ATF Universe
6 AM Tuesday
Larabee Ranch
Vin Tanner watched as Nathan Jackson walked through the living room into the kitchen of the ranch house. He heard the sounds of coffee being made and decided to join his friend and perhaps offer him some support."Nathan, you should be sleeping, it's still early."
"Couldn't sleep, keep thinking bout Josiah."
"We'll find him Nathan. you know I'm right about his using Ezra to get to Josiah. Nothing Zook could do to Josiah worst then hurting someone he cared a great deal abou."
"Yeah I know, never wanted to admit Josiah felt that way about Ezra, always knew he did just wouldn't admit it. I knew as soon as I met Ezra that Josiah would care about him. Seen it happen before in the gulf... Manny ....hell Josiah watched over that kid from the first day he met him..... always blamed himself that Zook used Manny like he did. When the two of us ran into Manny a few months back I knew Josiah would do everything in his power to see Manny got help. Just the kind of guy Josiah is., always rooting for the underdog or trying to change a men into what he sees him as being.
"One day in Kuwait we got this kid in the medical building. wasn't no more then seven or so....kid had stepped on a land mine...wasn't nothing any of us could do for the kid..too much damage done to his body to make him well again. Josiah was the person who found him and brought him in...kid finally came to a few hours later, we had him so doped up he couldn't feel a thing....kid took a liking to Josiah and Josiah never left the kids side until it was all over. Up til then I'd never seen the big man cry, but he sat there holding this kid and cried like a baby in front of all of us. A few weeks later I asked him why he cared so much about a kid he didn't even know. Josiah said he saw inside a person and knew what sort of human being was inside...said that kid had been a really good person and would have grown to be a caring person if only he'd been allow to live. "Told me that the reason he liked me was cause inside me was this really caring understanding person and that one day I'd realize it myself. And when we met again 6 years ago he said I ended up being the person he knew I'd be. So I ain't surprised he took such a liking to Ezra, cause he sees Ezra better then Ezra sees himself," Nathan said.
"Hell Nathan all of us know what kind of man Josiah is. Ain't nothing he wouldn't do to help others out. As for Ez, well I reckon Josiah"ll be proved right there too." Vin said.
"I just can't believe our own government helped Zook escape. Why would they do that, what good would Zook be to them?" Nathan wondered.
"Nathan, I think I can answer that for you." JD said as he entered the kitchen. In his hands was a fist full of computer printouts. Buck, Chris and Ezra had followed JD into the kitchen. All three of them hadn't slept any better then Nathan did. Buck and Chris spent the night out on watch and while Ezra had spent most of the night thinking about Josiah feelings towards him as a son. He wasn't to sure how he felt about Josiah's thinking of him as a son. The truth was though Ezra had always felt a special connection to Josiah that he didn't feel with the other members of the team. Perhaps it was because Josiah accepted him for who and what he was. The men took turns reading the printouts. After each person read the papers they sit back in stunned silence.
" OH MY GOD !! The CIA was feeding Zook fake information , they wanted him to continue giving information to the enemy." Nathan said at last.
"But even worst was the hold they had over Josiah. How could our own people keep a man from his own daughter," Vin said.
"Those bastards has his daughter all those years and let him search for her until 90 when they needed someone to get information from Hussain's people," Chris growled.
"So what happened to the daughter, we know Josiah must not have got her . If he had he'd have surely told us about her?" Buck asked.
"Says here that Mr Sanchez was told his daughter was killed when the place the CIA had her stashed was bombed. Ezra read. But who's to say it that was the truth."
Just then the phone rang.
"Larabee." Chris answered. Yes. Alright we'll be here."
"That was the judge, he says he's got some federal big wigs breathing down his neck to bring them to us. They'll be here in an hour," Chris told his team.
8 AM
Larabee Ranch
Five black cars pulled into the Larabee ranch and several men in black suits got out. In the first car the judge got out and walked to the door. Looking out the window young JD Dunne was heard to say..."Oh Geez it's the men in black... how stupid is that."Ezra was standing behind JD and said..."Oh Shit!"
"What Ez"? Vin asked.
"That rather large baldheaded gentleman is Maxwell Miller one of the top men in the CIA, been with the company since 1970. I thought the man was dead, he must be 70 at least." Ezra replied.
Chris opened the door to the judge and the men with him.
"Chris, boys, Let me introduce you to Maxwell Miller, he's with the CIA and those men work for him".
