Numb3rs: Flight

Numb3rs: Flight

Disclaimer – I don't own them, I just borrowed them. Numb3rs and its characters are the property of those that created them. No copyright infringement intended. No financial reward gained. All real organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.

CHAPTER TEN

SAC Taylor finished his contemplation, turning away from the window. "I'll organise a weapon for you."

The agent had been thinking about that but there was really no choice. "No."

"Nelson wants you to come unarmed?"

"No. But I'm hardly in any condition to carry a weapon."

They may have been able to find him either a left-handed holster or an ankle holster fairly quickly but it just wasn't safe in his condition to carry a gun. Every LEO knew that no matter what situation you attended there was always at least one firearm in the mix, your own. You needed to be able to protect the weapon before it could protect you. Don's sorry state, broken arm, twisted knee, and a busted ankle that required his good arm to be taken up managing a crutch meant that he could do little to prevent anyone from taking a firearm away from him.

He would go without a weapon, it was actually safer. If by some chance Nelson had disposed of his gun and was actually unarmed Don didn't want to provide him with another one. If he was still armed, the more likely scenario, then he already had the drop on the agent and another gun just wasn't going to help, it might actually spark something off.

"You're hardly in a condition to do this at all."

"Not going to argue with you there."

The SAC shook his head, but at this point they both knew they were going ahead with it. He turned to one of the agents. "Fellner, give me your phone and cuffs."

The items were handed over to Don after the SAC first held up the cuffs to make his point. "The only way he walks out of that mall is in handcuffs, understand? With or without you."

Clear enough. They would act to take Nelson down if he tried to leave under his own steam, blowing off the meet or if he tried to leave taking Don or someone else with him as a hostage. Don still felt that the fugitive could slip out unnoticed if he caused a panic which would be easy enough to do, a few shots into the air and pandemonium would result.

Over the next quarter an hour there was a flurry of phone calls from the SAC as he ordered teams to the mall and liaised with Albuquerque PD to do the same. Time was of the essence, no one was sure how long Nelson would give it before deciding that they weren't going through with it and move on.

The head of the Albuquerque FBI office spent more time contemplating the view of the mall as he watched units move into place, holding position in the parking lot.

"Let's do this." Don announced as he finished buttoning his shirt with his left hand. An agent had just arrived a few minutes before with a bullet resistant vest for him. With a little assistance he'd managed to get it on and concealed under his shirt. He wasn't wearing a jacket, wanting to make it easy for Nelson to see he was unarmed. The handcuff pouch on the back of his belt was practically invisible against his black jeans and dark shirt. The badge clipped to the front of his belt all the more bright in contrast. He went to the adjoining door and opened it.

"You're doing it aren't you?" Charlie said at sight of him, the bulk of the vest visible to his semi-trained eye.

"Donny, you can't!" Alan added, holding onto the vain hope that his son would see sense.

"I have to. He knows me and trusts me."

"What about him, do you trust him?" Alan demanded.

"I'll be safe." He insisted. "Look, dad, half the bureau along with the Albuquerque police department have the mall surrounded."

Realising that making his son see sense was not going to happen any time soon Alan turned to the senior agent. "You can't let him do this. He's injured. Order him not to do it."

"No, Mr Eppes. I've assessed the situation and agree with your son's read."

"Dad, he'll surrender only to me. This," he indicated his broken arm and other injuries with a lift of the arm in question. "This actually makes me safer. I'm not a threat to him."

"He sticks a gun in your face, what then?"

"Then I'd make a lousy hostage." And he would, his being barely mobile would make it almost impossible for Nelson to manage him on foot and escape if he chose that path. "I have to go. I'll call you as soon as it's done, okay?"

The look on both Alan's and Charlie's faces made it clear that it was far from okay.

"Be careful, son." He was not going to let his boy leave the room seeing him angry. At the end of the day he would support Donny, no matter what his choice was.

A flash of a smile. "I will."

Now standing out the front of one of the side entrances to the mall as the SUV he'd just climbed out of backed away Don didn't feel so confident. A lot could go wrong but he had faith that his read of Nelson, backed up by the opinion of the locals was right. Nelson would keep his word if the conditions were met.

"Agent Eppes?" SAC Taylor's voice came over the earpiece, concerned at his hesitation.

"I'm good. Going in." He responded out loud. A passer-by didn't even glance in his direction. In these days of cell phone Bluetooth devices someone talking to themselves was nothing to take note of.

After making his way in through the automatic doors he slowly headed for the main arcade, navigating around the usual obstructions of trash-cans, seats and garden beds put there to slow shoppers and encourage them to actually look at the shops. He didn't have to do anything to be visible, he looked the very picture of someone who'd just been in a serious accident of some kind, if the crutch, brace and cast weren't enough the large multicoloured bruise on his forehead topped everything off. He was given a wide berth as he concentrated on ensuring that the crutch didn't skid out from under him on the glossy tiles.

