Dark Matter

4

Years

1.8 Million

Hazings

192

Rounds

6

Minutes

Don Eppes and Esperanza Eppes were having an early lunch before she had to return to class. She only had a few more classes before Christmas break and her Sabbatical started. She had decided she was going to work on a publication during the last few months of her pregnancy, which would allow her to be home relaxing more. It also made it so she would be paid her full stipend through her entire maternity leave rather than a reduced salary. After the January through June school semester was over she would be off for the summer as well allowing time to bond with her baby wince she only worked for nine months of the year according to her contract.

Don thought that that was brilliant and he was envious. He could never take off from work for six months to do anything like that.

"So, how is the planning coming?" He asked. "I know you and Susanne have been busy." He said as he then took a bit of the deli sandwich he had.

Espa smiled as she too took a big bite and then shrugged. "Well." She said after she has swallowed and slurped up a stray piece of lettuce. "I have our honeymoon reservations at the Ski Lodge in Yellowstone confirmed."

"What exactly are we going to be doing there again?" He asked.

She smiled. "Snuggling before a fire with hot chocolate, watching geysers from skis, enjoy ourselves for a week away from our family we have to tolerate for a whole day."

"I see. How do you ski there? I mean there are not any good hills…"

"Not downhill silly. Cross-country."

"I have never done that before."

"I did as a little girl. It will come back I am sure. Either that or we can snowshoe."

He smiled. "And the reception is when? Friday?"

"Yep. Tell the team they are expected to be there."

"Hey, if I have to be there, they have to be as my friends."

"You are the groom."

"And you're the bride, but I think it will be more fun for you."

"We will see." She said. She looked up behind him at a TV screen that had live news from the LA basin. "Oh my God." She gasped her hand going to her mouth.

He looked at her. "What is it?"

"There has been another school shooting…" She said looking down in horror.

"What?" He turned and saw the live footage of the kids on the run outside. He took a breath and then looked back at Espa as his phone rang.

"Columbine, Virginia Tech, and now this…it said there are eight dead and more than a dozen wounded…"

Don reached out and took her hand as he answered the phone. "Eppes." He said watching. "Yeah, I know. I am watching the news." He took a breath. "On my way." He shut his phone and looked at Espa. "You goin' to be all right?" He asked his voice concerned.

"Yeah. It's just that Lupe and Daddy are coming today. Welcome back to Los Angeles, huh?"

"Yeah, something like that." He kissed her gently before he started to walk to the door. "I will catch up later all right."

"Okay." She nodded and turned back to the TV.

Don went to the school and waited for SWAT to clear it. He then walked in as he took charge of the investigation smoothly. He ordered the evidence collected and a start of talking to the shaken kids.

The principal met him in the hall and told him that all the carnage had happened in just six minutes. Seven students had been killed and one teacher. Twelve more kids were wounded and at the hospital. The man was clearly in shock, but he went to get the lists of everyone there to help Don's team.

Megan had found one of the shooters near a closet. His clothing matched the descriptions of the shooters. There had been two. So it seemed a murder-suicide pack had gone bad. The boy was Paul Elins and he was a senior who had been absent that day.

Don walked into the closet where a girl was dead. Colby had found a backpack of the clothing in the trash. The second shooter just left with the crowd. Then came the worst part of the job for Don. The girl's cell phone rang and came up 'Dad'. After a moment of trying to decide what to do, Don picked it up and answered it. The man on the other line was shocked to be talking o a grown man. Then Don had to tell him the terrible news that his daughter was dead from a school shooting.

Looking into Paul Elins the kid was honor student and had received acceptance letters to half the Ivy League. However, the dark cloud had come when his parents divorced the year before. Disciplinary problems and depression had followed. He still needed a trigger though as a motive.

David found out the school IDs had a computer chip in them to track the movements of the kids using the same technology as packages. A bit Big Brother, but it seemed it would help them track student movements or at least help since it was not totally accurate because sometimes the kids left them at home or in the lockers. Still would narrow it down in the fifteen hundred kid school.

Don decided that they would use the information to track the students, but instead of they, he meant Charlie naturally.

