Numb3rs: Childhood Friends
Written By LockBox22
Disclaimer: I do not own Numb3rs or any of its characters; the creators and CBS do. However, I do own my original storyline, plot and any original characters.
o0o
The L.A night was cooler then usual with a gentle breeze blowing in from the ocean. The red and blue lights contrasted harshly with the fading light of the sunset. Several black and white police cars were parked around the driveway of a medium size suburban house along with several dark FBI SUV's. The smell of salt was in the air and tickled Special Agent Don Eppes nose. He sneezed.
"Bless you." David Sinclair, part of his investigative team said from behind him.
Don pulled his head back into the room and was greeted with the acid smell of chemicals. The smell was thick and Don felt the pressure on his lungs as he breathed. No wonder the window had been opened.
He looked at the man lying on the floor by the table littered with science equipment. "Who is he?" Don asked.
"His name is Keith O'Donnell." Sinclair said looking at the deceased man's wallet through the plastic bag that he held in his gloved hands. "Age thirty-five, high school teacher. Here's his I.D."
Don took it the evidence bag from David and peered at the plain, brown, leather wallet.
"According to the neighbours he moved in five years ago and took over teaching at the high school for his father, Greg O'Donnell." Nikki Betancourt said, notebook held in her gloved hand as she stood beside the table.
"And how'd we get called in?" Don asked.
"The neighbours noticed smoke coming from an upstairs window and called fire rescue." Sinclair said glancing at his notes. "After the house was cleared, the locals moved in and called the bomb squad when they saw all this." He waved his hand at the table that contained the science instruments. "After the bomb squad cleared it, they called us in."
"The smoke was actually some sort of gas." The last member of his team - Colby Granger chimed in as he walked over. "Tech's found this canister in the back bedroom." He held it out to Don.
"Looks high end; military tech." Don speculated as he took the clear evidence bag from Granger.
"He could have contracted for the DOD." Granger replied. "Lot's of science people are called in for their certain expertise."
"You don't have to tell me." Don muttered under his breath. He knew a number of certain government agencies that used smart people to do their dirty work.
"So this could be an experiment gone wrong." Sinclair thought aloud.
"Yeah, but none of this equipment is sophisticated enough to handle something like this." Granger said; a former Army Ranger, he would know.
All three of them looked at him.
"What?" Granger shrugged. "I went to high school. This is all stuff used in Chem. 11 or 12."
Don glanced the table over again and realized that Colby was right. Science was never his strong suit, it was always more of Charlie's thing; it having numbers and all.
"It looks like there's some kind of formula on the side of the canister." Sinclair said gesturing the container that Don still held.
Don turned it over. "Looks like some-sort code." He said.
"Let's hope the techs can crack it." Nikki replied.
Don glanced around the room. This wasn't something that would be done by a random house invasion; it was too clean. Sure, everything had been smashed but this spoke more a murder then anything. He looked down at the container in his hands and wondered what secrets it held.
o0o
The sun was shining brightly as Don pulled up to his childhood home and shut off the SUV's engine. He leaned back in his seat and let his head drop against the headrest. The late nights were starting to get to him again. He leaned forward as he noticed a black Pontiac Sun Fire parked in the driveway.
He didn't recognize it. Probably, another one of Charlie's math friends. He thought. As he got out of the SUV, he noticed a dark haired woman also getting out of the Sun Fire. As the woman turned, the light summer's wind blew back her purple blouse and Don glimpsed a gun holster underneath.
His hand slipped down to the holstered Glock at his side. Stop it. He told himself. Not everything is a threat. But his hand stayed on the butt of his gun. Don slammed his door and walked closer. The woman turned at the sound.
"Don!" She called with a smile and a wave.
Don's hand came off his gun and he smiled back as he recognized her. Walking the rest of the way up the drive, Don pulled the woman into a hug.
"Jennifer! What are you doing here?" He asked stepping back to get a better look at her.
Jennifer Scott, a long-time friend of the Eppes, laughed. "It's good to see you too, Don." She replied. She looked his over. "You're looking good."
"You too." Don returned. "It's been along time."
The Scott's had lived next door to the Eppes when Don had been younger. He had been, and continued to be, good friends with Jennifer's older brother Jacob; who was the same age as Don. Jennifer, a few years younger, had tagged along with them on several of their misadventures. Senior year, the Scott's had moved to Hawaii.