Reaching the main arcade he turned arbitrarily and went towards the main entrance some distance away. He moved into the sensor beam but stopped as the doors slid open. The backup waiting for him saw him and an agent spoke urgently into his own microphone.

"Agent Eppes, welfare check." SAC Taylor demanded. They were on a separate frequency.

"All good. No sign of him yet. I'm going back in."

"Roger that."

He was close to the centre of the mall again when he felt the presence close behind him. Tense, he stopped before starting to turn. This didn't feel like a shopper cutting it close.

"Keep moving." Nelson ordered. "Down there, those seats. Stop there."

The presence moved on. Don glanced around and saw Nelson, moving quickly despite his own limp, as he passed behind a woman carrying a large number of bags and continue across to the side of the arcade. He was giving himself some distance as he waited to see the response to his contact with the agent.

"Nelson's here." Don reported. The permanently live microphone pinned under his collar wouldn't have picked up Nelson's voice from behind him with all the ambient noise from the mall.

"Confirm contact."

"Confirmed. He's backed off."

"Is he armed?"

"Unable to tell. Stand-by." He hobbled the remaining twenty yards and stopped at the indicated seats. With barely a moment's hesitation he sat down, resting the crutch beside him. Now he could add a sore armpit to his list of hurts, so much for the promise of not making him walk too far. He'd about had enough exercise for the morning. He didn't have to wait long.

Nelson came around the planter at the far end of the seat and after a last glance around sat down next to the agent. He stared at him for a moment. "I didn't think you were that badly hurt. I didn't see you come in otherwise I'd have approached you earlier." Nelson said by way of apology. A short silence followed as the agent waited. "You got a gun?"

"I'm unarmed." Don answered briefly lifting his right ankle, his only possible place of concealment. His jeans showed no tell-tale bulge of an ankle holster. "You?"

The other man nodded, his hand moving protectively over the bulge on his right hip under the light jacket he was wearing. He then pointed at Don's ear. "You're wired. They know I'm here."

"Yes." The transparent line from the earpiece to the clip on the back of his collar was easy to see at this range.

"Your family, they okay?"

Don blinked, not expecting the question. "They're not happy, but they're okay. They were in the next room last night."

"I really didn't expect they would try anything with you, Agent." Nelson explained. "What did they do?"

"One tried to kill me when I wouldn't give you up."

"Why didn't you?"

"I wasn't going to help them kill someone else." He answered a little shocked that Nelson thought he would. "Besides, I didn't know where you were anyway. I hardly expected you to still be in town."

The fugitive favoured him with a brief, rueful, grin. "After we dropped you off at the hospital, we split up. I took Brad's car and another longer route out of town, we were going to meet up later. They got out before the roadblocks, I didn't."

"So your friend and family are away clean." Don fished. It was possible they got away, the pick-up being found outside of town was a likely indicator. But it was just as possible they were still in town and Nelson was throwing out another red herring.

"Yes. And I'm glad to hear your family are alright." He cocked his head to one side regarding the agent thoughtfully. "I owe you another apology. You don't look like the type to ask someone for a favour, especially not of one who has a gun on you. But you asked to call your family and I didn't let you. I should have. It would have saved them a few hours worry. I'm sorry about that."

Don nodded shortly then got back on track. "Speaking of guns…" He left it hanging.

"You kept your end of the bargain." The other man stood then pointed towards a fire exit sign. Below it was an alleyway that would lead to the exit door. "Head over there."

The agent didn't move. "Why?"

Nelson bent over to keep his words quiet and to prevent being overheard. "I don't think it would be wise to pull out your gun here to give it back, do you? Some of these fine people might get the wrong idea."

"Agent, say the word and we'll come in." The SAC's concerned voice said in his ear. The word he was referring to was the distress word they'd agreed upon.

Eying the fugitive who'd stepped back waiting he came to a decision. "Alright, Nelson. I'll follow you." He stood, grabbed the crutch and followed the other man.

Nelson stopped a few yards down the alley. He waited until the agent had reached him before reaching into his coat and pulling out the Glock and the holster complete. He held it out on the palm of his hand. "Do you want me to unload it?"

"Unloaded would be best." It meant that the weapon would come out of the holster and be in play but if Nelson unloaded it he would be unable use it if he were to change his mind on the way out of the mall.

