Page 168 of Chaos has a Name
“If you don’t want to work on a team where danger is prevalent, and sick fucks aim at us, go. You’ll be reassigned, and there are no hard feelings. I promise.”
From where she was standing, Rayna listened to the director, and she sounded like…a mom. Better yet, a woman balancing the whole world on her shoulders.
As they watched, three of the techs started walking back toward the vehicles.
And nothing was said.
Not at first.
Glancing over, she looked at her one spouse.
“Get them back onto their original teams, and find me three more techs who want to be in the newAutopsy One.”
He simply nodded.
It was when their head tech, Benjamin, raised his hand, that she focused on him.
“Yes?”
“You can rely on us. We’ll give you all we have but not because of your children, or you. We’ll give it to you because we didn’t get into this career field because we liked boring. We’re scientists, and we like solving things. You have us to back you up, Director. Despite not being your normal team, the FBI didn’t hire slackers. Drop us into the middle of it, and we have your back.”
And in that moment, she was able to let that held breath out, and find some calm.
“Thank you, Mr. Longfellow. I appreciate that.”
And the ice was broken.
Elizabeth managed to bridge the gap to her team, and she was grateful. They were going to need to do their jobs at peak performance.
“Head into the clearing and start setting up. I need to speak to the Chief of Police for a few minutes. Christopher, give me a few and I’ll be right there,” she said.
Her husband knew she wanted to be alone with Rayna, and he knew why, so, he headed out, taking his people with him.
When they were gone, it was only Elizabeth, Gene, Rayna, and the two security guys who were left there.
She needed to make sure they were all on the same page, and that started with the clusterfuck that had been‘inadvertently’dropped into her lap.
“What is this bullshit that I’m hearing?” she asked. “Are you aware of any of this?”
Rayna shook her head.
Honestly, she was just as horrified as Elizabeth.
Really.
“Do you think I’d let someone kill people and not try to stop it?” she asked. “I’m an officer of the law. I took the same oath as any other cop—including you.”
Elizabeth lowered her voice.
“What isThe Hollow?” she asked. “I need you to think back, since you’re the only one here who has been on this reservation. My husbands left a while ago. You are my expert on this.”
Rayna was one hundred percent honest with her. This was all freaking news to her.
“I have no idea. I’ve never heard anything about this nonsense before in my entire life. To me, this is just as horrible as it is to you. We have to stop it.”
Oh, well, that was the plan.
Only, best laid plans tended to blow up spectacularly in her face all of the damn time.
