Chapter Eighteen

LA…

The Next Day…

Late Morning…

Alan was not in the best mood, as he was not happy about how things have been going with all the interrogations and feeling like Stan is hiding something from him but he didn't know what it could be.

He was relieved that his wife and youngest came home after their brief trip, even though they had come back in the middle of the night and were both still sleeping, which he envied right now.

Neither have told him where they were going, or if they were meeting with someone, but he honestly wasn't sure if he wanted to know, as he had a feeling that Charlie took Margaret to meet with Don, as Charlie had been acting suspiciously lately, particularly when he would excuse himself to make a call, which he apparently didn't think his father would suspect something about what call he would make.

Alan shook his head, he knew that he had been having this feeling for several years and that confronting his youngest would probably just make things worse and had just been waiting for Charlie to come to him about Don but he wasn't sure if he should keep waiting or just ask his son right then and there about the trip and what he was hiding.

He was also worried about Margaret, as she seemed to have grown tired the past few days, though he wasn't sure if it was related to him being questioned about the murders or if something else was going on. He had asked her about it, which she said it was just nerves and she should be fine when the ordeal is over.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when his phone rang, making him dread that it was going to either be LAPD or the FBI again, possibly to go through either another interrogation or something like that.

He was surprised when he heard a familiar female voice on the other end and knew it was one of the agents of the case.

"Mr. Eppes, this is Agent Lake, I was hoping to speak to you, if you are able." The agent said through the phone

"Sure, what do you need to talk about this time?" Alan said, trying to be as polite as possible, as he was still trying to remember where he saw her from before

"I wanted to ask about Stan, as we want to make sure we don't have anything left hanging." The Agent said

"Okay…What do you want to ask about?" Alan asked, not sure what to make of it.

"How long have you and Stan known each other?"

Alan paused before answering, "About 30 years, as we met during a consultation I was doing and we have been friends ever since."

"Did you ever suspect that he might get involved with shady dealings, given that your kind of business can attract unwanted attention."

"Until now, I never really gave that much thought, even though Stan had done outside business since we became partners but he had said that it was related to work he was doing before we became partners a few years ago."

"You didn't because you thought you knew him well." Terry said

"Yes, and that I like to think I know people well enough to know what they are and aren't capable of doing." Alan said, which he generally hoped to be true, with a few exceptions that he really regrets.

"Well, I just wanted to talk to you about your old friend, as I wanted to have more insight on both you and your partner and I wish things were simpler for you."

"Okay," Alan said before thinking of something that had been bugging him and decided now was the best time to ask.

"Listen, have we met before since it feels like we have." He hoped he wasn't being insensitive for the inquiry

"Yeah, we have, when you visited Don at the academy, trying not to get a screaming match on your first visit and trying to get him to leave on your second, and last, visit, when we were about a week from graduating."

"Oh, uh, why were you with Don those couple times? Because I guess I wasn't really in the mood to be polite." Alan said, knowing he really should have been a better guest.

"We were dating at the time, but it was an academy thing, so we knew it wasn't going to be serious." She answered, now feeling a bit awkward saying this to the father of her academy ex-boyfriend.

"Oh, uh, well I apologize for my behavior at the time, I wasn't exactly the supportive father I should've been to my eldest." Alan stammered, now feeling more shame for how he had treated Don and not gotten to know the person he was dating.

"I hope things get better between the two of you, given he really wanted you to be proud of him, so there could still be time to prove that you are." Terry said, as she remembered those visits being really hard on Don, which made her regret the breakup even more, even though they both knew it was going to be temporary.

"I hope so too, thanks." Alan said

"You're welcome, just be patient, I believe that you are innocent, so we are getting closer to figuring this out, but don't tell anyone I said that." Terry said, knowing she already had said too much.

"Thanks, and, if you see Don, tell him I said hi, and that I'm sorry about everything." Alan said

"Sure, I'll try to send a message." Lake said before she and Alan exchanged goodbyes

After hanging up, Alan saw that Margaret and Charlie were coming down, looking nervous about something.

"Alan, can we talk?" Margaret asked

"Sure, why don't we go to the kitchen and we can have coffee while we talk." Alan said, knowing they were overdue for a long talk.

"We definitely could use it." Charlie agreed, knowing they were going to have a lot to talk about.