One by one the vehicles arrived at the parking lot of "Las Palmas". Ezra was the first to arrive and he headed straight for their usual table. It was in the back, one had to walk all the way through to get to it. It was set up with three on each side and a single chair at the head facing the bar. As he threaded his way through the tables he signaled to the bartender to start a round. Mason Greer was the bartender/bouncer who also helped Inez manage the establishment that catered to the local law enforcement community. Team 7 was well known to Greer, to the point that he knew what drinks to prepare even before the rest of the team showed up. Two Bud Lites, for Josiah and JD, Dos Eqis Gold for Vin Tanner, Corona and a lime for Buck Wilmington, Ezra was the Crown Royal and ginger ale with a lime squeeze and Chris Larabee was the Crown, neat, and depending on what kind of day it had been, a double. Greer finished the tray of drinks as the rest of the team came into the bar. Seeing the looks on their faces, he put the tray down, took the glass of Crown Royal and added another shot to it.
Inez came from the kitchen area and took the tray of drinks over to the table. Setting each drink in front of the men she noticed the lack of usual joking and kidding. Even Buck was not his usual self. When she placed the drink at Chris Larabee's place all conversation came to a halt. Feeling as if she'd stepped on a grave, she backed away a step from the table.
"Inez, darlin, Chris won't be comin' tonight." Wilmington told her
"Is anything wrong? Is he all right?"
Once again the quiet descended like a pall on the usually merry group. It was Nathan who spoke up telling her that Chris had just gone home early and wouldn't be driving back into town to join them. Still feeling as if there was a mystery, Inez left the group alone and returned to the bar.
"What the hell happened back there today? Am I wrong or has Chris been accused of doing something wrong?" JD asked.
"We'd all like to know the answer to that," replied Nate as he looked to the rest of the team.
"Well they're crazy if they think they can just send Chris home and put that blonde bimbo in his place."
"That blonde bimbo, as you have referred to, is currently the Senior Agent in Charge of our team and as such can send you, or me, or any of us to the house any time she wants." Buck shot back as he sent a warning glance to JD.
Not picking up on the look JD continued on a tirade until finally he noticed that none of the others were joining him. "Well are you all just going to sit back and let this happen? Come on guys, we have to do something. We can't let Chris go down."
"JD, we don't even know what Chris has been accused of. How can we do anything until we find out what's going on? Until we find Chris, or until such time as the bureau chooses to inform us, we can just sit back and do what we do best, gather intelligence." JD looked at Nate feeling slightly chastised by the words the medic had spoken.
After the round of drinks was finished the five of the six men rose to leave. "You coming Bucklin?" JD asked.
"No, kid I think I'll stick around for a few minutes. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
Each paid for their drinks and left going their separate ways. Back inside the bar Buck Wilmington again tried to reach Chris by phone. Finally giving up he rose and left the bar. Climbing into the blue Crown Vic he headed for the interstate and home. When he came to the split instead of heading east towards his condo, he went west, out into the county, away from the bright lights of the city. As if the car was on autopilot it unfailingly made the route to the 80 acres that Chris Larabee called home. Buck was halfway down the drive before he actually realized where he was. He had been driving and remembering. Remembering the struggle to pull Larabee out of bottle when Sara and Adam were killed.
He remembered the look of rage on Chris' face when their murderer had been brought into booking. It was just by accident that Chris had been there when Paul Gates was arrested. Chris had come in to headquarters to take care of some paperwork that needed to be handled for his extended leave. No one had expected him that day, least of all the two homicide detectives that had caught Gates and brought in him for questioning. Buck had driven Chris to headquarters and was standing in the middle of the squad room when he overheard the voices of the two detectives outside in the corridor. He heard them tell someone that Gates had admitted killing Chris' family and the only regret he'd said he'd had was that Larabee wasn't in the car along with his wife and son. Buck looked at Chris, as did everyone else in the room. All color drained from Chris' face. Before Wilmington could reach his friend, Chris had torn off across the room. He slammed the door open so hard that the large pane of glass shattered The sound was sharp, several officers in the area drew their weapons thinking that a shot had been fired. Before anyone could react Chris had jumped Gates and had him down on the floor. Buck managed to pull the crazed man off of the handcuffed prisoner, but it had cost him a black eye and a busted lower lip. Chris had continued to flail away before coming to his senses enough to realize that it was his best friend he was beating, not the man who'd taken away from him the other half of his heart. The look on Chris' face that day was one he never hoped to see again. And up until today he hadn't, not once, not through the trial, not through the sentencing, not until Chris had stormed out of Travis' office today.
Buck pulled up to the darkened house. It was a little after nine o'clock, way too early for Chris to be in bed. Getting out Buck went to the front door and knocked, but there was no answer. He walked around to the back of the house and looked through the glass into the garage. Seeing Chris' black Dodge Ram he knocked again before cautiously opening the back door and stepping into the garage. He tested the door that connected the garage to the living area and finding it locked went to the tool chest where Chris kept a spare key. Using the key to gain entry, Buck went to the key pad for the security system and keyed in the numerical code to reset the alarm. It was an easy code to remember, a day neither would ever forget, it was Adam's birthdate.
As Buck walked from the utility room to the kitchen he called out to Chris, not wanting to surprise his fellow agent and be greeted with the business end of Chris' Glock. But there was no response. After checking each room, except for Adam's he gave up and headed out of the house to the barn. He knew there was no need to check Adam's room. After Adam and Sara's funeral Buck found Chris asleep on Adam's bed. When he woke him up, Chris had told him to get out of the room. Buck withdrew to the den along with what was left of Chris' family, his father-in-law and a distant cousin, James Curran, a naval officer. Chris had come out of the room and had never allowed anyone else to enter it. Buck knew that Chris never went in the room either. He'd told Buck he just wasn't ready. Buck didn't think Chris would ever be ready.
Reaching the barn Buck stepped inside to the smell of fresh hay. He could see that the horses were already fed and watered. The barn had eight stalls, four of them were occupied by members of the team's horses. Buck's grey was housed next to Vin's horse. Ezra's and JD were also there. Josiah kept his at his own place and Nathan's was at his fiancée Rain's grandfather's spread. But tonight, Chris's black was missing. Buck checked the tack room and found that Chris' saddle was also gone.
Debating what to do, Buck finally decided that he'd wait at the house, there was no telling where Chris went and it would be impossible to find him in the dark. Buck returned to the empty house and settled down in the den waiting for his friend to return.
What seemed to be moments later he was waking up, but rather than minutes, it must have been hours later as the sun was coming up. Buck looked at the clock sitting on bookshelf and seeing that it was 6:00 headed back to the barn. Pony's stall was still empty. With a sigh Buck went back and scribbled a note to Chris. Locking up the house and setting the alarm he drove off, headed to his condo for a quick shower and change of clothes before going to the office.
