Chapter 23
Vin turned his phone off. He didn't want to deal with the team. He didn't want to come up with some story to tell Chris about why he and Ezra didn't want Buck in the club with them. Why they kept losing contact in the club. That they were covering for Morgan.
Morgan.
Vin tossed his phone over on the nightstand, ignoring it when it slid across the scratched wood surface and hit the floor.
He wanted to go back to Vegas with Morgan. Stop her from going out with her friends and running into Chad. Stop her from starting the job at the strip club when they returned to Denver. Make sure she never met Cobra and tried to shove Buck and Chris and himself away with the sketchy boyfriend she chose.
Regrets warred with worry and grief until he finally dozed off.
He spent a restless night, tossing and turning. When he finally gave up on getting any sort of decent sleep, the sun was barely to the horizon.
He swung his legs over the side of the bed, but didn't get up. He dropped his head into his hands with a heavy sigh.
He'd have to face the team today. They were meeting at Buck's to watch the Broncos game, but there would be plenty of discussion about the job. There always was when they were working an active case and missing a Sunday football game was the equivalent of calling in sick to work.
Vin figured he may as well go over to Buck's and get it over with. Put in his time, see if he and Ezra could figure out what to tell Chris, and figure out a way to break the news to Buck gently about where Morgan was working. And then maybe he could find a way to get a couple days leave to go up to his cabin and leave this entire mess behind. Just a couple days to get his head back in a better place.
#
Buck had never seen Morgan in a worse place.
She was in the front yard, tugging at the locked truck door.
"Open the door, Buck!" she called, her words no less rushed than they had been the night before. She didn't show any sign of slowing and Buck felt like he had run three marathons.
"It's locked, Mo," Buck said wearily. There was no way he was getting in a car with her. He could barely keep her under some sort of control in his own home. He wasn't taking their freak show on the road.
He had been talking her down for close to twelve hours. Calming her when she got too agitated, agreeing with her when she started a rambling conversation. Doing his best to distract her when she started flying out of control. Trying to walk her through this until the drugs worked out of her system.
"Let's go inside," he suggested.
Morgan narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. But then something caught her attention. A car coming down the street in the early morning light, its headlights bright.
Morgan batted a hand at the headlights shining towards them and Buck risked taking a step closer to her.
"It's ok. Just some lights. I see them, too."
"The light's making my teeth vibrate," Morgan turned fearful eyes towards Buck.
"Nah, they can't do that," he said. Twelve hours and every time she found a new fear it still cut deep. He hadn't realized how much Morgan covered with her know-it-all grin and eye rolls. Seeing her with every defense down made his stomach clench with worry about what she was really afraid of. Who she kept seeing in the shadows.
The car pulled to a stop and Buck recognized it. Inez. For a split second he felt relief, Inez was a calming presence, something Buck wouldn't mind after the night he had. But then he glanced at Morgan, at her frantic pace picking up again, her fingers flicking at imaginary annoyances only she could see. Buck wanted to get her inside, get them both away from Inez. He could only imagine what Inez would think of him, standing in the front yard with his sister he had clearly failed.
"You left so quickly last night, I was worried," Inez said. She moved closer to him, worried eyes on Morgan.
"Aw, you didn't have to worry none," Buck said, trying for an easy smile and failing. "Just a little family problem."
"I tried calling and you didn't answer," Inez said, more concern than accusation.
Buck patted his pockets and realized his phone wasn't on him. Probably still in his truck from when he got home last night. "Sorry 'bout that," he said.
"Is Morgan alright?" Inez asked. She looked over at Morgan, starting to pace again.
"Yeah," Buck said, forcing any worry from his voice, but it caught like a lump in his throat. "Yeah, she's…she's…no," he admitted. He shook his head and dragged a hand through his hair. "She's not… it ain't alright."
Inez laid a hand on his arm without saying a word and it was the first thing that had been any sort of comfort since he had first got home and found Morgan the evening before.
The front door opened and Chris came out.
"Inez," he greeted her. His face was drawn, his hair nearly standing up after a night of raking his fingers through it in frustration. Buck assumed he didn't look much better than his friend.
"Chris," Inez responded, her gentle care extending past Buck and encompassing Chris, too.
"I can watch her. You need a break," Chris said to Buck.
It was the same thing Chris had said at midnight. And again at two am, five am. JD had gone to bed around midnight, but kept turning up throughout the night to check on Morgan. Buck didn't know what he would have done without his teammates—his family—there with him and Morgan.
"Buck," Chris said.
Buck blinked tired eyes, trying to remember what Chris had just said to him.
"Come on," Inez said, linking her arm through his. "I'll fix you some breakfast. All of you," she said with a no-arguments-allowed look to Chris. "And plenty of coffee."
