A/N – Guess what; I won one of the categories in the Numb3rs Fan Fiction Awards. I was quite please to find that out. The category was "GeneralAngst/Dark" so in honor of that let's get this rather dark piece finished. This is not the last chapter but it's a long one. There will only be one other chapter after this and possibly an epilogue.
As always I love your comments and I do hope you have enjoyed the ride.

Chapter Forty-Six

Don was too anxious to sleep. He wanted to know what was happening with Megan and the tac team. He wanted to be there when they took Saborgia and Pretoria down. He wanted to talk to his family. He wanted to get the hell out of the hospital and get back to his life.

"Agent Parker."

Jessup Parker was seated just outside the open door to Don's room. He had been talking on the phone at the unit desk and he turned at the sound of his name. Getting up he moved quickly to the door and entered.

"I just spoke with Agent Paxton. He called in Agent Tyler and they are now both watching Saborgia's residence. Pretoria hasn't left the residence yet. He seems to have a room the guest house at the rear of the property. Our men have been in constant contact with Agent Reeves. She and the tac team should be arriving at Saborgia's residence within the next fifteen minutes."

Don just stared at this man with a feeling of deep gratitude and stunned surprise. He was astonished that he had received such a through briefing on the situation at hand and he appreciated the way that these NSA agents worked. They kept in tight communication with each other and conducted themselves with the same professionalism that Don expected from every one of the agents under his command. He expected nothing less but it was reassuring to know that this was the caliber of agent who was taking care of his family.

"Thank you. I really do appreciate the fact that you are keeping me informed with the progress of this operation. I hate being stuck here unable to do anything but I was actually calling you in here to help me get out to the unit desk. I want to call my family. We know that Pretoria is no where near the safe house and the informant has been arrested so there shouldn't be any security issues with me making this call."

Don tried to sound cool headed and professional but Jess could hear the longing in his voice. Jess understood, having read Agent Eppes' file. The man had been tortured, separated from his loved ones, nearly killed and had found out that a fellow agent that he had trusted was a traitor. Agent Eppes needed to hear a friendly voice; he had been isolated from his family for too long.

Jess stepped over to the corner of the room and brought a wheelchair to the side of the bed to help Don get up. Once he had the agent seated securely in the chair he grabbed the blanket from the bed and folded it so that he could lay it across the man's exposed legs without dragging on the floor. Once he had Don all set he wheeled him out to the unit desk near the phone.

Don needed to use the phone at the nurses station since the one in his room hadn't ever hooked up. Agent Parker had to dial for Don because he didn't know the number and even if he had his head was pounding and it was blurring his vision somewhat.

After Agent Parker dialed Trip's cell phone and got his boss on the phone he explained that Don wanted to talk to his family. Then he handed the phone to Don and stepped back to where the two evening nurses were sitting to give Agent Eppes a modicum of privacy.

"Hello?" Don spoke almost uncertainly into the mouthpiece.

"Donnie! Oh it is so good to hear your voice. How are you feeling?"

"Hi, Dad; my head is killing me but other than that I'm actually pretty good. They took that vacuum thing away yesterday."

"That's wonderful! The incision is all healed?"

"Well not completely, but the infection's completely gone and I only have a gauze bandage on now. I'll have a nasty looking scar but I suppose I can live with that. Listen Dad, this whole thing will be over soon. They found the hit man. Megan, David and a tactical team are on their way to pick him up."

There was silence on the line after that statement and Don grew concerned.

"Dad? Hey are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Donnie. I… that's wonderful news. Does that mean that we will be able to get out of this place? Can we come to see you and bring you home?"

"Once they have Pretoria and Saborgia in custody yeah, we should be home free. How's Charlie holding up?"

"Agent Niagara went to wake him up."

"He's gone to bed already? Is he all right?"

"He's fine, Donnie. He has been working non-stop for the last week helping to figure out who the FBI informant was. He's exhausted."

"Well don't wake him up. I'll call again tomorrow."

Just then Don heard shouts in the background. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as his father's voice trailed off slightly as though he were holding the phone down away from his mouth. The frantic tone in his father's voice scared him more than anything else had so far.

