ATF Universe
Midnight
ATF Office
Vin watched as his two team mates paced and worried. Tanner also watched as Miller and the men with him kept to themselves at the far end of the ATF room. Something just did not feel right to Vin Tanner, and Vin wasn't one to let a gut feeling pass. So he walked over to Chris and Nathan to talk to them."Chris, something don't feel right about this whole thing. I can't put my finger on it but Miller just don't set well with me. And his men there's something about them I don't like."
"Do you think Miller and his men might try and blow this operation for some reason?" Chris asked.
"I don't know, it's just something in this whole thing doesn't feel right." Vin replied.
"Vin, it could just be cause of what Miller did to Josiah back in 92. We all feel some sort of distrust for the man," Nathan pointed out.
"Maybe, but I don't think so. There's something about his face when he mentions Josiah's name. I think he had some beef with Josiah and used it to hurt Josiah years ago.. And if I'm right Miller still doesn't like Josiah and I'd hate to think he'd do something to get Josiah killed."Vin told his friends.
"Well then we watch Miller and make sure he doesn't have the opportunities to screw anything up," Chris growled with a dark look toward Miller and his men.
2 AM Wednesday
Travis home
Denver
Phone calls in the middle of the night were never anything good. And when Orin answered this call he knew it wasn't going to be good news. " Orin Travis here.""Orin, it's William Schooner here. I understand you were making some inquiries about one of my ex- agents today?" said the voice on the other end of the phone.
"If you mean Miller then yes I was. And what do you mean ex- agents since when?" Travis snapped.
"Orin, can we meet at your office within the hour. What I have to tell you is confidential and I can't be sure your phone is safe." Schooner said.
"Yeah I can be there. See you then." Orin replied.
"Orin, what's going on?" Evie Travis asked as she felt her husband get out of bed.
"I need to meet someone in my office, it's nothing for you to worry about." Travis said as he kissed his wife's cheek.
Travis knew his wife would worry if she knew he thought Chris and the boys might be headed for trouble. And he sure as hell didn't want his daughter-in-law Mary to find out . She would want to try and help Chris and the boys find Josiah and Travis wanted to keep his family safe.
2 AM
Standish Townhouse
Ezra woke to the ringing of his cell phone. Who the hell called someone at 2 am for God's sake."Standish".. he snapped in answer to the phone.
"Standish, just thought you'd want to hear what I just found out about Miller. Miller got canned two months ago. And right now the CIA is looking for him. I don't know all the details yet but I wanted to get back to you on this," said the voice on the phone. and then hung up.
Ezra got off the chair he'd fallen asleep on and decided maybe he'd better head to the office and let Chris know about Miller. Ezra made it to his jag and got it unlocked , but before he could get in he found himself picked up by the back of his jacket and turned around to face one of the biggest meaning looking man in his life. Before Ezra could say a word the man draw back his beefy fist and slammed it into Ezra's face. Everything went black.
Another phone ringing. "Larabee"
"They took the bait."
"Ok, we'll be right behind you."
"It's going down. let's move," Chris shouted to the room at large.
Bulter Butte
Outside Denver
Ezra Standish awoke to find himself in a cold damp fowl smelling room. His head hurt like the devil and his jaw felt like he'd going a few rounds with De la Hoya. Once he got his head working right he looked around. He found himself in the basement of an old building and it was lit by only one small bulb in the center of the ceiling. Ezra looked around until he found what he was searching for. Josiah Sanchez was hanging by his arms in the far corner of the basement. Ezra could tell Sanchez had been roughed up but how bad Ezra couldn't tell from here. He managed to sit up only to find his arms and legs tied together with handcuffs.,well Zook must not have known Standish as well as team 7 thought cause if he did he'd know Standish could be out of the cuffs within minutes. Which he was ...he stood and slowly made his way toward Josiah."Mr. Sanchez,... Josiah," he spoke softly.
No answer came back. So Ezra walked closer and until he could finally see his teammate. Josiah had been beaten and had a nasty cut on his right arm that looked infected and blood was dried on his head while bruises and abrasives adored his face, arms and chest. But Ezra had seen Josiah look worse so he didn't think it was anything to serious. but why wasn't Josiah awake.
Ezra lay his hand on Josiah's arm and gave him a gentle shake. "Mr. Sanchez, come on wake up. it's me Ezra," Ezra tried again to wake the big agent.
