Ghost Woman Chapter 45-46
Pairing/Characters: Don/OFC-Elle, Charlie, Alan, The Aunts
Rating: Pg-13~Don Angst + H/C
Summary: While dress shopping for the perfect dress a ghost from the past emerges bringing with him a new threat that will shatter everything.
Spoilers: None really but I do try to incorporate canon as much as possible
Notes/Warnings: Thanks to shaolingirl for betaing. Any other boo boos are mine!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs. I just like to play with them
Chapter 45
Elisabeth stepped out of the dressing room, smoothing the fabric of the dress she wore. She looked in the mirror again and declared with a smile, “This is the one. This is the dress I want.” The dress was a strapless, ivory-colored satin ensemble with a chiffon overlay, a dropped waistline, and embroidered lace that flared out to a chapel train. Crystal beads, hand-sewed into dainty patterns, sparkled in the light.
She turned around slowly, allowing the dress to swirl gently, and said, “So?”
Her friend Susan gasped. “Oh my god, that is so the right dress. Are you going to wear the lace jacket?”
“Yeah, I think so. At least for the ceremony it gives a vintage look with it.” Elisabeth looked over her shoulder at the back of the dress and looked expectantly at Amita.
The young woman agreed. “It looks beautiful on you.”
Mary Beth giggled, “You are not going to be able to keep Don’s hands off of you the whole day.”
Elisabeth gave them a little mischievous grin. “Well, that would be interesting, it’s usually the other way around.”
The girls burst out into loud laughter while they continued to look through the racks at the bridesmaids' dresses.
Elisabeth gave them a smile and turned to the approaching sales girl. “This is the one. Will it be ready in time?”
The sales girl replied as she tugged gently at the dress waist, “Yes, I can have it altered for you in about two weeks. We can sell you this one since it seems to be a good fit. It looks like we’ll hardly have to do any alterations.”
She smoothed down the front of her shirt touching her almost flat stomach and answered, “Great, that’s good. I know it's getting down to the wire but I wanted to get in shape as much as possible.” She turned back to her friends. “If you guys want you can choose different tops but I’d like it if you all chose the A-line skirt in the garnet-red colored like we discussed.”
Amita replied, “Oh good, because I liked the halter-top style but Susan liked the strapless.”
Elisabeth smiled and said, “Sounds like a plan.”
The ladies nodded in agreement and went to choose the tops that fit their figure the best. Elisabeth changed into her street clothes and waited while her friends tried on the tops.
She sat down on the couch and sipped the tea that the boutique had provided. Amused, she watched her friends go through the different styles before she spied a familiar face.
She immediately went on alert and wondered what the hell he was doing there. Elisabeth called back to the girls, “I’m gonna step outside to make a phone call. I’ll be right back.”
She made her way out the front door where they made eye contact. He gave her a slight nod in the direction of the alleyway. She shrugged in agreement and followed. After Elisabeth checked that no one else was around she asked, “Okay, Toro? Why are you following me?”
“Ah, so you just noticed, took you long enough. You’re losing your touch,” he coolly replied.
“Whatever.” She glared at him. “So what do you want?”
“It’s not what I want. It’s what I have to tell you.”
“Stop with the theatrics.”
“If I were to ask you who you are most afraid of, what would you say?”
Before she could answer, he said, “The director, but you killed him so that’s not really a problem anymore.” He grimaced. “There is only one person that I know who has ever inspired true fear in you-and for that matter me.”
Realization hit her with a cold chill as she gasped, “Reynolds!”
“Yes.”
“Why? How? I thought he was locked up in a Turkish prison?”
Mario answered, “Yeah, that is what we all thought. Unfortunately the CIA had to turn a blind eye, since they would have had to divulge what he was doing in their country." He stopped talking and clenched his fist. “The bad news is he broke out. And he’s pissed. He’s on a killing spree. Killing anyone he perceives as letting him rot in that hellhole. He killed one of Ryson’s men and two of Jensen’s. The director’s put out an order; he wants all ops to bring him in, deadly force if necessary.”
She swore under her breath.
