For Disclaimers see first part.
Chapter 1
Monday, December 9, 2002 9:00 a.m. Denver, Colorado
The elevator door leading to the eleventh floor of the Denver ATF office opened and a stylish young man dressed in a thousand-dollar suit stepped out. He was carrying a cup of Starbucks coffee and reading the financial section of the newspaper. Without looking up from the paper he nimbly stepped to the side and neatly evaded the wadded up piece of paper thrown at him.
"Damn, Ez! How do you do that? You didn't even look up." The whining came from Team Seven's resident ladies man and explosives expert, Buck Wilmington. Even though his birth certificate said he was forty, he behaved younger than his twenty-five year old partner and roommate JD Dunne. Their continuing antics were infamous through out the Denver ATF office.
"Mistah Wilmington, I feah it is all too easy to anticipate the actions of a Neanderthal such as yourself," replied a smooth southern voice.
"You calling me predictable Ez?"
"On the contrary, ah'm simply referring to your propensity to revert back to a pre-civilized life form on a regulah basis."
"What?"
"He's callin' ya' a caveman Bucklin." An amused voice cut in from across the room.
Ezra Standish looked up at the sound of his lover's voice. Sitting at his desk, slouched down in his chair with an amused smile on his face was Vin Tanner. Though he was only twenty-seven, Vin was the best sharpshooter and tracker in the country and the veritable heart of Team Seven. Vin was a young man with an old soul. He had lost his mother to cancer when he was only five. Then at the age of nine, after being shuffled through several abusive foster homes and institutions, he ran away. He grew up on the streets of Denver in a rough neighbor hood called Purgatorio and had the scars to prove it.
Ezra let his eyes roam over Vin's long slim form. He felt himself hardening as he remembered how they had spent the weekend. They had only managed to get out of the bed long enough to grab a quick snack before retreating back to their warm love nest. It took all of his self-control to keep the joy he was feeling from showing on his face. However, when their eyes met he was unable to keep his love for this man from shining brightly in his eyes. After an eternity alone, he never thought that he would be able to find someone he loved this much. Surprisingly enough, Vin seemed to love him just as much. He stood by him even after learning about all of his personal demons. In Vin he had finally found his soul mate.
Having reached the office that he shared with Vin, Ezra reached out to close the door only to be stopped by the irate voice of their team leader, Chris Larabee. Chris was a man who at forty already had a brittle hardness to him resulting from the death of his wife and son in a car bomb meant for him. "About time you graced us with your presence Ezra. We've got a new case. Everyone, assemble in the conference room."
"Morning Ezra."
"Morning Son."
"Mistah Jackson. Mistah Sanchez, it is in deed a good morning, although it would be infinitely bettah if you would be kind enough to remember that ah am not yoah son," Ezra replied to both the medic and the profiler of team seven as he joined them in their trek to the conference room. Being the two oldest teammates, Nathan and Josiah felt it was their duty to behave as the adults of the team.
As Ezra took his usual seat beside Vin, he noticed that Buck and JD were up to their usual antics. Buck went to sit down and JD pushed his seat out of the way causing him to land in a pile on the floor. Their amused teammates looked on as Buck surged to his feet and slapped the hat off of the head of the team's computer expert.
"You're asking for it boy, and how many times do I have to tell you to get rid of that stupid hat?"
"If you two are finished, we'll get down to work." Larabee directed his words and his glare toward the two pranksters beside him as he passed out the file folders pertaining to their next case.
Still observing his teammates Ezra didn't immediately open the file handed to him until he felt Vin suddenly stiffen beside him. Now curious, Ezra opened his folder and felt all of the blood drain from his face. The picture caught his eyes immediately, it was of a man lying dead in a warehouse, he had been beheaded. As he started to panic he felt the reassuring pressure of Vin's hand on his leg. Flashing his partner a grateful look Ezra forced himself to relax.
"This picture was taken this morning at a warehouse across town. A bloody sword was found at the scene. If there were any witnesses, they're not talking. This has got a lot of important people worried and there's already talk of serial killers and cults."
