Disclaimer: Still don't own Numb3rs or the characters. Enjoy!

Chapter Eighteen – Surprise.

The morning after the convenience store robbery David picked Colby up at his apartment and drove him to LAPD so that he could give his statement. After David had waited round for an hour Colby was finally finished and they headed to the office. As they walked into the bull pen Don and Megan turned to greet them, after the usual hello and how are you comments the Supervisor finally asked the question that had been bothering him since discovering Colby was in the store that was being robbed. "Why didn't you use your panic button on your car keys?"

"I didn't think it would be an appropriate use of it." Stated Colby.

"I hate to think what you would see as an appropriate use of it then!" Retorted Megan.

"Seriously, what did you think it was for?" Asked Don.

"I thought it was for if I was being threatened by someone."

"And you didn't think that a guy waving a gun around qualified?" David was amazed.

"Well he wasn't really threatening me initially. I didn't wanna abuse it and have the AD come down on me for it."

Shaking his head Don said "I really don't think the AD would have had an issue with you using it under those circumstances."

"It wasn't necessary."

"You are one stubborn SOB!" Stated Liz.

"Whatever. Will someone tell me who the guy was?"

"His name is Brad Chalmers, the younger brother of the guy we arrested earlier in the evening. He worships the ground Dave walks on. He knew about the robberies and his brother wouldn't let him be part of it, so he decided to go out and prove to his big brother that he could do it without him." David supplied.

"Bad case of older brother worship. Brad is very insecure and just wanted to be involved in what his brother was doing." Megan told him.

"Poor kid." Colby felt sorry for the teenager, it couldn't have been easy growing up with a criminal for a father and a brother who didn't want anything to do with you.

"Right you lot, back to work, I want your paperwork completed and on my desk before the day is out people." Ordered Don.

"Slave driver." Mumbled Colby.

"Heard that Granger!"

David turned to his partner. "You should know better than that man. Doesn't matter how quiet you say it, Don will hear it." He chuckled at the look of discomfort on his friend's face.

"You better believe it, didn't become Supervisor of Violent Crimes for nothing." Stated Don. "So, Granger, I guess dinner is on you tonight."

"Aw man, come on."

"If you can't do the time, don't commit the crime!"

"Crime, what crime?"

"Mumbling about your boss!"

"You're not helping Sinclair."

"Not trying to Granger."

"So who is up for dinner after work tonight, Granger is paying?" Don asked the team, unfortunately for Colby everyone agreed it was a brilliant idea. "Excellent, well lets get the paperwork wrapped up on this one then we'll get out on time." The team settled down to get on with the arduous task.

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The day had dragged, but finally all the paperwork was complete and on Don's desk. They all turned as Colby tried to grab his jacket and dash out of the office. "Whoa there, wait up Granger, you're still on the hook for buying dinner tonight." Said Don.

Sighing Colby responded "Fine, but I get to choose where we eat, if I leave it up to you I'll be eating stale bread until payday, you'll pick the most expensive place you can think of."

"Oh you wound me Colb." Laughed Don.

"Yeah, whatever. Pizza it is then." Grabbing their jackets they followed him out. They agreed on where they were going and each got into their respective cars, planning to head home straight from the pizza place.

When they arrived the five friends were shown to a booth and handed menus. It didn't take them long to choose and before long they were enjoying their meal and laughing at Colby's lame jokes, or rather at Colby himself. He didn't mind, it was good to be relaxing with the team, his friends.

"Wow, look at the time." Said Megan "I really should be heading home. I have court tomorrow. Thanks for dinner Colb."

"I certainly won't be mumbling anything in the future, costs too much!"

The rest of the team laughed, said their thanks and left him to pay the bill. "Want me to hang around and walk you to your car, wouldn't want ya to trip over or injure yourself in the dark." Smirked David.

"Haha, very funny Sinclair. I think I can manage. Get outta here." Colby rolled his eyes and gave his partner a friendly shove towards the door. "See you tomorrow."

David waved as he headed out the door and to his car.

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Colby had paid the bill and walked out into the car park. His car was in the far corner, which was where the only available spaces were when they arrived. He noticed that the light in that corner was out leaving the corner cast in shadow. He didn't give it much thought as he walked towards his car, as he unlocked it a figure stepped out of the shadows. Instinctively he reached for his gun, but it wasn't there, he had taken it off and locked it in the trunk of his car. Remembering that he had the panic button on his car keys he went to press it when a voice stopped him.

"Colby."

He couldn't believe who stood before him. "Jasmine?"

"Hi."

"Wow, you disappear for 5 weeks and hi is the best you can come up with?"

"I know you must be confused and angry…."

"You have no idea how I feel Jasmine, since I met you my life has been turned upside down, I've just started to get some stability back and now you reappear with a simple hi."

"I need your help, I'm sorry I never intended to see you again, but I'm in trouble."

"The only thing I can do for you now is to take you in for questioning."

"What? For what reason?"

"Jasmine, think about it. I meet you and suddenly I have a bull's eye on my back, you leave and I've stopped getting threats. Rutherford said that you were trouble."

