"Do you have a minute, Robin?" Megan said quietly as Robin passed her.
"What's wrong?" Robin looked worried, afraid that something might have happened to Don.
"Nothing that I know of. Unless there's something you'd like to talk about."
The gentle words almost made her cry, but Robin swallowed hard, and managed to control the tears that threatened to spill. She sighed, "I don't really think I should talk to you about this."
"I know you're worried about Don."
"I don't want to put you in a difficult position, Megan."
"Why don't you let me worry about that? I think you know me well enough to know that I can keep work and friendship separate. Want to go somewhere quieter?" Megan got up at Robin's nod, and grabbed some Kleenex when Robin's back was to her.
When they got to the empty conference room, Robin seemed unable to settle down. Megan sat quietly, watching her. Finally, Robin seemed to come to a decision. She'd set her jaw and a determined look had settled around her lovely features.
"Before the Hague case, Don had been preoccupied, and seemed a little strained. I tried to find out what was going on, but he was evasive. Since we started working out of the command center here, he hasn't been around much. And when he has been, he hasn't wanted to talk to me."
Megan nodded encouragingly.
Robin took a deep breath. "I think he's cheating on me."
There was silence as Megan evaluated Robin's statement. Then she said slowly, "I'll agree that Don hasn't been himself, and been acting strangely. But I don't think he's the kind of man who would cheat on someone he cared about."
"Is that the profiler talking?"
Megan smiled, "Yes, and no. It's also his co-worker and his friend talking. I've worked with him for a while now, and he's an honorable man. I just don't see that happening. Why did you decide that's what it had to be? It could really be anything."
"I don't know. I couldn't think what else it could be." Robin paused, then sighed. "In all honesty, I think that's my biggest fear."
"Do you think you might be projecting that fear? Just a little?"
"Oh, God, Megan, I hope that's all it is! I don't know if I could handle it if he really were cheating on me!"
Megan watched Robin struggle again for control. "You need to talk to him. Get his attention. I'll help you if it doesn't look like he's aware you're doing that. You can't do this to yourself." She paused and eyed Robin. "Are you projecting this fear elsewhere?"
"What makes you say that?"
"I overheard Colby mention to David that he'd had a fight with Hannah."
"Oh, no." Robin looked horrified.
"Talk to Don, Robin. You can't go on like this. I think Colby and Hannah are working through it, but you need to settle down. You're in charge of this task force. You can't afford to lose control."
-----
"Megan! Robin! I think I've found something," Rilla was excited. "We've been struggling with getting the data into the data warehouse so this is really the first chance I've had of looking at these claims that were in the safe deposit box. Look at these claims for chronic dialysis. Together they make up a set that just fit within M&R guidelines for medically necessary services."
Rilla stopped when Megan touched her arm, laughing. "You'll need to translate that into English. You're almost as bad as Charlie!"
"Almost as bad but not half as smart. That's a terrible deal!" Rilla laughed as well. "M&R stands for Milliman and Robertson. They lead a team of doctors who determine what is considered medically necessary. These determinations are now in knowledge bases used by various different claims software for processing claims. Most software will automatically adjudicate, meaning process and pay, claims that fit within M&R guidelines. In other words, they don't trigger any audits."
"So this fraud could be happening to insurance companies as well, not just to Medicare and Medicaid." The fire was back in Robin's eyes.
"That's right! And I'm willing to bet that these other claims can also be placed in sets, and that they'll also fit within M&R guidelines. I'm going to call Charlie and let him know. Maybe he can come up with an algorithm the programmers can use to identify all the sets we have in the data warehouse. Then we can analyze who the doctors or hospitals are, and who the patients are! Find the trends to see if we can find the fraud." Rilla could barely contain her excitement.
"And maybe trace them back to Hague and whoever Hague worked for." Megan smiled in some relief. The case had been going nowhere fast.
-----
"Amita, Rilla just called. She's found the correlation between some of the claims. Megan would like us to come up with an algorithm for the data warehouse programmers. Find the trends. They're also sending the claims images to a company called GTESS. They'll use optical character recognition and transfer the claims data to the data warehouse. Oh, and Megan wants to know where we are on cracking the encryption."
There was silence as Amita digested this information. "Megan wanted to know? Not Don?"
Charlie looked up, puzzled. "Yeah, Megan wanted to know. Is that a problem?"
"No, not a problem. I was just curious. It's like your brother's dropped off the face of the earth or something. He's usually all up in your face, wanting answers." Amita shrugged, and went back to what she was doing.
"Megan mentioned that she'd hardly seen Don the last few days," Larry mused, half to himself.
Charlie looked at both of them. He'd never even noticed. He'd have to talk to his father to find out if he knew what was going on with Don.
