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The sound of the shots, even with the silencer Collings was using, startled Vin and he struggled to sit up. “Wha… What´d´ya do?” he exclaimed in a weak voice.Collings took him by one arm and pulled him to his feet, ignoring the gasp of pain as Vin´s tortured body protested the movement.
“I thought you wanted him off the streets,” Collings replied as he lowered him into the chair he´d been bound to earlier. “Consider him off.”
Vin was still trying to get his mind around everything that had happened, both in the last few hours with Bertolli and Tony and in the last few minutes since he´d been rescued.
Funny. He didn´t exactly feel as though he´d been rescued – not yet.
Collings pulled Vin´s head back to assess the damage done by Tony´s fists. Shaking his head, he let out a disgusted breath. Both eyes were swollen and black, with only small slits of blue visible. Blood trickled from his nose, mouth and from a nasty gash at his hairline. What wasn´t covered with blood was marred by various shades of bruising. “This wasn´t supposed to happen.”
“Did…” Vin struggled to speak. “Did ya … call Chris?”
“Don´t worry, Tanner,” Collings assured him. “I´m going to take you to Chris right now.”
+ + + + + + +
They´d just pulled into the garage of the Federal Building when Chris´ phone rang.
“Larabee.”
“Chris, I checked out that course like you told me. The professors all check out. They´re highly accredited.”
“Thanks, JD,” Chris sighed.
“But,” JD continued. “There was a seminar, not part of the course, but related and recommended by some of the professors. All three men attended.”
“Oh?” Chris replied, his interest piqued. “What kind of seminar?”
JD paused for a moment. “Criminal Profiling. The guest speaker was the FBI´s very own profiler, Steven Collings.”
Chris felt as though he´d been punched in the gut. “Are you sure, JD?”
“Positive,” JD replied. “He´s spoken at over a dozen of these all across the country. And from what I´ve been able to find out so far, there are two men missing in Seattle who attended one of his lectures, and one unsolved murder in New York, a student, also studying some aspect of law enforcement and she´d recently attended the same Seminar they gave here in Denver.”
“Where is Collings, now?” Chris grated.
“I don´t know,” JD admitted. “He and Ezra split up to talk to some of Bertolli´s contacts. I called Ez and he´s on his way back in, but he has no idea where Collings is and he´s not answering his phone.”
“Damnit!” Chris fumed. He snapped the phone shut without a further word to JD and filled Buck in while they headed for the elevator.
When Chris stormed into Team 7´s office a few minutes later, JD was waiting with confirmation of what he´d found.
“And I checked into those reports, just like you said, Chris. Collings was the one who did them.”
“Thanks, JD,” Chris muttered, leafing through the pages of material and trying to make some sense of the whole thing. “Damnit!” he finally growled, slamming the reports down on JD´s desk. “This isn´t helping us find Vin.”
“DPD and Johnson´s team are looking,” JD tried to reassure him.
Chris raked his hand through his hair. “Where was Collings staying?” he asked gruffly.
“Four Seasons,” JD answered. “Hewitt and Sheeler checked it out. He´s not there and all his stuff is gone. They´ve posted a man to watch in case he comes back, but…” He let the words trail off. There was no point it saying aloud what they all knew.
Chris was pacing frantically, trying to think of where best to start looking. Suddenly, he whirled around to face a startled JD and a concerned Buck. “The warehouse!”
“What?” Buck frowned in confusion.
“Roswell said he was told to make a delivery to a warehouse on…”
“Superior Street!” Buck exclaimed, remembering Chris´ retelling of Roswell´s story.
They both headed straight for the large map hanging on one wall. “Only one that´s not being used right now is the old Dempster´s building.”
“At least it´s a place to start,” Chris snarled, already heading for the door.
En route to the abandoned building, Chris called the others and filled them in. They made it to the warehouse in record time, but when they cautiously entered, all they found were two bodies sprawled on the floor. An old ambulance was parked in one corner and a stretcher lay overturned beside it.
“Bertolli,” Chris muttered, checking the first corpse for a pulse.
“Don´t know this one,” Buck stated as he checked the other dead man. He paused for a moment. “But he´s got a lot of blood on him, Chris, and it ain´t all his.”
“Vin,” Chris breathed, looking frantically around the large room, though it was obviously empty. What he did, see, however, was more blood on the floor and on the empty metal chair. “God, Vin, where are you?” he whispered.
“You two knew Collings before,” JD reminded them. “Any idea where he might go in Denver?”
Both Chris and Buck had been wracking their brains trying to come up with something.