"That's real interesting pard. But, what's it got to do with us? Shouldn't the cops or Feebees be taking this case?" Buck asked with a puzzled expression on his face.
"You're right. Normally this wouldn't be our case. However, there is apparently evidence of some sort of explosion at the scene but no one can figure out what exploded or how it happened. If there is some new weapon or explosive on the streets the brass wants us to take care of it."
Monday, December 9, 2002 10:00 a.m. Denver, Colorado
As Chris drove the team to the site, Ezra was staring out the window lost in thought. How could this happen now? Now, when he had finally found a home and family? There wasn't supposed to be any other immortals in Denver. That is one of the main reasons that he had agreed to move here when Chris approached him about joining the team. He silently prayed, to every deity he knew, that this would all be nothing but a horrible coincidence.
Vin was the only one to notice how quiet Ezra was. Having learned of Ezra's past a long time ago he could pretty well guess the thoughts running through his head. He only hoped that this case didn't turn out the way he suspected it would. He didn't know what he would do if he lost Ezra now. He silently vowed that if Ezra had to move on because of this, then he wouldn't be going alone.
Leaning closer to Ezra in back seats of Buck's van, Vin whispered in his ear, "Ya' o.k. Ez?"
"Ah don't know."
Ezra's whispered words scared Vin more than anything else could. Ezra never used three words when ten would do and he never spoke words with only one syllable if he could help it.
"Stay close to me Ez. I've got your back."
"Thank you Mistah Tannah but I don't think that will be necessary, at least not yet." Ezra started to say more but his words were cut off by their black clad leader.
"You boys planning on staying in here all day?" Chris was leaning in the back door of the van and cast a worried look in Vin's direction. "Something wrong Cowboy?"
"No. I'm fine. Be out in a second," Vin said with an aggravated tone of voice. It never failed to piss him off when his teammates expressed their concern for him while overlooking Ezra. You would think, after five years together, the team would start treating him better. Instead they tended to ignore him unless they needed something and then wonder why Ezra tended to keep them at a distance. He turned away from Chris in disgust before he said something he was likely to regret.
"Ya' ready Ez or ya' want me to distract Chris awhile?"
"Ah assure you, ah am quite alright and while ah would love to postpone this little excursion, ah am aware from previous experience that our fearless leadah will simply loose that tentative control he maintains on his formidable tempah and this day will simply get worse, as hard as that is to believe at this moment."
Climbing out of the van, Vin could not help the relieved smile that spread across his face. Judging by Ezra's little speech, he must have managed to regain his equilibrium.
Vin an Ezra joined the rest of the team where they were gathered near the entrance of the building. Chief Bill Thornton of the Denver PD was also with them. He was a tall black man with a cheerful disposition. It was common knowledge that nothing could bring him down. Unfortunately his current expression seemed to disprove this. He looked as if it was taking all of his will power in order to keep from loosing his breakfast. The chief was a twenty-year veteran, if he was reacting this badly then it must truly be a bad crime scene.
"Thank you all for coming. This is one case I'll be glad to be rid of. I've never seen anything like it. The victim is a white male approximately thirty years old. He was approximately five foot nine inches tall with blond hair and blue eyes. Judging from the amount of blood he was killed here at the scene. It appears that he was tortured first. The body is literally covered in wounds. There were no vehicles nearby so we don't know if he was brought here or arrived on his own."
"Thank you Chief Thornton. Is your forensics team finished going over the scene?" Seeing the chief's nod he continued, "Then we'll take over from here. Have the forensics results sent over to us as soon as they are ready and we'll need to speak to the first officer on the scene."
With an abrupt nod of his head the chief hurried on his way, eager to be rid of this case. As soon as he could he planned to take a long hot shower then sit down with a bottle of Jack Daniels and drink until all the images from this case were wiped from his brain. Had Ezra known what he had planned he probably would have offered to join him.
Following the chief's exit team seven entered the warehouse to view the scene. The body was lying on the ground in a large pool of blood. It was obvious that the killer had toyed with his victim before killing him. The once expensive suit had been reduced to rags and the body was covered in cuts and stab wounds, any one of which would have been enough to kill him.
