Tuesday Morning

The next morning Chris woke before either Ezra or Vin. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he watched them sleep, amazed once more how they looked like two little boys curled up next to each other. None of them had gotten much sleep as both Vin and Ezra had suffered from nightmares. Most of the time he hadn't had a chance to do more than toss back his covers before they'd calmed the other down and gone back to sleep. He really didn't want to wake them, but he had to if they were going to meet up with the others. With a sigh he scrubbed a hand over his face.

"Mornin', cowboy."

Chris looked up to find a pair of tired blue eyes watching him. "Morning, Vin. How's he doing?"

Vin shrugged carefully, glancing down at the Southerner curled up against him, head buried against his chest. "Been better. Didn't get much sleep last night."

"I know. I hate to wake him but we need to get going if we're going to meet up with everyone."

"It's alright, Mr. Larabee. Sleeping in does not hold it's usual appeal this morning," Ezra said, rolling over to face him. "As it is I would like to make a quick visit to the men's clothing store on the first floor. I refuse to wear the same suit the entire convention."

"Sure," Chris nodded. "I'll give the others a call and let them know."

"Thank you."

"I'm gonna use the head then call them while you two take your showers."

Vin sat up as Chris disappeared into the bathroom. Ezra was still lying on his side facing away from Vin. "You gonna be alright, Ezra?"

Ezra let out a long sigh. "I wish that I could say yes, Mr. Tanner, but I would be lying. This man is a monster. Pure and simple. He walks the earth because not even Hell would take him in."

Vin felt a chill run down his spine. It came too close to his own feelings about Moran. "I know what you mean. This guy Moran, he...I've been through a lot of bad shit in my life, but he made it all seem like a cakewalk compared to what he did to me. After...after they rescued us I didn't talk for close to a year. Not unless I absolutely had to. See, he either wanted us to tell him anything he wanted to know or he wanted to hear us scream. I wouldn't. I wouldn't scream. I wouldn't talk. Nothing. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. Once we were rescued I could still hear his voice, still feel him trying to break me, until I finally got up the courage to face him. Took a weekend leave and visited Leavenworth. Seein' him face to face again, only he was the one trapped now, it finally seemed to break the hold he had on me. Least I thought it had anyway."

Ezra remained silent and after a moment Vin got out of the bed to get ready for his shower. Chris came out of the bathroom and immediately felt the tension in the room. He looked from Vin who was focused on his duffel bag to Ezra still lying on his side as if asleep.

"Everything okay?"

Vin glanced at Ezra, shrugged, then shouldered his way past Chris to the bathroom and closed the door. Chris moved around the bed so he could see Ezra's face.

"What did you say to him?"

"I said nothing." Ezra swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up.

"Then why is Vin upset?"

"How should I know?"

"Dammit, Ezra. We're all in this together. We'll face these bastards as a team."

"And in the end I'll be alone once more," Ezra said, shaking his head sadly.

"Do you really have so little faith in us?" Chris demanded harshly.

"No," Ezra half-shouted, rising to his feet. "I am *that* afraid of him." Ezra sank back down on the bed, once more looking at the floor. "You just don't understand, Chris."

"I do."

Ezra turned at the sound of Vin's voice behind him. He shook his head. "I don't think you do, Vin."

"You think I don't understand about having nightmares because of what some sick bastard got it in his head to do to you? You think I don't understand the fear, the terror of not knowing what he's going to do next?" Vin moved around the bed so he could kneel down in front of Ezra. "Do you really think it's any easier for me knowing Moran is out there, waiting to strike? It scares the hell out of me. So don't tell me I don't know what you're going through. I know."

"But you don't, Vin. You know who your attacker is. You can put a face, a real name, to your monster. And you can say you have faced him and you have won. You can draw on that knowledge, take strength from it when you face him again. I cannot. I have no idea who my monster is. Tall, short, fat, skinny, young, old, white, black, Asian. I. Don't. Know. Just the fear of one day opening my mail to find a Valentine card from him and knowing that even with 6 hours I won't find my friend alive again. What he did to Devaney and Eleanor," Ezra shook his head, unable to say more. Vin pulled him into a tight hug.

