The Short Game 13
Author's Note: We have a bit of a time jump here—please be aware of that. Also, this is the conclusion to this story. Thank you so much for following along with me through The Long Game which melded into this The Short Game Keenler series. If you have not read my other WIPs, I am currently working on Wait, A Very Keenler Christmas, Situationship, The Voyeur, I'm Sorry For What I Said When We Were Trying To Park the Camper, and Random Keenler. Please take some time to give them a read if you are looking for more Keenler ff.
Also, if you have been reviewing all along—THANK YOU! If you have not yet left a review, please take some time to let me know what you thought of this series.
EEEEEEEEEEEEE
"And that's when I said 'yacht, what yacht?'" Liz said animatedly as she held out her glass of champagne.
The group around her laughed hysterically and she took a drink of the liquid in the crystal glass.
"Casandra you are too much," a woman dressed in a formal ballgown next to her laughed.
"That's what Keith tells me all the time," Liz said as she placed a hand on Ressler's tuxedo-clad chest.
Ressler gave everyone a cheeky wink. "And she still does what she does anyways."
The group laughed even harder and Liz nodded slightly to Ressler. He placed his hand in his pocket and clicked a button.
"Dance?" Ressler asked Liz as he took the champagne glass from her hand and placed it on a nearby table.
"Always darling," Liz smiled up at him as he reached for her hand. "Who could resist a man as handsome as my husband?"
The women behind her twittered and she ignored them, walking out onto the dance floor with Ressler leading her.
"You are quite the chatterbox tonight," Ressler smiled down at her as he took her in his arms.
"Casandra Ackers is," Liz smiled tightly up at him and then leaned in and kissed his cheek. "Liz Ressler wants her sweats and a book."
He leaned back and chuckled.
"Soon," he said, pulling her a little closer. "But maybe not either."
She quirked an eyebrow up at him.
"Naked and no book?" He asked her with a devislish grin.
"I can be persuaded," she teased.
He nodded to a nearby couple, the Keats, nearby. Then he turned her around and danced her a little farther away from anyone.
"What can I do to persuade?" Ressler asked.
"That lamb before we left was a good start," Liz snickered.
"What can I say," he snickered. "I like working with glue guns, toilet paper rolls, and cotton balls."
"You have so much more patience than I do for things like that," Liz said as she swept a stray hair over the back of his ear. He'd allowed his hair to grow a little longer, not unruly by any means, just longer than a crew cut, in the last few years and she loved it. "And I love you for it."
"I think you love me even if I don't make toilet paper lambs," Ressler smiled down at her.
"True," Liz nodded her head seriously. "But I love you more because of the lamb projects."
He leaned down and kissed her lips softly.
"Okay, convinced," Liz whispered as they parted.
"That was easy," he said before he leaned in again and gave her another soft kiss.
"With you it always is," Liz whispered back.
Just then, FBI agents stormed the ballroom where they were dancing and everyone started to scream. The officers immediately arrested their target Denise Yan, and took the necklace off her neck with the crushed bones of all of her victims encased in it.
Ressler and Liz, like all the other attendees at the Lights on Lupus Ball were brought into a side room for 'questioning'.
"You have the bones?" Liz asked, the second the door was shut.
"Yes, analysis says there are at least 14 different victims in it," Aram said to her.
"I thought we counted 16?" Liz asked turning toward Ressler.
"Uh, Mr. Reddington said he will take care of the rest," Aram said, cryptically.
"What the hell does that mean?" Ressler asked as he loosened his bow tie.
"I, uh, don't know," Aram admitted. "That dress really flows when you dance."
"Thank you," Liz said as she moved her hips slightly so the skirt shifted. "Someone thought it was too long and flowy."
"I didn't say that," Ressler countered as he leaned over Aram to look at his screen. "I said…"
"He wanted short, right?" Aram asked.
"Bingo," Liz chuckled.
"He likes your legs," Aram chuckled.
"He's right here," Ressler said, annoyed. "And it was more about your ability to run in that thing than…"
"Thing?" Liz asked, affronted. She held out her arms and gestured to the dress. "This is a Carolina Herrera Polka Dot Ball Gown that costs…"
"And you look beautiful in it," Ressler said as he stood up and looked at her. "Gorgeous, in fact. I was just worried that, if needed, you couldn't run in it."