"Excuse me." Ezra turned at the sound of a nervous voice. Behind him stood a tired police officer. He was six feet tall with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. "I'm Tom Haskins, Chief Thornton said for me to come see an Agent Larabee."
"Mistah Larabee, it appears as if the officah you requested has arrived."
"You were the first officer on the scene?" Chris addressed his question to the young officer.
"Yes, sir."
"Is this warehouse part of your normal patrol route?"
"No, sir. My shift was almost over and I was heading back to the precinct. Apparently someone made a call to 911 and reported a disturbance. Since I was closest, dispatch requested that I take the call."
"What happened when you arrived?"
"I didn't see any signs of a disturbance so I entered the warehouse. As soon as I saw the body I returned to my patrol car and called it in. When backup arrived we searched the building for the perp. We didn't find him but, there are a lot of places in the area someone could hide if they were still nearby."
"Did you notice anything suspicious when you arrived?"
"No, sir...well not really..."
Josiah put his hand on the officer's shoulder and tried to get him to relax, "It's o.k., son. Just tell us what you saw. No matter how insignificant it seems, it will probably be a big help."
"Well...it's not so much what I saw as what I didn't see."
"Just spit it out." Chris snarled aiming a hard glare at the officer, loosing his patience.
Nervously the officer rushed to answer, "Normally, after dark, this area is full of homeless people but, when I arrived there wasn't anyone around. It was like the area was deserted."
"What do ya' mean no one was around? The folks who live here don't have nowhere else to go. This is their home." Vin said becoming upset. He was once one of those homeless people and he new they wouldn't leave their home on a whim.
"I know. That's why it struck me as so weird."
"Did you notice anything else that can help us?" Josiah asked.
"No, sir."
Feeling his frustration building, Chris redirected the questioning. "Has the victim been identified yet?"
"No, sir. We figure it will take a least a few days for the prints to be found in the system."
Noticing something wrong with the scene, Ezra quickly interrupted, "Where's the head?"
"What?" The voices of his six teammates asked simultaneously while turning around to view the body.
"It-it was found on the roof." the officer stammered, paling slightly.
"Thank you, son. If we have any more questions someone will contact you." Josiah told the officer, seeing that his teammates had already dismissed him and were heading for the roof.
As the rest of the team exited the stairwell onto the roof, Ezra and Vin hesitated not quite ready to find out who the victim was. Vin laid his hand on his partner's shoulder and asked, "Are ya' o.k.? Ya' know ya' don't have to do this, right?"
"Yes ah do. Ah need to know who it was." Ezra replied in a sorrowful voice. "Just stay close."
"Always."
Steeling himself as if for battle, Ezra finally stepped out onto the roof with Vin close behind him. What they saw stopped them in their tracks. There in front of them was an alter made out of packing crates with a white drop cloth draped on top. On the center of the makeshift alter facing away from them was the victims head surrounded by black candles.
Circling the altar, they were halted in their tracks by Buck's warning, "Watch your steps boys."
Looking down, the cause for the warning became evident. The surface of the roof surrounding the altar was covered in strange writing and symbols.
"What do you make of this writing Josiah?" Chris asked.
"I'm not sure. I've never seen anything like it."
Upon finally viewing the head, Ezra began trembling and his vision began to go dark. Vin seeing Ezra's reaction quickly placed a supporting hand under his elbow.
"What's the matter Ezra? You're starting to look as green as JD." Nathan said sarcastically, referring to JD's pallor upon seeing the severed head. "Normally it doesn't bother you that someone was brutally tortured and killed. Did you suddenly grow a heart or something?"
"Shut the hell up, Nate!" Vin said, his blue eyes glaring viscously, causing Nathan to be taken aback. It was rare that anyone took him to task about his attitude towards the teams undercover man.
"Did you know 'im?" Vin's question draws everyone's attention and six pairs of eyes stared worriedly at their black sheep.
"We have had occasion to meet." Ezra said, looking meaningfully at Vin. "His name is, or was, Thomas Donaldson."
"The Thomas Donaldson? Thomas Donaldson of Donaldson Electronics?" JD asked awed.
