"Billy?" Ms. Hanson called out as she made her way to the staff parking lot. "Isn't your mother here yet?" She looked worriedly at the little boy and then around the nearly empty front courtyard of the elementary school.
"Momma is out of town, Ms. Hanson. She's back tomorrow," the little boy replied.
"Oh yes," Marion Hanson said as she remembered being informed of this last week. "And your grandfather is picking you up, right?"
"Grandpa's driver. George," Billy corrected. He glanced down the street. "He's never late." A small frown appeared on his face.
"Well, I'll just wait with you until he sho-,"
Her words were cut off by loud voices. Marion and Billy glanced across the lawn that stretched out in front of the Franklin Roosevelt Elementary School and saw two sixth graders about to come to blows.
Marion Hanson frowned. "Stay here Billy," she ordered before striding across the grass towards the two boys. "Stop that right now!"
Billy looked curiously on as Ms. Hanson separated the two combatants. He didn't notice the light blue Mercedes drive up until the woman in the back seat spoke to him.
"Billy!" she called out.
Surprised, Billy turned to look at the pretty dark-haired woman opening the back door and gesturing for him to get in.
"George's car broke down and your grandma asked me to come and get you," the woman said to him as she smiled. She stepped out of the car so the boy could get a better look at her.
She was of medium height with wavey, dark hair. She was older than his own mother, but not as old as his grandma. She smiled again at him but for some reason, the smile frightened him.
"You know my grandma?" the boy asked warily. He edged slightly back away from the woman and her car.
"Yes," the woman answered in her smiley voice. She inched towards him. "I know Evie very well. And your momma too. Mary."
"What's the password?" Billy demanded. Even George, his grandpa's driver who Billy knew had to give him the password.
"Password?" the woman's smile faded.
Alarm flared through Billy's body and he turned towards Ms. Hanson at the other end of the front yard, ready to bolt towards her.
"Ms. Han-"
His yell was cut off as the woman pounced on him like a panther on its small prey. Her hand clamped over his mouth, muffling his cry. Strong arms picked him roughly up and she all but threw him into the back of her car. She got in and slammed the door shut.
"Drive!" she snarled at her driver.
Cold eyes assessed the little boy who tried frantically to open the lock on the door next to him. Billy glanced fearfully over at the woman who's eyes gleamed with a mad, dangerous light.
"One word out of you, you little brat, and I'll kill you."
+ + + + + + +
Mary Travis sighed in relief as she finally got through customs.
Next time, she thought to herself as she slung her laptop bag over her shoulder, Honeymoon or no honeymoon, Bruce can cover the G7 meetings.
Though she shouldn't complain. At least this time, it was in London, one of her favorite cities, but she did hate being away from Billy for so long. She had caught an earlier flight just so she could be home twelve hours earlier than she was scheduled to be.
It's only 7 pm, she thought as she expertly wove her way through the crowded terminal, pulling her wheeled suitcase behind her. I can catch a cab to Orrin's and be there in time to tuck Billy in. Then a nice hot shower and bed. She can call Chris tomorrow to let him know she was back.
Chris. She had been thinking of him on the plane ride back to the States. She had called him once when she arrived in London last week at his insistence. No, it was an order. "Mary, call me when you get there so I know everything is okay," he had demanded sternly when he drove her to the airport. She hadn't spoken to him since that phone call.
Now that her schedule was back to its normal frantic pace instead of the overdrive it had been in the last month, she can concentrate on her relationship with Chris.
Whatever that was.
They weren't exactly dating though Chris had finally run out of excuses for spending time with her without calling it a date. Mary grinned to herself. When Chris would call and ask her out to dinner, he always had some reason to explain the invitation so it wouldn't be construed as a date. A thank you for providing him with some information, for withholding details of some crime in her news stories. Mary used to amuse herself trying to guess what excuse he would use next. She knew he was scraping the bottom of the barrel when she returned his car after borrowing it and he said, "Thanks for filling up the tank before bringing it back. Let me buy you dinner."
Mary had lost it then and laughed at him. Seeing the volatile expression cross the ATF agent's face, she had hastened to explain her amusement and asked him out. After some hemming and hawing, Chris had finally agreed.
And it was their worst dinner yet.
Undaunted, Mary had asked him out again and their second official date had gone much more smoothly. The third date, they were back to where they were before they had begun this weird experience that was anything else but "dating". On their fourth date, Chris had surprised her by kissing her goodnight on her cheek.
Honestly, Mary had known polar ice caps that moved faster.
On the flight back from London, she had been planning on taking the relationship to the next step. Oooh, maybe they could actually hold hands in public, Mary laughed to herself.
The smile lighted up her entire face. Mary was oblivious to the admiring stares as she made her way through the airport with a confident stride.
Her smile faltered slightly as she saw a familiar dark-suited man standing near the entrance.
"George?" Mary called out to the Travises' chauffeur.
The tall, thin man turned when he heard his name. George was normally solemn-faced (Mary had always privately thought he would make an excellent undertaker), but right now the man looked absolutely miserable.
"Well, this is a nice surprise," Mary said as he took her luggage from her. "How did you know I was coming home early?"
"Mr. Travis made a few phone calls and found out about your change in plans," George replied as he ushered Mary out of the doors and to the waiting car.
"George," Mary stopped him as he tried to help her into the backseat. "What's wrong? You look like you lost your best friend."
The man couldn't meet her eyes. "It's best if Mr. Travis explained matters to you."
Alarm laced through her body and she suddenly felt a dark, nameless fear seize her heart. "George," she said levelly, fighting to keep her voice even. "What's happened?"
The driver licked his lips and finally met her eyes. "It's Billy..."
******
"Orrin!" Mary screamed out as she stormed through the front of the Travis mansion. Her high heels struck the cold marble floor and echoed loudly in the foyer. She looked around wildly, the silence of the house weighing heavily on her.
