Don's POV

I walked into the conference room where David and Colby had many files covering the table.

"You guys find anything on Todd Waits?" I asked.

"Yeah, right here. Someone found his body in a lake. He'd been dead for three years before they found him. No one suspected foul play, so no one was put behind bars because of it," David informed me.

"Well, at least someone didn't suffer for Waits' wrongdoing," Colby commented.

"Yeah. Good work, guys."

I went back to my office. I started filling out paperwork and soon Megan walked in.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Don?" She asked as she stood in the doorway.

"Sure. Come on in." I motioned for her to take a seat.

Megan sat in one of the chairs in front of my desk. When I finished with one of the files, I looked up.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Don, can I be frank with you?"

"Yes. What's on your mind?"

"It's about Charlie. He seemed a little... reluctant to give out all the information. Honestly, I think he's still hiding something from us."

I sighed and leaned back in my chair.

"You thought so, too, huh?"

"I'm glad I'm not the only one. I know he wouldn't withhold important information from us, but I still think there's more to this story than he's letting on.""

I thought for a minute. What could I do to get Charlie to open up and tell me the rest? It'd take a lot for him to tell me.

"I don't know, Megan. If it was important, he would tell us. So what if it's not that important?"

"I'd say it is. He had that look, like he was leaving too much out. He said the ride was mostly quiet. Maybe Waits said more to Charlie than he told us."

"I wouldn't see how that would be something he'd leave out. It wouldn't be that important anyway. I mean, they'd just be words."

"But, Don, Waits could have threatened Charlie. He could have told him any number of things that could cause Charlie to fear him or fear telling us. Maybe Waits threatened him that if he told us what happened he'd do something to Charlie."

"But Waits is behind bars. What can he do to Charlie?"

Megan sighed.

"I don't know. I'll keep thinking about it. Just try talking to him about it sometime. If there's more to it than what he told us, we need to know."

"Okay. Thanks for telling me, Megan."

"See you later."

She left, heading to her desk.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. This was causing me quite a headache.

Alan's POV

I looked up when I heard the door open. Charlie walked in.

"Hey, Charlie," I called from my place on the armchair, reading the newspaper.

When Charlie didn't respond, I looked up. Charlie was deathly pale and I could see the beginning of a black eye. I stood.

"Charlie, what happened?" I asked, stepping toward him. He just stood there, looking in shock.

"Charlie? What is it?" He wouldn't look at me. I could see his hands shaking. Something had clearly scared him.

Charlie had been much better lately. He hadn't been in to check on me and he didn't seem so jumpy. Now it seemed he was back to square one again.

"What's the matter?"

He shook himself, then looked up at me.

"I'm okay, Dad. I just... got a little lost in my thoughts."

"What happened to your eye? Did someone hit you?"

He smiled shakily. "No, Dad. I wasn't paying attention and I ran into a door frame at school. It's nothing."

"You want me to put some ice on that?"

"No. It's okay. It'll be fine."

I watched him carefully.

"I think I'm going to go upstairs now."

"Okay."

I watched Charlie's retreating back. What's gotten into him?

An hour later, as I was finishing supper, Don came in.

"Hey, Pop," He said as he came through the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator.

"Hello, Don. How was your day?"

"Slow. I just had to catch up on a bunch of paperwork. Is Charlie home?"

"Yeah, he's been home for a while now. He's out in the garage right now, trying to catch up on some of his work."

Don leaned against the sink. He wanted to talk about something.

"Something on your mind, Donnie?"

After a slight pause, Don spoke.

"Charlie came in for his questioning today."

I turned. I hadn't known that's where he was going.

"He did? What did he say?" I asked.

"Basically the same old story. He said something about Waits asking him about his family, but, other than that, nothing's really changed."

"So what's bothering you about it?"

Don smiled because I knew something was bothering him. What did he expect? I'm his father.

"He seemed to be leaving something out."

"Oh? Like what?"

"I don't know. Megan thought so, too. I can't think of what he'd be hiding, though."

