The next morning, everyone was again gathered into the conference room, going over their notes, when Rhonda stuck her head in. "Jim, I'm sorry to disturb you, but Detective Munson is on the phone. He says it's important. Line two."
"Thanks, Rhonda." Jim picked up the phone and punched the appropriate extension. "This is Ellison."
"Jim, sorry to disturb you."
"Not a problem, Stan," Jim replied, "what's up?"
"Well, we got a DB down in the warehouse district. The victim has several warrants out for his arrest for various gun charges. I heard that you're working on a case right now with the ATF, and thought I'd give you a head's up, just in case it was connected."
"Stan, hold on just a minute, okay?" Jim turned to Chris. "It's Stan Munson, one of our Homicide detectives. He may have something." Jim quickly put the call on the speakerphone. "Stan, I've put you on the speaker. Agent Larabee and his team are all here. Repeat what you just told me."
"Okay," came the gruff voice out of the phone. "Patrol units found a DB this morning in the warehouse district. He's been dead about twelve hours. The victim is wanted on gun charges. I'd heard that the ATF was in town working on a case, and I'd thought I'd call in case it was connected."
"Detective, this is Larabee. What's the victim's name?"
"ID says he's Dixon Harper."
Chris nodded. "Yeah, it's probably connected. Harper is a known associate of the guy we're after. Where was the body found?"
"It's the old cannery warehouse, down on Vine and Pincer."
Blair, who had been standing over by the map when the call came in, quickly found the area and pointed it out for the ATF agents. JD quickly compared the address with the list of properties that had been purchased by Doyle's front corporations. He shook his head at Chris, indicating that it wasn't on the list.
"Shit," the team leader murmured. "Detective Munson, Jim and I will be out there in just a little while. Can you contain the scene until then?"
"Can do, Agent Larabee," came the reply from the seasoned detective. "Do you want me to hold back the forensics people until you get here?"
Chris thought for a second, then replied, "No, go ahead and do your investigation as normal, just don't let the coroner remove the body til we get there."
"Will do, Agent." Munson hung up and Chris went over to study the board. "So Harper was found in this area?" he pointed out the area Blair indicated. "Did Doyle purchase anything around the area?"
JD and Blair consulted their list. Blair indicated one address on the list. "This would be the closest." He found the corresponding pin in their map. "Right here."
All the agents moved closer to the board. "But that's halfway across town from Doyle's other properties. What was Harper doing there?" Vin asked.
"Don't know, Vin, but I have a bad feeling about this," Chris said. He started barking out orders. "Jim, Blair, Vin, Buck and I will go down to the murder scene. JD, you and the others keep digging through the ownership records. Find out who owns that property and the surrounding ones. See if there's anything that can link to Doyle or Harper. And see if you can track Harper's movements for the last six months. I want to know where he's been and who he's been dealing with." Everyone nodded their understanding. The group headed out to the murder scene.
Twenty minutes later, the van carrying Jim, Blair and the members of the ATF arrived at the scene. Blair could see the required 'crime scene do not cross' tape strung up around the area. Showing their badges to a uniformed officer, the five men ducked under the tape. They were met by a tall, stocky man wearing a suit. He held out his hand to Jim.
"Jim, good to see you."
"You too, Stan. Thanks for the call. Stan, this is Agent Chris Larabee of the ATF. Chris, Detective Stan Munson, Homicide." The two men shook hands and Stan brought them up to date on what he had so far.
Vin and Buck were behind them, trying not to openly stare at the homicide detective. Buck leaned over and whispered to Vin. "What did they say his name was again?"
Blair chuckled, having overheard Buck's comment. "It's Munson, but I know what you're thinking. The first time I met him, I accidentally called him 'Detective Munster' by mistake. He does look a lot like Fred Gwynne, doesn't he?" Blair said, referring to the actor that played Herman Munster in the classic television series.
Vin leaned toward Blair. "Has anyone ever mistaken him for the dead body at one of these scenes? I don't think I've ever seen anyone that pale that actually had a pulse."