"You ain't gonna lose us to this bastard, Ezra. You ain't gonna face him alone. I'm giving you my word as a Tanner. No one messes with our family. Don't you know that yet?"

"I believe I am beginning to, Mr. Tanner," Ezra said as he pulled away. "If you gentlemen will excuse me, I am going to shower now and get ready to go." Moving to the doorway of the bathroom, he stopped and turned back to Vin. "You aren't going to face your monster alone either, Vin. As a wise person told me, no one messes with our family."

Vin smiled, letting it fade when the door closed behind Ezra. "We have to nail this bastard, Chris."

"We will, Vin. We will. We'll nail both of them." Chris placed a comforting hand on the younger man's shoulder. Vin just nodded his head. "I'm going to call Buck and let him know we're heading down early." Chris sighed, sitting down on his bed as he picked up the room phone. Vin had gone back to his duffel bag and was rummaging through it.

"Hey, Buck. We're going to head downstairs early so that Ezra can pick up some new clothes. We'll meet you all in the dining room."

"Sure, Chris. Uh, pard, keep an eye on Ezra, okay?"

Chris frowned. "Already planned on it. Something wrong?"

Vin looked up from what he was doing at Chris's tone, his gaze flicking quickly to the closed bathroom door.

"Not exactly. JD couldn't sleep last night so he did some snooping."

"He accessed the Stalker file." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Chris knew JD's curiosity and his hacking skills. Vin was on his feet, completely alert.

"Yeah."

"And?"

"Chris, pard, this guy...he...well, to use JD's words, this guy makes Hannibal Lechter look like the Easter bunny. This guy is just sick and twisted. Hell, I'm nauseous just thinking about it. Chris, we've seen stuff, you and I, but this, this is worse."

"Damn," Chris muttered, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. "Look, see if you can't get us a conference room and have breakfast served in there. This way we won't have to worry about being overheard."

"I'll take care of it. You watch the young'ins."

Chris hung up the phone the same time as Buck.

"Chris?" Vin asked when Chris continued to remain silent.

"JD got ahold of the Stalker file. It...it ain't pretty, Vin. Buck's seen some pretty bad shit from when we were in the SEALs and then in the Denver PD. This is worse."

"And now he's back."

"Yeah."

"I gave Ezra my word. I won't let this guy hurt him."

"None of us will. Just as we won't let Moran hurt you. Now let's get ready to go. I've got a feeling this is going to be a long day."

Vin nodded, not wanting to admit that he had a bad feeling Chris was going to be right.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

By the time Chris, Ezra, and Vin arrived at the conference room everyone else was already there and eating. Only JD and Buck were just sipping at their coffee, much to Nathan and Josiah's concern.

"Morning, everyone," Chris said as he opened the door to the room. Ezra and Vin filed in after him, nodding their greetings.

"Morning, brothers. How are you, boys?" Josiah asked, watching the two younger men take their seats. Neither of them looked as if they'd had a restful night.

"I'm fine," they chorused, glancing at each other when the rest of the team groaned.

"Why don't we get this show on the road, shall we?" Simon suggested. "To start off with there was no sign of forced entry on Standish's room. We ran every fingerprint we lifted. Two matched Standish and Tanner, one matched one of the cleaning staff. A woman named Maria Delgado, who is Mexican and is 59 years old. Barely speaks English. Somehow I doubt she's our Stalker." Simon tapped his unlit cigar on the papers in front of him for emphasis. "There were two other partial prints that came up with no matches. Considering this is a hotel it's a good chance they belong to prior occupants. The ammonia smell doesn't do us much good since it is a common cleaning agent. Pheromones aren't exactly something that can be traced so that doesn't do us any good either. What is it, Sandoval?"

Carlos lowered his hand as he looked from Simon to Jim and then back to Simon. "Uh, could someone explain to me just how it is Det. Ellison can smell pheromones, much less identify them? I mean, you've gotta have a sense of smell like a dog or something to pick up on that. Don't tell me no one else found it a little weird?"

"Carlos," Trent hissed, trying to quiet him.

"What?" he asked. No one would quite meet his eyes. Finally Simon spoke up.