"That sounds good," Chris said.
Buck kept his eye on Morgan as Inez guided him into his house. Chris was talking quietly to Morgan, though she didn't look to be listening. At least she wasn't yelling or throwing anything. Buck figured that was about as much as he could hope for at the moment.
He was sitting in a kitchen chair without any recollection of how he got there, Inez moving through his cabinets and fridge, setting out ingredients.
"Morgan…" he started.
Inez stopped what she was doing and turned, listening.
Buck wanted to make her understand. "This ain't her. Not really."
"I know," Inez said without judgment.
"Ezra said he didn't think she wanted to take the drugs. She was trying to get the attention off her friend." Buck wanted that to be true. He didn't want to have failed his sister so completely that she was entirely off the rails.
The front door slammed and there were footsteps going upstairs. Buck could hear Chris' heavier steps following behind, then a door upstairs slamming, opening, more footsteps.
"I should make sure…" Buck lifted himself heavily from the chair. He trudged up the stairs, trying to feel more awake than he did after an entire night with Morgan strung out on meth.
#
Ezra brewed a pot of coffee and leaned against the counter. He took a deep breath that ended in a yawn. He had texted JD throughout the night, keeping apprised of Morgan's condition. At the last report, Morgan was still as amped up as she had been when Ezra left and Buck and Chris were doing the best they could.
He heard footsteps padding into the kitchen and looked over his shoulder.
Lei hesitated in the doorway.
Ezra straightened and poured two mugs of coffee. He carried them both to the table, pulling out a chair for Lei.
Lei took the offered chair and pulled the mug closer to her. She blinked groggily.
"Is your head feeling any better?"
Lei managed a weak smile. "The room's not spinning anymore." Lei looked down in her mug, blowing lightly on it. She looked up again. "Thank you for letting me sleep in your guest room."
"Of course," Ezra said, wanting to ward off any thanks or praise he definitely did not earn.
Lei studied him, her dark eyes clear. "You know Morgan?" she asked.
"What?" Ezra heard her. But she caught him off guard, something few people accomplished.
"I heard you calling to check on her last night." She lifted her eyebrows. "You two know each other from outside the club?"
Alarm flared in Ezra.
"Know one else noticed," Lei said quickly. "I could tell when she danced for you. The way you two looked at each other. But no one else could see her face."
Ezra recalled Lei had been standing behind him.
"You're very observant," he said. He measured the information he shared carefully. "Her brother is a friend of mine."
Lei nodded like that made sense. Like Ezra getting a lap dance in a strip club from a friend's sister didn't make him a horrible person.
"Can I get you breakfast?" Ezra asked.
Lei shook her head slightly, then winced. Ezra had no doubt the after effects of being drugged were unpleasant. He wanted to go back to the apartment he had found Lei and Morgan in and force the men to have as unpleasant an experience as the two women were.
"I should get going," Lei said. "My uncle…" her words trailed off. She stood carrying her nearly full coffee mug to the sink.
Ezra was more concerned by what she didn't say. It wasn't a feeling he liked, feeling concern for someone he didn't really know. Lei had become his regular waitress in the VIP section of the club, but that didn't mean he had to feel this pull of responsibility for her.
"Your uncle wouldn't be happy to know you stayed at a man's house overnight?" Ezra guessed.
"My uncle wants me to focus on the men at the club." Lei met Ezra's eyes and there was no bitterness or resentment. Just acceptance.
"Your uncle wants you there?" Ezra asked. Maude hadn't been in the running for parent of the year, but Ezra couldn't imagine anyone encouraging their charge into working at the club Lei did.
"He owes money to Blitz. Blitz hired me."
"Your uncle owes money, so you're working it off?" Ezra asked.
"My uncle is all I have," Lei said. "He's responsible for me."
"It sounds like he's doing a stellar job in his duties."
Lei rinsed her cup and put it in the dishwasher. She dried her hands on the dishtowel before she spoke again. "It's our culture," she said. "It's the way it is. He's responsible for me," she repeated. She glanced at the clock. "I need to get home."
Ezra told himself that Lei's problems weren't his concern. He had managed to avert disaster with her and Morgan last night, at Morgan's request, but that didn't mean his responsibility extended past that for Lei.
"I'll give you a ride," he said. He was supposed to go to Buck's today and wanted to check on Morgan. Giving Lei a ride didn't mean anything.
#
"He's going to find me! I have to—have to—" Morgan didn't finish her desperate words. She grabbed at clothes in a laundry basket, like she was ready to pack.
It was a repetition of what she had kept going back to all night, the panic that someone was going to find her. Chris watched her suddenly toss the clothes aside.
