After the agents and Charlie left her office, Giada decided to call her father.
"Hi Dad. I have you on speaker, if that's okay?"
Giada could envision her father smiling on the other end. "Hello my daughter. That's fine. How is la la land treating you?"
"Fine Dad, and it isn't as bad as you think." She paused before changing the subject. "I hate to bother you at work, but this may have something to do with that problem we talked about before I left to California."
"I had my agents look into that, but the trail went cold." A note of concern tinged Giada's father's voice. "Have they contacted you again?"
Giada got up to look out her window. She ran her fingers through her dark curly hair. "No, they haven't, but my friend's brother is working on a case involving art thievery. You know how you told me if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck then get your gun out? I just have this feeling that they're the same people." The father chuckled. "Ah my suspicious daughter is at it again."
Her eyes glittered, happy that her father knew her so well. "Do you remember my friend Charlie Eppes – from Princeton?"
There was a pause on the line and a rustling of paper. "Wasn't Charlie Eppes that genius kid you and your brother had run with when you were freshman? I believe he was the one that helped your brother rig up the bucket of slime that ruined your party dress. Along with that girl Jade."
Giada started laughing, amazed that her father always remembered all the things she and her brother had gotten into. "Your memory never ceases to amaze me."
He laughed along with his daughter. "Much to your mother's chagrin, where do you think you got yours from?"
Gia smiled at her father's comment, knowing all too well that he was right. She continued telling her story. "His brother is a Federal Agent here in LA and they're investigating some robberies. They were just here to ask me what I thought about the items that were stolen. I told them the art work was pretty worthless and the only reason I could think of for why it would be stolen was that it could be used to make forgeries." She wondered if she should've told them that she had been approached to make forgeries. but she worked in a very competitive business any whiff of a scandal would be devastating.
She could hear her father drumming his fingers on his desk ands he could picture him deciding on the best course of action. " Well it may not be the same people but I don't like coincidences. No harm in having one my agents call out there and give them the information we gathered. We'll keep your name out of it so your rep stays untarnished."
Sighing with relief, Giada thanked her father.
"A shame that you didn't join the bureau. You were so suspicious of people even as a little girl. You would've made a good agent."
"Dad!" Giada rolled her eyes. "Still trying to recruit me eh? It's not going to work. I love my job and my career."
"I know my daughter." He laughed knowing all to well the face she was making. "Don't mean to give you a hard time but I want to have the best and you fit the bill."
"Thanks Dad." She smiled whenever her father dropped hints that the bureau could use her. "I love you, Dad."
"Me too. Call your mother. She says she hasn't heard from you in a while."
"I call her every other day. What else does the woman want?" Giada grumbled with exasperation. Talking to her mother more than that always made Giada nuts. Her mother was constantly nagging her. 'When are you gonna find a husband? You're getting up there. You may not be able to have children if you wait to much longer. How come you had to move to LA?' It was enough to drive Giada to the psych ward.
Her father paused for a second and then said with much emotion, "G, she just misses you. We all do. So cut her some slack."
"Alright Dad I'll try. I'll let you get back to work. Thanks again. Bye."
She walked back to her desk to hit end button on her speakerphone. She sank into her chair and tried to rub the fatigued out of eyes. It was really hard to put up such a front around certain people like her father and Don. She didn't want her father to hear the fear and self-doubt in her voice and as for Don; she didn't want him to see her true feelings for him. Like so many other people she sometimes had to wear a mask and she hated it. She had to exude confidence and sophistication for her job when she was really not all that confident and sophisticated. Her mother telling her not to be so goofy but to be more like her older sister. Her mother even had enrolled Giada into dance school, which never translated to gracefulness in the real world for the clutsy woman. At least when she was with her brother and Charlie she could be herself. She was glad she had reestablished her friendship with Charlie out here.
She remembered the day they met Charlie. They were standing in line to get on the bus when a thin dark haired kid tripped and knock right into the back of her. He apologized to her mumbling. "that he was such a clutz. " She looked at the boy and told him that it was ok cause she was queen of the clutzes. He laughed and said 'Well that must make me king." Her brother always the jokester commented, "Does that mean we have to get you body padding as well?" Giada glaring at her brother she offered him a smack to the back of the head. Charlie laughed at the exchange between the two of them. She remembered how kind his eyes were and felt instantly drawn to the other teen. The three of them spent the entire bus trip talking and laughing.
She also knew that she could trust Charlie and that was the other thing she loved about him. Because of her not trusting people it could be hard for her to make friends. Unsure if people really liked her or not she sometimes let potential relationships go. When she would meet people she always lacked just that extra bit of confidence either she came on to strong and opinionated or to wishy washy. But she never felt like that around Charlie. He would laugh at all of her brother's dumb jokes and her silly stories. Thinking of all the time they spent together back then always made her smile. She sighed and returned to shuffling her paperwork.
Don, Megan and Charlie returned to the FBI building to add the new data into the algorithm. Charlie headed towards the conference room to start running his algorithm.
Don went over to Colby's desk to see what information they had gotten out of the other assistants. Colby was just finishing a phone call when his boss approached.