Slowly Josiah's eyes opened into little slits as the right one was swollen shut and the left one had blood dries over the lid.
"Come on Josiah that's it open your eyes, your rescue is on the way," Ezra joked.
"Ez....." Josiah said as he tried to wet his lips.
Ezra looked around but couldn't find any water near by..He wondered if Josiah has been feed or given water at all since Sunday.
"My friend don't talk, help is on the way. Once Nathan gets here he'll fix you right up,"Ezra assured his friend.
"ge..get.....way...." Josiah tired again to wet his lips.
"Now Mr. Sanchez, I went to a lot of trouble to join you here.And here you are trying to get rid of me already,"Ezra drooled.
"get out....leav... leave me," Josiah mumbled.
"I'm afraid Mr. Standish will be staying here with you for awhile Josiah." William Zook spoke from the bottom of the steps.
Ezra turned to see a short gray haired older man looking at him and Josiah.
"Mr. Zook I presumed,"Ezra asked.
"Ezra Standish, it's so nice to meet a friend of Josiah Sanchez's .Or should I say to meet the young man who is as close to a son as Sanchez will ever have," Zook laughed.
"You'll be glad to know I informed Sanchez of the lies and evil done to him by our old buddy Miller. Can you believe poor Sanchez had no idea why Miller hated him so much. I had to point out to him that when one worked undercover and ended up putting people in prison it pays to know who all the relatives are. Miller's step brother ran afoul of Sanchez in Nam and Sanchez turned him in. Miller felt like he'd been handed the grand prize when the Ammods called the embassy about their pregnant daughter and he found out Sanchez was the man involved. "Poor Sanchez never stood a chance once Miller got his hands on the baby. And who was around to tell Miller's bosses what he was doing. They were way over here in the states and he was in Kuwait," laughed Zook
"My friend needs water. have you been giving him any food or water since he's been here," Ezra asked.
"All prisoners get 2 cups of water a day and one slice of bread," Zook replied "Oh by the way Mr. Standish how did you like the man I sent after you. his name is Woodrow. he's my number one fighter, never been beat.. "What do you think Sanchez? How many rounds do you suppose Mr. Standish could take with Woodrow?" Zook asked.
"leave Ez lone...let me with Woodrow," Josiah answered as best he could.
"Oh no my friend, you will watch while my champion beats Standish to death. And then maybe I'll let you have a go with Woodrow...maybe even this time I'll un cuff your hands," Zook said . As he spoke Zook motioned 3 men behind him forward. One grabbed Ezra and turned him toward the stairs as the other two when went to Josiah and un cuffed him from the ceiling . Josiah fell to his knees but the two goons pulled him up to his feet.The group made their way upstairs and entered a room that had a boxing ring in it's center.. Josiah was placed in a chair near the ring while Zook walked over to the big goon who had taken Ezra from his car.
"Mr. Standish, I do hope you like pain because from the looks of you, my champion won't have any competition fighting you,"Zook said.
"My good sir, you'll find I'm not so easy to beat," Ezra replied with a smile.
Ezra made his way into the ring hoping Chris and the other would show up real fast, since he didn't think he'd be alive if he had to spend to much time in the ring with Woodrow.
Orin Travis' Office
Orin Travis had arrived at the office half an hour ago and now he sit and waited on Schooner. Things must be bad for Schooner to come out of retirement to handle the Miller case.. Schooner walked in follow by several other men."Orin, it's good to see you. been a long time".Schooner shook Orin's hand.
"Schooner, it must be bad for them to drag your lazy butt out of retirement," Orin returned the hand shake.
"Orin, I won't beat around the bush with you here, We got a call four months ago about Miller and some of the operations he'd pulled without the agencies permission. Once we started checking we found Miller has been double dealing and making deals for himself since we put him in charge in Kuwait. I swear Orin none of the branch office people knew a thing about the Sanchez case until 2 months ago. Since we found out about it we've been working with the Amir and his people to try and get Sanchez and his grand daughter together. Miller took off and none of our people could find him or the grand daughter. We also found out Miller is or was in partnership with Zook. We found out the two of them had a falling out half a year ago and Miller has been trying to find Zook ever since. Our sources tell us Miller was the one to tell Zook where Josiah Sanchez was. We also know that both Zook and Miller were working on a deal with some big name gun runners in Kuwait when they had their falling out.. .Once Miller finds Zook we believe he'll kill him and anyone else who gets in his way... "What I need to know is has Miller contacted you or any of your men, and if so did he have the girl with him, since we feel he might have had her killed or be using her as some sort of hostage," Schooner explained to Travis.
