FULL MOON AND DENVER SEVEN
By AJ
Chapter Ten
Ever since their vehicle had taken that quick and unexpected turn, Ezra's sense of this whole affair had turned irreparably sour. He was glad that Vin was still unconscious, as the pressing narrowness of the tunnel they were now in would surely push the buttons of his partner's claustrophobia.
Ezra realized instantly that they had entered a passage intended for smuggling. The sedan had turned sharply into a rather scruffy-looking warehouse then turned abruptly again to travel down what initially looked like a loading ramp. Then,a wall had opened and the sedan plunged into sudden darkness. His internal bump of direction told him they were headed to the waterfront and probably somewhere underneath an above-ground docking facility. It was a perfect set up for moving illegal imports.
They eventually stopped in a poorly lit area he estimated to be just big enough for three vehicles to maneuver. After sitting in the veiled darkness for many minutes, Ezra dared to speak.
He cleared his throat then said, "Pardon my boldness, but how long are we going to wait in your personal bat cave?"
"Not much longer," Wu surprisingly answered from the front seat. "Mr. Nicklin should be arriving very soon."
"And what follows our reunion?" Ezra pushed.
"We leave this place."
Still not entirely satisfied, Ezra opted not to push. For now, they were trapped. As Ezra tried to figure out their next step he heard noises that signaled Vin's waking and knew that things were going to go downhill rapidly from this point forward. As he leaned over the reviving agent, Ezra heard Wu speaking to the guard in their native tongue. Even though they spoke Chinese, Standish could tell that Wu was not happy about something.
Wu stepped from the car, his fists clenched. With Vin's growing restlessness, the guard reached under his coat and pulled out his handgun, leveling it in front of Vin's eyes. It would be the first thing the waking man saw even in cavern's darkness.
Ezra ordered himself to sit quietly, hoping that Vin roused with the ability to maintain the façade that he was Fitzgerald. If not, Ezra knew he'd have to go for the guard's gun. He kept any outer indication of his thoughts from showing on his face but the tickle of sweat around his collar was not so easily suppressed.
"Shouldn't you subdue him?" Ez asked, genuinely curious as to why they would leave the person they saw a Martin Fitzgerald unbound and physically unrestrained.
"He needs to remain unmarked," the guard replied sharply from the facing seat. "No bruises."
The mysterious reasoning did not make Ezra feel any better.
Vin moaned. His head rolled to one side and he worked his mouth a moment before his eyes cracked open. Ezra could see him frown in the poor light, shadowed lines of concentration forming on his forehead, which, for Vin, heralded only one inevitability where chloroform was concerned. Then the telltale signs began – Vin began swallowing, first cautiously, then rapidly as his eyes peeled open and grew wide.
"There is a good possibility that the gentleman is about to gastronomically relieve himself," Ezra announced, noting Vin Tanner's notoriously squeamish stomach regarding the inhaled chemical.
Ezra yanked the door handle next to him and found it to be locked. The guard looked puzzled for a moment but Vin's first short gag put the large man in motion as he yelled something in Chinese. He scrambled for the doors' locking mechanism.
Vin gagged dryly one more time before the locks clicked and the guard bailed out. Ezra managed to shove his partner out behind the guard as he jumped through the opposite doorway. Stumbling momentarily in the darkness Ezra finally found his feet and warily started around the sedan and toward the sound of Vin's distress. The nauseating noise echoed in the enclosed space.
As Ezra circled around the vehicle he took some time to study the cavern. He could just make out two wide alcoves at one end, each with a large, shiny, silvery pole in the center that disappeared into the ceiling. 'Elevators,' he realized. 'The floor above must lower down to this level.' This was a deceptively sophisticated set up.
But currently, his impression of the cavern was marred by the sound of Vin's retching. Ezra peeked around the back of the vehicle and saw his partner on his hands and knees being piteously sick for the second time. The guard was to his side a safe distance away and looking ill himself. Finally Vin, over the effects, sank back on his heels, groaning.
"Clean him up," the guard ordered Ezra.
"Me?" Ezra protested. "That is most definitely NOT scribed within our agreement!"
