Disclaimer – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

CHAPTER THREE

-100-1111-1110-

Don was pulled to his feet and taken out of the room. Another ride in the lift then the smells of exhaust fumes and warm engines told him they were back in the garage. He felt hands at this head unwrapping the blindfold followed by hands at his wrists unlocking the handcuffs. Once his hands were free he carefully pulled the tape from his eyelids and opened his eyes, absently rubbing his sore wrists.

They were back next to the SUV. Telford, minus the hat, was standing in front of him holding out his cuffs. Luke was nowhere to be seen. Don took back his handcuffs, placing them into their pouch on his belt.

"Get in." Telford once again held out the keys.

"Where are we going?" Don asked getting in and starting the engine.

"Back to the mall, to your SUV."

Don drove back, trying to find the quickest way. LA traffic was never good but today it was almost impossible. Traffic was nearly as bad as peak hour. Don blinked in surprise when he saw the time. It was nearly 1:00pm. People everywhere were headed out to take care of last minute shopping. Finally the mall came into sight and Don joined the queue of vehicles trying to enter the parking lot. Once on the internal ring road Don headed towards the eastern side of the building where he had parked. Upon reaching the correct row he went to turn in but a man in a mall security uniform stepped in front of him. Don stopped and wound down the window.

"All full here buddy. Keep it moving." The guard said, sounding as if he'd said the same thing hundreds of time today and probably had.

Don reached into his pocket and pulled out his badge and ID. "Federal agent. Let us through."

"Sorry sir." The guard stepped back. "Anything I should know about?"

"We can handle it." Don assured the man. "We'll call if we need you."

He started to drive on but the guard held up a hand. He pulled out a card and handed it over. "That's our direct number."

"Thanks." Don pocketed the card along with his ID. It was going to come in handy soon.

Don drove carefully down the row, avoiding shoppers too burdened with purchases to be watching where they were walking. After a near collision with a pick-up that suddenly reversed out of a parking space, Don stopped just shy of his black SUV.

Telford reached inside his jacket twice, first pulling out Don's cell phone then his Glock. Of the two items Don wanted the cell phone more. He almost snatched it in his eagerness, flipping it open and starting to dial 911. Telford's hand closed over his before he'd dialled the first '1' preventing him from dialling further.

"You said I could call it in." Don protested.

"And you shall." Telford replied. "First things first." The Glock was still lying on his palm. He hefted it towards Don indicating that the agent should take it.

Don took back his weapon cautiously. He checked it carefully, then once satisfied that all was in order he reinserted the magazine and awkwardly holstered the gun. Belt holsters were not designed to be accessed whilst sitting, and were especially difficult in a vehicle.

Telford then pulled a small box from his outside jacket pocket. He extended the small aerial, smiling slightly at the shocked expression on the FBI agent's face. "This is for the secondary explosives. My employer has the primary detonator." He explained.

"There are more bombs?" Don was incredulous. What were these people on?

"Outside all the entrances." Telford was very matter-of-fact. "A demonstration is in order."

Don couldn't help it, he looked back via the rear view mirror at the east entrance visible a short distance away at the end of the row. He watched in silence as mainly women and children entered and exited.

"Call mall security. Have them clear the entrances." Telford ordered, his finger resting on the switch. "They have five minutes."

Don didn't waste time thinking or arguing. He retrieved the security guard's card and dialled the number. Telford reached over pulling Don's hand down, pressing the button to put the cell on speaker-phone as the call connected.

"Security office. North LA mall." The female voice answered.

"This is Special Agent Don Eppes of the FBI. Put me through to the head of security now. This is an emergency."

A few seconds passed then a male voice announced: "Shane Fawcett. What's the emergency?"

"Don Eppes, FBI. I've just received information that there are explosives at the entrances to your mall. You have to clear the area now."

There was a brief silence. "I'm gonna need more than just a voice on the phone before I evacuate the mall. Its two days before Christmas, do you realise how many people are in here?"

