Inner Peace

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

A/N: Thank you for your reviews and for all of your alerts.

Chapter 21:

The pilot circled the house and followed the access road around the fields until he came to the desert's edge. The helicopter hovered just above the fields, its mighty rotor blades fanning the fava bean plants and whipping them wildly to and fro.

The vast expanse of the Mojave Desert unfolded before the team's eyes, spreading out in all directions and with it came a sobering realization; the sheriff had been right, without a trail they didn't stand a chance in hell of locating their friends.

The silence in the chopper was palpable; with sinking hearts the agents could only gape at the visage before them, momentarily overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of their task. They had flown over the desert to get there of course, but then it had been to get to the farmhouse, the idea of having to search the desert had been a distant probability at best, but now it had become a reality and with it an overwhelming feeling of futility.

It was the pilot that finally broke the spell.

"Agent Sinclair?"

David coughed and found his voice. "Ah…yes?"

"Sir?" the pilot tried again. "What direction do you want me to take?"

The agent took a deep breath. "Direction…right?" Does anybody see anything…tracks or the truck?'

He received only negative responses from the agents and the three-man SWAT team seated within the chopper. The agent unfolded a map of the area and perused it carefully. After a few moments David raised his head and pointed toward the foothills.

"Thirty miles north is Hesperia but if we go south or east we won't hit any cities for at least seventy miles and west will take us back to the main road."

"The Mexicans would avoid any place where they might run into witnesses. " Nikki stated.

"Right." Colby agreed. "So we're talking south or east."

David nodded; decision made and turned to the pilot. "Take us south." he said, gesturing with the map.

The agent ordered the pilot to fly along the edge of the fields with hopes of spotting the trail of tire tracks. The odds were against it though; the tracks on the access trail had some protection from the wind by the plants, but out in the open, where the tracks were at the mercy of the wind, they would soon disappear, and with them, any chance of locating their friends and the little girl.

As if to remind them of its domain a sudden gust of wind broadsided the aircraft and buffeted it with sand giving them a small demonstration of its power; a warning to those who dared trespass in its territory.

Grimly, the team began to scour the desert floor.

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Halfway up the ridge Don had to stop and catch his breath; leaning wearily against the hillside for support. His shirt clung to him; sweat soaked from carrying Sammy and wearing the vest in the extreme heat. He pulled off his hat and wiped his forehead on his arm, hoping to cool off a little. Sammy raised her head and her arms loosened their hold around his neck.

"Don't…let…go sweetie." he rasped and began to fan both of them with his hat.

"O'kay." she said softly; tightening her hold again.

Don tried to slow down his rapid breathing and caught movement out of the corner of his eye; glancing sideways he winced as Charlie painfully edged his way over to them.

"How are… you doing?"

"Been…. better." Charlie responded breathlessly. "Are…you…okay?"

"Yeah….just winded."

Charlie looked upward, taking in the remaining trail to the ledge. "This…is…pathetic." he grumbled. "Any other…day…I would have climbed this, " he gestured weakly with his hand, "….in twenty…minutes flat."

"Any other day, " Don said bitterly, "we were both in better shape." His breathing was becoming steadier now and his body temperature was cooling down. Sammy didn't weigh much but the effort it took to climb combined with the heat was sapping all of his energy.

Charlie leaned against the hillside to relieve the pressure on his injured leg. The bandage appeared to be holding but his bare leg was already turning pink from the short exposure to the sun. He closed his eyes and kneaded the back of his neck in an effort to relieve a painful headache that was keeping in time with the throbbing of his leg. He opened his eyes to face the worried gaze of his brother.

"I'm okay Don." he said. "We need to go on."

"All right." Don agreed reluctantly. "We'll rest again when we get to the ledge." He sighed heavily and put on his hat. "Hold on tight Sammy."

It was a slow process, both brothers determined to reach the top despite the continuing downward spiral of their physical strength. Finally, after an interminable length of time, they neared the ledge but their relief was short lived; they had forgotten about the small rubble of stones that lay just in front of the overhang and as Don stepped forward he slipped and began to slide backwards.

