Notes: Thanks to
Shallan, Malu, and Zadra for giving this story a quick once over. Thanks to Cassie and Mog for keeping me
honest in the Mag 7:ATF universe.
Dawn: Alyssa Milano
Ranger Gregor: Adrien
Paul
Morning Dawn
by C.L. Combs
“You got everything,
Ez?” Buck Wilmington asked, trying to hold back a yawn.
Making sure the strap
to his carry-on bag was firmly positioned on his shoulder, Ezra Standish nodded
at his fellow ATF agent. “Thank you for
the transportation from the airport. I
appreciate it.”
“No problem,” Buck
replied with a dismissing wave. “JD can
get a ride from Chris when the rest of the guys fly in.”
“After the six hour
delay in Dallas, I’d have almost preferred staying in San Antonio with our
fellow teammates instead of taking Mr. Larabee up on his offer for an early
departure,” Ezra commented with a yawn.
Both men had had minimal amounts of sleep the past two weeks while
posing as arms dealers, so their leader Chris Larabee had sent them home right
after the bust.
Buck gave him a
sleepy grin. “At least I’ve got a night
without listening to JD’s Nintendo games beeping in the background.”
“Well, I am off to
sleep for a week,” Ezra replied with another yawn. “Enjoy your evening.”
Fighting to stay
awake, Buck drove to the loft he shared with his fellow teammate, JD
Dunne. While he normally enjoyed the
exuberate energy of the youngest Team Seven member, tonight Buck was actually
looking forward to an evening alone.
All he really wanted to do was veg in front of the Broncos game he’d
taped with a pizza and a beer. Then
like Ezra, he wanted to sleep for a week.
Closing the front
door and clicking the deadbolt shut, Buck yawned as he headed towards the
couch, dropping his duffel bag half-way there.
Toeing off his boots, Buck leaned back and stretch, popping his
back. Glancing at the answering
machine, he blinked as he noted the red ‘24’ blinking on their machine. Twenty-four
messages? The Denver women must have
missed me. Well, too bad, ladies. Ole Buck’s too pooped to woo tonight.
Buck had barely
started searching for the TV remote under the newspapers on the coffee table
when the phone rang. Thinking it was
probably JD, Buck absently picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Wilmington? Where in the Hell have you been this week?”
Buck blinked,
recognizing the voice. “Captain
Elliot?” Confused, Buck tried to figure
out why his old boss with the Denver PD would care where an ATF agent was. “I’ve been out of town. Why?”
A heavy sigh echoed
across the line. “I have news.”
Picking up on the
reluctant tone, Buck instinctively knew it wouldn’t be good news. “What’s up?”
“Ted Montabone
escaped from prison three days ago.”
// It’s all YOUR
fault, Wilmington! I’m going to KILL
you!//
Buck closed his eyes
as the blood-covered images assaulted him.
The ancient, painful memories he thought he’d left behind crashed down
his head with surprising intensity.
Fighting to keep in control, he softly asked, “Any idea where he went?”
“We think he went to
Arizona, but no one knows for sure.”
Pulling himself
together, Buck sat up straighter. “So
there’s no way of knowing if he plans to carry out his threats?”
“None. Though hopefully, he’s got enough problems
staying ahead of the search to worry about you.” There was a pause, heavy with memories. “Still, I wanted to let you know so you could watch your back.”
Voice rough, Buck
softly replied, “I appreciate that.”
“Let Chris know, too,
so he can watch your back as well.”
Buck winced. So much had happened to Chris since they had
been partners in Homicide. So much had
happened to both of them and between them during the intervening years. Buck wasn’t sure he was ready to dredge up
old ghosts for both of them. “I’ll
handle it.”
“And remember, if you
need anything, anything at all, let me know.”
“Appreciate it.” Softly saying goodbye, Buck hung up the
phone. Closing his eyes, an image of a
pair of soft brown eyes and a warm, sweet smile floated in front of him. It was
a ghost that had been with him for over ten years, slowly fading yet never
totally disappearing. “Ah, Morning
Dawn, how am I going to handle you tonight?” Buck dropped his head in his
hands. He knew the nightmares would
return with a vengeance. He just didn’t
know if he could fight them again.
