Page 96 of Chaos has a Name (An FBI Romance/Thriller #66)

“None of you drunks need to put Timothy’s name in your mouth, or mine and my brother’s. If Ethan comes back, you’ll shut your pieholes, and let him do what Timothy wanted him to do. Maybe if you stopped being racist assholes, and calling him fucking half-breed, he’d be more inclined to be here.”

Ethan was listening.

Oh, the name calling didn’t bother him.

What bothered him was that the old man was right. He needed to make up his mind. If he didn’t want to take over for Timothy, it should go to another family.

He needed to let it go.

Maybe the Blackhawk’s reign here as Shaman was officially over. It began with Timothy’s father, and it would end with him.

It just gave him more to think about.

“Oh, and if I ever hear anyone call my kids half-breed, I’m coming in,” Callen said. “I might have been the law here, and I might be a Fed off the reservation, but I’ll make so many faces bleed you won’t know what to do about it.”

That hung there.

When no one spoke, Rayna took over.

Threats were her area, and she was giving the man some leeway since her father had given her hell about Caspian. He’d dared to talk about his future half-breed grandchildren, and that made her so angry.

First, Caspian was leaving, and second, it was a sore point. At her age, it had become clear she was dying a spinster.

There were too many racists getting away with shit anymore, and that had to stop.

“Let’s focus. Did anyone see someone follow Thomas out of here?” she asked again.

Everyone shook their heads.

She tried again.

“Was anyone on his ass about anything? Causing stress? Threats?”

Roland nodded.

“Yeah, us. He didn’t like to pay his tab, but then, come to think of it, most of the assholes in here are the same.”

No one looked at the owner of the bar, and that said it all.

When Callen realized that this was futile, he left the money he’d thrown on the counter. His wife had finished her coffee, and stood up.

There was no doubt she was done hearing what she’d heard. This interview was going in circles, and only raising Callen’s blood pressure.

“Thanks for your help,” Elizabeth said, as the Natives watched her walk out.

Callen followed.

“Happy belated, Lewis,” Callen said. “Tell your sons I send my regards. I’m sure we’ll cross paths.”

With that, they finished their first interview, leaving some pissed off Natives behind.

Outside, she was to the point.

“I want to go on the record that Gene and I were the good ones,” she admitted. “We didn’t threaten anyone, or promise to break the law.”

Callen was to the point.

“Listen, no one is calling my brother names. I’ll fuck them up for that. I used to do it when I was a kid, and I’ll keep doing it.”

Ethan appreciated that.

“I’m good, guys. Half-breed doesn’t bother me anymore,” he stated. “My children are half-Native, and I had to let that go. Without half of Catherine, I’d be all Wyler, and no one needs two of us around.”

Callen didn’t care.

“Well, I don’t have to let that go. I’m going to try to change their minds every chance I can. Pureblood Natives are a thing of the past. Staying here only damns you,” he admitted. “I’m hitting that,” he said pointing at his wife. “I’m the winner here.”

She actually laughed.

“You’re going to be getting hit back if you keep that up, Callen James. You’re hitting ‘that’? THAT?” she asked.

Gene slapped her on the ass.

“I think ‘that’ was what he was referencing.”

She snorted.

Deep down, she knew they were busting her ass to lighten the mood for Ethan. That’s how they circled the wagons—so to speak.

“Focus,” she said, as they got into the vehicle and out of any direct fire of potential arrows.

Ethan did just that.

“I’m not shocked they didn’t ‘see’ anything. You know the rules of the rez.”

“Yeah, die of poverty but do it with a chip on your shoulder,” Callen stated.

Rayna knew that he wasn’t wrong.

As they got situated, Koda was holding a tablet, and he was sitting with MATE next to him.

“How’d it go?” he asked.

Honestly, Callen was grateful he wasn’t in there. The half-breed bullshit in front of his Marine son would have put him into a rage.

“About what you expected,” he admitted. “We got nothing.”

That tended to be the story of their lives.

Rayna shrugged.

“We know that someone likely followed Thomas, and his partner was waiting for him in his closet or home. You heard the Stormchaser brothers. There were forty Natives there. Packed in like sardines. That’s a lot of potential suspects.”

And no cameras.

There weren’t any in the place, and there never had been security. That’s how Ethan and Callen could sneak in the back door as kids and steal booze.

Rayna considered something else.

“These are going to be dudes, right?” she asked.

Ethan confirmed.

“My protégé here, Agent Thorn, had a very good point. It’s a patriarchal tribe. Men rule here, and it is logical that The Hollow would follow suit.”