Don looked over at Telford. Telford knew what he was thinking and shook his head. There would be no evacuation. Don turned his attention back to the phone. "Have someone call the FBI field office, they'll confirm who I am. There is no time to evacuate. You have to clear those entrances, no one in or out. You have less than four minutes."

"Hold the line, agent."

Don then heard the security officer call out in the background: "Michelle, call the FBI, see if they have an Agent Eppes working there." There was a pause and then: "All security, all security. Code 1, code 1. This is Fawcett." Terse instructions followed. Don turned his gaze back to the rear view mirror. He saw the guard he just spoken to abruptly turn and run to the building entrance.

A crowd started to gather, held back at the entrance by the guard. Don covered the microphone with his other hand. "What's the blast radius?"

Telford glanced dispassionately over his shoulder. "They'll be okay."

"Agent?" Fawcett's voice came from the cell. "Agent, are you there?"

"Yes, Mr Fawcett?"

"I'm having the entrances cleared." He reported. He didn't have any options, he had to take the chance that the threat was real. Regardless of whether Don was really FBI or was the bomber himself. It seemed, though, that he was prepared to believe he was speaking to an FBI agent: "How long before LAPD get here?"

Don looked at Telford for guidance. When there was no reaction he answered: "I'm about the call them. I only just got the intel."

"Tell them to hurry. If this happens I'm going to have over two thousand panicking people in here." Fawcett broke off the connection.

Don immediately dialled 911. It would be quicker to get units rolling by calling LAPD dispatch directly rather than going through FBI control.

"911."

Don identified himself. "I've just received information that bombs have been placed at the North LA mall. I've notified mall security. I need units to assist at the mall."

"Rolling units and bomb disposal." The dispatcher stated calmly, nothing much fazed them. "Is there a deadline?"

"Any moment now."

"Shift supervisor being advised." The dispatcher stated. "Agent, what is your location?"

Telford reached across and pressed the end button on the cell. "Good." He held up the remote and without hesitation flipped the switch.

Don couldn't help it, he lunged for Telford's hand but was too late. The sound of multiple explosions froze him in place as the other man dropped the now useless device. The sounds of screams galvanised Don into action, he reefed open the door and started to fling himself out of the SUV. A hand on his right forearm jerked him to a stop.

"Let me go!" Don demanded. His attention was on the eastern entranceway, now obscured by smoke. People were running away. He thought he could see blood on some of them.

Telford started to speak rapidly. "We have the mall under surveillance. We also have the bombs under surveillance. No one in, no one out. No interference with the bombs if they are located by security. Remember the target is Zuheen. Any deviation from the plan and we detonate a primary bomb."

"I have a scene to control and an investigation to start." Don said tightly through clenched teeth. He refused to look at Telford as he continued to watch the chaos near the building. The smoke was starting to clear. There did not appear to be any major structural damage. The restraining hand released him.

Don slid out and ran to his SUV. He unlocked it, threw his coat inside and pulled out the jacket emblazoned with the yellow letters 'FBI'. He turned his attention to his phone and did not see the white SUV pull away. He hit the speed dial and was answered by FBI control as he hurried to the entrance.

"This is Eppes, 3695. Terrorist alert. All response units to the North LA mall. Bombs have already been detonated, more in place. Up to two thousand hostages. I'm on the scene. LEO's notified and en-route. EMTs required urgently, multiple casualties. Inform Homeland Security, bomber is Zuheen." Don said tersely before he snapped the phone closed. He had reached the debris field.

The area was a mess, shattered glass and fragments of metal with rubbish everywhere. He looked towards what appeared to be the epicentre and saw the base of a round structure he recognised as a trash bin. He remembered seeing it when he had gone into the mall. The bins were hidden tastefully inside decorated metal cylinders. The bomb must have been inside the bin. He assumed that the same must have happened at other entrances to the mall based on the multiple detonations he had heard.