Their father, Michael Scott, was an Army Colonel and often got reassigned at a moment's notice. Don hadn't seen any of them since, though he knew his father kept in touch with the Colonel. Alan always left the letters out on the kitchen table and Don suspected that he did it on purpose.
"What's with the hardware?" He asked motioning to the holstered Glock at her side.
"FBI." She told him, showing him the flat badge that had been in her hand. "I went to your office; they told me you would be here."
"Office? Whoa, wait a minute. This is official?" Don asked in surprise. "Jennifer, what's going on?"
Jennifer's happy expression faded and she looked over at her car, hesitation written over her face. Then she looked back to Don. "It's kind of hard to explain." She started slowly.
Don didn't like the way she said that. It sounded serious. "Let's go inside." He said ushering Jennifer towards the front door. He opened the front door. "Dad?" He called, knowing that his father would most likely be home.
He looked into the living room an saw Alan Eppes sitting in his chair in the corner, reading the morning paper. "Right here, Donny." He called back, not looking up from his paper.
"We have a visitor." Don said. Alan looked up and then did a double take.
"Jennifer?" He exclaimed in surprise, throwing down the paper and getting up to give her a hug. "It's good to see you again!"
"You too." Jennifer replied, returning the hug.
"Let me look at you." Alan said taking a step back. His sharp eyes caught the firearm holstered on her belt. "Law enforcement, huh?"
"FBI." Jennifer replied.
Alan nodded. "So what bring you to LA?" He asked.
Don knew that tone; his father had probably already guessed the reason why Jennifer was here; work.
Jennifer hesitated again and looked back at Don. He shook his head ever so slightly.
"Work related I'm guessing." Alan commented looking from Jennifer to Don. "I know that look."
"I can't talk about it." Jennifer admitted finally, settling for the easiest explanation.
"Then I leave you two to talk." Alan said looking at his watch. "I have a meeting with Stan about a new building project. Lock up when you leave, Don."
"I will. Have fun." Don called after him as his father headed upstairs. There was an awkward silence. Jennifer shifted on her feet and then pulled a folded piece of paper out of her jean's pocket. "Here are my temporary transfer orders." She told him.
Don took it the paper carefully and quickly scanned it. "A connection to the case?" He raised his eyebrows as he looked up at her.
"It's not what you think….." Jennifer started.
"It better not be what I think." Don interrupted her as he folding the paper again and slipped it into his own pocket. "I want the whole story. Now."
Jennifer took a deep breath. "Two months ago, we had a case in Hawaii that involved the murder of an FBI agent." She began. "We finally caught the guy last month. Yesterday, my Director told me about your case and sent me on the next flight out of Hawaii."
"What about our case?" Don asked.
"At first glance it looks like the same M.O." Jennifer said.
"You mean the gas in a military container?" Don asked.
Jennifer's face shut down; and Don found that he couldn't get a read on her anymore. "You found a military container?" She asked carefully.
"Yeah. Is the military involved in this?" Don asked, his guard rising. Something about this didn't feel right to him and the poker face she was giving him was too good.
Jennifer hesitated. "Yes and no." She replied finally.
Don gave her a look. She was holding out on him. "Jennifer…"
"Don, don't push the issue." Jennifer told him, holding her palm out as if to repeal his question. "They want me here to find out if it is the same guy."
"They?" Don asked crossing his arms.
Jennifer gave him another look. "My Director."
Don's phone rang interrupting anything he could have said next. "Alright. I'll tell my team." He said and then pulled his phone from its pouch attached to his belt. "Eppes."
After exchanging a few words with the person on the other end, Don hung up. "The techs have finished processing the canister we found." He said grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair where he had thrown it a few minutes before. "You better tag along."
o0o
"This is like nothing I've seen before." The tech told Jennifer and Don. He was a small, dark skinned man with expressive dark eyes and dark hair. His expression could only be named as awe.
"This is some slick stuff." He continued picking up the container and showing it to them. "Military grade and packed with a biological agent that kills upon inhalation. This is all in laymen's terms, but the actual process is similar." He added.
Don nodded absentmindedly as he watched Jennifer study the container closely.
"May I?" She asked pointing to the container.
