Title: ATF: Undercover
by krh
Rating: PG13 for language and violence
Disclaimer: Except for Barry Feldwater, Marshal Thomas, and Jeremy, all characters are property of MGM, Trilogy and others. Merely borrowing for a short time and will return in relatively the same shape.

Acknowledgements: A huge thanks to Mady for her assistance with police equipment and Dina for her wonderful betaing ability.

Tonight’s Guest Stars:
Terrence Knox as Barry Feldwater
Shawn Toovey as Jeremy
Cameo appearance by Keanu Reeves as Marshal Thomas

Undercover
by krh

Tugging again at the bullet-proof vest covering her chest, Mary Travis tried to ease the fold in the t-shirt underneath it without being too conspicuous in her movements. It wasn’t that the fold was *that* uncomfortable, it was simply something to think about other than the fact that she was about to walk into a situation where she could get hurt. As she was doing this, she heard the three ATF agents with her in the van testing the audio equipment to make sure it was in working order.

“Here ya go, Mary,” Josiah Sanchez said, sliding over to her with the miniature microphone in his hand. Slipping it in under the edge of the vest, he clipped it to the top while making sure it was positioned to catch her voice. “Okay, let’s try it,” he tossed over his shoulder. “Just talk in your normal voice,” the big man encouraged, smiling at the normally blond haired newspaper reporter.

“Is *all* of this really necessary?” Mary asked, glancing around the big man in front of her to look at the leader of the ATF group sitting on the bench in front of the digital recorder.

Spinning to look at her, Chris Larabee was again shocked at how different she looked. The makeup guys had outdone themselves in transforming the golden haired, ivory skinned, blue eyed woman into a mousy blond with brown eyes and a beige complexion. It was rather unnerving. Raising his hands briefly before dropping them in his lap, he calmly said, “It’s up to you, but you know how I feel about it.”

Locking eyes with the leader, Mary judged what would happen if she said ‘no’ to all of the “clock and dagger tinkertoys” as she privately called them. When she had approached Chris to tell him she was going undercover, it had turned into quite a scene culminating in Chris ordering her not to do it and Mary calling him a condescending, hypocritical pig in front of his entire team before storming out of the office. Although they had discussed it civilly later that day, it had been rather intense for awhile. They had finally agreed that she would go in wired so that Chris knew she was okay every minute she was in the house.

Gazing into his guarded eyes, she knew the battle that he was silently waging with himself to not interfere with her decision to go undercover to help a girl she believed was in danger. When he had showed up at her door to pick her up this morning, the kiss and hug he gave her had a desperate intensity to them. It was as if part of him feared that it would be the last time he would be at her door like that. When he had finally pulled back from her, she even thought she saw a wetness in his eyes, but he slipped his sunglasses back on before she could confirm it.

Looking at him now, she again saw a twinge of that fear. She respected that he did not want her to do it because it could be dangerous. She knew that when she had made the decision. It frightened her, too. They had even talked about it several times in the three days since their original “discussion” about it. Although he never flat out asked her to, Mary knew Chris wanted her to change her mind. He had even tried to sway her by telling her what might happen in what she knew were “worst-case-scenarios.” When she refused to back down, she tried to console him by pointing out that at least he had given her some ideas of what to do should certain circumstances come up. //The least I can do is meet him half-way by wearing the vest and the wire.//

Pulling an oversized sweater over her head, Mary silently conceded to the presence of the gadgets on her. Pulling her hair out of the back of the garment, she glanced into the mirror on the side of the van to make sure she hadn’t messed up any of her makeup. Turning her eyes back towards the men, she announced she was ready by saying, “Everything working okay?”

“Coming in loud and clear,” JD Dunne spouted back, glancing back at her. “Gee, Mary, I can’t believe how different you look. Billy probably wouldn’t even know ya,” he joked, pulling the headphones off his head.

“I’m not sure *I* recognize me right now,” she joked back, self consciously rubbing her hands on her jeans. Shifting her gaze back to Chris, she sobered. “Guess it’s time to go.”

Silently, Chris leaned over and opened the door for her. Following her out, he paused and gave JD a nod to let him know they needed a moment of privacy from the mike. As the younger agent turned the recording volume down on the unit, Chris shut the door and faced the woman standing in front of the car, waiting for him.

Seeing through her calm exterior to the nervousness underneath, Chris had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself from blurting out that she should not do this. He thought he had resigned himself to her going into the group home until he had waken from a nightmare in a cold sweat at 4:00 a.m. that morning. It had taken him a long time to shake the vision of her bruised and bloody corpse from his mind’s eye.

Kicking at a clod of ice left by the snowplow next to the curb, Chris finally felt it was safe to look at Mary again without revealing too much. Looking up, he glanced around before pinning her with a stare. “You don’t have to do this you know,” he softly said one last time.

“Yes, I do,” she answered calmly. While researching a story about problems in the foster care system, Mary had developed a friendship with a young woman being abused in a group home. Because of her age, the state would not move her unless they had “substantial proof of immediate danger or wrongdoing.” The youngster told Mary that she could help her get that proof if she could get into the house. Hence, Mary had made the decision to do exactly that.

“Now remember your cover,” Chris reiterated, for what seemed like the upteenth time to Mary. “You are considering becoming a foster parent and so the state arranged for you to spend a day or two at various homes to see what the job entails. If they question it, have them call the number on the card I gave you and we’ll handle it from there.” Scanning the street again out of habit to make sure no one saw Mary talking to him, Chris continued. “As this is your first “visit” it’ll be okay if you ask a lot of questions about procedures and any potential problems you might encounter. If you can get these guys to incriminate themselves on tape, great... but don’t push it,” he warned her, staring deep into her eyes, judging whether or not she was really listening to him.

Nodding her head in agreement, Mary closed the distance between them. “I’ll be okay Chris,” she softly intoned, hoping to ease some of the worry reflected in his eyes. “Tonight it’ll all be over and I’ll fix you dinner to celebrate,” she said, before brushing his lips with hers and turning to go.

“If anything goes wrong, just say the word and I’ll be there,” Chris promised after finally being able to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat as she got into the car. Soaking in the sight of the smile she gave him, he watched as Mary slowly drove away. When she pulled around the corner, Chris yanked open the door to the van waiting for him.

********

Driving the short distance between where she left the van and the house that she would be spending the day at, Mary drew several deep breaths trying to calm her jumbled nerves. While heartwarming, Chris’ deep concern for her welfare was disconcerting. It fed her own reservations about what she was about to do.

Despite the thoughts tumbling in her mind, Mary still had to smile at the sight in the street in front of the group home. “Oh Chris... how in the world are you going to explain this one?”

