The Key part 4
"You mean we put him through all that for nothing?" Buck asked with agitation.
Exhausted after the emotionally draining session, David had gone to bed for the night. Josiah and Chris joined the others in Larabee's room after taking a few minutes to find Vin in the bar.
"No," Josiah shook his head. "We know for sure now that Ezra was hypnotized, his memory erased or suppressed and replaced with that of 'David'."
"But why? And by who?" Nathan asked. "He can't identify the doctor who worked on him," he pointed out.
"Tortured him you mean," Vin threw out vehemently before taking another swig of his beer.
"That's where we have our work cut out for us," Josiah admitted.
"I think the answers are back in Denver," Chris told them.
"With Augustine," Tanner added.
Santi Augustine was the head of a rather large crime family. Suspected of smuggling illegal weapons into Denver, Ezra had been undercover on Augustine's estate when he'd disappeared. The team had always suspected Augustine had been involved but had never found proof. Even Maude's connections had come up empty.
Chris watched Tanner closely. Vin had been Ezra's contact on the case and had never really forgiven himself when Standish vanished. Now, finding out what had happened to Ezra to change him into David, had reawakened the sharpshooter's rage.
"Do you think Ez, I mean David, will come back with us?" JD asked.
All eyes fixed on Josiah for an answer.
" I think he wants answers now almost as badly as we do," Josiah said. "But I need to warn you again…Right now- he is not our Ezra. Pressing him with memories and stories is only heaping a burden on him he doesn't need."
"What burden?" Nathan asked.
"The pressure of not being able to live up to your expectations. As much as he may end up wanting to be Ezra—until we find all the answers—all he knows is David. Nothing we say or do can change that. Understood?"
Reluctantly, everyone admitted they did understand.
"Alright," Chris took command again. "Buck, get us a flight home. I'm going to talk to David about going with us."
"He's asleep," JD pointed out.
"He'll wake up for this."
"Do you want me to call Maude?" Nathan asked.
Chris paused, conflicted about contacting Ezra's mother, and then shook his head. "No, I don't think either of them could handle each other yet."
"Augustine," Santi Augustine growled into the phone as he answered the one line in his home he knew for certain was secure.
"We have problems." He recognized his contact's voice immediately.
"What do you mean 'We'?" Santi asked sharply.
"There's a group of PI's snooping around here this week They've been talking a lot with David."
"And you're just telling me now?" Augustine closed his eyes. He knew he should have killed Standish when he'd had the chance. Instead he's compromised his own will and caved to outside pressure. Now, that decision seemed to be coming back to haunt him.
"Larabee," he muttered, wondering how the man had found Standish. "Is David responding to them at all?"
There was hesitation on the other end of the line. "I really don't know, but I think they're planning on taking him back to Denver with them if he'll agree to go."
"You think?" Augustine exploded.
"I-I don't know for sure. They don't know," the contact stuttered defensively. "They don't know yet if he'll go."
"Well, they must have made some progress to even get that far! What the hell am I paying you for?"
"Sir,"
"Shut up, Martin," Santi ordered. He needed to think. He had two choices, take out Standish now…or call on Dr. Koon again.
"Let them go," he decided.
"What?" Martin was surprised.
"I said, let them go. They'll waltz back into Denver and I'll be able to get my hand's on Standish again."
"What about…"
Augustine hung up before he had to listen to the rest of Martin's question. Quickly, he dialed Koon's number.
"I need you here now," he ordered and hung up again. Grinning, he leaned back in his high backed leather chair. The plan was underway. All he needed now was to throw in a little distraction and find the perfect man to grab Larabee and Standish. Placing another phone call, he knew who'd be more than willing to participate.
Eddie Dean would have done time thanks to Chris Larabee if not for Augustine pulling strings and getting the charges dropped on a technicality. Built like a truck with legs, Dean would be ecstatic to find out that his reward for helping would be Larabee.
David couldn't believe he'd made it to Denver. In the two years he'd owned the Inn, he'd never actually ventured out of town, an unexplainable fear paralyzing him at the thought of travel.
