Chapter 10

Within the first few moments of his arrival onto theparking lot, Chris had taken charge of the situation.He had cordoned off the crime scene, placing MCATmembers at strategic positions to prevent anyone fromtrespassing onto the scene, and tainting evidence. Hehad given strict orders that no one outside of theirunit would be permitted on the parking lot, except forthe medical personnel when they arrived.

His instructions did not sit well with the head of theFederal building's security personnel, who strolledonto the parking lot as if he owned it, ignoringJustin's attempts to get him to stop. Chris shot theother MCAT agent a look to let Justin know that hewould deal with man himself.

Agent Larabee, I'm well aware of your tendency to runrough shod of over other agencies heads in order toget what you want, but try and be reasonable. Securingthe building and the perimeter of the parking lotfalls under my occupational title more than it doesyours. Please allow myself and my men to do theirjob."

Chris glowered at the older man. "No one is stoppingyou from doing your job Crandall, as long as youunderstand that it no longer consists of this parkinglot."

Crandall opened his mouth to say something else, butChris' cell phone rang and he held up a hand to staythe other man's protests. "Larabee…Kat? What? I'llhandle it."

Chris hung up the phone and turned his attention backonto the security supervisor. "Call your men Crandall and tell themto let my forensics people out of the building. Now!"

The older man paled under the glare that Larabee fixedhim with and angrily dispatched the order over hishandset.

The MCAT forensics team arrived a few moments later,and after checking in with Chris, went to workmeticulously going over the tangled, charred heap ofmetal that had once been Standish's most prizedpossession.

"We're not through here Larabee." Crandall saidangrily.

"I don't have time to waste coddling your hurt egoCrandall." Chris spat out. "It's one of my men lyinginjured and unconscious on the ground over there and that makes this MYcase."

"Chris."

Larabee heard his name being called and cast a glanceover his shoulder to see Buck walking towards him."We're done here Crandall."

"I'm going to take a look around in the rubble. Tryand see whether or not I can come up with enoughpieces of the bomb to figure out what it was made of and how it was detonated."Buck told him.

"Have Kat and Greg assist you."

"I will." Buck agreed.

"How does it look Nathan?" Chris asked Jackson,crouching down beside the unconscious undercoveragent.

"It doesn't look good Chris. He hasn't moved a musclesince I've been here, and that's never a good sign.The one thing going for him is the fact that Kelli wasso close to him and was able not only to call in anambulance right away, but that she applied pressure tohis head to slow the flow of blood. He could have easilybled out here in the parking lot before we got to him. Damn it! Where the hell is that ambulance?" Jackson yelled at Larabee.

"Easy…Nathan. You are doing everything you can." Christold the medic, knowing that Jackson had a tendency totake too much on his shoulders when it came to caringfor his fellow team members.

"It's not enough." Nathan snapped.

The wail of a siren pierced the air and a collective sigh of relief went up from the other team members, knowing thathelp had finally arrived.

Ezra still hadn't regained consciousness by the timethat the ambulance arrived. Vin helped Kelli to herfeet and stood back to watch with Chris, JD, andJosiah as the EMTS went to work on Ezra. Nathan workedwith them to get Ezra onto a backboard so that theycould examine the still unconscious undercover agentmore easily. He filled them in on what he had observedof Standish's vitals when he had first arrived on thescene.

When they were loading Ezra into the back of theambulance, Chris said, "Nathan you ride with them. Idon't want Ezra left alone until we catch whoever isresponsible for doing this to him. Besides, if hewakes up in route to the hospital he'll be moreobliged to listen to the medics if you are there too."

The medic nodded his reply a moment before the doors were closed and the ambulance raced out of the parking lot with its sirens wailing.

Chris turned to the rest of the unit. "Buck, you're in charge of the investigation until you're finished on the explosives part. Then hand it over to Justin to oversee. He can track down the owners of some of these other damaged vehicles, while you hightail to the hospital. Pam and JD, I want you to head back to the office and set CASSIE to work on looking through all of our back cases, but especially one's in which Ezra played a key part in taking someone down. I want to know who the hell is responsible for putting Ezra in the ambulance that he is in, and I want to know NOW."

"We're on it." J.D. told the MCAT leader, starting across the parking lot.

"Keep us informed of Ezra's condition." Pam added as she hurried to catch up with J. D.

Chris turned his attention onto Vin, Kelli and Josiah. "Let's go."

