Disclaimer and beta thanks in Chapter 1.

Thank you to all the reviewers so far. We're at the halfway point, and the action is coming soon…

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Chapter 6

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Charlie raced down the concrete steps towards the black SUV parked on the side of the street. He swung the door open and climbed in, pulling his backpack after him. "Hey, Don."

"About time," his brother muttered as he put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb.

"Sorry, I had to stay after class to answer a few questions about the midterm." There was dead silence. "You're still mad at me, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm still mad at you. That was a pretty dirty trick you pulled. I still can't believe you lied to Storper like that. What's gotten into you?"

"I never lied to him, Don. I told him I sometimes consulted for the FBI, but at no point did I say I was consulting specifically on this case. I was very careful about that."

"That's a technicality. And besides, now you are consulting on the case, thanks to you riling him up."

Charlie knew he was sounding petulant, but he didn't care. "If he didn't do anything wrong, he shouldn't have anything to be riled up about."

"He's a well-established geological consultant who works on hundreds of projects across the state. If it appears that he's being questioned by the FBI because of misconduct on his part, yes, that's going to piss him off." Don accelerated through a yellow light. "You should have just asked me. I could have passed on your questions."

"No offense, but you wouldn't have understood my questions. Or the answers."

"I guess you're probably right about that." They traveled in silence for a block or two. Then Don asked, "What did you want with the guy anyway?"

He shrugged. "Just some technical questions. I hadn't read a report of that type before, and I wanted to make sure I was interpreting things correctly."

"And were you?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Charlie paused for a moment. "There's a few things that still don't make sense, though. I've made a list of what I have to ask him today."

"Oh no, you don't."

"What do you mean?" He paused in rifling through his backpack to make sure the list of questions was still there.

"Just that. You're not coming to this interview to interrogate these two men. You're here because for whatever reason, Storper demanded your presence. I wish he hadn't, but we need his help to wrap up a few loose ends."

"A few loose ends? You mean gaping holes?"

Don drove smoothly through another amber light and accelerated as they hit the Pasadena Freeway. "No, I mean a few loose ends. We found mud on Rangadar's car that matches the material at the San Marento slide with 85 probability. All we need are a few more details from the developer, and I think we have the case wrapped up."

Charlie dropped his head back against the seat. "I don't believe this. You're not even listening to me."

"It's not that, it's just that the facts we have don't fit your theory. If it was a natural landslide, why did the EAF claim responsibility? Why did Brett Rangadar call Penneman and threaten the project?"

"Who says he did?" Charlie muttered darkly. "Penneman, that's who."

"All right, that's enough. Jim Penneman is a big-time developer, not a crook. Your conspiracy theory is getting a bit out of hand." He paused to take a particularly sharp curve in the road. "Just don't say anything at the interview, okay? Tell them your name and who you are and that's it. I don't want you messing things up."

Charlie clamped his mouth shut. He was thirty years old, not thirteen, but the tone in his brother's voice took him back to his awkward childhood years when Don would do everything short of locking him in his room to make sure he didn't "mess things up." "Fine."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Don glance over at him. "Aw, Charlie, I didn't mean it like that."

He continued to stare out the windshield. "How long do you think this will take?"

They were crossing the Los Angeles River, the one their dad always referred to as the Los Angeles Ditch. Instead of the usual trickle running through the massive concrete channel, there was actually a good amount of water flowing downstream. The legacy of the winter's rain, he supposed.

"No more than half an hour. I'll drive you back to campus, if you need to get back."

"No, it's all right, I can take the train. I'm sure you'll have plenty of work to do, wrapping up your loose ends."

That shut him up, and they drove the rest of the way in silence.

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The elevator doors opened, and Don stepped out. As Charlie followed him, he bent to whisper in his ear, "Not one word, okay?" Charlie's glare was enough of a reply.

After Don grabbed a few files off his desk, they walked down the hall to the conference room. Two men were waiting inside, both of whom rose as they entered the room.

"Agent Eppes?" said the taller, blond man. "I'm Jim Penneman." A pair of expensive-looking gold cufflinks caught the light as he extended his hand.

"Pleased to meet you. This is Dr. Charles Eppes, Professor of Applied Mathematics at CalSci."

"I've been looking forward to talking with you." The dark-haired man reached over and shook Charlie's hand. "Scott Storper. I'll be glad to answer any additional questions you might have."

