Sin City

by slakalot

IN PROGRESS! ATF Story. For 22 years Vin Tanner has nurtured a desire for justice for the murder of his mother. With the help of Larabee's new ATF team he just might get his chance - if he can just keep his cover as a motorcycle outlaw under control and stay alive! Fair warning, not an easy read & very long but if you like detail and a long plot, u might enjoy it

25. Break Away

Part 25. Break Away

Tonight my head is spinning
I need something to pick me up
I've tried but nothing is working
I won't stop, I won't say I've had enough

Tonight I start the fire
Tonight I break away
(Get Out Alive – Three Days Grace)

There was a lull in the bad weather. A sliver of sunshine was peeking out from the clouds as if trying to convey a message of optimism despite the fact that the most disruptive funeral in the state's history was going to take place the next day. Not one but three bikers were going to be buried. Rather than move them back down to Texas they were being buried there, in a section of the cemetery that had been bought out by the Devil's Jokers.

Outer streets were to be blocked as the procession rode through, disrupting traffic and costing taxpayers money as police were used to keep the peace during the event. It was as if an esteemed member of the public had died, someone who had contributed positive things to the community. It was hard to believe all of the fuss was for three convicted criminals. The kid from the club who had died had only been seventeen and was being sent home to his parents to be buried. They had not known he was involved with the club and had refused the offer to have his funeral expenses paid for by the Jokers.

All of it was enough to piss Chris Larabee off.

The ATF Captain had returned to his office before lunch, having decided that five hours was enough time wasted sleeping. There was too much to do before the funeral the next day at ten o'clock and they still hadn't located Ezra. Just as worrying was the fact that they had found the bodies of two more Jokers at the facility, both riddled with bullets and he had not heard from Vin since he'd taken off with the other biker. While his team was responsible for the death of the biker Vin had tried to protect and the second had been shot down in front of the truck, nobody knew who had killed the third. He had been shot at close range more than ten times in the chest and head and only forensics would tell if any of the guns taken from the guards would match the bullets.

Buck sat at Chris's desk, in Chris's chair in fact, staring at his friend's back as he watched him looking out of the window. He didn't have to see his face to know that the scowl would still be there. They had been talking about the Southerner and Buck had been unable to sway Chris from his decision to pull the man from the team, if they found him alive. He knew Chris was worried and that the worry was manifesting itself as anger.

Whatever had happened, he could not be found and the longer it went without them hearing from him, the more concerned they became for his safety.

Josiah entered the office with a quick knock and Buck shook his head slightly, indicating that Chris was in a bad mood.

"Sleep well, brothers?" the big man asked cheerfully, despite Bucks warning.

Buck rolled his eyes. It was Josiah's funeral.

Chris turned from the window and looked at Josiah. "You heard from Nathan?"

"He just called from Ezra's apartment. He never went back there last night."

Chris frowned. "So he went straight from here, straight after I ordered him not to leave the building... And Vlahov?"

Josiah shook his head. "No one's seen or heard from him, but it looks like no one was expecting to for a few weeks. He was meant to be heading home to Russia for a trip."

Buck whistled. "So he knew and he was high-tailin' it out of here."

"Yes but did he make it... You got his travel details?" Chris asked.

"JD just found his name booked on a flight out this morning," Josiah looked grave. "He didn't get on it."

Chris's frown deepened. It was looking worse for Ezra by the second. "Well, we find Mitri, we find Ezra. Go out to Mitri's home and take a look around yourself, Josiah. Buck, go with him, see what you can find out."

Buck stood up and stretched his still-tired back, yawning as he did so.

"Need more sleep?" Josiah asked him with a smile.

Finishing what had turned into a massive, loud yawn, Buck grinned back. "Sleep's overrated," he said with a wink, slapping Josiah's back as he left the office.

Chris continued to stare at the window as Josiah followed Buck with a shake of his head. He was staring blankly, seeing nothing beyond the thick glass as he thought about Ezra's situation. If his agent had been taken, and all evidence was pointing to the likelihood that he had, chances were he wouldn't live to tell about it. All he could do for now was concentrate on doing all he could to get him back. After that, he couldn't vouch for the man's health if he did make it back in one piece. Hopefully Tanner would check in soon, if the bikers had Ezra, he would know about it.

..

Vin watched the guard that had led him upstairs walk down the hall and back down the stairwell before turning to the white wood door he had been left at. With as deep a breath as his chest could manage he opened the door and entered, immediately trying to adjust to the brightness of the walls that were being lit by the massive balcony window. The curtains had been fully opened, revealing the surprisingly bright morning outside and it wasn't long before he discovered Suzy, sitting by a writing desk and staring at him with an unreadable expression on her face.

He moved inside, closing the door behind him and purposefully not locking it. She was watching him, waiting to see what he would do with the free reign Billy had given him, he knew. His eyes found a door leading off to his right and he went to it, happy to find an en suite inside and headed in quickly, the lure of a hot shower more than he could resist.

Suzy listened to the shower start running and heard a few soft grunts come from the room and knew Turner was getting undressed. He had completely ignored her and she didn't know what to make of it.

Ten minutes later, standing under the hot beam of water with his hands resting on the tiles and his head bowed, Vin let the warmth pound onto the back of his neck, not giving Suzy Monroe much thought. In fact, he was trying not to think of anything at all, but that was easier said than done. The water ran down through his now clean hair, pouring along the sides of his grizzled jaw. He didn't even consider shaving, didn't have the energy at that point and there was something unacknowledged within him that understood that the newly forming beard symbolised something.

After long, therapeutic minutes breathing in the thick steam he heard the door open a moment before he felt the cold air let in by the shower door opening. He turned his head, looking at her with curiosity. If she was as pissed off as she had pretended to be, why was she making the first move?

"Somethin' I can do fer you?" he asked her, ignoring her for the moment and lifting his face to the source of the water.

She smiled a cold smile, backing up and sitting on the closed lid of the toilet, looking him over boldly. "I'm sure we can work something out."

He finally turned off the water, stepping out and taking the towel that she handed him, drying his hair for a moment before soaking up some of the moisture clinging to his skin and tying the material around his waist, not the least bit bothered by her presence. He was sure he wasn't the first naked man she had seen and after all she had come into his space.

"I sent your clothes downstairs. We have a lady that cleans them."

He frowned at that, not liking the thought that he was stuck without clothes. He hadn't bothered to search his saddle bags for some for he knew he had already had his cleanest clothes on. He was long overdue to do some laundry.

"She'll have them back within the hour," she said, seeing his expression.

He gave her a hard look, then moved out of the bathroom, heading straight for the bed and noticing his jacket resting over the back of a chair.

"Feel free to hang around," he told her, "Just don't wake me up."

He laid down on his back, putting his hands up underneath his pillow and immediately closing his eyes.

"He'll kill you, you know."

He didn't bother opening his eyes.

Seeing that he wasn't going to engage in conversation with her she went on. "You don't give him what he wants and he'll kill you."

Seeing that she wasn't going to leave him alone until he answered her he leant up on his elbows and looked at her.

"Why do you care?"

Her eyes widened slightly. "I don't."

Vin looked at her a moment. "You hate him," he said simply.

She looked at him, surprised by the hint of an empathetic tone. "Why do you care?" she threw back.

He grinned then. "I don't."

Despite herself her lips twitched, but it was fleeting.

Seeing that she was silent again, he laid back down.

"I just don't think you deserve to die over this."

He was silent a moment before he opened his eyes and looked up at the white expanse of ceiling, having considered something. "He sent you to spy on me..." he said with humour in his voice.

She didn't appreciate him patronising her and became angry, getting up and walking to the window, as if it would allow her escape if she needed it. "I'm not a slave to run his errands."

Vin propped himself up again on his elbows and studied her profile. He'd only been half kidding, but his words had set something off in her. "He did didn't he..." he shook his head, not sure but wanting to bluff her to see what her game was. "It was all an act, the whole thing."

"You don't have a clue," she said angrily.

"And there I was, feelin' sorry for ya back there... an' you were playin' us the whole time. Ya almost got Sugar killed with yer games, would that'a been worth it?"

She turned to him and stepped forward and Vin could see she was furious. "I would never do that to him! You think I like being slapped around like... like his -"

"Slave?" he supplied.

Her mouth stayed open but she said nothing, knowing he was right. She was his slave, his whore, and had been for a long, long time.

"Tell me why he sent you to me then."

She stared at him in silence and after a long moment Vin leant back on the bed, resuming his former pose and closing his eyes. "Or not," he said, signalling to her that he didn't care either way.

She paced for a moment, unable to relax and unsure how to proceed. This man was different to any she had ever met. He just didn't fit the profile of a club member.

"I can get you out of here..." she said, her voice almost a whisper.

Vin didn't bother opening his eyes, sensing this woman wasn't used to men ignoring her. "Is that so?" He was out of there anyway, on Billy's orders, but he decided to humour her, let her think she had something to bargain with.

She nodded, chewing on a nail, clearly a nervous habit and it told Vin how anxious she was right then. That and the quick glances she keep making towards the door. "I can get you out and you can warn Eddie. There's a way out of this place just like there is at that warehouse you went to. I can show it to you."

He sat up all the way again with a groan of effort. "And why would ya do that?" he asked, rubbing his side idly to ease the pain he felt there.

"Because you'll have to take me with you."

His eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. Suzy Monroe was a complex woman alright. The problem was, just who was she really looking out for, Billy or herself. "An' why would I do that?"