“But you know who Thompkins really wants working on this, don’t you? He knows that the only ones who could find him are, well, my team. Meaning you. Reynolds always had a soft spot for you.”
She grimaced at the thought of him making passes at her that first year she had joined the team. He used to always call her his little protégé.
“So what do you say? Want to strap on the old gear and go hunting?”
“Toro, I can’t. I promised Don that I wouldn’t go back into the field.”
Toro growled, “He’s made you soft.”
“Toro, it’s not like that at all. I have to think what’s best for my daughter now.”
“Yeah, I heard about that.” He barked a hard laugh. “Can’t believe you of all people have a baby.” He paused a minute. “But you should do it for her. I have a feeling if Reynolds finds out you, me, and Mario are still alive, there is no question we will be his next targets. You know he hates us, thinks we were the director’s favorites. That we got all the ‘good’ jobs.”
“Getting the better jobs goes with the territory when you’re better at it and-oh yeah-you’re not crazy.”
He snorted. “Yeah, he’s still crazy. I think he’s worse since he was in captivity. Anyway the word is the case has been given to the Feds since he also killed a US Marshall and an AUSA in New York. I heard your man Eppes has been assigned to it. I also know that the CIA and NSA are not telling the Feds who and what Reynolds really is, and we both know that’s a dangerous situation for them. My Intel tells me he’s headed west, probably looking for any team that is still operational.”
She muttered to herself, “Still don’t know why they kept him on duty. He was so unhinged.”
Toro arched an eyebrow at Elisabeth. “Unhinged?”
“
Yeah, well, at least I wasn’t crazy and a psychopathic killer.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” he replied mildly. “Elle, you know we are the only ones who can come close to stopping him.”
She ran her knuckle on her lips and thought. “Toro…I can’t.” She thought for a few minutes. She shook her head. “I shouldn’t but you are right, no one has a chance getting him, not even the Feds, even if Don is leading them-especially if the NSA is holding back intel. No one has a chance in hell to get him and come out of it with their lives intact.”
“You know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know that.”
“Alright, but I have to be really careful. I’m gonna have to think of some reason to be out most of the day without drawing suspicion on myself since I’m only part time at the bakery now. I maybe can give you eight hours a day or so."
“I understand, and I’ll take what I can get.”
“And I will need someone to watch Maggie,” she said
“The assistant director of special ops in our area said that part could be covered. She’ll be in a secure location when you’re working, with other children that need protection.”
Toro gave a sad look to Elisabeth as he walked away. "I’ll call you in a day to see what arrangements you’ve made. I’m really sorry.”
“Yeah, whatever, tell me that when Eppes finds out that I’m hiding things from him again.” She raised her eyes to the sky and prayed that all would work out and Don would never find out. She took a deep breath and walked back into the bridal salon. She had a feeling that everything would come crashing down upon her and the perfect wedding dress would sit forever on its hanger.
Chapter 46
Don sat down at the dinner table and smiled thanks as Elisabeth placed a bowl of soup in front of him. Maggie was in her bouncy chair squealing for her mother to hurry up and FEED HER!
Elisabeth groaned at her daughter’s behavior as she sat down to begin feeding her cereal. "You can be such a little monster." Maggie grunted and continued to squeal in frustration at the pace she was being fed.
Don smiled at his daughter and said, "If you want I can feed her the cereal while you eat."
"No, I’m not really hungry right now."
"Okay, if you’re sure."
"Yeah, it’s fine. Maggie’s cutting a new tooth. Your dad said she wouldn’t stop putting everything and anything into her mouth today."
Don smiled. "First tooth, eh, Ms. Maggie? We are getting to be a big girl now."
Maggie turned to look at Don, squealing at the mention of her name. She then promptly turned her attention back her to mother and tried to
grab the spoon from Elisabeth.
"How was dress shopping?"
"It was fine. We had a good time," she answered, trying to sound casual.
"Did you find anything?"
She gave him a sly grin and said, "I’ve decided to go naked."
Don grinned back. "I really don’t have a problem with that, but you know the aunts may disapprove."
