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The usual disclaimers apply - since the folks that own them aren't using them then I guess I will...no money being made - this is purely for entertainment
Many many thanks to my betas Sue and Kap for all their work and help - and I will likely have some mistakes anyhow - but they are all mine
This is an ATF AU - thank you MOG - just look at what you've inspired in all those wonderful stories out there.
It is a Chris/Vin story that loosely follows my previous pair End of the Dream and Reality Sets In - but is complete in itself (or will be when it is finished) - they just serve to establish the C/V relationship herein, and while this is mostly an action story there is that relationship and the ensueing sexual content that has in places explicit M/M sex - so if this offends you stop now and read something else.
The door slammed as Chris Larabee entered his office, but Buck and the rest of the team didn't take it personally.He wasn't pissed off at them.
The day had been a total screw-up. Three months of undercover work down the drain, one agent injured, and the chance to put the Rathson brothers away... lost. At least for the near future.
The only thing that had kept Larabee from shooting the "lazy, incompetent, worthless, brain-dead" agent in charge of the FBI team that was sent in at the last minute to "assist" the team with the takedown was the fact that the injured agent was Vin. So instead of going after the Fibbie, he'd been riding in the ambulance with his best friend, second-in-command, sharpshooter, sometimes undercover agent, and lover. And the only reason he hadn't hunted the man down later was the fact that Tanner's injuries weren't as bad as they had appeared at first. He would be out of action for a few weeks, but would fully recover.
Now there was nothing left to do but fill out a mountain of frustrating paperwork explaining to the powers that be why a large portion of this quarter's budget had gone into an investigation that was now pointless. To say nothing of the fact that there was a very twisted man out there, no doubt planning his next assault on the people that Team 7 was supposed to be protecting. And the fact that his younger brother was lying in the morgue, slim and dubious reward for the effort, would doubtless spur Bobby on to even more vicious behavior.
Chris Larabee's report would place the blame exactly where it belonged... on the FBI team that had blown the operation. And no matter how loudly their team leader yelled trying to blame the mess on Team 7, the surveillance videos were clear evidence to the contrary.
7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7
After letting Chris take some time alone to cool down Buck approached the office, eyeing the door warily and hoping that he'd waited long enough. He knocked on the door and waited a few seconds, then entered regardless of the fact that his knock had been unanswered.
As Chris looked up, his green eyes still ablaze with fury, Buck raised his hands in surrender before opening his mouth. "Look, Chris, I know that today was about as bad as it gets, so why don't you let me and the boys work on the report and you pick up Vin and take him home." He paused then, watching the volatile blond to see if he was actually hearing what he was saying. "They said he could go home tonight, didn't they?"
Chris groaned and ran his hand through his already disheveled locks and shook his head. "God, that's what I'd like to do, but Travis wants me to give him a preliminary report in about an hour." He looked up at his oldest friend with thanks in his eyes and sighed. He shook his head again, trying to put all that had happened during the last six hours into perspective and trying to figure out what to do next.
Buck could see the exhaustion and indecision in Larabee's face and knew that the team would have to be there for its leader and friend. "Okay then," the ladies man started, "you talk to Travis, Nathan and I will pick up Vin and drive him out to the ranch. JD and Ezra can pick up something for dinner and meet us there, and Josiah can give us all the moral support we can stand, and probably a little more too."
Chris once again looked up at Buck and gave him just a glimmer of a smile. "Thanks, Buck... " He paused, once again running the day's events through his mind. "That would be great. I'm not sure how late I'll be, but as soon as I'm done with Travis I'll be home."
The big man nodded and headed out to the communal area shared by the rest of the team to hand out the evening's assignments.
7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7
As Nathan and Buck got off the elevator on the sixth floor they could see the crowd of nurses and other personnel near the door to the room where they had left Vin only about two hours ago. At the center of the commotion was the stubborn Texan who was apparently determined to leave the hospital NOW. He had managed to find his jeans and T-shirt, torn and bloodied as they were, had managed to get them on and, despite the fact that he was barefoot, was attempting to push his way toward the elevator.