Don said to Colby, "What did you find?"
"At the first robbery, the director told me that they had nothing over 5K at the auction house. They keep the more valuable artwork in a high security location. The second robbery scene pretty much said the same thing. They don't carry anything over 2500$ at the auction house itself."
David came over to Colby's desk. "I just got an interesting phone call from the Philadelphia office. Seems our art thieves may have been out there casing joints. They also had an anonymous tip that our guys approached someone to work on forgeries for them. They looked into it, but nothing panned out. I also checked to see if there were any known forgers in our area and if anyone was just recently released from jail, but that was a bust."
Don listened to the information that his team gave him in silence. He wondered what the connection was and why the forgers had moved out to the LA area. Could this case from the Philly bureau be connected to his? Don wasn't willing to leave any stone unturned. "I want you to run down the information that the Philly office gave you and see if anything connects. I'm going to go check with Charlie and see what we've got."
He stopped outside the room and watched his brother through the glass. He was proud that he got to work with his brother and he enjoyed the connection he had with his family
"How's it going?"
"It's going good." Charlie raced back to the other side of the room to type something into the computer. After seeing the answer he was looking for, he ran to the white board and wrote down more of his equation. "Based on the information that Giada gave us, they seem to only hit places that are holding lower end paintings. There's a high probability that they're either going to hit here." He put a thumbtack in on a map. "Or here." Charlie then placed another thumbtack at that location.
Don stuck his head out of the conference room. "Guys, I need you to join us in the conference room."
Don updated the team on all the latest intelligence and on what Charlie had told him. "Megan and Colby I want you to head up a team to surveillance the first location and David and I will assemble a team to watch the second. Good work, Charlie"
"No problem." Charlie smiled. "Let me know if you need me again. I'm going to head back to CalSci to prep for my next class."
Giada was in the middle of dictating a report on her latest assessment when her private line rang. She looked at the caller ID and despite not recognizing the name; her curiosity got the better of her.
Puzzled she picked up the phone. A heavy accented voice on the other line spoke, "Dr. Giada Conti."
"Yes this is she." Her voice was filled with trepidation.
"Hello again Dr. Conti."
Giada cleared her throat. "Who is this?"
"Oh, I think you know who this is Dr. Conti." The voice answered with a hint of amusement.
Gia took in a sharp breath and then growled in response, "Yeah, I know who you are. I told you I would not be of service to you and to leave me alone."
"Unfortunately that is going to be impossible. Our timetable is now askew because of a certain FBI agent, who, by the way, we just witnessed coming out of your office. And we still need someone to perform a certain task for us."
"I told you before and I'll say it again, you can forget it. I'm not going to do it."
"You won't will you? The man on the other end chortled at the fear in her voice
"Listen, you SOB, I'm going to hang up the phone and you better not call me again."
"Or what? You'll call your daddy and he'll cover your tracks? Maybe I'll just make a little call in to the FBI and tell them that you know more then you let on. Would you like that, Doctor?"
Gia hissed, "You bastard!"
"Since the stakes are now higher because of you. You need to make a choice. Either do what we want or there could be come consequences… if you get my drift? We'll be in touch."
Gia's hands were shaking as she hung up the phone. She was not sure what she should do. When her cell phone rang, she almost jumped off her chair.
"What!"
"Whoa girl. Chill out. It's me, your brother. You okay?"
She sat back in her chair and tried to calm her nerves. She was really relieved that it was her brother on the phone and not that man again. "Johnny? Sorry, yeah I was um lost in thought and you startled me."
"No prob. Hey listen I am not going to be able to make dinner tonight with everyone. Make my apologies?
She looked down at her the phone. "Oh, no. You got suckered into pulling a double again?
"Yeah, one of the other doctors called out sick and I said I would cover. If is ok I'm going to run to your place for a shower and nap before I have to start the next shift?
"Yeah no problem. It won't be the same without you but I will give your regrets."
Gia arrived to Cleo's and parked her car. She headed over to meet the group when she spied them across the street. She waved to them to let them know she was there. Her friend started to cross the street when a dark car further up the street started picking up speed. Gia watched as the car headed towards her friends. It was surreal. Time seemed to slow down. She tried to scream for them to watch out, but she was too late. The car slammed into Charlie and another man who just had the misfortune to be there. She watched as the bodies of the two men fly through the air like rag dolls. The car then took off. Gia ran over to the two crumpled forms lying on the pavement.
Larry screamed, "Oh my god, someone call 911."
Amita took out her cell phone frantically and called the police.
At that time Giada's cell phone rang and she picked it up absentmindedly. The voice on the other end said, "You've been warned. Do what we want or next time we'll finish the job. We'll be in touch."
"Charlie, can you hear me? Hang on. We called for help. You're gonna be okay." Her friend had a gash on his temple and a big welt settling on his wrist. Charlie's eyes were closed and there were large tares in his clothing.
Giada looked to Amita who knelt by Charlie's side. They both had deep lines of fear etched on their face.