She gave him her most serious smile and replied, "Well, your aunts did say I shouldn’t wear white."
Don laughed. "This is true."
She grinned back. She finished feeding Maggie the cereal and took her into the living room to breast-feed her.
After a few minutes Don joined her. "I cleaned up the dishes and put the soup away."
"Thanks."
He nodded back and took the seat next to her. He ran the back of his fingers along the side of Elisabeth’s head.
Don and Elisabeth sat in silence for over ten minutes. Don’s fingers were still brushing the side of her face. Elisabeth snuck a peak at Don out of the corner of her eye. His eyes were closed and he looked content and relaxed.
He opened his eyes and saw her peering at him. "With her new tooth coming in, I guess you won’t be able to do this too much longer."
"Hmm? Oh yeah. Yikes. Well, as long as she doesn’t chomp down on me we’ll keep going...”
"Good. I like these moments with both of you."
Elisabeth smiled back at Don. She chose the followings word carefully or, as she thought, lies. "Uh, Don. The NSA asked me to help them join a team to organize some old files at their offices. They need at least a top level clearance to do this and since I have that…they asked me."
"Oh, yeah, okay, but what about Maggie?"
"They are going to provide daycare for her with a couple of other children."
"Oh, yeah, that’s good. Maybe Dad will even want to baby-sit for her more. You should ask him."
"Yeah, I know, but he’s got a lot going on with his new business and he already does two days. I don’t think it is fair to ask more of him."
"I don’t think he will mind." He touched Maggie’s cheek. "I’ll ask him tomorrow night at dinner."
Elisabeth wanted to argue about asking Alan to baby-sit more but she didn’t want to make Don suspicious. "Well, maybe we can work a schedule out with him."
"Sounds good, here let me burp her for you. Go and eat something. You look really pale."
"Um, okay. Sure." Elisabeth handed the baby to him and straightened her clothing before getting up from the couch. She went into the
kitchen and took out her cell phone before she looked back into the living room to make sure Don was occupied with Maggie. She watched as he walked around with her in his arms, patting her on the back and talking to her gently. Elisabeth grimaced at what she was about to do. Once she made this phone call there was no going back and most likely there would be no forgiveness for her. She took a deep breath as she dialed Toro’s number. "It’s me. I’ve got it all worked out. I can help you for a few hours tomorrow but I have to be done by fiveish to go over to my future father-in-law's for supper." She stopped and listened to Toro. “Okay. I’ll meet you there. Where should I drop Maggie? Good. Yeah, send me those files. I’ll try to look at them tonight." She pressed End on the phone and put it back in her purse, then she walked back into the living room to stand next to Don.
He reached out and touched her cheek. "Something wrong, Elisabeth?"
"No, nothing.” She tilted her head into the palm of his hand.
"You don’t seem like yourself?”
"Yeah, I’m fine, maybe just a little tired."
Don searched her face for another minute. "I’ll give Maggie her bath so you can relax."
"You sure?"
He nodded and kissed her on the forehead.
“Thanks.”
She watched him go upstairs. After she heard the water running in the tub she turned on the computer. She started reading the last cases that Reynolds and his team had worked on and the psych evaluation. The therapist wrote, "Reynolds is becoming increasing unpredictable and his use of deadly force is also increasing." She made a mental note to find out what had changed for him. He was always unbalanced and more violent than she thought was necessary. But before she could voice her opinions to her superiors about it, his team was sent into Turkey by a joint CIA/NSA project. She had heard that he has been imprisoned and figured complaining that he was a psychopath was a
really a moot point when he was probably going to be executed. She sighed and continued reading. Toro was able to get a hold of his background and found out that before becoming a covert op he had been an FBI agent with a wife and daughter. They had been killed in retribution for him investigating a drug lord. No wonder he had no mercy for anyone involved with drugs. She watched him coldly kill everyone he could. But, now things made sense to her. She also remembered all the time he spent in training her. He called her his little protégée. Always trying to gauge just how much rage she had and always pushing more out of her. She hated what he made her. She decided to look into her own file and was calmed that it read exactly what it should. It read MISSING. She hoped that would buy her more time before Reynolds decided to come looking for her. She heard Don come back down stairs. She quickly closed the file and password protected it.