Elizabeth was curious.

She read the profile, but still.

“And your assessment on that?”

Ethan didn’t hesitate.

“Ninety-ten,” he admitted. “Easily.”

Okay, well, that worked for her. Ethan wasn’t exactly off his game, and gender of a killer was the easiest trait to nail down.

“We need to track down his friends,” Elizabeth said. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to notice if he was followed. We did get two names of his drinking buddies.”

That they did.

“Where does Joseph Thunderfoot live?” she asked.

Callen knew.

“About a mile down the road before the bar,” he said. “Once upon a time, I had to tote his ass home after he was drunk in here too.”

Rayna laughed.

“I still have to,” she admitted. “Some things never change.”

That was the truth.

“And Oren Skye?” Elizabeth asked.

Rayna knew.

“All the way over by me. Usually though, they spend their time together. Joseph paints houses and Oren helps when they have a job to do.”

Well, then, they had their next destination.

“Did you hear that, Ethan?” she asked.

Oh, he did.

“I’m going to go grab coffee for Axl and myself. I’ll be back in time. He’s sitting here so he’ll keep me in the loop if you get there before I get back.”

That worked for her.

“Okay, handsome. Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked, wanting to make sure. Elizabeth wasn’t sure he was really going for a coffee.

That should take five minutes max. Plus, his voice…it was off. Maybe the ‘half-breed’ shit had hurt his heart.

He laughed.

“I saw the cookie platter that Vivian placed in the breakroom. I’ve got snacks. You don’t. One of us is definitely at a better advantage here.”

She sighed.

“I remember when once upon a Toady, I had snacks on demand.”

The man pulled the gum out of his mouth and held it up, making her laugh.

“I remember once upon a Medusa that you were a grown-ass adult with four partners who should be able to pack snacks for their pain in the ass.”

She snorted.

“Pass,” she said to the gum.

Well, at least everyone was in a good mood.

That helped out.

Because it was still morning, and they had more interviews.

It was going to be a long-ass day.

For sure.

* * * The Blackhawk Family * * *

The Breakroom

Coffee Break

FBI West

Heading into the room, he made himself and Axl a coffee, and when he was finished, he sat down and pulled out his phone.

Ethan needed help.

The kind of assistance he needed wasn’t the kind that anyone in his family could help him with either.

This was a special kind of help.

As he waited for her to answer, Ethan questioned what he was doing about a million times.

It felt horrible going behind his wife’s back, and his spouses backs.

Only, here he was.

Doing just that.

When her pretty, smiling face came on the screen, the woman he told all of his secrets to was surprised to hear from him.

“HEY! How’s it going?” Callie asked.

To be honest, she was just thinking about him.

“Hey, Callie. It’s going,” he said, really worried and confused.

She could hear it in his voice.

“What happened?”

When he hesitated, she knew that something had definitely gone down.

She knew him well.

“Ethan, we’re friends. Just talk to me. This doesn’t have to be a shrink session.”

Thankfully, she was his friend, and he could always call her when he needed to.

“I have a dilemma.”

That had her full attention.

She’d been worried about him. When they’d hauled ass out of DC, it had been against her best judgment for Ethan. He’d had a traumatic experience, finally handfasted with Gene, and then was off on a case.

She knew him well, and this wasn’t a good thing. When the pile-on began, he tended to get overwhelmed.

If he was calling, two days after arriving there, something was up.

“What is it?”

He hoped she could help him.

“Do you recall all the times we discussed me returning here when my brother and I were estranged?”

Of course, she did.

That was one of the fundamental reasons the man’s psyche was fractured. He had trauma from his youth that he’d just begun working through.

“Yes.”

“Callie,” he said, not believing he was about to say this. “I don’t want to leave here. Wyler is going to have chemo, and as soon as Elizabeth closes this case, we’re leaving.”

Uh-oh.

“Okay, Ethan. Now, I have to ask questions so I can help you.”

He was ready.

“Are you saying this because you genuinely want to be there or because of that pull.”

Well, he was pretty sure it was because of the pull.

“I feel like I have unfinished business. I feel like I need to be here. The place is calling to me, and I’m not sure I should fight it this time.”

She listened.

“I have been practicing Shamanism, and learning everything I can for the last four years. I’ve been finding new things out about me, and I know that Timothy wanted me here.”

She stopped him.

“But do you want to be there? That’s the question, Ethan. You get to do what Ethan needs, not what Timothy always wanted. Frankly, he made a mess.”

Yeah, he was aware.

He was honest.