He found the security guard he's spoken to a few minutes before. The guard had some cuts and his shirt was ripped but he appeared to be generally okay. Don approached him and offered his help.

The guard looked at him without recognition. "Get out of here man, a bomb just went off. There might be more."

"I know. I'm FBI, remember?" Don said taking the man's arm to centre him. "I've got emergency services rolling. LAPD are on their way."

The guard finally recognised him, looking at the agent with relief. "I don't know what to do. We're not trained for this."

Don looked around, saw some wounded sitting over near the base of the wall. They looked like they had been told to sit there. He saw the elderly man that the guard was kneeling beside, a bag under his head as a cushion. "We keep doing exactly what you're already doing. Let's help these people here. EMTs will be here soon."

Don and the guard went from person to person assessing injuries and making them comfortable. Don was thankful to see that most of the injuries were minor, mostly cuts from pieces of metal and flying glass as the bomb shattered the glass doors at the entry way. The guard had done a good job of keeping people back. A little boy was the worst injured with a broken arm and some burns. He must have been the closest to the bin when it went up. He knelt beside the boy who was pale and crying.

A woman was cradling the boy. "He was just going to put rubbish in the bin. It exploded!" She told him in shock.

Don's anger burned steadily. This was not just about Telford threatening and terrorising him, nor was it about innocent shoppers unknowingly being hostages to his cooperation. People, innocent people, had now been hurt unnecessarily. Don had surrendered himself, had agreed to follow their instructions. This demonstration was wholly unneeded. These people, Don looked at the boy and his mother he was kneeling beside, this boy should not have been hurt.

Don forced himself to move on, but mercifully there were no more injured. Many shoppers had run away in shock, those still in the vicinity were dazed. After they rounded them up Don sent the group with the guard over to the side of the entrance, to where the other injured were sitting.

Don went back over to the remains of the bin. He checked to see if there were any remaining explosives. Failing to find any he started a quick inspection of the garden beds lining the entrance way. Again he found no more suspicious items. The background noise finally filtered through his mind. He looked at what was left of the entrance, seeing inside the building. A guard was standing there trying to hold back a sea of people wanting to get outside. Fortunately they were also mostly in shock, not yet fully determined to approach the damaged area. There were some more injured people inside but mindful of Telford's warning Don made no move to go to them.

Don grabbed his phone and scrolled back to the security office number. He pressed 'send'.

"Security!" Fawcett's stressed voice answered.

"Eppes, FBI." Don said.

"We've got to evacuate. The bombs have gone off, it must be safe now."

"No!" Don said forcefully. He couldn't risk it. Everything else that Telford had told him had been truth. He had no doubt that the mall was being surveilled and that if he allowed people to exit then an internal bomb would be detonated before the area could be cleared. "You have emergency shutters. Lock it down."

"What!"

Don had seen the steel shutters still sitting flush in their tracks above the entrance. With them closed the guards would not be fighting a losing battle against the crowd. "Close the shutters. There are more bombs inside. If anyone gets out they go off."

Fawcett swore with feeling. A few seconds later there was a rattling noise and Don looked up to see the shutters descending.

There was a unified cry of protest from the people Don could see inside. Don stepped out into the middle of the entrance. "FBI! Everybody, stay back!" He yelled. He saw some recognise the letters on his jacket and the cries died down.

The shutters finally stopped. A small amount of debris had been trapped in the track but only enough to stop the shutters a inch or so off the concrete floor.

"Deploy your men to the fire exits. Get maintenance to lock the service exits." Don instructed trying to cover all the escape routes.

"It's gonna get real ugly in here." Fawcett warned.

"I know. We'll do everything we can to get you all out. But for now you must keep everyone in." Don told him then realised the phone had gone dead, Fawcett had hung up.

A hand touched his arm. "Are you Agent Eppes?"