A/N – I can not get my VCR to work so I couldn't go back and check on two details.
Nadine is a DA I think. If that is inaccurate please don't jump on me. As I have said before constructive comments are always welcome. Also I thought her last name was Hodges. Again I could be wrong but unfortunately I have no way to go back and check on it because my husband has the darned thing hooked up all weird and didn't leave instructions as to how to get the Tivo to turn off and the VCR to turn on. ARRGGGHHH!
Please enjoy.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Charlie had been awakened by the same nightmare that he had been having since this whole thing began but it had morphed into much more gruesome images. Once he had awakened bathed in sweat he knew he would never be able to get back to sleep so he made his way downstairs quietly and sat on the couch to await the arrival of dawn. He dozed lightly but never really fell back into a restful sleep.
Alan's sleep had also disturbed by horrible images of both of his sons being murdered by this unknown accomplice that was still at large. He had never seen any of the actual crime scene photographs but after reading Charlie's account of his abduction the images that his mind created were far worse than any photographs could have proven.
He came downstairs around four thirty to find his younger son sitting in the dark in an almost trance like state. Neither of them felt the desire to discuss the events that had turned their lives upside down so they shared a quiet support of one another as Alan sat down next to Charlie and wrapped his arm around the young man's shoulders.
Charlie was so desperately tired that he leaned into his father's embrace and drifted off into a more restful sleep than he had in several days. Alan also felt a measure of comfort from the physical contact and dosed for a short time holding his son.
As the sun peeked in through the living room windows Alan roused Charlie and told him to go shower while he made coffee for them. Charlie was far to tired to even form a coherent objection in his mind and simply followed his father's instructions. By the time both men had showered and had a couple of cups of coffee they felt more awake and ready for the long day ahead of them.
Colby arrived back at the Eppes house by seven thirty as promised and was not surprised to find both Charlie and Alan up and sitting at the kitchen table. Neither of them looked as thought they had gotten much sleep and were sporting deep circles under their eyes. After grabbing a cup of coffee for himself, they all went out to his car to make the trip to the hospital. They exchanged the necessary pleasantries when Colby arrived but the rest of the time the Eppes men traveled with the agent it was in silence; each deep in their own thoughts.
As the three men walked down the hospital corridor approaching Don's room, Colby pulled his jacket aside to reveal the FBI badge at his waist to the agent posted at the door. The man stepped aside with a nod to his fellow agent and the three of them entered the room to find Don sitting up in bed pushing what might have been scrambled eggs around on his plate.
His face broke into a wide smile at the sight of his family that only faltered slightly when he caught sight of the man by the door as it closed behind the threesome.
"Hey Donnie, how are you feeling this morning?"
"Probably better than the two of you, Dad." Don said noting how tired they both looked. "Did you guys sleep at all?"
Charlie sat down next to Don's bed and put an affected smile on his face. "What exactly is that supposed to be?" he said, pointing to the pseudo-food in front of his brother.
Don looked woefully at the plate on the tray table as he picked up a slender slip of paper that looked like a menu. Certain items had been circled on it to indicate what he was being served.
"This says that its eggs and toast, but I have to tell ya, that doesn't look, smell or taste like any kind of eggs I've ever seen. The toast is soggy and the coffee…. Well don't even get me started on the coffee."
Colby looked at the plate and smiled. "Yeah, that looks just like the eggs we had in the military. Reconstituted from powder and everything a growing boy needs. I lived on this stuff in Kuwait."
"That explains a lot." Charlie quipped, which brought a laugh followed by a grimace of pain from Don.
Alan stepped over to his son and touched his forehead. He seemed a little warm but what concerned him was the flash of pain he saw in his eyes.
"What is it Donnie, you look like your in pain? Remember what the doctor said about not being stoic?"
"I'm fine, Dad. This incision hurts but I also haven't had any pain medication since last night so that doesn't surprise me. When the nurse comes in I'll ask for some. They want me to have food with it, but I'm not sure I will be able to comply. I didn't spend time in the military getting used to this kind of stuff."
