12-1-05- Edited for name of the victim in Boston . Sorry I got my notes mixed up while writing and realized that the name I originally had for the first victim (Alex Barnes) was no longer his name. It is supposed to be Michael Carter - That name fits my research where Alex Barnes did not.
A/N - I no longer have my most excellent Beta, Bixie, so I had to go over this myself. If I have misspelled something it is because spell checker didn't catch it and I apologize for any mistakes right now.
I am trying to shoot for a post every Monday. There is a lot to do with the baby and then of course I actually like to sleep once in a while during the day when the baby is sleeping ;-)
For anyone who feels that I am not portraying the characters appropriately, I must say I disagree. Try not to jump to conclusions about Charlie in this story. He is not a wuss and this will be evident as the story plays out. I don't mind constructive criticism at all, as a matter of fact I actually appreciate it, but you have to at least give the story enough time/chapters to play out a little before deciding that it sucks.
For those who do like this story thank you most sincerely for your comments and support and without further adieu:
Please enjoy chapter four. :-)
Chapter Four
Don and Megan were sitting in the video conference room talking with the Director of the Boston field office when David arrived. Seeing the grim expressions on both of their faces he didn't hesitate to enter and sit down while the Director was talking.
"We have handled this as an isolated case up until now. Now that this is a serial case, I am sending you the files on Agent Carter's murder. The copies will be arriving by fax in a few minutes and duplicates of the original files will be overnighted to you today. Agent Eppes, I would like to be kept current on your progress."
"Of course, Director Goldstein."
Megan pulled some files toward her and said, "Chicago and Baltimore are in the same position Director. Their files are being sent as well. We have to put together our case files and the analysis by our consultant as well as all of the relevant case information from the other field offices affected, then we'll make sure that copies are forwarded to you and Directors Johnson and Devlin."
"That would be greatly appreciated Agent Reid." Director Goldstein drew in a deep breath. He looked very tired and he took a moment before continuing. "Michael Carter was a good agent, as I am sure is the case with the agents killed in L.A. I want you to know that, even though Agent Carter was murdered prior to the deaths out there in LA, my office will not attempt to extradite from a state with the death penalty. Just find this bastard!"
Don smiled slightly at that. He knew as well as anyone that Boston had the right to prosecute this killer first, but Massachusetts doesn't have the death penalty where California, Illinois and Maryland do. "We'll keep in touch Director."
With that Don ended the call and turned to David. "It looks like we are going to have more data for Charlie. Agents in Boston, Chicago and Baltimore have also been murdered. In each of these areas there was only one victim so the field offices were handling the cases on a stand-alone basis. David, I want to you get on the wire to all of the field offices throughout the country and find out if this guy has visited other areas. Once we have the files on the other victims we can run a comparison between them for common background, but so far what we have is that they were all FBI agents."
Megan sat with a contemplative look on her face. "We should check other field offices for murders outside the FBI. I'll contact NSA, CIA and Homeland Security. We didn't know about the other Bureau murders until now, so perhaps it isn't only the FBI that has been targeted."
Don nodded to her. "That's good thinking. I'm just worried that if our killer is moving from state to state killing agents as he goes, then we really need to catch him before he leaves the LA area and moves on."
"Why would there be only one victim in the other three field offices when we have several victims here in LA?"
Don scrubbed his hand down his face. He looked very tired and the frustration he was feeling over finding that there were now six confirmed victims rather than three showed clearly in his face. "That's a good question David. Maybe when Megan checks the other departments we might find that there were more victims in the other states."
David stepped over to the fax machine as copies of the Boston case file began printing out. "Do you want me to get these over to Charlie?"
"No, I'll take them to him when we have the files from Baltimore and Chicago. He is not going to be happy to find out he has more data to work with, but maybe he will be able to get somewhere with it." Don turned and looked at David, "Had he made any headway when you dropped off the Bliss file?"
David looked down at the fax machine as he answered. "Not yet, Don. Professor Fleinhart was with him when I got there and asked about helping Charlie with the numbers." He looked up at Don with uncertainty in his eyes. "I told Charlie that the details of this case were confidential but that Larry could work with him on the decryption. I hope I didn't overstep my authority there."
Don frowned slightly. Something in David's voice and his posture told Don that there was more that David wanted to say, but was holding back. "That's ok David, I was going to suggest that to Charlie anyway. Larry has always been a good sounding board for him."
Megan had been watching the interchange between the two men and picked up on the unspoken questions between them so she excused herself to get to work on the inter-agency search for more victims.
Once Megan had closed the conference room door behind her, Don stepped over to David and put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Is there something else that you wanted to say David?"
The younger agent tensed up at that question but he smiled at Don. "No. I was just a little unsure about giving Larry clearance to work with Charlie on this."
