A/N - Hello all. I would like to thank all those who have reviewed this story. I do appreciate it greatly. Sorry for being 2 days late on my every Monday posting but I actually did post a one-shot on Monday so check that one out too.
Adam is having much longer waking periods now so I have less writing time. This chapter is shorter than I had originally planned but the length was sacrificed so that I could get it up before the Holiday.
Enjoy.
Alice
Chapter Six
Don and David made a sweep around the house and yard when they arrived. Charlie went inside to find his father who was looking out the kitchen window watching as the two agents looked around with their hands on their holsters ready to draw their weapons if necessary.
"What's this all about?" Alan asked without even turning around.
"It's just a precaution Dad, like having agents travel in pairs now." Charlie answered as he dropped his satchel by the back stairs and headed out to the living room.
Alan had almost finished making dinner when the two agents finished looking the place over and came inside. As Don closed and locked the front door he didn't see the shadowy figure emerge from the begonia bushes across the street and peer at the Eppes home.
David helped Alan to set the table while the brothers went into the living room to look over the new data on the other agents killed. Charlie picked up the folder on the agent from Boston, Michael Carter, and noted the fact that two sets of numbers were carved into his chest. Don told Charlie about his hunch regarding the numbers being some kind of road map as he took the folder from his brother's hands.
"I'm going to need to see the crime scene photos, Don." Charlie's voice cracked slightly when he said this and Don looked up sharply at him.
"Why, Charlie? The information about what was found on the body is here in the report." Don indicated the master sheet with all of the crime stats on it.
Don didn't really want Charlie to have to see these photographs. They were even more gruesome than the ones from the LA cases. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the faxed copies were black and white. Don had always felt that black and white photographs had more impact than color shots, although he couldn't really put into words why he felt that way. It had just always seemed to him that a black and white shot had a stronger and more gothic impact than a color shot.
"Don, I don't enjoy looking at these images you know, but I need to see what this killer is seeing. There are variables that I can't assess from a stat sheet; I actually have to see what was there."
Don didn't look very convinced by Charlie's argument and hesitated handing the file back to Charlie. He didn't mean to treat Charlie like some kind of child, but he was concerned about the anxiety attack that David had told him about. He needed Charlie's help on this case, but he couldn't have him falling apart either. Charlie needed to be focused to find the answer. These photographs and the emotional reactions that they would invariably illicit from his brother were going to get in the way of Charlie assessing this case objectively.
"Look, Don I think your hunch about the road map is probably right. Well… it may be more of a bread crumb trail than a road map, but I need to see what is different about Carter verses the other victims."
Don looked into his brother's earnest eyes and grudgingly admitted to himself that Charlie was right. He was after all a grown man and had consulted for other agencies besides the FBI. If looking over the crime scene photos was necessary to help him figure this out, then as the agent in charge he had to put his personal feelings toward his brother aside and allow his consultant to do his job.
As Charlie flipped through the file he stopped when he came to the crime scene photographs. The images of Agent Carter were indeed gruesome and Charlie set the file down on the coffee table so that the folder didn't give away the tremor that had begun in his hands.
Don watched Charlie closely and saw how his face grew pale and his breathing became slightly faster and a little shallower. He saw him swallow a couple of times as if to keep from becoming ill, but it was the look of controlled fear in Charlie's eyes as he carefully scrutinized the photos that really bothered Don.
"Hey, if we loose our appetite right before dad puts dinner on the table he's gonna' be pissed." Don said, as he closed the file. "Let's continue this later okay, Charlie?"
Charlie avoided Don's gaze but said, "Yeah ok. I'll be right back." Charlie got up and headed for the stairs.
Don decided to let him go. He could see that Charlie was upset, but he was handling it better than Don thought he would. Charlie didn't let his feelings stop him from thoroughly examining the images and he thought that perhaps he should give his brother more credit.
Alan was pulling a loaf of garlic bread out of the oven as David removed his suit coat and casually slung it over a kitchen chair before pulling out glasses from a cupboard to put on the table.
"I have to say that I'm impressed with this director of yours, David. I've been worried sick ever since this case began, and I think it is wise to insist that you all travel in pairs."
Alan moved David's coat to bring an extra chair out to the dining room table and the pamphlets that were in the breast pocket fell out.
"David, what have you got here?" Alan picked up and thumbed through the materials scanning the headings.
"The National Institute of Mental Health? Anxiety - When Fear Holds Sway." Allan looked up at David slightly startled and saw an almost guilty look on the young man's face. "Are these for Charlie?"
David glanced out toward the living room. "Mr. Eppes…" he began, unsure what he should tell him.
"It's alright David. I'm aware that Charlie is having some problems dealing with this case. I'm just glad that he's talking to someone about it, and perhaps you are a better choice at the moment than Don."
David looked confused by that statement so Alan elaborated. "Charlie and Don have not always gotten along as well as they do now. They are still finding a new understanding of each other and it is not particularly surprising that Charlie chose to confide in you rather than his older brother about his feelings in this." Alan lowered his voice to make sure that he wasn't over heard. "Don can sometimes be a little over protective of Charlie but I'll tell you this; Charlie scared the hell out of me last night. If you can help him I, personally, would be grateful."