He went home to track the 'Whiz Kid' down. He got there just as Espa pulled up and was levering herself out of her car. From the other cars there Amita and Larry were also there no doubt helping Charlie with some weird project.

He walked into the house taking some of Espa's load. Gretchen was at her heels walking along perfectly at heel to her mistress to the Eppes family home. Well, this home was becoming more like her home every day. Alan loved the little wretch and her antics as much as Don did.

Don opened the door and Gretchen jumped in and immediately went to the couch and jumped up where she had buried her last bone between the cushions. She dug a bit and found it stuffed under the back cushion and then started to chew it. Don just shook his head as he set Espa's things on the dining room table.

She disappeared after a quick kiss to her husband to go make the group some hot tea to sip on since it was a little chilly for LA.

Don walked into the garage holding some things he wanted Charlie to look at. "Hey." He said seeing Charlie, Larry, and Amita sitting around Charlie's chalkboards. He smiled a little to himself. Amita had been helping Espa with the reception planning too for seating. Espa and she had become fast friends and Espa had confided she was trying to fix up her and Charlie. Ah…his little match maker.

"Hmm. I got you thinking like a mathematician." Charlie said holding up some papers in evidence bags.

"Yeah, well…" Don said looking down as he sat on the table. He rubbed his head and sighed.

"However, I'm not too keen on your method. You see, there's a natural flaw in witness statements. And statistics show that memory is often unreliable." Charlie said walking about.

"Well, Charlie, that's all we got, so…" Don said standing up and looking at his watch.

Espa waddled in holding a tray with cream, sugar, and Splenda as well as five mugs of brewing tea. Don smiled at her as she set it down. She also had some Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies she had found in the freezer as a snack. Don loved the fact she out thought the need for brain food in discussions.

"Actually, you do have more than that." Charlie said.

"Neptune." Larry said from his perch on a stool before a chalkboard.

"Neptune? As in the planet?" Don asked looking men as Charlie moved to stand by Larry.

Espa gave Don his mug of tea with a spoon full of Splenda in it. He smiled a thank you as he listened to his brother and his mentor speaking.

"The discovery of Neptune occurred because scientists inferred its presence due to its gravitational force on other planetary bodies." Larry said.

Don's brow was knit as he listened trying to follow the parallel there. Espa sipped her tea and smiled as she touched it softly. He looked at her with an arched eyebrow.

She shrugged. "It's all Roman to me." She smirked and sipped her tea. He half smiled and sipped his own tea as the others took their own mugs.

"From the observable we can divine the unobservable." Amita said looking up from where she was working on her lap top.

"Right." Don said with a sigh and hr rubbed his head again.

"Remember that trick we did when we were kids?" Charlie asked.

Don cocked his head.

"The soap and pepper trick." Charlie said.

"Yeah, you have the pepper in the water, you put the soap in and the paper goes everywhere." Don said.

"Same principle. Except let's say the students are the specks pepper and the bar of soap are the shooters." Charlie said going behind them. Espa and Don turned to look at him. "The shooters arrive and just like the pepper, repelled in this case, by breaking surface tension, the students flee. They scatter in a predictable pattern."

"Yeah, how's that." Don asked sounding skeptical. Espa was listening too. Charlie's analogies were the only way his math made any sense to her.

"Using non-linear pursuit-evasion equations." Amita said behind them.

"Which is how predators pursue their prey." Larry said.

"Yeah, but wait you can see the soap." Don said looking at Charlie.

"Yeah. I mean aren't you trying to track something you can not see?" Espa asked.

"Here's the beauty of it." Charlie said. "Let's try this trick again, but this time with clear liquid soap. Now you can't see the soap, but the pepper behaves in precisely the same manner. It's just the same with out two students. Though they may be unobservable, it's the observable, the fleeing students, that will tell us not just how the shooters got into the school, but every single movement they made thereafter."

"That is interesting." Espa said. "Like a historian. You get the clues from what everyone said to deduce the past. Only you have to weed out everyone's bias when they are writing."

"Yeah, to a degree. Only we have the tracking system to help as well." Charlie said.

"Science, long may she reign." Espa said shaking her head with a smile.

