Buck and Nathan were the last to arrive at the emergency room, having reluctantly stayed at the shooting scene to brief the team assigned to the case. Both now were headed straight over to Ezra when Josiah blocked them.
"Don't. Leave him be. He can't handle you right now."
"He can't handle much more of anything right now." Vin commented quietly. He looked at Nathan. "What did you guys figure out from the scene?"
"Not a hell of a lot. According to security and based on the shell casings in the lot, someone was shooting at them from a car."
"Kinda figured that out from the bullet in Chris." JD snapped back.
Nathan ignored the comment, knowing the motivation, but Vin wasn't about to let it pass. "Whoa kid. Settle down. We're all a little stressed out here."
JD clenched and unclenched his fists several times, trying to settle himself. "Sorry guys. It's just, I feel so damned useless."
He was relieved to get a supportive smile from Nathan. "We get it. Anyway, Chris must have been in the position to see it coming and was able to push him down and out of the line of fire."
"And then took the bullets intended for me." Ezra had moved close enough to hear, even though he knew what was going to be said.
"You don't know that." Vin countered, taking a cautious step closer before Ezra moved away again. It was like trying to approach a wounded animal.
"Yes, I do. I have no doubt, and no doubt who was behind it."
"William." Nathan made it a statement rather than a question.
"Assuredly."
Buck calmed himself enough to get into the discussion. "How can you be certain?"
"It is the only thing that makes sense."
"We've all got enemies Ezra. You can't –"
Ezra lost what little self-control he'd held in reserve. "I know Buck!" he shouted back. "I fucking well know, all right? He's been phoning, emailing, stalking me. He's behind all of this."
They all starred. Vin was first to find his voice. "What?"
"Chris knew, but we didn't want the rest of you to worry more than was necessary. No, make that I didn't want you to worry. Chris will pay the price for my pride and arrogance. Someone else is always paying that price."
"But, that's nuts. William is still out west." JD offered, with no conviction in his voice.
"We don't know that." Buck admitted. "And he doesn't have to be here to be the guy calling the shots - so to speak."
Josiah was more focused on Ezra's state of mind at this point. He knew the younger man was going to drown in his overwhelming guilt and self recrimination. "You should have told us what was going on Ezra. You don't have to take this all on yourself. We would've been doing things differently."
"Yes, you all would have put yourselves in the line of fire to protect me from my loving family. That would make be feel so much better. It would make everything so much better."
Vin couldn't recall a time he'd seen Ezra this lost, this devastated. "We could have figured this out Ezra. Together - the way we are supposed to work."
"And Chris would not be hurt, possibly dying, on my account."
"Well, the first thing wrong with that sentence is that he's not dying." Buck grinned widely.
"How can you possibly know that?"
"Because the doctor is coming towards us with a smile."
A few minutes later they had all been reassured that the wound was less severe than it looked, and barring any unforeseen complications, after a 48-hour observation period, Chris would most likely be released.
"You can see him, but just for a couple of minutes."
They surged forward as one, but Vin stopped abruptly when he noted Ezra hadn't budged.
"He's going to want to see you most of all Pard. You know he's gonna need to make sure you're OK."
"You will have to reassure him of that. I cannot go in there."
"That was the second thing wrong with what you said before. This isn't your fault. None of it is."
"Please Vin, save your breath and your platitudes. They were trying to kill me. My family, my blood kin was trying to kill me, and damn near got Chris instead. You cannot begin to devise a scenario where that is not my fault."
"We aren't devising anything. Facts are facts. This is their fault, not yours, and you know that. Chris sure as hell is not gonna blame you. None of us do."
"Perhaps you should reconsider that stance. It is entirely possible, no, probable, that your very lives depend upon it. I cannot allow that." Ezra turned and walked away, wrenching his arm free when Vin tried to stop him. He debated for a moment about actually tackling the man, but knew he'd find just find another way to run.
"You better answer when I call later Ezra. You hear me?"
Josiah stood waiting at the elevator. "The others went ahead. Try not to worry so much Vin. We'll check in on him later."
"And say what exactly? You heard him. You know as well as any of us what he's like when all this kind of shit comes down on him. Can you tell me you know of a way to fix any of this?"
"It won't much matter what we say, he won't hear us right now. No matter how loudly we speak, or what kind of logic we present, he isn't ready to listen. But that doesn't mean we go away."
"We keep pushing - right?"
"Do you think for a moment he would give up on any of us if things were different? He needs us to not give up on him. He just doesn't know that - yet."
7-7-7-7-7-7-7
"You let him leave?" Chris looked like he was going to leap from the bed. The fatigue that had him almost out of it a moment earlier was gone in the adrenaline rush that overtook him. "Do you have any idea how much trouble he can get into?"
"Stay still damn it. Yes, he left. Not sure as I can say I let him as much as I couldn't stop him. As for the trouble... we've got to ATF teams watching his place and the neighbourhood. And following him, once we can find his car. Travis called them in. And Josiah and I will head over in a bit."
"Damn fool."
