Toxin

375,000
Medications

675
Billion dollars

4
Drugs

1
Manifesto

Don Eppes pulled up at the house with his team member Colby Granger. He owed the man a meal for a bet and Colby had asked not to have food bought, but to have some of Espa's home cooking. He had had some when she brought in food for everyone on the team, which was about once or twice a month these days. Colby and David were always hoping for more.

Don walked in and set his keys down. Something was cooking and it smelled good. "Hello?" He called. He noted Zephyr was not in her sling. There were cars here. He pulled off his suit jacket and walked into the backyard.

There was song playing that was Middle Eastern sounding. Don stepped out with Colby right behind him. Susanne was over at the house. She and Espa were working on some dance moves. Both were dressed in belly dancing outfits, Susanne's was green and Espa's was blue. Colby blinked as Don walked to his father who was sitting in the shade with Zephyr on a blanket. The baby looked up at her father and laughed at him. He smiled and dropped to a knee on the blanket and lifted her up.

Espa went over to the staring Colby. She smiled and as the beat changed his hips dropped to her hips and moving ab-muscles. She came up to him and smiled. She pushed a hand up under his chin to clap his mouth shut that had been open. He was startled and seemed not to have noticed. She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Hi Colby." She said and then turned away and moved back to Susanne who had contorted herself into a bridge shape with her body arched. Espa smiled at Don and blew him a playful kiss.

Don looked at Colby and felt his jealousy and anger flare a bit, but the man was young, unmarried, and Espa had started flirting with him. He sighed and watched as the girls stopped as the song ended.

Espa moved from her position and went to the blanket as Susanne coughed a little and went to her bag to get a drink of water and her inhaler. Espa dropped beside her husband. "Hello." She smiled at him.

Colby came over. "So…Espa….Mrs. Eppes…uh, wife of my boss." He said seeing Don's look that was cast at him for calling her by her nickname. "Belly dancing seems to be your talent." He smiled. "No one would ever have guessed you gave birth two and a half months ago."

"One of them." Don agreed. He rocked his baby. He stood up and thrust the small child at Colby to take as he came to his wife and kissed her. Men would be men and he was laying claim to that, which was his.

Colby held the baby out from him. He had not idea what to do with her. Alan smiled. "If you hold her closer she will not squirm in your hands like that. Colby did as he directed and the baby settled against him.

"What brings you two here?" Espa asked.

"A bet. Don bet me I could not get a file finished in an hour. I won and hence I get the best lunch this side of the Oregon border." Colby said.

Don looked a little sheepish. He looked over and saw Susanne on her knees choking. He walked to her. "You all right?"

"Can't…breath…" She gasped.

Don gently reached for her inhaler, but she fell to her side and began to shake all over. Don gasped and rolled her gently to her side to avoid her head cracking against the pavement. That CPR and First Aide class was bound to pay off at some point he had known.

Colby swung into action. "I will call an ambulance." He handed Alan the baby as he reached for his cell phone.

Espa came over to Don. "Is she breathing?"

"No…" He said. "Not that uncommon with seizures."

"I know." She said. Susanne moved about for another minute before she stopped. A second later her breathing restarted with a gasp and cough. She was unconscious, but she was breathing. Espa lifted the inhaler. It was her over-the-counter med she took when there was too much pollen in the air.

Don took a breath and let her relax to the ground. He reached for his phone. "What is her husband's name and phone number?"

"I…376-555-2453." She said. "He is at work. His name is Ron Heron."

Don nodded as he typed in the number. The phone rang. "Yes, sir, I know you do not know this number. I am Don Eppes, Espa Eppes' husband. Yes, the one who works for the FBI…No that is my brother, anyway sir, you need to come down to St. Luke's hospital. There is a problem…No, your wife sir. She collapsed and had a seizure. We have paramedics on the way…good we will see you there." He said hearing the faint sirens in the distance. He looked at Colby as he put his phone back on his belt.

NUMB3RS

Espa stayed at the hospital when Don was called off to Mount Sinai to check on a death. It was spooky because the doctors at the NIH believe it is product tampering. Four people have died from seizures and apparent stroke in a little over two weeks. Don got a call from Espa telling him that the Susanne was stable in ICU, but it was touch and go. So they had five victims. He had seen her over the counter medicine she had taken just before. Just like the other victims.

The poison was Primalect, a pain reliever. The killer poisoned drugs with another. Worse the medications tampered with were a nasal spray, a cough suppressant, and three inhalers called Truften. All were bought at different pharmacies.

Don went to pick up Espa. Susanne's family had come a couple hours before and Espa was alone in the waiting room waiting for him. It was not the same when a victim of a crime was close to you.

In morning brought information about the drug Primalect. It was found to cause strokes and arrhythmia and was still allowed to go to clinical trials. After clinical trials everyone with a medical certification could get it.

Megan does not think the killer meant to kill. With a syringe putting it in it took careful thought and it would only harm a few people, not everyone. He could have used strychnine, cyanide, or any of more than a few hundred toxins known. She thought the person was trying to communicate.

Charlie comes in and agrees. He is sending a message with four different drugs and the poisoning with Primalect is the key to the riddle.

David and Megan went to talk to Graybridge Pharmaceuticals who made the Primalect and also made the three contaminated products. The CEO denied involvement and did not take well to Megan threatening him with exposure in the media if they were stonewalling the FBI.

NUMB3RS

Don came home from work about eight-thirty. He went upstairs after giving Espa a kiss to see his sleeping daughter before he came back down. He had not seen her at all today and he missed her. Espa had fixed him a quick dinner and then he and sprawled on the couch to read his files on Graybridge that David and Megan had found for him. Charlie was sitting grading papers as was Espa. She had given quizzes and she was reading through them as she sat on the floor beside Don. Alan sat in his easy chair doing a crossword.