He stood behind her, massaging her shoulders and said, "I put Maggie down for the night." He paused for a moment while she looked up at him. "I wanted to let you know that I’m working on a new case and since it involves a fugitive recovery I requested Coop to help."
"Coop? Oh." She thought to herself, damn, now I’m really gonna have to watch out for both of them. "I appreciate you telling me."
"Yeah, well, I didn’t want you to get upset in case you saw him at the office or he comes by the house."
"Yeah, I understand. So, what kind of case?"
"An FBI agent or former agent, I guess. He’s on a killing spree and they think he’s headed out here to settle some old scores. He’s killed at least five people and we think he’s come out to kill his old partner."
"Oh. I wonder what made him snap," she mused. She wanted to see what he would say to gauge how much he knew.
He shrugged. "No clue. We started going through his old files and there is nothing. After he quit the FBI his file said that he worked in security, then disappeared a few years back."
She wanted to laugh at what Don said. If he only knew what Reynolds had been doing over the last ten years he would think that Elisabeth was a saint in comparison.
"Yeah, Megan is working on a profile so maybe that will help. And we have his supposed next target under surveillance. So we’ll get him. "
"Yeah, sure." Elisabeth was starting to feel sick lying to Don. She stood up, put her arms around him, and kissed him.
"Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?"
"No reason." She looked into his eyes. "I love you so much Don. You know that, right?"
His face looked puzzled as he replied, "Elisabeth, yes, I know, and I love you too.” He gave her a small grin and said, "If I knew that trying on wedding dresses would make you so mushy I would have suggested it sooner."
She tried to give him a winning smile as she suggested, "Take me upstairs, Fed."
Once in the bedroom Elisabeth pounced on Don. All she wanted was to feel his lips on hers and his arms surrounding her; she wanted to forget about Reynolds for a while and lose herself in his embrace. As they made love she filed away in her heart every move he made because she was afraid that it would be one of the last times they would be like this together.
Rating: Pg-13~Don Angst + H/C
Summary: While dress shopping for the perfect dress a ghost from the past emerges bringing with him a new threat that will shatter everything.
Spoilers: None really but I do try to incorporate canon as much as possible
Notes/Warnings: Thanks to shaolingirl for betaing. Any other boo boos are mine!!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs. I just like to play with them
Chapter 45
Elisabeth stepped out of the dressing room, smoothing the fabric of the dress she wore. She looked in the mirror again and declared with a smile, “This is the one. This is the dress I want.” The dress was a strapless, ivory-colored satin ensemble with a chiffon overlay, a dropped waistline, and embroidered lace that flared out to a chapel train. Crystal beads, hand-sewed into dainty patterns, sparkled in the light.
She turned around slowly, allowing the dress to swirl gently, and said, “So?”
Her friend Susan gasped. “Oh my god, that is so the right dress. Are you going to wear the lace jacket?”
“Yeah, I think so. At least for the ceremony it gives a vintage look with it.” Elisabeth looked over her shoulder at the back of the dress and looked expectantly at Amita.
The young woman agreed. “It looks beautiful on you.”
Mary Beth giggled, “You are not going to be able to keep Don’s hands off of you the whole day.”
Elisabeth gave them a little mischievous grin. “Well, that would be interesting, it’s usually the other way around.”
The girls burst out into loud laughter while they continued to look through the racks at the bridesmaids' dresses.
Elisabeth gave them a smile and turned to the approaching sales girl. “This is the one. Will it be ready in time?”
The sales girl replied as she tugged gently at the dress waist, “Yes, I can have it altered for you in about two weeks. We can sell you this one since it seems to be a good fit. It looks like we’ll hardly have to do any alterations.”
She smoothed down the front of her shirt touching her almost flat stomach and answered, “Great, that’s good. I know it's getting down to the wire but I wanted to get in shape as much as possible.” She turned back to her friends. “If you guys want you can choose different tops but I’d like it if you all chose the A-line skirt in the garnet-red colored like we discussed.”