She looked him straight in the eye. "Because once he thinks I've been with you, he'll be done with me. He's showing me he has no use for me any more because he thinks I've already betrayed him with Sugar. If you don't help me out of here, he'll kill me."

She couldn't believe she had told him everything, that she had just asked for this man's help. What was he to her? Since when had she ever turned to anyone? She looked away from him and faced the window once more, not wanting him to see that she was starting to cry, something else she had not done in a long, long time.

Vin studied her back a long moment, knowing she was crying and that she would not appreciate his acknowledging her tears. He had been going to say that his loyalty now lay with Billy, that he was not about to betray him and she should find someone else to play games with, but then she had turned away and he knew with every instinct he had that she had just reached out to him in desperation. She could still be a brilliant actress, but his heart told him that this was probably the first time she had ever asked anyone for help in her life.

..

Chris looked up as JD entered his office grinning a triumphant grin.

"Eat a canary, kid?"

JD's grin dropped. "No… but I just watched the security tape from Vlahov's home they sent over." He held it up in his hand. "I think you might want to watch this."

Chris followed him to the meeting room and waited as JD put the tape in and forwarded through an image of a front doorway until a figure entered the frame. Ezra.

"Son of a bitch," Chris said out loud, even though it wasn't a surprise.

"Yeah, but wait." JD let Vlahov come to the door and watched as both men went inside, then forwarded a while to more men reaching the doorway and stopped.

Chris watched in silence as the well dressed men knocked. They weren't bikers, but they definitely weren't giving away bibles. A woman answered the door this time and it was then that several bikers rushed the door and after a moment both Ezra and Vlahov were dragged out with them.

Chris's cell phone rang right at that moment.

"It's Buck. We haven't found anything, but there was definitely a struggle here."

"JD's got the tape here, Ezra was definitely there. Some biker's showed up. We need to find out where they took them. There was a woman. She might have been left behind there somewhere, call in some support and search the place fully."

"Will do. It'll piss these forensics' nerds off even more than they already are."

Chris looked back at the screen as he hung up, again seeing a static image of the closed front doors to Vlahov's house. That woman might know something and it may just be the only chance Ezra had – that and Vin, wherever the hell he was at that moment.

..

"What happened with you an' Sugar?"

Suzy used the heel of her hand to impatiently wipe away the tears that had spilled without her consent and turned back, knowing she had failed to hide her despair when she saw his face had softened.

"I don't need your pity," she said, angry once more.

Vin blinked. Women. He shook his head and gingerly lay back, lacing his fingers behind his head and closing his eyes. "Fine," he said and proceeded to try and forget she was there. But that was easier said than done as he once more heard her pacing by the window.

"Tonight he's going to get all of his boys together and he's going to tell them his grand plans and anyone who doesn't like it can leave," she said in a hushed voice, obviously conscious of being overheard.

"Sounds fair," Vin murmured, pretending disinterest, she was trying to lure him in by sharing information.

"He doesn't intend for any of the Texas boys to make it back to Texas. He really will take them all out."

Vin's brow rose, but still he kept his eyes closed. "Ambitious," he said as if impressed. Looks like you're on top of everythin' here, why you botherin' me?"

Her grin fell and she scowled again. Had she been wrong about him? "If he finds Eddie before tomorrow, he'll have no use for you either."

"Guess he better not find him then."

"You're times' limited anyway. You think you can get in with Billy you're wrong. His alliances were established back before you were born. He'll never be anything more to you than a man who uses you as long as he needs you, then he'll get rid of you to make way for better things."

"So you're telling me it'd be better if I just cut my losses and ran now?"

She didn't blink.

"You realise there's nowhere you could run that he wouldn't find you," he said, his face serious as he directed the focus back to her.

Still she looked at him, clearly not knowing how to proceed. He was shocked when her voice broke on her next words. "I told you, he's going to kill me... He'll pass me around the men until I either kill myself or he does it for me." She was tough as nails, had had to be to survive all these years, but her voice broke on the last word.

He studied her face, impressed that she did not look away this time despite the lone tear that fell down her cheek.

"I'm not here to spy on you. I'm here to service you."

Vin hiked an eyebrow at that, but still he waited.

She looked down a moment and when her eyes came back up, he knew he believed her. Her face was too full of sadness and despair to ignore. "I don't care about his plans. I don't care who lives or dies tomorrow. I just want to leave here and I'll do whatever it takes to get as far away as possible."

Now his eyes darkened, he knew what she was offering, but he also knew how desperate she was. He put himself in her shoes, something he was too adept at doing for it had often cost him. He had an understanding of his fellow man that often got in the way of business. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands.

"Tell you what, you let me sleep for an hour, then we'll talk escape plans. Right now, I can't think past the need to close my eyes," he said honestly.

She studied his face and after a moment nodded, heading out to the balcony and softly closing the door behind her, giving him his space.

He watched the curtain fall back into place and stared at her silhouette through the material, thinking over her words. He'd thought he had endeared himself to Billy and that things were going well, but now she had cast doubts in his mind. Had his personal agenda clouded his judgement, blinding him to the fact that Billy was only using him for backup in case he needed him? He didn't care about Billy's plans for him in the future, they were irrelevant considering he didn't want the bastard to live that long, but the fact that he might outlive his own use disturbed him.

..

The morning was getting on when Buck finally swore in frustration. He and Josiah were still searching for any sign of the woman at Mitri's house, but were beginning to lose hope as the day progressed. They had been over the house countless times with nothing new to report. Buck was just about tell Josiah he was ready to call it quits when the large man called to him in a too-calm voice. Following the sound of his voice, Buck joined the older agent in a large service kitchen, raising a brow when he saw the wide spread of Josiah's shoulders leaning inside an open freezer door.

"Hungry Josiah?" he inquired with a grin, "I was just about to suggest we go get some lunch, there's a great

steakhouse up the road, but if you want to snack here..." He didn't expect his partner to simply stand aside and hold the door open in silence, allowing him to see past his frame to the frosty contents within.

He stepped forward with a slight frown before seeing what Josiah had found. "Jesus Christ…"

..

A short while later, Chris's phone rang just as Murphy walked into his office, his arm in a sling to support his shoulder. He saw by the number on the display that it was Buck again.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the hospital?" he questioned the injured man.

Murphy smiled. "When we're this close? Not on your life."

Chris shook his head as he answered the phone. "Find her?"

"In a manner of speaking…"

Chris scowled. "Well, does she know anything? Be cool with her, Buck, she's our only lead right now."

Buck winced at Chris's words, shaking his head as he peered closer at the severed head staring back at him from the top shelf of the upright freezer. "Oh I'll be cool with her alright…" he said grimly. "Josiah just found her... in the freezer," he said plainly, before looking over at Josiah through glass sliding doors, seeing he was still standing motionless outside, staring into space.

Chris tilted his head back to the ceiling and let out a hiss of frustration. "Son of a bitch."

Buck couldn't seem to look away from the woman's sightless eyes as he spoke. "Yeah... we'll stick around for a bit to see what forensics can tell us." Finally he tore his eyes away from the gruesome sight. "I tell you one thing, Chris. These motherfuckers aren't getting away with this shit," he vowed.

"You ok?" Chris asked his old friend, hearing the anger in his voice.

Buck moved out to share some air with Josiah and get away from that freezer. "Yeah… but we'd better find Ezra soon, Pard." His voice took on a strained note. "She didn't fit in there in one piece."

Chris ran a hand over his eyes, Buck's words conjuring a gruesome picture in his mind.

"If they can do this to a woman…"

"Just do what you can, Buck, ok?"

He hung up and looked at Murphy. "You heard my agent's missing?"

Murphy nodded. "One of the reasons I came in."

Chris nodded in return. "We found a tape of Vlahov's house, the club got them both. There was a woman on the tape, my men just found her dead - cut up in her own freezer."

Murphy scowled as Chris's cell phone rang.

"Larabee," the Captain said gruffly, beyond expecting good news.

"It's Josh, Chris. You're not going to believe this, the guy who runs the Empire facility just turned himself in to us."

Chris's spine shot up and he looked at Murphy. "What? Why?"

"He says if he didn't get some protection he'd be as good as dead. He knows the club won't let him live after tonight."

Chris felt a grin start and was helpless to stop it. "He's willing to co-operate?"

"More than willing. In fact, if we can guarantee him protection he says he'll give us everything we need to shut the Denver chapter down for good. He's kept records of everything, including concrete evidence that shows that the president himself was the boss behind it all, from the ground up. He wants us to put him somewhere safe with full security watching his back and after that he says he'll sing until the cows come home. He knows everything about them Chris, he's head of the whole operation here in the city."

"Then we'd better get him somewhere safe and hear what he has to say. I've got Douglas Murphy with me, I think he'll want to handle him personally. And Josh, no-one else can know about this."

"Understood."

When Chris hung up from the call he was still smiling. This was no small matter, this could turn the entire operation on it's head. It could very well mean the end of the Devil's Jokers in their state. Thinking ahead, he realised that once they had enough to make some arrests, they would need to get into the headquarters and for that, they would need a warrant. He turned to look at Murphy, who had been listening intently. He could get the warrant moving in the meantime, any time they could save the better. He explained the situation to him and knew the man was just as excited as he was by the news.

"This is too good to be true."

"Let's hope not," Chris said.

Murphy stood up, wincing slightly. "I'll speak to Travis now. I don't think it's unrealistic to aim for tomorrow to storm the complex."