"What do you mean he's not here?"

"The window is open and the fire escape has been lowered to the alley."

"Oh my God! Where would he have gone?"

"Dad! Dad! What's going on?"

Agent Parker was immediately on alert and stepped over quickly to Don and reached for the phone. Don had no intention of releasing it to the agent as he continued to call into the mouthpiece for his father.

Alan heard the sound of his son's voice coming from the phone held at his side. He had forgotten for a moment that Don was on the phone. He brought it quickly to his ear and spoke quickly.

"Donnie, Charlie's gone."

"What? Where did he go?"

Suddenly there was another voice on the phone. It was Agent Niagara.

"Don, let me talk to Agent Parker."

"What's going on? Where's Charlie? How could he just leave without you knowing it?"

"Charlie went to bed early saying that he was tired then snuck out the window."

"What? Why the hell would he do that? You have to find him."

"I am going to do just exactly that Agent Eppes, now let me speak to my agent."

The command in Trip's voice snapped Don out of his growing panic and he reluctantly handed the phone to the NSA agent standing next to him.

"Jess, Charlie left the safe house and turned off the cell that Director Thompkins gave him but the locator chip is still transmitting a signal. It looks like he is closer to you than to us. I'll forward the schematic in real time to your PDA. You will need to intercept him. Healy and I will follow. I'll call Matt and have him come to stay with Mr. Eppes."

Jess heard Alan's voice in the background.

"I'm going with you!"

Trip was ignoring the protests of the older man and continued to speak.

"I'll use Charlie's laptop to send the location to you; you should have it in a moment then get going."

Jess was about to hang up the phone when Don snatched it out of his hand only to hear a dial tone when he brought it to his ear. He looked up at the agent who had pulled out a PDA and turned it on.

"What's going on? Do you know where Charlie is?"

"I will in a moment. Director Thompkins sent a cell phone to him that was off the grid. He wanted Charlie to have a secured way to contact him if he needed to. He also had a locator chip embedded in the phone. The phone is off right now but the chip works like a continuous GPS and it's giving us his location. Agent Niagara said that he is closer to us than the safe house so once I have his location I am going to go and get him. Agent's Niagara and Marsdock will leave the safe house and go to that location as well. Agent Warner is going to the safe house to collect your father."


Alan continued to loudly protest being left behind when he stopped speaking abruptly as Agent Niagara held up a hand to silence him. He had hit a number on his cell that speed dialed Agent Warner.

"Matt, get to the safe house ASAP! Charlie Eppes left without us knowing about it. I sent Healy down to bring the car around. He and I will follow Jess to the location of the chip in his phone. I need you to come and stay with Mr. Eppes until we can retrieve Charlie and bring him back."

Agent Niagara paused for a moment to listen to what ever his agent was saying then hung up the phone and faced Mr. Eppes. Before he could say anything Alan started speaking.

"Now listen here Agent Niagara; this is my son you are talking about. I have a right to go with you to find him."

"Mr. Eppes, I don't know what Charlie is doing. I don't know if he is in a dangerous situation or not. I have no idea how he got clear across town in the time he has been missing. He doesn't have access to a car. Now Agent Marsdock is contacting the cab companies in town to see if anyone has been picked up from this area. We know where he is because we made sure he was tagged with a locator beacon. He doesn't know this or else he would have disabled the chip. I am responsible for your safety as well as his and I will not take you into a potentially dangerous situation no matter how much you shout about it. I understand that he is your son. You have to trust me now that I will get him back."

Agent Niagara put forth his most commanding voice to make sure that Alan understood that he would broach no argument on the subject. For a relatively small man he had an imposing presence when he needed to and Alan responded to that presence by sitting down heavily into one of the chairs at the table. When he spoke next he had an edge of desperation in his voice.

"Where would he go… and why?"

Trip went to Charlie's laptop and booted it up. He typed in some information and a picture came up on the screen. It looked like a portion of the city taken from the air.