Orrin Travis stepped into the foyer and quickly embraced his frantic daughter-in-law.
"What happened?" Mary demanded immediately. "George wouldn't tell me anything. Orrin?! Where's my Billy?"
"Mary, calm down," he said as he held his hand up to stem the flow of her words. He had aged these past few hours and each wrinkle appeared to be more deeply etched in his face. He wrapped an arm around Mary's shoulders and steered her towards the living room.
Inside, Evie Travis, Orrin's wife, sat on the couch, a handkerchief to her weeping eyes. The room was bustling with activity as uniformed officers and men in dark suits moved about.
"Mary, this is Detective Birch of the Denver PD," Orrin introduced. A tall, gray-haired man shook Mary's hand. "And these are special agents from the FBI. Jones and Maxwell." Two of the men in dark suits detached themselves from the fax machine they were hovering over. Jones was a tall, black man with a muscular build whereas his partner was a dark-haired man of medium build. They nodded at Mary who returned the greeting. She turned to her father-in-law once again.
"Orrin, if you don't tell me what exactly happened, I'll scream."
Orrin Travis sighed and led Mary to the couch and sat her down next to Evie. Mary embraced the older woman and held her hand as she waited for her father-in-law to speak.
"George was late picking Billy up today," Travis began. "A car accident slowed him down about a half-hour. When he got to the school, Billy was gone. George spoke to Billy's teacher, Marion Hanson. She remembered seeing Billy waiting for George, but a fight broke out at the other end of the courtyard and she went to intervene. When she turned, Billy wasn't there. She had assumed George came by and picked him up, but when George pulled up a few minutes later, she knew Billy was gone."
"And no one saw anything?" Mary asked in disbelief. She felt cold dread spread throughout her body, shutting down everything within her. A numbness seized her.
"One of the janitors at the school remembered seeing a blue Mercedes, newer model, pulling out of the school's driveway at the time. He hadn't seen it before, so we're treating that as the car your son was in," Jones spoke up.
"Mrs. Travis," Detective Birch intervened. He sat before Mary. "We can't rule out that this is a simple kidnapping. Both your father-in-law and you are connected to some pretty high places. This could be motivated by some political or economic or law enforcement connection either of you might have."
"So," Mary began slowly. She fought down the wave of tears that threatened to erupt. "You don't think it's for ransom. Of the monetary kind."
"We haven't ruled that out," Maxwell replied. He hesitated a moment. "Or any other possibility. We've also drawn up a list of all known sex offenders in the area-"
"Oh God," Mary whimpered, that last statement breaking her fragile resolve. The tears began and she barely felt Evie's arm wrap around her shoulders and tighten in a hug.
"We don't know anything yet," Jones hastened to comfort her. "We just don't have any information beyond what we've told you."
"Oh God, who has my son?"
+ + + + + + +*
"I'm getting too old for this," Josiah Sanchez moaned as he and the rest of his team dragged themselves into their ATF offices after an all-night mission. "I'm not young enough to stay up for 36 hours straight."
"Make that two of us," JD grumbled.
"Listen boys," Chris barked out. He too was exhausted, but if they didn't do their reports now while the details were fresh, he knew a few of them would take weeks to get it done. "We just put in two more hours doing the majority of our reports then we can go home."
"Slave-driver," Ezra accused their leader.
Buck and Nathan chuckled as they pushed open the glass doors that led to their bullpen. They stopped short and the other men nearly barreled into them. Angry questions died on the men's lips as they realized what had made their two teammates pause.
There was a muted hum that fell over their offices. Usually, it would be buzzing with activity, especially at 9:30 am, but the staff went about quietly with their work. What was most unnerving were the hushed whispers that floated in the air and boded of bad news.
"What's going on?" Chris snapped out. He swung his hard eyes onto Loretta Jacobs, head secretary.
"You haven't heard?" Loretta asked. Her wig of choice today, blonde, quivered with her two chins. Tears filled her eyes. "You haven't read the papers?"
"We've been out all night closing the JB Corporation case," Vin replied. "What's wrong Loretta?"
As a reply, she wordlessly handed a copy of that morning's paper to Chris. It was folded into a quarter length so that one headline near the bottom of the page was immediately seen. She gulped and moved hurriedly away before they could see her tears.
"What the hell?" Buck asked in puzzlement.
Chris glanced down at the paper in his hand and felt his blood run cold when he saw the brief, black headline.
"ATF Director's Grandson Kidnapped!"
"Good Lord," Ezra murmured as he read over Chris' shoulder. "Billy."
Chris shoved the paper into Vin's hands and walked over to the nearest phone. He quickly dialed a number and waited for it to be answered.
"Hello? Mary?" he asked in surprise. "When-?"
The other men could hear him cut off as a torrent of unintelligible words came tumbling from the other end. Chris nodded his head and finally broke into the stream.
"I'm on my way there. I'll get the full story from you then." His voice softened. "Mary, hang on. It'll be okay." He hung up and spun around. He looked at his men, all signs of fatigue now gone. "Someone took Billy from his school yesterday. Don't know much more than that. Mary's over at Orrin's. I'm going there now."
"We're going there," Nathan corrected.
"Someone doin' harm to that boy," Vin added. "He's dealing with all of us."
"Let's go," Chris ordered. "Sooner we get going, sooner we find the bastard."
+ + + + + + +*
The media and the police had descended like a swarm of locust onto the Travis mansion. Denver police were posted outside of the gates trying to keep the media and anyone else out. Since the murder of Jon Benet Ramsey, the Denver police had come under intense scrutiny. Now, the kidnapping of a child who happened to be the child and grandchild of prominent citizens has once again thrust that department into the limelight. However, this time not only would the police face crucifixcation by the media for any mistakes, but any possible political pressure that Orrin Travis and Mary Travis' family could bring on them. There will be no slip-ups this time.
