Summer 2007 Alphabet challenge at the Numb3rs Forum. Sequel to X is for Xenocryst.
--
Colby leaned against a tree just out of sight and watched as the redhead locked up the jewelry store and strolled towards her car. He sighed with regret. He remembered how he loved the feel of her soft, silky skin against his. And the enticing sashay of those sensuously generous hips whenever she teased him.
"Are you going to tell her?"
"I hate it when you sneak up on me, Sean," Colby scowled at one of only two men who were quiet enough to do that. He really only knew this man as S. Sean just happened to have been the name he'd used on the case when Colby met him, and it'd stuck. Just like Colby had stuck on him. He'd used the name Colby as often as he could. It was his only link back to his father.
A devilish grin lit Sean's face. "If you're not going to tell her, then she's fair game. I'm sure she'd much rather have a sexy Irishman anyhow."
He's probably right, Colby thought gloomily as he took in Sean's dark hair and vivid blue eyes. Hannah would probably think he was handsome. He turned away and watched till Hannah drove out of sight.
"You're such an idiot," Sean said, amused. "Go after her already, and explain."
"Explain what? That I'd been arrested for treason? Only, it wasn't treason because I was deep undercover? I'm really an agent for a department that's sanctioned to kill, and often has?" Colby shook his head in disgust at Sean's amusement. Nothing ever seemed to get to Sean, Colby thought sourly. He's the most lighthearted Blade I know.
"You know you won't be going undercover anymore. Besides, you should let her decide," Sean remained amiable.
The department had agents few people ever saw, they were so deep undercover. Colby had once been one of them. But no longer. Even though the arrest hadn't made the news, far too many agents at the FBI knew who he really worked for. The risk was too high. Colby would be slated for other cases, cases that didn't require anonymity.
"We've only dated for a few months, I'm sure she's found someone else by now. What kind of life can I provide for a woman like her anyway?" Despite his best efforts, the bitterness crept in.
"C'mon, let's grab a beer, watch the game," Sean tried to coax Colby out of his dark mood.
"The Dodgers are playing the Cardinals," Colby said wistfully. "Hannah loves the Cardinals." I would have surprised her with tickets to the game.
Sean rolled his eyes. "You can tell me all about the FBI agents you worked with since our next case seems to be with them."
With a morose sigh, Colby allowed himself to be dragged away.
--
"What's he doing here?" Ian Edgerton eyed Sean with mock disfavor as he entered with Colby and Steele.
Sean grinned, "Good to see you too, Edge."
"It's been too long. How have you been?" Edgerton returned the grin and the two men smacked each other on the back.
"You know this guy?" Don asked in surprise.
"He's the number two sniper in the world, Eppes. I aspire to be this guy," Edgerton replied as he cut a droll glance at Sean.
"Now I know you're lying," but Sean was laughing.
"If you don't mind," Steele interrupted with icy politeness then turned to Don. "We're here at your request. But time is precious. For you too, I should imagine." Steele just barely held the sarcasm at bay.
Colby smiled and shook the hand Edgerton held out to him. He's being remarkably sanguine about all of this. "David," Colby murmured as he turned to his friend. "Good to see you." He was momentarily surprised when David also extended a hand.
"Do we still call you Colby?" David asked, but his tentative smile warmed Colby's heart.
"I'm still Colby," he said quietly. He nodded in greeting to Liz and Megan who were already seated at the conference table.
"Well, we don't need a second sniper," Don told Steele.
"He isn't here in that capacity," Steele said impassively. "You asked for two seasoned agents who had experience with the Chinese, I brought two seasoned agents who had experience with the Chinese."
Colby struggled to contain his grin as Steele sat at the head of the conference table as though he belonged there. The chagrin on Don's face made it difficult. "Stop it," he said, sotto voce, to Sean, who was openly amused.
"I'm here more for my tracking skills than my sniper skills," Edgerton began.
"Sorry I'm late," Charlie said breathlessly as he rushed in.
"That's alright, Charlie," Don turned to Steele. "We're tracking a fugitive."
Colby tensed. No. Not Dwayne.
"Why are you wasting our time with a fugitive, Eppes?" Steele's tone remained cool.
"The fugitive is one Li-Ming Chang. Edgerton has been tracking him for a week. I thought you might be interested since he was Carter's contact with the Chinese." Don finished up. He met Steele's eyes with a challenge in his own.
"And I presume Professor Eppes is helping you narrow down the search area." Steele commented serenely, ignoring the challenge and the almost silent sigh of relief that Colby released.