Chris blinked. "You think we can get everything together by then? Don't get me wrong, I'd head over there right now if I could, but I know as well as you do the amount of bureaucratic tape we're going to have to cross to make it happen that fast."

"It'll be an easier sell when I explain that most of the men won't be there, they'll be at the funeral, but you'll want to give Tanner the heads up."

Chris watched him leave, thinking hard. If things really did happen that fast, they would have to make sure that Tanner was protected. He could only imagine how pissed off his undercover agent would be, but as long as the club was effectively closed down he really had nothing to complain about. He should be happy to return to a normal life and he intended to make sure that's exactly what the man did, right there as part of Team 7.

When a shadow fell over his door Chris looked up slowly, thinking Murphy had returned, perhaps forgetting

something. Next moment he was out of his chair, his face shocked. Ezra was standing at his door, flanked by two uniformed officers.

"Captain Larabee," one of them addressed him, then nodded at Ezra. "We picked him up just off the highway exit on our routine patrol. He insisted we come straight to you as a matter of utmost urgency. He convinced us not to radio it in..."

Chris ignored the office for the moment, still shocked that Ezra had wandered into his office of his own will. He also realised that there was a small crowd behind him. Murphy, having obviously seen Ezra and his escort, had doubled back and JD, too, was ogling the scene.

"Thank you," Chris told the officer's. "Can you wait outside for just a moment?"

They nodded and stepped back to wait outside. "Stop blocking my doorway, all of you, and get in here." As

JD turned to leave, Chris stopped him. "You too, JD."

Pleasantly surprised to be included, JD followed Ezra and Murphy into Chris's office.

Ten minutes later Murphy eyed Larabee's still purple face and knew that it was time to intervene or Ezra Standish was likely to drop dead with exhaustion before his Captain was finished with him. He had to admit, Chris had listened with enough patience to impress a monk as Ezra had told them his tale of defiance, kidnapping, murder and escape. As the monologue ended, however, and the southerner's drawl faded into the thick silence, the famous Larabee cloud had descended. His voice and body had literally shaken with his anger, which Murphy knew was a mixture of rage, fear and relief that his agent had come out of it all alive.

"Chris." He cleared his voice when the Captain's steely gaze failed to leave Ezra. "Chris."

Chris spared Murphy a glance before resuming his death-glare at Ezra, still trying to decide whether to finish what the biker's had started.

"We have some solid information here. We need to act on it. This isn't a totally bad thing."

That got his attention. "Explain to me how one of my men disobeying a direct order, getting himself beaten up and forcing another one of my men to risk his own cover to save his worthless hide can be a good thing."

Ezra looked away at that. He knew Larabee was right there. If it wasn't for Tanner, he probably wouldn't have made it out alive, as much as he hated to admit it, he had truly felt that he wasn't going to be able to talk his way out of that one. Not considering the cold blooded way Billy had executed Mitri.

"He saw Mitri executed and that there is evidence there of the club killing Mitri's wife. He saw the layout of the building and we don't have anyone else who can give us a first hand account like he can, unless we can get to Vin. He can help blueprint it for us."

Chris turned his full attention to Murphy, seeing the excitement in the man's eyes.

"If nothing else good comes of his actions, at least his information was worthwhile."

Chris looked at Ezra now. "You said Vin accused the President of killing the men he was with?"

Ezra nodded. "Yes, but he was playing it very well. If I didn't know his real intentions I would think they had him right where they wanted him. From what I could see, from the conversation they had, Billy did arrange to have the men killed, so that Vin would have no choice but to join him. Of course, that's exactly what Tanner wants. He played the reluctant recruit well, but his anger was real enough."

Ezra was understating the anger he'd seen in Vin's face. He had caught glimpses of pure rage thrown Billy's way and at the Vice President as well. He had played his part well, but it was costing him dearly. Ezra recognised the cloud of revenge that darkened the man's eyes. After all, he saw it in the mirror enough every single day.

"And the other man, Sugar? The Enforcer that stayed with Vin at the hospital? You think he's going to be trouble for Vin now that he's stayed behind?"

"They threatened the woman to make him leave. I think they knew that he would get Vin to go too if they didn't get him out of there."

Chris shook his head, thinking out loud. "He's ostracising himself from his own chapter, from the men he knows."

"That's the only way to get the President's trust," Murphy said. "Billy will think he has Tanner, that he will want his protection now and that he'll be a willing recruit."

Chris couldn't help the sense of foreboding that news brought him. He turned to Ezra. "I want you to get looked over. JD, call Buck and Josiah and tell them to head straight back here for a meeting. Make sure you tell Buck not to stop to eat - just head straight back in on my order. And ask the officers to come back in." JD left and Chris returned his attention to Ezra. "When you get back, I need to know every detail about the complex and the entrance in and out. Then you're going home, where you'll stay until I decide if I want you back on my team."

At Ezra's expression he held up a hand to silence him. They waited in the silence until the two policemen returned and Chris stood up. "Boys, I have another job for you. I'll inform your captain personally that I have commandeered you a little longer and let him know that you picked up one of my men." He watched them look at each other a little uncertainly. "I need you to escort Agent Standish down to the emergency room for me and then return him to me."

He looked at the scowling Ezra now. "Don't underestimate him. If he moves so much as a meter out of your

range, I give you express permission to use any force you deem necessary to bring him into line."

The men nodded and finally Chris had his office to himself as everyone cleared out. As much as he would never admit it to Standish, the man had managed to gather some useful information, not in the least of that the fact that Vin had made it back alright, if not the worse for wear. Ezra had thought he had been trying to ingratiate himself with the club leader, a man that Ezra considered to be completely unhinged. The man's plans to start his own club and patch over everyone wanting to join him were disturbing and the cold blooded murder of Mitri and his wife more disturbing still. The man had to be stopped before anyone else got hurt.

..

Suzy tried to wake Vin precisely one hour later by noisily slamming the balcony door, but after several more attempts realised that nothing short of a full scale earthquake was going to rouse him. She decided perhaps it were better if he got the rest he so obviously needed and so let him sleep a few more hours, at which time her impatience overtook her and she returned to her room, prepared to shake him forcefully if need be. Slamming the door behind her she watched in silence as he became instantly alert, his hand automatically reaching down toward his ankle where he would presumably conceal a weapon, were he not as naked as the day he was born besides the towel tucked loosely around his lean waist.

When he looked at her he realised she'd been thinking the entire time he'd been asleep and there was a new

determination lighting her eyes. When she went to speak, however, he merely held up a hand, snatching his clothes that had been laid over a chair, cleaned and dried, and heading for the bathroom. No amount of cold water on his face could wash away the lure of the sleep he still desperately needed, the few hours he'd managed had barely taken the edge of his exhaustion. Once dressed though he had to admit he was grateful for the fresh clothing. He returned and went to the window, feeling the warmth of the room as the sunlight streamed inside. It was a sight he had yet to see since he'd arrived in the state.

There were a few men out the front of the building, two were working inside the hood of a car and a few others were standing around a bike, the engine idle but loud in the blanketed quiet of the early morning. He knew that everyone would soon be preparing to ride out for the funeral. In another week there would be another funeral for Bruce, Cheese, Ivan and Rizzo. That would be in Texas, he was sure of that.

Suzy watched his profile against the window and realised he was deep in thought, but was not willing to waste any more time. She had thought it through, he was her best chance out of here and she was ready to go.

"Where's the entrance to this underground exit you told me about?"

She was surprised he had spoken and watched as he turned to face her.

"I'm not giving away my hand that easy," she scoffed. "What's to stop you just leaving without me?"

"What's to stop you leaving on your own? You know your way."

"I wouldn't get a mile up that road alone. I sit behind a man and I have a chance of making it out."

He hadn't considered that. You didn't see too many women riding around the complex. In fact, you didn't see any at all. They were strictly for the pillion.

"Alright," he conceded. "What's your plan?"

She tried to keep the hope from her voice, but she was beginning to think he was going to help her. "Soon everyone will be taking off for the funeral, there will hardly be anyone here for the whole afternoon. The wake is going to be held at the bar in town, so this is our best chance."

Vin gave a short laugh. "And that's it? That's what you've been workin' on?"

She frowned, her temper again rising. "What else do you need to know?"

"Women," he shook his head. "You always gotta complicate things."

Suzy's frown was so deep Vin thought it might prematurely line her forehead.

"You got a better way for me to leave?"

Vin shrugged. "If you can pack your stuff in the next ten minutes you can ride on out the front gate with me. Guess you weren't payin' too good attention cos I'm leavin' anyway. Billy's orderin' me ta leave. You wanna ride outta here then one, you gotta tell me all about this escape route of yours, then you go tell your man I want you to ride with me back to town. Tell him you wanna buy a new dress or somethin' for the funeral.. I don't know, make up some female thing. I'll get you that far, what you do from there is your problem."

Suzy looked at him for the longest time, huffed out air from her nose. "Huh."

Vin grinned. Yep, women.

..

As Suzy was packing, Chris Larabee and his team were gathered in their makeshift boardroom, really a large, empty office but located adjacent to the small kitchen so all in all considered a convenient spot to meet. They had just been briefed from one of Murphy's agents that the roadblocks were being set up coming into the city limits. With the funeral now just under 24 hours away, they wanted to check every rider that headed into town and particularly every rider coming in from the headquarters.

