I do not own the Numb3rs characters.
Chapter 36
Jason made a sharp left off the road and took a fork in the road. They were now traveling on a road that really wasn't good enough to be referred to as a dirt road. It was more like a wagon trail complete with deep ruts.
But that wagon trail was much better than when Jason again made a turn off and Don found that they were driving through nothing but mud and large puddles. They did not have to drive very far before they came upon Charlie's stuck car. Don got out to take a quick look. They continued on looking for Charlie who would be on foot now.
Jason handed Don some binoculars that had been in the back seat. Jason called Philip Jordan who was waiting at the cabin to let him know that Charlie was on foot and gave the general direction so the other agent could meet up with him.
Don scanned the barren ground. There were a lot of hills and too many trees. Finally up ahead he spotted movement. He pointed "There. I see Charlie. He's running." Don moved the binoculars slowly and then he saw why Charlie was running. That looked like the very man in the park with Charlie this morning. "He's being chased on foot. That looks like Jeff Pitts in pursuit. Charlie's fast. Pitts will never catch him."
Jason floored the SUV and Don could see they were closing the distance between themselves and his brother. He never saw the impact coming.
Something had slammed into the driver's side of the SUV. He saw the blood that covered Jason and then the vehicle that was now out of control turned sharply to the right and plowed into a large boulder. Don knew before he checked for a pulse that Jason was dead.
He looked back and saw that a dark green SUV was driving away from the scene.
Don grabbed Jason's gun and put it in the waist of his jeans and pulled his shirt out to cover the weapon. His own gun was still in the holster at his side. He ran in the direction that he had last seen Charlie, removing the holstered gun as he ran. He wasn't too bad of a shot with his left hand, as long as the target was stationary.
Don could see that Charlie was well in front of Pitts but the SUV was closing in. Charlie looked back at the SUV and he swerved to his right. Don kept running and when he thought he was close enough he shot several shots through the back window. The driver did not slow down.
Don heard a vehicle approaching from behind and turned to see Derek's black SUV in pursuit. He moved out of the way and Don ran after Pitts, leaving the SUV drivers to battle each other. Agent Eppes had lost sight of Charlie but he could still see Jeff.
Pitts was still on his trail and he was not giving up. Jeff had also lost sight of Charlie in the area of some very large rocks. Without warning Charlie made a running lunge from behind one of the rocks. His body twisted and he landed with both feet at Jeff's midsection. They both fell to the ground but Jeff also had the wind knocked out of him and Charlie was able to grab the gun from where it had fallen. He turned the gun and held it on Jeff while Don caught up to them.
"Great job Buddy."
Don held his gun on Jeff. He did not have any cuffs on him since he was technically on desk duty and he didn't dare send Charlie alone to get Derek. Jeff was still lying on the ground when there was a footstep heard in the mud behind them. Because of the placement of the rocks, Don could not see anything without moving away from his unsecured prisoner. Charlie turned to look at the newcomer.
A man stepped from behind the rocks and he had a gun pointed at Charlie. Charlie did not recognize him. He was tall, husky, had nearly the same shade of blue to his eyes as Jeff and Charlie judged him to be a in his mid thirties. "You've caused us a lot of trouble Dr. Eppes." The man did not seem to know that anyone else was here. Both Don and Jeff were out of sight behind the boulder. Don circled around Jeff so that he could see the man threatening his brother and still keep an eye on Pitts. Jeff opened his mouth, apparently to alert the newcomer to his situation and Don swung his fist, knocking Pitts out, making almost no sound at all.
"After we finish you, the Director is next. He can't hide forever." The new unidentified threat was advancing on Charlie at the same time that he said this. Don moved so that he was slightly behind Charlie but still out of sight. He saw that the man had raised his gun. Charlie still had the gun in his right hand but it was pointed at the ground. Don did not want to draw attention and held his stance barely able to see the man. When the enemy raised his gun and had it aimed at his brother, Don raised his own gun and shot him. The man never saw his death coming and Charlie watched his face register shock as a perfectly placed shot appeared in the middle of his forehead. The would be killer and his gun dropped harmlessly to the ground.
"You okay Charlie?" Charlie had not turned around. Don holstered his gun and reached up to touch his brother's shoulder. "Hey."