“I dunno,” Buck sighed. “I remember where he lived, but that building´s been all redone. There´s a waiting list a mile long to get an apartment there.”
“Then after the shooting, the only place he really seemed to like was…” Chris´ voice trailed off as his gaze met Buck´s.
“The ranch,” they said in unison.
“You don´t think…” Buck said softly.
Chris didn´t like the idea of heading so far out if it turned out to be a wild goose chase. It was an hour´s drive to the ranch. Even with lights and sirens, it would take a good 40 minutes. If Collings wasn´t out there, it would be over an hour round trip.
An hour Vin might not have.
Nathan and Josiah arrived, having broken all speed laws upon getting Chris´ call.
“Anything?” Nathan asked as the two entered the warehouse, guns drawn.
Chris shook his head in frustration.
“Someone´s got to check out the ranch, Chris,” Buck pointed out.
Chris quickly filled them in on Collings and their suspicions.
“Why would he take Vin?” Nathan asked.
It was Buck who offered a possible explanation. “I think he still blames Chris,” he said quietly.
Hearing the words spoken aloud only served to twist the invisible knife in Chris´ chest. “If that´s true, Josiah,” he asked through teeth clenched with anger and frustration. “Do you think he´d take him out to the ranch?”
Josiah considered everything for a moment. “If he blames you and is looking for some type of retribution, then he´d likely take Vin someplace where he thinks you´ll look for him. A place that holds some meaning for both of you. If you spent time at the ranch together, I don´t think that´s outside the realm of possibility.”
Ezra arrived in time to hear the end of the conversation. When he shot a questioning look at Nathan, the medic explained what little they knew.
Chris closed his eyes for a moment. He could still feel Vin deep in his heart, his soul. That had to mean something didn´t it? It was as though his partner, his lover, was reaching out to him, trying to tell him – something.
Talk to me, pard, he pleaded silently. Where are you?
It was just too bad they didn´t really have that ESP thing that the guys sometimes teased them about. They did have a connection, though, and that bond assured Chris that Vin was still alive and that he needed him – and that he was close.
“Ezra, take Nathan and go out to the ranch, just in case,” Chris finally said in a quiet voice. “Vin´s hurt and if they are out there, I don´t want him having to wait 40 minutes for an ambulance.”
“Right,” Nathan replied grimly. He was grateful for his training, was glad that it came in handy where their team was concerned, but he still hated it when he had to use his talents on one of their own.
“Buck, you and Josiah go down to police headquarters and make sure they´re on top of this.”
“Sure, Chris,” Josiah responded. Turning to Buck, he added, “We can take my car.”
Buck nodded and tossed his keys to Chris.
“JD, you´re with me,” Chris continued, jingling the keys in agitation as he spoke. “We´ll update Travis and make sure between us and the FBI that we turn this town upside down until we find them.”
All six left the area, heading in three separate directions, each with instructions to call if they found anything, anything at all.
Chris was nearing the Federal Building, still trying to pinpoint what was niggling at the back of his mind. Josiah´s words ran through his head over and over.
… a place that holds some meaning for both of you …
“Shit!” he cursed, sharply turning the wheel and executing a perfect U-turn.
“Chris?” JD asked uncertainly.
“The alley,” Chris muttered under his breath.
“Alley?” JD repeated. “Should I call the others?”
Chris considered it for the span of a heartbeat. He wasn´t sure, and he didn´t want to pull the others from their own search in the event he was wrong.
“Not yet,” he replied, shaking his head slightly. “I could be wrong.”
But it made perfect sense in a twisted sort of way. If Collings blamed Chris for the shooting, he might very well return to where it had all started.
Yeah, he could be wrong.
But he was pretty sure he wasn´t.
+ + + + + + +
Collings finished tying off the rope and stood back to admire his work. The room they were in had served as a shipping/receiving office and there were only two small doors leading from it, one to the connecting warehouse and one to the alley where deliveries had once been made. Apparently the textile trade had proved profitable enough to warrant a sprawling factory in the north end of town, thereby leaving the downtown building abandoned like so many of those surrounding it.
It didn´t matter to Collings though. In fact, it actually served his plan quite well. And part of that plan was now in perfect position before him.
Vin Tanner stood near the back of the room, his hands cuffed behind him, his ankles bound together with plastic strapping. A long rope looped snugly around his neck before reaching up over one of the pipes running along the ten-foot ceiling and back down. Collings had secured the other end to the handle of a long-forgotten floor safe.
It took most of the injured man´s concentration just to keep his balance. If he were to fall to his knees, or attempt to kick out at his captor, he´d surely choke. At least the drug was wearing off, and as its effects lessened, the Texan´s anger increased.
