Chapter Thirteen: Opening the Floodgates

Watching from the window as Don wrestled with his cast while climbing into the SUV's passenger seat, Charlie's mind wondered back to the moment his father had told him that Don was alive. His recollections of the near disaster were still fuzzy, but the doctor said that was normal for events surrounding a head injury, even a mild one. The memories were becoming clearer as the days passed. And now it was as if that same realization were hitting him again and Charlie felt an onslaught of relief that left his eyes feeling moist. Don was really okay. He had beaten incredible odds…not once, but twice, escaping a sinking car. He had almost been killed. They had both almost been killed.

Contemplating once again at how close he came to losing his brother's life; Charlie hadn't, until that moment, truly comprehended how close he had come to losing his own. Staring out the window as David pulled the black SUV out of the driveway; Charlie felt his knees start shaking.

"Charlie?"
Alan's voice was muted by the kitchen door and Charlie was grateful for the extra moment to wipe the tears from his eyes and steady himself on his feet.

"Charlie. Stan and I are meeting with a client this afternoon, so I'm afraid you're on your own……."
Stepping through the kitchen door, a dish towel in one hand and a wet dinner plate in the other, Alan stopped to look at his youngest son's back.
"I'm sorry, Charlie. I shouldn't have said you'd go without asking you first. I figured……."

Turning away from the window, Charlie cleared his throat.
"No, Dad. You're right. I should go. I need to get out of the house. "

He turned to face his father.
"Besides, I didn't tell you that Kaitlyn…the girl……….."

Alan interrupted him.

"The one you where holding when you fell into the water?"

Charlie nodded in confirmation.

"She found me at the hospital before we checked out. She told me Hannah's birthday was this weekend and wanted to say thank you for making sure she got to turn six."

Charlie flashed an embarrassed smile at his father.
"An eight year old made me blush."

Shaking his head, Alan walked back into the kitchen to put the dry plate away.
"Well, Mrs. Whitney seemed very eager to meet you. I think Don kind of put up the blockade on that one until the FBI could figure out what was going on. And she was also disappointed that you got away from her without being properly thanked. You and Don….you saved her children's lives, Charlie. You should be very proud of that."

From through the swinging door, Alan's voice was loud and clear.
"I know I am."
………………………………...

Megan stepped away from the double paned glass window and made her way to the desk. Indicating the tall, thin stranger barricaded in the room with Colby, she turned to face Don where he stood in the doorway.

"His name is Nick Karney. Did five years in Sacramento for armed robbery…been out about six months."

"I don't know the guy, Megan. And I'm pretty sure Charlie doesn't either. Have you found any connection between him and the Whitney family or Ms. Damari?"

Megan shook her head solemnly.
"If there is, we haven't found it yet. But we've only had him in custody for an hour, Don."

"How long has Colby been in there?"

"Just a few minutes."

She turned back to the monitor just in time to see Karney leap to his feet and slam his fist on the table.
"I TOLD YOU, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

"Sit down, Mr. Karney."
Seeing Colby take a threatening step forward, Megan turned her eyes back to Don. But he was no longer there, and his crutches were propped up against the wall next to the door.

Wondering how he managed to move so fast with a cast on his leg, Megan turned her head back to the double paned glass in time to see Don open the door and slide into the interrogation room.

"Mr. Karney."

The man looked up sullenly.
"I'm not talking to anyone else."

Don leaned against the table next to the man so he could face him.

"Then shut up. I'll talk."

Glancing from Don to Colby, Nick Karney obeyed.

Nodding in approval of his choice, Don stood again.

"I would introduce myself, but I believe we've already met."

Upon his entry to the room, Don was careful not to display a limp. But as he walked around the room, he made a point of making his cast apparent. Pulling out the chair opposite the man, Don sat and propped his leg up on the table almost directly in front of the suspect.

"You may not remember me. But trust me, fella. I haven't forgotten you."

From behind the double paned glass, Megan almost laughed at the expression on their suspect's face.

Don had just pulled a classic bluff.

