In Extremis

Chapter 8

A little more than six hours passed since his partner had been taken and Travis was still no closer to figuring out who might be responsible. The first thing Travis began to work on was trying to get multiple court orders so that he'd be able to check on each of his suspects' finances, as he figured that none of them actually kidnapped Wes or killed Kyle Moore themselves. Amy and Kate agreed with his suspicions. However, the judges they called were less inclined to believe that Trent Conway could be at all involved as he was a lawman himself and weren't too pleased that the detectives were even looking into him, so they didn't feel like giving them the orders for the rest of their suspects either. The sun was starting to go down when they finally found a judge willing to comply.

Kate and Amy walked up behind Travis and patted him on his shoulder to let him know they got the orders, causing him to jump as his mind was elsewhere, and Kate quickly spoke up saying, "Sorry about that. Are you all right?"

Travis nodded tiredly and then answered, "I'm fine. I'm just growing impatient trying to find a judge willing to cooperate. I knew most of them always hated me, but I've never had this hard of a time getting someone to help."

"I guess it was always Wes they preferred to work with, wasn't it?" Amy replied nervously. "Well, you don't have to look anymore. We found someone for you. All we have to do is go pick the court orders up. Judge Hightower is expecting us. Why don't you get started with getting the finances up?"

"Thanks ladies," he responded anxiously. "I really mean it. Once Wes is back and we catch the scumbags we're looking for, everything will go back to normal, but for now I'll be nice."

They turned to leave as they shouted back, "We know."

After they were gone, Travis shook his head to try to make himself more awake, then began to get busy pulling up the finances, but before he finished, his cell phone rang. He quickly picked it up, but as he recognized the number, he quickly became disappointed as he was hoping that it was one of the kidnappers calling to demand a ransom for his partner.

Travis continued working as he answered his phone asking, "What's going on, Money? I don't really have time to talk right now."

"You told me to call if I got word on that stolen car you were looking into earlier," his brother answered. "You still do need to find it, don't you?"

"You found our 918 Spyder?" he asked as he stood up from his desk, then quickly grabbed his gun, badge, jacket, and keys to his bike, and ran out of the office. "Talk to me, man. Where am I going?"

Money replied, "You're coming here, little brother. I'll explain to you and your stick-in-the-mud partner once you two get here. See you soon."

Before Travis could explain to Money why Wes wouldn't be with him, his foster brother had hung up. As he left the office himself, he quickly sent a text to Amy and Kate regarding where he was going, then rode as fast as he could to the nearly legitimate garage where Money and his friends worked. Thanks to Money's help on a few of their cases and because he was Travis' brother, Wes eventually agreed to let what not so legitimate activities they did go, so long as he and his friends continued to help out.

Once he arrived, several guns were pointed at him as they usually were when he went there, but Money walked out and the weapons were quickly lowered, then Money spoke up first as he asked, "So, where is that white boy partner of yours? I thought you were working this case together? You two didn't have another fallout again, did you?"

"I wish," Travis responded sadly. "Wes was kidnapped. I allowed the bastards to take him right out from under me and I've been doing everything I can to find out who, but I…"

"If anyone can find him, it's you," Money answered as he cut his brother off before he could insult himself more. "And I'll do anything I can to help. He's still way too uptight, but I like him and no one hurts one of my friends. Do you think that your car thieves are behind his abduction?"

Travis shook his head as he replied, "I don't know. I don't think so, but then I could be mistaken."

As they walked inside the garage finally, Travis found his victim's car parked in the first workspace, then he spoke up again saying, "Money, I could kiss you. Thank God I was able to convince Wes that it would be a bad idea to close you down. Who dropped this bad boy off and what kind of work are they wanting done to her."

"They're wanting to give me two hundred-fifty Gs for stripping this baby down, then to sell her parts off to some dealer stationed down in Mexico," his brother responded. "I'm guessing I can't keep the currency if I'm handing her off to you instead, huh?"

"Unfortunately, I don't think they're going to be around to pay up," Travis answered as he carefully checked out the exterior and the interior of the vehicle. "God, she is a beauty. What I wouldn't give to be able to drive her just once."

Travis suddenly became serious again and then looked up at his brother as he said somberly, "Who are they, Money? Even if they're not involved in Wes' abduction, whoever stole this car did torture and kill the kid who bought it. I need to make sure they pay."

Money nodded and handed him a sheet of scrap paper with a name and phone number written on it, then patted his back like so many others had done since learning about his partner's kidnapping, then he replied confidently, "You will find him. I'm certain of it and when you do, call me. I'll be your back up if you don't feel you can trust anybody else."

"Wes is the only other detective I fully trust besides me and that took us going through over a year of therapy to get to this point," Travis responded. "I'm working with a few other detectives that are good, but I would rather have you at my side to help me when bringing these sons of the bitches down. Wait for my call. And Money… thanks."

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