Page 67 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)
The Caves
On Reservation Grounds
Same Time
The finding was ominous to say the least, and once seeing it, neither Gene nor Callen wanted Elizabeth anywhere out in the open. In fact, they weren’t feeling so great about being a target for this crazy either.
The words were ominous, and ones they wouldn’t forget any time soon.
It looked as if they were going to be going to war on this one.
Great.
Just what they needed.
Coming home had forced them to wade into one hell of a mire of craziness, and painted bullseyes on themselves.
And this was exactly why they weren’t so fond of returning here. The crazy didn’t just follow them, but it met them at the front porch.
It appeared the people behind this were more than willing to protect their little job of handling the ‘Wendigo’, and willing to cross any line possible to protect it.
This was going to be a repeat performance of what happened the last time someone tried to stop The Hollow.
The crazy came out to play. It looked like tomorrow was going to be a race to figure out if anyone knew what was going on, and to follow the clues they had.
It was two people.
Well, that narrowed it down.
The reservation wasn’t huge, but there were about one thousand Natives who came and went who called this place home.
This task was daunting.
For.
Sure.
Now, as he was standing there checking out the ominous words, Gene knew what he needed to do.
“I have to notify Ethan. He needs to see this so he can work it into his profile. We can’t miss a single thing going forward. If we do,” he said, pointing at the words.
Yeah, tell him about it.
The reservation wasn’t welcoming them home. It was about to be gunning for them.
Once the people behind this realized they’d taken their skulls, it was going to get spicy. If this was a single family, passing down this task from generation to generation, taking the old skulls would be just as insulting to them.
It was time to buckle up.
The bumpy road didn’t only have potholes.
It had landmines.
“Go for it,” he said, scanning the interior of the creepy cave while Gene did just that.
Gene took a picture, and sent it to his mate along with a text.
‘Heads-up, EJ. We have one hell of a problem. We found this on the inside of the cave where Elizabeth had been left. It’s ominous.’
When he hit send, the words were still disturbing to him as he stared at the picture he’d just sent Ethan.
‘You are angering The Hollow. The wrath of our ancestors is now upon you.’
Yeah, Gene had that bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that this was going to escalate, and fast.
It always did.
Know who also didn’t like the words scrawled in the blood on the cave wall?
Ethan.
When the text came in, he read it over, and showed Callen, who was nearby.
Predictably, Ethan was a man on the edge, just like the rest of them.
‘She’s not to go anywhere alone, and I want security on her at all times. I don’t care if she’s annoyed. That’s not something we need to poke. Someone is unhinged.’
Yeah, tell them something they didn’t know. There was no doubt this person was out of their damn mind. The proof was in the mark they’d put on Elizabeth, how they were eating people, and now this.
The cuckoo was cuckooing.
That was for damn sure.
Gene was honest.
“This is going to be a rough one,” Gene admitted. “Like ridden hard, no lube, and put away less than satisfied—that kind of rough.”
On that, Callen agreed.
Normally, by the end of day one, they’d have suspects, and would be researching people.
That hadn’t happened.
They’d still not checked out the scene where Thomas Adsila went MIA, or gotten any forensics done. That put them behind, which meant a hard push tomorrow.
It was going to be a busy, busy day.
Call it a hunch.
To help their team out, Callen began snapping pictures and sending them directly to his brother’s phone.
Why not upload?
Well, maybe because he didn’t want Elizabeth freaking out or being worked up when she saw them. No one wanted her to see that threat, and know it was a possibility.
Coming here was to save Wyler, and agreeing to help Rayna had put a bullseye on her back.
They knew exactly when Ethan received them because Callen’s phone began ringing.
Here it came.
Now, someone else was going to be just as agitated as they were seeing this.
“We already know,” he said to his brother before the man could say anything.
Ethan’s text had been crystal clear.
Oh, well, the more he saw, the more Ethan was freaked out.
“This is bad,” he admitted. “I don’t like that she’d been tagged for some sick and twisted cannibal snack fest, but I really don’t like a message written in…is that blood?” he asked.
Honestly, they weren’t sure yet, but that’s what they were thinking. It was smelling a lot like pennies in there, and that was always a dead giveaway.
“It’s been swabbed, and we’ll find out,” Callen offered. “If I were to guess, I’d say it is.”
Yeah, that made him twitchy.
