"This is going to be a very profitable day for both of us Sanders. Kind of day that proves whoever said crime doesn't pay wasn't doing it right."

"I believe that is one of those references that is unattributable, and as you point out, inaccurate." Ezra smiled as he spoke, and the emotion wasn't entirely insincere. Under different circumstances, he could almost see himself liking their prey this time around.

Joseph Taylor was a bright, well-spoken and extremely erudite man. He had a flair for everything and a passion for the finer things in life, from his brandy to his vintage cars. He played a skilled game of poker and attracted a very interesting selection of female companions. All in all, someone an earlier incarnation of Ezra might have sought out as a colleague.

However, he was also one of the most vile criminals Ezra had ever had the misfortune of dealing with. It wasn't just his manner of earning a living that was counter to societal norms, although that was enough. He traded in everything from counterfeit goods to arms to drugs. He had his grubby fingers into operations for blood diamonds and coltan mining. He – or rather his business fronts – had been indicted in countless locations for chemical and toxic waste dumping.

That was all, sadly, fairly routine criminal activity, even if the volume of the activity was more impressive that most villains. What made Ezra's skin crawl was the personal predilections Taylor had demonstrated. Sadist did not do him justice. While his public appearances included elegant, sophisticated women, in private he had different tastes. Younger, often much younger partners who ended up battered and broken. If there had been bad news in his business life, his evening entertainment rarely survived at all.

This all came to light when Ezra and Nathan made the discovery of his human trafficking sideline, which they had learned about only after spending 3 weeks undercover in an ATF operation designed to finally bring down the top man and not just a smattering of his underlings. 'Eliot Sanders' and 'Neil Jessop' were acting as representatives for foreign interests interested in securing a steady source of weapons for a private war in some undisclosed locale. Taylor really didn't care where as long as he was profiting. And he hoped to extend that profit margin by adding some companions for the new customers.

It was all he could do for Ezra to keep Nathan from making a move then and there. Talking him down when they had left the residence had been a challenge.

"There is a much bigger picture to consider."

"He's selling people! What's bigger than that?"

"Well, if I were to allow you to kill him, there with be an inordinate amount of paperwork to be completed, and you know how much that would displease Mr. Larabee. Not to mention the possible consequences to both of our careers."

"Killing him would be satisfying, but not my plan. Yet."

"No, the plan is to ensure there is sufficient evidence to ensure the sleaze is locked away for whatever remains of his life. And, with any luck, to find details of the equally vile individuals who participate on the trade, seek them out, shut them down and if the fates are kind, rescue some of the victims of this activity. Additionally, given how even convicts feel towards those who harm children, if we are able to add child trafficking to his indictments, his time in prison will be considerably more unpleasant than he will experience as nothing more than a common criminal, don't you agree?"

Nathan looked slyly at his colleague. "You really do have a devious streak in you, don't you?"

"And you are only taking note of that at this point? I had assumed you to be a far more observant man."

So while the official assignment hadn't changed, the two ATF men casually shifted focus. Ezra began making a few references to his clients, and how isolated they were from much of the time. Nathan jokingly speculated that being alone was what made them cranky enough to need so many guns. It didn't take long for Taylor to take the bait.

"I have a few items in inventory that might be appreciated by these clients of yours. Quiet a catalogue for you to search through if you think you can pick out what they would want."

Ezra smiled as he sat down in front of the proffered laptop. A moment later he was fighting to keep his stomach from lurching and to keep the true reaction from his face. Some of the 'merchandise' couldn't be more that 12 years old. Young children, boys and girls, looking nothing like what children should in a photo, or anywhere. What made it even more disturbing was the knowledge things were only going to get worse for them, as it had for countless who had been sold before them. If they couldn't bring this bastard down, he was going to save Nathan the trouble of killing him by taking care of the matter himself.

"You have an impressive inventory. I have no doubt this will interest our – clientele."