Looking into the kids the team found that Elins belonged to a group of boys called the DMG, the Dark Matter Guild. It was a computer gaming group. The editor of the paper, Karen Camden did a profile on them a few months back and so they have the names of all the members. She was the other girl in the closet when the one girl was shot next to her.

Colby and David went to go talk to Greg Dietrich, the leader of the group of the gamers. He told them about the group. He told them about MMORPGs. They are massive multiplayer online role-playing games. The guild was in several of the RPG groups.

They questioned him about the shooting, which he claimed to know nothing about. However, he was sick with a 'cold' and seemed fine now. His parting words were that the DMG were gamers, not killers. He seemed appalled by what Elins did as well.

Megan went to Karen Camden's house. The girl was very shaken from seeing her friend killed, but tried to tell Megan that the DMG would not do something like this. She stayed in the closet afraid to move after nearly getting shot herself and watching Paul Elins die as well. She gave them a name. Justin Price. She did not care for him at all and he bragged about having a large collection of guns. He also talked about Columbine.

Megan, Colby, and David arrived back at the same time. Don was sitting in the war room looking at the crime scene photos.

Justin Price is a loner kid whose father is not in the picture and whose mother is away a lot. They found a picture of him with Paul Elins. The kid also had a juvie record. Seventy-seven kids who were supposedly absent, but they found forty-six of them were actually there.

Megan walked in with the ATF trace on the guns used. They belonged to John Price who is deceased, but Justin's uncle.

Charlie and Larry brought news that the first little bit they were able to find showed that the shooters came through the Southwest entrance of the school. According to the police report the Southwest metal detectors were down for maintenance, but the kids should not have known about that.

Larry recognizes the place where the picture was taken. It is an all night cyber café. The second shooter on the run would want to go somewhere comforting as a cyber geek and open all hours.

Don sent David and Colby to check it out. After clearing most of the kids out, they found him in the back room. He shot an automatic in an arch and then was taken down by the SWAT coming in the back door.

Don returned to his wife for the night, but left early the next morning. She was up already when he was done showering calling people to confirm for the reception in two days. They were renting tents due to the spotty rain.

Megan met with Don outside the building with news that that blood on Justin Price's boots matched the crime scene, but his weapons on him only matched two of the five kills he was supposed to do. So they had missing guns from the uncle's arsenal still to find and match. Don ordered surveillance on the other kids in the DMG to find the rest of the guns.

Charlie with Amita and Larry were trying to figure out why in their data some of the students were going back toward the shooters when they should have been running away.

Justin Price's mother came in to talk with Megan. She could not believe that her son did this. She also was not sure how to handle being the mother of a murderer who killed his fellow students. She also has no idea where the guns are because she asked her brother to get rid of them.

Charlie went to the school and re-walked the steps of Justin Price and found that it took twice the amount of time it should have. There was something missing and they needed to find out what.

Colby searched the storage locker that was rented in Justin Price's mother's name. She had no idea about it, but there was nothing there anymore. So the guns were still missing. They did find the security schedule for the school. Getting that would not be easy and yet the kid had gotten it. They also had downloaded blue prints of the school.

David had found and loaded a game they had found. It was like Doom, only more rough and the shooter was walking through a school shooting students. Justin Price had had it on his lap top and he was playing with Paul Elins the night before the shooting. A practice run? There were others playing as well, which disturbed them all the more.

Charlie came in with his lap top. He mapped the students' movements, but then he had more disturbing news from what he had found from the observable facts. There was a third shooter involved.

David and Megan returned to the school to get more information. The principal's hands were tied because of the parents of the rest of the DMG kids blocking the investigation into them with the courts.

Megan went to see Charlie at the school. After some words about the shooting and getting Charlie to look over public record data, Charlie and Amita made a quick exit. Larry asked Megan out for dinner.

Don left to pick up Lupe and Ysidro for Espa who was at a school meeting.

Ysidro smiled at him when they came out. "Good to see you, Don."

"You too, Dad." Don said taking his hand and then pulling him into a hug. He then saw Lupe grinning up at him.

He bent down and lifted her up in his arms. He grinned. "You have been growing a little, Munchkin." He kissed her cheek.

