Betrayal
Chapter Seven
When Ezra opened the door, he saw two of Edward Mounds' henchmen, Stilts and
Brown, standing there. They were the men that Edward Mounds sent when he wanted
someone taken care of. 'This can't be good, Ezra,' he thought to himself. He
smiled and said, "Good evening, gentlemen. What can I do for you?"
"Mister Mounds sent us, Sanders. He wants to see you at his house, now," replied
Stilts.
Ezra nodded, "Alright. Lead the way."
Ezra still had on his suit, from working on the account books for Mounds earlier
in the day, and he had his little Derringer up his right sleeve, hooked to a
rig. It made him feel a little more secure. He knew that it could not be good
news that Edward Mounds wanted to see him.
He followed Stilts and Brown to the black Cadillac and got into the back seat.
Even though he looked unconcerned, he knew everything that was going on. A
little while later, Stilts parked the car in front of Mounds' house. He and
Brown escorted Ezra through the front door and into Edward's study.
"Shut the door," ordered Edward. After Brown had obeyed, Edward walked to where
he was standing in front of Ezra. "Brian Sanders. That is your name, correct?"
Ezra nodded, "Of course, Sir."
"Are you sure? You're not keeping something from me, are you?" Edward asked in a
deceptively calm voice.
Ezra was a master at reading people, he had to be in his line of work. And, he
knew right then that somehow his cover had been blown. But, he kept up the
charade. "I'm sure it's my name, not keeping any secrets from you," Ezra said
with a smile.
Edward raised an eyebrow, picked something up off his desk, and said, "Oh
really? Then, what's this?"
It took all of Ezra's skills to keep his eyes from widening and his mouth from
dropping open. It was the picture of him at the FBI academy, from the FBI
yearbook. Edward held it up, beside Ezra's face and said, "Yep. Just wanted to
make sure, and I can see the resemblance."
Edward's eyes turned cold as he said, "You're an undercover cop. Thought you
could keep tricking me, didn't you? Since you're ATF, I assume you're here to
try and find out about my illegal gun sales. Right?"
Ezra remained silent and Edward grabbed a hunk of his hair, jerking his head
back, and growled, "Right?" Ezra still remained silent, he didn't see any point
in talking. Besides, he was busy trying to find the right time to put his plan
into action.
Edward smirked at him and said, "We have ways to make you talk." Looking at the
other two men, Edward said, "Stilts. Brown."
Henry Brown, who was all muscle and six-foot, grabbed Ezra, pinning his arms to
his sides. Gordon Stilts, who was pulling on black leather gloves, smiled at
Ezra. He was going to enjoy this. He pulled back his left arm and let his fist
fly directly into Ezra's stomach. Ezra lost his breath, and bent a little at the
waist.
Edward was sitting behind his oak desk, puffing on a cigar as he watched
everything unfold. Ezra felt his bottom lip split open as Stilts landed a
vicious punch to his face. Another punch to his face and Ezra knew he was going
to have a serious black eye.
"Well, ready to answer my question yet? Are you here to learn about my gun
business? Or, you don't have to say anything, I'm enjoying the entertainment,"
Edward said.
Ezra knew he needed to put his plan into action, or they were going to kill him.
So, he slammed the back of his head into Brown's nose, causing Brown to loosen
his grip as he grunted in pain. Ezra jerked his arms free and hit Stilts in the
stomach, then kneed him between the legs.
He then triggered the rig on his right arm, causing the Derringer to shoot out
of his sleeve and into his right hand, briefly wondering how Brown hadn't felt
the rig while was holding him. But, he had no time to think about that. He saw
Edward lifting a gun, aiming it at him, and he fired. He'd always had excellent
aim when shooting and now was no exception. He hit Edward Mounds in the hand,
causing him to howl in pain and drop his gun. Ezra quickly ran out of the study,
shut the door, and rammed a chair under the handle. That would hold them for a
little while. He needed to get away and contact Chris, to let him know what was
going on.
He raced down the outside stairs, hearing yelling behind him and jumped into the
black Cadillac. In sixty seconds, he had hotwired the car and was racing off,
seeing Stilts, Brown, and a couple other men running after him. He knew he was
going to have to dump the car soon.
He sped through the streets, heading for a garage, thankful that the police
didn't seem inclined with stopping him. He knew that Mounds' men weren't far
behind him, so he turned down an alley. He took shortcuts until he was a block
from the garage where he had stored his Jaguar. He deserted the car behind a
building, entered the garage, and jumped into his Jaguar.
After he had been on the road for a few minutes and didn't see the men behind
him, he pulled out his cell phone. It was a special cell phone that could not be
traced. He only used it when undercover, to be able to safely contact his team.
He figured Chris would be at home, so he dialed the house number. After two
rings, Chris answered, "Hello."
"Chris."
"Ezra? What's wrong?" demanded an instantly concerned Chris.
"I've been compromised, Chris. My cover's been blown!"