Chapter 1

Downtown Los Angeles could be a busy place: not as crazy as New York's 42nd street, but close enough. One couldn't' tell from the FBI bullpen Don Eppes' was sitting in, however. The flu had cut their work force by half. Everyone was working on double cases, just trying to pick up the slack. Don leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. If he sat here and looked at his computer screen for one more second he'd go crazy. Glancing up at the clock Don had his excuse.

"That's it! Time for lunch!"

Terry looked up from her desk and frowned. "Lunch already?"

"Yup," Don said putting his hands over his head and stretching.

"Time sure flies when you're having fun," David said sarcastically.

"Hey quit complaining. At least we don't have the financial fraud case," Terry said.

"Charlie loves those," David said. "I say he can have them anytime he wants."

Don looked across the room. He could see Charlie, through the glass, scribbling equations on a white board at a frantic pace. The FBI was so short handed right now that Don had called Charlie in to help. Normally they would only call Charlie in if their own financial people couldn't find a pattern. This week there hadn't been anyone to cover the case Charlie was now working on. It had taken Charlie two days to find the data he needed and now he was on a roll.

"How does he do that?" Terry asked as she watched Charlie fill the one white board and move to the next without a pause.

"When Charlie was little mom learned to have lots of paper around," Don said. "Once he ran out and started writing on the walls. Dad wasn't happy when he had to repaint the living room and the dinning room."

"How old was he?" Terry asked.

"I think he was six," Don said with a shrug. "Maybe five."

"Five," David said shaking his head. He turned back to look at Charlie. "I want to know how he can do two things at once."

"What, you can't listen to music and do something else?" Don asked.

"Listen to music and drive, not do complex math equations."

"He says it helps him concentrate," Don replied.

"Well, go get the genius since it was your suggestion to go to lunch," Terry said as she turned back to her computer to save what she had been working on.

Don waked to the conference room and entered. Charlie was oblivious to the fact that his brother had walked up behind him. The earphones were pulled off his right ear and Charlie kept working.

"Earth to Charlie!"

"Hmm," Charlie mumbled as he kept writing.

"Time for lunch."

"Lunch?" Charlie asked, confused, and turned to Don.

"Yeah, you know, food."

"Guess I am kinda hungry," Charlie said, just as his stomach growled.

"Let's go."

Charlie took off the headphones and placed them on the desk as he followed Don. He smiled at David and Terry as they all made their way to the elevator.

"I have to run to the bank first," Don said as the doors closed.

"Yeah we don't want you using the excuse you have to hit and ATM," Charlie teased.

"He try that one on you too?" Terry asked.

"Dad actually," Charlie smiled. "But Dad followed him to the ATM and got his money."

"Where do we want to go?" David asked. "I can run ahead and get a table."

"How about the Imperial Palace?" Terry asked.

"I love Chinese," Charlie said.

"Sounds good to me," Don said as the elevator doors opened.

"OK I'll go get a table," David said as he walked in the opposite direction once out the doors.

Both Terry and Charlie decided to go with Don. They had been cooped up in the office most of the morning and they both wanted to stretch their legs. It was a short walk to the bank and Don held the door open for Terry. Before Charlie could walk in behind her Don stepped in front of him and made Charlie hold his own door. Charlie shoved Don and Terry just shook her head.

"This is going to take awhile," Terry commented when she saw the line.

"Come on, Don, I'll pay for lunch," Charlie suggested.

"No, I needed to pay a bill too while we were here," Don said. "It won't be as long as you think."

"Uh huh, right," Terry said as she took a seat.

Charlie joined her and grabbed a magazine from off the table. The National Enquirer certainly wasn't Scientific America but it would pass the time.

Terry turned to see what Charlie was reading and smiled. Nothing on the table interested her so she turned to watch the people. They were a typical lunch crowd for the downtown area. Terry heard the door open and watched as four men walked in carrying black duffels. One had dark hair and was about six feet tall. Another was blond with a slight build. The third was a skinny redhead, while the forth was a tall African American. Something about the men made Terry's hair stand on end. She was about to tell Charlie when the men reached in the bags and pulled out automatic weapons.