Amita replied, “Oh good, because I liked the halter-top style but Susan liked the strapless.”
Elisabeth smiled and said, “Sounds like a plan.”
The ladies nodded in agreement and went to choose the tops that fit their figure the best. Elisabeth changed into her street clothes and waited while her friends tried on the tops.
She sat down on the couch and sipped the tea that the boutique had provided. Amused, she watched her friends go through the different styles before she spied a familiar face.
She immediately went on alert and wondered what the hell he was doing there. Elisabeth called back to the girls, “I’m gonna step outside to make a phone call. I’ll be right back.”
She made her way out the front door where they made eye contact. He gave her a slight nod in the direction of the alleyway. She shrugged in agreement and followed. After Elisabeth checked that no one else was around she asked, “Okay, Toro? Why are you following me?”
“Ah, so you just noticed, took you long enough. You’re losing your touch,” he coolly replied.
“Whatever.” She glared at him. “So what do you want?”
“It’s not what I want. It’s what I have to tell you.”
“Stop with the theatrics.”
“If I were to ask you who you are most afraid of, what would you say?”
Before she could answer, he said, “The director, but you killed him so that’s not really a problem anymore.” He grimaced. “There is only one person that I know who has ever inspired true fear in you-and for that matter me.”
Realization hit her with a cold chill as she gasped, “Reynolds!”
“Yes.”
“Why? How? I thought he was locked up in a Turkish prison?”
Mario answered, “Yeah, that is what we all thought. Unfortunately the CIA had to turn a blind eye, since they would have had to divulge what he was doing in their country." He stopped talking and clenched his fist. “The bad news is he broke out. And he’s pissed. He’s on a killing spree. Killing anyone he perceives as letting him rot in that hellhole. He killed one of Ryson’s men and two of Jensen’s. The director’s put out an order; he wants all ops to bring him in, deadly force if necessary.”
She swore under her breath.
“But you know who Thompkins really wants working on this, don’t you? He knows that the only ones who could find him are, well, my team. Meaning you. Reynolds always had a soft spot for you.”
She grimaced at the thought of him making passes at her that first year she had joined the team. He used to always call her his little protégé.
“So what do you say? Want to strap on the old gear and go hunting?”
“Toro, I can’t. I promised Don that I wouldn’t go back into the field.”
Toro growled, “He’s made you soft.”
“Toro, it’s not like that at all. I have to think what’s best for my daughter now.”
“Yeah, I heard about that.” He barked a hard laugh. “Can’t believe you of all people have a baby.” He paused a minute. “But you should do it for her. I have a feeling if Reynolds finds out you, me, and Mario are still alive, there is no question we will be his next targets. You know he hates us, thinks we were the director’s favorites. That we got all the ‘good’ jobs.”
“Getting the better jobs goes with the territory when you’re better at it and-oh yeah-you’re not crazy.”
He snorted. “Yeah, he’s still crazy. I think he’s worse since he was in captivity. Anyway the word is the case has been given to the Feds since he also killed a US Marshall and an AUSA in New York. I heard your man Eppes has been assigned to it. I also know that the CIA and NSA are not telling the Feds who and what Reynolds really is, and we both know that’s a dangerous situation for them. My Intel tells me he’s headed west, probably looking for any team that is still operational.”
She muttered to herself, “Still don’t know why they kept him on duty. He was so unhinged.”
Toro arched an eyebrow at Elisabeth. “Unhinged?”
“
Yeah, well, at least I wasn’t crazy and a psychopathic killer.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” he replied mildly. “Elle, you know we are the only ones who can come close to stopping him.”
She ran her knuckle on her lips and thought. “Toro…I can’t.” She thought for a few minutes. She shook her head. “I shouldn’t but you are right, no one has a chance getting him, not even the Feds, even if Don is leading them-especially if the NSA is holding back intel. No one has a chance in hell to get him and come out of it with their lives intact.”
“You know I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know that.”
