After Don had taken Charlie to his apartment Megan, Colby, and David deposited themselves in one of the conference rooms to try and decide what direction to move in to bring Alan Eppes home. They were waiting on forensics from Charlie's house but they wouldn't be ready for several hours yet. Photos were on their way up from the lab. Megan had her head propped up on her hands, her eyes far away.
"What's on your mind, Reeves?" Asked David. Megan sighed briefly before looking at David sitting across from her.
"I'm thinking about the call I overheard. From the kidnappers. There were some unusual things with it."
"Like what?" Prompted Colby when she paused. Megan sighed and looked at them directly.
"First of all, this Albuquerque reference?"
"Well, Don worked in the FBI offices in Albuquerque. In fact he called to have the files pulled of all his cases he worked on down there. He thinks someone may have a grudge." Megan paused and sat up abrubtly.
"I think someone does, but I don't think it is going to be in the people he put away. Colby, David in the phone call the person always referred to Don as 'Agent Eppes' and he kept saying 'Remember Albuquerque'."
"Right. Like what was etched in the table at Charlie's house. 'Remember Albuquerque'. "
"This is a long shot, but maybe we need to focus on two groups of people down there. The people he put away down there, but the way they keep referring to Don as Agent Eppes, I may be way off base, but maybe we should look at the agents down there that he worked with as well. Referring to him consistently as Agent Eppes makes me think the person might have worked with Don, not been caught by him." David and Colby were silent as Megan stood and left the room abruptly.
"I'm calling down to Albuquerque again. I'm going to request the files of all agents that worked with Don." David and Colby exchanged a glance with each other.
"Another agent doing this? How could one federal agent kidnap the father of another?" Colby asked David.
"I don't know. We'll have to look at this from a lot of angles. But if it is another agent, they're gonna pay and pay hard. I'll keep my focus on the guys he put away, you and Megan put the focus on the agents down there." Colby nodded and they went to work once again. Now at least they had something to tell Don when he came back to work.
Charlie sat in his office at Cal-Sci, staring out his window. He was still shaking slightly with rage. How dare Don tell him he couldn't work on this case? He needed to. He could provide help to Don. Charlie shook his head and stood. His hand went to the chalk he kept on his desk then fell. The events of the night and this morning came and hit him full force. He staggered backwards and pressed his back against the wall before sliding down it. He brought his knees up to his chest and pressed his face on them. He let his tears fall. He prayed his dad was o.k and that he would hang on until they found him.
After calming himself down, Don wearily climbed the stairs and opened his apartment. He let himself in and headed straight for the fridge. He paused as he opened the fridge and sighed. He was tense, strung, and dreading another phone call. He was hating himself for what he had done to Charlie, but he hadn't had an option! His father's life was at stake and Don wasn't willing risk gambling it away.
He closed the fridge and sank down on his couch in the living room. He began to think back to Albuquerque. He had helped put a lot of people away. Some had done unspeakable things, inflicted unbearable pain on other human beings.
He started as one face came at him in particular. Daniel Mitchell had terrorized the agents in the Albuquerque office, taunting them, committing crimes then leaving notes or making phone calls. He would dare them to guess who he was. He had also killed one of the agents that Don had worked with. Special Agent Mark Manning. He had been a good agent and Don still blamed himself for getting him killed.
It had been a stakeout, waiting for Mitchell to show up at a local convience store. The clerk had i'd him a few nights previous as having robbed the place and leaving a note for the clerk to give to the FBI. It had read simply, 'Be Watching, I'll be back.' And he had. Don had his agents surround the place and had urged Mitchell to give up. It had been a three hour long standoff and at the end, Mitchell was in custody, but at the cost of two lives. The clerk and Agent Manning who had stepped in front of a bullet that had been aimed at Don.
Don's shoulders trembled slightly as he remembered Agent Manning's partner. His reaction to his partner being killed. Don realized with a start he could not remember the name of Agent Manning's partner. Just that he had never liked him and the dislike between the two of them had been mutual. He had yelled at Don after Manning's death. Don had simply taken it then left to call Agent Manning's sister, Rosemary, to break the news to her. Why couldn't he remember his name? Don finally felt sleep begin to claim him and herded himself to his room. He would get some sleep, head into the office, and call Charlie and try and apologize. He smiled sadly. He would apologize, but he would still hold firm on not letting Charlie help on the case.
Sorry there is no Alan POV in this chapter. Next chapter will be up soon!
