Chapter 28. For Whom The Bell Tolls
Take a look to the sky just before you die
It is the last time you will
Blackened roar massive roar fills the crumbling sky
Shattered goal fills his soul with a ruthless cry
(Metallica – For Whom The Bell Tolls)
Chris knew he wasn't leaving the area any time soon. The mess was phenomenal and the atmosphere was still frantic. There were casualties on both sides and the wounded were being taken out and loaded into ambulances. There had been injured civilians from the blasts as well as casualties amongst the police officers positioned outside. The only positive thing that could be said was that at least the blasts had been relatively contained and had not spread, beyond the one news van that had got caught in a blast.
The most time consuming part now would be determining the charges against the men and making them stick. The men who had carried out the killings with automatic rifles had all been killed themselves but it would be hard work to pin the explosions on someone. The bomb squad had arrived with forensics and the goal now would be to keep everyone out of their way. The train and coach drivers were being questioned together with everyone working at the cemetery including the funeral directors. The fact that weapons had been concealed on the grounds and men had managed to hide not only weapons but themselves as well inside the fake graves without anyone reporting it meant somebody inside the cemetery had to be involved. With Vin and Pearce in position most of the morning, they had to have set the graves up earlier and it would have taken time to organise it.
As Chris began co-ordinating men based on the information he was given he was surprised to hear Agent Pearce call a frantic warning to Vin, who had only just checked in again. The words were cut off a second later and then there was silence. Surrounded by members of Riker's team and several police officers, Chris searched for Buck and saw him approaching with Josiah, having heard the communication.
"Vin, report," Chris said, gesturing for the men around him to wait a moment. "Pearce, are you there?" When there was no reply he looked back at Buck.
"Take some men, check out their last position." He wanted to go himself, but the amount of men demanding his attention deemed that impossible at that moment.
..
Buck and Josiah moved out with four of Liker's team, Riker included, heading toward the large crypts some distance away. As they approached Riker whistled softly.
"It's further than it looks," he said. "That was some fine shooting they managed from here."
Buck had to agree. They'd barely been able to make out the details of the structures from the main area. They reached the base of the first crypt and moved around, instantly springing forward when they saw a body lying on the ground.
"It's Rob," one of the men said, kneeling beside him.
They could see the blood that was pooling on the ground around him as the kneeling agent searched for a pulse and looked up.
"He's alive."
Riker called for paramedics and informed Chris what they had found just as the fallen agent started to come around.
"Take it easy," Riker told him, locating the large bump on the back of the man's head and the cut that went with it.
Pearce blinked up at them all for a long moment before his eyes began to focus.
"Jesus Christ... what hit me?"
"Was hopin' you could tell us that," Riker told him.
Pearce stared up at the Captain blankly and just when it appeared he wouldn't be answering he finally blinked.
"Oh man... Tanner." Pearce started to try and push himself up and Riker held him down.
"Take it easy! What about Tanner?"
He leant back on the ground, wincing when his head came to rest on the concrete beneath him.
"Bikers... waiting for him on the ground... Tried to warn him..."
Buck swore, turning to look around him, looking for any sign of Vin.
"He was up on the other roof," Pearce went on. "Didn't see what happened, they got me before I could get to him."
"It's alright, you did what you could. Just rest back."
Riker stood, ordering one of his men to wait with Pearce while he followed after Agent Wilmington, who had begun to search toward the other crypt.
This time there were no bodies on the ground but on inspection Josiah found a small patch of blood on the pavement beneath the ladder. Riker climbed the ladder with Buck, finding the spent magazine on the roof as evidence that Vin had been there, but otherwise it was deserted. They went back down and Buck shared a grim look with Josiah before he informed Chris what they'd found.
..
Chris listened to Buck's report and could not stop the fear that tightened in his gut. The bikers had taken Vin and they hadn't asked politely. They'd taken down Pearce and that meant they might have connected Vin with him. He was in serious trouble.
"The clubhouse is compromised," Nathan said, looking at his watch and knowing that Murphy's men would have moved in half an hour ago. "They would have to know that by now, so where would they take him?"