“Why?” he demanded, his voice hoarse with the rage born of betrayal.
“Let´s just say I owe somebody, and you´re going to be the payment.”
It had to be Chris. Collings had said he was taking Vin to meet Chris. But why? What was he planning?
“You killed Bertolli,” Tanner accused. He barely had the energy to breathe, let alone speak, but he wanted some answers.
“Bertolli was too easy,” Collings laughed. “I´ve been helping him stay one step ahead of the law for months now. Turned out all that training they gave me really did come in handy after all. Quite profitable, really.”
“Then why…” Vin´s words trailed off as the pain in his arm became unbearable. He knew the shoulder was dislocated – he´d suffered the same injury enough times to recognize the agony. He also suspected his wrist was broken. Neither was being helped by his bound position.
Collings shrugged. “I won´t be needing him anymore.”
A wave of dizziness assailed him and Vin had to focus all his attention on remaining upright. Once he´d regained his balance, he fixed a hateful gaze on his captor.
“What´s the matter, Tanner? You still trying to figure it all out?” Collings sneered, taking a step closer to the bound man. “I suspected you weren´t all that bright, so let me spell it out for you. After I had my chance at law enforcement snatched out from under me, I discovered there was more money to be made on the other side. Bertolli and scores more like him pay me to keep them informed. They stay out of jail, and I stay in the lap of luxury. Pretty sweet deal, don´t you agree?”
“You set me up,” Vin hissed, anger making its way through the pain.
“Of course,” Collings grinned. “Who better to tell him exactly where to find you than the guy who put you there in the first place?”
“Bastard,” Vin croaked.
“Didn´t expect him to rough you up so bad, though,” Collings frowned, feigning concern. “He was just supposed to drug you and hold you until I got there. But I got delayed with some messy business down at Montgomery´s. Apparently, Bertolli took your infiltration of his club a little more personally than I would have thought.”
Vin glared as much as his swollen eyes would allow.
Collings paced slowly in front of the helpless man and continued with his bizarre story.
“The whole thing felt so good at first,” he went on. “Being a cop was all I ever wanted. When I got shot, those so-called ‘brothers in blue´ turned their backs on me.” He allowed a maniacal smile then. “But watching them chasing their tails was payment enough … for a while.”
Vin closed his eyes, praying that Chris and the others would get there soon.
“But even when I´d managed to embarrass and humiliate them, sooner or later they´d brush themselves off and carry on, taking all the glory, the credit that was meant to be mine.”
“Yer… crazy,” Vin managed between split and swollen lips.
Collings laughed as though to prove the point. “Maybe.” He was silent for a moment. “But I was smart enough to realize it just wasn´t enough. Then to add insult to injury, they asked me to speak at those damned seminars.” He stopped pacing and leaned in close to Vin again, his expression one of barely restrained anger. “Do you have any idea what that was like? Looking out at that sea of eager faces and able bodies? Knowing that they were going to get the chances I never did?”
He seemed lost in his own thoughts for a moment, almost as though he´d forgotten his captive audience completely. “Thought I could at least stop some of them. For every one I killed, I knew there´d be one less out there sharing in the life that was meant to be mine.”
Vin stilled completely at the words, unable to comprehend what he was hearing. Killed who?
“Stewart?” he finally whispered in disbelief.
Collings waved the gun he still held dismissively, starting to pace once more. “Stewart, Baxter, a few others here and there.”
Tanner´s mind was reeling. He may not have trusted Collings completely, but he´d never suspected the man was this far gone.
“And it still wasn´t enough,” Collings said quietly, almost regretfully.
He shook his head to clear it of the thoughts. “That´s when I realized I´d never find true peace until the man responsible had been made to pay.”
Vin knew he was talking about Chris, but he said nothing.
“I got the idea to use Roswell to get to him. But even then, I wasn´t really sure what I was going to do. Kill him?” He shook his head. “Too easy. I needed him to know – to feel – what I´d lost. Believe me, I know a thing or two about some of the ways your own body can betray you. Figured I´d put him through what I´d experienced. See how he liked having the only career he´s ever cared about ripped out from under him.”
Vin´s anger rose at that. Bound and beaten, he´d still find a way to stop Collings from putting Chris through that kind of Hell.
Collings leaned in and smiled then, an ugly, hateful gesture that made Vin´s blood run cold.