Now, with Sanchez's help, he'd learned to control his fear and move past it. Amazingly, as he watched the streets of Denver go by, he felt confident for the first time in ages. These men had waltzed into his life, turned it upside down and questioned everything he'd ever known. He should have been angry and defensive and yet, he found himself wanting to trust them, longing to be a part of them and to find out the answers to the questions they'd raised.
David shivered unwittingly as Buck parked the SUV in front of what looked like a run down warehouse. Only a sign above a small door distinguished the building as Larabee and Co.'s offices. Quickly he climbed out of the vehicle and followed Buck toward the cement steps that led to the entrance. The others were following, half of them having ridden in a second SUV.
Suddenly a loud pop rang out but before David could look around for the source, Buck grabbed him and hurled him to the ground, pinning him there.
"What the hell?" Easter struggled to free himself until he saw the look on Wilmington's face and froze. Something was very wrong and he strained to see beyond his human shield.
After what seemed like forever to him, Vin called out, "Anybody hit?"
"I'm good." JD was the first to respond as he skirted around the front of one SUV. His gun was drawn and his eyes were searching the area intently.
"Me too." One by one each checked in, no one had been hit.
"So what was that?" Nathan asked, helping Buck and David up.
"I think," Chris' eyes scanned the parking lot again cautiously. "Someone's not happy with our new case."
"Augustine's welcoming committee?" Vin suggested.
"How did he know we're here?" Buck asked.
"I'm guessing someone on David's staff works for more than one boss." Chris nodded at David as he spoke.
"Who's this August person?" David wondered as Chris took his arm and protectively pulled him toward a nearby pickup truck.
"Just an old friend," Chris answered sarcastically.
"What's the plan?" Vin asked.
"I'm taking David in the truck up to my ranch first," Chris told them. "I want you all to bring everything you can find on Augustine and this case."
"Why?" JD bounced in place as he asked.
"We're going back to the beginning and looking at it all again. We'll keep looking until we find what we're missing."
"You know the risks with repeating this procedure, Santi." Michael Koon paced in front of Augustine's desk, not afraid of voicing his opinions to his powerful friend. His sleek black cane thumped rhythmically despite the thick carpeting.
"It won't kill him, will it?" Augustine's brown eyes followed the doctor. His dark hair was slicked back adding width to his already round face.
"No, it won't kill him but it could leave him a mental vegetable. I have no idea how he'll respond to the drugs this time around."
"Well, just give it a try anyway." Augustine smiled.
Koon glared at him. "Don't you care what you're doing to the man's life?"
Santi chuckled. "Don't give me that. You aren't concerned about him. You just don't want to screw up your work. You're damn proud of the way you erased him. There's only one thing that will ever trigger his memory to return and you enjoyed every minute of the abuse you put him through to get to that point. You're afraid you'll be left with nothing to brag about if this time around if you get a mass of useless brain tissue when you're done," he accused.
Koon opened his mouth to continue his argument, but Augustine raised a hand and cut him off. "Will you do it or not?"
The doctor was smart enough to realize he actually had no choice in the matter. "I'll try," he spit.
Augustine smiled. "Good. My man is set to pick him up any minute now. I have an appointment to attend to but I'll check on your progress later."
"Fine."
David gazed out the window of the truck, mesmerized by the beauty of the mountainous landscape. It was finally sinking in that someone had actually taken real shots at them. He couldn't imagine why anyone would even care enough to want to hurt him or these men. It didn't make sense to him at all…what kind of threat was he to this Augustine guy anyway? He'd been amazed at the way Larabee's men had reacted to the threat. They must have been a powerful team. He glanced at Larabee, watching him with open curiousity.
"Problem?" Chris asked, not looking his way.
David shook his head. "No…just, can I ask you a personal question?"
"Wouldn't be fair to say no." Chris admitted.
Smiling, David nodded and looked down at his hands. "Why did you and your team ever leave the ATF. You seem to work very well together…you must have been good."