Don sighed and rubbed his face as he set the files in his lap and put on leg up. Espa sighed and reached behind her and caressed the thigh of his leg. She leaned her head back to look at him. "Stressed my love?" She asked.

"The guy's poisoning over-the-counter drugs and…and we're keeping quiet because the manufacturer convinced us to." He said. He looked at his wife and sighed again. "I mean, boy, if that doesn't say something."

"About?" Charlie asked looking up.

Espa's head rolled forward to look at him.

"Corporations, their influence." Don said as he tucked up his other leg so it was flat against the couch. Espa leaned her head against his knee gently to have contact with him. She had not liked having only a phone call through the day and now even at home he was working.

"You know, research costs a lot of money." Alan said looking up from his puzzle. "Without companies with resources, you can't get any development."

"And that makes it right?" Espa asked.

"I agree, so what, you think it's okay for someone like Graybridge to sell drugs that are potentially harmful to people?" Don asked as he touched his wife's neck affectionately.

"No, I'm saying nothing is completely safe." Alan said. "You know, peanuts can kill some people. And if that were the standard to releasing drugs then you wouldn't have any drugs, prescription or otherwise." He looked down. "Okay, eight-letter word for, uh, egotistical."

"Conceited." Charlie said looking up.

"Conceited is a nine-letter word." Alan said looking at him.

"C-O-N-C-E-T-E-D." Charlie said.

Espa looked up at Don who was smirking. "Don is right Charlie. You can't spell. I mean, I am not great, but…"

"Does he tell you everything?" Charlie asked her. Don smirked as he looked down at his paperwork. "I mean, you know more about me than a sister-in-law should."

"Oh yes anomaly as come up several times. A-L-Y not O-L-Y." She smiled. Don chocked a laugh at that. She swatted his thigh gently to get him to stop. "We are married you know." She leaned back and pursed her lips in a kiss to her husband who smiled and shifted so he was sitting straighter. He stretched the leg that had been up out on the couch. Espa still was leaning against his knee.

She looked at her father-in-law. "It is Arrogant. A-R-R-O-G-A-N-T. Eight letters." She said looking back at her test, smiling as she did so.

Alan looked down. "Oh. Thanks." He wrote it in and looked at his younger son. "Another person might think that our educational system has failed you completely, Charlie." He removed his glasses. "You see in urban engineering, every time you build a bridge it destroys someone's property." He said as Don looked up at him listening. "Every bypass hurts someone's business. I mean, you know that going in. You just have to weigh the benefits against the risks, and hope to hell that you're doing more good than harm." He put his glasses back on.

"I don't buy that. I mean, there's got to be something we can do. You know, I mean, if it were one drug, believe me, we would put out a…a public warning, but the thing is, how do you warn against random attacks?" Don asked as he shrugged.

"Well, there's random and…and then there's random." Charlie said looking up.

Three sets of eyes looked at him. "The difference being what?" Alan asked speaking for the minds of his elder son and daughter-in-law.

Charlie stood up. "Here, give me that." He said reaching for the paper.

"Pencil, pencil." Alan said.

"Okay. Here we have a stream of information, right?" Charlie said sitting down on the table. "A string of letters. Okay, so what is it? Okay it's S-T-E. All right, so what's the next letter?" He asked.

Alan put on his glasses and reached for the paper to read. "Well, uh…Well, that depends on seven-letter word for a ciliate protozoan."

"Dad, ignore the clue." Charlie said.

"Ignore the clue?" Espa asked.

"Well, it could be anything." Alan said sitting back stuttering. "It could be, uh, stencil, uh, steeple, uh stellar, uh…It could be anything."

"Not anything, Dad. Just…just a lot of things. See, absent other information, clues, we really…we…we don't know what the next letter's gonna be. But since there are letters that are more likely to be the next letter in the sequence than others, like A or E, or like R…"

"I see what you're saying." Don said sitting up. He shifted his legs to the side of Espa as she looked from Charlie to Don and back. "So it's not completely random."

"It's called information entropy. See you're bounded by the alphabet. Twenty-six possibilities."

"In English." Espa pointed out.

"Further bounded by the inventory of the English language. So what is our prisoner's boundaries?" Charlie said.

Don rose to his feet to start his normal pacing that he did when he was deep in thought. "Right. Well, I mean, he only messed with Graybridge's drugs."

"So that's one boundary. Okay. Now, you might make geographical assumptions as well right?" Charlie said. "I mean, it's not likely he's going to jump on a plane to Idaho for the next attack."

"Why does all the bad crap in this town happen because of people from Idaho?" Espa asked looking at Don.

"It would help if your state had gun registration and was not home to anti-government neo-Nazis." Don said smiling at her.

"Yeah, you 're still casting a very wide net." Alan said bringing the conversation back to the relevant topic at hand.

"Can you narrow it down using your entropy thing so that we could pinpoint where he might hit next?" Don asked.

"Well, given the limited data set you're talking about, all the work I have to do, I mean, it's not like I can just, you know, whip up a magic formula for every single problem, you know." Charlie said as he stood up. His brother had sat back down with his legs to either side of his wife. His hands lost themselves in her hair.

"Sucks to be a professor don't it." Espa said.

"Well, that's not what you said last Friday." Alan said with a smile.

"Yeah, well, he did have a couple of beers in him, so…" Don said.

Espa looked up from where Don was playing with her thick tresses. "What did you boys do that I don't know about? I mean, you were supposed to be watching the game and Zephyr."

"Actually, it was four beers." Charlie said.

Espa gasped, but Don tousled her hair over her face. She sighed. "Well, I know Don can handle his beer and he never has more than two…" She said. She sighed. "At least someone was caring for my child while her uncle got drunk…"

"I was not drunk. And, uh, it's stentor." Charlie said dropping into the seat again.

"What? What is stentor?" Alan asked.

"Ciliate protozoan." Charlie said smiling.