Chris took a deep breath and let it out, running a hand through his short blonde hair. Both tells that he was worried. "They can't get far," he said, "even if they got out of the grounds there's no way of bypassing the checkpoints." He deliberated just a moment longer before taking action. The wounded were being helped, the bikers were being handled and taken away, the damage outside was being attended to and contained. He levelled a serious look at Nathan and then made the decision. He radio'd the SWAT leader. "I need every available man, we have an agent missing, we need to search every inch of this place and co-ordinate a search of the buildings along the rail line."
Nathan's eyebrows lifted. Vin's undercover operation was over, whatever else happened.
..
Vin became aware of the pounding in his skull long before it registered that everything was completely black, despite the fact that his eyes were open. He felt a vibration around him, like he was moving and felt around himself. He was lying on something soft, a satin-like material that was padded beneath his probing fingers. His mind made half of the connection even before his hand reached up above him almost immediately to feel the same type of padded material right above him. God no.
He continued his exploration, his hands a little more desperate now but they told him the same story. He was in a tight space, a padded box. Coffin. What the hell?He tried to get his breathing under control, tried to picture himself anywhere but where he was but the fact was, his head was pounding in time to his escalating heart rate and he was sucking in oxygen like a man suffocating. Literally.
Calm the fuck down, Tanner. You're moving, you're not in the ground. Your air's not gonna run out any time soon. This thing can't be that air tight.
But the air tasted thick to him and the movement continued for longer than he could count. How long he'd been out he had no idea. The back of his head was on fire, split open from whatever had crushed into his skull with blunt force and he could feel the wetness of blood against the slick padded material. A flash of silver. A gun.
The movement stopped with a sudden jolt and he braced himself as well as he could, hearing a grating noise and muffled voices from above. He was moving again and he heard a muted voice and then the movement stopped a moment again before continuing on. He was angled, going downwards so that his boot heels were braced against the bottom of the casket and then with another jolt the movement stopped again. They'd put him down and he tried his damnedest not to picture that he was now resting in the ground somewhere. He waited, tempted to start trying to push up at the lid with everything he had but his gut told him it was about to open anyway. And when it did, fucked if he wasn't going to come up swinging. He readied himself, biding his time, gathering his strength as the voices finally stopped and he felt the lid move.
When it came up enough he used his legs, getting his filthy boots up and pushing up as hard as he could and was gratified to see two men thrown back in surprise. He was launching over the edge and swinging before they could recover from the shock. He barely registered Judd Lidlow as the man went down under his right hook before he turned on his knee, twisted further to his left and let his right fist connect with Warren Close's jaw. The man flew backwards, into a pew behind him, his head cracking the solid timber bench with a sickening thud before he dropped like a stone to the marble floor.
Vin then divided his attention between the two remaining men. Judd, who had regained his feet unsteadily and who he now recognised to be Jake. Both were looking at him like they wanted to kill him where he stood. He could hear voices of more men beyond the main room.
"What the fuck is this?!" he demanded, still poised to fight, but the pain in his skull was threatening to drive him to his knees and his vision was off. He felt his stomach roll as the room moved slowly even though he remained still.
Jake grinned and Vin realised he wasn't looking the least worried. Whatever was happening, they had a plan. He looked around quickly and felt the room spin faster. Beyond the small room they were in he could see more pews and an alter. A chapel. They must still be at the graveyard.
"We're just helping you get out of here. You should be grateful."
Vin looked again from Judd to Jake, weighing his options as two men entered the space and moved through the chapel towards them. He glanced back at them, body still turned to the bikers and saw that they were funeral directors, or were posing as some.
"They're ready," one of them men said, eyeing the situation warily. "They've parked outside. They'll come in and take you out soon as they unload the stretchers."
"Okay, just give us a sec to box him back up and you can take him," Jake said, grin still in place. "And this time, seal the lid properly."
Vin glanced from Jake's grin to the open coffin against his will, his vision blurring all round and the contents of his stomach threatening to rise up. He knew a concussion when he felt one, and this was going to be a mother, if he lived long enough to have to worry about it.