"Whoa there!" Buck called to the frustrated man as he pushed through the crowd of unwanted helpers. "Let's find your shoes and let these nice ladies finish up your paperwork so we can take you home."
The nurses backed away, giving the two men room to assist the swaying man back into the recently vacated room, and smiled when they heard the familiar lecture that Nathan began as the door swung shut behind them. They had known that at least one of the team would be coming to pick up the impatient patient, but had been unable to convince the man to stay put one minute longer.
Ten minutes later, paperwork was signed and sealed and they rolled the now compliant but still impatient man out to the truck.
By the time they were half way to the ranch he was asleep on the back seat. He didn't wake when they arrived or even when Josiah simply lifted him out of the truck, carried him into the house and deposited him in the large bed that he and Chris had shared for just over six months.
They left the light on in the bathroom with the door ajar and headed into the den where the rest of the men had gathered.
"Looks like he'll be off for about three to four weeks," Nathan reported as he entered. Vin had taken a bullet in the arm, just below the elbow, and while it hadn't broken any bones there was a fair amount of damage to the muscle and tendons so he would have limited use of it for several weeks. He had also slammed into the wall hard enough to be concussed. But, considering how exposed both he and Ezra had been when the bullets began to fly, the team had been lucky. Not lucky enough to arrest the main men they had worked so hard to build a case against, but they were all alive to try again later.
Chris arrived about an hour later and was surprised that no one had eaten. But Ezra pointed out that Vin was asleep and he had only just arrived so they had decided to wait. Chris slipped quietly into the bedroom to get a change of clothes and look in on Vin. But as quiet as he was, Vin knew he was there.
"Hey..." The soft drawl rose from the bed as Chris headed into the bath to change. "They finally done grillin' ya?" Chris sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hand through the tousled curls, shaking his head at the fact that even half asleep and injured Vin was aware of what would have gone on in the aftermath of the morning's foul-up and was worried about him.
"I'm fine, Vin," he sighed. "Luckily all the video we had set up made it clear that we, at least, were doing our jobs."
"Yeah," Vin breathed. "I don't suppose we could tell the Fibbies AFTER the bust next time? I don't think we can live through any more of their help."
"It's tempting."
At that point Buck stuck his head in the door and whispered, "Psst..." Then seeing that Vin was awake he continued, "How about you two join us for dinner before you get all cozy in here?" He waggled his eyebrows, then at Chris's nod he headed back towards the den, grinning at the twin blushes he had left in the bedroom.
7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7
The next few days were spent searching for Bobbie Rathson. But he had managed to completely disappear, along with the large stash of explosives and detonators that had caused the various agencies to focus on their operation. Gunrunning was one thing, but the amount of other contraband the brothers had amassed in recent months had been a cause for alarm, especially after Ezra had reported how unstable the older brother had seemed throughout the entire operation. Now no one in any of the agencies could get even a tenuous lead on the man or any part of his operation. They all hoped that the close call at the warehouse had caused him to pull back, hide out and do nothing. Nothing. It was almost too much to ask for in light of the recent events. More likely the loss of his brother would cause him to lose what little grasp he had left on reality... and just the thought of what the unbalanced man could do with the stockpile of explosives he had was almost too scary to contemplate.
Two days later they had a break. An informant for the FBI in Florida reported that he had had a meeting with Rathson and that he was on his way out of the country via a yacht he kept somewhere in the Keys. The entire combined law enforcement community in the Rocky Mountain States breathed a collective sigh of both frustration at his escape and relief that he was nowhere near.
Now, as soon as the paperwork was complete the team would have some very well earned time off. Vin was already off on medical leave, so the rest would spend the balance of the week tying up any loose ends and finishing the paperwork, then they would join him for two weeks leave.
They had been tossing around various ideas about how to use the time off. When Josiah mentioned that he had a friend who had offered the use of his cabin in a remote area of Montana, it didn't take much to convince the rest that a trip far from Denver would do them all some good. Even Ezra, with a bit of prodding, agreed to join them, but only after Josiah assured him that the cabin did indeed have indoor plumbing.
