Past Relations
The Sentinel/Magnificent 7 ATF Crossover
I just recently got hooked into another fandom. I didn’t mean
to, I mean I’ve been studiously careful NOT to. Sure I’ve read a few SG1
stories, A-Team, etc. etc. But I’ve pretty much avoided dipping in and becoming
immersed like I did with The Sentinel. Still, I suppose it was inevitable.
It all started with Cindy Comb’s TS/MacGyver crossovers. She
has several stories where she introduces the characters from The Magnificent
Seven as they have been adapted to modern day as ATF agents by Mog. That
enticed me to read the other TS/M7 crossovers that I was able to find.
Then the first season of M7 came out and I wanted to see the
original Old West incarnation of the characters. So as soon as it came out I
ordered it through NetFlix. I must admit that while I enjoyed the first season
and could definitely see where many of the characters personality quirks
originated, that I actually prefer the ATF version.
I tried to resist, but finally succumbed and went out
searching for the ATF stories that I knew had to be available. I wanted to see
what kind of trouble the M7 gang got into on their own. Sigh. There is a whole
season and a half of Virtual ATF episodes. They are quite well done. From there
it was hardly a whole step to my down fall…
So, you can’t possibly be surprised by this crossover.
I didn’t foresee writing a stand alone M7 story but of
course my muse seems to have other ideas (She’s showing undue interest in Ezra
angst <G>), and I do currently have one in progress. But in the meantime,
I find I like giving Jim, Blair, Simon and the others new faces to interact
with, so on with the show.
None of the guys from M7 belong to me and none of the gang
from TS either. <pout>
Warnings? I don’t think so. Some four letter words.
Hope you enjoy it.
*********************
He ran. They were after him. He didn’t know where he was,
but he knew his only chance was to stay out of their reach until he could get
to help. If only he could find… There was someone… Jim. That was who he needed
to find. Jim. But where was he? Oh well. As long as he stayed out of their hands,
sooner or later Jim would find him.
*****
Jim Ellison slammed the phone back into its receiver. Damn it! He rubbed his face with both
hands then ran them through his hair. Blair had been missing for over a week. There
had been a ransom note of sorts the day he disappeared, but nothing since then.
The note had been a warning, for Jim to stay away from the
Jameson trial. The trial had started three days ago, and as it turned out, Jim
was the last person scheduled to testify. That could mean another week at the
rate the trial was going.
And there was no sign of Blair. The kidnappers had done a
heck of a job covering their tracks. None of Jim’s usual contacts had heard
anything and Jameson’s people were all accounted for. With the judge’s
permission, all of Jameson’s people and properties were under constant
surveillance. Wire taps had been approved as well since they had every reason
to believe Jameson was behind Blair’s disappearance.
Unfortunately, Jameson appeared to have taken perfect
precautions in setting things up. Jim was beginning to doubt that he’d ever see
his friend alive again.
*****
Josiah Sanchez chuckled as he closed the door to Vin’s
apartment and headed down to the street. Vin Tanner’s sense of humor was a bit
twisted. The big ATF man stopped in the doorway of the building and looked
around before stepping out onto the sidewalk.
Purgatorio was not the best neighborhood and at night it
could be down right deadly. Josiah could understand a bit of why Vin chose to
live here. Tanner was the champion of the locals, especially the children. He
left his apartment unlocked to provide a safe haven for them if needed. Josiah
understood Vin’s need to protect the innocent.
Fortunately the local criminal element had learned long ago
not to mess with the sharpshooter, so they rarely gave Vin trouble. It was the
out-of-towners that kept showing up who didn’t respect the sanctity of Vin’s
home.
Josiah yawned and stretched as he strode down the sidewalk
to his Suburban. It was getting late and he had to be in to work early the next
morning. The case they were working on seemed to be stalled causing no little
frustration. Ezra had been undercover for almost three weeks without a single
new lead. They’d all left the office this evening determined to start fresh in
the morning.
He turned the corner praying that all of his tires were
still in place and ran smack into another man. Josiah caught the man by the
shoulders to keep him from falling backward.
“Let go!” the man gasped. “Gotta keep moving,” he mumbled
struggling to get out of Josiah’s grasp.
“Take it easy,” the ATF profiler soothed as he searched the
street behind the smaller man. “I don’t see anyone, son. Who’s after you?”
The man’s long, dark curls shook as he moved his head.
“Don’t know. Gotta find Jim,” he answered softly, sounding confused.
“Here, now,” Josiah chided. “Are you injured?” he asked
putting one hand under the man’s chin to lift his face into view.
Blue eyes with wide irises met Josiah’s concerned gaze. Fear
changed to recognition and then confusion. “J’siah?” the man slurred, surprise
lacing his voice. “What’re you doing here?” he asked calmly then collapsed
bonelessly into Josiah’s arms.
“Blair?” Josiah exclaimed as he caught his friend around the
chest and kept him from hitting the ground. “Good Lord, son. What have you
gotten yourself into?” He rearranged his grip on the young man until he was
able to hoist him onto his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Then Josiah turned
and made his way back to Vin’s place.
****
“What do you mean, he got away?!” the man yelled into the
phone. “He had enough shit in him to keep a race horse down.”
The voice at the other end of the line made some whiny
excuse.
“God damn it! Do you know what he’ll do to us if Ellison
testifies? There won’t be enough pieces left to identify the bodies!”
More words, this time trying to shift the blame elsewhere
then, a tentative question.
“Hell no!” He paused. “As long as Ellison thinks we have
him, we should be okay. But you’d better get your men out looking for him, and
you’d better find him fast. Once those drugs wear off he’s gonna high-tail it
to the cops.”
Assurances followed.
“Right,” came the sarcastic reply. “I’m sure you are, but I
don’t think Mr. Jameson is gonna give a rat’s ass if you don’t find that man.”
****
Nathan Jackson counted the sluggish heartbeats again and
sighed as he got the same number. Slow, but not life-threatening. He looked up
at his partner. “How long have you known him, Josiah?”
Sanchez’s lips twitched into a slight grin. “Since he was
knee-high to a grasshopper. His mom and me,” Josiah shrugged. “We were together
before I left for ‘
“He your son?” Vin asked casually.
“What?” Josiah asked startled. “Naw. Naomi told me things
just hadn’t worked out between her and his father. ‘Course I do consider him family.
Spent quite a bit of time together over the years.” He met Nathan’s eyes. “Is
he going to be all right?”
Nathan nodded. “I think so. He’s got fresh track marks on
both arms,” he said deciding to rephrase his earlier question. “How well do you
know Blair, Josiah?”
Josiah frowned and glared at his partner. “I know what yer
thinkin’ Nathan, but there is no way Blair did this to himself. The boy never
even wanted to try smokin’ cigarettes, let alone put any of that other crap in
his body.”
“Easy, ‘siah,” Vin murmured. “If’n that’s the case, then
someone done this to him. They may still be lookin’ for the kid.”
Nathan nodded his agreement. “Do you know who we should
contact for him?”
Josiah wrinkled his forehead in thought. “Last I heard he
was going to school up in
Vin straightened from leaning on the wall and strode toward
his phone. “We should let
*****
The next morning
Cascade
“Ellison,” Jim said sharply into his phone, most of his
attention on the file he had pulled up on the computer. There had to be a clue
in Jameson’s file somewhere.
“Jim Ellison?” a gravelly voice asked.
“Yes,” he replied shortly. “Can I help you?”