"Do it," the guard said again, bringing his weapon up to Ezra's chest. "There are things in the trunk."
Ezra unconsciously touched his still nicked and tender ear, and pulled off an annoyed expression. Anxious as he was to get to Vin's side, he managed to appear most put out at the unfolding events. He pawed through the trunk and found several towels along with a small stash of tools. Keeping up appearances and grumbling complaints all the while, he slipped a small screwdriver in his pocket and then slammed the trunk shut before cautiously making his way to Vin's side.
As he leaned in to wipe his partner's face, he heard the guard and Wu talking again but still couldn't understand the conversation. Turning his attention back to Vin, he noticed glazed, blue eyes darting in confusion.
"Leave me 'lone," Vin growled, pushing Ezra's hand away as the towel touched his chin. He tipped sideways onto his hip.
Ezra pulled him upright against the car and spoke quietly in Vin's ear. "You're sick from chloroform. Remember that you are Mr. Fitzgerald. Understand?" Vin blinked rapidly a few times and then nodded slightly. Ezra saw that his partner's eyes clearing up. "Now, now Mr. Fitzgerald," Ezra said a little more loudly. "Luckily, you managed to miss your person but you have blessed all of us with this enchanting aroma."
"Fuck you," Vin grumbled loudly, pulling away again.
"A true gentleman, just as I surmised," Ezra replied sarcastically, keeping up the charade.
"Stand him up over there." The guard indicated an area near the lifts. Ezra threw him a dirty look and proceeded to drag Vin to his wobbly feet and maneuver him to the wall section between the two lift alcoves.
"Where am I and who the hell are you?" Vin croaked loudly, leaning heavily into Ezra for balance. The Fitzgerald accent wasn't as good as it could have been and Ezra was thankful for the raw hoarseness resulting from Vin's sickness.
"Please direct your inquires toward our host, Mr. Fitzgerald. I am unable to satisfy your requests."
"We in a cave?"
"That is about as much as I know, sir."
When they reached the indicated area Vin slumped to the floor, alternating his glare between Ezra and the guard. Not quite yet fully aware, Ezra hoped his partner could rein in any claustrophobic feelings when he came around fully. Ezra thought it best to stay close just in case and positioned himself next to Vin.
Motion near the sedan caught Ezra's attention. The guard skirted the clumpy puddle steaming in the coolness of the cavern and stopped silently in front of them. Mr. Wu bent down by the driver's window and spoke briefly to the man behind the wheel before coming their direction. He'd circled around the front of the car to avoid Vin's deposit and as he got closer, Ezra could see that their host's face was pinched in displeasure. The agent figured Vin wasn't the sole reason for the mood.
"We will be joined shortly," Wu stated sharply, obviously angry. He held something up to the guard. "Hold this." Ezra recognized the soft, zippered gun case.
"What the hell do you want?" Vin rasped, pulling his coat back together into some semblance of order as he addressed Wu. The elder Asian approached and studied them from a few feet away. His eyes burned.
"You will soon see," Wu hissed. Agitated, he turned away. The guard stepped between his departing boss and the agents.
It seemed like hours before the sound of an approaching vehicle echoed down the dark tunnel.
oooooOOOOOooooo
Testifying against Liang and Full Moon lifted a shadow that had been lurking much too long in Martin Fitzgerald's mind. When he finally stepped down from the witness box, a great weight was gone from his shoulders. Logically, he knew that his part of this whole charade was over when he left the courthouse so he began to gear up mentally in preparation to justify to Jack why he needed to take this to the end.
Fitzgerald was taken aback when Vivian pulled him aside in the courtroom hallway.
"Listen up, Martin, there's been a change in plans." Then she brought him up to date on the latest events. "Since they lost Tanner and Standish, things need to proceed the way the Triad planned so you can lead us to them."
"Give me some ammo," he asked. "They my gun's empty." She handed him her extra magazine and he reloaded, giving her the empty magazine Wu had supplied. Then an ATF agent that looked more like a college student joined them and explained that there wouldn't be a microphone because the Triad most likely had devices to find unwanted electronics and that he'd be going to a warehouse district.