They would carpool in two of the team's vehicles, taking two days to reach the cabin. Except Vin. who would be heading up sooner.
Chris and Vin had both been wanting to take the special historical train trip that ran through a large portion of the mountain states and Chris had discovered that the next available one was leaving Denver in two days. While Chris would be tied up and would drive up with the rest, Vin was free, and with a bit of arm twisting Chris had convinced the younger man to go ahead and take the longer trip. Vin didn't want to spend the time away from his lover, but he really had been hoping to get a chance to ride the vintage train through the mountains and see firsthand a number of ghost towns and former mining operations, to say nothing of the spectacular scenery.
The night before he was to catch the train, the entire team met at the ranch to spend an evening finalizing their vacation plans and teasing Vin about the fact that he was, by virtue of his injury, getting an extra week off.
"Hell, Buck, " Vin responded as the big man again whined about the extra time, "it's not like I didn't earn it saving your butt at the warehouse..."
The mustached man responded in kind. "You saved me? Not likely! More like me and Chris covered your sorry Texan ass after you pulled your Spider-Man act coming off those rafters."
"I would'na had to do my Spidy routine if'n you and Chris weren't about to get yerselves filled fulla' lead, and," he added, "if ya'd stayed where I could'a covered you from the rafters."
"Enough!" Chris finally put in. "You gotta do the paperwork, Buck, so quit picking on Vin just because he got out of it for once."
Buck grinned. "Damn, and I thought it was working..."
Chris just gave him his signature glare, then broke down and grinned, glad that they were getting some much needed down time. "You're all getting two weeks. Now, let's get this thing wrapped up so we can get out of town and forget about this entire case."
After a long evening of friendly bickering and planning various activities for the upcoming weeks, the men finally drifted out and home until it was just Chris and Vin. They finished straightening up, tossing empty beer bottles into the recycling bin and stacking any dirty dishes in the sink, then locked up and headed for their bedroom.
By the time they reached the doorway both men had divested themselves of shirts and belts and were kicking off their boots as they entered the room. Stopping to embrace before finishing their mutual strip, Vin moaned into Chris's mouth as the blond ran his hands around him and down into the back of his jeans, cupping his taut buttocks. "God, Chris," Vin drawled "I'm gonna miss you..." He stopped then, moaning as the hands that were still encased in his jeans rubbed lower. "Maybe I should just stay here and go up next week when you do."
The blond shook his head, losing his lip lock in the process. "No, Vin, you've wanted to take that train for as long as I can remember, and this is a perfect chance."
"But it won't be the same alone..." Vin almost whined.
"Yeah," Chris chuckled, "you probably won't get busted for public indecency like we would if we ended up in one of those sleeper cars together."
"I guess the walls are pretty thin, huh?" the now contrite Vin responded. "You know what that means..." The evil glint in his blue eyes warned his lover just what that was.
"Ah...what?" Chris bit anyhow.
"It means we gotta do a week's worth of lovin' tonight. So we better quit jawin' and get to it..." He finished his sentence by latching onto his lover's lips and pulling the easily persuaded man the rest of the way to the bed. He paused only to finish unzipping the tight black jeans and his own worn denims before sliding both onto the floor and tipping the barely balanced blond onto the bed as he was pulling the fabric away from his ankles.
He landed on top of the blond but bumped his left arm against the bedstead. He did his best to hide the jolt of pain that shot up his arm, but Chris was watching, wary of how their impending activities would impact the injured arm and knowing that his lover would never willingly admit to hurting.
"Did you take the pain pills they gave you?" Chris demanded, watching how Vin answered. He wasn't interested in what the answer was; he already knew that. He just needed to know how far the younger man was stretching the truth, and that wouldn't be apparent by the words he said. That was information that he would read in the deep blue eyes that always told him the truth.
