Dangerous Mine: Chapter 17:
Author's Note: I believe I will be wrapping this up in the next 2-4 chapters. Which is crazy. It's been too long since I've stepped into this world and man I've missed it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing you saw on TV…. or YouTube
-/-
"A friggin what?" Sam asked, dumbfounded. Beside her, JD looked equally taken aback.
"So long as he's not sporting that tattoo for fun, our guy was a Green Beret," Vin repeated himself.
"Don't those guys have to qualify for security clearances?" JD asked.
"Yeah, they do. Just like we did in the Rangers," Vin said, referencing his own military background. "They're the elite unit in unconventional warfare, counterinsurgency, well versed in SERE." Seeing the blank looks of his friends, Vin explained, "Survival, evasion, resistance and escape training. These guys are some of the best of the best, highly skilled, highly intelligent and incredibly deadly."
Sam frowned. "So what you're saying is our boy is all that, and he went full whackadoo. Great."
"You're lucky to be alive Sammy."
Sam shifted on her feet, her hands stuffed tightly under her arms. She felt like she wanted to crawl out of her skin. She could practically feel the dagger part her flesh. Goosebumps rose on her arms. "Ah shit Vin, I knew that even before this fun little revelation. I'd honestly rather not think on it more."
"You may have to Sam. This guy ain't done. And now we know better who we're looking for. No shame if you want to bow out here, let me and the boys handle it." Vin's words were kind.
"No," she shook her head tightly and was grateful Vin couldn't see the furrows her fingers dug into her sides. "I can do it. I'm not gonna sit sidelines here, we both know I'm no good at it." Vin's lips thinned, but he didn't argue. There really wasn't any point.
"So what's the next move?" JD asked.
"Next move is you go home JD," Vin told him. "You need to be in the office tomorrow like ain't nothin happened. And you stay here all night Buck's bound to ask more questions than we need asked right now."
The Team's youngest agent looked less than happy at the proposed course of action. But before he could protest, Sam jumped in to back Vin. "He's right JD. We gotta play this careful right now. Nothing out of the ordinary. Knowing he's Green Beret is gonna narrow our search plenty. Vin and I can handle it tonight. Loop in Chris tomorrow and make a plan. But supposing we're not off our rocker, we can't go tipping Vanessa off. So Vin's right. You should go home."
JD glanced between his friends, frustration playing over his features, even though he knew they were right. "Fine." He stood. "But don't box me out on this. Lucia's killer is still out there, and I want him."
"Wouldn't dream of it JD," Vin said, smiling softly at the younger man. "I'm with you on that anyway, for Lucia, and my own kinda payback." He patted the cast on his leg. JD nodded, grim, and forked the last few morsels of hash into his mouth. Then he rose and headed for the door.
Sam ferried his plate into the kitchen and came back. She eyed the stack of cardboard boxes on the floor next to the couch with obvious distaste. The file folders from Josiah's original profile. "At least we know what we're looking for this time?" she said with a sigh.
Vin snorted. "Sure. Now hand me a box."
-/-
Nearly three hours after JD had left, and with stack of files dripping like melted wax on a candle off nearly every surface of Vin's living room, the sharpshooter let out a whoop. Sam, who had been the midst of rubbing her eyes clear, jerked to attention. "We got ourselves a winner," Vin announced, thrusting his hand with the file in the air. Sam hopped off the bar stool at the kitchen counter and trotted over. Vin handed her the manila file sleeve. He spoke as she scanned it.
"Meet Green Beret Sergeant First Class Nicholas Walker. Walker enlisted out of high school. Honorably discharged three years ago. Fun facts? Walker spent the majority of his childhood in foster care, after being removed from his home after his mom beat the crap out of him one too many times."
Hazel eyes lifted from the papers to meet Vin's eyes. "Well that explains hating women," she said wryly.
"Yep. Walker also volunteered during his time overseas with his company's chaplain. He was honorably discharged after ten years of service. Applied for numerous federal programs, got into the ATF."
Sam's eyebrow quirked toward her hairline. "Says he graduated as a rookie two years ago, but never found a placement."