Liz smiled softly at him.
"That," he said with a wicked grin. "And you've got great gams that are hidden under all that material."
She swatted at his shoulder, affronted but chuckling.
"I knew he was a leg man," Aram said quietly to himself.
"Can we get out of here?" Ressler asked as he undid a couple more buttons on his shirt. "We have her and the bones and apparently Reddington is…"
"Ressler needs to finish a farm project in the morning with Agnes," Liz said as she patted his chest.
"Aqua farming or…" Aram started.
"Regular farm," Ressler chuckled as he patted Aram's back. "We just need to finish the popsicle stick fence."
"Here," Liz said as she reached for her phone in her purse and showed Aram a picture of it.
"Wow," Aram said with a smile.
"I know, right?" Ressler smirked proudly.
"I think he's prouder of the project than our daughter," Liz said, putting her phone away.
"Hey, Agnes has done most of the work," he said as he reached for her hand and started to pull her away. "Let's get back with the rest of the patrons so we can be dismissed with them."
Liz nodded and followed him toward the door where an FBI agent escorted them out.
"I've called my lawyer, have you?" Ressler asked Herb Barr when they rejoined the group. "Bunch of pricks."
"Keith," Liz chastised him.
"I apologize," he said, properly chastised. "But it's true. They've got nothing better to do? No real criminals to catch?"
"Did you see they took Denise away?" Liz asked Sarah Laylor.
"Yes, I…" Sarah started.
"Attention everyone," Cooper said as he entered the room. "If you have been interviewed by FBI agents, you are clear to leave. You need to check out with the agent at the door. If you have not been interviewed yet, it shouldn't be much longer.
"Lucky," Sarah said to Liz.
"It's a blessing and curse having a last name that starts with Ac," Liz smiled at her. "Tonight, it's a blessing."
"I just say the Hendriks go in, so it shouldn't be long," Ressler reassured her.
"I'll call you if I hear anything else," Liz smiled at their fake friend.
Sarah, the wife of another criminal they were interested in, smiled at them.
Soon Liz and Ressler were out of the ballroom, in their limo and heading home to the babysitter who was probably busy doing her Chemistry homework at their dining room table.
"Uh," Liz said as she peeled off her heels inside the limo. "Happy to take those off."
Ressler reached for her foot, trying to free it from all the material of the dress and started to rub her arches.
"Keep that up and you'll get more than you bargained for tonight," Liz moaned as she leaned her head back against the head rest.
Ressler chuckled and continued to rub her aching feet.
"They are all going to lose it when they realize they have been rubbing elbows with a serial killer," Ressler said.
"Is she any worse than Brent Laylor who uses children as hackers?" Liz asked. "He doesn't care about those kids, if they live or die…"
"True," Ressler nodded.
"Did you hear Reddington has another blacklister for us tomorrow?" Liz asked him.
"It's been a month since the last one," Ressler said.
"I think he likes you and me undercover," Liz smirked. "He seems to have lost some interest in the list in the last few year, don't you think?"
Ressler nodded in agreement.
"Glad we have this then," Ressler said.
"I like this," Liz said as she switched feet on him and handed him another foot to rub.
"Me rubbing your feet?" He chuckled.
"No, us working together like this," Liz smiled at him. "It's been how many year, Ressler?"
"Over a decade," he smirked as he kneaded her arches.
"And Cooper was concerned once he found out about us…" Liz said. "But really, I think that makes us even better at this. I know you so well, and you know me…it's like…shorthand."
He nodded and smiled.
Liz said forward and took her foot from his hands , pushing down the wads of material from her dress before she leaned in and kissed him soundly.
"What was that for?" He asked, thinking of the FBI agent currently driving the limo they were in. Despite the privacy screen, it was still risqué for her to kiss him so passionately. Yes, they were married, but they were still, technically, on the FBI's dime until they got home.
"I just love you," Liz said simply before she sat back and placed her foot back in his hands.
He chuckled and started to rub again as the limo drove through the dark streets of DC toward their home where their daughter was sound asleep.
The end.