"Yes, and the more you can tell me about Chang, the better my search algorithm will be." Charlie looked uncertainly at Colby.
"Sure, whiz kid. Anything that will help," Colby said, glad to see that his calm response seemed to ease Charlie's uncertainty. "Sean's also had contact with Chang. I'm sure between the two of us we'll be able to provide you with some helpful information."
"From me anyway," Sean said brightly. He grinned when Colby rolled his eyes.
"Report in when you can," Steele murmured to Colby as he passed close by on his way out.
"Of course." Colby exchanged a speculative glance with Sean.
"Wonder what's up?" Sean asked with a slight frown.
Colby shrugged, "He'll let us know when he's ready."
--
"You know Chang's not going to disappear into the forest or anything of the sort," Sean told Edgerton as they followed Colby and Charlie out of the conference room. Liz, Megan and David stayed in the conference room with Don to discuss searches of financial records and other tedious tasks that still had to be done. "He's a city boy."
Edgerton looked amused, "I can track anyone anywhere, even in the city."
Sean held up his hands, laughing, "I didn't mean to slight you, O Great and Unsurpassed Tracker."
"Still as irreverent as ever." Edgerton looked curiously at Sean. "How you stand working for that cold fish, I'll never know."
"He's not as cold as all that, really," Sean said. His lips quirked with amusement at the look of disbelief on Edgerton's face. "We all have our facades."
"Really," Edgerton mused, as he took a long look at Sean.
Before Sean could respond, Charlie began asking questions and soon all three were spilling everything they knew.
Several hours later, as the agents were stretching out their cramped muscles, Don came in. "What have you got for us, Charlie?"
"Well, Chang will more than likely be hiding somewhere within the Asian community," Charlie began.
"Charlie, we knew that," Don started to interrupt impatiently.
"Yes, yes, but Southern California has a large number of huge Asian communities clustered around LA County, from Orange County in the south, all the way east to San Gabriel Valley and beyond! I was simply trying to pinpoint the most likely communities."
"Alright, Charlie, alright. Calm down. Just tell us where we should start." Don raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture.
"Well, the cities with the largest Asian populations are Alhambra, Monterey Park, Arcadia, Rosemead, Rowland Heights, San Gabriel, Hacienda Heights and Diamond Bar. Not percent population, just sheer numbers." Charlie continued enthusiastically. "I think we should rule out Arcadia, Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights and Diamond Bar for now since they're largely Taiwanese who would be opposed to Mainland Chinese ideology."
Edgerton exchanged an amused glance with Colby over Sean's bemused expression at Charlie's exposition.
With a laugh, Colby nudged Sean.
"You just nod until he gets to the punchline!" Edgerton and Colby said in unison, and broke into laughter.
Liz, Megan and David joined in the laughter from the doorway while Don shook his head in amusement.
"Yes, well," Charlie ducked his head shyly, they'd used that line before. "Here's the punchline, I think we should start in Alhambra then Monterey Park."
"Why Alhambra?" Sean looked puzzled.
"Well," Charlie hesitated, "It's the home of Clive Cussler."
"Clive Cussler, the author?" Liz looked at Charlie in astonishment. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Sean said that Chang is a huge fan of the Cussler novels." Charlie looked somewhat sheepish at that particular line of reasoning.
Don raised his hands and rolled his eyes skyward while Sean laughed.
"Well, it's as good a reason as any." Colby said briskly. "Let's get started."
"Isn't Hannah's favorite wonton place in Alhambra, Colby? Sam Woo's or something like that?" Megan began. She broke off at the tight expression on Colby's face. Her voice softened, "You haven't seen her."
"No." He answered curtly and gathered his things.
"Colby, I..." David said tentatively.
"What is it? I haven't seen her and I'm not about to drag her into all of this. I should never have dated her in the first place!" Colby snapped. He'd reached the end of his rope where that was concerned.
"I had to question her, check her finances." David shifted uncomfortably. "Make sure she wasn't also a Chinese agent."
Sean and Edgerton only had a split second but they caught Colby as he launched himself at David. It took all their combined strength to hold back a furious Colby.
"He was just doing his job, Colby," Sean managed to say between grunts of effort from holding Colby back. "You know that."
"If you've upset her or hurt her financially with your investigation..." the threat was a low, menacing growl. My dear, sweet Hannah, I'm so sorry. I never meant for you to get tainted by all of this.
"That's enough!" Don said sharply.
"I'm sorry." David looked stricken. "I'm just... sorry." He hesitated. "If it makes you feel any better, she never believed you were a traitor. She was sure we were mistaken."
