Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Chapter 4: Flip-Flopped

Don was massaging the bridge of his nose. Things weren't going well by a long shot, and he just didn't know what to do about this anymore. So far, they hadn't found anything to suggest they were dealing with terrorists, nothing that they hadn't known before the raid, or more to the point: nothing but the document on Charlie's computer. True, they'd found some further proof concerning vandalism and other minor crimes committed by some of the group members, but so far, they hadn't found any plans regarding terrorist attacks or further links to known terrorist organizations. They'd also uncovered that some of the members seemed to be communicating through encoded text messages, but as damning as that factor had seemed in the beginning, Don was well aware that the mere fact that they were encrypting their messages didn't necessarily mean that they were trying to hide criminal activities.

So they were left with nothing but Charlie and their initial findings that had made them investigate Life's Matter in the first place. They knew that there had been made quite substantial donations to the group that they had been able to trace back to known terrorists in the Middle East, and that, in turn, payments had been made from the group to several shady organizations, some of which were connected to terrorist cells in the Middle East as well. They also knew that one member of Life's Matter, twenty-nine-year-old Naji Habash, had ties to terrorist groups in Afghanistan, where his parents originated from. The problem was that Naji hadn't been with the group when they'd made the raid, and nobody had seen him since, even though they had put out an APB on him. There were three other members of Arabic origin that they'd arrested during the raid, but they had all asserted rather credibly that neither did they have any close relations to Naji or his contacts, nor did they know where he could be found. And even though Don and his team had done a thorough background check on them, they hadn't found any ties to known terrorists in the Middle East, one of them didn't even seem to have any ties to that part of the world, other than his name and his complexion. Then again, as of now, they hadn't been able to detect a connection between any individual group member and the terrorists that were behind the donations. To make this case even more puzzling, none of the terrorist organizations that Life's Matter was involved with seemed to have anything on their agenda that was related to environmentalism. As their investigation was progressing, this whole mess seemed to be getting more complicated and enigmatic instead of easier, for if Life's Matter really was a terrorist organization, shouldn't Don and his team have found more proof of that by now? On the other hand, if they weren't terrorists, how could they explain the evidence that they had found?

True, they still weren't through with all their suspects, but they'd already let some of them go, and Don had a queasy feeling about this, for two reasons. One, it felt wrong that the only viable lead to terrorism they'd found after the raid was the document on the computer in Charlie's office, but even worse, Don just wasn't sure whether he could trust his own objectivity in this case. After his interviews with Charlie, he'd had a more than restless night thinking about this and turning things over in his mind, but his conviction hadn't left him: he believed that his brother was telling the truth. However, he was also scared that his trust in his brother might be a factor that inhibited him from seeing the truth with regard to the rest of the group. Maybe part of the reason why they hadn't been able to find any further evidence was that he was sub-consciously holding back? Maybe he wasn't investigating the group as thoroughly as he normally would have done, because he was afraid to find something else to make his brother look like a criminal? Sure, he was trying to be even more diligent than usual, to make sure they had good reason to release their suspects before they did – but what if he didn't even realize how much his mind was fogged by the underlying premise that he didn't believe Charlie to be guilty?

"Don," David's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

He looked up and when he saw David nod towards a spot behind him, he turned around. His curiosity morphed into surprise then, with just a hint of apprehension, something he always felt when their boss, Jonathan Thorndike, decided to come to the bullpen downstairs to pay his agents a visit. The fact that he wasn't alone today, but accompanied by a lean man in his fifties wearing a dark suit that looked rather expensive didn't bode well either. Was Thorndike about to take them off the case?

And if so, would that really be so bad?

"Good morning, Agent Eppes, a word with you and your team, if you don't mind," Thorndike said, almost in passing, and led the way to a room where they could talk in a more private setting.

Don and his team exchanged quizzical glances, but could hardly do anything other than to follow Thorndike's orders. Colby, as the last of them, closed the door behind himself and then, without further ado and before Colby had even sat down, Thorndike started to talk.

"This is Agent Harvey Miller from the NSA," he introduced his companion, "and he's here because of the terrorist case you're working on, more to the point because of Dr. Eppes's involvement in this case."

From a folder in his hands, he retrieved a document that he slid over the table towards Don, who instantly identified it as the one that Charlie had sent to his colleague in Afghanistan.

"You recognize this?" Thorndike asked.

"It's a document we found on my brother's computer," Don replied a little uneasily, yet trying not to let that show.

"It's a document that our technicians classified as dangerous and containing information that could weaken national security if it got into the wrong hands," Thorndike specified. "As the NSA's analysts have determined, however, this assessment was wrong. This document has a strictly scientific and agricultural purpose and cannot reasonably be used to build weaponry."

Don exchanged another glance with his team members, but was met with the same kind of insecurity that he felt himself. Was this some kind of trap, a test to prove their objectivity concerning his brother? For surely everything that Thorndike had just said was too far-fetched to be the truth, right?

"Why would the NSA bother to analyze this document?" David initiated their attempt to figure out what this was all about. "I thought investigating this group was solely an FBI case?"

"It is," the NSA agent took over. "Or rather, it was. But Dr. Eppes is a person of interest to us. When we heard about his arrest, we decided to launch our own investigation, and now that we have, we have reason to believe that we had better join our efforts in this case."

Again, Don was searching his team members' gaze, but this time, they were all still staring at Miller, so this was where Don directed his eyes back, too. "Why would my brother be of interest to the NSA?" he asked with a queasy feeling in his stomach. It seemed to him as though Charlie had just jumped out of the frying pan only to land in the fire.