=======================================
“Hey Buck? You home?”
JD called out as he stepped into the loft. Silence greeted him. “Hey
Buck, you still asleep?” The young man
bounced up the stairs, full of energy after being stuck on a plane for several
hours. Planning to yank his friend out
of bed to face the brilliant day, he skidded to a stop when his eyes discovered
a neatly made bed. “That’s weird,” JD
muttered. Buck rarely made his bed,
unless he planned on being out of town for several days. Yet he should have slept in it last night.
Oh well, maybe he went over the Marian’s. Or Susan’s.
Or Katie’s… Shrugging, JD
trotted back down the steps and walked over to the couch, nearly tripping over
Buck’s duffel. Not thinking much about
it, he glanced at the answering machine.
TWENTY-FIVE MESSAGES? And Buck hasn’t listened to them yet? Puzzled, JD hit the ‘play’ button. He smiled as a message from his girlfriend
Casey filled the room, saying she was sorry she had missed him and would make
it up to him once he got back. Playing
with ideas of how she could make it up to him, JD barely listened to the
message from Susan asking if Buck was home yet, vaguely noted the one from Mrs.
Swiss downstairs saying she picked up their mail, and ignored the one trying to
get Buck to re-mortgage the loft.
Then a stern voice
boomed into the room. “Wilmington? This is Captain Elliot. I need to you call me pronto.” JD frowned.
Why would Buck’s old boss call him?
The next message was also from Captain Elliot. So was the next one. And
the next one.
Suddenly, the fact
that Buck wasn’t in the loft as he had planned became a bit more ominous. Looking around as another message from
Captain Elliot rang in his ears, JD noticed a frame picture sitting on the
coffee table. He picked it up to
study. It was of a much younger Buck
and a young woman with soft brown hair and eyes. Blinking, JD realized that in the four years he had known the
older man, he had never seen such a contented smile on his friend’s face.
Who on earth is this? And why is
this picture sitting out when I know I’ve never seen it before?
“Wilmington, I REALLY
NEED TO TALK WITH YOU. CALL ME!”
JD looked down at the
machine. Something was going on here,
but he didn’t have a clue what. He
glanced at the duffel bag that had not been opened. Thought of the neatly made
bed upstairs. But most unsettling was
that Buck was not here where he was supposed to be. Don’t panic, JD. Try the office. He grabbed the phone.
=======================================
“I love you, Buck.”
The soft whisper barely reached his ears. Buck grasped the bloody shoulder
tighter. “Don’t go, Morning Dawn. Fight, darling, fight!” Anguish filled his soul as the delicate
eyelids closed for the last time. “Oh
God, NO! Dawn! Dawn!”
Buck awoke with a
jerk, tears streaming down his face like they did that fateful night. It took a moment to realize he wasn’t at
Dawn’s apartment in Cherry Creek. He
was in that special spot entwined with her memories, so he could mourn her yet
again.
Slowly standing and
pulling away from the rock that had supported his all-too-brief nap, Buck
ignored the small dome tent behind him.
He wasn’t ready for sleep. He
wanted to remember her as she had lived, not how she had died. Taking a deep breath, the tall man walked
onto a gently curved rock outcropping.
Before him stretched a mountain valley, the rugged, pine tree covered slopes
sharply dipping down to a quiet valley, a stream cutting through the green
meadow grass. A soft breeze dried his
tears, the scent of pine teasing his nose.
They had found this
particular spot one day when they had been hiking. Buck only had to close his eyes to see her spinning on this very
rock, arms opened wide. He had admired her sleek curves in denim shorts and a
T-shirt sporting a red rose and the saying, ‘a touch of class’. “Isn’t this the most beautiful view, Buck!”
she had exclaimed. “A picture just
wouldn’t do it justice!” Buck had the
same thought, only he had been thinking of her.
They had spent their
first night together in this spot. It
was here with an eagle flying above that he had proposed to her. And it was here that he had sat for four
days mourning her, with a worried Chris silently watching him grieve. While he had been with numerous women since,
there had only been one Morning Dawn.
