Chapter: 52 of ?

The Apocalypse Cometh

Mickey had the disk and he had Nadia. The problem was he was already a day late in meeting with DeCorsia. He was not fooled into believing that the man was not pissed and probably sent out his goons to take his head.

As he drove, he turned to see Nadia still scrunched down in the seat, trying to be invisible. She looked relaxed, but Mickey knew that Nadia’s mind was going a mile a minute. She was probably planning her escape from him, but Mickey was wise to her tricks and deceptions. He needed her as a bargaining chip. The disk only would just not do.

Nadia turned to find Chris’ green eyes regarding her. She revised that thought, Mickey’s green eyes. She also noticed that Chris-Mickey was not looking very well. He was sweating and seemed to be holding on to his stomach with one hand, while driving with the other. She knew it was the drug. The last shot was only to help with the withdrawal symptom and slow down the progression of his deterioration. But she knew it would not last for long without another shot. She did not think Mickey would let her get close enough to do that. She had to come up with a plan to get away from him, at least until she could figure out how to bring Chris back.

Her thoughts were quelled when Mickey finally pulled the car to the entrance of Twenty-One Club garage. He took a ticket and then pulled the car into the garage, parking close to the elevators.

“We’re here,” he said smiling wickedly at her. His smile made Nadia’s skin crawl. Larabee was considered a dangerous man, but this other personality of his was outright lethal. She had to tread lightly with him.

“Why here?” asked Nadia. “This is Marco’s place.”

“I know that, darling. Go on. Get out.”

Nadia slowly stepped out of the car and closed the passenger door. Chris got out on the driver’s side, holding onto his stomach, but still having control of the gun in his hand making sure it was pointed at Nadia’s head.

“You don’t look well, Mickey,” said Nadia putting on her best sympathetic face.

Mickey green eyes were slits and Nadia knew that his eyes were becoming hypersensitive to light.

“Is something wrong with your eyes, Mickey?” asked Nadia walking towards him.

Mickey saw the movement in his fogged vision and stepped back, holding his gun higher for aiming. “Stay where ya are? Got me?”

“Sure, Mickey, sure. Anything you say,” replied Nadia.

They were silently standing there for a minute. Nadia aware that Chris was in pain and she knew it would not be long before he would succumb to it.

“So, what now?” she asked.

“Move to the elevator,” he said motioning with his gun hand.

Nadia nodded and walked slowly over to the elevator with Chris not far behind.

Once there, he instructed her to push the button and when the elevator doors opened, he ushered her inside, his gun hand never far from her.

With her on one side of the elevator and himself on the other, Mickey pushed the button for the 14^th floor. This was the floor that usually housed Roberto DeCorsia when he was in town.

When the elevator reached the 14^th floor, Mickey gestured Nadia to stand on the other side of the wall leading down the corridor. He then leaned over behind the wall and quickly peered around the corner. He found two men guarding a door at the end. He knew this to be DeCorsia’s suite.

He stood there, trying to think of way to make a distraction and finally he decided that being direct was usually the best course.

He placed his gun into his pocket and then walking over to the other side of the corridor, grabbed Nadia by the arm, pulling her none to gently with him, as he walked quickly towards the two men.

As soon as the men saw him, they pulled out their weapons and trained it on him and Nadia. Mickey only smiled wickedly at them, letting go of Nadia and holding his hands up to show he was not armed.

The two men glared at him. “You’re Larabee,” said one of the guards.

“Yeah, as a matter of fact I am. I want to see Mr. DeCorsia. I have some things he has been lookin’ for.”

The other guard said, “Keep an eye on them. I’ll inform Mr. DeCorsia.” And he opened the door to the suite and left his partner to guard the two people.

Mickey kept sidling a glance at Nadia. He did not know if she would stick to the bargain. Of course, she had really no reason to. She could easily convince her father-in-law that she was being coerced into accompanying him.

Just then, the other guard returned and motioned both he and Nadia through the door to the suite.

They both walked in and just as the guards closed the door behind them, Roberto DeCorsia came sauntering out of the bedroom.

Roberto stared at the two individuals. Both of them looked like they had a rough day, but it was no concern of his. He wanted his package back and Chris Larabee and now he had both, with Nadia as a bonus.

Nadia noticed Roberto’s look and decided it was time to play her hand. She immediately left Mickey’s side and ran with open arms towards her father-in-law. She hugged him hard, playing it to the hilt, but she felt as Roberto only hugged her back lightly.

“Oh, Papa!” she exclaimed, using their private name. “I am so glad to see you.”

“Nay, my dear. Why are you upset?” asked Roberto as his eyes held those of what he thought was Chris Larabee.

“That man…” said Nadia turning around and pointing towards Chris. “…Kept me prisoner.” She then turned brown eyes to Roberto full of tears.

“Yeah, right. And pigs have wings,” mumbled Mickey snidely.

Roberto eyed Mickey angrily. “You did not keep your promise,” he said directly to Mickey ignoring Nadia outburst.

“Let’s just say I got a little sidetracked. But I have the package for you,” replied Mickey confidently.

“You do? How?”

“Well, I just got real resourceful. Now, what about the trade?”

“First the disk. Then we can talk about your reward.”

“Unh,uh. My reward first, old man,” said Mickey.

Roberto thought about arguing with the man, but he knew by the looks of him the man was not going to last long anyway.

“Very well. Nay, go with George. I have an extra bedroom in the back and I brought some of your clothes from your apartment just in case you returned. Rest and we’ll talk later.”

Nadia looked up at him from his chest with curious eyes. She wanted to hear what they would talk about. She wanted to know if it would be something she could use to keep Chris. But first she had to get rid of Mickey.

Roberto saw the gleam in her eyes and said, “George, escort my daughter-in-law to her room and make sure she stays there.”

“Yes, sir,” answered the guard George. He then took Nadia by the arm and led her down the hall to the other bedroom.

Once Roberto was sure she was gone, he motioned for Mickey to take a seat on the couch. As soon as Mickey was seated, Roberto pulled a chair from the desk in the room and sat across from him, his other guard taking a position behind Mickey.

Roberto’s eyes narrowed at Mickey and said, “Who am I talking with now? Chris or Mickey?”

“Who do ya think?” asked Mickey smiling.

“I think Mickey.”

“Then I think ya right. Chris just can’t handle things right now so ya have to deal with me.”

“I guess it really doesn’t matter,” said Roberto ominously.

Mickey glared at him, his instincts telling him that this deal was about to go sour.

“And why would ya say that?”

“Well, first of all, let me tell you that my son, Marco has confided in me that he had hired the person that had killed your wife and son.”

“Yeah. We discussed that before. Tell me somethin’ I don’t know.”

“Well, what you don’t know is that he was not the originator of the request. He was playing the middle-man and it seems he believed with you out of the way the disk would disappear.”

Mickey could hear Chris trying to fight his way out to the forefront.

Chris had heard Roberto’s words and he was trying to break through Mickey’s hold. He wanted to scream, he wanted to hit, he wanted revenge, but Mickey was holding me back.