Colby's chest was heaving, first with the effort of trying to get to David, then with the pain of what he'd lost with Hannah. "Let's go." He shook Sean and Edgerton off him and strode towards the door.
"You should go see her, Colby," Megan's voice was gentle. "Hannah's a strong woman. She deserves that much from you." She sighed when he ignored her and left.
--
Megan and Don decided to stay behind at the FBI to continue the investigation on the financial end. The rest were heading out to Alhambra where they hoped to pick up Chang's trail.
"You don't seem too fazed by the events around Colby," Sean said to Edgerton. The three of them trailed behind David and Liz as they all headed towards their vehicles. They stopped when David and Liz got into their SUV, and reiterated their rendezvous arrangements.
Then they paused at Edgerton's SUV. "I have a code I live and work by, but I'm not nearly as idealistic as Eppes and his team. I thought it made sense to give Colby the benefit of the doubt."
Edgerton's eyes were hidden behind his sunglasses, but Colby was sure they'd be expressionless anyway. "I certainly appreciate it." Colby muttered as he made for his own vehicle.
Sean stared at him in surprise. Colby was usually unfailingly polite.
Edgerton chuckled ruefully, "He's still brooding over the woman. I saw them together once. He was so in love with her he couldn't see straight. I'm surprised he's managed to stay away from her this long."
The deep long-suffering sigh from Sean as he went with Colby made Edgerton laugh as he got into his SUV.
"If you're going to sulk, I'd rather be the one to drive," Sean said pointedly when he got to their SUV.
"I'm not sulking," but Colby gave him the keys.
Sean let Colby brood over his new found knowledge, although he privately thought that Colby should have expected the FBI to investigate his girlfriend. It was standard procedure.
"It's Wednesday." Colby's tone told Sean that he was still brooding.
"All day," Sean said mildly.
Colby shot him a look which made Sean grin. "Hannah goes to Alhambra every Wednesday." I miss her smile. I miss her laugh. I miss everything about her.
Sean perked up, "So they thought there was another reason to investigate her. Oh, stop with that already." Colby had scowled at his words. "Why is she there every Wednesday?"
Colby sighed, "She augments her income by selling directly to the jewelry stores in this area. The Chinese love jewelry. For the older generation, that's how they saved their money." He lapsed into another brooding silence. "It's out of the way, but I'd meet her at Sam Woo's for lunch whenever I could." She loved those wontons. And it drove me crazy to watch her eat them. She'd run her tongue around one, then slide it into her mouth and it's making me hot just thinking about it.
"They're some of the best wontons I've ever had, a whole shrimp in each one," Sean slanted Colby a mischievous look almost as though he'd read Colby's mind. "Why don't we go there, see if we run into her?" He laughed at the scowl and the vehement shake of the head. "You're getting predictable, X. She might be able to help us. Besides, we need to eat, and that's as good a place as any."
"I'm going to kill you," Colby muttered darkly, shifting slightly in his seat to find a more comfortable position. It didn't lighten his mood at all when Sean broke into peals of laughter.
In the end, Sean took the areas that Hannah frequented, and Colby went elsewhere. He couldn't bring himself to push the issue, even if he thought Colby a fool for staying away from her. It was obvious the man was suffering. Still, Sean kept an eye out for her just in case he could do something for Colby in that regard.
But, all in all, they were five weary agents when they finally rendezvoused at the end of the afternoon. They compared notes but there was precious little they didn't already know, and parted for the day.
--
"Why do we want Chang?" Colby stretched to ease the soreness in his calf muscles. They were in Steele's office and had just reported on the day's activities.
"We don't. After they lost Dwayne, they turned someone else. We want the new double agent." Only the slight frown on Steele's forehead gave any indication of his annoyance.
"We didn't have someone in place to take over when Dwayne was arrested?" Sean asked incredulously. The cold glance from Steel didn't faze him in the least.
"Any intel at all?" Colby was on the alert now, aches forgotten.
"All we've been able to find out is that it's a woman." Steele noted with interest the sudden tension in both his agents. "Nothing else."
"We'll start with all of Dwayne's known associates," Colby said slowly. "And maybe we'll get more if we showed Dwayne's picture in Alhambra and Monterey Park instead of Chang's. They'll be less likely to turn in one of their own but wouldn't have similar qualms about a white guy."
"Sean," Steele said as they both got up to leave. "A moment of your time, about Edgerton, please." He nodded to Colby as he left.