Vin held up a finger. "Almost true. He did find a spot. Yours." Sam felt the blood drain her her face. "He was up for being your replacement, requested it even, but Orrin Travis rejected his application, citing, and I quote, 'a concerning psychological profile.' It basically black balled him. Denver didn't want him, so apparently neither did anyone else. Disappeared off the grid like 6 or 7 months ago."
Sam found herself staring at Walker's photo, like she could somehow see him through the stocking mask in her memory. She couldn't, but his eyes did feel eerily familiar. "Definitely sounds like our guy."
"Nail in the coffin?" Vin threw it out.
Sam met his gaze expectantly. "Feel like you buried the lead here Vin."
Vin grinned. "He was in Vanessa Navarro's graduating class."
-/-
Chris Larabee was a man prone to fits of temper. Usually with good reason, but still. All the same, Sam kept a wary eye on the lithe blonde leader of Team 7, from a safe distance. The man's eyes were closed and there was a distinct red hue in his neck that was fast rising into his face. Chris, Vin, Sam and Ezra all occupied the living room area of Vin's apartment, surrounded by their makeshift case board. Sam had considered taking cover on the far side of the kitchen island, figured it would be the smarter place to be if Chris imploded. She had rarely been accused of being smart in regards to Chris's tongue lashings. Vin looked steady, ready to face down whatever tirade Chris was building. Ezra looked… perturbed.
"Why," Chris uttered slowly, eyes shut, like he was trying to control himself. "Did you two wait this long to tell me all this?" He opened his gray blue eyes and looked between Vin and Sam.
"Cuz until last night we had a whole heap of nothin' cowboy," Vin answered.
Sam figured that was a better answer than the immediate thought on her lips. 'Because I don't work for you.' Sometimes other people's discretion was the better part of her valor.
"But you had suspicions!" Chris snapped. "What if I'd taken the protective detail off Mary, Inez and Casey?"
"Reckon then I'd have said something a might sooner," Vin told him. Chris growled, glaring at the younger man. Vin didn't so much as twitch. "Raisin' hell over it was the wrong play pard. Not till we knew somethin' solid."
"Your special forces tattoo."
"Yep," Vin nodded.
"Which still doesn't explain why you were looking in the first place," Chris said.
Vin spoke carefully, well aware of the fact Ezra was in the room. He'd asked for the southerner to be present, couldn't see outing his relationship with Vanessa to Chris without him there. Hell, he hoped Ez would just out it himself. "Didn't feel right, what happened with Siegrest. Too easy. Too much a rookie mistake for a guy that's been a jump ahead of us this whole time." Chris's lips thinned, but he didn't argue. Hadn't he said nearly as much to Mary during Lucia's memorial? It hadn't felt done. Chris was just pissed he hadn't looked harder on his own. He'd wanted it to be done, so he'd ignored his gut.
"He's leaving out a few important details Mr. Larabee," Ezra drawled, crossing his hands over his chest, glaring at Vin and Hunter. Sam set her jaw with a thrust of her chin, holding his gaze. Maybe she did screw things up for him, but she wasn't going to apologize for being right.
"Which would be?" Chris's voice began to rise. "Feel like I'm in the middle of a damned Mexican standoff. One of you three needs to start being clear real quick."
The silence stretched between them, as did the tension. Sam broke first, throwing her hands in the air. "Siegrest didn't have a gun Chris, Vanessa planted it on him." Chris's eyebrows shot skyward.
At that Ezra quickly jumped in. "Which is an absolutely baseless, absurd theory…"
Vin followed soon after, "Not as absurd as the notion of you missin' seein' that gun Ez…"
Sam fired back, and now all three were talking at once, "Baseless? Tell him about the bullets Ezra…"
"… she did have access to your apartment pard…"
"….simply because you have a personal dislike of the woman due to our relationship…"
"…it did get us back to lookin' at the video footage…"
"…oh don't turn this into something it's not…"
"Enough!" Larabee roared. Three jaws snapped shut with a series of clicks. Chris took a breath. "That's a hell of an accusation Hunter."