Beyond that, they were setting up patrols for the actual event. The club had submitted an itinerary and a route for their procession and even if they hadn't requested it, the state police would have provided traffic assistance at major crossings, if only for the safety of the public that would get in the way or caught between the riders. It had been decided to close the back road they were taking into the cemetery, as there was other entrances and the road was narrow. There would also be no parking allowed on the street, with other parking arranged for residents.

All in all, it was a major headache for everyone involved. Right then they were going over a map of the area surrounding the headquarters and any possible routes that would need checkpoints. They were relieved to see there weren't many options and it all came down to two roads that were passable with a motorcycle. Others were little more than dirt tracks leading through properties. Of the two roads, one was a far shorter path. They were going to cover them both, for if word of the block was passed back, riders would start taking the longer road in the chance of avoiding them.

"There's a roadhouse here," Nathan said, looking at the map. "I've passed it before. Might be the best spot to set up a base."

"We can run the checkpoint and then base a team there ready for the raid tomorrow," Buck agreed.

Chris looked at the black square on the map, indicating the diner. It was about an hour from the headquarters, over halfway from the city. His phone rang and he saw that it was Murphy.

"Larabee. Tell me he squealed like a pig."

Murphy chuckled down the line. He'd been all set to interrogate Bale and turned out the man had needed no prompting at all. "And more. He's kept records of conversations, documents, video evidence, you name it. Travis will sign the warrant, I've just got to go in and brief him now."

Chris smiled. It was coming together. "Great. How do you want to handle this? Do you still want your team to head it up?"

"I think it's a safe bet Tanner will be at the funeral."

Chris nodded, although Murphy couldn't see him. "Exactly. I think he'll try to make contact and I want to be ready to give him backup."

"Then I'll be handling the headquarters side of things. We want the place to empty out as much as we can before we go in, so I still think it's best we wait for tomorrow. I'm meeting with SWAT in an hour."

"Okay, let me know what your plan is, we'll talk after that."

Buck watched him hang up. "He gonna get the warrant?"

"Says it's a sure thing."

They all grinned, Josiah slapping one massive hand on the table so that JD nearly spilt his coffee when he jumped.

"We're gonna put these boys out of business," the ex-preacher said.

"You really think Vin will come in?" Buck asked.

Chris thought about that. "I'm not sure he even could at this point... but I think I might have a way to check in on him. He's going to need to get past the checkpoints right? And right now he should be at the headquarters, so the most likely road he'll take back into the city will go right through here," he pointed to the roadhouse on the map.

Buck's frown became a grin a moment later. "I think maybe we should oversee the base set-up at the roadhouse ourselves."

Chris grinned in response. "Just what I was thinking."

..

Nettie Wells knew that possessions and material things were not what was important in life. Still, as she raked a final run through the fresh wood chips surrounding her petunias she felt satisfied that her life's worth was going to be preserved for Casey. Casey was everything good in her world - the only good thing she had left. And thanks to the unprecedented heroics of a biker, of all people, they were both going to have a chance to enjoy the time they had together.

She was just thinking about whether to put some water on the garden bed when Casey caught her eye, pointing up the curved bend that led back out to the highway.

"Someone's comin'."

Squinting into the noon sun that was a little too bright and cheerful for Nettie's liking that day, the old woman indeed saw a car approaching, followed by another, then another, then another...

Casey came and stood beside her and they both frowned at the suddenly endless stream of cars, with the odd van thrown in between them, that were now heading into the gravel car park.

..

Chris hopped out of his car into the bright early afternoon sunlight, squinting through his sunglasses to make out the two women staring back at them from the tranquil setting of a fledgling flower garden. He didn't blame them for staring. He was sure that the long convoy of vehicles was daunting enough without having it pull right up and start emptying government agents at your feet.

"You boys lost?"

Chris felt his lip pull at the bravado the old woman showed in the face of the potential threat, but he correctly sensed that he dared not appear to mock her as he approached her small frame.

"No ma'am."

Nettie cocked her wisened face at the man that had called her 'ma'am'. He was the second person to do so in as many days.

"Then you need somethin'?" She gestured towards the diner. "Cos I don't have much to offer you right now, I'm opening a little late today."

Chris's eyes ran over the freshly raked garden as he approached her and put out his hand in greeting. "I'm Chris Larabee, Captain of the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms here in Denver."

Nettie gave him a measuring look before taking his hand in her own. "Nettie Wells."

Again Chris looked over at the diner. "You live here, too?" The building looked to be larger than merely a diner.

"Yep, me and my niece Casey here."

Chris nodded to Casey, who was staring behind him with open curiosity. A glance behind him told him that JD, just as curious it seemed, had left the car and walked halfway towards them.

"What brings you out this way?" Nettie asked.

"Well..." Chris started, still having no idea where this woman's affiliations lay, if she had any. "We're in need of a place to set up a base of operations to check traffic heading in and out of the city by this road and thought this might be the perfect spot."

Again Nettie weighed his words against his expression before surprising him with her forthright reply. "If you're trying to avoid trouble by searchin' the boys headin' to the funeral you've already missed a fair lot of them, a whole pile of riders came past yesterday. Mostly Texas plates."

Chris nodded, hoping that Vin hadn't been one of them. "We're also hoping to catch them on the way back in."

"What would be the point in doing that?" Before he could speak again she went on, thinking out loud. "Less you want to stall them on their way back in..."

Chris tried to keep his face neutral, but the old woman was very astute.

"Which means you're going into their property..." Coming to the conclusion that this last statement was true, she went on. "Does this mean you're finally getting off your butts and moving in to shut those bastards down for good? You wanna do that you better have something on them that'll actually stick, cos it's been tried before."

Chris frowned, but there was a quirk to his mouth. "Are you an interrogator by trade, Mrs Wells?"

Crinkles appeared around Nettie's eyes as she watched the man's expression. She knew he was not mocking her, rather he seemed impressed by her skills at deduction. "I'm right then? You're heading in there?"

Chris gave her a long look. The woman had no means of communication on her that he could see and they were going to watch her closely. He gave a slow nod. "We are."

She gave a low whistle. "Then you must have something big. No-ones ever actually moved in on the place with this large a posse." She nodded at the cars.

"Well we're not all going in. Like I said, some will need to stay here, to catch any strays heading back in, or out."

She frowned a little then, thinking of Vin. He hadn't ridden back out since he'd left that morning, or at least, he hadn't stopped if he had. She thought he would most likely have had to take a break to sleep, given the state he was in. "You're not just going to go in there gun's blazing are you?"

Again Chris shook his head. "No ma'am. These days that would make us the bad guys."

She made a noise very much like 'hmmph' and her eyes flicked to her petunias for a moment. "These days people get away with murder... you know, not all of them are bad."

"I'm sure that's true, but for the purpose of the exercise today, we'll be assuming that any man living out there as a biker has potentially adopted the illegal practices of the club. We'll let the law sort out the rest later."

Nettie was worried now and Chris raised a brow. "You're worried about them?"

"No," she said quickly. "Well... just one of them, met him only this week, but he helped me out of a jam. He came by this mornin', in a heap'a trouble himself and... well, I just don't think he's the kind to be doin' illegal things."

Chris tilted his head slightly. "Looks can be deceiving. These men don't join this club to be good citizens."

"I know that, but this one was different. He was in bad shape last night when he came by and still he tried to help me with a... problem. He helped Casey an' me even though he could barely stand himself upright."

Chris's brain caught up with the clues in her words. "He didn't happen to give you his name, did he?"

Nettie hesitated.

Sensing her indecision Chris raised a brow, keeping his voice low. "Was his name Vin?" Her eyes widened ever so slightly and he had his answer. "And he went back out to the complex after stopping here?"

She nodded. "I thought he was going to fall right off his bike he was so exhausted. He looked like he'd gone ten rounds when he left here and his knee was twice the size it should be. How do you know him?"

"Let's just say we may have a common interest to protect him."

Studying his face once more Nettie seemed to come to a decision and gave a short nod. "I'll hold you to that."

Chris nodded in return and turned back towards the cars. Josiah, Nathan, JD and Buck were all approaching him now.

Nettie eyed all of the people exiting vehicles. "Looks like you've brought everything you've got."

Chris just grinned. "Not yet we haven't, but by this time tomorrow even the sky will be busy."

Nettie's eyes sharpened on him as Chris thought about the plan Murphy had arranged to enter and seize the property. He was taking a virtual army of men with him, but Chris agreed it was a necessary potential overkill. They were not going to take any chances and risk a shoot-out like the warehouse had resulted in. This time, any protesting bikers would not stand a chance.

Their primary objectives were to arrest Billy - and they had yet to ascertain if he would be at the funeral or not – and to take over control of the compound. From there they would be searching for anything that supported the evidence Bale had given them. If all charges against Billy and his men stuck, then the property would never be occupied by a Devil's Joker again.

..

Vin let Suzy handle Billy as he went down and checked his bike, making sure everything was in working order before taking it around to the fuel pumps to fill her up. He was surprised when Jake met him out there.

Vin secured the cap on his tank and put the fuel nozzle back in its holster, deliberately taking his time.

"You know, Billy thinks you're gonna be a good asset."

Vin assessed Jake's neutral expression carefully. "But not you."

After a long pause where Jake looked like he wanted to say more, the older man simply nodded. "Doesn't matter what I think, but I'll tell you something for nothing. You betray him, you betray the trust he's giving you, there'll be nowhere you can go that I won't find you. And that's a sure thing."