"Hey Don, you want me to smuggle in some real food for ya?"
Before Don could answer Colby, Megan's voice came from the door. "I'm way ahead of you Granger."
She and David walked in. Megan had a bag in one hand and a tray with coffees in the other. David was holding a second tray of coffees. Don eyed the coffee that Megan was holding with pure pleasure in his eyes.
"Is that from 'The Nut House'?"
Megan smiled as she set the coffee and the bag down on the tray table. Colby removed the offending plate of powdered eggs to make room.
"I also brought Blueberry muffins and apple fritters. So what will it be; regular or Mocha?"
Don's eyes lit up and said "Reeves, I'm putting you in for a raise! Mocha please."
Megan handed him a cup of the hot beverage and asked if he wanted some Splenda.
"Don't need it with Nut House coffee."
Everyone took a cup of coffee and a pastry and they sat around quietly for a few minutes. Megan and David asked Don how he was feeling and gave him a brief run down on what had happened with Shelly Arbury's arrest. After only a few minutes David and Colby said goodbye and left when the nurse came in to check on her patient. She had brought some pain medication for Don and took his vital signs while Megan and the other Eppes men waited outside.
Nadine Hodges the DA came down the corridor to where Megan and the Eppes' were standing outside of Don's room.
"Hi, Nadine." Charlie said a little surprised to see her there so early.
"Hi, Charlie; how are you holding up?" Nadine had such a genuine note of concern in her voice that it momentarily put Charlie off his guard.
"I'm all right."
Megan looked at Alan and said, "Mr. Eppes, I know how difficult this has been for you but we need to take statements from both Charlie and Don this morning…"
Alan held up his hands and said, "Say no more. I know that the information is classified or whatever and to be honest I'm not sure I want to hear the details. The nightmares about what has happened are quite vivid enough at this point. "Alan looked at Charlie to see how that statement effected him and was relieved to see that his younger son had not taken his words to be an indication of disinterest.
"This could take awhile, Mr. Eppes. Agent Reeves will be interviewing Don and I'll talk to you Charlie." Nadine said looking at the young man.
"Well, I could go home and make something palatable for lunch, would that give you enough time?"
Megan turned to the agent guarding the door and waved him over before turning back to Mr. Eppes. "Agent Pentelli can drive you home and bring you back. It shouldn't be much more than two hours at best. But before you go there is something that we need to discuss with all of you."
As Megan said this, the nurse stepped out of the room with a bit of a frown on her face and walked down the hall. Megan, Nadine, Charlie and Alan went back into the room to see Don but Alan's mind was distracted by the look on the nurse's face when she had left.
"Is everything all right, son? That nurse didn't look too pleased when she left."
"I guess I have a little bit of a temperature, but don't worry about it. She said that it wasn't uncommon after surgery."
Don saw Nadine and his face split into a big smile. "Nadine! Are you on this thing?"
"Yes, I have been given the case. Megan and I need to take depositions from you and Charlie."
Don's smile faltered at that statement. The last thing in the world that he wanted to do was have to verbally relive the single most horrifying experience of his life to the woman that he still thought he might be able to find some common ground with. In order to distract himself from this unpleasant thought or possibly to stall for time he turned to Megan completely changing the subject; or so he thought.
"So, Megan would you like to tell me what the hell is going on. Why did my family have to be escorted in here with Colby and why is there an agent outside my door. I am pretty sure you told me earlier that Shelly Arbury is safely in custody."
Megan smiled as she shook her head; even when he was sick and in a hospital, Don Eppes missed very little. "Shelly Arbury is in custody, but it turns out she had an accomplice."
Don looked utterly shocked at this news. He frowned in concentration thinking back to the conversation he had with Shelly but she had not indicated that she had any help with these murders.
Nadine pulled out a file folder from her shoulder satchel and said, "Her cousin, a woman named Rebecca Cantor worked at Quantico as an archive clerk."
Suddenly Don remembered something. "I was wondering how she got a copy of that file."