The tech held it out. "Be my guest." He said with a warm smile. "Just wear some gloves." He cautioned her.
Jennifer yanked on some latex gloves and then took the container from the man. Don watched as she turned it over in her hands and studied the code written on the side.
"No one's been able to crack it yet." The tech informed them.
"Helpful." Don muttered already ready to leave. Jennifer shot him a look and handed the container back to the tech.
"Thanks." She said dropping the gloves on a worktable and following Don out.
"Where to now?" Jennifer asked as they walked to the exit.
"Office." Don said. "You need to meet the team and give me a full brief."
"Alright." Jennifer agreed and they fell into an easy silence as they walked, but Don couldn't help but feel something nagging at him. Jennifer wasn't telling him everything she knew about this case. And how was the military involved in this?
o0o
Once back at the office, Don quickly introduced Jennifer to the team. They had just finished handshakes and hellos when Director Larkin walked up to them. He acknowledged the rest of them and then turned to Don. "Eppes, my office. Now."
His tone was curt and short, but not angry. Larkin had no tendency for small talk. The Director turned on his heel and stalked back to his office.
Exchanging at look with Sinclair, Don followed.
"Close the door." Larkin told him once they had entered Larkin's office. Don did as he was told.
Larkin sat down behind his desk and motioned Don to take a seat. He did and then after a moment, Larkin spoke. "I was going to tell you that an agent from Hawaii was coming down, but I see you've already met her."
"Yes, sir." Don said simply. Larkin waited, hoping that the agent in front of him would volunteer more information, but Don was silent.
Finally, Larkin cleared his throat. "The Director expressed quite explicitly that she's not taking over the case. Agent Scott has an impressive track record and is of equal status with you, so this will be a joint leadership. Your team, her experience."
"I understand." Don said. He had no problem with Jennifer leading the investigation with him. If she had experience with this kind of MO all the better.
There was another moment of silence in which Don knew that Larkin wanted him to volunteer more information. "That's all." Larkin finally said. "Dismissed."
Don stood and left Larkin's office. Once back in the bullpen, he located the team. They had all spread out in the conference room, where the whiteboard had been covered with the pictures from yesterday's crime scene.
"OK, what do we know?" Don asked coming into the room.
Granger, Betancourt, and Sinclair all looked at each other, silently debating who would go first. Jennifer stood silently in the corner, sorting through her files.
Finally, Nikki spoke. "LAPD canvassed the neighbourhood looking for witnesses and come up dry. Either no one's talking or they really didn't see anything."
Out of the corner of his eye, Don noticed that Jennifer had stopped sorting through her file and was now listening intently.
"That's helpful." Granger snorted.
"Forensics is still processing the canister and the ME is doing the autopsy as we speak." Sinclair said picking up the ball. "We should have something tomorrow at the earliest."
"In the meantime, we left sitting with nothing to do." Nikki stated.
Don knew it, and he didn't like it. He gestured. "Jennifer, why don't you bring us up to date on your case?"
Everyone looked to Jennifer, who was sitting on the edge of the table, just slightly behind them. She shifted and then nodded. "Sure."
Everyone half expected her to get up and go to the front of the room -like Don- but she just stayed where she was.
"Two and a half years ago, FBI Agent Trevor Shultz was murdered in his own home with the same kind of poisonous gas used in the murder of your teacher." Jennifer began.
"Keith O'Donnell." Granger supplied helpfully.
Jennifer nodded her thanks to him. "Keith O'Donnell. The canister is military grade and completely lethal. Not something your average Joe is going to be carrying around with him."
"So the military is involved?" Don asked.
Jennifer didn't turn to him. "Not directly. The person responsible for the murder of Agent Shultz is a man by the name of Caleb Ramones, ex-military contractor turned freelance. He is jail, doing three life sentences."
"Three?" Sinclair said asking the question they were all wondering about.
Jennifer's lips tightened. "Shultz's wife and six year old son were also in the house."
"Damn." Sinclair commented softly.
"What was Ramones's beef with Shultz?" Granger asked.
"Shultz and his partner were investigating Ramones and his crew for ambushing a navel transport and stealing a weapons shipment intended for the base." Jennifer replied. "The case was passed on the DOJ because of jurisdiction issues."
