Part V
"They took Don?" Charlie felt his legs give up under him and he sank down onto a chair.
"And AD Wright." Added Merrick. He had been called in as soon as Wright had been reported missing.
The professor didn't answer but his face clearly showed that the AD wasn't exactly his main concern at the moment. He knew he should be ashamed to feel that way but frankly he didn't really care. Right now, all he wanted was his brother back.
"The vehicles they used were reported stolen this morning. I put a trace on the van but so far, nothing. Forensics are working on the car they left in the parking lot but I'd be surprised if they find any evidence. How far along in your analysis are you, Charlie?"
Charlie started and looked at David. "Uh, the computer is still processing." He replied almost apologetically.
"We must act quickly. I don't think they're planning to let them live." Merrick stated, impatiently.
Charlie shot off his chair. "Don't you think I know that?" He was painfully aware that his brother's life might be hanging on his findings. He didn't need anybody to remind him. If he had entered the wrong info or made a mistake in the algorithm... No, no, he didn't want to think of it. It had to be right; there was no time to double-guess himself anymore. "I should get something on Harper very soon." Hopefully.
Colby nodded. "We definitely need to focus on him. Guys like him don't like to change their MO. I've just read some of his reports and I noticed that he always kept his 'witnesses', as he called them, in abandoned buildings containing a cold store."
"Cold stores?" Charlie asked, surprised.
Colby made a face. "Yeah. He didn't explain why and I'm not sure I wanna know." He enumerated on his fingers, "There was one old abattoir, two frozen food warehouses, even a cryogenics research lab. Each place had shut down only few days before he used it." He shook his head slowly. "The guy is very well informed and inventive; he never uses the same place twice." He remembered something else. "They were also located in outlying areas."
Merrick glared at Colby suspiciously. "How did you get these reports? All his operations with the CIA were classified."
"I didn't steal them if that's what you're implying. I still have some good contacts within the Agency, believe it or not. I followed normal procedure and that's the reason it took so long to have access to them." The young agent looked at Merrick, defiantly. "No one from our side seemed eager to help us and I wonder why?"
The AD screwed his eyes, not liking the obvious insolence in the agent's tonebut said nothing.
"Colby, I'll need the list of the places he used before. That'll narrow down the possibilities. There shouldn't be so many deserted cold stores around LA." He stopped and thought aloud. "Maybe I should ask Dad. He might be able to help us on this."
Merrick closed his eyes and sighed. No, not the father? He could hardly handle both brothers!
"I don't think that'll be necessary, Professor." He said, as kindly as possible.
"My father was a city planner." Insisted Charlie. "He knows LA and its surroundings like the back of his hand and I believe-"
"I don't care what you believe! I don't want another Epp... civilian on this case. Do I make myself clear?"
A little taken aback, Charlie was about to object when David put his hand on his arm and shook his head.
Ignoring Merrick's outburst, Colby handed a sheet of paper to the professor. "I knew you'd ask for it. This is the complete list and some details about the places that I thought might be useful. But most buildings have been destroyed since then, you know."
Charlie almost snatched the list from Colby's grip, before sitting back in front of his computer. "That's good. It doesn't matter."
David's cell phone rang. "Sinclair… You have? Great job! We're on our way." He flipped his phone shut and motioned quickly towards the door. "LAPD have located the van. Harper abandoned it three blocks away."
"They knew you'd be searching for it. Their only option was to change the vehicle rapidly." The professor said.
"He probably had another one ready, waiting for them. He planned every detail." Colby agreed.
The two agents were already outside the meeting room when Charlie called out to them. "Wait! I'm coming with you."
Colby turned around. "Charlie, it'd be better if you stayed here. Your computer-" he started.
"I can take it with me."
"Uh, I don't think you'll be allowed…" David trailed off
Everybody looked at Merrick expectantly. Reluctantly, he replied in a breath. "Okay, go ahead." Then he added quickly "Sinclair, he is your responsibility."
"Yes, Sir."
Charlie promptly disconnected his laptop and, holding it tightly against him with both hands, ran behind the two agents.