"Don't worry, you're not going far," Jake told him in a mock soothing voice.
Vin tensed as the men moved closer and a second later was shocked to see two uniformed officers enter the room. His sudden bad feeling was confirmed when they nodded at Jake.
"Thought you'd be gone by now," the larger of the two said.
"Just had some unexpected business to take care of," Jake nodded at Vin, who watched as the second officer reached for the taser at his belt.
"You boys are missin' out on all the action," Vin said, his voice rough and low. "Think maybe you're confused about what you're meant to be doin' here."
The larger officer turned to him and took out his own taser. "No, I think it's pretty clear." He looked at Jake. "You want us to take him in? Or you want something a bit more permanent than that."
Vin scowled. Traitorous sons of bitches. He committed their faces to memory and took in the names on their shirts. Jones and Ryant.
"No, Billy will be wanting to have a good chat to him I'm sure. The boys here are going to deliver him for us, all boxed up. You can make sure they get through the gate."
The officers looked to the two funeral directors, then piecing it together they looked to the coffin and Vin. Jones, the larger man, smiled. "That could work." He turned to Vin and Vin looked from the taser now readied in his hand to Jake.
"Glad to see you still like to keep things fair."
Jake just chuckled as he nodded to the men, who stepped towards Vin. "Kid, I'm too old to worry about fair." Suddenly the smile left his face. "And you gave up the rights to fair when you and your friend back there took to that roof and started shootin' on your brothers, brother."
Vin felt his chest tighten. Pearce. And he could deny it all he wanted, they had obviously found the man. Before he could dwell any further on what that now meant for him and what conclusions they had made Ryant came up closer in his space and fired, but at the last second he managed to dodge the attack that he had been watching for and avoid the prongs that shot out at him. The quick motion, however, threw him off balance and he overstepped, feeling his world spin as he reached out to steady himself with the edge of the coffin. Even at the top of his game this would have been a bad situtation but with his head ready to implode he knew he had a slim to none shot of getting out of there.
A second later Jones fired and he felt the taser's barbs reach his side, not managing to pierce his skin through his movement and clothing. The slight shock made him flinch back automatically and he was suddenly rammed to the ground by Jake. The powerful man used his weight to slam him down and he was on his stomach in a flash. He felt the back of his shirt lifted and a second later the taser was held to his bare lower back.
It wasn't the first time he'd experienced it, but in his current state it didn't take much to incapacitate him. He felt the charge course through him, the burn as the apparatus was held to his flesh and the electricity as it worked it's way through his muscles. They held him down far longer than necessary and by the time Jake moved his weight from his back he could only watch through glazed eyes as they stepped away from him. For a moment his blurred focus fell on Jake's boots, standing before his face. Black, gleaming boots, silver buckles at the sides... lifting the worst memory of his life to the fore. He lost focus on the words drifting around him, his vision staring blankly at those black, ominous weapons.
"Well that was fun. Put him back in, we gotta get the hell out of here."
He felt rough hands grabbing him, felt himself being lifted off the floor a moment before he was thrown back inside the silk lining of the coffin on his back. The last thing he registered was Ryant's face in his view and the impassive set of the man's features as he closed the lid on him.
Darkness once again filled his vision and in spite of his unresponsive body his mind still tried to focus. He knew he had to start thinking, start getting his head back in the game. He should be worried about what was going to happen when he was delivered to Billy, there was a distant part of him that knew that... but his battered skull seemed to have hit the pause button. Regardless of the pitch black that surrounded him he clearly saw the outline of those boots. The beginning and end of all his nightmares.
..
Half an hour after they had taken Agent Pearce away in the back of an ambulance they were no closer to discovering where Vin had vanished to. Men were pouring over the area and fanning out, looking for any clues as to what had happened. Judging by the blood they'd found at Vin's last known location, it appeared he didn't have a chance to struggle as they'd moved him.