Charlie turned slowly to face Don. He looked dazed, blinked and then nodded. "I'm okay." It wasn't very loud and not at all believable.
"Hey listen, I don't know how many more there are out here. Let's get you to the cabin."
Charlie did not look as though he understood a word of it. He still gripped the gun and looked down at it like he didn't know how it got there. Don reached for Charlie's gun; Charlie looked up at him. He loosened his grip on the weapon for just a few seconds before his eyes went wide, shifting from his brother and his grip tightened.
In that instant Agent Eppes knew that there was another threat behind him. He reached for his own gun and was barely turned to face the enemy when Jeff plowed into him knocking all three of them to the ground. The gun that Don had in his hand fell out and landed three feet to his left. He and Pitts both reached for it at the same time and in their wrestle for control of the weapon had moved off of the younger Eppes.
Agent Eppes, who was now laying on his side achieved control of the gun first, given that the hand that Jeff was using to reach for it was nearly useless. Don got the gun pointed in the direction of the rouge NSA Agent while trying to scoot from under Jeff and thus having more control of the situation. "Get up."
Pitts looked to be doing exactly that when he decided to take advantage of the opportunity that had presented itself and reached for the now exposed gun at the waist of Agent Eppes. Just as his hand closed over the butt of the gun, he felt another gun pressed to the back of his head.
"You heard him Jeff; get up." Charlie backed up a step to give him space, his eyes never leaving the hand that was still on the handle of the third gun. Don must have had the same thought because he put his own gun right up Pitts' forehead, his finger on the trigger.
Pitts raised both his hands while he backed up and then raised to his feet. Charlie shifted to the side keeping his gun directed on Jeff but not letting him get between himself and Don. "Back farther than that." Charlie had Jeff backed up far enough from Don so that he was able to help his brother off the ground.
Don would temporarily be out of control of his gun to get back on his feet with only one good hand, but there was no reason for Pitts to know that. "Turn around Pitts." When he did as he was told, Don added, "Now, down on your knees."
Charlie helped Don back to his feet and Don regained control of the gun.
"Come on Pitts, get moving." Don motioned to Jeff with his gun which way he should go. As they were walking past the rock that was blocking the body, Charlie slowed down to lag behind the other two.
When Jeff Pitts saw the body he fell to his knees along aside it with a groan. There were real tears in his eyes when he looked up. "He was my cousin, the last real family I had."
Don waved the gun and rolled his eyes, "Get up and get moving. He came here to kill my brother. He died just the way he deserved."
Jeff surged to his feet, anger in his eyes. "He's never killed anyone. He wasn't supposed to be here."
Charlie stopped next to his brother. "Oscar material Jeff."
Don thought it was an odd comment coming from Charlie until he noticed that the gun near the body was gone and Charlie's was now aimed for Jeff's heart.
Jeff's eyes were blazing when he turned them on Charlie. "You think you're so smart don't you?"
"So I've been told," Charlie responded in a quiet voice.
"You don't know anything. This doesn't stop with me."
Don smirked when he said, "Oh yeah, your friend in the green SUV. My partner was chasing him down."
Faster than Don would have though possible Jeff had the gun pointed at him and pulled the trigger. Don was faster though and the bullet struck Pitts in the upper chest. Jeff's shot went into the sleeve of Don's shirt.
Charlie never had the time to react at all and had not even taken a shot. He watched as Jeff fell flat on his back struggling for breath but looking at Charlie. Don went to the gun that had fallen from Jeff's hand and kicked it away.
Jeff looked like he was pleading with Charlie and so he dropped his own gun and kneeled at Jeff's side. He knew that Jeff was very close to death. Blood was dripping from his mouth when Jeff gasped out, "He'll be coming for you now, your brother won't be able to stop him." After another gasp, Jeff continued. "He didn't know about my own plans for you."
Charlie looked over at Don, who was attempting to roll the sleeve up on his left arm with his handicapped fingers while the gun was still pointed in the general direction of Jeff Pitts. Charlie knew that he had not heard. He turned back to Jeff as Jeff coughed, made a gurgling noise and gasped. "Who will be coming Jeff?"
"I don't…. think the director can even stop him." Jeff laughed and the blood bubbled out of his mouth, "K…Kristen was right you know. You won."
Whether the rogue agent intended to give more information or not Charlie would never know. The gurgling had stopped along with the gasping breaths.