"Is he here?" she asked. She whirled around like the threat was behind her.
"He ain't here," Chris said. He wished he was. Chris would have liked nothing better than to face off against the coward who had pushed Morgan around and lay him out flat.
"I can't let him find me," Morgan said. Her eyes met Chris', but it wasn't Morgan he was looking at. She was somewhere behind the confused terror.
"Morgan, stop," Chris tried for a quiet command.
She shoved past him and headed down the stairs again.
Chris let her push him aside, not wanting to push her farther into a spiral of fear.
On the stairs, Morgan froze. She looked at Buck who had paused on his way up the stairs, then shook her head and kept shaking it. "I'm not going with you. Not with anyone. I can't. I won't. I'm not—"
Buck looked defeated. "It's just me, Mo. Just Buck. I ain't taking you nowhere."
"You can't find out. You can't know what happened. If you find out—no. No, no, no…"
Chris fought the urge to shake Morgan. He wanted to make her tell him and Buck what had happened. Why she was acting like she was terrified of this ex she had left behind in Vegas. He looked at Buck. Of course, Buck didn't know any of that yet.
"Do you want to eat something?" Buck asked. Chris could see how much it cost him to not push Morgan for answers she was in no state to give.
Morgan stopped her rambling for a minute and Buck nodded. "Yeah, Inez came over. She's makin' breakfast in the kitchen right now. That's right. You come on down with me. There you go. We'll go see what Inez cooked up."
Chris followed after a slightly calmed Morgan and Buck. Inez looked up from the cutting board when they came in. Her eyes quickly cut to Chris at the sight of Morgan's disheveled state, but then she was back to her relaxed face, as if a strung out woman in Buck's kitchen was an everyday occurrence.
"Morgan, do you like coffee cake?" Inez asked. "I just put it in the oven. Maybe we should have bacon with it?"
Morgan ignored Inez, heading for the back door. Chris heard a car pulling up when the door opened, then it slammed behind Morgan and he was chasing after her again.
#
Vin put his Jeep in park behind Inez' car. He saw Chris was already here. He wondered at Buck's truck and JD's car parked on the street instead of in the driveway.
He took a breath, not wanting to get out of his Jeep and head into the house. Not wanting to face Chris, or Buck, and tell them what was going on in the strip club. The last thing he wanted to do was betray—
Morgan.
She came around the side of Buck's house like she was being chased. Vin jumped out of his Jeep, heart thudding, one hand going to his off duty weapon as he quickly took in their surroundings, looking for the threat.
Morgan spotted him and ran to him like her life depended on him. Vin reached for her, needing her by his side where he could protect her. He kept one hand on his gun, trying to figure out how to shield her, what side to shield her from.
"What's wrong?" he asked her.
She gripped her forearms with her hands, like she was physically holding herself together. Vin registered her disheveled hair, the circles under her eyes and reached for her, but she darted just out of arm's reach. He looked again for who was chasing her.
It was Chris who followed after her.
Chris slowed when he saw Morgan near Vin. He looked relieved that she wasn't moving anymore.
"What's goin' on?" Vin asked, still ready to do whatever had to be done to protect Morgan.
Chris glanced at Vin's hand, ready to draw his gun.
"You don't need that," Chris said. "No threat outside her own head right now."
Vin released his hold on the weapon slowly, looking back at Morgan. Her eyes were wild, pleading with him, but Vin didn't know for what.
"Is she…?"
"High? Yeah."
Vin's entire gut twisted. He hadn't seen this coming. He should have. He knew who Morgan was dating. He knew she was doing whatever she could to avoid letting him in, letting Buck or Chris know what had happened in Vegas.
But he couldn't think about that now. Morgan was staring at him, desperation overtaking her face.
"Been a rough night?" Vin asked.
"I can't let him find me," she said, her voice trembling from the overstimulation of whatever she was on as much as from emotion.
Vin glanced at Chris and took a step closer to Morgan, lowering his voice.
"I ain't gonna let that happen," he said.
Morgan's fingers dug into her arms harder. "You kept him away in Vegas. When he tried to—when he found me."
Vin kept his voice low enough to give Morgan some privacy, keep her secrets from Chris for now if that's what she wanted.
"He ain't gonna find you here. I promise. I won't let him anywhere near you."
"You have to help me," Morgan said. Her nails clawed at her arms and Vin could see dots of blood appear.
"I'll help you," Vin said. He slowly reached out and tried to hold back a wince as he gently tugged at her hands.
Morgan let him take her hands. She dug her nails into his fingers but Vin let her hang on. If she needed to find an anchor, he would be that for her.
