Sunstroke, Insanity, and Faith
May. 1st, 2010 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lit_galOkay, it's time for me to clean up all my hanging WIPs now that I have that hard-as-hell 6x6 challenge DONE. First up, a story I had forgotten. Vin is an undercover cop sent in to investigate the gangs, kidnappings, illegal immigration, and extortion in Tucson. He has trust issues, but he thinks he can handle himself... he thinks that all the way up until he meets Josiah, the Vietnam war veteran turned good Samaritan who has taken over a local mission. Josiah says he needs some help with a little problem. His problem turns out to be a gang war with a dangerous group of criminals, and Josiah's only help comes from JD, a kid who is barely old enough to be legal, and Buck, a man whose jokes and flirting ways make him seem less than competent. Now Vin feels completely lost at sea, but he's trying hard to keep up.
Meet (not the Magnificent Seven but) the Tucson Seven.
Title: Sunstroke, Insanity, and Faith
Genre: Gen... an introduction to the characters before I use them in crossovers.
Fandom: Magnificent Seven
Taming the Muse prompt: #197 - Jizo
Summary: An undercover cop finds himself in deeper than he ever expected when a local priest hires him to defend the church in an all out gang-war.
( Part One... )
( Part Two... )
"Gentleman," a man in a tailored gray suit walked out from a backroom, "I am afraid Big Lester found himself in a difficult situation monetarily, and he has retired to St. Louis to lick his rather substantial wounds. Do I gather from your exuberant greeting that you are associates of his?" The man gave them the sort of helpful smile that Vin might expect from a teacher or a policeman, someone who was being paid to be particularly polite. He also noticed that the man was holding his left arm out and to the side. Vin was guessing he had a weapon up his sleeve.
"Buck Wilmingon." Buck offered his hand, and the man took it gingerly, letting go and backing away a step as soon as politeness allowed. "My friends, J.D. Dunne and VinTanner." Vin wasn't sure how he felt about being included as one of Buck's friends, but he certainly wasn't going to debate that now in front of this stranger.
The stranger smiled. "Ezra Standish, at your service. I am the new owner and proprietor of "Players Only." Now the expression looked genuine enough—pride with more than a little greed mixed in.
It took Buck a second to respond. "Well, shit."
“Excuse me?” Ezra looked downright offended.
“Ain’t nothing against you,” Buck hurried to say, “but Lester had an arrangement with us.” Buck walked over to a table and dropped down into one of the chairs. Vin moved to the side, and he noticed that a good number of the patrons were quietly sliding toward the door. Ezra seemed to notice as well.
“Now, I’m sure there will be no hostilities," he assured the fleeing customers. "Have you tried the billiards tables?” All Ezra's reassurances just seemed to make them take off even faster. The place was left with one old man at the bar who looked too damn drunk to walk out on his own and a woman in the corner who had her feet propped up on an empty chair as she watched like they were a picture show and she just needed the popcorn. Vin didn’t think they were that entertaining, but from the woman’s expression, she did.
With his customers gone, Ezra turned to Buck. “Whatever protection racket you may have engaged in when Lester owned this place, I can assure you that I am not likely to continue it. I am very capable of providing for my own security.” Again, he had his arm out to the side. This man dressed like an escapee from some high-end clothing catalog, but Vin didn’t doubt that he could take care of himself. He had a certain hardness around the edges that didn’t come from a fancy upbringing.
“Whoa now.” Buck held up his hands. “I think you got yourself the wrong end of the horse, there. When I said we had a deal, I wasn’t talking about taking money from Lester. Although I wouldn’t turn down any loans if you have some extra cash laying around.” Buck smiled widely. “I guess you could say we use this place like a gathering point.”
“An office,” JD offered. “With beer on tap.”
Ezra finally glanced over at JD. “You will not be served alcohol on these premises.”
“But…” JD looked downright offended, but Buck… his smile just got a little wider as he looked at JD. These two definitely had some vibe that Vin was not understanding.
“And as for your plan to conduct your business out of the Players Only, might I suggest that you find another plan. I intend to run this house with an eye to attracting serious gamblers and players of both means and refinement.” The tight smile Ezra offered them made it clear that he considered them lacking in both qualities.
“I think he’s insulting us,” Vin said. Despite the fact that Ezra was clearly a man who valued money above all, Vin found himself respecting both the way he refused to back down and the way he stayed close to cover and kept his body coiled for action. It made Vin a little jumpy, but he could respect a man who watched his own back. Buck, however, just leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.
"Now, I don't mean to sound arrogant," Buck looked back down at Ezra, "but you won't last a week without us."