"Well, we don't want to take up too much of your time," Don started before Charlie could reply. "We just have to clarify some points of information. Shall we?" He gestured towards the chairs.

They started with a few basic questions about the Crescenta Court development. Don wasn't surprised to learn that each of the ten houses was worth over a million dollars, or at least they had been before four of them were buried under the mudslide. Nor was he surprised to hear that this was only one of ten projects that Penneman currently had underway in greater Los Angeles, and the cheapest one, at that. And with the geography of Los Angeles being what it was, there weren't too many places left to build houses that weren't either on steep slopes or near some kind of protected open space.

"So you see my concern, Agent Eppes." Penneman leaned forward, folding his manicured hands in front of him on the table. "If this man is not promptly prosecuted for his crime, it gives other terrorists like him the idea that such behavior is acceptable. That potentially puts hundreds of other people at risk."

"And millions of dollars."

Don shot Charlie a sharp look, while Penneman favored him with a tight smile. "Actually, Dr. Eppes, it's the tragic loss of life here that concerns me. After a few minor incidents of vandalism last fall while we were preparing the site, I decided it would be a wise decision to take out some insurance against acts of terror. As it turns out, that was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, insurance won't bring back the Stuart family."

Don's gaze switched from his brother back to the well-coiffed blond man. "Terrorism insurance? I thought that was only valid in the case of foreign organizations acting on U.S. soil."

"And this Earth Action Front is, indeed, an international terrorist organization. They've carried out actions all over the world. Just because this one was perpetrated by an American doesn't exempt it."

Charlie opened his mouth, but the glare that Don sent his way silenced him. "Mr. Storper, were you aware of these threats as well?"

"Yeah, I was the one who discovered them." The ruddy-cheeked man leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers against the armrest. "Spray paint on the construction equipment, some work materials missing, things like that."

"Did you ever receive a phone call like Mr. Penneman did?"

"No, I can't say that I did. I'd probably be pretty far down the hit list, you know. I'm just one of the consultants who contributed to the environmental impact statement. If someone was planning to sabotage the project by making a landslide happen, they probably weren't gonna alert any geologists."

Charlie plunged in before Don could cut him off. "How exactly do you think the mudflow was caused? Because after looking at the data that were in your report, I'm having a hard time understanding how you know it wasn't a natural event."

"Hey, if we had had any idea Mount Cresta would have experienced the type of event that it did, we wouldn't have gone ahead with the project. The geotechnical report was not simply a formality, it was done to ensure the site was safe."

"Did you consider extreme value theory in your analysis?"

Storper raised his eyebrows. "I don't believe I'm familiar with that particular method."

Before Charlie could get started, Don held up his hand. "Gentlemen, I suggest that if you're interested in discussing the technical details, you can do that at a later date."

"Actually, I'm interested in hearing what Dr. Eppes has to say." Penneman's calm voice cut through the room. "If you don't mind."

Don sat back in his chair. "Please, go ahead."

Charlie gave the two men the quick-and-dirty explanation he had given to Don a few days previously. He finished by saying, "So you see, even if Mount Cresta had never experienced a slide, that doesn't mean it couldn't. And considering we've had the second-highest rainfall on record this year, that certainly qualifies as an extreme event."

Don watched carefully as the other two men exchanged a look. Usually, it was the job of one partner to ask the questions while the other was focused on reading reactions, and usually it was Terry doing the reading. But she'd been called out to do some profiling in San Diego, leaving Don on his own. So Don was caught on a tightrope between being annoyed at Charlie taking control of the conversation when he wasn't supposed to be saying anything, and the opportunity to gather some nonverbal information.

"The thing is," Storper started after receiving an infinitesimal nod from the blond man, "we did model the hillslope with above-record level rain. So even this winter shouldn't have been a problem." He shifted in his chair. "The angle of repose of the mountain wasn't big enough, even with all the rain we've had, to result in a mass wasting event. That means it must have been done deliberately."

"What's the angle of repose?" Don asked.

"It's basically the angle of the hillside," Charlie answered. "Think of a pile of sand; if you add grains to the top, at some point it will become too steep, and additional grains will simply fall down the side. If you make the sand wet, you can make the pile steeper, or increase its angle of repose. Too much water, though, and the pile becomes unstable."

