Just as the morning sun was struggling to rise and light the world, Megan was struggling not to let her hopes die. She'd spent all night at the two crime scenes and, other that the cells and badges, the vans had been completely useless for evidentiary purposes. The image enhancement on the footage from the second garage had yielded enough information for a BOLO on the second van but they had yet to receive any hits on it. She'd called David a couple of hours ago to update him and learned that Larry, Charlie and Alan were all camping out at the office. The weary agent climbed from her car and made her way into the FBI building, trying to put on her best game face before she had to face her fellow agents and Don's very distraught family.

As the elevator doors opened, Megan approached her desk and found Charlie sitting in her chair, his laptop open on the desk as his fingers flew across the keys. "Hey, Charlie."

"Megan," he greeted, his eyes never leaving the screen in front of him.

"Find something?" she asked, leaning against the desk.

"David told me both vans had been stolen but from two different lots. I figured I could try to determine a central location that our perps might be working from."

Megan doubted he would be very successful in his efforts, but she understood his need to do something. She had the same feeling and was frustrated that they had yet to find a single decent lead to investigate. "Good idea, Charlie. Let me know if you find anything."

Megan rose and walked over to Alan, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder as his eyes locked onto hers. She was shocked to see that he had seemed to age ten years since the last time she'd seen him a week ago. I guess worrying about your child does that to you. Even I feel like I've aged a few years and he's not my flesh and blood. "We'll find him, Alan," she stated with what she hoped was conviction.

"You don't have anything, do you?" he asked despairingly.

"Not at the moment," she admitted. "But I swear to you I will not give up, no matter what."

He covered her hand with his and squeezed as tears formed in his eyes. "I know you won't. Thank you."

She patted his hand and moved to Larry, sinking into the empty chair next to him and laying her head on his shoulder. He laid his head on hers and grasped her hand in support. "You won't hesitate to inform me if there is anything I can do to help?"

"Find me a lead?" she asked tiredly.

"Would that I could," he said softly. "Not just the case, you know. Let me know if I can be of any assistance to you."

She lifted her head and met his eyes with a thankful expression. "You're here," she told him gratefully, leaning over and kissing his cheek. "That's enough." She laid her head back down and took comfort in his presence as she tried to formulate a game plan in the deathly quiet of the bullpen.

"Agent Reeves?"

She looked up and saw a young agent who had been called in to help. "What is it Marcia?"

"There's a call from Houston PD for you. Line three."

Megan nodded and took the call at her desk. "Agent Reeves."

"Yes, ma'am," a heavy Texas drawl greeted her. "This is Detective Rich Mathers with Houston PD."

"What can I do for you detective?"

"Actually, I think I can do something for you. We found an agent from your office."

"What?" she repeated loudly, drawing the attention of everyone around her. "Who? Is he okay? Where-"

"Slow down a second, miss," he interrupted. "His name's Colby Granger and we found him at a small airfield on the outskirts of town, lying in the grass at the end of the runway. One of the pilots landing a flight this morning saw him and called it in. He's being treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder but from what I heard earlier, he's set to make a full recovery."

"Was there another man with him?" she asked.

"No ma'am, I'm afraid not. He was a little out of it when we got to him, but he did mention he'd been abducted with another agent. We've searched most of the area and we're flying a chopper over it, but your agent appears to have been left there alone."

"I'm going to have one of my agents fly out there to talk with him."

"Be my guest," Mathers said amiably. "We did go ahead and ask him if he knew who did this to him. Like I said, he was a bit groggy at the time, but he mumbled something about a 'Mister G'."

"Mister…" she trailed off as her stomach turned to ice. No, it couldn't be… could it?

"Agent Reeves?"

"Just thinking," she assured the detective. "Let me give you my number so you can contact me directly if you find anything else." Once she'd relayed the information, she hung up and turned to find several faces anxiously studying her.

"Donny?" Alan begged. "Please tell me they found him."

"They found Colby, alive but injured, at a Houston airfield," she relayed. "No sign of Don."

"None?" Charlie asked despondently.

"They've got an aerial search going, but nothing so far." She turned to David and smiled, knowing he was happy his best friend was alive. "I told them I would send an agent…"

"I'm on my way," he replied gratefully.

"Before you go, I need to go over something with you." She gestured to the empty conference room as she looked at Charlie. "You too." She followed the two men inside and shut the door behind her. "This is hard to say and I'm not sure it's the case, but I have a bad feeling…" She sighed and shook her head. "Remember the Gardenia case?"

"The man who almost killed my brother?" Charlie scowled. "Yeah, I think I have some vague recollection of that."

"Of course you do," she nodded. "That was a dumb question. But what I don't think you know is that after we closed the case and Don was out of the hospital, he found a card stuck in his front door. There was a picture of a gardenia on the front and a note inside that read 'To Our Future'."

"And you didn't do anything?" Charlie demanded angrily. "That's an obvious threat! You… you knew this was coming!"