Miller this is Chris Larabee and his men," Orin said.
Chris nodded to the men. Then he came right out and asked them what the hell they wanted.
"Mr Larabee, we know you or one of your men tapped into our files last night so we know you know that Zook is alive. We would rather you and your men just step aside and let us handle this man and his illegal activities...But from what I know about you and your team I know you won't do that. Since that is the case I feel we'd all be better off working together to save your agent and to get Zook for once and all," Miller stated.
"You let that bastard Zook get away in the Gulf, why the hell should we help you?" Chris snapped back at him and with his famous glare shining out of his angry green eyes.
"Because we want Zook in prison and we also want Sanchez kept alive." Miller growled back.
"Haven't you fellas done enough to Josiah, what... now you want to help get him killed. What kind of government officials kidnap someones kid and keeps them apart for over 18 years?" Vin said in a deadly voice.
"We had our reasons and we sure as hell don't have to explain them to you. But since I want your men to work with me I'll explain why the CIA did what they did." Miller hated having to explain the CIA's reasons for doing things to these men.
"Sanchez had been all over the world with his Father during his childhood and teen years. They had contact with some of the most influential people in the middle east. When Sanchez joined the army at 19 the CIA asked him to work for them when they needed him. He was of great value in Nam so when he wanted out we let him go. In 74 he went to Kuwait and met Elana Amodd daughter to one of the government officials . Needless to say the romance didn't go over well with the girls parents, they finally took the girl away and Sanchez left the country.
"Mr Amodd contacted us two months later, the girl was pregnant but the parents didn't want the girl to keep the child. so once the child was born we hired people to take care of it. What we didn't know was when Elana finally married she felt bad and so wrote to Sanchez and told him about the child.who was 12 by that time. This was in 87 Sanchez showed back up in the country looking for his child. When we realized Hussain was getting ready to cause some major trouble we found Sanchez and offered him the girl if he worked for us one last time. He did his job and in 92 he came to us asking to meet the girl. I'm sorry to say we lied and told him the girl was dead. The truth was the girl was of some use to us, we'd set it up for her to meet someone who worked with the Emir Of Kuwait," Miller said.
"What devious plan had you placed the girl in Mr Miller? Cause I'm sure you didn't let the girl go just like that?" Ezra asked.
"Your right Standish, We set it up to have the girl meet Demon Al _Bader. The two of them married in 90 the girl was only 15 then and we had no intention to allow Sanchez to interfere with our plans," Miller replied with a sickening evil smile.
"You bastard!!! you lied to a good man over and over again and now because of you and your bureau he might be dead. " Nathan cried out as he started toward Miller.
Buck grabbed the black man and held him back.
"Al_Bader, didn't I just read where he and his wife were killed.in a car accident, only two months ago." Ezra mumbled
"Yes, leaving behind a 3 year old daughter. We have the daughter and will turn her over to Sanchez if he's alive when we find him and Zook," Miller explained.
"Oh yeah like we'd trust you," JD said.
"How did you manage to get custody of the child?" Ezra asked
"Al _Bader had no relatives and his wife... who's name by the way was Michelle only had her uncle in Kuwait so who else would they give custody too," Miller said as he pointed his finger toward one of his men.
Chris and the others turned to see a man in his 60s standing beside the door with gray hair and eyes as blue as Josiah's were.
"Gentlemen meet Jack Roper, uncle to the late Michelle Al _Bader and great uncle to Joanna Al _Bader." Miller introduced the man.
The man nodded his head to the team and he continued to lean back on the door.
"What do you want from us?" Vin asked.
"Well first off have you heard anything new about where Zook might be. Then what type plan have you come up with to get your agent out." Miller wanted to know what Larabee and his men had planned before he told them any of his own plans.
"We haven't heard a damn thing so far and as of yet we have no plan to find Josiah let alone get him out." Chris told Miller. Larabee knew Miller wouldn't share any more information then was necessary with him and his men once Miller got even a hint of where to fond Zook.
"There has to be some way to bring Zook out in the open. Why not use Jackson to draw Zook into coming out in the open." Miller stated.
"HELL NO. I WON'T USE ONE OF MY MEN JUST SO YOU FUC- UPS CAN CATCH A GUY YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER LET GO THE FIRST TIME!!" Chris shouted.