I thought for a minute. Charlie wasn't one to hide the truth, but he never exactly spoke it, either. With something as important as this, I knew he'd be open and honest. What would he have left out?

"It's probably nothing. Maybe he was just nervous or something. I don't know," Don concluded.

"Well, if he tells me anything- which I doubt he will- I'll let you know."

"Thanks, Dad. I think I'll go see what he's up to."

I watched as Don went out the side door that led to the garage.

What was Charlie hiding?

Don's POV

I stepped into the garage and found Charlie as I had expected. His back was turned from me and he was writing furiously on one of the many chalkboards that filled the room. I could see smears of chalk on his pants where he must have wiped his hands.

"Hey, Charlie?" I said, trying to catch his attention.

He turned, frightened. His eyes held pure panic.

"Don! Don't do that!" He said, his voice speaking his distress.

I immediately saw the dark spot by his left eye.

"What happened, Charlie?" I asked, stepping closer to get a better look.

He rubbed it self-consciously.

"It's nothing, Don. I just ran into a door frame when I wasn't looking. It's nothing to worry about."

I sighed. I wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or covering someone, but I hoped he was telling the truth.

"So, how'd you think the interview went today?" I asked after Charlie turned back to the board.

"Fine." He didn't even look at me when he spoke.

"You leave anything out?" I asked and he paused long enough for me to know there was something he was leaving out.

"No. Why would you think that?"

Was it unfair of me to use my knowledge from the FBI to determine Charlie's thoughts and whether he was telling the truth?

"You haven't convinced me, or Megan for that matter, that you told us everything."

He sighed.

"Don, I didn't leave anything out that would affect the case in any way. You wouldn't be able to get more charges against Waits. It's nothing, Don. Leave it alone."

Well, at least I was right about him not coming clean about everything. From what I could tell, he was telling the truth now.

"You do know that you can tell me, anyway, right?"

Charlie nodded, his back still to me.

"I know, Don. I always can." He turned slightly so that I could see a smile on his face. It was a relief.

"Is Dad cooking?" He asked.

"Yep. It should be done soon from what I can tell."

"Oh, yeah? Since when are you the cooking expert?"

"You better watch that mouth of yours."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll give you a black eye to match the one you already have," I threatened, teasingly.

Still, I saw a shadow of fear pass Charlie's face.

"Hey. I'm just kidding," I said, stepping forward and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"I know, Don."

"Okay, then. You ready to head in?"

"Sure."

Charlie led the way back inside the house. Dad was setting food on the table when we came in.

"Ah, there you are. I was about to yell at you to come in. Supper's ready, as you can see."

"Smells good, Dad," I said as I sat down.

Charlie sat down across from me, as usual.

"Oh, man. I forgot my beer in the garage. I'll be right back."

I stood quickly and ran out to the garage.

I found my beer, and I turned to leave, but something caught my eye.

I found a ripped up piece of paper. I couldn't read any of it except for one piece and it was enough to make my heart stop.

"Carl Waits."

What's going on?

Charlie's POV

I sat silently as Dad dished out the food on our plates. Don came back, looking disturbed.

I watched him carefully, wondering what could have bothered him in that short amount of time. I felt my heart beat faster with fear. Had Jake shown up? Had Don found the note? Though I had shredded it to many pieces, I knew I should have hidden it some place. Dad would have found it when he was cleaning out the garage. I made a mental not to myself to throw it away or burn it after supper.

Don sank into the chair across from me, giving me nervous glances every few minutes. Dad also picked up on Don's discomfort.

"Everything all right, Donnie?" Dad asked.

"Fine. Yeah, everything is fine." Again, he gave me that look.

There was minimal conversation at the table. Dad mainly filled the silence with talk of what he'd worked on today. I tried to comment every once in a while, but nothing I said could be considered an intelligent thought.

After supper, I went out to the garage. I had just scooped up the pile of pieces to the letter from Waits when Don came in.

I jumped in surprise.

"Don! You startled me."

"I need to talk to you, Charlie," He said, sitting down.

"What about?"

"About Carl Waits."