At first, he had come
back often to this spot, silently celebrating her birthday, the anniversary of
their first date, the anniversary of his proposal. He had spent several days on the rock after Sarah’s and Adam’s
deaths, mourning them and recovering from his own frustration when Chris shoved
him away. Whenever his soul needed the
gentle soothing her touch once provided, he would come here.
Yet those visits had
gradually grown fewer. Buck had only
returned once since Chris had formed Team Seven, and not ever since he had
gained his energetic protegee and roommate.
Until now, when the past once again decided to haunt him. Damn
you, Montabone. Damn you for taking
her. And damn you for making me
remember again.
A part of him felt
guilty. How could he forget her? How could he stop mourning that beautiful
ray of sunshine? But another part
pointed out that he hadn’t really forgotten.
The piece of his soul that had been hers alone still remained untouched,
lonely in a way no other woman had ever been able to completely erase. Only JD and the other men who had become his
family had ever come close. All of whom
should be home now and possibly worrying since he had simply disappeared. With a sigh, Buck started to turn back
towards his cell phone, wondering if it would work and what he could possibly
say to JD to explain what he was doing.
With harsh
suddenness, something slammed into the back of his head. The echo of the rifle report swirled with
the sense of falling before blackness overtook him.
=======================================
“… and his duffel is
still right here!”
“Maybe our Mr.
Wilmington has simply gone out to obtain some nourishment?”
“No, we have enough
food, and he should have been too tired to go out.”
Chris Larabee and Vin
Tanner walked in through the open door to spy JD waving at the kitchen
area. His audience consisted of the
rest of Team Seven, namely Josiah Sanchez, Nathan Jackson, and Ezra
Standish. The four looked up with
mixtures of disappointment and relief shining from their faces. Noting the clothes the two men still wore,
Josiah softly commented, “Didn’t get all the way to Vin’s place?” Chris was to have dropped off Vin before
driving out to his ranchette on the city’s outskirts.
Vin silently shook
his head as Chris approached the youngest team member. “JD, what’s going on here?”
“Something’s wrong,
Chris. I can’t find Buck. Hell, other than the duffel bag and the picture,
there isn’t even any evidence that he got back!”
“What picture?” Vin
asked. Ezra silently handed Vin the
frame he held.
“You sure Buck isn’t
visiting one of his lady friends?” Chris asked with a slight smirk. He knew his
old friend well.
JD shook his
head. “I called all the current ones
and a few of the older ones. Even then,
he usually takes his cell phone. Plus
there’s all the messages from Captain Elliot.”
“Elliot?” Chris
repeated with surprise. “What did he
want with Buck?”
“Apparently something
big, since he left nearly twenty messages on our machine,” JD replied. “Though I think he did get a hold of Buck by
the sounds of the last message.”
“What did he say,
JD?” Chris asked patiently. He took the
frame from Vin while still concentrating on his youngest agent.
“Well, here’s the
last message…” JD pressed the
appropriate button.
“Wilmington, Elliot
again. Montabone is NOT in
Arizona. In fact, no one knows where
the hell he is. So watch your back!”
Montabone! Chris felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. The image of his partner, rocking and
sobbing while he cradled a blood covered body close to his chest, filled his
mind.
“Chris,” Vin asked
cautiously, “You know this Montabone?”
Shaking the image
from his mind, Chris absently replied, “Yes.”
He glanced down at the picture, remembering the sweet young woman and
how happy she had made Buck. Rusty
connections from the past cleared through his brain.
“Then who is it?” JD
asked, worry thinning down his patience.
Chris forced himself
to look at his men. “Buck’s
business. JD, is Buck’s backpack still
here?”
“His backpack?” Nathan questioned as JD raced to check. “Why would he want his backpack?”
Chris remained
silent. Vin felt his own concern climb
as worry radiated from his friend.
“No, it’s not,” JD
replied, breathlessly. “His hiking
boots are gone, too.”
“Then I know where he
is,” Chris replied. He turned to
Josiah. “Call Elliot and find out what
the status is on Montabone. If he’s in
the Denver area, I’ll take Buck to my place where we can keep him safe.” He turned to the door.
