Chapter 23

"Hey!"

Megan clasped Don's outstretched hand, frowning a little at the unnatural trace of heat she found there. She eyed him keenly through her lashes. His smile fell a little short of its usual candlepower, but he still looked about a hundred times better than the last time she'd seen him. She saw his eyes light up as he took in the case clutched in her free hand and couldn't suppress a smile herself.

"Aw - here's a woman after my own heart. Is that what I think it is?"

She balanced the case on the edge of the tray table that stretched across the bed and drew a stack of DVDs out of the front pocket. "Press conference - " she put one down in front of him with a flourish, "And interrogation." She fanned the rest of the DVDs next to it.

Don's smile stretched and he elbowed the tray currently occupying the surface aside. "Great - there must be a plug around here somewhere - "

Megan slid a pointed gaze to the abandoned tray. "Are you supposed to be eating that?"

Don shrugged, his eyes on the portable DVD player. "I was thinking of bagging it for you take it back to the lab for analysis. Unless you can tell me what it is?"

Megan tilted her head at it. "Okay, I'm stumped - but that doesn't mean you shouldn't eat it."

Don waved it aside. "I was supposed to give it a try. I'm willing to admit defeat. Hey!" He smiled again at a new figure in the doorway. "David! How's Colby doing?"

David kept his hands behind him. "He's a lot better. Expects to be in tomorrow. Sent his best wishes - and this - " He pulled his hands from behind his back and to display a kidney-shaped dish, spray painted gold and sporting a huge red bow. "Said you won it fair and square."

Don stared, then turned accusing eyes on Megan. "Don't tell me you ratted me out too?"

Megan held up her hands. "Not me - David seems to have connections in the Morgue - "

Don raised his brows at David. "Yeah?"

David colored. "She just - asked me how you were feeling - said you hadn't been so good that day at the Morgue - "

"Man can't have any secrets around here," Don grumbled, then his eyes narrowed slyly. "She, huh? Which one?"

"I - " David flushed more deeply. "Really, we're just - friends - "

"Uh huh. I need names. I might want to tell her a few secrets about you."

David froze. "You wouldn't!"

"Watch me." His face grew sober and he held out a hand to David this time. "Seriously, man, thanks. I owe you one."

David accepted the hand and gripped it. "No. You don't."

Megan pulled a chair near the head of the bed and dropped into it. "So, how about you? How are you doing?"

"I'm doing okay." Don's tone was studiedly casual. His gaze slid away from hers and focused on a DVD case instead. "I mean, I won't be running any races for a while…" He hesitated. "Guess I should be expecting a more official visit at some point, huh?"

Megan nodded. "They'll be sending somebody around to take your statement. Not one of us, since we were on the scene."

"Yeah." The word came out on a sigh.

Megan raised her brows at him, then glanced at David, who shrugged. "Who exactly are you expecting?"

Don blew out an impatient breath. "I'm expecting at least some pretty chilly questions from Merrick, for one."

"Oh." David scratched his ear. "Yeah, well - I wouldn't worry about that. I think they're all going to lay pretty low about it." Don looked at him questioningly. "I mean - it would be too awkward. What with all the press and everything. And the equipment failure."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute - " Don scrubbed the heel of his hand over his forehead. "What am I missing? What equipment failure?"

David pulled a chair over and straddled it. "The seatbelt. Your seatbelt gave. How did you think you ended up under the car instead of inside it?"

Don shook his head. "I'm still working on what day it is - I haven't gotten nearly that far yet. My seatbelt…?" He ran a palm unconsciously over his chest, massaging the deep bruise that slanted across it. "Huh."

David rested his chin on his folded arms. "Your seatbelt gave and your were thrown clear, then the car rolled on you. They're tearing that car and the repair logs apart to figure out what went wrong, but in the meantime, they have no interest in bringing it to the attention of the press. Especially not while you're being lauded as a hero. Way too embarrassing."

"Okay, hold on - back up again." Don sank back into his pillows and stared. "Hero. What's that about? I don't consider that exactly my most shining moment."

David lifted his brows. "Complain to Wainwright. He's the one who gave the spin to the press."

"Wainwright did?" Don looked bewildered and relieved at the same time. "But - huh." He fell silent.

Megan gave his arm a pat. "You can ask him about it yourself - he's been wanting to visit once you were feeling a little better."

Don shook his head as if to clear it. "Yeah," he said quietly. "That'd be good." He noticed their faces and smiled suddenly, picking up one of the DVDs. "So, you guys gonna help me set up here, or what?"

David obligingly unraveled the cord and hunted for an outlet.

"What about Wainwright? He pushed this case for twenty years. Doesn't he get hero billing?"

"Oh, yeah - " David's voice drifted up from the floor. "He's the conquering hero. But your story makes better press."