Vin grinned. "Guess I better not do that then."

Jake shook his head as Vin simply walked off. The kid had balls, he'd give him that.

..

He met up with Suzie ten minutes later, her ten minute deadline turning into half an hour but he had to give her credit, whatever she'd considered necessary to bring she'd managed to stuff in a single pack. When he'd ridden back around to the font of the building Billy was standing with her and the President stepped forward as Vin rolled to a stop and cut his engine, not dismounting.

"Suzy's riding with you. Drop her at the bar."

Vin looked at Suzy's carefully neutral face and back to Billy.

"That a problem?"

"No," Vin said simply. "You ready to go?" he asked her, "I want to use the daylight I got left."

Billy nodded to her. "Go." After she'd settled in behind Vin, Billy stepped forward and grabbed the handlebars. "I'll be expecting a call from you by morning, unless you hear from me first."

Vin just gave a short nod and Suzy stepped forward, getting on behind Vin without looking back.

"See you soon too darlin'." When she didn't look at him Billy just gave a low laugh and watched them ride off down the long drive.

Jake stepped out from the large doors and joined him as the noise of the bike faded in the distance.

"You think he's gonna come through?"

Billy looked at him. "Do you?"

Jake shrugged. "Hope so, for his sake. The kids kinda growin' on me."

Billy looked thoughtful. "Yeah," was all he said, looking out over and beyond the driveway even though he could no longer see anything. He hoped to hell the kid came through, cos if not, he really didn't want to have to kill him and waste the skills he brought to them.

..

Chris ensured the base was set up properly and the surrounding checkpoints in place before heading inside to the diner. The old woman was being extremely accommodating and together with her niece had helped them out wherever she could. They hadn't intruded on her inside the building, but had chosen to set up barricades on the road and some roadside shelter against the sun. A large mobile police unit was the base of their communications, the massive truck offering more comforts than they could need.

He couldn't explain it, but he knew Nettie Wells could be trusted, and his gut had never failed him before. He found her behind the counter, the diner completely empty.

"Can I help you with something else?"

Chris shook his head, taking a seat after a moment's hesitation at the red, round swivel stool at the counter. "No ma'am, you've done more than enough."

She took in his hesitance and smirked. "Something you wanna know about that agent of yours then?"

Chris's eyes widened. "I'm sorry?"

Nettie shrugged. "I'm too old for mincin' words Captain Larabee. I don't have much to offer about the man you sent into that nest, but no harm in you askin'."

Chris just stared at her a moment and then a smile graced his lips. "He told you?"

Nettie laughed. "Hell no. But that boy had way too much decency to be one of them... and the way you asked about him, knew his name... I ain't stupid."

Chris nodded. "Okay." He was quiet a moment. "How was he?"

"Beat to hell."

Chris snorted. "You know, if I saw him without bruises and blood covering every inch of him I probably wouldn't recognise him."

"I patched him up best I could. He had a nasty gash on the side'a his head and I strapped that bum knee of his."

"Thank you," Chris told her sincerely. "He's lucky he ran into you. What did he come by here for this morning?"

She hesitated only a second before obviously deciding she wasn't betraying Vin in telling him.

"He wanted to borrow my computer."

"For..?" Chris prompted when she stopped short.

"He wanted to watch something from a little player thing he had on him."

"And what was it that he watched?" Damn it was like pulling teeth!

"He rode through here with four other boys yesterday. When he came back it was just him and a Scottish fella. I saw a bit of the video where one of the guys was lying on a concrete floor, dead and another guy was shot to death next to him. It was two of the guys that were in here. The video showed Vin as well, he was being carried inside, out cold."

"Who shot them?" He hadn't heard back from forensics yet.

"Looked like some kind of guard, in a uniform."

"Son of a bitch," Chris swore under his breath.

"The big guy, he looked real sad, could hardly talk through his grief. Think he was in shock. Vin just looked... determined. He was angry and upset, but he wanted to get back out there. I'm not surprised that he's on the right side of the law, not one bit but I tell you somethin' for nothin', that boy's in too deep with those outlaws. Looks like he has been a long while. For a moment there, I could swear he just looked a little lost. I'm thinkin' livin' with those animals like that's gotta turn a man around some. Lines would get blurred after a while..."

Chris looked at her, seeing her waiting for a response. Somehow, Tanner had gotten to her. She wanted to make sure he was going to be alright.

"He has us, Ma'am. We're his team. We'll get him out of there in one piece and make sure he stays that way."

Nettie nodded and repeated her earlier words. "I'll hold you to it."

..

Team Seven waited another half an hour before thinking they should probably head back. Nobody had come through the checkpoint in the two hours they'd been there and Chris was starting to question whether Vin might wait until the next morning. He'd been in serious need of sleep, he might have taken it while he could get it, or something might have happened to him once he'd returned there... He was just about to tell Buck they would head back when the noise of a lone bike was heard approaching from the direction of the compound.

"Finally," Buck said with a grin, "let's see what our net catches." He clapped his hands as he moved away from the car he'd been slowly heading towards, having sensed that Chris was about to call it a day.

They watched as a bike appeared, still some distance away and were not surprised when it drew to a slow stop, the engine idling menacingly. They knew there was no avoiding their road block. There was no other way into town.

..

Vin put his boots to the ground and balanced Suzy's weight behind him as she shifted in the seat.

"You can't go through?" she asked him over the noise of the bike.

He was a little pissed off. He hadn't noticed the roadblock until it was too late and now they had seen him too. They were going to detained him and there was no way around it.

"Not without tossing half the stuff out my bags," he admitted. He knew they were going to search his bike, probable cause be damned and there was no-one there to back him up. Eyeing what looked like a massive operation under way he couldn't help but fear that Nettie had been found with Royal's dead corpse. His mind whirled with possibilities and probable outcomes.

"Looks like the big guns," Suzy commented. "Not regular police. Maybe FBI?"

He studied the cars. Not FBI... "They're settin' up a base." It looked like they were going to raid the compound when it was down on numbers with everyone at the funeral... which meant they had enough to get a warrant to search it. So possibly they had Bale.

"What are you going to do?''

His gaze stayed on the large group of people and vehicles. "Can't go over, can't go under..." he muttered.

"What?"

"Nothin'. I ain't got much choice. Can't turn back now."

"What about you? They're gonna search you."

Vin couldn't make out faces from the distance but his gaze paused on the figure of a giant of a man that seemed to dwarf the other men gathered around. He grinned. "They won't hold me," he told her and with that, clicked the bike down into gear with a slight jolt and took off, feeling her hands tighten around his jacket once more.

..

"Here we go," JD said, watching as the police barricade tensed and readied themselves for their first customer of the day.

The bike rolled closer and Chris spotted Vin at the same time that Buck recognised the Harley, but it was JD that spoke out.

"Hey that's -"

"JD," Chris said, shaking his head sharply.

"Damn," JD said, realising his big mouth was about to get him in trouble again. "But that really is a nice bike."

Chris stepped forward to the barricade, JD and Buck behind him. Vin wasn't alone so he was going to have to look for a sign from him on how he wanted to play it but until he got one, it would be by the book.

Vin pulled to a stop and set his boots down, purposefully leaving the bike running to annoy the cops who would have to speak loud to be heard. A second later he knew he'd been right when he spotted Larabee and then along side him Josiah and the rest of the team, bar Ezra. Spotting Josiah had changed everything in an instant. He had no idea what their intentions were though or if this was all Larabee's doing to make contact. If it was, he had to give it to him, it was impressive.

"I need you to turn off your bike and show us your license," the first officer practically had to shout over the noise.

Vin grinned a small grin, playing the irreverent biker to perfection as he flicked the noise and dug in his jacket pocket, aware of the tension surrounding him as he came out with his license, aware that they were tracking his every move. He handed it over and the cops peered at it, one going back to check the details from a marked car.

"There a reason ya'll are standin' around in the middle of the road instead'a drivin' around lookin' fer doughnuts?"

Nettie had come outside at the sound of the bike and now watched the scene with a little awe. Gone was the respectful young man she had met only that morning and in his place was a smug, irreverent criminal.

Chris too was wondering what Vin was thinking. He'd come right out and prodded them with his opening words. Was that how he wanted to play this? Did this mean he wanted him to bring him in?

"You watch your mouth Junior," Buck said to him then and Vin looked up at him with an eyebrow raised.

"You don't look like you're short on doughnut supply there, Magnum."

JD fought back a giggle at the slight to Buck's moustache, but Buck took a step forward and was promptly stopped by Chris's hand to his chest.

"You got a mouth on you," Buck snarled and Chris couldn't tell if the emotion behind the words was real or feigned for the troops.

"I been told," Vin said, his grin widening.

The cop came back and returned his license.

"Afraid I'm going to have to ask you to hop off your bike. We will be conducting a search of your bags."

Vin's smile instantly dropped. "The hell you will."

There was silence a moment before Nettie piped up. "You've got no probable cause!"

Vin grinned in her direction. "Someone here knows the law at least." His eyes couldn't help but wander over to the freshly raked flower garden.

Chris didn't take his eyes off Vin and waited until he finally met his gaze. There was the most incremental dip of his head and Chris knew then what Vin wanted.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, you take your pick," he stepped forward and told him then in a low, commanding voice.

All was quiet for a long moment before finally Vin shrugged his shoulders and turned to Suzy. "You wanted to stretch your legs babe, here's your chance."

