Page 88 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

The Cabin

Thursday

Early Morning

As if her week couldn’t possibly get even more shitastic, Elizabeth couldn’t believe what she was hearing. There was no conceivable way that Gabe just boned her this good by putting Takoda, her eldest, on security duty.

What happened with letting her choose her own security, like she had with Ivan and the Archangels?

Oh, she got that Gabe was likely just trying to help out, but it wasn’t happening.

Come hell or high water, this Marine was NOT riding with her into the crazy.

Absofuckinglutely not.

PASS.

“Yeah, that shit’s not happening,” she said, as she picked up the broken pieces of the coffee mug that was all over the floor.

Takoda tried to help her.

“Mom.”

She stopped him.

“No, Takoda. Absolutely not. You’re not on my protection duty,” she said, tossing the pieces and heading out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

When she was gone, Ivan sighed.

“Well, that’s how good I thought that was going to go. Only, I expected gunfire.”

Takoda stood there.

“She doesn’t think I can do it, does she?” he asked. Then, just like his mother, he headed out the front door, slamming the door behind him too.

Well, like mother like child.

“Oh, well, that was ugly,” Gene admitted. “What the hell was Gabe thinking?” he asked.

Yeah, Callen wanted to know the answer on that one. He was on team Elizabeth for this decision.

Over his dead body was Takoda playing shield to any of them. That was not happening.

Ivan clued them in.

“I don’t have sway over the president,” he admitted. “I simply got a message from the White House that said we have a new Marine. When I found out who it was, how was I supposed to pretend he wasn’t on security duty? Tell all of you it’s bring your Marine child to work day?”

Chris patted him on the arm.

“It’s not your fault,” he said. “We know you didn’t do this.”

Well, thank God someone did.

“I want Takoda doing this about as much as I want my own children doing this. I know the risks. If you want him off the team, then I suggest you contact Gabe, and calm Elizabeth down.”

Oh, well, that was asking for a miracle.

She.

Was.

Pissed.

When she walked away from a fight, it wasn’t because she was afraid to lose, but because she was going to get mean.

And no one liked her when she was mean.

Immediately, Ethan picked up his phone.

“I’ll deal with the president,” he said.

Callen took his son.

And Gene…well, he opted to tangle with Elizabeth. Why not get his teeth kicked in early in the morning? The fun started early in their world.

“Chris, you’d better get to the morgue,” Gene said. “If we can’t get this solved, she’s going to be UNGODLY today. Don’t let the techs slack.”

He hugged Gene.

“Bless you.”

Oh, he didn’t blame the man for heading out as quickly as possible.

Only, he was best equipped to handle Elizabeth—meaning he could lay on her until the mad passed, and she couldn’t budge his bear ass.

As they all divided up, and both Callen and Gene went to go find the two people, they didn’t have to look far.

Standing by the totem was Elizabeth and Takoda. Not far from them was Gryphen and Raphael.

As they watched Chris leave with Saint, they moved closer, trying to see if this might work itself out on its own.

Only, as they got closer, the heated tone said it all.

“Mom, I’m a grown-ass man.”

She wasn’t playing.

“That’s not my problem,” she admitted, digging in. “You’re not working security for me. That’s the end of the discussion, Takoda.”

He dug in too.

It was like watching the same personality go head-to-head in a death-cage match. They all knew there wouldn’t be winners.

“Well, the president said I am.”

She laughed, and it wasn’t the funny ha-ha laugh. It was the ‘I’m about to go nuclear and destroy the world’ kind of a laugh.

That was a bad sign.

Elizabeth RARELY raised her voice with her children, unless it was EJ and CJ trying to blow something up. Then, she got hella yell-y.

This was different.

“You’re NOT playing bodyguard for me and your fathers.”

Takoda didn’t know when to let it go, apparently. Because he kept going.

“I think it’s incredibly irrational that you are not looking at it as me being a Marine. I’m as good as anyone else on your team.”

She stood there.

“I went through boot camp. I survived a lot, Mom. I’m not some baby you need to coddle. I’m a goddamn Marine, and I deserve some respect. I’ve earned it!”

Callen cringed.

Oh, their son was clearly going through his rebellious years much later in life. If anyone else spoke to Elizabeth in that tone, including her husbands, they’d be on the ground bleeding.