Seeing the confused look on Megan and Nadine's faces he elaborated. "Shelly had a copy of her file from Quantico. She was ranting on about how she had proof that we all conspired against her to get her fired. There is no way for her to have gotten a copy of that file unless someone who worked there gave it to her."
Megan nodded. "We assumed as much especially given the fact that Rebecca Cantor disappeared yesterday afternoon. Her apartment was searched and it looks like she packed up in a hurry and left but hasn't been apprehended yet."
Nadine had pulled a chair over and took a seat next to Charlie who had automatically sat down in the chair right next to the bed. "We will be seeking the Death Penalty with this case. There is a possible problem however. I have gone over all of the files pertaining to these murders and we are woefully lacking in hard forensic evidence. She was very smart and left nothing behind."
Megan who remained standing also pulled out a file on Shelly Arbury. "Smart is definitely the word for it. On her entrance qualification scores to get the librarian job at Quantico she scored a 130 on the standard IQ test. That may not be genius level but it is well above average."
Nadine shifted in her chair and turned to look directly at Don so that he understood what she was about to explain. "In order for us to seek the death penalty we need a conviction. The fact is that all we have in the way of evidence is circumstantial. Her file from Quantico having a list of all of the victims and the fact that she used second hand medical equipment to commit these murders is very strong circumstantial evidence but they can be challenged. There is nothing that connects any of the equipment found to her old employer. We checked. The records were an absolute mess but there were no recorded thefts and nothing to indicate that inventory was missing at the time the business went under. There are no DNA traces, no finger prints, no video surveillance that can pin her to these crimes. The only thing that we have that is completely solid is your eye witness testimonies."
Charlie blanched at this statement. "Are you kidding me? I caught her in the act of trying to kill him! How is this not an open and shut case? What about David! He was there he saw what she was doing."
Nadine shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Charlie, when David entered that store room you were pointing a gun at Shelly Arbury's head. She can say, and has, that she was acting under duress. The point is; because of the circumstances David's account can be challenged by the defense as skewed. She is claiming that she found Don this way and was trying to help him not kill him."
"WHAT!"
Both Don and Charlie shouted this in unison. Don was rewarded with a sharp pain in his chest that took a moment for him to recover from.
"What about the fact that she was about to stab Don in the chest when we both shot her?"
Don looked up sharply at Charlie when he said that. "You shot her?"
Megan cleared her throat loudly. "Don, you can't ask him that at least not until he has given his statement to Nadine."
Don took a moment to register what she had said about not discussing particulars with Charlie because what did immediately come to mind was that he was not giving his deposition to Nadine, Charlie was. It must be that Megan was going to interview him. He was so relieved by this news that he almost missed Nadine's next comment.
"Apparently she is claiming that she wasn't about to stab Don, she was trying to throw the knife at Charlie because she thought he was about to shoot her."
That brought Don back to full attention as both he and Charlie looked from Nadine to Megan with complete disbelief all over their faces. Megan understood how they felt.
"Look we all know that this is utter crap but the bottom line is, without your testimonies it is conceivable, however unlikely, that she could walk and she knows this."
Megan turned and looked at each of the Eppes men in turn. "We do not want to take any chances with Rebecca Cantor still on the loose. You will all need to go into protective custody."
This statement was met with a stunned silence from all of the Eppes men. It was unbelievable that this could be happening. Alan sat down and held his hands over his face. He thought that this nightmare was close to being over but now it looked as though it was only beginning. He looked up at Megan.
"What exactly does 'protective custody' mean?"
"You and Charlie will be taken to a safe house when you leave today. Don will join you when he is released from the hospital. Your lives will be put on hold. You won't be able to go back to your jobs or your home or have contact with other family members or friends after today; not until this is over."
The look on Alan's face nearly broke Megan's heart. This was always such an awful part of this job. The victims of these crimes were often times re-victimized by the slow moving wheels of the system.
"And how long can we expect to be in this situation?"
Nadine answered this question. "We will push for the quickest trial date we can but in reality it could be a few weeks to several months. The defense will want to have time to put together their case. I'm so sorry about this Mr. Eppes, but it just isn't worth the risk to any of you to let you go home."