"Yes he contacted Agent Chris Larabee earlier today and right now him and Laraebee along with two other ATF teams are waiting on Zook to make a move... As for the child, Miller doesn't have her. Larabee insisted Miller show them the child and then two of Larabee's agents took the child some place safe. But why is Miller so against Sanchez. Zook I can understand but Miller and Sanchez worked for the same people and causes,"Travis needed to know the why of the whole Sanchez deal.
"I'm sorry to say the agency messed up on this guy, seems Sanchez got Miller's step brother busted in Nam and the kid died in a prison fight a year later. So when the Ammonds called the US counsel Miller found a way to get even. The truth is the CIA never knew Sanchez had fathered a child over in Kuwait and we never knew he was looking for her in 89.. Miller some how got the girl invited to meet Al_ Bader a member of the Amir's staff. Miller gave permission for the girl to marry Al_Bader when she was only 15. Thankfully Al_Bader truly loved the girl and the two of them were very happy, that is till Miller started putting pressure on Al_Bader to betray the Amir's trust. " Jack Roper finally told Al_Bader and Michelle Sanchez Al_ Bader the truth about everything . From what we could find out the couple were planning a trip to the US in order for them to all meet Sanchez. But then two months ago the couple were killed in an auto crash. The Amir and Al_ Bader along with Roper had already been working on a way to keep the grandchild out of Miller's hands," Schooner told the judge.
Just then one of Schooner's men stepped forward and laid some papers on Orin's desk.
"Sir, this is the official custody papers for the little girl. You'll see that they are signed by not only the Amir of Kuwait but also by the president.. We also have those boxes that the Amir insisted should go to Mr Sanchez....they are personal items belonging to Mrs. Al_Bader and as her only living relative Mr. Sanchez is entitled to have them."
Orin was impressed.... Schooner and the government must really be afraid Sanchez would go for their asses over this whole deal and Orin felt he had a right to do so.
"Orin I hate to say it but your men might end up in the cross fire if Miller and Zook take each other on. Could you perhaps tell us where they are and what's going on?" Schooner asked.
Orin picked up the phone and dialed Chris cell phone, but only got voice mail. He tried team 2 and team 5's leaders but there too got voice mail.
"Gentlemen, my men aren't answering their phones so the operation must be going down now. Let me call team 5's surveillance van and see where they are." Travis dialed as he spoke.
"Gordon, Travis here can you tell me where the teams are and how long they have been there? I see, yes how long. ok thank you." "Well Schooner we're in luck the teams left only an hour ago and they are headed for an abandoned farm house on Butler Butte. It would take them an hour to get there so if we hurry we should be able to get more men out there," Travis explained.
Schooner took out his cell phone and made several calls while the judge also made a couple of calls. Within minutes they could hear the sound of choppers and both men headed for the roof .
Ezra Standish wasn't a large built man nor was he all muscle bounded but he was fast and wiry, So Woodrow found himself fighting a better opponent then he thought he would. Ezra managed to get a couple good kicks in before Woodrow made a hard connection to Ezra's jaw once again..Ezra stayed on his feet but them Woodrow got a hold of his shirt front and begin punching him in the gut. Ezra throw punches back but it was like Woodrow never even felt them. Then Ezra aimed a well placed kick to Woodrow's groin area and watched as the mountain of flash doubled over for a second. Ezra made good his escape and moved away enough to be able to shook his head and get his bearings. Woodrow by this time was one very unhappy champion and he went after Ezra with blood in his eyes. Ezra knew he couldn't let the goon grab him a second time since he was pretty sure Woodrow meant to give a killing blow this time. Blood ran down Ezra's face and his gut felt like hell, his ears were ringing and his head was spinning but Ezra Standish knew that the rest of the team would be there soon. so he did the only thing he could think to buy some time. He give a yell , ran and leaped over Woodrow and hung onto the guys neck. Woodrow shook himself trying to get the southerner off his back but Ezra hang on for dear life. Just when he thought his opponent was going to succeed in tossing him off he heard those lovely words.
"Freeze ATF, CIA. You'll all under arrest."
