A/N: Hi, this is a corrected version of chapter 9. Thanks to starfishyeti for devoting so much time in beta-reading.
And thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing my story.
The stalker
by elessar73
*** 9. chapter: Searching for clues***
A soft summer rain fell down. Mary watched the raindrops run down the window leaving tracks on the windshield.
Her hands reached for her face. Absent mindedly she rubbed away the wet traces her tears had left just minutes ago.
Mary was beyond tears now. She had no tears left to cry. She felt dry and burned out. Her body was hollow form waiting for the final breakdown.
She stared numbly at the outside hoping to find a way out of her dilemma. And as time went by the floods of rain found its way to her mind, washing away all of the sadness. With a jerk Mary´s body woke up back to life. The rain had swept away her sinister thoughts of failure. And a newly born energy ran through her body when pictures of Charlie appeared again in her dazed mind. She knew what to do.
She stood in front of her mirror to check her appearance. The swelling on her forehead had started to subside. The cut was still visible, but she was sure that she could cover it up with make-up.
Her green eyes windened with excitement. Mary smiled nervously. Her dream would finally come true. She was looking forward to see Charlie...today.
For a short moment madness flickered in her green eyes. Charlie would get his gift!
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For a Saturday morning the bullpen was unusually busy. It resembled a beehive.
The news of Dr. Eppes´ accident had left the agents shocked. Charlie was well known and liked in the office. The possibility of a stroke pushed the agents on, though they hadn´t much to work with.
Agent Sinclair was processing the case with the help of three agents. But up till now all their efforts were fruitless.
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Colby Granger entered the office holding two folders in his hand. His blue eyes steered directly towards Megan´s desk. The two of them were working on the homicide case.
Computer problems had caused a delay in receiving any reports on it, but seeing Colby enter with a handful of files made Megan smile in relief. Finally they had something to work with.
"Hey Colby you got something?"
Colby smiled in return." Yeah. Finally they fixed the problems-it took them long enough. It´s a shame Charlie isn´t here.I bet he would have had it sorted in half of the time."
"I guess you´re right." Megan shrugged her shoulders."Let´s see what you´ve got."
She reached out her hand and took one of the files.
The blond haired agent opened it and read it over. In a frustrated gesture she dropped it on her desk.
With a sigh she looked up at Colby."That´s nothing Granger. And you? Got something useful?"
Colby sat down on the edge of Megan´s desk shaking his head.
" Coroner´s report says that our victim was beaten and tortured. He had fallen from a great height causing several fractures. Some of them were open fractures. They were the cause of the huge blood loss that finally led to his death." Colby had to hold on for a second. The pain the victim had to have gone throug must have been inhuman. He thought about the ropes hanging from the ceiling. He had a pretty good idea from where the victim had fallen. Finally he focused back on the report. He was a trained agent and was supposed to be able to handle such situations.
He continued, "The cuts in the face were caused by a blunt object. Coroner supposed it could have been a screwdriver or something like that."
"Screwdriver?" The David Sinclair´s voice startled the two agents. They hadn´t notice him until he spoke.
"David!" Colby turned toward his partner."What are you doing slinking around here?"
David raised his hands in an excusing manner."Sorry. I just overheard your conversation."
"And?" Megan wanted to know.
"I don´t know." David rubbed at his forehead." It´s just the mention of the screwdriver. Forensics didn´t find much evidence on Charlie´s car. Just some smeared fingerprints and scratches on the hubcap. Their suggestion is that they were caused by a screwdriver."
"That´s all?" Colby was a little disappointed. " It´s not a surprise that someone used a screwdriver to loosen the cap.
"Yeah, I know." David pulled up a chair and took a seat looking at his friends. He realised that Megan was looking with an unfocused eyes towards the door.
"Megan?" He touched her arm lightly."You alright?"
The agent sighed again and returned David´s look.
"That´s strange."
David and Colby stared at her in expectation of what was to come.
"Don had this odd feeling; more of an instinct," Megan smirked." He believes that the homicide is somehow connected with Charlie. He nearly blacked out at the crime scene when he noticed the victim´s curly hair. He played it down but couldn´t shake it off."
"You know how Don is when it comes to Charlie." Colby admitted grinning sheepishly.
"Yeah, I know, but I´ve also learned to trust Don´s intuition. Maybe we should give it a try."
"What exactly do you mean Megan?" David wasn´t sure what Megan´s words implied and shifted uncomfortably on his seat.
"We have no useable evidence; neither for the homicide nor for the accident right? "
The men nodded in agreement.
"Maybe Don is right. I don´t know but it wouldn´t harm to take a closer look and see if we can find something that link the cases together. Expect the curly hair. And," Megan raised her voice a little," We should ask around in CalSci again."
The two agents looked confused.
"Why ? I´ve already done it- no witnesses," David explained.
" I see,but we haven´t paid much attention to the incident in Charlie´s office. Maybe that´s where it all started? Don was concerned about that, remember?" Megan looked at her friends waiting for confirmation.
The agents couldn´t help but grin remembering the "special" evening. Colby cleared his throat. He wasn´t convinced.
"I don´t know Megan. Isn´t it a little bit far fetched?"
Colby´s answer disappointed the female agent. She looked down on her lap to hide her expression.
When David stood beside her she looked up again.
" Since we don´t have any concrete clues, I guess we should give it a try."
"Thanks David," Megan smiled.
