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13 – CHAPTER THIRTEEN – 1.218^13
"Do you really think that was such a great idea?" David inquired carefully.
Don snorted. It was all he could do in order not to re-start the furious yelling.
"Well, if you ask me, it wasn't, considering…" Alan intervened, though he was immediately interrupted by his eldest.
"Of course, straight away you're on his side! You're…"
Now, however, it was Alan who interrupted, his voice steady. "Donald Eppes! I'm on no-one's side. But considering the fact that the mob is after you I don't think that you should scatter to the four winds!"
"But that wasn't my fault!"
Alan had to be a master of self-control, so calm was his response. "Nobody has said so. No-one here is blaming you."
Don silently opened and closed his mouth a few times before he found the right words. "Well, in that case… it's okay."
Don was dumbfounded. Alan had really taken the wind out of his sails. So he wasn't blaming him? Really? That was something Don could hardly comprehend. He would have understood his father very well if he'd had wanted to make him responsible. After all, he, Don himself, wasn't feeling any different…
But Charlie… Don shook his head. It was hard to believe. Charlie once again had managed to run away from a discussion. Hadn't he learned by now that it was of no use walking away from problems? Or more exactly, not the problems, but their solutions? And when for God's sake had he set himself up as the target to ignore his big brother's orders?
"You're sure you don't think Charlie's help could come in handy for us here?"
Don's head jerked upwards. He eyed David, completely stunned. "You cannot be serious."
"To be honest, Don," Colby, too, barged in now, "he's already started the work. And if the mob really wants him, he won't be safer at your aunt's than here." Now, the stunned gaze was directed towards his other colleague. "Besides, it'll be difficult to persuade him to go while you stay here yourself and act like Superman."
"Granger, I –" But Don couldn't think of anything to say. He was too occupied with the possibility that maybe his co-workers were right. But, still… "If – and I'm just saying if!, then we'd have to bring him to a safe house at least. Or organize protection."
David and Colby exchanged a look before David carefully started, "Don, you know exactly that that's not possible. There's no sufficient evidence of danger."
Don sighed deeply. Of course he knew. But it couldn't be possible that they could not do anything at all!
He turned his head; his father had quietly cleared his throat. "It appears as if Charlie will only understand the necessity of these security measures if you, too, stick to them."
Don stared at him. What the hell was going on? How had he lost so much control of the situation? Why were they all ganging up on him? "What do you mean?"
"Well… maybe it'd be best if you came with us to Baltimore."
"Forget it, dad." The words had been verbalized before Don had even made his mind up about them. Scoot off and hope the colleagues would somehow manage everything was definitely no option. "No more talking about that anymore. We'll get Charlie persuaded somehow. He'll have to come back to his senses sometime."
David and Colby had barely said their good-byes when the phone rang in the Eppes house. While Don was still brooding about how he could persuade Charlie, Alan answered the phone. And immediately, Don was startled out of his thoughts.
"Charlie! Where are you?" Alan called, and the relief was audible in his voice. Don abruptly hurried towards the telephone, but when he got there, Alan was already standing slightly confused in front of the commode, the receiver in his hand.
"What's up?" Don inquired in alarm. It couldn't be, it couldn't be that again something had happened –
"He hung up." There must have been an awesome load of tension in Don's features for Alan hastened to appease him, "Don't worry, it's nothing. He's at CalSci and said we don't need to worry."
Don uttered a gruff grunt. He says we don't need to worry… Charlie had some nerve. How were they supposed to ever get to relax while some maniacs that apparently had it in for the two of them were wandering around out there? How, under these circumstances, could Charlie just leave and tell them not to worry? Okay, at least he had called; still his conduct was completely out of the question.
Of course Don knew that it was highly improbable that something had happened to him at CalSci. And still, his tension was growing proportionally with the passing time.
Don paused. Had he really just thought the word 'proportionally'? Proportionally? How the hell could that have happened to him? Could Charlie really influence his thoughts that much? That was extremely scary.
'If only he'd just get back here…' Then, Don could finally make him understand that he had to get out of here. As soon as Charlie was sitting in the plane, he'd finally be able to think of something different and wouldn't have to be afraid all the time that his little brother was being assaulted by dark figures, tied up and gagged, tyrannized and in the end… Don knew that it was highly irrational, but still, he couldn't dispel his worry.
0 – 0 – 0
"We have to act."
He waited for proposals. He knew that they would come for he had a voice that was easily commanded obedience.