Zook yelled for his champion and the two of them headed back down the basement steps, only to be followed by Miller and one of his men. Zooks other goons decided they weren't going to be taken easy and shots rang out. Ezra realized Josiah was still sitting in the chair and he drove over the ring and knocked Sanchez to the floor. Chris and Vin had their hands full getting control on Zook's goons and didn't notice Miller and several of his men bringing Zook back into the room only to slip him out a side door. Realizing they were out gunned Zook's goons give up with only a short fight. Nathan once sure Roper was alright, he'd been assigned by Chris to watch the man's back.. quickly made his way over to Josiah and Ezra. He tried to check Ezra first but the southerner said he was fine and for Nathan to check Josiah. Once again Josiah was unconscious and did not respond to his friends calling his name.
"EMT are on their way, be here in just a few minutes," Vin told Nathan.
"Good, Looks like maybe a couple broken ribs and this cut on his arm is pretty infected, he's got a temperature but he seems awful dry, no sweat. Could be dehydration and this cut above his head probable caused a concussion. His wrist are raw and cut pretty bad. And see how he's holding his arms, it's as if he's trying to protect them from something," Nathan told his team mates.
"Zook only give him two cups of water a day and one slice of bread. When I got to Josiah he was hanging by his wrist from a large pipe above his head. Maybe Zook had him standing like that for the pass three days," Ezra said..
Team leader Bob Petty come up to the group and asked. "Where the hell did Miller go with Zook? I thought he and his men were taking him outside to keep him out of the fire fight but I just checked and Miller and his group as well as Zook are gone. No one saw them leave so I have no idea what direction they went in."
"Damn, I knew Miller couldn't be trusted," Vin spoke.
Just then the sound of chopper could be heard, Chris and Vin along with several of the other teams ran out to see what was happening. Chris was shocked to see Travis climb out of one of the choppers.
"Chris, where's Miller and Zook?" Travis asked.
"I don't know, Bob just informed me that him and his men along with Zook can't be found," Larabee replied.
"Larabee get your men into one of the choppers and get them out of here." Schooner yelled.
"Who the hell are you and what the hell do you think you're doing giving me order!!" Larabee snapped back.
"Chris this is Schooner from CIA. do what he says and I'll go along with you and tell you what is going on. Bob and Mike can handle clean up on this bunch. Is Sanchez alive?" Travis asked.
"Yeah, he's been beat pretty bad but Nathan doesn't seem too worried so I think he should be find in a few days," Chris replied.
Schooner pulled Travis aside as the EMT's come out with Sanchez on a stretcher.
"I want Sanchez under guard alone along? with the grandchild. Miller and Zook aren't done with Sanchez yet and until we nail both of them Sanchez and his grand daughter are in danger. I'll have some of my men come to the hospital and pull guard duty... Larabee and the rest of his men aren't safe either, since by now both Zook and Miller realize this ATF team are a pretty tight group of men,"
"OK I understand. I'll explain everything to the men once we know Sanchez is going to be alright," Travis said then he ran for the chopper getting ready to leave with Josiah and his teammates.
5 AM Wednesday
Mercy General Hospital Denver
Mercy General had seen this team of ATF agents many times before. So as Nathan ran in behind the EMT's Nurse Michelle called out to Vin,"Which one Standish, Larabee, Wilmington, or Dunne?"
Vin yelled back "Sanchez"
Nurse Michelle was surprised, she couldn't remember Sanchez ever being the one hurt. It always seemed like the younger guys and Sanchez was always there to tell the rest of the team that their colleague was going to make it. Nathan was told to wait once they got to the emergency room exam room doors. He knew the routine so he headed for the nurses station to do the paper work. Chris and the other found places to sit cause they knew this could take awhile. "Judge you want to tell us what the hell is going on!" Larabee asked .
Orin Travis wasn't one to mince words so he told Larabee and his men what he knew so far. Ezra added what he knew which wasn't much but he figured Chris needed to knew everything no matter how unimportant it seemed.
"Chris, Schooner and I both feel that your team is in danger until Miller and Zook are brought in. Call Buck and JD..get them back here where we cam protect them and the girl," Travis said.
"Judge, I don't know this Schooner guy and I sure as hell don't plan on letting the CIA watch my back, seeing how they screwed up with Miller so bad. Once we know how bad Josiah is, the rest of us will go where Buck and the kid are and we'll stay there until we hear from you," Chris replied.
