Author's Note: Has it really been almost 4 months since I've updated? I am really sorry, gang. Real life interrupted, but now things are back on track. I haven't forgotten you.

Chapter 40:

"Charlie!" Don raised his voice. "Wake up!"

Charlie jumped, nearly knocking Amita off the arm of his chair. "What? I'm awake! I was just..."

Amita reached over and brushed a stray curl from Charlie eyes. "You just dozed off there for a minute. You okay?"

Charlie nodded. "It's been kind of a long day." His eyes widened as he looked at the screen, "We've got some results."

Don snorted. "Amita was trying to wake you up to tell you that." Don wiped at his own chin, "You got some drool there, Buddy."

Charlie scowled at his brother in annoyance, but reached up and wiped his chin as he turned his attention to the computer.

Don waited as long as he could, then finally asked, "What results did you get?"

"Oh! You're interested in my voodoo now?"

"I've got nothing better to do.. What did you get?"

"Yang Chaoxiang has strong connections in LA... Not just in Chinatown, but in the art community. He's a major donor to the Armand Hammer and the Norton Simon museums. He has hired Felicia Agincourt to repair and appraise paintings."

"So why didn't he show up in your searches before, Chuck?"

"I didn't look into the museums' donors. Felicia didn't list Yang as one of her clients. And don't call me Chuck."

"Boys!" Alan scolded. "Do I need to send you to your rooms?"

Charlie stifled a grin. "Donnie started it."

Don stood up, stretching the kinks out of his back. "You always were a tattletale. Dad, you want anything while I'm up?"

"How about a cup of coffee? And you might want to put the casserole in the oven. Your brother preheated the oven but then got too distracted to put the casserole in."

Charlie leaned against Amita's arm and gave her his best puppy dog eyes. "Amita, they're both picking on me."

She bent down and kissed him. "Poor baby. Just ignore them."

Liz stood. "Charlie, Amita, you need anything? Apparently Don forgot to ask."

"I didn't forget. You heard Charlie. I'm picking on him." Don ruffled Charlie's hair as he passed. "That's my job."

"We're fine," Amita said.

--

On the way through her department, Betty had asked Dannielle Cho and Demo Stathis to join them. She filled them in on the case as they walked to Tom Yang's desk.

Dannielle grinned at David. "We might just get him this time."

David gave Dannielle a surprised glance. "What do you mean, 'this time.'?"

"We know about his criminal activities. He's just been awfully careful when he's here," Dannielle explained.

"Yeah," Demo agreed. "If we could catch him trying to steal your painting..."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Betty cautioned as they approached Tom's desk.

"Agent Sinclair," Tom looked up from his computer. "I was just going to call you. Yang Chaoxiang is heading towards the LAPD office." He smiled at Dannielle. "Hi."

"Betty, you want your team to intercept Yang? Tom can keep you posted on his movements. Right, Tom?"

"Of course." Tom turned his monitor. "Agent Liu, he's here now. I'll let you know where he goes from here."

"Great. Thanks," Betty led her team toward the elevator. "David, we'll keep in touch."

--

Colby watched as Tomlin entered the LAPD office. After waiting for a few minutes, Colby phoned David. "He's on his way to see Walker. Anything new at your end?"

"Yang is on the move – heading towards your location according to Tom. Betty Liu and two of her agents are going to keep an eye on him."

"Okay. Good. Have you talked to Walker recently?"

"I've kept him up to date. I told him I want don't want his people accompanying Tomlin, but that he should resist the idea."

"Why'd you do that?"

"I want Tomlin's contact to think the painting will be an easy target. If he thinks Tomlin's by himself, Yang is more likely to go for the painting. And you and Walker's men can follow Tomlin so we can take Yang and Tomlin into custody once they make the exchange."

"You don't think Yang's alone, do you?"

"Of course not. I'm really not sure he's going to meet Tomlin himself. I figured he'd send his people to pick up the painting just in case something goes wrong."

"That makes sense. Okay, Tomlin's on his way back to his car. Looks like he's got the painting with him. And he's alone."

"Colby?"

"Yeah, David?"

"Stay safe."

Colby grinned. "I will, Boss."

"Hey, don't call me boss. That's a four letter word, Granger."

"Sorry." Colby laughed, flipping his phone shut.

--

Don and Liz returned from the kitchen, Liz carrying Alan's cup of coffee and Don carrying an envelope. "Look what I found when I put the casserole in the oven." He handed Charlie the envelope. "It's probably a get well card."

Charlie held the envelope in his right hand and fumbled with the flap with his left. "Good thing they didn't seal it." He pulled out the card and smiled. "Very pretty. It's calligraphy."

Don leaned over Charlie's shoulder. "It is pretty. I wonder if they made it themselves."

Amita pointed at a tiny set of initials in the lower left hand corner. "That looks like Ben's initials."

Alan hobbled over to stand next to Don, "What's it say?"


Charlie glanced up at his father. "It's a Bible verse from Ecclesiastes. 'A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.'"

Don laughed, "And it's signed, ''To our favourite triple-braided cord, get well soon. Love, Ben and Maggie.'"

Charlie pointed at the signature. "He spelled 'favorite' wrong."

Alan rolled his eyes and shook his head. "There's no hope for you, my son. That's the British spelling." He rested one hand on Charlie's shoulder and wrapped the other around Don's waist. "That is a lovely sentiment."