"Were that to prove true some time in the future, I would tender you my apologies, but as of right now, I fail to see how you are anything other than a petty thief and extortionist."
"Buck!" JD called out. The edge of panic in his voice made Vin drop to one knee before he even had a second thought. Buck rolled out of his chair, hitting the floor and pulling his gun at the same time. Ezra dove for the bar, which he'd been sticking close to the whole time, and that left the two customers. "There!" JD was on one knee pointing at the door when the bullets ripped through the front of the Player's Only. The one small window shattered and sunlight streamed through a dozen holes in the siding as the sound of fully automatic weapons blasted the air. The door swung open as the glass inserts shattered with a loud crash. The woman who had been perched on her chair fell to the floor with a startled shriek, but the man at the bar just took another drink of his beer.
"JD, cover the back," Buck called. He crawled toward the door, gun in hand, brushing glass out of his way as he crawled. Vin pulled his own weapon, caught between the need to keep his cover intact and an urge to call for backup. While he expected trouble undercover, he didn't expect someone to shoot fully automatic guns at him. Buck laid on his belly and pushed the edge of the door open, pointing his gun out the door, but Vin could already hear the squealing of tires as someone pulled out of the parking lot. Vin's hand twitched toward his phone. He could call it in. But if he did that, his cover would be irrevocably lost. Months of work would be gone, and even worse, there would be no one to help these idiots fight whatever trouble they'd landed in.
"They're gone," Buck called from the front as he stood and brushed himself off.
"Clear back here," JD said as he came back from the back. "They didn't even try to come around back. Amateurs." JD sounded like an old soldier disgusted at some failure in tactics, which sounded strange coming out of a kid who couldn't be more than eighteen or nineteen.
Ezra stood up behind the bar and looked around. "I... but... look what they did to my bar. Those barbarians destroyed my bar." Stepping out from the bar, he nearly wailed as he looked at the broken window and the dust and splinters still drifting to the floor. "You!" Ezra pointed a finger at Buck. "You did this."
"Me? I was the one in here getting shot at. You might want to invest in glasses."
"So, I suppose it is just coincidence that you attempt to extort money from me and then these hooligans destroy my bar?"
"I don't suppose it's coincidence seeing as how people know Big Lester lets us use this place," JD offered in a tone of voice that suggested he was trying to be genuinely helpful. Ezra glared at him.
"He's right," Buck said. "The East Side Los Cuatro Milpas aren't going to have to do too much asking around to find out that this place is right up there with the church in terms of places we're likely to go."
"Buck!" JD looked at Buck with horror. The kid had just figured out that if the gang had taken steps against the bar, they had probably taken the fight to the church, too.
"I know, but we need to pick up supplies before we head back there. Ezra, it's been real nice chatting, but we're in a hurry." Buck headed for the door leading into the employee areas. Vin watched as Ezra's mouth came open, probably to protest, but Buck and JD were already heading into the back of the bar.
"Now wait just one minute." Ezra gave Vin a nasty look, and Vin held up his hands in surrender. He was not trying to extort or intimidate a local businessman. Hell, he was going to have enough trouble trying to explain to Captain Rodriguez exactly why he hadn't called for backup, so he definitely didn't need more trouble.
"You okay?" Vin asked the two customers. The guy at the bar was still nursing his beer, and the woman was sitting on the floor looking wild-eyed but unharmed. She nodded. Not sure what else to do, Vin chased after Ezra who had chased after Buck and JD.
The back hall led to a dozen doors, but Vin could still hear the running argument as Ezra ripped into Buck, threatening to call the police if the man took anything off Ezra's property without permission. Vin hurried after their voices. The door at the end of the hall led into a narrow staircase, and Vin could hear Buck's voice echoing in the basement. The bar might only be a few decades old, but the brick here was worn with age and crumbling in places.
"Just wait 'til you see what we're talking about or you just might regret that call," Buck advised. As a police officer, Vin truly wanted an explanation for that comment. The stair was steep and curved around. Vin came around the corner to find the three men standing in the middle of a dark room lit only by a single hanging bulb.
"It's the bald one. It always amused Josiah to put it behind the bald one," Buck offered. Vin looked, and there were eight statues, each set in a small stone niche formed within the wall.
"Oh my god. Those are Bodhisattva, and if you remove even one, I will have you up on charges of grand larceny, sir. If these are genuine artifacts from India or China, why these might be worth...." Ezra whistled instead of giving an answer. He'd put his back to a wall and had his cell phone in his left hand, making it even more obvious that he was hiding a weapon somewhere handy enough that he felt confident he could reach it with his right.