"What about the brother?" Budanov launched the discussion. They had made sure that he wasn't being watched in spite of that little drug issue.
"Which one? If you take on the older one the whole of the FBI will get in on the act."
"That's why I'm talking about the younger one. He's a soft target; child's play to put pressure on him."
"And why would that be useful?" Malenkov interjected.
The answer was rough. "For example so that they don't get in our way the whole time. Once this math guy is gone they'll have other problems."
"You want to kill him?"
Budanov looked frankly at his boss. "That'd be silly."
"That's what I'm thinking. So?"
"Maybe it'll be already enough to intimidate him a bit. Threaten him, so that he stops helping them."
The boss nodded slowly. "Yes… That's be an idea. Yes…" He fell silent. The others were sensing that the council was over. Once the boss was deepen in his thoughts it was advisable not to disturb him.
They withdrew; they really did deserve a break. At least they knew that it was only a matter of time until they'd be out in the field again.
0 – 0 – 0
The door opened and both Alan and Don were immediately on their feet. Don grimaced slightly. He'd forgotten that he was still supposed to use the crutches, and he'd been immediately reminded of it by his protesting foot. He hastily grabbed them and followed Alan hobbling to the door where Charlie was already taking his jacket off.
"Charlie, son, there you are," Alan welcomed him, and it would have been possible to hear his relief if Alan's greeting hadn't been drowned out by Don's reproaches.
"Where the hell have you been?"
Charlie managed within one second to change the hurt expression in his face into coldness. "On the road," he answered shortly.
"And you don't care that out there mad guys are walking around, do you? Do you have any clue how worried dad was?"
"Now don't exaggerate, it's not as if something's happened to me!" If you even care, Charlie added in his mind, hurt. He hadn't missed that Don talking about worries had only taken his father's into account, not his own.
"And that's good," Alan intervened. "There's still something of the casserole left. You can warm it up, Charlie. Do you also want another bite, Donnie?"
"No, thanks," they both surprisingly responded as one.
"You can't just disappear like this, Charlie," Don admonished his little brother.
"Then you can stop treating me like a slave in the future."
"Against whom exactly the Dodgers are playing tonight?" Alan's attempt in redirecting the conversation fell flat.
"By the way, you're again in my house lecturing me!"
"Well, with you, sometimes a lecture is very necessary!"
Alan audibly sighed, but his sons didn't seem the least impressed by it.
"I've got my own life, got that?"
"Boys –"
"And I can take care of my-"
"Boys!"
This time, Charlie fell silent. Both of them looked at their father. Their features were still marked by fury, but they were now, looking their father in the eyes, frozen in the emotion.
Alan breathed deeply. At least he had calmed them for now. "I suggest you defer your fight to tomorrow when you both will have calmed down a bit. In the meantime you can think about what this fight's really about. I'm going to bed now and I hope you're just as sensible."
With that, he left them.
For some moments, they just stood in the living-room, glaring at each other in silence. "I've got to go to the garage again for a moment," Charlie finally said unusually sharply and stepped through the back door out into the garden. With hardly three seconds time-lag, Don followed.
His brother hadn't locked the door to the garage behind him, and that might be the reason why Don didn't barge in at once. Calm down. His father had been right, they had to calm down first… but the flight was scheduled for tomorrow in the early evening and by then, Don would have had convinced his brother to leave town. So, he took a deep breath before he entered his brother's sanctum.
"May I come in?" he inquired politely and struggling for calm, but it did no good.
"You're in already," Charlie detected at once, "but go ahead. I don't care."
Again, Don breathed in and out deeply in order not to get furious again. He didn't have quite the desired success. Yes, that was exactly the problem, that Charlie wasn't caring about a lot of things. For example his life.
"You really should think about it once more," Don tried to make his point clear as discreetly as possible.
"I already have. And I'm going to stay."
"Come on, Charlie, you can't do that."
"You can bet your butt I can. I'm perfectly capable of making up my own mind."
"Oh, so it's your own decision if the Russian Mob annihilates you, right? Come on, Charlie, you've got no clue what you're getting into with that!"
"I don't?"
"No! You've always been pampered by everyone! You don't have any idea what's really going on out there! Every time something happens somewhere you crawl into your garage and ignore the rest of the world!"
Don had hit his tender spot. Charlie whirled around. His eyes were flashing. "In case you've missed it, I not only take… I've not only taken cases for the FBI, but also for the NSA, the CIA and for teams you don't even know that exist! I know very well what I'm getting into!"
"Oh yeah? And are you thinking of dad when you're doing that; so that he loses his youngest son?"