"I can tell you where he went but not why. He's on an access road that runs below and roughly parallel to the Ventura Freeway. From the satellite photo it looks like a fairly isolated area. I don't know why he went there or how he arrived at that location. It isn't too far from Huntington so that is why I am sending Agent Parker. He can get to that location inside of fifteen minutes." I'll stay in contact with you through Agent Warner who should be arriving soon."

Alan didn't like having to stay behind but he understood why he couldn't go with the NSA team and he scrubbed his hand down his face.

"I want to talk to him as soon as you find him, all right?"

Agent Niagara felt for this man. He and his family had been through so much over the last few weeks that he was not sure how he would react if their positions were reversed.

"I know that you are worried, but hang tight. I'll call you as soon as I know what is going on."

With that Agent Niagara left the apartment leaving Alan sitting there not knowing whether he was more 'angry at' or 'worried about' his youngest.


Megan rode in one of the large black FBI vans that were headed toward Anthony Saborgia's home while David rode in the second. She had contacted Director Donaldson as well as Assistant Director Merrick and advised them of the situation. They had both authorized the use of a double team one commanded by Megan and the other by David. They wanted both Pretoria and Saborgia and felt that two teams could cover the exits to Saborgia's rather extensive property more effectively.

David's team was to cover the far side of the property near the guest house where Pretoria was still located. Megan would converge with her men on the front of the property. They felt that the majority of Saborgia's armed men would be covering the front so Megan was given the larger of the two teams.

They were five minutes out when her cell phone rang drawing her attention from her thoughts.

"Reeves."

"Agent Reeves, we have a situation. A large black limousine and three other vehicles pulled up to Saborgia's front walk three minutes ago and several men got out. The two armed guards at the front door were shot with silencers."

"What?"

"It looks like there is someone else coming to this party."

"Agent Paxton, can you tell who the new arrivals are?"

"Jimmy ran the plates on the limo and they are registered to Alto DiBenedetto. My guess is there is a family dispute going on, and you are about to walk right into the middle of it."

"Did you see who did the shooting?"

"The guards were taken out by two men who got out of a dark van and walked beside DiBenedetto. I am assuming that he was the big guy that got out of the limo…. Hold on…"

Megan looked to the driver and told him to step on it.

"Agent Reeves, There is gun fire going on inside the house. What do you want us to do?"

"Hold your positions and document everything on film. Can you patch me through to Agent Tyler?"

There were a few clicks over the receiver and then James Tyler's voice came on the phone.

"Agent Reeves, Pretoria heard the gun fire from the main house. He's going to rabbit!"

"Stop him!"

Megan grabbed the radio from her waist and turned the channel before speaking into the mike at her neck.

"David! Pretoria is on the move. Alto DiBenedetto turned up at the house and now there is shooting going on. Paxton said it looks like some sort of family feud. How close are you?"

"We're only a couple of minutes out but if he's running we may not get there in time if there is any other way out."

"Patch into Agent Tyler's headset. He is going to try and stop Pretoria. Go on his lead."

David pulled his cell from his waist and dialed into the dispatch and had them run the patch. By the time that was done the tac van was pulling up to the gate at the rear end of Saborgia's estate. Two of the team got out and began to disarm the alarms on the gate and get it open.

Megan turned her attention back to the cell and spoke. "Did you get patched to Sinclair yet, Tyler?"

"Roger, Agent Sinclair patching into me. He's on the move, Sinclair are you there?"

"Right here; we have already disabled the gate and are coming down the access road at the rear of the property. We are about a mile and a half up the road."

"Good. That is the only road out of here. Pretoria just got into a Cadillac Escalade. He is headed in your direction. Park across the road and set up an ambush. I'll follow behind so he can't double back."

Megan listened to this chatter between the NSA agent and the second tac team feeling like it was starting to fall apart. If Pretoria slipped past the team they would never find him again but she had her own tactical team assault to concern herself with.

"Agent Paxton, give me an update. How many of DiBenedetto's men are outside and what are their positions? How many went inside?"

"There are two armed men outside the house. They have taken up the positions of Saborgia's dead guards. I can see a head inside the limo in the back and the driver is still there. Two more armed men are standing between the parked vehicles. Four men plus DiBenedetto went inside."

