Back at the hotel the seven men said good night as they headed to their rooms. Buck was sharing with JD, Nathan with Josiah, Vin with Ezra, and Chris had his own room. The doors had just closed when Vin's voice rang out.
"Chris!"
The door was flung open as five men rushed through it. They stopped in the doorway, staring at the wreckage. At first glance it looked as if the contents of both men's bags had been strewn across the room. Upon closer inspection they realized all of Vin's things were still packed in his bag. Only Ezra's possessions had been ransacked. Most chilling though was the sight of Ezra's second cell phone on his pillow. The intruder had put a single bullet through it, sending a very clear message.
Shaking himself from his shock, Chris started issuing orders. "Buck, go get the hotel manager. JD, use a cell phone and call the PD. See if you can get Banks or someone in Major Crimes. Vin, check the doors and windows. See if you can tell how they got in. Nathan, see if you can get a hold of the conference coordinator. They've got a bunch of forensics equipment down in one of the conference rooms. See if we can borrow it. Ezra...Ezra? Shit, Josiah, grab him!"
While the others had been talking or going about their appointed task Ezra had stepped up to the dresser. A photo had been stuck into the frame of the mirror. With a trembling hand he reached up to pull it out. Staring at the photo a tidal wave of fear swept through him. Mind-numbing, paralyzing fear like he hadn't felt in a very long time held him rooted to the spot. Never mind that every instinct he had was screaming at him to run, to get as far away from there as possible before the nightmare began again. Before he lost his friends to the demon from his past.
He didn't hear Chris call his name the first time. The second time it broke the paralysis and he gave in to that inner voice. Without thought he bolted for the door. Josiah managed to grab him as he went past, wrapping both arms around him in a bear hug, pinning his arms to his sides.
Josiah felt like he'd just grabbed onto a twister as the Southerner squirmed and wriggled, lashing out with his feet, trying to get away. Buck and Chris immediately moved to help subdue Ezra. Chris got a foot to the stomach, while Buck was head-butted then kicked. Nathan started to move in worried about the uneven breathing, the far too wide open eyes, and the absolute panic and terror on the smaller man's face but Vin waved him back.
Moving closer but staying out of kicking range, Vin began to speak in a calming tone, "Ezra? Can ya hear me, Ez? I need ya ta calm down. No one's gonna hurt ya. I won't allow it. Easy, Ez, jes' take it easy. You're safe here. We won't let anyone hurt ya. You've got my word on it. It's all right, Ez. You're safe."
The other four men watched Vin speak soothingly to the Southerner, slowly inching his way closer. The panic and terror had begun to ease from his features. There was still fear, but not as overwhelming as before. None of them moved or spoke for fear of breaking the calm Vin seemed to be weaving around Ezra. Finally he was directly in front of him and gently reached to cup Ezra's face with both hands. "Trust me, Ez."
The moment they touched Vin felt a shock go through him and he knew Ezra did too from the way he stiffened. The hotel room and their friends disappeared in the blink of an eye. Vin found himself standing on the edge of a small clearing in a forest, not unlike the forest surrounding Chris's ranch. In the middle, facing away from him, was the biggest Cobra he'd ever seen in or out of picture books.
Its hood was at full display as it swayed back and forth, waiting for the perfect moment to strike its victim. In this case it was a brown and gold lynx, who was hissing and growling, but its reach was too short to do any damage to the cobra. Behind the lynx was Ezra, his terrified gaze held by the cobra. Before Vin could yell at Ezra to run the roar of an angry cougar surrounded him. The large yellow feline leapt into the clearing drawing the attention of the cobra. He locked gazes with Ezra and heard, "Help me," as clearly as if the man were standing next to him. Just as quickly as it had appeared the clearing and the three animals were gone again. He watched as Ezra's eyes rolled up into the back of his head and he went limp in Josiah's arms.
Josiah was the only one able to see Vin's eyes widen and feel Ezra stiffen at the contact. There was a brief moment when the world stood still. He felt something brush against his soul and, as if from a great distance, he heard the angry hiss and growl of a cat and the roar of a larger cat. He started to wonder what it meant but the sudden collapse of the man in his arms brought his attention to more current events.
Nathan left JD tending to Chris and Buck and hurried to where Josiah and Vin had lowered Ezra to the floor. He knelt beside him, one hand automatically searching for the pulse while the other gently pulled up his eyelids to check his pupils. With a satisfied nod he looked at the others. "He'll be alright. Just passed out is all. Why don't we move him over into your room, Chris?"