Suzy got off and a moment later Vin kicked down his stand and swung his leg over, carefully putting his weight on his damaged knee, happy that the strapping he'd put back in place before he'd left was holding. He had Nettie to thank for that. He moved away as they headed for his saddlebags.

Suzy grabbed his arm and Vin turned to her, seeing her expression of worry. No doubt she was thinking if Vin got taken in one of the other boys would ride out to pick her up and she'd be screwed.

Vin looked from her to Chris, Buck, JD, Josiah, Nathan and the countless faces looking on in growing tension.

"So looks like I'm about to be arrested," he said in a casual voice, but for her ears only. At her expression he quickly added. "I told you, they won't be able to hold me, but you can either catch a ride in with them or stay here and call back to Billy for help."

Her eyes narrowed. "That's not an option."

They were talking close, as if they were playing up to each other, his hand on her arm and hers on his shoulder. "Then you catch a ride into town with them."

She remained silent, looking over at the uniformed and plain clothed men.

"You could always go to them for protection."

She pulled her head back to look at him sharply. That's not something a biker would say. He just shrugged. "It's another option for you."

She shook her head. "Witness protection? Looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life? Never."

Vin shrugged again. "Then you wait it out. They'll get you into town."

She looked at the men searching his bike. "I could ride it back for you. You'll need to get it there."

At that Vin actually laughed. "Now that's not an option." Even if she could ride, he'd most likely never see his bike again.

A moment later one of the cops turned from searching his designated saddle bag and in his hand was a wicked looking hunting knife.

"Hell, who put that there?" Vin said shaking his head with a bored tone.

Chris merely raised an eyebrow and a moment later the other cop came up with a win as well. In his hand was a well-kept Colt 45 no less. Vin actually frowned at that, because that was Ivan's gun. It was followed up by another knife, this one a little more sleek, but no less deadly.

"My turn to carve the turkey this year," Vin quipped with a grin and a shrug of his shoulder.

"You need to get down on the ground and place your hands above your head," the cop with the Colt ordered him, all business now as he handed the gun off to Chris who was closest, with his partner covering him with his own gun.

Vin tipped his head to the side, knowing what they'd find on him. He looked at Suzy. "Looks like you're gonna need a ride home," he said loud enough for Chris to hear and flicked his eyes his way.

"Down on the ground," the officer repeated and Vin eyed the rough road a moment and grimaced. There was no easy way to get down there with his bad knee. "Don't s'pose I could save you the trouble and just hand my weapons over?"

It was at that point that the cop with his hands free stepped forward and swept his legs out from under him, shoving him to the ground face down.

Vin landed with an audible groan as the air was pushed out of him, his knee firing up from the rough impact and his cheek grazing the bitumen before he could get his hands in front of him fully.

"I'll take that as a no," he ground out against the rough surface as his hands were pulled up behind his head and cuffed. He knew it wasn't smart to bait them, but there was a large part of him that was still pissed off at the welcome the police had given him in the motel room.

He was searched thoroughly and the stockpile of weapons grew. First came his weapon of choice from the back of his jeans, his Glock 9mm, then the two knives he had in each boot. There was also a small lock pick kit in his jacket pocket and a switch blade.

Chris shook his head at the collection and would have found the scene amusing if not for the way Tanner was breathing hard in the strained position he was in. No one could say his newest acquisition wasn't prepared for any situation... be that a survival camp or a full scale war.

"That's it," the cop said standing back with the weapons haul.

Vin looked up but a second later it was Chris himself hauling him to his feet and Vin noticed he grabbed him on the side of his bad leg, giving him support without it being noticeable. "We'll be taking him in," he announced and Vin brought his hands down in front of him. He heard Larabee speak to the cops in charge of the roadblock.

"Don't call this in, we'll take care of it."

He started leading Vin off to the car as Buck collected all of the weapons.

"You haven't even read him his rights!" Nettie protested.

"Vin looked back over his shoulder and winked at Nettie as he was shoved inside the back of the car.

Chris opened the trunk and Buck placed Vin's veritable arsenal inside. Both men looked down at the stockpile with slight shakes of their heads before Chris shut the lid and they moved to get in the car. Buck got in the back with Vin while JD got in the front and Chris took the drivers seat. Vin had to crane his neck back to see Suzy as she watched on.

"Who's the woman?" Chris asked as he turned back to face him.

"Billy's old lady."

Chris's eyes showed his surprise as he looked back out the rear window. "What the hell are you doing with her?"

"She's trying to get away. I was... helping."

"Good job Junior," Buck said with sarcasm.

Vin turned his whole body to face him then, the move so swift Buck actually leant back from the fierce blaze that shot at him from two angry blue eyes. "Mock me all you want, Wilmington. You've done nothin' but bust my balls since you first met me, but that woman don't deserve ta die 'cause yer too hard-headed to recognise that people 'sides only you want to do the right thing. If she gets stuck here, if the boys pick her up, she's as good as dead... or worse. You need to protect her. She's got no choice but to ride in with us."

Buck stared back at Vin a long moment, taken aback by the angry outburst. The kid hadn't stood up to him before, had just let his comments roll of him, but he could see now that he'd had enough. And maybe, just maybe, he was right. The guy was a mess and all because he was trying to get some justice done, which made them on the same side, only he hadn't seen it that way until now. And besides, there was a woman at stake and he'd always had a soft spot where they were concerned. Especially women like this one.

Chris gave Buck a quick glare and got out of the car, heading to the car in front to speak with Nathan and Josiah. He spoke briefly and then the two agents climbed back out, heading back for Suzy. As Chris approached, Vin had another thought.

"JD? This ain't the time for braggin', I need to know if you can handle my bike."

JD's eyes grew so wide they nearly popped out of his head. "Seriously?"

Vin almost grinned at the look. "Can you ride it? I'm gonna be needin' it and I don't wanna leave it here. There's no one-" he cut himself off with a hard swallow, looking away from them for a moment. There was no-one he could trust now to ride it back for him. Those he trusted were either dead or ready to kill him themselves, in the case of Sugar and Charlie.

Buck's eyes narrowed. Again Tanner surprised him. He saw the despair on his face clear as day. The kid was at the end of his rope and he was suddenly feeling compassion for the man.

JD was practically bouncing with one hand already on the door handle. "I can ride it," he said and when Vin still looked sceptical he made a conscious effort to stop bouncing, trying to look as solemn as possible. "I promise you, I can handle her."

The fact that he called her 'her' convinced Vin.

"Key's are in the ignition. Bring her back in one piece for me."

JD's exit would have made ricochet rabbit proud.

"Where's he going?" Chris said as he came back to the car.

"He's gonna ride my bike back."

Buck got out and took the front seat JD had vacated.

"You're game," Chris told him.

"I trust him," Vin said and Buck looked back at that. He could see Vin was serious. He trusted the kid too, so that was something they had in common. For JD's sake, he hoped he didn't break that trust by totalling Vin's bike.

"Did Ezra get back okay?"

He saw the tension come instantly to Chris's face and turned to Buck who answered because he really wasn't sure if Chris could unlock his jaw right then.

"He did. Chris ain't happy he got himself in that situation."

"It wasn't good. If I'd gotten there just a little bit later he would have joined Mitri on the floor." He wasn't boasting, just telling it like it was.

"We figured."

"He sure is a cool one though. Even as they were tellin' him to go, he was trying to sell his skills," Vin shook his head at the memory.

Buck grimaced, looking at Chris. "That's what we pay him for, right Chris?"

Chris grunted a response but didn't try and speak. He definitely had some things to work out with the wily southerner.

They waited as Josiah spoke quietly to Suzy and Vin could see after a few minutes that her face went from tense to resigned. He had no idea what the preacher was saying to her, but he knew all too well the way the man had a knack for getting under your skin and drawing your troubles out. Another minute later and he was leading her back to his car, Nathan again taking the wheel.

"Josiah strikes again," Buck said. "Lucky he uses his mind persuasion thing for good not evil."

Vin heard his bike start up and winced as JD gave it a hard turn on the throttle. He heard Buck laughing and looked up to see him shaking his head at his expression.

"You sure you don't wanna rethink that? That kid approaches pretty much everything with the same level of enthusiasm, which is right about the same level a 5 year old approaches Christmas morning."

Vin winced again as JD revved the bike once more and started out behind them. He turned and saw Nettie standing beside her niece and for a second realised he'd seen that level of enthusiasm on someone else. Casey was like JD's female counterpart.

It was quiet in the car for the first minute, each man gathering his thoughts before Vin broke the silence.

"You wanna take these off now? Don't think he could have gotten 'em on any tighter."

When Buck didn't immediately move Chris glanced at him. "Buck."

Buck took out his key and Vin held out his hands for Buck to remove the cuffs. Buck was scowling but Vin was surprised to see he was scowling at the red marks now circling his wrists. The cuffs really had been too tight and he rubbed them to get his circulation back.

"You okay? He dropped you good back there," Chris asked, looking Vin over in the rear view mirror. "Might'a had somethin' to do with that wise mouth you were shootin' off."

Vin pursed his lips and fingered the new graze on his cheek. "Yeah, just doin' his job I guess..."

Chris just quirked a brow at that, not sure at Vin's tone. He figured it had something to do with the beating the cops had given him under Levitz's watch and wasn't sure that he could blame him.

Vin tipped his head back against the seat, enjoying the feel of the afternoon sun shining on his face. The car was warm and quiet. There was a part of him that recognised that he felt safe for the first time in a long time and his weariness threatened to overwhelm him. His voice was even rougher than usual with his fatigue. "Were you waitin' on me?"