Alan looked at his puzzle and then back at his son in surprise. Espa heard a cry from the monitor on the table. Don retracted his hands from her hair after completely messing it up. She stood up using his leg as a brace. She then flipped her hair forward and then backward. She smiled at him and then walked to the stairs.

NUMB3RS

Morning had Megan and Colby went over the video surveillance footage from the pharmacies to see if they could catch the prisoner. So far just a lot of shoplifters.

Don came in from a meeting with Assistant Hodges that had told him that they were treating the case as an serious extortion case so they could keep a press release out of the picture.

David walked in with a free daily called Melrose Outrage that the prisoner had tipped. He called it the Toxic Manifesto part one of ten. It lists all the drugs that had been tampered with and he will tamper with. The guy got tired of them looking for him.

Don and Megan went to lunch and talked about the Toxic Manifesto on the way back to the office. The details in the paper are very specific. The FDA cleared Primalect for clinical when they knew it was unsafe because of reports on the frequency of strokes and heart attacks. The FDA went along with Graybridge anyway.

Colby and David were sent to go to the Outrage's base, which happened to be a dive bar. They discover a man tearing up an office looking for something and he has a gun. His is cuffed and Colby talks to the editor who had the whole document hidden away. The man with the gun was Yardley, a man working for Graybridge. He also had a permit for the gun and he was investigating leads for the company.

NUMB3RS

Espa had just finished her class on Islam and Nationalism and had wandered to find Charlie for lunch. They had grabbed it and walked back to his office. He had eaten quickly and started to grade again as she went to pump her breasts for her baby to nurse while she was at home with Gwen or Alan during the day.

The she set about eating her cottage cheese and tomato slices with grapes and cheese. She sat on the floor with the tray on her knees. She had a bottle of unsweetened tea on it as well.

Charlie was grading papers. She had finished in the morning before he class. She took a sip of her tea.

They both looked up as there was a knock on the open door. "Young Eppes, your very own copy of th Toxic Manifesto. Unabridged." Don said stepping in and handing his brother the large file. He smiled at his wife. "Hello, Shorty Eppes."

"That is Mouse, thank you." She hissed at him as she bit into a tomato slice. "You're tall from down here."

"I am tall next to you anyway. Now it is three feet instead of one." Don bantered back.

"Okay." Charlie said as he flipped it open. He rifled through the pages and looked up at his elder brother. "Uh, we've quiet clearly established that English is not my forte, but, Don, this looks like gibberish to me."

"It's only two hundred and nineteen pages, but Megan says it goes to motive, so I'm thinking it might be helpful with your information theory thing." Don said.

"Information entropy." Espa said from the floor around a mouthful of cottage cheese.

"Hmm. The entropy angle is…is a blunt instrument, but if I could just…If I could refine it with his intent…" Charlie sighed.

"There you go. Now you're in gear." Don praised.

Espa threw a grape at his shoe. He looked at her. "Don't be so patronizing to the kid."

"Kid? You call him kid, and I am patronizing?" Don said.

"The thing is, uh, I've got papers to grade and classes to teach." Charlie said.

"A professor's work never ends Charlie. You just need a little time management." Espa said.

"They guy killed four people and has one in the hospital and says there's gonna be more, so I know you're busy, but…" Don sighed.

"I…I understand." Charlie said and sighed.

A soft knock cause the three to turn to the door. "Larry. How are you?" Don asked.

"Larry? What's up mi amigo?" Espa asked raising her hand, but not looking at him as she took another bite.

Don clapped his shoulder gently. "Don. Espa. I'm very well, thank you. Charles, can I pick your brain?"

Don squatted down and stole his wife's tea bottle and took a large drink from it as she started to protest and then sighed. She cocked her head and offered him a grape. He smiled and opened his mouth. She put it against his lips and he grinned at her and stole the grape bunch. He stood up and took a step back knowing she could not move because she would risk spilling everything.

"You're more than welcome to whatever scraps my brother leaves behind." Charlie said as Don rejoined them eating the grapes. Don made a face as he plucked another grape and ate it.

"Toxic Manifesto." Larry said reading over Charlie's shoulder. "Hey, hey, can I see this, please?" He asked stealing it from Charlie's lap. "This is about the…the medicine scare."

"Yeah." Don said. He sighed as though he were debating whether to allow Larry to read the paper.

"Yeah, 'cause the news was vague. It sounded like it was a…a hoax, urban myth, or something." Larry said.

"More like something." Don said. "I mean, The Outrage is retracting, Graybridge is denying, and the word for me on high is not to encourage an irrational panic." Don said making quotation marks with his fingers to say the last two words.

Espa was doing her normal bit of listening and blending into the background.

"Well, should there be a rational panic?" Larry asked him.

"Yeah, well that is the question." Don said. His cell rang and he picked it up. "Excuse me." He opened his phone. "Eppes."

It was Megan who had been doing checking into the phone records from the Outrage. Someone called them from Sibley and he was the guy who had sent the Manifesto. She had called Sibley and found out the postman remembered the man was black.

The area is familiar to the federal agents because seven months before Bob McHugh, a local rancher who sold tainted beef had killed a federal officer after a three day stand off. McHugh is on the run, but the black man was asking about McHugh.

NUMB3RS

Colby and David drive up to Sibley and it makes Colby a little homesick for Idaho where he grew up. Once in Sibley, they meet up with Edgerton, whom Colby heard about, but had never met. They have a talk about McHugh and the local people. Edgerton had been up there three weeks and remembered the black man. He also drew them a picture of the man they wanted to locate a name.

Larry met up with Megan in the hallway of the FBI office to talk to her about the Manifesto. He was stunned by the man's chemistry skill that sent him back to his textbooks. He also suggested they look for a man with a degree in advanced chemistry.

Megan then looked up people with a higher education in chemistry and matched it to Edgerton's sketch. She got Mark Brott. He was fired and he sent papers telling Graybridge that the medicine was not safe. He also states in the Manifesto that he is looking to find an ally with McHugh. It is a strange person to look for, but there has to be a common factor.