Blair laughed. "No, but he did real good last year at the Cascade PD's haunted house. Scared the hell out of the ladies from the Rotary Club. They thought the morgue had loaned us a real body, til he sat up in his 'coffin' and started talking to them. Luckily, the PD had paramedics on stand-by with smelling salts. The mayor's wife was unconscious for about five minutes." Buck and Vin both smiled, able to picture the sight.
Stan turned to Blair. "Well, well, if it isn't the big, bad professor," the detective said, his sarcastic tone belied by the humor in his eyes. The smile on Blair's face and Ellison's relaxed manner told the ATF men that this was friendly joking between the two physically mismatched men.
"Watch it, Herman, or I'll have Grandpa pull your plugs" Blair quipped. The big man grinned at the name, having been called that many times by his fellow officers. Giving Blair a gentle punch on the shoulder, he motioned to the others. "Let's head on over and you can verify if this is the guy you think it is.
As the ATF agents followed Munson over to the body, they didn't notice Jim stopping to look at something on the ground. Blair was right next to him.
"What is it, Jim?" his partner asked softly.
"There's a cigar butt on the ground here, Chief. Have you got an evidence bag on you?" Blair rolled his eyes at Jim. Since riding along with Jim, evidence bags and gloves were a constant presence in Blair's backpack. Pulling out the requested bag, Blair handed it to Jim after the cop had pulled on a pair of gloves. Picking up the tiny portion of cigar, Jim sniffed it. "It's still fairly pungent."
Blair took a sniff. "To you maybe. It's kinda faint to me."
"That means it probably hasn't been here long. If the victim's been dead about twelve hours, then it could have been left real close to the time of death." Jim put the butt in the evidence bag, then stuffed it in his pocket. He'd give it to forensics later.
Meanwhile, Chris and the others had followed Stan back to the body. They saw a slim, redheaded woman checking the body and the area around it. She looked up, ignoring the strangers and directing her attention to Detective Munson.
"Stan, did you see the tattoo this guy has on his left arm?"
"Yeah, Wells, I saw it. What about it?"
"Well, it's obviously the sign of a devil worshipper. Maybe this guy was killed by some kind of satanic cult," the woman said, clearly expecting the detective to agree with her reasoning. Stan just rolled his eyes and shot an embarrassed glance at Chris, as Vin knelt down by the body to get a better look.
"Hell, darlin," Buck said, "one of my lady friends had a tattoo of a playboy bunny on her behind, that don't mean she was one."
The woman turned her head and glared at Buck. "My name is not 'Darlin' and who asked you anyway?" she asked with a sneer.
"Is this your partner, Detective Munson?" Chris asked the man.
"Hell, no," Stan answered, horrified at the prospect. "This is Cassie Wells, our Chief of Forensics."
"If you aren't a detective, then maybe you better stick to finding evidence and let the investigators do the theorizing," Chris told Cassie.
Cassie flushed at the dressing down, but backed down at the look in his eyes. Trying to avoid his gaze, she looked around and noticed Vin near the body. "Hey, get away from there. What do you think you're doing?" She was about to try and get Vin away from the body, when an arm reached out to pull her back. She turned and looked into Jim Ellison's eyes.
"He's doing his job, Wells," he said softly. "Back off before you make a bigger fool of yourself than you already have."
She jerked her arm away from Jim's grasp. "I would expect that kind of remark from you, Jim. What's the matter, you don't have enough to do in Major Crime? You have to go sticking your nose into another department's cases? Or are you just afraid that someone other than you might just solve a crime?"
Jim took a deep breath, trying to get his temper under control. He indicated Chris, who was watching the two of them with narrowed eyes. "This is Agent Larabee with the ATF. He's in charge here. I suggest you do whatever he tells you, and only what he tells you, because he won't put up with your interference in his investigation."
"This is a homicide. Why is the ATF involved?" she asked.
Larabee answered. "That information is on a need-to-know basis. Right now, you don't need to know."
"This is my crime scene, so how can you tell me that I don't need to know?"
Jim threw his hands up in the air, indicating to Chris that he gave up. Chris sighed and motioned Jim and Stan a few feet away. They quietly conversed as Blair tried to talk Cassie into simmering down.
