Author's notes: Not a lot of excitement in this chapter, but one must build on somethings. Thanks to those of you reading and also a huge ego thank you to the ones that review. Fasten your seatbelts.
Numb3rs Numb3rs Numb3rs
The time between the engagement announcement and October had flown by quickly. David had never realized how much work planning a wedding entailed; Claudia had assigned him to a variety of planning tasks claiming it was "their" wedding. He liked to tease her by telling her that when she called it "their" wedding it meant that he would get to show up wearing a tux and smile accordingly. She would just laugh at him and remind him to remember to bring his wallet too. Being quiet honest it didn't really matter to him, if she wanted things a certain way. As far as he was concerned as long as they ended up man and wife, mission accomplished.
The sight of his co-worker coming around the corner of the cubical brought him back to the problem at hand. They had been working on a robbery case and had received the tip that had cracked the case open; translation, they had received a tip and Charlie was able to take random information and see the pattern in it. Setting up a stakeout, they had waited for the team of jewel thieves to hit again. Luckily, they did not disappoint and at approximately 7pm the thieves arrived at the next jewelry store Charlie had identified.
David smiled to himself at the memory of the dumbfounded crooks; perplexed as to the reason the FBI and local police were waiting for them. "Thank God for stupid and greedy perps." David thought. However, it did result in a mound of paperwork and that was his current concern.
Seeing the smile on his partner's face, Colby held up a file folder. "Did you get the rest of the eye witnesses statements typed up?"
"Typed, saved, sent to central processing, plus a copy for the hard copy file. How about the lab results on the partial fingerprints from the second jewelry store?"
"Already in my file. As far as I'm concerned, the paperwork is 100 complete and might I add, not a moment too soon. If we hadn't caught that break I'm betting we would have had to postpone the bachelor party." Colby looked relived.
"It's not like I haven't been out on the town before, we could have skipped it." David had been a little worried over the fact that Colby had not told him of any of the plans. Colby had given his friend a list of clothes to pack and was told to be ready on Thursday evening.
"David, I promised you a bachelor party to end all bachelor parties and a bachelor party you shall have."
"I know. I'm going to go get some coffee; it's been a tough week. Truth be told, I'll be looking forward to a break from the bad guys."
Exiting his office, Don approached the men. "Got that report done?"
"All finished boss, Colby's got it there. I'll be right back."
They waited until David had entered the break room before they spoke. "So everything is ready for us to fly out tonight?" Don asked his young agent.
"It's a go. We need to be at the hanger by 8pm. By the time we to get Vegas the night will still be young."
"He still doesn't know where we are going?" When Don and Colby had started planning the party they had decided to keep the details a secret from David.
"Nope. His brother and cousins are flying into Vegas earlier than we are. I told them that we would meet them at the hotel.
"Sounds great. I'm going to take off here soon and pick up Charlie."
"Your dad hasn't changed his mind and decided to take us up on the offer to go too?" Colby placed the file in a package and sealed it up.
"No, he said that it's a young man's activity."
"Well, maybe we can get him to go to yours." Colby handed Don the package.
"Don't be planning on that too soon. The way my luck with women has been lately, I might start hanging out with Larry at the monastery." Don turned and walked back to his office before Colby could retort.
David had returned to his desk with a cup of coffee. "So are you still picking me up at six?"
"Yes, make sure you have your bag packed." Colby sat down in his chair and started clearing the top of his desk.
"Yes mother. I followed the list you gave me. Unfortunately the only things I've been able to cross of the list of potential activities were skiing, camping and mountain climbing." David turned the light off above his desk.
"Good. Let me just repeat what I've told you before. You are going to have the time of your life. It will be a weekend to remember."
"Claudia wants to remind you what will happen to you if this weekend includes any hookers, strippers or women of loose morals."
"I told her to trust me. In our line of work we see enough of what really happens in that industry and we wouldn't dream of contributing to it. Now women of loose morals, hmmmm, I hadn't thought about that. How about we steer them away from you and towards me?" Colby laughed as he stood up.