In The Ambulance…Ezra fought against the heaviness that weighed him down in the murky darkness. As he slowly drifted towards consciousness, he became aware of a cacophony of sounds that reverberated through his head with the intensity of aherd of angry elephants. He tried to lift his right hand up to his brace his head, but found that it wouldn't cooperate. In fact, he couldn't move any part of his body and that knowledge filled him with panic, and he was suddenly awake.

His green eyes fluttered open and he let out a groan as pain spliced through his head in reaction to the light shining directly into it. He closed them quickly and found the pain in his head alleviated just a little.

"Ezra?"

Nathan had been watching Ezra's unconscious form close, not wanting to miss even the slightest flicker of an eyelid or intake of breath that would signal to him that Standish was coming to. His prolonged unconsciousness was worrisome to the medic, even though his vitals were stable.

Ezra winced against the pain that shot through his head at the sound of his name being said. The voice sounded familiar, but as hard as he tried to place the name of the person who had spoken, he found that he couldn't. He frowned. Usually his memory was far more reliable than this.

He slowly opened his eyes again, blinking against the bright light that filled them, and felt another intense feeling of pain shoot through his head.

"Ezra? How are you feeling?"

Nathan asked, leaning over so that Ezra could see him when his eyes fluttered open again.

Two dark-skinned images swam before his vision for a few minutes, as he tried again to connect the voice, and face…or…faces with a name.

"Nat…han?" Ezra rasped out through the oxygen mask he had on his face, once his addled memory had locked onto a name.

Jackson breathed a sigh of relief that Standish was not only awake finally, but he was coherent enough to recognize him. "That's right, Ezra."

"What the hell happened?"

"You were in an accident but you are going to be just fine. We're in route to the hospital now, and they are going to take real good care of you." Nathan had decided that it was probably best not to tell Ezra what exactly happened to him, just yet. He knew that Standish would only aggravate his condition, if he knew that his car was in ruins and that he had been the target of a murder attempt. "Why am I so encumbered?" Ezra queried.

"Mr. Standish, we haven't yet determined the extent of your injuries, so that is why we have you immobilized." The EMT told him. "How do you feel?"

"Wonderful." Ezra retorted, and Nathan couldn't help smiling despite the situation. Ezra cocky was a good sign, that the undercover agent wasn't injured nearly as bad as what they had first estimated. Ezra's eyes drifted shut as unconsciousness claimed him once more.

In route to the hospital…"Come on! Get the hell out of the way!" Chris Larabee shouted out the driver's side window of Kelli's truck. He slammed his hand down on the horn, making both Kelli and Vin wince, as he had commandeered the keys from his daughter when they had raced over to the vehicle after the ambulance, with Ezra ensconced inside, had sped out of the parking lot, and he had shouted orders to Buck and the other MCAT team members who were staying behind to investigate.

Larabee swerved around the car holding up traffic, cutting another car off in the right lane, and racing through the yellow light. He weaved in and out of traffic, forcing both Texans to grasp the dash with their hands to keep from being jostled around too much.

"Easy, Chris...we're not going to do Ezra any bit of good if we're involved in a car accident." Vin cautioned his best friend from the passenger's seat.

"Don't tell me how to drive Tanner!" Larabee snapped, as he took another sharp corner, making the right side tires leave ground for a second or two.

"I'll tell you any goddamn thing I want to when you are jeopardizin' not only your life, but Kelli's and mine too!" Vin shouted back.

*Mule headed…*

*Ornery ass Texan…*

"You two arguin' over Chris' driving, ain't going to do any one any bit of good." Kelli told them both in a calm voice, glancing from Chris to Vin from her place between them.

Larabee let out an explosive breath at her words and knew that she was right. Hell, they were both right. Getting the three of them involved in an accident wasn't going to do anyone any good. It was just that he was so fired up with anger over what had happened to Ezra. Fear two, played a part in his actions as well. Seeing the twisted and charred metal that had once been Ezra's prized jag, had sent his memory spiraling back into time to when he had lost Sarah and Adam.

He eased up on the gas pedal. "I'm sorry…"

*We didn't lose him Chris…*

*It was close…too damn close, Vin*

*I know….we're going to find out whoever is responsible and make them pay for what they did to Ezra…you can mark my words on that.*

*Damn straight we are!*

Kelli gave an aggrieved sigh. "I wish the two of you wouldn't do that when it's only the three of us. A woman is likely to get a complex or somethin'." Larabee and Tanner burst out laughing; Kelli didn't mind. She had intended her comment to be the tension breaker that her father and husband had taken it to be.

