A/N- As you can see I'm writing like crazy! The story is morphing as I write it so bear with me. I'm not sure how long this fast and frenzied pace will last. Please enjoy this next installment, and I will begin work on the next chapter tomorrow morning.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Alan could tell that something else was bothering Megan and decided to walk her out into the hallway as she prepared to leave. He placed a restraining hand on her arm and when she turned to look at him he didn't say anything at first but searched her eyes. Something had happened with his son that she hadn't told them about, of that he was sure.

"Megan, when you become a parent you develop a sixth sense about matters where your children are concerned. Age doesn't diminish this effect, so I am asking…
…no I am telling you that you had better come clean about my son. There is something else that happened and as Don's father I have a right to know what that is."

Megan had never heard Alan speak so forcefully and she marveled at his perceptiveness. She thought that she had hidden her discomfort fairly well. Perhaps Alan should have taken up a career as a profiler. She noticed a short bench sitting against the far wall of the hallway and she led Alan to it and sat down with him.

"I am having a psychological evaluation done on Don later this morning. His reaction last night to the nightmare was only a part of what happened. I have a suspicion, and mind you this is pure speculation, that he didn't tell me everything that happened in that storeroom when he gave his deposition."

"What are you talking about? What did he leave out?"

"I don't know, but when the night nurse tried to help him to use a urinal instead of getting up to use the bathroom he became violent. He wouldn't let her near him and he said that no one was going to touch him. All of that can easily be explained by the severity of the physical trauma that he went through."

"But, you think something else happened." It was a statement rather than a question and Alan started to get a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"When I asked him this morning if he had told me everything he lied. Something else happened in that storeroom and he won't talk about it."

Alan got up and paced to the other side of the hallway then turned around and leaned against the wall for support as he stared Megan in the eyes.

"What do you think happened to my son?"

Megan stood up as she sighed deeply. She didn't want to be having this conversation right now but Alan was not giving her much choice.

"I don't really know, only Don knows that, but he is showing some of the same signs we see in victims of sexual assault."

Alan dropped his head into his hands. "Oh God."

Megan moved quickly to the older man and put her arm around his shoulders.

"This is still only speculation. Like I said it could be just a reaction to what was done to him. That is just as plausible."

Alan looked up at her with such a weary face that she felt worse than she had before she came here to tell them about Don.

"You know for a fact that he lied to you when you asked him if there was anything he didn't tell you?"

Megan only nodded.

"Megan, I am not a target for this killer. When there is a contract out on someone the assassin only goes after the targets right?"

Again Megan nodded, she knew where this was going but she wasn't sure she wanted to try and deal with this at the moment. There were so many loose ends to tie up and leads to run down. God this was going to be a long day.

"I want to see my son. The risk to me is only by association and it sounds like he needs me."

"What about Charlie?"

Alan looked back at the door to the small apartment. "Charlie will understand. He knows that he can't be with Don right now. He is losing himself in his numbers again. Charlie doesn't need me right now but Don does. Please think about it Megan."

"I'll talk to Merrick and Director Donaldson. I won't promise anything. It won't happen today for sure and probably not tomorrow, but I promise I'll keep you informed about his progress."

"Megan, I want to know how the psychological evaluation goes. I understand that it is confidential information, but as a parent I need to know what happened to my child."

Megan nodded. "I'll tell you what I can, but again I make no promises."

"That's fair enough."

Megan stood up on her toes and gave Alan a light kiss on the cheek. "Take care of Charlie; don't let him get too lost."

With that Megan turned and headed down the stairs. By the time she got into her car she felt as though she had been up all night. She looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror critically. There was a lot to do today and no time for emotions. She flipped open her cell and contacted the FBI Psych. Office to set up the evaluation. Luckily there was a psychologist available for 10:00 in the morning and Megan knew her. Her next stop was the prison for an official visit with the duty officer.


Charlie didn't speak to his father at all when he came back into the apartment. He was aware that he had left with Megan and had come back a few minutes later. He acknowledged him with a half glance when Alan came over and stood near by.

"Charlie, I spoke with Megan. She is going to try and get it approved so that I can go to the hospital and be with Don."

Charlie stopped writing at this but didn't turn around. He nodded his head after a moment and started writing again. Alan stepped over to his son and squeezed his shoulder then left him alone to his work.

Dan had made himself scarce during the conversation with Megan and the Eppes men but had heard everything. He made some coffee for Alan and brought it to him and they sat in a companionable silence for a while before Alan decided to pick up the newspaper and try to concentrate on the daily crossword puzzle.

This proved to be a useless endeavor for his thoughts kept drifting back to his son, lying all alone in a hospital bed fighting off emotional demons without the support of his family. How had their lives come to this? When would this be over?

Charlie became hyper-focused on his work. The time for caution was over. He had to get this done as quickly as possible. He doubted that either of the men in the room with him would understand anything up on the white boards. He was careful, however, to only use them for his calculations. He kept the raw data such as dollar amounts and account numbers either on the disk on the laptop or in the spiral notebook.