Chris nodded. "Figured you'd have to ride out through the checkpoint. Thought we'd come out ourselves to see if you were ready to come in."

Vin looked at Chris's gaze in the mirror. "They would have heard the license check back at the clubhouse, probably the bar too."

"We can say you were let through. I asked them not to call it in."

Vin nodded, then sighed and catching the weary sound Chris studied him again in the mirror.

"You're okay huh?" he said this time with much doubt.

Another sigh, more an expulsion of breath as he let some tension out. "Just tryin'a sort out a million things in m'head. It's a big fuck'n mess, an' I'm right in the middle of it."

It was the first time Chris had heard Vin admit things were out of his control and he was struggling with it. He glanced at Buck and was surprised to see something akin to concern on the man's face. Maybe Tanner had finally broken through to him when he'd bitten back a minute ago. He hoped so. Buck was a damn loyal friend to have, but only once he decided to make that commitment, and he didn't make it lightly or often.

"Where were you headed?"

"Town. He got the info you fed him. He wants me to find Eddie, take him out."

"And Eddies here, in town?"

"On the outskirts I think. Didn't manage to find out where. I was s'posed to head out there today with Sugar when Billy called me in. I'm pretty much the last Texan still in town by now. They're all gatherin' somewhere... you haven't heard anything on 'em? That amount of bikers in one place shouldn't be hard ta spot."

"There's been no word come through to us."

"Bet Levitz'd know. Not much would get past that prick in his own town." Vin sighed again, almost wanting to hold back what he was going to say. "Billy's gonna take him out... guess you should warn him."

Chris's eyes met his sharply in the mirror. "You know when? How?"

Vin shook his head. "Said I could do it myself as payback. Don't think he'll move on it 'til after the funeral, think he needs him 'til then."

Chris nodded, then seeing it wasn't an emergency found his lip curling up. "Not sure that's worth the phone call."

Vin gave a huff of a laugh in response and tilted his head back again in the sunlight.

"Okay. Tell me what happened with Sugar, Ezra already told us he was pissed you didn't leave with him to join Eddie."

"Ezra..." Vin said, as if trying to work out a puzzle, then gave his head a slight shake. The motion of the car, the cushioned silence, the sunlight, it was all conspiring to drag him to sleep. The few hours he'd grabbed, together with the long night's he'd had had taken their toll. "Sugar's pissed all right, but he knows what I'm up to. I'll try an' contact him in town..." he mused out loud.

Chris's eyes narrowed as he picked up the lazy drawl coming from the back. He was surprised to see the Texan's face leaning back on the headrest and his eyes closed.

"We also got the guy in charge of the facility, Bale. He's squealin' so loud they had to move him out to a place in the woods so no one can hear him," Buck told him.

"Figured as much when I saw the base you guys set up. You're gonna raid the clubhouse?"

Chris nodded even though Vin's eyes were still closed. "During the funeral."

"S'good. Won't be much of anyone left there. Maybe some guards... There's another entrance, underneath. Suzy told me about it. I can map it out fer you. There won't be a lot of guys left but they won't expect that."

Buck looked at Chris. More good news. They were silent for over five minutes as the landscape passed by, the afternoon sun continuing to filter through the glass surrounding them. After a while Chris spoke, his eyes still on the road.

"I need to know everything you know," he told Vin and when there was no response he found he wasn't surprised this time to look back and see that not only were Vin's eyes closed, his mouth was slightly open in sleep. He turned in his seat to confirm that his mirror wasn't lying then glanced at Buck, who also peered behind them.

"Looks like Junior's not superman after all," he said quietly.

Chris pursed his lips. He'd told him as much.

"Where we gonna head?"

Chris thought about it. "My place. If he's this wiped out he's not gonna argue and by the time we get there it'll be too late for him to fight me on it."

"What about the woman?"

Chris frowned at that and took out his phone, dialling Josiah.

"Chris."

"What's your situation?"

"We're giving the fine lady a lift into the city."

"She won't come in?"

"No, and we have no reason to either."

Chris nodded. "You told her we could protect her?"

"I gave it my best shot, but even I have my failures."

In the lead car Josiah was smiling back at Suzy Monroe, as she had called herself. She even smiled a little in return. She wasn't used to anyone trying to help her. The big man's good intentions were overwhelming, but she wasn't tempted for a moment to talk to him or anyone else about Billy. All she wanted was to be long gone and start fresh.

"Okay," Chris told him. "We're heading to my place. You boys head back to the office, see if you can find any word on the Texan chapter and where they're gathering. We need to make sure they're covered coming into the city."

"Will do."

Chris hung up and took another glance in the mirror. Vin's head was now resting against the window, the sunlight lighting his face and the myriad of bruises that went with it. Without having to ask, Chris knew he needed to take a step back to get his head together. It was the first time since they'd met that he hadn't been anxious to get away, to get back into it. He figured whatever had happened to the men who'd died last night had changed the game for him. He hadn't been able to do much for him so far, but this was his chance to show him he had the full support of his team and that he really wasn't in this thing alone. He didn't plan on screwing that up.

..

They arrived back at Chris's apartment building an hour and a half later. They drove the block once, checking all was clear before heading into the underground parking area. He parked in his bay and turned around, only to see that Vin was awake and looking back at him.

"Nice nap Princess?" Buck asked but as Vin looked at him, he could see there was none of the earlier ill-will he'd seen coming from him.

His voice came out like gravel in his throat. "Where are we?"

"My place," Chris said and Vin sat up a little straighter, looking around at the dark interior of the car park as he ran a hand across his wiry chin.

"Could use a little work."

Chris grinned and got out, turning for the stairwell as the loud rumble of Vin's motorcycle started to bounce along the concrete walls. They waited as the headlight crept forward and JD entered, not slowing down as the bike wheeled over a long drainage grate that crossed the underground parking's entrance. Vin winced at the solid noise the wheels made over the metal bars and heard Buck chuckle again.

"Christmas fucking day."

Vin shook his head. "Yeah, well time to put the toys away." He turned to Chris. "Can it be parked out of view somewhere?" He went to his saddlebag and dug in, sifting around until he came out with the battered remnants of his cell phone and a moment later its charger. A second later he located the folded map Billy had given him.

Chris was already getting out some keys and headed to a roller door, which he unlocked and lifted and then turned and gestured to JD.

"Gimme a hand shifting some of this crap over, Buck."

Buck moved forward and looked inside at the pile of junk Chris had managed to store in the small space he'd been allocated as part of his lease.

"Shut it," he told his old friend without having to look.

"You should go on that show about hoarders..."

They managed to clear enough room to wheel the bike in and JD's face said everything before his mouth could form the words.

"I so have to get my bike running!" he said, his cheeks flushed from the ride and his smile beaming at them. "Thanks Vin! That was awesome! I think I want to sell mine and get one of these now!"

Vin held out a hand for the keys and was relieved when he felt their weight in his own pocket again. "Thanks for bringin' her back in one piece."

Chris looked at Buck. "You an' JD head back to the office and meet up with Josiah and Nathan. We need to get a location on Eddie and we need full details of the cemetery and surrounds. Hell, get Ezra on it too. Call Murphy and then update me where he's at."

Buck took Chris's keys and headed back out with JD.

"Lemme guess," Vin said, eyeing the stairs. "Penthouse?"

Chris paused and turned back, realising the stairs would be a problem for Vin and before he could argue he moved in to get a shoulder under his right arm. That Vin didn't protest told him a lot.

"Not quite, but close enough."

It took time to climb the four flights and by then there were lines of strain around Vin's eyes. He was leaning against the wall waiting for Chris to unlock his door when a door opposite Chris's opened and an old lady poked her head out. She eyed Vin from head to toe then looked at Chris.

"I baked pie if you want some," she told him, shooting another wary glance at Vin.

Chris paused with his key in the door and turned to look at her. "Mrs Bower," he nodded. "Maybe a bit later, thanks."

Vin smirked as Chris opened the door, he turned back and nodded at the old woman, who's curiosity was palpable, before following Chris inside and closing the door.

"Nice neighbours."

Chris was checking his apartment as Vin followed him in. With Benning framed and the threat of a bomb to his car, he was taking no chances.

"She's useful if you want to know anything going on around here. Sees everything."

"There's one in every buildin'."

"Makes good pie though," he admitted, not sure why he did.

Vin entered the humble but surprisingly spacious apartment and headed straight for the long couch, ignoring the surprise he could feel radiating from Chris. After all his fighting not to be brought in over the last days, here he was making himself at home like he had nowhere better to be. He could see how his new boss would be unsettled by his change in attitude. He found a power point right by the couch and plugged his phone in, watching it in trepidation.

"You want a beer?"

"Hell yes," he said and waited as Chris crossed to the kitchen and got out two beers.

Chris took the battered looking armchair facing the couch and they sat in silence for a minute enjoying their beers while Vin tried to get his thoughts in order. He was pleasantly surprised when his phone beeped and began to charge. After a while he spoke, telling Chris everything he knew about the upcoming stand off that would happen at the funeral. He went on, trying to think of everything he knew that Chris needed to know before Chris updated him on everything that had happened at the facility during the clean up.

"Damn," Vin said, shaking his head when Chris finished on a solemn note, describing the fuck-up Buck and JD had caused when they'd blown up the truck. "That's gonna stick."

"Tell me about it."