“Didn´t take much to convince my so-called superiors to put me on the Bertolli case. After all, I´d been tipping him off long enough that I probably knew more about him than his own mother. I´d already been back here a few times, the last for that Godforsaken seminar, but I hadn´t had the opportunity to put my plan into action then. I did manage to get in a bit of free publicity for The Silver Pagoda during that weekend, though. Didn´t much matter to me how many of those snot-nosed kids took the bait. I told Bertolli they´d be the best runners he´s ever had. I mean, who´d suspect kids training to be cops? It was just too perfect. Then, when he was through with them, I´d be able to make sure they never got to wear that so-called badge of honour. It was a win-win situation. Well, maybe not for the kids, but for Bertolli and me at least.”
God, the man really was insane!
“So, when they sent me back to Denver to work with Larabee, of all people, I knew the rest would be easy. Then I met you and it got even easier,” he was saying. “With my skills, it took me about ten minutes to see what you mean to him. That´s when it hit me. Larabee might be able to live with a career-ending injury of his own, but what if the tables were turned? What if he had to watch a knife slice through your spine, knowing you´d never walk again and that he was the reason?” He leaned in close to Vin´s face. “How do you think he´ll handle that, Tanner?”
Vin swallowed hard but tried not to let his apprehension show. Chris wouldn´t handle that well at all. Even though he´d know deep down that it was Collings who was responsible, he´d always harbour the knowledge that it was because of some twisted sense of revenge he had against Larabee.
And that would slowly kill the man he loved.
His desire to be rescued paled in comparison to his need to protect his lover and his prayers changed course.
Please, please don´t let Chris come here…
+ + + + + + +
Chris parked Buck´s truck down the block and got out, subconsciously reaching for his gun.
“Stay behind me, JD,” he instructed. “If anything happens, get the others over here fast, got it?”
JD nodded as he reached for his own weapon. He followed Chris at a safe, but reasonable distance as they made their way down the block and into the alley.
While still open down the middle, both sides of the pathway were cluttered with boxes and old crates, each providing a perfect hiding place. Chris moved carefully, scanning behind each object, his eyes flitting to rooftops and long forgotten doorways.
Halfway down the alley, something caught his eye and he moved carefully toward it. There, sitting on top of one of the piles of boxes, was a cell phone. He picked it up, his eyes still scanning the area, and pushed the combination of buttons that would pull up the personal info, knowing all the while what he´d see.
Vincent Haines.
“Collings!” Chris shouted at the top of his lungs, his frustration and anger taking over. “You want me? Here I am! Just let Tanner go and we can talk!”
There was silence for a moment and then his own phone rang. Digging it quickly out of his pocket, he prayed that it was good news.
It wasn´t.
“Really, Larabee,” Collings taunted from the other end of the line. “You really didn´t think it would be that easy, did you?”
“Where is he?” Chris demanded, his tone once more low and menacing.
“I knew you´d figure it out,” Collings went on, ignoring the question. “I´m just disappointed you didn´t come alone. Well, we can fix that now, can´t we?”
The words gripped Chris´ heart with icy fingers and he turned to warn JD, who was still scanning the alley from some distance away. Even as Chris called to him, he saw the young agent´s body jerk violently and fly backwards into a pile of crates that crumbled beneath his weight.
“JD!” Chris shouted, instinctively running toward the other man.
“Take one more step and I´ll finish it,” a voice shouted to him.
Chris whirled around then, his eyes frantically scanning the alley, trying to pinpoint the location of the voice. The sunlight that reached between the dilapidated buildings glinted off something metal and he narrowed his eyes, focusing on the spot. The barrel of a gun was pointed in his direction, and while he didn´t fear for his own life, he wasn´t willing to risk JD´s, if, in fact, the agent was still alive.
A low moan from behind him was his answer. He closed his eyes briefly in silent relief before focusing on Collings once again. “What do you want?” he called.
“Leave your gun,” Collings instructed. “Then walk over here, nice and slow. I´ve got a little present for you.”
Chris slowly laid his weapon on an upturned crate and began to walk toward the madman, the barrel of the gun with its menacing silencer following his every move.
Once he reached the spot, Collings stood aside and ushered him through the small doorway into the dimly lit room.
Vin.
His anger rose at seeing his partner tied in such a way. The face he knew so well was a horrific mass of blood and bruises, but he could tell from the erratic rise and fall of the Texan´s chest that he was still alive, at least. Instinctively, he moved toward the other man until he felt the cold steel of the gun in his back.
“Uh uh,” Collings taunted with a cruel laugh. “What´s your rush, Larabee? I´ve already reserved you the best seat in the house.” He motioned to the chair sitting about ten feet to the right of where Tanner stood.