They finished setting the table and Alan saw that only Don was in the living room. "Where's Charlie?"
"Oh, he went upstairs to wash up I think." Don replied as he scooped the files up to keep his father from seeing what was in them.
Don's action was not lost on his father. Alan saw and recognized that look in his son's eyes. The look that said, 'quick, put it away before dad sees'. "Hey, I thought you were going to have some dinner first! It's ready, so put that stuff down and come and eat."
Charlie got up to the bathroom without letting anyone see what was happening. After he closed and locked the door he sat down on the vanity stool before his legs gave out on him. His heart was pounding in his chest and he had started shaking as he labored to breathe. A feeling of panic welled up in him that he was having trouble controlling. 'God, help me. I'm loosing my mind! Why is this happening to me?'
He tried to think about what David had instructed this afternoon. He took an unsteady breath and held it before trying to slowly let it out. 'What is happening to me?' Charlie thought as he shook his head to try and clear it. 'This is an anxiety attack, just like David said.' David had also told Charlie that he could 'think' his way out of one of these attacks so he concentrated on breathing slowly and evenly for a few minutes until he had himself under control.
Charlie didn't think that seeing at the crime scene photos had brought this on. He had carefully looked at those images and the details of the body. It may have been unpleasant to view but it was also clear to him that he wasn't just gawking at these pictures, shocked by what he saw. He had analyzed the pictures for clues and insight into the actions of this killer.
Charlie knew that Michael Carter was the first victim. Not only because of the two sets of numbers carved into Carter's chest, but because of the way that this agent had been killed. The chest incision was ragged, unlike the victims here in L.A. The sternum had been cut with some kind of saw just like the others but it looked as though the killer had to try at least twice to get a straight cut. There was splintering of the bone near the base showing that the saw slipped on the first couple of tries. The edges of the main arteries that had been cut to remove the heart were nearly shredded, dissimilar to the later cases. Even the numbers that were cut into the skin showed signs of an unfamiliar hand. Unlike the bodies of his L.A. victims, it was obvious that Michael Carter's murder was clumsy at best.
"Maybe that's it." Charlie said out loud. "He's getting better at this, and he's going to be harder to stop."
Charlie stood on wobbly legs and approached the sink, turning on the cold water. He looked at his face in the mirror and noted the sweat on his forehead near his hairline. He did look pale, even in his own eyes. The fact that he had no real control over these attacks was very frightening to his analytical and logical mind. He washed his face and decided to change his shirt before going back down stairs for dinner.
After dinner Alan opted to do the clean up so that Don, Charlie and David could retire to the solarium to go over the case materials that Don had brought home. He was still uneasy about Charlie continuing with this investigation, but he also knew that Charlie was becoming a pivotal member of Don's team and with his help they had a much better chance of catching this guy than without him.
"Don, each of these number sets directly refers to one of the agents who have been killed. Michael Carter has two sets of numbers. One of them refers to him, and one refers to the next victim…" Charlie looked through the files on the desk of the solarium "…Merrill Hauser. I just can't figure out what the code is."
Charlie started pacing back and forth as his irritation mounted. "I have run these number sets through every cipher and encryption model I can think of, but they have yielded nothing."
David leaned forward and looked at the stat sheets on the victims. "There isn't any correlation between these number sets and any of the numerical tags that you asked for on all of the agents?"
"No." Charlie ran his hand through his hair and increased the rate of his pacing.
David sighed and looked up at Charlie. "So this guy has come up with an unbreakable code?"
Charlie stopped his pacing abruptly. "No, I don't believe that. Every code is breakable; you just need to find the key. The number strings are short; only six digits. That has to be a part of the answer, but none of my algorithms has been able to sort them out into a readable format."
Don could see that the fact that Charlie's mathematical skills being sorely put to the test and failing him was more than a little upsetting to the young mathematician. "Ok, let's put the math and the numbers aside for a moment. What do our victims have in common, what are the links between them that will help us determine who is next on the killer's list?"
"All of the agents killed are with the Bureau. They are all men. They attended Quantico within a four year time period. Other than that any similarities begin to diverge. Some of these agents worked on cases jointly, but only the LA victims and not all of them at that. The two agents from the east coast and the one from Chicago never even worked together."
"Then logically our answer must be at Quantico." Don reasoned.
"Except that no one instructor was common to all of them." Charlie walked over to the window and peered out into the darkened yard as if the shadows would somehow reveal the elusive pattern to these crimes. As Charlie stared out into the yard a movement near the Koi pond drew his attention.
Don was saying something but Charlie didn't hear him. The movement that he saw was no illusion of shadow, there was someone down there looking up into the solarium windows. The figure saw Charlie looking and darted out of the gloom for the back gate and Charlie took off at a run for the stairs.
"Charlie, what the hell..." Don shouted as his brother nearly bowled him over.
"There's someone out there!"
Don and David spared only a second to exchange startled glances before they ran after Charlie pulling their guns as they went.