"It's a circus," JD marveled as he looked out of his window.
"Longer this drags on, the worse it's gonna get," Buck told him.
They pulled up in front of the mansion and were quickly ushered inside. Orrin Travis came out to greet them.
"Thanks for coming so quickly," Travis said as he shook Chris' hand.
"Any news?" Chris asked.
Orrin shook his head. He related the details of the kidnapping and the fact that they had not been contacted by anyone as they made their way to the command center set up in his living room. Travis introduced the ATF men to the other assembled officers.
Jones acknowledged the introductions and turned serious eyes onto Chris and the other men. "So far we've got nothing. Just a vague description of the car." He glanced uneasily at Travis. "I hate to say it, but I don't think we'll be getting a call for ransom."
Orrin sucked in his breath and slowly closed his eyes.
"You think Billy was taken by...," Josiah cleared his throat, unwilling to put into words what everyone was thinking, "A predator."
"It looks that way," Detective Birch replied. "We're going to put the mother, Mrs. Travis, on the tube to try to make an appeal to the kidnapper. Hopefully that'll help, but you know the statistics, in most cases, after a few hours, the victim is dead."
"My son is not a statistic!"
All eyes turned around to look at Mary Travis standing in the doorway. She had not changed, nor slept, nor ate since the night before. Her once neat french braid had started to come undone and long, loose strands of gold hair hung down the sides of her face. Her pale, green eyes were muddy with pain and misery and the fear of not knowing what was happening to her son. The dark circles contrasted alarmingly with her pale skin and she looked to be on the brink of collapse.
She moved forward to confront Birch, oblivious to the presence of the ATF men.
"Do you hear me?" she screamed. "My son is alive! Alive, I tell you! If he wasn't, I wouldn't be standing here! Don't you dare tell me differently! Don't say that some-, some monster has my Billy and is-, is-"
She broke down into harsh, deep sobs that racked her slender frame. Chris came up to her and gently pulled her into his arms. She buried her face into the comfort of his cotton shirt-front as she wept for her child. She sagged heavily against Chris, alarming him.
Chris bent over and easily lifted her into his arms. He glanced inquiringly at Orrin who replied to his silent question, "Second floor, third door on the right."
Without another word, Chris moved swiftly from the room and up the main staircase. He eased open the third door on the right on the second floor. With his foot, he kicked it gently shut behind him and deposited the still weeping woman onto the bed. He sat down next to her and brushed back the strands of gold that covered her face.
"Hey," he said softly. "He'll be okay."
By sheer will, Mary tried to get a hold of herself. She took a deep, shuddering breath and looked up at Chris. "I've covered enough kidnapping cases to know, Chris," she began in a broken voice. "I know the statistics. I know the chances of survival are slim for the child. But I can't believe that's going to happen to my baby..." She broke down again into a fresh flood of tears.
He took her into his arms and stroked her hair and back until the tears subsided somewhat. He felt Mary push away from him and he handed her the box of kleenex that was on the nightstand.
Chris was silent for a moment as he watched her dry her face and blow her nose. He feared for Billy, but he also ached to see Mary in such pain. And anger, he felt such a white hot anger at whoever was doing this to this family he had grown so attached to. Not just Mary and Billy, but Orrin and Evie as well.
"When was the last time you slept? Or ate?" he asked softly.
Mary stared incredulously at him. "You think I can sleep or eat now?"
He grinned slightly and brushed back the hair that had tumbled forward again. "You need to keep your strength up. You're no good to Billy if you collapse."
"But-," she began to protest.
"Shhh," he ordered gently, placing a finger on her lips. He looked sternly at her. "No more arguments." He pushed her back until she was lying down on the bed. Chris took off Mary's shoes and picked up a blanket and covered her with it. "Get some sleep. I promise you, the boys and I will find Billy." He began to move away when Mary reached out and grasped his hand.
"Chris?" He looked back at her. "Thank you."
He smiled and leaned down to kiss her softly on her forehead. "Get some sleep."
Exhaustion made her too weak to protest. Mary closed her eyes and in a few minutes, Chris could hear her breathing evenly. He knew she would probably wake up in an hour or so, but any rest would be better than none. She had looked ready to collapse.
Chris moved quietly out of the room and headed back down to the makeshift command center the police had set up. He could see his men talking with the two FBI agents.
"Now, I want to know everything," Chris demanded as he came up to the group.
"Not much else to tell," Jones replied after giving the ATF man the few meager details they had.
"Light blue Mercedes," Chris mused thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin. "Newer model too. Expensive."
"Yeah," Buck added. "Doesn't sound like what your run of the mill pedophile would be driving. Too conspicuous."
"That's why we thought there might be something else behind this," Maxwell replied. He sighed. "But there's been no demands made at all. And snatching the kid when the teacher was just on the other side of the courtyard, that's kinda ballsy. Normally these sickos wait when there isn't some adult around."
"Well," Chris continued as he walked over to a map of the city tacked to a bulletin board. "We can start a city sweep if we divide-"
"Hold it!" Maxwell ordered loudly. "What do you mean 'we'?"
"Well, we're here to help," Josiah replied in a puzzled tone.
"Now, just a second," Maxwell began in an annoyed tone. "You boys are ATF. This is a kidnapping and strictly an FBI case."
"But we can help-," Vin started to say.
"We don't need hot heads from the ATF mucking up our investigation," Maxwell interrupted coolly. "We know how to handle a kidnapping case. You boys are strictly firearms and explosives. Now, the best thing you can do is stand aside and let us do our job, or you risk getting that boy killed. If he's not already dead."
Chris stepped close into Maxwell's personal space and looked at him with his gunslinger eyes. "That 'boy' has got a name. It's Billy. And he ain't dead. And we're working on this, whether you like it our not."