Viv didn't have to remind Martin that his escorting marshals were turncoats, but she did anyway. She briefed that Jack and Chris were still in the area where they'd lost the sedan. Viv and the kid . . . Dunne? . . . had some intel requested by Jack and that she and Dunne were heading out to join the others in the field. Danny, Sanchez, Samantha and Wilmington were set up to follow Martin's SUV.
They couldn't chance losing him, Vivian reiterated – the Suburban was their only hope to find the undercover ATF men and, hopefully, the person that would connect this to the Triad once and for all.
And now here he was, hoping the vehicles shadowing him hadn't lost them on those last two sharp turns. Well disguised, the sophistication of the hidden tunnel would have been impressive if the agent wasn't concerned about losing his back up. He was glad the gun he had was loaded but Martin had a feeling that it wouldn't be enough if he was on his own down here.
Fitzgerald didn't suffer from claustrophobia but the narrow darkness of this tunnel was extremely unnerving. Just as his hands were beginning to feel sticky from anxiety, the tunnel opened up to a dully lit cavern. Recognizing the white car from the switch point, Martin felt his nervousness disappear in the wake of angry determination.
oooooOOOOOooooo
"In there!" Chris pointed at a faded green warehouse, one among many on the street but the only one with a door standing open. "They had to go in there!"
Jack jerked to the curb a half-block away as Larabee radioed their position. As they exited the vehicle, Jack listened as the ATF team leader directed the others in so that the large building was as surrounded. Nathan was ordered to bring the back up squad to the area, but to wait for dispersal orders.
"I don't see anything." Buck's voice, pitched low over the radio, caused Jack and Chris's steps to falter. "Nothing's inside, Chris. I'm up on a ledge lookin' in - it's empty!"
"What?" Jack barked, flattening against the wall on one side of the open door.
"Hold on," Chris snarled in the wrist radio. "Buck, get the others and clear the inside. Do it now." He took up a position on the other side of the open door from Jack.
Silence ruled the air for agonizing minutes before Samantha voice reported in. "It's clear, Jack. No car, no anything."
Chris immediately addressed the computer wiz kid. "JD," he snapped, "What's in this area . . . "
Jack didn't linger to hear the rest of the conversation. Instead, he stepped inside the warehouse, gun hanging limply at his side. A feeling of dread fought to rise and strangle him, but he swallowed it back and jogged to join the others heading his way from various entrances. Samantha had on her mostly unreadable game face, but her eyes gave her away – Jack could read the fear there.
"They couldn't have gotten around us," she said firmly.
"Not with one of us seeing them, anyway," Buck confirmed, standing shoulder to shoulder with Spade.
Danny and Josiah, eyes still searching as they stood, both looked grim.
"Hey," Chris called as he trotted in. He swung his arm toward the west as he approached. "JD says that Full Moon shares a warehouse two blocks from here, near the waterfront, that way."
He and Jack met eyes. "Tunnel," Jack concluded as Chris nodded. Jack had heard of some pretty impressive tunnels running under the border to Mexico – it was possible. "Has to be. Look closer, everyone!"
The combined team spread out and concentrated on the west end of the building. Chris got on the phone and ordered Nathan to start setting up a nine block perimeter and detailed a team from Nathan's group to set up inside the warehouse where they stood.
"Here!" Josiah's rumbling voice commanded attention. He knelt at the bottom of a deep loading ramp. "I feel a breeze. It's hollow behind this wall."
A tight smile curved Larabee's mouth but didn't reach his eyes - they burned with dark anger. "Josiah, stay here and direct the backup where to set up then join us two blocks west."
"I just hope we're not too late," Jack growled as he ran to the western exit. The others separated into pairs and followed. "Nine blocks is a lot of area for the backup squad to cover."
"Once they're in place I'll have Nathan bring 'em in tighter."
"Like a noose," Jack imagined.
"Exactly," Larabee growled.
"How appropriate," Danny added.
oooooOOOOOooooo
When the black Suburban glided into the cavern Wu was still unable to bask in his success. One detail had yet to be explained – why hadn't his courtroom spies checked in? Even with the fruit of his success right here in front of him, that little bit of minutiae tasked him.
