"Charlie! Alan!" The two men looked up from the waiting room floor as Megan rushed through the Emergency Room doors. "How is he?"
"No word yet," Alan sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "It's taking so long."
"That's because they're doing a good job – being thorough."
"I hope you're right," he said as he sagged against the back of the thinly cushioned chair.
"I know this is a difficult time," she began as she took a seat across from the two Eppes men. "But I need to get a statement from you both."
"I don't mind at all," Alan growled. "I want you to find whoever did this to my boy."
"We will," Megan vowed. "Tell me exactly what happened tonight."
"We went to a movie," Charlie spoke quietly. "We invited Don, but he said since his vacation was almost over, he just wanted a little alone time tonight." He smiled sadly. "We've been spending a lot of time together all week – meeting for lunch, dinner, going out bowling or to the batting cages..." The young man trailed off.
Megan gently squeezed his knee. "He was really enjoying that, too. He checked in with the office a couple of times during the week and he told me how much time you two were spending together. He was thrilled about that, Charlie."
"Thanks," he smiled. "Anyway, we got home tonight and walked into the house and I noticed that I could smell the lilacs in the house. I mean the scent is always there, but it was especially strong tonight."
"I thought he'd left a window open," Alan numbly whispered. "Just something as simple as that. I had no idea..."
"Of course not," Megan soothed. "It must have been horrible to find him like that."
"It was," Charlie nodded. "I saw him lying there and I froze. My mind went blank... I couldn't make myself comprehend what I was seeing."
"You didn't go blank, Charlie," Alan assured him. "You yelled at me to call for help."
"I did?" the younger man asked. "That's good to know."
"What did you see, Charlie?" Megan prodded. "Think hard."
"Don," he whispered. "Blood and Don. I'm sorry, but that's all I remember."
"Nothing in the house or the backyard?" she asked. "Nothing out of place or missing?"
"I wasn't thinking about that," Charlie snapped in frustration.
"Shh," she quieted him. "I don't mean to push, but I need everything you can remember so I can get the person or persons responsible for this."
"Right," Charlie nodded. "Sorry." He furrowed his brow and closed his eyes, trying to remember the yard. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing else."
"Alan?" she asked.
"The phone was where it always is, and broken glass was covering the kitchen floor. Charlie had grabbed a skillet to take with him, but that's all I remember."
"Glass?" Megan raised an eyebrow.
"The pane in the back door was broken," Alan told her. "There were pieces of glass all over the floor."
"I see. What about..." Megan trailed off, leaned across the open space and lowered her voice. "I know this is hard, but what about his injuries? Anything unusual?"
"You mean besides the fact he was beaten to a pulp?" Charlie demanded angrily.
"Charlie-" Megan started.
"Yes," Alan spoke up. "There was something. Don's hand... his right hand..."
Charlie looked at his father and suddenly nodded. "That's right. It was badly cut and there were pieces of glass in it."
"Really?" Megan asked as she jotted that down in her notebook.
"Almost like..." Alan began.
"Like he was the one trying to break in to our house," Charlie finished.
--
"We didn't call the FBI," the young beat cop insisted.
"I didn't say that you did," David replied, forcing himself to remain calm even as he sensed Colby's anger growing beside him. "But the man injured here tonight was an FBI agent. His father called us and, as a professional courtesy, we'd like to take a look around."
"I don't think so," the brash cop jeered. "I've heard all about how the Feds come in and butt into local investigations. That's not going to happen on my watch."
"You know what will happen if you don't let us in right now?" Colby growled, his voice and posture making the young man in front of him shift nervously.
"Are you making a threat?" the cop attempted to sound tough, but his voice had softened a great deal.
"No," Colby smiled coldly. "Not a threat – a promise."
David held up a hand in front of Colby and stepped closer to the young man. "You know Lieutenant Walker?" he queried.
"Everyone knows him," the cop responded. "He's legendary in LAPD."
"He's a friend of ours," David gave an easy smile. "Give him a call and he'll tell you to let us in."
"No need," a voice spoke up behind them. The three men turned and found Walker striding up to the front door. "Officer..." he paused to read the man's name tag, "...Wilson. This isn't a very nice way to treat our friends with the FBI."
"No sir," Wilson replied as he stepped aside to let Walker and the two agents pass. "Won't happen again, sir."
"Good," Walker drawled as he led David and Colby through the house. "I heard about this on the scanner. Injured man found at the Eppes residence? Suspected break in? I came over as soon as I could."
"We appreciate that," David smiled thankfully.
"How is Eppes, anyway?"
David sighed and shrugged. "We don't know. Megan's at the hospital with Charlie and Alan, but there's no word on his condition yet."
Walker, in a moment of uncharacteristic affection, lightly patted David's shoulder. "Eppes is a tough guy – he'll pull through, Sinclair. You can bet good money on that."
David nodded silently and the three men continued into the kitchen.
"Broken glass covering the floor here," Colby mused. "So someone was trying to break in." He knelt and scanned the smooth surface. "Good surface to lift footwear impressions from."
"We've got a few," a crime scene technician spoke up. "We've taken prints of the first responders for elimination, and we'll get some from the victim and his family, too."
"Sergeant Holmes," Walker nodded. "These are agents Granger and Sinclair. They work with the victim."
"Oh," he winced. "I didn't mean to seem so cold, but-"
"We're on the job, too," Colby reminded him. "We know all about keeping a distance. This one's just a little different for us."
"Right," Holmes nodded sympathetically. "Well, Agent Eppes was found on the back steps." He led the men through the back door, gesturing for them to step around the yellow evidence markers. "We won't know more until we can get your agent's statement and those of his family members, but it appears someone was trying to break into the house. I've got blood on the broken pane that I've sent in for analysis. Hopefully when we run the DNA through CODIS, we'll get a hit."
Colby looked around at the yard, his eyes picking out the fine disturbances in the grass. "Check this out," he called to the others as he knelt next to a large area of flattened grass. "Something – or someone – was lying here for a while." He gestured across the yard to the open gate that led to the back alley. "Grass is messed up all the way to the gate. Looks to me like someone was forced to come through the gate and up to the house. Then he – or she – was tossed onto the ground and made to lie there."
"So," David thought aloud. "What exactly does that mean?" Before anyone could answer, David's phone shrilled. "Sinclair."
"David, it's me."
"Megan," he sighed with relief as Colby quickly stood beside him. "Any word on Don?"
"No," she replied wearily. "They're still working on him."
"How are Charlie and Alan doing?"
"It's tough for them, but they're staying strong. I just got Don's stuff from the admitting nurse."
"Anything helpful?" David asked hopefully.
"I don't know that it's helpful, but there is something odd. Don was wearing track pants and a white tee shirt, but his pockets were empty."
"Empty?" David repeated.
"Yeah," Megan said in a puzzled tone. "No wallet, ID, badge, gun, cell phone, keys... nothing."
"Sounds like a robbery," David mused.
"Maybe," she hesitantly agreed. "But something feels off." She hesitated. "Don's right hand was in bad shape. From the way Charlie described it, it seems like Don is the one who broke the window in the back door."
"Why would he do that?" David wondered, waving off Colby's inquiring glance. "You think maybe he went over to Charlie's and got jumped on the way? Tried to break in to call for help?"
"I don't think so," Megan responded. "Charlie said they went to a movie and had asked Don to go with him, but he wanted to wrap up his vacation with some alone time. He knew they wouldn't be home, so why would he go there?"
"And why would he break in?" David added.
Megan sighed in frustration. "I guess we'll just have to wait for him to wake up and tell us."
TBC