Chapter Two

"Dad." Don had been watching his father for a few minutes from the doorway of Charlie's hospital room. Alan had yet to move or even blink until Don said had softly called to him.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know that you're having some pretty deep thoughts there." Don moved into the room and dropped into the other chair.

"The Doctor says he'll be fine."

"You seem very worried for someone that has been assured of that fact. Come on Dad, what's going on?"

"I just wish he would wake up. It's been hours."

"You know the tests came back okay but he hit his head pretty hard when the car rolled. That's why he's still asleep."

"None the less, I will feel better when he opens his eyes." Alan continued after a minute. "Do you realize how strange it is to receive a phone call about your son being in a car accident when you know very well that he rode his bike to work that morning?"

"No. But I do know that Charlie will be awake any minute." Don assured him.

"He's already awake." Charlie groaned. "What happened?" He tried to sit up.

"Take it easy buddy. You just try to relax." Don pushed him back down on the bed.

"What about Sasha?"

"You both got lucky on this one. She's a little bit more bruised than you are – I think she ended up with some stitches. Her mother is with her now."

"Did you get the guys that shot at us?"

That question stunned the FBI agent. "What guys? Charlie, are you saying that someone shot at you?"

"Yeah. That's why we crashed. Didn't Sasha tell you? There was a dark blue SUV following us. I heard two shots and then Sasha lost control of the car. It flipped at least two times that I remember."

"She hasn't been conscious yet." Alan informed his younger son.

"When can I get out of here?" Charlie questioned.

"Tomorrow morning at the earliest." Alan repeated what the doctor had told him earlier.

"Why can't I go home now?"

"Because the doctor says you need to stay here and let them keep an eye on you overnight."

Charlie thought about arguing for a full minute before turning toward his brother. "Don, please check on Sasha for me?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I can do that for you. Try to get some rest. I'll be back in a little while."

Don exited his brother's room and hit the speed dial to contact David. He answered on the first ring. "David, do me a favor and have Sasha's car gone over by forensics. Charlie says there were shots before the accident."

"He doing okay?"

"He's a little out of it right now, but he'll be fine. I'm going to see if Sasha's woken up yet."

"Sure Don. I'll call you as soon as I know anything."

Don stopped short outside of Sasha's hospital room. He was surprised to hear raised voices from inside. It wasn't long before the woman he recognized as Sasha's mother made an appearance in the hallway. She seemed flustered.

"Agent Eppes. I'm sorry. I almost ran over you." The lovely redhead apologized.

"It's alright. How's she doing?"

"She's just as stubborn as ever. She's threatening to sign herself out AMA." Katherine Terrinova was obviously irritated.

"Charlie's not so happy about having to stay either. How long do they want to keep her?"

"A couple of days. She's got three fractured ribs, thirty-five stitches and a fairly good concussion. She needs to stay here and rest."

"Would you mind if I spoke with her for a minute?"

"Go ahead. Maybe she'll be cooled off by the time I get back." Katherine smiled as she turned to walk down the corridor.

Don pushed the door open and was shocked to see Sasha trying to get out of bed. "Hey, what's going on in here?"

"Don, please. I know you will understand. I have to get out of here. Someone tried to kill me and almost took Charlie down too. I know this has to do with what happened to John."

"So Charlie was right. He did hear gunfire." Don helped her back into bed.

"Yes." She sighed, defeated it seemed.

"What did you father say when you told him?"

"He wants me to come back to Santa Barbara with my mother. That way he can keep tabs on me."

"And what do you think you can accomplish if you leave the hospital like this? You need to stay here and follow doctor's orders." When he could see the mutiny in her eyes, he continued. "You just happen to have a friend with the FBI. His brother was involved in this car crash today and it seems that witnesses reported shots fired at the scene. I understand that this agent is looking into the details of what happened. Would you know anyone that might be interested in any updates on this incident?"

She thought about it for a minute before looking him in the eyes again. "Just promise me that you won't keep anything from me."

"I would hope that you know by now that I don't function that way."

"Don, I never meant for anyone to get hurt. I wouldn't have come here if I had any idea."

"You don't have to apologize for this. What you need to do is get some rest. I might need some backup on this accident investigation." He grinned before adding - "You might want to consider giving your mother a break. She's only trying to help you."

"If she really wanted to help me, she'd sign me out so I can rest in my hotel room." Sasha was clearly frustrated.

"How can she sign you out unless she's -"

"My mother is a medical doctor. She could do anything for me outside the hospital that they can do here."

"Give her a break, kid. She's a mother that's worried about her daughter."

"You have got to stop making so much sense, Eppes." Sasha seemed tired all of the sudden. "I'm still not going back to Santa Barbara." He eyes closed.

"Have a good sleep." He pulled the door closed as he left the room.

