Page 45 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

Middle Of The Woods

Afternoon

Reservation

The whole time that Elizabeth was standing there, on the scene, the hair on the back of her neck was also upright. Oh, and she knew for a damn fact that when that happened, bad shit was on the horizon.

There was something in these woods, and she didn’t like it at all. In fact, Elizabeth was getting a little creeped out by the whole situation.

Normally, her cases were pretty cut-and-dry. Oh, they were crazy and batshit insane, but they weren’t this wild. For her, the formula was simple.

Someone killed.

Someone died.

Someone lied.

Then, she’d rinse and repeat.

Only, this seemed…scarier. It was definitely more terrifying not knowing how many victims she was looking at for this case.

There was no way she’d figure out all of their names, and for the first time, in a very long time, she wouldn’t be able to give them the dignity they deserved.

This crazy nut was eating his victims, and the last thing she wanted to do was tangle with a cannibal.

When she did, there was one case she couldn’t help but think about.

Sam Trudeaux’s death.

The man who had been her surrogate mother, and protector had gone down to a cannibal. To that day, it haunted her. She’d been too late to save him.

It took a lot to rattle her, but that flashback of his death only added to the stress she was carrying.

Why did coming back here always cause a traumatic response in her?

Oh, and when would that end?

Pushing it back to the dark part of her mind where all the PTSD and childhood horrors crept, she tried to focus on the here and now.

The bottom line was that her gut was going haywire, and she was pretty sure that here, she was not the hunter, but the hunted.

This was a damn bad time for her to be short on security, and Wyler playing these games.

As they continued to hear the animalistic screams from deep within the woods surrounding them, it was becoming more and more difficult to pretend it was a coyote.

The team was clearly not buying it. At some point, they’d all start to freak out—much like she was doing.

Gene was already sticking close, as he was doing some research that he’d asked her to handle.

Ivan was practically up her ass.

Whatever this thing was, it didn’t feel…worldly, and she wasn’t sure if that was its plan to screw with her, or if it was just the energy the reservation was giving off.

To protect herself, even though it was stupid, she whispered words she rarely said.

“Timothy, if you can hear me, help keep us safe. Something is here. Something evil. I can feel it in my bones. Help us survive this.”

All she could hope was the man’s spirit was floating around, watching over them.

Then, she got her answer.

As soon as it was whispered, the reservation came alive, and she turned in a circle, scanning the area.

Yeah, they had a problem.

They.

Were.

Prey.

Clearly, Timothy was around, and he was warning her that her gut feeling wasn’t wrong.

As she focused on the trees around them, Ivan was doing the same exact thing.

Something made her move closer to her husband. With Chris in the bone pit, she felt the overwhelming need to stand near him.

Just.

In.

Case.

When Ivan stared over at her, she knew he was making sure she was safe. The look on his face said it all.

“You good?” he asked.

She shook her head no.

There was nothing good about this. He could bet on that.

Her answer rattled him.

Oh, hell.

He didn’t want to hear that.

Honestly, Ivan wasn’t a superstitious person, but this place was making him hella paranoid.

Every now and again, he swore he heard sticks cracking in the trees around him. Only, they were in random locations.

They switched sides of the camping area.

Left.

Right.

Left again.

Ivan wasn’t sure if he was hearing things, or something was moving around them. The last time he felt this twitchy was when he was still on combat duty clearing houses in the sandbox.

What wouldn’t he give to get the hell out of here and where there were more Marines, and less spooky shit?

Yeah, Ivan didn’t scare easily, but he was seriously concerned.

For all of them.

When Elizabeth’s phone rang, most of the people there jumped. The sound pierced the quiet of the location, catching them off guard.

Jesus.

That was bad timing.

“Blackhawk,” she said, still scanning. Her head was on the swivel, much like a soldier’s would be. The mood was shifting, and she wasn’t sure if that was because a storm was coming.

When she heard the voice, she was curious as to why he was checking in with her—and not Ivan.

“Are you good, Uriel?” she asked, clueing Ivan in that his team member was on her phone.

He looked just as confused.

“Yeah, Elizabeth, I’m good. I guess. I dropped the Chief of Police off.”

That first part sounded ominous.

“What happened?” she asked.

Never let it be said she didn’t know when her people were rattled.

He laughed, and began telling her everything that Rayna’s father had said. He started with the work part, and then ended with him not being allowed near her.