"You know a lot about geology for a mathematician." Storper's tone was a little sharper than it had been before.

"I'm just doing my job." Don thought there was a trace of guilt in Charlie's eyes as they flickered to his.

"Agent Eppes," Penneman broke in, "I thought it had already been established that you have a suspect in custody, and that this was an act of terrorism rather than an act of God. I'm finding the tenor of this interview to be a little different than what I had expected."

Don's eyes narrowed at the slight warning in his tone of voice. "We're just covering all of our bases, Mr. Penneman. I am interested in Mr. Storper's explanation of how he thinks our suspect managed to induce a landslide."

Storper shifted in his chair again. "Well, we found some pumps and tubing at the site. I guess he found a way to pump more water into the hillside, to the point where it basically liquefied and flowed downhill."

"Did you have dewatering equipment in place?" Charlie asked.

"Like I just explained to you, we didn't need dewatering equipment because the hillside wasn't unstable. They weren't our pipes, if that's what you're asking."

Charlie leaned forward slightly in his seat as he fired questions at the geologist.

"Then how did he get the water up there? That's an awful lot of water to pump into the ground, so he probably didn't carry it up. Are the utilities on?"

Penneman was raising a hand to object when Don broke in, keeping his voice as casual as he could. "Dr. Eppes, could I speak to you for a moment?"

Don held the door open as they stepped out into the hallway. As soon as he closed the door, he whirled on Charlie. "What do you think you're doing?"

His brother took a step back. "I'm trying to help with your investigation. I'm asking some questions that I don't think have been asked yet, and the answers could be key to the case."

Don shook his head. "No, you're not. You're being a pain in the ass. You read Storper's report, didn't you? You know he's right. I don't know what you're trying to prove in there, but I've just about had enough."

Charlie's eyes were flashing, but he was careful to keep his voice low to match Don's. "Fine. I'll go back in there, sit like a lump, and let you get through your interview without offending anyone. On one condition."

Don frowned. "What?"

"I want Storper's data. Everything that went into making that report. I want to model how much water it would have taken to make the slide start. That would be a legitimate use of my time, wouldn't you say?"

He considered that for a moment. "Isn't that all in the report?"

"Just a summary. I want the measurements he took on site, before and after construction started, and whatever maps he used to take those measurements."

"You realize that's probably going to be a couple of boxes' worth of paper? And a whole lot of photocopying on Storper's part?"

Charlie shrugged. "Have him bill me."

Don put his hand across his eyes, pressing at his temples where a headache was starting to form. On the one hand, this would get Charlie off his back, and maybe make him realize that he was pursuing a dead end, once he had all of the numbers to work with himself. On the other hand, he ran the risk of antagonizing Penneman by requesting more information.

Screw it. He wasn't here to placate people, he was here to find answers. And if there was a chance that Charlie was right, it would mean a major redirection in the case. "All right. We'll ask."

"Good." Charlie gave a firm nod. "Thanks, Don."

"Just remember to keep your end of the bargain," he said, arching an eyebrow.

"I'll try." Before Don could comment, his brother opened the door and went back in.

Don followed him into the conference room and was annoyed to hear Charlie already asking, "How unstable is the slide, Mr. Storper? Do you think it might go off again?"

"I honestly don't know. It's common for mudflows to continue to move and settle for several days afterward, but in a situation like this, without the additional water being pumped in, it's hard to say. Are you thinking about making a trip up to San Marento?"

Charlie shrugged one shoulder. "It would make it easier to visualize the setting. Do you think it's too dangerous?"

Storper's gaze flickered towards the blond man for a moment. Later, Don would wonder why it didn't register with him how odd it was that the geologist was looking to the developer for advice. In truth, he was too focused on his annoyance at Charlie for coming within a hair's-breadth of violating the agreement they had reached out in the hall to observe subtle body language.

So when Storper said, with only a trace of hesitation, "I'm sure it's fine, Dr. Eppes. In fact, I've been up there twice myself," Don just lifted a hand to end that part of the conversation. As he looked over his list of questions to resume the interview, he missed the significant look that Penneman gave to Storper. He also missed the way Charlie's eyes tracked back and forth between the two men, taking in their interactions just as thoroughly as Terry would have.

By the time he raised his eyes from the page, all three men were looking expectantly at him, and the opportunity that he didn't even know he'd had was gone.