That had led them to this moment. First stop for the day was the weapons cache. Intensive research had led the ATF to the location, all they need now was to tie Taylor to the supplies. The spot was a vast complex, isolated on the edge of the city. Made up mostly of offloaded truck trailers, stacked side by side, and several levels deep. With Denver's status as a distribution hub, no one gave a second glance to trucks coming in and out of the area, and there were far too many vehicles for a decent monitoring system to be in place. What Taylor didn't know is that the area was now saturated with hidden surveillance equipment to monitor and record all of the action.

For the undercover agents it had become a matter of ensuring nothing went south before they could get the details on the whereabouts of the children. Taylor had not let them out of his sight for the last 36 hours, leaving Ezra and Nathan with no way to inform the others of the change in the end game of the operation. That was the priority as far as both men were concerned, and if the powers that be at ATF had issues with them overstepping their jurisdiction, they would deal with the consequences later. It was likely that the inevitable positive publicity from such an arrest would far outweigh the bending of the rules that was almost a matter of course when Team 7 was involved in an investigation.

Ezra drove his Jag closely behind the van carrying Nathan and Taylor's right-hand man Harrington. The young woman who was doing the driving was easy to follow, but he was fully aware of the fact that, if she'd been so inclined, she could have lost them in a heartbeat. He had read her profile before starting the case and knew her to be a top-ranked racer. Obviously, the money on the wrong side of the law, or possibly the intense adrenaline rush, was more of a draw. He followed her to the storage site and parked next to her at a stack of packing containers. He had hoped to have the chance to communicate with his team while on way to the site, but when Taylor said he'd join Ezra, stating his preference for travelling in style, that plan bit the dust. Ezra had to hope Chris would properly interpret the hints in whatever communication they could offer during the sting. That effort started the minute he got out of his car.

"Surely you cannot mean to tell me you are keeping the human merchandise in such primitive conditions? I can guarantee you my customers will not be pleased if their new acquisitions are in less than ideal condition."

"No, but we've got a couple of samples close by. Learned the hard way they wouldn't survive in these containers. Had to dump 8 bodies into the river up in the mountains. What a waste of money that was."

Not a firm believer in prayer, Ezra nevertheless silently made two requests to the heavens. The first was that those words had been picked up by a microphone, and the second was that Nathan could hold onto his temper. The fact he said samples meant the children likely weren't all nearby, and that was going to prolong this even further.

"We need to check them out to be sure of what we're getting before we close this." Nathan was making a valiant effort to keep his tone civil and try to send his message at the same time.

"Of course. Let's wrap up stage one here and move on."

Fifteen minutes later the gun deal was done, and they were travelling again. Ezra had almost been holding his breath, expecting to see Chris or Buck charging toward them to finalize the bust. It wasn't until he was behind the wheel of his car that he was certain the message had been heard and understood. He could well imagine how thrilled Chris would be at the change in plans. The man really wasn't fond of surprises and would undoubtedly take great pleasure in reminding Ezra of that detail. They'd only been moving for a few minutes when the van pulled to a stop in front of a chain link fence surrounding a storage building. Two large guard dogs stood at the gate, snarling in a convincing manner. They only quieted when Harrington signalled to them.

"They there to keep folks in, or out?" Nathan asked,

"Both." It was the first time Taylor's right-hand man had spoken since the day's dealings had started. Taciturn was far to mild a description for him.

The door opened as the gate was unlocked. Three armed men appeared, lowering their weapons when they saw their boss. "We have some samples for you Mr. Taylor, as ordered."

"Excellent. These gentlemen are likely to become regulars here, so expect to see them in the future." Taylor, Ezra and Nathan stepped inside while the others remained on guard. Taylor led them towards a side entrance, stopping just a few steps away and reaching to unlock what looked to be a closet door.

Ezra kept his shudder hidden. He was relishing the moment he could slap cuffs onto this specimen, fulling intending to enjoy the experience as much as was possible. His brief moment of distraction meant he was completely caught off guard when shriek of sirens and squealing sound of tires filled the air.

"Nobody move!" echoed from a loudspeaker on one of the cars.

"Son of a bitch!" Taylor grabbed for Ezra, spinning him. "How'd the cops get here?"