Getting an answer he could accept, he still reached over and shook out two of the tablets, handing them to Vin along with a bottle of water. The younger man prepared to refuse, but he forestalled the argument. "You take them or I'll be sleeping down the hall." He watched as Vin weighed his words, then uncapped the water and downed the pills. "Now, you're gonna take it easy and let me do ALL the work," he rasped as he pushed Vin down onto the soft comforter and began his gentle assault.
And gentle he was despite Vin's growls of arousal and frustration at the pace he set. But Chris was determined that they could do this without further injuring Vin's arm, if they only used a little bit of restraint. Admittedly this was something that neither man was used to doing when it came to their lovemaking.
Holding the slim body gently but firmly in place by virtue of laying on top of him, Chris licked and nibbled the smooth, nearly hairless skin starting just under the left ear. The reddish gold curls tickled his face as he breathed softly on the damp, sensitized area where he had been feasting. He trailed his mouth slowly down under the chin, lapping at Vin's Adam's apple and taking a possessive bite on the side of the delectable neck, then soothing the reddened flesh with a soft kiss and moving on to Vin's shoulders. He used his hands to massage the tense muscles there, first kneading and then gently rubbing and tickling. By the time he had reached the small brown nipples Vin was relaxing and enjoying the gentle attention. While he usually wanted it hard and fast, he had learned that when Chris took control and demanded they slow down he would inevitably end up as a boneless heap of contentment.
After one nipple had been thoroughly licked, sucked and teased to a hard nub, Chris's tongue made its way to the other, spending an equal amount of time there before moving on down the washboard stomach. He licked down and into the neat little bellybutton, swirling his tongue wetly there before blowing into the shallow depression. Chris smiled at the hiss escaping the Texan's lips; he had learned early on how ticklish the other man's navel was. He lingered there a few minutes more then slid further down, shifting on the bed so he could reach between the long slim legs.
He nudged the legs apart, sliding his hands along the soft, smooth flesh of the inner thighs, caressing and teasing them even farther apart so he could slide closer. Waiting briefly, still gently worshiping the body he had grown to love so deeply, he then leaned in and ran his tongue up the length of the proud, hard shaft that rose from the soft nest of curls.
Tanner's gasp of delight was repeated as he reached the tip and took the head into his warm wet mouth, sliding his tongue around and into the weeping slit before taking a breath and deep-throating as much of the long organ as he could while wrapping his fingers around the base. Gently squeezing as he began sucking and sliding up and down on the velvety, slick shaft, Chris slid his other hand deeper down between the widespread legs, caressing and fondling Vin's sacs before moving deeper still. He slid fingers still moist from saliva and precum between the soft cheeks and rimmed the puckered entrance as he increased the suction on the shaft in his mouth. Pushing inside first with one, then two fingers, he could feel the muscles clenching as Vin's body drew closer to release. He brushed his finger over the gland inside, causing Vin to cry out as he tumbled over the edge, spurting salty milk into the willing throat. Chris swallowed, accepting the sacrament as a confirmation of their union.
Chris moved back up to hold the trembling body as the final throes of the orgasm racked the slender man. Vin's eyes were at half mast, unseeing except for the sparks and flashes of color that swam through his inner eye. He fell back. exhilarated and drained at the same time, breath gradually slowing as his heartbeat eased back to a normal level.
"Oh... God... Chris... " he gradually drawled out, his mouth feeling nearly as boneless as the rest of his body.
Chris smiled, knowing that despite months of lovemaking, he'd managed to surprise and delight his partner once again. "Like that, did ya?" he rasped softly into the curls as he nuzzled the damp neck.
"Y..e...e...a...a...a....a....a....a....h...." the sated man breathed.
As the younger man drifted off Chris rose, entered the bath and washed his own belly, smiling as he realized that he'd come without a touch, just from the sight, sound and smell of his lover. The man was sensuality incarnate.
Knowing that his partner would wake shortly and insist on pleasuring him again he crawled back in bed and curled up behind the relaxed form, spooning himself against the warm length. He didn't sleep, but rested until his proximity to the soft buttocks began to inspire a reaction. He let it build, and as he heard the change in Vin's respirations that signaled his wakefulness he began a gentle rocking motion, rubbing his hard length against the moist cleft he rested against.