Chris started slowly toward it, the gun still poking into his back as he moved. His gaze remained focused on Vin´s face, but his mind was racing. If he allowed himself to be bound, it would severely limit their chances of getting out of this alive.
Think, damnit, think!
“Try anything and I´ll finish him off right here and now,” Collings warned as though reading Larabee´s thoughts.
Inwardly, he cringed at the words. All he would show his tormentor, however, was a hateful glare as he lowered himself into the chair.
“Now you´ve got me,” he grated. “Let him go.”
“And ruin all the lovely plans I´ve made for the two of you? That wouldn´t be much fun, now would it, Chris?”
“What do you want?” Chris demanded in a cold voice.
“Well, you see,” Collings replied, feigning thoughtfulness, “that´s the misery of it all, because what I want, I´ll never have.”
Chris considered the words for a moment. “You´ve made a name for yourself,” he pointed out. “You willing to throw all that away?”
Collings laughed bitterly. “A name for myself? A name?!? You think that´s enough to compensate for what I lost?!? I was top of my class in the academy! I could outrun, out-maneuver and out-last the best! I lost it all saving your ass and I never got so much as a thank you!”
“That what you want?” Chris grated, eyes narrowed. “A thank you? That´s what this is all about?”
“You didn´t even acknowledge my sacrifice!” Collings shouted. He was raving now and Chris wished he´d move a little further away from Vin. “I took that bullet for you, Larabee!”
“No!” Chris barked shortly. “You took that bullet because you couldn´t follow a simple order to stay put!”
“I saved your…!”
“You fucked up!” Chris interrupted him.
Suddenly, Collings began to laugh, shaking his head as though in amusement. “No, no, no. That´s not going to work here, Larabee. You´re not going to manipulate this situation to your advantage. I lose my cool, do something stupid and you jump me? No, that´s not going to happen.”
“You´ve already done something stupid,” Chris pointed out grimly. “We know about the seminars. Did you kill those men in Seattle? That girl in New York?”
Collings waved his hand casually as if the question bored him. “Tanner can fill you in on all that,” he sighed. “He´ll still be able to talk, after all.”
Those words and their implications sent a chill down Chris´ spine. “He doesn´t have anything to do with this,” he said as calmly as he could.
“He didn´t,” Collings agreed with a small shrug, “until I realized how you felt about him.”
Chris´ eyes flicked involuntarily to Vin for only a second, but it was enough.
Collings laughed, moving to stand directly behind Tanner. Taking a handful of the Texan´s hair, he jerked the head back, allowing Chris to see more of the bloodied profile. Vin gasped at the sudden pain, then stilled, unwilling to give the man the satisfaction of seeing him suffer. “Have to admit, that was a bit of a surprise,” Collings continued, still holding Vin´s hair. “You and Sarah seemed so happy. I was almost sad when I heard about that car bomb.” His eyebrows rose slightly as though a thought had just occurred to him. “Now you didn´t rig all that to get her out of the picture, did you, Larabee? Was that the only way you could be with Tanner, here?”
“Bastard!” Chris shouted, shooting off the chair to lunge at the hateful man.
In an instant, the gun Collings held was pressed to Vin´s neck. “Uh uh,” he warned with a cruel grin. “You don´t want to do that, trust me.”
Chris stood for a moment, chest heaving. He looked at Vin. Standing off to the side like he was, he couldn´t see the man´s face straight on, but the one eye that was visible was clenched tight in obvious pain. Unwilling to add to it, he opted to return to the chair and wait, hoping that Buck would figure out where they were.
“So, now I guess it´s time to move on to the main attraction,” Collings continued. “You see, you took something from me, Larabee, now I´m going to take something from you. Sort of even the score, if you will.”
“Leave him alone,” Chris grated, fists and jaw clenching in barely controlled fury.
Collings let go of Vin´s hair. The sharpshooter´s head dropped forward as far as the rope around his neck would allow and he swayed dangerously for a moment before regaining his balance
“Don´t worry, I´m not going to kill him,” the profiler informed Larabee. Looking at Vin, he cocked an eyebrow in question. “Vin? Would you like to be the one to fill Chris in on our little plan?”
Vin raised his head slowly. Though he was unable to turn his head to face Collings, the hatred in his voice was evidence of the man´s anger. “Go to Hell,” he croaked.
Chris´ heart was beating wildly, threatening to jump from the confines of his chest. “What plan?” he demanded.
“Since Vin here´s too shy to tell you, I guess I´ll have to do that, too,” he said. Then, an evil smile spreading across his face, he added, “Or better yet, I´ll just show you.”