Page 47 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

Unfortunately for the agents, Ian ran a tight ship—even tighter than Elizabeth.

“I guess we’re stuck with him,” Alex admitted, winking at Axl, who wasn’t far from him at his new desk.

From where he sat, Axl was amused.

“Well, in Ian’s defense, it was not even nine in the morning, and you wanted a beer. That’s questionable behavior for even you.”

Alex shrugged.

“I was nervous. I’ve never been to this office before. I’ve heard about it. Where are all of the other agents?” he asked.

Ethan clued them in.

“Corbin Price, who will be your new partner will be arriving at some point. You’re running solo until then, or you’ll have to take on an existing agent who is here if the case is bumpy.”

He didn’t want that.

The devil you knew was his motto. The VC Unit agents tended to stay close to their fellow team members for a reason.

Not everyone liked them. Most people thought they got preferential treatment from Elizabeth when they actually didn’t.

It wasn’t easy being on her team.

The woman made them earn it.

“I’ll run solo. What’s this Corbin like?” he asked. “Is he going to bust my balls?”

Ethan just laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

“Oh, Alex, you’re in for a treat. Corbin is the funniest person I know, besides Gene and Elizabeth. You’ll like him,” he promised. “I’ve known Corbin for a very long time.”

That had Alex’s interest.

After working all week, he liked getting a beer, hooking up, and trying to fill that void in his life—emphasis on the last part.

So far, he wasn’t succeeding. Every woman he met was just a disappointment that left him feeling empty and hollow.

Now that Noah was married to Lawless, he didn’t have his ride or die around as much. Alex recalled the days it was just him and Noah on the couch watching movies, and having pizza.

They had date nights—just not with the hook-up after the fact. The bottom line was that Alex was just more comfortable with males than women.

Mostly because he’d lost count of how many he’d banged in the past fifteen years.

What wouldn’t he do to have his bestie back?

It felt weird going to Noah and Lawless’ home to be the third wheel, so he didn’t.

When he found out he was coming out here, he was good with that. It gave him a chance to escape and find another demographic to date.

Yeah, that was the bottom line. He liked to explore through sex, and he hoped he found something here that he hadn’t in DC.

Damascus likely had lots of singles that he could entertain himself with, and for that, he was grateful.

The last thing he wanted to hear was Noah telling him he needed to get help.

Or that he was out of control.

What he was doing was filling a hole in his life. While he was happy for Noah, he was empty inside. One would think that he was heartbroken over his bestie getting married.

Lawless even called Alex husband number two since he and Noah had been close.

And he still was.

Alex was super protective of Noah, and now…he felt…alone. Someone else was taking care of a man he loved deeply.

His time as his protector was over. He didn’t need him anymore.

“Well, that’s good,” Alex admitted. “We can pick up the babes together after work.”

Oh, well, that wasn’t going to happen.

Not with Corbin.

He was gay, and he was still mostly in the closet—since Will’s death. He’d given up on his sexuality, and Ethan wished it was as simple as switching teams.

Somehow, that didn’t seem like it was happening in this lifetime.

“Well, just take it easy on him. He’s new to the FBI. He’s been a detective for twenty-plus years. Don’t ride him too hard, but make him do the paperwork.”

Alex laughed.

“Amen. I have a newbie to haze.”

Blackhawk just snorted.

Oh, Alex was in for a fun time—that was for sure. Corbin could hold his own.

When his brother sent him a text message, Ethan pulled his phone of his pocket, and read over it.

‘I have to call my publicist. They wanted me to head out tomorrow for a tour. That’s not happening. Give me a few. Did you call Gabe about the Secret Service?’

Oh, well, that was next on Ethan’s list. Honestly, he was stalling because he knew the president was about to be spicy over this.

Focusing on Axl, he gave him the news.

“You’ll also be helping out in the new psych division that Elizabeth is implementing here. You have an office there.”

He grinned.

“Hell, yeah! Can I boss Alex around?” he asked. “It’s so much fun.”

The other man gasped.

“What? I’ve been an agent a lot longer. I want the office and to be able to boss the boy-child around. Why does he get the office?”

Axl snorted.

He didn’t mind being called that. It was all in good fun, and in all fairness, he was the youngest member of the VC unit.

“He gets an office because he has to be harassed by Elizabeth non-stop for a profile, and work with me when I’m cranky.”

Alex sighed.

“Pass. I like running my own case without being watched by the head-shrinker and Elizabeth.”

Yeah, he figured as much.

“Feel free to fight over it,” Blackhawk said, letting them annoy each other, as he texted his brother back.

