A/N - Becky S contacted me and explained that I had the explanation of the Dewey Decimal System wrong. She is a librarian and knows what she is talking about, so I thank her for the insight. At some point I will go back and change that explanation in the last chapter so that it is accurate. If any other librarians out there noticed this and it threw you out of the story I apologize. I try to make sure I do enough research about unfamiliar subject matter so that this sort of thing doesn't happen. I just kind of blew it on this aspect of the tale.
Thanks again for the information Becky. As I have said many times all constructive comments are welcome. This chapter is yet another cliff hanger. Sorry but that is just kind of my style of writing. I hope you all enjoy it and I thank you all for the comments and praise. That is almost as good as a real paycheck :-)

Yours Sincerely,
Alice I

Chapter Twenty-Two

Megan tried to contact Don on his cell but got no answer. This seemed very out of character and she started to worry. She called Charlie's house and much to her surprise Larry answered the phone.

"Larry? This is Megan, is Don there?"

"I'm sorry Megan, Don hasn't come back yet. I assumed that he was with you or David. When he left the cemetery he had thought of something and said that he was going to go check on it but would be back here later. That was quite a few hours ago however. Didn't he call you?"

"Are you watching the news?"

Larry pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it as though it had grown feathers or something. He put it back and said, "I... what?"

"Larry, turn on the news. Any station will probably be airing this right now."

Larry picked up the remote and turned the channel from HBO to a local broadcast and nearly dropped the phone when he saw all of the police and fire response in front of the federal building; the building where Megan worked.

"My God, what's happening? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine Larry. We all got out ok. A bomb went off in the front Lobby and two security guards were injured by shrapnel and noxious gas inhalation. It looks like some sort of homemade explosive and we think that it may have been set off by the killer. Don isn't here, but he should be there. He called around two o'clock because he had a lead on who this killer might be. He had to pick up one of his old notebooks from the academy and was going right back to Charlie's house with it."

Larry was staring horror struck at the television screen. "But that was almost three hours ago."

"I know; something's wrong here. Look they are letting us back into the building now. I'm sending David over there. Call me on my cell if Don turns up. Listen, until we know what's going on, don't say anything to Charlie."

Just as Larry hung up the phone Alan's car pulled into the driveway and moments later Charlie came tearing into the house nearly bowling Larry over as he made his way to the stairs. Alan followed the young man in and Larry looked to him with confusion written all over his face.

"He thinks he knows what those… numbers… … mean." Alan's voice trailed off as he looked at the TV screen. "Oh my God! What's happened? Was Don there?"

Alan reached for the phone but Larry intercepted him.

"I just spoke with Megan. Don is not at the federal building. There was a homemade explosive that was set off in the front lobby. No one from the FBI team was injured."

Charlie came charging back down the stairs with his lap top and came over to the couch. As he turned it on and waited for a moment for the system to boot up he glanced at the screen and went white a sheet.

"Don!"

Alan quickly intercepted Charlie. "No, Charlie. Don wasn't there when this happened. No one from the team was hurt. The explosion happened in the lobby. Charlie, did you hear me?"

Charlie tore his eyes away from the TV screen and looked at his father. "He's ok, he wasn't there?"

"No Charlie, he wasn't there."


Megan and the tem re-entered the office and she headed straight for the fax machine. Colby had managed to contact the CO at Quantico before the alarms went off and he personally went down to the archives and pulled Shelly Arbury's file.

The fax was sitting in the tray and Megan snatched it up quickly and began scanning the pages. David had left for Charlie's place and Colby stepped up to Megan just as she swore under her breath.

"What is it?"

"This woman was investigated for inappropriate conduct like Don said. This file lists every one of the trainees that testified about her. Michael Carter, Merrill Hauser, Devon Wilson, Robert Franklin, Daniel Edwards, Daryl Bliss, Jonathan O'Donnell and Donald Eppes."

Colby looked up startled and Megan pulled out her phone to try and call him again. She got no response. The system was saying that he was out of the service area.

"Colby, get over to Don's apartment and check it out."

Megan walked over to Merrick's office and walked in without knocking. She set the fax down on his desk and said, "Don is missing and he is the last victim on this killer's list. The only thing we have to go on at this point are those numbers left on the bodies."

"Oh my God." Merrick looked over the pages she had put before him. "Has cryptology gotten anywhere with these numbers?"

"No sir. I am bringing Charlie back on the case."