Charlie laughed, unbelieving. "You've got some cheek saying that! Which one of us loves to throw himself into every shooting? Oh, wait a minute, it's not me!"
Don was going crazy. Did Charlie just not want to get it? You just couldn't compare the two situations! "It's my job, after all!" he shouted.
"Well, mine too!"
Okay, that was really something Charlie couldn't be serious about. "It's not! You're a math professor, forgot that? How many guys at your school hang around with a gun in their pocket?"
"And still it's my decision! If you stay, I've got the same right!"
Rip. Another nerve torn. There weren't many left. "Okay, then tell me what I should say to dad when they pull you out of the Pacific!"
"What about nothing, because they'll have already riddled you with bullets by then!"
"Have you taken a leave of your senses?"
The two brothers whirled around towards the voice and froze.
"He started it!" they both wanted to call towards their father, but no sound escaped from their open mouths. On one hand they weren't sure if that was right, and on the other they didn't believe it would do anything to prove their innocence to their father.
Instead, Alan continued, "How about you just both walk away from the case and accompany me? Then I wouldn't have to worry about either of my sons!"
"Dad," Don had to clear his throat, but at least he had found his voice again, "Dad, you know that's not possible. We have to find these guys."
"Yeah, we've…" Charlie wanted to join in, but he was immediately interrupted by Don who out shouted him.
"And 'we' is not you, Charlie! Just let the FBI do their job one single time, okay? Maybe it's difficult for you to imagine, but I'm not so stupid that I'm unable to do my job on my own."
After the first half of Don's remark Charlie had started to protest, but the second part had abruptly turned his thoughts into another direction. What had Don just said? What was that supposed to mean? Charlie didn't consider him stupid! What was that? And besides, that had nothing to do with their case!
Charlie just wanted to retort something without exactly knowing what, when Don went on, "Once and for all, Charlie, I do not want you to stay in L.A. Leave together with dad and don't come back until these guys are behind bars, okay?" He didn't even give him time to answer. He was tired, he was in pain, he was sick of the arguments. "Night."
He turned around, turning his back on the garage, and dragged himself up to his old room on his crutches. Knowing dimly that he had just evaded an argument, just like Charlie had done earlier, he closed his eyes. At least Charlie couldn't contradict me. Now he has to go to Baltimore post haste, to the other end of the States.
With these last appeasing thoughts on his mind, Don fell asleep.
Charlie and Alan had been left in the garage. "Don't you think," Alan begun, but his son interrupted him, groaning.
"Dad, just let it be, okay?"
The incessant arguments were gradually causing headaches and he placed the dully pulsating body part into his comfortably cool hands. Alan didn't release him, though, even if he tried not to irritate his youngest. "I know that he can't give you orders, Charlie."
'I wonder if he knows that, too?' Charlie mused.
"But don't you think it'd be better if you came with me?"
'No, I don't.'
"You could do your work from over there."
'At least you hope so'.
Charlie sighed. "I don't think that'd be possible. Don't you understand? I constantly need new data, a lot of data. It would take much too long by email or even by telephone." Alan was silent, and there was a brief battle inside Charlie wondering if he should verbalize the following words or not. Eventually, he did so, "And wouldn't you be less worried if Don didn't stay here alone?"
Alan raised his eyebrows. "Is that supposed to be funny? I'd be less worried if you both kept away from this whole thing. Can't you… can't you just come with me… for us? For Donnie and me? So that we don't have to worry anymore about everything?"
Once more Charlie sighed. Didn't his brother and his father understand that he wanted to stay here for them? The case had to be solved as quickly as possible; the danger wouldn't be over for all of them until then. The two of them had to see that, they just had to! Of course he could understand that they were worried; he was feeling the same emotions. It was more efficient, though, if he stayed here and continued working on the case.
"I can't, Dad."
Alan sighed wearily. "I was afraid of that. You're as stubborn as your brother. You two have to have inherited that from Margaret; you can't have got that from me."
"Always shifting the blame onto others, right?" Charlie responded to the welcome lightening of the mood with an attempted smile that only succeeded halfway. At least his father wouldn't push him anymore to come with him now. Only Don was still providing a problem. He wouldn't leave Charlie alone until he was sitting on the plane to Baltimore. That would mean that they'd waste valuable hours until tomorrow afternoon with senseless arguments while they had to urgently go on with the case. And again, that meant that Charlie had to resort to very unfair means.
'I'm sorry, Don. But someday, you'll understand me.'