The other four members of Chris’ hotshot ATF team were there posing as employees of Denver’s Public Works Department. While Nathan Jackson was diligently tearing up the concrete with a backhoe, Vin Tanner and Buck Wilmington leaned on the jackhammer that had been recently used. On the other side of the ever widening hole, Ezra Standish was dispassionately watching the others work while sipping on a cup of coffee. Mary bet that it was a cappachino or a double latte.

Slowing to ease her way around the trucks and machinery in the street, Mary glanced at the workers as she pulled into the driveway. As she exited her vehicle, she saw a panel van with the words “Denver Water System” emblazoned on the side pull up on the far edge of the property and Josiah get out. Inside of it, she knew JD and Chris were set to listen to every word that was about to be said.

*************

“She’s movin’ up to the door,” Vin said quietly knowing the mike under his collar would pick up the words easily. Hearing the tenseness in Chris’ voice when he confirmed the transmission, Vin threw Buck a look.

Easing his hand into the pocket of his jacket, Vin flipped his set to ‘receive only’ while signaling for Buck to do the same. When he was sure it was safe he said, “Chris say anything to you about what’s got him so wound up about Mary going into this thing?”

Resting his eyes on the woman conversing at the doorway with one of the suspects, Buck shook his head slightly. “Nope, but he’s acting like a cat on hot roof about it, that’s for sure.” Looking over at the lanky man beside him, Buck grinned mischievously. “Hell, he didn’t even roll his eyes when I told him I’d need double pay for giving up my day off like this.”

Suddenly thumping the older man on the chest, Vin spun on him. “Which reminds me... How the hell did you manage to wrangle today off anyway?”

JD’s voice over the ear piece interrupted the conversation. “Heads up, Ezra. Sounds like this guy’s gonna be calling soon.”

Shaking his coffee cup as if it was empty, the southerner glided towards the back of the van apparently to throw the cup in the back of it. Opening the door, he pulled it shut behind him as he settled on the bench inside. Over the speaker he could hear the conversation in the house.

“....I’m sorry you weren’t notified ahead of time. Mr. Swedish assured me that everything would be taken care of,” Mary said apologetically. “Here.... I think I have his card....” Mary trailed off as the sound of rustling clothes came through the mike. “Yes... here it is... I have his number right here if you’d like to call him.”

“Hrmph.... Ezra P. Swedish, Assistant Director. Never heard of him,” grumbled the man outside. “What’s the ‘P’ stand for? Pain in the ass?”

A snicker escaped JD’s lips at the comment. He had to work to keep from laughing outloud when Chris turned towards Ezra and dead panned, “Your reputation has preceded you Ezra.”

“Quite amusing, Mr. Larabee,” Ezra glared back at the leader while pointing a threatening finger at the giggling youth at the console.

The tweeting of the phone caused the levity to cease. Immediately sobering, JD reached out to snatch the receiver, pushing the record button on the phone set on his way by. “Child Welfare Services. How may I direct your call?” he said dispassionately into it.

“Yeah.... I need to speak to a Ezra Swedish.”

“One moment while I see if he’s in,” JD intoned, pushing the button to place the call on hold. Handing the receiver over to the southerner, JD watched for Ezra to indicate he was ready. Receiving it, he punched the phone button.

“This is Mr. Swedish. How may I help you?” the undercover man said smoothly, all hint of his tell-tale accent gone from his voice.

“Barry Feldwater. I run the group home over on Chestnut Street.”

“Oh, yes, Mr. Feldwater. How may I help you?”

“I got some lady here who says she wants to become a foster parent and that you okayed her to visit my house for the day. Says her name is....”

“Mary Jackson,” a woman’s voice softly echoed over both the radio and the telephone receivers in the van.

“Mary Jackson,” Feldwater reiterated into the phone.

“Mrs. Jackson? Why yes, we discussed it. As a matter of fact, you were one of the places I suggested she visit.”

“Sure would of been nice to know ahead of time. I got things to do you know,” Feldwater grumbled.

“I told my secretary to contact you out of courtesy to let you know she might be stopping by. Are you saying you weren’t notified?” Ezra asked, rolling his eyes at the van’s occupants at his feigned concern. “My sincerest apologies Mr. Feldwater. I understand that unexpected guests such as this can be an inconvenience. However, I feel I must remind you that in your contract it specifies that unannounced home visits may be conducted at any time by an employee or designee of this or any other....”

“Yeah... yeah... I know,” Feldwater cut off the agent. “So what you’re tellin’ me is that I ain’t got a choice?”

“Well.... I’m not sure I’d put it that way.” Ezra tried to mollify the obviously irritated caller. “But failure to comply with a visit could reflect very poorly on you when it comes time for your contract renegotiation next month.” He wanted to calm the caller, not give him a reason to kick Mary out of the house.

“Hrmph,” came back across the receiver.

“If there’s nothing else?” Ezra questioned after a few moments of silence.

“No, guess not. Thanks,” the group home parent grumbled as he hung up the receiver. A mumbled “for nothing” followed on the speaker as the phone went dead in Ezra’s hand.

Handing it back to JD, Ezra grinned. “Some people just don’t appreciate the legal ramifications of the papers they sign.”

*********

Shifting in the uncomfortable chair, Mary twisted to see if her “host” had actually gone into the kitchen so that she would have a few minutes to look in his desk. More importantly, she would have a reprieve from listening to his boring rants on any topic that happened to come up. It was ironic to Mary that no matter what the subject was over the last two hours, he had boiled everything down to “a bunch of crooks running the country” and the fact that “kids today get away with murder.”

Shifting through the papers, she stole a glance out of the window to make sure the men were still there. It was spooky to think that they could hear every word said in the house but she had no way to hear them. About now, she would of killed to hear one of their voices. Anything to drown out the nasally drones of Feldwater that continued to echo in her ears. “Remind me to tell this guy what I think about his views later would ya,” she murmured into the mike, opening a drawer and coming upon several pornographic magazines.

“Oh, good,” she sarcastically remarked, dropping the periodicals back into the drawer. “He just renewed his subscriptions to “Whips & Chains” and “Like ‘em Young.”

Hearing the homeowner coming back, Mary closed the drawer and slipped back into the mustard yellow chair she had been in when he left. As she took the mug extended to her, she had trouble swallowing the luke warm, bitter, instant mud that she had mistaken as coffee. Plastering a smile on her face, Mary set the cup on the edge of the desk in front of her. “I’m sorry if you told me earlier, but where are your wife and the kids? I was hoping I might be able to speak with them too.”

“Kids are probably in school,” Feldwater said, loudly slurping his coffee.