"Larabee I don't like this any better then you do, if we don't find Zook and soon you can kiss your agent good-by cause he'll be dead and to top it off dead bodies will start turning up from the illegal fights Zook starts arranging," Miller growled .
Chris started to pace and run his hand through his short blond hair. His team members watched knowing how Chris hated dealing with the big shots in the government. And he hated it even worst when he knew he was going to have to use one of his team members as bait to trap a low live scum bag that those ass holes in the CIA should have already dealt with.
"Mr Larabee, may I suggest that you use me as bait in any attempt we make to draw Zook out." Ezra said.
"You, why the hell would Zook think you'd be worth having. It's Jackson that Zook will be looking for." Miller growled with surprise.
"Maybe not," Chris said. "Josiah is pretty fond of Ezra and if Zook has been watching us for a while then he'd know that. If Josiah is alive Zook would be able to use Ezra to hurt Josiah."
Chris looked over to his men then over to the CIA guys.
"Miller, me and the boys have some things we need to talk over. We'll be outside then I'll let you know if we'll work with you all or not," Chris said as he started for the door and his men followed him.
As they reached the door Chris turned around and said to the judge. "You want to join us?" Travise nodded his head yes and followed Chris and the others outside. Chris felt he and his men should decide in private if they would be willing to help Miller and his men find Zook. Chris also wanted to ask his team members what they thought of Miller. All the members of his team were very good at reading people.
Once outside Chris lead his men and the judge toward the corral.
"Well boys any thoughts or ideas?" Chris asked as he leand against the wooden rails of the corral.
"I don't trust Miller to turn the child over once we help him find Zook." Nathan said.
"Me either Chris." JD agreed.
"Gentleman, I for one would want proof that said child existed and is in fact the granddaughter of one Josiah Sanchez." Ezra remarked.
"How would we do that Ezra? It would take some time to get the child here and run the test to prove relationship, wouldn't it.?" Buck asked
"I would think Mr Miller has the child here in the states and no doubt had some sort of proof to the fact of relationship," Ezra answered.
"Chris, I say you take the help Miller offers. Get Zook and find Josiah. Once Josiah is found and is safe we can deal with the aspect of the child," Orin Travis said
"No, we can't let Miller take the child and run once we find Zook for him...If there is any chance the girl is Josiah's granddaughter we have to have her safe before we go after Zook." Chris snapped
"We have Miller show us the girl then we'll help Miller find Zook and Josiah. Judge I want you to look into Miller and his dealings, find out what his superiors have to say about the Zook operation past and present. Then see if they are aware of what Miller or his superior did in using Josiah back in 89, And if they knew the CIA used an innocent young girl to gain a foot hold in Kuwait. Hell for all we know Miller or someone above him took using Josiah in their own hands and the officials didn't know a thing about it. Millers been in charge of his branch of the CIA since 1970 and maybe he's been working his own angles for his own proposes."
"Wouldn't be the first time an agent did that. And it would have been easy for Miller to go that way since he's been working out of the country off and on for all those years." Travis agreed.
"So anyone else got anything they want to say or is my idea alright with the rest of you," Chris asked his team.
"Awww hell cowboy you know we'd fellow ya through hell if you ask us to and for Josiah we'd do whatever it takes to get him back," Vin grinned to his boss.
Ezra give Chris a two finger salute to his imagery hat while Buck and JD both said "we're with you Chris." only Nathan was silent but finally he looked up and give Chris a nod of his head. Team 7 went back to the house and all of them knew their work was just getting started.
2 PM Tuesday
Larabee Ranch
Chris Larabee had made his plans, now he was ready to fight to see that his way was the best way for this operation to work if they were to find and save the life of the oldest member of team seven. " Miller, this is the way we want things done. if you don't agree then you get no help from us. We'll go out on our own to find Josiah and Zook. " First we need proof that the girl is Josiah's granddaughter...you show us that and let us see the girl before we tell you what our plan is. I don't want no fu--ing birth certificate either...those can be faked. I want some proof other then what you've told us so far...Josiah had never once mentioned a daughter to any of us and we've worked with the man for four years now. Once we are sure you're telling the truth the girl gets brought here to the ranch, Judge Travis will stay here with the girl and the men you have bring her here. So let's get to that right now." Chris give his demands and Miller could tell he'd get no quarter from this ATF team.CIA agent Jack Roper stepped forward. "I thought you fellas might feel that way. Hang on let me go to my car I got some things for you."
Roper went out the door, but was back within minutes.