"You, or him?" Buck asked. Chris glared, but it wasn't enough to stop him. "Why didn't you tell us about the threats?"
"Didn't think we needed to. Ezra was uncomfortable enough about all of this."
"Not a good enough reason Chris. Since when do you let him make that kind of a decision?"
"Since his world went to hell in a handcart and he lost any semblance of control he had. He needed to be able to have a say in something. Have something go the way he wanted it to."
"You picked one jackass stupid time to let him run the show."
"Watch yourself Buck. I may be on my back now, but I'm still your boss."
JD tried to intervene and allow tempers to cool. "It's just - we could've lost both of you Chris."
"I know. It seemed like –"
"Enough. Don't worry about it now." Nathan intervened, not wanting the patient getting more upset. "Can we just focus on what to do going forward, since we can't do much else. Only thing you need to think about Chris is getting better. We can handle the rest."
"You can handle Ezra?" Chris said, skepticism evident.
"As well as anyone can."
Chris rested his head back closing his eyes. "That is not encouraging." The fight had taken more out of him than he wanted to admit. Especially since he knew they were right. "OK, what do we do next?"
"You do nothing." Buck's anger disappeared when he saw how drained Chris looked. He would never get used to seeing any of his friends in the hospital, but his history with Chris made things just that much harder to accept. "We go this. You need to just focus on getting better."
"I'm fine. Doctor said so."
"No, he said you will be, if there are no complications. And resting is the best way to make sure of that, so lie back, shut up, and sleep."
"Didn't I say something about insubordination?" Chris mumbled as he allowed himself to relax a bit. "Still, maybe just a few minutes sleep." He slurred out, dozing off. The men watched him for a moment before quietly relocating outside. Buck waited until he had their attention to speak. "Okay, I'm gonna stay here in case he needs anything. Who's gonna check on Ezra? No, you can't all go."
Vin won out. "I told him I'd call. I don't think he'll take too well to being overrun."
"Do you figure he went home?"
"Not sure." He checked his phone. "A couple of guys from Team 9 spotted him. They're following him. Hang on a second." Vin texted one of the men. "No. Steve says he went to the ranch. At this time of night? That's weird."
"I don't know. Chaucer can settle him better than any of us could." JD noted.
"Yeah, but still…" Vin was puzzled.
"Maybe it's how he feels he can connect with Chris." Josiah offered. "I say the two of us head out. By the time we get there, he will have had some time to settle down. Assuming he stays put."
"Fine, the rest of you go home but be in the office early. We are gonna find this bastard and get him out of Ezra's life once and for all.
7-7-7-7-7-7-7
Vin pulled up behind the car parked on the road in front of the ranch and walked up to the ATF agents who had been keeping an eye on Ezra. He leaned on the car and spoke with the driver.
"Hey Steve. Take it you guys didn't get invited to go riding with him?" Vin asked with a grin.
"We haven't seen him head out anywhere. Went around back, but that was it."
"It's been quiet the whole time?"
"Not a sign of life."
Vin looked up the driveway and had to agree. There wasn't a sign of life. No lights anywhere in the house. The stable wasn't visible from the front, but there was no glow of light from there either. The full moon meant that it wasn't pitch dark, but it was late enough. He absentmindedly waved at the agents before jumping back into the truck and speeding up the lane.
"What?" was all Josiah would ask.
"It's too quiet up there. Doesn't feel right."
"He may just be sitting in the dark." Josiah suggested with little conviction.
Vin pulled up next to the only car outside and jumped out, wasting no time. "Ezra?" he shouted out. There was no response. They headed quickly toward the stables. "This is no time to play around. Where are you?"
They reached the building and looked around. All of the horses were in their stalls. There was no sign of anyone else, but something had been going on. Tack and supplies that hung on the walls of Chaucer's stall were scattered on the ground, and the straw bedding materials had been flung around. Given that the animal had the same fastidious nature as his owner, it was definitely unnatural. More to the point, Chaucer was pawing at the ground, butting against the stall door and generally putting on an agitated performance.
"We get it boy. Somethings off. I'll check the house." Vin called as he began to run. He didn't expect to find him there but refused to overlook the obvious. He could be inside and hurt. Or worse. He didn't want to dwell on that idea. "You look around the area."
Josiah grabbed a high-powered flash from the supply cabinet and headed out. He had no idea where to start. Ezra could be anywhere on the ranch. Even more disturbing was the thought he was nowhere on the ranch.
Josiah slowed as he neared the storage garage at the far end of the yard. The door was down, but he was certain as he got close enough he could hear something running inside. He charged toward the side door, surprised to find it locked.
"Vin can you see into the garage?" Vin was nearing the patio door but redirected his route. He looked to the window at the back of the structure. "Shit. Shit!" He reached down and grabbed a rock, tossing it through the glass. Using his jacket to clear the shards still in the frame, he jumped up and crawled through, taking just a few seconds to clear the boxes that blocked the side entrance and unlock it. He moved quickly to then yank open the door of Chris's battered pick-up, catching an unmoving Ezra as he toppled out toward the ground.
tbc
M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7