"Looks wet out there." Ysidro said looking out at the rain.

"Yeah, a little." Don nodded. He smiled and set Lupe down. He reached over and put his FBI jacket on Lupe who grinned. It was about six sizes too big, but she smiled at him.

"Thanks Don."

"Hey, I want it back." He grinned tousling her thick curls playfully. He pulled on his own jacket and handed Ysidro and umbrella. "You ready?"

"Sure." They said and they ran out into the rain. It was a downpour. Don laughed as little Lupe fell behind. He moved and picked her up, not minding the cool rain himself, and carried her to his suburban.

They arrived for dinner at the Eppes family home. It had stopped raining for the moment, but Don saw Lupe was wearing sandals. He picked her up out of the car ready to make a second trip back for the suitcases and things.

Espa came out with Alan. Both had big grins on their faces. Ysidro took Alan's hand and then hugged his daughter. They chattered in Basque a moment as Don stood back with Lupe hugging him.

Don finally set Lupe down on the steps. Espa smiled and hugged her sister before Alan laughed and picked the small girl up and carried her in. "I see you are now in the FBI." He said. "Good career choice." He said smirking back at his son.

Don went back and got the luggage and locked his car. He walked in and smiled as Alan had the two relax. Espa was standing her hands on her back watching. Don came up behind her and gently rubbed her back. "You, okay?" He asked.

"Yeah." She said with a smile.

Lupe went to her suitcase. She pulled Don's jacket off and gave it to him. "I have something to show you." She said with a grin.

Don cocked his head and squatted down beside her. She pulled out a denim jacket with her LA FBI patch sewn onto the left breast pocket. She grinned at him. "My favorite patch on my favorite coat."

He noticed all the other patches on the back and smiled. "That is cool, Munchkin. Come on, let's get some food, huh?"

She nodded and followed him to the table.

The next morning David and Colby found in the deleted school ISP files an e-mail warning the DMG kids about the shooting. It came from Gregory Dietrich's account.

Charlie was still working on the data. The route that shooter number three had taken was bizarre. Larry and Amita were puzzled by it as well.

Megan found that Gregory Dietrich had made a purchase of an evil twin kit that could hack into WI-FI networks and get sensitive data. That was how he got the information on the maintenance reports and the blue prints.

Colby and David went to pick up the kid. Gregory ran from them and ditched the bag he was carrying. David got the bag, Colby got the kid. They brought him in for questioning.

Don and Megan did the interview with Gregory's lawyer present. Gregory was found with a semiautomatic weapon. He shot off rounds in the woods, but he did not shoot up the school, but he knew what his friends felt how had. He was frustrated. He also admitted to having the blue prints for authenticity for his game. That disgusted Don.

Colby found out that his story that he did not send the e-mail checked out. He could not have sent it out while being in another place at the same time as the e-mail went out from a school computer.

Charlie goes into the FBI and shows that the shooter was not making regular patterns of shootings. Charlie put forward that a PDA was why. The shooter could have used one to track down specific students with the chip technology the school used for attendance. Megan also noted that the third shooter was letting kids by him. The skateboarder, the swim team captain and the quarterback all went down and the system would tell them where they were. The DMG had the capability and they had used it.

While Don spent time with his relatives that night, Larry and Megan went on their first date. Megan had called Espa to ask her what to wear. Espa had suggested a nice dress with her hair back. Megan did that. They ate at a Ethiopian restaurant on Fairfax and had a good time.

Don and Espa returned home after a night of last minute planning. He practically had to carry her to bed again. Tomorrow was the reception and he hoped the case would be over so his whole team would be able to join in and have fun.

At seven AM Don met Megan going into the building. He was shocked at the fact she and Larry went out, but her idea that they both doubt Gregory is the second shooter, and they should rather look at the victims' commonality and not the shooters, made sense to Don.

He asked Charlie to run it. The guys were all jocks or popular. They all were also at a party with Karen Camden. She has a connection to all the kids of the DMG. Suddenly pieces are falling into place. This explained why she was spared in the closet.

