Ezra glanced at the clock on the nightstand as he pulled a golf shirt over his head. Knowing he had an unending series of late nights in front of him, his original plan had been to sleep and then head out to the ranch in the afternoon to download everything with Larabee. Around 5am he had given up on being able to sleep and opted to head that way early. He needed JD digging up everything he could on Sophie. She was the unknown factor in the operation so the quicker they could get background on her, the better.

He was pulling through the gate before 6am and Larabee was leaning against the door frame as he pulled into the driveway. He glanced at him as he walked up the front steps. "Hope you have coffee made." The comment was unnecessary, there was always a plethora of coffee since most of them seemed to consider it a necessity.

"In the kitchen. You're here earlier than I expected. Everything ok?" Chris watched his undercover agent walk past him and make a beeline for the kitchen.

Ezra nodded as he poured a cup of coffee. At this point he didn't even care how it was doctored up. "Everything with Joplin is fine. Sophie is potentially a problem so I need everything JD has been able to dig up."

"When you say problem, what do you mean?" Chris leaned against the counter and waited for Ezra to turn around.

"I mean Joplin has the impression that we know each other so I need to know more about her so I know what I'm dealing with." Ezra took a sip of coffee and leaned back against the counter. "JD dig up anything?"

"No. Why does Joplin think you know each other?"

Ezra took another sip and contemplated his answer. "When I got there, she was talking to one of his men and the situation was escalating. So I de-escalated it. The problem is, Joplin jumped to the conclusion that we know each other better than we obviously do." Ezra looked over at Larabee. "It's handled for now but the more I know about her and her motivations, the better off we are."

Chris set his coffee down beside him. He had figured out Ezra's Achilles heel after going through his old case files. He had a need to protect women and children. Most of them did, but Ezra's tendencies usually got him in trouble. "JD hasn't found much. She doesn't have a social media presence. Her background is pretty clean but you and I both know that doesn't mean much." He walked into the main room and returned with a file. "Background information he has found. It's not much."

Ezra sat his cup down next to him on the counter and flipped through the file. Parents died when she was in college. Her brother had been younger than she was. Passport showed several trips out of the country but nothing that really generated a red flag. Clean driving record. Held more than a couple diving certifications but other than just telling him she leaned towards the side of adventure seeking, it didn't get him any closer to her current motivation. He looked over at Chris. "Any idea how her relationship was with her brother?"

Chris shrugged, still watching Ezra digest the information. "Not a lot of calls or texts to or from his number. JD's still trying to get into both emails."

Ezra frowned and looked back down at the file. There was some information he could use but still nothing that pointed definitively in one direction or another. Closing it, he set it on the counter and picked up his coffee again. "I will continue to figure it out as I go. She doesn't like Joplin and I think as long as I keep him out of her business we should be ok." He took a sip of coffee and looked over the rim of his cup at him. "You wanted transparency. This is me being transparent."

Chris ignored the comment for the moment. "Tell me about Joplin."

"He's intrigued. Chances are he'll take another couple days trying to figure me out, then make the deal for the weapons. You'll need to figure out who's going to actually receive them." Ezra studied the man standing across from him. He had been pleasantly surprised so far that he had actually given him the latitude he needed. Granted, it had really only been one day, but he had definitely different experiences on previous undercover operations. He just hoped Larabees attitude lasted.

"Probably Vin. He'll have the least chance of being recognized by someone with Joplin." Chris heard the ding of the alarm system telling him someone was coming through the gate. "We'll start vetting connections." He took another sip of coffee. "Back to Sophie…"

"I can handle her. Her dislike for Joplin leads me to believe she isn't involved in any of it like her brother was…do we have anything on him other than what was in the police file? They had a lot of speculation but nothing substantial." Ezra turned around and poured more coffee into his mug. "There's definitely a fair amount of drug use going on there but it mainly seems to be ecstasy or cocaine." He turned back around with his mug in his hand. "I haven't quite figured out who is dealing. I suspect it's the bartenders and my guess is they're just continuing what he set up." Taking a sip he glanced over at the door as Vin walked through carrying a box of donuts. "Not sure if Joplin or the brother was running prostitution or trafficking through the club either."

Chris nodded to Vin before looking back at Ezra. "If she doesn't like Joplin, I'm guessing she knows what he's involved in. The question remains as to whether she knew what her brother was involved in.

Vin walked over and nudged Ezra away from the coffee pot. "Has she said anything about her brother?" It hadn't taken a lot to figure out they were taking about the sister.

Ezra shook his head. "We haven't had many lengthy discussions."

Chris looked over his mug of coffee. "You probably need to remedy that." He glanced over at Vin. "Joplin thinks they know each other."

Vin frowned as he picked up a donut. "Why?"

Ezra shrugged. "I may have led him to believe that we knew each other inadvertently, but it's working in our favor."

"Just make sure it stays that way." Chris hoped it wouldn't be a problem. A wrinkle this early in an operation usually didn't bode well, but one of the reasons Ezra was here was because he could think on his feet.

Vin took a bite of his donut, swallowing he looked over at Ezra. "You're sure she isn't tied into the cartel?"

"Pretty sure, but I would not bet my life or the operation on it." Ezra sat his coffee cup down. "I'll figure it out."

Buck leaned back on the sofa, listening to JD make his case to Vin that he should be allowed to go with him to receive the weapons once Ezra made the deal with Joplin. It was a passionate and logical plea. He was just glad Chris and Nathan were in the other room discussing alternative ideas to keep someone within range of Ezra in case he ran into trouble. Sitting in a car down the street wasn't going to be viable long term and Buck knew Chris was worried about Ezra being on his own. Chris would have shut JD down the second he had brought it up. The problem was, Chris would have also not given him a reason. Chain of command was a great thing and there were definitely times you just needed to do what you were told, but sometimes telling someone why was more important. Buck knew Chris knew that, but Buck also knew Chris wasn't seeing much past the fact that JD was kid that reminded him way too much what he had just lost.

"Kid, it makes no sense for you to go." Vin looked down at Buck for help. "Buck…"

"Vin's right, kid. It's not logical that Rizzo would send someone your age on something as important as Ezra's made this out to be." Anticipating JD's next protest, he held his hand up for JD to let him finish. "Vin looks a little more seasoned than you. Being deployed as long as he was does that." He stood up and clapped JD on the shoulder. "Give it time kid. We're just trying to make sure you're ready. You go in before you're ready, not only are you getting yourself killed, but chances are you get everyone else killed as well." Buck looked over at Vin. "Sounds like we've got a couple days anyway. A lot could happen between now and then."