"So we have a total of eleven hostiles not including any of Saborgia's men left alive. Damn it! We are pulling up to your position now."

Megan got out of the van as soon as it stopped and had the entire team exit. Then she told the driver to pull up to the entrance of the long drive that ran up to Saborgia's front step effectively blocking Alto's vehicle from using the drive way as an exit. Bob Paxton was crouched on the far side of the wall surrounding Saborgia's property. He looked down at Megan when she came over to his position. He lay on his belly and reached a hand down to help her up onto the two foot wide stone wall that bordered the property.

Once she was up on the wall Megan gave him a headset so that he was able to communicate with her team. Agent Paxton handed her the night vision binoculars he had been using so she could asses the situation. The two men by the front door were carrying semi-automatic weapons and were pacing slightly back and forth and avoiding the bodies of the slain guards each of whom had been shot in the head. She heard another gunshot from inside drawing the attention of the two men pacing in front of the door.

"They look a little nervous." She noted aloud.

"They should be. The gunfire from inside the house was intense. It sounded like a shootout between DiBenedetto's men and Saborgia's men took place."

She moved the binoculars to the parked vehicles noting that they all were sitting there idling. The driver of the limo sat stock still with his hands on the wheel as if he were ready to bolt at any moment. She could see the head inside the back of the limo and the faint glow of a light source in front of him.

"That light inside the limo…" Megan started to say.

"I'm thinking it's a laptop."

"That's my guess too."

She moved her scrutiny to the men between the vehicles. They were both doing a slow circuit around the vehicles peering up the driveway toward the bend and all along the perimeter walls of the property.

"OK we can have sharp shooters take out the two rear guards with stun darts. Then my team could enter from the drive and flank the vehicles."

She looked through the binoculars again to check the layout of the mouth of the driveway and the surrounding property. The head of the drive was blocked by the vehicles parked there and the closest cover was a stand of tall hydrangea bushes ten meters from the back of one of the vans. Megan then scanned the house after turning the infra red off. The front hall was brightly lit and she could see clearly into the large foyer off of the entry hall. If anyone were coming out they would go through the foyer and entry way first.

"We need to distract the guards out front for a few seconds so my guys have time to run for cover behind the hydrangeas. From there they can circle the house and end up flanking the front door guards. Another team could get up alongside the limo and take the driver and occupant by surprise. Once we are in place we can formulate an entry plan. I'll need you to keep watch from this vantage point. Stay on an open channel with me and let me know if anyone is coming out."

She hopped down off of the wall and set out to deploy her team instructing them all to have an open com channel to the look out.

"Agent Paxton is our eyes. If someone comes out before we are deployed follow his lead. He can see all of us and them. Let's do it people."


Bennie Pretoria had heard the gunfire coming from the main house and had no intention of finding out what it was all about.

'Let that idiot Saborgia deal with his own problems.'

Bennie hastily packed up his kit all the while scanning the main room of the guest house for any items that if left behind would easily trace back to him. It took him all of ninety seconds to be fully packed and ready to flee. His military training had embedded in him the need to move quickly and efficiently. He never really unpacked when he stayed someplace especially if he was on a job. He always left all of the belongings that needed to go with him in one central location next to or in an open bag in the event he had to leave in a hurry.

He raced out to his car within two minutes of the first gun shot and put the key in the ignition. His window was down and with his hand on the key he waited for a moment. Gun fire erupted from the house in loud staccato blasts and he took that moment to turn the car on under cover of the noise. Without turning on the head lights he pulled out slowly away from the guest house down the access road that ran along the back side of the property. Once he was out of sight of the mansion he would gun it and get the hell out of there.

Agent Tyler jumped down from his surveillance spot atop the rear wall of the property and crouching made his way to a Ford pickup that sat by the gardener's shed. He popped the lock on the door and got in. Within seconds he had hotwired the truck and started the engine. By the time he was ready to follow Pretoria the Escalade was nowhere in sight. It had all ready gone around the first bend and was headed up the access road toward the gate at the back of the property.