Mickey ignored the cries he heard in his head. He knew Chris wanted to avenge his family and to find out who was behind his family’s killing. He knew, like Chris, if Marco was only the middle-man, then the actual person who wanted Chris’ family dead was still out there.

“So, who was he workin’ for?” asked Mickey impatiently.

“That is the million dollar question, Mickey. It seems that the woman would only say that she knew you. She was blonde, I say about about 5’7” and had the most gorgeous blue eyes that Marco has ever seen.”

Mickey’s eyes rose in surprise. “She knows me? You mean she knows Chris.”

“No. I mean she knows you. Mickey from Brooklyn. Mickey who use to work for El Lobo. Not Chris.”

Mickey tried to think about who it could be. He thought about his time in Brooklyn, the women he dated and met, his actions during that time.

Then a thought appeared in his head. He shook his head. No. It could not be. She was dead, gone. That’s what Buck had told him.

Roberto saw the look on Larabee’s face and knew the man was probably trying to figure out just whom he was talking about. It gave Roberto satisfaction to see there was something that could get under the hard exterior of the man.

“Someone you know, Mickey?”

“Yeah,” came Mickey’s soft reply. “Someone I thought was dead.”

“Apparently not. She would not reveal her name. But it seems she knows you very well.”

Mickey said nothing. He was busy stewing in his own anger. She should have died that night in the city. Buck told her she died that night in the city. But it seems she was back to reek havoc on his life.

“As far as I see it, then we have nothin’ to deal with do we, Berto, old man,” said Mickey slyly.

“But we do, Mickey. You see, I know where she is. She did not tell Marco her name, but she did say that she was here in Vegas and that she would be here for the next couple of months. Especially after she found out you were still alive.”

“Where is she?” growled Mickey.

“Not until I get what I want,” said Roberto smiling wickedly. He knew he had the man just where he wanted him.

“I see,” said Mickey thoughtfully. Just then a pain stabbed him I the side, making him grasp at it. But Mickey refused to show weakness and the only sound he made was a low grunt.

Roberto took his grunt for someone who came to some conclusion. He looked at him, waiting to hear what Mickey had decided.

Mickey looked up with glaring green eyes at him. “So what do you propose?” asked Mickey.

“Let’s be honest here, Mickey.”

“Well, that’ll be a first for ya and me both,” retorted Mickey.

Roberto choose to ignore the remark. He continued, “I am in a predicament as you know. I need that disk, but I also need Chris Larabee.”

“Ya don’t need ‘im. He ain’t gon’na be any help to ya.”

“But it is quite the opposite, Mickey. He will be of great help to me. He is the only one who knows what I need from the disk.”

“Well, I can get that for ya. I know what Chris knows.”

“Fine. Then tell me.”

“Nope.”

“Did you just say no?” asked Roberto angrily.

“Yeah, guess I did.”

“And you mind telling me why not?”

“’Cause if I did, ya would kill me. Ain’t that right, Mr. DeCorsia?”

Roberto stared at Mickey in surprise, but then he started laughing hard.

“You’re a man after my own heart, Larabee. I wished I had met you long ago. I could have used a man like you in my organization.”

“I doubt it. Ya think too small for me,” said Mickey smiling.

Roberto felt the heat rising to his face at Mickey’s comment, but he knew getting angry would achieve nothing. He had put a dozen like Mickey under the ground and this man would be no different.

“You know you have a smart mouth, Larabee.”

Mickey smiled at his comment, quirking an eyebrow as he watched the man’s anger start to rise. Roberto was calling him by his last name. He knew that meant he had finally hit a nerve with the man.

“I can be a smart-ass when I want to, DeCorsia. But time is a wastin’ and I think we need to get to it, don’t ya?”

Roberto nodded solemnly, his jaw tightening at the fact that he knew the man was right.

“So, how do you want to do this?”

“Not here, that’s for sure.”

“And why not?”

“If you think I’m smart, then you wouldn’t ask that question,” said Mickey glancing around the apartment, his eyes briefly resting on the man that stood to the side of him.

Roberto noticed the trail of his sight and said, “Alright. What do you propose?”

“How about ya meet me at the Twenty-One Club in an hour?” suggested Mickey.

“We did this before and you failed to show up.”

“Well, let’s just say that I ran into some unexpected circumstances. But I am here now. If I wanted to just run away, I surely would not have come back here of my own free will.”

Roberto nodded in acceptance of this. He knew the man was very smart and if he had planned to run, he would be by now.

“Okay. So let’s say I believe you. Why the Twenty-One Club? You know that my son and his men run the place and you would be very outnumbered there.”

“Ah, but ya see, it also has a lot of people in it. Ya would have to kill me among a bunch of witnesses and I don’t think ya got to where ya are by bein’ stupid.”

“You are right, Larabee. I did not. Very well,” he said nodding to the man standing next to Chris. “One hour. Be punctual. I will not allow any unexpected circumstances from changing my mind again about killing you outright.”

Mickey sighed calmly at this statement and stood up. He then said,
"There's one thing ya need to know about me, DeCorsia. I keep my
word. I will be there in an hour with the disk and the information
you seek. Just remember, I don't take too kindly to betrayal."

"Understood, Larabee," said Roberto also standing up. He and Larabee then both walked over to door and he watched as Larabee stepped through.

"Oh, by the way," said Mickey turning around. "I don't just want the woman, I want the one who did the actual execution too."

Roberto saw the wicked gleam in the man's green eyes and knew this was a man on the edge. He would not refuse him. At least not yet.

"Very well, Larabee," he said putting his hand out to him. "I can't
say that it has been a pleasure."

Mickey eyed the proffered hand in front of him and then looked back at Roberto saying, "For me neither." He then turned to walk down the hallway towards the elevators, leaving Roberto standing there with this hand out.

Once Mickey was gone, Roberto turned back into his suite and motioned for him to accompany. He needed to make sure that once the deal was complete, Larabee was not going to walk away to act on the information he was going to give him.

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Chapter: 53 of ?

The Apocalypse Arrives

The seven men sat in the two vehicles in front of the Twenty-One Club hoping that their long absconded agent would arrive. They had to find Chris fast. Chief Travis just gave them a twenty-four hour ultimatum. It was the most he could give. The Chief’s superiors were asking questions and his answers were not to their liking. If they did not produce Chris within that time, a warrant would be forthcoming for his arrest and Chris would become a wanted man.

Lucien had convinced them that since it was at the Twenty-One Club that everything had originally started for Chris, it was logically that he would return here. It was the only other place that Nadia had that would make her feel safe and it was the only other place that Mickey would have business.

They had been waiting in their vehicles for the past couple of hours hoping that they had not missed their targets.

“Ya sure about this, Luc?” asked Vin, eyeing his askance. He had a feeling that Lucien was not telling them everything. There was something deep inside the man that Vin could not fathom.

“I am quite sure, Vin,” replied Lucien as he lifted a pair of binoculars into his hand and aimed it at the casino’s entrance.