Colby and David pull up the pharmacies. They are nearly in a line except for Susanne Bosman. She is no where near the other grouping. They are left to puzzle over that for a while.

NUMB3RS

Espa walked quickly through the office. She was out of breath as she leaned against the war room door. Don walked to her. "What is your hurry?" He asked.

"I just got information for you. Ron told me that her inhaler interacted with a medicine she was already taking. It mimicked the symptoms, but that was why she lived. Hers was a drug problem, not a person being poisoned by a drug in another drug." She said.

Colby looked up at the board. "And if we take her out of the equation then all the others line up heading strait to Sibley. I don't think he is coming back."

"Yeah, looks like he wants to find McHugh." David said.

"Is she okay?" Don asked knowing the woman was his wife's best friend.

"Yeah. Looks like she will be." She nodded.

NUMB3RS

Megan and Don watched the news footage from the barricaded McHugh. On the day before McHugh shot the federal officer, a news team got in a camera phone. McHugh denied the claims and pointed out that he had eaten his beef his whole life and he was fine.

Then within hours he shot the negotiator and when the fire fight erupted he managed to get out into the woods and on the run.

David and Colby find that Mark Brott hit four for four of the pharmacies.

NUMB3RS

Don came home with many maps. He went into the garage to plan out a search grid. Espa sat with a cup of hot tea watching him as she sat, legs folded like a butterfly with her elbows braced against them.

Alan and Charlie came home and they discussed the area. Charlie points out that McHugh had to have crossed his paths more than once. Don is trying to work out and help Edgerton, the Bureau's best tracker.

Charlie decides that he will go to and help Don out mathematically. Plus it is pretty. The TAs can do the work naturally. Espa is not amused by that, having been a TA in her life for professors who did that.

Espa points out she is going too to keep the boys in line and to get away from housework for a couple of days. She was the only one in the family with outdoor smarts and training from working ski patrols and such. Don agrees as does Alan who is very willing to watch the baby when there is a fridge full of breast milk and the ability to take her where he wants if he has to leave. She loved car rides and they always put her to sleep.

(1)

NUMB3RS

Morning came bright and early for the three Eppes'. Espa was the first up. She packed for herself. Don was expecting a suitcase, but she had a backpack. She also wore a pair of khaki cargo pants. They were from her Archaeology days. She put on two layered tank tops and put her hair in a twin braids and folded them back behind her head making a large almost peacock tail along the back of her head making it so it was not in her way and ready for action.

The boys were in long sleeve t-shirts and light jackets, which amused her. What amused her more was the fact they all were wearing the same pants.

They drove the two hours up to Sibley.

"So, who is this Edgerton guy?" Espa asked as they neared the town

"Best damn shot I have seen." Don said. "He is a sniper instructor for the Bureau, their best tracker, and he can take whatever cases he wants now."

"Ah…to have talent and done my time in the army." She said.

"Now I know you have a gun permit and you are packing." Don said as they drove by some houses just outside the town proper. "Don't take it out unless you are under threat or I tell you to."

"You got it." She said. "If a cougar attacks me I am not waiting for your permission to kill it."

"That's fair." He said. His phone rang as they pulled into the only diner in town.

"So, remember the McHugh interview?" Megan said on the speaker phone. "The part where he said he gave all the infected cattle their required antibiotics? Guess who made those antibiotics?"

"Our friends at Graybridge?" Don asked as the three of them jumped out of the suburban. Espa had been sitting in front because unless driving on windy roads or sleeping she would get carsick if she could not see out.

"So what if McHugh was telling the truth?" Megan asked. "What is he didn't know the beef was contaminated because he didn't know the antibiotics he was giving them were defective?"

""I mean, that would explain what Brott wants right?" Don said. "I mean, to him, McHugh's just, uh, another weapon against Graybridge. Look, why don't you just follow that direction. I'll talk to you later." He said and hung up.

Espa looked about at the mountains. She took a deep breath and sighed. Oh, how she missed the wilds of Idaho. It was still early and cool and she felt at home. She stretched revealing her toned midriff as she turned to see a Native American walking out from the diner wearing military issue camo gear.

She smiled as did Charlie and Don.

"Professor and Agent Eppes." The man said taking the men's hands with a smile. "How can I not learn something today?" He asked teasingly. "And we have another agent here today?" He asked. "Though she is not packing a gun."

Espa smiled at him. Don nodded back to her as she came forward to take the new man's hand. "Agent Ian Edgerton, Esperanza Eppes. My wife. Espa, Ian Edgerton."

"I had wondered when I would finally meet you. He mentioned you the last time I was in the area." Edgerton said smiling at her. "You are as beautiful as Don said you were. More so. I like a girl who looks pretty, but can still kick my ass if she wanted to."

Espa smiled at him and chuckled. "The pleasure is all mine, Agent Edgerton."

"Call me Agent and I will call you Mrs. Eppes. My name is Ian." Edgerton corrected.

"My friends call me Espa. And any friend of Don and Charlie is a friend of mine." She smiled warmly. Don noticed. Normally, Espa resisted a strange man's charms and flirting with her like granite, unless she started it, but in this case she looked like she was comfortable, perhaps because he was a friend and an agent.

"She is a professor too." Charlie said trying to be helpful.

"It is fine Charlie." She said to him.

"What can I do for you three?" Edgerton asked. "I was on my way out."

"Well, actually, we were hoping to sit in your classroom, if that's all right." Don said.

"Absolutely." Edgerton nodded. "Let me get you up to speed. Coffee?" He asked as he grabbed a table for them.

"Oh, I have missed it." She said. "Sure."

"Missed it?" Edgerton asked.

"Yeah, when you have a baby certain smells make you ill and then you can't go back when it smells good because of the baby nursing." She said.

