It was a couple of hours later that JD returned to the camp. The old building wasn't that big and didn't take too long to look around. JD had then spread his search and looked around the surrounding area. He was just pondering what he was going to do next when he spotted Ezra leaning against the side of the building counting some money."I see the poker game went well," JD smiled as he came up and leaned next to Ezra.
"Not as profitable as it normally would have been, but one doesn't want to antagonize them too early on."
"I was just looking around, undercover you know. I thought I may be able to find some stuff out."
"And did you?"
"Well, no, not really. I figured out the basic plan of the building but I didn't find any evidence."
"It's still early. We still haven't earned their trust so it's best not to be pushing your luck at this point."
"What about you? Did you get anything out of those guys during the game?"
"I was told where our sleeping quarters are. Apparently there are two men assigned to each room. Since we just arrived we'll be sharing the last available room. I'll show you where it is and we can continue our conversation in a more private local."
"Good thinking," nodded JD in agreement. There didn't appear to be anybody about but they weren't about to take any unnecessary chances. Following Ezra, they headed into the building and up a flight of stairs. The upstairs was a long narrow hall with doors along each side. Ezra walked down to the very end of the hall and opened the door on the left. Stepping back to allow JD to go in first Ezra shut the door after himself. It was a small room with two bales of hay spread out as makeshift beds. There was also a chair with an old oil lamp sitting on it and a window that had sealed itself shut after years of neglect.
"Well it's..." JD started trying to sound positive.
"Dreadful. If I had know living like a barn animal was going to be part of the job I never would have volunteered."
"Well we should be out of here in no time right? What else did you find out?"
"The next job will be underway soon. I didn't get any details since it appears Roberts hasn't shared any of the information with the men yet. I have a meeting tonight that should spread some light onto the situation though."
"A meeting? With who? The leader?"
"No, when I was at the poker game I recognized one of the men."
"How would you know him?"
"We participated in some jobs together in the past."
"You belonged in a gang?" Gasped JD, shocked.
"Of course not. This man is a con artist like myself."
"Then what's he doing here?"
"That's what I plan to find out tonight when we meet."
"What's his name?"
"Jason, but he's going under the alias of Greg Proops at the moment."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Nothing for the moment. I'll know better where we stand after tonight. Now come on, we shouldn't stay here for too long. The others may get suspicious."
"Ok," nodded JD as he started forward, wincing as a sharp pain shot through his leg.
"How is your injury?"
"I'm okay," JD said quickly, not wanting to appear weak in front of Ezra. "I still can't believe I beat him. I mean did you see how big that guy was?"
"I did indeed."
"And I didn't even need your help getting the best of him," smiled JD proudly. At this last comment Ezra gave him an odd look and started to leave. "I mean you would have helped me if I had needed it right?" JD called out after him. "Right?" he repeated when Ezra didn't answer.
+ + + + + + +
Later that night JD frowned as he glanced at his watch. Ezra had been gone too long. True, JD realized that he would have to be discrete to talk with Jason without any of the others finding out, but still he should have been back by now. Finally deciding that something must have gone wrong JD checked how many bullets he had left before he quietly snuck out the door and started towards the spot where Ezra had said that he had arranged to meet his friend. Staying close to the bushes and in the shadows JD made sure that he could not be spotted. He was almost there when he suddenly heard movement. Stopping where he was, he pressed against the wall of the building and peered around the corner. Standing off near the tree line were Ezra and another man JD assumed to be Jason. They were talking in low voices so that JD couldn't make out what was being said. JD relaxed at the sight since it was obvious that Ezra wasn't in any danger.
