In this AU, the boys are in modern day Texas. Sarah and Adam are still alive. We hope that we've set down a good foundation for others to build on.
We began this AU to explore the relationship between Chris and his family, in an effort to see Chris Larabee as the loving father and husband we believe the series was trying to portray him as. And to see how the boys would interact with Sarah and Adam. We welcome other writers who can share that vision and invite you to build on what we've started. We hope you can respect the premise of the AU.
The boys don't belong to us, dangnabit! Thanks to Mirisch, Trilogy, MGM, TNN, CBS, Hallmark Channel for bringing them to us. And many thanks to those seven wonderful actors for giving them life.
And eternal thanks to Rowan for her beta and her suggestions and remarks. (but we will continue to spelled it 'alright'!!). And thanks to Setcheti for giving the story a read and giving us her opinion before we posted it.
Vin Tanner sat in his military surplus jeep sipping a cup of strong coffee from the thermos on the seat next to him. John Blackfox was currently inside a restaurant having breakfast. Knowing the man was armed, Tanner didn't want to confront him in the crowded eatery. He hoped to be able to get him alone later in the day. He'd been chasing this particular piece of trash for two weeks and was ready for the hunt to be over.
Tanner rolled his head around on his shoulders, trying to loosen his neck muscles. All this waiting and chasing was beginning to get to him. He'd been a bounty hunter going on eight years and although the money was good, he was tiring of the hunt.
Blackfox was an arsonist and murderer. He'd been arrested for a fire he was suspected of setting in an office building in Dallas, Texas. Two days after Blackfox was bailed out of jail, the security guard who had been injured during the blaze had died. Murder charges were added. But Blackfox skipped town. Tanner had tracked him down to Houston and now sat outside a local restaurant waiting for the dirtbag to finish his meal.
Vin stood to make fifteen thousand dollars when he brought Blackfox in. He figured that, added to what he already had in his bank account, would be enough to let hi, take an extended break from bounty hunting. Maybe he'd go up to the mountains for a couple months, get away from the city and the crush of people. He'd been working pretty much non-stop for eighteen months. He was tired and worn out, ready to head for the hills for a bit.
His musing was interrupted when the bail jumper exited the restaurant and slid into a beat-up red pickup truck with a camper on the back. Vin had never seen this vehicle before, having always seen Blackfox in a late model utility vehicle. The felon was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, which was also unusual for a man who normally worn flashy clothing. Tanner's suspicions were on high and he decided to just follow his prey for a while and see what he was up to.
Twenty minutes later, Blackfox turned right onto a side street in a Houston suburb. Half way down the block he pulled over to the curb, in front of a small green station wagon. Vin stopped at the corner just before the turn, his vehicle partially hidden behind a large bush. Blackfox got out of his pickup and lifted the hood. After fiddling under the hood for a couple of minutes, he walked to the back of the truck and opened the camper door.
Reaching inside, he pulled out a bag and carried it back to the front of the truck. After a long minute, Vin saw movement under the truck. Picking up the binoculars he kept in a small duffle on the floor of the passenger seat, he placed them to his eyes and focused them in on the truck. He was far enough away to be able to see under the vehicle. And what he saw alarmed him.
Blackfox was moving into position under the green station wagon, dragging the bag with him. He reached inside and pulled out a small container.
"Shit!' Tanner exclaimed to himself. This wasn't good. He knew that Blackfox's background included a knowledge of explosives. It was no stretch of the imagination to figure out that the felon was setting some surprise fireworks for the station wagon's owner.
Vin reached for his cellphone and hoped he was far enough away to use it safely, knowing that cellphones, like portable two-way radios, could trigger certain explosive devices. After dialing 911 and alerting the local authorities, he returned to watching the man under the car.
Two minutes later, Blackfox crawled out from under his pickup. He closed the hood of the truck, climbed in and drove away.
"Damn it!" Tanner slammed his hand against the steering wheel and tossed the binoculars onto the passenger seat. For just a split second, he thought about going after Blackfox. But he knew he couldn't just leave before the cops got there. What if the owner came out and got into the vehicle. No way was Tanner taking that chance. He'd seen what looked like a car seat in the back seat of the station wagon, indicating a child traveled in the vehicle frequently.
He called back to the Houston Police dispatch center and let them know that the suspect had gone, and gave them his direction of travel. He'd already given them the vehicle description and license plate number on his earlier call. As he hung up, he noticed a woman exit the house that the wagon was parked in front of.
About thirty-five years old, she was slightly above average height, with long, curly red hair. She wore dark sunglasses and carried a large bag over one shoulder. As she pulled the door shut behind her, Vin noticed a small boy standing on the step next to her. He was about five years old, with blond hair and a small cowboy hat. Vin muttered another soft curse and quickly jumped out of his jeep.
Footsteps startled the woman as she walked down her driveway and she spun around to see who was approaching so quickly. Her arm reached out protectively, pushing her child out of harms way behind her.
Vin stopped about ten feet away and raised his hands to shoulder height, palms open. "I don't mean to scare you ma'am, but you need to go back inside your house."