“I just hope you’re right,” came Buck’s terse comment from the back.

“So do I, Buck,” said Lucien still looking through the binoculars.

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Jack, Frank and Devon sat in their car outside the Twenty-One Club. They were informed by Roberto DeCorsia a couple of hours ago when they arrived at his penthouse, that Chris Larabee and Nadia Diaz had arrived before them, on their own with a deal.

At the news, the men stood in the penthouse in trepidation since they knew if that was so, then they had failed and DeCorsia was not a very forgiving man when it came to failure. But to their surprise, DeCorsia had informed them that there job was not yet finished. He explained to them that Larabee was going to be at the Twenty-One Club with the disk and their job was to make sure that Larabee did not leave the club alive. He also instructed them to make sure that Nadia was a casualty too.

Devon, upon hearing this was about to object when he noticed DeCorsia’s eyes. They were ones of a burning hate and it gave Devon the shivers just looking at them.

“Mr. DeCorsia?” called Devon softly. He did not mind getting rid of Larabee. He hated the man. But Nadia, that was a different issue. He was in love with her, or so he thought and killing her did not sit well with him. “Did I hear you correctly? You want us to kill your niece-in-law too?”

DeCorsia turned glaring eyes at him and said, “Yes. You heard me correctly. What? You have a problem with that?” He then started to approach Devon with that hatred now turned on him.

Devon raised his hands in defense and said, “No, no, Mr. DeCorsia. I…I was just making sure.” He loved Nadia, but he was more afraid of what DeCorsia would do if he did not obey his orders.

“Hmphf!” exclaimed Roberto as he then stepped away from the man. Roberto could see that the man was trembling in fear of him and he thought it should be so.

“You two,” said Roberto pointing to Jack and Frank. “Make sure there is no fucking this up, do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” replied Frank and Jack simultaneously. They both knew that their jobs and their lives were on the line with this one mission.

So now, they sat waiting for their prey outside the Twenty-One Club. Roberto, Marco and Nadia were all inside already waiting for Larabee to appear. The plan was to wait until Larabee went inside. They would follow and hopefully would not be seen.

Once inside, they would wait for Roberto’s signal and they would take the man into custody and dispose of him cleanly somewhere outside of the Vegas city limits. Most likely their favorite dumping ground which was the desert.

As they continued to wait, they did not notice the other two vehicles on the other side of the street that carried seven men whose purpose ran parallel to their own.

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The blonde woman sat at the bar of the Twenty-One Club slowly sipping her martini. The silky black dress, with the back out had the men eyeing her with want. But as far as she was concerned she wanted none of them. There was only one man she wanted and he was not within her grasp at the moment.

She was surprised when she received a call from Marco DeCorsia requesting her presence at his club tonight. She did not think that they had any more business transact. Her side of the deal was completed. She had told him who had the disk that he wanted and he had promised that he would refer her to someone who could give her what she wanted. Now with Mickey’s new life destroyed, she would step in to pick up the pieces and she and Mickey could have the life that they should have had long ago in Brooklyn.

Her blue eyes glared in anger though at the thought of the one little problem she did not foresee. It came in the form of six men, Larabee’s team and that was something she did not plan on. She needed to remove them from the picture.

She had planned on getting it done tonight, but then Marco called out of the blue, putting her plan on hold. Her men were waiting for her orders and now it seemed that Marco’s little request had thrown her schedule off kilter. She smiled gently to herself. But it was not something that would keep Etal Romanov from getting what she wanted.

Etal sat waiting for Marco to send one of his men over to her to let her know he was ready to talk. Until then, she would just sip at her martini and watch the people gamble their lives away.

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Mickey pulled up to the Twenty-One Club in the back alley. He knew that walking through the front door would serve only to get him killed and he was not about to let that happen until he had his justice.

His alter ego Chris was busily mumbling in his head, trying to come through, but Mickey was having none of it. It took all his strength and concentration just to keep Chris at bay. The man would simply not just give up and he sometimes wished he could put a bullet in his head to end it all. But he knew if he did, then he would not get to finish what he started.

The pain in his stomach was increasing and by the time he had left DeCorsia’s apartment earlier, he had vomited several times until there was nothing left but dry heaves. His was hot and tired, but he kept going because he knew the end was near. After tonight, either the two people who took his family from him would be dead or he would be and then it would not matter anymore because he would be with his wife and son once again. That was the only point of the whole plan that he and Chris could agree on.

He sat straighter in his seat and checked the weapons he carried to make sure they would be in easy access. He knew Roberto was no fool and he would not deal likely with him. Marco was different question. The man was a complete idiot as far as Mickey was concern, but Chris whispered in his mind for him not to discount him. And then there was Nadia. She was the unknown factor in the equation. Mickey, like Chris, knew that Nadia was selfish and as such did nothing without her own ulterior motives.

But the worst of them were not the ones that were part of the organization. She, the blonde woman that Roberto had spoken about was his nightmare coming true. He thought that by leaving New York and the east coast he had gotten away from her, but it seems she did not give up easily. In fact, if what Roberto said was true, she was the one who had initiated the attack on his wife and child and she alone held the true blame for all of this.

Her name was never forgotten, only put away into the back of his mind where Mickey once existed. Now, like him, she was out and causing him excruciating pain and anguish. Etal Romanov. The woman’s name brought fire to his mind. She should have died along with El Lobo. But Mickey was strong enough then. He wondered if he would be strong enough now to put the bitch away finally.

Chris started his mumblings again and Mickey tuned them out. He wished the damnable man would shut the hell up. Mickey then laughed hysterically at that thought, as he knew that he was asking for the impossible. Chris was just as much part of him, as he was of him. The only way to cease the noise of the man would be to die and right now he knew that was not option.

At the thought of that, the Chris noise in the back of his mind grew louder. “Shut up, damnit!” screamed Mickey aloud.

A wondering prostitute who was taking the back alley heard the noise from where she was walking on the other side of the street and stopped to stare at him and his vehicle.

“What the hell are ya lookin’ at?” yelled Mickey at the woman.

She shook her head and continued to walk onward, after taking only another quick glance at the man in the car. She thought she knew the man or at least seen him before, but she could not be sure.

Once she was gone, Mickey sighed in frustration and looked at his watch. It was time. Grasping his stomach, trying to quell the pain there, he exited the car and started for the back entrance of the Twenty-One Club. He laughed as he opened the unlock door and walked in.

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

Sukia turned the corner and entered the busy front street of the Twenty-One Club. The strange man had unnerved her and she was glad that he had not got out of the car to pursue her.

Work had been slow tonight and her last john was such an asshole that she knew she could not do another. So instead, she decided to walk the streets and see if she could find any of the other girls that were part of her group. Working for Queen Bea, although she was a woman, was just as hard if her pimp was a man. The only difference was that Queen Bea would let no harm befall her employees and she would do no harm, unlike a male pimp and for that Sukia was grateful.

She was about to continue walking down the street back to where home was when she noticed what looked like Vin’s truck sitting across the street from the Twenty-One Club.