Granger raised an eyebrow. "Pretty bold." He commented. "Security is tight on all military transports."
"Somehow, Ramones found a hole." Jennifer replied. "We still don't know how. He's not talking."
"So we have another murder with the same MO used by an ex-military contractor who serving life in a max security prison." Don said summarizing out loud.
Jennifer nodded. "Pretty much. Where do you want to start?" She asked Don.
"Re-investigating the case from top to bottom." Don replied immediately. "Let's find everything there is to know about Ramones and Shultz. Colby, you and Nikki go through the files."
Granger and Betancourt both nodded and dismissed themselves. Going through the paper trail was not the most fun work, but it was necessary.
"I want to work on the O'Donnell angle." Jennifer told Don. "There might be something there that I can pick up on."
Don nodded. "David, work with Jennifer, take her to see the scene."
Sinclair nodded.
"Where are we at with the code?" Don asked remembering the writing on the side of the canister.
"Total bust." Sinclair replied. "The code-crackers got nothing."
Don located the picture of the code on the table and picked it up.
"It doesn't look like any code I've seen." Sinclair said craning his neck to look at it.
"One more mystery to solve." Don replied replacing the picture. He watched as Jennifer glanced at it and then quickly away. Once again, his gut clenched; she knew something.
"Let's go to the scene first." Jennifer said turning to Sinclair. "Then we can come back and work on the paper."
"Yes, ma'am." Sinclair replied.
"Don't call me ma'am." Jennifer told him and then led the way out of the conference room.
Sinclair raised an eyebrow at Don and then followed Jennifer out of the room. Don grave a small smile; David would be fine.
"Hey, Charlie." Sinclair greeted the curly-haired professor as Charlie passed him going into the room.
Don looked up. "Charlie. Hey, what are you doing here?" He asked his brother.
"You left some of your files on the kitchen table." Charlie replied handing them over. He looked out of the glass window as Jennifer and Sinclair continued toward the elevators. "Dad told me Jennifer was here."
Don nodded as he took the files from his brother. "Yeah, it looks like our cases are connected. She's going to be here until we solve this thing."
Charlie nodded absentmindedly as he looked over the files scattered over the table. Don saw Charlie frown and reach for something on the table.
"Whoa!" Don quickly slapped his hand down over the pictures and papers. Charlie had top security clearance, but he didn't need to see the pictures of O'Donnell or Agent Shultz and his family. They were not something that Don even wanted to look at.
Charlie ignored his protest. "Were did you get that picture?" He asked pointing through Don's spread fingers.
Don saw that he was pointing at the picture of the code. Relaxing his grip on the photos, Don grabbed the whole bundle, minus the code picture, and bundled it away messily in a file.
"It's part of an ongoing murder investigation." Don said turning back to Charlie and handing him the picture. "The techs couldn't make heads or tails of it. Why? Do you know what it is? We think it might be a code of some sort."
"You were right." Charlie replied. "It is a code. A scientific code. Larry's students were working on one like this a few days ago. Well, not exactly like this, they're code was about astrophysics and not…"
"Charlie…" Don said warning his brother that he was rambling again.
"Sorry." Charlie apologized. "Can I take this with me?" He asked. "Larry might be able to help you with this."
"Yeah, sure." Don said taking the picture back. "I'll make a copy for you and send it over later."
"Thanks." Charlie said. "Oh and I almost forgot. Dad's wondering if you can find time to have dinner with us this week." He hesitated and then finished. "He wants you to bring Jennifer."
Of course he did. Don sighed. "I don't know, Chuck." He said, running hand through his hair. "This case is going to take up most of our time."
"Dad told me you would say that." Charlie said. "He also told me to tell you that there is no excuse for not taking a little break and having dinner with your family."
"OK. I'll call him." Don said. "I'm not making any promises though."
"Good enough." Charlie said. His phone rang and he dug it out of his jacket. "It's Amita." He told Don. "I have to go anyways. Dinner, don't forget."
"I won't!" Don called after him as Charlie left the conference room, cell phone glued to his ear. Don sighed. if only life was as easy as Charlie and Dad thought it was.
Standing from his lounging position against the table, Don started towards his desk. He would grab the Ramones file from Nikki and do some reading of his own. Maybe then it would answer all the questions he had racing around in his head.