Don shook his head. "For a ruptured appendix. That's - what about you guys? Did they at least remember you were there?"

David stood, dusting off his hands. "Yeah, I think we might have gotten a one line mention, didn't we Megan?"

Megan nodded solemnly. "Sure we did - not by name, of course, but as the 'Team of Special Agent Eppes'."

Don groaned and laughed at the same time. "Man," he shook his head. "There is no justice."

David grinned. "No, no - it was better than that - in one newspaper, we were 'the crack team of Special Agent Eppes'…makes a man proud. I cut it out for my Mom."

"All right, all right, already…" Don hunted for the power button.

"No, I mean it - " David leaned over and hit the 'on' button for him. "I did. She loves that stuff. The whole neighborhood will have read it by the next time I go home. How about your Dad - ?" He broke off abruptly.

Don grimaced. "I'm guessing my Dad could do without any clippings of me pinned by a car, bleeding my life out on a roadway."

"Yeah." David sounded glum.

Don glanced at him. "Hey, I know you tried to be discreet with him - I really appreciate it."

David smiled slightly. "Wasn't easy. He has a way of looking at you…"

"Trust me - I know the look."

"Yeah. Still, I gotta tell you - you may not think it was a great moment, but I was sure you were down for the count. Then when that gun went off…" he gave a low whistle. "Nearly jumped out of my skin."

"Me too," said Megan dryly. "I expected a big cloud of flame to be about a second behind."

Don chuckled. "Me too." They looked at each other and laughed. "C'mon, who's got the remote? I wanna see what we got here."

Megan pulled out the remote and aimed it at the screen.

"Megan! David!"

Megan smiled as Charlie appeared in the doorway. "Hi, Charlie. Hi, Alan."

"Good. Company. Maybe a little company will keep my crazy son from doing crazy things." Alan saw the DVD player and stopped short. "Oh, don't tell me - what is that - work?"

"No, not really work," Don assured him breezily. "More like - closure." He glanced at Megan for corroboration.

She shrugged and smiled at Alan. "Could be closure."

Alan shook his head. "It's like an obsession."

"In this case, I think maybe it's more like…missing puzzle pieces." Megan winked at Charlie.

Charlie smiled.

Alan moved around the bed so he could get a better look at the screen, stopped abruptly. "What's this - you didn't eat your porridge?"

"Is that what that is? It should come with a label."

"Label or not, it's your first meal in days - you'd think you'd be grateful for it."

"Yeah, I'd like to meet the guy who could be grateful for that - what the heck is porridge anyway? I mean, aside from the fictionalstuff Goldilocks ate on her B&E with the Three Bears?"

"It's - a very nourishing - " Alan used the spoon to poke cautiously at the pale grey blob coating the bowl. "It's made from - " He paused, voice petering. "Maybe we can find you something a little more palatable," he relented. "Or at least more recognizable." He watched the DVD images come to life with a hum. "You can't take a day off from this stuff? It can't be good for you."

Don's eyes were fixed on the small screen. "It's important. Everything one of these guys tells us helps us with the next one. It was Ted Bundy who helped put away the Green River Killer."

Alan pulled up a chair, almost despite himself. "Why would he do that?"

Don shrugged. "Hoped to have his death sentence commuted."

"Was it?"

"Nope."

"Somehow I don't find that disappointing." Alan fell silent, watching a man he didn't recognize lead the questioning, Megan sitting quietly next to him, only interjecting occasionally, the suspect answering in polite, neutral tones. It looked for all the world like a business meeting, if you didn't listen to the words. "He seems so - normal." Alan burst out at last. "Even - dull."

"He's anything but normal," Megan said grimly. "A genius, really. And a sexual sadist the likes of which I've only read about in text books. I wouldn't mind confining my exposure to his kind to books from now on."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Don frowned, listening to the unemotional and rambling confession.

…the LAPD did a fine job keeping tabs on me over the years. It took a lot of good men to make all this happen. Lt. Wainwright - he gave me a run for my money. He scored the winning point, I guess, and I'll miss the challenge of trying to stay ahead of him. He's a good man…

Don pulled at his ear. "Is it me, or does he sound like he's thanking the Academy?"

Megan didn't smile. "It's not you. I think he figures he's serial killer of the year."

"He could be right…just kind of galling that he seems so proud of it…"

Megan shrugged. "That's megalomania for you."

"Yeah. I guess I can remember that. We had one weird conversation…"

…and, of course, I can't forget the FBI. They really hung in there and despite the fine men of the LAPD, this might never have happened if not for them. Speaking of that, I should give special acknowledgment to Agent Eppes, who kept such a cool head, and persevered under pressure. In the end he did outwit me, but I respect that and no hard feelings…

Don was still, his eyes transfixed on the screen, his hands fisting in the blankets until the knuckles went white. He swallowed slowly.

"Turn it off," he said quietly.

TBC