“Probably?”

“Hey, I tell ‘em they need to go, but once they leave that door, I got no control over whether they do it or not.”

“I see,” Mary said non-committedly. “And your wife?”

“Hrmph. She ain’t here and I ain’t expecting her,” was all the man said.

“Well, maybe she’ll make it before I leave. Now, how about the paperwork? Surely, the state requires there be some documentation about the kids and their care?” Mary inquired trying to find some way to determine where he might keep important papers.

********

“This guy is a piece of work, ain’t he,” Buck observed, chomping on a sandwich during a break. He, like the others, had been in the van several times during the morning and heard the verbal garbage Mary was being subjected to.

Josiah agreed. “Listening to him makes it hard to remember that most of the people who run foster homes are decent, caring people who provide loving homes to kids.”

“Yeah, well, it only takes a few bad apples to do a lot of damage to kids,” Vin snapped, tossing his uneaten sandwich back into the cooler.

“True,” Ezra drawled, dissecting the sandwich in his hands to see if there was anything edible on it. “However,” he added, looking up after finally giving up and stuffing it back into the baggy, “you are living proof, Mr. Tanner, that that *damage* as you call it, does not automatically mean those children have been dealt losing hands.” Turning his gaze to Buck, he held the sandwich out in front of him. “Mr. Wilmington. Why is there peanut butter on my salami sandwich?”

*********

“Couple of the kids might be here in a little bit for lunch,” Feldwater said, shutting the notebook and tossing it back onto the bookcase behind him. “Open campus thing at the high school. Teachers are too lazy to get out of their chairs and watch ‘em while they eat so they get to tear around smokin’ and causin’ trouble instead.” Rising up, the burly man scratched his chest. “I tell ‘em if they ain’t gonna eat at school then they better get their butts home,” he said coming around the desk. “More coffee?” he asked picking up the cup Mary had set on the desk.

“No, thank you,” she said, silently shuddering at the memory of the one and only sip of what he had brought her before. Even now, all she wanted to do was scrub the taste from her tongue and teeth.

**********

Tired of watching Buck, Vin and Josiah pelt each other with dirt clods in the trench he had dug earlier, Nathan arched an eyebrow towards Ezra in amusement before scanning the street. As an approaching car slowed and signaled that it would be turning into the arched driveway of the two-story house that was the subject of their current surveillance, Nathan tensed and flipped on his mike. “We’ve got a wild card. Dark blue sedan, Government plates,” the ex-EMT reported, inconspicuously turning so that he could see the occupants when they got out of the vehicle. Spotting the tell-tale yellow lettering on the back of their blue windbreakers, Nathan cursed lightly under his breath. “Federal Marshals. What the hell are they doing here?”

Snapping his head up, Chris growled, “JD?”

“I’m working on it,” the younger agent countered, fingers flying over the keyboard of the laptop beside him. “Come on... come on...,” JD intoned softly trying to hurry the information being downloaded.

The sound of the doorbell ringing and the muted sound of the distant conversation coming over the speakers became the only sounds in the van.

“Mr. Feldwater? Barry Feldwater?” the older of the two Marshals asked, showing the man his badge.

“Yeah... what can I do for you?” the civilian said.

“I’m Federal Marshall Bryce. This is Marshall Thomas. According to court papers filed last month, you currently have one or more weapons in the house. Federal law prohibits anyone who has an active domestic violence protection order against them from possessing a firearm. We have been authorized to immediately confiscate all weapons that you may have in your possession,” the man intoned, as his younger partner stepped closer to the door.

“LIKE HELL YOU WILL,” Feldwater yelled jabbing his forearm into the throat of the younger lawman sending him backwards into his partner. Slamming the door shut, the irate man flipped the deadbolt before running into his office. Lunging past Mary, he yanked opened the bottom drawer and pulled a 457 Magnum from it.

“OH, MY GOD... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Mary screamed, dropping onto the floor as the sound of a gun’s cylinder being spun reverberated through the interior of the van.

******

“NOOO!” Chris screamed, hitting the side of the van with his fist on his way out of the door. Beginning to run towards the house as soon as his feet hit the ground, he was half way across the side lawn before his two closest friends tackled him to the ground.

“LET ME GO!” Chris roared, trying to get out from under the weight holding him down. Swinging and kicking at anything he could connect with, he was determined to get to the house and the woman inside.

“DAMN IT NOW, CHRIS.... STOP IT,” Buck screamed back, shaking off the effects of the elbow that slammed into his chest.

“LISTEN TO ME,” Vin Tanner yelled, grabbing a hold of the arching man’s face and forcing Chris to look at him. “YOU WON’T DO HER ANY GOOD IF YOU GET YOURSELF KILLED.” Feeling the struggles underneath of him suddenly stop, Vin eased up slightly on his best friend’s jaw, but didn’t let go of it. When haunted, desperate eyes finally connected with his, Vin continued. “Listen to me, Chris. You gotta use your head. We can get her out of there but *only* if you use your head.”

Slumping as the fight left him, Chris shuddered and closed his eyes as the image of Mary’s corpse from the previous night’s nightmare flickered into his head. Sucking in a ragged breath, he forced the memory back. Opening his eyes again, he nodded once to let the men know they could let him go.

Slowly releasing their leader, the two man eased back and pulled him to his feet as they rose. Glancing at each other, Buck and Vin silently agreed that it was safe. Stepping back, they noticed that Ezra had intercepted the uninjured Federal Marshal and had kept him from interfering with Buck or Vin or more importantly charging the house, while Josiah had moved to cover the back of the property to ensure the suspect did not escape while they were corralling Chris. Nathan had dragged the other officer back under the trees and was tending to him while throwing anxious glances towards his partners.

Looking back at the house, Chris took an unsteady step towards it before stopping. Reaching over, he pulled Vin’s mike from his collar. “JD,” Chris croaked into it, his voice hoarse from the screaming and the headlock Buck had put on him, “Call it in. Tell ‘em we got a hostage situation.”

*******

Chancing another glance into the van at Chris listening tensely, Buck frowned. He hadn’t wanted for the black clad man to hear anything else that went on in the house. If things escalated again, he wasn’t sure anyone was going to be able to stop him from charging the house and getting himself shot.

Forcing his attention back to the street map on the folding table, he scanned it as he listened to the uniform officer. “The street has been blocked here and here. All the houses within a three block radius have been evacuated. Anything else you need my men to do?”