She crossed the street and came from the back of the truck to the passenger side and promptly knocked on the car window.

Vin, who was seated in the passenger side of the vehicle, jumped at the sound and turned to face her, smiling wide. He rolled down the window and said surprised, “Sukia? What ya doin’ here, girl?”

“I was just coming back from a john when I saw ya car. What ya doin’ around this part of town, sweetie?” Sukia asked curious.

“You know this woman?” asked Lucien from the driver side of the car.

Sukia peered at him through the window and noticed that he looked very familiar but she could not determine where she had met the young blond man.

“Yeah. Me and Sukie go a long way back,” said Vin to the man next to him.

“And I thought ya was too shy to meet women,” came Buck’s comment from the back.

Vin turned around annoyed. “Fuck you, Buck!” he retorted.

“Not in this lifetime,” laughed Buck.

“Who’s ya friends, Vin?” asked Sukia teasingly.

“No one!” exclaimed Vin curtly.

“Aw, Vin. Come on,” said Buck moving in closer so that he could get a better look at the woman. “My name is Buck Wilmington and this here is Lucien Caymen.”

“Nice to meet ya,” said Sukia nodding at them. “Ya still haven’t told me what ya doin’ here, Vin.”

“We’re lookin’ for a friend. Ya wouldn’t by chance have seen ‘im?”

“And what’s ya friend’s name?”

“Chris Larabee,” said Lucien interrupting the conversation.

“Archangel Michael?” questioned Sukia.

“Yeah. Ya seen ‘im,” asked Vin noticing the change in her face.

“Well, I don’t know. I think I have,” said Sukia thoughtfully.

“You think you have?” said Lucien. “Have you or haven’t you?”

“And just who are the hell are ya?” asked Sukia defiantly. She did not like how this man had jumped into their conversation.

“I told you my name,” answered Lucien.

“No. Who are ya,” emphasized Sukia.

“The man we are looking for is my brother.”

“Ya brother? Archangel Michael is ya brother? So that’s why…”

“Why what?”

“Why ya look familiar. I can see the resemblance. And for if I saw ya brother or not? I saw a man a few minutes ago. He was sittin’ in a black truck. He looks like you. Like Archangel Michael, although I did not think he was at that moment,” explained Sukia.

“Where?” cut in Buck’s exclamation.

Sukia eyed him carefully. “In the back alley, behind the club.”

“Luc?” queried Buck.

“I got you,” replied Lucien picking up his cell phone and dialing Ezra’s number.

It rang once and Lucien heard Ezra voice. “Hello?”

“Ezra, listen. Chris was seen in the back alley. We’re moving there now.”

“Right,” answered Ezra and the line went dead.

“Thanks, Sukie,” said Vin leaning out the window and kissing her gently on the cheek.

Lucien started the truck up and drove toward the back alley with Ezra’s following in Buck’s truck.

Sukia watched them drive away and continued her walk towards home, a smile plastered on her face as she sang softly to herself.

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Nadia sat at the table with Berto and Marco quietly playing her fingers around the glass that held her drink and staring into its dark pool of liquid. She did not want to be here. She wanted to be out looking for Christopher. That was she should be doing. But she could not argue with Berto and not look suspicious. Berto was not stupid and Nadia would not treat him as such.

She knew the drug in Christopher’s system was probably reaching its climax. The stomach pains would become much worst and his temperature would start to exceed the norm. It had been the same with the others and death was usually very painful. Convulsions would start soon and more excruciating pain. The brain would start to deteriorate and soon the patient would not be able to communicate and paralysis would set in. Finally death, but it would be a slow one with the patient unaware of what was happening to him due to hallucinations. She did not want that to happen to Christopher, but she also did not want to let him go. Either way, she knew Christopher considered it hell and she was only trying to make sure that he had a choice. Or so it was how she reasoned it in her mind.

As she looked up from her drink, she saw the object of her passion walked through the back door. She quickly looked around to see if Berto or Marco had noticed, but neither did and she almost sighed with relief. Her mind screamed silently, trying to communicate to the blond approaching their table to run, but it was to no avail.

Finally, it was too late and she watched as Berto and Marco noticed the form of one Archangel Christopher Michael Larabee walking towards their table.

Roberto picked up the small communication device on the table and said, “Okay, men. He’s here. Set up your position. Jack, Frank, come on in and bring Devon with you.” He then turned off the device and placed it into his vest pocket for concealment.

“What are you doing?” asked Nadia frantically. “Berto? Marco?”

“Keep still, Nadia,” came Roberto’s soft command. He glared at her, his eyes clearly showing his hatred of her.

Nadia stilled her tongue in amazement. She could not fathom the reasoning for his hatred.

Roberto then turned back to watch Larabee’s slow steady walk towards them. “Come on, Larabee, that’s it. Just a little more,” whispered Roberto to himself.

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Vin and the others had reached the back entrance of the club and found it opened, which was really surprising considering how much Marco praised himself over the security of his place.

Vin, being the first one to step through, looked around the darkened interior and almost stumbled over something on the floor.

“Damn!” cursed Vin.

“What is it?” asked Buck.

Vin felt down on the floor of the corridor. He felt cold skin of a man’s arm under his hand. “It’s a man. I think he’s dead.”

“Let me see,” said Nathan, carefully walking to where Vin was standing in the shadowy darkness. He then pulled out a small flashlight and pointed the beam at the floor.

They all saw that it was a man, a brute of man, bald-headed, and lying face down on the floor. Blood seeped from underneath him and pooled into a circle around him.

“What the hell!” exclaimed Buck, glaring down at the sight that was before them. “Ya think it was Chris?”

“Maybe,” said Vin. He then turned the man over and saw a knife, much like the one Ezra had given Chris for his birthday.

“I believe our illustrious leader was here,” determined Ezra as he picked up the knife lying next to the body.

“Yeah. And it seems he was not in a good mood,” added Vin.

“Shit! Why would Mickey kill him?” asked Lucien bewildered. “He could have taken the man out without any problems.”

Vin eyes scanned the surrounding area within the light. “Nathan,” he called. “Move that light over here.”

Nathan moved the light over to where Vin was looking at and saw more blood, but this time it was trailing in drops through the inner door leading into the club area.

“Is that what I think it is?” asked Josiah concerned.

“Yeah, it’s blood,” confirmed Nathan. “But whose?”

“Chris,” piped in JD.

“Chris’ blood?” questioned Josiah. “How can you be sure?”

JD leaned over the dead body and turned him around. There was another knife sticking into it, one that did not look familiar to them. “I think it’s his,” said JD pointing at the body.

“So ya think he and Chris got into a knife fight?” questioned Vin.

“Yeah. And Chris won,” replied JD.

“Not exactly,” said Nathan aiming his light at the trail of blood.

They all stared at the blood and knew it was not a good sign.

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Chapter: 54 of ?

The Right Hand of God

The club was crowded which was not surprising to Mickey. He knew it would be and it was exactly the way he wanted it.