The whole time, he was hoping she could help him navigate this.

He was so confused.

She was trying to watch the area, deal with the case, and help out in one of her Marine’s personal lives.

Yeah, her plate was full.

What she’d learned by being around Ivan and his team, was that they fucked up royally when it came to things that weren’t war or protection related.

“So, he forbade her to handle this case. That’s interesting. What’s even more interesting is that you’re going to let a man tell you what to do. If you like her, Uriel, that should come first.”

He was all confused about so many things. Rayna being at the top of his list.

“She’s beautiful. I’m only here temporarily. Is it fair to either of us to start something and then walk away?” he asked, now that he was back in his element. Talking to Elizabeth, he didn’t have to guard his words, or choose them carefully.

Until the panic began hitting again.

As soon as he asked that question, he began backtracking.

“No, don’t answer. I don’t want to know. I just wanted to check back in. He warned her off of helping us, and he wasn’t happy with the Blackhawks. That’s what I overheard.”

She was glad he gave her what he’d been privy to, since they needed all of the information they could get.

Because he needed her, she went there.

“I can help with…”

He stopped her.

“I can’t right now, Elizabeth. I’m not good in these situations. She offered me gum, and my brain went haywire. I need some time and space. I barely held it together. It was damn difficult not to slip up.”

She understood.

“If you change your mind, call me. I’ll help you, Caspian. You know that. You’re our family, and I love you.”

Now, he was curious. Something had hurt his heart, and he needed the truth.

“Are we Blackhawks?” he asked, point-blank. “Or are we just bodyguards?”

That annoyed her.

Not that he asked, but that he thought that. Some asshole had put that shit into his head, and that pissed her off.

“You’re part of us. You’re our family. You, Caspian, are a Blackhawk. You’re like me—not one by blood, but by family. Whoever said otherwise is wrong. Family is chosen, not birthed. Do you think I look at the children and not consider them all mine?”

He calmed down.

“I just need a family,” he admitted. “If I lose that, I’m alone.”

She reassured him.

“There is nothing you can do to make us not love you, Caspian. Put this out of your mind. I promise. You’re ours. You will always be ours.”

That helped.

“I’m almost back to the cabin. Ivan moved me to relieve Michael. He’s still locking down Wyler.”

Yeah, she was aware.

It was on her list of things to do. Including hitting up Thomas Adsila’s home.

It was going to be a late night for her at this rate. That was for damn sure.

She could bet on that.

“I love you, Caspian. Don’t forget that. I won’t ever not love you,” she admitted.

With his reply, she heard the relief in his voice.

“I love you, too, Mom. Be safe out there. If you need me, I can get back there quickly.”

She didn’t doubt that at all.

Hanging up, she focused on Gene. Since he was her partner in the field, Elizabeth wanted to share the information with him.

“Want to hear something interesting?” she asked, as he moved closer to her.

Yeah, he did.

“What?”

She shared.

“Lance Running Wolf was disappointed that his daughter brought this case to us. He wished she hadn’t. In fact, he told her that he forbade her to help us.”

Uh-oh.

That sounded ominous.

Immediately, his one eyebrow went up.

“And older Native unhappy we are getting involved?” he asked. “Normally, I’m not suspicious, but that he is condoning this behavior…”

She was aware.

“Could he be involved? He wasn’t aware that Uriel was eavesdropping for me. Our tech makes it easy to do it. It sounds like someone is trying to sabotage this case—despite voting to let us work it.”

Yeah, that’s what it sounded like to him too.

“We should come right out and ask him face-to-face,” he admitted. “Nothing rattles a cage like a good old face-to-face interrogation.”

Oh, she was thinking that herself.

“Hey!” Tony shouted from his place in dirt not far away. They were working around the already excavated bones.

Chris had moved closer to Tony, and was taking pictures since they had so much area in the clearing to cover.

“What did you find, Anthony?” she asked, as he was brushing off what looked like an arm bone.

“I found something odd.”

Gene actually laughed.

How could he not?

Every case they had was odd.

“Tony, you’re sitting in a pit of bones on a reservation. The whole thing is odd—unless you’re going to say they’re all deer bones. That is the most normal thing on the rez.”

He pointed.

“No, these are all human. No skulls, yet—which makes me want to know where all of their heads are, but that’s not what I meant by odd. Look.”

They all moved closer.

That’s when she saw it. At first, Elizabeth was expecting more gnaw marks.