Megan returned to the office later that afternoon, feeling depressed and hopeless. Seeing Colby and David waiting at her desk and wearing triumphant grins on their faces, she tried to mask her feelings and returned the smile. "Good news, I take it?"
"Oh yeah," Colby nodded. "We found Don's car and his personal belongings." He gestured to a paper evidence bag on the desk. "Everything's there, so robbery is out as a motive."
"That's not good news," Megan sighed as she collapsed into her chair and tucked her long hair behind her ears. "It means where back to square one in finding out why Don was attacked, much less who did it."
"Ruling out a motive can be just as important as finding one," Colby countered. "You should know that."
Yeah, Megan wearily thought. I should. "Sorry, guys. Long day." She gave the two men an apologetic smile and nodded. "That is good news."
"We found his SUV at Steve's Gym," David told her. "Crime scene techs are checking it out, but it didn't look like anything was out of place. Still, I'm hoping we get some sort of lead. And Sally – the girl who works at the gym – is supposed to be setting up an interview for us with the girl who works the night shift. Maybe she'll have gotten a look at the men responsible for this. I mean, an FBI agent can't just be viciously attacked and his assailants disappear into thin air, right?"
"Hold on – did you say gym?" she asked excitedly as she sat up in her chair. At David's nod, she exclaimed, "That's great! It means that Don was right."
"He told you about the gym?" David asked, his eyebrows arching upwards.
"Well, his speech was really broken, but he mentioned that he'd gone to a gym, yeah." Megan shook her head and gazed at the floor. "Guys, he's..." She didn't know the best words to use, so she just let the sentence hang in the air.
"That bad?" Colby asked gently.
Megan blinked back the sudden moisture in her eyes before looking up to meet Colby's stare. "It's bad. His speech is so broken that I could barely understand anything he said. Charlie translated some of it, but even he seems baffled a lot of the time."
"Damn," David sighed. "What's the prognosis, though? I mean, he can get better, right?"
The female agent took a deep breath and chewed on her fingernail. "They're hoping it's the residual swelling from the head injury that's causing it. It's putting pressure on his left temporal lobe, which is what causes the aphasia."
"So when the swelling goes down, it goes away?" Colby inquired.
"Hopefully," Megan nodded. "But... It could be due to actual damage to the brain cells and if that's the case..."
"Don won't be coming back," David finished.
"This sucks!" Colby suddenly exclaimed, drawing the attention of everyone in the bullpen. His friends motioned for him to lower his voice, so he did by a small fraction. "It does, though. You know what I say? I say that Don will get better. And I say that us catching his attackers is the first step in that process." He gave his coworkers a hard look. "Agreed?"
"You bet," David said fiercely.
Megan smiled, feeling her spirits lift for the first time that day. "Totally."
--
"Any problems?" the thin man in the skullcap asked.
"Nah, man," his heavy set companion answered with a sniff as he slid into the black SUV. "Delivery on time. Went real smooth."
"No surprises?" the first man asked again.
"Nah, man. I'm telling you, whaling on the guy's bro worked. He's not in our business anymore."
"Good," Skullcap smiled, showing a mouth full of gold teeth. "Teach that teacher to mess in our operations."
"What's he thinking, going on TV like that? Dumb. Real dumb."
"S'all about the ego, man. And he got his deflated big time."
The heavy set man gave a wicked grin. "Sure did."
"Now that things are back to normal, let's go get the distribution and delivery schedule down." He gave a wide grin. "Time to make the LAPD look like the idiots they are."
--
"Shh, Donny," Alan pleaded. "It's okay, son. Just hang in there."
Don tossed his head on the pillow, a low moan escaping his lips as sweat rolled down his face. "Car," he mumbled.
"Shh," Alan repeated as he accepted a cool, wet cloth from his youngest son. He tenderly wiped Don's face with it and stroked his son's hair with his other hand. "Shh. You'll feel better soon." He prayed that his words were true.
"The fever's not going down," Charlie worried. "His temperature hasn't even dropped a full degree since they gave him something for it while ago. Should I call the nurse?"
"Couldn't hurt," Alan murmured as he continued bathing Don's face. He watched Charlie press the call button while he maintained a steady stream of words in his oldest son's ear. "Easy, Donny. That's it – relax for me."
"All," Don mumbled in response. "Day... no... hall, all."
Alan looked up at Charlie who shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, Dad. The aphasia seems to be getting worse."
"I'm afraid that you're right," the nurse – Tanya – said as she entered the room. She pushed another medication through Don's IV and frowned sympathetically at his flushed face. "The fever is increasing the swelling on his brain, so it's making the symptoms of the aphasia worse."
"Can he still understand us?" Charlie inquired hopefully.
"The fever's affecting his comprehension right now, but in essence he still does understand you. The aphasia hasn't worsened in that respect."