Don ruffled Charlie's hair. "We're stronger together than we are separately. Sorry I picked on you, Buddy."

--

David took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he sank into a chair next to Tom Yang. Tom glanced over at him and turned the monitor. "I've got Yang and Tomlin. Here. And here. There's Granger. And that's Liu and her team. I predict they'll meet about here. Too bad Charlie's not here. He could tinker with his algorithm and give you something more accurate."

"That's fine. How long?"

"With the traffic at this time of day, I'm guessing you've got time to get there if you leave now."

David chuckled as he pushed himself to his feet. "Stay in touch."

"I always do."

--

David contacted his team while he was in the elevator. Once he pulled out of the parking garage, he called Liz.

"Hey, David, tell me you have good news. I'm getting tired of babysitting," Liz said with a laugh.

David could hear Don and Charlie's protests in the background. "Don't worry, Liz. It'll be over any time now, and you can get back to doing your job. Has Charlie got anything useful on Yang?"

"Charlie? Even if he had something new, you know I'd never be able to explain it. I'll put him on."

A moment later, Charlie's voice came through the line, "Hey, David. How's everything going?"

"It's going fast, Charlie. Do you have anything new I need to know before we catch up with Yang and Tomlin?"

"Liz tells me you already know about Yang's contacts with the gangs and Felicia Agincourt, so that's not news. Did you know he gave large cash donations to two of the museums that were robbed?"

"You got any other connection between Yang and the museums? He could just be an art lover."

"Nothing so far."

"Okay, call me if you find anything. Can you put Liz back on?"

"Sure. Hey, you take care, okay?"

"I always do, Charlie. Thanks."

"Hey, David," Liz said a moment later.

"Listen, I just have a gut feeling that we're not quite out of the woods yet. Make sure everything's locked down there, okay? And can you get in touch with the Coles? With Yang's connections here, I'm afraid Don's family and the Coles might still be a target."

"You have any evidence?"

"No. Just a feeling. It could be nothing..."

Liz murmured, "I'm on it. I'll make sure Don has his service weapon on him. Should I have LAPD bring Ben and Maggie here?"

"That's not a bad idea. I'd rather be..."

"...safe than sorry. I'll take care of it. I'll second what Charlie said – take care of yourself, David."

"You too, Liz."

David closed his phone and tried to concentrate on his driving.

--

Liz pressed 'end' and began dialing.

"Liz? What's going on?" Don had stood and was approaching her.

Liz sighed. She glanced from Alan, who was dozing on the couch, to Charlie, who was in an animated conversation with Amita. "David's got a gut feeling that your family and Ben and Maggie are still in danger. Have you got your weapon?"

Don stood and walked to the drawer where he kept his gun. "Do you have someone with Ben and Maggie?"

"Not yet. I'm calling LAPD now to have them bring them here. I figured it would be better to have everyone here together."

Don checked his gun and holstered it. "Good idea."

"Don?" Charlie handed the laptop to Amita and got shakily to his feet. "What's wrong?"

"Hopefully nothing," Don gave Charlie a reassuring smile. "David just has a hunch. We're just taking precautions until Yang is in custody."

Alan stood. "Hunch? What kind of hunch? And what precautions are we taking?"

Don sighed. "Yang Chaoxiang has major criminal connections in LA. David just wants to make sure none of those connections comes after Ben and Maggie."

"Or us," Charlie said softly. Don, I know how to use a gun. I've got my certification..."

"You're right handed, Buddy," Don nodded toward Charlie's sling. "Certification or not, the only weapon you'll be useful with is this one," he added, tapping his temple. "David's overreacting. He's never been lead on a case like this before. Come on. Let's check on that casserole." Don turned and walked toward the kitchen.

"Didn't you set the timer?" Charlie said, following Don.

"Of course I did, Suzy Homemaker. But cooking is not an exact science. The timer may not have gone off yet, but don't you smell that wonderful scent coming from the kitchen?"

"Now that you mention it..." Charlie said as he followed Don through the swinging door. He stared as Don walked past the stove and checked the windows. He glanced back as the door swung shut behind them. "The casserole isn't ready, is it? Are they really coming after us?"

Don turned to face Charlie. "We have no evidence that they are coming after us. But I am not going to take any chances with you and Dad, okay? You've already been through enough because of this damned case."

"It was hard on you, wasn't it?" Charlie gnawed his lower lip.

"Of course it was hard on me. Do you think I'm some kind of cold-blooded ..."

"No! It was an observation, not a question."

"It sounded like a question," Don snarled.

The door opened and both brothers turned. Alan gave them a glare as he walked to the oven. "Are you two fighting again?"

Don gave Charlie one last scowl before pushing past his father. "The fight's over."

Charlie leaned against the counter, absently rubbing his arm.

"What happened?" Alan asked.

Charlie sighed. "I said something I shouldn't have. Don... well, Don is right to be angry at me, and I don't know how to make it right."

"Donnie's under a lot of pressure right now. He's hurting, and, well, he won't admit it, but he's scared. He's not in control, and you know how he hates not being in control."

"So, what do I do?"

"Just wait. Once this is over, you can apologize. Right now, you'll just make him angrier if you even mention it." Alan took two potholders from the drawer and pulled the casserole from the oven. "It was hard on him. And he knows you understand that."

"So why did he blow up?"

Alan shrugged. "He had to blow off steam at someone. Who better than his annoying little brother? You want to set the table?"