Giada could hear the crowd of bystanders talking. Giada heard smatterings of conversation, "Right out of no where, that car didn't stop…. I think it was aiming for that group of people." She tried to suppress a shuddered of fear. She hadn't been this scared in years. She just wanted to get up and cause some damage to these people.
The paramedics arrived and took the injured men to the hospital.
Gia, Amita and Larry piled into Giada's car and went to the hospital. Amita said, "I should call Alan to tell him what happen. ."
Larry and Giada nodded their heads in agreement. All three of them felt numb at what happened.
They arrive at the hospital. They saw that Giada's brother was taking care of Charlie. One of the nurses recognized Giada. "You're Dr. Giovanni Conti's sister?"
"Miranda isn't it?"
The nurse was surprised that the woman remembered her name.
Giada then said, "Yes I am his sister. Is our friend going to be alright?"
The nurse saw the concern in the three friends faces. Your brother is a fine doctor. Your friend is in good hands. It's best if you go sit in the waiting room and let us do our job.
They all sat waiting for news on how Charlie was doing.
Larry looked around and commented, "Did you see that car. It was like it was aiming for Charlie."
At this time Alan came in to the ER with the police only steps behind him.
Amita ran over to Alan and told him that Charlie was being looked at. Alan took a seat next to Larry.
All three friends tried to give reassuring smiles to Alan.
At this time Giada's brother came in. He looked around and saw the group. "Excuse me are you Charlie's father?"
Alan stood up at the doctor approached. "Yes I'm Charlie's dad. How is he? Is he going to be alright?"
"Mr. Eppes your son is going to be fine. Aside from some small lacerations he has a slight concussion. We want to keep him here overnight for observation."
With an audible sigh of relief Alan asked the doctor if could go see Charlie.
"Yeah sure follow me Mr. Eppes."
"Call me Alan. Thanks for taking care of my son. Hey do you realize that you look a lot like my son's friend?"
"You don't say….."
The two police officers walk over to the group. "Excuse me. We were told you were the eyewitness to the accident."
"Yes officers, we saw everything" The three of them gave their statements to the officers.
After they talked to the police they asked the nurse if they could go into see Charlie.
She said it was against hospital policy but if they would be quick they could go in pop their heads in to say hello.
They found out Alan sitting besides Charlie holding a cup with a straw in it letting him get a sip of liquid.
Charlie eyes looked a bit dazed. He had a butterfly bandage on his cheek and a large purple bruise near his lips. He tried to give his friend's a smile to let them he was ok.
"Ow!" He moaned as he turned his head. "Who knew smiling and trying to look at people would hurt so much."
At this time Don rushed in. His faced held fear and worry for his brother. "You ok buddy?"
Alan turned to his oldest son and told him what the doctor had said.
The nurse came in and said, "Okay everyone out. We're going to admit Mr. Eppes. You can all see him after upstairs where were finished." She shooed everyone out."
They all headed back to the waiting room when Giada turned to Don and said. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
Don looked at her puzzlingly and followed her down the hallway.
Giada started pacing up and down the hallway. She wasn't able to look the agent in the face. "I have to tell you something. When you guys came and saw me earlier today. I didn't tell you everything."
Don looked at the woman. "What do you mean? What did you hold back?" He had an edge to his voice.
"I didn't know that this would happen."
"What are you talking about? Calm down and start from the beginning."
"Okay." She rubbed the sides of her temples. "About five months before I moved out here, I was approach by a guy. He never came out and said it, but he was sending out feelers about how I felt regarding forgeries. I told him what he could do with that idea and I told my father." She stopped talking for a minute and looked at Don. She licked her lips and continued talking, "Anyway, they did some investigating but it went cold. My dad kept my name out of any official reports since the art world is full of gossip and even a hint of something like this could end my career."
Don rubbed his chin and paced in the hospital hallway. She could tell he was angry. "So that's why we got a call from the Philly office. You called your dad?"
"Yes, I told him about our conversation and I thought that it might be connected."
"Are you holding back anything else?" He grabbed her arm and squeezed a little to hard.
Giada looked down at the floor. She couldn't bear the look he was giving her. "Yes, I mean no. I think the car that hit Charlie was a warning to me. I got a call about three hours ago from the same man from Philadelphia. He told me that their timetable was messed up and that they still wanted to hire me to do the work. I told them no and they told me they knew the FBI was on their tracks. He told me the stakes were higher and I had to make a choice or there would be consequences. I told him to go to hell and hung up the phone."
She sunk to the floor and covered her face with her hands. "I was supposed to meet them for dinner when I saw this large dark blue sedan speeding around the corner. After it was all over I got a call saying that I've been warned." She started to sob thinking what if that car did more then just give Charlie a concussion. Those people could have killed one of her friends.
"I am so sorry." Tears started to stream down her face.
"Giada, this isn't your fault." She watched the rage in his eyes soften towards her. "Thank you for being honest and telling me everything. We're gonna catch these guys."
She looked up at the determined look in Don's face. She knew that he would let nothing stand his way to catch these guys who hurt his younger brother. She looked down at the floor and for a moment she felt pity for the bad guys. Just for a moment. The bad guys were in for a really bad time.