"Cassie, chill out. You can't just try and butt into their case like you do Jim's."
"Blair's right, darlin," the ladies man turned an engaging smile on Cassie. "It don't pay to upset Chris."
"I told you not to call me that!" Cassie raised her voice. "You feds just come charging in like you own the place, and start ordering everyone around. Then you think you can placate the 'little woman' with some charming words and a smile. I'll thank you to keep your opinions to yourself."
Vin shook his head at Blair and Buck. His instincts told him that this woman wouldn't listen, and he was right. Cassie didn't seem to notice that Chris had stopped talking and was listening to her tirade. The team leader nodded at Munson, who moved off to make a call. Vin knew that Chris had come to a decision.
Chris and Jim approached Cassie. "Ms. Wells, where is the evidence you've collected so far?"
"In the box," Cassie said, pointing to a cardboard box that was sitting near.
"You will leave it here. You will pack up the rest of your equipment and leave. I'm officially removing you from this case. Detective Munson is calling in another one of your forensics people to finish up here."
"What? You can't do that!"
"I just did," Chris said flatly.
"I'm the Chief of Forensics."
"I don't care if you're the Chief of Police. I'm a federal officer. This is my case and what I say goes."
"Captain Banks will have something to say about this," she said.
"Feel free to go to Captain Banks, if you wish. But I had better not see you involved in any part of this investigation. You will not in any way handle the evidence from this crime scene."
"And if I do?" she asked nastily.
"Then I'll have you brought up on charges of interfering in a federal investigation. As a member of law enforcement, I'm sure you have an idea what the penalties for that are. Vin, please escort Ms. Wells to her vehicle."
Cassie looked around, but saw no sympathy from the members of the department. Muttering under her breath, she gathered her stuff and stomped to her car. The men watched in silence as she squealed her tires. She raced away, narrowly missing one of the patrol cars parked nearby. The officer standing next to it had to hop up on the hood to avoid being hit.
Blair knew what would happen, but couldn't resist the dig. "Geez, Jim, have you been giving her driving lessons, or what?" he asked his partner. He didn't even try to duck as Jim cuffed him up side the head. Blair's chuckle eased the tension that Cassie's departure had left behind.
The next morning, team 7 left their hotel early, stopping by a bakery they'd spotted the day before. They chose a large assortment of doughnuts and muffins to take with them. At Nathan's urging, Chris doubled the number of the whole-grain bagels that the dark-skinned medic preferred. Nathan had discovered that Blair was just as health conscious as Nathan in what he ate. Nathan figured the young observer would appreciate the gesture. He was right.
"Oh, cool, Delphi's bakery! Got any bagels?" He searched through the pastry boxes, finally choosing one of the bagels. "Man, these are the best!" he said, taking a huge bite. "Thanks, Chris."
"No problem," Chris said, taking a bite of his jelly donut. He absently brushed sugar from his shirt, unknowingly mimicking Jim's movements, as the detective tried to get the powdered sugar from his own shirt.
"Um," Vin said, sinking his teeth into a maple-covered pastry. "Good stuff."
"Do you have any idea what that's doing to your insides?" two voices echoed in perfect harmony. Everyone in the room stopped, staring at Nathan and Blair.
"Well, hell's bells," Buck quipped. "It's in stereo."
"Nathan is bad enough," Vin said, pulling out another doughnut. "But Blair too?" Vin took another bite of his treat, unconcerned with the warnings about his innards.
"Try listening to it 24-7," Jim said with a smile. "I live with Blair, so I'm constantly hearing lectures about the importance of good eating."
"So how do you handle it," Chris asked with a smile.
"He sneaks down to Wonderburger and thinks I don't know it." Blair quipped.
"A man's gotta have some enjoyment in what he eats, Chief. And as good as your ostrich chili is, sometimes I just gotta have a triple deluxe with the works."
JD's hand stopped in mid-air, his muffin halfway to his mouth. "Ostrich chili?" he said, a look of horror on his face.
"Yeah, man, it's great, JD. I'll have to make you guys some before you leave," Blair insisted.