"I thought that would be your answer." Nelson slowly drew the Glock from the holster and dropped the leather to the floor. Ensuring that the gun was pointed safely away from the agent he pressed the magazine release before working the action. Catching the ejected round before it could hit the floor he placed it back into the magazine. Leaving the slide racked back on the slide stop he retrieved the holster and slid the weapon into it. He handed over the magazine and watched as the agent slid it out of easy reach into his jeans pocket.

"You don't seem to have a lot of hands free." Nelson hefted the unloaded weapon and holster. "Do you want me to-?"

He had a point, it was normally a two handed operation to slide the holster over a belt. But Don wasn't completely helpless, it could be done with one. Shaking his head in the negative he held out his left hand and taking the offered holster managed to get it hooked over his belt on his left side. It looked a little odd with the gun around backwards, but would do. Nelson waited patiently. Next, being careful not to dislodge the crutch he reached around to his back and pulled out the handcuffs. "These go on."

"Fair enough." Nelson took the cuffs and slipped them around his own wrists. Finished he held them up for the agent's inspection. Receiving the expected approval, they were fitted to regulation standard, he twisted the locks.

Don eyed the fire exit door. It would be the quickest way out of the mall but it was alarmed. No go. They would have to go the long way back through the public area. "I'll follow you. Head left then left again at the next arcade."

The other man started moving, keeping his pace slow to allow Don to keep up.

"SAC Taylor, we're coming out to you." Don announced.

"Status?"

"Pacific." He gave the codeword for 'all clear'. "Repeat, Pacific. Nelson is cuffed and proceeding me."

"Received."

Their exit went smoothly, Nelson walking out steadily holding his cuffed hands out in clear view with Don following a couple of yards behind. Once they were clear of the mall entrance a pair of agents moved in and took hold of the prisoner, moving him away and out of sight behind a SUV to be searched. By the time the SAC had approached Don, Nelson was being Mirandized.

"I think you have a call to make."

Don waited until he climbed into the SAC's SUV before pulling the borrowed phone from his pocket. The call was answered on the first ring. "It's done. Nelson is in custody." He reported.

Charlie repeated his words in the background. "We've been moved. How long before they'll bring you to us?"

"Right now, Chuck." He snapped the phone closed. He turned to the senior agent. "If you send someone around with a notebook computer we'll get the statements done now."

Taylor started the engine. "Agent Fletcher is already on her way. We'll keep you in the safehouse tonight with full security. I'm not having another incident involving you or your family." He looked over at the other agent and smiled. "They warned me you attracted trouble."

He'd heard that himself. "Yeah, but not normally this much. Or this close to home."

"Well there won't be any more. Consider yourselves in protective custody. You want to go somewhere that's fine but you'll have a full detail." He was not going to take any more chances.

Opening his mouth to argue that it was a waste of manpower he changed his mind and shut it again. Jack and Nelson's boys were still on the loose, he'd already misjudged the situation several times now and erring on the side of caution was probably the wisest thing to do. "Thanks."

"You're also going home on an FBI jet."

This time he was going to protest.

"No arguing." The SAC interrupted before his passenger could get a word out. "Orders from on high. You won't believe the publicity this has generated. We are getting you home safely. Right to your door."

-10111-10010-1-10000- -10101-10000-

SAC Taylor was true to his word. They arrived at the Craftsman house late the next afternoon with two agents from Albuquerque along for the ride. Door to door service also apparently meant a sweep of the house. Alan was only too pleased for them to wait outside with Don's team while the two agents attended to their task. His son had tried to convince him it was unnecessary, a little embarrassed by the attention the three black sedans were raising in the neighbourhood, but the older man was only satisfied after the house had been cleared.

It was a long night, catching Don's team up on the saga. The television was kept switched off. They'd turned it on briefly only to have multiple images of themselves in New Mexico and even of them stepping off the jet at LA splashed across the screen. There was nothing after the airport, the local agents had been able to convince the media that following the Eppes family home to their door was not a good idea.

A few days later Don was sitting in the back of an LA courtroom listening to Nelson's evidence in Detective Waters' trial. He didn't attend any other sittings, IAD kept him updated on developments and a month later Waters was convicted of the original murder charge and arraigned on further charges.

By this time Don was back at work on light duties and receiving regular updates via internal e-mail from Albuquerque on Nelson's own trial. The man kept his promise and pled guilty the whole way through the process obviating the need for the agent to return to New Mexico to give evidence. Nelson's youngest son Paul had handed himself in a week previously and according to SAC Taylor was likely to get a light sentence.

Jack and Brad remain on the run and are still wanted.

END

A/N: I hope no-one was disappointed but I couldn't take it further. Besides, Nelson is really a good guy who got out of his depth so I felt it more in character that he would give up without a fight.

Thanks to those that reviewed and I trust everyone enjoyed the tale.