He was about to turn back and wait for Ezra to return and fill him in on the details when suddenly Jason grabbed Ezra by the shoulder. JD tensed ready to jump to Ezra's defense if something was to happen. Something did happen all right but it was the last thing JD ever imagined. Jason leaned over and kissed Ezra square on the lips. JD winced, waiting for Ezra to belt the guy, but there was silence. JD stood stunned when he realized not only was Ezra not protesting, but he was actually kissing the guy back. What started as a small kiss was getting deeper and more passionate. JD finally managed to rip his eyes away from the shocking sight. Turning around, he started back to their bunkroom. Crawling into his makeshift bed, JD wrapped his arms around his legs and tried to figure out what he had just seen. Maybe his mind had been playing tricks with him he decided. After all it had been dark and things were hard to see in the dark. Maybe that hadn't been Ezra at all. No, JD had to admit that red jacket was unmistakable. Maybe that hadn't been a guy Ezra was kissing, it was a girl (JD couldn't figure out where she had come from since he hadn't seen any women at the camp, but he pushed that out of his mind.) Yeah, a girl, and from the distance she just looked... no, JD sighed, that was definitely a man.
Hearing footsteps approaching, JD assumed that it was Ezra coming back from his meeting. Finding himself suddenly nervous at the thought of facing Ezra, JD turned to face the wall as he pulled his jacket, which he was using as a blanket, up over him. Trying not to move as he heard the door open, JD hoped that Ezra would think that he was asleep and leave him alone. No such luck.
"JD," Ezra called as he took off his jacket and slung it over the back of the chair. "JD wake up," Ezra repeated as he came over and gave JD a kick in the side.
"What?" grumbled JD, seeing that he wasn't going to get the peace that he wanted.
"The meeting with my associate went according to plan."
"So you were able to... talk with him?"
"Yes indeed. It turns out I was correct in my assumption that he had in fact not joined the gang but is here trying to con them. I told him that we were here for the same purposes."
"Why didn't you just tell him the truth if he's your friend?"
"Because I don't trust him, at least not completely. I fear that if he knew we were working under cover for the law he would think it more profitable to turn us over to Roberts."
"He would really turn you in?"
"Of course, and I would do the same to him if the money was right."
"Well, did he have anymore information?"
"Mostly what we already know. He did inform me that Roberts is planning a raid soon. He doesn't know when or where yet, but hopefully we'll have won these fellows' trust by then and they will include us in on their little plan. That should give us enough evidence to convict them."
"That's great," nodded JD. While they were talking JD was nervously trying, to look over Ezra without seeming too obvious about it. Strangely enough Ezra looked the same as before. JD wasn't sure why but he had thought there would have been something about Ezra, something that he hadn't noticed before that would show that he was... well, different. JD couldn't figure out what it was and he was afraid that if Ezra caught him looking that he would know that he knew.
"Did anything occur when I was gone?" frowned Ezra noticing that JD was acting fidgety.
"No," replied JD quickly. "No, I was here all the time and nothing happened, nothing at all."
"Good," Ezra nodded, passing JD's behavior off as nervousness.
"Yup, I'm going to go to sleep now."
"All right."
JD rolled over and pulled his jacket around him tightly as he tried to ignore his hyper-awareness of Ezra's being in the room. Ezra watched him a second before he shook his head and went back to going over his plan.
+ + + + + + +
The next morning Roberts sent more men out on patrol. JD offered to go mainly to get away from Ezra, but Roberts refused. They were still too new and hadn't had a chance to prove themselves. It wasn't until noon that anything interesting happened. At that time, Roberts called all the men together for a meeting. Roberts stood at the front of the small crowd waiting to get their attention as Stiles stood off to the side writing something down on a piece of paper.
"All right listen up," hollered Roberts, and all the men instantly became quiet. "I know you've all been restless sitting around doing nothing. Well that couldn't be helped after what happened during the last job. I got something set up. It isn't very big but I thought you boys deserved a little fun. How does a bank robbery sound?"
The small crowd started clapping and cheering at the thought of having something to do.
"Good." Continued Roberts. "Now it's a small job so I don't need all of you going. I'm sending in Vranch, Proops, Colin, Macrae and Mahone. Before any of you start complaining, I have a big job lined up after this that's going to involve everybody."
"If you're coming with me, meet me by the livery at dusk," called Vranch as Stiles and Roberts returned inside to the office. Seeing that all the excitement was over, the group started to break up and go back to what they had been doing before.