"Uh, thanks for the invite, pard" Buck trailed off, his expression clearly stating that no ostrich chili was gonna make it anywhere near his lips.
"Actually, it's pretty good, Buck," Jim said. "You can't really even taste the difference."
"I can guaran-damn-tee I won't taste the difference, cuz I'm not eating ostrich chili. No offense, Blair. And Josiah," Buck said, eyeing the older man's contemplative expression, "don't you even think about putting it in your next batch of chili."
After the laughter had subsided, Chris got down to business. "Okay, everyone, let's go over what we've got." He waited until everyone was seated at the conference table. "JD, did we have any luck tracking the ownership of the warehouse?"
When the men had sat down at the conference table, Ezra had fallen back into a nervous habit of his and pulled out a deck of cards. He absently shuffled the deck, practicing his palming techniques. The actions allowed his mind to roam and his thoughts usually became clearer. He didn't notice that his actions had Blair fascinated. He watched Ezra as Ezra watched the cards. But both men heard what was going on around them.
"We traced the company that owns it and the four other warehouses in the area, Chris." JD explained. "But there's been no change of ownership for five years. And the company that owns them doesn't seem to have any ties to either Doyle or Harper."
Jim had a thought. "JD, you said there's been no change in the ownership of the warehouses. But what about the companies themselves, have they changed ownership recently?"
JD shook his head. "I thought of that. But there's been no movement in the board of directors or the company leadership. Nothing in the financial records to indicate any kind of changes like that."
"What about Harper?" Chris inquired. "What did we find out about his actions for the last few months?"
"He's been in New York for the last two months, up until last week," Josiah said. "Then he came out here. Before New York, he'd spent most of the last year in Toronto. We can't find any evidence that Doyle and he have been in touch with each other yet, but both of them showing up in Cascade at the same time pretty much rules out coincidence."
"I agree." Chris said. "So the question is, what was Harper doing at that warehouse and who killed him? What is going on at that warehouse, and why is there no movement at the ones owned by Doyle? And, does Doyle know Harper's dead?"
"Josiah, have you ever heard of the Krashot tribe in New Guinea?" Blair asked, startling the others with the abrupt change in subject. Chris was about to say something, but a slight movement from Vin stopped him. The sharpshooter was shaking his head, indicating to Chris to let the conversation continue. Chris trusted Vin's judgment, and hoped Blair's question was going to lead to something helpful.
"Um, I remember reading about them, but it was some years ago," Josiah answered hesitantly. When Chris didn't interrupt, he continued. "Weren't they a nomadic tribe, constantly moving?"
"Yeah. The tribal elders always planned years in advance where they were going to move. Warriors routinely made, to use a military term, recons, and sometimes 'supply drops', at the different sites, preparing for the eventual move. Sometimes they would even put up crude shelters, sort of laying the foundation for future residency."
"Yes." Josiah was still unsure where Blair was heading with this and it showed in his expression.
"Okay, hear me out. You guys said that Doyle was extremely intelligent."
"Yeah, supposedly he's a genius." Chris nodded, waiting for the young man to continue.
"Well, with the business he's in, Doyle obviously knows that he needs to keep moving around. He'll have a home base for a while, but knows that eventually things are gonna get too hot and he'll have to relocate. He's probably prepared for just such an eventuality. He's probably been prepared for it for years. Laying the foundation, buying properties, residences even. Getting ready for the move he knows he'll have to make. He probably has several cities that he has set up to move into. Cascade probably isn't the only one."
Buck ran a hand over his face. "You think maybe he's not here? That he led us on a wild goose chase and he's set up shop somewhere else?"
"No, he's here," Vin stated. "I can feel it."
"I have to agree with Vin," Chris said. "He's here. But we're missing something."
"But if he's got places that he already owns, why buy up more? It led us to Cascade." JD asked.
Once again, it was Blair that provided the clue. Something Ezra had just done with the cards caught Blair's eye, and his thoughts tumbled out before he could think. "Maybe he's stacking the deck," he murmured, staring at Ezra's hands.
"What?" Chris asked in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"You guys have a reputation. Doyle knows that reputation. He obviously figured that your team wasn't going to give up just because he left Denver. He'd be expecting you to have followed him here and be digging into his business."