“I don’t care if you’re the next coming of goddamn Jesus Christ himself. The day I let you play shield to me is the day I quit my fucking job, Takoda. Now, we’re done discussing this,” she said, going to walk away.

And that’s when Takoda did the WORST thing possible.

He grabbed her arm.

And she showed him exactly why she didn’t want, or need her son being her shield.

She spun, used her forearm to shove him back, grabbed his gun, put him in an arm lock, hit the magazine release, and then put the gun to his forehead.

He gasped.

Hell.

They all gasped.

It was then that she spoke, her voice low, chilly, and filled with emotion.

“First, you don’t put your hands on me. EVER. Secondly, Takoda, this isn’t a game. I’m not letting one of my children protect me. I can protect myself. If you think I won’t eat my own gun if I am the cause of one of your deaths, then you don’t understand me at all.”

She tossed Raphael the gun, and released her son’s arm.

Then, she walked away, rolling her shoulder because proving it cost her—more than just the pain in her arm.

In her wake, Takoda just stood there.

When Callen and Gene headed his way, giving Elizabeth time to calm down, they made sure Takoda was alright.

“Is your arm okay?” Callen asked.

He nodded.

“She didn’t hurt me.”

It was time his son had a ‘come to Jesus talk’, and it was something that needed to be done.

“Takoda…”

He stopped him.

“She thinks I’m not good at being a Marine. I am. I might not be as fast as her, but I’m tenacious.”

He turned his son so he was facing him.

“Koda. Listen to me. She is in so much danger, that having you guard her is going to get her killed.”

He blinked.

“What?”

Callen was honest.

“She won’t be watching her own ass. She’ll be worried about you the whole time.

That’s not about you being a good or bad Marine.

That’s about a mother protecting her children.

We all know you can hold your own. Hell!

The Marines we work with have told us that you’re a good Marine, but to her, and don’t take this the wrong way… ,” he began.

Koda listened.

“To her, you’re not a Marine. You’re her kid.”

He said nothing.

“As your parents, we are NEVER going to let you shield our bodies with your own. We know you can protect your wife and child. We know you could save your siblings if it went south. Hell! You could save our Marines. We just can’t let you save us.”

He stood there.

Gene was honest.

“She wouldn’t survive if you saving her cost you your life, Koda. Don’t take it personally. You’re better at what you do than we ever could be,” Gene admitted. “But we don’t want to watch you go down so we can live. That’s a pain no parent should have to bear.”

He was honest.

“She doesn’t understand. It’s an honor for me to protect her.

She saved me. I was nothing without her.

I would have died by his hands, and I would have never had what I have now.

Protecting her is the way I can give back.

She’s the first person I’ve loved, and how will I feel if she dies and I could have been there to save her? ”

Oh, boy.

They were absolutely the same personality.

Elizabeth wanted to protect him.

And he wanted to protect her.

When there was a whistle, they all turned. It was Elizabeth heading out, and she’d changed. She was getting into her body armor, and was wearing her sunglasses.

For a reason.

Her body language said it all.

She was done dealing with this because it put a hole in her heart.

“Uriel just called Ivan. Someone left a little present on the Chief of Police’s doorstep. We have Thomas Adsila’s head.”

The two men started jogging back toward the house so they could get their guns and badges. It appeared showers and food were not on the agenda that morning.

When they reached Elizabeth, Callen stopped.

“He needs his mother. He’s been broken by one of them. Talk to him while we get ready. Please, Angel. Don’t leave it like this.”

She sighed.

Elizabeth was sick to her stomach. In her mind, all she could think about was Takoda taking a bullet, or arrow, for her.

And dying.

That would leave little Oliver without a daddy, and all of them without a son they were beyond proud of. How could she live with that?

Marines died, and if he went down defending the country, she’d deal with it. If he died defending her…that would haunt her.

In that scenario, she’d rather die.

Moving toward him, she jerked her head, and that was the signal to Gryphen and Raphael to make themselves scarce.

As she reached him, she lifted her aviator shades and put them on the top of her head.

“I love you more than you’ll ever know,” she said, being one hundred percent honest. “When I look at you, I don’t see a child I didn’t birth. I see my son. I see a young boy who came to that door four years ago, and was starving, abused, and broken.”

Takoda let her talk as she looked up at him.