"I have to get out of here," Morgan said. Her eyes cut to a car coming down the street and she released Vin's hands, stumbling backwards.
Vin tried to move, to keep her attention on him, not the car. But Morgan was looking wild eyed again and her feet were moving like she was going to take off.
"Come on," Vin said. "I'll get you out of here."
Morgan whipped her head to look at him, clearly needing to hear that he would save her.
Vin cautiously wrapped an arm around her and when she didn't fight him, he hugged her close to his side and started around the side of the house, toward the backyard, away from Nathan and Josiah getting out of Nathan's car, away from Chris and anyone else. Anything to give her time to come down from where she was and keep her safe.
Morgan tripped along with him, stumbling and leaning against him. Vin brought her into the backyard, cool fall air not lessening the flush to Morgan's skin.
When they got to the backyard, Morgan shoved away from him and staggered forward a couple steps, but she didn't keep going.
"Morgan," Vin sighed.
She didn't respond, scanning the yard like she expected an attack from any direction at any time.
Vin stuck his hands in his pockets, staying nearby. Ready to wait this out. Ready to wait Morgan out.
#
Inez tried to keep busy, cleaning the mess she had made on the counter, making a fresh pot of coffee. She passed by Buck sitting at the table again and gave his shoulder a squeeze. She would normally expect a flirtatious suggestion and his teasing grin. He reached up and caught her hand, holding to it tightly enough that Inez knew he was feeling everything more deeply than was showing in the slump of his shoulders. She didn't pull away.
She brushed his hair back from his brow. "She's lucky to have you, Buck."
"Josiah and Nathan are here," Chris announced, coming into the kitchen and going straight to the coffee pot.
Inez gave Buck's hand one last squeeze and went to pull down a mug for Chris and the new arrivals.
"You doing ok?" Nathan asked.
Inez had seen the men over the past couple years in the Saloon. She knew they were as close as a family. For most the men, they were each other's only family.
"Be better when she's done running around like we're all out to get her," Buck said.
Inez looked out the window and saw Morgan pacing, though her steps had slowed. Vin was standing guard over her, watching her without pressure.
"I hope that is coffee with four shots of espresso in it."
Inez brought her attention back to the kitchen with Ezra's entrance. She gave Morgan and Vin a last look before going to the oven to pull out the two pans of coffee cake.
JD sniffed appreciatively and Inez couldn't hold back a small smile. The young man often seemed like a motherless boy to her amidst the rest of the men. She cut a generous slice of the breakfast treat and handed it to him.
"You know anything about what happened?" Nathan asked.
Buck roused himself and looked out to see what Inez had. Inez kept placing plates in front of the men as they crowded the small table.
"She's scared of something. Someone," he clarified. He looked to Ezra. "You know who that is?"
Ezra shook his head. Inez figured it was wise for him to keep his mouth shut with the sudden life that finding someone to blame was giving Buck.
Chris sighed heavily. "It's her ex."
"What?" Buck asked. "That—that Cobra punk? They broke up?"
Chris shook his head, his face lined with frustration. "Someone back in Nevada. Got rough with her. That's why she's here."
Inez wondered if Chris knew more than the succinct summary, but then decided it didn't really matter. That was bad enough. Her heart ached for Buck's sister who she hadn't gotten to know yet.
Buck was staring at Chris, his jaw working. The look in his eyes was one Inez had never seen before. Any humor or kindness was gone.
"Who is he?" Buck demanded. He pushed his chair back like he was ready to go to Vegas and find the man right then.
"Take a breath, brother," Josiah said. "She doesn't need your anger right now."
"The man should pay," Ezra said.
Inez felt her eyebrows lift. Ezra's voice was dark, something she had never heard from him.
"He should," Inez spoke up before the men around the table formed some sort of Old West posse and went out on a vigilante mission. "But not right now. Right now Morgan needs support. Not someone ending up in jail." She gave Buck a pointed look.
Buck held Inez' eyes and she forced herself not to look away from the expression that was so unlike the man she had come to know.
With a long sigh, Buck nodded. "Not now," he muttered in agreement. He ignored the food and mug of coffee in front of him. "What did she tell you?" he asked Chris.
"She didn't tell me anything," Chris said. "You know Morgan."
Buck's snort said he understood what that meant.
"It slipped. I found her sleepin' on my couch this morning and that was all I could make out from what she said. What she didn't say."
Inez looked out the window again. Morgan had stopped moving. Her shoulders had the same helpless slope as Buck's did currently. She was staring at Vin with blank eyes, whatever he was saying clearly not registering.
Inez looked at the men in the kitchen, at Vin outside. Whatever Morgan was running from, Inez knew she couldn't have found a better group of men to surround herself with.
#
