This story begins, as so many of them do, somewhere in the middle.
"He wouldn't do that, JD. Not Vin. You must've misunderstood or something."
Buck spoke firmly. Well, as firmly as he could through a mouthful of
McDonald's famous quarter pounder with cheese.
"There wasn't anything to misunderstand, Buck. I saw Vin kiss her." JD's
tone made it clear that he felt Buck was not taking this seriously enough to
suit him.
"But Vin? And Casey?" Buck snorted at the thought.
"What's wrong with Casey?" JD demanded.
"Nothing, son." Buck hastened to reassure the scowling young man. "She's a
pretty little filly. And smart, too. It's just her and Vin together...
There has to be some explanation."
"Well, I'd sure like to hear it. Casey told me she couldn't go to the movies
last night cause she wasn't feeling good. You were out with Lottie, so I
asked Vin if he wanted to go and he said he already had plans. Yeah. He had
plans all right. With Casey!!!" JD's voice grew a tad shrill on that last
part.
"Now calm down, JD. You went over Casey's last night to bring her some ice
cream after you got out of the movie and you saw Vin and Casey standing on
the porch, right? And you say he leaned over and kissed her. What kind of
kiss was it?"
"What do you mean what kind of kiss was it? It was a kiss, ok?"
"There's kisses and then there's kisses."
"You aren't gonna start on that 'a different kiss for each pair of lips'
crap, are you?"
The two agents were interrupted just then by the ringing of a phone. After a short,
but intensive, search they found it half buried under a pile of clean laundry
that was sitting on the coffee table in their rather cluttered living
quarters. Although, their friends didn't use nearly so polite a description as cluttered when referring to Buck and JD's living quarters.
"Isn't that Vin's cell phone?" JD asked.
Buck nodded as he picked it up and pushed a button.
"Hello?" Buck had borrowed the sharpshooter's phone the other day and hadn't
returned it yet.
"Hi, Vin. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be a little late tonight.
But don't worry, I'll be there. I never thought we'd both do something so
crazy. But it's been fun, hasn't it?" Casey cut the connection before he
could reply.
Buck dropped the cell phone and turned to look at JD.
"I think we need to pay Vin a little visit."
"Are you sure about this, Nate?" Chris Larabee frowned as he stared up at
the other agent.
"No. I aint sure. But you know Vin. He wouldn't tell the rest of us even
if we begged on bended knee. He might tell you, though."
"But then he might not." Chris muttered.
"Well, you being the boss and all, maybe you could just order him to tell
you." Nathan's grin was met with a glower from his aforementioned Boss.
"Yeah. Just look how well it works with the rest of you."
Nathan's grin widened a bit in appreciation of the remark, but it quickly
faded as he recalled the reason he had asked Chris to stay at the office
after the rest of the team had left.
"I just know I heard him talking on the phone to a Dr. Rossiter. He was
asking about the results of some test he'd taken. And he didn't look too
happy with whatever the doc had to say."
"He was using the pay phone down in the lobby?" Chris's voice was tense.
"Yeah." Nathan stood silently, watching as Chris shoved papers haphazardly
into his briefcase. He was certain Chris was remembering last Christmas when
Vin had spent the entire holiday in the hospital and had neglected to tell
anyone. If it hadn't been for Buck dating that nurse, none of them would
ever have known.
"Ok, Nate. I'll take care of it." Chris rose to his feet.
"Mind if I tag along?"
"Suit yourself." One way or another, Vin Tanner was going to answer a few
questions.
"Let me get this straight. You think Vin has a gambling problem?" Josiah's
voice was componded of equal parts amusement and disbelief.
"I merely said it was in the realm of possibility. A conjecture if you
will." Ezra replied defensively.
"Just because he asked to borrow some money?"
"A rather significant amount of money. And he is frequently to be found
hunched over a piece of paper, scribbling random numbers."
"Hmmm...." Josiah rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Trying to work the odds,
you think?"
"Perhaps. Or perhaps he is merely exercising his mathematical inclinations
and is well on his way to becoming the next Einstein of the new millenium."
"Well, the Lord does say all things are possible. Maybe we've been harboring a genius in our midst" Josiah
mused aloud, ignoring the blatant sarcasm behind the southerner's words.
"Yes. And I'll be the first to congratulate him when he wins the Nobel Prize. Now can we please stick to the matter at hand?"
"And what matter would that be, Ezra? Your touching concern for your friend's well being or your terrible fear that you won't ever see a penny of that money you loaned him again?"
Ezra gave the larger man a withering look.
"Never mind. I'm pretty sure I can guess."
"Well, Mr. Sanchez?"
"What exactly is it you think I can do, Ezra?"
"You're the one with all the experience counseling troubled souls."
"You mean you don't want to be the one to talk to him about this."