"It's up to you, Jim."

"So much for no one knowing. Look, long story short. I have what are called enhanced senses. Taste, touch, smell, hearing, and vision are all way above normal. Blair is my Guide, he helps me keep my senses from going beserk."

"Um, okay. What's a guide and can anyone be one?" Carlos asked.

"Every Sentinel, that's what the ancient tribes called them, every Sentinel has a Guide, someone who helps them to focus and control their senses and should a zone out happen, guide them back. As for can anyone be one, well, I'm not really sure," Blair said with a shake of his head. "Jim has been the only living full-blown Sentinel that I've ever come across. When we met he was having bad sensory spikes because his senses had just come back on-line. No one seemed to be able to help him, but I suspect part of that was because no one understood what was happening to him. The Chopec, a tribe in South America that Jim and I have spent some time with, believe that a Sentinel only has one true Guide. Sometimes when necessary another can take the true Guide's place but only temporarily. The temporary Guide does not have the same bond with the Sentinel as the true Guide would or does."

"So that's the deal," Jim interrupted before Blair could launch into a full-blown lecture. He knew his Guide and friend too well. "We'd like for you not to say anything about this to anyone. We've gone through a lot of trouble to make people believe that I don't have enhanced senses."

"I'm cool with that. I just like to know what's going on."

"Right. Were you able to get the file on the Valentine Stalker?" Simon asked looking to Chris.

Chris glanced over at Buck and JD. JD wouldn't look up from his coffee so Buck nodded. "Yeah, we got it."

"Well?"

"I'd like to hear what we have on Moran first," Chris said. "None of you want to be eating when we talk about the Stalker."

Everyone paled a little at that statement, understanding now why Chris, Vin, Ezra, Buck and JD weren't eating. Jim cleared his throat.

"My friend got me the file, but there isn't much in it. Sargent Andrew Moran, born in Kansas City, Missouri. Signed up when he was 18. Received a few commendations during the Gulf War, but otherwise a pretty routine career. About a year before that training mission he was cited for passing out pamphlets on, get this, the Sunrise Patriots."

"Oh man. Please tell me you're joking?" Blair groaned. Simon, Joel and Megan were also shaking their heads, worried expressions on their faces.

"This bloke is like a bad penny that just won't go away," Megan muttered.

"Who are you talking about? And what are the Sunrise Patriots?" Chris asked.

"A militia group that wants to 'take back' the US from the corrupt politicians and evil foreign influences," Josiah answered. "Didn't they take over one of your stadiums or something?"

"The Cascade Sports Arena, but a couple of years before that they managed to take the PD building hostage. Joel, Blair, and my son were among those held hostage," Simon answered with a sigh. "The Patriots are led by a man named Garrett Kincaid, who is currently locked up in Cascade's Maximum Security prison. A Man who has something of a grudge against Jim and Blair."

"If Moran has access to Kincaid's resources and his men, then there's no telling what he's capable of doing." Jim added.

"Great. Just great," Chris muttered. "No ideas whatsoever on how he might strike or where?"

"Well, if he's anything like Kincaid," Blair said, "it will probably be something big. Something that won't go unnoticed by the media."

"True. Kincaid always made sure the media was aware of what he was doing," Joel added.

"We should probably let the hotel manager and the people running the convention know," Nathan said. "If they like big then the hotel could be a target."

"I'll talk to them once we're done here," Simon said. He glanced around the table deciding it was time to move on to the hard part. "Alright, so we know Moran is a certified wacko backed by another certified wacko. What do we know about this Stalker?"

Silence fell over the room as no one seemed willing to talk. Ezra was the one to break the silence clearing his throat.

"The Stalker is highly intelligent, vicious and completely amoral. He viewed the whole thing as a game, but that is not to say that each victim's death wasn't carefully planned and executed. He was very, very deliberate in choosing his victims and how they died. Most of the deaths were violent and very painful. With two exceptions, all of his victims suffered. Actually most of them died from cardiac arrest due to the intense amount of pain they were in. A couple from sheer blood loss. The two exceptions were the Congressman's children. They were given a sedative in their candy and then carbon monoxide poisoning killed them." Ezra paused for a moment, the memory too clear in his mind of the children's lifeless bodies. "There was a note left in the car with the children. 'The innocent shall suffer the sins of the guilty. The children bear the shame of the father.' There...there was also a message left with the body of Mrs. Deveraux. One of the ten commandments written in her blood on the wall of the motel room where she was found. Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's wife."