"Actually, they're Josiah's, but I don't suppose this is really the time to argue about that," Buck said.
"Guys, whether he calls or not, the cops are going to be here soon," Vin pointed out. He'd like to think they'd be here within seconds on a call of automatic weapons fire, but he wasn't that naïve. In this neighborhood, it would take a little while because no one car would venture down this way without one or two more as backup. That would slow them down... assuming that anyone had bothered to call them at all.
"So we hurry," Buck said. Walking over, he took the statue of the bald man and carefully pulled it off the shelf it sat on.
"Since that was on the property at the time that the title was transferred from Lester to myself, one could argue that it became part of the property, possession being nine-tenths of the law and all," Ezra protested again.
"Don't get your knickers in a twist," Buck said. "You can argue that out with Josiah later." He put the statue on the ground and then reached into the niche and pulled on a lever. Vin heard a loud clicking under him, and he jumped off the stairs, afraid that the old wood was creaking and ready to give way. Instead, he saw a crack open in the rough boards that formed the side of the stairs.
"You want it all?" JD asked.
"It'd be best," Buck agreed. JD reached over and pulled the boards back, and Vin nearly swallowed his tongue. A sniper rifle, smoke grenades, fully automatic weapons, a grenade launcher and a half-dozen pistols were all neatly hung from hooks in the hidden compartment.
"Good lord," Ezra breathed. Vin was feeling pretty much the same. Who the hell were these people? Anyone collecting weapons like these should have gotten the attention of ATF, but when Vin had talked to Captain Rodriguez, the man had made it clear that Josiah Sanchez and his friends were victims to protect, not fucking gun runners.
"Now, I understand the need to protect oneself, so you may count on my discretion." Ezra's voice had a sharp edge of fear now.
"And even if you weren't discrete, we wouldn't do anything about that, would we?" Vin gave Buck and JD a hard stare. Buck just stared back, but JD looked confused.
"What would we do?" he asked. Five minutes ago, he'd sounded like a battle-hardened soldier reporting in from the front. Now he sounded like a kid.
Slowly Buck smiled. "Our friend thinks we might be the sort to shoot a man for knowing some uncomfortable truths."
"Us?" JD looked and sounded horrified. "We wouldn't do nothing to anyone."
"Well, I reckon these two are a little suspicious," Buck said as he pulled the weapons off their hooks. At the bottom of the compartment, ammunition was stacked up. "Grab that, will you?" he asked Vin before passing a half dozen guns over to JD.
Vin looked at Ezra who had backed against the wall and then at the two now very-well-armed men. JD gave him a crooked smile. "We may not stay exactly inside the lines of the law, but we wouldn't ever turn on someone."
"Well, I would rather not be the first," Ezra said softly. Vin agreed with that, but right now, he didn't see any way out of this except to play the cards he'd been dealt. If he tried breaking cover now, he was very likely to find out whether or not these two would shoot him to avoid jail time, and he really wasn't that trusting of human nature. Hell, his own partner in Texas had tried to frame him for murder, so these two men who were little more than strangers had no reason to treat him any better.
"Ezra, I suggest you stay down here." Buck took the last weapon and pushed the hidden door closed. "We know you're not on our side, but the gang is likely to think you're picking up where Lester left off."
"Wait, what? I do not wish to become entangled in any of your conflicts. I'm sure these people will understand that the Players Only has changed hands."
"I wouldn't suggest you try having that conversation," Vin said. "They're a dangerous gang out of Phoenix, and they have a reputation for shooting first and worrying about whether people are friend or foe later."
"So, you'd be best just staying down here until one of us come for you," Buck finished. He headed for the stairs with enough military weaponry for a small army gathered in his arms.
"We shouldn't be too long," JD said. "If you check the lever behind the statue of the guy on the elephant, you'll find some supplies and water in another compartment, so you only need to bolt the door behind us."
Ezra drew himself up. "I most certainly will not. This is my club and my reputation. If I cower in the basement, what will the clientele think?"
"That you have the common sense god gave a goose," Buck suggested as they reached the main floor. Vin trailed behind JD and Buck, feeling very exposed. If someone saw them carrying this much firepower, they were all going to attract the wrong kind of attention. Vin was a cop, and he still suspected that the cops would shoot them on sight for having even half this stuff. Anyone who could gather this kind of stash was dangerous—maybe even as dangerous as Los Cuatro Milpas.
They headed out through the main room, and the bartender was back, serving drinks to three men who didn't seem to mind that the room was getting uncomfortably hot with the new ventilation courtesy automatic weapons fire. Ezra stopped when he saw that, staring at them in confusion.
