Disclaimer: Don't own Numb3rs or the characters.
A/N: Zoothapsis is a real word, if some what of an old one!
Chapter Twenty Five – Zoothapsis
Jasmine watched as Xavier's men dragged Colby over to a box that she hadn't noticed before. Suddenly it dawned on her that it was the right size to put a body in.
"Xavier?"
"It's perfect, don't you think? I have no doubt at some point he'll come round and find himself shut in that box. The FBI have no idea where to look, he'll be just another agent who went missing and the body was never found. I'll have the satisfaction of knowing that the man who treated you so badly will suffer."
She was horrified, it was bad enough that he wanted to kill Colby, but now he wanted to bury him alive. She had to do something. "Well I'd rather not watch this, if you don't mind. After all I did care about him at one time."
Xavier narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "I think you should stay here with me and witness his burial."
"I trust you darling, I don't need to witness it." She was playing on his insecurities, the fear that she didn't trust him to do what needed doing.
"Well, since you put it like that…." He leant forward and gave her a kiss before turning back to watch as his men lifted Colby into the box and nailed the lid in place.
Jasmine walked casually back to the SUV, she slipped in to the drivers seat and made sure that she couldn't be seen. She quickly pulled the cell out of her pocket and dialled a number she knew off by heart, Colby's desk phone. She just hoped that there was someone there to answer it.
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"We've lost the trail, they've gone out of the city and there are no more cameras." Stated Liz.
"At least we know where to centre our search, lets get the helicopters in the air and get them searching." Responded Don.
"They're grounded due to the low cloud cover today." Megan reminded him.
"Shit. Lets get units into the area then, we'll head out there too." Turning to the tech. "Good job, if anyone finds anything else we'll be on our cells."
David let out a frustrated sigh as he followed his boss out to the bull pen to pick up their gear once more.
"We'll find him David."
"I hope you're right Don, I have a bad feeling about this."
As they reached their cubicle Colby's phone started ringing. They exchanged surprised looks before Don hurried forward to answer it.
"Eppes."
"Agent Eppes, it's Jasmine, I don't have much time, say nothing and just listen."
The others watched as Don said nothing, seemingly avidly listening to whatever was being said. He grabbed a pen and paper off Colby's desk and quickly scribbled something down.
"You need to hurry, I have to go, there is nothing more that I can do to help you." She hung up.
Don quickly explained the phone call.
"Can we trust her?" Asked David.
"I got the impression she genuinely cared about Colby, I don't think we can ignore this." Replied Megan
"Get as many units as you can to this location." Don ordered Liz handing her the piece of paper. "Megan, get in touch with Tim in HRT, we might need his team. David, call the Aviation Unit and tell them that as soon as they can I want the helicopters off the ground and heading to that location."
The bull pen was suddenly a hive of activity as the agents hurried to carry out Don's orders. Once completed they ran for the elevators, wanting to get to the location themselves as quickly as possible. They threw themselves into the cars and tore hell for leather out of the FBI parking area into a torrential downpour which impeded their progress to reach Colby.
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Colby woke to darkness, he knew his eyes were open but he could see nothing. It seemed his whole body was in agony, he felt something trickle down his face and reached his left hand up to wipe it away when his arm hit something hard above his head. Taking a steadying breath he started to feel around him with one hand. He seemed to be in a box only just slightly bigger than he was. He shook his head trying to remember what had happened to him, how had he come to be in so much pain and then shut in what amounted to a box the size of a coffin. Then it all came rushing back to him, everything that had happened in the last year, and he knew that it was quite possible his number was up.
Again he felt something trickle down the other side of his face, he slowly moved his right arm in the limited space to wipe it away, only to have pain shoot down it. He must have injured it, so he used his other hand, no sooner had he wiped at his face than he felt the trickle again, it was then that it dawned on him that there was a steady trickle of water. Already cold and shivering this just added to his discomfort.
He lay silent, trying to control his breathing, right now his instinct was to go berserk and panic, but he had to remain calm.