Chris was back near the main gate, speaking on the phone with Murphy as he watched a squad car move out ahead of an ambulance, followed a moment later by a hearse. Murphy's men had seized the compound and were going through everything they could find. The information Vin had given them had led to them finding a storage room underground that was filled with files and a computer system that his men were currently searching. He was confident they would find what they needed to back up the witnesses they had from the facility.
The one thing they didn't find was Billy. He hadn't been out there and there were no reports of seeing him at the funeral. Eddie either for that matter, but that was no surprise to anyone.
Several minutes later he ended the conversation with Murphy at the same moment that an officer approached him, looking frazzled.
"What is it?"
"We just had a call come in, one of the vans transporting prisoners was in an accident. It overturned."
Chris shook his head. Nothing surprised him at this point. "Was anyone hurt?"
"Officer Grear, the driver, was killed and the four bikers in the back escaped. We've sent men out to search the area but we don't have the full details yet. Grear's partner, Officer Rice, is unconscious and still pinned inside."
Chris's mouth was a grim line as he dismissed the officer. "Keep me informed." He shook his head as the officer walked off and the rest of the team reached him. By their expressions he knew nothing new had turned up on Vin and his whereabouts.
"I don't understand," Chris said in frustration. "If he's still here we should be able to find him. If he's gone, how the hell did they get him out?" He knew that Vin was in serious trouble and the longer he was missing the worse his chance of getting out of the situation alive.
"And if they have taken him out, where did they go?" JD said.
Buck thought about the first night he'd met Vin. "The bar? Over in Purgatory? We got anyone watching it?"
Chris looked at him thoughtfully, the frown on his face threatening to become permanent. He called Murphy back and asked him the same thing, his frown deepening further when the answer came back in the negative.
"We should have had it covered," he said, angry at himself.
"They don't have much else left to go back to that we know about," Buck said grimly.
"But how would they get out of here in the first place?" Nathan said.
"Whoever helped them get the guns and men inside might be able to answer that," Buck said, still amazed at how the bikers had buried themselves in shallow false graves and remained there until the opportune time to create complete mayhem. "I know all the staff here have been checked and re-checked, but someone's obviously keeping some secrets."
Ezra was looking pensive as he stared out at a fire truck parked by the burnt wreckage of the nearest coach.
"Riker's team is questioning the funeral directors. Since one of them was taken down in the gunfire though, we can only assume they wouldn't have been standing there if they'd known what was going to go down," Nathan said.
"They're rounding up the groundskeepers again too," JD said.
"What about the ambulances?"
Chris looked sharply at Ezra. "What about them? Each had a police escort."
Ezra nodded, his slow drawl belying the severity of his words. "And we all know how men's loyalties can be purchased."
Chris thought about the vehicles that had just left the grounds. Suddenly he turned back and looked at the gates. "What the fuck was a hearse doing leaving here..."
"What hearse?" Buck asked.
"I just saw a hearse leave after an ambulance. There were no other funerals scheduled for this morning and the bikers used bikes to bring their coffins in..." He turned suddenly towards Nathan. "I need to find out who checked it and where was it going." He tried to picture the vehicle, seeing again the two men in suits in the front and realising he hadn't noticed if there was a coffin in the back.
"The director is still in the main office," Nathan provided.
"Good, go see what he knows." Chris then turned to Buck. "Find out what officers were escorting the hearse and that ambulance and where it's heading. Tell them to stop immediately and wait for further instruction."
"What about the bar?"
Chris's eyes narrowed. "I have a feeling both will lead us to the same thing. I'll get onto SWAT and get it rolling."
Buck moved off and Chris stared after him for a moment. He had a gut feeling about that hearse and regretted that he was distracted when it had gone by him. He should have reacted sooner. Now, his lack of action might cost Vin.
"Where are you going?" Josiah asked him as he turned away.
"To charm that news reporter over there and see if they might have been recording when that hearse left. It looked like they were reporting as it left, we might get lucky."
Josiah followed him and five minutes later had to admit that his boss was pretty smooth. He had the woman bending over backwards for him in seconds to help him find what he wanted. She arranged for them to have a look at the recording in the back of the van, clearing the team out for the moment.