"Reckon so," Vin said, trying to guess at what was going on in Blair's mind.
"So what if, knowing that, Doyle was stacking the deck in his favor. He knew you'd be tracking all real estate purchases being made in the area. He makes it difficult for you to find those properties, but not so difficult that's it's impossible." Reaching over to the cards in front of Ezra, he reaches for one of the face cards. "He deals you the king," he said, throwing the card onto the table, "to let you think you're getting a winning hand. Doing so, he hopes you won't notice that ace up his sleeve." Blair reached over and pulled the ace that Ezra had surreptitiously slipped up the sleeve, the action being what caught Blair's eye.
He laid the ace down on the table, face up. Everyone stared at it for several seconds. Then a soft exclamation came from the team leader.
"Son of a bitch. He's been playing us like an easy mark in a con."
"I disagree, Chris," Jim said. "If you guys were an easy mark, he wouldn't be going to this much trouble. He's doing it because he knows that you guys are a formidable enemy."
"But why bother to do that at all?" Nathan asked. "If he had things set up, why didn't he just lay low. We tracked him to Cascade because of those real estate holdings."
"But if he hadn't," Jim asked, "would you guys have given up? Or would you have kept digging?"
"I fear Mr. Sandburg is quite correct in his supposition, gentlemen. Mr. Doyle has proven his creativity in circumventing law enforcement in previous encounters with our counterparts. He left us a trail we could and probably would follow, in order to prevent us from finding that which he is determined to keep hidden."
"Speak English, Ezra." Buck complained.
Ezra rolled his eyes. "In terms that Mr. Wilmington can understand, you may recall that infernal game with the cups and the nut. You try to figure out which cup the nut is under? Well, invariably, the operator of said game keeps your attention focused on one hand that is shifting the cups around"
JD finished, "So you won't notice that his other hand took the nut out from under the cup."
"Precisely. Slight of hand. It's the oldest con in the book, and Mr. Doyle has taken it to new heights."
Vin was still confused about something. "But if he was trying to hide the fact that he owns the warehouses around where Harper was killed, why leave the body of a known associate out where it was bound to be discovered? That would just draw police attention to that area."
"If I may answer that, Mr. Tanner, that game I mentioned before has three cups. If the nut isn't found under the first cup and the second cup appears too obvious"
"Then there's a third cup, and we're just not seeing it." Chris surmised. "JD, you, Ezra and Blair get back on those computers. Get a list of all the buildings in the area and surrounding municipalities that could suit Doyle's needs. Cross-reference and double- check the name of every company, board member, everyone. Try and find any possible connection to Doyle or Harper, no matter how off-the-wall. The rest of us will go back through the info we already have. I want to double-check every name."
"You got it, Chris," JD said enthusiastically. As he rose from his seat, he accidentally bumped Ezra's arm. Unfortunately, that caused the coffee cup that the southerner was holding to tilt, and coffee spilled down the front of Ezra's white silk shirt.
"Damn," the man said, leaping to his feet. He grabbed a bunch of napkins off the table to try and catch some of it, but he knew the damage was already done.
"Gee, I'm real sorry, Ezra," JD said apologetically.
"Quite alright, Mr. Dunne. Accidents happen. It is unfortunate that I don't have another shirt with me, though."
"I've got one you can borrow, Ez. It's in the van." Buck offered with a snicker.
Ezra raised one eyebrow. "Thank you for your kind offer, Mr. Wilmington," he said with false sincerity, "But the day I find myself ensconced in any portion of your wardrobe is the day that I will know that the world has ended, judgment has been meted out and I have been delivered to hell." Everyone laughed at the look on Buck's face.
"I think he means 'no thank you', Buck." Chris chuckled.
Rafe stepped up next to Ezra. "I've got an extra shirt in my locker, Ezra. Come with me and you can change."
Ezra flashed a grateful smile at Rafe, knowing that anything owned by him was better than Buck's 'real-men-wear-hawaiian' attire. "Thank you, Mr. Rafe. I am greatly appreciative of your offer."