“Alright, but I have to be really careful. I’m gonna have to think of some reason to be out most of the day without drawing suspicion on myself since I’m only part time at the bakery now. I maybe can give you eight hours a day or so."
“I understand, and I’ll take what I can get.”
“And I will need someone to watch Maggie,” she said
“The assistant director of special ops in our area said that part could be covered. She’ll be in a secure location when you’re working, with other children that need protection.”
Toro gave a sad look to Elisabeth as he walked away. "I’ll call you in a day to see what arrangements you’ve made. I’m really sorry.”
“Yeah, whatever, tell me that when Eppes finds out that I’m hiding things from him again.” She raised her eyes to the sky and prayed that all would work out and Don would never find out. She took a deep breath and walked back into the bridal salon. She had a feeling that everything would come crashing down upon her and the perfect wedding dress would sit forever on its hanger.
Chapter 46
Don sat down at the dinner table and smiled thanks as Elisabeth placed a bowl of soup in front of him. Maggie was in her bouncy chair squealing for her mother to hurry up and FEED HER!
Elisabeth groaned at her daughter’s behavior as she sat down to begin feeding her cereal. "You can be such a little monster." Maggie grunted and continued to squeal in frustration at the pace she was being fed.
Don smiled at his daughter and said, "If you want I can feed her the cereal while you eat."
"No, I’m not really hungry right now."
"Okay, if you’re sure."
"Yeah, it’s fine. Maggie’s cutting a new tooth. Your dad said she wouldn’t stop putting everything and anything into her mouth today."
Don smiled. "First tooth, eh, Ms. Maggie? We are getting to be a big girl now."
Maggie turned to look at Don, squealing at the mention of her name. She then promptly turned her attention back her to mother and tried to
grab the spoon from Elisabeth.
"How was dress shopping?"
"It was fine. We had a good time," she answered, trying to sound casual.
"Did you find anything?"
She gave him a sly grin and said, "I’ve decided to go naked."
Don grinned back. "I really don’t have a problem with that, but you know the aunts may disapprove."
She gave him her most serious smile and replied, "Well, your aunts did say I shouldn’t wear white."
Don laughed. "This is true."
She grinned back. She finished feeding Maggie the cereal and took her into the living room to breast-feed her.
After a few minutes Don joined her. "I cleaned up the dishes and put the soup away."
"Thanks."
He nodded back and took the seat next to her. He ran the back of his fingers along the side of Elisabeth’s head.
Don and Elisabeth sat in silence for over ten minutes. Don’s fingers were still brushing the side of her face. Elisabeth snuck a peak at Don out of the corner of her eye. His eyes were closed and he looked content and relaxed.
He opened his eyes and saw her peering at him. "With her new tooth coming in, I guess you won’t be able to do this too much longer."
"Hmm? Oh yeah. Yikes. Well, as long as she doesn’t chomp down on me we’ll keep going...”
"Good. I like these moments with both of you."
Elisabeth smiled back at Don. She chose the followings word carefully or, as she thought, lies. "Uh, Don. The NSA asked me to help them join a team to organize some old files at their offices. They need at least a top level clearance to do this and since I have that…they asked me."
"Oh, yeah, okay, but what about Maggie?"
"They are going to provide daycare for her with a couple of other children."
"Oh, yeah, that’s good. Maybe Dad will even want to baby-sit for her more. You should ask him."
"Yeah, I know, but he’s got a lot going on with his new business and he already does two days. I don’t think it is fair to ask more of him."
"I don’t think he will mind." He touched Maggie’s cheek. "I’ll ask him tomorrow night at dinner."
Elisabeth wanted to argue about asking Alan to baby-sit more but she didn’t want to make Don suspicious. "Well, maybe we can work a schedule out with him."
"Sounds good, here let me burp her for you. Go and eat something. You look really pale."