“Do you know a Blair Sandburg?”
“Do you know where he is?” Jim blurted. “Is he all right?
Can I speak to him?”
“Whoa,” the voice chuckled. “Slow down, brother. Blair’s okay,
but he’s not ‘xactly up to talkin’ at the moment.”
“What do you mean?” Jim just barely refrained from shouting.
“If you’ve hurt him…”
“Hold on, son. Just calm down now. Nobody’s gonna hurt Blair
if I have anything to say about it. Let me explain.”
Jim took a deep breath and exhaled. He looked up into
Simon’s worried eyes and nodded once to acknowledge his boss’s presence. “I’m
sorry, he’s been missing for over a week now.”
A softly spoken ‘shit’ came through the line. Jim blinked at
the empathy in the man’s voice.
“I’m sorry, son, I didn’t know. My name is Josiah Sanchez.
I’m with the ATF,
“
“Yes,” Sanchez replied. “We sort of ran into each other last
night. Physically he seems to be unharmed, but there are signs that he’s been
drugged.”
“Shit,” Jim cursed softly.
“He appeared somewhat confused last night before he passed
out,” Sanchez continued. “Our team medic took a look at him and thinks he just
needs to sleep it off. May I ask what our young friend is involved in now?”
Jim sighed. “Hold on
a minute.” He covered the receiver with his hand. “Simon, can you get me a
flight to
Simon’s eyebrows rose. “Sandburg’s in
Ellison shrugged. “I need to go,” he almost pleaded.
Banks nodded. “I’ll arrange it and let the judge know.
Meanwhile,” he said leaning in a bit, “let’s keep his location under wraps.”
Jim nodded and went back to his phone call. “Agent Sanchez…”
*****
Ezra Standish, currently known as Edmond Styles drew his
face into a frustrated frown so as to blend with the other men in the
Ranch-style home. There was quite a bit of confusion about how their prisoner
had escaped and not just a little blame flying around the room.
Of course,
“Now listen up,” the man called Jones ordered angrily.
“We’ve got one chance to set this right. Find Sandburg. Find him and bring him
back as quickly as possible. If you don’t, our employer will be extremely
unhappy and,” he swallowed hard, “well, let’s just say he doesn’t suffer fools
kindly.” Jones’ eyes swept over the other men. “Go on. Move!”
Everyone headed for an exit except Styles. Jones met the
man’s steady green gaze. “What is it, Styles?”
“I was just contemplating,” the Southerner drawled. “How
likely is it that we will suffer the consequences of our employer’s wrath, even
if we do succeed in finding our flighty prisoner?”
Jones sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Let’s just
say that you may have a viable concern, Eddie. Jameson isn’t the most stable
man I’ve ever contracted to work for.” He shook his head briefly then gave a
nod toward the front of the house. “Go on. We need every eye out for him. He
disappeared in Purgatorio last night. I hope for our sakes he made it through
the night in that hell hole.”
Styles nodded and left without another word. He allowed
himself a small, satisfied grin before schooling his features once more. He’d
finally gotten a break and discovered the name of the newest threat to his
city. Jameson. As Standish climbed into the sporty BMW that was his undercover
vehicle, his mind flashed back to the young man he’d helped escape. Hopefully
Sandburg had found a safe haven.
****
Josiah hung up the phone with Ellison.
“Was that Sandburg’s friend?” Nathan asked. He stood and
moved over to where the larger man was sitting.
“Yes. He’s a detective with the Cascade Major Crime unit.
Blair was kidnapped about a week ago to keep Ellison from testifying. Seems my
young friend has been a ride along with Ellison for the last few years,” Josiah
relayed with a frown.
Vin and Nate both raised their eyebrows in surprise.
“A civilian ride along?” Vin repeated. “For years? That
don’t make no sense, Josiah.”
“I am just repeating what I was told, Brother,” the profiler
answered, just as confused as the rest of them. “What I cannot figure out, is
why Blair’s emergency contact is a cop.”
“Is there something wrong with that?” Nathan asked feeling
as if they were playing twenty questions. “After all, you’re a cop.”
Josiah chuckled and shook his head as his eyes rested once
again on Blair. “I wasn’t a cop when I saw them last. And I haven’t exactly
told him who my current employers are. If you knew Naomi…” he shook his head
again. “She’s so anti-establishment, it’s not even funny.” Sanchez frowned.
“Wonder what she thinks of Ellison?” he mumbled mostly under his breath.
“Well,” Vin drawled, “if Sandburg’s been riding along with
the Cascade PD for a while, Ellison is probably a close friend.”
“I suppose,” Josiah sighed. “I just don’t understand why he’s observing a police unit. He was working on his doctorate in Anthropology.” He shrugged. “I find it hard to believe he changed the focus of his studies.”
“Well, we’ll just have to wait until he wakes up to ask,”
Nathan said. “In the mean while, what’s the plan? Is Ellison coming?”
Josiah nodded. “He’s catching the earliest flight out of
Cascade. Should be here sometime mid-afternoon.” He caught Nathan’s eye. “You
two go on in to the office.” He ripped the top piece of paper from the notepad
by the phone. “If you don’t mind,” Josiah said handing the paper to Vin, “I
told Ellison I’d have someone pick him up at the airport. Here’s his flight
information. As soon as Blair comes to, I’ll bring him to the office.”
*****
Jim glanced at his boss and fought back a grin. He shouldn’t
be surprised that Simon Banks had insisted on going to
Simon pulled several folders out of his briefcase and handed
one to Ellison. “Here. Stop staring and start reading.”
“What’s this?” Jim asked, the grin finally winning its way
to his lips.
“I had Rhonda pull information on the ATF team who has
Sandburg,” Simon advised. “I wanted to make sure we’re not heading into
Jameson’s trap.”
Jim nodded and opened the folder. Team Seven of the Denver ATF
had a long list of commendations, awards and reprimands. He read through the
files that were not unlike his own.
The team leader,
After browsing through the files, Jim felt a little better.
He doubted that these men could be bought by a low-life like Jameson. He
focused on Sanchez’s file, wondering about the man who claimed to be Blair’s
friend. A man Jim had never heard of before.
Sanchez was the oldest of the seven. He’d served in
****
Vin’s apartment
Blair moaned and rolled onto his side. He felt like the tail
end of a weekend bash. Though come to think of it, he hadn’t indulged in more
than a few beers since he met Jim. He certainly felt like he had a hangover.
Blair pried his eyes open, only one made it successfully.
A deep chuckle made Blair start and try to sit up.
“Easy, son. You sit up too fast and you’re liable to end up
on the floor.”
Blair rubbed his eyes and forced them open. A very blurry,
but familiar face hovered near. “Josiah?”
“Yes indeed, Blair. Welcome back,” Josiah said with a smile.
“Would you like something to drink? Nathan said you need to rehydrate. It’ll
help with the headache.”
“Water would be good,” Blair said letting his head fall back
into the pillow. “Where am I?”
“A friend’s apartment,” Josiah answered. “What do you
remember?” he asked as he helped Blair sit up and handed him the glass of
water.
Blair closed his eyes and took a sip before answering. “I’m
not sure. Someone was chasing me.” He straightened suddenly. “Jim! I’ve got to
call Jim.”
“Jim Ellison?” Josiah asked.
“Yeah,” Blair replied looking around for a phone.
“He should be landing at the airport in about an hour.”
Blair looked at his old friend. “What? How?”