Merrick looked up quickly at her ready to form an objection but Megan cut him off.

"Charlie is the only person who could figure this out in time. He's the only chance that Don has. Sir, I'm not asking for your permission, I'm telling you that this is what I intend to do."

She turned and walked out of Merrick's office and dialed Charlie's number hoping that Larry would be the one to answer the phone.


Don first became aware of a painful stiffness in his neck. He tried to move his hand to rub it but found that he couldn't move. This brought him fully awake. The memory of the doll and the baby's cries came back to him.

'Oh God, how could I have fallen for that?'

He looked around and knew that he was in deep trouble. He could make out some of the items in the room he was in. He could see blackboards, projectors and boxes with the Cal Sci insignia on them. He was at Cal Sci! This is where his brother worked and taught his students.

'No, not here. Oh God, Charlie; this will kill him.'

He was strapped down with duct tape the same way all of the other victims had been. He tried to pull his arms free without any success. A genuine panic started to fill him and he struggled hard against his bonds to no avail.

Don heard a movement off to his right and strained to see who was there. Shelly Arbury walked out of the shadows and into his line of vision.

"You must weigh a little more than I thought. I wasn't expecting you to wake up for another hour, but no matter. It is between semesters and we are the only people in the building."

"Why are you doing this Shelly? What did I ever do to you? What did those other men do to make you hate them so much?"

A manic gleam entered her eyes. She held a photocopy of her Quantico file in her hand and waved it in front of his face.

"What did you do? What did they do?" She reached back her free hand and slapped Don hard across the face.

"I wasn't good enough for you. No you, the star trainee wouldn't think of lowering himself to go out with a woman raised in poverty who had to claw her way out of the slums. I worked hard to get where I was at Quantico! That job meant more to me than you could ever know; more than you cared to know! You and your friends weren't satisfied just to snub me. Oh no, you had to conspire to get me fired."

"That's not true."

Shelly shoved the paper with the list of names right in Don's face. "Not true? This is proof that you are a liar, just like all the others. You all got together and made up dirty lies about me. I was only one person. They wouldn't believe me; that I was innocent and that you men took advantage of me. You men are all the same, dirty rotten liars; users; bastards! You all had your way with me and when you were done you threw me out like so much garbage! You are just like my parents! They wanted to send me away; to put me in a 'home' for disturbed children! They wanted to throw me away too!"

Don could see that she was losing control of her emotions and he tried to use that to his advantage.

"Tell me about them."

"What? You want to know about my parents?" Shelly asked incredulously. "Why?"

"I want to understand you. I want to know why you feel this pain."

'I want to stall for time.'

Shelly eyed him suspiciously for a moment. Don did the best that he could to look concerned and caring. Shelly walked away from him and started pacing. She began muttering under her breath and Don caught a couple of words. "trick… liar…" Suddenly she stopped pacing and stepped back into Don's line of vision.

"All right, you want to know about my parents? Fine. My father was a useless ignorant drunk. He used emotional blackmail like a weapon against my mother. He always resented the fact that my mother got pregnant and had me. Children were not a part of his game plan for life. He was a worthless brut who deserved what he got!"

Shelly was panting slightly with emotion. "My mother… my mother imparted one gift only to me; a love for the written word. She was also a librarian and I spent a good chunk of my early childhood in the stacks with her. She taught me to read by the time I was five, but that is all she had to offer. She was a weak and spineless woman who allowed my father to cow her into submission. I learned at a very early age to never let any man dominate me or control my destiny, but that all changed with you and your friend's treachery."

Don wondered about her statement that her parents tried to send her away to a psychiatric facility. That is not something that could be hidden and if she had a psych history she wouldn't have gotten the job at Quantico. He tried to redirect her away from her perceived revenge.

"Your parents, they didn't send you away though."

"Of course they didn't. I made sure of that. I took control of the course that my life would take. It was easy. My father was passed out drunk so I killed my mother first, before I moved on to the old bastard. No one was sending me any where I didn't want to be…"

Shelly's face contorted into a mask of pure hate. "…until you and your buddies decided to get me thrown out of the only job I ever loved! All I ever wanted was to be with someone; someone who wasn't a mindless drunk. Someone who could talk with me on an equal basis, but I wasn't good enough for you was I?"

"Shelly I never tried to hurt you. I was dating someone else when you asked me out. You say that men are all the same. How much respect would you have had for me if I had cheated on my girlfriend?"

