Page 87 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

“This is going to be a wild one. These two individuals will be male, likely exhibiting symptoms of psychosis, and be both watchers and collectors. That they were stalking us with a whistle last night proves my point. We took their prize.”

On that, she agreed.

“Are they going to be related?” Gene asked, trying to get a vibe for the killer.

He couldn’t possibly answer that.

“That’s going to be something you ask your ME. Ask him COD and TOD on all one hundred and seven sets of skulls while you’re at it. I like seeing him get flustered.”

Chris sighed.

“Not you too?” he asked.

Only, his wife was staring at him.

Chris held up his hand.

“I know, wife. I will get to the morgue and put pressure on the team. Just remember, they’re new to your madness, and we have to have a little leeway. They’ve been locked up with Tony all night. If we’re lucky, the lab is still standing.”

Yeah, she knew what he was saying.

Tony was a wildcard.

“I’ll stop in at some point. Tell them that I’d better have at least DNA that was picked off of me and my gun. I’d like it back,” she stated.

Oh, they both saw she was wearing a gun, so someone had armed her.

“I’ll make sure they’re ready, Bethe, and I’m going to start double-checking how they did their work. The last thing we need is a fuckup.”

He.

Was.

Right.

Well, now that they’d gotten a profile, and Chris was going to ride ass, it was a normal day in her world.

It was time to make magic happen.

Picking up Gene’s wrist, she looked at the time. She’d taken her Rolex off. Truth be told, she hated wearing it at work.

It was a goddamn Rolex.

“We need to get dressed. I want to take a look at the original crime scene. Today, we’re all riding together. I’m not letting any of the chicks wander away,” she stated.

Then, she focused on Ivan.

“I want coverage on us,” she stated. “Have the two people who had night duty up and ready this afternoon. It’s going to be a long one, and Muriel is the only one on the house now that we’re heading out. Wyler is wily, and Caryn looked tired.”

Well, before she left, Ivan had to tell her something.

“Don’t kill the messenger,” he said, stopping her in her tracks.

In fact, she lifted a brow as she was sipping her coffee.

Elizabeth wasn’t sure what the hell that meant. Only, she didn’t like the sound of it.

Not.

At.

All.

“What’s that mean?” she asked.

Ivan tried to break it gently to her. Elizabeth was NOT going to be amused. That she didn’t already figure it out…that should tell him all he needed to know.

She was tired.

Clearly.

“I got a message this morning from The President of the United States. You know, the big, bald guy who derives great pleasure by pissing you off and making my job even more difficult?”

She sighed.

“What does Baldy want now? My blood? Soul? Offspring?” she asked. “I’m a little busy here.”

Here came the bomb.

“He heard about yesterday, and he was worried. He sent you another Marine to help hold off the chaos.”

Oh, well, that was fine.

She thought it was going to be bad.

They could use more backup. That was always welcome.

“Okay, I’ll send him a thank-you fruit basket. Is that all?” she asked.

Ivan glanced over, and Takoda raised his hand.

“Hey, Deputy Director Blackhawk” he said. “I’m your new backup security.”

It was as if her hand just couldn’t hold the cup anymore as she was blindsided, and it fell from her hands. It hit the floor and shattered into a bunch of wet pieces of ceramic.

There was no way that Gabe would fuck her over by having her own son play protection duty.

Was he insane?

She was the most shot at Blackhawk, and now, she had to worry about Takoda taking a bullet, or arrow for her?

Oh.

Hell.

No.

That shit wasn’t happening.

Gabriel ‘someone needs to punch him in the face’ Rothschild was in some serious shit.

Like she now was.

* * * The Blackhawk Family * * *

Upstairs

Master Suite

Same Time

When Wyler felt the bed move, he opened his eyes, and that’s when he saw his wife.

“Hey,” he said.

She ran her finger down the sharp angle of his cheekbone, memorizing his face.

Just in case.

“Hey,” she said back.

He rolled to his side, and stared into Caryn’s eyes. He needed to know one thing.

“Are you still angry with me?”

She shook her head.

“No, Wyler, I’m not.”

Well, at least there was that. All last night, he’d tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep. It wasn’t easy when he was thinking about his wife, and how he likely trashed another marriage.

Being three wives in, it was crystal clear that he was the problem.

HIM.

He’d destroyed Catherine.

He hadn’t protected Maeve.

Oh, and he pissed off Caryn.

The last thing he wanted was his wife to be upset with him. God knew he pushed her hard this week with the ‘I’m going home to die, and you can watch’ bullshit.

“Do you forgive me?” he asked.

She cuddled down into the bed and rested her head on his shoulder.

“Yeah, I forgive you,” she admitted. “Do you forgive me for siccing the big dog on you to make you change your mind?”

He laughed.

“She locked me in the treehouse for half a day, and then read me the riot act. I deserved it though, so yeah, I forgive you. I went about this all wrong,” he admitted.

She let him talk.

On this, Caryn agreed, but she wanted to see if he really understood what the problem was.

“I was selfish.”

Oh, well, he got to that pretty fast, now didn’t he? Caryn hadn’t expected it.

“I agree.”

He paused.

“Well, don’t sugarcoat it, my love. Just give it to me,” he joked.

Oh, she would.

“What’s ahead of us is going to be a fight, Wyler. It won’t be easy, but we can do it. You have all of us in your corner. Last night, CJ and EJ came up to me at the hotel. They wanted to know what was wrong.”

He said nothing.

“Kids are incredibly intelligent, and can read the room around them. These kids are even smarter thanks to some good genetics. They already have an inkling. I know you’re tired, and you want to just go peacefully into the night, but what kind of message does that give to your grandchildren?”

She was right.

If it was them, God forbid, he’d be urging them on to keep fighting. He’d be their biggest cheerleader. Only, he hadn’t been his own.

That said a lot about his mental status.

“We can do this,” she said. “You’re going to be okay. I believe in it.”

He hoped his wife was right.

What Wyler wanted was to see his grandchildren grow up, and to enjoy time with TJ.

Speaking of TJ.

“I’m sorry that I excluded you from the decision to have Ethan raise TJ.”

She sighed.

“That hurt a bit,” she admitted. “But I understand why you did it. I hope that you’ll change your mind, in case this doesn’t work out for the best. I’d be honored to raise your child.”

He stopped her.

That was part of the problem.

“He’s not MY child. He’s OUR child. I lost sight of that. When you married me, you never once made TJ feel like he wasn’t yours. He calls you mommy, and what I did to you was hurtful. I’m so sorry, Caryn.”

Tears filled her eyes.

“It’s okay.”

No, it wasn’t.

“No, my sweet woman, it wasn’t. I’m going to make amends for that.

If I don’t make it, will you please carry on and raise our son?

I selfishly dumped it on Ethan, not realizing he feels like it’s just one more thing he has to clean up after me.

TJ is ours, and you did a good job raising Duke alone.

I have no doubt that Timothy James will be an amazing adult—if I don’t get to see it happen. ”

She kissed him on the lips.

“I’ll raise him and never let him forget that you were an amazing father.”

Yeah, now, if only he’d learned that lesson years ago and didn’t fuck up his other sons.

Hopefully, he’d have time to fix it.

“I love you, Caryn.”

She held onto him, and deep down, she was praying for a miracle.

That’s what they needed.

Caryn wasn’t sure how she was going to go on if she lost Wyler.

Hopefully, she wouldn’t find out.