Disclaimer: I do not own the Numb3rs Characters
Chapter 26
The next day when Don woke up he could hear his dad in the kitchen talking. "You haven't given her much of a chance Charlie. She's a very nice woman. I admit she has a few issues but who doesn't anymore?"
Don could hear Charlie say something but it was too low for him to make it out.
"That's unfair. You could hardly tell that from the three minutes you spent in her presence."
Don entered the kitchen Charlie was sitting at the table with a glass of orange juice and a straw in front of him.
"The two of you just got off on a bad foot." Alan was not facing Charlie but Don could see the distaste on Charlie's face. Neither one of them liked the pushy woman. His dad could do much better. Sooner or later, Dad would see Pauline as she really was.
"Morning." Don paused and put his hand on Charlie's shoulder.
"Morning." Charlie answer. It was a nasally sound but at least Charlie's mouth was able to form the words today.
"Morning Donnie, how did you sleep?"
"Slept good Dad."
Don stepped over to the sink and removed his ice pack. The swelling had gone down pretty good overnight. The pain medication and ice seemed to be their job because it hardly hurt. There was a lot of discoloration around his fingers and over to top of the splint on his wrist. Three injuries to one hand were pretty unpleasant but at least none had resulted in a break that needed surgery to fix. He had been lucky that much at least. His father had propped two pillows under his hand before Don went to sleep last night.
The splints were cumbersome but Don knew he would get used to it soon. During his baseball years, he had had his fair share of splints.
"Charlie you look much better this morning. I don't guess I have to ask how you slept."
"I was out all night."
Alan said "And when I woke up this morning, he was already up and was shaving. One pain pill later and Charlie's even moving his jaw."
Charlie didn't want to eat anything but he did stay at the table with Don and Alan. Don knew that his brother had to have been told sometime earlier that they had extended their stay and since he did not seem to be in a bad mood, Don took that as a good sign.
Alan set Don's plate on the table. He then picked up a knife and cut each piece of french toast into at least fifty tiny pieces. Don looked at Charlie and his brother was holding in a laugh. Charlie had his hand over his mouth to stop it. Don rolled his eyes at Charlie. Finally Alan had finished the massacre of his breakfast and set it in front of Don. "Next time Dad, save yourself some time and just throw the thing in the blender."
The laugh that Charlie had been holding back came out now. It was good to hear Charlie laugh again. Don and Alan both smiled at the sound and Don got up to get a spoon for his breakfast.
When they finished eating Don went to take a shower while their Dad did the dishes. Charlie sat with his lap top in the living room. He hoped that he would be done with the program when he returned to the office on Tuesday.
After Alan had secured a fresh ice pack to his wrist, Don turned on the TV. There was a special news report on.
A New York Senator, Douglas Atwood had been found murdered in Washington DC early this morning. He'd only gotten to town yesterday. FBI had no comment on possible suspects or cause of death. The newscaster than changed over to other headline news items of the day.
A few hours later Charlie woke up from a drug induced nap. He found himself alone in the apartment. There was a note on the coffee table from his dad that said that he and Don had gone to do some shopping and would be back soon.
Charlie thought this was a good time to get some fresh air. He changed into some jeans and hobbled out of the apartment. When the elevator doors opened on the first floor Charlie was surprised to see that there were three agents in front of him. After he stepped off the elevator, they all stepped on and the door closed. Just as Charlie got to the front door, another agent was buzzed in. He held the door for Charlie to exit first.
"Car accident?"
"Foul ball."
Charlie started to head out the door when the next question stopped him in his tracks.
"Did your brother's flight get off okay?" The agent was average height with a military hair cut. He had a mustache and hazel eyes and Charlie knew he had never seen him before. How could this man know that Charlie had a brother that was supposed to have left town?
"Excuse me?"
"I'm a friend of Don's. My name's Derek Collins."
"How did you know Don was my brother?"
The agent looked to be scrambling for an answer. "Uh, a photo. I saw a photo once of the two of you together."
The man was not a good liar. "Oh. No, Don's staying an extra week."
"Well, that's good news for me. I'll call him. Take Care."
Derek Collins, FBI agent of ten years stepped into the elevator wondering how he had just made such a rookie mistake. But, young Eppes did seem to believe his story.