Buck ignored the customers."Put the rocket launcher and grenades in the trunk. Keep the semi-automatics and handguns in the backseat. JD, Vin, load three weapons each as we head over. If they tried to take Josiah, they're going to be in for more of a fight than they expected, but he can't hold out forever."
"You got it," JD agreed happily. Vin wasn't sure what to do, but for right now, he just followed these two and tried to keep an eye on Ezra who had finally shaken free of his shock and was back to chasing them. "You need to make it clear to these people that we are not in any sort of alliance with one another. I will not have my establishment targeted because of your difficulties."
"We'll get right on that," Buck said sarcastically. He headed out into the parking lot without even checking first to see if the place was surrounded by police. Vin flinched, half-expecting to hear the entire SWAT team take a shot at Buck the second they caught sight of the guns in his arms. However, nothing happened as he crossed the parking lot to the car and opened the trunk. JD hurried to lay the weapons down and then held his hand out for the ammunition Vin had in his hands.
Vin was trying to figure out a way to avoid getting in the car with these two when the sound of something pinging against metal startled him. A crack a half second later made him spin around and then he was flying toward the asphalt with Buck on his back.
"East wall!" Buck called out. They hit the ground together, and Buck rolled to the side pulling at his gun. Vin reached for his own gun, but it almost slipped out of his hand which was slick with something from the road.
"There!" JD cried out, and Vin saw him on one knee firing toward the wall. Ezra was using the hood of the car for cover as he returned fire as well, but it was hard for Vin to see because Buck was in front of him.
"JD, get back here."
"I can see him!"
"I need you here!" Buck called. Vin felt strangely uncoordinated, but that didn't matter because Buck caught him by the arm and hauled him upright, propping him up against the car.
"I'll call 911," Ezra pulled out his cell phone.
"Vin, should we call the cops?" Buck asked.
"What?" Vin frowned. No way did he want to blow his cover—not now. True, the captain was going to kill him for being in the middle of a shoot out in the middle of the day, but he could talk his way out of that. He was good at talking his way out of trouble. "No, no cops," he said.
"He's hurt."
"And I'm not going to turn a man over to the cops unless he wants it."
"He could die."
"Who?" Vin asked.
"Buck, maybe we should call for help."
"Yep, but not from the cops. Vin is one of us, JD. We take care of our own." More pops sounded and all three men ducked down.
JD turned and fired a couple of shots while Buck opened the car door. "I'll get him in," Ezra said. Vin just blinked, not really quite understanding what was going on as Buck pulled an automatic out of the car and turned to fire over JD's head toward the enemy.
"What the hell am I doing?" Ezra muttered, but he got his hands under Vin's arms and lifted him up and onto the seat.
Vin stared at the red on his hand. "I've been shot," he said.
"Well there's a brilliant observation. You are, no doubt, a Rhode scholar." Vin reached out and caught at Ezra's arm, and his blood smeared red against Ezra's white silk shirt. "And you are buying me a new shirt," Ezra complained as he knelt on the floor of the backseat. He put a hand on the seat and leaned over Vin, gun in hand. Car doors slammed.
"I'll call Nathan," Buck said. The car took off so fast that Vin slid toward the door and Ezra caught him, holding him in place.
"My mother would have a good laugh right about now. She always said to walk away from trouble. Now mind you, I'm a little more likely to take a first class ticket on Qantas Airways, but the general concept is the same." Ezra leaned close as though he was sharing some confidence, but when his fingers pressed into Vin's side, Vin cried out.
"How is he?"
"Staring at me like he has no idea what's happening. Might I suggest that we get to some secure site where we are less likely to get shot and then call 911."
"If we have to, we have to." Buck sounded grim. "Vin. Vincent!" Vin blinked and looked up toward the front seat. JD was driving and Buck was leaning over the front seat holding a cell phone up to his ear. "Should we call the cops? We can get you to a hospital in ten minutes."
"No cops," Vin repeated. His legs were cold and he knew he wasn't thinking straight, but he also knew he didn't want the cops. He definitely didn't want the cops.
"Fair enough," Buck agreed. "Nathan!" Buck turned around to face front again. "Nathan, we have trouble. We're heading for Josiah's, and we're going to need a few of your special talents." Vin closed his eyes. Did he know a Nathan?
"Hey, keep your eyes on me," Ezra tapped him on the cheek. "I have no intention of letting you die and allowing those two to somehow impugn my skills as a caretaker. Just focus here. And when you recover, be sure to call me seven kinds of a fool for getting involved at all."