"Yeah, good idea. Josiah, Vin, stay with him. I don't want to take the chance of him bolting again before we find out what spooked him. All right everybody, let's get to work. I'm fine, Nathan." Chris waved him off when he moved forward to help him to his feet. "Just a little sore. Glad though that he didn't get me any lower."
"Same here, pard," Buck groaned, holding his stomach while JD supported him.
"He wasn't tryin' ta hurt ya," Vin said, helping Josiah lift Ezra into his arms.
"Sure felt like it, cowboy."
"Ez knows enough dirty tricks that he could have taken you both and Josiah out. He wanted out but he didn't want ta hurt ya doin' it."
"How do you know what kinda dirty tricks he knows?" Buck asked.
"Sparred with him a time or two," Vin said with a small grin and followed Josiah out of the room.
An Hour Later
Stepping out of the cab, Carlos frowned at the sight of four police cruisers sitting in front of the hotel.
"Something wrong?" Trent asked coming up next to him with both their bags.
"Not sure. Just wondering why all these cruisers are here."
"Uh, Carlos, buddy? It's a cop convention."
"Ha. Ha. I'm serious. I've been to these conventions before. On duty cops don't go to these things, nor do they show up in their cruisers this late at night. Something's up."
"Well, let's go check-in and find Vin. He'll probably have..." Trent's voice trailed off for a moment as he spotted a familiar face, then; "Captain! Captain Ellison!"
He trotted over to where the larger man had stopped, a smaller man with dark, curly hair stopped beside him.
"Malloy? What are you doing here?" Jim asked, frowning at the surprise appearance of the blonde. He glanced briefly at the Latino walking behind his old friend, but was more concerned about Trent's arrival in Cascade.
"Actually I was looking for you, Captain. Well, you and Tanner. I was told you were both here in town. I've got bad news, Captain."
"Think it's got anything to do..." the long-haired guy started to say.
"It could, Chief. We were just on our way up to see Vin and his friends. The room him and his partner are staying in was ransacked tonight. Runt is in the ATF now. I'm a Major Crimes detective here in Cascade. This is my partner, Blair Sandburg."
"Nice to meet you." Trent quickly shook hands with Blair. "This is my partner Carlos Sandoval. I retired from the Rangers about six months ago. We have our own PI firm. Carlos is former Dallas PD. Was anyone hurt? Anything taken? Any 'presents' left behind?"
"Whoa, slow down, Malloy. We only just got here. C'mon. We'll get you past the guards the PD posted."
Inside it only took a few minutes to get them registered once Jim vouched for them. Once in the elevator, Jim turned to Trent. "All right, Malloy. What's going on that you high-tailed it here to Cascade as fast as you could?"
Trent closed his eyes for a moment, visibly swallowing. The feel of Carlos's hand on his back made him open his eyes and smile slightly in thanks. He met Jim's gaze evenly. "Moran escaped from Leavenworth."
"WHAT?!" Jim immediately slapped the emergency stop button, halting the elevator.
Carlos took a protective step closer to Trent while Blair looked anxiously from his glaring Sentinel to the lanky blonde facing him.
"I found out this afternoon. Moran escaped and is definitely coming after you and Vin."
"You're absolutely certain? I haven't received any notification, nor has Vin that I know of."
"Yeah, Captain, I'm certain. Moran sent the message through my younger brother."
Jim's features softened slightly in sympathy. "Damn. Will he be...?"
"Yeah. Mostly superficial wounds. Nothing like what that bastard did to Vin and the others."
"Good. Did you..."
"A couple of friends in the Texas Rangers have put my family in protective custody just in case. I came straight here to warn you and Vin."
"I assume you haven't told Vin yet?"
"No. Haven't had a chance to." Trent paused, shrugging slightly. "And I figured it would be better if I told him in person with you around. I know he isn't going to take this well."
"Uhm, someone want to tell me what's going on? What are you talking about? Who is this Moran person?" Blair asked, tired of being the only one without a clue.
"Sergeant Andrew Moran. An instructor for the Rangers. Went psychotic one day and decided to put a group of six new Ranger recruits through an impromptu POW training. Vin was one of the six and the only one who managed to retain enough of his sanity to continue on full active duty. Basically this guy is Vin's biggest nightmare," Jim told him, his glare darkening further with each word. "At least we know who ransacked Vin and Ezra's room now."
"I'm not so sure about that, big guy," Blair said, hitting the release button so the elevator resumed moving.
"What do you mean? Their room was wrecked and a bullet put through one of their cell phones."
"Yeah. Ezra's cell phone, and only Ezra's things were ransacked. No, the whole thing was too specifically aimed at Ezra for it to be someone after Vin. Plus, there's Ezra's reaction to the whole thing."
