A day and a half had gone by since Chris's admittance into the hospital and the ATF team had found nothing. Ezra sighed in disgust. He and Vin were still pouring over their teammates' individual lists, comparing them, trying to find something that would have exposed Chris to the poison. Nothing.
Josiah, Nathan, and Walker had gone through all of the passenger manifest and the airline personnel without any luck. JD, Buck, and Trivett were still searching every possible database, some legal and some not so legal, and were no closer to finding any clue about the poison. The doctor added his piece when he told them that there had been no puncture wounds anywhere on Chris's body. Other than that, the doctor was useless.
"I can't look at these damned lists anymore!" Vin's violent hiss brought Ezra back from his thoughts.
"There's nothing here! It can't be anything Chris ate 'cause he always shares with the rest of us. It can't be his clothes 'cause they've tested negative for anything. What the hell are we missing?" Vin ranted as he paced, something that reminded Ezra of Chris when he was worried.
"I know that we are missing something. Something small and insignificant. Chris never left our presence. He was always with one of us ... there has to be something ... " Ezra trailed off.
"What is it Ez? What's going on in that head of yours? I know that look." Vin eyed his friend's facial expression. It was one he knew well. Ezra always got it when he was trying to think of something that was bugging him, but he couldn't quite get it.
"Something ... keeps pulling at my brain, but it constantly alludes me ... "
"Good afternoon, gentlemen. How is Mr. Larabee today?" The two men only spared the nurse quick smiles. Vin returned his attention to his friend while Ezra resumed stared into space, trying to capture the thought.
Snap!
Ezra's eyes jerked to the nurse. She had just pulled on a pair of gloves and was busy examining Chris, making sure that none of the tubes and wires had come lose. Ezra stared, but not at the nurse. No, he was staring at her hands, more specifically her gloves.
"Good lord!"
"Ez?" Vin looked up the southern agent, who had jumped up from his chair and was now pacing furiously around the room, mumbling to himself.
"Ez?"
"Huh, what, oh! Vin! I believe I may know how Chris was poisoned!"
"Ezra, calm down. Tell me."
"Wait, I must to speak to Dr. Ellis! Nurse, could you ... " Ezra turned to the nurse but found her already leaving the room.
"I'll get him immediately."
"Agent Standish, I believe you wanted to talk to me?"
Ezra turned to address the doctor, "Dr. Ellis, is it possible for the perpetrator to have applied the toxin to a pair of leather gloves and then touched Mr. Larabee, thereby transferring the poison from the glove to his skin ... "
"Yes, that is possible! If the toxin was mixed with DMSO to open Agent Larabee's skin pores to allow the toxin into his blood stream!"
"Ezra?" Vin had been patient enough, now he wanted answers.
"Vin, do you remember at the airport, we were making our way to the terminal when a woman "bumped" into Chris?"
The memory hit Vin like sucker punch to the gut, "Oh God! She had on gloves. She touched Chris when he grabbed her hands to keep her from falling!"
"Vin, do you remember her appearance? I was in front of them so I never saw her face." Ezra prayed like a saint, hoping to God that Vin remembered.
Vin's eyes lit up, "Yeah, yeah, I do. Let's get everybody here."
"Okay, now make her nose a little slimmer. Yeah that's it."
"Eye color?"
"Damn, I don't remember!"
"Hazel. Her eyes were hazel." Vin and Trivett turned in surprise towards Nathan.
He only shrugged, "I thought she was kinda pretty."
"Don't let Rain hear you say that." Despite their current problems, Buck was still a rogue through and through. Nathan smiled in acknowledgement.
"Okay, let's put this through the databases and see who comes up. It might take a little while." Trivett quickly punched in a rapid succession of keys and then leaned back, waiting for the results.
"Trivett." The younger ranger looked up in surprise at the take-out box that Walker held out to him.
"Thanks, Walker."
Trivett dug into his food, covertly watching the other men in the room. Buck and JD were sitting on the other bed, both eating take-out from CD's Bar and Grill. Nathan and Vin inhabited the chairs on either side of Chris, while Josiah and Ezra were sitting at a table that they had "confiscated" from another room.