"You are listed right here you bastard. You told them lies about me! You were in on it with the others. I have the proof right here!"

"Shelly, the CO came to me and asked me about you. I told the truth. These men didn't mean to hurt you. You don't have to do this."

She looked down at him and a wicked grin turned the corners of her mouth.

"No, I don't have to, but I want to. I want to cause you as much pain as you caused me. After I was fired from Quantico I couldn't find work in any library. That stain you put there followed me. The best I could do was find work as a nurse's aide. A nurse's aide doesn't make enough money to survive let alone advance in any way. I spent the next several years coming home to a shitty little apartment smelling of urine and feces! I ended up taking care of nasty old empty people just like my parents. You all knocked me back down into the gutter that I climbed out of!"

She threw the file aside and placed both hands on Don's chest. He flinched involuntarily at the touch which made her smile even wider and she began to caress him.

"I am going to tear the heart out of you the same way you tore it out of me."

She curled her fingers around the opening of his shirt and ripped it apart with a powerful jerk.


As Charlie got the rising panic that he felt when looking at the news broadcast under control the phone rang. Larry was nearest and picked it up.

"Eppes residence."

"Larry, I don't want to do this but I need to speak to Charlie, he has to come back on the case."

"Megan, he has figured out the numbers already. He's right here with me. He says that they are the Dewey Decimal numbers associated with books from the Quantico library."

"That fits. Larry our killer was the librarian at Quantico! Larry, listen to me. Don is missing. We think that the killer has him."

Larry sat down hard on the arm of the couch. "Oh God, Megan, are you sure?"

"His is the last name on a list of trainees who testified against this woman during an investigation that ended up in her dismissal from Quantico. Every name on that list corresponds to one of her victims."

Charlie looked over at Larry and felt his heart leap into his throat.

"What is it Larry?"

"Charles, you need to find out if you are right about those numbers now!"

The command in Larry's voice set him into action. He started typing fast with shaking hands. When the web site for the Quantico Library came up, he used his NSA clearance ID to get in. In the search box he typed the first number found on the first victim. A moment later a picture of the book with a summary came up on the screen.

"Ok the first number found on Michael Carter goes to a book called The Lebesgue-Stieltjes Integral: A Practical IntroductionI know this book, I've read it. It was written by Michael Carter and Bruce Van Brunt who are both lecturers at MassachusettsUniversity."

Charlie took the phone from Larry.

"Megan is that you?"

"Yes Charlie."

"Pull all the files. I don't have my copies anymore. Where was Michael Carter found?"

Charlie heard Megan telling someone to give her all of the case files on the victims. She came back on the line a moment later.

"He was found in the basement of the math building at MassachusettsUniversity."

Charlie didn't need to ask what the next number was. He had those numbers burned into his memory from hours of trying to decipher them. He punched in the second number that was found on Agent Carter's body and the next book came up on the screen.

"The second number refers to a book called Rhetorical Democracy: Discursive Practices of Civic Engagement by Gerard A. Hauser and Amy Grim."

"Merrill Hauser was found at Amy Lanes bowling alley in Chicago! Charlie these books tell who and where the next victims will be. What's the next book that comes up?"

Charlie's hands were shaking badly now and he had to type the number in a couple of times to get it right.

"It's called 'Written in Blood: A History of Forensic Detection' by Colin Wilson and Damon Wilson. I don't see the clue to his location in the title. Where was the next agent found?"

Charlie could hear Megan flipping through papers.

"Devon Wilson found in the print room of Carroll and Graf Publishers."

Charlie scrolled down through the book information and found it.

"Hang on; this book was published by Carroll and Graf. It even has an address; 245 West Ave. Baltimore MD."

Charlie was already typing the next set of numbers in before Megan asked what they showed.

"The next thing that comes up is 'Exposing Cults : When the Skeptical Mind Confronts the Mystical' by David Christopher Lane. What is the fourth agent's name?"

"Robert Franklin, and he was found in an abandoned shop called The Mystical for the Skeptic. But his name isn't referred to in the title."

Charlie started scrolling down further. He went to the table of contents and found a chapter that held the answer.

"The fifth chapter is titled 'The Strange Case of Franklin Jones'." Charlie closed his fists for a second to try and stop the tremors before he continued to type.