"Um, okay. Sure." Elisabeth handed the baby to him and straightened her clothing before getting up from the couch. She went into the
kitchen and took out her cell phone before she looked back into the living room to make sure Don was occupied with Maggie. She watched as he walked around with her in his arms, patting her on the back and talking to her gently. Elisabeth grimaced at what she was about to do. Once she made this phone call there was no going back and most likely there would be no forgiveness for her. She took a deep breath as she dialed Toro’s number. "It’s me. I’ve got it all worked out. I can help you for a few hours tomorrow but I have to be done by fiveish to go over to my future father-in-law's for supper." She stopped and listened to Toro. “Okay. I’ll meet you there. Where should I drop Maggie? Good. Yeah, send me those files. I’ll try to look at them tonight." She pressed End on the phone and put it back in her purse, then she walked back into the living room to stand next to Don.
He reached out and touched her cheek. "Something wrong, Elisabeth?"
"No, nothing.” She tilted her head into the palm of his hand.
"You don’t seem like yourself?”
"Yeah, I’m fine, maybe just a little tired."
Don searched her face for another minute. "I’ll give Maggie her bath so you can relax."
"You sure?"
He nodded and kissed her on the forehead.
“Thanks.”
She watched him go upstairs. After she heard the water running in the tub she turned on the computer. She started reading the last cases that Reynolds and his team had worked on and the psych evaluation. The therapist wrote, "Reynolds is becoming increasing unpredictable and his use of deadly force is also increasing." She made a mental note to find out what had changed for him. He was always unbalanced and more violent than she thought was necessary. But before she could voice her opinions to her superiors about it, his team was sent into Turkey by a joint CIA/NSA project. She had heard that he has been imprisoned and figured complaining that he was a psychopath was a
really a moot point when he was probably going to be executed. She sighed and continued reading. Toro was able to get a hold of his background and found out that before becoming a covert op he had been an FBI agent with a wife and daughter. They had been killed in retribution for him investigating a drug lord. No wonder he had no mercy for anyone involved with drugs. She watched him coldly kill everyone he could. But, now things made sense to her. She also remembered all the time he spent in training her. He called her his little protégée. Always trying to gauge just how much rage she had and always pushing more out of her. She hated what he made her. She decided to look into her own file and was calmed that it read exactly what it should. It read MISSING. She hoped that would buy her more time before Reynolds decided to come looking for her. She heard Don come back down stairs. She quickly closed the file and password protected it.
He stood behind her, massaging her shoulders and said, "I put Maggie down for the night." He paused for a moment while she looked up at him. "I wanted to let you know that I’m working on a new case and since it involves a fugitive recovery I requested Coop to help."
"Coop? Oh." She thought to herself, damn, now I’m really gonna have to watch out for both of them. "I appreciate you telling me."
"Yeah, well, I didn’t want you to get upset in case you saw him at the office or he comes by the house."
"Yeah, I understand. So, what kind of case?"
"An FBI agent or former agent, I guess. He’s on a killing spree and they think he’s headed out here to settle some old scores. He’s killed at least five people and we think he’s come out to kill his old partner."
"Oh. I wonder what made him snap," she mused. She wanted to see what he would say to gauge how much he knew.
He shrugged. "No clue. We started going through his old files and there is nothing. After he quit the FBI his file said that he worked in security, then disappeared a few years back."
She wanted to laugh at what Don said. If he only knew what Reynolds had been doing over the last ten years he would think that Elisabeth was a saint in comparison.
"Yeah, Megan is working on a profile so maybe that will help. And we have his supposed next target under surveillance. So we’ll get him. "
"Yeah, sure." Elisabeth was starting to feel sick lying to Don. She stood up, put her arms around him, and kissed him.
"Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?"
"No reason." She looked into his eyes. "I love you so much Don. You know that, right?"
His face looked puzzled as he replied, "Elisabeth, yes, I know, and I love you too.” He gave her a small grin and said, "If I knew that trying on wedding dresses would make you so mushy I would have suggested it sooner."
She tried to give him a winning smile as she suggested, "Take me upstairs, Fed."
Once in the bedroom Elisabeth pounced on Don. All she wanted was to feel his lips on hers and his arms surrounding her; she wanted to forget about Reynolds for a while and lose herself in his embrace. As they made love she filed away in her heart every move he made because she was afraid that it would be one of the last times they would be like this together.