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+ + + + + + +
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + + +Barye turned to his manager. "Make the call," he said in a low voice.
The manager nodded. He pulled out his phone and began to dial.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The small dialog box popped up on JD' computer as the computer buzzed, making dialing sounds.
>Intercepting call....<
>Blocking incoming call....<
>Redirecting incoming call....<JD picked up the small computer microphone and answered, "911 emergency."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Yes," the manager said into the phone. "We have two men with explosives who have taken control of our vault."
+ + + + + + +
A white van pulled up and stopped with a little screech right in front of the casino. A casino worker quickly opened the door for the security guards, who loaded the bags into the van and shut the door.
The van pulled away.
Two town cars wheeled out of the valet station after the van.
As the cars pulled out, a SWAT truck pulled into the valet station. The team hopped off.
+ + + + + + +
The SWAT team rappelled down the elevator shaft.
Josiah popped up his helmet when he hit the ground ahead of the others. He grinned widely at them as they landed around him. "Young'uns!"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Barye stood right behind his security men, watching the monitors.
A voice came over the line. "Reachin' elevator doors now...."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Buck and Josiah pried open the elevator doors. They looked straight down the hallway into the vault, where Ezra and Chris were sitting on a shelf, sharing a silver flask of scotch.
Ezra gingerly raised it in a toast as the power went out.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The casino owner waited tensely, watching the dark screens as the voice resumed. "Ya've got two guards tied up an' out cold...."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"I think there's someone here!" Nathan yelled as he wrapped Ezra's hands, covered white with a cooling medicinal cream.
"Take 'im down!" Vin hollered.
"I got him!" Josiah rumbled as he quickly shot off a few rounds of his H&K.
Behind them, Chris stuffed a fat folder of information into one of the bags. He pulled out of his pocket the remote control and the sensor blocking devices--the two Ezra had used on the outside of the vault door and the now-folded and broken up thin-wire one which had been in the cart--and tossed them into the bag.
Nathan helped the Southerner into a uniform SWAT jacket taken out of one of the bags and held another out to their leader. Ezra looked askance at the black duffel and then quickly scooped it up in his hands. The medic winced.
+ + + + + + +
The SWAT team trotted through the casino floor, each with his square duffel. The figure in front popped up his face mask.
Vin grinned from underneath the black helmet.
+ + + + + + +
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + + +Mary smiled at Lightfoot. "Thank you for a wonderful evening, James."
Lightfoot smiled. "My pleasure."
Mary nudged her son, who smiled and said politely, "Thank you, Mr. Lightfoot."
"Would you like to come in?" she invited after unlocking the door to the house. "Please, have a seat in the living room."
"Oh Mary, I wouldn't want to make you do--"
"Not at all. Billy, why don't you show Mr. Lightfoot your new game."
The boy nodded quietly and obediently led the lawyer into the living room.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mary walked into the kitchen, turned on the light, and set her purse down. She was headed to the refrigerator when she saw the manila envelope on the table.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"This one Chris gave me a long time ago." The small child looked sadly at the game before putting it back. "Before he left."
"You must miss him a lot," Lightfoot replied, fidgeting just the tiniest bit.
Billy sighed. "Yeah."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mary's eyes scanned the page and then she flipped to the next one. Again she skimmed the page and flipped to the next one.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Mommie?" Billy asked when he saw his mother in the doorway. Lightfoot looked up with a smile.
Mary glared at him, her face nearly white with anger. She took two quick, long strides across the room and threw a punch that sent the man careening to the other end of the room.
Lightfoot gasped as he fell against the wall. "Mary!"
"That was for Billy and me," she hissed. "And everyone in Four Corners."
The lawyer paled but kept his composure as he got up and stepped toward her.
Mary decked him again. "And that was for Chris. A restraining order! Don't you dare come near me or my son again. I'll show you restraining order." She held out her hand to her son. "Billy, come with me."
"Ma?" Billy asked, bewildered. "Are we gonna find Chris?"
+ + + + + + +
The SWAT truck pulled into the warehouse.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mary watched as even more police cars stopped in front of her house.
The detective nodded at her and she promptly peeled out of the driveway in her car, Billy in the backseat.
She drove hurriedly through the dark streets until she got to the brightly lit downtown area.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The six men piled into a large tank of a car right outside the warehouse and drove off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
She turned into the parking lot and let Billy out of the car as her eyes scanned the parking lot. There were several people getting in or out of their cars, but no one she knew.
"Ma? Why're we here?"
"We're waiting for someone." Mary led her son inside to the restaurant lobby area and sat him down on a seat nearby, her eyes still sweeping the area.
Billy looked a little puzzled but pulled out his book and began to read, his brow furrowing ever so slightly at some of the words.
+ + + + + + +
"And tonight on the eleven o'clock news--the biggest arrests to rock Vegas. Less than one hour ago police received an anonymous tip about the perpetrators behind the heinous destruction of the Witcoff business district and the attempted attack on the Four Corners district. FBI agents have already apprehended a man known only as 'Earl' as of this time; police then moved to arrest four others linked to him."
The six men grinned as the cameras flashed pictures of police cars in front of the Gadiel, the Alexandra, and the Marseille. Empty plates of what had been a late dinner were stacked in the middle of the table; now they were just enjoying a few drinks together.
"Three casino owners have been arrested in connection with either hiring people for the job or fronting for Earl."
The TV screen flashed to a residential neighborhood.
"Also implicated was famed lawyer James Lightfoot, who had been running for the office of Attorney General. He is suspected of receiving payoffs from Earl in order to bribe jurists and throw a trial to get Earl off."
The six men shared grins.
Vin swallowed the last of his beer and finished off his fries. He then got up to go, clapping Josiah on the shoulder as he went out.