"That would be correct, Mr. Dunne."
"Wonderful!" Chris said angrily. "Now this is going to turn into a great big media circus! How'd you know Donaldson?"
"I have been know to invest quite heavily in his company. I have also run into him occasionally at various charity events."
"O.k. boys, let's take care of this as quickly and neatly as we can before this turns into an even bigger disaster." Chris ordered. "Buck get together with the fire marshal. I want you to find out everything there is to know about the explosion, what caused it, how to prevent it, everything. Nathan, I want you to work with the coroner and forensics. Get me everything you can about the victim and the scene, even if you have to take samples of every square inch of this place. Tell them I said to put a rush on it, this case is now top priority. Josiah, I want a profile for the killer on my desk a.s.a.p. Run the m.o. through the system and see if you get any hits and get a translation of this writing. Get going!"
As Buck, Nathan and Josiah hurried off, Chris turned to his remaining men. "JD I want you to be the go between with the police department. Talk to the people in charge, tell them I want this to be kept tight, no leaks. Make sure we have every bit of information they have as soon as they get it. Set up sweeps all through the area, I don't want us to loose a single clue. Also, put out an APB on Donaldson's car, he didn't walk here. Ezra, since you knew the vic, I want you to talk to everyone who knows him, his employees, friends, family, everyone. Get everything you can from them, plot his movements yesterday, see if he talked to anyone, did anyone notice anything different or suspicious. Find out if anyone would benefit from his death. Vin, I want you to handle the local residents. Find out what happened to run them off. I want to know if anyone saw or heard anything."
"What are you goin' ta' do, cowboy?" Vin asked.
"I'm going to talk to the press. Hopefully if I go to them before they hear about this from someone else, they won't get to viscous. You never know, I might even get them to work for us for a change."
Monday, December 9, 2002 5:00 p.m. Denver, Colorado
The elevator doors opened and a weary undercover agent exited with a sigh. It had been a long and trying day and Ezra was relieved to finally be back in the office. He had talked to more people and put more miles on his car today, than he had in the previous year.
As he entered team seven's offices he noticed the distinct difference from this morning. Where before Buck and JD had been playing, Vin had been relaxing, and Josiah and Nathan had been reading the newest journals in their respective fields, now the atmosphere was tense as everyone worked diligently at their desks either talking on the phone or pouring over paperwork.
Passing his co-workers offices he made a beeline for his own. Entering his office he noticed Vin on the phone, closed the door and waited for him to finish his call. With a frustrated sigh, Vin finally hung up the phone and turned to greet Ezra with a smile. Pulling Vin to his feet Ezra wrapped his arms around him and pulled him in for a hug.
"Hello, lovah. Ah've missed you." Ezra said as he drew Vin into a long searing kiss.
"Mmm... Hey, Ez. How're ya' holdin' up?"
"I'll be alright. Ah'm just tired." Ezra reached up and smoothed the concerned frown from Vin's Brow. "Ah wish we were home in bed, with you holding me and keeping me warm until ah fall asleep." Ezra buried himself deeper into Vin's arms with a tired sigh.
"Sorry babe, we have ta' be here a little while longer. How about a rain check for later tonight?"
"Hmm..."
Several minutes passed before they finally separated. Heading over to his desk Ezra asked, "Vin, Ah've got to make a phone call. Will you covah for me?"
"Don't worry, I'll get ya' as much time as ya' need." Opening the door, Vin raised his voice enough to be heard by his teammates and said, "While Ez tries to track down a couple of Donaldson's employees, I offered to get him some coffee from the cafeteria. Anyone want to join me?"
At the sound of Vin's invitation, four sets of eyes looked up, relieved to have an excuse to take a break. Buck's voice answered for all of them, "God, yes! We need a break. I thought my butt was going to be melded to the chair. Just let me tell Chris where we're going and see if he wants anything."
Ezra had just finished his call when Vin returned. "Here's your coffee Ez. Do you need more time?"
"No, thank you. Ah finished mah call mere moments before yoah arrival."
"Good. 'Cause Chris wants us in the conference room in five minutes."
