, there was nothing she could do about it.

“Breathe,” Callen said, running his hand down her back to help calm her down.

“We’ve got this,” Ethan stated, knowing she was ready to kill, and going into the frat house stirred up was probably a damn bad idea.

She needed a drink.

“Let’s get a coffee. I need to think.”

It said it all.

Elizabeth Blackhawk was on the warpath.

       
         
* * *
  B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x   * * *

The shower helped loosen him up, even as it washed away some of the cobwebs that were fogging his sleep deprived brain. Now Brody just needed to get dressed without falling asleep on his feet.

The last few nights he’d been restless, knowing Joey was out there on her own. What he really wanted was to cuddle with her in bed as they took a nap.

Okay, sex too.

Who was he kidding?

Just thinking about her had stirred up his lower anatomy to the point he was aching for her touch. As he opened his closet door to start getting dressed, there was a tap on the window behind him. At first, he thought it was his imagination.

Then he heard his name being whispered.

He spun around, nearly losing the towel slung low on his waist.

That’s when he saw her.

“Joey?” he whispered incredulously.

“Let me in,” she whispered, as she grinned wickedly at him.

Broderick Seaton opened the window and pulled her into his arms. “What are you doing here?” he asked, looking over at his door. He prayed he locked it.

She leaned against him, wanting to lick up the droplets of water on his shoulders and chest. He was wet, warm, and in nothing but a towel.

Hell, she wanted more of him.

“You left this morning without something.”

Brody kissed her, turned on that she was in his room and arms. Oh, how he really wished they could climb into bed, but he couldn’t risk her. If any of the brothers saw her there, she’d be next on the menu when the playroom was back in action.

He couldn’t let that happen.

Her mouth aggressively drank from his, teasing him with promise of what she could offer him if he just let go.

When the towel fell from his hips, and her hand stroked him, Brody nearly wanted to weep from the pleasure of it all.

This was heaven.

“Sweetheart,” he whispered when she dropped to her knees and took him in her mouth.

The heat shot through him.

“Jesus,” he hissed, unable to look away. Her head bobbed as she took him in and out of her mouth.

Just as he was about to pull her to the bed to bury himself in her body, there was a knock at the door.

“Shit!” he whispered, pulling her to her feet. Brody looked around, and then shoved a grinning Johanna into the closet.

Grabbing the towel, he wrapped it around his waist and prayed that the person at the door wouldn’t notice he was hard and flushed.

“Yeah?” he said, looking around the door.

There stood Sutton.

“Hey! What’s up?”

“Nothing,” Brody replied, trying not to breath too hard. The last thing he needed was for Joey to be found there.

“The FBI is on its way. Are you sticking around?” he asked.

“Hell no! I told you that bitch is scary. I’m going to head to class, unless you want me to stay.”

“Arman thinks it’s best you head out. Honestly, he’s afraid you’re going to slip up and spill it. Please don’t tell him I said that.”

Brody had been right. Here was the weakest link. “I won’t say shit. You know your secret is safe with me. I’ll get dressed and head to the commons. I can grab a coffee there.”

Yeah, and have Joey meet him.

“Great!”

When Sutton walked away, he closed and locked the door. Immediately, he pulled open the closet to find a smiling Joey. She was leaning against the wall and sniffing his sweater.

“Did I mention how great you smell?”

“Are you insane?” he asked, knowing that she was in danger there.

“I’d like to point out that you’re supposed to trap me in your room. Isn’t that’s the plan? You’re supposed to try and get into my panties,” she stated, keeping her voice low.

He pulled her back into his arms, so he could whisper in her ear. Actually, he wanted to feel and smell her.

Who was he kidding?

Brody wanted her rubbing against him.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, praying she’d say sex. If there was a God in heaven, that would be her answer.

Joey stared into his sweet blue eyes. She was there because he was her partner. If she said that, he’d get all macho on her. So, she went with plan B.

Reaching into her pants pocket, she pulled out the balled up plaid boxers. “You left something in my room.”

He stared at them, a big grin on his face. “Maybe I was marking my territory.”

Johanna kissed him softly on the lips. “You don’t have to mark anything. I don’t want anyone but you, Brody. I’ve found happiness.”

His heart kicked in his chest.

Thankfully, so had he.

“You have to get the hell out of here,” he ordered, pointing at the window. “I’d walk you out the door, but then I’d have to explain how you got in here. They’re in the living room, waiting for Elizabeth.”

“Can’t we watch? That’s always fun. When she emasculates idiots, it turns me on.”

Jesus!

She was making it damn hard on him.

“No, we definitely can’t stay, but I’ll meet you in the commons for some coffee, and maybe you can sit in my lap.”

She grinned. “Maybe I can do something else with your lap,” she teased.