Chris’ stirrings had faded away into the background, silenced by the thrumming headache he now carried. His stomach was also creating pain for him and Mickey knew he did not have a lot of time left. He was barely standing straight, but he knew he could not show any weakness at the moment.

He was tempted to take the drug again and stop the pain, but then he knew he would not the mental facilities that he needed to deal with Berto and his men. He needed to stay sharp and clear. He was not stupid. He knew Berto probably had a trapped set up for him. Only a novice would not have noticed the armed men placed in strategic areas around the club.

Also once he had rid himself of all the people that had created his life into a living hell, then death would be welcomed, a quietness he desperately craved now.

Mickey slowly moved his way through the throng of the crowd that was on the dance floor, carefully maneuvering his way up the center towards Roberto’s table.

He saw that Berto did not come alone. Marco and Nadia was at the table, both seemingly on edge. He had a feeling that neither one of them wanted to be there. Mickey saw it as a perfect ending. All the people who had caused him pain were in one location. All that is except her.

Her was Etal Romanov, a woman of his nightmares and now she was a bane to his current existence. He had thought her dead, back in Brooklyn, New York in the last run they had while he worked for the organization.

It was a job that had went to hell and Mickey and Buck were lucky to make it out alive. At the time, he was seeing Sarah and Etal was his ex-girlfriend who was also part of the organization. She had once been El Lobo’s woman, but after he died, Mickey inherited her as well as the business.

A year into their relationship, they had a fallen out. Well, it was more than a fallen out. She had tried to kill him and he thought he had killed her instead. But now he knew he was wrong. Then he met Sarah and things had changed, he had changed. But now, it was over with and so was the life he thought he could have.

As he made his way cautiously over to the table he knew something was wrong and made sure that his gun was within reach. He was an expert marksman, maybe not as good as Vin, but good enough.

As he sauntered closer, his mind started drifting and he thought about the scruffy-looking sniper he was leaving behind.

It was the one thing that in the beginning had held Chris together and Mickey to the shadows. But once Nadia showed him how Vin could be his weakness, the chink in his armor that changed.

He could no longer let Vin or any of the others into his life or find him. They would be in danger just as much as Sarah and Adam were. It was the one weakness that he and Chris shared.

As he broke out of his reverie, he found himself standing in front of the table that housed Roberto, Marco and Nadia. He glanced around suspiciously, but noticed that their bodyguards were on the other side of the club.

“Chris, so good of you to come,” said Roberto standing up from his chair. “Please have a seat.” Roberto then motioned to the empty chair across from them.

“No, thanks, Berto, I think I’ll stand,” said Mickey smiling wickedly.

“You brought the disk, right?” came Marco’s question.

Mickey turned to glare at Marco. Marco did not see how much Mickey wanted to just rip the man’s heart out. Then he saw Nadia look at him with fear in her eyes and he shivered as if someone had walked over his grave. He knew there was not a lot that could scare her and knew he was in deep trouble. He took in a silent breath and replied, “Yeah. Of course, I do. Let’s get this over with. Where are they?”

Roberto smiled inwardly. He knew he had the man where he wanted him. “The woman is here. She’s waiting for you by the bar,” answered Berto waiting to see Larabee’s reaction.

Mickey turned towards the bar slowly, searching for the one person who had caused him so much pain. His eyes slid across all the blonde women at the bar and stopped on the one that he knew was her.

Her hair was shorter, cut in a boyish style than the last time he saw her, but the rest of her was the same, including her confident stance as she stood near the bar slowly sipping her drink.

Etal watched as Mickey turned to scan the area and their eyes met, green ones to blue. Anger and hatred sparked between them, invisible to the naked eye. She saw Mickey nod to her gently and she knew it was time. Time to put everything to end and get back what was hers. The problem was she did not know that Mickey had other plans.

Mickey eyes followed her as she smoothly leaned away from the bar and started a slow, languish walk over to his position. He then turned back to Roberto. “Where is the other one?”

“Unfortunately, I got not persuade him to come, but…” Roberto pulled out a folded piece of paper and slowly pushed it towards the middle of the table. “…here is where he is currently staying.”

Mickey glanced at the paper, his green eyes trying to discern if it was just a ploy. He knew it could not be that easy.

“And the disk?” asked Roberto.

Mickey turned to see that Etal had stopped about a couple of feet away from where he was as if she was waiting for something. What he did not know, but he needed to keep his concentration on what was happening now.

He reached into his side pocket and pulled out the disk. What Roberto and the others did not know was that he had copied the disk using Chris’ security code and placed a copy in a safe place where it would never be found. He just hoped that Roberto’s estimation of his intelligence was a low as he hoped.

Mickey placed the disk on the table and at the same time picked up the paper. It held the name of the man who had killed his family and the address. He could hear Chris’ screams of anger and anguish again and tried to mute them out. ‘Shut the hell up!’ he yelled in his mind.

At first there was silence and then he heard Chris’ voice in his mind say, ‘Kill them! Kill them all!’

‘That’s just what I’m gon’na do. Now, shut up!’ whispered Mickey, smiling.

“What?” asked Roberto, unsure of what he had just heard uttered from the blond man’s mouth.

Mickey did not realize that he had said last part out loud. “Nothin,” he said quickly recovering. “I…I was just thinkin’ out loud is all.”

Roberto nodded confused, but accepted his explanation.

“How do I know this is real?” asked Mickey waving the paper at Roberto.

“She can vouch for it,” piped in Marco pointing to Etal who still was immobile a few feet away from Mickey.

“Yeah, and how do I know she ain’t lyin’?” asked Mickey smirking. He could not believe how stupid and naïve Marco thought he was.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Larabee. It seems my son has much to learn about judging an opponent,” said Roberto turning angrily to his son.

Just then Nadia decided she should say something.

“You are not going to go for this little deal, are you darling?” she said enticingly.

Mickey glared at her wishing he was close enough to snap her neck, but he knew he had to wait for the appropriate moment.

“Mind your own business!” came a voice from behind Mickey.

He turned to see Etal had moved closer now. She was only about a couple of feet away.

“And who the hell are you?” demanded Nadia.

“I’m your worst nightmare,” sneered the petite blonde woman.

“I doubt that,” answered Nadia snidely. She glared at the woman who stood too close to the man she loved.

Etal could see that this woman would pose a problem to her plans, but she was confident that she could handle her. Or so she thought.

“Why don’t the both of ya just shut the hell up!” exclaimed Mickey. Not that he cared if they killed each other off. He just had a problem with him being the bone they were fighting over. As far as he was concerned, neither was what he desired.

Etal and Nadia both stopped talking and turned to stare at the blond.

It was then Mickey’s body decided to betray him. He suddenly doubled over in pain, grabbing onto his stomach. He felt the breath knocked out of him and silently cursed his own weakness.

“It is the poison, Christopher,” said Nadia sweetly standing up from her chair. “I told you. You need me.”

Mickey shook his head, trying to dissipate the fogginess of his mind. He needed to get this done and fast, otherwise he might not live to see it end.

Suddenly, there was a commotion from the back entrance and Mickey turn to see Vin and the others pushing their way quickly towards his position.