And from the looks of things, Mr. Nick Karney had taken the bait…hook, line and sinker.

The panic on his face was painfully obvious as he looked frantically from Don to the door. For a minute Colby wondered if the fool actually thought he might be able to overpower or outrun a building full of federal agents. Then the man's shoulders slumped and he rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.

"I didn't know about the kids. Not until I saw it on the news. She was supposed to be in the car alone."

Leaning forward Don nodded his head, leading the man to continue.
"Sophia Damari?"

"Who?"

Megan was surprised when Don jumped to his feet and in an effort to move quickly almost tripped over his cast. Meeting him in the hallway, Megan grabbed Don's arm.

"Slow down, Eppes. What's going on?"

"I've got to talk to…………"
His sentence was interrupted when David rounded the corner with none other than Robert Whitney two steps behind him.

"Don. Mr. Whitney……"

The arrogant attorney cut off the agent and doubled his pace toward Don.
"I want to talk to them."

Megan and Don exchanged a discerning glance as Mr. Whitney continued down the hall.
"I know you have a suspect in custody and I want to talk to them."

As Colby stepped from the interrogation room, Mr. Whitney zeroed in on the familiar face. As he attempted to step past Don, the senior agent put out his arm effectively close lining the lawyer across the chest.
"HEY! What's the big….."

"Mr. Whitney."
Don narrowed his eyes at him.
"Can you tell me why someone would want your wife dead?"

"Allison?"

Colby stepped up behind them and whispered into Don's ear.
"There's no doubt Mrs. Whitney was the target. The BMW was her personal car….and the suspect confirmed it. But he won't identify who he was working for or the other driver. He's done. He just asked for his lawyer."

Looking intently at the man in front of him, Don tried to read the multitude of emotions that seemed to play across the attorney's face.

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted to see……...what kind of monster would try to kill three little girls? And……….what's this about Allison?"

When Mr. Whitney continued to stare at him looking confused, Don decided to risk going all in. Turning back to the adjacent room, Don spoke over his shoulder.
"Follow me."

Leading Mr. Whitney through the door, Don waited until David, Megan and Colby were circled around behind him before he continued.

"This is the guy, Robert."

He indicated the man visible on the monitor.

"Do you…….."

Mr. Whitney shook his head before Don even asked the question.
"I don't know him. I'm never seen him before. Why would he want to hurt my family?"

"I was really hoping you could tell me."

The man looked at Don in shock, shaking his head in disbelief.
"You don't honestly think I had something to do with….with trying to kill my…my own children?"

"Can you tell me why that would be an unreasonable suspicion?"

"YES! Because I love my children!"

"And do you love your wife, Mr. Whitney?"

His eyes darted from Don to the ceiling as if he were searching for an adequate lie.
"I don't see what this has to do with………."

Don didn't give him the chance to finish his sentence.

"Just cut the crap Whitney. How do you know him?"

This time Don didn't even wait for a response.

"He was after your wife, man. Can you tell me why?"

"I don't know him!"

"His name is Nick Karney. Does that ring any bells for you?"

When Robert Whitney lifted his head to look at Don, a look of stunned realization had materialized on his face.

"Karney?"

Don took in the man's expression and took one more stab at getting him to acknowledge any involvement in the accident.

"That's right. Nick Karney. And he let a few things slip before he asked for his lawyer."

Robert Whitney looked simultaneously angry, surprised, confused and maybe a little…….hurt. It was the hurt expression that set off Don's radar and made him do a complete one eighty.

"Whitney? Where have you heard his name before? Who would know this man that would want to hurt your family?"

Sitting down in one of the chairs, Robert leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

"She has a brother named Nicholas."

Dropping his accusatory tone of voice Don leaned against the table.

"Who is she, Whitney?

"Her name is Tabitha. Tabitha Karney. She was my wife's assistant. When Allison still clerked at my office. Then she was my assistant. I……"
He stopped to swallow hard.

Don glanced at Megan and she nodded. Acknowledging an unspoken order, she turned and left the room.