TBC.
Chapter 1
Monday, December 9, 2002 9:00 a.m. Denver, Colorado
The elevator door leading to the eleventh floor of the Denver ATF office opened and a stylish young man dressed in a thousand-dollar suit stepped out. He was carrying a cup of Starbucks coffee and reading the financial section of the newspaper. Without looking up from the paper he nimbly stepped to the side and neatly evaded the wadded up piece of paper thrown at him.
"Damn, Ez! How do you do that? You didn't even look up." The whining came from Team Seven's resident ladies man and explosives expert, Buck Wilmington. Even though his birth certificate said he was forty, he behaved younger than his twenty-five year old partner and roommate JD Dunne. Their continuing antics were infamous through out the Denver ATF office.
"Mistah Wilmington, I feah it is all too easy to anticipate the actions of a Neanderthal such as yourself," replied a smooth southern voice.
"You calling me predictable Ez?"
"On the contrary, ah'm simply referring to your propensity to revert back to a pre-civilized life form on a regulah basis."
"What?"
"He's callin' ya' a caveman Bucklin." An amused voice cut in from across the room.
Ezra Standish looked up at the sound of his lover's voice. Sitting at his desk, slouched down in his chair with an amused smile on his face was Vin Tanner. Though he was only twenty-seven, Vin was the best sharpshooter and tracker in the country and the veritable heart of Team Seven. Vin was a young man with an old soul. He had lost his mother to cancer when he was only five. Then at the age of nine, after being shuffled through several abusive foster homes and institutions, he ran away. He grew up on the streets of Denver in a rough neighbor hood called Purgatorio and had the scars to prove it.
Ezra let his eyes roam over Vin's long slim form. He felt himself hardening as he remembered how they had spent the weekend. They had only managed to get out of the bed long enough to grab a quick snack before retreating back to their warm love nest. It took all of his self-control to keep the joy he was feeling from showing on his face. However, when their eyes met he was unable to keep his love for this man from shining brightly in his eyes. After an eternity alone, he never thought that he would be able to find someone he loved this much. Surprisingly enough, Vin seemed to love him just as much. He stood by him even after learning about all of his personal demons. In Vin he had finally found his soul mate.
Having reached the office that he shared with Vin, Ezra reached out to close the door only to be stopped by the irate voice of their team leader, Chris Larabee. Chris was a man who at forty already had a brittle hardness to him resulting from the death of his wife and son in a car bomb meant for him. "About time you graced us with your presence Ezra. We've got a new case. Everyone, assemble in the conference room."
"Morning Ezra."
"Morning Son."
"Mistah Jackson. Mistah Sanchez, it is in deed a good morning, although it would be infinitely bettah if you would be kind enough to remember that ah am not yoah son," Ezra replied to both the medic and the profiler of team seven as he joined them in their trek to the conference room. Being the two oldest teammates, Nathan and Josiah felt it was their duty to behave as the adults of the team.
As Ezra took his usual seat beside Vin, he noticed that Buck and JD were up to their usual antics. Buck went to sit down and JD pushed his seat out of the way causing him to land in a pile on the floor. Their amused teammates looked on as Buck surged to his feet and slapped the hat off of the head of the team's computer expert.
"You're asking for it boy, and how many times do I have to tell you to get rid of that stupid hat?"
"If you two are finished, we'll get down to work." Larabee directed his words and his glare toward the two pranksters beside him as he passed out the file folders pertaining to their next case.
Still observing his teammates Ezra didn't immediately open the file handed to him until he felt Vin suddenly stiffen beside him. Now curious, Ezra opened his folder and felt all of the blood drain from his face. The picture caught his eyes immediately, it was of a man lying dead in a warehouse, he had been beheaded. As he started to panic he felt the reassuring pressure of Vin's hand on his leg. Flashing his partner a grateful look Ezra forced himself to relax.
"This picture was taken this morning at a warehouse across town. A bloody sword was found at the scene. If there were any witnesses, they're not talking. This has got a lot of important people worried and there's already talk of serial killers and cults."