"I know." She said calmly. "But I'm not wrong." On her left, Ezra grunted. She ignored him. "Siegrest's prints were on the gun, but not on the bullets. Ezra checked," Hunter jerked her chin in his direction. Grudgingly, Ezra nodded. "Ez and Nathan have been figuring there was someone on the inside from nearly the jump of this. Vanessa fits. She had access, and opportunity to give this guy information to keep him ahead of the investigation. She showed up at the hospital at 5am after the fire, but Vin and I checked, no one called her. And she had unfettered access to…" Hunter cut herself off, eyes dropping to the tops of her shoes. She couldn't do it. Saying those words, telling Chris about Vanessa and Ezra? Felt like a cliff with Ezra she'd never be able to climb again. So she couldn't say them.
"Access to what?" Chris asked. Sam bit the inside of her cheek.
"To my apartment Mr. Larabee," Ezra said with a sigh. There was no point denying it, the cat was out of the proverbial bag, though he did appreciate Vin and Hunter's reluctance to say anything of it themselves. "She had unfettered access to my apartment on numerous occasions." Chris turned his gaze on his undercover agent, expectant. Ezra looked him straight in the eye. "Ms. Navarro and I were engaged, for several months, in an other than professional relationship."
Stormclouds rolled over Chris's face. "That," he said pointedly, voice low and dark, "we will discuss later." His gaze swept over the other three people in the room. "But none of you thought to mention that after JD found a damned camera?"
"To be fair," Hunter shrugged, "I didn't bring up the idea to Vin until after that meeting."
"And I didn't think too much of it until after what went down with Siegrest," Vin admitted. "But I'm fair sure Walker's the guy. And she was in his graduating class out of the academy."
Ezra crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't personally agree with their assessment of the situation. But the facts are what they are, Vanessa DID have access to my apartment. But I still think they're wrong."
"And the motive?" Chris prompted. "Sure, you've got means and opportunity here, and some rather damning circumstantial evidence, but you still haven't shown any motive. What you've got still wouldn't get us a warrant."
"I could find something," Hunter suggested. Three sets of eyes turned on her. "I could break into her place while she's at work and…"
"No!" The chorus of three voices cut her off.
"Okay, okay," Hunter held her hands up. "It was just a thought."
"As a general rule," Chris said, sounding exasperated, "how bout you just refrain from activities that are gonna make me arrest you later?"
"So basically just ignore my instincts?" she joked.
"Yeah, that."
"Fine. Killjoy," she muttered.
Chris shook his head. Then he looked at Vin. "You're sure it's Walker?"
"Yep. Pretty damn."
"Then next step is we find him. Take point on this Vin. I'll loop in the others and Travis. You've got three days."
"What's in three days cowboy?" Vin queried.
"The Governor's Fourth of July fundraiser for law enforcement. Walker fed us Siegrest to make us drop our guard, and I've got a bad feeling as to the why."
"Yeah, but he ain't never done anything that big," Vin protested. "It's always been focused on one person. One sin, as he sees it. You really think he'd escalate to somethin' like attacking a whole party?"
"He's made numerous references to ridding Denver of it's political corruption," Chris countered. "Doubtless the Governor is near top on that list. Plus lots of other political and law enforcement heavy hitters will be there. It's a logical target if he's looking at some endgame."
"Our miscreant Sergeant Walker does seem to favor the theatrical," Ezra commented. "This fundraiser would certainly fill the requirement for pomp. And it makes sense. Fourth of July, patrol officers will be busy on the streets, while the big wig brass attend the Governor's function. It would be a convenient means of doing away with Denver's morally corrupt government." Ezra shrugged, "It's what I would do, even if Independence Day is a little on the nose for my taste."
"Plus aren't you all getting an award?" Hunter asked. "You all are very much the focal point of this guy's hate. He wants to destroy Denver's sin right? And he's named you all embodiment of that sin. Wreaking havoc on an event where you're being honored seems pretty on brand."
"I'll talk to Travis about trying to convince the governor to cancel the event, but I doubt I'll have much luck. As I was told before," Chris scowled, "it's an election year. And perception matters. The Governor won't want to seem weak."
"Does the Governor want to seem dead?" Vin asked. "Cuz that's a real possibility. "Chris grunted, but his lip quirked.
"We find Walker? It won't be an issue. So let's do that." Chris said.
Vin nodded, grim. "And if we don't?"
"Then I imagine it's gonna be a real interesting evening."
"May you live in interesting times," Sam said, "pretty sure that was said as a curse."
