CHAPTER FOUR

"What was that?" Colby demanded breathlessly, picking himself up from the floor where he had been shielding Marjolie from the flying glass and wood splinters. He was careful to stay somewhat out of sight of the front of the house.

"Anyone hurt?" Don asked, shaking glass out of his hair.

Everyone replied in the negative, and Don took stock of the damage. The living room had been reduced to bullet-riddled chaos, with holes in the walls and shattered glass. There wasn't an inch of it without some damage. He took a moment to mourn the cabinets and furniture, then shook his head. "I don't think they meant to hit anyone," he said, getting to his feet.

"Don!" Alan exclaimed from where he huddled under the table, "Get down!"

"They're gone, Dad," Don said. He could hear the sounds of police sirens already approaching. That was fast.

"How do you know they didn't mean to hit anyone?" Marjolie asked, shakily getting to her feet with Colby's help.

"They were shooting pretty high," David said. "And with the curtains open they would have easily been able to see us. If they had wanted to hit us, they would have. They definitely used enough bullets."

There was the sound of screeching tires in front of the house, and the sirens were ridiculously loud. Don rolled his eyes. If the shooters had still been in the area, the sirens certainly would have scared them off by now.

"I'll go take care of the LEO's," David said, motioning to the front door.

"Here, Dad," Don said, helping his father to his feet and guiding him toward a chair. Alan was pale and a bit too shaky for Don's liking. Not that he wasn't shaking himself. That had come out of nowhere, and had scared the daylights out of him. Don turned to look for Lauren, who had gotten to her feet as well and was brushing off her skirt. The remains of their dinner were all over the floor.

"Are you ok?" he asked, touching her arm lightly.

She smiled bravely. "None the worse for wear, darling. You?"

"Fine," Don said, relieved that everyone appeared to have survived without a scratch. Whoever had shot at them definitely had meant to miss. You don't fire that many bullets and not hit your target once.

The next few hours were spent being interviewed by the local police, then again by the FBI, and having to sit and watch the CSIs roam through the house and the surrounding property looking for evidence and collecting a few hundred bullets and shell-casings. It appeared they were shot at from the comfort of a car. Mrs. Jones across the street had seen a dark SUV parked in front of the house for a few minutes before the shooting had started. Once it had begun, however, she had been smart and hid in her house. She hadn't taken note of a licence plate, nor was she sure what make or model of car it was.

The police gladly handed over the case to the FBI, and they in turn assured Don they would make the case their number one priority. In the mean-time, they would need to find another place to stay, as the house was a crime-scene for now.

Don didn't want to let his father or Lauren out of his sight. The small group agreed to meet at Colby's apartment in an hour to figure out what to do next. Don, Lauren and Alan packed a few things and hung around the house for a little bit before setting off in Don's SUV. They were the last to arrive at the apartment.

"Any ideas?" Colby asked. It was clear the shooting had been the topic of conversation between himself and David and Marjolie, and Don didn't doubt they had a few theories.

Don shook his head. "Charlie?" he said. "Maybe, I don't know. He's supposed to be in Prague. He's not supposed to be doing anything dangerous. But I don't see any other reason why someone would shoot up the house."

"But if they could see us, they would have known Charlie wasn't there," Marjolie said. She was curled up on Colby's couch with a blanket wrapped around her. "But if someone is after him again, it would explain why someone's been following me."

Don took out his cell and dialed Charlie's number. After a few rings it went to voicemail. "Charlie, call me as soon as you get this," Don said abruptly before hanging up. He glanced at the clock. It was 10 pm. What time did that make it in Prague? 4am? He flipped open his phone again and left Charlie another message.

"Are you going to keep calling until he answers?" Lauren asked with a smile, sitting down beside Marjolie.

"That's the plan," Don said, dialing the number again.

"What?" came Charlie's groggy response.

"Charlie? It's Don." Don said, caught slightly off-guard that his brother had actually answered the phone.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Charlie demanded, not sounding very awake. "What's wrong?" he asked a moment later. "Is Dad ok?"