Holding up his hand to stave off the officer, the ATF agent’s attention was drawn back to the phone pressed to the side of his head. “Yeah, I’m still here.... What do you mean no one’s coming?.... Now you wait a minute! We’ve got an informant in danger and if you ....” Buck’s anger showed plainly on his face at what was being said to him. “Procedure my ass.... if you don’t get someone out here... Hello?! Hello?!” Slamming the cellular phone shut, Buck jammed it back into his pocket as he looked back at the veteran Denver police officer looking at him expectantly.

“We’re it. SWAT Teams are tied up,” Buck snapped, gauging the officer’s reaction to the news. Seeing a steeling in his eyes that comes with accepting the responsibility of a job you don’t really want, Buck clamped the veteran officer on the shoulder. “Okay, listen up... Suspect is a 47 year old male by the name of Barry Feldwater. Retired two years ago after 25 years at a local plastics factory. Been a foster parent for 8 years. Wife left him last month alleging physical and sexual abuse. Judge must of believed her cause there was a hearing Friday and she got a protection order issued against him. Just our luck that it wasn’t entered into the computer until this morning and by then the seizure warrant for his guns was issued too. Laurel & Hardy over here,” tossing his thumb over his shoulder towards the two federal marshals beside the ambulance, “were trying to confiscate them when all hell broke loose,” Buck summed up the case.

“Who else is in the house?”

“As far as we can tell, only the one hostage.”

“A civilian who’s wired right?” Seeing a nod, he continued. “So why were you here anyway?” the officer asked, referring to the ATF team. From the comment about ‘procedures,’ he was pretty sure that this little operation was not exactly by the book. If that *was* the case, he didn’t envy these guys when it came to explaining everything.

“Acting on a tip,” the mustached man said evasively.

Pinning the agent with a steady stare, the officer could tell by the tensing of the man he wasn’t going to get anymore information concerning the case he was working on. Deciding to drop it for now, he scanned the abandoned neighborhood before finally turning his eyes towards the older, two story house that set back from the street. “Anybody know what the layout is?”

“Near as we can tell, the downstairs has two bedrooms and a bath on the north side, kitchen, dining and living room, and small office on south side. An open hallway runs through the entire downstairs between the front and back doors. Neighbor told us that the gabled windows in front upstairs are bedrooms. There are at least two other bedrooms and a bathroom in the back part. The first floor windows are about 5 to 6 feet off the ground. There are no other external entrances beside the front and back door,” Buck said, relaying the information gained from the reconnaissance the team had done the day before.

“Okay. How do you want to handle this?” the officer said, blowing out a heavy breath.

“Spread your guys out around the house as backup. But be careful and make sure they know there are four of my guys out there. Have ‘em announce themselves. I’ll tell ‘em to keep an eye out, but I’d hate to have anybody shot cause they didn’t speak up.”

As the officer sent his men off, the sound of a voice finally coming over the speaker that had been until now eerily quiet brought Buck’s attention back to the van.

***********

“I been waiting for these guys to show up every since that bitch lied to the judge,” Barry Feldwater mumbled, making sure he had extra bullets close at hand. When he was finally satisfied he had enough, he took his eyes off of the growing collection of cops amassing in the street long enough to throw a glance over his shoulder at the woman huddled on the floor. “You just gonna sit in that corner all day?”

Nodding, Mary swallowed hard. Until now, she wasn’t sure that Feldwater had even remembered she was there. “Seems like a safe place,” she said quietly. //Make yourself as small of a target as you can.// The sound of Chris’ voice echoed in her head.

//Try to tell us as much information as you can without getting caught.// Clearing her throat, Mary said “You must like to hunt.”

“Huh?” Feldwater said, again looking back at her.

“I said you must like to hunt.” Seeing confusion on the man’s face, Mary got nervous. Her words were rushed as she tried to explain away her comment. “Your guns there.... two rifles and a shotgun... that’s why I said you must like to hunt.”

“Yeah,” was all the man said before turning back to the window.

********

“Good girl,” Chris breathed, sharing a quick glance with JD. Behind him, he could hear Buck relaying the information to the team.

********

Telling the other agents, Buck grimaced slightly. It was a dangerous tightrope that Mary was stepping onto. If Feldwater found out that she was feeding them information, he could kill her. Yet, the tidbits she had been able to relay were also giving them what they needed to know in order to get her out.

Catching a movement in his periphial vision, Buck snapped his head around. Upon seeing the form of one Marshall Bryce trying to creep up to the house, the big man cursed. Grabbing the radio that would connect him to the squad cars, Buck pushed the button and snapped “Can anybody stop that idiot?” knowing the ATF agents would also hear. The terse sound of his voice brought Chris’ head out of the van to see what was going on.

“That stupid sonofabitch,” Larabee growled, jumping onto the ground and grabbing a pair of binoculars. Scanning the placement of the ATF agents and the uniform officers in relation to the Marshall, Chris realized that it would take too long for the men to get to the renegade without exposing themselves. “They’re not gonna make it,” he snapped. Bouncing between blinding rage at the man’s stupidity and agonizing fear that his actions would get somebody killed, Chris continued to watch the errant lawman as he jumped onto the air conditioning unit and began to jimmy a window.

************

Running her eyes around the room, Mary shifted trying to ease the pain that had started in her hip from sitting on the hard floor in a huddle. She would have given anything to be able to get up. But she wouldn’t for fear that it might be taken wrong. “Don’t do anything that might be taken as a threat. Just hang on and we’ll get to you,” Chris had told her. //I’m trying...please hurry.//

A faint scraping noise tickled in Mary’s ear. Looking at Feldwater, she didn’t think he had heard it. After a few minutes of listening, Mary finally located the direction it was coming from. Flicking a quick glance at her captor, Mary leaned forward until she could see into the bedroom across the hall. Doing so, she finally got a glimpse of a man trying to get the window opened. Sitting back quickly so she would not inadvertently give him away, Mary closed her eyes praying that it would soon be over with.

Opening them again at the sound of movement in the room, she saw that Feldwater had moved over to his desk and was pulling drawers open looking for something. Finally finding it, the man moved back to the window with a pair of binoculars in his hands. Raising them, Mary heard him start to mutter to himself. Although she couldn’t make out the words, she knew he was unhappy because of the intensity of his stare and his body language.

Licking her lips, Mary dared a question. “Is something wrong?”

“They’re up to something,” Barry muttered, this time loud enough so she could hear. Almost immediately, he lowered his field glasses, a frown on his face. Looking at the pale face across the room, he continued. “They were all lookin’ at something on the other side of the house. But now they quit.”

