Author's notes: Here is another chapter. Thanks again for the reviews, they make writing worth it.
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"Hey Charlie." Megan had been surprised to get Charlie's voice mail. "It's Megan. I'm on my way there. I should be to Vegas in another hour or so. Give me a call so I know where to meet you guys at."
Sitting the phone back beside her, Megan turned up the radio to distract herself and keep driving. As the miles ticked off, she found herself wondering what they would do if they lost Colby. It didn't seem fair, that after thinking that they had lost him as a team member when arrested for spying and then when Lancer had tried to kill him, Colby seemed to draw danger like a lighting rod.
Feeling tears prickling at her eyes, Megan tried to will them back, telling herself that it wouldn't do any good. She always had a hard time defining her relationship with Colby. Sometimes she felt like an older sister watching over a mischievous younger brother, there were days that she was a senior agent guiding a new recruit and only on occasion would she admit to herself; a silly teenager with a crush on the quarterback.
It was that part that she kept deeply buried. When he had first started there had been a few sparks and Colby had always flirted shamelessly with her. She had reciprocated and waited for him to make a move. Several times when the team went out for drinks she thought that the tequila and beer would help things along. But Colby never made a move and she couldn't bring herself to possibly embarrass her if he turned her down, so when Larry showed interest she accepted his offer to date.
Reaching up and wiping at the tears, she focused on the road ahead of her.
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"We've got a heartbeat."
"All right, lets make sure he's stabilized."
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The night had taken forever, but now that the sun was up it seemed that the sun moved higher into the sky at a quick pace.
Don pulled out a water bottle and took a deep pull on it. The sun was also warming up the day. At their elevation the temperature was warm, but not uncomfortable. However the off trail hiking was creating quite a workout.
So far no one had found any sign of the missing agent. Don and the others were just about finished with their first search grid; once done they would call in and receive their next location.
Walking to the meeting point, Don could see Nick was already there and was currently on the phone.
"Alright. Thanks for calling." Nick rang off and looked at Don, frustration on his face. "Hospital called. Doug Carter coded this morning. They got him back, but they're concerned that he might not pull through."
"Damn it." Don exploded. "That bastard dies and that will be our only lead."
"Hey, from what I've heard, your brother has managed to pull out some incredible cases for you. I don't see why this won't be any different." Nick tried to bring Don out of his mood.
Both men saw David walking towards them. They would be moving to another grid.
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Colby wasn't foolish enough to think that the day had taken a cooler turn, the chills that were racking his body were the result of an infection. He could feel the sweat beading up on his face and upper body and he found himself fading in and out of awareness.
He had thought he heard Dwayne Carter talking to him. Dwayne was chiding Colby for being in this predicament and not having him there to bale him out. "Shut up Dwayne. I get it; I owe you. Now leave me the hell alone." Colby was surprised by the hoarseness of his voice. Had he been screaming at some point? He didn't remember.
Don who was now telling Colby what a fuck up he was had replaced Carter. "Sorry I let you down Don. I'm sorry ok, I'm sorry." Colby's head dropped forward as he faded out again.
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Megan tried Charlie's cell phone again. This time Charlie picked up. "Charlie Eppes."
"Charlie, this is Megan. Did you get my first message?"
"What? Oh, I'm sorry Megan, I must have missed it."
"That's o.k., any word on Colby?"
"Nothing yet, we've eliminated several search areas and I'm hopeful we'll find him soon." Charlie's voice was strained.
"Is Don around?"
"No. He's out with a search party." Charlie watched as another grid was checked off.
"I'm on my way there. In fact depending on where there is at I should be close. I'm coming up to the Highway 156 exit."
"Take that and follow it into the Mount Charleston Wilderness Area and head for the main ranger station."
"Will do." Megan paused. "Charlie, if you talk to Don, please don't tell him I'm coming ok. I'll see you soon."
"All right. Bye."
Charlie turned his attention back to the board with the search areas outlined. Another volunteer was blacking out the areas already cleared. Bending back to his computer he began to enter the new data.
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"I think that's it!" Denise Jensen, lab technician, exclaimed loudly. "Greg, wake-up, I think I got it."
A sleepy Greg roused himself from the chair he had fallen asleep in. "What?"
"I've managed to access the most recent data from the GPS." Denise smiled broadly. "It might be the information you need to help find the FBI agent."
"You are a genius Denise and if this is what we need, you'll be a hero." Greg picked up his phone and dialed Nick.
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"Stokes. What do you have for me Greg?" Nick looked over at Don and David who were standing by the front of the Denali looking over a map. "You did! Hold on let me get some paper."
"Don, get me something to write this down on. Greg has the information from the GPS." Nick shared the good news with the others. "Alright Greg, give me the numbers."
David grabbed the map and started to plot the information. The spot was in one of the search grids that Charlie had predicted as a lower probability.
"There is a second one as well? I'm ready." Nick continued to write. "Got it Greggo! Thanks man, we owe you. What? Well we owe her. Sure, I'll let you know." Nick flipped the phone shut. "The second numbers were also accessed recently."
"I say we get going on the first spot and give the other location to the rangers to cover." Don started picking up the items on the hood of the vehicle. "Lets get going."
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Charlie picked up his phone and saw that it was Don calling. "Hey Don. What?" Charlie's face was a mixture of emotions; relief, joy, and confusion. "That's great. I'll pass the other coordinates on and come and meet you."
Shutting the phone, Charlie gave the other set of coordinates to the lead ranger and informed him of the ones that Don was checking out. He was walking out to his vehicle when Megan pulled up.
"Charlie." Megan stepped out of the car and stretched. "Any news?"
"Yes, come on you can drive."
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Dwayne Carter was back. He was sitting cross-legged beside Colby and talking about Kandahar. Colby had not been paying attention. It was just like when they were in the Army; Dwayne chattering away and Colby sitting quietly.
"Come on Granger. You better suck it up."
"Shut up Dwayne and leave me alone."
"Can't do that buddy. I've always been there for you and hell it looks like I'll always be with you."
"I'm sick, leave me alone." Colby closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on anything other than his overwhelming thirst.
"Come on Colby, a tough Army Ranger wouldn't let a couple of scratches get in the way of completing a mission."
"S'not a mission." The words slurred slightly. "Your brother's fault."
"Damn punk. Always trying to impress me. Wanted to be just like me. I guess I let him down getting involved with the damn Chinese."
"Ya ink?" Slurring and sarcastic Colby's voice was low.
"Being dead gives you a new perspective Granger. Come on Colby, I didn't save your worthless ass just for you to buy it sitting by a tree."
"Tired." Colby slid into oblivion again.
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Charlie and Megan met up with Don and the others. Don gave Megan an inquisitive look, but didn't say anything. He knew that the feelings that the team had for one another ran deep, plus Megan tended to be a mother hen.
Pulling the map out from where David had marked the coordinates from the CPS unit, Don sat it over the hood of the vehicle. "Here is the area." Pointing to the area marked he looked at the others. If this is the spot, Colby could be up to 14 feet or so away from it, plus the underbrush is somewhat thick at this elevation."
"Charlie, you and Megan go along here." Don indicated a location. "Nick and David, you go here and I'll follow along this ridge."
The three groups headed out, the sun warm on their shoulders.