"Wasn't Danny Edwards found in an old warehouse for Global Horizons? The next book is 'Jonathan Edwards at Home and Abroad: Historical Memories, Cultural Movements, Global Horizons'." A moment later Charlie said, "Darryl was found at the Lauren Park Conservatory and the next book is 'Solo Bliss: The Single Girl's Guide to Enlightenment by Jennifer Lauren'."

The next set of numbers were going to reveal Jon's name and Charlie allowed the phone that he had been cradling between his shoulder and his ear to fall to his lap. He could feel the beginnings of a panic attack and tried to calm himself before continuing. Larry picked up the phone and spoke to Megan quietly.

"Give him a moment."

Charlie took slow deep breaths as he typed in the numbers that would lead to the book that sealed Jon's fate. Larry looked over at the screen and reported what was seen to Megan.

"The next book that comes up is 'Paedar O'Donnell' by Donal O Drisceoil. It says in the synopsis that O'Donnell was the editor of the legendary "Bell Magazine" in the late forties and early fifties."

Charlie looked at the screen before him as tears that formed blurred his vision. He looked up at Larry and asked for the number that had been left with Jon.

Larry sat down next to Charlie and cradling the phone the same way he had and pulled the laptop over in front of him. Megan told Larry the clue on Jon's body and Larry typed it into the search box.

What came up on the screen took the breath out of Charlie. It was a mathematical and engineering publication. One that he was very familiar with because he had published a paper in this periodical called "H infinity control of non-linear systems"

All the color drained from Charlie's face as he started at the screen. Charlie tried to say his brother's name but no sound issued from his mouth. Don was the next victim! The article that Charlie wrote and published had sealed his brother's fate. Charlie tried to take a breath but his lungs didn't cooperate, he sat there frozen with terror etched in every line of his face.

Larry looked over at Charlie and set the phone down. Charlie wasn't breathing and seemed to be in a state of shock. Larry took Charlie by the shoulders and shook him.

"Charles! Breathe!"

Alan was confused. He saw what was on the screen but didn't understand why it had effect Charlie so deeply. Charlie tore his eyes away from the computer screen and looked at Larry. The panic in his eyes turned hard and was replaced with such a stony look of pure fury that Larry sat back a little from his friend.

Alan could hear Megan's voice coming from the phone and he picked it up. Suddenly Charlie was on his feet. He pushed past his father and ran to the front door grabbing his father's car keys as he went.

"Charlie! What… Where are you going?" But he was out the front door before Alan could even finish his sentence.

"What the hell is going on? What was that all about?"

Larry grabbed the phone from Alan and shouted into the mouth piece. "Megan, Charlie just took off out of here. The last thing that came up was Multidiscipline Modeling in Materials and Structures. It's an engineering publication that Charles published an article in. I think he's headed to Cal Sci. The first victim was found in the basement of the math building at Massachusetts University; isn't that right?"

"So it would fit to have the final victim… Oh my God, Larry you and Mr. Eppes stay put. I'll call David and have him go to Cal Sci. I'm on my way!"


Charlie drove like a demon to the Cal Sci campus. It was pure luck that he wasn't pulled over by the local police for speeding and driving recklessly. A tiny part of his brain was almost hoping that a police cruiser would attempt to pull him over.

Charlie screeched to a stop right in front of the math building and jumped out of the car without even turning it off. He was only peripherally aware of the fact that the panic that he had been feeling when he saw the math publication come up on the screen was no longer there.

He had a blinding rage pumping through him that had taken control. He was going to kill someone today and found that this feeling was not as frightening as he thought it would be. He bolted up the steps to the math building and ran head long down the main corridor to the stairs that led to the basement.

The door was locked but in his heightened state of agitation this posed no problem for the somewhat slight professor. With a mighty kick he broke the door open and it slammed hard against the stairwell wall. He charged down the stairs and came out at the end of the long main corridor that ran the length of the math building.

He was suddenly unable to move as a wave of emotion washed over him, threatening to drown him. Coming from a room near the other end of the corridor he heard his brother's screams and he was instantly transported back to the print room where Jon was murdered.

He swayed precariously for a moment and put his hand out to the wall to brace himself and he lowered his head as a strong feeling of nausea engulfed him. Don's voice rang out down the corridor again and something inside of Charlie clicked into place. He looked up and his dark eyes held a frightening inferno.

'It's time for you to die!'

Charlie quickly made his way down the corridor and came to the room that his brother's voice was emanating from. He pushed the door open and saw his brother lying on a plywood table made from wooden boards and two saw horses. He had been strapped down just like all of the other victims with duct tape. His shirt had been ripped open and his chest had been incised from the collarbones to below the bottom of his breast bone.