"You ask me such a question? This is your operation. We didn't even know where we were going!"

The van was suddenly visible at the side door, with Sylvia gunning the engine. Taylor made his decision. "I ain't going down like this – you coming?"

A quick silent communication passed between Nathan and Ezra. Nathan's message was clear. The children were still unaccounted for. There may be a couple here, but it was obvious there were more – somewhere. Taylor might show his two partners in crime, but he would let those kids die before admitting anything to the cops. That was unacceptable. Ezra gave a brief nod to convey his agreement and the three men darted into the waiting van.

It was a rare occasion in a moving vehicle when Ezra didn't want to be fully aware of his surroundings, but this was the exception that proved the rule. Sylvia peeled out of the lot at a speed that sent the three men in the back of the van tumbling to the floor. Nathan slammed into the back door as the other two grabbed for anything that might give them some stability. All were tossed about as she took corners at dizzying speeds that left the van on two wheels. Whatever had been done to the engine was clearly enough to make it all but unstoppable and with a skilled, if somewhat certifiable, driver in control it took very little time until they had left their pursuers in the dust.

"When we are clear, slow down my dear. There is no point in drawing further attention." Taylor turned his attention back to the two men after issuing his order. "Did either of you see what happened to Harrington?"

"As our escape left all of us with our faces firmly embedded on the floor of your vehicle, we were no more able to witness the proceedings than you were."

"Think he got shot Boss. He was face down when I drove past."

Taylor growled angrily at her words. "That is most unfortunate. Harrington and I go back several years. He was more that just an assistant to me."

"As much as we are sorry for your loss, I think we have more pressing concerns at the moment." Ezra was anxious that he and Nathan get what information they could and make a hasty retreat of their own. He had no idea who had been behind the second raid, knowing only that it wasn't his own team. Now the question of who else was after Taylor was definitely complicating an already screwed up assignment.

"Oh, I am aware of the concerns, and I can promise you I have my own. For example," he pulled his gun from his pocket, pointing it squarely at Ezra's face, "just who the hell are you?"

Nathan tried to move forward but was stopped by both the motion of the van and a stern stare from his partner. He settled for voicing his reaction.

"You can't think this was our fault?"

"Can't I? Exactly who else should I be blaming then? I've been using that spot for months with no problems, take you to there and suddenly half the fucking cops in town are on my doorstep. So I repeat – who the hell are you?"

Ezra knew he was going to have to stall as he tried to determine just what this man would need to hear that would satisfy him. Talking was the only weapon at his disposal right now and he couldn't remember a time when he was so grateful for his talent of obfuscation. "There is no need to raise your voice, and the notion that we are responsible for your circumstance is patently ridiculous. Would we have taken refuge in a vehicle driven by a lunatic to escape our colleagues if we were in fact law enforcement?"

"The past weeks tell me you are crazy enough to do just that Sanders – or whatever your name is."

"It would seem far more realistic to consider that one of your minions has elected to inform on you in an effort to extradite himself from an calamitous circumstance. Perhaps one of the troglodytes you had guarding the facility?"

Taylor sneered in a particularly maniacal manner. "My men? My men have all been with me too long for me to have turned like that." He gestured toward Nathan. "You wouldn't suspect your man here of doing that to you, would you?"

"My associate is above reproach." Ezra didn't like the tone this conversation was taking, feeling he was losing control too quickly. His anxiety pumped up a notch when Taylor moved suddenly to be sitting next to Nathan, the gun now pointed at him. "I would give serious consideration to the repercussions of taking any actions against him."

"You aren't exactly in a position to be making demands – are you? As far as I can see, I only need one of you to answer my questions, and you certainly seem to be the one who likes to talk. Can't see any reason to keep your pal around – can you?"

There was no chance to answer before Taylor tugged at the door latch. It took only the blink of an eye for the door to swing open and for Nathan, totally unprepared for the action, to topple from the rapidly moving vehicle onto the highway. Taylor turned back grinning at a horrified Ezra. "Now, let's talk."

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tbc