Page 94 of Sticks and Stones (FBI Romance/Thriller #65)

“You fraudulently used a credit card to board a flight across state lines, Dad! That’s not going to go over well with the FBI. She’s the FBI. I’m the FBI. I’m her brother from another mother, but she’ll still get Gabe to fire my ass!”

He doubted that.

Then, he changed his mind.

FAST.

When Charlie saw armed cops heading his way, he tried to act naturally, but they were staring at him and Tony. Maybe he’d not given his daughter enough credit.

Charlie should have picked a better accomplice.

“Tony, shut up,” he hissed.

That’s when the bug man saw the cops.

Oh, shit!

“I’m going to jail for springing you and I didn’t even spring you!” he said loudly.

Jesus.

Thank God his daughter was busy with work. If she was here, she’d hear Tony confessing to things he didn’t even do.

“Sheriff LaRue?” the one cop said, holding up his badge.

“Uh, yes?” he asked, again, trying to look like he belonged there.

The cop continued.

“You’re going to have to come with us,” he said. “We’ve been alerted that your ticket was from a stolen credit card, and we have to bring you in for questioning.”

A stolen card?

What?

Oh, damn, his daughter was good. She’d ferreted that out pretty damn fast. It had only been six hours.

Now, it was time to play clean-up duty to save their asses.

“Uh, I’m sorry, but it wasn’t stolen. My son here paid for my ticket,” he said.

When he placed his arm around Tony, the cop was now focused on him now too.

“Uh, yeah, it was my card,” he said, taking his wallet out of his pocket. His hand was shaking, and he really didn’t want to lose his job.

“Oh, good. Evidence,” the one cop said, as he took it. “Thank you for admitting it.”

Well, shit.

Charlie should have borrowed Chris’ card. He would have at least had sympathy on him.

“Good. You both can come with us to the police station,” he said.

Oh, shit.

One of the cops opened a wheelchair, and Charlie knew he was screwed. There was no way he could get away from them.

This wasn’t what he planned.

Sighing, he took a seat. He was in pain, and in no shape to race to the doors to escape.

“Can you at least get my daughter to come and get me?” he asked. “She’s with the FBI and working a case here.”

The cop said nothing, but he did give Charlie some bracelets.

Pretty silver ones.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, he was cuffing him to the chair.

Then, he cuffed Tony behind his back, before someone went and grabbed the man’s luggage.

“Well, you’ve screwed us this time, Dad,” Tony said. “Elizabeth is going to kill both of us. Then, Sam is going to bring us back somehow, just to kill us again. AND I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING !”

Charlie stared at him.

“Plead the fifth, Anthony! Plead the fifth! How the hell did you get into the FBI?” he asked.

Tony was distraught.

“My own father got me arrested by the fuzz! I don’t look good in orange, Dad! Who’s going to feed my bugs and dust off the bones for me?”

Everyone was staring.

It was now a three-ring circus, and the head clown was sharing everything. Someone would not do good committing crimes. He couldn’t close his mouth.

“I can’t believe I’m going to jail!” Tony admitted. “I’m too pretty to be some big dude’s bedmate! I have pretty eyes, Dad. I’m going to be passed around to all the crazies!”

Charlie sighed.

Jesus.

Christ.

As the cops wheeled them toward the door, of course, every single person in the whole place was staring at him and Tony.

Well, maybe because Tony was now trying to bribe the cops to let him go.

Well, this escalated.

What Charlie knew was this boy was insane.

At the police car, the helped him in, and put Tony in the other side.

As they closed the doors, a blacked-out Tahoe with flashing lights pulled up, and they knew they were screwed even more.

The jig was up.

“What the bloody hell?” Elizabeth asked, heading toward the police vehicle.

She was in body armor, had her badge hanging around her neck, and coming in hot.

She.

Was.

Pissed.

When the cop rolled the window down, Charlie smiled.

“Hey, Baby Girl. I missed you. I hear sea air is good for you after surgery, and I thought I’d visit California to test that theory.”

She stared at him.

Oh, when she got the call from Sam, she nearly freaked out. The only reason she figured this out was that she’d gotten a text from Tony saying he was heading to the airport.

Then, the call from Sam right after. Putting two and two together, she got CHARLIE for the answer. Babysitting the man was like wrangling greased-up cats in a typhoon.

“Are you out of your goddamn mind, Charlie?”

Apparently.

He had used Tony’s credit card.

There was no doubt in his mind that Sam called his daughter, and she made the cops claim this bullshit to get him in cuffs.

Elizabeth pointed at him.

“Sam is freaking the fuck out. He’s picturing you bleeding to death on a plane. Meanwhile, I’m going to have to explain this to my boss if he finds out. Dad! Come on!” she said. “I’m eyeball deep here.”

He tried to play it off.