He paused again, taking a sip of water. His pale features and shaking hand told everyone how difficult it was for him to speak of these events. "The children were...were taken two weeks after the death of Mrs. Deveraux. Mrs. Harrington was hospitalized two days later for a nervous breakdown. At the same time Congressman Harrington received another Valentine. The message led us to believe that the next victim would be his first wife."

"The one in the psychiatric hospital?" Trent asked.

"Yes. So, while two officers were left to guard the current Mrs. Harrington, we focused our attention on the first wife. There was a mix-up but we soon determined that she was still securely ensconced at the care facility, and returned post haste to the hospital. We were too late though. Mrs. Harrington was already dead. A fast acting poison had been injected directly into her veins. As it was, her attending physician later informed us that there were traces of an experimental neural toxin in her system. It had facilitated her breakdown and would have killed her in another 24 hours. She was dead either way."

"Was there another note?" Josiah asked.

"I...yes, I don't remember exactly. I believe it was part of a nursery rhyme."

"Rock-a-bye baby on the tree top. When the wind blows the cradle will rock. When the bow breaks the cradle will fall. And down will come the false family, cradle and all." JD read from the open file in front of him. "That's when you suspected the daughter from the previous marriage?"

"Quite correct, Mr. Dunne. She had been on the list of suspects briefly before, but a credit card check confirmed she was indeed in Europe so she was taken off the list. The night of his second wife's murder Congressman Harrington was found dead in his study. An apparent suicide. A note explained that with the deaths of his second family, his career in ruins he had nothing left to live for. We did some investigating after that, but it was finally ruled a suicide. The Stalker had succeeded in destroying him. I met his daughter at the funeral. She'd managed to return from Europe in time. Calla Lily Harrington was a petite woman, hardly capable of carrying out the actions of the murders. When we questioned her using a lie detector she passed with flying colors. She was truly heartbroken over the deaths of her father and his second family. Which left us back at square one. And when there were no new Valentines in 3 months the case was declared dead and we were reassigned.

"And a week later you got the Valentine about Eleanor," JD said when Ezra stopped.

"Yes," he answered simply.

"Who was Eleanor?" Megan asked.

Ezra took another sip of water, swallowed and carefully placed the glass on the table. They all knew he was stalling and this time they let him. Finally he said, "Eleanor was to be my Mrs. Standish. I proposed to her the day after the Stalker case was deemed dead. She was packing her things to move in with me the day she was taken. She...she was taken to my...to my own...to my own apartment. I can't. I can't do this." Ezra was on his feet in an instant and headed for the door. Vin was by his side before anyone else could do more than stand.

"Ezra," Vin said, catching his arm.

"I can't, Vin. I can't sit here and calmly discuss what that -- that Hellspawn did to the only two I'd ever called family as if it were any other case. It's not. This isn't like anything we've ever dealt with before. None of you understand what the Stalker is capable of. You have to let me go, Vin. I have to leave."

"So that's it? You're going to run out on us again, Standish?" Chris demanded. Everyone winced at the accusation.

Ezra spun to face him. "You just don't get it. I'm trying to protect all of you. I'm trying to keep you safe from this demon."

"Where are you going to run to, Ezra? Where are you going to hide? Are you going to cut yourself off from civilization completely? 'Cause I don't see how you have any other options. Do you?"

"Don't you understand I'm trying to protect you? All of you? How am I supposed to bear the knowledge that simply being my friend got one or more you killed? I can't. Not again."

"Yes, you can, Ezra, because nothing is going to happen to any of us. We're going to deal with this together whether you like it or not. And you know what, Ezra?"

"What, Mr. Larabee?"

"It wouldn't be any easier for us to live with ourselves if we let you run with this guy still out there. It works both ways. Let us protect each other."