"Mr. Nicklin. I would think that you will be pleased to finally fulfill your contract," he addressed the figure exiting from the large SUV.
The figure paused at the rear of the vehicle as he visually took in the cavern with wary eyes. His gaze finally stopped on the two forms against the wall.
"Nice set up," Nicklin replied. Before he could say anymore, St. James was allowed to join his partner and they stood shoulder to shoulder, facing their contractor. The two marshals from the Suburban moved in and stood behind the pair.
St. James' usual poker face finally showed some emotion – anger. Wu squelched a smug smile and stood his ground as St. James spoke those expected words. "This is unacceptable. This part of your charade is complete and we expect payment. Now."
Wu then let a short chuckle escape and shook his head in amusement. "You are so predictable, Mr. St. James. I assure you that you will have payment in full in the next few minutes."
"Now." St. James stood fast, his partner silent beside him.
"I do not have time for this." Wu turned away from the pair and waved an arm. "Bring them."
The rogue marshals stepped closer to the hired pair, guns drawn.
"'salright," Wu heard Nicklin drawl. "The sooner we're outta here the better, wouldn't you say?"
There was a pause before St. James replied, his voice more calm. "I do share your sentiment on that account, Mr. Nicklin."
When Wu was in the area of the lift alcoves, he turned around to face them again. "Then come here and stand by Mr. Fitzgerald."
After a quick glance at each other, St. James and his partner walked in the direction indicated. Once the three captives were grouped together Wu approached the marshals and had them verbally relate their actions of the past few hours.
It did little to settle Wu's mind on the infuriating pair that had yet to check in from the courthouse. They had become a loose end. He wasn't used to loose ends. He was used to working alone and leaving nothing behind.
And yet his plan was nearing its conclusion. It was time to move, and move quickly. With the ultimate deed done in the next few minutes the missing court house team would be a moot point. Wu would deal with them later. Loose ends infuriated him; the two missing men wouldn't live long enough to regret their negligence.
oooooOOOOOooooo
Martin could feel his heart racing beneath his outer calm as he and Standish approached Tanner. Standing next to him, it was impossible to not look at him with wonder. As he did so, that unnerving feeling of familiarity washed over him again. The blue eyes returning his gaze were easily read and reflected the same feeling – they had met before.
A loud click followed by a humming noise caught Martin's attention and he turned to see one of the alcove poles moving. 'An elevator,' he realized. It wasn't long before weak daylight streamed in from above and a cement platform dropped to their level. The alcove now contained a large dumpster. As the silent marshals watched over them, Wu's beefy bodyguard rolled the dumpster out and to one side with relative ease.
Looking at him in action, it was obvious that Wu's guard could probably break a neck with his fingers alone, Martin thought. Fitzgerald reacted to the thought by swallowing and touching his neck lightly. 'Definitely keep that one at a distance,' he surmised.
Once the elevator alcove was clear the marshals and the guard herded the three of them onto the platform. A rectangular section of rusty roof was high above them. Wu and his body guard were the last to step aboard. With a short nod from Wu, the marshals were excused and the lift jerked upward. Martin heard the Suburban's doors slam and the engine start up. In his narrowing view of the dark cavern, red tail lights disappeared.
'Heading right for Jack,' Martinhoped.
They were boosted upward into the muted light of a warehouse. The platform stopped within a three walled area designed to corral the large dumpster that was left below. The location was brilliant, Martin realized. Anyone searching this warehouse would never consider examining the pavement under a dumpster.
There was another surprise waiting for him when he looked around.
'My truck!'
Martin glanced at his twin, his shock evident. Tanner frowned slightly at the reaction and then regarded the silver vehicle. Martin saw that he'd figured it out when the concentration lines on Vin's forehead smoothed and he nodded slightly. Now they both knew how this was supposed to end.
The warehouse facility in which they now stood was pier side. One of the building's rolling doors stood open, exposing the dock and the harbor beyond. Sitting mostly inside the cavernous opening, Martin's personal truck was easily identified by the ding in the rear quarter panel. The vehicle faced the water. Martin felt a tingle of dreaded anticipation course through his veins; this stage had been set just for his swan song, which he knew was to be bloody.