--
A few minutes later, the suburban stopped in a narrow backstreet, followed moments later by the forensics team. Lt Walker and four policemen were waiting for them near the van. Charlie approached, his eyes riveted on the vehicle. One of the back doors was open and the Lieutenant pushed it shut. Charlie's heart started to pound franticly. Walker didn't want him to see what was inside. Was it his brother? Oh God! His brother with a bullet between the eyes like the other victims? He ran the last few meters separating him from the van and reached out to open the door. Horrified, one of the CSI agents started to shout but Colby reacted quickly and pulled Charlie back.
"Don't touch anything. You're going to contaminate the scene!"
Charlie yanked his hand away. "What's inside?" As soon as he asked, he realised he wasn't so sure he wanted to know.
"The van is empty but we found blood." Walker admitted.
Charlie's stomach churned "Don's." he whispered.
"We don't know that yet." David replied softly. "Forensics have just arrived. Let them do their job before jumping to conclusions."
The professor nodded absently, thinking; Don had to be alive; hurt –maybe seriously- but alive. Harper would've gotten rid of his brother if he'd been dead. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he noticed a eHe aaaaaaaacamera fixed on the side of a building nearby. He pointed at it. "Look! Maybe they recorded something." He turned to the agents, excited. "If we know what car they took, we might also be able to track their route using the ITS; you know, the traffic surveillance system."
Walker looked warily at the device. From where he stood, it didn't look in very good condition. He gestured to one of his men. "See if we can get a tape or something. That is, if the cam works of course." He muttered to himself.
"Professor," called one of the policemen standing near the suburban. "Your laptop is beeping."
Charlie whipped around and ran back to the SUV. He had left his computer on the back seat to let it carry on its processing. Beeping meant a result. Things were moving, at last!
--
Don groaned and reached for his head but a hand grabbed his and held it down.
"Don't. Your head is messy enough. No need to make it worse."
Don recognised the voice and for a second, he wondered what his boss was talking about. Then everything came back to him in a flash, including his headache.
"Are you alright, Sir?" He managed to say.
"Much better than you, it seems."
Without opening his eyes, Don tried to sit up. Wright put a hand on his shoulder to keep him still.
"Don't move. He hit you rather hard. You probably have a concussion this time."
Don forced his eyes open to glance at his watch but the room started to spin and he quickly closed his eyes.
"How long I've been out?" He asked instead.
"Almost an hour. I started to worry to be honest. At last, you're not bleeding anymore."
"Bleeding?" Don frowned slightly.
"Your head." Then the AD asked, alarmed. "You don't remember what happened?"
The younger man lifted his hand and carefully touched his forehead then the side of his head. Dried blood was now covering most of the butterfly plasters and his hair above his right ear.
"Oh! Don't worry, I do" He tried again to open his eyes. His head was still swimming but it seemed to settle down. So, very slowly, he looked around, moving his head only when necessary. They were in an empty room, the windows were obstructed by metallic shutters but the lights were on.
"I don't know where we are," explained Wright before the agent could ask. "They blindfolded me."
Don lifted his hand to look at his watch: 3.30pm. Yes, they'd been gone for over an hour. Right, time to take stock: headache? Oh yeah! Definitely - Nausea? No - Dizziness? Yes but being knocked out twice in the same day tends to do that to a man – Sight? Not blurry, back to normal. Alright, 2 symptoms out of 4; with any luck I don't have a concussion, he thought ever so optimistic. He decided to sit up.
"Eppes, I don't think that's a good idea-" started Wright.
"I'm fine, Sir. Honestly." He managed to lean awkwardly against the wall. His head seemed to weight a ton. He tried to shift in a more comfortable position but couldn't hold back a short moan when his body protested vigorously against the abuse it had suffered all day.
"I'm truly sorry, Eppes." Wright said in a sad voice.
Don looked at him intensely then finally asked. "Why did you follow Harper? One word from you and he was captured. You couldn't be in a safer place than at the Bureau."
"Safer?" the AD snorted. "What about the bomb this morning?"
"That's not the same." Don retorted. "Harper acted as if he knew you wouldn't resist him despite having hundred of agents around. Anyone could've taken him easily."