Charlie was thinking hard and said, "What if you catch this Rebecca Cantor and lock her up. Then we should be all right."
Megan sighed deeply. "Unfortunately that's not true. The discount surgical supply house that Shelly worked at was called Med Link and was owned by one Bruno Sborgia."
Don looked up at the ceiling and swore softly.
"We did a background check on Bruno and yes he is related to Anthony Sborgia. They are second cousins. This does not constitute proof that Shelly has any mob contacts, but this is not a connection that we can ignore. We've lost witnesses while the perpetrator has been incarcerated. Even though phone calls are monitored it is still quite possible to arrange a hit from inside."
Alan got up and walked over to his sons. He took each one's hand and held on tightly. "We will get through this together as a family. If hiding is the only way to keep you safe then we will hide. I won't risk losing either of you boys again."
Megan stood up and opened the door to the hospital room and Agent Pentelli stepped in then she turned to Alan and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Pack up bags for you and Charlie and shut up the house. I've sent David to do the same thing for Don. I'm really sorry about this, sir."
The sadness in Alan's eyes was replaced with a strong resolve. "Don't be. Thank you for taking care of my family. We will be fine."
With that Alan said good bye to his sons, telling them that he would see them later, and walked out. Nadine stood up from her chair and leaned close to Don and whispered in his ear.
"I'll take it easy on him." Then she turned to Charlie. "Charlie, why don't we go down to the lounge at the other end of the hall?"
Charlie looked at Don who nodded slightly and then followed Nadine from the room leaving Megan and Don alone. She pulled out a tape recorder and her note book before sitting down in the chair that Charlie had vacated.
Don looked at her and said "Whose idea was it to have Nadine with Charlie instead of me?"
"Nadine was concerned that you might be uncomfortable talking about this with her. Of course you will eventually have to talk to her as well as testify in court, but for now, she thought you would be more comfortable with me."
"She was right, but I don't really want to…"
Don heaved a sigh. How many times had he been in Megan's position. He had always tried to empathize with the victims of crimes when he had to ask them to relive that crime. It was information that his team needed to gather the evidence necessary to catch the criminal. Now that he found himself in the position of being the victim, he realized that he never really understood what this meant for them.
He was going to have to tell Megan every detail of his experience, from being duped by the fake baby's cries to waking up bound like the rest of the murder victims to being cut open with a blunt blade. This was something that he could hardly bring himself to think about let alone describe for someone else, but he also knew that this had to be done.
Megan reached over and touched the back of Don's hand. "There is no rush Don, you know that. Just start from when you hung up with me at your apartment."
Don looked into Megan's eyes. He didn't see pity; he saw the concern for a friend. He pushed his emotions down deep where they couldn't hurt him and began to speak.
Charlie and Nadine took seats in the lounge at the end of the corridor and out of nowhere a large FBI agent appeared and took up a standing position several feet in front of them but between where they were seated and the entrance to the lounge. Charlie was about to ask where he came from but decided that it wasn't important.
He looked at Nadine as she pulled out a note pad and a tape recorder. Hadn't he just done this with Megan? It seemed like this nightmare would never end. Charlie sat back in the chair and allowed his head to drop back on the cushion and stared up at the ceiling for a few moments.
"I know how difficult this must be for you Charlie…" Charlie's head snapped up and he looked at Nadine.
"Do you? How on earth could you possibly know what I am feeling, or how hard this entire experience has been?"
Charlie didn't mean to sound petulant or aggressive. He was tired and agitated by the turn of events that were forcing his family into hiding like frightened mice.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to take this out on you."
"That's all right Charlie. You are right I can not know what it is you are feeling, I have never been faced with the personal horrors that you have where this case is involved, but believe me when I tell you I have seen some pretty horrific things over the years. Let's start with something a little less emotionally charged. Can you tell me how you figured out the number clues? We'll just take it slow and go from there."