Ezra stared at him for a long moment before nodding his head in agreement. He smiled tightly at Vin, who squeezed his arm reassuringly and guided him back to the table.

"Buck, why don't you tell us the rest of what that file says?"

JD had it open to the appropriate page and slid it over. Buck swallowed hard, pulling the file towards him.

"She, uh, was found in Ezra's apartment tied to the bed. Her body was pretty badly mutilated, particularly her chest and abdomen. The, uh, words, um, whore and slut were carved into her skin on her forehead, arms, and legs. She had...she was also, uh, violated like Mrs. Deveraux. Cause of death was blood loss."

"Blood loss? You mean...?" Carlos asked, horrified.

"She suffered the entire time," Ezra said quietly.

Blair looked down at the food in front of him and pushed it away feeling nauseous. He noticed he wasn't the only one unable to finish eating.

"What happened to your partner?" Jim asked.

"He...he was taken two weeks later. After Eleanor's...after that I couldn't stay at my apartment. I was staying with Devaney at his place. One night he'd gone out to get some thing for dinner. He was gone an hour when an envelope was pushed beneath the door."

"The body was found in a clearing in some woods outside of Atlanta. Once again the body was mutilated, the cuts made to inflict large amounts of pain without killing. Damn," Buck muttered as he read further on in the file.

"What is it, Brother?"

"The Stalker...he, uh...he cut off his...he cut off his...his...Ezra's friend weren't a man no more," Buck finally managed to get out.

Legs were instinctively crossed around the table as this new bit of information was revealed.

"This is one sick bastard. How does someone do something like that?" Carlos asked.

No one answered since no one really had an answer for him.

"What happened next?" Chris asked Buck.

"Nothing," Ezra answered. "Absolutely nothing happened."

Chris looked to Buck who nodded. "He's right. Nothing else happened. There's some forensics reports but there were no other Valentines, nothing. It's like the guy just disappeared."

"For all intents and purposes he did and I've lived in fear of this day," Ezra said quietly.

"You still have no idea who the Stalker might be?" Trent asked. "Nothing in the Valentines you got gave you a clue?"

"No. The profilers came up with very little. Highly intelligent, probably abused as a child, or his parents went through a messy divorce involving infidelities on his father's part. Strong, possibly some military training."

"Forensics didn't find anything? What about the clearing where they found your friend?" Simon asked.

"Nothing of any real use," Buck answered. "The clearing had been used as a campgrounds the night before by a boy scout troop so there were so many footprints nothing could be gotten from that. He was bound with rope but it's available in any hardware store and the Troopmaster admitted to having used the same type of rope the night before. They had the same problem with all the other murder scenes. Either it was used just recently by a large number of people or it was some place like the victim's own home. There just wasn't any real evidence left behind. There were no patterns other than the viciousness of the murders."

"So that leaves us with nothing on this guy?" Trent looked around at the others.

"For the moment," Josiah said. "Pass that file over here, Buck. I'm going to look it over, and, Blair, I'd like your input too."

"Sure, Tree. We'll get together right after lunch?"

Josiah nodded in agreement. Chris checked his watch.

"Alright, Captain... Banks, you should be able to get a list of all the guests in the hotel and all employees. Have your people go over them, background checks, the works. Everyone needs to keep an eye out for anything that looks out of place, any strange conversations." Chris looked at each of them in turn. "Anything else?"

"Actually, yes," Jim said. "It's not related to Moran or the Stalker, at least not directly anyway."

"What is it?"

Jim looked at Vin. "Blair and I suspect that you're a Sentinel, Vin."

"What?" Vin squeaked as everyone started talking at once.

"Oh, Lord," Ezra muttered.

"Are you sure?" Chris and Simon demanded at the same time.

"Whoo-ee, that's a new one," came from Buck.

"Quiet!" Jim thundered, getting everyone's attention. "Look, no, I'm not absolutely sure. I am sure enough however that I strongly recommend Vin let Blair put him through some tests to check, and see if we can't identify his Guide. And, no, this can't really wait. If Vin is a Sentinel and something causes his senses to come fully online at the wrong time, then either a sensory spike or a zone out will leave him completely vulnerable. By finding his Guide at the same time, it will reduce the chances of him spiking."