Maxwell went toe-to-toe with Chris, ready to battle it out when they were interrupted by Orrin Travis.
"I want Chris' team to help," the old man said. His tone brooked no argument.
"Sir-," Maxwell attempted.
"That's final."
Orrin Travis could make one phone call and have Maxwell taken off the case and doing slop duty for the next 10 years. Maxwell knew this. The old man was too well connected not to respect and acquiesce to. Maxwell nodded sharply once and spun on his heel to talk to someone else. Buck wiggled his fingers at the FBI man.
"Nice talkin' to ya'!" the tall man called out after him.
"Right, now we got that settled," Chris said as he turned back to his men. "I want all of you to shake down every contact and sleaze you know. Rats got a tendency to know what other rats are doing."
"Let's go find us some rats," Vin drawled out as they headed en masse towards the front door.
******
"Awww man! I tell ya', I don't know nuthin' about the Travis kidnapping!"
"Jerome, Jerome, Jerome," Josiah sighed heavily. He clamped a large hand onto the thin man's quaking shoulder. He leaned down until he was eye-level with his snitch and said in a soft voice. "I'm loosing patience."
"Look Sanchez," snapped Jerome. "I'm tellin' ya', I don't know nuthin'. Word on the street is that it ain't got nuthin' to do with no police thing."
"If it's a child molester, then there should be some news," Josiah barked out. He leaned even closer towards the man.
Jerome snorted. "Hey, even we don't have nuthin' to do with scuz like that. We got our standards."
******
"That answer ain't good enough," Vin drawled out as he cleaned his fingernails with the tip of his knife blade. "Eddie, you hear everything out there. Don't give me that shit about knowing nothin'."
"Come on, Tanner," whined Eddie. A hand wiped the beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "I told you everything. No one out there knows anything about the Travis kid."
"You're lyin' to me, Eddie," Vin declared as he moved closer to the man, the knife glinting in the afternoon sunlight. "You're left eye always kinda twitches when you're lying. I really hate being lied to, Eddie." The knife was brought up and came close to Eddie's face. "I really hate it."
Eddie swallowed hard, mesmerized by the blade of the knife. "Okay," he said hoarsely. Vin backed off a step and Eddie let out a shakey breath. "It ain't anything concrete, but there's some new muscle in town."
"New muscle?" Vin asked sharply, his eyes alert.
"Yeah." Eddie sighed and adjusted his jacket. "But it ain't no operation or nothing like that. And the muscle ain't callin' the shots."
"They've been hired by someone in town?"
"Don't know about that, but they've been hired by someone. A woman it seems."
"Not an operation, you said," Vin continued. "Then why snatch the kid?"
"Because this is personal."
+ + + + + + +
"Rumors and innuendoes," Maxwell spat out. "That's all you've got?"
"More than you managed to get in the past 24 hours," Buck retorted sharply.
Tempers were beginning to flare again. Orrin Travis held up his hand to forestall anymore arguments. "Personal? This is all personal?"
"Directed either at you, sir," Chris said, "Or Mary." He saw Mary pale and confused, sit heavily down on the couch. A flare of pain ripped through him. He hated to see her so upset and he hated to think of Billy in the hands of someone who would be low enough to kidnap a child. But at least it was looking less and less like a pedophile.
"And no clues as to who it is?" Travis asked.
"Just that there's a woman involved and she got some out of town muscle imported in," Vin supplied.
"A woman?" Mary queried. She looked even more confused. "A woman is behind this?"
Chris walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. He gently grasped her hand and said softly, "Mary, don't worry, we'll find him."
The phone rang, startling everyone. Orrin walked over to it and after Maxwell nodded once, he picked it up. The trace on the call began immediately.
"Orrin Travis."
"I want to speak to Mary Travis."
Orrin looked over at Mary. "She wants to speak to you, Mary."
"She?" Chris asked sharply. He moved over to one of the set of headphones that would allow him to listen in on the conversation. He slipped them on and waited for Mary to speak.
"Mary Travis," the reporter said quietly.
"Hello, Mrs. Travis."
The voice was familiar to Mary, but she couldn't place it. She looked over at Chris and was shocked to see all of the color drain from his face.
"Do you know who this is?" the woman asked.
"Your voice sounds familiar, but..."
"We only met once. Near the ATF offices."
A flash of realization came upon Mary and she sat abruptly down into a chair.
"Ella Gaines," she whispered.
"That's right," the woman purred. "And I have your brat. You'll be hearing from me later with further instructions." Ella hung up.
Mary looked over at Chris and slowly replaced the receiver.
"She wasn't on long enough," Maxwell informed them. He looked up and saw Mary staring at Chris. "You knew who that was."
"I met her once," Mary replied. Her eyes hardened and she stood up to stand over by Chris. "Ella Gaines, though, is a friend of Chris'. Why would she take my son?"
"Shit," Buck muttered. "That crazy bitch..."
Mary whirled around. "What?" She looked at the seven ATF men who glanced guiltily and uneasily at each other. "What's going on? What does Ella Gaines want with my son?"
"Ella Gaines?" Travis frowned. "Isn't that the woman who was an old flame of yours Chris? The one who tried to hire all of you away and then nearly got you all killed when she set you up?"
"That's her," Vin replied grimly.
"That still doesn't explain why she took Billy," Mary broke in sharply. She looked at Chris. "Tell me what's going on."
Slowly Chris stood up and faced Mary. He took a deep breath and braced himself for the most unpleasant task he ever had to do. "You know about the ambush she set up for me and the boys." Mary nodded. "I didn't tell you the whole story. Ella was the one responsible for hiring Fowler to kill Sarah and Adam."
Mary gasped and she stared at Chris with wide, wounded eyes. "Oh Chris, I'm sorry." She frowned in confusion. "But why?"
