Terry arrived at the hospital later then she had hoped. The ERT's got stuck in traffic and she had to wait for them to arrive. Once they were there, she had to go over everything with them. A lot of the furnishings and items in the house were antiques and Terry wanted to make sure the team understood this. As she walked towards the doors to emergency, she was still trying to figure out how she was going to tell Don about his father. The doors opened automatically as she approached and Terry noticed David pacing back and forth in front of Larry and Amita. From the expression on his face the profiler knew something was wrong.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Terry, where have you been?" David demanded.
"I'll explain later," Terry informed him. "Now, what's going on?"
"I don't know," David said, swiping his hand over his head. "Don got a call and took it outside. Next thing I know he's running in here. Then we hear a bloodcurdling scream from behind those doors."
Terry turned to look at the doors David pointed to. The 'no one beyond this point' meant little to her as she walked towards them. "I'm going to find out what's going on."
"I truly wish I was bold enough to walk through those doors," Larry said as they watched Terry disappear.
Terry walked down the hall and was stopped by a nurse. Showing her badge got her directions to Charlie's room. When she entered she was surprised to find Don sitting in the dark next to Charlie. Terry walked closer and stopped when Charlie looked at her and screamed.
"Easy, Charlie, easy," Don said, trying to calm his little brother. "It's only Terry."
"No, you bastards! Leave her alone!"
Terry was startled by the outburst as she watched Charlie start to struggle. That's when she realized he was strapped down to the bed. Don tried to soothe Charlie, but the younger man wasn't listening. He turned pleading eyes to Terry and she quickly moved to Charlie's other side.
"Shh, Charlie, it's okay," Terry said.
Charlie's head whipped in Terry's direction and her heart went out to the mathematician. The look of pure fear on Charlie's face was something she hoped she'd never see again. After a short time Charlie calmed, but his eyes never stopped moving.
"Don, what's going on?"
"It was Sergie," Don growled, which made Charlie flinch. "Sorry, buddy."
"Sergie drugged him? With what?"
"Ketamine."
"Damn," Terry sighed. "Now I know why you're sitting here in the dark. You realize all the noise from outside that door isn't helping."
"I know," Don sighed. "But the doctor didn't want to move him. He figured that would be worse."
"Don, I hate to tell you this -"
"Sergie kidnapped my father," Don said, cutting her off.
"How'd you know?"
"He called me. He wants his money."
"If he was going to kidnap your dad then why drug Charlie?"
"Charlie was revenge," Don answered. "Sergie knew Charlie was the one who figured out how to trace the money. He was also a distraction."
"ERT is going over the house," Terry said. "When I got there I found the glass on the back door broken and some of the furniture busted."
"Won't matter. Sergie said he'd call back."
"But if you're in here with Charlie how will you get the call?"
"I don't know," Don said in frustration. "I can't leave him."
Terry knew Don was torn between worry for his dad and leaving Charlie. Having his family fall victim to a felon they were trying to catch would eat at Don for months. She knew the effects of the Ketamine were temporary, if not pleasant, but Charlie would be all right. Their main concern now had to be Alan Eppes.
"Don," Terry said. "I'll stay with Charlie. You and David get to work finding your father."
"I don't know if Charlie will let me."
Terry looked down to see that Charlie had Don's hand in a death grip. That's when she noticed Charlie's' right hand was encased in bandages, as was his left forearm. Don saw where she was looking and explained what happened.
"How bad is his hand?"
" He was lucky," Don said, trying to loosen Charlie's hold. "There's no nerve damage or anything too serious. He just cut all the way down to the bone."
"Anything else I should know about before you go?"
"Yeah," Don sighed. "He bit his lip when the hallucinations started. They had to give it a couple of stitches."
Terry just shook her head as she came over to Don's side and tried to pry Charlie's fingers from Don's hand. Once his hand was free Don shook it a few times to get the circulation going again. Terry didn't attempt to hold Charlie's hand knowing how strong a person could be on Ketamine. She sat next to Charlie and turned to watch Don walk towards the door. He stopped just before leaving and gave his brother one last look. Charlie started thrashing against the restraints and Terry knew it was the hardest thing Don ever did, walking out the door.
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The look on Charlie's face as he left would haunt Don, but he knew Charlie was in good hands. He couldn't say the same thing for his father. Sergie had become unpredictable and Don would do anything to get his father back. As he entered the waiting area David, Amita and Larry stood up to meet him.
"How's Charlie?" Amita asked.
"He'll be okay, in time," Don said. "What about you?"
Amita touched the bandage at her neck. "The doctor said it would be fine. Didn't even need any stitches."
"Don what did you mean about Charles?" Larry asked.
"Sergie drugged Charlie with Ketamine," Don explained. "It's going to take him a couple of hours to recover."
