A/N – Hi! Sorry I am late again for my Monday deadline! We have spent the last few days cleaning up the computer room (you see this was our scary room) so that we can set up the nursery when Adam finally starts sleeping through the night. When I say it was a scary room I mean VERY SCARY. Most people have junk drawers; well we had a junk room with a full walk in junk closet and junk sun porch attached to it.
Anyway this chapter is a little short but it seemed like a good stopping spot. I want to thank the wonderful people who have reviewed this story. I have actually made adjustments to this story based on some of your constructive reviews. This is very much appreciated by me! I am not using a beta for this piece so if you want to point out stuff I have missed please feel free to do so. You guys are really terrific and it is truly helping me to become a little better at this writing thing.
Chapter Seven
Alan looked up startled at Charlie who came tearing down the stairs his face alight with a mixture of alarm and a seething rage that was frightening to behold. "What the hell is going on?" Charlie was followed closely by Don and David who had drawn their guns which got Alan quickly to his feet.
"Charlie!" Don yelled as his younger brother skirted the dining room table on his way to the kitchen.
"Don, I've got the front!" David motioned for Alan to stay put as he moved to the front door. He reached over and flipped on the porch light as he carefully opened the door.
Don caught up with Charlie as he reached the back door and grabbed him by the arm. "Charlie! Hit the floods."
Charlie spun around and stopped abruptly when he saw that Don had a fierce look in his own eyes and had his weapon drawn. This seemed to bring Charlie back to himself a little. He moved out of the way while reaching behind the counter to turn on the flood lights to the back yard.
Don kept his attention on the back deck but spared a quick glance at his younger brother. "You stay here."
Charlie scowled at that, but obeyed the command in his brother's voice as he watched Don use his training to check the corners in both directions before proceeding outside. Without taking his eyes away from scanning the nearby shadows Don said "Lock the doors Charlie."
Alan had come into the kitchen and moved to close and lock the back door since Charlie just stood there white faced and staring out the back window watching as Don carefully but quickly checked all of the areas of the yard that someone could be hiding in.
"Charlie... Charlie?" Alan had to take a hold of his youngest arm to get his attention. "Charlie, what happened? Who is out there?"
The raw fear in his father's eyes snapped Charlie back to reality. "I don't know who it was, but I saw someone out by the Koi pond."
Alan's eyebrows shot up. "And just what were you going to do? Charlie! My God, there is a maniac going around killing agents and you were going to try and do what? Catch him, bare handed?" Alan looked out the window to try and see what was happening out in the back yard but Don had moved off out of sight behind the Koi pond.
After nearly twenty minutes Don and David finished looking through the yard, around the house and up the street in both directions for any sign of the intruder but found none. Alan unlocked the back door for them to come back inside. "Well? What did you find? Who was out there Donnie?"
"We didn't find anything. There was no sign of anyone. I want to have trace to go over the place in the morning. It's possible that we missed something in the dark, but if there was someone, there they are long gone now."
Charlie, who was sitting quietly at the kitchen table, stood up and spoke in a quiet but very angry voice. "IF? What is that supposed to mean! God damn it Don, I'm not crazy! I saw someone!" Charlie's voice rose with every word until he was standing there shouting at his brother. He had started to tremble slightly andwas breathing faster than he should have been.
"And you were going to rush right out there, into the waiting arms of a killer, is that it Charlie? What the hell were you thinking?" Don's own voice had risen as the adrenaline that had been pumping through him began to release its hold. "Look at yourself Charlie! You're shaking and white as a ghost. You are having anxiety attacks because of this case, so yeah, I have a right to question what you think you saw!"
Charlie shot at nasty glance at David then turned on his heel and stormed out of the kitchen.
"Damn it." Don muttered under his breath. He looked over at David with an apology ready but David waved him off. Don needed to talk to Charlie about this and David knew that. He followed Charlie but by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs, Charlie had slammed his bedroom door shut so hard that it shook the pictures on the stairwell.
Charlie's frantic dash to the back door had scared Don more than he wanted to admit. If the killer had been in the yard there is no telling what he would have done to Charlie. Don had a sudden image of Charlie as one of the victims and had to suppress a shudder. He heaved a big sigh and went up the stairs to talk to Charlie.