Josiah smiled and touched the glass of water indicating that
Blair should drink some more. “Once I knew you were going to be all right we
called
Blair suddenly became much more interested in his water as
he tried to think of a way to distract Josiah. The older man knew about Blair’s
obsession with Sentinels and wouldn’t believe the line about closed societies.
He finished the glass and held it up. “Could I have some
more please?”
Josiah pressed his lips together recognizing the delaying
tactic, but nodded and went into the kitchen. “I suppose you have a logical
explanation for it all, but that can wait. It’s more important to know how you
escaped from the men who kidnapped you.”
Blair stood and met Josiah in the kitchen. A frown creased
his brow. “Kidnapped?”
“That’s what Ellison said.” He offered the now full glass
back to Blair.
“I remember walking to my car. I was heading home. I didn’t
want to be late ‘cause it was my night to cook and Jim gets pretty cranky when
he’s hungry,” Blair said more to himself than to Josiah.
The profiler smiled at Blair’s words. Just from his tone it
was clear that Jim was a good friend.
“Someone hit me!” Blair said, his surprised eyes meeting
Josiah’s. “After that everything’s pretty foggy. I think someone helped me get
away. I can’t remember a face, but I’d know his voice if I heard it again.”
“That’s great, Blair,” Josiah encouraged. “I told Ellison
I’d bring you to the office once you woke up, but I think there’s time for you
to shower and change and maybe eat if you’re hungry.”
Blair nodded. “Yeah, I could eat. But I think I’d like that
shower first.”
Josiah grinned. “Right through there. Vin said you could
borrow some of his clothes. Might be a bit long on you.”
“That’s all right, ‘siah. Clean is all I want right now.”
“I’ll fix you something to eat while you clean up, then
we’ll head in.”
Blair stopped and looked back at Josiah. “Hey, Josiah?”
“Yes, Blair?”
“Where am I?”
“A friend’s apartment in
“Josiah?”
“Yes, Blair?”
“Why are we meeting Jim at your office and not the police
station?”
Josiah just grinned.
*****
Simon refrained from ordering Agent Wilmington to shut up as
he followed the man to their car. Jim just grinned at Simon.
“Anyway, Josiah will bring your friend to the office as soon
as he’s awake,” Buck finished saying as he unlocked the car door.
Jim frowned. “Why can’t we just go to Blair?”
Buck looked up over the hood to see a pair of very cold,
blue eyes glaring at him. Almost as bad
as Larabee’s glare. He suppressed a shudder. “I’m just chaufferin’ you two.
You’ll hafta ask
“Purgatory?” Banks asked as they all climbed into the
vehicle.
“Purgatorio. It’s a nickname for one of
*****
Ezra sighed as he drove slowly through Purgatorio. He’d
hoped to drop a note by Vin’s to let the team know what he’d discovered.
Unfortunately one of Jones’ goons had attached himself to Ezra like a leech.
The man, George Demmot, evidently hoped to prove himself to
the new crime boss. His beady little eyes scoured the street as if he truly
expected Sandburg to be standing out in plain view.
Ezra sighed again. Demmot’s boorish manner was reflected in
his poor taste of clothing and a tendency to ramble on about things that
Standish could care less about. The Southerner prayed for this job to end
quickly. Yesterday would not have been soon enough.
“Stop!” Demmot ordered. “That’s him. Who’s he with?” he
asked as he scooted down in the seat to avoid being seen.
Ezra adjusted his rear view mirror. SHIT! It was Sandburg and Josiah. How the hell?
Demmot pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
“What are you doing?” Ezra demanded a bit too quickly.
“Calling for backup,” Demmot hissed. “We need to follow them
and grab Sandburg.”
Standish pulled back his hand that had automatically lashed out
to end the call. He couldn’t afford to break his cover just yet. There was
still a possibility that their backup would not arrive in time.
Demmot spoke into the phone. “It’s Demmot. I found him.”
Ezra snorted softly, but the other man ignored him.
“No. There’s someone with Sandburg, but Styles is here. We
can handle it. What do you want us to do with Sandburg’s friend?” Demmot
grinned at the reply. “Right. We’ll be back soon.”
Ezra pulled his emotions tightly under control. “What are
our orders?” he asked casually.
“Kill the big guy and bring Sandburg back without too much
damage,” Demmot sneered.
The undercover agent nodded. “You get Sandburg. I’ll take
care of his friend.”
Demmot frowned, but didn’t argue as he opened the door to
the car.
Ezra and Demmot hurried across the street as Josiah and
Blair reached the Suburban. Ezra drew his weapon and pushed it into Josiah’s
back as he moved in close to the bigger man. “Not so fast, Cowboy,” Ezra
drawled, hoping Josiah would play along.
The Southerner lifted his gun as if to slam it into the back
of Josiah’s head, but at the last moment pulled his punch and the gun only
tapped the profiler gently. Josiah grunted and fell to his knees.
“Josiah!” Blair shouted as he struggled with his captor
earning himself a punch to the jaw.
Ezra held his arm down as if to aim at the downed man, but
twisted his wrist so the muzzle of his weapon pointed harmlessly into the
street before he fired.
“NO!” Blair screamed.
“Shut him up,” Ezra commanded coldly.
Demmot grinned and cold-cocked his prisoner. He caught Blair
before he hit the ground and looked up at Styles. “Help me get him to the car.
He’s heavy.”
Ezra lifted one eyebrow. “I thought you found him. You get
him to the car,” he mocked. He leaned down briefly to Josiah and whispered,
“Jameson.
~~~~
Josiah waited until he was sure Ezra had driven off then
rose slowly to his knees. He stood and pulled out his cell phone as he climbed
into his Suburban.
“It’s Josiah. Let me speak to
****
ATF Team 7’s office
Agent
“Why do you think your man ended up in
Simon shrugged. “We really don’t know. Jameson doesn’t have
any business in
“We’ve been hearing rumors of a new power trying to move
into the area,” Larabee said. “So far we don’t have a name to associate with
the rumors though. Whoever it is is keeping a tight lid on things.”
“Jameson’s pretty smart,” Jim added. “If Blair hadn’t
escaped, we still wouldn’t know where they took him.”
Larabee checked his watch. “Josiah’s place isn’t far. They
should arrive soon.”
The phone rang and JD picked it up. “Okay, Josiah,” he
frowned then handed the phone to
“Larabee,”
Jim focused on the voice on the other end of the phone line.
“
“Go on,”
“I ran into Ezra. It seems we are on the Jameson case as
well,” Josiah said.
“I assume that’s the good news,”
“Part of it,” Josiah agreed. “They grabbed Blair…”
Jim’s eyes widened. He lunged across the table and grabbed
the phone from Larabee. “What the hell happened? You were supposed to protect
him!”
“Ellison?” Josiah asked with surprise.
“Was he hurt? Where did they take him?” Jim continued
angrily as he paced the few steps back and forth that the phone cord would
allow.
“Are we on speaker phone?” Josiah asked calmly.
“What?” Jim sputtered. “No. What does that have to do with
anything?”
“Well,” Josiah replied, “I guess that explains why Blair’s
been riding along with a cop for the last few years. Give the phone back to
Jim stopped pacing and stared at the phone for a second his mouth
open in surprise. He flicked a glance around the room then handed the phone
back to Larabee. “Sorry,” he mumbled as he moved back to his seat.
“Josiah?”
“
“Okay,” Larabee replied. “We’ll meet you one block north.
Call me on my cell in a few so we can get the rest of the story.”
