"Well, to quote any number of people from my past, here's another fine mess Standish."
Ezra remained perfectly still in his seat. Not that he had a lot of choice. The ropes holding him in place were tight, but if he had truly been inclined, he probably could have worked himself free. It wouldn't have been his first escape from similar circumstances, but until he knew a little more about the present situation, he was didn't want to risk it being the last.
The best he could figure, he'd been here for 30 minutes. Or rather, he'd been here conscious for that long. No idea how much time had passed before that. He had spent most of the time he'd been awake replaying the last evening's events in his head. At least, he assumed it was last evening. Could still have been this evening, or a week ago for all he knew. Whatever – whenever - It didn't take long. There had been nothing out of the ordinary at all until he got into his car to drive home from the restaurant. He'd had no sense he was being watched. Not the slightest inkling that anything was amiss until the cloth was pressed over his face. It took only seconds for him to pass out.
He awoke, tied to a wooden, and incredibly uncomfortable, chair. The room was dimly lit, so he wasn't able to ascertain too much about his surroundings. The moment he moved his hand he heard a click, followed a few seconds later by a voice.
"Welcome back Mr. Standish. You will have 10 seconds from the beep to fully focus your attention, at which time you will feel a tug on your hands. I would strongly advise against moving after that, as the pin will have been removed from the grenade. Trying to move will just remove the pin faster." Beep
The fog lifted immediately, but there really were no choices to be made. Even if he could move away, it wouldn't be far enough or fast enough if they really were explosives. He felt the tug and froze in place. A few seconds later, the voice continued.
"Excellent. I see you are much better at following orders in your file would suggest. I am sure you are dying, so to speak, from curiosity, so let me provide you with a few answers. You are presently in the basement of your very own ATF offices. Don't feel bad if it doesn't seem familiar to you. I doubt a man of your skills and background has had any reason to be in the utility section of the building.
Who I am is really of no consequence to you. Neither are my motivations. All that you need to know at this point is that Mr. Larrabee and Judge Travis have both been notified of your current predicament." Damn.
"Which is as follows. You are tied to a chair which has been wired to explode should you try to move. The door to the room has likewise been prepared to discourage intruders. I can remotely neutralize the charges once my demands have been met. I can also remotely detonate them. There is sufficient explosive material placed around the area to, through a chain reaction effect, take down the entire building. And then, just to keep your attention riveted, there is the grenade."
Ezra didn't think it was possible to become anymore locked in place than he had been, but that sentence managed to do it. Foolish escape efforts resulting in his own death, while far from the desired outcome, were one thing. No way in hell was he going to be responsible for any other loss of life.
"Best of luck Mr. Standish. You will need it." The voice disappeared, and Ezra sat in quiet contemplation of just how the hell he was going to figure this one out.
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Chris stared at Judge Travis in total disbelief. "Well, I know you can't just hand the guns over, but we have to do something."
Travis sighed. "I'm open to suggestions. I've already contacted the director, and I'm looking at options to go over his head, but all that's going to do is get me fired for insubordination. You might want to rein in that anger before the same thing happens to you."
"Fired hell! I'll walk out of here if we can't figure this out."
"Larabee – Chris." Travis softened his tone. "You know the policy. We don't negotiate with terrorists, and that's what these guys are. They may label themselves as patriotic survivalists, but they are nothing more than bat-shit crazy domestic terrorists."
"And we're just gonna sit back and let them kill Ezra?"
"No, not if we can prevent it. So how do we do that?"
Chris stared again, seething at the reality of the situation and the fact he had no answer. Stalling, he reached for his phone.
"I wouldn't do that Chris." Nathan spoke quietly but urgently from the back of the room. Chris glared his question.
"This guy said he can remotely detonate the bomb. A cell signal could be the trigger."
"Everybody in the damn building has a cell phone." Chris was pissed to hear a hint of panic in his voice.
"JD's setting up a jammer. Probably already up, and that may block the signal from getting to Ezra as well."
"But it will set anything off?"
"No Chris," JD entered the room. "It's in place and it won't cause a problem. Of course, this jackass may think were trying something, but I'm guessing he figured we'd take this step. If it was going to blow, it would have already." He cringed, realizing that wasn't as comforting as he'd intended it to be. He looked to Buck for a bit of support and got it.
"Vin and Josiah should be down in the basement by now. They'll talk to Ezra and one of them will come back up. We're going to figure this out Chris."
"What makes you so sure?"
"Because we have to."
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Ezra could hear the footsteps and his name being called. A sense of dread flooded him.
"No! Josiah no. Stay back. Go away!"
"Easy son. Steady. We know what's going on."
"Don't touch anything. The door's wired."
"We know Ezra. Calm down. You have to stay still, understand?"
Vin was here too? What in God's name were they thinking. "Please, you have to leave. This could all go wrong at any moment. Please." Ezra couldn't hide his anxiety.
