Page 106 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

The Blackhawks were genuinely good people. There was no doubt about that.

“Absolutely. I’ll make my officers dress up like elves and drop the stuff off. It’ll be fun to see her face.”

That worked for them.

Then, Gene had an idea.

Chris had given him AND Ethan the company, and he wanted to play Santa.

“We should do a toy drive,” Gene stated. “We can fund it, and maybe Rayna would help by organizing it for me.”

She smiled.

“I’d love to help,” she admitted.

Elizabeth kissed Gene on the cheek.

“Santa Bear to the rescue,” she said.

Well, when in Bear-ville, play Santa. Why the hell not? It wasn’t like they needed the money. Gene had a big, fat nest egg from his time with The Hunters.

“We’ll be in touch,” he said to Rayna.

Oh, and he absolutely would.

Handing the tablet back, Elkie kissed her on the cheek. Then, she said one thing.

“Timothy was right about you. He told all of us that you would heal his family, and put his boys on the straight and narrow.”

Elizabeth was direct.

“I’m the one who was healed, Elkie. They made me a better person. That’s how a relationship should work. You hold on, and you do what’s best for the people you love.”

The woman patted her hand. Then, she hustled off only to return with a present.

When Elkie handed her, Gene, and Rayna three big apples, they took them.

Because they were starving and still had to talk to Redbear.

“Come back and see me,” she said. “Maybe we can have lunch together.”

That would be fine with her—IF her sons weren’t involved. Call it a hunch, but if she arrested them, she doubted the woman would want her near her.

Waving goodbye, they walked out, and saw Callen heading their way.

He didn’t look irritable, so it must not have gone poorly.

“What’s the word?” she asked.

Callen was to the point.

“He’s available. Only, just to see you and myself. He doesn’t want an entourage,” he admitted.

Well, that was the least surprising thing, now, wasn’t it?

Tossing Callen the other half of her uneaten apple, she followed him while leaving Gene, Koda, and Rayna there.

As they approached the council house, she stopped and looked around at the place they’d created. Not the council house, but the big community center.

“We need a pool.”

Callen lifted a brow.

“Pardon?”

“I want to put a pool in, with some playgrounds and some fun things for the children on this reservation, and their families.”

Oh, well, that made sense.

“We will call it the Wyler Blackhawk Activity area. It’ll sit right next to the Timothy Blackhawk Community Center.”

He kissed her on the temple.

That was a very kind thing, and he knew why she did it. Elizabeth would need to see it in order to mourn if Wyler passed.

“I don’t deserve you, and neither does my brother. I just wanted to say that, so you knew how lucky we are. You’re a gem, Elizabeth. I’m so glad I have been blessed with you and this life.”

Like she told Elkie, she was the lucky one.

They saved her.

“Say it with some kinky sex on the beach somewhere, hot, Native man, who happens to tan up in ten minutes. Then, let me have my tanning oil way with you.”

He grinned.

“Oh, well, I’m not saying no to that. Want to send all these nuts home when we’re leaving, and you and I sneak away for a couple of days? I’ll make Barbados memorable.”

Sign.

Her.

Up.

“You mean dump all of the kids on our other partners and run like the wind to the beach? I don’t know…,” she began.

Then, she laughed.

“Just kidding. I’m in.”

Well, that worked for him. It felt like he’d not touched his wife in a few years. He had blue balls for miles.

As they entered the center, Callen took the last bite, and dropped the core into a garbage can. Then, they headed toward the room.

At the door, they took off their shoes, and she tucked her gun and badge to her back where it wasn’t visible.

There was no point riling up the Natives.

When they went inside, it was Chief Tom Redbear and Abe Crowfeather.

But not Lance.

He wasn’t there.

As they approached, Callen took the lead, and his wife just stayed calm. She’d stirred up the Natives more than a few times, and today seemed like a good day not to poke the bear.

She needed information, and that meant playing nice.

“Thank you for seeing us,” Callen said.

They both nodded at Elizabeth, and she nodded back. If it didn’t make Callen and Ethan’s lives difficult, she’d go in fully cocked, both barrels, and all in but that was normally how she rolled.

“We would like an update,” Abe said, his face giving it all away.

He wasn’t amused to be meeting with them. Mostly, meeting with Elizabeth.

He was no fan.

Yeah, well, the older generation tended not to be. Again, they had that right.

Instead of speaking, Callen nodded, and let his wife handle this.

“We’ve identified the latest victim, and right now, we’re trying to isolate any of the forensics that has come up,” she admitted.