She took a couple of steps back, her son moving with her. She frantically looked around for help. She dropped her hand into the bag over her shoulder. "I have a gun in my purse. I'll use it if I have to. And my husband is a Texas Ranger." She spoke in a soft Irish brogue.
That last statement surprised Tanner and made him wonder just who the target was here.
"Ma'am, I won't hurt you. The police are already on the way. My name is Vin Tanner. I saw a man tampering with something underneath your car. Please, you need to move away from the car and go back inside your house."
"Are you a police officer?"
"No, ma'am. I'm a bounty hunter. I was following the man who tampered with your car. Please, go back inside. And you might want to call your husband."
Distant sirens seemed to corroborate the man's story, so she picked up her son and rushed back into the house. A couple of seconds later the sirens shut off and Tanner saw and heard half a dozen police cars converging on the scene.
Vin moved away from the station wagon and back toward his own vehicle, preferring to leave the investigation to the experts. As he approached his jeep, he noticed that there were even more officers than he thought. Several units were a couple of blocks away, starting to cordon off the area.
A female officer with sergeant's chevrons on her sleeve walked up to him.
"Are you Mr. Tanner?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am." She looked at Vin, then down the street toward the green station wagon.
"My name is Sergeant Ritter. What were you doing up near the car, Mr. Tanner?" she asked suspiciously.
"A woman came out of the house with a young boy, looked like she was headed toward the car. I just let her know it would be safer inside."
"I see. The bomb squad is on the way. Can you tell me what you saw?"
As Vin explained, officers began evacuating the block, beginning with the redheaded woman and the child that Tanner had spoken with. She smiled at him as they passed, going to sit in a police car further away.
Thirty minutes later, the Bomb Squad had arrived and had determined that there was indeed a bomb under the vehicle and they were attempting to remove it. A fire truck and a medic unit were on standby six blocks away, just in case.
Vin stood next to a patrol car about two blocks from the scene, waiting for them to clear the area so that he could move his jeep. He was anxious to go after Blackfox, but the sergeant refused to let him leave until the Bomb Squad was finished and could talk to him. Blackfox had managed to slip past the converging patrol units, although they'd found the pickup truck in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant two miles away. It would also be checked for explosives.
Police cars were still coming and going from the scene which had been evacuated three blocks in either direction. On-lookers had started to gather and the media had descended in hordes.
"Sarah!" Tanner turned at the shout to see two men exiting a dark blue extended cab pickup. The driver was a tall, slender, blond man who ran straight for the red-headed woman, who had heard him and climbed out of the patrol car she'd been waiting in. She still held her young son who saw the man running toward them.
"Daddy!" he cried and squirmed until his mother put him down. He ran toward his father, who scooped the young boy up in his arms and hugged him tightly. The woman joined them and the man reached out an arm and pulled her close, the young child now nestled between both parents.
"Daddy! Daddy, you're smotherin' me," a tiny voice said. Mother and father, both with tears in their eyes, laughed at their child's exasperated comment.
"Sorry, son. I'm just so glad you both are alright, I just want to squeeze the stuffing out of you."
"Hey, lil pard, how 'bout I take you out of harm's way, so that your mom and dad can talk." The man who'd come with the boy's father reached out his hands. He was taller than his friend, with dark hair and a mustache, and the smile on his face spoke of his genuine happiness to see the little boy.
"Uncle Buck!" the boy yelled and jumped into the open arms of the other man.
Now with both arms free, the man wrapped them around his wife. "God, Sarah, when I got your message..."
"Shhh, it's okay. We're both fine." She rubbed her hand along his back assuring him that he was alive and well.
"Ranger Larabee."
The blond relaxed his hold on his wife and turned to find Sergeant Ritter standing next to him. "Hi, Linda. Tell me what's going on here."
"We got a call from a man who stated that he had seen someone tampering with the green station wagon," she said gesturing down the block. They could see the Bomb Squad members, in full protective gear, placing a small item into the blast box. "The man, a," she checked her notebook for the name, "...Vin Tanner, is a bounty hunter. He told me that he was following his suspect and saw the man pull over here and crawl under your wife's vehicle. He knows the suspect as an explosives expert, so decided it would be best to call us and let us check the vehicle over."
"A bounty hunter," Chris said with disgust, his lack of respect for the occupation well known to those who worked and lived with Larabee.
"Chris, he saved our lives," Sarah reminded him. "He could have left, gone after his bounty. He stayed. If he hadn't, Adam and I would be dead. He stopped us from getting in the car before the police got here. I was headed out to take Adam to daycare and he told us to go back inside." She chuckled. "In fact, I owe him an apology. I threatened to shoot him."
"What?"
"He startled me. I told him that I had a gun." She shrugged. "I thought he was a mugger. Thought he would be scared off if he thought I was armed."
Chris shook his head. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Spend the rest of your life with me?" she asked with a smile.
"Absolutely. Who else would have you?" he joked. She slapped him on the arm. "Where is this bounty hunter? I suppose I should thank him."