"That's real interesting pard. But, what's it got to do with us? Shouldn't the cops or Feebees be taking this case?" Buck asked with a puzzled expression on his face.
"You're right. Normally this wouldn't be our case. However, there is apparently evidence of some sort of explosion at the scene but no one can figure out what exploded or how it happened. If there is some new weapon or explosive on the streets the brass wants us to take care of it."
Monday, December 9, 2002 10:00 a.m. Denver, Colorado
As Chris drove the team to the site, Ezra was staring out the window lost in thought. How could this happen now? Now, when he had finally found a home and family? There wasn't supposed to be any other immortals in Denver. That is one of the main reasons that he had agreed to move here when Chris approached him about joining the team. He silently prayed, to every deity he knew, that this would all be nothing but a horrible coincidence.
Vin was the only one to notice how quiet Ezra was. Having learned of Ezra's past a long time ago he could pretty well guess the thoughts running through his head. He only hoped that this case didn't turn out the way he suspected it would. He didn't know what he would do if he lost Ezra now. He silently vowed that if Ezra had to move on because of this, then he wouldn't be going alone.
Leaning closer to Ezra in back seats of Buck's van, Vin whispered in his ear, "Ya' o.k. Ez?"
"Ah don't know."
Ezra's whispered words scared Vin more than anything else could. Ezra never used three words when ten would do and he never spoke words with only one syllable if he could help it.
"Stay close to me Ez. I've got your back."
"Thank you Mistah Tannah but I don't think that will be necessary, at least not yet." Ezra started to say more but his words were cut off by their black clad leader.
"You boys planning on staying in here all day?" Chris was leaning in the back door of the van and cast a worried look in Vin's direction. "Something wrong Cowboy?"
"No. I'm fine. Be out in a second," Vin said with an aggravated tone of voice. It never failed to piss him off when his teammates expressed their concern for him while overlooking Ezra. You would think, after five years together, the team would start treating him better. Instead they tended to ignore him unless they needed something and then wonder why Ezra tended to keep them at a distance. He turned away from Chris in disgust before he said something he was likely to regret.
"Ya' ready Ez or ya' want me to distract Chris awhile?"
"Ah assure you, ah am quite alright and while ah would love to postpone this little excursion, ah am aware from previous experience that our fearless leadah will simply loose that tentative control he maintains on his formidable tempah and this day will simply get worse, as hard as that is to believe at this moment."
Climbing out of the van, Vin could not help the relieved smile that spread across his face. Judging by Ezra's little speech, he must have managed to regain his equilibrium.
Vin an Ezra joined the rest of the team where they were gathered near the entrance of the building. Chief Bill Thornton of the Denver PD was also with them. He was a tall black man with a cheerful disposition. It was common knowledge that nothing could bring him down. Unfortunately his current expression seemed to disprove this. He looked as if it was taking all of his will power in order to keep from loosing his breakfast. The chief was a twenty-year veteran, if he was reacting this badly then it must truly be a bad crime scene.
"Thank you all for coming. This is one case I'll be glad to be rid of. I've never seen anything like it. The victim is a white male approximately thirty years old. He was approximately five foot nine inches tall with blond hair and blue eyes. Judging from the amount of blood he was killed here at the scene. It appears that he was tortured first. The body is literally covered in wounds. There were no vehicles nearby so we don't know if he was brought here or arrived on his own."
"Thank you Chief Thornton. Is your forensics team finished going over the scene?" Seeing the chief's nod he continued, "Then we'll take over from here. Have the forensics results sent over to us as soon as they are ready and we'll need to speak to the first officer on the scene."
With an abrupt nod of his head the chief hurried on his way, eager to be rid of this case. As soon as he could he planned to take a long hot shower then sit down with a bottle of Jack Daniels and drink until all the images from this case were wiped from his brain. Had Ezra known what he had planned he probably would have offered to join him.
Following the chief's exit team seven entered the warehouse to view the scene. The body was lying on the ground in a large pool of blood. It was obvious that the killer had toyed with his victim before killing him. The once expensive suit had been reduced to rags and the body was covered in cuts and stab wounds, any one of which would have been enough to kill him.