Meet (not the Magnificent Seven but) the Tucson Seven.
Title: Sunstroke, Insanity, and Faith
Genre: Gen... an introduction to the characters before I use them in crossovers.
Fandom: Magnificent Seven
Taming the Muse prompt: #197 - Jizo
Summary: An undercover cop finds himself in deeper than he ever expected when a local priest hires him to defend the church in an all out gang-war.
( Part One... )
( Part Two... )
"Gentleman," a man in a tailored gray suit walked out from a backroom, "I am afraid Big Lester found himself in a difficult situation monetarily, and he has retired to St. Louis to lick his rather substantial wounds. Do I gather from your exuberant greeting that you are associates of his?" The man gave them the sort of helpful smile that Vin might expect from a teacher or a policeman, someone who was being paid to be particularly polite. He also noticed that the man was holding his left arm out and to the side. Vin was guessing he had a weapon up his sleeve."Buck Wilmingon." Buck offered his hand, and the man took it gingerly, letting go and backing away a step as soon as politeness allowed. "My friends, J.D. Dunne and VinTanner." Vin wasn't sure how he felt about being included as one of Buck's friends, but he certainly wasn't going to debate that now in front of this stranger.
The stranger smiled. "Ezra Standish, at your service. I am the new owner and proprietor of "Players Only." Now the expression looked genuine enough—pride with more than a little greed mixed in.
It took Buck a second to respond. "Well, shit."
“Excuse me?” Ezra looked downright offended.
“Ain’t nothing against you,” Buck hurried to say, “but Lester had an arrangement with us.” Buck walked over to a table and dropped down into one of the chairs. Vin moved to the side, and he noticed that a good number of the patrons were quietly sliding toward the door. Ezra seemed to notice as well.
“Now, I’m sure there will be no hostilities," he assured the fleeing customers. "Have you tried the billiards tables?” All Ezra's reassurances just seemed to make them take off even faster. The place was left with one old man at the bar who looked too damn drunk to walk out on his own and a woman in the corner who had her feet propped up on an empty chair as she watched like they were a picture show and she just needed the popcorn. Vin didn’t think they were that entertaining, but from the woman’s expression, she did.
With his customers gone, Ezra turned to Buck. “Whatever protection racket you may have engaged in when Lester owned this place, I can assure you that I am not likely to continue it. I am very capable of providing for my own security.” Again, he had his arm out to the side. This man dressed like an escapee from some high-end clothing catalog, but Vin didn’t doubt that he could take care of himself. He had a certain hardness around the edges that didn’t come from a fancy upbringing.
“Whoa now.” Buck held up his hands. “I think you got yourself the wrong end of the horse, there. When I said we had a deal, I wasn’t talking about taking money from Lester. Although I wouldn’t turn down any loans if you have some extra cash laying around.” Buck smiled widely. “I guess you could say we use this place like a gathering point.”
“An office,” JD offered. “With beer on tap.”
Ezra finally glanced over at JD. “You will not be served alcohol on these premises.”
“But…” JD looked downright offended, but Buck… his smile just got a little wider as he looked at JD. These two definitely had some vibe that Vin was not understanding.
“And as for your plan to conduct your business out of the Players Only, might I suggest that you find another plan. I intend to run this house with an eye to attracting serious gamblers and players of both means and refinement.” The tight smile Ezra offered them made it clear that he considered them lacking in both qualities.
“I think he’s insulting us,” Vin said. Despite the fact that Ezra was clearly a man who valued money above all, Vin found himself respecting both the way he refused to back down and the way he stayed close to cover and kept his body coiled for action. It made Vin a little jumpy, but he could respect a man who watched his own back. Buck, however, just leaned back and stared up at the ceiling.
"Now, I don't mean to sound arrogant," Buck looked back down at Ezra, "but you won't last a week without us."
"Were that to prove true some time in the future, I would tender you my apologies, but as of right now, I fail to see how you are anything other than a petty thief and extortionist."
"Buck!" JD called out. The edge of panic in his voice made Vin drop to one knee before he even had a second thought. Buck rolled out of his chair, hitting the floor and pulling his gun at the same time. Ezra dove for the bar, which he'd been sticking close to the whole time, and that left the two customers. "There!" JD was on one knee pointing at the door when the bullets ripped through the front of the Player's Only. The one small window shattered and sunlight streamed through a dozen holes in the siding as the sound of fully automatic weapons blasted the air. The door swung open as the glass inserts shattered with a loud crash. The woman who had been perched on her chair fell to the floor with a startled shriek, but the man at the bar just took another drink of his beer.