"Ezra. Stop. Breathe slowly. We came down to let you know we're gonna fix this is all. You just have to do your part and stay calm." Vin's tone remained level, but he was glad Ezra couldn't see their faces. He was sure his looked every bit as terrified as did Josiah's.
"I will be much calmer when I know everyone is out of harms way."
"We're working on that. The building is being evacuated as we speak. The whole block is. Gas lines have been shut off too. We've got everything taken care of Ezra."
"Not everything. Why are you still here? You need to leave."
"Not without you son."
Ezra forced himself to calm down, or at the very least sound as if he had. They wouldn't leave if he thought he wasn't fully in control. He could handle that. He could bluff anyone. "Gentlemen, I assure you –" deep calming breath Ezra – "I have my end of this situation well in hand." He could feel the onset of a mildly hysterical laugh at the bad pun and struggled to smother it. "There is no need for you to be here. Please, I will be able to focus much better on what I need to do if I do not have to concern myself with your well-being."
"We'll be just fine Ezra." Vin responded. "And so will you. So, it doesn't much matter where we are, does it?"
"If it doesn't matter, then I would before prefer it be elsewhere." He could hear the anxiety slipping back in his voice.
Vin and Josiah could hear it too and looked to each other for guidance each shrugging in response. "He's right about this adding to his stress." Josiah admitted quietly. "And we might be more useful upstairs."
"Hate like hell to leave him alone."
"Okay Ezra," Josiah raised his voice again. "I'm going to go up.
"Both of you."
"Ezra, calm down. We'll leave for now, but we'll going to be back real soon to get you out of there. You understand me?"
Ezra sighed with relief. He could feel a small amount of the tension leave, until it occurred to him what his teammates were likely doing. "Not just away from here. Out of the building Josiah. Vin? Listen to me, there is enough explosive here to take down this entire structure. Quite possibly the block."
"Ezra, can you see the explosives? It might help to know what we're dealing with."
"The lighting in here leaves much to be desired. There are several boxes against the walls, none of which appear to be labelled. The door appears to be sealed with what I can only assume is plastique."
"Okay Ezra, that's good." Vin winced as he heard what he'd said. "Not the explosives part, the knowing about them. We're going to do what you ask, but like Josiah said, we're coming back for you."
"I shall endeavor to be waiting for you to return, when it is safe." He could hear their footsteps retreating and was left feeling terribly alone, and far more frightened than he would ever admit.
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"How's he doing?" The look on Vin's face was making Chris even more nervous about his undercover agent, and their silence didn't help. "Vin? How is he?"
Josiah answered instead. "Terrified – and trying hard not to show it. I don't think he figures on making it out of this one Chris."
"Shit! I should go talk to him." It was a question as much as a statement.
"Not unless you have news for him. He doesn't want us down there and getting him even more agitated isn't the best idea right now."
Vin finally spoke, but it wasn't to Chris. "JD, why did it work when you blocked the cell signal?"
The young agent was confused. "You really want the technical crap now?"
"No. What I mean is, why didn't that set off the explosion? And why didn't this bastard have a backup in case we did just that?"
"Because he's an idiot?" JD offered.
"No, that's the last thing he is. He grabbed Ezra, smuggled him in here past security, got explosives in here. The guy is not an idiot."
"What are you thinking Vin?" Chris was getting an idea where this was going.
"He knows the building."
"Most any visitor would be able to get an idea of the layout." Buck countered.
"Yeah, an idea. But not the basement. Hell, we didn't know our way around down there without the blueprint. And what about security?"
JD nodded, following Vin's logic. "No sign of a breach, or even an attempted one."
Chris was definitely seeing where this was going and was hating the idea. "Someone on the inside. You think it agent did this to Ezra?"
"An agent? Or maybe one of the civilian staff, although that seems less likely."
"So, was he part of this survivalist crew, or just piggybacking on their reputation for being crazy?" Buck wondered.
"Don't know, and don't know that it matters. JD, run any kind of security scan you can think of. Who access the basement level in the past month? Who's asked for additional security clearance? Nathan, review whatever footage we have from whatever cameras are in the area."
"Already looked at all that."
"Yeah, for intruders. Now were looking for one of us." He spoke urgently but quietly. "And for God's sake, keep that under your hat. We can't risk tipping him off."
Vin grabbed at JD's arm when the young man turned to leave. "You didn't answer the first part. Why didn't your jamming voodoo set things off?"
JD stopped, uncertain of the answer. Then the light went on for him. "He doesn't want to blow anything up! The son of a bitch is probably still in here!"
"And he wants everybody else out." Buck added. "But why?"
"Access to something he can't get otherwise. Think about it. Not only is the building being evacuated, but that means most of the security protocols are down. Doors are all unlocked to make sure nobody gets trapped."
"JD – are the cameras operating?" On getting a nod, Chris continued. "Run them. Run everything we've got and that see who else is still in here."