"Larabee, don't you get it. Miller no doubt knows every move you and your men take, hell he probable knows what time in the morning you shit. He's good at finding out things and uses them against his opponents. You leave this hospital and join your other agents, Miller will be right behind you. In the end he'll kill Sanchez and the rest of you and still have the girl to use as a hostage. By now he has all your phones tapped and your cars bugged. Every apartment and home bugged and tapped into. There's no place for you to hid but right here in the hospital. My men and I will see to it that you're kept safe."Schooner told the angry ATF agent.
"If my phone is bugged then there's no way in hell I'll call Buck, Him and the kid stay where they are until you get Miller and Zook behind bars where they both should have been years ago."Chris growled.
"Find have it your way but the rest of you don't leave this hospital with out my say so. Got that." Schooner growled back.
"Sure we'll stay here."Chris spoke softly.
When Chris Larabee agreed so quickly the judge knew he didn't plan on following orders. So he wasn't surprised when Chris and his men walked to the other end of the room to talk together in low tones. The judge wasn't one to mistrust his top agents feeling and hunches, so even he felt the team would be better off on their own or at least with back up from the other ATF teams. Something Schooner had refused to let Travis supple. Being the kind of man he was Travis decided to make his own plans for his best ATF team, if they wanted out and could take Sanchez with them, Travis planned on providing them a way out and a means other then their own cars to get to their two other team mates. So he left the hospital before he even knew how Sanchez was.
7 AM Wednesday
Mercy General Denver
ER waiting room
Doctor Michael Bender had dealt with this team before so he knew what to expect but heart specialize Mary Whitehurst didn't., so when the two doctors entered the room she was rather shocked to be descended on by four men."Chris, I've checked Josiah out so let me give you the run down. Two broken ribs, we got those taken care of. concussion,,, cuts, bruises and abrasions on both arms, wrist, chest and head. Nothing broken in the wrist so he was lucky there. The cut on his arm was infected so we cleaned it up and stitched it up ..What has me concerned is the dehydration and the infected infection? to the arm. We'll keep him on IV's both fluids and antibodies for the next few days, Keep a watch on the concussion but other then that I think he'll be fine. Now this is Doctor Mary Whitehurst, since Josiah is 50 we thought we should have a heart specialize look him over. I'll let her tall you what she found."
Dr. Whitehurst got right to the point. "Gentlemen Mr. Sanchez has placed a lot of strain on his heart, we ran an EKG and a few other test and so far none of them have shown any problems, but Mr. Sanchez is going to need rest and no stress for the next few days. When any person his age is in a job like Mr. Sanchez is , it means they deal with a great deal of stress , which puts strain on the heart. "I want to assure you that as far as I could tell Mr. Sanchez is in great shape for a man his age and after some rest I see no reason why he couldn't go back to his job and keep going for many years to come. But right now there is the danger of over taxing the heart by worry or stress, since he will be dealing with recovery from his injuries also. The best thing for him is once he's released from the hospital is a vacation away from work, for about three weeks. Unless Doctor Bender sees any need for it. I don't believe there would be any reason for me to see Mr. Sanchez again unless he feels the need for a check up on his heart sometime down the road," And with that Dr, Whitehurst made her way out of the waiting room.
"Mike, why a heart specialize?" Nathan asked.
"I just wanted to check all the bases Nathan, and since Dr Whitehurst was in the hospital I decided to have her check him out. she's one of the best heart doctors in the state."Dr Bender replied.
"Bender, is there anyway for us to take Josiah home today?" Chris asked.
"Today !! Are you crazy Larabee, I just told you we need to keep Josiah on iv's and watch him for a few days. No way," Bender said.
"Doc, Josiah isn't safe here. We just want to make sure the man who did this to him don't get his hands on him again," Vin explained.
"Beside you know Nathan is able to watch over Josiah, he knows what to look for and he can keep IV's going if he has too. All we need from you is the ok to take him and the iv's and medications he needs," Chris said.
"I promise you doctor we wouldn't ask this? if we didn't feel it was imperative to his safety," Ezra added..
Michael Bender knew those men pretty well and he also knew if they said their team mate was in danger they meant it.
"It's that serious then, you feel you have to take him out of here in the condition he's in." Bender said more then asked.
"Yes doctor, it's that serious," Ezra answered.