"Yeah, Dad's fine. Your house on the other hand…"

"What happened?" Charlie asked, sounding somewhat panicked.

"Someone shot up the house, Charlie. No one's hurt," Don added quickly. "But the damage is pretty extensive. Are you really in Prague?"

"Yes I'm in Prague," came the indignant response. "Hold on a second." The phone was put down for a moment and Don could hear movement and muffled voices. He tried to make out the conversation between Charlie and who he guessed was Anna. He couldn't make anything out though, and a moment later Charlie had picked up the phone again. "Where are you?" Charlie asked breathlessly.

"At Colby's for now," Don replied.

"Who's with you?"

"Uh, Dad, Lauren, David, Colby and Marjolie," Don said. "You should probably know that someone's been following Marjolie," Don added.

There was another moment of silence and Charlie muttered a few words that were not in English.

"Charlie?" Don questioned.

"Yeah, hold on, I'm thinking," Charlie replied. "I don't know who… I'm in Prague, Don, really. We haven't worked any projects since I've been back."

"Ok, well, I don't think it's someone that's after me," Don said slowly. "What point would there be of following Marjolie around?"

"What about Colby?" Charlie asked. Don could hear muffled voices in the background. Anna was talking to someone.

"I suppose someone could be after Colby because of the whole Chinese thing," Don admitted. He looked at Colby, who was shaking his head adamantly. "Hold on a second." He lowered the phone and looked at Colby questioningly.

"Don, that was more than a year ago," Colby said. "I doubt very much that they're after me now, after all this time."

Don nodded and held the phone up to his ear again. "Colby doesn't think it's anyone after him," he reported.

"Ok," Charlie said uncertainly. "Ok, I'm going to check around on a few things, and I'll call you back, ok? Maybe you could all stay put for now? Until we know what's going on? At least don't let Dad out of your sight."

Don could hear the worry in Charlie's voice. "Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem. I've been put on leave. We all have been because of the whole fraud case thing."

"Oh," Charlie replied, suddenly sounding careful. "I'm sorry. I'll call you back." Charlie hung up the phone and Don stared at it a moment before closing it.

"What did he say?" Alan asked. "Is he ok?"

"Of course he's ok," Don snapped. "He's not the one who got shot at. He swears he's in Prague and hasn't a clue who would shoot up the house."

"You don't sound like you believe him," Alan accused.

Don shrugged. "I believe him. At least about the Prague part. I don't know what to think at the moment, really." He dropped down onto the couch beside Lauren. "This is a bit unbelievable. Someone just shot up my house."

Everyone was silent for a few moments. "We should call a hotel or something," Lauren said. "We'll need a place to stay for a few days, and we can't exactly all stay here."

"You're welcome to," Colby offered. "But it will be a bit crowded."

"Charlie wants us to stay together," Don said, jumping slightly when his phone rang. He answered it.

"Everything still ok?" Charlie asked worriedly on the other end.

"Yeah, we're all fine," Don answered testily.

"Good. I'm not exactly sure how secure this line is, with everything that's going on," Charlie began. "I'm sending two people to pick you all up and take you to a safe house, just until we can figure out what's going on."

"You can't expect everyone to just drop everything and go to a safehouse," Don said.

"Don, I have no idea what's going on," Charlie said. "But I saw pictures of the house-"

"How did you see pictures of the house?" Don asked.

"Anna hacked the FBI database. Without knowing what's going on, any one of you could be the intended target, Don. You know that. Why not go somewhere safe? At least while we figure something out. I'm coming back on the next flight-"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Don interrupted. "It's got to be you they're after. Maybe it's safer where you are?"

"Yeah, except if they're listening in on our phone conversation, they will already know where I am," Charlie reminded him. "And that means I have to go somewhere. Anyway, I don't want to name names, but you remember some of the people I mentioned about when I was away?"

"Yeah," Don said.

"Good. They're coming to get you. Just sit tight for a bit."

The call was disconnected again and Don sighed. "They're taking us to a safehouse," he told everyone else.

"Who is?" Colby asked.

"Charlie's people," Don said with a shrug. "Until they figure out what's going on."