Chapter Three
Charlie gulped as Don hung up his cell-phone.
He had heard the bullet hit the wall, as well as Don's yelp of "WHOA!"
The newscasters words about a hit list flittered through Charlie's mind as Don told him that he would call him later.
Now Charlie sat at his desk, trying to think about a math problem...any math problem, just something to get his mind off the fact that Don was in trouble.
Minutes past by, minutes in which Charlie ran through worst case senerios, senerios in which Don had been seriously hurt or even killed.
'Maybe some music will help. Charlie thought as he took his IPOD and headphones out of desk drawer.
Putting his headphones on, Charlie turned on his IPOD and selected a playlist.
Shortly the sound of Rushlow's song I Can't be your Friend filtered through the headphones.
As the music continued, Charlie's nerves calmed down until he felt himself relaxing and tapping his fingers to the beat.
When the song ended, Charlie dimly heard his cell-phone start to ring.
"Don?" Charlie whispered as he reached for the phone.
What happened next shook Charlie to his core.
Once minute the phone was within his reach, all pristine, shiny and in good working order, the next minute, the phone was blown off the table were it fell to the floor!
Charlie jumped back and looked at his cell-phone which was now sporting a bullet sized hole on it's surface!
The terror which Charlie had felt earlier came back one hundred fold!
Slowly he sank to the ground, pulling his knees in as he buried his face in them.
His sobs were the only noises in the room, besides that of the IPOD which still lay on his desk, spouting music out of the headphones.
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Don went pale as the cell-phone's dial tone faded and the 'If you'd like to make a call, please hang up a dial again,' message sounded in his ear.
"He's not answering!" Don said to no one in particular.
Megan and David, who had been interviewing Alan, turned towards Don as he hung up his cell-phone.
"What's wrong Don?" Colby asked from his place at the wall.
Since Don didn't tell them about the sniper's phone call, they had no idea how worried Don was.
"I'll...I'll be back later." Don said as he rushed outside.
He didn't want to explain things to his father or his team.
Explanations took to long, besides, Charlie didn't have the time to wait.
If he had been hit he could be bleeding on his classroom floor, or worse he could be...No! Don would never think that way.
Charlie was alive, he had to be. If Charlie was dead, then Don would have nothing left to live for.
His brother was everything to him. Charlie was his mind and his conscious in the office and out. Charlie was the glue that held Don's life in check.
Don knew that this had not always been, especially a few years ago, when he had lost touch with his brother. But, when their mom got sick, it was the event that brought them back together.
He hated that the reason he had ever come back was because his mom had taken ill, that he hadn't come back of his own accord, but what was done was done.
Street lights, buildings, pedestrians.
They all passed him without giving his car a second glance as Don drove towards CalSci.
The math department was dark. It wouldn't see any business until the morning when the students arrived.
Maybe this was the reason why Charlie had come here...to be alone.
Don exited his car and jogged up the stairs and entered the building.
Quickly he went up one flight of stairs, turned two corners and came to a stop outside his brother's office.
The name 'Professer Charles Eppes' was stamped in gold letters above the door.
The letters were brighter than usual, so Don speculated that it had been restamped earlier in the week.
With shaking hands, Don turned the knob and slowly opened the door.
The light was on, but Charlie was there at the chalkboards, or at his desk.
A quick look around the room revealed nothing to tell Don where Charlie was.
He turned to leave when his ears picked up the music coming from Charlie's IPOD.
Turning back around, Don went over to the desk and picked up the small, silver IPOD.
The song that was currently playing was It's My Life by Bon Jovi.
Don smiled as he listened to the song.
It was a favorite and much loved song of the Eppes brothers!
After the song ended, Don switched off the IPOD and laid it back down on the desk.
That was when a small silver glint caught his eye.
Whatever it was, it was on the floor.
Kneeling, Don reached over and picked up the thing that had once been Charlie's cell-phone.
The flawless finish of the cell-phone was ruined by the bullet hole that went right through the phone!
"Charlie." Don muttered as he stood up.
A small gasp for breath took Don towards the chalkboards.
There, underneath one was the shaking, sobbing form of Charles Eppes.
"Charlie!" Don said in amazement as he knelt down and placed a comforting hand on Charlie's shoulders.
The sound of Charlie's sobbing tapered off and slowly, the dark, curly hair lifted, and the red, puffy eyes stared into Don's cool, brown ones.
"Hey buddy, you arn't hit are you?" Don asked.
It took a minute for Charlie to comprehend Don's question.
"N.no, I'm ok." Charlie muttered, more to himself than to Don.
"Come on, let's get you up off the cold floor." Don suggested as he grasped Charlie's arms and helped to raise him up.
Charlie stood shakily as his big brother's hands grasped his arms and held him up.
"Are you alright?" Don asked him.
Charlie wanted to laugh at the obsurdity of this question.
Of course he was not alright! How could he be alright when he just had a close encounter with a bullet from a sniper rifle!
Instead of saying this, Charlie just grasped Don in a semi death grip, semi assurance pat on the shoulder and whispered, "I'll be fine."
Don didn't trust his brother's words, since Charlie's complexion was still a little shocky.
"Come on Charlie, let's go home." Don insisted as he began to lead his brother out of the room.
Outside the window, David Ballard smirked as he watched the touching scene unfold.
Don had found Charlie crying on the floor like the small, idiotic brat he was!
"This is really touching!" David said with obvious sarcasm as Don took Charlie out of the room.
David couldn't want until the morning, when Agent Eppes' life would end before his eyes!