Swallowing hard, Mary tried to make her self remain calm realizing that the man trying to come into the window had almost been found out because of the lawmen. Her throat went dry when Feldwater suddenly moved towards her. Automatically trying to pull herself further into the corner, she watched as the burly man paused beside her in the doorway, listening for any sound out of the ordinary. Glancing at him when he was so close, Mary didn’t think she had ever seen a gun as big as the one that was dangling in his hand. Forcing her eyes off of it, she tried to think of anything to fend off the terror building in her.

What happened next was a blur to the newspaper reporter. Like a cat stalking its prey, Feldwater suddenly crouched and held his finger up to his lips. Moving into the hallway, the big man leaned his back against the wall outside of the bedroom Mary had seen the Marshall trying to enter. Suddenly Feldwater burst into the room, roaring. The blasts of gunfire echoing throughout the house became mingled with the sounds of Mary’s screams.

************

Buck blocked the entryway to the van at the sound of the gunfire and prepared himself in case Chris tried leaving. The sound of Mary crying was probably the only thing that kept him there. If she was crying, she was alive.

Over the radios, reports were pouring in.

“Two shots in the southeast corner.”

“Suspect is dragging something into the other room. It’s Bryce.”

Breathing out heavily, Buck hung his head and shook it slowly. A lawman had been shot. It had just become a whole new ball game.

***************

Startling at the sound of the body being dropped beside her, Mary raised her head from her arms and glanced sideways. Trying to stifle her weeping, she crawled over to the lawman laying on the floor just inside of the doorway. Pausing beside him, Mary’s hands hovered not knowing for sure what she could do for him. The bullet had entered in the armpit on his right side and from the amount of blood, had hit a major vessel. He was slowly dying.

Dazed, Bryce rolled his head from side to side trying to fight through the haze of pain and darkness that was enveloping him. He knew he was being physically dragged and dumped somewhere. But there was nothing he could do about it. After a few moments, a new sensation began. Feeling hands tugging at his shirt and then vest, the injured lawman rolled his head to his right side and forced his eyes to focus.

Using the bullet hole as a starting point, Mary ripped a portion of the once powder blue shirt off of the injured man’s body. At least it would be something she could use to staunch the flow. Quietly talking to the injured man, her voice shook from fear and tears. “Shhh. It’s going to be all right. I just need to get this off of you to see how bad it is.”

When the blurry image cleared for a brief second, Bryce realized it was the hostage who was pushing on his side. //Mary. That’s what they called her.// “Mary,” he croaked from his trembling lips. “Don’t worry about me....just.... get out of here.... before it’s..... too late...,” the lawman whispered, his eyes losing their focus even before he had finished. “I’m sorry,” fell from his lips as his head rolled back and he slid into the blackness.

As hard as she tried, Mary couldn’t stop the blood flowing from the wound in his side. All traces of blue quickly disappeared from the cloth in her hands as did the beige of the makeup so carefully applied to them earlier in the day. “No... please don’t do this,” Mary whispered desperately as she saw him slipping away. Putting a hand to his neck, Mary fumbled to find a pulse, her fingers leaving bright red spots wherever they touched. Tears welled up again as she found none. A plaintive “Nooo,” escaped her lips as quiet sobs began. //This wasn’t suppose to happen.... //

After a few minutes, Mary squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself to take several deep breathes. Regaining some control, she raised a tear streaked face to glance back at her captor once again at his post by the window. “He’s dead,” she said flatly. “You killed him.”

**********

Laying his head in his hands, Chris Larabee wasn’t sure if he wanted to cry or tear something apart with his bare hands. It had been bad enough when Mary was just being held against her will, but now.... the sound her anguished cries and sobs tore at every fiber of his being. The agony of watching someone die from an act of violence and knowing that you could do nothing to stop it never really leaves you. Chris should know. He’d been there enough. Now, it seemed despite his best efforts, Mary would have to carry that weight, too.

Mary’s next words brought his head snapping back up.

**********

“Why? What makes those guns so precious that all of a sudden they’re worth a man’s life to keep them,” Mary snarled, anger surging past her fear for a moment. Standing up, she took a step toward Feldwater while pointing at the body at her feet. “He was only doing his job. You may not have agreed with it, but that didn’t mean you had the right to kill him for it,” she challenged. “You ranted all morning how the country had gone to hell. Well, it’s gone to hell because of people like *you* who think that *their* rights mean more than anyone else's. People who think they can do anything they want without any consequences, without....NO,” Mary screamed as Feldwater lunged across the room at her.

Grabbing her by the arm, the big man yanked her closer so he could make her shut up. Raising his hand to swing at her, he stopped as he suddenly realized that she had two different color eyes... one blue, one brown. Running his eyes over her face, he yanked her closer and roughly rubbed his palm across her still damp cheek, smearing off the makeup to reveal her ivory pale skin below. “Who are you?” he hissed, realizing that she wasn’t as she appeared to be.

*********

“Anyone got a clear shot?” Buck Wilmington roared into his mike.

*********

Blanching at the venom in the man’s voice, Mary realized what she had done. Shaking her head, she watched the waves of fury that fluttered over the man’s face while he gripped her arms so hard, it was cutting off the circulation to her hands.

“I said, who are you?” he roared again, yanking her closer to him. Instinctively, Mary tried to pull back, causing the man to quickly drop one of her arms and wrap his arm around her back. Upon contact with her sweater, his eyes widened further. “What the hell....?” he grumbled as he quickly shifted her so that she was pinned against him and he could raise the back of her sweater for a better look. The unmistakable look of the kevlar vest appeared when he shoved the material upward.

The ringing of the telephone on the desk caused both people to jump nervously. Ignoring it, the big man shoved Mary to the floor and pointed the gun to her head. “Who are you?” he snarled, cocking the pistol.

Cowering, Mary didn’t know if she could work up enough saliva to speak. For a brief moment, she didn’t know who she was or what had just happened. She didn’t know if she would ever hold her son again or see Chris.... or anyone else she cared about for that matter. The only thing she knew for sure was that at that moment in time, she was closer to death than she had ever been before in her life.

“TELL ME!”

Running a dry tongue over equally dry lips, she breathed. “Mary....”

“Mary who?”

“Mary Travis....”

“Who do you work for?”

“I’m a reporter....”

“Don’t lie to me,” he snarled, thrusting the gun so that the tip was resting on her head.

A sob escaped Mary’s throat. “I’m not....”

The incessant jangling of the telephone droned on in the room.

*********

“Come on... pick it up..., JD murmured softly, staring at the flashing switchboard connection as if he could will someone in the house to answer. Turning questioning eyes to Buck, JD let the phone continue to ring in his ear after getting an affirmative nod. Casting his eyes back at the electronics, JD avoided looking at his friend and team leader sitting beside the console. He had made that mistake once and the aura of misery and pain that surrounded Chris Larabee had just about made him loose it. He couldn’t do that. Too much was riding on this one.