"Please calm down, Charlie. We did try to do something. Don and I had forensics go over the card but they couldn't find anything. We took the card to Merrick but, without hard evidence, we couldn't pursue the issue. Remember, we had Gardenia's dental records – that's how we got a positive ID."

"That's right," David snapped his fingers. "We sure did. So… how did we get a positive ID on the body of a guy who might not really be dead?"

"Why, if his dentist gives us the wrong records," Megan countered. "You go on to Houston and I'll bring in that dentist… what was his name? Samson, Salsbury…"

"Salazar," David offered.

"That's it," she agreed. "Now, go on and I'll deal with the good dentist." After David left the room, Megan turned to face an angry Charlie. "You know I would never intentionally let Don put himself in danger."

"And yet you did."

"Charlie," she said reasonably. "I understand you're mad at me, but Don and I did try. There was just too much overwhelming evidence that Gardenia was dead and the card was simply a cruel joke."

"Look, I don't want to waste time talking about this," Charlie told her dismissively, his anger still readily apparent. "Right now I just want my brother back, alive and well."

"I want to find him, too," Megan quietly reminded the young genius, but he had already turned and left her alone in the conference room. I wonder if telling the others is going to go as well as this just did. She looked through glass and saw Alan trying to calm Charlie down, his own face clouded with confusion at his youngest son's fury. Oh yeah, I'm about to have another angry Eppes on my hands for sure.

She blew out a deep breath, resigned herself to her fate and stepped out of the frying pan and into the fire.

--

"Good morning, Jacob," Gardenia smiled as he emerged from the bedroom of his suite.

"Good morning, Mister G," his muscular bodyguard returned. "I've taken the liberty of calling down to have breakfast delivered this morning."

"Excellent," the crime boss nodded happily as he took a seat at the small dining table. "You've made sure the car is ready?"

"I've got it gassed up and checked over the engine, tires – the whole ball of wax. We're ready to head to LA as soon as you like."

"Breakfast first," Gardenia told him. "Then we can get underway. I'll be honest with you, Jacob. I'm dying to see my little friend again but I keep telling myself that I have to be patient."

"Of course."

"I'm telling you this now because I know we're going to be driving nice and slow as we travel to LA and I might seem a bit antsy about how long it's taking. I don't want that to sway you from our game plan."

"It won't," Jacob assured him. "I'm not going to take any chances that we get pulled over for speeding or anything like that."

He was interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by a soft woman's voice announcing, "Room service."

Jacob opened the door and let the diminutive Hispanic woman inside, watching her like a hawk as she unloaded the trays of food onto the dining table. When she had completed her task, Gardenia waved at Jacob to tip her, which he did rather generously before escorting her from the room. The bodyguard locked the door and joined his boss at the table, inhaling the delicious aroma.

"Wonderful," Gardenia commented after he swallowed a bite of egg. "You outdid yourself with the menu selection, my friend. Join me?"

Offers like that were few and far between coming from the crime boss, so Jacob nodded thankfully and served himself. "Very good, Mister G," he agreed after he'd taken a bite. "Roberto's missing out."

"Ah, Roberto," Gardenia smiled. "For all of the risk he's put himself through he's delivered outstanding results. I'll owe him dinner from his choice of restaurant once we've completed this mission. You'll come as well, Jacob. After all, you and Roberto will be carrying out the more strenuous part of the reunion activities."

"I'm looking forward to it," the muscular man stated with a malicious smile. "There's nothing better than a good, intense workout with a punching bag that doesn't fight back."

--

"Hello, Doctor Salazar," Megan said coolly as she entered the interrogation room. She'd had one of her agents pick up the dentist and bring him in on the grounds that they needed him to 'clarify some questions that had come up'. Which was true enough, Megan mused. "It's been a while hasn't it? About ten months?"

"Yes," he replied as he clasped his hands together and rested them on the tabletop. "I guess it has. Your agent said there were some questions I could help you with?" There was just a hint of nervousness in his voice as he made the inquiry.

"Yes, Doctor Salazar, there are. When we came to you ten months ago, you were kind enough to hand over some dental records to help us ID a burned body."

"Yes, I recall that. And you were successful, were you not?"

"Very," she nodded. "We identified the body in question as belonging to Hector Gardenia. We couldn't have done it without your help, you know."

"It was the least I could do," he shrugged.

"Your civic duty?"

"I suppose you could say that."

"Well, I know you're a busy man, so I'll cut to the chase." Megan took a seat in the chair next to him and leaned forward, crowding his comfort zone. "It's come to our attention that Hector Gardenia is still very much alive."

"What?" the dentist whispered.

"He's alive," Megan repeated as she leaned even closer. "What's really got us puzzled is how his dental records could match a body that wasn't his. How do you suppose that might happen?"

"It's not possible," Salazar insisted in a shaky voice. "I gave you Hector Gardenia's x-rays. If your techs screwed it up-"

"The FBI has the finest forensic scientists on staff," Megan cut him off. She paused as the fidgety dentist looked at anything and everything in the room except her. "You want to hear what I think, Doctor Salazar?"