They reached the hospital parking lot a few minutes later, and Chris found a space up front. Josiah, who had been following them in his own vehicle, parked his car further down in the same row, and jogged to catch up with the trio as they entered the hospital through the emergency room entrance.

Denver Memorial Hospital

Waiting Room

Nathan had accompanied Ezra as far as the emergency room, and then handed over his injured friend to the doctors and nurses that swarmed around the gurney. He knew that Ezra was in good hands and moved into the waiting area to await the arrival of the rest of their team.

Larabee led the way into the emergency room, with Vin and Kelli a step behind him, and Josiah bringing up the rear. Chris shot the emergency room security guard a warning glare not to mess with him, seeing how the older man's eyes had widened slightly, and knew the man had seen the guns that he and the others were wearing strapped to their waists.

Josiah flashed the security guard his MCAT badge, as he passed by the man, and indicated that his companions were also law enforcement agents too. The foursome didn't break stride as they moved toward the triage desk to ask about Ezra's condition.

"Chris…"

Nathan called out from his position on the other side of the room near the doors that led into the triage area of the hospital. The MCAT leader changed directions at hearing his name called, and moved toward the medic with Vin, Kelli and Josiah following behind him.

Nathan's brown eyes raked over the heads of the foursome, searching for his two missing brothers.

"Where are JD and Buck?"

"Buck's overlooking the investigation and JD is running files through CASSIE to find the son of a bitch who did this to Ezra!" Chris informed him. "How is he, Nathan?"

"I don't know yet, Chris. The docs are working on him right now." Nathan told them. "Ezra regained consciousness in the ambulance on our way here."

"Thank God." Josiah exclaimed, casting a grateful look upwards.

"That's good news, isn't it?" Kelli asked.

Nathan nodded. "It is…it doesn't mean he's out of the woods yet, though. Head injuries are tricky things."

"Was he able to talk? Did he know who you were?" Vin asked.

"He was able to talk, as much as the equipment would allow him too…and he didn't know me at first. I could see the confusion in his green eyes…but then after a few moments he said my name."

An hour had passed…. "Where the hell are they? Why hasn't someone come out here to give us an update on Ezra's condition?" Chris exclaimed heatedly.

"These things take time, Chris." Nathan told the blond calmly. "The doctors will want to know all the results of the protocol of tests that they have put Ezra through before they come out here to tell us what's going on."

"Shouldn't we call Barbara and let her know what's happened?" Kelli asked, from her place beside Vin.

"No sense in tellin' her about the explosion until we know more about Ezra's condition." Vin replied softly.

"She's out of town on some court case anyways." Josiah supplied. "Ezra mentioned it earlier today when we were at our desks. He had just received a phone call and then got up from his desk, so I asked him if he was going to meet Barbara for lunch."

"A phone call?" Chris asked, stopping his pacing and turning to look at Sanchez. "He got a phone call right before he headed downstairs?"

Realization dawned on Sanchez's face. "Maybe whoever has it in for Ezra placed the call…?"

"Pretendin' to be one of Ezra'sinformants' maybe?" Vin added, "Ezra did say when he poked his head into the office that he was going to go check in with some of his 'associates'. Maybe it was one in particular that he was plannin' on meetin'?"

Chris digested the information. "Sounds plausible, I'll have JD check Ezra's phone records."

He pulled out his cell phone and started to dial JD's when he caught sight of JD and Buck walking through the emergency room doors. He turned off his cell phone and watched the two MCAT agents walk towards him.

Federal Building ~ earlier…It was taking all of Buck's willpower to keep him focused on the task at hand, as he sifted through the charred, twisted remains of Standish's cherished JAG, looking for clues. He, too, had flashed back on the night that Chris's former wife and son had been killed in a car explosion meant for Larabee. Sarah and Adam had been his family too, and he had been the one to see Chris through those dark days.

Buck knew that it had been just plain luck that Ezra had spotted Kelli, and had moved to talk to her when he did. If he had been anywhere closer, or God forbid, inside, they would be planning a funeral right now. He hoped, no prayed, that the injuries that Standish had sustained weren't life threatening. He didn't think he could stomach losing another person he cared about to a car bombing, or any other way for that matter.

