Disclaimers: Characters don't belong to me.

Chapter 12

Jim was talking and Charlie was hearing every word. But that didn't mean he was going to take instructions. When Jim finished he turned and looked at Charlie, "Is that clear?"

Charlie gave Jim a fierce look, "I am not going to do it."

Jim laughed vigorously, "Funny boy, Charlie. Don't think that you are the only one to tell me that you aren't going to help me. They all refused but in the end they all saw that it was in their best interest to help me."

"Oh right, ending up a drooling mess in the hospital is in their best interest?"

Jim shook his head, "Charlie, you are very naïve about some things. You know it, your brother points it out to you all the time after an especially tough case." Charlie tensed up at the mention of his brother. "Yes, I know that you have been consulting on cases for the FBI. Charlie, please, I did not pick you because you were the consultant working on my case, well not at right off."

The admission surprised Charlie. He had assumed that the reason he had chosen was because and only because he was the consultant working with the FBI to track this guy.

Jim smiled the smallest of smiles and nodded his head, "Charlie I had you pegged five months ago. I research and keep my eyes and ears open to see and hear things about mathematicians in every field who do good things. You won that award from Harvard, that put you on my radar."

Chills ran up and down Charlie's spine, he felt like he was falling down a spiraling hole. His breathing was fast and uneven. The fact that this man had been tracking him for five months chilled him to the core.

"Charlie, Charlie?" Charlie realized that Jim was still talking to him. Once Jim was sure he had his attention again he continued, "As I was saying after you won the award I started researching you, very accomplished. I found out that you had been doing some consulting for the NSA, the CDC, and the FBI. I wondered if there was some connection between you and Agent Donald Eppes."

Charlie felt the walls closing in on him. His breathing was become faster and shallower. The chills that had been running up and down his spine had turned off. He felt the heat rising in his face. Next thing he knew his face was soaking, water dripping onto his chest and lap.

He looked up to see Jim standing over him screwing the top back onto a water bottle. Jim dared to have a look of concern on his face.

"You need to calm down Charlie. I don't want you going into full panic attack mode," his lips curled into a sneer, "After all the hospital is to far away."

"Anyway, you seem better. Now where was I?" Jim turned and looked into space for a moment.

"Oh yes," he turned back to Charlie, "I was wondering if there was a connection between the great mathematician, Dr. Charlie Eppes, and the FBI Agent Donald Eppes. And low and behold, there is. And then I discovered that not only was there a connection…but baby brother was helping his big brother with his cases."

Charlie did not know how much more his emotions could take; the roller coaster they had been on in the last ten minutes alone was enough to do him in. He had gone from near full-blown panic attack to growing rage in a couple of minutes.

"And," Jim continued pulling Charlie's cell phone out of his breast pocket, "I think it is time we give big brother a ring."