"Alright, but first Standish you need to be checked out yourself, you're a mess. And Nathan I'll need to instruct you on how to care for Sanchez and what to look for." Bender finally said.
"Thanks Mike, we own you one...Chris said then he grinned and asked , You wouldn't have a way for us to get out of here without being seen would you?" laughing Chris and the others watched Benders face redden.
The doctor left taking Ezra with him even through Ezra kept insisting he was just fine....Nathan followed along to get the instructions for Josiah's care. As they waited for Ezra and Nathan to return Chris and Vin tried to come up with a plan to get themselves and Josiah out of the hospital without Schooners men seeing them. Judge Travis come back just then and asked how Josiah was. After being told what the doctor said he motioned Chris to the back of the room.
"Chris, here's the keys to Bob Petty's truck, it's been checked no bug or tracking devices on it. Also teams 2 and 5 will make sure you and the boys get out of town without a tail. Once free of the city one of the team members will follow you as far as you'll allow to make sure Miller or Zook doesn't pick up your trail,"Travis said as he placed a set of keys into Chris Larabee's hands.
"Thanks judge," Chris said.
"Oh and Larabee, I didn't know a thing about this...got it".. the judge said as he walked out of the room.
Nathan and Ezra returned as the judge left the room.
"Chris you ain't going to believe this, but doctor Bender is going to help us. He says for you to have a car waiting behind the hospital in an hour and a half , he'll see that Josiah is down there for you to pick him up,"
"Damn Chris that glare of your works on doctors too," Vin joked.
"Bender wants me to stay with Josiah and he'll make sure I get out too, so it's only you three we need to figure out how to get out of here without Schooners men seeing you," Nathan informed his boss.
"No need to worry about me Chris, Hell I can give those guys the slip easy. Ain't like I never done something like that before". Vin said with a laugh.
And Chris knew exactly what Tanner was talking about. Tanner has slipped out of this same hospital on more then one occasion. As had Ezra Standish. Those two agents hated being in the hospital and would have to be guarded so they wouldn't sneak out.
"As for me Mr Larabee, I'm sure I can slither away from here with no problem," Ezra said.
"OK. then lets go see Josiah and make some plans". Chris said then he lead his three agents toward the room containing Sanchez. Nathan went right to Josiah side and checked to make sure everything was normal on the machines surrounding him.
"Josiah, Josiah time to wake up, we need you here. We got us a situation here and could use your advice," Nathan spoke to his friend softly.
Once again Josiah found himself trying to wet his lips. Ezra seeing this went to the sink and wet a cloth then returned to brush the wet cold cloth against Josiah's lips. "Here you go my friend, no water for a while yet but this should help." he explained as he contained to wipe the cloth across Josiah's dry, cracked lips. Once he had moistened his lips Josiah opened his eye to see Ezra, Nathan Chris and Vin standing around him.
"BUCK, JD, OH GOD ZOOK DIDN'T GET THEM DID HE." Josiah cried out when he didn't see his two team mates.
"No they are find Mr. Sanchez," Ezra told him.
"Josiah, I hate to ask this but do you think you can handle getting out of here within the next hour and take a ride with us. We need to get out of Denver for a few days?" Chris asked.
"Chris, I feel like crap but if you boys want to go somewhere I sure hope you ain't leaving me behind. Only thing is I seem to be packing extra items and ain't sure if I can travel without them". Josiah said as he looked at the two iv tubes running down to his arm.
"Don't worry preacher we'll cart your extras along for the ride," Chris said.
"Josiah, how are you really feeling?" Nathan wanted to know.
"Well brother Nathan, everything hurts so I guess that means I'll live cause if I was dying I'm sure it wouldn't hurt this much," Josiah replied. Before any of them could say anything else Josiah fell off to sleep.
"Best thing for him right now. Bender says he'll give his him?a shot before we move him. He said it should keep Josiah out for a few hours and keep the pain down some too," Nathan repeated what Bender had told him.
"Well my friends if we are to get out of here soon, we need to separate and find a means to vacate those premise," said Ezra.
"Ez is right, I'll head for the cafeterias. Once there I'll make my way out, You all can pick me up at the station on Fifth street."Vin told them as he slowly made his way out the door.
"As for me. will gentlemen I feel the need to lay down I think I'll ask one of the lovely nurses to find me an empty bed. Once on the road you will find me waiting for you with Mr. Tanner," Ezra winked then made his exit from the room.