*********

“This is intolerable,” Ezra Standish swore to himself. Running his eyes again over the house and the surrounding landscape, a gambler’s mask slid over his face as they lit on a particular object. Casting a covert look at the uniform officer a short distance away, the southerner eased back into the trees behind him.

*********

“I said, take it off,” Feldwater pushed, waiving his gun at the woman.

Slowly gathering the sweater by the hem, Mary pulled it over her head revealing a full view of the bullet proof vest below. Shaky hands gripped the fabric in an attempt to hide her apprehension and to stall for time. If she took the vest off like he wanted, he would find the microphone in it. The continuing sound of the phone echoing in the small office caused Mary to twitch with each ring.

Loosing patience, the burly man reached down and grabbed the top of the vest. Yanking on it, his hand hit the microphone causing it to fall further down Mary’s front. As Feldwater continued to pull, Mary finally reached over and pulled on the velcro straps on one side to save her neck and head from being torn up. Even then, the straps scraped painfully on her neck.

Hearing a slight thump as the mike tumbled to the floor, Mary held her breath waiting for the explosion. Watching as Feldwater bent over and picked up the unit that had just fallen, cold eyes slowly raised to bore into her. A feral grin crossed the big man’s face as he said, “Say goodbye to your *friends*.”

********

Sharing a somber look with the men in front of him, Ezra nodded to Josiah that he was ready. Hefting the picnic table up, the two men carried it closer to the house and set it down without making any noise. Watching as the large man climbed on top of it, Ezra turned expectant eyes toward Nathan.

“Why can’t you do this?” Nathan whispered, looking up at the window above.

“If you notice Mr. Jackson, you are taller than I, and as such have a better chance of reaching that window,” Ezra hissed back, placing a hand on Nathan’s back and gently pushing him closer to the table.

Reluctantly climbing on top of the table with Josiah, Nathan shook his head. He should of known when the southerner appeared beside him from nowhere and tapped him on the shoulder that he was up to something. Making sure the table was going to hold their combined weight, Nathan put his foot into Josiah’s cupped hands. Using the house to help steady him, the tall man climbed onto his partner’s shoulders and finally stood up. Reaching upward, Nathan’s fingertips ran along the sill of the window above him.

Realizing that the window was open an inch or so, Nathan glanced under his arm to locate Ezra, who was watching the operation with trepidation. “Ezra, get me a stick or something,” he hissed.

“And hurry,” Josiah added, grunting under the weight on him.

Scrounging in the scrub brush against the back fence, the southerner finally gave up and grabbed a medium size branch on a tree. Knowing the cold air would make it brittle, he snapped it off and jogged back.

Taking the offered tool, Nathan shoved it under the upper frame of the lower pane and began pushing, opening the window. Dropping the stick, he grabbed the sill in preparation. “Josiah, give me a boost,” he said.

Switching his grip slightly on Nathan’s legs, Josiah heaved upward, raising the ex-EMT several more inches. It was enough. Getting his arms braced, Nathan pulled himself through the window and silently eased to the floor.

************

Turning his head to keep an eye on Chris who was now outside of the van pacing, Buck half listened to the sound of the ringing telephone echo off the interior of the vehicle. Just when he was about to signal to JD to disconnect the connection, a terse ‘yeah’ came through the line.

************

Scanning the interior of the bedroom he had just entered, Nathan paused to accustom himself to the sounds of the house. Identifying the usual hums and buzzes of the various electronics, he frowned when the sound of a soft snore from the other side of the room reached his ears. Stunned, he realized that there was a body in the bed.

Moving quietly, the tall man crossed the room and stopped. Looking down, he saw the relaxed face of an adolescent male half hidden under the covers. A grin escaped the tall man as he remembered being sixteen and sleeping during the day so he could be up all night. Only difference was that he was never allowed to skip school to do it.

Easing the quilt back, the muffled sounds of music coming from the headphones on the teen’s head joined the other muted sounds of the room. Placing his hand above the youngster’s face to stifle any sound he might make, Nathan shook him.

“Shhh...,” he said when the teen opened his eyes, confusion and fear flashing in them. Pulling the headphones from the kid’s ears, Nathan whispered urgently. “I’m a federal officer. Do you live here?” Seeing a nod, he continued. “Does anyone know you’re up here?” The teen shook his head no. “Okay...look... your foster father is holding a woman at gun point downstairs. I want you to get up as quietly as you can and we’re going to get you out of here through that window.”

Stepping back so the youngster could stand up, Nathan shadowed him to the window. Catching sight of Ezra and Josiah in the tree line where they had retreated, Jackson signaled them. Waiting for them to get ready, Nathan grinned slightly at the opportunity looking at him. “You can help me out here. Are there any places where the floor makes noise?”

Nodding his head, the teen grinned back. “Yeah... just on the top of the stairs, by the wall, it squeaks really bad. And stay to the right on the fourth and seventh steps.”

Nodding, the agent helped the youngster ease through the window and into the hands of his two partners on the table below.

**************

Being careful not to fall off of the branch he was sitting on, Vin Tanner used the telescopic lens on his rifle to once again look into the house through the small gap between the curtain panels. Seeing only furniture at first, his target crossed his view as the man in the room paced back and forth, a cordless phone in one hand. //One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four one-thousand, five one-thousand.... One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four one-thousand, five one-thousand, six one-thousand...one one-thousand, two....//

“No sign of Mary,” Vin said quietly, still watching the pacing form and mentally counting off the number of seconds between each glimpse of him.

**************

“I need to know if the hostages are okay now before we do anything,” Buck said into the headset connected to the land line. “There were shots fired earlier. Has anyone been hurt?”

Silence met his questions. “How about you letting me speak to the woman?”

“That ain’t possible.”

“What do you mean that ain’t possible?” Buck reiterated, forcibly restraining himself from growling at the man on the other line. Locking eyes with his friend standing tensely beside him, the ladies’ man tried to keep one hand on Chris and still pay attention to the conversation.

“It just ain’t,” Feldwater snapped back. “She ain’t gonna talk to you, least not til I get something first.”

Upon hearing that, Chris yanked his arm away from Buck and took a few steps closer to the house. //She’s still alive.// Pausing, the ATF leader stood glaring at the dwelling for a few seconds before glancing back towards Buck. “Find out what his demands are,” Chris said, giving guidance while gathering information.

“Okay, then, what is it that you want?” Buck said, stalling for time and hoping to keep Feldwater preoccupied.

