Alan had brought a deck of cards, and he and Don were in the middle of their third game of gin rummy. Don smiled as Alan checked his watch. "And people complain about me," he said.

"What? Oh," Alan said, looking at his cards. "You brother has been gone a long time."

"Why don't you call him?"

"Nah. I don't want to be a nag. He'll be here when he gets here. I just hope he's getting some supper along the way."

"Speaking of which, mine should be here soon."

"You getting hungry? That's a good sign."

"Yeah. Maybe supper will be something more exciting than oatmeal."

Alan chuckled. "Lunch seemed to sit okay with you, so maybe they'll spice things up for you a bit. Maybe put some cinnamon on your oatmeal."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you? After all these years of me mooching off you and Charlie..."

"What I'm enjoying is you feeling well enough to take a joke, Donnie. You gave us quite a scare."

"I know. I gave me quite a scare too. "When I saw that kid moving out of the corner of my eye and realized she had a gun..." He closed his eyes and shook his head.

Alan put a hand on top of Don's hand. "I'm sorry I brought it up."

Don opened his eyes and gave his father a reassuring smile. "It's okay. I'm already seeing a shrink. This'll give him something else to work on." The smile faded. "Charlie and I talked about it. You expect kids to be innocent. But the look in her eyes... she... had no hesitation, you know? It was like shooting a human being was the most natural thing in the world."

"Donnie, don't dwell on it."

"It's kind of hard not to, Dad. As soon as they let me out of here, I'll call Dr. Bradford and set up an appointment to discuss this. I've got to make sure this isn't going to make me less effective in the field. You know? Hesitating when I should act, or acting when I should wait, just because I can't get the image of that kid out of my head."

"Would you like me to see if Dr. Bradford would come here to see you?"

"Nah. I'll be okay. Now that they're cutting back on the morphine, I have more time to think." Don squeezed his father's hand and picked up his cards. "You just trying to distract me from the game?"

Alan grinned. "You caught me. I gotta do something. You've beaten me twice already, and you're about to beat me now. Good thing your brother bought the house, or I'd be on the verge of signing it over to you."

--

Charlie turned off his computer and put it back in its bag. "Are we going to talk to Fred at the school, or ..."

Liz grinned. "The way this seems to be going down we might be best off taking him to the FBI office. I'll drop you off at the hospital on the way there."

"But I need more data..."

"Charlie, I don't think we'll need your equations. I think Fred Agincourt is going to give us everything we need."

"Oh, sure, use me and throw me away," Charlie said, trying to pout, but failing. "You really think we're that close to catching the people who shot Don?"

"I don't know. I hope so." She pulled into the school parking lot. "You guys see Fred?"

--

"What do you have in mind?" Ben asked David as they sped toward the gallery.

"I've called for backup, but we'll have to see what's going on when we get there."

"Listen, David, I know I'm not an agent, and I'm definitely not armed, but I am more than willing to do whatever I can to help."

"I can't put you in harm's way." David's lips quirked in a smile. "Maggie would have my... head on a platter if I let anything happen to you."

Ben laughed. "Don't worry about her. I can handle her. I noticed a back door near Grant's office. Whoever is there with Grant is probably in his office. If I go to the front door, perhaps I can create enough of a distraction that you can get in the back. I assume agents are trained to do things with locks."

David chuckled. "That's a nice way of putting it. But if we get there and the backup's there already, you are staying in the car. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

The two men rode in silence, pulling up in front of Catalino's shop. "Okay, it looks like we're on our own," David said. "Give me a few minutes to get around back and then start your distraction."

Ben nodded, suddenly wondering why on earth he had volunteered to help. After he had watched David disappear around the corner, he tried the front door. Surprisingly, it opened. "Grant?" he called, stepping into the gallery show room. "Grant? I know you're here! Come on, Mate, you can do your paperwork tomorrow. Let's go to the pub." He heard some movement in the back. "Grant? Come on, it's not like you to leave the front door open like that." Taking a deep breath, he walked toward Grant's office.

--

"There he is," Colby said, pointing across the parking lot. Liz pulled up beside Fred's car, and the three got out of the SUV.

"Thank you for coming," Fred said, glancing nervously around. "I haven't seen anybody, though after talking with you, I'm feeling a bit paranoid."

"I'm sorry I frightened you, Mr. Agincourt," Liz said. "It's just hard to tell what these people are capable of doing. We believe they killed one of their own, and we know they shot a federal agent."

"Let's sit," Fred gestured toward a picnic table at the edge of the parking lot. "This has been a very trying day."

Colby glanced around the empty school grounds. "We'd be better off at the FBI office, but it looks clear here."

"Okay," Liz said. "Let's sit."