Edgerton looked her up and down. She sdid not look like a new breast feeding mother. She looked like a lady from an infomercial selling an ab-toner. "So where is the little thing anyway?"

"She is with her grandfather. Hence I can drink coffee without feeling guilty." She smiled. "I just can not save what I pump for the next few hours."

Edgerton eyed her. "Indeed."

"Are you married Ian?" She asked boldly

"No." He said. "In my line of work it is hard to keep a spouse."

"Good man. Have many lovers. It is the way to be." She smiled and shot Don a look. "Settling down is for…"

"Hey, a little professionalism here, please." Don said lying a hand on her shoulder. He was not sure he liked his wife befriending Edgerton and he befriending her. Then again if she was comfortable Charlie would be as well.

Espa dropped down into a seat. Don sat next to her and relaxed his hand ideally resting on her thigh. Edgerton told them what he had been up to and what his plan was as the group ate Danishes and drank coffee. Then the talk dissolved into pleasantries as Ian again struck up a conversation with the now quiet Espa who had been listening and watching.

Edgerton turned to look at her. "You know I would have thought he would have married someone who did not just sit and people watch all the time."

"I speak when I feel I need to." Espa smiled. "You boys were talking shop. What need do you have for a woman in that?"

"Don told me you were from Idaho. You are likely to know more about tracking than these two city kids." Edgerton said. He stood up and slung his sniper rifle behind his back. Then he picked up an M-16 and held it in front. She arched an eyebrow. She rose and stretched back. Charlie winced hearing her back pop.

Don pulled on a jacket as did Charlie. Espa laughed a little at them and shook her head. She was wearing her layered tank tops and she left her arms bare. They started out into the trees. Espa walked to the side looking about on the trail. Her footfalls were light. Edgerton noted she was wearing moccasins on her feet that were soundless and left little prints in the earth. The shoe of a Native American hunter. Don and Charlie followed watching about. It was clear they were tourists out in the woods not someone at home in the trees with the chirping birds.

"So what do you hunt?" Edgerton asked over his shoulder.

"I hunted in Idaho with my uncle. I bow hunt." She said.

"Ah, that explains your shoes." Edgerton smiled. "What part are you from in Idaho?" He asked.

"You miss little Ian." She said pausing to look at his back. "I was raised in American Falls, but lived some in Boise." She smiled. "I gotted my edu-car-ation dere." She smirked.

"It has taken a while to learn." He said casting a look back at her. He smirked. "Well, it explains how you are so at home in trees."

She then disappeared and Don looked about. "Espa?"

Edgerton smiled. "She's up the tree next to you." He said. "She's done hunting tracking. Waits for her prey instead of chasing it."

Don froze and looked up. Espa was sitting on a branch above his head as she looked about. He shook his head as she jumped and landed with her knees bent, but she looked perfectly at ease as she straightened. She smiled at her husband.

He eyed her. "Remind me again why I let you come along instead of being with our baby?"

"'Cause I might help." She smiled sweetly. She walked forward and tousled Charlie's hair as she walked by to follow Edgerton. "Though I would follow him through hell since he can find a way." She said over her shoulder.

Edgerton came to an old tree. "What about that?" He said.

"Broken branch." She nodded. She looked about.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"Broken branch like she said." Edgerton nodded. He touched it. "Not from an animal. Someone sat here on this tree." He watched Espa join him as she jumped lightly onto a branch and perched someone cat like on it as she looked down.

"What, you think it was McHugh?" Don asked taking a step toward Espa and Charlie.

"No." She shook her head. "Footprint is too light." She said.

"No." Edgerton agreed. "It was a woman wearing a size-six sneaker. McHugh got a big foot and an even bigger boot." He said. He looked at Espa and smiled. He looked back at Don coming to his wife. "Yeah. She stopped and had lunch here probably less than an hour ago."

"And you know that how?" Charlie asked.

"She didn't like her PB and J." Edgerton smiled. "The ants haven't found it yet." He went over the log passing over the sandwich. Espa followed him moving on the tree light and elf like.

Don followed her. He caught her arm and pulled her back as Charlie went over. Don kissed her and looked down at her. "Just be careful. I do not want to carry you out of here."

"Don't worry. I am strong enough to carry you if I need to." She smiled and patted his cheek playfully as she walked on.

About a half mile up a road Edgerton knelt down looking at the earth. "What do you got?" Don asked.

"It's a pretty old print, but I'd like to see where it takes us." Edgerton said. He looked at Espa. "See the size. That is what we are looking for." She nodded. He sighed as he saw a razor wire fence come into view. "We'll have to backtrack, cross the river to pick it up again."

I mean, well, we can just cut through this dump, can't we?" Charlie asked.

Espa was standing to the side looking at the three men. She was looking at something in a hole.

"You see these tracks, how the kind of stop and start like someone was riding the brakes?" Edgerton said. "The National Guard came through here at night with their headlights off."

"They do maneuvers out here." Don nodded.

"If they go home with unused ammo, their allotment gets reduced." Edgerton said. "So they sneak over here and they ditch the excess munitions. There's all kinds of explosives in there. With you, Professor Eppes, and Espa, I am not going to lead you through there. You don't want to try to go hiking through that."

"Well, you think that's what he's after?" Don asked as Espa returned to them.

"No. No, there's no sign of that." Edgerton said. "Probably just looking for something edible or on his way back into Sibley."

Don pulled out his field glasses and walked to the fence to look in the dump for signs of life.

"I'm curious, when you lose him, what methodology might you employ to pick him up again?" Charlie asked Edgerton as Espa started walking back the way they had come.

"Start where he broke trail, a stream, series of flat rocks, and then circle around till I find fresh sign." Edgerton said looking at him.

"So you, you lose time, pretty much duplicating your work while McHugh's gaining time." Charlie said.

"Kind of explains why we're all still out here, huh?" Edgerton said as he turned around to follow Espa's retreating form. Charlie went with him. Don followed after staying a moment longer to watch.