"Mmmmmm," the barely awake Texan murmured, "feels like you could use a little attention there." He pushed back invitingly.
"You up to this?" Chris rasped, his need increasing as the tempting body continued to push back against his hardness.
"Yeah, Chris...need ya in me...please..."
It was enough. He reached back and grabbed the tube of KY off the bedside cabinet, squeezed a glob into his hand and reached down, coating his erection and then working a coated finger into the already loosened opening, stretching it further before lining himself up and gently pushing inside. He didn't have to wait long for Vin's body to adjust to the fullness. In response, Vin pushed back, impaling himself fully on the hard shaft.
"C'mon, Cowboy...move it!"
He did, pulling back until only the head remained inside, then pushing in with a groan that was echoed. Trying to take it slow was no longer an option as the willing body surrounding him began thrusting back, establishing a rhythm that built in power and speed. As they rocketed towards another mutual climax, Chris reached around and used his still slick hand to encircle the jutting erection, matching the pace of his pumping hand to their thrusts. The only sounds in the room were the slapping of flesh against flesh and the pants and grunts as the pace increased and grew erratic as the frantic throes of orgasm overcame them once again. Chris's howl and Vin's moan merged as hot seed filled Vin and spurted over Chris's hand onto Vin's stomach. This time as their bodies trembled in the aftermath they were unaware, passing into a deep contented slumber.
Neither man woke again until the first rays of light filtered into the bedroom. Still spooned together they woke as one, content to lie in each other's arms as they made their mental preparations for the day. They might have stayed that way for a while longer, but nature called and they both answered.
By the time they had showered, dressed and were sipping their first cups of coffee it was nearly time to head in to the city.
Chris drove, taking Vin to the station and, not wanting to say goodbye on the street, or for Vin to strain his arm, Chris walked him to the train, carrying the larger bag.
As they entered the station they both noticed that there was an unusually high level of security in and around the historical train, and, upon inquiring, found out that a number of state and local politicians were aboard for a special fundraising event that was tied to the upcoming elections. Much of the train was booked by the accompanying supporters, staff and ,of course, the media circus that inevitably followed.
They boarded, found Vin's compartment, and after closing the blinds had a few private moments. All too soon by either man's standards the conductor called for all non-passengers to leave and they shared a final passionate kiss.
Vin was uneasy being aboard a train full of politicians and reporters but figured that his talent for disappearing into the background might come in handy. He loaded his suitcases into the cabinet and, as the train pulled out of the station, headed towards the diner car to get another cup of coffee and see if they had anything edible available.
After dropping Vin at the station, Chris headed to the Federal Building to get started on the balance of the paperwork. He would miss his lover but knew that he'd get a lot more work done with Vin on his way to Montana. There was nothing more distracting to Chris Larabee than a bored Texan, and when Vin was out with an injury his level of boredom rose exponentially with each day that he was laid up. Then there was the added benefit of the upcoming reunion. Since they had begun their relationship they hadn't been apart for more than a day or two and, thinking back on the intensity of the reunions he and Sarah had experienced when he'd been away on business, he was sure that next week would more than make up for their time apart. He was still smiling at that thought when Buck wandered in.
Taking one look at the grin on his friend's face the big man chuckled and slapped his boss on the back. "Musta' been one hell of a sendoff!" He waggled his eyebrows and paused, waiting for the details.
"Oh, it was," Chris replied huskily. "But I was just thinking about next week." He smiled again. "Been a long time since I've had a reunion to look forward to..."
"You dog!" Buck crowed. "You sound like me."
"On a good day, Buck... on a good day."
7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7
On the train Vin was busy reading through the pamphlets that outlined the train's itinerary and gave complete histories about the various towns and other attractions that they would visit along the way. He was really looking forward to seeing the ghost towns, many of them abandoned since the late 1800's as more and more of the miners and settlers headed further west to the gold rush in California and the desirable farming there and up in the Oregon territory.