As Bennie turned the corner in the first bend he flipped on the headlights and gunned the engine. There was another bend in the road just ahead and as he came around he slammed on the breaks. There was a large black van parked across the road with the words FBI TACTICLE UNIT written in large white letters across it. Bennie threw the car in reverse as men in black jumpsuits and riot gear came from every direction converging on his position shouting "FBI! GET OUT OF THE VEHICLE WITH YOUR HANDS UP!"

Bennie floored it and nearly ran over one of the tac officers. He backed down the road in a straight line and nearly went off the road and he came to the bend but cranking the wheel all the way to the right while popping the car into drive spun him around in a perfect smugglers turn and he sped off back the way he had come.

Luckily Agent Tyler had gotten out of the pickup truck because Bennie was paying so much attention to the tactical van that had moved from it's position and followed him back down the access road that he didn't see the ford pick up parked across the road until it was too late to stop. He crashed into the truck at nearly fifty miles an hour. Bennie had not bothered with a seat belt and shot head first through the windshield of the Escalade with such velocity that he landed on the road on the far side of the pick up truck which proceeded to roll over him as it was pushed back down the road when the much larger and heavier Escalade hit it.


Jessup Parker left Huntington and ran to his car. The PDA showed that Charlie was on an unmarked road that ran along side of South Arroyo Blvd. He drove west on West California Blvd. to the end where it hit South Arroyo Blvd and made a right. A mile and a half up the winding road just before Norwood Dr. there was an unmarked access road that formed a fork off of Arroyo to the left. Jess took that road driving north until the road turned toward the left and led out to the road that ran parallel to the Ventura Freeway. The chip indicated that Charlie was about a mile up and a hundred yards off the road on the left.

Jess didn't know what he was driving into so when he got within a quarter mile of the location he turned his lights off and pulled off to the side of the road. He proceeded slowly for another eighth of a mile then stopped all together. The noise from the freeway off to the left was loud enough that he wouldn't be able to make out voices unless he was fairly close so he carefully made his way forward on foot.

Once he was even with the signal he peered over to the left seeing nothing but a large open area dotted with large brush that looked like oversized boulders in the darkness. He crept forward to the first of these bush like scrubs and listened intently but heard no sounds other than the freeway beyond them.

Jess checked the location on his PDA again and realized that Charlie should be about twenty yards directly in front of him. He stood up and scanned the area through squinted eyes until they came to rest on a form low on the ground. It wasn't a bush or mound of dirt. Feeling his heart sink at that still form he threw caution to the wind and ran forward.

"Charlie!"

Jess came up to the form lying on the ground and saw a mop of dark curls. He was lying on his right side facing away from Jess who knelt down quickly at the young man's side. He placed his fingers to Charlie's neck and relief washed through him as he felt a strong pulse. Gently turning Charlie onto his back he called his name softly.

"Charlie. Can you hear me? Charlie?"

The moon was out and shed enough light that Jess could see how badly his friend had been beaten. He snapped open his cell and called Trip first to tell him what he had found, then he dialed 911 to call for an ambulance. He was instructed by the operator to stay on the line until the ambulance arrived and during that time he tried to give an accurate description of Charlie's injuries.

He was unconscious and the left side of his face was swollen and bloody. He reacted when Jess touched the left side of his chest and torso but he didn't wake up. Jess noticed that there were no injuries on either of Charlie's forearms or hands indicating that his arms had been held behind him while someone beat him.

Trip and Healey arrived only minutes before the ambulance and were quickly forced to back off when the EMT's began their work. Huntington was the closest hospital and since his brother was there Trip told them to take Charlie there.

Jess had taken the cell phone out of Charlie's back pocket and handed it to Trip who pocketed the phone. That cell phone was his only link to what had happened to his charge tonight and even though the FBI mole had been found he had no intention of turning this over to them. Charlie was his responsibility and he would investigate what had happened and make certain that who ever did this to the young man would pay.

Throwing the keys to Healey he sat down in the passenger side of the car and dialed Matt's cell and asked to speak to Alan Eppes.