“Where are you going,
Chris?” Nathan asked in confusion.
“To get Buck,” Chris
tersely replied.
“I’m going,
too,” JD declared.
Before he could take
a step forward, Chris turned back.
“No. Buck doesn’t need your
questions right now. Let me get him,
and we’ll meet at my place.”
The door slammed in
JD’s face.
=======================================
“Buck, you need to move.”
Buck tried to lift
his head to see the speaker, but the eruption of pain suggested that was a bad
idea. He couldn’t help the soft moan that escaped.
“Please Buck, he’ll find you if you don’t.”
Dawn wanted him to
move. Nothing made any sense, but if
Dawn wanted him to move, he’d do anything in his power to obey. “O-kay, darling,” Buck whispered, his dry
throat making the words sound more like a hiss.
Somehow, he rose to
his forearms before a sharp explosion of pain radiated from his left
shoulder. Biting his lip to keep from
crying out, Buck tucked his left arm close to his body as he fought to keep the
darkness at bay. He finally forced his
eyes open a crack. For a moment, he studied
the yellowish brown rock and dirt under his hand.
Swallowing hard
against the dry throat, his right arm snaked ahead, then pulled the rest of him
forward. More pain erupted from his
right leg, but Buck continued. The
scrape of rock against his bare skin hardly registered between the pain of his
head, shoulder and other assorted tender spots. Slowly, he managed to drag his
long body across the rock to where it dipped into a patch of soil with a line
of short juniper bushes. Once he was
tucked against them, Buck lost the battle with the darkness. A soft breeze caressed the unconscious man,
oblivious to the dark-haired man below who was swearing because he couldn’t
find his prey.
=======================================
JD rubbed his hand
over the handle of his motorcycle as he waited in the bushes at the end of
Chris’ driveway. Sure, Chris had told
him not to come. But Buck was
practically his brother, damn it, and that meant he wasn’t going to just stay
away when he was in trouble. Which had
to be the case, if the look on Chris’ face earlier was any indication. His gut twisted with the thought of Buck
alone, in trouble or worse. If he
needed space, JD would give it to him – as long as he was within view.
“Boo.”
JD nearly jumped ten
feet. He turned, finding Vin Tanner
standing behind him. “Man, don’t DO
that. You nearly gave me a heart
attack.”
Vin rocked back on
his heels nonchalantly. “Chris leave yet?”
JD turned back to the
driveway. “Not yet.”
“You know, Chris did
tell you not to come.”
Stubbornness and
attitude filled the young face. “I don’t care.
Buck needs me.”
Vin shrugged. “I was thinking it’s a good time to go
camping, myself.” Noting JD’s
disbelieving stare, the sharpshooter continued, “It’s a free country, right? Nothing stopping us from pitching a tent.
And it’s not our faults if we just happen to be in the same woods as Buck and
Chris.”
A wide, mischievous
grin stretched across JD’s face as he caught on. “Especially if they don’t see us.”
An answering grin
broke across the other agent’s face.
“Yep. Yet if trouble breaks
out….”
“We’ll be there to
help out,” JD finished. “But how are we
going to follow Chris without him seeing us?”
“That’s why we’ll be
using the tracker,” Vin replied innocently.
JD’s smile grew even
wider. “You put a tracker on Chris’ truck?”
“Need the practice
following perps, don’t we?” Vin countered.
“Okay, as long as
you’re the one to tell him that if we get caught.”
“Besides, Ezra said
we ought to field test it. He also lent
you that fancy new camping equipment he bought, though he said to tell you it
better be in ‘pristine’ condition when you return it.”
JD shook his head as
he looked back towards the house. “What
do you think this is about?”
Vin shrugged
worriedly. “I don’t know. But Montabone’s got to be bad news if Buck
took off and Chris is going after him.”
JD nodded
worriedly. “I want to know, and yet I’m
scared to, you know?”
“Yeah. That’s why we’ll stick close, but give them
some space.” Vin tapped the kid’s
shoulder. “Let’s get in the Jeep and
wait.”