“Right,” Josiah said then disconnected the call.
*****
Ezra waited for Demmot to drag Sandburg out of the car then
reached into his glove box. He pulled out his special 9mm and an envelope. He
put the 9mm in his shoulder holster and tucked his regular weapon into the
waist of his pants at the small of his back. His jacket hid the weapon nicely.
Ezra opened the envelope and tipped it allowing a small black object to fall
into his hand. He slipped the item into his jacket pocket and got out of the
car.
“I certainly hope Mr. Dunne has his ears on,” he muttered
softly as he made his way up the sidewalk to
Inside the house Ezra found Jones and Demmot tying a very
angry Sandburg to a chair.
“How did you get loose?” Jones demanded. “Who helped you?”
“I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew!” Blair spat back. His
dark blue eyes landed on Ezra as the agent came through the door. “You didn’t
have to shoot Josiah!” he shouted lunging up out of the chair, anguish clear in
his voice.
“I assure you,” Ezra drawled as Demmot shoved Blair back
down, “your friend is in a much safer place.”
Blair froze and his eyes widened as he recognized the voice
of the man who had helped him escape before. He quickly covered his confusion
by continuing to struggle with the men holding him down.
“Sit still,” Demmot ordered, “or I’ll knock you out again.”
They finally got Sandburg sufficiently bound and gagged then
Jones turned to Styles. “What happened?”
Ezra cocked his head. “Demmot saw Sandburg getting into a car
with another man as we drove through Purgatorio. I dispatched his friend while
Demmot took care of Sandburg.” He shrugged as if thoroughly bored with the
whole thing.
Jones nodded. “Good job, you two. Jameson will be pleased.”
He looked back at Sandburg. “I just hope we can be done with this soon.”
“I whole-heartedly agree with that sentiment,” Ezra sighed.
*****
The rest of Team 7, along with Jim and Simon, all piled into
the ATF surveillance van and sped off toward
“Josiah?”
“Yes. Evidently the crime lord Ezra has been trying to get a
bead on these last three weeks is Jameson. Our brother must have been the one
to free Blair the other night. Ezra and another man ambushed us this morning.
Ezra pretended to knock me out and shoot me while the other man captured Blair.
Before he left, Ez gave me Jameson’s name and the address we are heading to
now,” Josiah reported.
“Ez look okay?” Chris asked.
“I didn’t really see him, Chris,” Josiah admitted. “He came
at me from behind and then I was down playing dead.”
“And Sandburg?”
“I think he got knocked out, but they still need him alive,”
Josiah answered as if trying to reassure himself.
“Okay. JD’s checking out Ezra’s bug to see if he was able to
take it in with him,”
“All right.”
Chris ended the call and turned to JD who was working steadily
at the computer console in the van.
JD nodded without looking at his boss. “I’m getting a faint
signal, but we’re still too far away to hear anything. That transmitter is only
for close range work. Ez wanted one on hand for the times he couldn’t go in
wired but might be able to sneak the bug in later.”
“Keep your ears open, JD and let us know the minute you’re
receiving,”
JD just nodded and continued to work hoping to improve the
reception.
“Just what is the distance on that bug?” Simon asked.
“Less than a mile,” Larabee admitted. “It’s very sensitive,
but doesn’t get much range.”
“How far are we from the house?” Jim asked shooting a look
at Simon.
Buck checked the cross street as he drove. “A little over
five miles,” he supplied.
Simon met Jim’s gaze, but the Sentinel only gave a slight
shrug. If they were in Cascade he might be able to locate Blair with his
hearing, if the kid was talking, but in a strange town it was unlikely Jim
could do much better than the bug the undercover agent wore.
The van was silent as they neared the location and Jim took
the opportunity to carefully open his hearing up a bit. Simon saw his head tilt
in what Sandburg called Jim’s ‘listening pose,’ and kept his attention focused
on Jim to stave off a zone out.
They reached the crossroad and Buck pulled the van into the
parking lot of a small shopping center. He parked next to an old, beat up
Suburban just as the transmitter stuttered to life.
“How much longer will
we need to keep Mr. Sandburg under wraps?” a familiar Southern drawl asked.
“Until the trial is
over,” another voice replied.
“And then?”
“Then? Then we get
paid and go home.”
A brief silence
reigned before Ezra spoke again. “And our guest? He’s seen all of our faces.”
“Yeah. Shame about
that,” the other man replied casually.
Jim stood abruptly and exited the van. Simon was right on
his heels. They walked a bit before Simon caught up to him.
“Jim,” Simon cautioned placing a hand on the other man’s
shoulder and pulling him to a stop.
“I know,” Jim sighed. “It’s just hard to hear that creep say
he’s going to kill Blair regardless of whether I follow Jameson’s rules or
not.”
Simon took a deep breath and nodded. He glanced back at the
truck then turned to Jim and whispered, “Can you pick him up now?”
Ellison took a deep breath of his own and closed his eyes.
He used Simon’s touch to keep him grounded as he sent his hearing out to find
the voice of his friend, or at least one of the voices he’d heard talking about
Blair’s demise.
After a few minutes, Jim grinned and looked at Simon. “Got
him. I didn’t hear his voice, but I found him.”
Simon frowned. “If you didn’t hear his voice, what did you
hear?”
Jim’s eyes widened briefly as he realized he’d let something
slip. Something he hadn’t actually wanted to admit. But now, staring into his
captain’s demanding eyes and seeing the concern that Simon had for Blair, Jim
didn’t feel up to the verbal tap dance it would take to redirect Simon’s
curiosity.
“I homed in on the voices we heard from the transmitter and
filtered out what I could identify as ‘not Blair,’ then listened for his
heartbeat,” Jim admitted softly.
“You can identify Blair by his heartbeat?” Simon asked
disbelievingly.
“Well,” Jim explained, “it’s not just that, but in
combination with some other sounds that I associate with Blair, yeah, I know
it’s him.”
Simon’s eyes narrowed. “A bit more information, Ellison,” he
demanded. “Although, I probably don’t want to know,” he added with a sarcastic
grin.
Jim gave him a half-hearted grin in return. He paused for a second then continued, “It’s not something I’ve taken the time to examine.” Jim sighed and tried to break down the sounds he knew belonged to Blair. “There’s the sound of his hair brushing his shirt…
And you know that amulet he wears all the time? Well, it
jingles a bit.”
“Excuse me?” Simon interrupted. “It’s a piece of metal on a
leather strap. What’s there to jingle?”
Jim rolled his eyes. “The clasp gets caught in his hair and
when he moves it… ‘jingles.’”
Simon sighed, but nodded. “Okay, okay. Anything else?”
Jim frowned. “Probably, but nothing I can pinpoint.” He
shrugged. “I just know, Simon,” he said, frustrated.
“All right,” Simon placated, patting Jim on the shoulder.
“Let’s go see what our ATF friends have planned.”
~~~~
Meanwhile, in the
surveillance van
Josiah cast a quick glance at the Cascade officers as they
stalked off, then he climbed into the back of the van. “Something wrong?” he
asked taking a seat beside
“We picked up transmission from Ezra’s bug,” Nathan
answered. “They were discussing what would happen to Sandburg after Jameson’s
trial.” His tone told Josiah what that conversation had entailed.
“So what’s the plan,
Larabee shrugged. “They haven’t used his name yet. If we can
wait it out a little while, I’m sure Ez will work the conversation around to
Jameson and then cue us in.”
“Ellison’s not gonna like that,” Vin supplied.