The words were becoming harder for Chris to say. He already realized why Ella took Billy, but how to explain that to Mary? "Because she wanted me. And Sarah and Adam were in the way. She said she would get rid of anyone who came between her and me."
The puzzled expression on Mary's face faded away to be replaced by growing horror as she realized what this all meant. "And because we've been spending so much time together," she whispered. "You, me and Billy, she would have thought that we were in the way?"
Chris nodded slowly.
Mary turned to look at the other Seven. "And each of you knew about this and what this insane woman was capable of?"
The other six men dropped their eyes, but they nodded their heads as well.
Mary turned back to Chris and stared incredulously at him. "And you never thought once about sharing this information with me?"
"Mary," he reached out to grasp her arms, but she shrugged him off and took a step back, staring at him as though she'd never seen him before. Chris quickly covered the wounded look in his eyes and dropped his hands. "Mary, we were trying to find, Ella. I didn't think you would be in danger or anything."
Mary laughed bitterly. "No Chris, you didn't think. Just like you didn't think when you chucked away everything and went and f*cked the woman who killed your family!" Her voice rose as she began to shout. "No, Chris, YOU DIDN'T THINK! And now that psychotic BITCH has my son!"
No one dare try to stop her. Her eyes blazed a brilliant green as they glittered with a fury like none any have seen before. The Denver police officers and the FBI personnel tried to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible as Mary continued.
"Tell me, Chris," Mary's voice was deceptively soft. "What did you do when you found out Ella had murdered Sarah and Adam?"
Chris swallowed, remembering those painful moments. Doggedly, he pushed on since it was the least he owed Mary. "I was ready to kill her, but she had set up the other men, so I went out to help 'em."
"And she got away in the confusion?"
This was the hardest part, but Chris resolutely continued. "I had one chance to stop her. Too shoot Ella."
"And?" Mary prompted sharply when he paused.
"I...hesitated. Then I got shot by one of her men before Vin got him."
"You...hesitated," Mary repeated. The wound, she remembered that. She had help nurse him through that wound. "You let her get away." She started to turn away from him.
"Mary-," Chris grabbed her arm.
Mary swung around quickly and slapped him hard across the face. The blow rocked Chris and he held his hand to his cheek, cradling his stinging face.
"Was it because she was so good in bed that you couldn't bear to shoot her!" Mary yelled out.
"Mary-," Ezra tried to stop her.
"No!" Mary swung on the southerner. Ezra took a step back as he saw the full extent of her anger. "No." She looked at the ATF men with hatred and loathing. "I don't want any of you working on Billy's kidnapping." She turned to look at Chris. "You've proven to me that I can't trust you and that you can't be relied on to stop Ella Gaines."
"Mary-," Chris said hoarsely, emotions nearly strangling him.
"Get out," she said. "All of you. Just get the hell out and stay out of my life and my son's."
She turned on her heel and left the room.
******
The silence that had descended over the control room was interrupted as the other law enforcement officers began to busy themselves with meaningless tasks, trying to pretend nothing had happened.
"I think it's best that you men leave," Orrin Travis said slowly.
Chris and the other men looked at each other. The leader took a step towards their superior. "Orrin-,"
Travis held his hand up to stop him. "Chris, please."
"I know Ella Gaines," Chris continued fiercely. "I can stop her."
Travis closed his eyes wearily and tilted his head back. "Chris, please," he repeated. "You're too close any way. You boys shouldn't be anywhere near this case." He opened his eyes and stared at the younger man. "Besides, I agree with Mary. I'm not sure I can trust you with this one."
Chris swallowed hard. He nodded once. "Fair enough," he said hoarsely, feeling the sting of Travis' distrust. He started to leave the room and was passing the old man when he spoke again.
"I'll be talking to all of you later about those reports you filed on the Gaines incident," Orrin said as Chris came abreast of him. He turned to look at the ATF agent. "Ask you about those details that were left out of your reports to me."
Several of the men winced internally. The doubt and disappointment in Orrin Travis' voice was clear. Each man on some level felt that keenly and wished more than once that they could have the chance to change the past.
Quietly, the ATF men filed out of the house, followed by several Denver police officers as they escorted the Seven as far as the front door. They moved to their cars and started to climb into them when Nathan looked around.
"Where's Vin?" he asked, not seeing their long-haired associate.
The other men glanced about and didn't see him.
"I don't think he even left the house with us," JD commented as he frowned in concentration.
"I ain't goin' back in there to get him," Buck declared emphatically as he settled himself into the driver's seat of his car.
There was no need for any of them to re-enter the house. A minute later, Vin came hurrying around the corner to the front courtyard where they had all parked. Without another word, he climbed into the passenger seat of Chris' car. Puzzled, the other men looked at each other. Chris shrugged and slid behind the steering wheel.
"Mind tellin' me where you were?" Chris asked quietly as he started the engine and the other men climbed into the other two cars.
"After we leave the grounds," Vin replied. "Pull around the corner so we're near that side entrance to the estate."
Chris shot Vin a look but did not comment. He put the truck into gear and slowly drove down the drive and out the front gate of the Travis property. He drove down the street and turned right at the first corner. Under Vin's direction, he parked near a little used side gate to the Travis estate. Chris positioned the car so that it was partially hidden by a large tree, but where they would have a clear view of the gate. The two other cars carrying the rest of the ATF men followed suit. They got out and came to Chris' car just as Vin was fishing something out of one of the many pockets of his jacket.
"What's going on, Chris?" Josiah asked quietly as he stuck his head through the driver's side window.
"Beats me," the leader shrugged. He jerked a thumb at Vin. "This is all Vin's idea."
Vin placed a small metal box on the truck's dashboard. He plugged it into the truck's lighter and switched on the device. A small electronic map appeared with one stationary dot at the bottom left hand corner.
"Is that what I think it is?" Ezra asked in surprise as he peered through Vin's window.
Vin nodded. "Yep. I put a tracker on Mary's car."
