Page 75 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

When his wife glanced over at him, she stared him in the eyes, and he softened. Deep down, Ethan wanted to be angry for a while, but that hurt his wife.

It also distracted them when it was dangerous. That was the last thing they needed.

“Sure,” he said, doing this for Elizabeth, and ONLY Elizabeth. She was the one person in this family who never let people down.

He’d give this back to her.

God knew she carried him in Philadelphia.

Getting up, he carried his bowl into the kitchen where they could have privacy. Honestly, he didn’t know why the man didn’t just say it in front of everyone.

Callen was going to eavesdrop for his wife.

Who were they kidding?

Privacy and Blackhawks didn’t go hand-in-hand in that house. They were a gossipy bunch, him included.

When Ethan sat down, Wyler said one thing.

“I love you, Ethan.”

And instead of helping, that only made Ethan angrier than he was before he came in.

Honestly, he hoped this conversation didn’t push him over the edge.

His patience was fraying.

Meanwhile…

As they left, Callen lowered his voice.

“Do you want me to go listen?” he asked. “I can pretend I’m taking a leak in the powder room off of the kitchen.”

She laughed.

“What are you? A yenta?” she asked, not surprised.

Callen shrugged.

“Call this cat curious,” he admitted.

Elizabeth reassured him.

“We had the conversation already, and he’s just going to apologize to Ethan. You’re the easy sell,” she said. “You don’t hold a grudge.”

That was the truth.

Life was far too short to do shit like that.

“Like he said, he’s going to get chemo, and we’ll get him into a few trials. We’ll fight with him because he’s weak and doesn’t think he can fight it alone.”

Well, of course, they would.

“So cancel the house. We’re getting off this reservation as soon as we find The Hollow.”

“And his bone whistle,” Gene said, sharing what they’d heard the whole time on the reservation, almost like it was taunting them.

“That’s creepy as fuck,” she admitted.

Yes.

It.

Was.

“Well, I have bad news,” Callen admitted.

Elizabeth lifted a brow.

He was to the point, since she had said cancel the house. The bottom line was that he couldn’t.

“The money already transferred. It’s just paperwork now. We officially own the haunted house.”

She closed her eyes.

“Gene, how much to have you beat up Callen for me? I’m too tired.”

Chris laughed.

Why?

That would be a wild fight.

“Normally, I’d do it since he’s a pain in my ass busting me all the time, but I’m pretty sure my new husband is going to get bitchy if I slap the taste out of his baby brother’s mouth. Pass.”

That’s what she figured.

Callen just grinned.

“Looks like you’ll have to lay hands on me all by your pretty little self.”

Great.

Another house.

Elizabeth pointed toward the kitchen where Ethan and Wyler had gone.

“He’s to blame for this one. I can’t even muster the anger to blame you for being too rich for my own good,” she stated.

He laughed.

“You do realize you have an odd list of issues with me, right?”

She absolutely did.

He was too handsome for her own good too.

Trying to hear what was going on, Callen wondered if his wife knew everything that Wyler was going to say to his eldest son.

“Spill it. You know more than we do.”

She shrugged.

“He wants to confess some sins. He stole some of his peyote.”

That was NOT what he was expecting.

All three men laughed.

“I mean, if we’re confessing sins, that night before Philadelphia when I kidnapped you and we rolled around naked in the grass, I stole some too. Old habits…,” Callen admitted.

That was no shock.

The Blackhawk boys were always doing questionable things when it came to her.

And she liked it that way.

“We all know you’re a pervert, Callen James. All Wyler wants is to make amends with Ethan’s mother before he dies. It weighs on him, and he needs his son to help him dream walk.”

Well, that was probably a good idea since most of this family had daddy or mommy issues. They were a full-chapter in most Psychology textbooks.

Since she was sharing, he did too.

“He stopped by the center. He wants to open a library in her name here. I think he’s coming to grips with who he is, and where he’s come from. He was incredibly emotional watching all of the good deeds we’ve done here.”

Yeah, she was too.

“That’s sweet. In fact, I think that’s an awesome plan. With Chris’ gift to Ethan and Gene for their handfasting, he can do whatever he wants—if that’s good for Gene.”

He was honest.

“I want this hole in Ethan to heal. He’s carried it a long time, and I can’t fill it. It’s part of his life and culture that he hates but loves at the same time.”

Yeah, her husband was definitely doing battle as of late. Why not add more to the plate to stress?