"Mr. Eppes… Alan, Charlie has been hurt…"


Megan had all of her people in place and gave the go ahead with a hand signal. The agents fanned out quietly. As one of the rear guards made his way to the back of the vehicles and looked up the driveway the sound of a slight pop broke the still night air and the man fell heavily to the ground clutching at his neck. After about thirty seconds the second guard rounded the back of the vehicles and stooped dead in his tracks as he caught sight of his companion on the ground. Another soft pop sounded and he dropped beside the other man.

Four agents crouched low moved forward along the vehicles then stopped and waited for a signal from Paxton. Megan spoke softly into her mike.

"We're in position."

Bob Paxton took a riot gun filled with rubber bullets and aimed at the far wall away from the cars and the FBI agents. He took careful aim at the begonia pots sitting atop the far wall and fired. The riot gun was amazingly quiet because of the rubber bullets and the begonia pot exploded into pieces raining dirt and debris down the side of the wall. Both of the door guards turned toward the racket and started off toward the far wall. One held a hand up to the other and said, "Stay here but cover me!" Bob spoke quickly into his mike.

"Go, Go, Go!"

Megan and her group ran for cover behind the tall bushes and three of them began to silently make their way around the house while Megan and three more crept up to the side of the house nearest the door. The guard who had gone to investigate the flower pot was looking up at the edge of the wall where the remaining bottom of the pot sat spilling dirt down the side of the wall. There was a loud chirping sound from the tree just to the left of the pot on the wall and a squirrel jumped from one branch to another chittering angrily at the man below. The guard laughed and shook his head as he walked back toward the front door.

While the guards were distracted with the angry squirrel the four agents had checked the interiors of the other vehicles. Two of those agents dragged the stunned men back up the drive to the van while the other two crept up the side of the limo. The driver was watching as one of the guards moved over toward the far wall and the begonia pot with his gun raised. He never heard the agent who came up beside him until he felt the barrel of a gun touch the side of his neck.

"FBI, One sound and I will shoot."

The other agent walked right up to the back door of the limo and opened it up quickly and smoothly taking a seat inside. By the time the man inside the limo tore his eyes away from the computer screen he was looking at he had a gun pointed directly in his face. These men were removed quietly from the limo and taken up to the van as well.

Megan had her people in position to take out the two door guards as the other agents were making there way back down to the vehicles when everyone heard Agent Paxton give the alert.

"Their coming out. DiBenedetto and three of the other men have just entered the foyer."

"Where's the fourth?" Megan asked into her mike.

"I don't see him. There was a lot of gun fire, he may have been hit. Here they come; they will be at the front door in twenty seconds."

"Everyone hold your positions; let them get clear of the house before we move in. Marks where are your men?" Megan wanted to make sure everyone was placed before the men left the house.

"We are flanking the limo and vans. We have cover and are ready to move on your order."

Megan's heart was racing. She had eleven agents all covered in body armor and armed. DiBenedetto had five men without body armor and armed. Megan's team had the advantage in number and surprise but except for the four men by the vehicles her team had no real cover. She knew all too well how quickly things can go wrong.

The front door opened and two of the men with DiBenedetto stepped out onto the front stoop and looked around. The met the gazes of the men outside and nodded to them. All four started forward toward the cars when DiBenedetto himself emerged from the house flowed by the third man. The four in front noticed that the driver of the limo was not in his seat and they stopped and the one on the left held his hand up.

"Jake's gone!"

Suddenly all of the men moved to form a circle around the mob boss with guns raised.

"Damn it! Everyone move now!" Megan ordered and agents moved out yelling "FBI Lower your weapons!"

The men around DiBenedetto began firing at the agents while moving in a tight circle toward the vehicles and cover. Each of Megan's agents with no discernable cover picked a target and fired. The four agents in and around the vehicles stopped DiBenedetto's men from advancing any closer to the cars.

From his position Bob Paxton saw the entire scene as it fell into pure pandemonium. He saw several of the exposed FBI agents go down and hoped that they had been hit in the vests. He used his own weapon to take out one of the men with a semi-automatic.

Alto knew that there was no way out so he dropped to the ground to wait out the gunfight. DiBenedetto's men fired blindly with automatic weapons all around them hitting several agents before they were shot them selves.