When they got the call from the Southern agent to come back, the others had broken every speed record and traffic law in the state to get back to the hospital, all fearing the worst. Instead, they finally got their first concrete lead. Now, they were eating lunch and waiting for the results.
BEEP! BEEP!
"Got it!" At Trivett's triumph exclamation, the others gathered around.
"Whatcha got, Trivett?" Walker leaned over his partner's shoulder to get a better look.
"Her name's Hazel Green ... "
"That can't be her real name!"
"Actually, Buck, it is. Parents must have had a weird sense of humor. Anyway, says here she's been picked up for prostitution several times."
"Home address?" Josiah asked.
"274 Maple, Apartment 300. Says here that her last known job was at 'Dancer Unlimited'. Looks like she took up the slightly more respectable and legal profession of a stripper."
"Okay, Nathan, you and Trivett take a look at her apartment," Vin said, his hands resting on his lean hips. "See what you can find. Walker, Buck, Josiah, try the strip joint. If you find her, find out what she knows. Me, JD, and Ez will keep looking for a cure here. Ranger Trivett, mind if we keep your laptop here?"
"Uh, no, not a problem." Trivett was a bit surprised at the commanding tone in the young man's voice. Sneaking a glance at Walker, Trivett wanted to see how the older man would react to taking orders from the much younger Vin Tanner. It would be interesting to see if Walker would followed someone else for once. To Trivett's unending surprise, Walker simply nodded.
Catching his partner's stunned expression and knowing why, Walker leaned over and quietly said, "It's what I was gonna suggest anyway. Besides, this is about their boss."
With that, the five law enforcement officers left to find the one link that might save Chris's life.
"Ms. Green! Texas Rangers, can we talk to you?" Trivett and Nathan stood in front of Hazel Green's apartment.
"Looks like no one's home, let's go in." Nathan was getting impatient.
"Do you want to get the manager to open ... " Trivett started but never finished.
"How about I just kick the door down?" Nathan interrupted with an impatient growl.
"I thought you might feel that way." Trivett said and pulled out a lock pick set, grinning at the ATF agent. When Trivett saw Nathan's answering grin, the Ranger set to work on the lock.
Once inside, the two men spilt up, donning latex gloves and carefully searching through the apartment.
Nathan cautiously picked through a pile of clothes, watching warily for possible drug needles or the gloves that Ezra and Vin had described. Finding nothing there, he headed for the trash, thinking that she might have thrown them away to get rid of the poison.
Nothing.
Just as Nathan was about to scream in frustration, he spotted what looked like a small white plastic bad tucked into a corner. 'Maybe, just maybe' he thought.
"Trivett!"
Trivett rushed from the bedroom and found Nathan holding up a pair of red leather gloves.
"Let's get 'em to the lab."
"Well, brothers, the den of iniquity." Josiah, Buck and Walker faced the strip joint, all with the same look of disgust on their faces. The building was surrounded by the riffraff of society: street hookers, drug dealers, ex-cons.
"Something tells me this ain't gonna be a walk in the park." Buck mused as they crossed the street and headed into the club.
Once inside, they stopped a waitress and asked for Hazel Green. They were directed to another waitress in the middle of the room.
"Hazel Green?"
"Yeah, who wants to know?"
"Ranger Walker, these are ... " Before he could even finish his sentence the woman let out an ear piercing scream.
"COPS!!! COPS!!!"
Suddenly the three "cops" were surrounded.
Buck sighed, sometimes, he hated being right. Sometimes.
Who threw the first punch was moot.
Chairs, bottles, and bodies went flying as the three lawmen took on nearly the entire bar.
Well verse in the martial arts, Walker calmly and efficiently disposed of his opponents with swift kicks and vicious punches and jabs.
Buck fought like he did everything else in his life: loudly. With a guttural roar, Buck threw himself into the fray, punching, kicking, and occasionally head-butting the bar patrons.
Normally a gentle giant, Josiah swept into the battle like an avenging angel. The frustration and anger that roared through his veins found an outlet in beating the living shit out of the drunken rabble.
Minutes later, the three lawmen stood in the middle of the bar, surveying the damage and looking for Hazel Green.
Walker spied movement in a dark corner and darted forward. He emerged dragging the struggling prostitute.