Charlie sat on a bench outside the apartment building. There was an uncomfortable heavy heat today but he was just happy to be out.
His dad had told him early this morning that he and Don would be staying another week. Charlie was not surprised by the announcement but he was surprised that the announcement did not seem to disappoint him. He and Don had come far in the short time they had spent together. He cared too much about his brother to ever hate him. Charlie had always known that he could never stay angry at Don. It wasn't the anger; it was the hurt that made Charlie decide he had to get away at that time. Here he had survived it and while the pain of it had not gone away, it was pushed more from surface now. He could keep it pushed down and he would go on with his life. He compared it to his recent injury. He may have cracked a little but Charlie did not break. He would get along with his brother, he would work at the changes he needed and life would continue.
He hadn't been sitting on the bench very long with one of the agents he had seen earlier came out of the building carrying a computer. It was loaded into the van that was parked at the side of the building. There was already an agent in the open van that Charlie had not noticed earlier. The same agent came back and again entered the building. Aaron must have unlocked the door because he just opened the door and walked in.
While Charlie was sitting there Don and Alan were walking up the sidewalk from the other direction. "Are you supposed to be walking around?"
"I'm sitting Dad."
"You should be sitting up in the apartment." His dad was carrying two grocery bags and Don had a shoe store bag in his hand.
While they were standing there Derek came out of the building and he was carrying a plastic bag that looked to be filled.
Don walked over to him. "Hey Derek, what's going on?"
"Hi Don, your brother told me you were still in town." Charlie was watching Don at this comment. But, Don had always had a pretty good poker face and gave nothing away.
"What happened to your hand?"
"Foul ball. What are you doing here?"
"We have a suspect for the Atwood murder living in this building. Third floor. We have a lot to do up there yet."
Don had motioned Derek away from his father and brother. Charlie was still able to hear them. "The suspect is a woman that he spent time with whenever he was in town. She's CIA"
Charlie knew they were talking about Leslie.
"You think it was personal or CIA involvement?"
"Too early to say. Her prints were all over the place but if the CIA is involved, this case will probably never even make it to court. No matter what we find, it will be dropped for lack of evidence. Personally I think a good agent would not have left any prints, but she's all we have so far."
Alan turned to Charlie. "Time to head back upstairs. It's hot out here."
Alan took the shoe bag from Don and motioned for Charlie to get moving. After helping Alan put the groceries away Charlie took another pain pill and went to the bedroom to change. He wanted to head to the roof for a swim.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Dad, this is getting to be a little much. I'm just going to the roof for a quick swim. I'll be back in about fifteen minutes."
"You're not supposed to even be on your leg, whether it's in a pool or on dry land and that medication is suppose to make you drowsy. Don't you read labels?"
"I'm not operating any machinery more dangerous than an elevator. I'll be fine and will be back before you know it."
Since it was a weekend and so hot, there were several people already in the pool.
Charlie did not swim, conserving his leg until he could try walking without the crutches tomorrow. He just wanted to spend some time in the water. Charlie had been thinking about Leslie. He was surprised to learn that she was a murder suspect. He was pretty sure she would not have done something as stupid as kill someone and leave evidence. What did he really know about her though? Very little. They talked about movies and music. Neither had talked about their work. They were just hiking buddies really. She seemed to be a nice girl, they got along good, but Charlie realized he didn't know her at all.
When Charlie returned from the roof, Don still had not gotten back. Charlie hoped that that meant that he had visited Leslie's apartment and he may have some information to share.
Charlie had changed back into his jeans and walked into the living room. He intended to spend a few hours working on the program. "Charlie, I'm making chicken stew for dinner this evening. Are you going to eat any?"
"Dad, that's more than three hours from now. Can I keep you posted?"
"It would make it easier to have an answer now. You like vegetables more than Don does and I can have an idea of how to make it."
"I can promise you that if I eat it at all, I am not chewing one vegetable. Just make it the way Don likes it. Since you almost always serve it with mashed potatoes, if I eat anything it will be the potatoes."
Charlie noticed that his dad was looking at something over his shoulder. He turned and was met with an angry glare from his brother.
It was obvious he was pretty mad about something and there was no doubt about who he was angry at.