"That is the gist of it, yes."
"Well, no time like the present. Let's go."
"I wish you the best of luck. Mr. Tanner is fortunate to have such a
steadfast friend."
"You're coming with me."
"Really, I don't think..."
"Ezra."
"Fine. Have it your way."
"Yep."
Vin Tanner had just stepped out of his apartment building in Purgatorio when
he was met by a veritable cacophony of sound which gradually translated
itself into several distinctly familiar voices.
"There he is! Don't let him get away!"
"Where are you going? To meet Casey? Well, you've got another think coming,
pal!"
"Dammit, Vin! Were you planning on spending another Christmas alone in the
hospital?"
"It ain't good to keep things like that to yourself, Vin. It upsets Chris."
"Addiction is a hard demon to carry, Brother. But you don't have to carry it
alone."
"Listen to Josiah, Vin. He can help you. And I am not without sympathy,
myself. In a goodwill gesture from one friend to another, I'll even drop the
interest rate on the money you owe me by three percent."
"Casey? Hospital? Addiction? What the hell are you fellas talkin' about?"
Vin shook his head in utter confusion before glancing at his watch. He
didn't have time for this.
None of the other men responded to the sharpshooter's question. They had too
many of their own.
"What does Casey have to do with this?" Chris glared at Buck and JD in
irritation.
"And why pray tell, would Mr. Tanner be spending the holidays in the hospital
again? Unless..." Ezra stopped short and stared at Josiah.
"His bookie." The two men exclaimed in unison.
"Well, I suppose I can write off the money Mr. Tanner owes me as some sort of
tax loss." Ezra sighed.
"Money? Bookies? Vin here may be dyin' and all you two can think about is
gambling? I'm surprised at you, Josiah." Nathan shook his head
disapprovingly.
"He's been taking Casey to the racetrack?" JD squealed indignantly.
"I can understand losin' your head over a pretty woman, Vin. But you just
don't poach on a friend's territory." Buck put a comforting arm around JD's
shoulders and glared at the sharpshooter.
"Ya'll ain't makin' a lick of sense." Vin declared irately. He really didn't
have time for this.
"Wait a minute. Vin's dyin'? When did that happen?"
"I didn't even know we had a racetrack here in Denver."
"All right everyone..."
"QUIET!!!!!!!!" Vin's command would have done his former sergeant major
proud. The other men fell silent, even Chris, and stared at Vin with
identical expressions of astonishment. None of them had known the
sharpshooter could speak in anything above a whisper.
"I don't know what the hell ya'll are yappin' about and I don't care. I have
a test tomorrow. A calculus test for my calculus class. I'm supposed to
meet Casey and a couple of the other kids so we can study together and I'm
already late thanks to you fellas." Vin settled his backpack more firmly
onto his shoulder and started walking towards his Jeep, muttering under his
breath.
"Might as well forget tryin' to keep anything a secret around here. A man
can't even go to college in peace with this bunch."
"College?"
"Vin's going to college?"
"He's taking calculus? Why didn't he ask me for help? I'm better in math
than Casey is."
"Vin and his damn secrets. I wish just once he'd see fit to share."
"I wonder what he's majoring in? If it's History, I still remember a few
things."
"Yeah. Like what kind of perfume that pretty gal in the row ahead of him
used to wear." Chris snorted.
"Well at least I had pretty gals in my class, Mr. Criminal Justice Major."
"I majored in Computer Science. Buck majored in History. Chris majored in
Criminal Justice. What did the rest of you major in?" JD raised his
eyebrows and glanced around at the other men.
"Biology. Thought about being a doctor for a while." Nathan volunteered,
sounding a bit wistful.
"Comparative Religion with a minor in Psychology. Thought maybe I'd find
answers. All I found was more questions." Josiah sighed.
"A BA in English Literature from Duke and an MBA from Harvard." Ezra smiled
in satisfaction at the memory, before a faintly puzzled expression crossed
his face as he wondered, not for the first time, how he had wound up in his
current low paid occupation.
"Well, ooh la la. Ol' Ez here is edumacated." Buck grinned and clapped the
southerner on the back.
"So what do you think Vin is majoring in?" JD brought them back full circle.
"I say we go ask him. It's only natural that his friends would want to
know." Chris said silkily. So Vin hadn't seen fit to tell him he was going
back to college. A man was entitled to keep secrets. But that didn't mean
Chris couldn't make him suffer for it.
"Yeah. We can help him study. Think he'll like that?"
Chris met Ezra's green eyes with his own. "I'm sure he'll be very happy,
JD." Chris assured him solemnly.
"Ecstatic." Ezra murmured.
The seven men hurried to their vehicles and set off in hot pursuit of their
sharpshooter.
But that's another story.
The End