“Damn!” he exclaimed. Why couldn’t they just stay away. He did not want them or need them there. That was his life. Always bad timing.

“So, Mr. Larabee, I see your friends have arrived,” said Berto, his eyes narrowing in surprise. “Well, I can see this is going to be a wonderful reunion.”

Mickey turned to face Roberto and knew the man was up to something. He knew that his plan had failed and now his brother and his friends were in danger. No. That was Chris’ thought, not his. He did not care what happened to those interfering bastards. He told them to stay away. Why couldn’t they listen! It was the one reason he had tried to distance himself from them. But Chris would not let him.

Just then, he heard a yell come from behind him. “Chris!”

He turned to find Vin, leading the way towards him, the others moving quickly behind him to reach the blond.

“Damn! Stay away, Vin!” Chris yelled above the din of the music.

“Chris!” Buck screamed. “Get away from them!”

Mickey knew he could not do that. Not now. Not yet. He had to finish this.

But Mickey saw that it would be more difficult than he thought. He watched as Devon and two other men entered the side entrance of the club. They took were trying to make their way left towards the table from the other side, while Vin and the others were pushing through from the right.

Mickey did not believe this could get any worst. He turned his attention back to Roberto and the group at the table, ignoring Etal as she moved closer. He saw the grin become apparent on Roberto’s face. He knew he had been had.

“Fuck you, Berto!” he yelled and started to reach for the gun inside his pocket.

Roberto saw the move and stood up, his own weapon was already ready and cocked under the table. The party goers and gamblers in the club heard someone scream out gun and started running for the exits, knocking some people down in their attempt to escape death.

Roberto ignored them, his focus on Larabee. As he pulled the trigger, his aim was knocked off as he felt someone crash into him, sending him spiraling to the floor, the gun falling out of his hand.

Mickey felt the bullet crease his arm, but it was not the one holding the gun and he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet directly into Marco’s chest.

Marco was thrown from his chair to land behind the table, possibly dying, Mickey could only hope. He then turned the weapon towards Nadia and was about to pull the trigger when he saw her brown eyes look over his shoulder, face change to one of shock as a gasp came out of her mouth.

Mickey knew something was wrong and tried to turn around to face whatever had surprised Nadia, but he found out he was too slow and felt pain explode in his shoulder.

He looked down and saw blood starting to flow freely from near his shoulder and realized that he had been shot. He faced the direction from which the shot had come from and found himself confronting the shooter.

“Damn! I should of killed ya when I had the chance,” he said to the shooter.

“You should have, Larabee. It would have saved you a lot of trouble,” replied Devon, raising his gun again to get another shot at the blond.

As he was about to pull the trigger and finish off the man who considered a threat to relationship with Nadia, another shot ran out and Devon was thrown back onto the floor.

Mickey turned back to the table and saw Nadia standing up, her gun aimed in the vicinity where Devon had originally stood.

“Nay?” questioned Mickey surprised.

“Do you think I could have let him hurt you, Christopher?” she queried, breathing hard and still holding the gun pointed at the now fallen and dying Devon.

Mickey stared at her astonished. He could not believe that a woman he had hated so much had saved his life.

“Ya are full of surprises, Nay. Ya know that?”

“And you’re welcomed, darling,” she said walking around the table towards him. “But I am afraid that you are bleeding badly, lover.”

Nadia came to a stop besides him, taking him by the arm. “I think you had better sit down, my love,” she said, pulling up a chair and slowly lowering him into it.

In the meantime, pandemonium was going on around them.

Buck and Josiah pulled out their weapons and were having a shoot out with Frank and Jack. It finally ended with a bullet in Frank’s head and one in Jack’s chest. Frank was dead and Jack was dying. It was an end to two great careers in organized crime, but the people they had executed were never going to miss them.

Ezra, JD and Lucien were busy trying to take out the three bodyguards of the now deceased Marco and the downed Roberto. It was easy enough considering they were busily trying to save their bosses, to no avail. Ezra, JD and Lucien had taken each of the men out, but they were not dead. Just incapacitated with bullets enough to keep them inactive.

Their living boss, Roberto was busily fighting off the enraged and downright pissed sniper, Vin Tanner, as he lay blow upon blow on the elderly man. Roberto was losing badly and knew that unless he could get the man off of him, he was surely as dead as his son who lay dead beside him. He tried to fight back, but after awhile, one hit too many ended up knocking him unconscious. Vin finally stopped as soon as he felt the older man go limp in his grasp.

Vin stood up over the felled man, glaring angrily and breathing hard. “Ya got what ya deserved for all the pain ya caused to Chris!” he spat at the unconscious form on the floor. “Ya can think about it in prison.” He then grabbed the man turning him on his stomach and handcuffed him.

As Vin was taking care of Roberto and with all that was going on, no one noticed the blond woman who was cautiously creeping over to Mickey and Nadia. Her small .22 caliber pistol was pointed directly at Mickey’s head.

Instantly she had her gun positioned up against the back of the base of the man’s neck seated in the chair. Mickey sat up straighter in the chair as he felt the cold metal against his neck.

Nadia turned glaring brown eyes as she just noticed the woman’s presence. “What the hell…?”

“Shut up, bitch!” snapped Etal, slapping Nadia so hard that she fell back onto the floor, her own gun skidding across the polished floor. “So Mickey. You thought you could just leave me.”

“Etal. I…forgot about ya,” said Mickey, feeling the affects of his wounds and the poison leaking the strength out of him.

“I did not forget about you, lover boy,” she smirked. “You left me to die.”

“Nope. That’s…not…true,” replied Mickey breathing hard. “I thought…I thought ya were already…dead. If I…If I knew you were still alive, I would have came back…and…and put another bullet in ya just to make sure,” laughed Mickey psychotically which made him cough as the blood and bile rising in his throat started to choke him.

Etal was boiling at the comment, but it also made her shiver inside to think that she had thought she had loved this man. He was absolutely working with a screw loose. Something that she finally realized and in the process, knew she was doing the right thing by putting the man out of his misery.

“Rest in peace, Mickey,” she said softly as she started to pull the trigger.

Mickey sat straight in the chair, waiting for the inevitable, knowing that he had screwed up when he did not make sure that Etal was dead when he put that bullet in her.

He knew she had killed his wife and child. He knew she was the one behind it. But now it looked like Chris was going to get his wish to join his family and Etal was going to be the person who gave him his wish. He was tired.

A smile grew on Mickey’s face as he heard Chris in the background sighing happily at the prospect. For Chris it would be over with finally and for Mickey too. They both knew once Etal killed them, the others would not hesitate to put a bullet in her head. Too bad they could not do it themselves, though. Maybe this was God’s plan all along.

As Mickey waited for what he thought was about to happen, he noticed that Vin who had finished up with Roberto was now standing up a few feet away from him, blue eyes meeting green across the distance.

“Cowboy?” came the silent thought from Vin.

“Sorry, Pard. Sorry for everything,” came the silent answer from Chris/Mickey.