Miller grabbed Roper by the arm...."What the hell are you doing?" You work for me and I never gave the order for you to bring any thing with you."
Roper shook off Millers hand. "I watched you use Sanchez in Sauidi then almost destroy him with a lie, then I watched you use a young girl for you own ends, I don't plan on letting you use another girl for the same reasons. If Zook hadn't have shown up here I was planning on bringing the girl to Sanchez any way. You've lost any sense of decency you ever had a long time ago. I should have retired 10 years ago but I couldn't leave Michelle to your mercy. Al_Bader and I both knew sooner or later you'd find some way to use him and her both against his own country and his own people. Michelle and AL_Bader had me help them secure Joanna's future by having blood test done on both Michelle and Joanna. Al_bader had this birth certificate done for Michelle and this one done for Joanna.
"As you'll see both are witnessed by the Emir Of Kuwait. Who knows and respects Josiah Sanchez. When he heard about what the CIA did to Sanchez he agreed to help Michelle and I to somehow keep Joanna safe...If Miller weren't so full of himself he'd have known the Kuwait government wouldn't grant custody that fast without some higher up saying it was alright. I told Michelle the truth about her real father soon after she married AL_Bader. When little Joanna was born Michelle had Sanchez added to her birth records. The childs full name is Joanna Michelle Sanchez Al_Bader." Roper told the men gathered in the house.
Nathan had taken the paper and read some of them the blood work done that did show Joanna had the same blood type as Josiah but that really didn't prove much. Nathan felt that if there was even a slight chance the girl was Josiah's grand daughter they owned it to him to keep the girl safe. Roper in the mean time had taken out a cell phone and dial a number. They listened as he told someone on the other end to come on in.Then Roper walked out the door. He soon returned carrying a small black haired blue eyed girl of 3. She had those some blue deep set eyes that Josiah had and one could see she had the same high cheek bones.
JD walked over and made himself known. "Hi there. My named JD. What's your name?"
The little girl looked at him then at Roper then back at JD..."Joanna" she lisped back . "Joanna, why that's a pretty name. Would you let me hold you?" the young boy asked.
Joanna thought for a few seconds then reached out to JD.
"She likes people, she's friendly for such a little girl...sometimes too friendly I think," said Roper while watching Joanna let JD carry her around the room.
"Well Larabee you satisfied..Does she meet with your terms...can we now get onto the business of catching Zook?" Miller angerly snapped.
Chris watched as JD took Joanna over to meet Buck then looked at Nathan....Nathan knew what his boss wanted. So he give Chris a nod. " JD take the girl into the kitchen . Ok Miller let's get down to it". JD nodded and walked towards the kitchen while the others began to discusse their plan.
"We'll use Ezra as bait, we'll make it look like we think Zook would be after Nathan and no body else. So Vin and I will stay with Nathan. The three of us will go to the office while Ezra goes on home. Judge I want teams 2 and 5 for backup.Team 2 can tail Ezra then call us in once we know Zook has him. We do this the same way we'd do any bust, we let Ezra go in then we wait for his signal and we rush the place." Chris looked toward the and said, "Judge I'd like you to stay here with the girl and Roper..." . "NO ROPER GOES WITH ME" !! Miller cut Chris off.
JD had watched Miller from the kitchen doorway while little Joanna sat on the floor to play, and he didn't like what he saw. Miller had whispered to one of his men while Chris was talking. And JD had a feeling Miller wasn't going to play fair as far as the girl went.
"Fine, Roper goes with us then. Buck I want you and JD to follow me,Vin and Nathan to the office.But stay outside the building out of sight.That way if someone tries to grab Nathan we'll know their coming," Chris went on.
"Chris, can I talk to you a minute?" JD spoke from the kitchen doorway.
"What is it JD, we ain't got time for this we need to roll on this soon." Chris spoke sharper then he meant to when he answered JD.
"In private" It's important," JD spoke firmly.
Chris entered the kitchen just as Vin's cell phone rang. Buck followed Chris while Ezra watched Miller talk in a low tone to his men other then Roper who stood by himself by the front door.
