Betrayal
Chapter Twenty-Four
TWO NIGHTS LATER
Mary Travis had been transferred to the county jail. She was to stay there until
her sentencing, then she would be transferred to a woman's prison. She couldn't
believe that all of this was happening to her! She loved Chris and she knew that
Chris loved her. 'Why are you letting this happen, Chris?' she thought.
It was eight-thirty and lights out was at nine. She was on her way to her cell,
not really paying any attention to anything or anyone around her. She sighed as
she mentally cursed Ezra Standish. This was all his fault! She was
stopped from going any farther by a body in front of her. She looked at the
woman in front of her, and made a move to step around her.
The woman blocked her path again, then again. They were starting to draw a small
crowd, but she didn't see any guards. 'Where are the damn guards when you need
them?!' she silently hissed. Looking in the woman's eyes, she saw that they were
cold. It gave her a slight pause, but she knew that she could take her.
"Get out of my way," she sneered.
The woman gave her a slight smile and whispered, "Mounds says hi." Mary only had
time to widen her eyes in surprise, before she felt a sharp pain in her abdomen.
She looked down and saw that the woman was holding the handle of a knife. The
woman pulled it out and stabbed her again, this time jerking the knife upwards.
A minute later, the knife was gone as was the woman.
Mary slumped to the floor, noticing that nobody was making a move to help her.
She stared at the ceiling, as she coughed and felt a wetness splatter her mouth.
She knew that it was blood. It was getting harder and harder to draw a breath.
THE ATF OFFICES
It was nine-thirty when Orrin Travis walked into Team Seven's office. The six
men were all at their desks, working. They had been working almost non-stop,
trying to bring down Mounds and find Ezra. They couldn't find the three men that
had attacked Ezra. It was like they had disappeared. Orrin figured that Mounds
had either relocated them or had them killed.
He sighed and walked straight to Chris' open office door. "Chris, we need to
talk. All of us."
Chris's head snapped up and he stood. "Alright. We'll use the conference room."
A few minutes later, Orrin and Team Seven were seated in the conference room.
"What is it, Orrin?" Chris demanded.
Orrin ignored the sharp tone. He knew that everyone was on edge. "Mary was
killed tonight."
"WHAT?!" exclaimed six shocked voices.
Orrin held up his hands for silence and continued, "A woman in the jail killed
her. The guard that was assigned to that section was dealing with another fight.
Mary was stabbed twice, her insides were pretty cut up. She was dead within
minutes."
"This was Mounds' work, I know it!" exclaimed Vin as he stood up. He was too
restless to sit.
Orrin nodded, "I agree. He was probably afraid that we'd get Mary to flip on
him, so he decided to take preventive action. The D.A. and the judge have all
been made aware of the situation. Needless to say, the D.A. isn't happy. Nobody
can find the three men that attacked Ezra and, now, Mary's dead."
"This is just great. What do we do now?" groused JD.
"Are there any sources that you have that might know the whereabouts of those
three men?" Orrin asked.
"I've called everyone I can think of," said a shrugging Buck. "No luck."
"I might know of someone," said Josiah. He paused a moment, then added, "That is
if I can find him. I'll go right now and start putting out the word that I want
to talk to him. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll contact me."
After Josiah had left the room, Orrin said, "I'd better be getting home."
He walked to his car in the parking garage, but didn't leave. He just sat there.
He didn't know what to do. He hated to see them all trying so hard to find Ezra,
when he knew right where he was. But, he had promised Ezra that he wouldn't tell
them. He knew that Ezra needed some time. Plus, he was in protective custody.
He made his decision. He just hoped that Ezra would understand. Pulling out his
cell phone, he dialed a number. When it was answered, he said, "Vin, it's Orrin.
Don't let on who it is. I'm going to tell you where Mister Standish is."