Page 38 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

Same Place

Same Horrible News

Wednesday

Yeah, at first, she was pretty sure this was all some really bad joke. Normally, Elizabeth didn’t mind when someone yanked her chain. Only, this was a little too much in the way of weird and NOT funny.

So, to make sure, she had to know.

“Am I being punked?” she asked, focused on both Gene and Chris. Surely, if this was a joke, they’d be laughing by now too.

There was no way all of the shit was going down in an avalanche-style fashion right on top of her. Something had to give, and that increasing feeling of panic was brewing in her belly.

One more thing, and that would be her final reason to break. She was sure of it. This was way more than she suspected when she brought everyone home just to talk some sense into Wyler.

From the phone, Ethan was not going to be giving her good news.

“I wish, Baby, but this is legit. We’re just as shocked as you are. Like I said, the council told us we can investigate, since it’s a homicide—of sorts—but they warned us. Now, I’m beginning to think this is a bad idea.”

She stood there.

Her brain screamed abort.

Her badge on her hip told her she didn’t have a choice but to stay.

Oh, this was going to be one of those cases where she was scattered and frayed at the seams.

How could that end badly?

“Ethan, we are bound by the law, and our oaths to protect and serve the civilians of the US. We can’t not investigate if someone is being killed every single year for God only knows how long. They might have made that decision, but I simply can’t.”

He was aware.

“Callen and I are going to head back to the office. We’ll do a deep dive on anyone we can pinpoint as someone who may have disappeared from the reservation.”

She pointed out the obvious.

“EJ, how many times have you repeatedly told me that people disappear from the reservation all of the damn time?” she asked.

Oh, the irony of this wasn’t lost on him.

“I know, Elizabeth. Just be careful. We don’t know what we’re up against. We don’t normally work cases that go this far back. This is…a whole other ballgame.”

She was aware.

And that worried her.

If someone was perpetuating this crime for decades, and passing the job down to an apprentice, of sorts, that would make it almost impossible for her to figure it out.

The forensics alone would be problematic. Too much time had passed to find any viable sources, and on top of that. She was flying by the seat of her pants with a new crew.

They were a team of forensic scientist that didn’t know how she worked. This was a bad time to have Chrissy on the other side of the country.

A real bad time.

“I’ll check in,” she admitted. “See you at the office, and be careful. If I’m poking the hive, you two are associates, and this person might see you as worse perpetrators since you’re of this place. That might be betrayal.”

Oh, Ethan had already thought that.

“It will be, Elizabeth. Plus, we won’t know what part of the cycle we’re in. Will it be an old person? A young person? We might be blindsided.”

Well, yippee.

That made her even more wary, but she couldn’t pass this off. First, no one was ready to go on her team, and secondly, they weren’t Native. She’d get a pass on this because of whom she married.

Outsiders would be met with immediate distrust, and roadblocks.

Non.

Freaking.

Stop.

“I love you both. Be safe,” she said, right before disconnecting the call.

When she was ready, she focused on the techs.

“As you all heard, this is a shitshow of epic proportions. We’ve never worked together before, and I know it’s going to take time to get our connections made to each other. Here’s the only thing I can say about this.”

They all waited.

“When I said my life depends on how well you do your job, I wasn’t kidding. One shortcut, one mistake, or one skipped process, and you guys will live to tell about it. I might not.”

The techs said nothing.

“I’m sure you’ve all heard a lot about me.

Some of it is true, and some isn’t. I’m going to ask you all to dig in, and give me your two hundred percent.

I’m going to need it. With victims that cross DECADES, we’re way behind on this one.

I can’t do my job without you. I’ve read all of your files.

I’ve been updated on you. My doctor picked each of you,” she said, pointing at Chris.

That had everyone’s attention.

“He’s the best forensic ME in the country, and going forward, I’m going to put it all on the premise that you are the best forensic scientists in the country. If you give me your best, I’ll be the best boss who is loyal to her core. If you don’t, I won’t make it long enough to do this.”

No one spoke.

Pulling her phone out, she opened it and pulled up a picture.

It was of her kids.

“I have children,” she said. “Normally, they are in danger but safely behind a gated wall. Now, they are on this reservation just trying to live their lives. Crazies don’t just come after me.

