Page 36 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

They were the military grade ones he carried for her in case she had to scale something, or hike for a distance. His only regret was that he’d not seen this coming, so he didn’t take the opportunity to put a tracker in the boot.

She lucked out on this one.

At her words, Rayna saluted.

“See you by that trail,” she stated, glancing over at the man in the passenger seat to give him a coquettish little grin that screamed ‘ask me out’.

Elizabeth caught it.

And so did Gene.

Now, the question was had Uriel picked up what she was putting down?

When Uriel rolled the window up as the reservation cop walked away, Elizabeth went there.

“Ask her out.”

He turned, so caught off guard by what she’d said. Mostly, because he was dying to do just that. The second he saw her, he’d been fixated on her smile, and the sharp cheekbones that made her look incredibly exotic.

God.

She was gorgeous.

“What?” he asked, horrified, hoping Rayna didn’t notice him staring at her. If she did, he’d be ill. There was no way he could ask her out.

She was way too beautiful.

Elizabeth saw him struggling, so she was to the point.

“We don’t know how long we’re going to be here. Ask the babe out. She was giving you the eyes. She liked what she saw. Have some fun, and make some memories. You can’t live your life in isolation.”

Uriel wasn’t sure.

He’d been having a shit streak with women. Most of them were nice, but he liked yoga.

Meditation.

Crystals and New Age things.

So many women thought it was weird when he went home after work and instead of getting drunk or laid, he liked to balance his Chi.

More often than not, the other Marines busted his ass for not eating meat, liking granola and yogurt, and how he approached things.

CAREFULLY.

Once burned, ten times shy.

Basically, Uriel was Zen to his core, and that didn’t mix with the ladies he met in DC.

The ladies liked a big Marine, but not his version. Unfortunately, he came across as weird, and he didn’t know how not to be that.

It made him…awkward.

“I don’t know.”

The other man was curious.

“Why not?” Gene asked, trying to help Elizabeth out. He knew Uriel was striking out with the ladies.

A.

Lot.

“I’m not looking for fun,” he said, getting out of the vehicle.

When Gene and Elizabeth jumped out behind him at the rear door, they were still curious.

“How will you know if there’s more there if you don’t start with fun?” Gene asked. “Why do I feel like I had this conversation before? Oh, I did. With Corbin twenty-two years ago.”

Elizabeth shrugged.

“I run on fun.”

From where he stood, Ivan rolled his eyes.

“You run on sarcasm, being a bitch, and caffeine. Trust me, there’s no fun anywhere in the middle of this,” he said, pointing at her torso. “It’s all crazy.”

Meh.

He had a point.

When he handed Elizabeth her boots, she sat on the tailgate and switched them out.

Meanwhile, Chris was heading their way.

“Oh, no. She’s got her ass kicking boots on. What’s going on?”

She told him.

“We have a one-mile hike. One wet patch, and my feet are soggy. I just got these boots for Christmas. I’m sure Callen is tired of replacing them.”

Chris shrugged.

“He bought the factory so he doesn’t have to worry about it.”

She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him like he had lost his mind, because she was about to lose hers.

“You’d better be busting my ass,” she admitted. “If you’re not, he’s dead. I’ll plant his rich ass by his nosey-ass grandfather who liked to interfere!”

They all heard windchimes in the trees and they knew what that meant.

Yeah, Timothy was around.

No.

Shock.

There.

“I was kidding. He just bought about twenty pairs, and they are in the garage back home. You know, so he can replace them faster.”

Oh, well, that was just smart—in her case. She went through them often enough that she had to buy new ones each month. There was a lot of blood in her world.

Leather and bowels weren’t besties.

Or so they learned.

When she was done getting into her boots, she was ready. Ready to find the bones, and ready to have a ‘come to Jesus talk’’ with Uriel about fun being important in everyone’s life.

Since there was no privacy, that last part would have to be later. Now, the techs were starting to mill around, and she purposely moved so Chris and Gene would be closer to Rayna so that Uriel would have to also be closer.

Gene winked at her as he shifted too.

It appeared ‘Operation get Uriel laid’ was starting up, here and now.

Now, the man was walking right behind the Chief of Reservation Police, and he likely didn’t know what was about to hit him.

She had news for Uriel.

If one Cupid was on your ass, you had issues. Unfortunately for him, he had two. Gene was her tag-team partner in jackassery and tomfoolery.