-----
Colby thought the day would never end. Don never came in, and Megan decided again that it wouldn't hurt to leave at a reasonable time. They'd made good progress, both on the audio and on the claims information. It had taken him a while but he'd finally tracked down a florist who had primroses and purple hyacinths. He balanced the bouquet plus the tiramisu and creme brulee in one hand as he unlocked the door to Hannah's apartment with the other.
He grinned as the fragrance of Hannah's lasagna wafted to the door. Hannah was a fabulous cook but that was his favorite of Hannah's repertoire. He headed for the kitchen.
"Where should I put these?" He said softly when he got to the kitchen.
Hannah turned around and her eyes widened at the sight of the bouquet. Tears filled her eyes.
"Oh no. Don't do that." Colby panicked, dropping everything onto the kitchen table and gathered Hannah in his arms. "I feel helpless when you cry. And that tears me up inside."
Hannah hugged him close. "Do you know what those flowers mean, Colby?"
"Yes."
She looked up at his serious face, searching his eyes. And her face lit up with a tender smile. She kissed him, her tongue slid across his lower lip and then in to tease his tongue. "You don't have anything to apologize for, Colby," she murmured in his ear.
"It was inadvertent, but it still made you cry. I thought I was going to lose you and I realized I couldn't deal with the thought of being without you."
"Come on, I'll put those in a vase and we can have dinner. What are these?" Hannah looked into the paper bag, and laughed with delight when she discovered the tiramisu and creme brulee, her favorite desserts. She glanced at him from under her lashes, her dark eyes bright with promises for the evening to come.
-----
Robin opened the door to find Don at her doorstep. Her eyes widened in surprise. Don sent her a rueful smile.
"I saw Megan at the office."
She looked at him for a few more seconds, and he returned her gaze, wondering what she would do. She took a step back, opened the door a little wider, then stepped away from the door. She headed to her living room, not looking to see if he would follow her. She settled into her favorite spot on her sofa, and watched him.
"I have some explaining to do," Don said quietly.
She continued to watch him, her expression serene.
He sighed, and sat at the edge of the sofa, facing her. "Her name is Reggie. Regina Wise."
Robin flinched.
He reached for her hands, but she pulled away from him. Her eyes were bright now, shimmering with unshed tears.
"I met her on my first case, a few months after I graduated from Quantico." He saw her look up at him in surprise. He smiled again, just as ruefully as before. "I'd got lost in the Arizona desert, no one for miles around. She pulled up in a Chevy Nova, and had the sass to race me while she was showing me the way to the next town. I fell in love with her."
She was curious now.
"After a few months of driving from Phoenix to Gary where she lived, just so I could see her on the weekends, I couldn't stand it anymore and asked her to move in with me. And she did. I was learning my way around the FBI, and she was racing her Nova in some of the more prestigious races in the area. We lived together for about two years." Don paused, shadows in his eyes as he struggled with some inner demon.
"What happened?" she asked gently, reaching out to touch his hand.
"I came home one day and she was gone." He swallowed a lump in his throat.
"Did she leave you?"
"She disappeared. Her Nova was gone. But everything else was still there. All her clothes, jewelry, everything else she owned. Dinner was in the oven. The table was set. Even her purse was still there. Only thing out of that purse was her wallet. Everything indicated that she had just run out on an errand."
"What do you think happened?"
"I don't know. I did everything I could to trace her. I spent months following leads, calling in favors. Nothing." Don sighed. He looked into Robin's eyes. "After a while, I went into Fugitive Recovery. I didn't care if I lived or died. But I never stopped looking for her."
She gazed in his eyes for a minute and then nodded. "Have you been following a new lead?"
"Just some old ones. It affects me the most around this time every year," he said softly.
Understanding dawned in Robin's eyes. "Is this the anniversary of her disappearance?"
Don nodded. "I never got over her. And I think it's one of the things that affected all my relationships through the years."
"You still love her." It was a statement. Somehow Robin knew it was true.
"Yes."
"What about us?"
Don knelt in front of her and reached for her hands. This time she let him take them. He kissed her knuckles and held her hands against his chest. "I don't know what happened to Reggie. Over the years, I've found no trace of her or her Nova. I don't know if she's alive or dead. I don't know if she left me of her own accord, or if something terrible happened to her. I don't even know if what happened to her had anything to do with any of my cases. I will continue to look for her until the day I'm no longer able." He gazed into Robin's eyes. "I also know that life goes on, and I need to live my life. I promise that I will never cheat on you. I care very deeply for you, and I will never willfully hurt you. I'm very sorry that I was inconsiderate and that I didn't tell you about this sooner."
"What happens if you find her?"
"I don't know," Don said quietly. His heart ached when she pulled her hands away. Then he brightened when she cupped her hands on his face. He put his arms around her and pulled her into his embrace.
"We'll face that together." Robin said softly.
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