Vin pulled out his phone. "JD already knows what's going on. Could use his help. Who you calling' Sammy?" He asked as he watched her pull out her phone as well.
"Mary. We're going to this thing I don't think a T-shirt and sweats is gonna cut it." She plucked at the baggy black shirt. "I'm gonna need a dress."
-/-
It didn't take long for JD to track down Walker's last known address. It did take a bit longer to reach his former landlord, Joseph Vetelli. By the time they'd arranged a meeting the time they had left to find Walker had been whittled down to a mere fifty hours. They met Vetelli at Walker's former home, a two bedroom apartment in Lakewood, outside of Denver.
Vetelli was neatly dressed, gray button down tucked into a pair of well fitting jeans, long salt and pepper hair secured in a band low on his neck. He was waiting for them when Vin and Sam arrived, leaning against the hood of his newer model Subaru Forester. The man's eyebrow raised as he watched Vin extricate himself from the passenger seat of his Jeep with no small bit of effort, and collect his crutches from the back seat. "Agent Tanner?" he queried.
"Yep," Vin answered, briefly flashing his badge before putting both hands back on his crutches. Sam came around the front of the Jeep a moment later.
"And you are?" Vetelli asked, looking her up and down.
Sam took up position by Vin's elbow. "His day nurse," she deadpanned.
Vetelli huffed, then turned his attention back to Vin. "Well sorry man, I wouldn't have had you come out here if I'd known about your leg. I could have had the stuff I told you about sent to your office via courier."
"Not a problem." Vin was relieved the man had never offered. Hard to keep Vanessa in the dark of their suspicions if that had shown up in the bullpen.
"All right then. Well, what I've got of Sergeant Walker's stuff is down in storage in the basement, but I rented the apartment a couple months back. If you want to follow me." Vetelli held the front door for Vin and Sam, then directed them toward an elevator in the back of the building.
"Can you tell me about Walker as a tenant?" Vin asked.
"Sure, I guess. Never did talk to him much. He kept to himself mostly. He paid up front for the year, including security, so I was happy to have him. Though a couple of my female tenants apparently thought he had a weird 'vibe'." Vetelli crooked his fingers in air quotes around the word. Vin and Sam exchanged a glance. "Not sure exactly what that meant, they couldn't point to anything specific really." The man shrugged. "Like I said, Walker didn't talk much, kept to himself. I was surprised when the utility company got a hold of me, said he hadn't paid in a couple months. So I did a wellness check on his apartment. He was just gone. Four months left on his lease too."
"So six months ago," Sam said, her face draining to pale.
"Yeah."
Her tongue darted out over her lips, though suddenly her mouth felt bone dry. "You remember the day?" Her stomach had flipped, ended up somewhere down by her knees.
Vitelli's brow furrowed, face confused. Vin had to admit, he shared the sentiment. "Uh, like the 16th, I think?"
They neared the elevator bank and Sam's feet slowed, letting Vitelli on ahead. Vin held back. He looked at Sam questioningly. "That's the day after I moved back," she told him stiffly. Vin tensed at the revelation. Blue eyes flicked to her ashen face.
"Ain't on you," he murmured to her quietly. "Might not even mean nothin'." Sam's head tilted as she raised an eyebrow at him. Fine, fair. "Still ain't on you."
"No," she reluctantly agreed. "But does seem like it set the clock." Walker's landlord was holding the elevator door. Vin gave her wrist a squeeze before they followed Vitelli inside. In the elevator as they descended, Sam pulled out her phone. "You ever see this woman come around while Walker lived here?" She held up a screenshot of Vanessa's ATF ID headshot.
Vitelli leaned close for a better look, his brows bunching together, then gave a low whistle. "Nah, her I'd remember. She never came by." Sam stuffed the phone back on her pocket. Vitelli regarded her curiously. "Day nurse huh?" he asked.
"I wear many hats," she responded flatly.
It was a quick trip down two floors to the subbasement and storage. The whole place had a musty odor, mineral deposits accumulated on the concrete blocks of the walls from dripping condensation. The door to the storage room was locked, and it took Vitelli a few moments to locate the key on his overly adorned keychain. He flipped on the light switch when they entered, and a single bare bulb overhead winked at them. Sam's skin crawled.
