Page 65 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

Which was fine because Ethan didn’t know much about it, and he had his doctorate.

It was…obscure.

To say the least.

“Not much. In fact nothing because that sounds like something you just made up. You are yanking our chains, right?” he asked.

Oh, he was right.

It did sound like that.

Ethan only wished he was making this shit up. Unfortunately, their lives were stranger than fiction more times than not.

“I had to refresh my memory on the way over here,” Ethan admitted. “Mostly, it’s from the Algonquin tribe, and found primarily there. It’s based on the fear that some Natives had of becoming a Wendigo. They had erratic behavior as they tried to not succumb to it.”

Axl looked confused.

“How do you become something that doesn’t exist?” he asked. “Is that possible?”

He tried to explain.

“For Natives, specifically the Algonquins, they believed it existed. When you believe in something, despite it being off, you give it power. You give it life, so to speak.”

He knew the rest.

“And if you give it life, then you tend to manifest it.”

Ethan nodded.

He was right.

“The main symptoms are paranoia, anxiety, hallucinations, and cannibalistic urges. I think it’s safe to say that we’re already at that last phase—which doesn’t bode well for any of us.”

Axl thought about it.

Well, what he knew about the case so far.

“I mean it fits. How paranoid do you have to be to allow this to happen for generations and generations? As for it being mainly Algonquin, that isn’t a problem.

We all know that Native Americans were uprooted, and moved.

They took their culture with them, and joined with other Native cultures as colonization and wars raged. The government scattered them.”

Ethan was well aware.

He was also proud that Axl knew that. Too many people didn’t.

Unfortunately.

He kept going.

“They blended beliefs in order to survive, more times than not. So it is across specific tribes as culture expanded,” Axl offered.

Ethan nodded.

Axl continued.

“The cannibalism could be something that happened when one person went too far, and word of it spread as a legend or tale, and it became adopted.”

He nodded.

“That is true, and it progressed. Now, the question is, how do we find who is carrying this out? I doubt a hundred-year-old Native is out there snacking on friends—let alone two. So, how do we find a way to stop this and figure out how the person is picked? If we can isolate that, we can profile it and find a suspect.”

Axl considered it.

“Is your tribe more matriarchal or patriarchal?” he asked, starting there.

The younger man’s mind was definitely admirable. Ethan was proud of him. He was following the same steps he would normally take.

“It’s very much so patriarchal. Men tend to be the leaders.

The council here is all men. It’s Tom Redbear, Lance Running Wolf, and Abe Crowfeather.

There’s no doubt that they knew about this for a while.

When Callen and I spoke to them, they were more worried about us investigating than it was happening. ”

That told them a lot about the amount of help they’d get from anyone here.

Not.

Much.

Axl was making notes, and he knew where he would start if he was in charge of this.

“So, how about this?” he asked. “We focus on men who had sons. If this passed down, wouldn’t it be safe to say that it went from father to son?”

That was a good point.

“I’ll send that over to Elizabeth as a point of reference. She can see what pops into her head, and we’ll keep profiling it.”

Ethan saw Ivan move closer and he wanted to make sure he was okay.

“I’ll be right back, Axl. Stay here, and don’t get lost in thought. Stay focused,” he said.

Oh, the man wasn’t becoming someone’s snack. That wasn’t happening.

That was for damn sure.

Axl would stay focused.

As Ethan reached their head of security, he looked like he was going through it. There was no doubt that he was feeling the pressure, and ready to blow.

He’d lost Elizabeth twice in the span of less than a week.

“Want to vent?” Ethan asked, already knowing why the man was struggling. Ivan took losing Elizabeth very hard. When it happened, it stressed him out.

He shrugged.

“I don’t know what there is to vent about. Once more, I lost her. I feel like shit knowing I dropped the ball, again, and that the outcome could have been catastrophic. I’m beginning to wonder if I’m able to do this job at all, Ethan. I’m really struggling with this.”

Ethan sat on the log nearby, and patted it. There was no doubt Ivan’s ego, and feelings were dinged up. Now, it was time to help him.

“We should talk,” Ethan said.

Ivan sighed.

“Is this where you shrinky-dink me?” he asked.

God.

This man sounded just like his wife.

“No, this is where I tell you that it’s not your fault, and that we all appreciate that you take it so seriously that you’d let this rattle your cage.

BUT…you need to refocus, and fast. She was marked by whoever this is to be a snacky-snack.

That’s horrifying. We need you to let it go, and stay focused on the task at hand. ”

He sighed.

