Page 101 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

That’s when Ben got in on the act, like he was trying to impress MATE. Which was crazy since he should be trying to convince her.

Only, she didn’t have time or the inclination to give another lecture.

“That I do have. It was the first thing I ran.”

Elizabeth stopped him.

“So you’ve had the results for a while?” she asked.

All of the investigators standing behind her were shaking their heads, trying to save the man from what he’d just said.

And he didn’t notice.

“They came in around two this morning.”

Elizabeth glanced over at Chris, and he cleared his throat, getting their attention.

It was a good thing they were leaving when this case was over. She was going to start eating the techs as snacks since they weren’t doing their job.

To her standard.

“When you get a piece of evidence back, immediately, an email should be sent to the investigator in charge, so she can have it to see the results.”

Ben looked confused.

“That’s not how…”

She stopped him.

“You’re not in Kansas, Toto. This is a whole different arena, and I need the information as it comes in. It’s not my job to track it down. It’s your job to attach it to an email, or give it to MATE to get to me. I can’t do my job without it.”

Ben shrugged.

“Okay. We just didn’t want to bother you last night after you were abducted.”

Oh, well, she was going to bother all kinds of staff while she was here.

“Again, we email, call, or get MATE the information when it comes in.”

He nodded slowly.

“Uh, okay.”

Because this was a steep learning curve, she’d let them have that one error. Later, if it happened again, she’d bust balls.

“What did you find?” she asked.

He went there.

“The samples had no drugs. We did find a little bit of blood in some of the veins in the fleshy bits that weren’t eaten. He was drunk. Like big-time drunk.”

She was weighing that in her head, and that would likely mean he didn’t know he was followed, or he hadn’t been ready to defend himself.

The man had a gun in his house.

And hadn’t used it.

When she opened her mouth, Tony went there.

“Like I suspected, the newest was cooked. I saw the evidence of someone being roasted over a fire. The rest of the flesh, not so much. Maybe they took it home for snackies. Like a doggie bag.”

She shook her head.

“The crazy is off the charts here,” she said, meaning this town, this office, and mostly the staff.

Elizabeth had one more question.

A big one.

“And my bloodwork?” she asked.

Ben went there.

“All clear. It didn’t show any trace of you being drugged.”

That didn’t make sense to her. Then how the hell did she lose time? How did they get her to where she was in under the time, and why didn’t she wake up?

There was no concussion.

So she wasn’t out for long without drugs. Yet, they had time to ditch her things, pick her up, carry her, and tie her up in a cave.

“And you’re sure?”

He nodded.

Chris went there.

“Maybe there was too much time between the test and the actual abduction,” he said. “It could be depending on the drug used.”

Well, that didn’t help her.

Granted, it wasn’t like it mattered. MATE had tracked their location.

“You might want to watch your cholesterol,” Ben said. “It was one eighty-eight.”

She stared at him, and then, she focused on Uriel—who was hiding a smile behind his hand as he leaned against the wall with Ivan, Saint, and Gryphen.

She accused him.

“Did you put him up to that?”

He shook his head and raised his hands in surrender when she was giving him the look.

“No way, boss. I know better.”

That was her hard line.

“I’ll give up cow over my dead body,” she admitted. “Seriously.”

Her husband busted her ass.

“I guess I’m not the only one who will be eating healthier. A salad would do you good,” Chris teased.

Oh.

Fuck.

No.

It absolutely wouldn’t.

She wasn’t going down like her father, who was killed by a salad laced with belladonna.

Nope.

Immediately, to save his bestie’s ass, Tony changed the subject before she got cranky.

“I swabbed the one bone I found that had the symbols, about The Hollow and was a whistle. I don’t have the DNA back, yet, but when I do, I’ll compare it to the two samples we ran.

Well, that worked for her.

“Okay, Team. Good job,” she said, knowing she still had no solutions, only more issues. “Keep doing your research for me.”

When she began walking away, Tony fell into step with her, and he was curious.

Because he was worried.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

For now, back upstairs to get her gear, and then, back out. The day was not going to stop and neither could she. She’d scared the killers, but that would only last so long.

“I need to hit the council house. It’s early, but old men liked to do early things like sit around and bitch about a white woman ruining their day.”

Tony was to the point.

“Maybe duck?” he asked.

She knew what he was saying.

“Anthony, no one ducks better than me. Don’t worry,” she said.