Still staring at the floor, the embarrassment was evident in Mr. Whitney's voice.
"I had an affair with her."

Nodding knowingly, Don prompted him to continue.

"How long?"

"Almost two years. Allison never found out."

"What happened?"

Mr. Whitney lifted his eyes to look at the group of federal agents surrounding him.
"I loved her. But…I loved my wife too. And Tabitha gave me an ultimatum. Her or Allie."

He shifted in his seat.
"We'd just had our third baby not that long ago. I…I wanted to…I wanted to do the right thing. Try to start over. So I told her I loved her…but I had three good reasons to stay with my wife. Kaitlyn and Hannah…and …….and now Madison. As long as they were there, I had to do my best to make it work. I really though she understood that."

For a man who spent his career convincing people of things, Mr. Whitney didn't seem too confident in his assertion.

"Mr. Whitney. How did she handle it."

"I thought……."
He shook his head and looked at the floor.
"She didn't. Not well. I thought she might tell Allie…but she never did. She quit her job less than a week after I broke it off."

Megan reentered the room and Don raised his eyebrows at her as he continued to address Mr. Whitney.
"And how long ago was this?"

Megan nodded at Don in response to his silent question as the man answered his spoken one.

"About three months ago, I guess."

Pulling himself to his feet, Don grabbed his crutches from where he had left them propped against the wall when he had first entered the room.
"I guess she decided if she removed the extra variables from the equation, she would still get the desired result."

Colby smirked at Don's use of the common 'Charlie-ism' and re-interpreted the notion in layman's terms.
"Your little chippie thought if she took out your whole family, you'd come running back to her."

Mr. Whitney's mouth dropped open as the truth sunk in.
"Tabitha tried to kill…….Oh, God. Tabby and her brother tried to kill my babies?"

David stepped forward.
"It looks like the girls weren't the target, Mr. Whitney. They thought your wife was alone in the car."

"That's…..No. I don't think so."

Robert shook his head emphatically and Don turned back to face him.
"What do you mean? Did Sophia usually pick up the girls?"

"No…no, not usually. The party planner was coming over. Allison wanted everything planned out in advance for Hannah's birthday, so she sent Sophia."

The man sighed and clasped his hands in front of his chest.
"But this is the first time she's ever done that. Allison has kept this schedule with the kids since before Maddy as born. Kaitlyn has ballet with a private instructor on Wednesday afternoons. Allie would always pick her up and then we'd meet at Ozario's for dinner. It's been our PR ritual for almost three years."

Don's brow furrowed as he processed the information.
"And Tabitha knew this?"

"Oh, yeah. She even went with her once or twice to take dictation while she was driving. I told you, she was Allison's assistant."

Colby crossed his arms and stared at the man who was now being led from the interrogation room by Agent Ardeljan.
"I wonder what Mr. Karney would say if he knew his sister really had intended for him to help her kill three little girls in cold blood."

The phone rang and Megan lurched over the desk to grab the receiver as if she had been expecting the call.

"This is Reeves."

"Yeah."

"Okay. Let LAPD know to keep their eyes open for the SUV and keep a man on her house. Let me know if she turns up."

Hanging up the phone, Megan turned to Don.
"I sent a car to Tabitha Karney's apartment. She's not there. Her neighbors said she left about an hour ago in a blue SUV. We're assuming it's the one we didn't find in Mr. Karney's garage."

"Damn."
Don's face was brooding and Megan could almost swear she could see the well oiled wheels turning behind his eyes.
"Where do you think she went, Don."

The thoughtful expression on the senior agents face was quickly replaced with one of horrifying realization.
"Megan."

He had gotten his crutches under his arms and was heading for the door.
"She's going to finish what she started."
………………………………

Authors Notes: AH HA HA HA HA… (Consider this is maniacal laughter.)

I love cliffhangers. Have you noticed?

I do hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll try not to make you wait to long for the next one.

Try being the operative word!

Thank you for your comments! I'd love to keep hearing from all of you!

Chapter Fourteen: Come Hell or High Water