"Why?" JD queried.
"Because we know it ain't ransom Ella Gaines is after. She's after Mary and Billy. She's got one, but she really wants the other one. Ella'll be callin' Mary soon and because Ella's got Billy, Mary'll do everything Ella tells her to do. And I'm bettin' that mean's Mary sneaking out of Travis' with no one so's she can go meet that bitch."
Vin fairly spat out the words. The other ATF men decided that it might be wisest to leave Chris and Vin to discuss things and hastily made their way back to the other two cars.
Chris and Vin sat silently for a while. Neither man was willing to speak first. It wasn't their usual friendly silence, but one charged with hostile electricity. Vin had been the only one to truly suspect Ella. However, when he presented Chris with the evidence of Ella's lies, Chris had turned on his loyal friend.
He should have known better. Vin had never deceived him whereas his relationship with Ella had always been far from smooth. He had allowed his wish to erase the memories of Sarah and Adam cloud his judgment and he had betrayed not only his friends, but his dead wife and child in the worse possible way.
After an hour, Chris finally broke the silence. "Like Mary and Travis, you blame me for all this."
"Shoulda told Mary everything when you first got back," Vin shot out, his own anger evident.
"I wanted to protect her and Billy-" Chris began to protested.
"Then you shoulda stayed away from them!" Vin shouted as he looked sharply at Chris.
Surprised by Vin's vehement tone, Chris looked over at him. The younger man became uncomfortable, lacking Chris' stone face skills. He glanced uneasily away as Chris continued to stare at him, delving deep into his soul.
An uneasy prickling crept up Chris' spine. He recalled over the last few months that several times he had called Mary and Vin was there at her home. She never tried to hide that fact and once when Chris casually asked why one of his agents was at her house, she had replied that Vin was helping Billy with his Boy Scout merit badges. The explanation had made sense. Vin was the most adept woodsman he had ever seen. It hadn't bothered him until now.
"All this time you've been spending over at Mary's," Chris began slowly.
"I've been watching her back," Vin said quickly. He looked out the window, still not facing Chris. "Someone had to. Ella Gaines was still out there."
******
Mary laid on her bed, the recent blow of Chris and the other men's betrayal too much for her to bear on top of Billy's kidnapping. She pressed the heels of her palms to her closed eyes, trying not to think of what that madwoman might be doing to her son. Ella, after all, had already killed one child.
Her cell phone rang several times before she realized it. Wearily, Mary fished it out of her purse.
"Mary Travis," she answered.
"Hello, Mrs. Travis."
"Ella," the name stuck in her throat.
"Listen carefully, I want you to come to Peterson's Nursery out on Route 17 on Mill Road. Do you know where that is?"
"Yes."
"Come alone and you'll see your son. You have a half-hour. Come with anyone else, and I'll slit his throat before your eyes." Ella laughed softly. "I think you know by now I mean what I say. Just ask Chris."
The line went dead. Mary slow turned off her phone. For a precious moment, she sat numbly on her bed. If she followed Ella's instructions, she would be killed along with Billy. Ella had no intention of letting either of them go. There was only one thing Mary could do to save her son. She moved with a determined air.
Mary took off the silk blouse she was wearing and pulled on a long-sleeved t-shirt. She picked up a sweater vest, a blazer style leather jacket that came down to her thighs and her purse. She threw her phone inside of the latter.
Quietly, she made her way down the back stairs to a room near the rear of the house. It was Orrin's study. She quickly looked through his desk and pulled out a key that opened the case that stored the AD's collection of firearms. In the bottom of the cabinet was a box that held an antique sleeve gun rig. Orrin had purchased it at an auction several months ago. It was a device that could be strapped to her arm and hidden by her jacket. With a flick of her wrist, she could spring a small gun out of the sleeve to use. She pulled out a derringer that would fit the mechanism and locked the cabinet.
Mary knew Orrin kept bullets in a closet on the other side of the room. After searching for a bit she found them in a box pushed far back on the closet shelf. She hastily loaded the derringer, noting that it only took two bullets. That was all she needed, but she dropped a few more into the pocket of her jeans anyway.
Hastily, she strapped the arm slide on and put the derringer in its place. She tested the spring action, satisfied that the gun would slide out smoothly when she needed it. Mary slipped on her jacket and looked into the mirror. With the jacket on, no one could tell she was armed.
Picking up her purse, Mary slipped back into the hallway and went out a back door into the yard. She cut across the lawn to the garage where her car was parked. She opened her trunk and pulled out a bulletproof vest. A few weeks ago, she had gone on a ride along with the Denver PD. She had been outfitted with a vest and had not returned it yet. Mary slipped off her jacket and strapped the vest on. Over it, she pulled on the sweater vest. The leather jacket was put back on and she buttoned it up. She had no doubt that Ella would search her and just hoped the leather jacket and sweater were enough to fool her from finding the vest.
Quickly, she got in and turned her car towards the side gate where there were no reporters or police officers to stop her.
****
"There she goes," Chris said when he saw the dark green SUV pull out of the side gate. He started the car and let Mary get a bit ahead of him until he drove after her. He glanced over at Vin who was monitoring the screen of the tracer. "What's the range on that thing?"
"Two miles," Vin replied. He checked over the system. "It's workin' fine. Don't get too close. Mary'll be makin' sure no one's following her."
"How did you know it would go down this way, Vin?" Chris asked as he glanced into his rearview mirror. The other two cars were right behind him.
"Once you figure out what type of person Ella is, ain't too hard to guess her next move." He looked over at Chris. "Rattlers are kinda predictable."
Chris caught the glance and shifted in his seat. "And Mary?"
"She's a mother," Vin replied quietly. "She ain't goin' to do nuthin' to put her boy in danger." He frowned and tapped the screen. "Speed up, Chris. Mary's pulling out of range."