Oh, he’d worry.

How could he not?

When he grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze, she got it. Old habits die hard, and he was accustomed to worrying about a woman he considered his sister.

“I’m tough to take down, Tony. Don’t forget it,” she said, and then focused on the team.

“Get that trace processed, and call me if anything pops up. Everyone else, let’s go.”

As they headed out, they stood in the hallway outside the original Autopsy One so she could regroup.

“I’m going to keep going,” she said to Ethan and Axl. “Check in with Chris continually to see if they find anything that might change the profile.”

They would.

“I need to know why they killed someone eight years ago, and then stopped. That’s an aberration, and whenever I get one of those, I usually get the mother of all clues to chase. That will likely be the piece of the puzzle we need to focus on.”

Blackhawk nodded.

“We will. Be careful, Elizabeth. You can’t duck an arrow. They move just as fast as a bullet.”

Oh, she was aware.

Tell her something she didn’t know.

Glancing over at the rest of the team, the ones riding with her, she updated them.

“I’m going to get my vest and meet you at the car. I had some messages from the team. I’m going to quickly check in on them.”

When she went to walk away, Takoda followed. She heard his footsteps behind her on the way to the elevator. No one else followed.

“Uh, what do you need?” she asked.

He shrugged.

“I’m sticking close.”

Elizabeth just sighed.

“Is this a ‘dad sicced me on mom’ thing, or because you’re my kid you have the overwhelming need to follow me, even if it is to the bathroom?”

He laughed.

“Uh, neither? Maybe I’m just hanging out with my mom at her job. Sometimes an inkblot is just an inkblot, Rorschach.”

She snorted.

“You’ve been hanging out with the shrinky-dink dad again,” Elizabeth accused.

“Maybe.”

If this had been a husband, she would have told them she was fine. Since he was her child, she’d humor him. For them, her baby birds, she had patience.

An endless well.

“Okay, Son,” she said.

As they got into the elevator, he pulled some gum out of his pocket and handed her a stick. She took it, because again, he was her child.

This was a new experience for her.

Oh, she’d taught people how to do her job, but she never had to do it…kindly. She busted balls more often than not, and now, she was trying to be a mom, agent, and director all at once.

“How are you liking it so far?” she asked, knowing he’d understand.

He grinned.

“Your job is fun.”

It absolutely wasn’t fun.

For some reason, she was cursed to be good at it, and this job had become her—or she became it.

Either way, this curse to walk through blood and bowel made her who she was.

Crazy.

“It’s a bunch of descriptive words, Koda. Fun is not one of them.”

He linked his arm through hers, and she put her head on his shoulder.

“You know we’re going home, right?” she asked.

He nodded, knowing where she was taking this. It was going to be the ‘granddad is getting chemo talk’ or ‘she couldn’t let him work with her in DC’ talk.

It was time to figure out which.

“Uncle Ivan said we were. I wish we weren’t. I kinda like it out here.”

She stared at him.

“In Utah? In Damascus? Really?”

He nodded.

“I grew up locked away from the world in New Orleans. I’ve never been to a reservation with the chance to stay here. It would have been cool. I feel…Native here. Like back home, I’m Koda, and white, but here, I’m part of my past.”

That was the most Timothy thing she’d heard him say. It was also something she knew Ethan would say too.

Then hate himself for bringing it up.

“Can we stay?” he asked.

She sighed.

“Koda, this place isn’t the same for us. A lot of things happened fifteen years ago here. It ran us through the wringer. The dads don’t like it here, and I’m on team vacate.”

He understood.

“Would you be angry with me one day if I came here? You know, after I become an agent? After I learn to be…you?” he asked.

She turned and faced him in the elevator after hitting the stop button.

The elevator came to a halt.

“Why would I ever be angry with you for spreading your wings and becoming the person you’re meant to be, Koda? That would never happen. The day you leave will be difficult, like when you went to bootcamp, but as a mother, I know I can’t keep you under my wings forever.”

He hugged her in his big, bear arms and held her against him.

“You did so much for me. I want to honor you, Mom. I’m a Blackhawk, but I’m Elizabeth’s son more so. When people say ‘who was your mother’, I want to be able to tell them the best fucking agent that ever worked for the FBI.”

She sniffled.

What always did her in was her tender heart for her children, and the fact that this boy was so much like his father.

He got Callen’s gentleness and sweetness.

That was for damn sure.