=======================================
God, his head
hurt. Buck gingerly lifted his eyes and
found himself staring at a juniper bush.
Not that anything was making much sense, but it did seem strange to be
so cuddly with something so prickly. It
was a struggle, but vague memories of Montabone and standing on his and Dawn’s
rock finally filtered through. He must
have been shot and fallen off their perch above the valley. Cautious fingers gently probed the right
side of the back of his head. His hair,
neck and face were caked with blood and dirt.
No wonder he felt so bad.
He attempted to roll
over, only to have the pain in his shoulder clash with the pain in his
head. For a moment, Buck’s stomach rolled
ominously until the agony subsided. Had
he been shot in the shoulder, too?
Another gentle search found no blood or dislocation around the shoulder,
but a lot of pain and swelling. He must
have bruise or broken something in the fall.
A little further down the arm was dried blood around a long, painful
gash. There was another dull ache from
his calf, though it hurt too much to move his head and check on it. It was definitely not his day.
After much careful
maneuvering, he managed to glimpse the steep mountain slope above him through
blurry eyes. His camp had to be up
there, along with his water, first aid kit, cell phone and gun. Unfortunately, the thought of simply getting
on his feet made him sick to his stomach, let alone climbing. Nor did he know if Montabone was still
around. Either he took off, thinking he
had killed him, or else he was hanging around, waiting to finish the job. At the moment, Buck suspected it wouldn’t
take much to finish him off. He could
barely move and certainly couldn’t defend himself.
Yet he needed
water. Buck ran a tongue over his dry
lips. Between the blood loss and the
hot sun baking him and the rocks, he was heading towards serious trouble. Nor would relief come at sunset. In the dry mountain air, the temperatures
easily dropped by 30 to 40 degrees at night, threatening hypothermia for a man
in his condition. He also couldn’t
count on anyone looking for him. Chris
might know where to look, but only if his friend knew about Montabone. If it had been JD in such a position, Buck
would have torn him a new one for pulling something so stupid. Guess experience hadn’t made him much
smarter.
However, there was
the creek at the bottom of the valley, and going down seemed like a much better
option that up. At least, it would once
his head stopped spinning. Leaning more
into the slight shade of the bushes, Buck felt himself drift off.
=======================================
Half hour later, Elephant Ridge trail head, Arapaho National
Forest
Chris slammed the truck
door, taking out a bit more of his anger.
For the entire drive to this remote national forest trail, Chris had
been furious with his old friend. When
a convicted murderer with a beef against Buck escapes from jail, what does he
do? He goes off to the middle of
nowhere without a word to anyone, far away from his friends and any
protection. Once Chris knew Buck was
safe, he was going to kill him.
Taking a deep breath,
he pulled his backpack up onto his shoulders and studied the sky. Clouds heralding a predicted cold front
were building to the northeast.
Hopefully, Chris could get Buck back to the truck before it hit. With that thought in mind, Chris started the
three mile hike to where he knew he’d find his friend.
The steady pace of
walking began to soothe his anger.
Calmer, old memories began to creep in. Somehow over the years, Chris
had forgotten how hard Dawn’s loss had hit Buck. During the first couple of months after the tragedy, his normally
talkative partner had been silent.
Exhaustion and grief took a noticeable toll on the strong man while
nightmares plagued him even during brief naps.
Chris once had feared that his partner’s haunted eyes would never return
to their normal, friendly glow. Yet,
Buck did eventually regained his energy and his charming rogue nature. Hadn’t he?
Suddenly, Chris
remembered the time when he had told Sarah that Buck was back to normal because
he had three dates the next weekend.
Sarah had given him a sad smile and a shake of her head. “He’s not dealing with it, honey. It’s much too painful for him. But it’s not in Buck’s nature to brood, so
he’s just burying it deep enough so he can go on. The more women he’s with, the less time he has to remember Dawn
is gone.”
Chris had considered
her words worriedly. He knew Buck had
come close to cracking those first couple of weeks. It hurt him to see his partner in such pain. “Do you think I should talk with him some
more?”