“Again, I’m sorry for the hike in,” Rayna said, not turning around. She felt like she was being watched, and she suspected it was the big, sexy man behind her.

Call her surprised when the window went down, and she was facing the man in the passenger seat.

He had dark brown hair, and piercing green eyes. They were the color of spring grass—bright and vivid. When she saw him, there was a punch to her gut.

It caught her off guard.

Now, he was feet from her, and she could smell his aftershave.

Jesus.

He smelled good enough to eat. It was like patchouli and sandalwood were battling for dominancy.

It was rare she had that kind of reaction to a man. To say that she was picky about the opposite sex—that was one hell of an understatement.

For.

Real.

Only, there was something about him. He had sharp features, and one other thing she found attractive.

He was a big guy.

Rayna wasn’t tall, but she could pack a mean punch in her five-six frame. The man behind her was a full foot taller than her, and bulky as hell. It made her want to climb Mount Hotness.

Yeah, that always was her weakness.

She liked a big man.

Well, when she liked any man.

There were a few requirements she had for someone of the opposite sex.

The first being they weren’t racist pieces of shit. As a Native, she’d been burned by too many people who she thought respected her ethnicity.

A few drinks in, and the comments came out. That was always a waste of her time.

Next, they had to be able to keep up with her. She loved winter sports, and long hikes on her day off. There was nothing she liked better than camping.

On the weekends, she went into the woods and forests to enjoy nature. That was likely bred into her DNA long ago by her ancestors.

A Native had to be where the nature was.

Oh, and last, anyone she considered to date also had to be honest.

That was her biggest pet peeve when they weren’t. If they couldn’t be honest, she didn’t want anything to do with them.

Period.

“We’re almost there,” she admitted, turning to see the big guy in the all black and body armor not far behind her. He looked like some sexy warrior, and she was there for it.

His big, full lips called to her, and she wondered what it would be like kissing him.

God.

Her hormones were out of control.

Because she couldn’t turn away, Rayna kept walking backward as she spoke to them.

“There are deputies patrolling the site, so nothing has been touched since I left.”

She hoped.

Some of her deputies were…ambitious—to say the least. Would she be shocked if they dug the whole pit up?

No.

Not at all.

When the heel of Rayna’s boot caught a stick on the path, she began falling backward.

At her gasp, and before anyone else could react to help her, Uriel grabbed her, and kept her from falling.

She stared up at him as his big hand was wrapped around her wrist.

Someone had some fast reflexes, that was for sure, and she appreciated it.

“Thank you,” she said.

He was watching her, and he wasn’t the least bit comfortable around her. He’d been observing, since that was his thing.

And he thought she was too pretty for him.

He was willing to bet she wouldn’t even notice him in a room full of people.

This reservation Chief of Police wouldn’t want anything to do with him. First, he was white—and just from being around the Blackhawks, he knew that a lot of Natives didn’t date outside of their ethnicity.

Wyler had mentioned that more than a few times that his own father didn’t want any of them to hook up with Caucasians.

What were the chances that a gorgeous Native was going to be interested in him?

Slim.

To.

None.

“You’re welcome, Chief of Police Running Wolf,” he admitted being polite.

Elizabeth glanced over at him.

And rolled her eyes.

Oh, he was going to be a tough one. She could already tell. Uriel was going to make her work for this one. Caspian was the man, but Uriel was the persona he hid behind. They were two very different people, and he didn’t often let anyone behind that wall.

When her Cupid radar went off, it would be so much easier if the people around her listened.

You know…

Since she was good at matchmaking. Most of the time intentionally—and sometimes accidentally.

Gene kept his voice low as they began walking again. It was so low, that only she could hear him.

“Good luck with this one. He’s going to fight this every single step of the way. I can tell.”

Oh, she was going to need it, and there was no doubt in her mind that Gene was one hundred percent right. Uriel was going to be a tough nut to crack.

Before she could say anything, her vest chimed.

“Deputy Director, you have an incoming call from ‘he who is too sexy for his own good’,” MATE said.

Gene sighed, already knowing who their AI was talking about.

Their husband.

“That’s the absolute truth. He is, and he’d better not change. I just married him. I’m in our newlywed era.”

On that, they both agreed.

Hell!

Even Chris agreed.

“Patch him through, MATE. Remind him that he’s on my vest speaker,” she said, not wanting them to say anything in front of the new techs and the Native cop.

Now, if he wanted to sexually harass her, he could carry on. She didn’t give a shit who heard that.