Maybe Then Someday
by
Numb3rsfan
Chapter Four: The Video
Don was back in his office at the FBI going over what little evidence they had collecting while he waited for a call back from the labs. David and Colby had found a wood chip with what looked like blood on it and now he was waiting for the DNA results from the wood chip; if indeed it was blood. He hoped that the blood wasn't Charlie's but the perpetrator's; left behind by accident.
It had been six hours since he had talked with his father and in that span of time they had nothing new to go on; no leads, no eye witnesses...nothing except the wood chip. Don was inwardly angry at this; he wanted to be out looking for his brother but he had no idea where to look; no his instincts told him he had to stay put; wait for the results.
"Don, this was dropped off an hour ago, addressed to you."
Looking up Don saw that David held a sealed manila envelope in his hands. The envelope was rather large but besides that it was unremarkable. The top was sealed with packaging tape but Don was quickly able to cut it away with his pocket knife. Opening up the envelope Don peeked in and saw a burnable CD/DVD in a see through case. Turning the envelope upside down, Don caught the case as it fell out.
The CD/DVD was plain, a simple gray CD/DVD but on the front, written in blue permanent marker were the words 'Play Me.'
Curiously Don put the DVD in to his computer and once the computer recognized the disc and brought up the Auto Play menu, Don selected the preloaded DVD Player program. The disc in the driver spun and spun, causing the DVD Player program's main screen to go blank before it finally loaded. What Don saw when the screen changed took his breath away. It was a medical facility...or a morgue perhaps but the one thing he was focused on was the body strapped to a metal gurney.
"Charlie..." Don whispered. He watched his baby brother strain at the ropes that were holding him down; so obviously having a seizure. To be able to see this and do nothing...it tore at Don's heart. He hated to see Charlie in so much pain and not be able to do a thing about it.
Charlie's pain filled cry filled the speakers that were on the sides of Don's computer. Don resisted the urge to reach out towards the screen. He knew it would do no good and he couldn't let himself get out of control; not yet...not yet. He needed to stay strong; stay in FBI mode...for Charlie's sake.
Suddenly a voice came over the speakers. The voice wasn't altered in any way which to Don was a little odd. Normal people would mask their voice if they didn't want to be identified.
"Agent Eppes...I have your brother and if you ever want to see him alive again you will do as I say." The faceless person then began to rattle off a list of demands but none of them included money. All he wanted was Don at a predetermined place at a predetermined time; alone and unarmed.
"Don I know what you are thinking. You can't do what this guy wants. There's no guarantee that he'll let Charlie go if you go to this address." David said. He knew his boss would more than likely want to go to the address the faceless man gave but it wasn't safe. All they had was this man's word that he would release Charlie and right now that man's word didn't even mean shit to them!
"I know that David, that's why I am going to have the place scoped out before I get there. I don't want this man to get away from us...whomever he is. He's the only one that knows where Charlie is." Don said.
Approaching footsteps caused Don to look towards the elevator. He saw Megan and Colby followed by Special Agent Marcus Franklin. Marcus had been on vacation for the last two weeks and today was his first day back.
"Boss, Colby and Megan filled me in on what happened to Charlie. I am sorry man." Marcus told Don. Inwardly Marcus was grinning like a Cheshire cat. He knew exactly where Charlie was and exactly what was being done to him but he wasn't going to tell Don this; oh no! He didn't want to bare the wrath that was Agent Don Eppes!
Don rose from his seat and held out a hand towards Marcus. As Marcus reached forward and clasped Don's hand, Don noticed a rather large bandage on Marcus' hand. There was a small dab of blood that appeared in the middle of the bandage; the wound obviously still bleeding.
"What happened man?" Don asked, gesturing to the bandage. Marcus looked down at his hand before shrugging his shoulders, acting like it was nothing.
"Nothing man, just scratched my hand on some broken glass last night. I was at home, glass slipped and broke and I cut myself while trying to clean it up; no biggie." Marcus said.
Don took another look at the bandage and began to wonder how one cut the top of their hand with glass. He was drawn out of his musings when the phone on his desk rang. Picking it up Don placed the receiver to his ear before saying "Eppes." into it. He waited several moments before nodding and saying thank you to whomever was on the other end.
After hanging up he said, "That was the labs. They are still working on the DNA results but they have confirmed that the blood isn't Charlie's, mine or my father's. They also say that it's relatively fresh; no more than 24 to 48 hours old."
"Don."
Don nodded at Colby who had just spoken up. Colby handed Don a print out satellite photo of the address listed in the video.
"It's an abandoned research facility once owned by the government for a project that called itself Genesis. Not much is known about the facility or Genesis, besides the fact that they were doing research on humans and unnatural abilities." Colby said.
Once seeing the photo, Don had a very strong feeling that Charlie was there. He had to be...right?
"Alright let's go check this place out. Agent Franklin you are with Megan and I. David and Colby I want you to try to find another entrance. If this isn't where Charlie is, we can still nab the person who made this video if he shows up. Alright, let's move." Don ordered.