NUMB3RS

David and Colby watched Brott go into the pharmacies on videotape and also noticed Yardley was following him into each place. They then started comparing the other tapes. After finding what they had found they had Megan look.

NUMB3RS

Espa changed into a pair of sweatpants and a sports bra for bed. She laid on the floor doing crunches while Don set about looking at paperwork. When she was done he smiled. He pushed her back onto the bed and followed her down. He kissed her playfully. "A promise until later." He told her.

She smiled and reached for his phone. She called Alan to see how Zephyr was. She was sleeping Alan reported and Gretchen was happily curled on Alan's bed. Espa reported this to Don who smiled and shook his head. His children with their grandfather about their small paws.

He moved to go out and she followed him down a door to Charlie's room. He opened the door as he sighed. "So?" He asked his brother.

Espa walked in behind him and flopped on the free twin bad. Don removed his jacket and tossed it at her playfully.

"I've just about isolated all the trails that McHugh could have access to." Charlie said sticking last picture on the wall.

Don walked over to him. "Charlie, did you actually put pins in the wall?"

"Hmm? Yeah. Well, tape didn't work you know?"

"What's with you man?" Don asked him.

"Look, I can't tape…"

"Well, I mean, they find holes, it's gonna go on my expense report." Don said in frustration. His cell rang. "Shut up Espa." He growled at her when he saw her smirking as she looked at a book in Charlie's backpack.

"I tries sticking it in there…"

"I don't get you sometimes." Don said with a sigh. He flipped open his phone. "Eppes."

"We got Yardley following Brott into the first pharmacy. He watches him go in. then goes in himself and asks about Brott." Megan's voice could be heard on the phone.

"So Graybridge was having Brott followed." Don said sitting down on the bed beside Espa's feet. Charlie turned and looked at him from the desk.

"That means once the first victim got struck, they had to be aware it was tampering." Megan said.

"And didn't say word one to us." Don said touching his wife's sandaled foot gently.

"No. Instead, they put Yardley on Brott's trail." Megan said. "We could pick up Brindell at Graybridge right now."

"No, no." Don said looking at his watch. "I…I think it's better to wait, you know? Let 'em not know exactly what we're up to."

Espa sat up hearing a car door open and shut. She opened the door and looked out. She nodded to the park ranger who was about to knock on her and Don's door. "Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Agent Eppes."

"This way." Espa said.

"Your call." Megan said. "We got a warrant for Brott's computer, we're going over it right now."

"Good." There was a knock at the door. Espa opened the door and nodded to the woman behind her. "I got to go. Let me know what you find." Don said as he stood up and looked at the ranger.

"Okay." Megan said before he shut his phone.

"Hey." Don nodded.

"Sir, park rangers found a body about three miles out of town. Description fits Mark Brott, the guy you're looking for." The woman said.

Charlie and Espa listened. "Yeah? You got a cause of death?" Don asked.

"Appears to have fallen about forty feet into a creek bed. The ME will have a preliminary for you in the morning." The ranger said.

"All right, good, officer. Thanks. Good night." Don said.

"Good night." She said as she turned to go.

Don shut the door. "So, Brott's dead."

"You think he fell?" Charlie asked standing up.

"Or was pushed." Don said.

"I am betting pushed." Espa said. "This case keeps getting weirder and weirder."

"Yeah, I mean, Graybridge was having him followed." Don said. "You know, they got motive for wanting him dead. I'm gonna try to catch some Z's, all right?" He nodded to his wife. "You should too." He told his brother "Come on wild child." He said.

"Yeah." Charlie said.

She rolled her eyes and walked out and down to their room. Don followed her in and smiled as she laid down. "What time are we getting up?"

"Early. Like four-thirty or five."

"I thought you meant early." She smiled sweetly at him. "Your daughter wakes me up about then."

"Ha, ha. I feed her more in the night than you do."

"And I am grateful."

"You know, normally I would not have let you come with me." Don said looking at her as he locked the door and set his service weapon next to her Jericho on the desk with his cuffs, keys, and wallet.

"And why did you?" She asked.

"'Cause I could not bear the though of sleeping alone." He smiled at her as he pulled off his shirt. He ducked as she threw a pillow at him. "Hey now!" He grabbed her ankle bones and leaned down over her to kiss her. "Besides…why have a wet dream when I can have the real thing." He bent and kissed her midriff.

Unknown to any of them Yardley was outside the hotel watching the activities in the rooms waiting for quiet.

NUMB3RS

Espa was up at four. She packed a backpack for herself and put her hair in a loose ponytail. She told her husband she was going across the road to sit and have a bagel with cream cheese and watch the sunset while he, Charlie, and Edgerton talked shop in the café drinking their morning coffee.

Megan talked to Don that Brott contacted his superiors that saying the antiboltic was bad and they sold it anyway. Also the defective antibiotic would be detectable in anyone who had consumed a thing with it in it. Brott and Graybridge want McHugh's blood, literally.

Charlie gave a lecture about soap bubbles and Steiner trees to find where McHugh has been to help in the search. It is found that he keeps returning to his family ranch.

NUMB3RS

Don rounded up his wife from where she sat on a pinnacle of rock watching the day begin. She walked to his car and nodded to Charlie and Edgerton. Edgerton opened the door for her and she smiled and hoped in the front. He and Charlie climbed in the back allowing Don to drive as Edgerton gave directions to McHugh's ranch.

"You know if you are planning to talk to the wife maybe I should do it." She said.

"No." Don said. "If he is there I am not going to have you taken hostage. With the three of us men there he will not be able to take us, but you are staying in the car until I give the all clear."

"But…"

"Esperanza…" Don said lowly in warning. "When we get done we will have you wander with us. Besides someone needs to watch the car and the guns." He smiled.

She nodded.

They drove up and the three men got out and went to the door. Edgerton and Don had their service weapons only for now. Mrs. McHugh answered the door. She was not amused that there were there to talk. She did not answer them side stepping their questions until she slammed the door on them.