Metal storage racks broke the room into thirds. Vitelli led them down the center aisle. Two thirds of the way down he paused, turned on his heel toward the racking on the other side, then turned back. "There was a box…" he muttered. He patted the rack at just above head height with his right hand. "… right here."
"And it's gone?" Vin asked, crutching his way up next to the man.
"I know I put it right here."
Frowning, Vin transferred both crutches to his left side. He took a small hop closer to the rack, then stretched his right hand as far back as he could reach, blindly patting the shelf. His fingers brushed over something, which he grabbed and pulled off the shelf. "Bible," he announced unnecessarily. Sam already knew, the large embossed cross on the front was a clue. And dangling out from the middle of it's pages on a lanyard, was a thumb drive.
-/-
"Sammy you gotta sit down," Vin told the copper haired woman later that evening as she made her better than tenth circuit around his apartment. "Making me dizzy."
She stopped in front of the couch, though she remained shifting from foot to foot. "He's got pictures of me in Chicago Vin." She thrust a finger at the pictures on the screen of his laptop. "He's been hunting me, hunting all of us, for months!"
"You really that surprised?" he asked, pausing in his perusal of Walker's digital photo album. There were pictures of all of them, in every walk of their life. From the mundane to the uncomfortably personal. Nearly all of them had pictures taken inside their home, either via a telephoto lens, or more disturbingly, through a window. Pictures of them at the Saloon with Inez and Lucia, Josiah entering the abbey in Red Feather, in the vast openness of Chris' ranch on their horses. Even Ezra, in his ninth floor apartment, was not immune. That particular series of photos involved Ezra and Vanessa, the latter in various stages on undress. Heat rose up the sharpshooters neck, and he flipped through the images as quickly as he could manage.
"Yes. No." Sam paced a small circle. "I don't know," she sighed, hand on her temple. "I wasn't expecting Chicago," she said softly. "I wasn't expecting my coming back to be the starting gun for this whacko's crusade."
"If it hadn't been you it woulda been something else." Vin's reasoning was sound, logical. It made her feel no better. The sharpshooter exited the photo folder, the cursor of his mouse hovering over the rest of the thumb drive files.
"You heard what he said to those women. He quotes scripture as justification for his own hate. It's a wonder he didn't attack any of them." Sam resumed her pacing. Vin sighed. Though he couldn't much argue with her. The two female tenants they had spoken to before leaving had not been sorry to see Walker go. He'd more or less corned one in the laundry room of the building. She'd said she'd felt him watching her, that he'd stepped in front of her on the way out the door. He'd looked up the words on the walk back to Purgatorio. It was Proverbs 11:22-23. 'As a ring of gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman without discretion.'
Sam picked up the Bible Walker had left them, brandishing it in the air. "And everything in here he's marked about sin? And none of it," she threw the book on the far side of the couch from Vin, "gets us any closer to finding him."
It was true. Neither Vitelli nor any of the tenants they'd interviewed could give them any idea where Walker might have gone. He had no friends in the building, had left no forwarding address. The box of his personal belongings had gone missing from storage, only to be replaced by the thumb drive and Bible Vin was sure had been left on purpose. The car registered to Walker had been abandoned and impounded, according to JD, four months earlier. He'd been taught how to be a ghost, and Walker had learned the lessons well.
"There's an audio file," Vin announced, lips thin, face taut. "He does like his messages of doom." Sam sat heavily next to him, waiting, expectant. The ball of her foot drummed the ground. Vin hit play.
"If you listen to this now, you know now who it is that brings judgement upon this city. Congratulations. It will not save you. Denver's day of reckoning is nigh. The desire of the righteous is only good, but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. You see wrath where there is only God's justice. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom. There is no place for you here, this city that will be washed and sanctified. It is as it was written - Behold, all souls are mine; as the should of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sinners, it shall die. These are not my words, these are the proclamation of God. I have shown you to carry avarice, lust, gluttony, hubris, sloth and wrath. So you all have followed the road to Perdition, and you will not be raised from it. Prepare, for your end.'"
The recording ended. Vin and Sam exchanged a glance. "Well," the sharpshooter ran a hand over his mouth, "shit." Sam didn't say anything. She didn't have to. Vin had said it all.
-/-
Chapter 17
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