The lure of the wild west was something that he'd never quite outgrown. He wished on some level that he could have lived in those simpler times, free to move across a largely unfenced frontier filled with natural wonders rarely seen today. He sighed and headed back to his compartment as the din from the reporters and the politicos became overly irritating.
It was as he headed back towards his car that he saw the familiar face pass him. The man was dressed as one of the train's many attendants but there was something very disturbing about his appearance. Vin paused, trying to make a connection as to when and where he'd seen the man, then decided that maybe he really did need this vacation. "Chill out, Tanner," he muttered to himself as he resumed walking.
He spent another hour reading, then, when the train entered a more rural area as it headed into the mountains, he leaned back to enjoy the scenery, sighing as he once again wished that he was sharing this with Chris. Then he smiled, thinking about how glad he'd be to see the blond when he arrived at the cabin and how much time they'd have to make up for. This might just end up paying off. He barely noticed that he'd drifted asleep as the rocking motion of the train relaxed him.
7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7
The call came into the ATF offices at just after 4 P.M. Orrin Travis had immediately called a meeting with his top team. He knew that they were due some leave but this was just too important to trust to anyone else.
By the time the team had gathered for the briefing rumors were flying. Something big was afoot and their well earned leave had just been put on the back burner.
Vin woke suddenly, not sure but thinking that the noise that had roused him was a gunshot. He sat up and noticed that the sun had moved a bit farther towards the western horizon though it was still daylight. He stood for a moment, listening, then moved to the window that looked onto the corridor to see if anything was amiss. He waited a few minutes and saw no one. That in itself was somewhat suspicious since for most of the day there had been a nearly constant stream of people moving back and forth along the length of the train. He decided to humor himself, hoping that this was just another instance of his overactive imagination or concussion-induced paranoia but deciding to play it safe anyhow. He reached up, opened the locked storage compartment and pulled out his small backup weapon, then tucked it into his boot. He once again checked the corridor and, finding it still empty, edged out of the compartment and headed towards the back of the train.
He had traveled the length of three cars and still hadn't seen anyone when he heard voices heading towards him. He slipped into an unlocked compartment and knelt against the door, pressing his ear to the the wall in hopes of finding out if something was going on.
His worst fears were validated as he heard a small part of the passing conversation.
"We got all the passengers rounded up and under guard?" the first voice asked, still getting closer to Vin's position.
"Yeah, no sweat, they were all gathered for their big dinner party," a second voice replied. "And since all the waiters and attendants are our guys it was over before they knew what hit them."
"Did Bobby make the ransom call yet?" the first voice sneered back. "We gotta collect the big bucks before we blow all these stinking politicians to hell."
"He made the call, but you'd better remember that this is his party and if he hears you taking like that he'll put a bullet in you faster than you can blink," the second voice admonished. They had stopped and lowered their voices but Vin could still hear most of what was said.
"He's a crazy bastard that's for sure, but he pays good and he's never been busted..." the first voice agreed.
"That may be true, but I heard he left his last crew in an ATF trap and they all ended up dead while he escaped," the second voice offered. "All I'm saying is that we gotta watch out for ourselves. Big bucks don't count for much if you're in the morgue."
As the voices faded down the hall Vin groaned and shook his head. Bobby had to be Bobby Rathson, and this was what he'd been planning. The sighting from Florida must have been set up to get the locals off his tail. He realized that his cell phone was back in his compartment and decided that he'd better head back. Chris was gonna have a cow. What's more, Vin's title of trouble magnet was gonna be reinstated for good. "Aw hell," he muttered. "Can't even take a vacation without some psycho coming along." Then he wondered how it was that he'd been missed when they had rounded up the other passengers.
7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7
By the time Orrin Travis had uttered his first sentence Chris knew that fate had smacked him in the ass once again.
"Oh God..." Buck began, interrupting the older man as he began to explain about the ransom demand that had been called in to the local FBI office.
JD looked from Buck to Chris and then to the director as he too realized why Chris had gone white as a sheet almost as soon as Travis had opened his mouth.