"An anesthetic used by veterinarians?" Larry said. "Why would he do that?"
"It's also known as Special K," Amita said. She saw the look on Don's face and smiled. "Oh don't worry, I had no plans on ever trying it."
"Why would you want to?" Larry asked, rubbing his cheek.
"It's a street drug used to cause hallucinations and an out of body experience," Amita said.
"Charlie's at the hallucination stage," Don explained. "I don't know what he's seeing, but he's terrified. But I have something else to worry about. Charlie was only a distraction."
"A distraction," David said. "What are you talking about?"
"Sergie kidnapped our father."
"He wants his money," David concluded.
"I hate to leave Charlie," Don said, distraught. "But what else can I do? I have to wait for Sergie to call back."
"Don," Larry said, placing a hand on his arm. "We'll be here for Charlie. Only you can get back your father."
"Thanks, Larry," Don said. "David you're with me. Terry is going to wait with Charlie."
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The traffic on the 10 was backed up, and Don cursed. As David drove Don pulled out his cell phone and contacted the tech to place a trace on any incoming calls to his cell phone. Don also wanted all conversations taped. David turned to look at his boss and could see Don was ready to explode. Hell, he didn't blame him; he was just surprised Don hadn't lost his cool yet. He listened as the older agent finished with the tech and hung up the phone.
"Charlie will be okay," David said.
"I know," Don sighed. "I just hated leaving him like that."
"Yeah, but Terry and the others will watch out for him."
"I know he's in good hands, but my dad…"
"We'll get Sergie," David assured him.
"How did this get so fucked up?" Don said, dropping his head against the headrest.
"We underestimated him," David said, unsure of Don's reaction.
"We sure as hell did," Don chuckled ruefully.
They sat in silence for a few minutes when Don's cell phone rang. He turned to David, who nodded his head.
"Agent Eppes."
"I see you left your bother's side. How is he by the way?"
"Don't even bring up Charlie's name," Don growled. "Just tell me how you want this done."
"Such impatience," Sergie laughed. "It's rather simple. You'll bring the five million to the Santa Monica Marina slip 42, tomorrow at 6:00 p.m."
"So I see you want it all, now that we took out your partners."
"Why shouldn't I ask for it all? I was the brains of the operation."
"I want to talk to my father," Don demanded.
"I don't think so," Sergie said. "Just do as I said and you'll have him back tomorrow. Oh yes - and come alone."
Don cursed as Sergie hung up. Quickly dialing the phone, Don got in touch with the tech. David listened as Don started yelling into the phone. A few minutes later he hung up.
"They weren't able to trace it?"
"They said it had been routed through too many servers for them to trace."
"Now what?" David asked as he turned off the freeway.
"Now we make a plan on how to catch the son of a bitch."
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Don pulled into the driveway at Charlie's house and cut the engine. Leaning back, he rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. It had taken them longer then he thought to work up a plan to take Sergie down. Terry had called around 8:00 p.m. to let him know they were releasing Charlie. She had offered to take him home, and Don was grateful. Terry had also told Charlie about their father. Don wearily got out of the SUV and headed for the door. As he got closer he heard someone scream, and he ran inside. Terry was running up the stairs and Don followed. As they got to Charlie's room Terry let Don go in first. They found Charlie sitting in the middle of his bed with the covers thrown to the floor. He had his arms wrapped around his pulled-up knees and he was shaking. Don approached him slowly and sat on the bed.
"Hey, buddy." Don was taken by surprise as he younger brother wrapped his arms around him. "What the hell's going on?"
"Doctor said the nightmares could continue up to 48 hours after the drug left his system," Terry explained.
"I'm sorry," Charlie said as he pushed away from Don.
"Don't be," Don said, pulling him back. "None of this is your fault."
"In a way it is," Charlie said, pulling away and Don let him go. "I was the one who came up with the program."
"Sergie's to blame for this, not you, " Terry said.
Don could still see the haunted look in Charlie's eyes as he turned to look at Terry. "Hey, buddy, do you want to talk about these nightmares?"
"Might help," Terry said.
"I doubt it," Charlie laughed uneasily.
"Try us."
"It's mom," Charlie's voiced cracked. "She's not dead when they take her to the funeral parlor. And...and..."
"Go on, Charlie," Terry encouraged.
Don watched as his brother wrapped his arms around his middle and winced. The right hand was still heavily bandaged and Don knew it had to be painful. Charlie looked at Don.
"She was dead, wasn't she?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah," Don said, not liking where this was going.
"God," Charlie cried. "It was so real. In the dream we bury her alive."
"Oh God, Charlie," Don said, pulling his brother into his arms.
"Don, promise me something?"
"Anything."
"You'll get dad back?"
"I swear, Charlie."