Chris stepped harder on the gas. "She's really going fast," he muttered as he began to weave through traffic.
"Ella must of given her only a little time," Vin responded.
For twenty-minutes they drove in silence. They left the city limits out into the outlying rural area. Chris saw from the corner of his eye Vin straighten up.
"She stopped," Vin said as the small round dot on the tracer screen remained still.
Chris continued to drive, but Vin told him to turn around when the signal got weaker.
"There," Vin said, pointing down a dirt road. "Old Mill Road. Mary must have turned in there."
"Isn't Peterson's Nursery down there?" Chris asked as he pulled into the lane. He made sure the other men were right behind him.
"Yeah, but it's been abandoned for the last few months. Perfect to keep a kidnap victim. No one close by."
"No one to hear," Chris added grimly as he drove.
+ + + + + + +
Mary parked her car and got out. She slung her purse over her shoulder and cautiously approached the nursery.
The nursery was a low-slung wooden structure painted a forest green. It blended in well with its wooded surroundings. There was a small structure to the left that used to hold gardening supplies. Extending from it was a wooden patio roof that went in a circle with the middle of the circle open to sunlight.
Mary stepped through the open gate and found herself in the main area of the former nursery. It was empty now and no one was there. She crossed the concrete floor, glancing left and right, alert for any danger. She pushed open the back door and stepped out into the area that used to hold trees.
It was a plain grassy area now surrounded by tall trees that replaced the chain link fence that used to be there. The ground rose up into a knoll. At the very top of it, Ella Gaines stood flanked by two men and with Billy in front of her. Mary saw the muzzle of the gun pressed to Billy's temple.
"Billy!" Mary cried out and she started forward.
She had not gone more than two steps when she was grasped roughly from behind. A large man snatched her purse and pulled her by her left arm towards Ella.
"Welcome, Mrs. Travis," Ella said pleasantly. She looked inquiringly at the man who held Mary.
"She's alone," the man replied gruffly.
Ella nodded. "Check her."
The man who held Mary quickly frisked her, moving his hands up her sides and her legs. He intimately ran his hands over her breasts and buttocks and leered at her. Mary stoically submitted herself to the search and was relieved when he didn't bother to check her arms nor did he seem to notice the vest since he was more intent on fondling her.
"No gun," he said as he stepped back and removed the gun he had tucked into his waistband.
"Very wise, Mrs. Travis," Ella approved.
"Let my son go," Mary said in a low voice. "You can do what you want with me, but please don't hurt my son."
"Hurt him?!" screamed Ella. "You and your brat are the ones who hurt me! Chris would have come right to me if it wasn't for you! You goddamn slut! You whore!"
Billy tried to pull away from the woman, but Ella yanked him back. She sneered at Mary.
"Since you're already a whore, I'll let you do what you do best. You can be a whore for my men and your son can watch."
"Momma!" Billy cried out.
The men started to step towards Mary. Frantic, the newspaperwoman was about to snap her derringer out when a voice of steel called out.
"Ella!"
Ella's three henchmen swung towards the voice. Chris Larabee stood near the nursery.
"Chris! You came!" Ella cried out.
A movement to their left caught one of the henchmen's eye. He spun and fired. Emerging from the trees, Buck just barely managed to duck in time.
Pandemonium broke out as the other ATF men came out from the surrounding woods and Ella's men began to fire on them. Distracted, Ella dropped the gun away from Billy's head. With a furious cry, Mary dove into the other woman, knocking Billy out of the way.
The two women fell to the ground and rolled over a several times. Ella managed to get up first. Mary lost her footing on the uneven ground and felt her leg buckle under her. The gun still in her hand, Ella Gaines took aim and fired. The bullet caught Mary Travis in the chest and she fell backwards, rolling down the other side of the knoll.
"Mary!" Chris cried out in horror as he watched Mary get shot and then disappear from view. He ran up the knoll as his men dispatched the three henchmen.
Ella whirled around at the sound of Chris' voice. Billy kicked Ella in the shin and tried to bolt towards where his mother had fallen. Infuriated, the woman grabbed the boy and held the gun on him.
Chris stopped short before them as he watched Ella grasp Billy. Every instinct within him screamed at him to find out what happened to Mary, but Billy needed him now.
"I did it all for us, Chris," Ella wept. "They-, they were just in the way."
"Ella, let the boy go." Chris tried to speak calmly. He could sense the other men coming up behind him.
"Chris, don't you understand? We can be together now! Look at all I've done for you."
The other ATF men were slowly moving forward. Ella saw this and screamed at them. "One more step and I'll kill him!" She turned back to Chris. "Remember how happy you were to see me again. How you made love to me?"
A wave of nausea nearly over-powered Chris as he remembered how he had made love to the woman who killed his wife and child. "I remember Ella."
"You love me!" she sobbed out. "I know you do! You love being inside of me! All the time! You kept doing me over and over again!" Billy whimpered slightly. Furious, Ella shook him. "Shut up you little brat! You and that bitch of a mother of yours ruined everything! That whore! That bi-"
A shot rang out and Ella jerked slightly. Her tirade ended in a choked sob as a look of surprise crossed her face. She looked at Chris with a puzzled expression that was mirrored on his face. The other ATF men also exchanged confused glances.
Ella's grasp loosened on Billy. She fell to her knees and teetered for a moment before falling face down onto the grass. The back of her head was bloodied and small pieces of gray matter oozed out from a bullet wound.
Chris and the other men looked up to see Mary Travis standing behind Ella with a smoking derringer in her hand.
Mary's eyes met Chris' and they simply stared at each other for a moment. She slowly sank to her knees.
"Momma!" Billy cried out when he turned around and saw his mother. He ran towards her and nearly knocked her over as he embraced her.
"Billy," Mary murmured with tears of relief. She sank down into a sitting position and let out a small gasp of pain.