"Okay then," Colby slid from the desk. He was a team player, so he had no problems giving in when he was outvoted. "But it´s your turn to give Don the news." He pointed at Megan.
Megan´s smile weakened a little. The prospect of talking with Don about her assumption scared her a little. Don seemed to be on the edge already. But he was the boss and had to know what was going on.
Colby and David were on their way to CalSci. Megan picked up the phone and dialed Don´s number.
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Don sat on his brother´s bed and watched him sleep.
He had woken up in the middle of the night entangled in the sheets. Cold sweat had run down his face. He´d taken a deep breath and had tried to get rid of the pictures haunting him.
Don squeezed his eyes shut but the image of Charlie lying in the morgue and himself unable to reach him remained. He rubbed his hands across his face in an attempt to banish the picture. He sighed and finally gave up and sat up. He swung his legs out of the bed and winced a little when his naked feet touched the cold floor. The coldness swept through his body and woke him up completely.
He sat on the edge of his bed and checked the alarmclock. 2.45 much too early to get up. But Don was sure that he couldn´t go to sleep again. His imagination wouldn´t let him for quite a while. The agent got up and crept out of his room. He stopped in front of Charlie´s door and listened in silence.
Don could hear a soft snore from the inside. The sound meant Charlie was alive and the nightmare was really just a dream.A small smile appeared on Don´s face. Nevertheless he opened the door and walked in. He glanced at the figure of his brother lying fast asleep under the sheets. He felt the unbearable need to touch him. He had to sure that his brother wouldn´t vanish. So he stepped closer and carefully sat down on Charlie´s bed. He lightly caressed Charlie´s cheek and pushed back some of the curls falling into his face. Charlie was still there. Thank god. Don made a promise,"I´ll take care of you. I need you in my life. I´ll never let go. I love you,buddy.´
And so he sat there watching Charlie breathe waiting for the day to begin.
Charlie´s face still looked battered. The white gauze on his forehead nearly matched the colour of Charlie´s skin; the bits not covered with cuts. He looked bloodless,dead. The sight brought back the memories of Don´s recent nightmare. He felt concern rising again.`It couldn´t be healthy to look so pale.´
Don´s hands were shaking when he gently tapped his brother´s cheek." Charlie,Charlie ,wake up please."
The professor stirred. He heard a familiar voice but couldn´t quite recognise it. His mind was dazed and it felt as it was stuffed with soft clouds. Charlie was so tired. He wanted to sleep and drift back into the space where nothing could harm him. Unfortunately, the voice was unmerciful and forced him to open his eyes.
The first sunbeams found their way into the room and Charlie squeezed his eyes tight shut when the light send a piercing pain through his head. He moaned and tried to turn away from the source of the light, but strong hands took hold of his shoulder. Charlie couldn´t move and he opened his brown eyes in panic. He looked bewilderedly at his brother.
"Easy, buddy." The familiar voice was back and talked to him in a soothing tone. " Don´t move too quickly, you´ll hurt your collar bone."
"Wah?" Charlie looked through drowsy eyes at his brother."Don? What are you doing in here?"
Don let go of his brother. He had no idea what to answer. He cleared his throat. "Actually I just wanted to see if you´re okay."
"Oh," Charlie was ran out of words. He sat up in his bed carefully so not hurt himself. "I´m fine thanks. But why did you wake me?"
Don stared at his brother. Charlie was obviously okay. The older brother felt like a fool.´I need to gain control over my emotions.´
Don didn´t answer, but turned away a sheepish look on his face. Charlie tapped Don on his arm.
"Don what´s up?" Charlie´s voice was low but his mind was working in high speed. The soft touch dragged Don out of his thoughts.
"What are you talking about?"
Don wanted to pretend that everything was normal. That it was normal for him to be sitting on his brother´s bed at 3 in the morning. He shifted uncomfortably from side to side when he felt Charlie´s observing eyes on him.
" Nothing Charlie.I´m sorry for waking you up."
Don rubbed his hands across his face. He couldn´t stand it anymore- he jumped to his feet. "I need do go."
He ran out of Charlie´s room throwing the door shut.
The bump echoed in Charlie´s aching head and increased the pain. He closed his eyes wanting the pain to leave. ´What was that about?´Though his head was hurting like hell he couldn´t stop thinking about Don´s odd behavior. There was something going on. Maybe it was time to face his demons. He couldn´t ignore his accident and its aftereffects any longer. Maybe therein laid the key for Don´s stranger manner.
But that could wait until later. First he needed some more sleep. Cautiously Charlie slid back down in his bed and within seconds he was asleep again.
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Don sat on the floor of his old bedroom. His back leant against the door and his head was buried in his hands.
Tears ran down his face and wet his palms.´I don´t know what to do. How can I protect him, when I don´t know what´s threatening him?´
Special agent Don Eppes felt lost. For the first time in his life he didn´t know what to do. He had no idea what evil enemy had reached out his hands for Charlie. But he knew that he would do everything to keep his brother safe, no matter what.
Don driffted back into sleep. His head dropped on his chest and his arms lay limp in his lap. The sound of his cell woke him up. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs he crawled to his bed. His neck was stiff and every bone was aching. He was way too old to sleep on the ground. He grabbed the cell from the nightstand.9 am already. He´d had slept for hours. Don shook his head in disbelief.
He opened his cell checking the caller I.D. "Hey Megan." Don was totally awake.
TBC