"JD, cover the back," Buck called. He crawled toward the door, gun in hand, brushing glass out of his way as he crawled. Vin pulled his own weapon, caught between the need to keep his cover intact and an urge to call for backup. While he expected trouble undercover, he didn't expect someone to shoot fully automatic guns at him. Buck laid on his belly and pushed the edge of the door open, pointing his gun out the door, but Vin could already hear the squealing of tires as someone pulled out of the parking lot. Vin's hand twitched toward his phone. He could call it in. But if he did that, his cover would be irrevocably lost. Months of work would be gone, and even worse, there would be no one to help these idiots fight whatever trouble they'd landed in.
"They're gone," Buck called from the front as he stood and brushed himself off.
"Clear back here," JD said as he came back from the back. "They didn't even try to come around back. Amateurs." JD sounded like an old soldier disgusted at some failure in tactics, which sounded strange coming out of a kid who couldn't be more than eighteen or nineteen.
Ezra stood up behind the bar and looked around. "I... but... look what they did to my bar. Those barbarians destroyed my bar." Stepping out from the bar, he nearly wailed as he looked at the broken window and the dust and splinters still drifting to the floor. "You!" Ezra pointed a finger at Buck. "You did this."
"Me? I was the one in here getting shot at. You might want to invest in glasses."
"So, I suppose it is just coincidence that you attempt to extort money from me and then these hooligans destroy my bar?"
"I don't suppose it's coincidence seeing as how people know Big Lester lets us use this place," JD offered in a tone of voice that suggested he was trying to be genuinely helpful. Ezra glared at him.
"He's right," Buck said. "The East Side Los Cuatro Milpas aren't going to have to do too much asking around to find out that this place is right up there with the church in terms of places we're likely to go."
"Buck!" JD looked at Buck with horror. The kid had just figured out that if the gang had taken steps against the bar, they had probably taken the fight to the church, too.
"I know, but we need to pick up supplies before we head back there. Ezra, it's been real nice chatting, but we're in a hurry." Buck headed for the door leading into the employee areas. Vin watched as Ezra's mouth came open, probably to protest, but Buck and JD were already heading into the back of the bar.
"Now wait just one minute." Ezra gave Vin a nasty look, and Vin held up his hands in surrender. He was not trying to extort or intimidate a local businessman. Hell, he was going to have enough trouble trying to explain to Captain Rodriguez exactly why he hadn't called for backup, so he definitely didn't need more trouble.
"You okay?" Vin asked the two customers. The guy at the bar was still nursing his beer, and the woman was sitting on the floor looking wild-eyed but unharmed. She nodded. Not sure what else to do, Vin chased after Ezra who had chased after Buck and JD.
The back hall led to a dozen doors, but Vin could still hear the running argument as Ezra ripped into Buck, threatening to call the police if the man took anything off Ezra's property without permission. Vin hurried after their voices. The door at the end of the hall led into a narrow staircase, and Vin could hear Buck's voice echoing in the basement. The bar might only be a few decades old, but the brick here was worn with age and crumbling in places.
"Just wait 'til you see what we're talking about or you just might regret that call," Buck advised. As a police officer, Vin truly wanted an explanation for that comment. The stair was steep and curved around. Vin came around the corner to find the three men standing in the middle of a dark room lit only by a single hanging bulb.
"It's the bald one. It always amused Josiah to put it behind the bald one," Buck offered. Vin looked, and there were eight statues, each set in a small stone niche formed within the wall.
"Oh my god. Those are Bodhisattva, and if you remove even one, I will have you up on charges of grand larceny, sir. If these are genuine artifacts from India or China, why these might be worth...." Ezra whistled instead of giving an answer. He'd put his back to a wall and had his cell phone in his left hand, making it even more obvious that he was hiding a weapon somewhere handy enough that he felt confident he could reach it with his right.
"Actually, they're Josiah's, but I don't suppose this is really the time to argue about that," Buck said.
"Guys, whether he calls or not, the cops are going to be here soon," Vin pointed out. He'd like to think they'd be here within seconds on a call of automatic weapons fire, but he wasn't that naïve. In this neighborhood, it would take a little while because no one car would venture down this way without one or two more as backup. That would slow them down... assuming that anyone had bothered to call them at all.
"So we hurry," Buck said. Walking over, he took the statue of the bald man and carefully pulled it off the shelf it sat on.
"Since that was on the property at the time that the title was transferred from Lester to myself, one could argue that it became part of the property, possession being nine-tenths of the law and all," Ezra protested again.