“Maybe not,”
Buck pulled a locker from beneath the bench seat and started
to hand out their bullet proof vests. JD opened a small panel near the computer
and issued the com units.
“What about Ellison and Banks?” Nathan asked as he secured
his com unit.
“Them too,”
They all nodded in agreement and exited the van.
“You’ll know as soon as Ez gives the signal,
Larabee nodded and shut the door. He turned to see Ellison
and Banks making their way back toward the van. He motioned toward the vests
Buck and Nathan held. “We’ve got a couple extra vests and coms for you.”
Banks nodded and took the vest from Buck. “Thanks,” he said
as he slipped the vest on.
Jim accepted the vest Nathan handed him but kept his eyes on
Larabee as he put it on. “What’s the plan?”
Larabee’s hazel eyes met Ellison’s steel blue. “We wait for
Ezra to bring us in.” He saw the defiance in the detective’s eyes. The blue
smoldered angrily then cooled a bit to acceptance.
Ellison nodded and slipped his com unit over his ear.
“Fine,” Banks replied. “Come on, Jim,” he said. They took
off down the street then cut through one of the nearby yards.
“Let’s move, ladies,” Larabee commanded. He met Vin’s eyes
then watched the sharpshooter for a second as he jogged off, then
“May the Lord protect us all,” Josiah prayed softly as he
and Nathan broke off from the group as well.
~~~~~
Inside the house
Ezra was beginning to wonder if he would be able to get
Jones to mention Jameson again. He was also just a bit concerned about the
location of his team mates. Had they managed to get into place? Were they
actually receiving transmission from the bug he carried?
He made his way to the room where Sandburg was being kept.
Now that the pizza he’d ordered had arrived, perhaps he could convince the
guard to take a break while he watched the prisoner. Ezra hadn’t seen any signs
of high tech surveillance inside the house, so hopefully the young man could
provide him with some answers without fear of being overheard.
The agent knocked on the door and smiled when it opened.
“The boys ordered pizza. I’ll watch him while you get some,” Eddie offered. The
guard grinned his thanks and let Ezra in. Ez held up a cautioning hand to
Sandburg as he pushed the door almost all the way closed then watched to make
sure the guard had gone. He closed the door and moved over to Sandburg and
gently removed his gag.
“Who are you?” Blair asked in a hushed voice as soon as the
gag came off.
“A friend,” Ez started.
“Is Josiah okay? You didn’t really shoot him?”
Ezra shook his head. “Hopefully, at this moment he is with
our colleagues attempting to extricate us from our current predicament.”
Blair blinked then grinned at the Southerner’s words. The
grin faded to a frown. “Just what do you and Josiah do?”
It was Ezra’s turn to blink in surprise. “We are ATF
agents,” he replied. “Now what happened while you were free of this abode?”
Sandburg sighed. “I don’t remember much at first. I ran and
kept running until I literally ran into Josiah. When I woke up he told me that
he’d contacted my partner and that Jim was on his way here.”
“Partner?” Standish asked. “I had not realized you were a
police officer.”
“Oh, ah, well I’m not,” Blair stammered. “I’m sort of a
consultant to the department.”
Ezra nodded thoughtfully then made a decision. “Mr.
Sandburg, I believe our friends are outside just waiting for me to give the
signal to move in, but first I must get Mr. Jones to admit to his connection
with your Mr. Jameson on tape.”
“How can we do that?” Blair asked.
The agent grinned. “With a little smoke and mirrors, my dear
man. Want to play?”
Blair grinned back.
*****
“
Both Larabee and Banks sighed.
*****
When the guard came back, Eddie Styles looked rather upset.
“Get Jones in here now!” Styles ordered, his intense green eyes causing the
guard to flee the room.
Ezra shared a quick grin with Blair then gathered a handful
of the younger man’s hair into his fist as gently as he could.
Jones pushed the door open and strode into the room, his
eyes blazing at the summons he’d received. “What’s going on here, Eddie?”
“Tell him!” Styles demanded giving Blair’s head a slight
shake.
“Go to hell!” Blair replied. Styles growled and shook his
fist again.
“Styles!” Jones said. “Tell me.”
“Mr. Sandburg and I were just having a little talk to pass
the time,” Eddie said. “Imagine my surprise when I found out he’d managed to
get in touch with his pal Ellison.”
“WHAT?” Jones yelled. He closed in on Blair and Ezra. “Damn.
Does Ellison know where he is?”
“As far as I know,” Eddie answered, “only where he was this
morning. I do not believe that Mr. Sandburg was coherent enough to recognize
this address when he escaped.”
Jones tilted his head in a motion for Eddie to join him.
Ezra scowled one last time at Sandburg, released his hold on the other man’s
hair and went over to Jones.
“We’re moving,” Jones said once Eddie was close. “Until Ellison
testifies,” Ezra held his breath as Jones continued, “we’re still obligated to
keep Sandburg.”
Ez exhaled softly in disappointment. Until Jones mentioned
Jameson by name, the charade had to continue. “Very well,” he replied. “I
assume you have another locale in mind.”
Jones nodded. “I made arrangements, just in case.” He sent a
disgusted look at Sandburg. “I’m not sure why Jameson’s so insistent that
Sandburg stays alive until the verdict is in,” he shook his head. “The orders
are the same either way. It’d be much easier to just kill him now.”
Ezra nodded in agreement. Repressing his urge to cheer, he
instead calmly gave the cue for the others to make their move. “To paraphrase,
‘Ours not to reason why…’”
Jones snorted and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s
funny or appropriate, Eddie.”
Ezra grinned thinking it was entirely appropriate and
followed the mercenary out of the room.
~~~~~
Outside the house
“We got it,” JD advised from the van. “They’re planning on moving
to another location. Ez gave the go to move in.”
“Are they leaving now?”
“Sounds like it,” JD replied.
“All right,”
“Roger,” Simon replied.
Jim turned off his com and touched Simon’s arm to get his
attention. “There are two heartbeats toward the back of the house. One is
Sandburg. The others are all heading for the front of the house.”
They crouched down by the back door and Jim checked out the
lock.
“Can you open it?” Simon asked.
Jim nodded and got to work.
~~~~~
The mercenaries moved in and out of the house loading
supplies into their vehicles. On the roof across the street, Vin watched his
team get closer to the action and kept an eye on all the bad guys. He only seen
three of them outside, the other three must have been busy in the house.
A flutter of cloth at one of the windows caught the
sharpshooter’s eye. He aimed his rifle at the movement and saw a fourth man
looking out across the yard. Suddenly the man’s eyes widened and he frowned
before dropping the curtain.
“Guys,” Vin advised quietly, “we may have been made.”
“I’m on it,” JD replied, fiddling with controls that were already
in perfect sync to make sure he picked up everything going on inside.
~~~~~
Jim heard the warning as he finished unlocking the back
door. He focused his hearing inside the house advising Simon as he listened.
“There’s one man still guarding Blair. Their undercover is talking to someone
named Jones and another man who saw someone ‘sneaking around’ out front,” Jim
grimaced.
Simon met Jim’s gaze and nodded toward the door. “Can we go
now?” he asked Sentinel soft.
Ellison nodded and eased the back door open. They moved into
a small entryway, it opened up into the kitchen on the left and straight ahead
through another door they could see down the hallway that went straight to the
front door. Just before they made it to the hall, Jim pulled Simon to the side
and put a finger to his lips.
Voices and footsteps came toward them then faded away.