Don sighed and then turned back and nodded to Espa to come out. She hopped out and sighed. Don easily read the I told you so look on her face. "Not a word. I know, you were right…" He said.

"Well, you were right, he's been here." Edgerton said.

"Yeah." Charlie said.

Edgerton looked at Espa as she looked about in the trees. "What say you Miss Idaho?" He asked smiling at her.

"I think he has been here today." She said.

"Oh?" Charlie asked

"Feeling I have." She shrugged.

"He's taking a big chance." Charlie said.

"He's had this place his whole life." Edgerton said. "It's hard to just walk away."

"Look, let's run this down." Don said taking out a paper he had drawn. He walked out from the house. "I mean, the marshals come to arrest him, he barricades himself inside the house. Now, four days later, in the middle of a negotiation, for no apparent reason, he opens fire."

Edgerton turned to look at him. "When did crazy stop being a reason?"

"The negotiator catches one in the neck, like right around here." Don said taking a few more steps away from the house. Espa was leaning against a wagon wheel letting her husband work.

"The assault team went in the front and side doors. McHugh went out that side window and makes it to the tree line there." Edgerton pointed.

Charlie watched as well.

Don looked down at the paper and back up at the house. Espa watched him unsure what he was looking at. "Don?"

"What's that?" Don pointed at the front corner of the house. "Look at that. That's a shot." He said walked toward it.

The other three followed him to get a closer look. Edgerton sighed. "Exit pattern from a large bore rifle round."

"Yeah, but look at the angle. I mean, there's no way it came from inside." Don said.

"Which is where McHugh was." Charlie said.

"Is that telling us what I think it is?" Espa asked the men.

"Where do you think this came from?" Don asked.

"Judging from the angle…" Edgerton said.

"Allowing for prevailing winds…" Charlie added.

"There." The both pointed up the hill behind the house. Espa and Don looked and then looked at each other.

Edgerton gave Don the M-16 while packed up his sniper rifle to the spot. They hiked up. Don had the M-16 slung behind him as his wife and Charlie stood watching the two agents work.

"SWAT sniper would've been on the other side facing the house." Edgerton said. "This lie…" He sighed as he looked through his sniper scope. "Faces the raid team."

"That's a perfect position to take out the negotiator." Don said. Edgerton nodded.

"So the suggestion you're making is that a second gunman shot the marshal." Charlie said.

"Yeah, Charlie think about it. I mean, McHugh is living proof that Graybridge sold bad drugs." Don said. "The last thing they want is him alive."

"Day three of the siege, he's looking like he's gonna surrender, someone shoots the negotiator…" Edgerton said looking through his gun. He pulled the trigger, but it just clicked since it was not loaded. "And gets the party started."

"They're figuring he's gonna go down in the gunfight." Don nodded.

"But he didn't." Espa said nodding.

"Instead, chaos ensues, he slips away." Charlie said.

Edgerton looked about. "That, uh, soap film of yours runs through the hill up here, doesn't it?" He waved up the hill behind them.

"There? More or less?" Charlie said.

"Why don't you two get back to the hotel." Don said taking out his keys and giving then to Charlie.

Espa was already turning. "Okay, but why?" Charlie asked.

"Fresh sign. One maybe two hours." Edgerton said behind them.

"That's why." Don said and reached for his wife. "Take care of both of you." He said and pressed and chaste kiss to her mouth. She drew her Jericho from behind her where she had it tucked in her pants' pocket under her t-shirt. She clicked off the safety and cocked it pointing it down as she nodded to Charlie to go.

Don nodded to her as she moved down looking around the forest for trouble. He brought the gun up in his hands and nodded to the surprised Edgerton. "Crest one to Crest two." Don said into his radio.

"Copy, One, go ahead." A voice said.

"You did not tell me she was armed." Edgerton said to him.

"She'll keep Charlie safe." Don said as they went up into the hills together. "On the trail of the fugitive over." Don said into the radio.

"Roger that." The man said

"You're a very trusting husband." Edgerton said softly as they moved together.

"Well, I think she sees it as she trusts you to keep me safe." Don smiled.

NUMB3RS

Don and Edgerton found McHugh sitting having lunch about a half mile away. Edgerton found Yardley also taking aim. When Yardley refused to drop his rifle, Edgerton shot him. The gun being fired spooked McHugh before Don could reach him. Don chased him, but McHugh climbed into the dump to hide.

Don and Edgerton called for back up. McHugh held a torch to drop would they try anything. Don decides to back it up. As they do Charlie and Espa came into view.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked them. Espa smiled and nodded back to Megan behind her.

"Hi. I picked them up in Sibley. I needed someone that knew the way." Megan said.

"You needed both of them?" Don asked.

"Charlie insisted." Espa shrugged.

"I'm Agent Reeves." Megan said taking Edgerton's hand.

"Edgerton." Edgerton nodded holding his sniper rifle.

Espa smiled and noted her husband was chewing gum as he said he normally did while out ready to take someone down.

"You're not going to believe this. He's actually sitting on a National Guard munitions dump." Don said. "He's threatening to blow it up."

"Well, you don't want to kill him." Charlie said stating the obvious.

"Charlie, we realize that. I mean, he's not giving us a lot of options here." Don said.

Espa looked at her husband knowing he and Edgerton were in full battle mode. All she could do was watch as a civilian.

"There's, uh, there's a whole mathematical discipline called negotiation theory." Charlie said squatting down. He picked up a stick and started to draw in the dirt. "A good negotiation creates a framework for agreement that allows both parties to make mistakes and still come out ahead."

"Yeah, we give him something to strengthen his position without weakening ours, but what do we have to give him." Megan asked looking at Don.

"Information." Don said. "We could tell him what we know."

"Isn't that like showing all your cards before the bets are in?" Edgerton asked.