That was how she rolls.

Callen was to the point.

“It will do him good. He wants Wyler to carve a totem pole for the center of the library, and he would like our canoes we carved with Timothy to be repurposed into lights. Ethan Blackhawk just might be coming back to his roots,” Callen admitted.

And that was a good thing.

“Well, he can come back and check on the progress. God knows we have enough jets to get us around the country fast.”

That they did.

Callen just remembered something.

“Elkie wants you to stop in and see the pantry before we go home. We saw her working there today, and there was this cute, little moppet of a girl there. We also heard about you and Chris stopping here.”

She played dumb.

“I don’t recall that, do you, Christopher?”

He shook his head.

“Two white people wandering on a reservation? We all look alike, so you must be mistaken.”

Callen laughed.

Then, he got serious.

“Thank you for always being supportive to us as we gave back to this community. We know it’s not easy coming here because there are still Natives that hold a grudge, and who are racist.”

She stopped him.

“Callen, their history was influenced by Caucasians when we came here. The least I can do is take a little heat for our ancestors from your tribe. Don’t worry about it. Really.”

Gene and Chris agreed.

“As for us coming here, I’ll own it. We got the call from Elkie, and heard there was a woman who needed help. That’s more about me saving any woman from being abused by a spouse or boyfriend. I would swing by Tahoe too if need be, or Dallas.”

He was aware.

They caught themselves a good, decent wife.

“I’ll swing by to talk to Elkie tomorrow. She’s older, and she might remember some of the things that went on here over the years. I need to figure out how to solve this case, and I don’t think DNA is going to help me.”

Chris knew why, but Gene clearly didn’t.

He looked confused.

“Most Natives don’t get their DNA tested. Some will, but they have their own tribal registry and cards. They don’t have to prove it genetically. They have to be born of at least one Native parent.”

Now, he got it.

“Elkie can give me a rundown. She loves to gossip, and I love help with a case. It’ll be a win-win for me, and for her. She likes company.”

That she did.

“I also have to visit the council at some point. You know they’re finding out about the skulls and pitching a fit that we removed them from the rez.”

Oh, he was aware.

Callen was going to remind her of that, but since she was on top of it, he hopefully didn’t have a battle to clean up when they demanded and she laughed while dancing around their corpses.

His wife was spicy.

“Don’t worry, Callen James. I know that look, and it says ‘oh, shit, she’s going to slap native men who piss her off’,” she stated.

That was amusing.

“I was thinking that.”

Oh, she was aware.

“I’ll be respectful when they call for me to show up. Until then, I’m going to avoid at all costs. You know…so I can avoid slapping Native men who don’t like it.”

He grinned.

“They’re missing out.”

She just rolled her eyes.

“I need to tell you something, and you can’t get angry with me or Ethan.”

That had everyone’s attention.

What the hell?

What did that mean?

Why would she get angry with either of them?

It took a lot to make her angry, so unless they were going to buy her a jet or city, she was going to be fine.

“What?”

He went there.

“He told me he was thinking about taking over as Shaman here on the reservation. I don’t know if that was just him being caught up in his feels, or if he’s seriously considering it.”

Well, shit.

How the hell did they dodge one bullet, just to be hit with another?

“If he stays…”

Elizabeth closed her eyes.

And here was the anxiety again.

The last thing any of them wanted was to be tied here to the reservation.

If Ethan stayed, and they all went home…

That would destroy their family.

It would rip it apart.

Well, shit.

Of course, she couldn’t just bring it up. Ethan didn’t like it when his private moments were turned public by asking questions, even if it was her asking them.

They’d have to wait to see how this played out.

Oh, boy.

Out of the frying pan, and into a boiling pot of water instead. This trip back here was a royal pain in her ass.

For.

Sure.

* * * The Blackhawk Family * * *

In The Kitchen

Same Time

Because Wyler had been to the angry-Ethan rodeo more times than not in his life, he needed to get him to calm down first.

Then, talk to him.

The burden of this was on him, since he was the one who created this in his son all of those years ago. While they’d buried the hatchet, it was Wyler’s job to soothe that pain whenever it returned.

As his father.

Maybe he was a shit one then, but he wasn’t going to let that continue into what was left of his life. He wanted his last memories for Ethan to be a better father in his life.

As his son sat there, silently, Wyler got to work.

Picking up his bowl, he filled it with some more stew, and placed it down in front of him.