Wright shook his head. "I didn't want to risk anybody's life." He said, avoiding Don's look.
Don pursed his lips and considered the other man, warily. The explanation sounded a bit thin to him. He knew the AD had been hiding something since the very beginning of this investigation. He would get to the bottom of it later. For now, there were more urgent things to do than arguing. "We need to get out of here."
Wright gestured towards the door. "Well, the door is pretty thick. The lock... hmm, I've never been very good at picking them anyway. As for the shutters, they're secured from outside."
That's encouraging."Right, seems our best option is the lock then."
Don stood up slowly using the wall, found he was rather steady despite a splitting headache and walked a bit stiffly to the door. Very quickly, he realised that the lock was one of these fancy security ones that even locksmiths couldn't force open. The only solution would be to drill through it, and since they had no drill...
Don went back to sit down next to Wright, put his arms around his knees and carefully rested his head on them.
"Oh! Don't look so discouraged, gentlemen."
Don and Wright lifted their heads, trying to locate the voice. They soon noticed a small camera next to the light bulb.
Wright stood up angrily and looked straight at the camera. "What do you want, Jack?"
"Well, we have an unfinished business, you and me, Philip." The Ghost replied, emphasizing on the AD's first name. Don couldn't quite decide whether it was sarcasm, anger or something else.
"Exactly, you and me. You didn't need to kill those people, or put a bomb at the Bureau," He waved towards Don. "Or take Eppes."
"Ah! There, I plead non-guilty. He gave me no choice."
"No choice? Oh come on! You could've left him in the parking lot."
"True," The Ghost seemed to really enjoy himself. "But I thought it could make the situation more interesting. You seem to care for him and his team. That's a change."
Wright stiffened. "You want to use him as leverage?"
"You said it, I didn't. But now you mentioned it... " Harper trailed off
"Bastard! This is between you and me. Don't take it out on innocent people."
"Innocent?" Harper replied calmly. "I don't think anyone working for the FBI or the CIA can be qualified as "innocent". And from what I saw in the parking lot, Eppes is anything but harmless and defenceless. As for you, Wright, don't worry, we'll have plenty of opportunities to talk."
The two prisoners remained silent, waiting for an explanation. When it was clear that Harper had gone, Wright got up and started to pace to and fro.
Don watched him for a minute then said. "Why do I have the feeling that you didn't tell us everything about your history with that guy?"
Wright stopped, looked at Don and sighed. "There are a few things I did that I wish I hadn't, Eppes."
"Well, we all have our share of regrets, Sir. Especially with the kind of job we do."
"Yes, I know, but..." Wright sat next to the agent. Resting his head against the wall, he looked up at the ceiling.
"Don't you think I deserve the truth?" Insisted Don. "At least, I'll fight on equal ground."
Wright glanced at the agent sideways and half-smiled. He liked the younger agent and his straight-forward attitude. Sure, he was a bit stubborn, quick-tempered and didn't always play by the book, but he knew he could trust him. Granted that, would he understand? That wasn't so certain. But since the agent was in the middle of this mess because of him, he owed him an explanation.
"Yes. I guess that's the least I could do, hmm?" He took a deep breath, looked briefly at Don then straight in front of him and started. "As I told you, I've known Jack Harper for a long time..."
--
The two agents, the Lieutenant and the professor rushed through the bullpen. The computer had finally produced a map of the possible locations where Harper might be holding his hostages, and they were more than impatient to work on it. As they approached the meeting room, they saw Liz and Merrick in the middle of an animated conversation. Merrick's face hardened when the four men came into the room. "Shut the door." He ordered bluntly.
Obediently, Colby closed the door behind him.
Liz said, furious. "With all due respect Sir, I don't care what Wright did or didn't do during that operation. What matters is Don's life... and Wright's too."
Colby looked at Liz. "What's going on?"
She waved the file she was holding. "It looks like a little detail about Harper was left out." She said, looking at Merrick squarely.
Merrick didn't reply and stared at her in defiance and stubborness.
"What detail?" asked Charlie and David in unison.
"That the Ghost is Wright's half brother."