He shook his head of his morbid thoughts and went back to his search, being careful not to get in Greg and Kat's way as they collected forensic evidence. He squatted down beside the hunk of metal that had been the driver's side door, and carefully examined it. Blue eyes narrowed as he studied the door, and then shifted onto the ground in front of him.

A small fragment of shining metal caught his eye from underneath the door. He used one hand to lift the door up, and the other to pick the metal piece up out of the ashes. A slow smile brightened his face as he stared down at the intact keyhole, with Ezra's keys still inserted in it. By the looks of it, Ezra had turned the key in the door, and for whatever reason the timing mechanism hadn't set the explosives off right when it should have. That told Buck that the explosives hadn't been planted in the door of the car, but mostly underneath somewhere, and that whomever had set them hadn't done a very good job of it.

"Greg, Kat…come here." He called out to the forensics team members.

"Yeah, Buck?" Kat said, as she rounded the car and came to his side. Greg joined them a moment later.

"Look what I found?" Buck held up the intact keyhole. He dropped it into the clear plastic evidence bag that Greg held out for him. "I'm going to let the two of you finish up here and head to the hospital to see how Ezra is, and let Chris and the others know what I've found. "

"Okay, Buck." Greg said.

Buck started toward the underground garage where he had parked his vehicle, when he saw JD emerging from the exit, headed toward him.

"Youare going to the hospital?" JD asked as they met up with each other.

"Yeah…I thought Chris told you to run files through CASSIE?" Buck asked him.

"He did…but I can't get my mind off of Ezra. I want to go to the hospital too, Buck." JD told him.

Buck sighed. "You know Chris isn't going to be happy about this."

"I don't care, Buck. I'm going to hospital regardless of whether I ride with you or I drive my own car. Either way I'm going, so don't try and talk me out of it."

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

"I won't."

Denver Memorial Hospital

Buck Wilmington led the way into the emergency room, pausing just inside the door long enough to scan the area with his blue eyes before catching sight of Chris' lean figure watching them from across the room.

"There they are." He said to JD as he threaded his way through the milling patrons and sporadically placed furniture over to the area that the four MCAT agents had staked out as their territory for the duration of their vigil.

"How is he?" Buck asked, concern for the undercover agent lining his face.

"Don't know." Vin told him. "No one's come out to tell us anythin'yet."

"That can't be good, can it?" JD said, looking from one face to the other.

Chris' green gaze fell on him. "I thought I gave you an order?"

JD looked him square in the eyes and said, "Yes, you did…but damn it, Ezra's my brother, too, and I have just as much right to be here as you do."

Chris glared at him.

*Chris….*

*I'm Fine*

"You're right. Chris told JD.

"Gentlemen, Kelli. I am sorry that you had to wait so long for someone to come out and talk to you. I wanted to peruse the results of all of Mr. Standish's tests, one last time before I spoke with you." Dr. Landers said as he walked up. "Before I can give you the details of the tests results I need to ask which of you have the other POA for Mr. Standish?"

"I do." Nathan spoke up quietly.

"So do I." Josiah added. "Fire away, doc."

Dr. Landers nodded. "Now that the formalities have been cleared up, we may continue."

He glanced down at the clipboard he held. "Mr. Standish is a very lucky man. He did sustain a grade four concussion and for that reason I would like to keep him under observation for the next seventy-two hours. Amazingly he did not have any broken bones, but his left wrist is sprained, he's got ten stitches in the left side of his temple, and asphalt abrasions down along the left side of his face, on the palms of both hands, and down the length of his left arm. Suffice it to say his body will be talking to him for the next week or so."

Chris fixed his eyes on the doctor. "He will be all right?"

"Yes, he is a little bit groggy, but he is awake. Chris, he insists on leaving, convince him to stay."

"Thanks, doc, I'll see what I can do,"

"Can we see him?" Vin asked.

"We need to get him settled into a room first, and then I'll have someone come back out to show you where it is." Dr. Landers replied. "Only one or two visitors at a time please, and then only for a few minutes."

"I'll make sure no one stays too long." Nathan reassured him.

"You do that." Dr. Landers said and disappeared back inside the ER.

Chris made his way to Ezra's hospital room and prepared himself mentally to face what he would find inside. Pushing the door open he did not expect to see Standish struggling to sit up on the side of the bed.

"Standish! Where in the hell do you think you are going?"