Agent Miller didn't reply at once, not before he'd subjected Don to a scrutinizing stare, which, for some reason, seemed to end to his satisfaction. "He really didn't tell you anything?" he half asked, half stated.

The confusion on Don's face must have told him enough, for Miller continued talking, explaining somewhat vaguely, "He's been of some service to us in the past." As vague as his answer was, however, Don still thought his eyes were going to fall out of their sockets, and he decided that he'd simply misinterpreted Miller's words. Surely he couldn't have been saying that his little brother had been working for the NSA?!

"Hold on," Colby interrupted the NSA agent before Don had fully understood what they were talking about, and he was glad that someone was rewinding this speedy tape a little. "I still don't understand. Our initial analysis clearly showed that the document could be used for biochemical weaponry."

"I spoke with the technician in question," Thorndike explained. "It turned out that he found some pointers indicating we might be looking at a terrorist case, pointers that, however, he couldn't decipher beyond a doubt. Since he felt rushed in coming to a definite result and thought it would be better to be safe than sorry, he gave these pointers the more cautious interpretation. Now that he and two other technicians of ours have examined the document more closely though, he agrees with the NSA's assessment and admits that his initial work has been deficient. Needless to say he's been suspended."

There was a knock at the door then, and an agent that Don only knew by sight opened it.

"I was asked to bring Dr. Eppes up here, Sir," he said towards Director Thorndike, who rose from his seat.

"Thank you, Collins," he told the young agent before he turned to the newcomer and shook his hand. "Dr. Eppes, it's nice to meet you," he said, and only then did he start taking off the handcuffs that were still around Charlie's wrists.

"It's good to see you, Charlie," Agent Miller greeted him with a pat on his shoulder while Thorndike was still fumbling with the handcuffs. "So this is Jonathan Thorndike, the director of this field office, and I think you met Agents Reeves, Sinclair and Granger?" Charlie didn't even so much as nod and was observing the proceedings with a look on his face that showed that he hadn't decided yet what to make of them, and Don noticed that he was keeping a certain distance from him and his colleagues when they all sat down again.

"Then I'd say we should come right down to business," Miller continued. "You'll be happy to hear, Charlie, that the charges against you have been dropped, since we've established that the document found on your computer is just what it seems, and that you have no further associations with that group. After we had settled that, Director Thorndike and I have done some talking about this, and we agree that we and the FBI would very much like to profit from your collaboration on this case."

Don's eye-brows went up high, and when he glanced at his brother, he noticed that a similar expression had entered his face, only that his show of confusion seemed to be a tad grimmer than Don's own.

"My collaboration," Charlie repeated with some doubt in his voice, and Don had to admit that he, too, would have liked to know what train of thought Thorndike and Miller could have taken to reach such a conclusion.

"It has come to our awareness that some members have been using coded messages to communicate with one another," Miller went on, "text messages mostly. We could, of course, ask our own people to take a look at those, but we figured that especially since you're already familiar with the group in general, you might be a lot faster than them. Besides, since we seem to have all relevant members in custody for now, we can't really make decoding these messages a priority, so it would take a couple of days if we went through our normal channels. The reason however that more than all others makes you our top choice for this job is the fact that you could use your connections to get some further information about the code, or about the group in general, you know, working as an informant."

"Hang on," Charlie said, and while Don still wasn't sure whether or not he'd just fallen down a rabbit hole, he had to admit that he was not only surprised by his little brother's behavior, he was also a little in awe. There was an air of authority in Charlie's conduct that seemed very mature, very self-reliant, even powerful, and that had hardly anything to do with the little nag who'd used to follow him around as a kid.

"You're serious about this? You want me to work for you on this case?" Miller and Thorndike apparently considered the question a rhetorical one, and when there was no immediate answer, Charlie continued, "If I remember correctly, only yesterday, I was still something like your primary suspect."

"As I explained earlier, that was an unfortunate misunderstanding that we managed to clear up," Miller said, but Don could tell that by now, he'd realized that he'd been a little hasty in his proceedings. His tone was much calmer than before, almost placating, and far less chipper. "All charges against you have been dropped, you are completely rehabilitated."

Charlie gave first Miller and then Don and his team doubtful glances. "Right," he said, but his voice, too, was dominated by doubt, and Don imagined that had something to do with the fact that his team had not yet accepted Charlie's transition from a suspected terrorist to a trusted ally in the battle against terrorism.

"Then I'm free to go?" Charlie asked.

"Well, yes," Miller conceded, "but we'd still like you to stay so we can discuss how to go about in this case."

Charlie took a deep breath, then exhaled audibly through his nose. "You seem to be taking my consent for granted," he then said with forced calmness, "but I have to tell you, I have no intention of joining your investigation, or whatever it is you'd like to call this witch-hunt."

He stood. "If there's nothing else, I'd like to go now. Or do you have any further reason to keep me here?"

"Well," Thorndike said slowly and rose to his feet as well, "we could, of course, say that you're still a person of interest, and technically, we still can't rule you out as a suspect –"

"So make up your mind," Charlie interrupted him coolly, and Don wasn't surprised little by his brother's audacity. "Either detain me or let me go, but stop trying to use me for your psycho games."

"Charlie," Miller tried, "I really don't think you realize –"

"And I don't think you realize how perverted this is! Until a couple of minutes ago, everyone's been acting as though you were ready to ship me off to Guantanamo to get further information out of me, and now you expect me to help you do the same to others? I don't think so." He turned to Thorndike. "So which is it, am I free to go or not?"

"You're free to go," Thorndike admitted calmly, apparently having accepted the fact that no matter how appealing their plan might have seemed to them, they couldn't force Charlie to do the right thing.