"Don't get your knickers in a twist," Buck said. "You can argue that out with Josiah later." He put the statue on the ground and then reached into the niche and pulled on a lever. Vin heard a loud clicking under him, and he jumped off the stairs, afraid that the old wood was creaking and ready to give way. Instead, he saw a crack open in the rough boards that formed the side of the stairs.
"You want it all?" JD asked.
"It'd be best," Buck agreed. JD reached over and pulled the boards back, and Vin nearly swallowed his tongue. A sniper rifle, smoke grenades, fully automatic weapons, a grenade launcher and a half-dozen pistols were all neatly hung from hooks in the hidden compartment.
"Good lord," Ezra breathed. Vin was feeling pretty much the same. Who the hell were these people? Anyone collecting weapons like these should have gotten the attention of ATF, but when Vin had talked to Captain Rodriguez, the man had made it clear that Josiah Sanchez and his friends were victims to protect, not fucking gun runners.
"Now, I understand the need to protect oneself, so you may count on my discretion." Ezra's voice had a sharp edge of fear now.
"And even if you weren't discrete, we wouldn't do anything about that, would we?" Vin gave Buck and JD a hard stare. Buck just stared back, but JD looked confused.
"What would we do?" he asked. Five minutes ago, he'd sounded like a battle-hardened soldier reporting in from the front. Now he sounded like a kid.
Slowly Buck smiled. "Our friend thinks we might be the sort to shoot a man for knowing some uncomfortable truths."
"Us?" JD looked and sounded horrified. "We wouldn't do nothing to anyone."
"Well, I reckon these two are a little suspicious," Buck said as he pulled the weapons off their hooks. At the bottom of the compartment, ammunition was stacked up. "Grab that, will you?" he asked Vin before passing a half dozen guns over to JD.
Vin looked at Ezra who had backed against the wall and then at the two now very-well-armed men. JD gave him a crooked smile. "We may not stay exactly inside the lines of the law, but we wouldn't ever turn on someone."
"Well, I would rather not be the first," Ezra said softly. Vin agreed with that, but right now, he didn't see any way out of this except to play the cards he'd been dealt. If he tried breaking cover now, he was very likely to find out whether or not these two would shoot him to avoid jail time, and he really wasn't that trusting of human nature. Hell, his own partner in Texas had tried to frame him for murder, so these two men who were little more than strangers had no reason to treat him any better.
"Ezra, I suggest you stay down here." Buck took the last weapon and pushed the hidden door closed. "We know you're not on our side, but the gang is likely to think you're picking up where Lester left off."
"Wait, what? I do not wish to become entangled in any of your conflicts. I'm sure these people will understand that the Players Only has changed hands."
"I wouldn't suggest you try having that conversation," Vin said. "They're a dangerous gang out of Phoenix, and they have a reputation for shooting first and worrying about whether people are friend or foe later."
"So, you'd be best just staying down here until one of us come for you," Buck finished. He headed for the stairs with enough military weaponry for a small army gathered in his arms.
"We shouldn't be too long," JD said. "If you check the lever behind the statue of the guy on the elephant, you'll find some supplies and water in another compartment, so you only need to bolt the door behind us."
Ezra drew himself up. "I most certainly will not. This is my club and my reputation. If I cower in the basement, what will the clientele think?"
"That you have the common sense god gave a goose," Buck suggested as they reached the main floor. Vin trailed behind JD and Buck, feeling very exposed. If someone saw them carrying this much firepower, they were all going to attract the wrong kind of attention. Vin was a cop, and he still suspected that the cops would shoot them on sight for having even half this stuff. Anyone who could gather this kind of stash was dangerous—maybe even as dangerous as Los Cuatro Milpas.
They headed out through the main room, and the bartender was back, serving drinks to three men who didn't seem to mind that the room was getting uncomfortably hot with the new ventilation courtesy automatic weapons fire. Ezra stopped when he saw that, staring at them in confusion.
Buck ignored the customers."Put the rocket launcher and grenades in the trunk. Keep the semi-automatics and handguns in the backseat. JD, Vin, load three weapons each as we head over. If they tried to take Josiah, they're going to be in for more of a fight than they expected, but he can't hold out forever."
"You got it," JD agreed happily. Vin wasn't sure what to do, but for right now, he just followed these two and tried to keep an eye on Ezra who had finally shaken free of his shock and was back to chasing them. "You need to make it clear to these people that we are not in any sort of alliance with one another. I will not have my establishment targeted because of your difficulties."
