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 EIGHTEEN

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Sitting in the interrogation room with the blinds drawn, isolated from everything, the time seemed to drag interminably. The last thing he'd seen was Charlie standing outside the conference room staring at him. It was a relief, almost, when Don's phone finally rang. Wachowski was instantly alert, taking a step closer to the table where Don sat.

Don pulled his phone from his belt, flipped it open to answer the call, pressing the speaker button as he did so. He placed the phone carefully on the table top. "Eppes."

The voice coming from the cell was not electronically distorted. It was Telford, showing his arrogance and confidence. "Is this monitored?"

"No."

"I see you survived."

"No thanks to you." Don said bitterly.

"Zuheen is reacting as we planned. You will be seen again. Be at the mall for nine o'clock. You better hurry to make it."

It was just before 8:30, what Telford wanted was impossible. By the time the message was passed through the JTTF and Don was on the road the deadline would have passed. He tried to explain that, then added: "After that shot I don't think they will go for it."

"Tell them Zuheen will detonate a bomb if you are not there by 9:30."

"What do you want me to say this time?"

"I don't care, make something up. You know what you have to do, and why." Telford hung up.

Don left the phone where it was as Wachowski made his own call. A few minutes later they were joined by Barnathan and Merrick.

"Out of the question." Merrick said when Don had relayed Telford's orders.

"Is everything ready? Is the mall safe yet?" Don demanded.

"Nearly, but not yet." Merrick started. "Your team is organising the final stages."

"Then we still have to play along for now." Don argued. "You'll have to pass the demand through Ryder anyway and he'll okay it."

"Ryder's in a conference call with our Directors. He's only just started and I imagine he'll be busy for a little longer. I don't think we'll interrupt him." Barnathan stated. "But I agree with you. We'll have to move on this new demand as normal and take this to the JTTF. ADIC Merrick will act in Ryder's stead. They will make the decision. What's the message going to be?"

Don made something up, scribbling it out on the back of a piece of paper Merrick provided. It was virtually a repeat of the last message and the two men left.

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Megan was in the AV lab with Charlie. David and Colby were getting ready for their own task, hidden away in another office on a different floor with Merrick and Barnathan.

"Reeves to DHS One, sit-rep." She called over the hand held radio on a DHS frequency. This was mostly going to be done under the FBI's radar, only their group and those already involved in the AV section were involved. The room they were currently in was locked and the surveillance camera blinded on Merrick's orders. If it were noted the security supervisor had a fault recorded on her log. Everyone else involved in the operation were from external agencies. The JTTF, as a whole had not been consulted either. That was going to cause some problems later, but that hardly mattered now.

"DHS One, ready." A small contingent of DHS agents and a large contingent of LAPD SWAT and bomb disposal officers were currently holding in the rear of a store. They had broken in a short time earlier, using the store to conceal their location and were finalising their preparations to move. The store was located adjacent to a small block house that contained two large metal doors that revealed a tunnel. DWP had opened the doors an hour or so ago and a SWAT officer had been able to confirm that their blue prints were correct, they had access. Megan had received the confirmation a short time after Don had been taken to the interrogation room after revealing his whole story.

"Reeves to DHS Two, sit-rep."

"DHS Two, ready." This was a second team comprising DHS agents, LAPD SWAT and bomb disposal. A second set of metal doors had been opened by DWP and a second access point confirmed. They were holding in an underground parking lot.

"Reeves to DHS Three, sit-rep."

"DHS Three, ready."

"Reeves to DHS Four, sit-rep."

"DHS Four, ready." These two units were at the two cell phone towers they had identified as critical to their plan. Each had also been broken into and there were going to be small simultaneous explosions set off by a bomb technician at each one. There was no time to get warrants and have the phone companies cooperate with them. The phone companies were just going to have to pick up the pieces afterwards. Reimbursement for damages from the US Government would probably help.

"Charlie?" Megan then asked directly, the math professor still looked a little wrung out from the phone call from Alan. She'd overheard him trying to convince their father that Don was alright. She resolutely closed off those thoughts, she had an operation to run.

Charlie was in a huddle surrounded by technicians all checking and re-checking the data feeds and preparing the recorded material. The field units were all in place and had been gathering data for a couple of hours now. At Megan's command the data feeds would be reversed and the recorded material broadcast in a stronger signal to override the real feed. The lead technician made a 'thumbs up' gesture. "We're ready."

"Hold for our go." Megan said into the radio before dialling a number to inform her contact that they were ready.

"Good." ADIC Merrick said. "Stand-by."

Megan waited, impatient as a few more minutes ticked by. When it came she was relieved and worried at the same time. They were taking action but it was going to be very dangerous, not just for the teams in the field or the people in the mall, but for Don as well.

"All DHS units." Megan sent. "Execute, execute, execute."

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Colby and David were set up in an office on the floor above Megan and Charlie. They had to be quiet as they were concealed close to their target. They had their vests on, as did Wachowski and they were all watching as the tech finished with Don. Barnathan and Merrick were also waiting.

Merrick's phone rang, the only sound was the phone buzzing on vibrate mode. "Merrick. … Good. … Stand-by."

"Everything is in place." Merrick said softly. "It's all up to you now."

"I'm ready." Don said, picking up the folder from the table. The same folder he'd shown them earlier. "Let's do this." He headed for the door.

Merrick raised his phone. "Reeves, it's a go."

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A/N: Short, I know, but this is where I needed to put a break. But as a consolation, read on…