Ethan was definitely concerned, and his mind was going a mile a minute.
There was no way he’d not do the job to keep Elizabeth safe. In Philadelphia, he’d been off his game because it involved him, but someone threatening his wife?
Oh.
Hell.
No.
He’d do the job because she was the singular most important person in their family.
Elizabeth held the family together.
Callen was to the point. There was no time to sugarcoat it.
“The shit’s going to hit the fan,” Callen admitted. “I can feel it. The whole area when we were walking here felt…off. Something bad is brewing, bro.”
Ethan knew the feeling.
While in the same woods, he wasn’t that far away, and he’d swear there was something…ominous floating around and tainting the air.
They grew up in these woods, and when it was off, it was off.
He remembered it happening a few times in their youth, and Timothy always locking them down.
Elizabeth wasn’t a big fan of the woo-woo, but, as of late, while practicing the shamanism his grandfather loved and wanted him to learn, he’d felt it too.
The dead didn’t always give off a good vibe.
And there were a lot of trapped souls here thanks to some nuts playing The Hollow.
For now, Ethan was to the point.
“Get as much out of there as you can. It’s going to be dark before long. The last thing we need is for you guys to do the walk through the woods and be targets. Don’t forget, that’s only half of the trip. Then, we all have to walk out of here.”
Oh, well, he didn’t have to tell him twice. The last thing Callen wanted was to be a big ol’ bullseye for some arrows.
They knew that whoever shot them was damn good at being Native. They’d hit their targets, but didn’t think Elizabeth and Ivan’s body armor would hold up.
Like with a bullet, by the time you heard it, the whistle of the air breaking over the feather fletchings, it was too damn late.
Ethan was to the point.
“We aren’t the predators here, CJ. This is us being the prey. We gave The Hollow something to focus on, and it’s going to protect its mission at all costs. I don’t need to profile that. These two individuals are telling us what’s next. US.”
Say.
Less.
Callen didn’t want an arrow to the skull. Natives were excellent at tracking and hunting, and they’d be able to hide, and no one would see them come at them.
Look at his family.
It was time to put the pedal to the metal and get the hell out of the woods before dark. If they would attack Elizabeth and Gene during the daylight, they would definitely put on a horror show in the dark.
Before he could warn anyone, Ethan wasn’t finished. Instead, he ominously warned his brother.
“Removing the skulls is going to anger it. We’re touching things that its predecessor had left as symbols of the hunt. Try to do it lowkey.”
Callen laughed as he scanned the area, and kept track of Gene.
“EJ, you try carrying one hundred skulls in bags through the trees where you can’t see what’s watching you and do it on the DL. It’s not possible. If it’s out there, it’s going to know what we’ve just done.”
He was aware.
It was going to be a long-ass walk back to their vehicles.
“Just try to be hyper aware. We need to wrap this shit up as soon as possible. We also need to hope and pray something Elizabeth was wearing has DNA on it because both Axl and I agree that this isn’t going to be an easy case for our wife. She might not ever find them.”
Shit.
It never occurred to him that whoever was behind this might slip through Elizabeth’s fingers. She was just that damn good at her job.
If they got away, they’d NEVER be safe here. The Hollow lived here. There were people on the roads and at the civic center. There were Natives everywhere.
They’d be targets non-freaking stop.
Oh, he really hoped that Elizabeth talked some goddamn sense into his father. Home was a lot safer than being here.
For.
Sure.
“She can do it, but it’s not going to be as easy as we hope. She’s working with only one thing. We need DNA or we need something forensically to tie to the victims.”
Well, Callen’s fingers and toes were crossed.
Only, now, this posed a very curious question for the two men spelunking in the cave with the backup agents and techs.
“Do you want us to figure out where the other opening is? Because there is no way in hell that they carried Elizabeth through the way we came in. There’s an eight-foot drop.
They had to get her here another way. I’m looking at the data Ivan downloaded.
It’s sketchy as to where the other entrance is, but I can find it. ”
He didn’t hesitate.
“No. Just get out of there. Alive. For all we know, they are in that part of the cave, setting up a trap. Bail on that. If Elizabeth needs us to find it later, as in tomorrow in the daylight, we will.”
Well, that was the best idea they’ve heard all day. They wanted out of there.
ASAP.
“Are we going to show Elizabeth the message?” Callen asked.