‘I’m calling him now. This should go over like a huge lead balloon. Wish me luck.’

After sending his reply to his brother, Ethan pulled out his phone and called The President of the United States.

It took a few minutes to be connected to the Oval Office, so he headed down to his personal workspace, and sat behind his desk.

Honestly, he liked his office, and a part of him was still thinking about staying here.

Would they?

He wasn’t sure.

Did he feel like he needed to be here?

Yes.

His gut told him that, but he didn’t know if he should say anything to his wife. She’d yet to speak to Wyler, and if she could convince him to get chemo, they were out of there.

SOON.

Why was that weighing so heavily on him?

You’d think it wouldn’t since he didn’t generally enjoy being here. Only, he saw the changes to the reservation, and that appealed to him on a deep, Native level.

When he heard the phone click, he knew Gabe was finally answering the call.

“Hey, Ethan. Miss me yet?” Gabe asked, amused that they were already contacting him.

It made him laugh.

“Uh, sure. If that’s why you think I’m calling you,” he said, clueing him in that there was a reason for reaching out on the first day.

And as per usual, it wasn’t a good reason.

Not.

At.

All.

“We need to talk,” he said to his friend.

Immediately, Gabe sighed.

“What happened? What did my daughter do? Did she kick someone’s ass while hormonal? Did Elizabeth burn something down? Tell me it’s fixable because I have enough on my plate at the moment.”

He actually laughed.

That told Ethan everything he needed to know. Gabe’s fiancée was with child, and his daughter had given birth less than a week ago. Then, his firstborn was out to make someone bleed because she found out Gabe wasn’t her biological father.

Yeah, he was in hormone Hell.

“Actually no. Her Secret Service detail has been told to leave the reservation. The council won’t let them stay here. Sorry.”

There was silence.

“What?” Gabe finally said. “How is the president’s daughter being denied that by the tribe?”

He was to the point.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the longstanding dislike between Natives and the government? You know…the Trail of Tears. Wounded Knee? Do any of them ring a bell for you, Gabe?”

Well, shit.

Gabe sighed.

“Those were not my fault,” he admitted, but he understood why Natives were twitchy with the government. “She has to have security.”

Ethan was to the point.

“I’m sorry, Gabe. She’s not allowed to have government protection. I can’t make them change their minds. We’re already up to our eyeballs with issues. Our security will have to do for now.”

That didn’t sound good.

Not the security part, but the ‘up to our eyeballs’ part. That was ominous.

“What’s going on?” Gabe asked. “If I can help, I will,” he admitted.

Ethan told him.

It didn’t take long to read him into this case of crazy. From the dead bodies, to the Natives getting prickly, this wasn’t going to be a cut-and-dry case.

Period.

When he was finished, the man whistled.

“When Takoda hears about this, he’s going to be up my ass,” Gabe said. “He’s stuck at Quantico. I was trying to get him moved to the White House before all of this went down.”

He was aware.

“Just pull back her detail, and we’ll make sure she’s safe. You have my word.”

Yeah, well, Gabe liked a backup plan.

He was crazy like that.

“I’ll have Tiffany pull them back,” he offered, already knowing what he was going to do.

This would take some string pulling, but he was the president.

Would there be blowback?

Yes, but for his daughter, and his first grandchild, he’d move mountains.

“Thank you, Gabe,” Ethan offered.

The man would take care of business.

“As a heads-up, I had a meeting with Axelle this morning, and she sounded frazzled. Like punch a man in the balls, frazzled.”

He crossed his legs instinctually.

“She’s playing single parent, and she’s not happy. Only, she knows the relationship between her, and Elizabeth is still rocky, so she’s backing off. I think she’d rather her be in DC.”

Speaking of which.

“Did Elizabeth shove Wyler on a plane to be flown back for chemo?” he asked.

Ethan laughed.

“No, she has him being held hostage in a treehouse until she can deal with him. He’s cranky, and she’s bitchy about it. This should be fun.”

Oh, he was glad he wasn’t there.

When his phone beeped, the one on his desk, he knew he needed to get back to work.

“I’ll take care of the situation with Cora, EJ. Just hang in there, and I’ll see you back here soon. My money is on Elizabeth to have everyone back in DC before the week is out.”

Ethan didn’t laugh.

He was sure the man was right.

“Take care,” Ethan said. “See you eventually,” he admitted, being honest.

The phone went dead, and he knew Gabe was likely up to his eyeballs with trouble himself. The Amy situation was problematic.

Heading down the hall, Vivian popped out of the supply room, startling him.