Automatically, he glanced at Tanner with wide eyes. His twin unflinchingly met his gaze. The strong measure of fiery determination Martin saw there immediately calmed him and a vision of fighting side by side with this man appeared in his mind's eye.
"All this ends," Wu stated matter-of-factly, "with Mr. Fitzgerald's unfortunate demise. After failing the FBI with his self-incriminating testimony, Martin Fitzgerald's body will be found here in his own vehicle. The implication will be that guilt drove him to suicide."
"What?" Tanner protested as Fitzgerald. "If you think I'm getting in that truck and shooting myself, you're crazy."
Martin noticed that Vin wasn't too steady on his feet. When the guard stepped up, Tanner took a step and swung his fist but the big man easily deflected it and engulfed the smaller man in a bear hug as the agent's wobbly legs betrayed him. He easily carried Vin the short distance to the truck , shoved him through the open driver's side door and slammed the door shut. Wu joined him immediately and held a gun firmly against the agent's temple. The guard then wiped his prints from the vehicle door. Breathing angrily through clenched teeth, all Tanner could do was grip the steering wheel and wait.
The guard approached Martin and pulled out the soft gun case from the back of his waistband. He unzipped the case and held it up to Martin. "Take it," he ordered. The heft of it in Martin's hand indicated it was loaded. His fingers encircled the grip and he looked up at the guard. In those few seconds, the guard had drawn his own gun and stepped behind Ezra, the muzzle pressed against the base of his partner's neck.
"That's in case you object to a close-in kill, Mr. Nicklin," Wu stated darkly. "Sniper shots are normally too far out for the shooter to get dirty, so I daresay that this is outside the parameters of the contract you have in mind. My colleague's presence also nips in the bud any tiresome claims for additional compensation from Mr. St. James."
Ezra's throat convulsed as he swallowed. Martin found the man's green eyes filled with confidence that he, himself, didn't feel at the moment. His gun felt impossibly heavy in his hands. Standish shifted his eyes toward the truck and then met Martin's gaze again. Martin interpreted that as a go ahead. He ducked his head as he took a steadying breath and mentally ran through his limited options.
Here he was with two loaded guns that were impossible to use at the moment. Martin also had this feeling that Standish had something in mind by the look in his eye; whatever it was, it had to happen very soon.
Martin slowly walked around to the passenger side of the truck where the door stood open, waiting for him. When he reached the seat, Tanner started to move but was immediately stunned when rapped on the temple with Wu's gun. Martin froze.
"That will certainly leave a mark," Ezra loudly and bitingly observed.
"It will be obliterated by the gunshot," Wu replied with confidence. "A Coroner will not find any sign of struggle on Mr. Fitzgerald's body."
Martin set his jaw. Things weren't going well for the good guys.
Wu continued. "You will shoot Mr. Fitzgerald with his own gun in the right temple. Close range. This is suicide, after all." Wu's voice had taken on an excited edge. "Then you will wipe your prints from the weapon and wrap Mr. Fitzgerald's hand around the grips and trigger to leave prints. The gun will be left with the body. Do not touch anything else in the vehicle. When you are in position I will step back and you will shoot."
Martin nodded once and tried to swallow with a suddenly dry mouth. He dropped one hip on the passenger seat and lifted one leg into the truck. Then he turned, surprised to meet Tanner's foggy gaze. When their eyes connected that feeling of familiarity returned in force as if he'd known this man his whole life. Then, unexpectedly, a voice entered his mind.
'They're here.' Tanner's words were remarkably clear.
'I know,' Fitzgerald replied, the inexplicable knowledge ringing true. He threw a glance toward Standish.
'Ez can take care of himself,' Tanner assured. A twitch of a smile moved his lips.
'Then I'll go for the Chinaman,' Fitzgerald decided.
'I'll be sure to duck,' the Texan drawled lazily in Martin's head.
Before either one could move, the abrupt sound of shouting voices and nearby gunfire electrified the air.
TBC