"Ms. Green, you do understand that we could charge you with the attempted murder of a federal agent, don't you?" Buck was frustrated.
They had been in the Ranger's interrogation room for nearly two hours. He and Walker had taken turns interrogating Hazel Green, but to no avail. Buck had not only tried to charm it out of her, he also tried to appeal to her sense of humanity, but the stripper remained unmoved. He and Walker even tried the good cop/bad cop routine, ending with Walker breaking a chair against the wall. She didn't even flinch. The woman was ice.
"You ain't got nuthin' on me. When am I gonna get my phone call? I know my rights you know." She said it calmly, even going so far as to pop the gum in her mouth.
That was the last straw for Buck. He lunged at her, but was quickly subdued by both Walker and the uniformed officer in the room. Again, the stripper remained calm.
On the other side of the mirror, Josiah stood in the dark, silently contemplating the young woman in the room. He was startled out of his musings when the door opened and in stepped Trivett.
"How's it going?" Trivett asked but quickly added, "never mind" when he saw Buck lunge for the woman.
"How did your search go, Brother James? Was it fruitful?"
"Yeah, we think we found the gloves that she used to poison Agent Larabee with. Nathan's gone to the lab to get it tested."
Josiah didn't answer Trivett. He only stood there, staring at the young woman.
"Honey, you don't scare me. Now, where's the phone, I'm gonna call my lawyer!"
Josiah sighed. They were getting no where fast. Josiah knew he had to find a way to get to her, he needed to find something that would break her blasé attitude. Once again, he picked up her file, reading it for the second time.
'November 23, 1978: Neighbour watch alerted Squad car 34 of domestic violence at the residence of Mr. Paul Green. Apparent female victim, Hazel Green, claims she fell down a flight of stairs and screamed when her father tried to treat her injuries. Female patient was treated for various abrasions and welts. Patient was found with her father, Mr. Green. No action was taken because of Ms. Green's claim that she fell down the stairs and not that her father pushed her as the neighbours' story. Paramedic's note: Father might be mute, didn't say a word the entire time.'
It was then that a flash of understanding exploded through the ex-anthropologist. Josiah knew how to get the information they needed from the young woman.
Buck and Walker turned when they heard the door open and in stepped the giant of a man. Buck looked at Josiah and understood the silent command. Buck quickly left, taking both the protesting uniformed officer and a surprised but compliant Walker with him.
Hazel sat there and warily eyed at the huge man in the room with her. He was large and silent. He just stood there in the dark corner and stared at her. She could feel his glare burning a hole in her head. She tried to ignore the man, but the silence in the room began to get oppressive.
"Hey, honey, wanna have a good time?" She grinned at him saucily and popped her gum. But frowned when there was no answer forthcoming from the dark corner.
She sighed, "So what do you want?"
Silence.
"Look, I already told them other cops, I don't know nuthin'!"
Again silence.
"You know, if you're not gonna arrest me, you're gonna haftha let me go ... you can't hold me here forever!" With each word, Josiah and the others could hear the panic in her voice rising.
Again silence met her comments.
Hazel was getting scared now. Silence of any kind always got to her, it made her nervous. It took her back to her childhood.
The guy still hadn't said anything.
Just like her father.
Whenever Daddy was in that mood, Daddy would just silently stare at her for a long time.
Then the beating would begin.
SNAP!
SNAP!
Even through that he was silent. The only sounds were the belt ripping into her skin.
SNAP!
SNAP!
Hazel started to hyperventilate, sweat beaded on her skin, her pupils dilated. Her knuckles were white from clenching the chair's arms.
"His ... his name's Manny. He hangs out at the Pink Panther. He's a short guy, brown hair, balding ... he's got an earring in his nose and one in his left ear. I ... he ... I ... paid me to just touch the blonde guy with the gloves. I swear, I swear, I didn't know! I swear, that's all I know! Please, talk to me!
Her confession ended in a panicked scream, her eyes begging Josiah to say something, anything!
Josiah stood there, looking at the stripper dispassionately. He had no pity for the person who was slowly killing his family. By association and by being the person who had actually poisoned Chris, she would not receive any compassion from the usually generous man either. Josiah simply turned on his heel and left the room, turning his back on the now weeping dancer.