The agent tried to yell out a warning but Charlie was following so closely behind him that he slid into his brother before he could get the words out. Charlie grunted in surprise and began to slide himself; the pole slipping from his grasp to roll end over end down the hillside. He frantically clutched at the shrubbery in a desperate attempt to halt not only his descent but Don and Sammy's as well. Finally, he was able to wedge one foot between two roots and brace the other against a rock. He pushed against Don's hip with one hand and clutched a small bush with the other; gritting his teeth, as he dug in to hold on while Don tried to pull himself up. His brother's foot slipped and slammed against his injured leg forcing a cry of pain to escape his lips.

"Hurry….I….can't hold on….much…longer." he pleaded as one foot slipped down a little.

Don strained to grab the root of a Joshua tree and almost sobbed with relief when he felt his hands close around it. "Got…it….hold...on Charlie." he grunted as he pulled himself upward; sweat beaded on his forehead and the veins in his neck were bulging from the force of his struggle.

"Grab…my…ankle." he managed to gasp out.

Charlie grabbed his ankle with one hand and pulled himself up with the other and as soon as he could get a good foot hold on the hillside he let go and slowly, inch by inch, he followed Don up to the ledge. Finally, on hands and knees, he crawled onto the overhang and collapsed to the ground next to Don and the little girl.

The agent unbuckled his belt, releasing Sammy, and shrugged out of the hot vest before slumping to the ground. His eyes flickered briefly toward his brother as his vision started to blur and he surrendered to his physical exhaustion. Don closed his eyes and lay flat on his back fighting against the pain running through him; it was as if every muscle in his body was on fire and he fought to control it, unwilling to succumb to the darkness that was closing in around him.

Wide-eyed and frightened, Samantha sat down between them, not sure what she should do next. The sound of the brother's rapid and ragged breathing resonating around the small area was scaring her even more. Close to tears and needing to feel safe she rested a hand on each of them to convince herself that they were okay.

Charlie rolled over on his back and patted Sammy's knee to try and reassure her; unable to speak as a sharp pain shot up his leg. He could feel something warm flowing from the gash and his fingers jerked back from the tender skin around the wound. His face screwed up in agony and he closed his eyes; waiting for the spasm to subside and return to the dull throbbing he had become accustomed too.

After a while Don stirred and pushed himself up. Still shaky from the strain of the climb, he stretched out a trembling hand to push Samantha's hair away from her face. "You okay sweetie?" he asked gently.

Still frightened, she climbed into his arms and he rubbed small circles on her back to calm her down. "It's okay now," he whispered softly, "we'll just rest a little bit before we go home."

His eyes fell on the prone figure of his brother, noting the pale face and pinched features and then drifted to the wound on his leg. The bandage around it had turned red and a small trickle of blood was trailing down his bare leg.

"You're bleeding again Charlie." he said unnecessarily as he lifted Samantha from his lap and sat her down next to his brother's head.

Charlie rolled his head to the side and met his eye briefly before sighing and pushing himself up on his elbows.

"I know." He mumbled, pulling himself up to a sitting position.

"Let me have the bag, I need to put a new bandage on it." Don's brow furrowed with worry as he studied the blood soaked rag wrapped around his brother's leg.

"Yeah….sure."

Charlie pulled the bag over his head and handed it to him before scooting backwards. He pressed his back against a boulder and looked around as the little girl scurried over to sit beside him. Charlie put an arm around her and tried to ignore the ache in his leg that seemed to intensify as Don removed the old bandages. He swallowed hard and looked away when his brother poured the remainder of the open water bottle over the wound.

"This isn't really a ledge, it's more like an overhang." he said in a shaky voice, trying to focus on something besides his injury. "And it's closer to the top than we thought."

The area was five feet across and resembled a small plateau with several boulders along the edge of the ridge providing a safe haven for climbers.

"Here." His brother said, offering him their last bottle of water.

Don pulled the remaining pieces of his jacket lining from the bag and wrapped it around the wound; pausing momentarily when Charlie drew in a sharp breath from the pain. He finished up, hoping that the dressing would last long enough to for them to get to a hospital.

