I do not own the Numb3rs characters

Chapter 37

As Don and Charlie returned back to where they had left the SUVs they could see that the dark green one had the driver door open and it was empty.

"Charlie, where's the cabin you were headed for?"

Charlie pointed in the approximate direction. "It's still over a mile that way."

"We'll go there. You're not safe out here in the open." As they walked Don's eyes scanned the area and he kept his gun in his hand and ready to fire.

"Do you have any idea how many people Jeff was involved with?"

"No."

Don heard someone heading their way from in front of them and that person seemed in a pretty big hurry. He pushed Charlie toward a clump of trees and told him to get down. Just a few seconds later, a very large wrestler shaped man entered the scene. They both had their guns trained on each other.

"Philip. Don don't shoot. He's one of Bob's men." Charlie came away from the trees. Philip was relieved to see Charlie and both he and Don lowered their weapons.

Don told the newcomer, "We need to get Charlie to that cabin. There may be more people looking to kill him out here. We've left two dead back a there." He pointed behind him.

Philip scanned the area and all three men headed toward the cabin.

Once to the cabin, Philip led them both in and bolted the door. "Someone is very anxious to talk to you." He hit the speed dial on his phone and handed it to Charlie.

Don listed to Charlie's story for a few minutes. He was irritated with the report. They had Pitts. They had him in custody and the NSA turned him loose. If they had made it to headquarters there was a good chance this could have been avoided. He may have slipped up. On the heels of that thought was that Charlie had been alone in the park with Pitts. If he and Derek had not turned up, Charlie may already be dead. Jason may have been too far away earlier to have saved Charlie.

"I need to go find my partner. Keep my brother safe."

Charlie looked up from where he was sitting, a mound of files all around him. "Don, please don't go back out there alone. You'll need backup. Take Philip with you and I'll bolt the door."

"Charlie, I'm a trained FBI agent, I do know how to be careful."

Charlie talked back into the phone. "Bob we have at least one more person out there that likely wants to see me dead. I think Philip should go find that man. I'll be safe locked in here until he returns."

Bob responded, "Okay Charlie, but you better stay in there, no matter what. I have more agents on the way but the mud is slowing them down. Put Philip on the phone."

Don rolled his eyes. Charlie was getting pretty used to getting his own way.

After Don and Philip left, Charlie locked and bolted the door and finished giving Bob most of the details of Jeff's story. He didn't tell him what Jeff said just before he died.

The Director was shocked to hear that with Jeff had managed to fool them all. His security level was high. His background had been spotless. He also had a hard time believing Kristen would be involved.

Bob told Charlie that he and his family would have to moved to a secure location until they were sure all of the people who meant him harm were safely out of the way. He said that he would have an agent go to his apartment for his father and have him grab some things that they may need. Charlie asked Bob to remind his dad to bring his pain meds. It had been a long day without them and his jaw was aching.

Bob kept Charlie on the phone the entire time Don and Philip were gone. When they returned Philip used his keys to get in. They entered with Derek following close behind. Derek told them that he had chased the man and caught him. The man was dead and he had no ID on him but he would be easily traceable through DMV records.

After this information was relayed to Bob he asked that Philip be put on the line. After Philip listened for a few minutes he said "Yes sir" and hung up the phone.

He looked at Charlie. "Dr. Eppes, I am under orders to take you and your brother to a secured location right now. Your father should get there soon as well."

Don immediately found protest to this order. "I have a job to do and I do not have time to hide away."

"Director Thompkins is calling your superiors as we speak. He insists that the family all be taken together so that no one can use you to get to Dr. Eppes. He also said that this way you can be there to protect your brother. Being on guard duty is one step better than being on desk duty. He asked that I mention that as well."

Don did have to agree with that and this way he could keep a closer eye on his brother.

The four men piled into Derek's SUV, and made their way back slowly through the mud. They found agents on the scene where the bodies were and did not stop. When they drove farther they saw that Jason's body had been removed from the badly damaged vehicle.

Don and Derek were both sitting up front and Don told Derek the details for filing the report on the two men that he had killed.

When they got back to the fork in the road, Philip had the Eppes brothers get out of the SUV the three of them got into a car that appeared from behind some trees. There was an agent at the wheel that Charlie had not met. After they had loaded into the car, Philip turned around and introduced the new agent as Kevin Davis.

Charlie was staring at the mud on his pants and Don could tell he was lost in this thoughts. "Hey Buddy?" When Charlie looked up at him there was a haunted look. "You okay?"

"I'm just thinking about Kristen and wondering why she didn't just come to me or Bob. She could have even gone to her superiors in the Legal department. Why the disk?"

"From what I heard you tell the Director, it looks like that at some point she at least gave the impression that she was going along with Pitts' plan. We probably won't ever know Charlie."

"She had such a good thing going with the NSA. A really bright future and Bob thought very highly of her."

Philip drove around the back of a large motel and parked. He and Kevin escorted the Eppes brothers to their room. They were facing the back parking lot on the top floor. After they opened the door for the new occupants they all went in. Philip called the Director to let him know the both brothers were secured. When he hung up the phone he told them their father was on the way. They left the room after instructing them to lock both locks. The agents would be stationed outside.

Charlie looked around. The suite was big with three separate bedrooms and a large bathroom. There was also a kitchenette and Don found sodas in the refrigerator. All Charlie wanted was a shower, some clothes that were not muddied and a pain pill. He lay down on a leather couch in the main room and waited for his father.

He fell asleep pretty fast and once he was sleeping, Don turned on the TV with the sound down low, not that it would bother Charlie. A sleeping Charlie was always hard to wake up.

When Alan came in he did not wake up. Their father was very worried about both sons. Don and he talked in low voices. Alan was visibly upset with how much the violence directed at his youngest would effect the sensitve soul. He was also angry with the NSA for putting Charlie in that position.

Don let him know that the Director had protection on Charlie, but when Charlie's name was added to the hit list it all happened too quickly.

Don went ahead and showered while Charlie was sleeping. They were both muddy and it felt good to have clean clothes on.

When he came out he woke Charlie. Charlie had been dreaming of Jeff's lifeless blue eyes staring up at the sky. "He'll be coming for you now." He looked around and he saw that his father was in one of the bedrooms putting things away. He walked in there and sat on the bed. It broke Alan's heart the way Charlie looked so lost. He hugged Charlie close to him.

"I am so thankful that you survived this attack Charlie. You and Don could have both been killed today."

It had been a traumatic day and Charlie soaked up the comfort that his father's arms held.