"Wow, what bank do you think we'll be robbing?" JD asked excitedly of Ezra when they were out of earshot of the others. "Little Rock? Eagle Bend or maybe Fort Laramie?"
"No, those are all major banks. Roberts said this will be a small job so we will most likely be hitting a smaller establishment."
"Will it be enough to convict them?"
"With our testimony it should be. As long as we get the leaders that should be enough. From what I've observed the men in the lower ranks are simply petty criminals and when they're deprived of their leader they will cease to be much of a threat."
"This is going to be great."
"We should join in on the poker game and see if we can gather more information."
"You go... I'm going to help out with patrol," JD stuttered as his excitement momentarily wore off and he remembered what had happened the night before. "I'll see you later," he called as he quickly turned and left. Ezra watched him leave with a frown. JD's odd behavior was getting more frequent and Ezra wasn't so sure it was just nervousness about the job. Resolving to deal with it later Ezra pushed it out of his mind and headed over to the poker game.
+ + + + + + +
"Well I think that will help keep moral up for a little while longer." Noted Roberts as he sat down behind his desk.
"Yes sir," agreed Stiles as he shuffled through some papers.
"You said there was something you wanted to discuss with me?"
"Yes sir. I was going over the records last night. As you know we've managed to collect a large sum since we've started."
"Yes I know that," Roberts interrupted impatiently.
"Well sir, I went over the books a couple times just to make sure I was right before I brought this to your attention..."
"What is it?"
"I counted the money in the treasury last night and we seem to be short several thousand dollars."
"What?" bellowed Roberts slamming his fist down on his desk so hard it left a crack. "When the hell did this happen?"
"I'm not sure exactly sir," replied Stiles, who after years of working with Roberts was accustomed to his temper. "We've been busy and this is the first time in two weeks I've been able to check the records. It could have happened anywhere in that time sir."
"When I find the bastard that thought he could get away with robbing me, I'm going to cut off his balls and shove them down his throat."
"I thought we could search the men's quarters for the missing money."
"What the hell do you want?" yelled Roberts as there was a knock at the door.
"I need to talk with you," said Jason as he opened the door and peered in.
"I'm busy."
"It's important, and something I think you would want to know."
"Make it quick."
"It's about the two new men," Jason started to explain. "They've been lying to you since they got here."
"What do you mean?"
"I know about the one who's calling himself Daniel Macrae. He's really a second-rate con artist. His real name by the way is actually Ezra Smith. I don't know about the boy, but if he's with Smith he must be a con too. I know Smith and he doesn't like to share. It's only a matter of time before he tries to rip you off. I thought you should know."
"I'm going to kill those bastards."
"Actually I have an idea of how to deal with them."
"How?"
"They're going on the bank job tonight right? They would make the perfect fall guys. What if after we got all the money out, they were 'accidentally' left behind for the law to catch? That way we get away with the money and they get hung for the robbery."
"It's a good idea," seconded Stiles.
"All right we'll do it your way," Roberts nodded in agreement.
"I'll go fill in Vranch and Colin in on the plan," nodded Jason as he turned and left. It wasn't until he was out of the building that he allowed himself a sigh of relief. That had been close, too close, but luckily Jason had made it a habit to keep his ears open. When he had been passing Roberts' office, he had heard voices inside and being the well-seasoned con that he was, he had stopped to listen. He was alarmed when he heard the news that Roberts had found out about the theft from the treasury. He had down right almost wet his pants when Roberts announced that he was going to search the rooms. Jason had known that it wasn't a good idea to hide the money in his room but he hadn't had time to move it anywhere else yet. Thinking quickly, there had to be some way to stop the search. The most obvious plan was to blame the theft on someone else and the most obvious choice was the new guys. He would have to frame Ezra, but that didn't bother Jason. Sure, Ezra had been a great con partner and lover, but this was business, and Jason had to look out for himself. Feeling no guilt Jason went to tell the others.
