A/N - Sorry for the delay. R/L 'nuff said? :-)

Chapter Eleven

Charlie and Don decided that Amita didn't need to know what was found at her apartment until they had more solid information. Don reasoned that there was still the possibility that she had actually removed the page from the steno pad herself and simply not remembered doing so. The young woman needed to get a good night's sleep, if that were possible after such a brutal attack, and then she could go through her belongings that were recovered from the crime scene, which Officer Clement said she would bring to Charlie's house in the morning along with his cane. Perhaps the note from the steno pad was among them. Don glanced at his brother who looked almost as whipped as Amita and felt that Charlie could do with some uninterrupted sleep as well.

Amita had dozed off on the sofa and Charlie was reluctant to disturb her when they arrived home, but he knew that if he left her there her stiff neck would be even more sore the next morning. She needed the benefit of a decent night's sleep in a proper bed so he sat down on the edge of the sofa and gently stroked the side of her face until she opened her eyes.

"You should come upstairs and get some sleep. I'll stay on the couch for tonight."

This earned him a frown from Amita. "Why would you sleep on the couch?" she said in a broken voice. Her eyes traveled past his shoulder and caught sight of Alan sitting in the recliner doing a crossword puzzle and her cheeks reddened.

"I didn't want to crowd you, I know that you're sore and..."

Amita didn't care what Alan might have been thinking. It was obvious that even though his face was behind the folded newspaper, that he was listening to their quiet conversation. She raised her fingers to Charlie's mouth to stop him from speaking as she cleared her throat so that she could speak in a stronger voice than the horse whisper she had just managed.

"I don't care about being sore, you make me feel safe. Charlie, I need you to stay close to me tonight."

That was all Charlie needed to hear. He wanted to be close to her as well, but was unsure how she would react if he had just assumed. Alan stood silently and took the small suitcase up to Charlie's room as his son helped Amita to gain her feet. He escorted her up the stairs while Don and Megan moved off to the kitchen to discuss what had happened over at the apartment complex.

"It could still turn out that Amita simply flaked and left the door open, but I have a hinky feeling about all of this. Mariette will call as soon as the forensics on the lock is back."

Megan raised her eyebrows at the familiar way that Don referred to officer Clement but refrained from saying anything. She also agreed that saying anything to Amita until they had something a little more solid was not a good idea. That evidence arrived in the form of Don's cell phone chirping shrilly a few minutes later.

"Eppes."

Megan watched as Don's face grew more serious and a frown creased his brow.

"Okay, make sure the techs get pictures of the desk and the contents of the drawers. We will have to show them to Amita to see if anything is missing. Did you check Charlie's office? I'm guessing she had a key to his office as well."

Don's brow unfurled slightly and his features relaxed just a bit before he hung up the phone.

"I take it Amita's office was broken into?"

Don slipped the phone back into the holder on his belt and sat down at the table. "It wasn't like the apartment. The guy tossed the place. It was a mess. Papers and files were thrown all over the place."

"Charlie's office?"

Don sighed imperceptibly but Megan could see the relief in his eyes. "It looks like Amita really is the target here. I'm sure a key to Charlie's office was on that key ring, but they checked, and his office was untouched. Even so, I really want to have this place put under surveillance. Mariette will have a squad car patrol at regular intervals, but with this guy gunning for Amita; Charlie or even Dad could get caught in the crossfire. She needs proper protection and I intend to make sure she has it. Wright will be getting back to me by the morning, hopefully with the go ahead to assist the local department with the investigation."

Megan sat forward and made sure she had eye contact. "Until then we take turns watching the house tonight. You get some sleep, I have a feeling you're gonna need it, and since this is clearly about Amita and not Charlie, we can squeak by the conflict of interest issue."

"I need sleep about as much as the rest of you. We'll split this up into shifts. If you want to sack out in the spare bedroom I'll stay up down here until three then wake you and we can switch. I'm too keyed up to sleep right now anyway."

Megan agreed to this and Don took her upstairs and showed her into the spare bedroom making sure she had a fresh hand towel and wash cloth to use when he woke her for her watch sift. He checked on Charlie and Amita by peeking into the room before going back downstairs. He saw them both sleeping on their side with Charlie curled protectively around Amita. Don checked his weapon holstered at his side and turned to move back downstairs, not realizing that Alan had just stepped out of the bathroom and was watching him.

The older man didn't need to be a genius to see that something was wrong by the tense set of his eldest's shoulders and the fact that he was checking his weapon as though he was expecting to have to use it.

"I'll make a pot of coffee while you tell me why Megan is sleeping in your old bedroom and why you are preparing to sit watch half the night."

Don hadn't realized that his father had heard any of their conversation and Alan raised an eyebrow at him as they headed down the stairs. When they reached the bottom Alan spoke over his shoulder.

"I may be old but I'm not dumb or deaf. Even if I hadn't heard you talking with Megan about watch shifts I can plainly see that something else happened tonight. I have never seen you check your gun while inside this house. Is there something I should know about, Donnie?"

Alan walked into the kitchen with Don right behind him. He waited for an answer while he pulled the coffee down from the cupboard preparing to make a full pot.

"The man who attacked Amita, stole her keys. We think that he has been to her apartment and took a sheet off her notebook that had her parent's travel information. He definitely broke into her office and trashed it."

Alan put the coffee filters down and turned around looking genuinely alarmed by this. "Amita has keys to Charlie's office and this house! This guy could come here next! And judging by your behavior; you think that is at least a reasonable possibility as well!"

Alan's tone was becoming frantic which unnerved Don a little. His father had always been the rock of the family bringing calm reason to difficult situations.

"Dad, relax. Charlie's office was undisturbed; David and Colby checked that. It really does look like this guy is only interested in Amita. We have no idea if he even knows where Charlie lives nor do we have any reason to believe that he knows she is staying here."

Alan opened his mouth to object but Don cut him off with a raised hand.

"But - we aren't taking any chances. Megan and I are taking turns staying here at the house for tonight. Hopefully by tomorrow morning AD Wright will have spoken to Captain White at the Pasadena Police Department and we will have access to the case at least to provide protection for Amita, and by extension Charlie and you. Then I can get proper surveillance approved for the house."

Alan turned back to the counter to continue with the task of making the coffee but he couldn't help but stare out into the darkened back yard to see if anything was moving around in the shadows out there. The thought that someone capable of murder had keys to the house was not sitting well with him at all, and he doubted that he would get a wink of sleep all night.

"We will have to have the locks changed immediately."

"Charlie is gonna call a locksmith first thing tomorrow morning. Amita doesn't know about this yet, but she'll have to be told tomorrow. They are going to need her to look at pictures of her apartment and office to tell us if she thinks anything is missing. Her parents will be escorted from the airport when they land on Friday. We'll make sure that they are safe as well as Amita. Don't worry, Dad, we're gonna get this guy."

TBC

A/N - BTW we have a little more cannon on Amita's parents and I will fit that into my existing portrait of them.