Jim peeked out the door and saw two men enter a room at the
end of the hall. The same room Blair was in.
~~~~
Ezra followed Jones to the bedroom where Sandburg was being
kept. Jones had sent the rest of the men away then mumbled something about
taking care of their prisoner. The agent feared that his backup was not going
to show. He’d have to take measures to ensure that he and Sandburg survived
this debacle.
They had no sooner entered the room than the sound of gun
fire spattered outside the house.
Jones cursed and drew his gun.
Ezra stepped forward pulling his own weapon. “Allow me,” he
drawled.
Jones shrugged. “Go for it.”
Ezra turned to face Sandburg. He shrugged one shoulder and
raised an eyebrow at the other man. “Sorry, kid,” he drawled as he pulled the
trigger.
~~~~~
Blair’s eyes widened in surprise as the man that he’d thought
was a friend aimed a gun at him. The gunshot sounded unreal then Blair felt
something hit him in the chest. He glanced down lifting his hands at the same
time. He shot me. Sandburg took a
step back in disbelief as the red stain spread slowly across the front of his
shirt. He met Ezra’s intense green eyes for a split second then his own eyes
rolled up and Blair crumpled to the floor.
~~~~~
Everything seemed to happen at once. Jim and Simon followed
the two men down the hall. Just as the door closed behind the kidnappers, the
sound of gun shots could be heard coming from outside.
Jim listened in on the conversation in the room, hoping for
a distraction that would allow him and Simon to act.
“Allow me,” the ATF
agent drawled.
“Go for it.”
A slight rustle of
clothing then the Southerner’s voice again. “Sorry, kid.”
Jim heard the slide of a gun being pulled and grabbed for
the door handle.
“Jim?” Simon demanded as he readied his weapon and prepared
for battle.
The Sentinel couldn’t answer. His sole focus was on the
sound of the gun going off and the odd squelch of something hitting flesh. His
mind supplied the scent of his Guide’s blood from memories of the all too
frequent times he’d smelled Blair’s blood. He roared his denial and charged
through the door.
~~~~~
To say he was surprised would put it mildly. Ezra was
stunned. He’d watched with relief as Sandburg realized the hoax and fell to the
floor. The door opened behind Standish, but he barely had time to turn before
he felt someone slam into him and propel him across the room. The wall brought
their movement to a sudden and brutal stop that left Ezra gasping for breath.
When the stars stopped obscuring his vision, Ezra was able
to take stock of the situation. A rather large black man held a gun on Jones
and Demmot. Another very large white man had Ezra pinned to the wall. Okay, so
he probably wasn’t any bigger than Buck, but he certainly seemed gargantuan at
the moment.
“Sir…” Ezra started to say, only to gag as the man pushed his
forearm harder into Ezra’s throat and then actually growled. The hard blue eyes
seemed capable of piercing straight through to Ezra’s soul and he was never so
glad to hear his boss’ voice.
“Put my man down, Ellison!” Larabee ordered as he stormed
into the room followed closely by
“Jim!” the big black man shouted. “Let him go, Sandburg’s
fine.”
Some semblance of sanity returned to the blue eyes only
inches from Standish’s face. “Blair?” the man whispered.
“I’m okay, Jim,” Sandburg said coming into Ezra’s view at
last. “It was a blood pellet. I’m fine, let Agent Standish go.”
Ellison let go of Ezra’s jacket and the Southerner landed on
his feet, though his legs had other ideas and he felt himself sag to the floor.
He vaguely noted Buck’s hand on his shoulder as Ez rubbed at his throat.
He watched as Ellison hurried to his partner and proceeded
to do an inventory that would have put Nathan to shame. Buck’s chuckle caught
his attention. “What is it that you find so humorous?” Ezra demanded.
“I was just thinking that Ellison could teach Nate a thing
or two about being a mother hen.”
Ezra looked back that the two men from Cascade and offered a
weak chuckle in reply. “Quite so,” he agreed.
****
Jim stuck close to his partner. They went to the hospital
for a check up and surprisingly enough the ER doctor did not argue when Jim
insisted on staying with Blair.
Out in the waiting room Simon’s eyebrows rose in disbelief.
They still had trouble with the staff at Cascade General whenever one of the
Dynamic Duo was injured. He turned questioning eyes on Larabee and the other
members of Team 7.
They just chuckled.
At Simon’s bewildered look, Nathan took pity and explained.
“They’re so used to one or all of us insisting on being with a wounded team
mate that I suppose they expect it from all law enforcement types now.”
Simon snorted and turned back to wait for word on Blair. Wonder if I can get these doctors to talk to
our doctors?
~~~~~
“Really, Jim,” Blair said as the intern checked him out.
“Hey! That’s cold,” Blair complained.
“Sorry,” the intern said removing the stethoscope and
warming it briefly in his hand.
Sandburg continued to talk. “You owe Ezra an apology. He was
only trying to protect me. We didn’t know if you guys were really out there or
not. Of course, I wish I’d known he had that stunt gun on him,” he waved his
hands and almost hit the intern, “sorry. But, I suppose my reaction was more
real since I wasn’t expecting it.” He met Jim’s eyes with a bright grin. “He’s
really a great undercover agent, don’cha think? I even doubted him. I mean,
first…”
Jim put his hand over Blair’s mouth. “Breathe, Sandburg.” He
shook his head and sighed, a small smile playing on his lips. “I’ll apologize
to Standish for going all caveman on him and even thank him for trying to help
you and keep you safe.”
Blair blinked then grinned. “Gee, Jim. Maybe I should get
kidnapped more often. I love seeing your soft, fuzzy side.”
Jim tapped his friend on the side of the head. “Watch it,
Marshmallow Man,” he threatened playfully before addressing the intern.
“Everything okay?”
The young doctor smiled and nodded. “A few bruises and I’ll
want to see what the blood work shows, but as far as your physical exam goes,”
he told Blair, “you seem fine. Any pain or other symptoms?”
“No,” Blair replied. “Can I go now?”
Jim and the intern chuckled.
“Yes,” the doctor said. “Just leave a number where we can
reach you with the blood test results and be sure to come back if you have any
problems.”
“Okay,” Blair assured as he started to pull on his stained
shirt.
“Hey,
The intern nodded and left the exam room.
“Thanks, Jim,” Blair said as he pulled the sweater on over
his head. “Where’d you get it?” he asked running his hands over the soft
fabric.
“Standish thought you might need a change of clothes,” Jim
said. “I told him any old t-shirt would do. He got the strangest look in his
eye and his team mates just broke down laughing,” Jim finished, still not sure
what the joke had been.
Blair hopped off the exam table and together they walked out
into the hall. A large hand grabbed Blair by the arm and he found himself
engulfed in a hug.
“J’siah!” Blair squeaked. “can’t breathe!”
The vise grip eased on his ribs a bit, but Josiah held on
for just a few seconds longer as Blair returned the hug. The ATF profiler
backed away, but kept his hands on the younger man’s shoulders.
“Are you all right, son?” he asked, his voice husky with
concern.
Blair blinked back the moisture in his eyes and swallowed hard
before pasting a reassuring smile on his face. “Sure, J’siah. I’m okay.
Really.”
Sanchez nodded and touched Blair’s cheek briefly before
letting go. “Good,” he said then cleared his throat. “Good, because Naomi would
never let me hear the end of it if you got hurt under my watch.”