"Excuse me." Ezra turned at the sound of a nervous voice. Behind him stood a tired police officer. He was six feet tall with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. "I'm Tom Haskins, Chief Thornton said for me to come see an Agent Larabee."
"Mistah Larabee, it appears as if the officah you requested has arrived."
"You were the first officer on the scene?" Chris addressed his question to the young officer.
"Yes, sir."
"Is this warehouse part of your normal patrol route?"
"No, sir. My shift was almost over and I was heading back to the precinct. Apparently someone made a call to 911 and reported a disturbance. Since I was closest, dispatch requested that I take the call."
"What happened when you arrived?"
"I didn't see any signs of a disturbance so I entered the warehouse. As soon as I saw the body I returned to my patrol car and called it in. When backup arrived we searched the building for the perp. We didn't find him but, there are a lot of places in the area someone could hide if they were still nearby."
"Did you notice anything suspicious when you arrived?"
"No, sir...well not really..."
Josiah put his hand on the officer's shoulder and tried to get him to relax, "It's o.k., son. Just tell us what you saw. No matter how insignificant it seems, it will probably be a big help."
"Well...it's not so much what I saw as what I didn't see."
"Just spit it out." Chris snarled aiming a hard glare at the officer, loosing his patience.
Nervously the officer rushed to answer, "Normally, after dark, this area is full of homeless people but, when I arrived there wasn't anyone around. It was like the area was deserted."
"What do ya' mean no one was around? The folks who live here don't have nowhere else to go. This is their home." Vin said becoming upset. He was once one of those homeless people and he new they wouldn't leave their home on a whim.
"I know. That's why it struck me as so weird."
"Did you notice anything else that can help us?" Josiah asked.
"No, sir."
Feeling his frustration building, Chris redirected the questioning. "Has the victim been identified yet?"
"No, sir. We figure it will take a least a few days for the prints to be found in the system."
Noticing something wrong with the scene, Ezra quickly interrupted, "Where's the head?"
"What?" The voices of his six teammates asked simultaneously while turning around to view the body.
"It-it was found on the roof." the officer stammered, paling slightly.
"Thank you, son. If we have any more questions someone will contact you." Josiah told the officer, seeing that his teammates had already dismissed him and were heading for the roof.
As the rest of the team exited the stairwell onto the roof, Ezra and Vin hesitated not quite ready to find out who the victim was. Vin laid his hand on his partner's shoulder and asked, "Are ya' o.k.? Ya' know ya' don't have to do this, right?"
"Yes ah do. Ah need to know who it was." Ezra replied in a sorrowful voice. "Just stay close."
"Always."
Steeling himself as if for battle, Ezra finally stepped out onto the roof with Vin close behind him. What they saw stopped them in their tracks. There in front of them was an alter made out of packing crates with a white drop cloth draped on top. On the center of the makeshift alter facing away from them was the victims head surrounded by black candles.
Circling the altar, they were halted in their tracks by Buck's warning, "Watch your steps boys."
Looking down, the cause for the warning became evident. The surface of the roof surrounding the altar was covered in strange writing and symbols.
"What do you make of this writing Josiah?" Chris asked.
"I'm not sure. I've never seen anything like it."
Upon finally viewing the head, Ezra began trembling and his vision began to go dark. Vin seeing Ezra's reaction quickly placed a supporting hand under his elbow.
"What's the matter Ezra? You're starting to look as green as JD." Nathan said sarcastically, referring to JD's pallor upon seeing the severed head. "Normally it doesn't bother you that someone was brutally tortured and killed. Did you suddenly grow a heart or something?"
"Shut the hell up, Nate!" Vin said, his blue eyes glaring viscously, causing Nathan to be taken aback. It was rare that anyone took him to task about his attitude towards the teams undercover man.
"Did you know 'im?" Vin's question draws everyone's attention and six pairs of eyes stared worriedly at their black sheep.
"We have had occasion to meet." Ezra said, looking meaningfully at Vin. "His name is, or was, Thomas Donaldson."
"The Thomas Donaldson? Thomas Donaldson of Donaldson Electronics?" JD asked awed.