"What is it JD. We need to find Josiah soon before it's too late," Chris said. "Chris, let me stay here with the judge and the girl. I don't think she'll be here if we leave her with anyone but Roper. Miller isn't going to give her up that easy. If I'm here maybe I can keep her safe," JD said
"Kid's got a point Chris. Miller isn't the type of guy to give in so easy. He plans something I can feel it. Me and the kid can stay here. You'll have teams 2 and 5 for back up...so I know you all will be alright...You'll find Josiah but if he's hurt bad and then finds out we had the kid only to lose her It would kill him Chris, you know it would. Let JD and I do what we have to to keep the girl safe." Buck said. Chris listened then thought for a few minutes. "Buck if Miller has something planned, none of you are safe here. For all we know he has men waiting to storm the place an hour after we're going.. Damn I wish we had some way to get the girl away from here without Miller knowing." Chris growled.
"Well old pard just leave that to JD and I..once you guys are going JD and I will somehow get the drop on who ever Miller leaves here and then we'll take the little darling up to that cabin we all love so much. You can call us when you got Josiah and we'll high tail it back to you guys."
As Buck was talking Nathan walked in. He caught what the men were talking about and added his advice.
"Buck, I got some sleeping pills in my bag , I'll leave them and you use them to put Miller's men out. If you put it into food or drink none of them well realized it till it's too late. By the way Chris one of Miller's men made a call, then told Miller something about they couldn't get here for a couple of hours. Ezra thinks it's someone coming for the girl."
"Damn that son of a bitch knew he wasn't giving the kid over, and I bet Roper don't make it out of what ever happens alive either." Buck said.
"Buck if you can get the girl out. take her to the cabin, but once I call don't come back until I say you can. I got a feeling Miller ain't going to let us get away with anything ....as for Roper..we'll just have to make sure he stays alive. After all he does seem to want to help Josiah," Chris told them.
Vin entered the kitchen then.
"Chris got a call from one of my sources, said he heard a guy was using that old place over on Butlers Butte .Said a few friends and him checked it out. They counted about 20 men but none of them could see if Josiah was inside. Did say while they were watching two guys come in and talked to another guy, what ever they said made the third guy mad, cause he knocked one of the guys on his ass. "I figure it's got to be Zook, Butlers Butte is far enough away from town that no one would notice anything going on there and the place had been deserted for years. Would make a good place to hold a man captive."
"Alright guys lets do this," Chris said.
He entered the living room to find Ezra standing near the door of the kitchen while the judge and Roper sit on the couch.
"Alright Miller let's get this show on the road. Ezra you head out first. Judge is team 2 in place yet?"
"Yeah Chris, Mike said his team will be surrounding Ezra place within fifteen minutes after I called him.. Team 5 is waiting at the ATF office for your signal to go," the judge replied.
"Good, Buck and JD are going to stay here, just in case Zook comes here," Chris said as he watched Miller. He could tell Miller wasn't happy about this fact.
4:30 PM
Larabee ranch
"Well I don't know about you all but I could use some coffee," Buck said."I can stand a cup myself," Travis answered. . The two agents that Miller left behind said sure they'd take a cup. Buck soon returned with four cups of coffee and two glasses of milk. Then he went to where JD was playing with the girl and waited. Within half an hour Miller's men were out. The judge had watched them as they slowly lost the fight to stay awake and then he looked at Buck. "Should I assume I'll be sleeping soon Buck?" he asked with a chuckle.
"Nope put it in the cups not the coffee itself, since I figured you and I'd have to drink it too"...Buck laughed. "Judge, I'm sorry to leave you with those two but me and JD ain't going to let Miller get his hands on this here girl again and we're pretty such sure?he's got people headed this way to take her from us right now. It's better you don't know where we're headed. So we'll just take the girl and head on out," Buck told the judge as JD went to get the bag containing Joanna things. "Son, I'll leave that, no way of knowing if Miller planted a tracking device in there somewhere. If I were you boys I'd head for a store and buy the little one all new things, then I'd dump her old clothes in the other direction I was going," Orin told them with a wink.
"Judge, maybe you should be a member of our team. you think the same way Chris does," Buck joked. Judge Travis watched as the two men took the girl and left the ranch. He had things of his own he needed to do before the two CIA agents awoke. He took out his phone and begin making calls.
