Disclaimer: Sorry. Don't own the show. Don't own the characters. I just want to have a little fun.
Hope you guys enjoy this… It's not very good but I wanted to post it to see what kind of response I could get.
"Three defense attorneys dead and no leads." Agent Terry Lake whispered to herself as she rubbed her tired eyes with a stiff hand and swiveled her chair round to face the computer, "How many more people does this guy have to kill before we get any closer?"
The door slammed behind her and she jumped. Terry spun in her chair and drew herself up only to come face to face with her disheveled and, if possible, even more tired-looking partner. Snapping her head back almost automatically, she coloured slightly as Don Eppes tried to put the mug of coffee on her desk without having to step over the mounds of paper that lay around the table.
Suddenly recognizing that he was perhaps standing a little too close to the petite woman before him, Don tried to shuffle backwards without knocking anything over.
"Thanks Don." She took the mug from him quickly before he tripped over her feet and sent hot coffee over her clean, white work-shirt. Terry smiled tiredly and took a grateful sip, "I really needed that."
The dark-haired man nodded understandingly and put a hand on her shoulder, "Show me what you've found so far," he said, gently pushing her back into her chair and letting her turn around to face the computer once more, "Maybe if we go over the scene together we might pick something up."
Terry nodded and clicked the window that she was browsing through enlarge it. "This is a list of the people who entered and exited the building between 12 pm and 6 pm on Saturday, the fifth of November. And this," she clicked another window, "is the list of people who were in the Jacob Street Café between 9 am and 3 pm the next day. So far I have nothing in common. There are at least a hundred people in each list and there is no one who was in both locations in those time frames that we narrowed down to."
Don sighed in frustration and bent down to get a closer look of the screen. He knew this kind of case… His many years of experience working for the FBI had taught him that there were some cases where he just had to look deeper instead of just looking for leads on the surface. The three attorneys who had been murdered were not personally connected and he and Terry could not find any commonalities amongst their clients. They were all killed the same way: a single gunshot to the right temple. David had been posted to Washington for the last three days trying to pick up more leads, as the three attorneys who had been murdered had all been educated in Washington. So far David had found nothing. It was so irritating. He and Terry had been working on the case for three days and they had turned up nothing either.
"Why would someone target these defense attorneys and then go through to so much trouble to kill them in this way?" Terry whispered, to no one in particular, "This case is just crazy. How did we even link the three homicides?"
"We didn't." Don said, with an effort, as he stifled a yawn, "The LAPD did. We're just picking up where they left off. It's just that the three victims were all shot in the same manner. That's the only link they've got."
It was with a great effort that Terry did not send the papers flying behind her chair; pick up her coat and head for home. The case had exhausted her, and she was frustrated beyond measure. "Who would do something like this?" she asked herself aloud, for what seemed the hundredth time that evening.
"I just wish…" Don ran a hand through his tousled hair and sighed again, "I just wish that there were some damn numbers circling around this thing. Then at least I have an excuse to call Charlie and make him help me."
Terry looked faintly amused as she bent over and picked up some files from underneath her desk. "You know Charlie loves to help you out whenever he can. You wouldn't even have to ask nicely and he'd be here scribbling on the whiteboards."
Suddenly realizing that his hand was still squeezing his partner's shoulder, Don pulled away slowly and grinned, "I know that. But he's been really busy these last few days and I don't want to disturb him. You know how he gets."
Terry smiled and looked up at the clock. "Great." She rubbed her eyes again, feeling a little strange after losing Don's touch on her shoulder, "It's almost two in the morning. We should be home and asleep."
"Good point." Don stretched and stepped over to his desk, "Let's get going. Maybe this will make a lot more sense in the morning."
&&&&
Terry took a cold shower the minute she entered her apartment. She was exhausted and all she needed was a very large bar of milk chocolate to make her feel better. Stepping out of the shower, she picked up her fluffy white towel before heading out to get dressed.
There was a funny shuffling noise coming from the front door and Terry froze. She had buttoned only the first half of buttons on the over-sized shirt that she wore to sleep. Snatching her gun from the bedside table, Terry headed away from the bedroom and out to where the noise was coming from. Almost as suddenly as it had come, the noise disappeared.
"Who's there?" she called out, the FBI agent inside reminding her to remain calm. There was no answer.