Several hours later, Colby had shower, changed and grabbed his packed bag. Jumping into his car, he swung by David's apartment and picked up his friend.
David tossed his bag into the bag and took his seat. Pulling on his seatbelt he turned to Colby, "so now do I get to know where we are going?"
"Sorry, not until we get there." Pulling out of the parking spot and heading to the freeway, Colby breathed a sigh of relief, everything was going according to plan and it looked like they would be having a weekend that they would never forget.
Numb3rs Numb3rs Numb3rs
Don and Charlie had left the house with plenty of time to arrive at the airfield. Smiling to himself, Don thought, "Like you could ever plan to arrive late when your numbers obsessed brother is planning the route." He took the turn off to the private hanger that the FBI maintained for their small fleet of planes.
"So Don," the curly haired professor asked. "How did you and Colby arrange for this private flight? When you first started talking about the party we were going to be flying commercial."
"The plane is going to Vegas to pick up a witness who is set to testify in a government case. Colby got wind of it and he managed to pull some strings to get us on the empty flight."
"What kind of strings?"
"I think it might involve a date with the scheduling secretary. She ended up pushing the flight back several hours so that we wouldn't have to take the full day off." Don parked the car and they both grabbed their bags.
They walked up to the hanger and were met by the pilot. "Are you Granger?"
"I'm Agent Don Eppes and this is Professor Eppes." Don reached his hand out and shook, Charlie following suit.
"I'm Agent Price, your pilot, co-pilot and I guess, your stewardess."
" Agent Granger should be coming in a moment. He has the groom with him, it's still a secret as to where we are going."
"No problem. If you want to stow away your bags I'm going to start my preflight checks. Hey," the pilot notice another car approaching. "Would this be the rest?"
"That's Agent Granger car, so he'll have Agent Sinclair with him." Don replied.
Colby and David pulled up and got out. They both approached the group and introductions were quickly made. Getting on the small jet, everyone started to make themselves comfortable. The plane had been retrofitted to replace the standard seats with couches and other comfortable seats.
"So Agent Price, I don't suppose you would care to let the groom in on the flight plan?"
"Sorry, but Agent Granger threatened to shoot me if I divulged the top secret location." Smiling the pilot made his way to the cockpit.
It was a short time later that they were in the air. Spending the time reminiscing about past "female" exploits, the four men didn't realize how quickly the time has passed until the pilot called back.
"This is your pilot speaking, as you look out the windows to your left you will see your weekend destination. We should be landing in about five minutes, so if you will seatbelt yourself in, we will prepare for landing."
David turned to look out the window, looking forward to finding out where he was headed. A long strip of bright lights and neon marked the bright lights of the city even visible from their position. "Las Vegas! Alright!"
Colby smiled at his friend's excitement, "What better place for a bachelor party than Sin City."
Looking around at his friends, David smiled. "This is great. So, Charlie do you have any numerical advice for us?"
"It just so happens that I had read a study by the University of Las Vegas on the gaming industry. The best statistics you will find in terms of winning percentages are from playing Caribbean Stud poker. The percentage is a whopping 28." The young man was in his element with numbers.
"28 isn't so hot." Don replied to his brother.
"Beats the heck out of the slot machines that you will only win 6 of the time. I for one plan on playing a little Keno that shows returns at 27."
Colby shook his head, "That's the problem with Las Vegas, the odds are always against you."
As the plane's wheels hit the tarmac, none of the men realized just how true those words would turn out to be.
Numb3rs Numb3rs Numb3rs
"Did you blow through that money already?" He was angry.
"Hey," the other voice was petulant. "It's been quiet a while and besides you can use the money just as much as I can."
Wearily he replied. "Alright, but I'm worried that someone is going to end up getting hurt."
"Just as long as it isn't us. I'll call you tonight and we can plan for Friday."
