Standard Disclaimers in Part One. Same Writers. Same Rating. Feedback welcome!
Chapter Nine
"Granger."
"Agent Granger, this is David Turow at the reception desk on the first floor. There's a man here to see you. He says his name is Steven Cooley."
Colby's eyebrows went up. "Really? I'll be right there." In one fluid motion, he stood, hung up the phone and grabbed his suit jacket off the back of his chair. He turned and headed for the elevator, spying David Sinclair, another agent on Don's team, just stepping off the elevator. "Come with me," he said to David. "I might need backup."
David didn't say anything and followed Colby back into the elevator where he was filled in on the latest on the Cooley case. "So, basically, you just want me to stand there and look menacing." David said.
"Yeah, I think you can handle that." Colby replied, grinning.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened onto the lobby. The two men stepped off and walked to the reception desk with David stopping just before the desk while Colby continued on to where Steven Cooley was waiting for him. Dressed in a dark blue suit with matching tie, Cooley looked 180 degrees different from the last time Colby had seen him. Of course, Colby looked a bit different himself.
"Agent Granger." Cooley said, holding his hand out.
"Mr. Cooley." Colby replied, shaking his hand. There was something very strange going on. He shot a look at David, then asked, "Is your attorney on his way?"
Cooley snorted. "No. My attorney would have a coronary if he knew where I was." His cell phone started to ring at that exact moment, causing Cooley to smile. "Speak of the devil." He pulled his cell phone from his suit pocket and looked at the display. He shook his head, turned the phone off and put it back in his pocket without answering it. "Can we get this started before I come to my senses or he comes crashing through the door and drags me away?"
"Certainly." Colby said, pointing toward the elevators. "Don is never going to believe this." He muttered to himself.
After being informed of his rights, Cooley declined to remain to silent. He wanted to talk and how. Colby, with David standing in the back, started the audio recording device, introduced himself and instructed Cooley to do the same.
"Steven Cooley. Investment manager. 6213 Kissing Camel Ln., Los Angeles, CA." Upon seeing the look on Colby's face, he added, "Yeah, it's a strange name for a street but I got a heck of a deal on the house."
"I can see why." David mumbled.
"Okay. Do I just start talking or what?" Cooley asked.
"You can start whenever you want." Colby told him.
Cooley launched into a detailed description of his business and how he had slowly drifted over to the shady side of the stock investment business. When he finished, he took a deep breath and released it. He look at Colby, then at David, then back at Colby. "You've got to be wondering why I'm here confessing all."
Colby did not respond. What could he say?
"My conscience." Cooley said. "Laugh if you want but I'm serious. My conscience got the best of me, which really sucks because I had a real sweet thing going on too." He sighed.
For once in his life, Colby didn't know quite what to say, so he said nothing. Cooley hadn't needed any prompting up to that point.
"Don? The one with heatstroke? Is he your boss?" Cooley asked, seeming to veer completely off his point.
Colby nodded.
"How is he?" Cooley asked.
"He'll be fine, thanks to your assistance." Colby said, certain he was having one of the strangest conversations he would ever have in his entire F.B.I. career.
"Excellent. Glad to hear it. Your boss is why my conscience started bugging me and wouldn't stop." Cooley said. Just that quick, he was back on point. Another sigh came from him. "Usually when my conscience starts in on me, I donate some money or something like that and it goes away. Not this time and I couldn't figure out why. Then…" he waved a hand in the air. "Then it occurred to me; watching your boss nearly drop dead and realizing that I was probably the cause? That's inexcusable. And damn if I can explain why I thought that."
Colby said nothing, waiting for Cooley to, hopefully, continue.
"Now, helping your boss was good but it wasn't enough. I needed to do something else." He shook his head. "You may not believe this but I haven't slept in almost two days and that never EVER happens to me."
Colby flicked a gaze over the man and saw enough to know Cooley wasn't lying.
"I've heard," Cooley said, "that when both an innocent man and a guilty man are brought in by the police and put in a room, the innocent man will be stomping around the room, furious, unable to sit still; however, the guilty man will sit there very calmly, maybe even fall asleep because he knows he's been caught and can finally relax. Is that true? If so, great, I would love to get some sleep."
Colby and David weren't Cooley's only witnesses. Megan watched from the other side of the one-way glass. Ten minutes into his recitation of wrongdoings, she was joined by Don. She eyed the coffee cup in his hand but said nothing . It was only his second cup of the afternoon. If Don saw her glance, he said nothing.