By the time both Don and Charlie were finished with their interviews they were completely drained. Don had stopped several times during the worst portions of his account to get his feelings under control. He never shed a tear, but his hands closed into tight fists under the sheets as he fought for control. What came across very clearly to Megan wasn't the fear that the agent felt for himself, but the fear of what his death was going to do to his family, especially Charlie.
Nadine found Charlie's account to be incredibly precise with every detail quite vividly described. She actually had some difficulty maintaining her own professional decorum as she heard what had been done to Don. Like the interview that Charlie had had with Megan after Jon's death he spoke in a flat monotone voice that betrayed no emotion at all, but his expressive eyes told a story of fear and anguish as tears eventually began to fall.
The main thing that struck Nadine about Charlie's account was how he had charged down to that basement without regard to his own safety either physically or mentally. He could only think about getting to Don before it was too late. Even when Charlie shot the woman it wasn't with the intent to kill, but to stop her from killing his brother. Charlie had been honest with her about his desire to kill this woman and she had ended up saying almost the exact same thing to him that his father had.
Charlie remained in the lounge after he had finished with Nadine. She had a strong desire to wrap her arms around the young man and tell him everything would be fine, but that was far from the truth. She had seen many witnesses fold under the pressure of being ripped from their lives and thrown into protective custody. She didn't think that the Eppes men would succumb to the pressure but it was not going to be an easy road for any of them.
Megan and Nadine met outside of Don's room. Nadine peeked in through the window set in the door and saw him lying on the bed looking out the window. He didn't seem to be asleep and with his face turned away from the door she couldn't see into his eyes and she suddenly wanted to see into those eyes.
"How is he?"
Megan glanced back over her shoulder at the door. "Don is a strong man. I honestly don't know how he can take all of this so well. If it were me I… honestly I don't really know how I would cope. The thing that frightened him the most was what this was going to do to Charlie."
"I know what you mean. When Charlie went to that basement he was only thinking about getting to Don before it was too late. This woman is a stone cold killer who had already traumatized him, but none of that made any difference in the face of Don being in imminent danger."
"Don told me some things that will be of interest to you. Shelly Arbury has killed in the past. She bragged to Don about killing her parents before they could send her away to an institution for disturbed youths. Her background check revealed that her parents were killed in a house fire when she was nine years old. Her cousin Rebecca was also there and she was only seven. I need to get a hold of the actual reports about that fire and the autopsy reports on her parents, but that could go a long way to making your circumstantial case a lot less circumstantial."
"OK, given the intelligence of Shelly I can buy that she was capable of murder at age nine, but what about this cousin. You say she was seven when this fire happened. Do you think that she had something to do with the deaths of her aunt and uncle?"
"No I don't; Rebecca Cantor is only average intelligence. She was young and impressionable at seven and I am willing to bet that Shelly has used this fire and the deaths of her parents as an emotional hold over her cousin for years. She probably convinced her cousin that she is to blame for the fire and the subsequent deaths. That fits with Shelly's profile of being a controller. She even to Don that she will never let anyone else control the course of her life."
Megan looked past Nadine's shoulder and saw Charlie walking down the hall toward them. He looked utterly wiped out. He smiled slightly at both women then without a word he stepped past them and went into Don's room. The agent who had been standing in the lounge also came down the hall and with a nod to Megan took up a position outside the door.
Nadine looked at Megan with a fire in her eyes. "No matter what it takes, I will personally guarantee that this case sticks and that Shelly Arbury gets the death penalty."
The statement seemed so out of character for the normally soft spoken DA but then again Megan realized that she shared those sentiments whole heartedly. "I have to get back to the office; I'll give your office a call when I get the reports on the fire and the autopsies on Shelley's parents."
Nadine reached out and took Megan's hand and looked at the rather large agent standing sentry at the door. "Just protect them."
"You can count on that."
Megan turned to leave and Nadine stepped up to the door to Don's room. Charlie had pulled the recliner over next to the bed and stretched out on it right next to his brother. She couldn't really tell from this angle but it looked like they might be holding hands as they slept.