They come after my children. I need the best. If you don’t think you can be the best, I need you to walk away.

If you don’t think that you’ll be able to work on a team lead by myself, there is no shame in passing. ”

Chris watched the techs.

He hoped they understood why she was saying this. What they were wading into was going to be bad.

For everyone.

“If you don’t want to work on a team where danger is prevalent, and sick fucks aim at us, go. You’ll be reassigned, and there are no hard feelings. I promise.”

From where she was standing, Rayna listened to the director, and she sounded like…a mom. Better yet, a woman balancing the whole world on her shoulders.

As they watched, three of the techs started walking back toward the vehicles.

And nothing was said.

Not at first.

Glancing over, she looked at her one spouse.

“Get them back onto their original teams, and find me three more techs who want to be in the new Autopsy One.”

He simply nodded.

It was when their head tech, Benjamin, raised his hand, that she focused on him.

“Yes?”

“You can rely on us. We’ll give you all we have but not because of your children, or you.

We’ll give it to you because we didn’t get into this career field because we liked boring.

We’re scientists, and we like solving things.

You have us to back you up, Director. Despite not being your normal team, the FBI didn’t hire slackers.

Drop us into the middle of it, and we have your back. ”

And in that moment, she was able to let that held breath out, and find some calm.

“Thank you, Mr. Longfellow. I appreciate that.”

And the ice was broken.

Elizabeth managed to bridge the gap to her team, and she was grateful. They were going to need to do their jobs at peak performance.

“Head into the clearing and start setting up. I need to speak to the Chief of Police for a few minutes. Christopher, give me a few and I’ll be right there,” she said.

Her husband knew she wanted to be alone with Rayna, and he knew why, so, he headed out, taking his people with him.

When they were gone, it was only Elizabeth, Gene, Rayna, and the two security guys who were left there.

She needed to make sure they were all on the same page, and that started with the clusterfuck that had been ‘inadvertently’ dropped into her lap.

“What is this bullshit that I’m hearing?” she asked. “Are you aware of any of this?”

Rayna shook her head.

Honestly, she was just as horrified as Elizabeth.

Really.

“Do you think I’d let someone kill people and not try to stop it?” she asked. “I’m an officer of the law. I took the same oath as any other cop—including you.”

Elizabeth lowered her voice.

“What is The Hollow?” she asked. “I need you to think back, since you’re the only one here who has been on this reservation. My husbands left a while ago. You are my expert on this.”

Rayna was one hundred percent honest with her. This was all freaking news to her.

“I have no idea. I’ve never heard anything about this nonsense before in my entire life. To me, this is just as horrible as it is to you. We have to stop it.”

Oh, well, that was the plan.

Only, best laid plans tended to blow up spectacularly in her face all of the damn time.

History repeated itself, and anytime she had a case on this particular reservation, it had been incredibly dangerous.

Elizabeth asked her something else.

“So you’ve never recalled people disappearing from here every year on the same day? Or your father has never mentioned it to you?”

She considered the questions.

Then, she shook her head.

“I was a cop for a few years before coming here last year. I haven’t even been Chief of Police here for a full year yet.

When the last chief left, there was nothing left here to make me ask around.

Lots of people vacate the rez on a yearly mass exodus.

Hell! I left for college and a life, and didn’t plan on coming back. ”

She wasn’t saying anything Ethan or Callen hadn’t said to her. Honestly, Elizabeth’s bullshit meter wasn’t going off, so she had no reason to believe that Rayna was lying.

“I’m going to give you the same out,” she said. “Whenever we wade into a case like this, it’s dangerous. By working this, by being the one who pulled us into it, you might be in danger. Are you one-hundred-percent sure you want to do this? If you want to go back to your office and forget I’m here…”

She stopped her.

“I’m in. I’m all the way in. This is my home, and the people here are MY duty to protect. I’m not some pussy who is going to dump and run. I’m going to be wading into the deep end of this with you. I might not have as many years of experience solving shit, but I do have one thing.”

Elizabeth waited.

“I’ve run these woods for thirty-plus years. I hunted them, and I played in them. If this person is hiding here, you need someone who can lead you through here. While your husbands grew up here, Ethan left young, and Callen was busy being the police chief. I’m in, Elizabeth. I’m all the way in.”