Vin’s eyes rose in question and concern. “Chris?” he called softly.

Chris/Mickey did not answer. He only smiled as he watched Vin’s eyes settle upon the woman who stood in back of him and squint in shock.

“Chris!” Vin yelled sprinting towards him, trying to cover the distance between them, knowing that he had to reach the blond before the woman pulled the trigger.

And he almost did, but not before he heard a shot rang out into the silence and watched as Chris/Mickey’s head slumped to the side.

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Chapter: 55 of ?

Herald the Angels

Vin could not reach Chris in time and when he heard the shot that rang out, he stopped dead in his tracks, his heart jumping into his throat.

He watched as Chris closed his eyes and his head slumped to the side, his body still in the chair.

Once he recovered from his shock, he noticed that the blond woman was grasping at her chest, blood flowing freely through her hand. She slowly released the gun in her hand and let it drop loudly to the fall and looked up to see Vin staring at her.

She said in a soft voice, “I…guess he got…his revenge, huh?”

Vin then watched as the blond woman dropped to the floor. It was then that he saw Nathan standing behind her, his gun still aimed at where the woman stood and realized what had happened.

“Nate,” was all Vin said and ran to kneel down in front of his friend. “Chris?” he called and when he got no response he touched his neck to check for blood and a pulse. He found none of the first and a slight one of the second.

“He’s still alive,” said Vin grabbing the man from the chair and settling him gently on to the floor.

Nathan knelt down and checked the woman on the floor. “She’s dead,” he said simply and then joined Vin next to Chris.

“Let me see him, Vin,” said Nathan moving in while Vin held Chris while Nathan started to examine him.

By this time, the others had saw what had happened and now quickly walked over to their position. Lucien dropped to kneel on the floor with Nathan, Vin and his brother.

“Chris?” called Lucien softly. But he received no answer from his older brother.

They all looked at the woman on the floor and then back to Chris who looked pale and silent.

Buck glanced out at the corner of his eye and noticed that Nadia was slowly trying to crawl towards her gun. He sidestepped the group quickly and stepped on the gun before she could retrieve it, crushing Nadia’s fingers on the trigger.

“Shit!” shouted Nadia. “What the fuck…?”

“Such bad language for lady,” said Buck smiling down at her. He then reached down and picked up the gun, placing it in his waistband. He put out his hand to give her lift up. She stared at it suspiciously.

“Why should you offer me hand after what I did?”

“Because I saw you when you saved Chris,” said Buck. “And for that I am grateful.”

Nadia looked at him surprised, but the took the proffered hand.

Buck lifted her up from the floor and steady on to her legs.

“Thanks, Bucklin.”

“Don’t thank me yet, Nay. There is still the fact that you poisoned Chris, kidnapped him Vin and Lucien and then tried to have them killed.”

Nadia eyes widened in bewilderment. “Have them killed? Oh, no, I would have never done that, although I was terribly pissed at not having them and of course, Luc’s interference in my plans,” she answered smiling.

“Nay,” said Buck doubtfully.

“Okay, okay. You can’t blame a girl for trying,” she laughed.

Buck rolled his eyes in exasperation. This woman was truly one fry short of a happy meal.

“Come on, Nay. Turn sit down in that chair,” commanded Buck.

Nadia grimaced, but willingly complied by sitting down in one of the chairs still standing in the club. Buck then walked over to her and placed both of her hands to each side of the chair, taking out two pairs of cuffs.

He locked her hands to the chair and nodded slightly as he walked away to see how Chris was doing.

Nathan was working feverishly on Chris. He had lost a lot of blood and his pulse was weak.

“How is he, Nate?” asked Vin, his eyes showing the fear and worry that they all mirrored.

“Not good, Vin, not good. JD!”

JD walked over from where he was inspecting the dead and the wounded, making sure they were not still armed.

“Call 911. Get an ambulance here fast! And someone call Travis and let him know we found Chris and what’s going on,” said Nathan.

At that moment, they could hear sirens in the distance.

“Looks like the police already got the message, Nathan,” said Josiah.

“JD, go meet them and tell them we have injured, one critical,” said Nathan.

JD nodded and quickly ran out of the club to wait for the police.

“Nate?” came Buck’s soft question. “Is he gon’na make it?”

“I don’t know. With the poison still in his system and the lost of blood from his injury, I don’t know. He’s border right now.” Nathan then turned back to his patient. “Vin, keep pressure on that wound.”

“His breathin’ don’t sound so good, Nathan,” said Lucien staring down at Chris.

“I know. I think it’s a symptom of the poison’s progression. We need an antidote to the poison.”

All eyes sidled towards Nadia who sat in the chair quietly listening to the conversation.

Nadia looked at them bemused. “I know what you want and I can give it to you. But not without consequences.”

“Like what?” asked Buck, his eyes narrowing in anger.

“Like we make a deal. I give you the antidote and you let me go.”

“First of all, why would you do that and second, how would we know it was the antidote?” asked Nathan.

“You have no choice. If you don’t, Christopher dies. I would like to see him live, but I would like my freedom too.”

Buck turned to face the others and saw on their face that they also did not trust the woman, but they also knew they had no alternative. It was letting her go free or letting Chris die.

“Let ‘er go, Buck,” said Vin from the floor.

“But Vin, what if she’s lying?” questioned Josiah.

“I don’t care! Chris is dyin’.”

“But we work for the law,” said JD naïvely.

“No. I have disagreed, Mr. Dunne. We work for ourselves. We are on the other side of the law, no matter who it is we are currently employed by,” interjected Ezra.

Buck nodded. Ezra was right. They were not the law. They were they were contractors for the law. Service rendered did not include letting one of their men die.

“First the antidote,” said Buck determinedly.

“Buck!” exclaimed Josiah.

“Leave it alone, Josiah,” said Vin from his position on the floor. Chris’ breathing was getting worst and he would not let anyone stand in the way of saving his friend.

“But she might be lying,” added Josiah.

“Yeah. She might. But we got to take that chance. Are you willing to let Chris die?” said Buck solemnly.

“Mr. Sanchez, if I a may, we owe nothing to Travis and his organization. We do, on the other hand, owe everything to Mr. Larabee. If I had to choose… Well, I am sure you can see my position in this,” explained Ezra.

“Me too!” piped in JD.

“Josiah, I have to agreed with them. If it weren’t for Chris, I’d be serving several years in prison too. But because of him, I had a chance to finish medical school and be the doctor that I’ve always wanted to be. Yes, I did heal some criminals, but I also helped innocent people who couldn’t afford a doctor like me. The free clinic Chris helped me build here has helped a lot of deserving people, Josiah. I’m sorry, my friend. But I’m with them.”

Lucien looked up from his vigilance over his brother and said, “Tell them, Nay. And if you’re lying, you know I can remedy the contract.”

Nadia did know that. Lucien was the best in the business, even if the others did not know it. She knew he could find her and put her out of her misery no matter where she would run.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and said, “My handbag on the floor. The green vial, not the red.”