As they walked toward the picnic table, a man came around the corner of the building, walking toward them. .

Fred turned to look. "Oh, God," he whispered.

Charlie, Colby and Liz turned. "Gun!" Liz shouted as she and Colby drew their weapons.

Charlie saw the man pointing a gun of some sort in their direction, and realized instantly that the man was grinning at Fred. "Get down!" Charlie shouted as he tackled the teacher. He heard gunshots. They slammed into the pavement together, Fred landing on Charlie's outstretched right arm. A jolt of pain ran through Charlie's shoulder. "Stay down," he said, holding Fred down with his left hand. He squeezed his eyes shut and resisted the urge to see what was happening.

--

"Ben?" Grant called from the office. "I'll be right there. Would you keep an eye on the front for a minute?"

"Is something wrong?" Ben kept walking toward the office, praying that David was getting the back door unlocked.

"No," Grant sounded desperate. "Everything's fine, Ben. Please just give me a minute, and I'll..."

"Shut up!" a woman yelled.

Grant appeared in the corridor, being held at knifepoint by a gray haired woman. "Who are you?" she asked Ben.

"I'm a friend of Grant's. I just wanted to see if he wanted to go for a drink." He saw the door opening behind Grant and the woman. David appeared, his finger to his lips. Ben took a step toward the woman. "What's going on here? Grant? Did you push the alarm button?"

"Alarm button?" The woman pressed her knife against Grant's ribs. "Did you..."

Ben shushed her. "Listen! Are those sirens?"

The woman shoved Grant toward Ben and turned to run out the back door, coming face to face with David. "FBI," he said, "Give me the knife."

The woman sighed, turned the knife and presented it to David handle first. David took the knife, keeping his gun trained on the woman. "Hands behind your back"

"Oh, thank God," Grant said. "She was going to kill me!"

"Who is she and what's she after?" David asked as he put handcuffs on the woman.

"I have no idea who she is. But she was looking for that printout I gave you earlier."

--

Don laid down his cards. "Gin!"

Alan sighed and began to collect the cards to shuffle. "I'm going to see if they'll up your morphine a little."

"Why? I'm not really in any pain."

"I was hoping it would cloud your thought processes, my son."

"We don't have to play any more. When Charlie gets back, we could play chess instead," Don said, grinning.

Alan glanced at his watch again.

"Call him, Dad. At least we'll know when to expect him."

Alan opened his cell phone. "You talked me into it," he said as he dialed. "He's probably in the middle of some... hmm, it went to voice mail... Charlie, it's Dad. Don and I were just wondering when you'll be back. Give me a call when you get a chance." He closed the phone and stared at it for a moment. "I wonder where your brother is."

Don checked his watch. "I'm wondering where my supper is."

"I hear the rattling of food carts in the corridor." Alan stood and walked into the hallway. He came back, smiling. "Yep, supper's on the way. I think I'll go get myself something to eat. Charlie can fend for himself when he gets here. I'm not waiting for him."

--

"FBI! Freeze!" Colby yelled. The shooter turned, dropped his gun and ran. With a sigh, Colby ran after him, followed by Liz.

Liz slowed for a moment, pointing her key fob at the SUV and pressed "unlock." When she heard the answering chirp, she yelled, "Charlie! Fred! Get in the SUV!"

Charlie grimaced as he pulled his arm out from under Fred. Then he looked down and saw blood soaking through the front of the teacher's white shirt. "Liz! He's been hit!" He rolled Fred onto his back and sat up. Fred closed his eyes and groaned. "Hang in there, Fred. We'll get you some help." Charlie looked around, and caught sight of Liz and Colby running after the shooter.

He unbuttoned Fred's shirt and groaned as he saw the wound in the other man's chest. He had to stop the bleeding somehow. Pressure. He pulled off his long sleeved shirt, grimacing from the pain in his right arm. Folding the shirt up, he pressed it to Fred's wound with his left hand. Fred moaned. "Shhh it's okay. I'm just trying to stop the bleeding. The ambulance should be here soon." If Liz or Colby had called for it, he thought as he looked where he had last seen the two agents. "Crap," he whispered, pulling his cell phone out. "It won't hurt to call 911," he muttered. He glanced at the screen before dialing, and noticed he had missed a call. Right now the ambulance was more important. He dialed.

After he had reported the details to the operator, he turned his attention back to Fred. The teacher had passed out, but his breathing seemed strong. Charlie became aware of the throbbing in his right arm and released the pressure on Fred's chest long enough to lift his own sleeve. Blood oozed from a wound in his upper arm. He let the sleeve drop and turned his attention back to Fred.

"Charlie!" Liz knelt beside Charlie. "You're bleeding!"