“I know. I’ll be good. I just need to shake it off—which isn’t easy since YOUR WIFE SLIPS AWAY a lot.”

He laughed.

Oh, Blackhawk was aware.

“I’ll see if Chris’ company can create implants that allow us to track her like a microchip for dogs.”

Ivan snorted.

“I mean, that would help. Do you think she’d notice if we chipped her? She is a bitch, so…”

Ethan patted him on the back in amusement. The good thing about Ivan was he didn’t stay rattled for long. Instead, he’d be back on his feet before they knew it.

“We’re going to struggle here,” he admitted, opening up to Ivan. “This wasn’t on our BINGO cards for this month. Be calm with her, and try not to get upset. We’re all working on staying calm here, and I’ll be honest with you.”

He looked over.

“She’s struggling. Between you and I, I’m going to tell you that she’s not suffering from the hit to her head. She didn’t want to come back out.”

He stared at him.

“What?”

Ethan was to the point.

“I think you heard me. My badass wife opted to stay in of her own recognizance. She didn’t even put up a fight either.”

His eyes went huge.

“Well, that’s not good,” he said. “She’s feral when she’s told to keep her ass in one location after she’s hurt.”

Oh, he was aware.

Now that they knew she was struggling, it was time to help her out.

She was their core.

“Well, yeah, but this place brings out the worst in some of us, and dealing with Wyler is no easy thing.”

Ivan gave him the heads-up.

“She had her showdown with him,” he offered, clueing Ethan in. “Muriel said she came down from the treehouse, and looked PISSED. From the conversation, she left nothing on the field. She laid into Wyler something good. Muriel said she made him cry.”

No.

Shock.

There.

Honestly, his father had it coming for doing this to all of them. While they knew he had a right to not do chemo, he should have told them to their faces.

Running put them all at risk.

He was a grown man, and they couldn’t make him fight for time, but they could ask that he be an adult and tell them.

They all knew that Elizabeth wasn’t entertained by any of this bullshit that was going on. She was specifically not entertained with having to drag the whole family here, and risk her kids’ lives or hearts.

“Does she need me to go back?” Ethan asked, willing to do that. He’d pointed Axl at something, and the man was self-sufficient, if not tenacious.

Ivan shook his head.

“Now, she’s playing Cupid with Rayna and Uriel. That’s going to be interesting to see. Wait until she figures out he’s a hippy nut who likes to do headstands to clear his Chi. I’m going to bet that’s going to be fun. She’s Native, who I’m betting likes to kill her own food.”

Ethan laughed.

How could he not?

“Her father is a better hunter than Wyler, and Dad killed three deer in half a week. I’m sure she learned from the best. Now, as for the yoga…”

Ivan looked over.

“There was this article I read once that documented that men who practice regular yoga can have much healthier sex lives and last a VERY long time in bed with their partners. No woman is complaining about that. EVER. If you bust his ass with that, you’re going to look like an idiot.”

He stared at him.

“Legit?”

Ethan nodded.

“Well, shit. Now I gotta stop eating meat, do headstands, and be a granola junkie like Uriel. Who would have seen that coming? Nah, who am I kidding? I like bacon and chewing ass. That’s more my nature.”

Blackhawk just shook his head.

Their security…

They were nuts.

Oh, and so was whoever was behind these killings. There was no doubt about that.

And Blackhawk was scared.

For Elizabeth.

* * * The Blackhawk Family * * *

The Forest

On The Reservation

A Mile Or So In

Finally, the team lead by Callen and Gene had reached the exact location that Elizabeth had managed to escape from. To be honest, the whole walk there, one thing was for certain.

The caves were mostly underground.

If you didn’t know they were there, you never would have suspected it.

Yes, it looked like hilly terrain, but they were in Utah. The terrain in general wasn’t flat like a prairie. The cave system was hiding in plain sight.

Now, they had to get in, get the remains, as many as they could, and get out.

Safely.

That was the bottom line for all of them.

“Team, don’t lean on the walls,” Callen said. “Elizabeth mentioned spiders. Headlamps on, and stick together. If we have to call Axelle, and tell her that someone got lost in a cave on our watch, we’re all getting busted down to security at the FBI offices.”

Oh, they all knew it too.

A big news story where they were lost in a cave wasn’t the media attention they all wanted.

Going in, Callen and Gene were at the front of the group as they navigated through the cave system. They managed to clear the drop-down quickly to land on the stone floor below. Then, they helped everyone else into the cave so they could begin working.