They both listened.

“It was Thomas Adsila.”

The whole time, they sat there stone-faced.

Well, someone was annoying them just by being alive, and that was beyond her comprehension.

She was literally trying to help them by finding a killer. This should be a no-brainer.

You’d think.

“We’re actively interviewing today,” she said. “Do you mind if we ask you some questions?” she asked.

The men nodded, but it was clear that it was painful to see her.

Uh, okay.

“How long have you both been aware of The Hollow hunting on your lands to punish people it deemed unworthy so they could be killed for a fictional creature?”

Oh, boy.

Here they went.

Callen knew she was stirring the pot to see what surfaced.

Abe stared at her.

“You’re not from here. You don’t understand any of this.”

Yeah, she didn’t.

Because in her world, people didn’t kill and feed victims to a mythical non-existent creature as they also snacked on them. If they did, the cops went hard to stop them.

Clearly, with one hundred and seven skulls, people turned a blind eye.

A LOT.

“Thanks for pointing it out. You’re right. My ancestors are Scottish and Italian. That’s where I get my propensity to curse and eat carbs.”

Tom Redbear sighed.

“Elizabeth, can we just be updated?”

She shrugged.

“There’s nothing to update. We’ve been cockblocked at every turn, and I’ve been the target for some arrows on the reservation.”

Abe seemed to relax.

“And you’re done then? We can stop this, and end this harassment of The Hollow? Bad things will happen.”

She wasn’t stopping anything.

“Can I ask you both about your children?” she asked, ignoring that question.

Both men looked confused.

“I guess,” Redbear said. “I’m not sure why you want to know. Mine have been gone for a long time. At least fifteen years. My sons only come in for my birthday, and most of the other visits, I go to them.”

She was listening.

So far, nothing was out of the ordinary. They’d run his family, and found that his sons were professional men on two different sides of the country.

It didn’t fit for her.

“How about your son who went missing?” she asked.

He looked surprised, but didn’t get offended that she asked.

“Steven?” he asked.

She nodded.

He sighed.

“My son was a drug addict. He was using heavily, and I told him if he continued, he’d need to leave.

He did. I’ve never heard from him again.

I imagine he took his own life with drugs.

While we all have choices, his hurt the family deeply.

Losing him to the world was difficult, but I’d rather lose him than allow that addiction to spread to all three of my sons. ”

She could hear the emotion.

When he wiped his eye, she understood. She’d cried a lot of tears over Takoda, just not because of bad choices.

Brave choices.

Tom cleared his throat of the emotion.

“Anyway, every few months I go to New York and see my one son. He has this jacuzzi tub that I could soak in for days. My son Josh is very busy with his life and science. I see him at Christmas when I head there to be with him and his family. I like to spend the holidays with my grandchildren, as I imagine Wyler also enjoys.”

Likely, but this wasn’t about Wyler. It was about him. So, Elizabeth kept asking questions.

“You like to leave the rez?” she asked.

The man nodded.

“Unlike your grandfather, Callen and Elizabeth, I actually like seeing the world. I’m more progressive than Timothy was.

My God but he was stubborn. I saw this play in New York, and it was so good.

I can’t wait to go back. There is nothing like a pretzel hot off of a street cart before a musical. My son spoils me. I admit it.”

Oh, well, tell them about Timothy’s stubbornness. It was notorious. He only left the reservation once, and that was to have a conversation with Gene about Ethan.

She focused on the other man.

“And do you have sons?” she asked.

Abe nodded.

“I do. My sons are about to turn eighteen and seventeen. They are from my second marriage,” he stated. “My first wife walked out when I refused to have children with her. She had a drinking problem. Why do you ask?”

His sons were kind of young to be gnawing on bones over three years ago.

But…

Koda had been practically an adult at seventeen. It depended on the child.

“Would you mind me talking to them?”

He stopped her.

“About?”

“This.”

He stared at her.

“No. You will not be talking to my underage children about something that you have no business digging into. PERIOD. I don’t care what your last name is. There are limits.”

Well, she got it.

Someone was hostile.

And it was weird that he’d been the one who did not want them investigating this.

Then again, most people here didn’t want the FBI up in their business.

Callen was beside her, and he wasn’t sure what her next move would be. She could push, but it wouldn’t end well, and he knew it.

It took years to rebuild a little confidence in the Natives regarding his wife. It all hinged on this.

And he knew it.

“Well, that’s all we have,” Elizabeth said, not mentioning anything else.