"So this means what? You want to take Vin aside to do this testing? For how long?" Chris asked.

"Actually we need both Vin and you, and it'd be for the whole morning," Blair said.

"And we can't do the testing here in the hotel," Jim added, leaning back in his chair to watch Chris's reaction.

"What? We've got two psychopaths looking to kill at least two of my men and you want Vin and I to leave the hotel, and leave Ezra by himself?"

"I am not some wayward child incapable of taking care of myself, Mr. Larabee, and how many times do I have to tell you I am in the least danger of the seven of us?" Ezra glared right back at him.

"You can't in all honesty say that for sure. Are you absolutely sure this guy won't change his MO, or even figure he's just picking up where he left off and come right for you?" Chris pointed out.

"Trent and I aren't technically part of this convention so it's not like we have a seminar schedule to follow. We could go with him to his seminars." Carlos suggested.

"If that's alright with you, Agent Standish?" Trent asked, noting the obstinate look forming on the Southerner's face. It reminded him a little of his own younger brothers.

"Don't argue, Ezra," Vin said quietly. "If Chris and me can't be here to watch your back, I'd feel better knowing Sensei and his friend are."

Ezra sighed, seeming to deflate as he slumped back in his chair, his gaze meeting Vin's for a moment before he nodded. "As you wish, Mr. Tanner."

The rest of Team Seven exchanged glances, knowing how rare it was for Ezra to agree to something so easily. Josiah fingered the file in front of him. He was even more determined now to bring to justice this man who had put such fear into the second of the two men he called son in spirit.

"Alright, boys," Chris looked at each of his men, "you all know what you need to do. Buck, JD, I want you to go to Buck's first seminar, then JD's second one after that. And I don't want to hear about how you're going to miss Agent Danvers, Buck. There are more important things than a pretty woman. Nathan, Josiah, you two can figure out your schedule between you. Enjoy your seminars, Ezra, and try not to give the instructors too hard a time. Where are we headed, Ellison?"

"A park just outside of Cascade. We've done testing there before so there won't be a problem with distractions or prying eyes."

"Let's get going then," Chris said rising to his feet, the rest of the team right behind him.

Simon chomped down on his unlit cigar looking as if he might argue but finally settled for, "Alright. Connors, Joel, get any other evidence you think you need from upstairs and I'll meet you back at the precinct. Jim, call me as soon as you're heading back into Cascade." Simon rose to his feet, prompting the others to as well. Little was said as everyone left the room.

Vin hung back a little so he could catch Trent before he left the room. "Hold up a second, Sensei?"

Trent gestured for Carlos to continue out to catch up with Ezra before giving Vin his full attention. "What is it, Vin?"

Vin shuffled his feet a little self-consciously. "Look after Ezra for me? I mean, I know you're gonna be watchin' his back and all, but really keep an eye on him." Vin sighed as he met Trent's gaze. "Ez is real good at hiding what he's feeling so just keep an eye on him. Okay?"

Trent couldn't help remembering a time when it had been Ellison coming to him about Vin. Same as then, he had no intention of letting his friend down. "I will, Vin. I promise."

"Thanks, Sensei."

"You know, Vin, I think you can call me Trent by now," Trent said with a smile.

"I reckon," Vin said with a smile of his own before heading out to join the others.

Chris, Jim, Blair, Ezra, and Carlos were waiting for them, the others having gone on ahead. Ezra was telling Carlos about his morning seminars while Chris, Jim, and Blair waited silently. Vin nodded to them as he stepped up to Ezra and Carlos.

"Try not ta sass your instructors too much, Ez."

"Why, I resent that heinous accusation, Mr. Tanner," he replied with a grin.

"Uh-huh. Just try and stay outta trouble, pard," Vin said, placing a hand on Ezra's upper arm.

"I will, Vin." Ezra gripped Vin's hand. "You do the same."

"I will. See ya at lunch."

"At lunch. Enjoy your morning. Mr. Malloy. Mr. Sandoval. Shall we?"

Part 13