"It's counterintuitive, I know, but here's the math." Charlie said pointing to the dirt.

"Does this makes sense to any of you?" Edgerton asked.

"Only that he's probably right." Don shrugged.

Megan straitened and looked at Espa. She nodded to her and Espa followed her to the truck.

"Whoa, whoa, h…h…hold on. What are you doing?" Don asked straitening as Megan removed her coat and threw it into the back of the truck. She reached for a flack jacket. Espa started to help her put it on.

"I'm a woman." Megan said. "To a mountain man like McHugh, I'm less of a threat."

"Well. She's got a point." Edgerton nodded watching the women together.

"She could also kick his ass, but he doesn't know that." Don said watching. "Either of them could."

Espa pulled the straps for Megan as the two both looked at each other and laughed.

"I see what kind of big brother he was." Megan said as she looked at Charlie as Don slung the rifle behind him to help the two. Charlie nodded.

"Yeah, try being married to him." Espa said as she stood back to let Don finish. HE gave her a look.

"All right." He said taking Megan's gun. "Espa, you and Charlie go back to that Sheriff car until I give the all clear."

Edgerton ran up the hill to have a shot.

Megan spoke to McHugh who was at first not really wanting to listen, but then Megan finally got him to come with her to see his wife. He gave up his gun and torch and they walked back.

Don nodded taking the gun. "Good job."

"Thanks." Megan said. "You too."

Espa smiled as she and Charlie leaned against the back of the SUV. Don started to unload McHugh's gun as Edgerton came down the hill. He smiled at the three Eppes' there.

"I have the best time with you guys." He smiled.

The three smiled at him and chuckled.

Espa stepped forward and took his arm. "I am dancing tonight. You should come before you run away. Good food." She smiled.

"Oh?" He asked. "Sounds like fun." He smiled at her. "Want a ride back to town Mrs. Eppes?" He asked nodding to his Escalade.

She chuckled and looped her arm in his. "Thank you Agent Edgerton." She grinned playfully back at her husband who just rolled his eyes.

NUMB3RS

Espa smiled as Alan, Don, Charlie, and Zephyr came into the restaurant. Susanne's family and Edgerton were already there, the men drinking beer at the large table and talking pleasantries.

Becky and Jenny, Susanne's daughters, were sitting by their father. Born Miriam and Karima, the two looked older and a lot more sure of themselves.

They stood up and went to Alan who was holding Zephyr. They cooed to her and Miriam lifted her in her arms when Alan yielded her. Don smiled as he set the car seat down on a chair.

Becky smiled at Don. "Hello Don Eppes." She said slowly. "It is good to see you again."

He looked at her as he removed his coat. "It is good to see you again." He smiled. "Your English is greatly improved." He smiled and patted her shoulder. She smiled and went and went to her sister and the baby.

Espa smiled. "Girls. Let me see Zephyr a moment." She said. They nodded and She picked the awake and cooing baby in her arms. The baby reached for her hair and she smiled and moved her head away. She faced her out against her hip and went to Edgerton.

Edgerton smiled and looked at her. He made a face and Zephyr laughed reaching for him. Don and Charlie smirked as he lifted his hand and the baby grabbed his finger with a surprisingly strong grip.

Edgerton smiled extracting his hand and chuckled. "Ah, poor thing, she's as ugly as her father." He smirked playfully at Espa and got a playful slap on his shoulder for it as well as a look from Don.

Susanne smiled and nodded to Espa. Espa gave Zephyr to the girls and went behind the curtain behind the stage. The family ordered food as the restaurant began to fill with people.

The first song started and Susanne came out in a outfit of green and danced on the stage. People clapped with the song beat and then clapped for her at the end. When her song was done Espa came out in an outfit of red and gold. She carried in her palms a long Ottoman sword. Susanne held a cloth. Espa cut threw it with a slice of the blade to show it was sharp.

Then she smiled and put it on her head. She went threw a fast paced song moving with it and dancing with the sharp blade with ease. It was truly an art. At the end She had dropped to the floor and there was applause. Edgerton looked at Don who smiled and nodded.

Espa and Susanne danced several dances together. Then their final dance came about twenty minutes later before the food was coming out. The moved together like two halves of the same person. Then the jumped off the stage and went to their husband.

Susanne's husband shrugged and went up to the stage with his wife. Don looked at his wife who pulled on him. She smiled when he finally went to much applause at the table. She pulled him onto the stage and danced. She playfully held his hips and moved them with her. When she stepped in front of him he took a hold of her hips and moved with her awkwardly.

She laughed and they both smirked at Susanne's husband who was not a good dancer at all. Don at least could follow the beat. When the song ended Espa did the splits before her husband holding his hands.

She then had him help her back up. He then grabbed her and dipped her as she moved to go away. He kissed her deeply to much whistles and cheering from the crowd. Espa then got free to grab the microphone from the floor.

"Good evening. Welcome to Pompeii's Pillar Greek Restaurant. I hope you are enjoying the food tonight. Well, if you can not tell I, with my partner in crime are your entertainment for this evening. I am Saf-fire and she is Noor." Espa smiled. "These lovely men up here are our husbands. Yes for those of you in the back, yes I saw you." She pointed and there was laughter. "I am taken and I have a baby. She is right down there. Hi Zephyr." She waved. "We are going to eat now, but will do a finale before the night is out. So tell me what you think of the food here."

There was an amazing amount of cheering.

"Great. Well, I look forward to it."

Don smiled as she took his hand and walked down to the table to sit down as the food was served. She sat between Charlie and Don. Edgerton faced her.

He was smiling at her. "Don failed to tell me about your, uh, many talents." He smiled and took a drink from his beer. "I thought dancing…as in Greek folk dancing, not giving half the room hard-ons."

Espa laughed. "I enjoy it and as you can see I do not look like I had a baby." She smiled. "It is good for me."

"Yes." Don nodded as they all dug into the food and conversation about the night.