Ezra put money onto the table for his drink, nodded to the others, and left.
Nathan's phone began to ring. He checked the message and then looked up at the others. He smiled apologetically, grabbed his coat, and headed out.
JD leaned his head back onto the top of the high-backed chair, his eyes drooping tiredly. He finally got up, shook hands with the two men left, and got into a cab outside.
Buck watched the news until the weatherman came on. He finished his whiskey, bid Josiah a silent goodbye, and headed out.
Josiah sat at the booth, watching the news with a small grin as he fingered his whiskey glass.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
He seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Mary. Billy."
Billy's eyes went wide and he dropped the book as he looked up. "Chris!" he shouted before jumping into the man's arms.
"Hey there, big guy. Wow, look at you! How much have you grown?"
"Lots." The little boy grinned happily. "You came back! I missed ya."
Chris chuckled; the child's enthusiasm was overwhelming. "I missed ya too, Billy," he said softly.
Mary just smiled at them.
"Mary," Chris said gently. Then he smirked a little, a devilish glint in his eye. "Might not want to get too close to you. There's a restraining order against me."
She gave him an amused look of exasperation and stepped closer to him. Mary opened her mouth to say something, then shut it as she looked down briefly.
He watched as she reached up hesitantly and straightened his collar before finally looking up at him.
"I told ya I knew what I was doing." Chris gave her a soft smile.
"Yes, but I didn't," Mary murmured apologetically.
+ + + + + + +
"Buck, Vin," Nathan greeted gleefully as he came out of the crowded courtroom.
"Well?" Buck asked.
"Lightfoot tried to argue that those papers on Earl and everyone else were illegally gotten and couldn't be admitted in court."
"He oughta know all about illegal." Vin smirked.
"Judge buy it?" Buck asked as he came up.
"Barye torpedoed him," Nathan replied.
Buck and Vin looked at him in surprise.
"He cut a deal." Nathan shrugged. "I think he doesn't like Lightfoot," he deadpanned. "Just a little."
The men chuckled.
"Where are Josiah and JD?"
"Playin' Cinderelly at the ranch. Travis wasn't too happy about the mess." Vin's eyes twinkled.
Buck couldn't resist and asked impatiently, "So what did Barye say?"
"Well, he did say that he got a phone call about being robbed, and that yes, he was keeping Earl's stuff for him, and his staffers corroborated everything. Lightfoot was lookin' all pleased, and then Barye said that all his money was accounted for and began to explain how hard it was to hit a casino vault."
"Hit a casino vault," Vin said in mock surprise. "Wow. That's near impossible."
Nathan rolled his eyes.
"Well, I'm sure it can be done, Junior," Buck replied seriously. "With the right crew, of course."
"Oh, sure. One with skill."
"Diverse talent."
"Brains."
"D--n good smile."
The other two men turned to Buck. "What?!"
+ + + + + + +
Vin was leaning against the marble colonnade of the courthouse, looking over the parking lot. He took another bite of his sandwich and chewed a little before pausing.
Buck, his Hawaiian shirt flapping slightly in the wind, looked up from his newspaper and over at the younger man.
Vin hit his chest with his fist and swallowed hard, grimacing.
Buck rolled his eyes and turned back to his paper.
Chris walked out of the courthouse, dressed in a dark blue blazer, khakis, and a tie. He stopped at the doorway.
Buck folded up his newspaper and flashed a grin at his old friend.
Vin finished chewing the rest of his sandwich, crumpled up the wrapper, and tossed it in the nearby trash can before looking back at Chris. "Hope ya were the groom." Vin's eyes twinkled. Buck snickered.
Chris glared at Vin and then looked at Buck. "Thomas Magnum wants his shirt back."
Buck grinned. "Judge decide to take a lunch break in there?"
"He wanted to," Chris retorted, then shrugged. "Lightfoot kept insisting that his restraining order against me be kept in place."
"Restraining orders in jail?" Buck snorted as the three headed down the steps to the parking lot.
Chris shrugged with a grin as they started across the parking lot. "Wanted to set a precedent." He reached up to loosen his tie.
"Wouldn't do that if I were you," Buck commented and flashed a grin at the man.
Chris scanned the cars sitting in the lot.
"Josiah's," Vin replied and pointed.
"Josiah's?! Over half a million and you pick me up in Josiah's Suburban?"
"Blew the money on a tux." Vin flashed his "Dare ya to shoot me, Larabee" grin.
"What tux?"
"'N wedding presents," Buck added with the same grin.
"Wedd--what weddin' pre--"
"Them baby shower presents," Vin deadpanned, his eyes twinkling.
"'I'm a big brother' T-shirts for Billy."
"Extra rooms at yer ranch."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Billy sat in the backseat of the old car with his mother. Mary held her son close with one arm as her other hand held open the book. "'...to prevent himself from shouting out similar instructions; but he thought, 'The poor chap's doing all he can already,' and held his tongue. And certainly both Horses were doing, if not all they could, all they thought they could; which is not quite the same thing. Bree had--'"
"Ma?" Billy suddenly asked.
"Um hm?"
"Why's Chris runnin' after Buck and Vin, yelling and shaking his fist?"
"They're just playing, honey."
"Oh."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Buck and Chris leaned in the open window of the driver's seat. "Stopped by to pick up someone," Vin said as he poked his head into the front window of the passenger's side door. Vin grinned at Mary before smirking across the car at Chris.
Mary smiled at them from the backseat. Billy beamed. "Chris!"
"Hey there, pard." Chris smiled and slid into the backseat with the little boy and his mother. "Mary."
Vin and Buck shared an amused look before climbing into the front. Buck started up the engine and whirled out of the parking lot.
"Um, Buck?"
"Yeah, little guy?"
"Buck, I gotta go to the bathroom."
The car screeched to a halt.
END
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