"I don't have a choice, do I?"

"I think that Gardenia or one of his men gave you a call and told you about the body. I think they told you who it was that died and that you needed to switch that man's records with Gardenia's."

"How would I have the other man's records?" Salazar shook his head.

"I don't think gangs have dental plans, but I bet they can use their boss's dentist when they need to. Which means that you would have x-rays for just about everyone on Gardenia's crew."

"You're wrong," the dentist told her but his words lacked any conviction.

Megan paused as she studied the man's face, every inch of it screaming that he was about to crack under the weight of his deception. Her spirits soared as she realized she was about to receive positive confirmation that the crime boss was still alive, giving her the first solid lead of the case. "Doctor Salazar," she said gently. "I understand we all make bad decisions sometimes. I think you made one, either out of fear for you or your family's lives or for enough money that you could one day retire without a care in the world. But you did make that bad decision, didn't you?"

"I…" The dentist stopped speaking as he buried his face in his hands. "I didn't know he'd…"

"Of course you didn't," the agent replied sympathetically. "But now you can start to right your wrongs. You want to do that, don't you?"

The dentist gave a silent nod, his face still hidden.

"Tell me where his base of operations is in Houston."

"What?" Salazar asked, lowering his hands to look at her.

"Do you have the address there… or at least a neighborhood block?"

"Houston?" he repeated in confusion. "Why are you looking in Houston? Gardenia told me he was relocating to Florida."

"Florida?" It was Megan's turn to look surprised.

"Miami, I think. He even made a joke about joining the thousands of retirees down there."

"Miami," the agent echoed as she shook her head. "Wait here, Doctor Salazar." Megan bolted from her chair and rushed from the interrogation room. As she entered the bullpen, she pointed to Marcia. "Call Miami PD and see if they have any gangs operating under Hector Gardenia."

"Miami?" Charlie asked as he rose from his seat at David's desk. "Why Miami?"

"That's where he told his dentist he was going," Megan answered.

"But Colby-"

"I know, Charlie. But we didn't find anything else in Houston. Maybe they dumped Colby there after they shot him, thinking he was dead and not wanting to be caught flying with a dead body on board. Or maybe they dumped him there to throw us off track. Whatever the case, I think Miami is where we need to look."

"But would he really be stupid enough to continue operating under his old name?" the professor pressed.

"Charlie," Megan spoke softly as she moved to his side. "I don't know, but this is the best lead we have so far. I have to follow through on it."

"Right," he nodded. "Maybe I can help."

"How so?"

"Just leave that to me," he smiled confidently as he sat back down at the desk and opened his laptop. "I'll let you know when I find what I'm looking for."

"Okay, Charlie," Megan grinned, happy to see his spirits lifting a bit as he was able to contribute to the search for his brother. Knowing this would be the last time she ever saw him smile like that if they didn't find Don alive, she silently prayed that this lead would turn out to be the break they needed.

--

"How'd our boy sleep?" Roberto asked as he entered the large converted basement.

"I had to give him another shot a couple of hours ago," Joey reported. "Other than that he's been out the whole time."

"Good. We'll start letting him wake up this evening once Mister G arrives." Roberto moved to a workbench nearby, slowly running his hand across the variety of instruments laid out across it. So many toys to choose from, he smiled as he thought of the bound man behind him. I'm going to make you scream like you never have before.

"Mister G's getting here tonight?" Joey inquired as he joined the blond at the table.

"This afternoon or this evening," Roberto corrected. "They want to be cautious on their journey here. And Mister G will need to rest after the trip; he still tires easily from the wound he received a few months ago."

"Yeah, the guy Jimmy and John took to Houston," Joey stated. "He's the one that actually shot Mister G, right?"

"Yes, but it was Eppes who led the assault team."

"Still," Joey frowned. "Why not just kill the other guy when we grabbed Eppes?"

"Because we needed something to throw the Feds off our trail. What better witness to do that than one of their own agents? They find him in Houston and he tells them his buddy was alive last he remembers so they start searching the airport and surrounding city. When they come up empty, they'll have to start tracking down all the departing flights to see what other cities Eppes might have been taken to. And they'll have a hard time figuring out which plane to focus on because Frick and Frack didn't arrive in Houston from LA, now did they?"

"No, their flight plan has them arriving from Las Vegas," Joey remarked. A light bulb appeared to go off in his head and his face lit up with a goofy grin. "That's why we rented the private chopper! So we could fly in from Vegas and the brothers could fly the other agent back to Vegas, all without leaving a record."

"Right," Roberto impatiently nodded. "We didn't have to worry about an official flight plan because we kept the helicopter off the grid. And because of that, the Feds are going to be chasing their tails for a long time." Roberto looked over his shoulder and glared malevolently at their unconscious captive. "Which means we'll have all the time in the world to entertain our guest."

TBC