"That would be correct, Mr. Dunne."
"Wonderful!" Chris said angrily. "Now this is going to turn into a great big media circus! How'd you know Donaldson?"
"I have been know to invest quite heavily in his company. I have also run into him occasionally at various charity events."
"O.k. boys, let's take care of this as quickly and neatly as we can before this turns into an even bigger disaster." Chris ordered. "Buck get together with the fire marshal. I want you to find out everything there is to know about the explosion, what caused it, how to prevent it, everything. Nathan, I want you to work with the coroner and forensics. Get me everything you can about the victim and the scene, even if you have to take samples of every square inch of this place. Tell them I said to put a rush on it, this case is now top priority. Josiah, I want a profile for the killer on my desk a.s.a.p. Run the m.o. through the system and see if you get any hits and get a translation of this writing. Get going!"
As Buck, Nathan and Josiah hurried off, Chris turned to his remaining men. "JD I want you to be the go between with the police department. Talk to the people in charge, tell them I want this to be kept tight, no leaks. Make sure we have every bit of information they have as soon as they get it. Set up sweeps all through the area, I don't want us to loose a single clue. Also, put out an APB on Donaldson's car, he didn't walk here. Ezra, since you knew the vic, I want you to talk to everyone who knows him, his employees, friends, family, everyone. Get everything you can from them, plot his movements yesterday, see if he talked to anyone, did anyone notice anything different or suspicious. Find out if anyone would benefit from his death. Vin, I want you to handle the local residents. Find out what happened to run them off. I want to know if anyone saw or heard anything."
"What are you goin' ta' do, cowboy?" Vin asked.
"I'm going to talk to the press. Hopefully if I go to them before they hear about this from someone else, they won't get to viscous. You never know, I might even get them to work for us for a change."
Monday, December 9, 2002 5:00 p.m. Denver, Colorado
The elevator doors opened and a weary undercover agent exited with a sigh. It had been a long and trying day and Ezra was relieved to finally be back in the office. He had talked to more people and put more miles on his car today, than he had in the previous year.
As he entered team seven's offices he noticed the distinct difference from this morning. Where before Buck and JD had been playing, Vin had been relaxing, and Josiah and Nathan had been reading the newest journals in their respective fields, now the atmosphere was tense as everyone worked diligently at their desks either talking on the phone or pouring over paperwork.
Passing his co-workers offices he made a beeline for his own. Entering his office he noticed Vin on the phone, closed the door and waited for him to finish his call. With a frustrated sigh, Vin finally hung up the phone and turned to greet Ezra with a smile. Pulling Vin to his feet Ezra wrapped his arms around him and pulled him in for a hug.
"Hello, lovah. Ah've missed you." Ezra said as he drew Vin into a long searing kiss.
"Mmm... Hey, Ez. How're ya' holdin' up?"
"I'll be alright. Ah'm just tired." Ezra reached up and smoothed the concerned frown from Vin's Brow. "Ah wish we were home in bed, with you holding me and keeping me warm until ah fall asleep." Ezra buried himself deeper into Vin's arms with a tired sigh.
"Sorry babe, we have ta' be here a little while longer. How about a rain check for later tonight?"
"Hmm..."
Several minutes passed before they finally separated. Heading over to his desk Ezra asked, "Vin, Ah've got to make a phone call. Will you covah for me?"
"Don't worry, I'll get ya' as much time as ya' need." Opening the door, Vin raised his voice enough to be heard by his teammates and said, "While Ez tries to track down a couple of Donaldson's employees, I offered to get him some coffee from the cafeteria. Anyone want to join me?"
At the sound of Vin's invitation, four sets of eyes looked up, relieved to have an excuse to take a break. Buck's voice answered for all of them, "God, yes! We need a break. I thought my butt was going to be melded to the chair. Just let me tell Chris where we're going and see if he wants anything."
Ezra had just finished his call when Vin returned. "Here's your coffee Ez. Do you need more time?"
"No, thank you. Ah finished mah call mere moments before yoah arrival."
"Good. 'Cause Chris wants us in the conference room in five minutes."
TBC.