"No problem," he said as he and Ezra walked out the door of the conference room. "I've also got some stuff in my desk that'll get that stain right out. I'll grab it and we'll set your shirt to soaking" Rafe's sentence trailed off as the two men walked out of earshot of the other men.
"Well, if that isn't sweet," Buck said. "Looks like Ezra's found a new friend."
As everyone turned back to their tasks, Vin leaned over toward Chris. Nodding his head toward Blair, he whispered, "Now I see why they keep the little fella around. He's smart as a whip." Chris nodded his agreement. Neither man noticed Jim's proud smile at the words.
"Eureka!"
The exclamation from their youngest member shattered the quiet and caught everyone's attention.
"Did you find something, JD?" Chris asked rather unnecessarily.
"I think so, Chris. Ricer Securities LTD owns the warehouse closest to where Harper was found. The company president is a man named Nicholas Ballentine. Doyle has two brothers, Nicholas and Gregory. And their maternal grandmother's maiden name was Ballentine." He looked at Chris and shrugged. "You said however off the wall it seemed."
"Yeah, I did, JD. Good job. So we have a tie between that warehouse and Doyle."
"The other brother is named Gregory?" Blair asked, looking at the printout in his hand.
"You got something, Chief?" Jim looked over at his partner.
"Maybe." Blair said. "There's another warehouse down near Front Street. It's owned by Majestic Imports. The president of Majestic is Gregory Summers."
JD entered some commands into his computer and was rewarded by an affirmative answer. "That's it. Summers was the maiden name of their paternal grandmother."
"Good. Blair, where are these warehouses?" Chris asked, going over to their map. Blair pointed them out. Chris was considering his options when a knock sounded on the door and Rhonda poked her head in.
"Excuse me. I'm going to be heading home in about thirty minutes. Did you guys want me to order out for some dinner for you before I leave?" she asked.
Blair, Henri and Rafe all stared at the woman, having been on the receiving end of her 'I'm the Captain's secretary, not yours' lecture before. Only Jim seemed unsurprised by her suddenly helpful attitude. The ATF agents smiled at her, unaware that this was not normal behavior for Rhonda.
"That would be very nice, ma'am, thank you." Chris said. "Does Chinese sound okay to everyone?" While Rhonda went around taking orders, Blair stepped up to Jim.
"Okay, buddy, talk. What's got you smirking like a demented canary? If you know why she's acting like this, tell me," he said softly.
Jim looked around to make sure no one overheard him. "From what I overheard," he whispered, "Rhonda happened to be walking behind Rafe earlier when he went into the men's room to give Ezra his shirt. Rhonda apparently got an eyeful of a bare-chested Ezra and has been regaling the other women about his 'gorgeous physique, impeccable manners and sexy accent', I believe was the quote. I think she's smitten."
"Oh, man," Blair chuckled, looking over to where Buck was once again trying to charm the woman. "Buck doesn't have a chance."
Jim snickered. "Simon's got a better chance of becoming the Easter Bunny, than Buck does of getting a date with Rhonda," he said, just before the woman in question approached them for their order.
Once the orders were taken, Chris pulled out a company credit card and handed it to Ezra. "Go with her and help her bring everything back, Ez."
"Certainly, Mr. Larabee," the undercover agent replied, taking the credit card and following Rhonda out of the room.
"Aw, Chris, now why'd ya go and do that for? I could have gone with her just as easily." Buck said.
"I know, Buck," Chris said with a smirk. "But I'm trying to keep on friendly relations with this department." He turned to Ellison. "Jim, have you got any informants in town that may have an inside track to what went down with Harper? I'd sure like an idea of why he was killed and who did it."
Jim nodded. "Yeah. Sneaks would probably know. He hangs around the warehouses a lot."
"Can you set up a meeting?"
"Yeah, I can do that."
"Okay. I'd really prefer it if one of my guys went along with you. Will your informant be okay with it if Buck or JD comes with you?"
"Sneaks is pretty laid back. He trusts me. Either one of them can join me. Let me go make a call." Jim headed out of the conference room.
Chris looked at the two men in question. "Buck, why don't you go with him. As for the rest of us, I think we need to stake out the warehouse on Front Street."