Megan found that Karen Camden had bought a WI-FI PDA three weeks before. That would allow her to trace where the kids were. Colby found that she had been at a hotel with Justin Price. Pretty girl could get a lot of things if she wanted if he was not used to it.

So Karen seduced Justin Price and talked him into breaking the murder-suicide pact with Paul Elins. She seems to almost be the mastermind of the whole affair pushing violent fantasy over the edge into reality, which is shocking only what was her motive?

The team dug deeper and found out all the guys shot were in a drug scandal and lost their scholarships before proven innocent. Karen Camden wrote the story on them.

Colby and Megan went to Karen Camden's home. They spoke to her mother who was convinced of her innocence. Then Karen came in and spoke that they all had raped her. The skateboarder had slipped something in her drink, the jocks took turns, and Becky had brought her there.

They arrested her for the murders she committed and then looked into trying to prove the rape. As it happened, the skateboarder had a picture of the rape on his phone of the only remaining jock alive that had been part of it.

Don sent them to go bring in the wrestling star. The kid tried to play if off as no big deal and that they had no evidence. They did and he tried to walk away before Colby took him down expertly. They arrested him and charged him with rape.

It was four PM. The team drove over to the Eppes home where people were already gathered, drinking and talking.

Don went into the house to read the paper and to change into his nice suit and tie. His team did the same and then went out and joined in.

Don listened at the window a moment as he heard a party game starting. The first question in the 'Newlywed Game' being hosted by Susanne Bosman was. "On your wedding night did Don wear his gun to bed with you?" There had been much laughter to that and even Don smirked.

Don walked down and picked up the paper that had just arrived. He looked at the front page where it talked about the three shooters.

"Where's Big Papa?" Charlie asked also wearing his best suit.

"Outside with the caterer." Don said with a grin.

"Ah, getting serious. What are you doing in here?"

"Trying to psyche myself up to going out and being with a bunch of people." Don said looking back at the paper.

"You never get enough?"

"Look, what do you want from me? I like seeing how they spin it, you know?"

Charlie went and dropped onto the couch. "You think anybody really knows how any of this stuff happens?"

"Definitely not." Don said shaking his head.

"I know that when I was in high school, I was so, uh, angst-ridden."

"Yeah. Well, I mean, you didn't shoot anybody."

"No, but there were days when I wanted to do, you know, real…real damage to, uh…" Charlie held up his fist and then looked down. "To you."

"To me?" Don asked looking up at him. "Hey, buddy, take your best shot." Don said. He then got up setting the paper down and grinning. "Come on."

Charlie laughed.

"Wait, I'll help you out. I'll get on my knees." Don said dropping down next to his brother as he stood up. Don grinned up at him. "Come on." He said putting up his fists playfully.

"I'm not a kid anymore." Charlie said.

Lupe came in having been sent to try to find Don and Charlie by Alan.

"All right tough guy, let's go." Don said seeing Lupe out of the corner of his eye. He grinned more. "Maybe we should step outside since there at ladies present." He said ready to play fight with his brother standing before him.

"All right. How about now?" Charlie asked putting his hand flat on Don's head.

"Let's go. Let's go." Don said playfully punching at Charlie, but stopping short of actually hitting him.

"How about now? Oh, there you go."

"Come on." Don jeered still playfully going. He reached higher and play slapped his brother's face.

"You ain't got nothing." Charlie said holding him back.

"All right, all right." Don said holding up his hands in surrender as Charlie lifted his own fists to play back. Don got up. "We have been sent for." He said nodding to Lupe who was grinning at them. He rose to his feet. "Hey, Munchkin."

She came over to him and hugged him about his waist. "Don." She laughed. She wore a pretty dress of light blue. He smiled and bent lifting her up into his arms. "Hi Charlie." She smiled as she leaned against Don's chest.

"Oh, I see big brother, has got you. Otherwise, I would have to tickle you." Charlie said lifting a finger.

She laughed and Don turned away running out toward the backyard sheltering her from Charlie's fingers. As they made an appearance everyone cheered and laughed.

Don looked over Lupe's head at his wife who was smiling at him and knew that he was happy and content having a wife, a baby on the way, and a little sister through marriage that he would not let date until she was older than he was now.