Chapter 4

Midnight: Sunday, April 22, 1934

The temperature had dropped dramatically which caused a twinge in Booth's shoulder where a bullet had once lodged itself. There was a slight mist coming from the lake, dimming the moonlight some. The occasional snow bank was visible in the woods, and the ground was soft from the spring thaw.

From his vantage point, Booth could see that Dillinger had gone to bed. Unfortunately, some of the gang were still playing cards in the barroom, and they had to wait until the entire gang was in their rooms. That's when the innocent bystanders would head down to the cellar and they could storm the lodge.

As far as plans went, it wasn't the greatest but they had been caught unawares. They had expected to have time to get the lay of the lodge and set up a proper ambush. Dillinger was supposed to leave Monday morning, but he hadn't expected that there would be so many customers at the out-of-the-way lodge and he got jumpy. Their informants, the family that owned the lodge, had managed to warn them that the Dillinger gang was leaving before dawn.

The situation was rapidly disintegrating, they'd had no time to plan, and there was some debate on whose orders they should follow. Purvis had been appointed the agent in charge by Hoover himself, but Clegg was the senior agent, and Inspector Rorer, who'd caught Machine Gun Kelly, was there as well. It was a mess, all three of them were issuing orders and none of them really knew what they were doing. The FBI hadn't trained its agents for mass gunfights and they relied heavily on the speed and frequency of Tommy guns rather than skill. Not only that, but Purvis and his men had been within a baseball's toss of Dillinger four times in the last month and had failed to capture him. In order to bag him, they needed more experienced men from other field offices. Besides Booth and Sully, there was also an old Texas lawman named Tanner. Booth and Sully had been in the war together, and as for the old timer, well, let's just say that as a Texan he had a lot of experience in shootouts.

Sully stood with Purvis and Clegg at the mouth of the driveway, ready to prevent anyone from leaving. Sully's senses were on a hair trigger, his nerves on edge. It was the anticipation, it used to happen to him in the war, but he didn't remember the feelings being this intense.

Three men exited the lodge and Purvis and Clegg yelled, "Stop! Federal agents!" The car kept coming and other agents came running and yelling. "Stop the car! Federal Agents!" The car still wouldn't stop, and Purvis and Clegg simultaneously ordered them to shoot. Machine gun fire rang through the clearing. Sully performed his task with a minimum of fuss, he simply cocked his rifle and fired. The driver slumped forward instantly, but the two passengers took off for the woods. Bullets started raining down on the agents from two upstairs windows, distracting them from the runners. The agents ran to the pine trees for cover, popping off shots from behind them when they could.

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Booth was watching the back of the lodge, when suddenly he heard shouting followed by gunfire. He could see other agents running towards the front. but he stayed where he was. He heard an answering volley coming from the front of the lodge as two figures slipped out an upstairs window and ran down to the lake..

"They're escaping out the back!" Booth yelled as he set off after them, but only the Texan heard him, everyone else was too busy dealing with the shower of lead coming from the Tommy guns at the front of the lodge.

Booth and Tanner trailed the two figures through the mist and trees, one of them turned around and raised his gun, Booth ducked behind a pine and he saw Tanner do the same. Bullets whizzed past them. His back to the tree, he pulled on the bolt, loading the round into the barrel. He craned his neck to look at the men, the mist had cleared somewhat and the moon shone down on them, allowing Booth to recognize them. It's Dillinger and Red Hamiliton, he thought, Lucky me, I get to take down Dillinger and his right hand man.

Booth yelled, "Cover me!" as he came out from the behind the tree and aimed quickly, unfortunately Dillinger and Red were moving too fast. Booth ran after them, pulling on the bolt and shooting until he had to load another cartridge.


Back at the lodge, the shooting from the upstairs windows had stopped, but some of the agents kept shooting. Not Sully though, he knew that they weren't there anymore, he started to run to the back, when Purvis called him back.

"Stay here, agent!"

"But sir!"

"I said, stay here!"

"They're gone! They've probably escaped out the back, you idiot!"

"Agent Sullivan! Your orders are to stay here! Everyone else, find them!"

Sully had no choice but to stand there, watching the green agents run blindly into the woods.

"Agent Sullivan! I am the agent in charge of this assignment. You will show me respect! Is that understood?"

Sully glared at the poster boy of the FBI, "Yes, sir."

"Very good. Now, let's see who was in the car."

Purvis walked over to the bullet riddled car and opened the driver's door. Sully waited for him, his rifle at the ready, in case someone ambushed them.

Purvis was searching the driver for his identification. the beam from his flashlight bouncing off the windows. Purvis straightened up and walked over to Sully, "Well, well, Sullivan. Wasn't it your bullet that killed this man?"

"Yes." Sully said slowly, he didn't like the tone of Purvis' voice.

"It seems you killed an innocent man. This man was a Civilian Conservation Corps worker."