Jim frowned. This was the first time he’d really had time to
meet Sanchez. And Blair’s reaction to the man was odd. He offered his hand to
Blair’s old friend. “Jim Ellison,” he said by way of introduction. “Sorry, I
didn’t introduce myself earlier.”
Josiah smiled and shook the detective’s hand. “That’s all
right. I was a bit worried about Blair myself.”
Jim smiled to cover up his reaction to Sanchez’s touch. Very odd. But at that moment Larabee
interrupted.
“Banks, I’d like to get things wrapped up here. Do you think
your people are up to giving statements?”
Simon took a quick head count and nodded. “Sure. But after
that I think we could all do with a hot meal, a hot shower and a bed.”
Tired chuckles of agreement filled the area.
“Well,” Vin drawled, “what say we head back to the office,
get the paperwork out of the way and then go to Inez’s for dinner? I’m sure we can
figure out a place for you to bunk for the night.”
“They can stay with us,” JD offered ignoring Buck’s elbow to
the ribs.
“Really,” Ezra said. “I don’t see any reason to subject our
brothers in blue to the CDC. There’s a perfectly good hotel just a few blocks
from The Saloon.”
The relief on Jim and Simon’s faces was priceless and not
missed by the others.
“What’s wrong with our place?” Buck protested.
Ezra rolled his eyes.
“Ez didn’t nickname it the Center for Disease Control for no
reason,” Nathan quipped.
“That’s not fair!” JD countered. “That was one weekend and
we hadn’t been home all week except to sleep.”
“That still doesn’t excuse the pizza in the fridge,” Vin
teased, “I know that was from the game two weeks before hand.” He shivered with
mock horror. “I thought it was goin’ ta crawl right outta the box.”
Simon snorted and shared a glance with Jim. The Sentinel
just smiled as they all walked toward the exit. He watched as Blair and Josiah
pulled ahead of the others. Jim stretched his hearing a bit and caught the
sound of his partner’s voice.
“So, the ATF, Josiah?” Blair teased.
The big profiler dropped his arm around Blair’s shoulders
and chuckled then in a low voice said, “I see you found a Sentinel.”
Only Josiah’s arm around his shoulders kept Blair from
stopping dead in his tracks. He craned his head back to send a frantic look at
Jim.
The Sentinel shrugged then gave his poor Guide a reassuring
smile. Josiah had figured it out by himself and evidently had kept it quiet. Blair
smiled somewhat sheepishly in reply then turned back to Josiah and started to
talk, softly but quite animatedly. Jim shook his head and grinned.
“What’s that all about?” Simon asked having caught the
by-play.
“Sanchez knows,” Jim replied softly.
Simon did stop but quickly caught up to Jim. “About… you
know?” he asked.
Jim grinned at Simon’s theatrics. “Yeah.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“What can I do?” Jim asked concentrating on the pair ahead.
Something about Josiah kept catching his attention. If only he could pin it
down.
*****
They went to the ATF offices and started the paperwork but
soon realized everyone was too tired to get much done. The group called it a
day and after a big dinner and a few drinks at The Saloon, Josiah drove the
Cascade group to the hotel. He left with a promise to pick them up in the
morning after breakfast.
Jim settled into his bed and cast his senses out one last
time. Simon was in the room next to them already snoring away. Blair was
tossing and turning. He flipped his pillow then punched it and flipped it again
before finally settling down with a sigh and a soft ‘nite, Jim.’ Jim smiled and
closed his eyes.
A few minutes later they popped open and Jim sat up. He
stared at his friend sleeping deeply across the room. Does Blair know? Does Josiah? And how the hell am I supposed to find
out?
*****
The next morning
ATF headquarters,
Jim spent the morning covertly watching the interactions
between Blair and Josiah Sanchez. He’d come to the conclusion that Josiah
didn’t have a clue, but Blair knew everything. Just before they were planning
to break for lunch, Jim cornered Blair in the small break room down the hall.
“Hey, Jim,” Blair said cheerfully. His most recent
kidnapping seemingly forgotten.
Jim regarded his partner for a long moment. “Something you
want to share, Sandburg?”
Blair blinked. “About what?”
“You and Josiah.”
“Uh,” Blair stammered. “What do you mean, Jim?”
“You told me you didn’t know who your father was, but you
do. You’ve known all along that he’s your father. Why didn’t you say anything?”
Jim asked in disbelief.
Blair took a deep breath as he nodded slowly. “I don’t think
I ever said I didn’t know who my father was, that there were a lot of candidates,
yeah.” Blair shrugged sadly. “It’s not that I didn’t want him to know, to
actually be able to claim the relationship… But, well, it was complicated.”
Jim huffed. “Yeah, I bet.”
“Come on, Jim. You know Naomi. By the time she knew she was
pregnant Josiah was overseas. They kept in contact as much as possible by mail,
but she decided to wait until he was home to let him know about me. She didn’t
want to pressure him into anything he didn’t want. Marriage or fatherhood,”
Blair explained.
“She was going to meet with him when his tour of duty was up
and tell him then, but he disappeared when he got Stateside. Josiah had some
post traumatic stress and when Naomi finally tracked him down,” Blair shrugged,
“Well, she said it was better for us to be friends than to force him to be
responsible for a family. Josiah needed to take care of himself first for a
while.”
Jim frowned but nodded. He could see Naomi making that
decision without discussing with Josiah how he felt.
“Anyway, one year led to another. We’d cross paths with
Josiah every few years. He was making his way through the same communes, doing
a bit of soul searching himself. I kept waiting for Naomi to tell me it was
time to tell him, but she never did.” He lifted one shoulder in dismissal, but Jim
could see the old pain in his eyes. “When I was younger I figured she was just
using his time overseas as an excuse to hide the fact that he really didn’t
want to be my father. Of course later I realized that he just didn’t know and I
was kind of embarrassed to bring it up.”
“So,” Jim drawled, “You gonna tell him now?”
Out in the hallway, Ezra waited for the answer. He hadn’t
intended to eavesdrop, but the content of their discussion had floored the
Southerner.
“I don’t know, Jim,” Blair said hesitantly. “It’s been so
long.”
Standish’s eyes flashed as he strode into the break room.
“You must tell Josiah, Mr. Sandburg.”
“What?” Blair exclaimed, surprised by the undercover man’s
abrupt entrance.
“I overheard your discussion with Detective Ellison,” he
sighed. “You must tell Josiah that you are his son.”
Blair shook his head uncertainly. “I don’t know, Ezra. I
don’t want to hurt him. Maybe it’s better…”
“Better for him not to know he sired you?” Ezra demanded.
“How can you say that? He deserves to know.”
Jim watched the two carefully. He still didn’t trust the
Southerner completely, but agreed with him. Blair needed to get to know his
father and for that, his father needed to know the truth.
“What if he doesn’t…” Blair stammered lowering his gaze to
the floor.
Ezra sighed. “Believe me, Blair. Josiah may be upset by the
deception, but he will truly rejoice when he discovers you are his son.”
Blair met Standish’s sincere gaze for a long moment then
nodded. “Could you? Do you think you could ask him to come…” Blair stammered,
at a loss for words.
“Of course,” Standish replied. He left the room as quickly
as he’d entered.
“Do you want me to stay?” Jim asked softly.
Blair stared at the floor as he shook his head, his long
hair hiding his face. He looked up and gave Jim a quick smile. “No. Thanks, but
it’ll be fine.”
“Okay. But just say the word and I’m here, buddy,” Jim
offered. He stepped out into the hall and went to find Simon.