It turned out that he reached dead ends when he followed the DOJ and FBI trails to the off shore banks. They had never had the appropriate clout to demand a look at the inner financial workings of those institutions and he could see why the government was never able to pin anything on these men

Charlie however was not bound by those rules. He was more than happy to hack into these financial institutions computer systems. He found that they had firewall protection that was far superior to that of the United States government and it took him quite a bit longer to hack his way into these systems.

His determination and intelligence however were no match for the off shore banks. Charlie was on a mission that he would not be deterred from no matter what obstacles he encountered.

Logic was his weapon and he wielded it like a sword cutting through encryptions and complicated binary patterns to achieve his goal. Once he had gained access to the first of the bank's internal systems he found a wealth of data on more than just the mob family, but as alluring as the other numbers were he only downloaded the information he needed. The rest of the banks posed less resistance because it turned out that they all used the same security packages and he knew how to get past them now.

Alan was mildly concerned by Charlie's behavior. His intensity while he worked had a different feel to it than he had ever seen. Charlie had always displayed a frenetic energy when he was engrossed in his numbers but now there seemed to be something else at work here. He seemed driven as if some invisible task master was standing behind him lashing a whip at his heels. He had not even displayed this type of behavior when he got lost in P vs NP while his mother lay dieing.

Megan may have had a point about keeping an eye on Charlie but he did stop to eat lunch without complaint, even though Alan could see that Charlie hardly noticed what he was eating. His eyes weren't glazed over but he was still miles away; his mind obviously working diligently on what ever mathematical problem had engrossed him so much.

Alan couldn't think of an objection that he could raise as long as Charlie ate and slept at night. He was still uneasy about the nearly manic gleam in his youngest son's face as he worked but there was little that he could do about it. If Megan was able to arrange his move to the hospital he was going to make sure that the agents watching Charlie had instructions to drag him away from his boards to eat and sleep.


After a through dressing down of the prison duty officer and a report that went into his permanent record Megan drove into the FBI offices to present her report to Assistant Director Merrick. She had nearly made it to his office when David ran up to her waving his arms frantically.

"We got a call this morning from Thomas Cantor. He and his wife came back home early from a vacation in New Hampshire to find a letter from Rebecca explaining a few things to them like how she stole $350,000 from their retirement fund."

"Are you kidding?"

"No; I gave them our fax number and they faxed a copy of the letter here. Mr. Cantor is taking the next flight out to LA and said he would come in to talk with us. He expects to be here sometime tomorrow morning."

"Where is this letter?"

David handed her the fax sheet and she took it to her desk to sit down and read it.

Dear Daddy,
By the time you get this letter I'll be gone. I am so very sorry for everything that I am about to tell you.
I don't know how things got so out of control, but when Shell is involved they always do.
The first thing that you should know is that I am not the girl you always thought I was.
I did a terrible thing when I was young and have lived with that guilt my entire life.
The fire that killed Aunt Irene and Uncle Brad was my fault. I set that fire and killed them.
Shelly has protected me ever since we were kids from that truth. She never told anyone what
I had done and I owe her for that.
She has gotten herself in a whole heap of trouble and has done some very bad things.
It's my fault really. I gave her something that I shouldn't have. She asked me to get it but if
I had only said no…
Who am I kidding; I have never been able to say no to Shell.
Daddy, I understand if you can never forgive me for this but I wanted you to know that it was
me who did it. I took some money from your retirement fund. I feel so bad about this.
You trusted me with that account so that I could take care of momma if anything ever
happened to you and I have just betrayed that trust.
Shell needed money, lots of it. Like I said she got herself in some really bad trouble.
She wanted me to clean out your account but she doesn't know how much is in there
so I only took $350,000.
I'm so sorry Daddy. Once I do this last thing for Shelly I am going to go away.
I'll never talk to her again. I know you must hate me now but know that I love you and momma.
I am so sorry for everything.
Goodbye,
Becca

Megan looked up at David after reading the letter.

"That confirms it. $350,000 will defiantly buy a hit even if the target is an FBI agent."

"Tell me about it. So what now? According to this, Rebecca is 'going away'. Without her we can't really confirm where the money went."

"We have her picture and two known aliases. Redouble the checks at all major transportation hubs. We have to find her before she disappears."

David was looking down at the letter in Megan's hands with an almost soft look in his eyes.

"I feel kind of badly for Rebecca. Her cousin has been playing her since they were kids."

"I know. Shelly told Don that she killed her parents. I wouldn't be at all surprised if it turned out that Shelly started that fire and somehow talked her cousin into believing it was her fault. I mean at the time that it happened Rebecca was only seven years old. Shelly has been manipulating Rebecca all of these years along with everyone else in her life."

David turned to leave but Megan stood and put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"David,…" Megan looked around at the office. Agents were busy buzzing around doing their work. It would not be difficult to overhear in this confined space.

"What is it Megan?"