Don knocked lightly on the door. "Charlie. Look, I'm sorry. Will you please open the door? I want to talk to you." He was met with silence so he tried a different tactic. "Charlie, I believe you, ok? I need to at least get a description of the person you saw."
Charlie had obviously been standing just on the other side of the door because Don didn't hear any movement before the door opened slowly. Charlie stepped back to let his brother in and took a seat at the desk next to his bed.
Don came into the room and looked around. The place was fairly tidy which was kind of surprising to Don. Charlie had always been a slob. His room and his office at work were usually a collage of piles of papers, books and interesting objects. If you were to take a photograph of one of Charlie's spaces you could spend a reasonable amount of time playing the 'I spy' game, but Charlie always seemed to know where everything was. This evening however the floor was clean and free of discarded clothing. His desk had several stacks of papers arranged almost neatly on it rather than the pile of papers that usually lay strewn across the surface. His bed was even sort of made and that is where Don sat down facing his brother.
"I'm sorry about what I said down stairs. I didn't mean to make it sound like you were seeing things it's just that I know that you have been… well kind of twisted with this case. Look, Charlie don't blame David for talking to me about this. I figured something was up ever since you blew up at the office the other day. I didn't give him any room to keep quiet about how you were doing."
Don looked toward the window that faced the back of the house. Charlie's room was right next to the solarium and both rooms had a fairly clear view of the back yard. "Why did you try to run outside like that Charlie? You scared the hell out of me. This guy is a psycho, and if he were to get his hands on you… I can't stand the thought of him doing to you…"
Charlie's head snapped up sharply. "What do you think I have been feeling ever since this case started? Don, I'm a math professor. This guy isn't targeting me, he is targeting the FBI and if that was him out there tonight, he may very well be targeting you." Charlie's voice rose in pitch as he finished speaking. He looked even more pale than he had in the kitchen and he seemed to be having a little trouble breathing.
"Hey you have to slow down Charlie. We don't really know who you saw out there tonight. I'll have David check with the local police to see if there have been any reports of prowlers in the neighborhood recently. Who ever you saw might not have anything to do with this case."
Charlie turned away from his brother and rested his arms on the desk. Don could see that he was trying to control his breathing and noticed the tense twitching in his neck and shoulders. "Can you describe anything about the person you saw?"
After a moment Charlie turned his face toward Don and to his relief his brother seemed to have calmed down quite a bit.
"I didn't see a face or any features because it was so dark. I saw more of a silhouette. There was a movement by the Japanese maple that drew my attention. The person I saw was maybe five five, or five six and about a hundred and fifty pounds or so. When I looked down I could tell that they were looking up at the solarium windows. Then they took off toward the back gate. Who ever it was had a fast and surprisingly long stride. I'm guessing that they made it to the gate within ten paces."
Don sat thinking about the description that Charlie gave him. "It's not much to go on, I mean that description could fit anyone, hell it could even fit a woman."
Charlie sighed in frustration and looked thoroughly dejected. Don put a hand on Charlie's shoulder and noticed how the muscles were still twitching slightly. "Hey come on Charlie. So what if it's not a lot to go on. If that was our killer it's more than we have so far."
Charlie pushed Don's hand away refusing to allow the small comfort. He was angry that he couldn't be more specific about who he saw. "It really isn't enough to tell anything! God, Don I could be describing me. I'm about those dimensions. Could this killer be that petite? Some of the victims were pretty big guys." Charlie shook his head. "I don't know what I saw. Maybe I am loosing it."
"Knock it off Charlie! I believe that you saw someone."
Charlie didn't respond or even look up at Don's words.
"Charlie did you hear me? I believe that you saw someone in the backyard and that you saw them run when they were caught. Your description of the speed and length of their stride is proof that you were not imagining anything. Besides an effective killer doesn't need to be huge! You should know that."
Charlie turned toward Don this time and had an almost relieved look on his face. He nodded slightly as if finally accepting something. "Well what do we do now?"
"Come on lets go back down stairs. Dad is going to need a little reassurance at this point and I want to get this called in."