Vin had turned his attention back to the activities near the car and was watching the Bomb Squad place the blast box inside their vehicle. He glanced at his watch, hoping they would clear him to move his vehicle as soon as the Bomb Squad was clear of the area.
"Mr. Tanner." Vin turned to see Sgt. Ritter gesturing for him to join her. He sighed. Checking his watch again he walked toward her.
"When do you think I can get out of here, Sergeant?"
"As soon as the Bomb Squad truck leaves, Mr. Tanner. I talked to their sergeant and he said he'll contact you if he has any questions." She pointed to the blond man beside her. "Mr. Tanner, this is Ranger Larabee. It was his wife and child that you saved today."
"Mr. Tanner," Larabee said, reaching out to shake Vin's hand. "I don't know how I can ever thank you enough. If you hadn't been here..." He stopped, not willing to voice what might have happened.
"I'm just glad I was," Vin said. "I hope the boy wasn't too upset. I think I scared him." He glanced at Sarah, who was standing next to her husband, his arm around her shoulder. "I am sorry, Ma'am. I just didn't know any other way to stop you from gettin' in the car."
She shook her head and smiled. "Don't apologize, Mr. Tanner. You saved our lives. And after I threatened to shoot you, too," she teased. He heard that Irish accent again and figured it suited her quite well, especially with that red hair.
Vin grinned. "Well, Ma'am, I guess you had the right. You were just protectin' your boy. Can't fault a mother for doin' that."
"Thank you, Mr. Tanner," she said, leaning forward to place a kiss on his cheek.
He blushed, then cleared his throat. "It's Vin, Ma'am. And it was my pleasure."
"My name is Sarah and my husband's name is Chris. And this..." she said, taking her child from the mustached man who had just walked up." This is our son, Adam."
"Howdy, Adam," Vin said.
The tow-headed boy shyly buried his face against his mother's neck. Chris reached across and rubbed his hand along Adam's back.
"The excitement has gotten to him," Sarah explained. "I think I'll keep him out of daycare today. When do you think we can go back to the house?" she asked her husband.
"Sarah, honey...I think it would be best if you stayed away from the house today. Buck, can you take Sarah and Adam to your place?"
"Sure, Pard."
"And stay with them."
"Chris..." his wife began.
"No, Sarah. I don't know who is behind this. I want to be sure someone is with you and Adam, until I can get to the bottom of this. I need to know you're safe. Please."
She nodded.
Buck turned to the other man in the group. "You must be Tanner."
"That's me," Vin assured him.
"Well, I just wanted to add my thanks. I'm Buck Wilmington. Chris and I are partners. And Adam is my godson. He and Sarah are two of the most special people on the planet. Thanks for keeping them from getting hurt." The two men shook hands.
"You're welcome."
Buck turned to Larabee. "See ya later, pard. Call me, let me know what's going on." Chris nodded. "Say, Sgt Ritter, any chance you could give me and Sarah and Adam a ride to my house."
"I think I can arrange that, Ranger Wilmington," Ritter said with a smirk.
"Well, good. Now, if you take us yourself, you'll be able to see where I live. That way, when you finally decide to go out with me, you'll have the address of paradise."
"How many times do I have to say this, Wilmington? No. I'm married. Happily so."
Buck sighed. "Yeah, seems all the good ones are. But that don't keep ol' Buck from trying." He winked.
Further conversation was lost as the two, with Sarah and Adam in tow, made their way to a police car. The Sergeant directed the patrol officer to give the three a ride and they drove away, Larabee watching as the car went out of sight. He turned back to face Tanner.
"So, you know who did this?"
"Yeah. His name is John Blackfox. He jumped bail in Dallas on a murder and arson charge. I've been trackin' him for almost a month."
"So you know where he'll go?"
"I have a couple of places I can check." Tanner saw the Bomb Squad vehicle pull away. "And it looks like I can finally get out of here to check them."
"Good. Let's go." Larabee started walking away, stopping when he realized Tanner wasn't following him. He turned to see the bounty hunter heading toward his vehicle, and ran to catch up.
"Where the hell are you going?" he asked, as Tanner climbed into his jeep.
"After Blackfox."
"I ain't riding in this heap," Larabee said, with a disgusted look at Tanner's vehicle.
"Nobody asked you to. I'll let you know when I find him."
"The hell you will! He tried to kill my family!"
"All the more reason I don't want you along. You'll scare away my informants." Larabee glared at him. "Yep, that look will definitely scare them away." Vin reached down and started up his jeep. "Look, cowboy, I'm not gonna lose this guy. He's my ticket to a nice, long, well-deserved vacation. But I can't have you taggin' along. It'll cramp my style."
Chris just stared at him, not used to being dismissed and not sure how to respond. So he said the first thing that came to mind. "Did you...did you just call my a cowboy?"
Tanner smiled. "Hey, if the boots fit, pal!" He put the jeep into gear and released the emergency brake. "I'll call you. Give me forty-eight hours." Without waiting for a response he left, threading his way between the patrol cars that were parked throughout the area.
Chris Larabee stood, dumbfounded, watching the jeep drive away.
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