Betrayal
Chapter Eight
Chris sat straight up in bed, his legs hanging off the side. "What?! What do you
mean your cover's been blown?"
"Mounds had two of his men come by the condo and get me tonight. When I got to
his house, he knew that I was an undercover cop. He wanted to know if I was
there to find out about his illegal gun sales. I refused to say anything and he
had Stilts and Brown start beating me. I was able to get away and made it to my
Jaguar," Ezra answered.
Chris sighed, instantly knowing what had happened. That bitch had blown Ezra's
cover. "Ezra, you know the drill. You have to make it to safe territory. You
have to make it to the safe house."
The safe house was a place where undercover agents tried to make it to, when
their covers were blown. Then they were retrieved there and taken to a
debriefing and taken off the case. The safe house usually changed every three
months, and right now it was a shack in the middle of woods that were right
outside of town.
"I know, Chris."
"Me and the other guys will meet you there, immediately. Be careful."
"I will. I love you, Chris."
"I love you, too," Chris said as he closed his eyes to hold back the tears that
wanted to escape. They hung up and Chris called Vin.
"Vin, we have to get to the safe house, now. Ezra's cover has been blown. He's
going to try and make it there."
"Is he alright?" Vin asked in a fear-laced voice.
"Yes, he's alright for now. Do me a favor and call Nathan and Josiah, will you?
I'll call JD and Buck."
"Sure, Chris," Vin said, then hung up without a goodbye.
Twenty minutes later, Chris was in his black truck, on his way to the safe
house. 'This is all my fault! If I had never have gotten drunk, that night, Mary
and I never would have slept together. And, Ezra wouldn't be in trouble right
now!' Chris thought to himself as he banged the palm of his right hand on the
steering wheel.
"Please, let Ezra be alright," Chris pleaded, hoping his prayer would be
answered.
Half-an-hour later, Chris and the others were at the safe house, waiting inside.
"Where is he?" growled a worried Chris.
They were all worried, even Nathan. Even though they didn't get along, Nathan
didn't want Ezra hurt or dead. "I'm sure he's okay," Buck said as he tried to
reassure Chris.
Chris shot him a glare, just as his cell phone rang. "What?" he asked harshly.
"Chris..."
"Ezra! Where the hell are you? Are you okay?" demanded Chris.
Ezra's voice filtered through the phone, and Chris could tell that he was
nervous. "Chris, I can't make it to the safe house. I'm on foot, about twenty
minutes from the safe house. Mounds' men caught up with me and ran me off the
road, after shooting out one of my tires. My Jaguar is at the bottom of a
cliff." Ezra sighed, "My poor car."
A second later, he added, "They're still after me, aiming to kill me. I'm trying
to hide. If I try and make it to the safe house, I know they will catch me."
Chris's face paled, causing the others to get extremely frightened for their
undercover agent. "Where are you? I'll come and get you!"
"No, Chris. I will not risk you or the others getting hurt," Ezra firmly stated.
"Can you get a cab or anything and make it to the ATF offices? To the
ranch? Anywhere?"
"I'm going to try and make it to the ATF offices. I will not lead them to the
ranch. If I absolutely cannot make it to the offices, I will call you back. I
love you." Without giving Chris time to reply, Ezra ended the call.
"What is it? What's wrong?" asked JD.
Chris sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Mounds' men caught up with him
and shot out one of his tires, before running him off the road. He's on foot now
and about twenty minutes from here. He didn't tell me exactly where he was. He's
going to try and make it to the ATF offices.