Nathan hastened to her side and tore open her leather jacket. He sighed in relief when he saw the bullet proof vest.
Josiah, JD and Ezra were taking care of the three henchmen. Buck was already calling for back-up and an ambulance.
Chris stood over Ella's body and simply stared numbly at it. Vin came up to stand next to him.
"It's over Chris," the younger man said quietly.
"Is it, Vin?" Chris mused aloud. He looked over to where Mary still held onto Billy with one arm as Nathan pulled away her bulletproof vest. "Or is sumthin' just beginning?"
Six Weeks Later</p>
Chris Larabee pulled out a folder. For the past month, he had been reluctant to close out this case and put it in the solved pile. The label on it read "Larabee, Sarah C., Adam R."
He picked up the sheet that had just come out of his printer and glanced over what he had wrote.
Solved. Sarah and Adam can finally rest in peace as can he. But at what price?
After the shoot out, Mary had been taken to the hospital. Her injuries weren't extensive. The bullet hadn't pierced the vest but the force was so great she had some bruised ribs. She stayed in the hospital for two days along with Billy.
The boy hadn't been physically harmed, but Ella had terrorized him for the 24 hours she held him. From what little Billy had managed to get out about the experience, it was obvious he was extremely traumatized from it.
Mary had refused to see Chris or any of the other men while in the hospital and it was thought wisest not to allow them near Billy for the time being.
From the office grapevine, Chris knew that Mary had taken Billy away back East to visit her family and allow the boy and herself time to heal. Evie Travis had joined them. Orrin's wife had always been friendly and cordial to the men until she heard of their inadvertent role in the kidnapping. Her forgiveness would not be forthcoming any time soon.
Orrin Travis had fiercely berated the Seven for not informing him about all the facts surrounding Ella Gaines after their earlier encounter with her. Worse than the AD's tongue-lashing was the obvious disappointment he felt. Surprisingly, he only gave them an official reprimand. Normally, withholding information would have resulted in at least a suspension.
Chris placed his report into his family's file and closed it. Loretta was passing by his office door and he called her inside.
"File this in the closed cases, Loretta," he requested as he handed her the file.
The secretary glanced at the label on the thick file. She nodded and started to leave but paused.
"Something you needed?" Chris asked when the woman didn't leave.
Loretta sighed and turned around to face him. "You done the Travises wrong, Chris." She held her hand up to stop Chris from interrupting her. "A woman can understand a man going off with another woman. Hell, ain't like you and Mary had an understanding or nothing. But you put her and her boy in harm's way without giving her a choice."
"Loretta," Chris began heavily. "You ain't saying anything I haven't said to myself a hundred times."
"But I'm betting you think Mary won't ever forgive you," Loretta added. She grinned when she saw the expression on Chris' face and knew she was right. Loretta shrug. "She may or may not, but a lot will still depend on you. If you want something out of the relationship, don't give up on it." Loretta started to move away but stopped and threw Chris a wicked look. "'Course a lot of vigorous activity in and out of bed won't hurt any."
She laughed at Chris' shocked look and left the office, closing the door behind her.
Chris shook his head and leaned back into his chair to look out his office window. He was still staring out the window when there was a knock on his door a few minutes later.
"Come in," he called out without turning around.
"Chris."
He froze when he heard the soft voice. He thought he would never hear it again. Slowly, Chris turned around in his chair and saw Mary standing in his doorway. She closed his office door and walked towards his desk. A patch of sunlight fell on her turning her golden hair into a pure halo around her head. Her porcelain skin was luminous in the light. The dark shadows under her eyes were now gone and she looked relaxed and peaceful. She looked so beautiful.
"Mary." Her name stuck in his throat. Hastily, Chris stood.
They stood in the awkward silence, uncertain how to begin.
"How are you?" Chris finally asked.
"I'm fine," she replied. She saw his eyes flicker and she smiled wryly knowing he never believed her when she said those words. "Really. The injuries weren't that serious."
"And Billy?" Chris queried.
Mary's eyes became troubled and she looked down at Chris' desk. "He's better. He still has nightmares. But he's getting better each day."
Silence descended upon them once again.
"Mary," Chris stepped around the desk towards her. He reached out to touch her arm but Mary shied away. His hand was left in midair and he slowly drew it back, understanding her reluctance to have him touch her.
"I'm sorry about what happened," Chris said quietly. "You're right. I should'a told you all about Ella. Everything. I should'a given you a choice."
"Why didn't you?" Mary asked the one question that had been preying on her mind for weeks.
Chris shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe because I really thought I could find her before things got too far." He looked intently at her. "Or maybe I was afraid of scaring you off."
Mary swallowed hard, her soul a mass of conflicting emotions. "Chris," she said softly. "I'm not sure if I can ever forgive you for this. You put me and my son in danger."
Chris bit his lip and nodded. "I understand Mary."
"But-," she began and he looked up hopefully. "Billy misses you and the other men. A lot. He doesn't know everything and I don't feel I should tell him. At least not right now. What I do know is that he misses his friends. You, Vin, Buck and the others. He wants you in his life."
"And what does his momma want?" Chris asked softly as he moved closer to Mary. He stopped just a hair's breadth away, their bodies nearly touching.
"His momma wants her son safe and happy," Mary replied as she looked up into Chris' face. "And at the moment, that includes you and the other men."
Their lips were very close to each other. Mary found she was having trouble breathing. She had never seen this expression on Chris' face before. It was an expression of intense hunger and longing for her.
Chris fell into two pools of clear, green ice. Her intoxicating scent that had plagued him since he first met her filled him. The urge to crush his mouth over her rose petal lips was overwhelming. He could feel the heat of her body and felt every muscle within him tighten and harden.
"And in the future?" he whispered as he felt himself lean towards her.
Mary smiled faintly and stepped away from Chris. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
The End