Someone looking down on the situation obviously thought he needed something more to send him over the edge, he heard the sound of something hitting the top of the box. Considering what he was laying in he could only think that the noise was that of dirt being piled on top of the box. His breathing hitched slightly, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, he was using oxygen but if he kept breathing like someone who had just sprinted the minute mile he would use it up faster.
He tried to move slightly but quickly found that was a bad idea as he was wracked by further pain, there was something going on with his legs, but he had tried to pick a fight with a car, so he couldn't really be surprised that he had come off worse. He decided the best idea was to lay as still as possible.
The water trickling into his prison was getting heavier, this was not good. He snorted to himself, talk about the understatement of the year. It looked to him that his choice was suffocation, drowning or possibly bleeding to death if his gunshot wound was still bleeding, he did think that last was unlikely. To be honest he would have rather bled out than drowned or suffocated, though it went without saying that he'd rather not die at all. He realised that he'd stopped shivering and his arms felt numb, he needed to add hypothermia to his list of possible causes for death.
Feeling tired and unable to focus he closed his eyes allowing his mind to sink into oblivion.
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Don's team pulled into the lot outside the disused warehouse, closely followed by HRT and LAPD. There were several cars dotted around so everyone exited with caution, this turned out to be a wise move as the frantic entrance of law enforcement had not gone unnoticed by Xavier and his men, they now abandoned their attempts to bury the unfortunate Colby and turned their attention to the arriving masses.
Fortuitously the torrential downpour had stopped and the cloud had lifted enough to allow helicopters in the air, 2 birds currently circled overhead.
"Heller, give it up, you're surrounded." Yelled Don. The only response the senior agent got was a hail of bullets that put a few holes in the various vehicles.
"If you're looking for Agent Granger he's gone. We've hidden him and let me tell ya I don't think he has much time left, let us go and I'll tell you where we put him." Called Xavier.
"I know he's here Heller. We will find him and you will go to prison. The only question is will you live to a ripe old age or will you get the needle. Give yourselves up now and I'll recommend to the AUSA to take the death penalty off the table."
"I'm supposed to believe that? No way."
"I'll make a call. Don't do anything stupid, I'll be back."
"Don, this is delaying tactics, if Colby is still alive we have to find him now." Whispered David urgently.
"I know." Don ducked down and moved to where Tim King and his team had taken up position. "If I keep distracting him do you think you and your men can find a way in behind them?"
"Absolutely, I pulled an aerial view of the location when we got your call." He laid it out on a bonnet of an SUV hidden from Heller's view and indicated where his team could come in.
Don nodded and called on the radio to the pilot circling overhead. "HRT are going round the back, confirm that the way is clear."
"All clear, all subjects are located near the warehouse." Responded the pilot.
As Don turned to go back to his position another voice came over the radio. "Ross01 for Agent Eppes."
"Go Ross01."
"We are picking up a faint heat signature on our detector, it could be your Agent Granger. It's behind the warehouse, however there is nobody visible in the area. We believe it's coming from beneath the surface."
Don exchanged horrified looks with David and Tim before replying. "Copy that Ross01, thanks for the information."
David called control and requested that an ambulance was dispatched to their location but was to hold outside the perimeter LAPD had set until it was deemed safe for them to enter.
None of the agents who heard needed any further prompting, Tim's team ran off and circled round the land where they couldn't be seen by Heller. Don and David returned to their 'negotiations' with an even greater sense of urgency.
"Heller?" Called Don.
"Still here. You gonna let us go?"
"You know I can't do that. You have shot and kidnapped a Federal Agent, there will be consequences, but we will take the death penalty off the table if you and your men come peacefully."
"Not going to happen, you are signing your agent's death warrant." There was a tone of glee in the man's voice that grated on Don but he tried not to rise to the bait.
"Agent Granger accepted the risks of the job, the same as we all do, he wouldn't want me to let you go, there are also the drug related deaths that we need to consider."
"Ha, I wondered when you'd bring that up."
Before they could continue any further there were shouts from HRT, who had taken only minutes to run round and encircle the hapless men, they hadn't even been aware of the teams approach until they found their guns pointing in their direction.