"Sorry buddy." he muttered apologetically.

"It's okay." Charlie mumbled as he opened the water bottle and took a small sip before passing it to Sammy only to pull it from her lips a few seconds later after she had started to gulp it down.

"Want mowe." she said pleadingly, stretching out her hands for the bottle.

"I'm sorry Sammy, but we have to make it last." Charlie said thickly, as tears spilled down her cheeks. He looked away with difficulty and handed the bottle back to his brother.

Don had finished with his leg and was stuffing the old bandages back in the bag; careful not to leave any evidence behind.

"Is there a clean cloth left in there?" Charlie asked quietly. "Something that Sammy can use to wipe her eyes with?"

Without a word, Don took a drink and rummaged through the bag. "I think this will work." he said handing a small piece of cloth to the little girl. "Put it in your pocket when you finish, that way you'll have it if you need it again."

She wiped her eyes and blew her nose; looking from brother to brother and put the rag in her jeans pocket.

Don plopped down on her right side, keeping her safely between them. They had both taken on the duty of guardian for the little girl and although they had never discussed it, it had become a regular routine for them too make certain that she was always sitting between them, protected on both sides.

Sammy sniffed and lifted her head. "Hungwy Uncle Donnie. Can I please have a cookie?"

"Of course you can sweetie. " Don replied, immediately reaching into the bag to fulfill her request.

He handed her the cookie and got a smile for his efforts. She had him wrapped around her little finger, and he knew it too, but with those bright blue eyes and that little smile there was simply no way that he could ever say no to her.

"Ah…..Donnie." Charlie choked out; not even trying to hide his laughter. His big tough FBI brother had gone completely soft at the hands of a little five year old girl. "Can I have a cookie too?"

Don's head came up. "Yeah, sure." He said a little embarrassed, offering the cookie bag to his brother.

Charlie waved his hand dismissively. "That's okay, I've changed my mind. We better save them for Sammy."

"What? " Don asked, noticing the mischievous look in his younger sibling's eyes.

"Nothing." Charlie answered with a lopsided grin. "I wonder what Dad would say if he could see the besotted look on your face right now. "

"What does that mean?" Don asked suspiciously but was relieved to see some of the pain disappear from his brother's eyes.

"Only that after one look he would probably expect to see those grandchildren that he keeps talking about make an appearance pretty soon."

"Ha, ha Charlie. What about you?" Don grinned, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "It looks to me like Uncle Charlie is pretty smitten himself."

Charlie looked skyward and rolled his eyes. "Any who," he said changing the subject. "I think that we should probably get started again, don't you?"

Don agreed and stood up to stretch his back. "Listen, stay here for a minute, I'm going to go and check out the top of the ridge and see what it looks like on the other side" He hurried up the trail. "I'll be right back." He called out over his shoulder as he disappeared from view.

Charlie nodded tiredly and dropped his head back against the rock. He closed his eyes and draped an arm protectively around the little girl as he absently rubbed his injured leg. Sammy started to hum while she ate her cookie and he cocked his head, puzzling out the tune.

"You're singing our song again, huh?" he said teasingly.

She shook her head and grinned around her cookie. "Put one... foot in... fwont ..of the othew."

"You'll have to teach that song to me and Uncle Donnie when we get back home, if it's okay with your Mommy and Daddy, of course."

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"Desert 2 to Desert 1. Come in. Over." The radio crackled loudly in David's ear.

They had traveled south for thirty minutes without finding any sign of the missing truck and had turned east with hopes of locating it there.

David turned his head to his mike. "Desert 1. Go ahead."

"The wind has covered up most of the tire tracks , so far we can't tell which direction they took." Kinsey reported.

"Roger that." David responded, dispiritedly,

"We have found something of interest though. Over."

"What did you find? Over."

"When we couldn't find the tire tracks we started checking along the edges of the fields and we found some footprints. Two sets to be exact and they're coming out of the onion field. Over."

"Do they match the boot prints from the crime scenes? Over."