Buck moved to Chris's side and put a hand on the blond's shoulder as Nathan explained to Travis what was going on. "Vin is on that train," he stated simply, knowing the director would understand the ramifications as well as they did.
"Do they know for sure it's Rathson?" Josiah asked, aware that Bobby had watched as Vin had ended his little brother's life.
"I'm afraid so. The caller mentioned certain details that no one else would know. But he didn't mention Vin, so maybe they don't know he's on board."
"I'm afraid that even if that is the case at the moment," Ezra paused, then continued, "once Bobby sees him..." He didn't finish, knowing as well as anyone just what sort of revenge the man would exact on the agent who had killed his brother.
"On the other hand," Josiah offered, "having a man on board could be, as Ezra might say, our ace in the hole."
They quickly returned to business as Travis filled them in on the information he had so far.
7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7
By the time Vin had reached the car where his room was he'd had to duck two sets of armed men as they made their way down the train. Apparently they weren't finished with their search for passengers after all. It looked like he really would have to disappear if he was going to be of any help to the hostages at the back of the train.
He finally got to the compartment and found that everything not locked in the storage unit had been strewn about as the men searched hastily for any stray passengers. He knew that anything that would identify him as a threat was either on his person or locked securely but still cringed at the thought of Rathson finding out that he was on board. He quickly packed his phone, a jacket, some candy bars and other odds and ends into his small shoulder pack and slipped out again, leaving the mess on the floor to hide the fact that he'd been there. The thought that they might already know who he was from the passenger list crossed his mind, so he decided to find a safe place to hole up while he contacted Chris and figured out what he could do until help arrived.
Twenty minutes later, tucked away in the back corner of a luggage car he pulled out the cell and dialed, silently praying that they were in an area that had the equipment necessary for the phone to work. He smiled as he realized that for once he actually had the damn thing with him and fully charged too.
Normally two out of three was good, but having the phone and a charge weren't any good in a no-service area. He swore as he shoved the useless piece of plastic back into the bag. Maybe later when they were near a city....
At the back of the train Bobby Rathson and two of his original gang were finalizing their plans for the train and its passengers. They had hired on a lot of extra men to help with the takeover of the train, and with an inside man working for the company that ran the special excursions it hadn't been as difficult as he had expected to get them all on board and in position. That wouldn't help later when things heated up, but that was one of the advantages of hired help. They were, for the most part, expendable. And while the authorities were busy worrying about the ransom, he and his men would be busy with the real mission. He had more than enough money. What he wanted now was some payback against the men in power that he perceived as the ones ultimately responsible for everything that had ever gone wrong in his life, up to and including the death of his brother just last week. He idly wished that he had been able to get the ATF team responsible for that at the same time, but unfortunately, that would have to wait. The chance to wipe out a whole train full of politicians was simply too good to pass up. He'd get Larabee and that longhaired bastard that killed his brother soon enough.
7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7 ~ 7
Orrin Travis knew that even if they paid the ransom it was unlikely that the hostages would be released unharmed. That just wasn't how Bobby Rathson operated. He and Chris Larabee had discussed this fact and were pretty sure that the ransom was either icing on the cake or a diversion. They both leaned towards the diversion theory. They would go along, pretending to believe, but they would be more concerned with figuring out a way to get their men on and the hostages off the train.
They had spent the last hour picking the brains of one of the train company's security men for ways to override the trains systems or, failing that, to divert the train to an area where they could somehow board it unseen. While the old trains it was modeled after had only limited power and versatility, beneath the veneer of age this train was actually an up-to-date computerized version with enough power that even on the uphill stretches in the mountains it was unlikely that it would be slow enough for the team to be able to board. There was however one feature with which all modern trains were equipped -- the automatic shutdown function that overrode all other programming in the event of a collision. They could, in the right location, place a vehicle or other obstruction on the tracks and the resulting crash would cause a stop. No doubt the men on board would restart as soon as possible but that did take a minimum amount of time. They would have between 7 and 12 minutes before they crew onboard could restart. That is unless the collision caused the train to derail and crash itself.
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