Sarah, in her gentle
wisdom, shook her head. “Once he has
some distance, he’ll deal with it in his own way. You’re helping him enough just by being there for him.”
A few years later, it
had been Chris’ turn to mourn. However,
he was definitely the brooding type and had built high walls to keep everyone
away, including Buck. For the first
time, Chris wondered just how much he had hurt Buck by not letting his partner
be there for him like he had for Buck.
Not that his friend had ever said anything to him about that time. Had Buck built his own walls that were
invisible even to Chris?
Pausing a minute to
catch his breath before continuing on the switchback, Chris stared at a pine
tree without seeing it. Yes, he had
hurt Buck, but they were okay now, weren’t they? They were still good friends and part of a team that was more
like family than co-workers. As the
team leader, Chris now worried about six men, not just his old partner. In fact, Buck rarely gave him cause to
worry. He knew his old friend so well,
he saw through the carefree façade and trusted the experienced, level-headed
agent underneath. Besides, Buck also
had JD to look after, a responsibility he took to like a momma hen with a
single chick.
Should he have paid
more attention to Buck? The last time
he had seen his friend was just before Josiah drove him and Ezra to the
airport. Both men had been exhausted
mentally and physically from the assignment, but Chris had figured a restful
few days would take care of that.
However, he hadn’t expected Montabone to escape. How hard had the news
hit an exhausted Buck? Had Buck ever
dealt with Dawn’s death during the ensuing years? Apparently, he hadn’t even told JD about her, and he thought Buck
told the kid just about everything. Had
the nightmares returned?
With renewed
determination, Chris continued up the steep trail. If the ghosts were again haunting Buck’s sleep, he would help his
friend deal with them. That’s what
friends did.
=======================================
He was done. Buck felt his body fall limp against several
young pine trees. He could no longer
remember where he was trying to go or even why. His world had narrowed to making the next painful inch down the
slope, while pain and exhaustion tempted him to given in to the darkness
again. “No…More…” he mumbled through a
dry mouth.
“Rest, my love.
Chris is coming.”
“Chris is coming,” he
mumbled before unconsciousness overtook him.
=======================================
“Maybe we should have
put the tracker on his backpack,” JD complained, running a hand through his
hair. Following Chris hadn’t been too
hard until they hit the intersection of three separate trails.
Vin was kneeling,
examining the dirt. “I don’t think
anyone’s been on this northerly one. So
it has to be one of the other two.”
“Any idea which one?”
JD asked hopefully.
Vin stood up and
adjusted the weight of his backpack.
“Nope. Both show recent
traffic.”
JD sighed as he
studied the two narrow trails. One continued up, presumably to the top of the
mountain or whatever high point was scenic enough for someone to hike to. The other sloped downward into another set
of switchbacks like the one they had just climbed up. “So, do we go up or down?”
“Buck’s your
roommate. Which way do you think he’d
head?”
Before JD could
reply, gunshots could be heard echoing from above. The two agents looked at
each other. “Up!” they said in unison, their feet were already digging into the
trail’s soft dirt.
=======================================
Josiah softly swore
as he slammed the phone. Nathan and
Ezra exchanged worried looks. Their big
friend rarely lost his temper, unless it was with a particularly nasty perp. “Josiah?” Nathan ventured.
Josiah sighed, debating
how much to tell his co-workers. Upon
finding out the evil Montabone had committed in Buck’s life, he could
understand why Chris had been silent on the subject. Yet both he and Buck were part of a family now. Josiah had a bad feeling they were going to
need all their family to get everyone out of the situation in one piece. “According to Elliot, they’ve discovered
evidence that Montabone came to Denver.
They also have a report that he was sighted near Buck’s place a couple
of days ago.”
Ezra frowned. “I assume this is the same Montabone that
scared our normally fearless leader, and sent our normally unflappable Mr.
Wilmington fleeing into the deep woods?”
Josiah nodded. Nathan turned to Ezra. “You know where they went?”
“Vin and JD are following
Chris, and I entrusted my satellite phone to Vin.” Ezra glanced up at the clock.
“Approximately an hour ago, they arrived at a trailhead in the Arapaho
National forest for ‘Elephant Ridge’.