************

Easing open the door to the bedroom, Nathan darted a quick look into the upstairs hallway to confirm that it was clear before stepping out into it. Not seeing anyone, he began a quick but thorough search of the remaining rooms on the second story to make sure there were no other innocents in the house.

************

“Ezra, Josiah, you in position?” JD asked quietly, taking precautions to make sure his voice did not carry to Buck on the phone.

“Ten-four,” Josiah called back, looking at the southerner on the other side of the back door.

“Chris is almost there,” the youngest team member reported back over the mike, watching as the black clad leader eased along the front of the house and leaped over the side railing of the front porch. Catching a hand signal from Chris, JD turned and nodded to Buck.

Holding up his hand, Buck lowered one finger at a time while JD verbalized the countdown to the others. On “Go” Josiah and Chris simultaneously kicked in the doors. Almost immediately the sound of gunfire erupted as the telephone went dead.

************

Yanking the headphones from his head, Buck Wilmington thought time had stood still. The rapid sound of gunfire in the house had lasted only seconds before a deadly silence had descended. It was the silence that seemed to be lasting forever. Taking a few hesitant steps forward, Buck glanced toward the young man shadowing his movements. Clamping a hand on JD’s shoulder, the two men waited for some indication that everything was secured in the house.

“All clear. Suspect is down,” Josiah finally announced.

“What about Mary?” Buck asked, glad to know that the ordeal was over.

The confusing sounds of jumbled voices mixed with doors being opened and closed rang through the mikes. When no direct answer to his question was forthcoming, Buck asked again a little more forcibly. “Damnit guys... is Mary all right?”

“There’s no sign of her,” Josiah finally answered back, concern and confusion echoing in his voice.

************

“Damnit, she *has* to be around here somewhere,” Vin Tanner snapped, stepping over the bodies in the office to join the others in the hallway. Above him, the sounds of Chris’ footsteps searching the second story told the sharpshooter that he wasn’t having any luck locating her up there. “You looked *everywhere*?” he asked again.

Seeing the confirming looks and nods from the other agents join his own, Nathan absentmindedly chewed on his lower lip while looking around the house for some sign of where Mary might be hidden. Behind him, he could hear Josiah and Ezra begin to stomp on the floor looking for any trap doors that might be under the carpet, while Vin once again began to search closets for false fronts and hidden panels.

Shaking his head, Nathan felt like he was missing something important. From the time he had gotten to the top of the stairs until he had fired one of the fatal shots at Feldwater, he had not seen Mary nor heard any sound from her. It was as if she had disappeared. The tell-tale squeaking of the floor boards at the top of stairs announced Chris’ impending descent.

Tensing as he realized what he had forgotten, the ex-EMT agent dashed out of the front door. Brushing past the ambulance and coroner personnel on the porch on their way into the house, Jackson jogged down the driveway towards the command van while scanning the area. Not seeing the person he was looking for, Nathan hollered at Wilmington. “Buck!... Where’s the kid I got out of the house?”

“In the van where it’s warmer...,” Buck threw out at Nathan, who was running towards the back of vehicle before Buck had even finished.

Yanking open the door, Nathan waved to the young teen. “Hey... come here... By the way, what’s your name?”

“Jeremy,” the teen answered with a grin, recognizing the man who had gotten him out of the house.

Nathan smiled back at the young man shaking his hand. “Jeremy, I’m Nathan. I was wondering if you could help me out again.... yeah?... good. Look, we know the lady was in the house but we can’t find her now. Is there a closet or something where Feldwater could of put her that we don’t know about?”

Sobering, Jeremy nodded his head. “Under the stairs. There’s a little room where he put us sometimes when he thought we were gettin’ out of hand. It’s padded so no one can hear you yell in there and it’s really dark. Kinda hard to breath too.”

Gripping the youngster’s arm, Nathan urgently asked “How do I find it?”

“Did you see the table in the hall? Okay, look up the wall from there. By the steps there’s a hidden lever. Pull it and the door will open,” Jeremy explained. “Want me to show ya?”

“No, you did just fine, thanks.” Turning, Nathan sprinted back to the house. Banging the front door against the wall as he came through it, the tall man stopped by the table and ran his hands up the paneling to the top and then along the steps in both directions. Immediately, his fingers felt the handle. “I got her,” he yelled over his shoulder as he pulled it. Dropping down, Nathan was just in time to stop Mary’s head from hitting the floor as her body fell out of the small opening.

**********

Watching as the ambulance pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street with its siren blaring, Buck waved at the van dropping behind it before he turned to look towards Vin and Nathan each speaking to supervisors a short distance away. Although it was standard procedure for a review team to be called in after a shooting, it always seemed to Buck that they enjoyed raking agents over the coals. Questioning every little thing over and over to see if they could trip the agent up or catch them in a lie. He just wished they’d hurry up so he could get his part over with and get to the hospital. If Chris got out of hand, Buck didn’t know if JD and Ezra could contain him by themselves.

**********

Blowing out a deep breath, Josiah slumped back in the chair behind the desk and rubbed a trembling hand over his face. He really hated this job sometimes. Running eyes around the nearly vacant office where death still hung in the air like a bad air freshener, Sanchez let his eyes stray unseeingly to the furniture before him and the pictures depicting children in various states of undress. Mixed with the photographs were sheet after sheet of peoples names who had bought the pictures and, God knew, what else.

“Sir... excuse me, but are you ready for me to take those in?”

Straightening, the ex-anthropologist shuffled the pictures and papers back into an organized stack before stuffing them into an evidence envelope. Pulling a pen out of his pocket, he marked the date, location, and his initials on the bag before sealing it. Stacking it on another bag containing forged reimbursement forms totaling thousands of dollars in false claims, Josiah held them out to the officer standing on the other side of the desk. “Make sure a copy of these is sent to the AD Travis’ office,” he said tiredly.

Rising after the uniform had left, the big man stopped in the middle of the room and slowly bent over. Picking up Mary’s discarded sweater off the blood soaked carpet, Josiah stared at it as the memory of how she looked in the van flashed in his mind. Just as quickly, the sight of her limp body being cradled in Chris’ arms replaced the earlier vision. Clenching the fabric, Josiah blinked back a tear. Drawing a deep breath, he tried to console himself with the thought that at least he had found the evidence that Mary had come in for.

Somehow, that didn’t mean a whole lot right now.

**********

Listening to the rhythmic clicking of the tips of JD’s shoe laces tapping against his shoes with each step, Ezra clenched his jaws. “Mr. Dunne... If you don’t stop that incessant pacing I am going to do something I will regret later.”