"Thank God," the young man whispered as he nodded at his brother's IV. "What you just gave him – that should help soon?"
"Yes," she replied. "It should. It will also help if you and your father will keep bathing him down. The cool cloths will ease his discomfort, and the knowledge that his family is with him will work wonders."
"Always," Charlie stated. "Thanks." He watched the nurse leave and joined his father at Don's side. Picking up a cloth and wringing the excess moisture out, he lightly began wiping Don's neck and chest. "Hang in there, bro."
"Char...lie."
The young man's face lit up. "That's right, Don. I'm here and so is Dad. You just rest and you'll feel better soon."
"Not," Don murmured. "Hot not. Don... say... me ran."
"Oh, Don," Charlie whispered sadly, feeling completely helpless. He looked up at his father and frowned. "I don't have any idea what that means."
The older man paused in his ministrations to place a firm hand on Charlie's shoulder. "I know, son. But remember, he does understand you."
"Right," the younger man nodded. Moving his chair closer to the bed, he took a seat and rewet his cloth. Charlie turned his attention back to his brother, soothing his fevered flesh with gentle touches. "I'm here. We're here, Don. Just close your eyes and listen to my voice – you always did say I could put you to sleep." His heart soared when a faint smile appeared on Don's face. "Just relax. I'll tell you all about what happened to Larry in one of his classes last week, but you can't tell him, okay? You see, there was this rather attractive young student..."
A while later, Charlie had finished his story and Don was resting peacefully, his temperature still too high, but lower than before. The professor smiled at his father. "Thanks, Dad."
"Don't thank me, Charlie. All I did was give you a push in the right direction." Alan's eyes twinkled in amusement as he fought back a laugh. "Did Larry really-"
"Oh yeah," Charlie grinned. "He really did."
--
"In here," Sally told Colby as she led him to the employee break room. "I've told the rest of my staff that this area is off limits until further notice, so take your time."
"Thanks Sally." Colby smiled at her and put his hand on the door knob, pausing when the pretty blond placed a hand on his forearm.
"Catch the creeps that did this, okay? Everyone around here was fond of Agent Eppes."
"We will," Colby stated firmly. "Count on that." Sally nodded and walked away, leaving Colby alone in front of the break room door. He quietly pushed it open and scanned the interior before him, his eyes coming to rest on a petite brunette with dark circles under her eyes. "Elizabeth Rogers?"
The woman shakily nodded as she twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "That's me," she said, her voice barely audible.
Colby gave her his warmest, most reassuring smile as he took the seat across from her. "I'm Special Agent Granger with the FBI."
"Yeah," she answered. "Sally told me you were coming. I would have been here sooner, but I was on vacation." She let go of her hair and moved her hand to her mouth, running a finger along her bottom lip. "So, this is about Agent Eppes?"
"Right," the muscular man nodded. "We think you were the last person to see him before he was attacked. Do you remember seeing him that night?"
"I must have," she whispered. "He had to have signed in at the desk."
"You must have?" Colby repeated skeptically. "You don't remember specifically?"
"Well, there were a lot of people-"
"Your whole six hour shift, you signed in..." he paused to check his notes. "Ten people. And Agent Eppes was the only person who signed in between eight-thirty and nine-fifteen."
"I'm not so good with faces," she offered.
"Ms. Rogers, I think you're lying to me. Do you know how serious it is to lie to a federal agent?"
Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "It's the truth."
Colby leaned even closer to her and adopted a cold, steely look in his hazel eyes. "Do you know what happened to Agent Eppes – my friend – that night after he left here? Do you?" She shook her head and avoided his eyes. "He was beaten to a pulp. And I think someone grabbed him while he was here. Now, either you saw something or you're in on it, but either way you had better tell me or else."
"I'd never hurt him, I swear!" Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears that started flowing down her cheeks. "But... I..." She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"But you what?" Colby pressed.
"I did make a mistake." Wiping another tear from her eye, she took a deep breath and continued. "He did sign in with me and about fifteen minutes later I went out for a smoke. I'm not supposed to leave the desk without someone to watch it, but my relief was running late and I had to get out. So I left the desk unattended."
Colby leaned back in his chair and harshly studied the distraught woman seated in front of him. "So anybody could have walked in off the street that night and gone straight back to the workout area?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't think it was odd that Don left without saying goodbye to you or checking to make sure that you were okay?"
"I didn't..." she trailed off. "I didn't think of that."
Colby snorted in disgust and quickly rose from the chair. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Rogers."
"You're not going to tell Sally, are you? She'll fire me for sure."
He looked back over his shoulder, his gaze narrowing. "Let's just say it would be in your best interests to start looking for another job." Feeling only a twinge of guilt amongst the sea of anger, Colby left the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
TBC