"Chris."
"Yeah, Josiah."
"It might be a good idea to also keep an eye on the warehouse where Harper was found. If Doyle is the one that killed him, he didn't leave the body there by accident. He may be planning to use that property, figuring that we'd believe finding a corpse there would make it too obvious. If we think Doyle won't go back there, chances are that's exactly where he'll be."
Chris nodded at his profiler, bowing to the man's expertise. He looked at his watch. It was close to five o'clock. It would be six by the time they finished dinner "Okay. Nathan, you and Henri go to the warehouse on Front Street. Vin, you and Josiah take the one where Harper was found. At midnight, Rafe and Ezra will relieve Nathan and Henri. Buck and JD will take over for Vin and Josiah. We'll switch again at six am, Jim and I relieving Ez and Rafe. Vin, you and Nathan relieve Buck and JD." The others all nodded and Chris turned to Blair. "Since you're a civilian observer, Blair, I'm not gonna pair you up with one of my men, but you can join Jim and I in the morning."
"I understand, Chris. I'll be there," he said, just as Jim returned from making his call.
"You'll be where, Chief?"
"With you and Chris on stakeout in the morning."
Jim nodded. "Okay, I've got a meet set up with Sneaks at 7:00 tonight. Who's going with me?"
"That would be me, pard," Buck said, leaning back in his chair. Blair looked down at Buck's shoes. They were a pair of brand new cross trainers. Blair had priced them in the store at Christmas and knew they were expensive.
"Uh, Buck, you may wanna change shoes before you go to meet Sneaks. Jim's got an extra pair in his locker that will probably fit you."
"Hell, son," Buck said, looking down with pride at his new shoes. "I just bought these. Don't aim to leave them lying around while I wear a pair of someone else's shoes."
Blair tried again. "Buck, trust me, you don't wanna wear those to this meeting. Take my word for it. You'll regret it. Sneaks..."
Buck held up a hand, stopping him. "Blair, if I leave them behind, there's always a chance that they'll turn up missing. If they stay on my feet, then I'll know they're safe."
Blair held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, man, but don't say I didn't warn you."
A little while later, Ezra and Rhonda returned with the food. While they were eating their dinner, a pretty black woman poked her head in the door. "Jim, I got some info back on that cigar portion you found at the homicide scene earlier."
Jim motioned her inside. "Guys, this is Serena Chang, one of our forensic techs." He introduced her to the ATF officers. "So, what did you find?" he asked, indicating the evidence bag she was holding.
"I broke down the different type of tobacco used in the cigar. This particular blend can't be bought in the US. It's only sold in a store in Innsbruck, Austria. They won't even ship it out to other countries. You have to actually go there and buy the cigars. If you can find someone in Cascade that has a stash of these, you can pretty much place them at the scene. And you were right, it probably was left about the time the murder took place."
Chris turned to Josiah. "Has Doyle or Harper been to Austria recently?"
"Nope. Neither of them has left the continent in the last year."
"Okay. Serena, did the Medical Examiner determine a cause of death yet?"
She handed Chris a file. "I brought a copy of the autopsy with me. If you guys don't need anything else tonight, I'm gonna head home. I'll get started on the rest of it first thing tomorrow. Jim has my pager number if you need anything else."
"Thanks," Chris smiled. "I appreciate the quick work. Have a good evening." She nodded and left the men to finish their meal.
After dinner was finished, they prepared to head out. The ones that had later stakeouts were going to do a little more digging before going to grab some sleep. The others prepared to grab a couple of motor pool cars and take up their posts.
"Chief, you about ready to head out?" Jim asked.
"Actually, Jim, since Buck is going with you, I thought I'd go with Vin and Josiah. If that's okay with you guys?" he asked the two men. "I'd really like to talk to Josiah about some of his travels." Vin and Josiah exchanged glances with Chris, then nodded.
"That would be fine, Blair," Josiah said, laying a hand on the younger man's shoulders. "I'd like that." He looked at Jim. "We'll drop him back off at your place when we're relieved, Jim."
As they got into the hall, Jim pulled Chris back a bit from the others. "Do you think Doyle will come back to the warehouse were Harper was found?"