They have not contacted me since.”
“Surely Montabone wouldn’t
have followed Buck all the way out to the middle of nowhere,” Nathan commented
hopefully.
“Depends on the
amount of incentive he has.” Ezra
looked at Josiah and raised an eyebrow.
He suspected there was much more to the story than just a perp Buck put
away.
Josiah sighed. “He has plenty of incentive.” Looking into the expectant faces, Josiah
softly began, “A little over ten years ago, Buck was engaged …”
“Engaged?” both Ezra
and Nathan exclaimed, stunned.
Josiah silenced them
with a reprimanding glare. “Engaged to,
by all accounts, a delightful young woman by the name of Dawn Montabone…”
=======================================
Chris swore as he
rolled behind the fallen trunk of a lightening-struck tree resting on a
rock. He had just barely found Buck’s
camp when the shooting started. A
glimpse of the shooter as Chris dove for cover had confirmed it was Montabone. However, from his view behind the
way-too-skinny log, he didn’t see any sign of his friend around the tent. “BUCK!”
he shouted as he pulled out his gun.
The only answer was another shot in his direction. Chris pinpointed the report as coming from
his right, probably from the stand of pine near the edge of the ridge. Swiftly, he twisted out of cover just long
enough to send a shot towards the stands and duck back.
What worried him was
that there was no answer from Buck. On
previous trips, Buck had rarely left the rock he’d proposed to Dawn on. Chris feared his friend wasn’t answering because
he couldn’t answer. Which meant he had
to figure out some way to get this jerk so he could find him. Another shot sprayed wood splinters in his
face. Chris swore again as he wiped the
debris from his eyes. He wasn’t in the
best position, either to defend himself or to spot Buck.
Suddenly, gun fire
erupted from the trail. Straining,
Chris could hear Montabone crashing into the brush behind the pines. Apparently, he didn’t want to face more than
one surprised man at a time.
Cautiously standing up,
he fully expected to see Buck there.
However, the dark-haired figure that greeted his eyes was a lot shorter
than his old friend. “JD! I thought I told you to stay away!”
JD shrugged, defiance
radiating from his stance. “We weren’t
going to come close unless you and Buck ran into trouble. I think getting shot at is definitely in the
‘trouble’ category.”
Chris was about to
reply when another figure stepped out of the trees. Before he could lift his
gun, he recognized the newcomer. “Vin,” he growled.
“You’re
welcome.” Vin pushed back the rim of
his cap with his gun barrel, blue eyes reminding his friend that they had just
saved his rear end. “I don’t know if we
hit the shooter, but he’s out of sight now.”
Now glaring at both
young agents, Chris was about to chew them out when JD suddenly piped up,
“That’s Buck’s tent. Where is he?”
Worry and fear
tightened in his gut as Chris glanced around the area. “Don’t know. Buck shouldn’t have gone far from that rock. Start searching.”
Vin walked over to
the rock in question as JD checked the tent.
“What’s so special about that rock?”
the youngest man inquired, still confused about the whole situation.
“Let’s just find
Buck,” Chris hedged worriedly.
“But if we don’t know
what’s going on, how are we going to find him?” JD demanded.
“And it would be nice
to know why we’re getting shot at,” Vin added, noting the view looked vaguely
familiar, except for the storm clouds darkening the horizon. He knelt down to study the granite.
Chris sighed. “Buck proposed to his fiancée on that rock.”
“Fiancée?” Both younger men turned in surprised to face
Chris. “Buck actually PROPOSED to a
woman?” JD asked in shock. He’d never
seen Buck become serious about any woman, let alone give one a ring.
“The woman in the
picture,” Vin uneasily guessed. When
Chris nodded, Vin had to swallow hard to ask, “What happened?”
Chris turned back to
the trees. “She took a bullet meant for
Buck.”
Vin closed his eyes a
moment in sympathy, then opened them to spot a drop of blood splatter on the
rock in front of him.
“And Montabone was
the shooter,” JD whispered, putting it together. Any annoyance at his older friend flew out of his soul as the
young man contemplated the pain Buck must have gone through.