5:00 PM
ATF Office
Vin, Nathan and Chris arrived at the office just as most of the workers were leaving, there were jokes about how team 7 was coming at the day from the wrong end. Since it was quitting time and team 7 was just coming into work..Chris and Vin joked back thinking if Zook had someone watching he'd report that the men were acting normal. Chris met team 5 leader Bob Petty in the main office of team 7. All the men went to the conference room so Chris could explain what they were headed for. Bob informed Chris that Mike and team 2 had picked up the signal from the beeper Ezra was wearing and so far nothing was happening on his end of things. Chris wasn't surprised, he figured Zook would wait til late tonight to make his move. Ezra had been worried that Zook would search him for a wire so JD had rigged up the beeper signal. Sometimes the kid shocked Chris with the gadgets he come up with. This time wasn't any different. JD had pulled out what looked like Ezra's gold tooth and shown Ezra the tiny tracking beeper inside, then he'd shown Ezra how to slip it over his tooth. If one hadn't seen Ezra place it there they'd never know it wasn't the normal gold tooth he always had. Chris Larabee was amazed at how seven men so different and from such different backgrounds could become such a great ATF team, the seven men had bonded as if they were blood relatives. They watched out for each other doing the raids and also in their free time. It was so seldom that their oldest member needed them , Josiah Sanchez was usually the most stable, level headed member of the Magnificent 7 as they were nick named. But from what the team had learned today Josiah Sanchez hadn't always been such a level headed man. All men had things in their past that they didn't want the rest of the world to know, but Chris would never have believed Josiah had this type stuff in his past. Larabee wanted to find his team mate alive and well not only because he liked the man but because there was now a little girl needing a family. And as far as Chris was concerned the girl couldn't find a better family then Josiah Sanchez. Hopefully Buck and JD had the girl away from the ranch and would keep her away from Denver until Chris let them know it was safe to return with her. Miller was just as bad as the other scum Chris dealt with in his everyday life as an ATf officer, the only difference between Miller and the so called bad guys was Miller worked for the government. Men like Miller made Chris Larabee's blood boil. they let the fact that the were head man of a group of men go to their heads, acted as if they were God and could control everything and everyone around them. Larabee hoped the judge could find something on Miller so that they could stop Miller from doing anymore wrong to Josiah.
6:30 PM Tuesday
On the road into the mountains
"Hey Buck, isn't she cute. And such a good kid too, listens real well and she's so friendly." JD said."Yeah kid she's cute as a button. And yeah she'd real friendly, but like Roper said maybe a little too friendly. Kids need to be weary of strangers or anyone could stitch them up and do bad things to them," Buck said.
"I know Buck and we'll teach her that once we have Josiah back and things get back to normal," JD replied.
"Hell kid we ain't never going to be normal, but yeah once we get Josiah back we'll help him teach this little angel what she needs to know in order to be safe in this big bad world we live in."Buck told his friend.
"Josiah will be ok won't he Buck, he's tough and I ain't never seen him let any thing beat him,"JD asked.
"Sure kid, he'll be fine."Buck replied.
7:00 PM
Ezra Standish's apartment
Ezra had gotten home around 4:45. His place was like it always was so he was sure no one had been there. He took a shower and fixed himself something to eat. He knew Zook wouldn't try anything until late that night. So he spent the time he had making phones calls to some of the people he knew who might be able to help Chris and his team bring down Miller. Ezra Standish had seen men like Miller before. He had let the power he was given by the CIA go to his head and now he was like a run away train. Hell the CIA should have stopped Miller years ago. Ezra had to wonder if Millers s superiors even knew about the Sanchez deal. And he was pretty sure they hadn't known about Michelle and Al_Bader. No way would the US government allow Miller to use an innocent girl the way he had. And even Ezra with his knowledge and distrust of most government agencies didn't think the CIA would have ordered Miller to lie to Sanchez after he'd been of such value to them in Kuwait. and in Nam.. Ezra decided to use the time he had to call an old friend of his and have the man look up some records for him.
7:00 PM
Judge Orin Travis' Office
The judge had left the ranch right after Buck and JD. The three of them had taken the two CIA agents outside and Buck locked all the doors and set the alarm system. The judge left a note pinned to one of the guys chest telling them that he and the boys were taking the girl into the city where they felt she'd be safer. Once he got to his office the judge decided to make a few calls to check up on the Miller cases. Like Ezra Standish, Orin Travis could not believe the US government would allow any of it's people to us a young innocent girl the way Miller had. And he knew damn well the officials would never have lied to Sanchez about the girl being dead. There were just too many things that didn't add up as far as the judge was concerned. Miller had to have had some grudge against Sanchez from the beginning to do what he had done. Travis wasn't about to sit here and let Miller pull any more crap without knowing for sure he had the go ahead from the officials at the top..