"Hang on, you really think that was all me?"

"I don't know, but look at it from my point of view. I have no proof it was you, but everything has pointed to you and, or Rutherford. He's locked up. It doesn't take one of Charlie's algorithms to work it out, but you can do the math."

"Oh my god, I really thought you were different, but you're like all the other guys. I've made some mistakes, I don't deny that, but I don't deserve to be treated like this."

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you lied to me."

"I didn't know you well enough to tell you everything about my past. If I thought you felt for me the same way I feel for you then I would have told you. I am not proud of what happened when I was living in the UK, but I moved over here to put it behind me. I had no idea that marrying Jason would turn out to be such a huge mistake." Cried Jasmine, she was devastated by his attitude, she had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I don't know what you want me to say. You have to come in to the office with me, it's the only way we will sort this mess out, either way."

"I can't do that Colby."

"Can't, or won't?"

"You don't understand."
"You're right I don't. You wanted my help, well that's all I can do. I'm done trying to help you with this. I nearly died, David was almost killed in an explosion, and I've had enough."

"Colby, please." Begged Jasmine.

"No, Jasmine. Forget it." Colby's voice had an edge to it she had never heard, like he was barely keeping his temper.

"I'm sorry, this was a mistake." Before he could do anything she turned and ran, he took off after her but she vanished in a maze of alleys.

"Ah dammit." Swore Colby. He grabbed his phone and looked at it trying to decide who he should call, wondering if he should call anyone. He could forget he saw her and just get on with his life, but now he knew she was still around he wasn't sure that it was safe to keep the information to himself. Maybe he should wait until tomorrow, but then he'd probably get into trouble for not reporting it straight away. Sighing he pressed speed dial number 3 on his phone.

"What's up Colb, you broken a nail?"

"Jasmine's back." He stated simply.

"Are you OK? Where are you?"

"I'm fine, in the car park at the pizza place."

"Don't move, I'm coming straight back."

"Thanks man." Colby hung up his cell and waited for his partner to arrive. He'd know the best way to handle this latest situation. A short time later David came racing into the car park. He was out of the car almost before he had turned off the ignition.

"Don is on his way. I thought it best to call him as well. You sure you're OK?"

Relieved to have any further decisions taken out of his hands for the time being, Colby replied. "I'm good. Thanks for coming back."

"Hey man, what did you think I would do? Not gonna leave you to deal with this on your own." Both men turned as another car pulled in and Don got out.

"What's going on?" Wasting no time in getting to the heart of the matter.

"I came out to my car and Jasmine came out of the shadows."

"What did she want?"

"My help, said she was in trouble. When I refused to do anything other than take her to the FBI for questioning she took off down there." He pointed in the direction that he had chased her in. "She vanished down an alley and given the situation I felt it prudent not to try to find her on my own."

"You did the right thing Colb. Let's do a quick search and see if we can find any clues as to where she's gone."

They each grabbed a flashlight out of their car and Colby retrieved his gun from his trunk and secured it back in its holster and the three men set off in the direction Colby had indicated.

"Any idea what kind of trouble she's in?" Asked David.

"No clue, we didn't get that far."

They searched the alley where Jasmine had vanished but could see no sign of where she might have gone. The doors in the alley were all locked and led to businesses. They looked for tyre tracks but they were unable to identify any individual tracks, it was dark and there was rubbish littering the alley.

"Don, I don't think we're going to find anything. The best thing we can do is put out a broadcast with her description to LAPD." David suggested.

"Yeah, you're right, this is a waste of time. Let's go back to the parking lot."

They walked the short way back to the cars in silence. Once back at the cars Don turned to Colby. "What do you want to do?"

"How do you mean?"

"Do you want to stay somewhere other than your apartment, or should one of us come and stay at yours?"

"No. No way, I am not putting my life on hold because she has appeared again. I am going to carry on as normal."

"Man, are you sure that's wise?" Asked a worried David.

"Wise? Maybe not, necessary, definitely."

"That stubborn streak again eh?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Well I'll follow you home at least."

"Don, that's not necessary, I have the panic alarms."

"It is necessary, I will not take no for an answer. End of."

"Alright, if it makes you happy."

"It will."

"If you need anything, call me." Said David as he got back in his car.

"Thanks, see ya tomorrow." Colby and Don got in their respective cars with his boss following him. Once they pulled up outside his apartment Don got out of his car and walked up to the apartment with him. Unlocking the door he went in and turned on the lights. Content that his young agent was safe Don said goodnight and left him, reminding him to lock the door. Colby rolled his eyes, waved at the older man and did as he was told. He walked into the middle of his sitting room and just stood there, his mind was buzzing with lots of different thoughts, he had no idea how he was supposed to feel about Jasmine's appearance. He was angry that she had returned and expected him to help without question, knocking him off the equilibrium he had found, but he was also worried about her, she had said that she was in trouble and needed help. Had she really expected him to just drop everything, she had lied to him. Colby started pacing up and down with frustration, he should be going to bed, he had work in the morning, but he couldn't even sit down right now, let alone sleep.