+ + + + + + +
"Mr. Dunne it's time that we should be heading over to the livery," Ezra announced as dusk approached.
"Um, yeah right," JD mumbled, jumping in surprise as Ezra came up behind him.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just fine," JD answered as he avoided making eye contact with Ezra.
"Mr. Dunne would you care to enlighten me as to why you are behaving so peculiarly?"
"I ain't acting peculiar," scowled JD stubbornly.
"You certainly are. Is it the bank robbery that has you worked up?"
"No, I can handle that just fine," JD answered hotly, annoyed that once again his ability was being questioned. As soon as he had said it though, JD wanted to smack himself. Using the bank robbery would have been the perfect way to explain was he was so antsy without getting Ezra suspicious.
"Then what is it?"
"Nothing."
"I can't have you going in there nervous and distracted. That will only led to you or someone else getting hurt."
"I don't need someone like you telling me what to do."
"Someone like me?" Frowned Ezra not understanding.
"I saw what you did," JD blurted out before he could stop himself.
"And pray tell, what exactly is it that I have done?"
"Nothing, never mind," JD mumbled, wishing he hadn't said anything. "I saw you and Jason that night," JD continued despite what he had just said.
"What evening would you be referring to?"
"You know that night you had that secret meeting. That night you went to talk with him."
"I thought I instructed you stay behind in our room."
"I did, but you were taking so long so I thought I would come and look for you in case something happened and then I saw you with Jason and something was happening alright."
"We were discussing a plan."
"That's not what I saw."
"And what exactly did you see?" asked Ezra curiously as he leaned closer to JD.
"I saw... I saw..." JD stuttered at the sudden closeness. "You kissed him."
"Yes I did," said Ezra, remaining calm.
"Why?" JD gasped, amazed.
"There were many reason that are far too complicated to discuss right now."
"You weren't surprised?"
"Of course not."
"How did you know that he..."
"That he was interested in kissing me as well? Like I told you I knew Jason from long ago."
"You mean?"
"Yes, Mr. Dunne, Jason and I were lovers, if that's what you want to know."
"Love... lovers..."
"Precisely."
"But how? I mean what... how could you?"
"Mr. Dunne... JD have you ever made love to a woman?"
"Well of course I have. There's been a whole gaggle... well, maybe not a gaggle. A few women, a couple... okay, no I haven't," JD finally admitted with a sigh.
"Have you ever made love to a man?"
"Of course not. That's just wrong."
"My dear boy you have no idea what you are missing out on. Maybe someday when you're more open-minded I will show you," Ezra said giving him a slow lazy smile. Before JD knew what was happening Ezra had moved close to him and placing his hand under JD's chin gently forcing JD to look up into his eyes. JD was too surprised to move, both by Ezra's sudden movement and the fact that he had never realized what deep green eyes Ezra had. Running his thumb softly against JD's lips Ezra leaned forward and pressed his lips against JD's. In a moment of shock, JD opened his mouth to protest. Suddenly all the words in his head were lost as he felt Ezra's tongue slip between his lips and start exploring his mouth. Before he could stop himself JD let out a little moan at all the feelings and sensations that were coming at him at once. As Ezra wrapped one arm around his waist JD could feel the pressure of Ezra's body as he leaned against him.
"We better not loiter here very long," Ezra whispered into his ear as he abruptly broke the kiss and moved away. JD let out a gasp at the sudden lose of contact. Before he could say anything, Ezra had already turned and was walking away. JD watched him leave for a minute before what he had said managed to pierce through his fogged mind and into his brain. Shaking his head, JD started to follow. A few minutes later, the five men had gathered with their horses.
"Come on we better get going if we want to get this done and be out by morning," Colin ordered.
"What exactly is our destination?" inquired Ezra as he mounted Chaucer.
"Fort Campbell, a few miles from here," Colin answered as the men got ready and headed out. JD took his place at the back of the line. Up ahead, he watched Ezra, still in shock over what had just happened. As he started to remember how warm and soft Ezra had felt pressed up next to him, JD shook his head and forced himself to think of the robbery.
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