Perhaps she was just being paranoid.
Terry lowered her gun and stepped forward. There was a small, white envelope sitting in front of the door, as if someone had just slipped it through the dusty crack. Her heart beat sped up suddenly as Terry picked up a bunch of tissues and knelt down in front of the door to pick up the envelope. Half-knowing that no one would be there, she peered through the peep-hole only to see an empty, dimly lit corridor.
Terry sat down on the couch and carefully opened the envelope with the tissues in her hand, trying not to leave any fingerprints. There was a carefully folded piece of paper inside, and on one corner were the words: Agent Lake.
Terry's heartbeat sped up again. She unfolded the paper and held it up to the light.
We are watching.
&&&&
It was eight in the morning, and Don was feeling slightly refreshed. He had made up his mind before he fell asleep that he would contact his younger brother to ask for help on the case. A new pair of eyes on a frustrating case usually led to more leads. And more leads is exactly what we need right now, thought Don as he strolled over to Charlie's office.
He knocked on the door, wondering if Charlie was busy. If he was busy, like working on something mathematical that Don couldn't possibly understand, then there was no point trying to talk to him. To his surprise, however, he hadn't even knocked three times before a curly haired young man opened the door and grinned at him.
"I was wondering when you might actually try to call me. I've been trying to reach you for the last two days." Charlie said. Don grasped his brother's arm affectionately and stepped into the room.
Charlie went on, putting a bunch of test papers aside so that Don could sit on his chair. "I called your apartment several times last night but you weren't in. It got me quite worried actually…"
"Sorry about that." Don apologized sheepishly. "I was at work. Terry and I were trying to uncover some leads… We didn't leave the office till two o' clock this morning."
"Wow." Charlie brushed some hair out of his eyes, "This must be a really tough case… Wait a minute. Both of you left work at two in the morning and went home alone? There's some psycho on the streets killing wealthy attorneys and what if … what if he starts targeting FBI agents? Statistically speaking, it's possible that…"
Don cut him off quickly before he launched into 'time-to-confuse-my-older-brother' language, "It's alright, Charlie. We both have guns and a lot of experience with psychopaths. And somehow I doubt anyone's going to attack Terry or me for our money."
"Yeah but… but Terry's small." Charlie insisted, "And you are just crazy. Both of you need to be careful."
"Terry can take care of herself," Don assured him. "She has a gun, and can throw a man twice her size over her shoulder. Trust me, I know. And don't worry. We are taking care of ourselves."
"Right." Charlie crossed his arms good-humouredly and glanced at his brother, "So, what do you need help with? I think I know you well enough to realize that you're not here just to chitchat."
Don grinned and pulled out the folder that he had kept with a copy of the information that they had about the case. "The LAPD contacted us about the deaths of those three attorneys. They linked the murders because of the way the victims were killed, but we have no leads and no connections between them. The only link is that they were all defense attorneys, and were all educated in the same city at some point in their lives. Well, to tell the truth, we need a fresh pair of eyes on this case and we thought maybe you could help us."
Charlie reached out and took the folder, "I have a lecture in half an hour… But I'll take a look at what you've got and call you after, alright? I'll see what I can figure out."
"Thanks buddy."
&&&&
Terry felt silly that the letter worried her so much. Sure, it could be some dumb joke that a kid in the apartment chose to play on her when he figured out that she was an FBI agent. Some people don't like the people who work for the government. So why did it worry her so much?
Alright, so she and Don were working on a big case involving three murders and no leads.
They had no idea why these three people had been murdered.
But… there was no reason for anyone to start threatening her.
Terry parked her car and closed her eyes. Sucking in a deep breath, she told herself that maybe this time, her gut feeling was wrong. She needed to focus on the case or else more people will end up dead.
Alright. Just focus and you can crack this one. Then it will be all over.
Should she tell Don about the letter? He was her partner and her friend and he would want to know. But then again, he would worry more than she already was, and that wouldn't help the investigation. No. It was better that he didn't know.
It might help if she told Merrick though…
Quit worrying. It's just some stupid prank.
But deep inside, Terry knew that something was up, and she would need to be careful. Her instincts were going haywire, telling her that there was more to this case than just three seemingly unrelated homicides.
And her instincts were rarely wrong.
TBC