When the gun fire stopped all of DiBenedetto's men lay dead or wounded. Agent Dan Hodges had taken a bullet in the neck and died within moments. Agent Crystal Weise had been shot in the hip and was bleeding badly but wasn't critical.

Alto DiBenedetto slowly sat up after all of the shooting had stopped and raised his hands above his head. Megan allowed one of the other agents to take him into custody as she knelt next to Dan's body. He had a wife and children and she would have to tell them that her husband was dead, that their father was gone forever. Megan knew that this was a risk that every agent took when they took this job but Dan had been a friend, he had been one of the few that she trusted implicitly.

All of the stress and anger and frustration that had built up over the course of this investigation twisted inside of her as she stared down at Dan, his head cradled in her arms. She didn't know when the tears began to drop down her face or how long she sat there with Dan. She didn't even realize that her body had begun to shake with her sobs until a gentle hand rubbed her back and shoulders. She looked up into the face of David Sinclair and saw that his eyes were not dry either.

"They are ready to take him now."

Megan just stared uncomprehending.

"Megan you have to let him go now. We still have a job to do. You still have a team to lead. There will be time to mourn him later."

David spoke in a quiet voice but his words sent a jolt through her body. What was she doing sitting here giving in to her grief. She was the tactical commander of this mission and the job wasn't done yet. She still had suspects to take in for questioning and reports to be filled out. She had other agents who needed assistance.

"How is Crystal?"

David watched as Megan gently lower Dan's head to the ground then he helped her to get up.

"She has been taken to Mercy. The paramedic said that it looked worse that it was. Everyone else is all right. Four men were hit in the vests and are being taken to Mercy also to have x-rays. Just to make sure no ribs were broken. Alto DiBenedetto has been taken into custody along with his driver, his accountant and the two guards that were stunned. Two more of his men were taken to County for gunshot wounds one serious, one minor. The rest are dead including Tony Saborgia and all of his men. The coroner's office is sending a team to bag and tag the bodies, but Dan will be taken by ambulance to our morgue. I called Merrick and he authorized it."

Megan looked up at David grateful for his taking over her aspect of the raid when she flaked out then she remembered his part in this.

"What about Pretoria? Did you get him?"

"Pretoria's dead. He tried to run. We blocked his escape so he turned back toward the mansion but had a little accident along the way."

Megan pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open. She contacted the lab and gave them instructions to sweep the entire house for evidence. The FBI had never been able to get a search warrant for Saborgia's home but now that it was a crime scene in a federal investigation she was hoping to find all of the evidence that they could ever want to put the rest of this family behind bars and maybe even strengthen the cases that they had against the LAPD officers and the federal judge not to mention Bill Peterson.

When Megan hung up the phone Bob Paxton jogged up to her. He had a serious look on his face and that made her stomach do a flip flop.

"Agent Reeves. I just got a call from Agent Niagara. Charlie Eppes has been taken to Huntington Memorial."

Both David and Megan spoke in unison.

"What?"

"He wasn't able to give me any details but apparently Dr. Eppes left the safe house and somehow ended up badly beaten and left on some access road beneath the Ventura Freeway."

David and Megan exchanged glances. They both needed to find out what this was all about. Megan turned back to Agent Paxton and thanked him.

"Agent Reeves, I'm sorry… I'm sorry about your agent."

Megan allowed a small smile to show before she nodded and turned toward the tac van. She looked at David and said,

"Go to Huntington. Find out about Charlie, I'll deal with this. Keep me informed ok?"

David nodded and took off after Agent Paxton to ask him for a ride to the hospital. Megan flipped open her phone and called Director Donaldson to tell him about Dan and Crystal. She knew that she had to finish up with the raid and the arrests before she could go to the hospital and find out about Charlie. She knew that she had to make a trip to Dan's home and talk to his wife. This was the part that she dreaded more than anything else, but she wouldn't delay it. Jessica Hodges had a right to know what had happened to her husband so Megan wiped her face and walked purposefully through the throng of law enforcement personnel toward the tac van.