"It's nothing. Just a scratch. Fred's been shot. It looks bad."

"Let me see."

Charlie lifted the wadded shirt from Agincourt's wound. "Where's Colby?"

Liz nodded, and took the shirt from Charlie, pressing it back against Fred's wound. "Reading our shooter his rights."

"That's great! Who is he?"

Liz shook her head. "I don't know, and he's not talking. It's not Francis, though."

"Fred recognized him." Charlie, said, looking at the unconscious teacher. "The shooter was smiling at him."

"Smiling?"

"Yeah. I think he was sent by someone to keep Fred from talking to us."

"Well, we'll find out soon enough."

"I called 911. I didn't know if you guys had called it in," Charlie said, flexing his right hand. His arm had gone beyond throbbing to serious pain. He pulled up his sleeve. The bleeding hadn't slowed, but he couldn't bring himself to put pressure on it.

"Charlie?" Liz said, "Let me have a look at that arm."

He chewed his lower lip as he lifted his sleeve and turned so his arm was close enough for Liz to see.

"Charlie, that's not a scratch. You've been shot. Turn to your left a little. Yep, it went clean through. If you can get that tee shirt off, I can use it to wrap it. We really need to stop that bleeding."

"I'll just wait for the ambulance."

"Here." She took his left hand and pressed it to the the shirt on Fred's chest. "Hold this." She took out a pocket knife and cut the the right sleeve and front of Charlie's tee shirt. "There, that should make it easier."

"Thanks," he wriggled out of the shirt and handed it to Liz. He closed his eyes and braced himself for the pain he knew was coming.

--

David read the woman her rights, handcuffed her, took her arm and said, "Let's go back out front. Who are you?" David asked.

"I guess it won't hurt to tell you my name. I'm Felicia Agincourt."

"As in Fred and Francis Agincourt?"

"I'm their mother. And that's all I'm going to tell you until I speak with my attorney. Sorry."

"That's fine with me," David said. His cell phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket, still holding Felicia's arm. "Sinclair."

"David, Liz. How's everything going with you?"

"Hey, Liz. You'll never guess who we caught."

"Who?"

"Felicia Agincourt. Fred and Francis' mother. How are things going with you?"

"Not so great. We met with Fred Agincourt and someone took a shot at him. Charlie tackled Fred, and he and Fred were both hit."

"Oh, man. How are they?"

"Charlie was shot in the arm, it went clean through and he's in a lot of pain. Fred looks a lot worse. He was shot in the chest. I'm trying to control the bleeding. The paramedics are on the way, but I wish they'd hurry."

"Did you get the shooter?"

"Yeah. I don't know who he is, but Charlie said Fred recognized him."

"Maybe Mrs. Agincourt here will know who would put a bullet in her son's chest."

"David? The paramedics are here. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"All right, Liz. Tell Charlie I said he should turn in his medical bills for reimbursement."

Liz laughed. "I will."

David closed his phone and turned to Felicia, who had stopped smiling. "What happened to my son?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"Someone shot him. He's seriously wounded, and he's on the way to the hospital now."

"I want to see him."

"We all want things. Some of us get what we want. Some don't," David said. "Sounds like our backup is here. Come on, let's go."

--

As Alan waited for the elevator, he opened his cell phone and pressed redial. This time Charlie picked up. "Hello?"

"Charlie! What is taking you so long? I thought you were just going to interview some teacher..."

"Dad," Charlie's voice shook. "Dad? I'm sorry. Things didn't go quite the way I expected."

"What's wrong? Charlie? Are you hurt?"

"Yeah. I'll be okay, but... well, we finished the interview and Liz got a phone call that this guy was in trouble. She didn't have time to drop me off, so I came along with them. We picked up the guy and someone shot him." He stopped and took a shuddering breath.

"Charlie? What happened? Were you shot?"

"Yeah, but Liz says it's not serious. It's just my arm."

"Just your arm? Where are you? I'll be right there!"

"No, Dad. It's okay. There's an ambulance on the way. The other guy is hurt really bad, Dad. I had to put pressure on his chest. It was bleeding so much. I... I..."

The elevator arrived, but Alan turned and walked to a chair across the hall. "Where are they taking you?"

"I'll tell them to bring me there." Charlie chuckled weakly. "That way you can visit both of your sons at once. Hey, maybe they'll let me share Don's room."

"I don't see why not," Alan said as he walked slowly back to Don's room. "You sure you don't want me to come there?"

"I'm sure, Dad. I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner."

"Well, you were a little bit busy," Alan said. "I'll forgive you this time. But you're going to have to play cards with your brother. I'm getting tired of getting beat."