"What about you Chris, how are you going to get out," Nathan asked.
"I think I'll go chew some ass, I wonder if Schooners men have even heard of the Larabee glare,"Chris laughed as he too made his way back out of the room
Nurse Michelle saw Larabee coming down the hall and could tell someone was in for big trouble. Ezra Standish had already talked one of the younger nurses into finding him a nice quite place to rest and Michelle knew Jackson would stay with Sanchez until he knew for sure the older man was going to be alright. Michelle was surprised that JD and Buck hadn't arrived at the hospital yet. It wasn't like the whole team not to be there. Chris saw two of Schooner men standing near the emergency room doors and headed straight for them. Agents Osborn and Smith were young and had only been with the CIA for a year, but they knew what was expected of them and when they saw Larabee headed their way they made to stop the man from leaving the building.
"Mr. Larabee sir, I'm afraid you can't go out . We've been instructed to make sure you and your other men don't leave this hospital," Osborn told the man in black.
To say the young man was taken back when Chris turned his glare toward him would be mild. The fella backed up and swallowed several times. While the men beside him moved as far away as he could get and still be guarding the door.
"Listen kid, nobody tells me where I can go. And I sure as hell ain't going to let some punk kid watch my back when I'm perfectly capable to do it myself. Now you can move outta my way or I can move ya, don't make no difference to me either way. But I plan on going outside for some air and you can follow me if you like ...BUT GET THE FU-K OUT OF MY WAY NOW!!!! "Chris roared at the end of his speech.
"Please sir we're just following orders, now please just go back into the waiting room until Mr. Schooner returned," Osborn tried to reason with the ATF agent in front of him.
"WHAT'S THE MATTER..... YOU DEAF ...I SAID GET THE FU-K OUT OF MY WAY. I AINT' PLAYING NICE HERE BOY,,,I WANT TO STEP OUTSIDE AND GET SOME DAMN AIR". Larabee yelled into the young man's face.
By this time not only several doctors but several more of Schooners men had arrived at the scene. Before anyone could blink Chris pushed Osborn into one of his co - horts and then pushed Smith into one of the doctors. A jab into an orderlies ribs ,caused him to grab the CIA agent next to him. Once the action started Larabee slowly worked his way back toward the elevators. Nurse Michelle watched as the agents and doctors along with a few nurses and orderlies begin screaming, pushing and shoving. As she watched Chris Larabee walk toward the elevators, he give her a wink as he disappeared from sight.
10 AM Wednesday
Behind Mercy General
Chris Larabee didn't have any trouble getting out of the hospital and finding Bob Petty's truck. Schooner's men were all so busy trying to straighten out the mess he'd left behind in the emergency room. He took the truck to the back of the hospital and saw Nathan looking out a wide door. Chris parked and got out to help Nathan and Dr. Bender get Josiah into the back of the truck. Chris was taken aback to see Nathan was wearing doctor scrubs."What the heck did you do Chris, Bender and I rolled Josiah out of the emergency room and those guys never even noticed, they were so busy arguing," Nathan said
"I was just being my charming self," Chris joked.
The three men got Josiah settled and Nathan decided to ride in the back with him. Chris was glad Petty had a camper top on the truck. It would make it easier to hide anyone riding in the back. Within minutes Chris was headed for the pick up area to get Vin and Ezra. As he pulled up he saw the Ezra too had changed into what looked like a nurses outfit. And Vin was wearing a cowboy hat and sun glasses. "Ezra, what the hell are you wearing?" Chris asked as he opened the passenger door.
"Why Mr Larabee as you can plainly see I have on a male nurses uniform, see it even has my name tag on it," Ezra said.
Chris leaned over and read "Martin McCall"..."who the hell is Martin McCall and how did you end up with his clothes?"
"Surely Mr. Larabee you didn't expect me to walk out in my own clothes, one needs some sort of disguise to elide ones pressures," Ezra said. "And you Vin? where'd you get the hat and shades?" Chris asked.
"Jealous cowboy.....one of the nurses handed them to me when I was making my way up to the roof," Vin said
Chris wasn't surprised to see Bob Petty standing down the street from Vin and Ezra.
As Vin slide into the truck he handed Chris a cell phone and said to his boss. "Bob says it's brand new and only he knows the number, he'll call you once Zook and Miller are caught,"
As they drove away Chris nodded his head to his fellow ATF officer.