Page 167 of Chaos has a Name
And that worried her.
If someone was perpetuating this crime for decades, and passing the job down to an apprentice, of sorts, that would make it almost impossible for her to figure it out.
The forensics alone would be problematic. Too much time had passed to find any viable sources, and on top of that. She was flying by the seat of her pants with a new crew.
They were a team of forensic scientist that didn’t know how she worked. This was a bad time to have Chrissy on the other side of the country.
A real bad time.
“I’ll check in,” she admitted. “See you at the office, and be careful. If I’m poking the hive, you two are associates, and this person might see you as worse perpetrators since you’re of this place. That might be betrayal.”
Oh, Ethan had already thought that.
“It will be, Elizabeth. Plus, we won’t know what part of the cycle we’re in. Will it be an old person? A young person? We might be blindsided.”
Well, yippee.
That made her even more wary, but she couldn’t pass this off. First, no one was ready to go on her team, and secondly, they weren’t Native. She’d get a pass on this because of whom she married.
Outsiders would be met with immediate distrust, and roadblocks.
Non.
Freaking.
Stop.
“I love you both. Be safe,” she said, right before disconnecting the call.
When she was ready, she focused on the techs.
“As you all heard, this is a shitshow of epic proportions. We’ve never worked together before, and I know it’s going to take time to get our connections made to each other. Here’s the only thing I can say about this.”
They all waited.
“When I said my life depends on how well you do your job, I wasn’t kidding. One shortcut, one mistake, or one skipped process, and you guys will live to tell about it. I might not.”
The techs said nothing.
“I’m sure you’ve all heard a lot about me. Some of it is true, and some isn’t. I’m going to ask you all to dig in, and give me your two hundred percent. I’m going to need it. With victimsthat crossDECADES, we’re way behind on this one. I can’t do my job without you. I’ve read all of your files. I’ve been updated on you. My doctor picked each of you,” she said, pointing at Chris.
That had everyone’s attention.
“He’s the best forensic ME in the country, and going forward, I’m going to put it all on the premise that you are the best forensic scientists in the country. If you give me your best, I’ll be the best boss who is loyal to her core. If you don’t, I won’t make it long enough to do this.”
No one spoke.
Pulling her phone out, she opened it and pulled up a picture.
It was of her kids.
“I have children,” she said. “Normally, they are in danger but safely behind a gated wall. Now, they are on this reservation just trying to live their lives. Crazies don’t just come after me. They come after my children. I need the best. If you don’t think you can be the best, I need you to walk away. If you don’t think that you’ll be able to work on a team lead by myself, there is no shame in passing.”
Chris watched the techs.
He hoped they understood why she was saying this. What they were wading into was going to be bad.
For everyone.