"Nelson came and got me out of a meeting. How long has he been here?" Don asked.
"Not too long, he started about fifteen minutes ago." Megan told him.
Don sat down on the edge of the nearest table, confusion all over his face. "He just walked in and said 'I confess.'?"
Megan nodded. "He said you were the reason why."
"Me?" Now Don was totally confused. He set his cup of coffee down on the table and crossed his arms, his brow furrowed in thought.
Megan related the story of Cooley's appearance as she knew it and watched Don's expression shift from confusion to triumph.
"I don't believe it." Don shook his head. "Wait, where's his attorney?"
"M.I.A." Megan replied.
A slow grin spread across Don face.
"Don't say it." Megan told him.
"Don't say what?" he asked, innocence personified.
"Don't say, 'Gee, if this is what it took to get him to confess I'd have done it earlier'."
"I wasn't going to say that." Don said, annoyed that Megan had been able to read him so easily.
"Or any variation thereof. If you do, I will be forced to smack you and then tell Charlie."
He eyed her, trying to gauge just how serious she was.
She narrowed her eyes. "You really want to try me, Eppes?"
"All right. I won't say anything." He held up his hands in surrender. "Maybe I'm not the only one who should cut back on the caffeine."
She quirked an eyebrow at him but a knock on the door kept her from responding. "Come in." she said.
Nelson poked his head around the door, looked at Don. "That suspect of yours that I got you out of the meeting for, is his name Cooley?"
Don nodded.
"Well, his attorney is on his way up and he is pissed."
Megan moved toward the door but Don shook his head. "Let me spare you this little bit of fun." He stood up from the table and tossed the coffee cup into the trash and followed Nelson from the room.
Megan almost smiled. Life was slowly returning to what passed as normal for them.
Epilouge
It was not only the end of a long day but the end of a long, weird case. One Colby was more than happy to see come to an end. He slid the last page of his report into the Cooley file, stood up, collected his jacket and dropped the file on Don's desk. He shrugged into his jacket, said his goodbye's to the few remaining agents on the floor and headed for the elevator. If he was lucky and the traffic wasn't horrible, he might just make it home in time to get in a round of golf before the sun went down.
As he was reaching for the elevator call button, the elevator dinged, the doors opened and Alan Eppes, Don's father stepped off. He saw Colby and smiled.
"Mr. Eppes?" Colby asked, surprise coloring his voice. "Don left a couple of hours ago. After what happened, we're trying to get him out the door a little earlier."
Alan's smile widened. "Yes, I know. And boy, has he talked about it. Do you have a minute?"
Mystified but intrigued, Colby nodded. "Sure, follow me." Colby waved a hand toward the floor's break room. "Can I get you something?"
Alan took a seat near the door and shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something, closed it without saying anything, then opened it again. "I came to thank you."
Colby did not respond. He had a pretty good idea what Alan was thanking him for.
"From the moment Don told me he was applying to join the F.B.I., a sense of dread settled into the pit of my stomach and has yet to leave. I was terrified. I didn't want him getting himself hurt, getting himself killed and yet, I wasn't about to stand in his way by voicing my fears to him. So, I did what any good parent would do and kept my mouth shut." Alan folded his fingers together on the table in front of him. "Because I did that, I now know things that I would have never known otherwise."
Colby nodded.
"I know that I made the right decision. Don is very good at what he does and I'm very proud of that. I know that he expects the best from his team and doesn't accept it when they don't deliver."
Colby grinned. "You could say that."
"He gets that from his mother, by the way. I also know that every day he goes to work may be his last, but that his team will move heaven and earth to make sure he comes home at the end of the day and that he would do the exact same thing for them. So, thank you. Thank you for giving me a little peace of mind and letting me sleep a little easier at night. My son is very lucky to have you, all of you, looking out for him."
Colby waited a few moments to see if Alan would say anything else. When he didn't, Colby started to respond only to realize that he didn't know what to say. 'You're welcome, glad I could help' seemed woefully inadequate but he had to try.
"Mr. Eppes, I…I'm honored to work with someone like Don. I've learned a lot from him and I would do whatever I have to to protect him." Colby said, sounding ridiculously stupid to his own ears.
Alan nodded. "I understand. But, please, after all this, call me Alan."
"As long as you call me Colby."
END