“Ah, guys…” Vin was leaning over the edge of the
rock.
Chris felt his heart
sink. It took a lot of strength to ask,
“Buck?”
“I don’t see
him.” Vin could feel JD reluctantly
approaching him from behind. “But I see
a Rockies baseball cap like his snagged on one of the aspen branches
below. Several other branches around it
are broken, but I can’t see the slope past them. The trees haven’t dropped
enough leaves yet.”
“Oh… my… God,” JD
slowly declared, taking his first look at the drop. Fear turned his stomach to ice as he wondered if his friend could
have survived.
“The trees may have
broken his fall, JD. He could still be
alive,” Vin assured him, hoping to keep
his friend from panicking. He decided
to stay silent about the drop of blood.
“But he’s got to be
hurt,” JD forced himself to reply.
“So we’d better find
him before this storm hits,” Chris growled.
He was scared that despite Vin’s optimism, his old friend might already
be gone.
“The radio said they
expect the snow line to be around 9,000.”
Vin pulled himself up and picked up his pack.
“How high are we?” JD
asked. Coming from Boston, he still had
trouble estimating elevation in the high country.
“Almost nine,” Chris
replied grimly. “If Buck’s hurt, he
won’t last through the night unless we find him.”
Vin and JD exchanged
bleak glances before following Chris’ swiftly retreating back.
=======================================
Blood was everywhere.
Buck felt like his soul was splatter on the floor along with it. He held her tight, desperately trying to
hold her spirit with him, though a tiny part knew she was already gone.
Suddenly, Buck found himself sitting cross-legged on their
rock, looking out over the valley. A
warm presence leaned against his arm.
“You haven’t come in quite a while, Love.”
“Oh, Darling, I’m sorry.”
Buck gently cupped Dawn’s delicate face.
Her hand gently wrapped around his. “Don’t be.
I was hoping you’d have found another to love.”
Buck shook his head.
“I’ve tried, but you took a part of my soul with you. I don’t have any more to give another like
she deserves.”
“Yes, you do,” Dawn refuted softly. Then she changed the subject. “What have you been doing? Last time you were here, you told me all about
the new team Chris was putting together.
Three others? Josiah, Nathan,
and Vin? Have you made peace with Vin?”
Buck nodded. “Yeah,
Junior’s a good guy. I knew it, and
I’ve accepted that he can reach Chris when I can’t. We’ve also picked up two more guys. Ezra Standish, he’s our main undercover man. He’s a sweet-talking southern who’s
slipperier than a wet eel. Dresses real
nice all the time and is into the finer things. He’d have appreciated your artwork.”
She slugged him in the arm.
“I thought you liked my drawings.”
“I do.” Buck gave her a slow, charming smile. “Didn’t understand all of them, but then,
I’m not the art genius.”
Dawn returned with her own shy smile at the compliment. “And who’s the other?”
“JD Dunne.” Buck’s
face lit up at the thought of the young man.
“He’s a good kid. Just barely out
of the academy when his momma passed away, so he moved from Boston to Denver to
join us. The youngster had no place to
stay, so I offered him my spare room.
He’s been my roommate ever since.”
“So he keeps you in line?” Dawn asked with a grin.
Buck snorted. “He’s
just a green kid. I’ve been the one
showing him the ropes.”
“But he’s special.”
“Yeah, he’s like a kid brother.” Buck blinked his eyes,
suddenly tired. “You would have loved
him.”
“I know I would have,” Dawn gently smiled. “I’ll bet he’s another white knight, just
like you.” She ran a gentle hand through his hair. “Sleep, my love. You’re
safe for the moment, and Chris will be here soon.”
Buck felt himself slide until his head was in her lap, her
gentle hand easing his aching head.
=======================================
The cold wind was picking up, its temperature matching the fear tightly gripping Chris’ heart. He knew the wind preceded the coming storm, and that Montabone was still lurking about the area. However, both were secondary concerns at the moment. Chris concentrated on keeping his footing on the steep trail down the mountain slope. There was no time to hike back to the easier one. Every instinct shouted that they had to find Buck soon.