~~~~~~
Josiah strode out into the hall and almost ran into Ellison.
The detective opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something then shook his
head and proceeded through the door to Team 7’s offices. Josiah pushed the
meeting to the back of his mind and went to see Blair. Ezra’s cryptic message
had the profiler worried.
What could possibly be going on to cause the suave
undercover agent to be so concerned? Josiah hoped that Ellison and Ezra had not
gotten into an argument. From what Blair had told him, the Sentinel could be
quite protective of his Guide.
Josiah entered the break room and closed the door. “Blair?”
The younger man looked up and Josiah saw apprehension, fear
and hope flash across the expressive face.
“What’s wrong, son?” he asked.
Blair smiled briefly then sighed. “Nothing’s wrong, exactly.
Just… Well, there’s something I need to tell you. Should have told you a long
time ago, but I…” Blair stumbled to a halt unable to meet Josiah’s eyes.
Josiah sat at the table across from Blair and placed his
folded hands on the surface. “Blair, you’re like a son to me. I hope you know
you can tell me anything.”
“Not just ‘like’ a son, Josiah,” Blair replied softly daring
to bring hopeful blue eyes up to meet Josiah’s. “I’m sorry, Josiah. Naomi or I should
have told you a long time ago, let you decide what you wanted to do.” He ducked
his head, unable to bear the possibility that Josiah wouldn’t want to be his
father.
“I don’t understand, Blair,” Josiah said breathlessly.
“Naomi told me… I… You’re my son?” Blair nodded, still not looking up. “Why?
Lord, Blair, why?”
“At first, she didn’t want to pressure you into a family you
might not want,” Blair replied quietly as he studied the monochromatic table
top. “She found out she was pregnant right after you shipped off to ‘
Josiah stared at his son, listening and trying oh so hard
not to judge. My son.
“When you came home, Naomi said you were different, troubled
by what you’d seen, and again,” Blair shrugged, “she didn’t think it was fair
to force you into being a father. She thought you needed time to find yourself
again.”
“But all those times we saw each other…” Josiah whispered,
his heart breaking at the thought of the time he’d missed.
“I know,” Blair choked out, “I kept asking her if it was
time to tell you. As I got older… I… I couldn’t blame Naomi,” he beseeched,
finally looking up again. “She loves me, she was trying to protect me, and you.
But I began to wonder why. For a long time I thought that maybe you did know
about me and just didn’t want a son,” Blair admitted painfully.
“Never,” Josiah growled. “Never think that, Blair. If I had
known… Good Lord. If I had only known,” he trailed off then captured Blair’s
hand in his forcing him to meet his gaze. “Do you want to be my son?”
“Of course,” Blair blurted. “Always. I hated not being able
to tell you and let everyone know who my dad was.”
Josiah smiled broadly. “Well, why don’t we go rectify that
right now?” he said standing and pulling Blair up out of his chair at the same
time. He wrapped his arm around his befuddled son’s shoulders and guided him
back down the hall.
“What do you mean, Josiah?” Blair asked.
“I want to introduce my friends to my son, if that’s all
right with you?” Josiah said hopefully.
Blair grinned. “Sounds good to me… Dad.”
They entered the team’s office and walked to the center of
the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing when Josiah cleared his throat
loudly.
“Gentlemen,” the profiler said proudly, “I’d like you to
meet my son, Blair Sandburg.”
The response was quite boisterous. Over the hubbub, Jim met
Blair’s eyes and saw the peace and happiness there. He smiled and Blair’s
megawatt grin flashed back at him.
“Looks like the kid is happy about the announcement,” Simon
said with a grin of his own.
“Yeah,” Jim replied. “I’m glad. He deserves to be happy.”
The ATF crew hovered around the father and son offering
congratulations and demanding explanations. As the questions were answered and
everyone realized that no scams were involved, the group relaxed and welcomed
Blair into the family.
Ezra rested a hip on Vin’s desk and smiled contentedly.
Although feeling a tad bit jealous of Sandburg for having found his paternal
relative, he was happy for Josiah, the man he secretly placed in the empty
place his own father had left.
A loud guffaw interrupted the Southerners musings. “Josiah,
you old dog. I didn’t know you had it in you,” Buck teased.
Ezra stepped forward to rejoin the group and intervene on
Josiah’s behalf. “I must admit,” he drawled casually, “that I would have
wagered a significant amount of my annual earnings that we would have chanced
upon meeting one or more of Mr. Wilmington’s offspring before one of yours Mr.
Sanchez.”
The others laughed as Buck flushed a bright red at the
accusation. “Now, Ez…”
“I don’t know, Chief,” Jim drawled in conscious imitation of
Ezra. “Seems to me you might have more in common with Buck here, are you sure
he’s not your father?”
Blair stared at Jim in shock.
“Table leg, Chief.”
Blair burst out laughing. “Naw, Jim. Buck’s not old enough
and I’m pretty sure Naomi would have named me something else if my dad’s name
was ‘Buck.’”
This elicited more laughter from the crowd.
“Well,” Buck admitted with a grin, “Blair’s not exactly a
name I would have chosen…”
Josiah patted
“I wondered where she came up with ‘Blair,’” Blair said with
a smile. “She never would say, just got this incredible smile on her face.”
“Well,” Larabee interrupted, “I hate to throw a wet blanket
on this reunion, but we do have some work to do and these folks need to get
back to Cascade eventually.”
Boos and hisses were met with the Larabee glare and everyone
settled back into their desks.
Jim, Simon and Blair went into the conference room to finish
reading their printed statements.
******
Blair and Josiah stood off to one side while Jim and Simon
checked their bags.
“If you…” Josiah started.
“Maybe you could…” Blair said at the same time.
They both chuckled and motioned for the other to speak
first.
“We shouldn’t wait so long between visits, son,” Josiah
said.
“Maybe we can plan a vacation together soon,” Blair
suggested.
“That would be great.” Josiah glanced over his shoulder at
Nathan who had driven them all to the airport then looked back to Blair. “If
you ever need anything…”
Blair nodded. “You too. I have my own resources you know,”
he said playfully with a glance at Jim.
Jim turned and met Josiah’s eyes. A promise passed between
them, then the Sentinel looked away to give the father and son a little more
privacy.
“I’m very proud to be your father, Blair,” Josiah said
taking his son into his arms.
Blair returned the hug. “And I’m proud to be your son.” They
parted and Blair looked into his father’s eyes. “Don’t be too angry with Naomi.
She really did do what she thought was best for both of us.”
Josiah nodded. “I know. At least my head knows. In my heart…
well, I still need some time to process all of this.”
Blair grinned. “Take care, Jo… Dad. You’ve got my e-mail and
phone number. If I don’t hear from you I’ll be back.”
“Sounds like I should just refrain from contacting you then,”
Josiah teased.
Blair laughed then turned as he heard Jim call his name.
“Looks like I’ve got to go,” he said solemnly. “I love you, Dad.”
Josiah hugged Blair one more time. “I love you too, son.”
They pulled away reluctantly. “I’ll talk to you in a few days.”
Blair nodded and moved off at a jog to catch up to Jim and
Simon. He turned when he reached them and waved walking backwards until Ellison
had to pull him out of someone’s path.
Josiah smiled at the antics of the two men bantering back and
forth and Banks’ loud grumbling plea for them to act their ages.
Things were never dull in
The end
I really like feedback. Judy
Back to Sentinel Crossover page
Back to Magnificent 7 page