"Give me a reason and I will shoot you where you stand." Growled Tim, he had a lot of respect for Eppes and his team and nobody threatened the life of an FBI agent and got away with it if he could help it.
Don and the others approached once they got the signal letting them know the men had all surrendered without a shot being fired.
"You won't find your agent now."
"Don't bet on it, where is Jasmine Fuller?" Asked Don quickly, he wanted to start looking for Colby, but he needed to know that everyone was secured.
"I have no idea, she was here and now she's gone." Replied Xavier.
Don gave instructions to LAPD about locating the woman and then ran round the back of the warehouse, closely followed by the rest of the team, some of HRT and a large contingency of LAPD officers.
The pilot in one of the helicopters overhead directed them to the location of the heat source they had seen.
Don and David were first down the incline to where they could see a hole partially filled back in.
"Get us whatever you can lay your hands on to dig this out." Yelled Don to anyone listening and he then threw himself down into the hole and started digging with his bare hands. He was quickly joined by David. There wasn't enough room for anyone else and the others just stood frozen to the spot.
Tim had sent one of his men back to the HRT truck to grab shovels, when the man arrived back he tossed them down to Don and David. The rain had turned the earth to mud making it harder to dig but neither man stopped until they struck a solid object. They glanced at each other briefly and quickly scraped the rest of the mud away to reveal the top of a home made coffin. David swallowed hard and they stepped off the box, he inserted the blade of his shovel round the edge on one side and Don did the same on the other. Everyone around was holding their breath.
They got the lid off and saw the still form of Colby, the box was almost half filled with water.
An HRT medic quickly knelt by the side of the box and felt for a pulse at Colby's wrist, getting nothing he tried at his neck, there was nothing. He swore under his breath.
"Get the paramedics in here, NOW!"
Sliding down the slippery slope leading to where the agent had been buried two paramedics joined them. They took one look and decided that they couldn't wait to stabilise his neck in case of spinal injuries, they would just have to risk moving him. They certainly couldn't perform any life saving measures with him laying in the box.
"I need everyone to grab a piece of clothing, keep him as steady as you can, we are going to need to lift him out of there and onto the back board." One paramedic instructed.
Willing hands grabbed onto Colby's clothes whilst the medic held his head firmly. Happy that they had as good a grip on the man as they possibly could the paramedic called "On three."
They lifted him onto the back board, without being asked a line of agents and LAPD officers formed up the incline and the board was passed quickly from one to another, the slope being too wet and slippery for a single team of people to carry it out. A gurney was waiting for them at the top and he was lowered down and rapidly loaded into the ambulance, finally the paramedics were able to start properly assessing their patient. The most immediate concern was no breathing or pulse. Whilst one paramedic used a mask and bag to push oxygen into Colby the other started to cut his shirt and put pads on his chest in order to attempt to restart his heart.
Everyone just stood silently praying, to all intents and purposes Agent Colby Granger was dead.
After several attempts, peppered with bouts of activity to put a line in, which was proving difficult as due to hypothermia all the veins had pulled back into his body to try to preserve blood flow to the major organs, there was a beep from the monitor they'd attached him to, followed by another.
There was a collective sigh of relief, although everyone knew he was by no means out of the woods at least there was a sign of life. The paramedics decided to take what they could get and deliver their patient to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible. They covered him with a foil hypothermia blanket to start the process of heating his body back up to a more normal temperature.
"We're taking him to UCLA, we're not going to do any further treatment here, we need to get him in or we're going to lose him again and I don't know we could get him back." The paramedic wasn't pulling any punches but he needed them to understand that a heartbeat didn't mean survival.
"We'll escort you." Stated Don.
"I'll put a call in to dispatch and get any available units in the area to clear the roads for you." Said an LAPD Lieutenant who overheard.
"Thanks." Called Don over his shoulder as he, David, Megan and Liz ran to the cars.
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On arrival at the ER the paramedics gave the attending doctors and nurses a run down of their patients condition as they jogged him into the trauma room, leaving the rest of his team to stand helplessly outside waiting for news.