"JD, Ez, whatcha want for dinner?" Vin picked up his leather jacket and fished out his wallet. The three of them had spent the entire day staring at computer screens and the fatigue was showing. Vin was starting to get claustrophobic and had to get out of the tiny hospital room.
JD shook his head, not once lifting his eyes from the screen. Vin had never seen the kid like this before, obsessive to the point of compulsion. Buck had told Vin how the kid had spent the previous day the same way, never once leaving the computer. At this point, Vin knew that there wasn't a damn thing that was gonna move the youngest of their team, except maybe Chris waking up and ordering him to stop with the computer stuff. But it didn't look like that was going to happen any time soon.
"Mr. Tanner, I would like to join you. I feel the need to stretch my legs, to prevent possible muscle atrophy." Ezra, too, had noticed the young agent's preoccupation with the computers and was worried as well.
"Sure."
Ezra and Vin left the room, both shooting concerned glances at JD.
"The kid's gonna make himself sick."
"You know that, I know that, but I do not think that Mr. Dunne cares if he gets sick as long as Mr. Larabee gets better. And it is highly unlikely that he will listen to our wisdom."
Vin couldn't argue with Ezra on that. With one last look through the window, Vin and Ezra went in search of enough edible non-hospital food for the entire team.
They returned half an hour later and were intercepted by a nurse.
"These were just delivered for you."
"Thank you madam." Ezra accepted the files.
"What are they?"
"They seem to be medical journals. There is a note attached, 'Perhaps these will help. Dr. Ellis'. Well, that is certainly generous of the good doctor ... "
"Code Blue! Room 243! Code Blue! Room 243! Code Blue!"
Ezra and Vin exchanged startled looks. 243 was Chris's room!
In their haste to get back to Chris, they nearly dropped all of the food and files. But once there, the sharpshooter and the undercover agent found carefully orchestrated chaos. Doctors and nurses rushed about the room, plugging in some machines and taking out others.
Vin nudged Ezra and pointed to where JD stood flush against the wall, watching the scene unfold with horrified eyes. The two men plastered themselves against the far wall, trying to keep out of the medical personnel's way and to get to JD at the same time. Once they reached their youngest team member, Vin grabbed JD's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze before he turned his total attention to the doctors and nurses.
JD watched with wide eyes, he didn't know anything about medicine, but the doctors sounded desperate. Silent tears rolled down his haggard face, making the young man look much older than his 22 years.
Over his head, Vin and Ezra traded worried looks. They, too, had picked up on the seriousness of the situation. With a nod of silent understanding, Ezra moved like a wraith to appear at Chris side.
"Mr. Larabee. Chris. Listen to me. You must fight. You cannot die. We could not bear your absence in our lives."
Vin materialized by Chris's other ear, "Ezra's right, cowboy. You need to fight, come back to us! We need you, Chris!"
"Mr. Tanner is correct, Mr. Larabee. We do need you. Who will protect the others from Mr. Tanner's pranks? Who will stop Mr. Wilmington from giving young Mr. Dunne those godawful 'swirlies'? Please, my liege, we need you ... I need you!" Ezra fiercely whispered the last part of his plea into his lord's ear. Ezra was desperate, the sounds coming from the doctors were not encouraging which caused Ezra to quietly go insane. Chris had to live, he just had to or several lives would be destroyed. And Ezra knew that one of them would be his own.
"He's crashing!" Vin turned frightened eyes to the doctor who said it, but immediately refocused all of his intentions back onto Chris.
"C'mon, cowboy! Fight! Damnit! Don't you give up on us now! Damnit, Chris, fight! Come back to us!" Vin had lost too many people in his young life and he didn't think he could withstand one more. He would not let Chris go without a fight!
"PleaseGodpleaseGodpleaseGod." The litany was all that could pass through JD's lips. His fear was mounting to unimaginable heights. He could hear the fear in the voices of his older brothers. If Ezra and Vin were scared, JD knew how bad Chris's condition had become. He, too, knew what was at stake.
You have taught me laughter,
Joyousness and light,
How the day is rosy-wild,
Star-enthrilled the night:
Maybe God can teach me
After you are gone
How to bear the blackened night
And the dreadful dawn.