"We'll get right on that," Buck said sarcastically. He headed out into the parking lot without even checking first to see if the place was surrounded by police. Vin flinched, half-expecting to hear the entire SWAT team take a shot at Buck the second they caught sight of the guns in his arms. However, nothing happened as he crossed the parking lot to the car and opened the trunk. JD hurried to lay the weapons down and then held his hand out for the ammunition Vin had in his hands.
Vin was trying to figure out a way to avoid getting in the car with these two when the sound of something pinging against metal startled him. A crack a half second later made him spin around and then he was flying toward the asphalt with Buck on his back.
"East wall!" Buck called out. They hit the ground together, and Buck rolled to the side pulling at his gun. Vin reached for his own gun, but it almost slipped out of his hand which was slick with something from the road.
"There!" JD cried out, and Vin saw him on one knee firing toward the wall. Ezra was using the hood of the car for cover as he returned fire as well, but it was hard for Vin to see because Buck was in front of him.
"JD, get back here."
"I can see him!"
"I need you here!" Buck called. Vin felt strangely uncoordinated, but that didn't matter because Buck caught him by the arm and hauled him upright, propping him up against the car.
"I'll call 911," Ezra pulled out his cell phone.
"Vin, should we call the cops?" Buck asked.
"What?" Vin frowned. No way did he want to blow his cover—not now. True, the captain was going to kill him for being in the middle of a shoot out in the middle of the day, but he could talk his way out of that. He was good at talking his way out of trouble. "No, no cops," he said.
"He's hurt."
"And I'm not going to turn a man over to the cops unless he wants it."
"He could die."
"Who?" Vin asked.
"Buck, maybe we should call for help."
"Yep, but not from the cops. Vin is one of us, JD. We take care of our own." More pops sounded and all three men ducked down.
JD turned and fired a couple of shots while Buck opened the car door. "I'll get him in," Ezra said. Vin just blinked, not really quite understanding what was going on as Buck pulled an automatic out of the car and turned to fire over JD's head toward the enemy.
"What the hell am I doing?" Ezra muttered, but he got his hands under Vin's arms and lifted him up and onto the seat.
Vin stared at the red on his hand. "I've been shot," he said.
"Well there's a brilliant observation. You are, no doubt, a Rhode scholar." Vin reached out and caught at Ezra's arm, and his blood smeared red against Ezra's white silk shirt. "And you are buying me a new shirt," Ezra complained as he knelt on the floor of the backseat. He put a hand on the seat and leaned over Vin, gun in hand. Car doors slammed.
"I'll call Nathan," Buck said. The car took off so fast that Vin slid toward the door and Ezra caught him, holding him in place.
"My mother would have a good laugh right about now. She always said to walk away from trouble. Now mind you, I'm a little more likely to take a first class ticket on Qantas Airways, but the general concept is the same." Ezra leaned close as though he was sharing some confidence, but when his fingers pressed into Vin's side, Vin cried out.
"How is he?"
"Staring at me like he has no idea what's happening. Might I suggest that we get to some secure site where we are less likely to get shot and then call 911."
"If we have to, we have to." Buck sounded grim. "Vin. Vincent!" Vin blinked and looked up toward the front seat. JD was driving and Buck was leaning over the front seat holding a cell phone up to his ear. "Should we call the cops? We can get you to a hospital in ten minutes."
"No cops," Vin repeated. His legs were cold and he knew he wasn't thinking straight, but he also knew he didn't want the cops. He definitely didn't want the cops.
"Fair enough," Buck agreed. "Nathan!" Buck turned around to face front again. "Nathan, we have trouble. We're heading for Josiah's, and we're going to need a few of your special talents." Vin closed his eyes. Did he know a Nathan?
"Hey, keep your eyes on me," Ezra tapped him on the cheek. "I have no intention of letting you die and allowing those two to somehow impugn my skills as a caretaker. Just focus here. And when you recover, be sure to call me seven kinds of a fool for getting involved at all."
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 06:54 am (UTC)In a word: Wow.
Although perhaps I should resort to using supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. How do you do this?
no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 08:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 08:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 10:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 10:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 01:16 pm (UTC)-bs
no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 06:49 pm (UTC)*giggle giggle* All I could think of when I read that line was how he was probably thinking, 'I can't be shot. I'm immortal!' as all young guys think, even the ones in dangerous professions. (Especially the ones in dangerous professions that have so far been lucky.)
Can't wait to read more, especially when you start with your crossovers. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-02 08:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-03 03:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-03 12:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-04 01:30 pm (UTC)This is great new beginning.
no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 01:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-05 12:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 08:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-12 10:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-05 09:12 pm (UTC)