"You should both go and get cleaned up, we don't want you getting ill." Megan said softly, David and Don were covered from head to toe in mud.
"No." Was their simple response.
"Come on guys, you'll be no good to him if you're in hospital yourselves." Liz cajoled.
A nurse passing by overheard their conversation. "I'll give you some scrubs to change into, you can use the showers in the locker rooms." She said kindly.
"We will find you if there is any news." Assured Megan.
There was nothing they could do and they knew that Megan and Liz were right, they were both soaking wet with mud and neither wanted to get ill so they reluctantly followed the nurse.
Half an hour later they were back and there had been no news on their friend. Don had called Charlie, he was on his way over. The waiting area had filled with Colby's FBI colleagues and LAPD officers he had worked with. The team were touched by the overwhelming support. This was only increased when Alan, Charlie, Amita and Larry joined them. Megan's eyes filled with tears and Larry hurriedly embraced her and mumbled what he hoped were reassuring words.
The nurses were a little stressed by the amount of people in the waiting area but they worked round it, they knew that anyone involved in the services who was injured could elicit this kind of response from others working in the same field.
A doctor walking through the ER on his way out the door after completing his shift was amazed by the sea of bodies dotted around.
"What's going on?" He asked a nurse.
"An FBI agent is in critical condition after an on duty incident." He replied.
The doctor frowned and looked around him, when he spotted them he couldn't believe it. He quickly approached the group. "Agents?" He quickly looked around the now familiar group of FBI agents and immediately deduced who was missing, it didn't take an FBI Agent for that. "Agent Granger is the injured man?" Doctor Jensen asked.
"I'm afraid so Doctor Jensen." Don replied.
"Damn, I had hoped I'd seen the last of all of you. No offence."
"None taken Doc."
"Where is he?"
They indicated the trauma room into which Colby had disappeared nearly an hour ago.
"I'll go and see if I can help, or find out anything for you."
The agents smiled appreciatively, they had all liked Doctor Jensen when they had dealt with him in the past. He was direct and stood no nonsense. They watched as the doctor entered the trauma room, allowing them a brief glimpse of their friend. What they saw didn't reassure them any, they could see someone pressing down on Colby's chest, that was the last thing they saw before the doors closed once more.
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An hour later Doctor Jensen returned to the group to give them an update on their colleagues condition.
"I need to tell you that we are still working on him, Agent Granger's condition is far from stable. He has severe hypothermia, we are trying to warm him by taking his blood out of his body and warming it then putting it back in. We were unable to get a normal IV in so we have a central line in place as well. He has other multiple injuries but our main concern is still his body temperature, once we can get that up and keep him stable we will assess his other injuries. I'm sorry I can't tell you more, but I need to get back in there."
"Thank you for taking the time to come and speak to us Doctor Jensen." Said Alan, as the father figure he felt it was his place to speak for them all, especially as the team were some what shell shocked still.
The doctor nodded and disappeared back into the trauma room.
"I don't quite believe this is happening. It's so surreal." Murmured David.
"He's going to make it." Don said, as much to himself as to anyone else.
Alan sat down between his son and David. "Colby is one of the strongest people I have ever met. If anyone can survive this trauma it's him. His strength comes from the love and support he receives from the people around him. Take a look." Alan indicated the waiting area which had filled with even more law enforcement officers. "There is no doubt in my mind that he is a very sick young man but I have to believe that he knows that everyone here is pulling for him. Our strength will fuel his."
Megan and Liz's eyes filled with tears as they looked around the waiting area at the outpouring of support, not only for Colby but for them as well. Alan's words struck a chord with all of them and strengthened their resolve that Colby would pull through this latest crisis and they would be there when he did.
A/N: This was supposed to be the last chapter, but I then realised whilst writing it that there was still a bit more to tell, more than I wanted to put into 1 chapter, so there are going to be a few more! Thanks for sticking with it and I hope the last few chapters don't let you down!
Oh and in case you haven't googled it - Zoothapsis means prematurely buried!