Josiah looked over to Vin. "Did Ezra say the door was sealed with plastique?" Vin nodded, cringing slightly at the image that came to mind. "Then how did he get out?" Everyone turned to look at him. "You can't seal a door from the inside, then leave. Makes no sense."
"Well, maybe he put it around, then pulled it closed?" Nathan speculated.
"It is pretty dark in there from what Ezra said. Maybe it just looks sealed." Vin added.
"The phone message said he was sealed in there. Pretty specific phrase."
"What are you getting at Josiah? How does any of that help Ezra?"
"Simple Buck – if he didn't leave by that door…"
"He left by another." Buck finished. "Damn, of course. Where are the blueprints?" Vin reached over to a neighbouring desk and grabbed for them.
"Okay, Ezra's here, right?" He asked, pointing to the small room. "So, what's around him?"
"Utility rooms for the water, electrical, things like that."
"And this?" Nathan pointed to a narrow space that ran behind the room Ezra was in.
"Beats me. Looks like –" Josiah smiled – "looks a lot like an emergency access point. Backup way to get in all the utilities."
"Any way to find out if the door's rigged?" He asked JD, who was already on the move.
"Remote cameras. Should be able to slide one under the door. If anything is blocking the door then it won't go through. But if it does, we can have a button camera on the end and see what's going on."
Ten minutes later the team was following up on every hint of an idea as to who might be behind all of this insanity. Chris and JD had made their way to the basement, and following Vin's advice, were making enough noise to let Ezra know well in advance they were coming.
"Dear God Vin. I told you not to come back."
"Not Vin, Ezra."
Oh God. This was, if possible, even worse.
"Before you get yourself in a state Ezra, hear me out."
"I am not in a state Chris, I am in Hell."
"And we're going to get you out." JD tried to sound optimistic.
"You brought JD with you? Why? Why would you do such a thing?"
Chris was less than thrilled with what he was hearing. Even under the most adverse situations he could remember, Ezra was able to keep his cool. Now, he was bordering on a panic attack, and if they couldn't get him settled things could get ugly fast.
He didn't like sounding angry, but it might be what was needed to keep Ezra focused. "Listen to me Standish. We've got this figured out so shut up and pay attention." His glare silenced JD's planned comment. "We just need to confirm a couple of details, and then you'll be home free."
Ezra took a calming breath. "You lie terribly. You might want to abandon any thoughts you have concerning taking over my position as undercover operative."
So much for conning him. "Nobody's taking over your job Ezra. And we do have this figured out. We think." Chris added reluctantly. "Are you facing this door?"
"Yes." he answered, curiosity piqued despite his better judgment.
"Damn. So, you have no idea what's behind you?"
There were a few seconds of silence and a muffled curse. "No. I tried to turn but it pulls on the ropes too much. I cannot hold my grip on whatever it is I am holding onto when that happens."
"Then for God's sake, sit still. Do you know what you're holding?"
Again, there was a brief silence. "I believe it is an armed grenade."
"Shit." JD mumbled.
"Ezra, you've been holding that this whole time?"
"Well, I didn't just pick it up a minute ago out of idle curiosity."
"Right. Sorry. Stupid question."
If he'd been holding that for at least the three hours since they knew this had started, his hands and arms would be killing him. Especially given that his arms were tied behind him. Chris had no idea how much longer Ezra could keep that up.
"I can hold onto it for as long as I have to. No one else is going to die because my hand gets tired."
Damn his mind reading skills. "Betting it's more than tired. If we've got this figured out right, it won't be much longer Ezra."
"Is the building clear? Has everyone been evacuated?"
"Almost everyone." JD answered as he worked at his setup.
"What's the delay?"
"Well, you are."
Ezra groaned. "No, you must leave. If I am the only one remaining, then it doesn't matter."
Chris growled. He couldn't help himself. "What the fuck you mean it doesn't matter. Everyone is getting out of this building Standish. That includes you!"
"Please Chris. Order them out. Carry them out. You have to get the others to safety."
"We're all getting –"
"Please!" Ezra was pleading in a way he never had done before. "I have enough reasons to burn in Hell, don't make me have six more deaths on my conscience. Don't let me die knowing I killed you all."
Chris's heart ached at the anguished plea, and JD was having trouble focusing on his work through his blurred vision.
"Listen Ezra. Listen to me. We are certain there are no other explosives in that room." Okay almost certain, but that news wouldn't help Ezra now. "You understand me? The building will not blow up."
"Just this space then?" Ezra said quietly. Far too quietly.
"Shit Chris, I don't think you should've told him that."
"Ezra. Damn you. Don't even think about letting go, you hear me? JD and I are right outside this door."
"You will be shielded. The grenade won't have that much force."
It'll have enough to kill you, Chris thought in a panic. "Yeah, not if we're inside." He reached for the knob, pushing JD away from the door and praying they'd reached the right conclusion.
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tbc