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"How was he when you left him Don?" Asked Megan, she and Liz had just been filled in on the events of the previous night.

"Hard to tell really, he isn't exactly vocal over things like that! Just look at the situation in the safe house."

"Any thing from LAPD?" Asked David.

"I just checked in with them and nothing over night, they will let us know if they get anything." Replied Liz.

"I don't think she'll be turning up again." Colby had walked in and none of them had noticed.

"Morning Colb. How are you doing?" Megan wanted to know.

"Tired, didn't get much sleep."

"Hardly surprising. Why do you think she won't appear again?"

"She didn't get what she wanted."

"You mean you aren't pandering to her?"

"That's right, I'm done."

"I hope you're right Colb, but I wouldn't be so sure." Megan's tone held a note of caution. "She said she loved you, that feeling doesn't just go away."

"I know you're right, but I can't spend any more time worrying about it. I just want to get on with my life."

"We understand that man, but you have to know we're not going to stop looking for her." David stated firmly. "She is part of an ongoing investigation."

"That's our job, I'm alright with that. She may be completely innocent in all this, but I have to reconcile myself to the fact that until she is found and bought in we won't know either way."

"Right, there is a BOLO out with LAPD, they'll let us know if they find anything, we are also watching her bank account and credit cards for use, though it's unlikely that she'll use them. In the meantime let's get on with our jobs."

"Good idea, what have we got?" Asked Colby, looking for a distraction.

"An abduction. A young girl, Jenny Knowles, was snatched at a shopping mall, the kidnapper turned nasty when the nanny screamed for help and a security guard tried to stop him. The guard is in a coma, the doctors don't know if he'll make it. The worst part is it's not the first time this guy has struck. He's done it before and though the child was found alive she's extremely traumatised, naturally."

"The kidnapper is a male in his late 20's, 5 foot 10, well built, sandy hair. He doesn't try to disguise his face, but the techs have run facial recognition on the pictures that we've got from the security cameras and haven't found a match, so he's either new to this or never been caught." Liz supplied.

"It's not clear what his motivation is behind these abductions. The two girls are similar in age, the first one is 9 years old, and the second is 8. The mother's are single and they are only children. I can tell you that even though he doesn't disguise his face he is methodical and has planned both these kidnappings carefully, may even have watched the families for days waiting for the right opportunity."

"Any signs of abuse?" Colby didn't really want to ask the question, but they needed to try to find out why this guy had taken these 2 girls.

"No, there seems to be no sexual component. The first girl, Melissa Murphy, has said he was nice to her, didn't hurt her or threaten her in anyway, but never told her why he had taken her. He held her for 3 days and then dropped her at another shopping mall, physically unharmed."

"Can Charlie help with this?"

"He's on his way in."

"Let's hope he can, this guy held the last girl for 3 days, unharmed, but who knows if his plan is the same for this one."

"What do we know about her family?" Asked Colby.

"Sammy Knowles is a paediatrician, she has been raising Jenny on her own since she was born, the father is not on the scene, he ran out on her whilst she was pregnant. Jenny is looked after by a nanny when she is working or by her Grandparents. The usual checks have been run on both families and nothing jumps out to be honest." Don told his team. "Both girls were taken from different malls."

"Can you give me the details of those malls, and the one where the first girl was left?" The team turned at the sound of Charlie's voice.

"Yeah, no worries Chuck." Don handed his brother the details of all three locations.

"Right, I'll get to work and see if I can find anything."

"Megan, why don't you and Liz go and interview Melissa and her family. David and I will speak with Sammy Knowles and her parents. Colby, stay here, see if you can help Charlie." The team split up to carry out their tasks.

"What do you need from me Charlie?"

"You can put this map up and put pins in to represent the mall locations. Then can you plot where both children and their families live."
Colby did as he was asked, once he was done he stood back and looked at the map. He couldn't see anything, other than a map stuck with a lot of pins. He had plotted the malls, the girls' houses and schools. Knowing that he had done all he could to help Charlie he sat down to go through the files on both abductions. The only common denominator seemed to be that their mothers were single and the fathers weren't on the scene. A thought suddenly struck him, picking up a phone he dialled Don and then Megan asking that when they interviewed the mothers they asked for more details about the absentee fathers. The information gathered on them so far was scant at best.

With in an hour of him calling them both Don and Megan had called him back and told him all they had been able to glean about both the girls' fathers. He made a note of the names, ages, occupation and last known addresses for both men. Armed with that information he sat at his desk and searched for any information on either of them. He quickly discovered that both the girls fathers, and he used the term loosely when he thought about either of the men that had abandoned their children, were still living in the LA area, he had tracked them both through their employers and had addresses for each of them. He stuck his head round the door leading into the war room where Charlie was working. "Hey man, I'm heading out to interview the fathers of these two girls. Anything you need before I go?"

"Yeah could you please put both their home addresses and places of employment on the map?"

"No problem." He walked over and stuck four more pins in the map. "Will be on my cell if you need me."

Charlie didn't even look up from what he was doing, just waved a hand and mumbled something unintelligible.