"Josiah's profile says it's a possibility. And we need something, because right now we don't have enough for a search warrant. If we can get positive proof that Doyle is involved, or that guns are being moved, then I can get the warrant. Until then, we're stuck." Jim nodded, but Chris suspected Jim wasn't entirely satisfied and it had nothing to do with the case. "Are you okay with Blair going with them? Cause if you aren't, I can tell him that I've reconsidered."
"No, don't do that. It's just that, even though I consider him my partner, he is still just a civilian. I just feel better when he's where I can see him. So I'll know if he gets into any kind of trouble. I know, it probably sounds weird."
Chris chuckled in consternation. "Actually, you sound like Buck with JD, and me with Vin. Sometimes I swear that both JD and Vin are wearing signs that say 'trouble magnet - here's your target.' They're both trained agents, and we still worry about them."
"Now that does sound familiar. But let Blair go with them. He so rarely gets a chance to talk anthropology to anyone besides his students. Josiah's probably got some great stories, and Blair loves stories."
"Well, Josiah's got some to tell," Chris said as the two men moved down the hall. Neither one noticed the figure that was listening in the shadows.
"So, you actually spent six months with the Takuzi tribe in Africa?" Blair asked his fellow anthropologist as they sat in the borrowed vehicle with Vin Tanner, who was behind the wheel. Blair was in the backseat, leaning forward with his arms crossed over the back of the seat in front of him.
Josiah had been regaling Blair with tales of his years traveling around the Dark Continent. Tanner sipped slowly from a cup of coffee, also listening to Josiah's adventures while keeping an eye on the warehouse. Although Vin didn't contribute to the conversation, he was fascinated with Josiah's interaction with the various natives he'd encountered.
"Yes, six long, glorious months," Josiah replied. "I even joined them on several hunts. Of course, I was much younger then and was able to better keep up with them. I wouldn't want to try that today. I'd probably have a heart attack. I have trouble keeping up with Vin and JD when we go hiking."
Vin's only response was a slight grin as he took another sip of coffee.
"So, Vin, what did you do before you joined the team? You weren't an anthropologist too, were you?" Blair teased.
"Brother Vin studied man, but not in the same way," Josiah answered for the quiet sharpshooter. Tanner chuckled and turned to glance at the curious grad student. Normally Vin didn't talk much about his past, figuring it was no one else's business. But he liked Sandburg. The kid reminded him a bit of JD in his enthusiasm and energy.
Vin looked at Josiah and smiled, then turned his gaze back to Blair who was watching Tanner and trying not to be too impatient.
"I was a bounty hunter," he said simply.
"Whoa, cool! Like in the old west days, "wanted dead or alive" kinda thing? I've never met anyone who ever did that for a living. How did you pick your targets? Did you free lance or work for a bail bond company? Man, oh, man, I have so many questions!"
Josiah's laughter stopped Blair's rambling. He looked up to find both ATF Agents giving him bemused smiles. His face flushed in embarrassment.
"Ah, sorry, I get carried away sometimes. Vin, man, I would love to ask you some questions. Do you think we could talk before you go back to Denver? I promise to keep everything confidential."
When Tanner didn't answer right away, Josiah glanced over to see if the man had taken offense at Blair's request. He found Vin concentrating on the warehouse. Josiah followed his gaze, but didn't see anythingnot all that surprising since Vin had the best eyesight on the team.
"Vin?"
"What the hell is she doing here?"" he growled. Setting down his coffee cup, Vin reached up to flip the switch on the interior light so that it wouldn't light up when he open his door. "Come on, Josiah," he said as he climbed out of the vehicle.
"Stay here, Blair," Sanchez said as he followed his teammate.
Blair watched the two men cautiously make their way toward the building. He pulled out his cellphone, checking to be sure it was fully charged. He then climbed into the front seat, feeling for the keys to see if Vin left them in the ignition. Yes, good, they keys were there. Now if he needed to move quickly he was ready. He wasn't sure whom Vin had seen but whoever it was, judging by Tanner's reaction, they were in for a great deal of trouble.
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