Chris looked at him for a minute and then turned his eyes back to the road. He cleared his throat, not sure exactly where to start. "Well, we were…are a great team. We're a family." He managed, his voice lowering slightly. "We depend on each other, care about each other. When you, or Ezra," he paused and swallowed slowly before continuing. "When he disappeared we were determined to find him…at any cost."
"Your career?" David was shocked.
"Well, that wasn't the plan but we were a bit too focused. A few warnings came down from the powers that be and our supervisor, Travis, tried to protect us but in the end it was a combination of our obsession with Ezra's case and a few breeches of proper procedure." He smiled grimly. "They gave us a choice, either drop the case or get out of the Bureau."
"And you chose to leave…you gave that much up for him?" David asked incredulously.
Chris looked at him evenly, their eyes meeting. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep my family together, no matter what the cost."
David had to look away, the implication of Larabee's words hitting him hard. Chris and the others…they'd spent two years searching and fighting to get their family back together—all for Ezra—for him.
Chris turned off the main road, steering them through a small wooded area. Suddenly the trees opened revealing a ranch home, a barn and a corral filled with horses.
"You have horses?" David asked, thankful for a new subject.
"Only one is mine." Chris explained. "We all ride and it works to keep the mounts here."
"Really?" David watched the powerful creatures as the truck continued up the drive. "I've never ridden before." He didn't see the frown crease Chris' face.
"Let's get inside and get a fire going before the gang gets here. We got a long haul of research ahead." Chris managed a grin as he parked and turned off the engine. He knew now was not the time to tell David that one of those horses belonged to him or that JD and Vin had faithfully taken care of it for the last two years.
David followed Chris up the porch steps, still curiously looking around the property. "You have a nice…" He started but was stopped abruptly by the pistol pointing at his face. Chris lay unconscious at his feet and he wondered why he hadn't heard anything. He managed to focus on the man holding the weapon. Nearly three times his size, David was unprepared for the assailant's quickness. The man smiled and struck forcefully, instantly plunging him into darkness.
Vin stood on the top step of Larabee's porch, his weapon drawn and stared at the open front door already knowing what they'd find inside…nothing.
"It's clear," Buck shouted from inside. "Completely empty, no sign of them." He continued coming to the door.
"Augustine," Vin cursed and spun, darting down the steps. He was halfway to the SUV when Josiah grabbed his arm.
"We don't know for sure," the older man reminded.
"I do." Vin wrenched free. "This is not happening again," he shouted suddenly. "I failed Ezra once and look what happened. He was brainwashed and tortured! It's not going to happen again, not to him or Chris."
"Vin!" Nathan stepped forward.
"Are you with me or not?" Tanner growled at the others. " 'Cause I'm going."
Buck was the first to move. "JD and I are with Vin. You two get us some back up."
"You can't just barge onto his property…" Nathan tried again.
"I'm not waiting." Vin turned away a final time, not caring who followed. "Not this time."
Chris groaned, pain exploding though his head as he began to stir. He debated not even trying until he remembered… Ezra- David…someone had been waiting inside the door of his home. He struggled to sit up but a wave of dizziness sent him back to the carpeted floor again.
"You aren't going to be much of a challenge." A snide voice sounded from somewhere nearby, and Chris forced himself to focus. Taking a deep breath, he sat up again, this time ignoring the vertigo.
Across from him, a behemoth sat, cross-legged, cracking his knuckles in apparent boredom. He looked vaguely familiar.
"I see you're trying to place me." The guy shifted and stretched his legs out. "Need a couple of hints?"
Chris glared. "Where's Ezra?"
"You mean David?" The grin widened. "Oh, about now he's getting ready for a whole new identity…if he's lucky it won't be as a brain dead vegetable."
"You son of a bitch." Chris pushed himself to his feet.
"Oh, don't blame me. I'm only here for you. Standish is Augustine's pet."
Chris didn't know if he should be relieved to finally hear the truth or not. As the large man pushed off the floor, his memory clicked together. Eddie Dean, he'd almost put the man in prison…would have if Dean hadn't slipped through the cracks. He didn't have time to dwell on the realization…Dean charged.
TBC...