Buck walked over to where Nadia’s bag was lying and pulled out a green vial of liquid and a syringe. He then handed it over to Nathan.

Nathan filled the syringe with the liquid and took care of any air bubbles. He then turned to look at the others. “I just hope we’re doing the right thing.”

“The symptoms should start to be diminished quickly, but the poison will not completely leave his system for about a week or so. He still might have some…some mental faculty issues for a while, but they should correct themselves,” explained Nadia.

Nathan sighed despondently at Nadia, but he knew he had no choice. He injected the liquid into Chris vein in his arm, praying all the while that they would not regret their actions.

“Have you tested this?” questioned Lucien, fear lacing his voice.

“Yes.”

“And…”

“And it was mostly successful,” said Nadia thoughtfully.

“Mostly successful!” shouted Buck.

“Well, 9 out of 10 times it worked.”

“And the 10^th time?” asked JD fearfully.

“Well, the gentlemen was much older and he had some complications due to his age, but I don’t think Chris will have that issue,” said Nadia simply.

Lucien growled from his kneeling position. The woman was so calm as she talked about his brother’s life. He wanted to throttle her and would if he was not more concern for Mickey.

“So what do we do now?” asked JD.

“We wait,” said Nathan.

“And if Chris improves, we let her go,” added Buck.

“And once we do,” said Ezra turning to Nadia. “It’s best if you leave Vegas by the most expedient way possible.”

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It was a few minutes later when Nathan announced that Chris’ condition had improved. By that time the ambulance had arrived and the police had taken into custody Roberto and his men that were still alive, things looked like they were turning around.

Nadia was released from her handcuffs and immediately disappeared during the cleanup action and the moving of Chris in an ambulance to the hospital thinking that no one saw her leave. But one did and although none of them would miss her much, one of them did have some serious thoughts about when they might meet again.

Lucien had seen her slip out the back exit, but knew it would not be long before he saw her again. He just did not know what the circumstances would be.

It was decided that Nathan and Vin would ride with Chris and was allowed by the medics, although it was unusual. They saw how the two men protected the blond and they knew they would have hell to pay if they tried to separate them.

The others wished them well and said they would meet them over at the hospital as soon as they spoke with Travis and debriefed him of the situation. They knew that afterwards, Travis would probably be out there himself once business was concluded. Although Chief Travis held the release papers for Larabee, he still cared a lot for the man. Chris still technically a criminal, had done much for the Celestial Organization and Chief Travis himself. It would surely not be forgotten.

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While Chris, Vin and Nathan were on the way to the hospital, the others were watching as the police started to clean up the crime scene and take the losers away.

“JD, please call Chief Travis and inform him our the situation. He can meet us down at Las Vegas Memorial Hospital and we can debrief him there,” commanded Ezra.

“Right, Ez,” said JD, moving over to the side of the dance floor to speak privately with Travis on his cellular phone.

“So what happens now?” asked Lucien anxiously. He really did not care. He was more concerned about getting to the hospital to see his brother.

“We go to the hospital and meet Travis,” replied Ezra.

Suddenly, three men in black suits walked into the club. Lucien recognized them for what they were. G-men, FBI, men in black. He turned his face away from them and started slowly inching for the back exit. He could not let them see him. He was a well known felon to these men and their organization. It would not be good if they decided to arrest him now.

Buck watched out of the corner of his eye as Lucien started walking towards the back exit. He saw the look on Lucien’s face when the FBI men walked into the place and knew something was wrong.

“Luc?” he called after the leaving blond.

“Buck, gotta go,” and with that he disappeared out the back exit as the FBI men approached the others.

“Mr. Wilmington?” Buck heard. He turned to find the three suits standing in front of him.

“I’m Agent Thompson, this is Agent Ferris and this is Agent Richards. We’re assigned to the Federal Bureau Investigation here in Nevada. We heard about the incident and that a Lucien Caymen might be involved,” said the red-haired one.

“And where did you hear this?” asked Buck curious.

“From a confidential source. We’d like to know if it is true,” explained the African American named Richards.

“No. It is not true,” jumped in Josiah. He knew from Buck’s look on his face that these guys were trouble.

“Oh, okay,” said Agent Thompson surprised.

“Well, gentlemen, if we can help you with anything else please let us know,” interjected Ezra. “In the meantime, we need to proceed to the hospital to attend to our injured friend.”

He then motioned for them to follow him out of the club. The others did so without looking back once.

Once outside they headed for their vehicles to start to the hospital. Buck turned and stared down the dark alley when he thought he saw someone there, but then he decided it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He followed JD to his truck and got in on the driver’s side.

As soon as JD was in the car, he turned the ignition and took the car out of gear to start driving down the street towards the hospital. Ezra and the others followed in the other car closely behind.

They did not see Lucien as he backed his way into the darkness and headed down the street the other way.

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The ambulance sped its way toward Las Vegas Memorial Hospital as fast as the vehicle’s engine could go. It was now only ten minutes from the hospital that existed on the other side of Vegas.

Inside, the paramedics were working feverishly on the blond man who seemed oblivious to their presence.

Nathan and Vin sat in the back of the vehicle, watching in anticipation on the outcome of the paramedics work. They watched as an oxygen mask was placed over Chris’ face and he was hooked up to an IV and portable heart monitor. The beep, beep, beep that kept in time with Larabee’s heartbeat gave them a lifeline on which to hold onto.

Suddenly, without warning the beeping became one long beep. Chris’ body seem to arch up and then fall flat back down on the stretcher.

“He’s flat lined!” yelled the woman paramedic called Joan.

“We need to intubate him! Start CPR!” shouted the man paramedic named Frank.

“Chris!” screamed Vin trying to reach his friend, but he was held in place by Nathan’s strong arms.

“No, Vin! Let them work,” said Nathan trying to calm the brown-haired man fears.

Both Nathan and Vin watched as the two paramedics quickly worked to try to bring Chris back to the living.

Vin closed his blue eyes in fear and tried to reach out to his friend through their connection. Vin had a feeling that Chris was giving up and he knew the only way to keep him in the land of the living was to make him fight.

“Chris! Don’t ya die on me! Ya hear me! Ya stay with us. Don’t you dare leave us,” he silently pleaded. He then mutely prayed that the blond had heard him.

Whether Chris heard or not, Vin and Nathan finally heard the erratic beeping of the heart monitor. It slowly became a steady rhythm and it seemed that Chris was back with them again.

“We got him back, but we better get to the hospital fast. Step on it, Chuck,” said Joan in relief to the driver.

Vin felt the breath he was holding release. “That’s right, Pard. Keep fightin’. I got ya back,” sent Vin again through the silent communication.

“They got ‘im back, Vin,” said Nathan breathing easier.

“Yeah, I know.” Vin just hoped they would keep him there until they reached the hospital.

TBC.

Fallen Home Chapter 1 - 8 Chapter 9-14 Chapter 15-21 Chapter 22-26 Chapter 27-32 Chapter 33-36 Chapter 37-41

Chapter 42-48 Chapter 49-50 Chapter 51