Dropping into the chair beside the irritated southerner, JD fidgeted with the zipper on his vest, running it up and down until a hand clamped onto his stopping its progress. Blowing out a loud breath between his teeth, the youngest member of the team groaned. “Ah, come on, Ezra... I can’t help it. I mean, how long is it gonna take before we know something?”

“I am sure they will notify us as soon as possible,” Standish said softly, understanding why JD was so restless. He wished they’d hurry up too. But Lord knew that wanting something and having it happen were very different things.

“You think he’s gonna be all right?” JD asked quietly.

Following the younger man’s gaze down the hallway to the sight of Chris sitting with his forearms on this thighs, hands clasped loosely in front of his knees, head lowered, Ezra gripped JD’s arm encouragingly. “Mr. Larabee is a fighter. He’ll get through this.” Silently, Ezra added “I hope.”

“I know, but...,” JD glanced back at Standish. “He hasn’t said two words since we found Mary. And that sound he made.” JD shuddered at the memory of the single anguished cry that had come through the headset. It was like it had been torn from Chris’ very soul.

His throat tightening from the shared memory, Ezra squeezed JD’s arm again. It was just as well that the younger man had not been in the house to see the sight that had accompanied that scream. Even now, the southerner had to swallow a lump in his throat at the memory of Chris sinking to his knees beside Mary and slowly gathering her into his arms. Pulling her close to him, the big man had buried his face into her hair and rocked back and forth as silent tremors shook his body. It had taken all of them a full five minutes to convince him that she wasn’t dead and to get him to let her loose so that the medics could treat her. Even then, they could not make the haunting desperation in his eyes go away.

Only one thing was going to do that... Mary.

***********

A kaleidoscope of disjointed images shimmered through Mary Travis’ sub-consciousness. A vision of Berry Feldwater’s snarling face inches from hers melted into the sight of Marshall Bryce’s lifeless body before suddenly it faded into the blackness of the padded room. Voices echoed vaguely in the darkness.

“So hard to breathe.”

‘Calm down Mary.”

“I have to get out of here.”

“You’re safe now.”

“Hurt... My head hurts.”

“They’ll get you something for the pain in a little bit.”

“Chris, please hurry.”

“Shhhh, I’m here.”

“Please let me out.”

************

Opening her eyes, Mary slowly moved her eyes around the dimly lit room, trying to comprehend where she was at. Realizing she was in a hospital, she tentatively raised a hand to the bandage on her head, gently probing the area. //So it wasn’t all just a bad dream// she thought flinching at the tenderness of the area.

Dropping her hand, she turned her head slightly to find her call button. It was then that she saw the shape of Chris standing by the window with his back to her, looking out into the darkness beyond.

“Chris?”

Turning upon hearing his name being faintly spoken, Chris Larabee leaned back against the window sill to watch Mary begin and then halt her attempt to move further up in the bed. “How are you feeling?”

Closing her eyes briefly at the flash of pain caused by her movement, she attempted a weak smile that turned into a grimace. “Let’s just say I hope I look better than I feel,” Mary finally said watching him again. Averting her eyes for a moment, she glanced back at him as she asked, “Feldwater?”

Shaking his head to indicate that Feldwater was no longer any of her concern, Larabee finally moved over to sit back down by the bed as a mixture of emotions passed over her face at the news. “It wasn’t your fault, Mary. He tried to shoot Josiah when we stormed the place. He didn’t give anyone any choice.”

Picking up her hand into his, he tried to make her feel better. “If it’s any consolation, you were right about him. If he was alive, he’d be facing some hard time, even if he hadn’t killed Bryce.”

“Was that the Marshall’s name?” Mary asked softly, tears showing in her eyes as Chris confirmed it was. “He kept telling me to leave him and get out of the house.” After a few minutes of silence while Mary regained her equilibrium, she asked, “The kids?”

“In protective custody until they can be moved to other foster homes,” Chris said, rubbing a thumb over the back of her hand. “And there is a certain young lady who wants to meet you in person when you’re feeling better to say thank you.”

“Nicky!” Mary breathed, a genuine smile showing through the sorrow. Although she had exchanged numerous emails with the young woman talking about what Feldwater was doing, she had never actually met her. The prospect of finally being able to do so pleased Mary a great deal.

Seeing the pleasure on Mary’s face, Chris hated to, but he needed to know what had happened after her microphone had been found. Locking eyes with her, he somberly said, “So are you going to tell me about it?”

“There really isn’t much to tell,” Mary said squeezing his hand. “After he stomped on the mike, he said he was going to make sure I didn’t bother him again and started to pull me towards the hallway. I wasn’t sure what he was going to do, so I started to fight him. After landing a couple good kicks, he slugged me. I remember falling sideways,” she said, a hand going to her head. “I guess I must of hit my head on something because the next thing I knew I was someplace small and dark and my head was bleeding.” Squeezing his hand again, she smiled slightly. “I knew that if I could hang on you’d come.”

Before Chris could say anything, a commotion on the other side of the door announced the arrival of guests. As the door began to swing open, Mary and Chris grinned at the antics occurring on the other side of it.

“Shhhhhh!” Ezra said adamantly to Buck and JD who were trying, but failing miserably, to be quiet while fighting as to who was going to carry the bouquet of flowers to give to Mary. After the arrangement was bobbled and almost dropped for the second time, Josiah stepped forward and plucked it out of both men’s hands with a growl and a glare. “I’ll take it!”

“Well, if she hasn’t been woke up by now with these guys around, she isn’t going to,” Nathan said dryly.

Leaning against the now open door with a lopsided grin, Vin Tanner nodded at Chris and Mary before looking back at the entourage behind him. “You’re just lucky she *is* awake, otherwise Chris here would have to shoot all of you.”

Piling into the room, the men lavished Mary with greetings, along with the flowers and cards they had brought for her.

“You guys get everything straightened out?” Chris asked after everyone had settled.

“‘Cept for the paperwork,” Nathan grimaced, sitting on the foot of the empty bed that had been commandeered by JD and Buck.

Nudging the speaker beside him, Buck grinned slyly. “Why don’t you leave it for the newest member?”

Frowning, Chris looked inquisitively at each of the men looking innocently back at him. “What new guy?”

“Well, we decided that since Mary did such a good job that we should just add her to the team,” Josiah said grinning.

Holding up a hand, Mary interjected into the conversation before Chris could respond. “Oh, no. Once is more than enough thank you very much.” Looking back at Chris who was watching her, she smiled. “From now on, I’ll let the professionals go under cover and I’ll just write about the arrests!”

Smiling back at her, Chris nodded his head. “*That* lady, is one thing I’m going to hold you to!”

the end.


Feedback to krh <mh05045@navix.net>