"There is something I want to tell you. Let's go into the conference room."

David had a puzzled look on his face but he followed her quietly. Once they were behind closed doors Megan told David about the incident with Don last night at the hospital. He and Colby were the men who Don worked most closely with and the men that Don considered friends as well as coworkers. If Don was slipping into depression then she wanted to try and have as many friendly faces around him as she could manage.

"David, I am not going to put what Colby and I discussed in my report to Merrick and Director Donaldson. I have nothing to substantiate those suspicions. He is getting a physiological evaluation… actually right now." Megan said as she glanced down at her watch.

"That report will give me a better idea of what may or may not have happened in that storeroom."

David looked angry by what he had heard. Don wasn't just his lead agent; David considered him a friend and the thought that on top of everything else that he had gone through that he might also have been hurt in that manner made him want to spend a few minutes alone with Shelly Arbury.

"Look, David, Don's behavior could easily be attributed to the physical attack on him and until a psychologist tells me otherwise that is how I will approach this, but I wanted you to know what Colby and I discussed. I need you to really understand the kind of stress that he has been feeling. I'm going to try and rotate you, Colby, Mark and Brian through the rounds at the hospital with him but I am not telling either Mark or Brian what I have just said to you, so keep it to yourself."

"I won't say anything. When do you want me there?"

"I'd like you to take the shift from three to ten. Colby will spend the over night with him so once you get done with the transportation alerts go get some rest and be at the hospital later."

"OK you got it." David turned to leave but stopped as he placed his hand on the door. "Megan, don't tell any of this to Charlie. He has the anxiety under control right now, but this… I just don't know how he would handle it."

"I didn't tell him but Alan knew something was wrong and I had to tell him."

David turned and faced Megan. "You shouldn't have said anything to Mr. Eppes. You don't even know if it is true."

"Normally I would agree with you, David but Mr. Eppes can be very persuasive when he wants answers. He followed me out into the hallway and pulled the 'I'm the parent and I have a right to know' routine. I couldn't lie to him."

David had to smile at that image. He had known Alan Eppes for a little over two years now and he had seen that kind of fire in the older man before. He turned and left the conference room leaving Megan to her thoughts.


Tony Saborgia walked into the guest house on the grounds of his mansion. Bennie had a large blueprint of LA County General laid out on the pool table looking it over.

"So the fed is still alive is he?"

Bennie didn't look up from his work but answered.

"Oh he's alive, but I can't get to him; he's too well guarded. I was hoping that I could get through the ventilation system. County is an older hospital but they have upgraded the ventilation system sometime over the last ten years. The old large ducts have been replaced with small filtered air shafts."

"So what do you plan on doing? You could get to the kitchen easily enough, poison his food."

Bennie shot a withering look at the man standing before him in a silk bathrobe. The only reason Bennie worked for Saborgia is because he paid well, other wise the man was a clumsy idiot. He had the right accountants, the right muscle, the right hit men but he himself couldn't string together beads without botching it.

"That's why you pay me Mr. Saborgia. Poison would be a poor choice, too unreliable. The trays could get switched, the guard could eat the poisoned food first and spoil the trap, or the target might not be hungry and then what? No; that is not a viable option."

Bennie continued to stare at the hospital blueprint tapping his slender fingers and humming under his breath.

"No, none of my standard options will work in this scenario. I can't take out the target if I can't get to him."

"So what; are you just going to give up?" Tony asked incredulously.

Bennie did look up then and fixed his employer with a piercing stare. "I never just give up. I can't do this clean is all I'm saying."

"Well what do you plan to do then?"

"If I can't get to the target then I'll just have to go with a more direct approach. It will be messy, no finesse, but it will work. Go to a party tonight, something public and stay there until at least three in the morning."

"So are you going to tell me what you have planned or not?"

"If I can't take out the target directly then I'll take out the room he is in. Like I said, it's messy but it will work."

"What about the other one?"

Bennie began to roll up the blueprints. "That is up to you at this point. You have a source within the FBI don't you? Find out where he is and I'll take care of the rest."

"That may take a couple of days, Bennie. Once the older brother has been killed they will want to move the younger one. I won't know for sure where he is until he's settled."

Bennie shrugged. "I don't care when you get the information. As long as I get paid I'll do the job. The time table is yours to worry about not mine. Speaking of getting paid; I want the wire transfer to be complete before I do this job. Once the FBI agent is dead I will not even entertain any thoughts about the younger brother until I have half down on him in my account, so have the transfer ready to go tonight."

"Don't worry old friend, have I ever let you down?" Tony laughed as he walked over to the small man and threw an arm around his shoulder.

Bennie hated it when he got friendly. He preferred to keep their relationship strictly professional on all levels. He stepped away from Saborgia.

"This is a guarded FBI agent, Saborgia! That's a capitol crime 'old friend' so I want no debate. The money needs to be in the account before the fireworks, got it?"

"You will have $75,000 dollars in the account by ten o'clock tonight, and once it's done another $25,000 for the good professor."