All the blood drained from Sully's face, No, no! It can't be! I...I...I should have known! I knew that something wasn't right! I can't believe I killed an innocent person! This is worse than the war, this man wasn't any danger to me! I can't believe what I've done. Sully looked at the rifle in his hands, "I can never shoot this gun again." he whispered.

Purvis ignored Sully's distress, "Sullivan! I'm going to go check out the lodge. You get one of the cars and cut off the gang at the highway."

"He was innocent." gasped out Sully.

"Sullivan! Get the car!"

Sully did as he was ordered, his conscience tormenting him all the way.


Booth was loading the cartridge as fast as he could, while Tanner stood nearby firing at Dillinger and Red. Once the cartridge was loaded, Booth stepped into the shadows, Tanner would draw their attention to him while Booth set up his shot. Booth had Dillinger in his sights when he pulled the trigger. The round was spinning silently towards its target when Red stepped forward just a little. Booth watched as blood blossomed on Red's white sleeve, giving away his position. Dillinger turned and fired shots in Booth's direction before he grabbed Red's uninjured arm and sped off. Booth and Tanner jogged down to the spot where they'd been.

Tanner studied the tracks and the drops of blood left behind in a snow drift, "They're probably heading for the highway."

Booth looked up towards the highway, "Let's see if we can't head them off."


Sully was driving down the highway, his guilt and grief clouding his mind, distracting him. When suddenly a figure appeared out of nowhere, in the middle of the road. Brakes squealing and car swerving, Sully managed to avoid hitting the man. The car had turned around and was now facing the wrong way, the man ran up to the car and opened the driver's door. Sully was a little disoriented, but he could still recognize the man.

"I know you bastards wear bullet-proof vests." he said, pulling out a pistol, "so I'll give it to you high and low."

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Booth and Tanner reached the highway, when the heard shots ring out just down the road. They ran towards the shots and watched a car speed off. There was no hope of catching it on foot. Booth kicked at the asphalt, when he heard moans coming from a snow drift on the side of the highway. Booth and Tanner ran towards the noise. The man in the snow covered his face with his hand, the blood flowing out anyway. Booth got down on his knees, Tanner did the same on the other side of the man.

"You're going to be fine. We'll get you to a hospital, it's just a graze." he said even as he noticed the gut wound.

"Booth?" moaned the man.

Booth pulled his hand away from his face, "Sully?" he gasped in disbelief.

"Booth... you don't have to lie...I know... I know... I'm not going to... make it."

"No! Sully! You have to fight! We're going to your grandmother's house this weekend, remember?" Booth yelled, fighting his tears. "You have to fight. For Bones, For Tempe, you two are going have a house and kids, remember? Don't give up! Don't you dare give up!"

"I...I deserve this, Booth... I killed...an innocent ...man.""No! Don't say that! It wasn't your fault! I know it wasn't!"

"Either way...I'm dying...Take care...of Tempe." he gasped as he gripped Booth's hand in a vice like grip.

Booth had no choice, "I promise." Sully's hand relaxed its hold, but Booth's didn't. "Sully, who did this to you? Was it Dillinger?"

Sully shook his head slightly, "Nelson." he said, his last breath escaping right after.

Tanner stood up and walked beside the road for a bit, giving Booth some privacy. Booth knelt there beside Sully, the tears escaping despite his best efforts, he stretched out a shaking hand to close his friend's eyes. As the tears coursed down Booth's face, a hatred grew inside of him. He was going to get Nelson! If it was the last thing he did. He stayed there, he didn't know how long, but he was pulled from his dark thoughts by Tanner's hand on his shoulder.

"Booth, there's a car coming." They ducked back into the woods, in case those in the car were hostiles. But when they got out to check the body, they saw that it was their own.

"Booth! Tanner! What happened to Sullivan?" asked Purvis

Booth wanted to smash his fist into the pretty boy's face for his callousness, but he knew that if he wanted to get Nelson, he needed to play nice.

"Nelson shot him, sir."

"Hmm, he must have stolen the car Sullivan was driving. Well, climb on, we've got the plate's numbers. we should be able to catch up with them soon."

All the agents climbed into the car, but Tanner and Booth had to stand on its running boards and hold on. Booth's determination building as the car sped off and he had to hold on tighter to the roof.


Historical Note: I based this chapter on the Public Enemies book and movie. The assault at Little Bohemia did end with the death of an FBI agent, Carter Baum, who was also the one attributed the kill of the CCC worker. So Sully takes his place in our story while Booth stands in for one of the Texas lawmen who were made agents by Purvis, so that he'd have more experienced men on his team. The FBI was not looking good at that time, they had indeed been very close to Dillinger 4 times in that last month without so much as seeing him. As for the date and time, well, at the time of my research, I couldn't get a source to agree, just that it had been anywhere from the 20th to the 23rd. If you guys have any questions, just ask, and I'll try to get the answers to you. Thanks for reading.