"Ezra's reaction? When'd you find all this out, Chief?"
"I talked to JD while you were in the bathroom. He says Ezra freaked. Tried to run and then passed out after kicking both Chris and Buck when they tried to stop him. I'd say we have two demons among us."
Before anyone could say anything else the elevator door opened. Stepping out into the hallway they saw Josiah coming out of a room, gently closing the door behind him.
"Tree," Blair called out, heading towards him.
"Long story," Jim said at Trent and Carlos' curious looks. He strode down the hallway to catch up with Blair, Trent and Carlos following.
"Blair. Jim." Josiah gripped Blair's shoulder and nodded to Jim. "When I said we need to get together again soon this wasn't what I had in mind."
"It usually isn't," Jim said with a tight smile. "Any ideas on who might have done this?"
"No, but I suspect Ezra does." Josiah noticed Trent and Carlos standing behind the two men. "Who are your friends?"
"Sorry. Trent Malloy, former Army Ranger, and Carlos Sandoval, former Dallas PD. They're both PIs now. Vin and I were stationed at the same base with Malloy."
"I see. It's nice to meet you, gentlemen. I wish it was under less trying circumstances."
"As do we," Trent agreed, shaking his hand. Carlos nodded and shook his hand also.
"What brings you to Cascade?"
"Well, uh...," Trent looked to Jim.
"We've got another problem to mix in from our Ranger days. Vin's not gonna be happy about it," Jim answered, already starting to grind his teeth together.
"I'd better take you to see Chris then. Vin's in with Ezra right now."
"Is he alright?" Blair asked starting to move towards the door. Josiah stopped him with a hand on his chest.
"He's fine, son. Well, physically anyway." Josiah sighed tiredly. "Something has frightened him badly. I've never seen him react this way. I think it's best to just give him some time right now. Vin will keep an eye on him. Everyone's in here."
Josiah stepped up to the room door next to the one he'd come out of, knocked twice, then opened it. He wasn't surprised to find four of the rooms occupants facing the door with their guns out. The other two waited to see what would happen. "It's just me, brothers. Jim and Blair are here along with a couple of friends of theirs."
Chris, JD, Nathan, and Buck replaced their guns in their holsters.
"Jim. Blair." Chris nodded to them. "We were just going over things with Simon and Joel here."
"Find anything yet?" Jim asked.
"Nothing much of use. Why don't you take a look around?" Simon suggested.
Jim nodded and began walking around the room, Blair a step behind him to watch for an impending zone out. The others watched for a few minutes as he worked, then Chris turned to Trent and Carlos still standing by the closed door.
"You're friends of Ellison's?"
"I knew him and Vin from our days in the Rangers. Trent Malloy." Trent shook hands with everyone.
"Carlos Sandoval," said Carlos as he also shook their hands. "I'm just along for the ride and to keep Trent here out of trouble."
Trent snorted. "Seems it's usually the other way around, friend."
"You here in Cascade just to visit or is there..."
"Hey, Chris, I think Jim's got something," Buck interrupted. Everyone watched Jim frown thoughtfully as he lifted a shirt that had been carefully laid out on a chair to his nose. He shook his head a little as if to clear it, then leaned in close to Blair and sniffed. Jim then moved to the head of the bed with the cell phone on it and once again sniffed. He nodded his head.
"I'm sure of it, Chief. I can smell it. Who ever is after Ezra is getting off on the whole thing."
"Getting off on it? How can you tell?" Josiah asked.
"I can smell the pheromones."
"You can actually smell pheromones and identify them?" Nathan asked incredulously.
Jim blushed faintly, while Blair chuckled. "Yeah, he picks up on them real easy."
"Shut up, Sandburg." Jim mock-growled.
"I don't get it." JD said looking at the Cascade detectives who were trying not to snicker.
"Pheromones are the scent we give off when we're attracted to someone. Jim's enhanced sense of smell allows him to pick up on them a bit easier than the normal person," Blair explained. "He also reacts a little quicker to it than most people. It's gotten him into a couple of embarrassing situations."
"You talk too much, Chief," Jim growled, playfully whapping the back of the younger man's head. He sniffed around some more, sneezing suddenly. A fit of sneezing over took him until Blair flung open one of the windows and led him over to it.
"What is it, man? What set you off?" Blair asked in concern.
"Ammonia. I can't even tell if it's a man or a woman. It's covering all the other scents except the pheromones in those two spots."
"Think it has anything to do with why we're here, Captain?" Trent asked.