Chris ignored the woman standing before the camera chatting incessantly about nothing she knew about and focused on the gate behind him, waiting impatiently until the squad car appeared. A moment later the ambulance went through, followed by the hearse. Josiah made a note of the plates of each vehicle and the squad car number as Chris cursed beside him. He could clearly see a coffin through the glass of the hearse. He had no idea if you could rent a coffin for a cremation, which might explain one going back to a funeral parlour, but as there were no services scheduled for that morning, he didn't see how that explained it's presence anyway.
"I can't believe I let that go," he said to himself, shaking his head. He blinked, knowing self deprecation wasn't going to help Vin. He stood, motioning to Josiah to head out. "Let's see if Buck's found the officers doing the escort, if not, we have their number now." He knew it was still only a hunch at this point, but his gut was clearly telling him that he needed to pay attention to that strange mix of vehicles. "And let's get aerial support, check with the chopper that was overhead and see if they saw anything. We need to track them down."
Nathan found Chris talking to the police, Buck beside him. "I spoke to the manager and the funeral directors here. The manager confirmed there were no services scheduled and that he had no idea why a loaded hearse would be seen leaving the gates. As far as he knows, coffins only go through the gate one way... One of the directors says he saw the hearse, but that it wasn't from his company. There were no logo's on the side that he could see."
Chris nodded, he'd already seen that for himself. "He didn't think it was strange to see a hearse leaving here with a coffin inside?"
Nathan gave a wry smile. "He did, but he said it was no stranger than armed men jumping out of fresh graves and killing one of his co-workers... he's a bit screwed up at the moment, shock mostly."
Chris turned his attention back to the officer that had been trying to reach the squad car. The officer looked back at him with a grim expression.
"We can't raise the car."
Chris scowled. "Get a GPS location."
The officer looked surprised, like he hadn't thought of it and Chris made a note of the man's young age, biting his tongue. When the kid didn't move though, he grit out the word between his teeth.
"Go."
Buck chuckled as he watched the kid leave. "I see you're getting more patient in your old age."
"Have to, dealin' with you every damn day."
..
Some time later Vin was aware of feeling returning to his body slowly and painfully as if the energy were still running through his flesh. His back hurt where they had held the device and his head was pounding mercilessly. More than that he was thirsty, his mouth dry and his eyes gritty. He'd lost consciousness shortly after they had sealed him inside. He started to move, trying to orient himself and after several long minutes of staring at absolutely nothing it came to him where he was. Closing his eyes he felt the sweat bead his skin and his heart start to race yet again. It was as if the air grew thicker suddenly and the box he was in smaller. He tried not to touch the sides, tried to convince himself that he was in an open space, but the stale air that smelled of his own blood and sweat and the very warmth of it told him the truth.
There was no movement now, everything was completely still and silent. He bent his knees and felt them hit the lid, pushing up with his hands awkwardly to test the seal. It was solid and unmoving. They'd locked him in this time... or buried him...
With that thought his heart rate spiked even more. Jesus Christ had they buried him alive? With no sounds beyond his space and no specks of light through any cracks he had absolutely no way of knowing.
..
Chris turned from Ian Riker, having just listened as he told him that Agent Pearce was in surgery and wouldn't be helping them with any further information for a long while. Vin didn't have that kind of time to wait. Riker had briefed the SWAT team who were grouping together at that moment, almost ready to move out at the ATF Captains call. The young police officer was returning and his face looked grim.
"There's a problem with the GPS on the car."
Chris felt pressure building behind his eyes. He was going to start shouting, or shooting, if somebody didn't give him something to work with.
"But, we were able to locate the ambulance, although we can't raise the driver either."
"Where is it?"
"Across town, do you know where Purgatorio is?"
Chris took a long breath in. The bastards had gotten out right in front of his own eyes and he'd missed it. He turned from the kid and back to Riker.
"Tell SWAT we're moving out. I need whoever you can give me from your team. I'm going to call Murphy and see what I need for clearance to hit the club's bar in Purgatorio."
