Page 15 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

Since Ethan was no longer a director, Callen had leapfrogged over him to get the primo office space.

“I can work with this,” he said, meaning the bathroom they’d share, and the big comfortable space. “It’s a great view,” he admitted. “I get to be right next to the boss. I’d better behave,” he joked.

Oh, Ethan was amused.

At one time, he’d enjoyed having his wife right next to him. He could cut through their shared bathroom and access her anytime.

Now, he’d have to head to her space from his down the hall. There was no doubt why Callen was excited.

“Ahhhh, how some of us have downgraded, and some of us have upgraded, it seems,” Blackhawk joked.

His brother grinned.

That amused Callen.

To.

No.

End.

“Suck it, Bro. I’m next door to the babe now. You chose to change positions with the FBI. To the victor goes the spoils. I’m patient and won.”

She found that amusing.

Why?

There was no doubt to why Callen absolutely wanted to be next door to her. Her pervy husband had lechery in his eyes, and she wasn’t saying no to that.

NEVER.

Only, she didn’t get to comment. When MATE chimed, Elizabeth focused on Vivian’s tablet.

“Yes, MATE?” she asked.

Her AI assistant shared what was going down, since she’d asked to be kept up to date.

A happy Elizabeth was a calm Elizabeth.

“The private chartered plane and the family jet has landed. Your team is now on the ground and will be heading here to access their new spaces at some point. I can update them with anything if you need me to.”

Okay, well, that worked.

“No, thank you, MATE. They know the routine, and how to get here. They’ll trickle in. Do pass onto them the information on where they’ll be staying. That’s in a file on Ethan’s drive.”

The system chimed.

Well, that was handled.

Elizabeth focused on their administrative assistant, and shared the bad news.

“Vivian, you’re about to be inundated,” she admitted. “I apologize in advance. Most of the people heading here have never worked out of this office. They’ll be asking a lot of you, and I promise, I’ll make it up to you.”

The woman waved her hand to dismiss that. After all, it was her job.

“No worries, Elizabeth. My father was a general in the military. My mother ran a tight ship at home with us kids. I can multitask and handle an influx of chaos. That’s the easiest part of my day.”

Well, thanks God for that.

Vivian would definitely have it under control. She might give Ian a run for his money when it came to having shit contained.

When she glanced over at Chris, who had been patiently waiting to see what Autopsy One looked like now that he’d been gone for a decade, he smiled.

“My turn?” he asked.

Vivian nodded.

“You’re up next, Doctor Leonard. Are you ready to see your space?” she asked him.

In a way, he was.

“Chris, go take over the morgue. Take Gene with you for backup. Ethan, go get your space ready for Axl and yourself. I’ll check out my office and start weeding through possible staff changes.”

Blackhawk stared at his wife. Honestly, that sounded like she wanted to be alone.

And that worried him.

A quiet Elizabeth was a worried set of men who loved her. They knew her best, and ‘being alone’ wasn’t the norm for her.

“Will you be okay?” he asked, keeping it as light as he could since they weren’t alone.

When she only nodded, Ethan still wasn’t sure leaving her alone was a good idea.

That meant he’d have to check in on her.

And he would.

“Yes. I’m going to tour my space. I’ll catch up with everyone in a few,” she admitted. “I need to do a walk-through to meet the other agents and then start going through personnel files to see who will fit our division.”

Vivian interrupted.

“Those personnel files are already on your desk, Elizabeth. I took the initiative to assume you’d be taking staff from the pool of employees at some point.

I went through and isolated all the potential people due to the types of cases they worked, and crossed them with the cases you’ve closed so you’d have an idea of who was qualified and who was not. ”

Well, holy shit.

That made her happy.

It was like having a living, breathing MATE who didn’t mind thinking three steps ahead of her. That was so damn helpful.

“You wouldn’t happen to be able to do forensic science things, would you?” she asked, joking.

Vivian looked confused.

“No, should I be able to do it?”

That made Chris laugh.

How could it not?

“She’s looking for a head tech for her team, Vivian. That’s all.”

The woman smiled.

“Currently, you have a head tech assigned to you, but if he isn’t your cup of tea, Directors, I can have those files sent to you also,” she offered.

Honestly, this was Chris’ rodeo. It would be up to him and not her. The doctor got to make that choice, and she would trust him to do it.

“Thank you,” Chris said. “Make that happen. I’ll check out the current one, and see if he’s going to be able to hold up under the…”

Elizabeth was staring at him.

“The stress of multiple homicides and the mountain of forensic work,” he quickly added, saving his ass.

She only laughed.

Someone was doing some CYA to keep his woman from getting snarly.

The bottom line was that they were going to miss Chrissy.

For.

Sure.

There was no doubt about that.

As she followed Vivian, everyone else went to their spaces, and gave her the time to check out the office she’d be in if they couldn’t talk Wyler out of skipping chemo.

Finally at the door that had once been Ethan’s, Vivian handed her the card.

“I hope it suits your needs,” she said. “I’ll be right out here at my desk if you need me,” Vivian admitted. “Push three on the phone to get me.”

Elizabeth thanked her.

“I appreciate it, Vivian. Thank you for making this easy on all of us. I know that this was a last-minute thing, and everyone is scattered from it.”

The woman was to the point.

“Ma’am, it might be tough at the beginning, but at some point, it’ll feel like home again. I’m looking forward to working for you,” she said. “I thrive under a challenge, and love them.”

Oh, Elizabeth hoped so.

While working for her wasn’t difficult, it was challenging with the sheer volume of work that crossed her desk. Running this building, plus handling the VC Unit was going to be a lot.

As Vivian headed back to her desk, Elizabeth tapped that card on the scanner.

Then, she pushed the door open.

Instantly, she was transported back to a time where she’d just come back from her self-imposed exile in Salem.

Ironically, she felt just as nervous about being here now, like she had been then.

God.

She couldn’t believe she might be back to this place, starting all over again.

It was daunting.

There was no doubt about that.