Don wasn't buying it. He had known David for nearly two years now and could read him very well. He had felt his shoulder muscles tighten at the question and he was sure that David knew something that he didn't want to have to tell Don and he was pretty sure it was about Charlie.
Don knew that this case was getting to his brother in a way that other cases hadn't. His outburst the other day was evidence of that. Charlie had never publicly lost his cool with Don that way. It was true that over the years they had had some knock down drag out arguments and even got into a physical fight over a girl in their senior year of high school, but even then Charlie had never resorted to using loud vulgarities.
'Those numbers that that son of a bitch carved into their chests mean something, Don!'
Charlie's words shouted in anger floated to the surface of Don's mind for the hundredth time. "David, Charlie is having a tough time with this isn't he?"
Don could almost feel the resigned slump to his partner's posture. He knew that David wouldn't lie to him if he was asked something outright.
"Don, this case is getting to everyone and now it turns out that this guy has been working his way across the country in a killing spree. It doesn't really surprise you that Charlie is feeling the pressure to find an answer quickly to this case does it?"
That certainly made sense, but David was being evasive. He hadn't directly answered the question. Don was concerned about his brother and how this case was affecting him. Charlie had once accused him of being detached and he had been right. It was a necessary survival technique in the type of profession that he worked. Never-the-less, Don had to admit that seeing what had been done to those men was pretty gruesome even for an emotionally detached professional. As the agent in charge, Don needed to make sure that all the people working on this case were at their best. As much as he didn't want to betray some sort of trust that David had with Charlie, he also needed to know if there was a problem.
Don stepped in front of David so that he couldn't look away without being obvious and asked, "Is Charlie all right with this, David?"
David knew that the jig was up and that he couldn't keep Don in the dark about what was happening with the younger man. He glanced back at the door to make sure it was closed before sitting down at the conference table and folding his hands in front of him.
"Charlie is having some problems with this case. Last night he had a nightmare. In it, I came to Cal Sci to tell him that you had been killed. Today he and Larry were talking about the numbers concerning this case when I turned up with Daryl's file and he…
…overreacted."
Don felt his concern for Charlie increase a notch. "Overreacted how?"
He couldn't beat around the bush any longer and replied flatly, "He had an anxiety attack, Don."
Don looked startled by this news then even more concerned than he had a moment ago. He had never seen anyone have an anxiety attack but he knew that they could be very intense. "Is he all right?"
"He's fine, but the circumstances were very similar to his dream. He and Larry were on campus talking about these killings and then I show up. Don, it was like his dream had become a reality. He's worried about you, and me and Megan. He wants to figure out what those numbers mean before this guy can kill anyone else. Look, I suggested that he take a pass on this case but he adamantly refused. I guess your dad suggested the same thing to him last night after he had the nightmare but he insists that if there ever was a case he had to help on it's this one."
David sighed but looked Don directly in the eyes before continuing. "Charlie asked me not to say anything to you and I said that I wouldn't unless you asked me directly. That's when Larry suggested that he help keep Charlie on track with his calculations so that his results are reliable."
Don didn't say anything for a moment. He knew that with Charlie working on this case they would solve it faster than without his help and he really wanted to catch this guy. Two of his friends had been brutally murdered and he knew two of the other four agents killed, from his days at the academy. He also knew that when Charlie got wrapped up in something he had a tendency to forget to take care of himself. The fact that Charlie was now experiencing anxiety attacks over what this killer was doing to his victims warred with Don's need to have Charlie's help.
"Thank you for telling me about this, David. I am going to need to talk with Charlie about this case and how it's affecting him, but I won't let him know that you said anything to me about it. When I give him the case files on the other three victims we'll see how he takes it. Frankly I have been a little concerned since his outburst the other day."
There was a knock at the door before Megan peeked her head in. "Don, Merrick wants to talk to everyone."
Don got wearily to his feet and followed Megan out of the conference room to the bull pen. Every agent in the division had crammed into the area, sitting on desks and leaning against the walls. Don found himself slightly irritated by this interruption in his team's work and hoped that this wasn't going to be either a bitch session, or worse, a pep talk.
Assistant Director Merrick waited until everyone had settled before addressing the gathered agents. "Director Donaldson has spoken with Directors Goldstein, Johnson and Devlin from Boston, Chicago and Baltimore. Due to the nature of the imminent danger that all agents in the LA area face in the wake of these killings, no agent is to travel alone from this point forward. Now, Director Donaldson understands that you all have private lives but until this killer is caught, he has requested that agents pair up for twenty four hour stretches, even when going home."
There was loud murmuring at this suggestion. "I understand that it will be inconvenient for you to suddenly have housemates, but thus far this killer has not attacked anyone who was in the company of another agent."
The looks on many of the faces around the bull pen told Don enough. His people were not crazy about this suggestion but they could understand why this precaution was necessary. "All right people, you heard him. We need to watch each others backs, so pick your partners and let's get back to work and find this guy."