“I mean, I’m good. The inflight movie sucked but you can’t win them all. How’s the case? What’s the plan?”

She was going to get him committed.

That was her goddamn plan.

She’d been working, and had to stop to play this game with her father.

The LUNATIC.

“Here’s the plan, Charlie. You’re going to jail, and your accomplice is joining you!”

Tony gasped.

“I didn’t do anything! I was checking out women on the flight, and this nut found me! I’m innocent, I swear! He stole my credit card!”

The cop sitting behind the wheel shrugged.

“This is literally the easiest arrest I’ve ever made. The dark haired one keeps confessing. How is he in the FBI?”

Oh, trust and believe that Elizabeth asked herself that every day of her life.

When another vehicle pulled up, she glanced over. Backup was here.

When Chris got out of the vehicle, he knew that the shit was about to hit the fan.

MEs stuck together, and this ME was married to his daughter. He was shit out of luck.

Oh, boy.

Chris opened the door, dropped his medical kit, and sighed.

“I’m going to check you out,” he admitted. “As for timing, Charlie, this was damn inconvenient. This is not the time, and you should know better.”

Chris lifted his shirt to check his wounds.

His daughter was staring at him, and she was flushing red. She legit looked as if she was going to strangle him, and Tony.

“The bone man didn’t have anything to do with this,” he admitted. “It was all me. He’s smart, but he couldn’t con his way out of a lavatory.”

Elizabeth said nothing as Chris lowered his shirt.

“He should be at the hospital. Some of his sutures are torn. It’s a matter of time before it opens up. A doctor needs to close them again.”

When her man got up, she leaned in the car.

“Remember that time when I was sixteen, and I got into a fight over a boy, and got my ass arrested by one of your deputies? Remember how you let me sit in jail for twenty-four hours?”

He swallowed.

Oh, shit.

“Well, that made my life particularly miserable, and now, Father Dearest, it’s your turn. When your bullshit effects my job, we have one hell of a problem! This was crossing a line!”

She glanced over at the cop.

“Take him away. Bring this one to the hospital, and put him under arrest. Cuff him to the bed, and make sure a doctor looks at him. I suggest a fucking elephant tranq to knock him out. The other one…I’ll take him. He’s going into FBI custody for being an idiot!”

Charlie was staring with his mouth open.

“You wouldn’t!” he said as Tony was pulled out of the back of the car.

“ NO ! Take me to jail! I changed my mind! Take me to the clink! Don’t leave me with her! She knows how to hide a body!” Tony shouted.

The window rolled up, and the car began pulling away. As it did, the cop dragged Tony over to her.

“Anthony. What the hell?” she asked.

He had tears in his eyes.

“I swear. I didn’t know he was on the flight! I didn’t help him. I’d never compromise his well-being. I just got him, Lyzee. I swear.”

She jerked her head.

“Uncuff the nut. Tony, get your suitcase and get in the vehicle.”

He was grateful she believed him.

As the car pulled away, Charlie watched her from the back of the car.

Oh, the parent had become the child.

As the car disappeared into the traffic, she had to get back to work.

Only, it appeared that they’d drawn a crowd.

When she saw them, she shook her head.

“What’s a Fed got to do to not have her father trying to butt in on all of her goddamn cases?” she asked, as Chris laughed.

“Now I know where my girl gets her sassiness from. How long are you punishing him?” he asked.

She sighed.

“Oh, I’m not his problem. SAM is. He’s going to make my father miserable. Thanks for getting him on a flight,” she said, giving him a kiss.

He winked.

“Anything, Bethe. I’ll take Tony. We’ll see you back at the scene.”

She pointed at her bug man.

“I swear to God, if you act up, I’m kicking your ass. Keep that in mind.”

He nodded and RAN for Chris’ vehicle.

Well, at least he’d be on his best behavior for the rest of this case.

In the borrowed FBI vehicle, she pulled out her phone and called Sam.

He answered on the first ring.

“Is he okay? Did they find him? He’s not dead, is he?” Sam asked.

“Well, I’m about to kill him, Sam. Here I am, chasing a cannibal, and I get a call from my Mom that my father has gone loco! What the hell?”

Sam apologized.

“I’m sorry. Where is he?”

She sighed.

“The cops have him. They’re bringing him to the hospital, and cuffing him to the bed until he’s got medical clearance. When you land, he’s your issue. I have to work this case, and I can’t be distracted.”

Sam knew she wasn’t kidding.

“I’ll handle your father, Elizabeth. I’m grounding him for so long that he’s going to forget what kissing me feels like!”

That worked for her.

“Fly safe. I’ll call you later,” she said, and hung up.

Then, she turned her lights back on, and hauled ass back to the scene.

Only in her world would it be easier chasing a cannibal who was eating people than having a father.

Jesus.

Charlie was going to be the death of her.

Bet on it.