"Alright everybody listen up!" the dark haired one shouted.. "Nobody gets hurt if you listen to what we say."

Out of the corner of her eye, Terry noticed the bank guard reach under his table. She hoped he was hitting the silent alarm. When he looked at the other guard, Terry knew they were going to do something stupid. The bank robber closest to the door must have sensed the same thing, and shot the guard just as he drew his gun. People started screaming and dropping to the floor. Terry grabbed Charlie and pulled him down with her.

"That wasn't very smart," said the African - America robber who shot the gun. "Now put your weapon down."

The other bank guard did as he said and stepped away from his gun. Terry glanced at Don, who shook his head at her. Terry nodded and turned to Charlie. Charlie's eyes were wide and she could see he was shaken. Terry gave his arm a squeeze as she smiled encouragingly. Charlie relaxed slightly and half-heartedly returned the smile. The bank robbers were herding the hostages over to one side of the bank as one of them began to pull the drapes closed and lock the door.

"Search them," the leader said.

Don had joined back up with Terry and Charlie as they were pushed to the other side of the bank. Charlie shot Don a scared look. He knew both Don and Terry were carrying guns.

"It'll be alright, Charlie," Don said.

"Shut up!" the blond robber said.

It didn't take them long to find Don and Terry's guns along with their ID's. The blond robber searching them pushed Don and Terry away from the other hostages. Charlie didn't want to be separated from Don but he wasn't given a choice in the matter. Charlie hastily emptied his pockets and handed the items to the bank robber.

"God damn it, not another one!" the robber exclaimed as he patted Charlie down, then roughly pushed him towards Don.

Don easily caught his smaller brother before he could fall. Obviously Charlie had put his ID in his pocket before they had left the federal building. This was fine with Don; at least Charlie would be close now.

"You realize you won't be able to get away with this," Don commented.

"Really?" The dark haired robber said, as he looked at the ID's his companion handed him.

Don watched him as he checked the ID's. Agent Eppes had seen his type before; self assured, cocky and reckless. But there was something different about this guy. Don could feel it in his gut.

"You know the guard you killed probably hit the silent alarm."

"True, but we don't plan to be here that long." The leader looked closer looked at the ID's again, then glanced at Don and Charlie. "Both of you're last names are Eppes. I'm guessing brothers."

Don just stared at the robber who smiled. As they were talking police cars, with siren's blaring, could be heard pulling up outside. The African-American robber close to the window pulled back the drapes to look out.

"We've got four cop cars out here."

"You might as well give up," Don said. "You have no chance. If you give up peacefully things will go…"

Don wasn't given the chance to finish as the leader slammed the butt of his rifle into Don's gut. Don's breath was knocked from him and he doubled over trying to breathe. He watched as the gun was then pointed to his head.

"No!" Charlie yelled, and shoved the leader in the side. The robber was surprised, and stumbled away from Don, but didn't fall.

Don watched in horror as the blond robber slammed the butt of his riffle into Charlie's head. Charlie dropped like a puppet with his string cut and all Don could do was watch as he tried to catch his breath.

"Next time teach your brother to heel," the leader said as he walked away. "Move the other hostages to the back. Keep those three up front. They're our insurance."

Once Don could breathe again he quickly moved to his brother's side. Terry helped him turn Charlie over. Don cursed when he saw the blood covering the right side of the mathematician's face. Terry grabbed her partner's arm so he couldn't do something stupid.

"No, Don."

"Yeah listen to the little woman, Don, don't want you doing something stupid," the blond said.

"Just keep it together," Terry said as she grabbed a handkerchief from Don's pocket. "Help Charlie first. Then we'll worry about the robbers."

Don nodded, took the handkerchief from her, and pressed it to the cut on Charlie's temple. Terry watched as Don helped Charlie, but she knew it would only keep him busy for a short time. After that, Don's training would kick in, and he'd try to negotiate for the release of the hostages.