An 'F' shaped steel retractor had been placed in the open wound. The spine of the retractor had a turn crank that was used to separate the curved blades and a blond haired woman stood on the far side of his brother turning that handle slowly and smiling down at him as his flesh was being pulled apart.

Don's exposed body was sleek with sweat pale as a sheet. There was a copious amount of blood covering his chest and running down the sides of his body dripping onto the floor. It looked as though his brother would bleed to death any minute. Charlie had never seen so much blood and the nausea almost consumed him again but he spied Don's gun and holster out of the corner of his eye.

Some how the sight of that gun pushed the nausea down and brought the rage back to the forefront of Charlie's consciousness. Shelly had picked up her scalpel again and was cutting a grove down the center of Don's breast bone. Don's cries were becoming weaker as he drifted closer to unconsciousness.

Charlie reached over and picked up the gun and leveled it directly at Shelly's head. She was so intent on what she was doing that she had failed to notice that Charlie had come into the room and was quite startled when he shouted.

"Get away from him!"

Don turned his head toward the sound of his brother's voice and behind his pain glazed orbs Charlie saw raw fear. He had never seen fear in his older brother's eyes. All their years growing up, Don had always been the strong one. He had always been fearless and the fact that this woman had made his big brother feel that kind of fear increased his fury ten fold.

Shelly also looked up very surprised to be interrupted in her task. She recovered very quickly and said, "Well, well, well; if it isn't the very clever Professor Eppes. What are you going to do, boy; shoot me? You haven't got the stones!"

Charlie tore his gaze away from his brother and stared this killer in the face. Her smile faded as she saw the look in this young mans eyes. She recognized the hate and desire to kill in the professor. This was not how she had expected her final kill to happen, but there was one thing that Shelly prided herself on; and that was adaptability. She held the blade in her fist six inches above Don's exposed chest ready to plunge it into his heart between the ribs.

"Back away from him or I swear to God I will kill you where you stand!"

Charlie took another step forward so that at this distance there was no chance of him missing his target.

"This is an interesting turn of events. You said that you wanted your brother to shoot me between the eyes. Do you remember that Professor? This is your chance. I can see murder in your eyes professor."

"BACK AWAY FROM HIM NOW!"

Charlie was shouting and felt shaky with the uncontrollable rage running through his veins. All he had to do was squeeze the trigger and she would be dead, but at what cost. Shelly could almost read his mind because his eyes were so expressive that his internal struggle was clear in his features.

"You have a choice to make now. Pull that trigger and step over the line; become the monster and save your brother's life. All I have to do in move my hand down and he will die, but you can prevent that. So the question you must ask yourself is this: Will you trade your immortal soul for the life of your brother?"

Neither of them paid any attention to the sound of running down the hall outside the room. David came charging in his gun held ready. The scene before him when he entered that store room was so shocking that he stopped for a moment at a loss for words.

"Go ahead, professor, you know you want to do it! Pull the trigger."

David turned his head toward Charlie and saw the look on his face. "Charlie, put the gun down man. I'm here now; she will be taken into custody. It's over. Don't do it man, this is not who you are Charlie. Don't let her turn you into someone that you're not."

Shelly did not want to be taken alive. She wanted her revenge and would take the death of the younger mans soul as payment. She started to sing with an evil sneer on her face.

"I left my heart in San Francisco. High on a hill, it calls to me…"

"SHUT UP!"

"Shut me up! You're running out of time professor!"

Don was having trouble staying conscious during this but he managed to call softly to Charlie.

"Charlie…"

Charlie moved his eyes from Shelly's face and he saw a tear falling down the side Don's face. He had never seen his brother cry and it tore at his heart. Don's voice was weak and so soft that David who was standing a little further away had to strain to hear the words.

"I have faith in you. I will never give up on you, Charlie. Never."

The words that his brother had spoken in the cemetery a few days ago and now again here cut through the burning ember of rage and touched Charlie's heart. His eyes softened and he began to lower the gun when Shelly shouted.

"Time's up!"

She swung the hand holding the scalpel down to Don's chest. Don saw the flash of steel out of the corner of his eye as the blade passed through the light from the florescent bulb over head, he heard Charlie scream "NO!" and then the gunshot or was it two. Blackness took him and he knew no more.