"What about Edgerton?" Sean relaxed back into his seat.
"It was just a ruse. What was the tension about?"
Steele's eyes were sharp, Sean reflected. "Colby's former girlfriend goes to Alhambra every week."
"The redhead?"
He should have known that wouldn't have slipped past Steele. "Yes, Hannah. Evans, I think. Maybe we should have someone watch her."
Steele waved a dismissive hand, "Have had since all this started."
"Wow." As long as he'd worked for Steele, somehow that still surprised him. Completely aware that Steele hadn't indicated why she was being watched, he asked warily, "Are you going to tell him?"
"No. It's not safe." Not yet, Steele thought. But perhaps someday. "Keep an eye on him. I want him safe."
"Aye, aye, sir." Sean said lightly and left.
--
A full week of pounding the pavement yielded similarly miserable results. Chang had, for all intents and purposes, disappeared.
The only good thing about all of this is watching David slowly come to terms with the situation between us, Colby thought sourly. At least he doesn't look betrayed every time I show up now.
"We need a break in this case," Sean said wearily as they pulled into the parking lot of a Quickly store for a boba tea. "And soon. Or I'll lose my good looks to wrinkles from the sun."
Colby snorted with laughter. That was the good thing about working with Sean. He rarely let anything get him down.
They settled back into their vehicle after purchasing their refreshments. Sean took a long drink and sighed with pleasure. "I asked Liz out," he said lazily.
Startled into a bark of laughter, Colby turned to him in astonishment. "You know she's dating Don. I told you that myself."
Sean only grinned.
"What did she say?" Colby asked in fascination.
"She said maybe," his blue eyes gleamed at the memory. "I thought something might have gone awry between them, or I wouldn't have tried."
Shaking his head in reluctant admiration, Colby said, "Only you, Sean, would have the hutzbah for something like this."
He shrugged good-naturedly, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained." He slanted Colby a mischievous glance, "Life's too short to waste, especially if there's a loved one you could be sharing it with."
Colby snorted again. "That was hardly subtle." He had spent some time over the last week thinking things over, and while he still thought it best not to contact Hannah again, he wasn't nearly as volatile when it was brought up. Especially since Sean needles me about it every so often, he thought in amusement.
The ringing of Colby's cellphone roused him from his thoughts. "Granger," he said automatically then grimaced at Sean's raised eyebrow. He hadn't got around to changing his name since he was still working with the same FBI team.
"Put me on speaker, Colby," Megan said, "So Sean can hear me too." After Sean acknowledged her, she continued, "You'll never believe this, but there's a jewelry heist on the corner of Valley Blvd and Lincoln. And one of the hostages is none other than one Li-Ming Chang. We'll meet you there."
"There is a God after all," Sean said with relief, "No more pounding the pavement."
"This might end the FBI's case, but we still need to find the woman that took over when Dwayne was arrested." The tension was back in Colby's shoulders.
--
"This is not good," David told them as Colby and Sean got out of their SUV. "Hannah's in there."
"What?" Every muscle in Colby's body coiled in alarm. "Megan didn't say anything about that."
"Megan didn't know," Liz said as she came up to them. "Hannah and the owner of the store just walked in a few minutes ago. Apparently they'd just come back from lunch."
"Colby," David said tersely, "It doesn't look good that she's in there with Chang. Do you know what I'm saying?"
"I know what you're saying," Colby snapped back, "But she's not in there with Chang. She's in there with the store owner. It just happens to be where Chang is. There's a difference."
"To you, perhaps, but there might not be a difference to others," Sean murmured regretfully. He shook his head when Colby made to protest. After a moment, Colby calmed, and Sean was relieved to see the cold, expressionless eyes that told him Colby had switched into agent mode. "I'm going to the top of that building over there."
"I'll take the other building," Edgerton said dispassionately.
"I'm going in." Colby said coldly.
"Give Ian and Sean time to set up," Don said quietly. "I'm going to find out what they want when they've got a whole jewelry store worth of merchandise they could have gotten away with." He squeezed Colby on the shoulder, then moved off to do his job.
A part of Colby's mind wondered at Don's almost sympathetic overture, but Megan started reviewing hostage protocols with him and he focused on that instead. The hostages lives depended on it. Hannah's life depended on it.
"Alright, two gunmen in masks. There are eight hostages, two shop assistants, the owner, the owner's daughter, Hannah, Chang and two customers," Don said calmly. "The gunmen want Dranovsky."
"Dranovsky! What do they want with Dranovsky?" David exclaimed in surprise.