Riker nodded. "Okay you make your call, I'll check on SWAT and round up my team, they're still not happy you put their boys in the water..."
"I'll make sure the officers of that squad car are located and held until we can question them," Josiah said, heading off to speak to the police Captain close by.
Chris waited for Murphy to pick up as Agent Thomas approached.
"He tell you Pearce is in surgery?" he asked.
"Yeah, I hope he comes through okay," Chris said, still hearing the phone ring out.
"You going after your man?"
Chris hung up and dialled again, this time calling Travis. He looked at the intent expression on Thomas's face. "You looking for payback?"
Thomas nodded. "My boys want to find the bastards that shot their teammate in the back. I'm sure you can understand that."
Chris smiled grimly. "That I can." He looked around. "Still, Riker's already getting his boys together, I'll need someone here to co-ordinate this mess, I was hoping you'd take care of it."
Thomas nodded. "I'll stay, but a few of my boys want to go with you if that's alright with you."
"The more the merrier." His call finally connected and seeing that, Thomas moved off leaving him to his conversation. "Judge Travis."
"Captain Larabee. You sure do like to leave a mark wherever you go son."
Chris grimaced. Two operations, seven bombs exploding. It had the makings of a bad Christmas Carol.
"Is the situation contained?"
"We have it in hand..." he went on to fill the Judge in on everything going on, including the suspected police and paramedic inside help.
"You think Tanner is at this bar?"
"I can't be sure, but I do know the paramedics ended up there, so it's all I have at the moment."
Travis was nothing if not decisive. "Go. Make sure you have enough backup. I'll track Murphy down."
"Thank you Sir."
Chris hung up and took another long breath. He hoped to God Tanner was there. If he wasn't he wasn't leaving until they told him where he was.
..
Vin lost track of time. After he'd first woken up he'd managed to keep himself awake for a while but he'd again found it impossible to keep his focus. He had no idea how long he lasted before the blow he'd taken to the head got the better of him again. The pain in his head was so severe that he was grateful for the respite of unconsciousness. By the time he roused himself long enough to contemplate yet again his situation, he had no idea the amount of time that had passed. It could have been hours or days.
Although his air was stale and thick, he did have enough rational thought left to realise the coffin wasn't air tight. If it was, or if he were buried underground, he thought he would have run out of air by then. He'd kicked against the sides and the lid and the noise that he made somewhat reassured him that he was above ground. He tried using his body to rock the casket, hoping to perhaps tip it over, but although he managed to move it slightly, he achieved nothing more than wearing himself out further. Again though, the movement told him he was not deep in soil and as long as he knew that, he could hold on to hope... and his sanity.
Every time he drifted he visualised one of the last things his eyes had seen, Jake's boots. Memories, never far from the surface, assaulted him. Time had dulled the memory of his childhood, but it took little to remind him of what had been. Jake was as guilty as Billy, as much a part of the childhood demons that plagued him as anyone else and more than ever he felt a burning inside of him for revenge. For his mother and for the situation he was currently in. He hoped he did see the bastard again. He'd make sure the last thing the prick saw was his own boots as they stomped the life out of him.
..
As Vin succumbed yet again to the consequences of his head wound, the rest of Team Seven were preparing to head out, each of them tense yet more than ready for the opportunity to find Vin and take what was left of the club down. As they got to their vehicles Chris's phone rang and he'd found an ecstatic Murphy on the line.
'We've got him, Chris. We've got the bastard. We've got everything we need to shut him down and put him away for life. Whatever you're doing stop. Go find him and bring him in. I'll have the charges ready to lay out for him when we speak again.'
Murphy hadn't realised Chris was already headed that way. Chris grinned as he hung up, appreciating the moment for what it was. For all the pain and anger that the club and the man heading it up had caused, it was going to be one hell of a moment when they arrested him. Having the authority to raid the premises was nothing compared to the knowledge that he had the right to lock up the president himself. All he had to do now was make sure that Tanner came out of the whole mess alive. Anything less than that was unacceptable.