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Don had not seen the red Lexus at the scene of the accident. He had imagined that he knew what the car had looked like after rolling three times and landing upside down against a telephone pole, but the pictures in the file that David had placed on his desk were one of the scariest things that he had ever seen. In his most vivid imagination, Don had no idea how two full sized adults could have made it out of the vehicle alive with relatively minor injuries. It was nothing short of a miracle.

The report reflected that two bullets had taken out the tires on the driver's side of the vehicle. One of them had been recovered from the under carriage of the car, and it was being examined now.

"How's your brother and his friend doing?" Megan interrupted his thoughts.

"They are both camped out at Casa Eppes. My Dad and Sasha's mother are currently catering to both of the invalid's needs. I think he's having a field day doing it."

"So, what's up with the car crash?"

"Well, it was not an accident. Sasha's convinced that this has to do with her partner getting shot. All I know right now is that there were two shots fired at the car and two tires were blown."

"What are the odds that they would be alive after being pulled out of that?" Megan had picked up one of the photos of the car.

"I'm sure Charlie could tell you." Don sighed. "I don't know how far into this I can get before I step on the toes of the CIA."

"Not very far Agent Eppes." Two young men had entered the room and had obviously overheard at least part of his conversation. "I'm Michael Brennan. This is Frankie Martinez. We work with Sasha."

"Director Terrinova sent us to speak with you on behalf of CX-5." Martinez spoke up.

"And this conversation couldn't be had over the phone?" Megan wondered out loud.

"It could have taken place on the phone, but we also brought some things for Katherine. The Director wanted us to touch base with you while we were here playing courier." Brennan informed them.

"You've come to warn us off pursuing an investigation." Don assumed.

"Actually, we've come to debrief you and ask for your cooperation between our two agencies."

"Yeah? Why is that?"

"Because this investigation has blossomed into something that we didn't anticipate." Michael stated and glanced at his partner before continuing. "And we're not exactly sure that Sasha was the intended target."

"What are you talking about? Are you trying to tell me that whoever did this was trying to kill Charlie?" Don demanded.

"We aren't sure at this point. We're still waiting for word from a couple of our sources." Martinez tried to placate him.

"That's it. Megan, would you escort both of these gentlemen into that interview room? The two of you are going to tell me exactly what's going on here and you're going to tell me now. If I even begin to think that you two are feeding me a line of BS, I will get your boss on the phone." Don was seething as he followed them into the room. "I want to know everything that your agency knows and I want to know it now."

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"Sasha, was a good natured baby." Katherine was answering Alan's latest question about her daughter. "It seems like she never cried about anything."

"You have yourself an exceptional young woman there." Alan complemented.

"That she is. I missed out on so many years with her. It was such a miracle to have her brought back into our lives." Katherine looked a little sad. "My husband, he was crushed when Sasha vanished. They were at the park, close to our home. Cruz had all four of the kids with him. Robyn, our oldest, had fallen and scraped her knee. When he was finished drying her tears, he noticed that Sasha was gone."

"You are a mother of four? I have even more respect for you. Our two boys kept us on our toes twenty-four, seven. I just don't think that we could have handled four."

"I think that I drew my energy from my children. Watching them grow, helping them to learn, that made me feel like I could conquer the world. I still don't know how we managed to produce an award winning physicist." She grinned.

"I think that people like your daughter and Charlie are born into families that can provide them with the balance they need in their lives. We're here to keep them grounded and help them to realize that life is to be lived and not spent inside their heads."

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"So, do you think that we should be afraid of what those two are talking about?" Sasha asked as she and Charlie watched their respective parents conversing from a safe distance.

"I wouldn't stress about it too much. At least they're taking a break from hounding us for the moment." He pointed out.

"For the moment. I'm sure one or both of them will be back at any moment with pills or soup of something." She closed her eyes and snuggled deeper into the couch. "How's your head?"

"Not hurting as bad as I'm sure yours is. Next time we go somewhere in your car, you have to remember to keep it right side up."

"Like there will be a next time. The car is toast."

"So, I'm sure that your insurance covers accidents caused by bullets. Right?" He joked as he was typing away on his laptop.

"I suppose I'll be finding out soon." She opened her eyes. "How long do you suppose it will be before I stop feeling nauseas?"

"I don't know. Why don't you break down and ask your mother. She is a highly qualified medical doctor, from what I understand." He teased her.

"Like I'm going to admit something like that to her. She'll probably drive me back to the hospital." She pushed back the blanket and started the process of getting up from the couch. Charlie thought she seemed disoriented.

"Do you need something? I can get it for you." He offered.

"This is something I have to do for myself, but thank you Professor."

When Alan and Katherine came through the living room ten minutes later, Sasha still had not returned from the restroom. Katherine immediately went to check on her.

The Eppes men were startled a minute later when Katherine demanded that one of them call an ambulance. Sasha was on the floor, semi-conscious, shaking with convulsions.

It was Alan that made it to the phone and called for the emergency vehicle. All three of them were quite shaken as the young woman that had a special place in each of their hearts seemed to become more ill by the minute.

TBC