"Billy told me they set Benning up." Vin knew how important that statement was when the surprise on Larabee's face turned to absolute relief and if he wasn't mistaken, guilt. "Billly said he was making headway, getting too close. Said you were next on the list. He's onto the whole operation, gets his intel from Levitz, but thinks Levitz has overstepped his mark. That's why he's gonna take him down. I reckon when they raid the clubhouse they'll find evidence of whoever Billy uses to doctor his photo's."

"I'll make it right with Benning," Chris said then, his voice solemn, only too glad to have heard the words of vindication. "So you have no idea where Eddie is?"

Vin shook his head. "No idea, don't think Billy does either but he's definitely got somethin' planned. I would have known if I'd followed Sugar... hell.. maybe I should have followed him..."

Chis's eyes narrowed as Vin again closed his eyes and ran a weary hand over his face.

"But you didn't because you wanted to stick with Billy," he prompted.

Vin nodded. "Yeah. I'm close. I couldn't pull out after all it's taken to get this far with him."

"What happened to the men last night? The old lady at the roadhouse told me she saw them killed by a guard on the video you played on her computer."

Vin's eyes shot open and he blinked at that in total surprise. "She told you that?"

Chris smirked. "She made you. Turns out you're not the big bad-ass biker you thought you were, she saw straight through it."

Vin found he wasn't shocked after all. The woman was smart alright. He was still surprised she'd spoken to Chris.

"I swiped the footage from the security guys at the compound before I left."

"Yeah thanks for that. I take it it was you that smashed up their gear?"

"Thought I'd buy you some time to get in."

Before either of them could speak again there was a massive bang of thunder practically riding on top of a flash of lightening out of nowhere and a few seconds later they could see the rain start to pelt down out the window beside them.

"What the fuck is wrong with this town?" Vin said with passion. Was this a place he could really live in? Could anyone?

Chris shook his head as another low rumble followed the first. "Started about a week before I met you and hasn't let up since. Before that it was clear skies since I got here. This isn't normal, far as I know."

Vin gave another wry huff at that. Of course it wasn't. A week before he met Larabee was about the time he'd rolled into town. He shook his head at the sight of the rain belting down outside, glad that his bike was undercover and JD wasn't still on it in the deluge.

"So the footage?"

"Showed a guard taking down Cheese... one of the guys with me."

"Why would a guard do that? Don't they work for the club?"

"Had to have been Billy's order."

Chris watched as Vin struggled to find the words to tell him what he thought. He could see how much this was affecting him. "And why would he order that?" he prompted.

Vin took a long swallow of beer as another bright flash of lightening lit the darkened room and tilted his head back on the seat as he had in the car. "To get ta me. To cut me off from everythin' familiar and that I can protect myself with so that I'd go to him with nuthin'."

Chris realised it was guilt that was weighing him down. "You couldn't have known he'd do that."

Vin's voice had a raw edge. "Should have seen it comin'. I dragged 'em into a situation they had no place bein' in. Should'a gone alone..." His voice trailed off and Chris saw the pain the Texan was trying to hold back. He'd been right, their deaths had affected him deeply. He was in deep and he was starting to drown.

Chris shook his head. "It's wasn't your fault."

Vin studied Chris's expression for a moment and then looked away, not ready to believe the man could have such faith in him.

"Why would he think you'd go to him? Why believe you aren't loyal to Eddie?"

"Cos I came up here on my own, left Texas behind. I took that job for him last night as a first step and it was enough ta tell him I wanted to be a part of what he's doin'. He thinks I'm lookin' for more an' now he thinks I have no reason ta go back ta Texas."

"Now that he's killed your closest friends."

Vin looked down at his beer, the pain on his face obvious. "Yeah. They really were." He lifted his head and looked straight at Chris. "I'd known them forever. Even Keg, one of the guys they're buryin' tomorrow, I grew up with him. I know this is a job, I've never for a second forgotten what I do, that I'm playin' a part, but I've also known those boys all my life. The reason I've gotten in so deep, deeper than anyone else possibly could, is because I grew up with this life. It's part of who I am. I spent time with these guys, we had each others back through rough times. And they had no God damned idea... they had my back, all of 'em and this is how I repay 'em."

Chris studied the defeated expression on Vin's face, read the anger, the sense of injustice that was coming from him. "Nobody forced them to be bikers, Vin."

"Maybe not, but they were there last night because of me. They'd be alive right now if I hadn't of gotten them killed 'cause I had another agenda they had no fuck'n idea about!" He took a breath and calmed himself, knowing his fatigue was making him lose control over the emotions he was usually so good at hiding from the world. "Not all of them are bad, Chris. These guys, they grew up rough, rougher than I think you can imagine. They've been dealin' with life's worst parts since they could walk and given that, they turned out not so bad. None of 'em had ever killed anyone that I knew of an' back in Texas they don't run drugs either. The club didn't turned out the way any of 'em probably wanted it to, but they stuck with it to stick with each other. Hell, they were actually lookin' at getting' out when they were taken out of the game. They didn't buy into the whole bad biker thing, they just wanted to ride together. They were what clubs should be about."

Without meaning to Vin had painted a picture for Chris of his own youth and Chris realised then just how much a part of that dark world Vin was. He worried then that it ever would be over for him, how it would end for him.

Perhaps sensing he'd revealed too much, Vin tried to lighten the moment. "Maybe we should just step back, let 'em take each other out. By the time they're finished all we'll have to do is go in an' clean up the mess."

Chris grinned. "It's not a bad plan. I've been tellin' myself all day what a waste of resources this is." He took another sip of his beer. "You hungry?"

Vin nodded. "Yeah, guess I am." Funny, he hadn't felt hungry til Chris mentioned it. All day his stomach had been tense and now that he had five minutes to stop, he found he was ravenous.

Chris grabbed his phone and dialled, smirking at Vin. "What, you thought I could actually cook?"

Vin grinned back. "Just don't get anchovies."

Chris's grin grew. "Wouldn't dream of it. That's Buck's thing though, watch him on that one. Can you find out where Sugar is?"

Vin thought about it. "I'm gonna try."

He reached out and tentatively opened his phone, as if half expecting it to fall apart, then dialled while Chris placed the order and after a long wait the call connected.

"Yeah?"

"It's Vin."

"You son of a bitch. I could kick your ass all the way back to Texas."

"I wanna meet up."

"Now you wanna meet up. You had your chance."

Vin felt unease spread through his stomach and seeing that Larabee was now looking at him, he sat up straighter, putting both feet back on the ground. "We have to talk. The things Charlie said... it makes no sense ta me. If you knew what I was doin', why didn't you say somethin'? All this time, you've never let on."

Sugar was silent a long while, Vin had turned the tables on the man and could practically hear his mind turning. "Charlie talks too much," was all he said.

"Yeah, well someone had to. Maybe if you'd'a come clean with me -"

"You listen up kid. I don't owe you a damn thing. All you need to know is that right now you're treadin' a damn fine line. I gave you an order to follow me and you disobeyed it flat out. That's got consequences."

Vin rubbed a hand through his forming beard. "Yeah, well, what hasn't?" He'd faced consequences before from the club, that threat wasn't something new.

He heard Sugar take a long breath and let it out slow. "I know you're heads spinnin', but you tell me now what Billy's got planned."

Vin didn't hesitate. "You know what he wants from me. Want's me to take out Eddie. He want's me to kickstart his personal Armageddon. He wants this war an' I think there's a lot he ain't tellin' me. He was too confident, like he had an ace up his sleeve."

"Yeah, well we'll be waitin' for him. He thinks we're just gonna roll over he's stupider than I thought."

"I think he's got somethin' in place to make sure he doesn't waste the opportunity."

"And like I said, we'll be waitin'. We got the numbers."

Vin looked sharply at Chris. "You can't outnumber him. Even if you brought the whole chapter up..."

"You think we're the only club wants that prick taken down?"

Vin's eyes again flicked to Chris. They had other clubs that were connected, were on peaceable terms. And even if they weren't Billy would have pissed a lot of them off. That's what Eddie had been up to, that's why he'd left the safety of the Texas border. He'd been meeting with other chapters and clubs, getting their backing, making deals.

"Is he even gonna be at the funeral?" Vin asked.

"You think I'd tell you that now after what you just told me?"

Vin shook his head. "You know what I'm plannin' for Billy. You know I'd never betray Eddie. An' if you've really been payin' attention all these years then you know I gotta do this my way."

"Son," Sugar said, and Vin could hear emotion in his voice. "Your way is gonna get you killed."

"Maybe, but I'll be takin' him down with me." He paused a moment. "Billy had you followed, was going to call me to let me know where they chase you back to."

Sugar grunted what Vin assumed was meant to be a laugh. "Yeah, he had the cops try an' tail us. Was a nice try."

"What happened to them?" Vin asked, worried.

"We lost 'em. Look, Billy's goin' down, nuthin's gonna stop that now, so you may as well ride out here now and it'll happen anyway."

"Okay. Where are you?"

Vin could almost see Sugar laughing silently. They both knew he wasn't going to meet them, just as Vin knew then that Sugar was never going to reveal where they were. He knew Sugar trusted him, but he wasn't going to chance Billy tailing him at this point. "I'll send you co-ordinates. Ride out now, or meet up with us in the mornin'. Just make sure when I see you you're standin' on the ride side of the battle field... and don't get yourself killed before then."

Sugar hung up and Vin closed the phone, meeting Chris's expectant gaze.