"They're probably KGB. And what they want won't be pretty," Colby's voice matched the cold in his eyes.
"They should know that we don't bend to these tactics," Don said firmly.
"Maybe not, but they're sending us a message. These guys are the suicide squad. They'll have other teams after Dranovsky." Colby surveyed the area dispassionately. He started taking off his vest and the rest of his safety gear.
"What are you doing?" David demanded.
"I'm going in as a customer who's stumbled into the situation. There's no other way." He checked his ankle holster then slipped on a baseball cap on backwards, and within seconds, became a dorky, clueless country boy.
He clattered noisily into the store. "Hey, y'all. I'm looking for me a present. There's this purty girl..." He stopped and took a look around. "I reckon I've come at the wrong time." And turned as if to walk back out. The hairs rose on the back of his neck when he heard Hannah's indrawn breath.
"Hands in the air, and don't move," a Russian accented voice told him. "Turn around. Americans!" The gunman in the blue shirt spat in disgust as he looked him over. "Get down on the floor with the others."
Colby brightened, "Can I sit with the purty girl?" At the gunmen's indistinct growl, he dropped to the floor next to Hannah, "I'll take that as a yes." He was sure he'd been cussed at in Russian. But he grinned into Hannah's wide, startled eyes. "Heya, sweetheart. My name's Bubba."
"P-Pleased to meet you, Bubba," she whispered.
The soft, hesitant note and the catch in Hannah's voice brought an ache to his throat.
"Quiet!" The gunman in the brown shirt roared, and Colby subsided into silence. For the moment.
A few seconds later, "What'cha doing nohow? Why's the jewelry still in the cases and you still here?" He barely heard Hannah's whispered "Don't."
Blue-shirt growled again. "Shut up!"
But Colby was glad to see they had moved forward towards the windows as if to get away from his prattling.
Restlessly, the two gunmen began to pace in the confines of the store. Each round brought them closer and closer to the windows.
"At least let the ladies go." Colby said, when he judged their anxiety level had risen yet again.
Brown-shirt whipped around, "Shut up or I will shoot..."
Colby heard the distant whine of a shot, and Brown-shirt fell forward. Then close on its heels, he heard another whine amidst the screams of the hostages and Blue-shirt also fell. He heard Don's angry shout but he already had Hannah in his arms.
"Are you alright?" he demanded almost angrily. His hands roamed restlessly over her.
"I'm fine," she said on a sob of relief. "Oh, Colby! Are you okay? David said..."
He yanked her close and crushed her mouth with his. Then reluctantly, he raised his head and pulled her back into his embrace.
"I just knew none of that could have been true. Especially when even the senator told me I couldn't see you in prison. I knew something had to be up." She pressed her face into his neck and her hands clung on to him.
"Slacker," David said to Colby as he grabbed Chang just before he slipped away and put him in cuffs. He began to advise Chang of his rights as he led him out of the store.
"Everything's going to be alright, Hannah, I promise. You have to give a statement now, but I promise I'll explain everything." Colby murmured into her ear. Reluctant to let her go, his lips caressed her neck as he breathed in her familiar scent.
"You have a lot of explaining to do."
Colby winced. The stern tone told him that she wasn't going to let him off lightly. "I'll call tonight. I promise."
"Come by tonight."
"Go already, jeez. I'll report in for you." Sean had his hands on his hips in exasperation. He turned to Hannah with a brilliant smile, "I'm Sean. I work with the dolt."
Colby scowled, but Hannah smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you, Sean."
--
"I take it by the smirk on your face that it went well," Steele had a faint smile of his own.
"Yes. Don's got Chang though he isn't happy that Edgerton and I took out the gunmen. Colby believes that the jewelry store owner's daughter is the new double agent. She works at the NSA as a crptographer. That's who Chang was with in the back room. Colby lifted the video during the chaos afterwards. We should be able to get something on her out of that." Sean dropped it on Steele's desk and leaned back with satisfaction. "Apparently the back room surveillance was only installed a couple of days ago, because the store owner thought someone was using the back office. He was right because that's where the daughter had stashed Chang, at least in the last week. She was due to move him again tomorrow."
"And Colby's at Ms. Evans'?" The faint smile bloomed into a satisfied one before Steele ruthlessly quashed it. "Your doing?"
"Just call me S for sentimental fool."
--
A/N: I'd been thinking about bringing Hannah into the new storyline, but had thought there wouldn't be a place for her, until some chance remark from a request sparked this idea. So here it is. Hopefully, it works as well for you as it did for me.