"Negative. One set looks like they could be sneaker tracks, the other looks a lot like treads of our own FBI issued boots. Forensics is on their way out. Over."

For the first time that morning David shared hopeful looks with his agents.

"Maybe Don and Charlie got away and Martinez and Chavez are chasing them." Colby said in a hopeful tone of voice.

David nodded his head in agreement. "Can you tell which direction the tracks are going in? Over."

"The sheriff says they could be heading for the foothills. Over."

David's brows knitted together. "Why the foothills? Over."

"Hesperia is just over the right lower ridge. If it's Agent Eppes and his brother they might be trying to find help. Over."

Liz leaned forward. "If it is Don and Charlie, why wouldn't they have taken the road? It would have been safer than walking across the desert."

Colby shook his head slowly. "Not if they thought that there was a good chance that they would be discovered."

"But they wouldn't stand a chance on the desert without supplies." Liz argued.

"There was a half empty box of groceries and an empty cooler back at the house." Nikki said, her eyes lighting up. "What if they took some supplies with them?"

"Stand by Desert 2." David ordered and leaned forward.

"Let's run this scenario. Suppose they knocked out Don and Charlie and tied them up in the basement."

"That would account for the spots of blood. There wasn't enough of it there to indicate a major wound." Liz tossed out.

"Chavez and Martinez tie them up and then realize that Don is a Federal Agent."

"So they decide that they'll have to kill them." Nikki added to the mix.

"Right." David said. "But first they have to get rid of the traceable evidence, anything with a GPS chip that we can track them with."

Colby picked up his thought. "Don and Charlie are out cold, tied up and not a threat so they take the car and ditch it, intending to come back later and finish them off."

Liz leaned forward excitedly. "Right, only our guys wake up and get loose, find the little girl, and escape before the Mexicans get back."

They were all grinning now, enjoying this scenario a lot better than their previous one.

"Desert 1 to Desert 2. Over."

"Go ahead Desert 1. Over."

"We think that Don and Charlie managed to get the little girl away from the Mexicans and are trying to get her to Hesperia. We're heading back to your location, stay where you are until we get there. We'll use that spot as our starting point and fly straight to the foothills. You guys can follow the same path by land. "

"Roger that Desert 1. We'll wait for you. Desert 2 Out."

David eagerly turned to the pilot and soon they were heading back to the farm. Twenty minutes later they were hovering over the other search vehicles. Together they set out toward the foothills but the helicopter quickly out distanced the ground vehicles as its occupants anxiously scanned the desert floor.

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Charlie's head came up in surprise when Don suddenly came crashing over the top of the ridge. The agent was in such a hurry that he craned his neck to look behind him to see if he was being chased by something. The young professor watched with concern as his brother stumbled and slid his way back down the trail.

Panting and out of breath, the agent landed on the small ledge, scrambling over to the boulder that Charlie and Sammy were sitting against. Don leaned over the rock, eyeing the desert behind them with his pocket binoculars. He had let his guard down, he realized; with no visible signs of pursuit, he had allowed himself to relax a little. The agent steadied his hand and followed the dust cloud of a fast moving vehicle; a truck that was heading straight for them.

"Charlie." he said tensely.

Alarmed by his brother's behavior he quickly took the hand that Don was offering and came painfully to his feet. He pushed the pain aside when Don handed him the binoculars.

Charlie's heart sank at the sight and he shared a worried look with his brother before turning back to watch the truck. Don covered his own eyes with his hand to cut down on the glare so that he could see better himself.

The young mathematician looked through the glass and swallowed hard. "Don, at the rate they're moving…"

"Yeah, I know." Don interrupted. "We've got to get going."

Curious, Sammy took a bite of her cookie and stood up, moving around Charlie while the brothers were busy talking. She was eager to see what they were looking at and the open ledge on the other side of him gave her an excellent view. She wandered dangerously close to the edge and mimicked Don's movements by putting her hand up above her eyes; pretending that she was Pocahontas from one of her favorite Disney movies.

Suddenly she lost her balance; the cookie falling unnoticed to the ground. Her arms wind milled at her side, and she cried out in terror as she teetered on the edge.

TBC