Numb3rs Fic: Ex Libris, Chapter Two/3
Title: Ex Libris
Author: ALEO
aleo_70
Genre: Gen
Characters: Don and Charlie with brief appearances by David and Colby
Rating: PG 13+
Warning: violence
Spoilers: nil
Summary: Anything can be used as a weapon
Status: Chapter 2 of 3
Wordcount (this chapter): 2612
Total wordcount: ~8050
A/N: written for Clue Challenge #3, September 2009 athurt_don. Prompts: Who? - Don. What? - Book. Where? - Charlie's office.
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 places and organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.
CHAPTER TWO
For a long moment there was no sound or movement in the office aside from another rattle at the door. Now Don spared a glance at his brother’s terrified face before he turned back to Morris. Another hostage they did not need. He kept his voice low. “Leave her out of this.”
Morris grabbed at the agent’s arm, pulling him to the side as he stuck the gun into his ribs. He gave his next hissed instruction to the professor. “Get rid of her!”
Charlie’s desperate gaze flicked between his brother and the door in equal shares. Receiving an encouraging nod from Don he finally got out of his chair, moving quickly around the desk and approached the door. He made sure to give the gunman and his brother a wide berth, the threat of the weapon pressing under his brother’s ribs ensured that. After a final quick glance at the two men he unlocked the door and pulled it open a bare inch, his knuckles white on the knob.
“Charlie, what?” Amita was clearly puzzled. She pressed up close to the gap, trying to see in. Fortunately the angle meant she couldn’t see the drama only a few yards away and didn’t know how much danger she was in.
“Uh, hi.” Charlie stumbled. “Um, I can’t let you in.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve, uh, I’ve got some stuff you can’t see.”
“Since when?” Amita’s confusion deepened. They almost always ended up working on the same material at some point, whether it was his own work or classified material for the government. Her clearance was nearly as good as his enabling her to help from the sidelines if not actively participate.
“Amita, I just, I can’t.” Charlie tried to explain, starting to sound desperate. He couldn’t think clearly enough around his fear for her and his brother to make up something that sounded reasonable. “Please.”
“Huh.” It was more than clear that Amita was now not impressed. “Well, alright then. I’ll come back later. Assuming that will be allowed then?”
Charlie didn’t hear the dangerous tone, concentrating solely on the fact that whatever he’d said had been enough, she was leaving and would be safe. “Yeah, sure.”
Without another word Amita backed off and vanished. Charlie eased the door closed, turning the lock without being told. Backing away he turned in time to see a sudden flurry of activity. Instinctively he scrambled out of the way as his brother struggled with Morris.
Don had finally seen an opportunity. As Charlie had sent Amita away, Morris had relaxed slightly, the gun not pressing so hard against his hostage’s side. Charlie had then meekly locked the door, relaxing Morris even further. The offender had then started to move away, his attention momentarily concentrated on the professor. With the gun no longer in contact with his body Don reacted, jerking his elbow back and striking Morris hard in the ribs. He followed up with a strike to the man’s gun hand which failed to knock the gun loose. Seeing that he made a grab at the wrist but Morris was already twisting away and he missed. Considering his build the offender could move surprisingly fast. Following the man Don again tried to secure the hand holding the weapon. Movement out of the corner of his eye distracted him; it was Charlie getting out of their way. The moment of inattention cost him, not seeing the fist until it struck the side of his head.
Ears ringing he stumbled, the fresh blow undoing much of his recovery so far. His stubborn streak and urgent need to continue what he’d started had him forcing himself back into the fray. Leading with a fist of his own he landed a solid punch that seemingly had no effect before his feet were suddenly swept out from under him. Already off balance and twisting he landed hard. Rolling he made it up onto all fours and started to work at getting his feet under him when a large hand gripped his shoulder holding him down. That wasn’t the only thing that stopped him, the hard edge pressing against the back of his head forced the point.
“You move another inch and you’re dead.” Morris panted.
Breathing heavily Don remained frozen in place, not even able to look up to search for his brother as he desperately wanted. He’d made his play and failed, now everything depended on what the offender would do next. Eyes closed so he couldn’t see the room spin all that was left for him to do was to relax his tensed muscles in an effort to show his surrender. The grip on his shoulder tightened briefly, a warning, before loosening. The gun didn’t move. A moment later the hand was at his waist, unsnapping the pouch there and pulling out his cuffs.
Abruptly the pressure of the gun disappeared from his head. Turning his head ever so slightly and getting his eyes to work he could see that Morris remained close, slightly behind and to one side, even if it seemed he was going to let Don move. He allowed a few seconds to pass before ever so slowly easing back onto his heels and looking up, hands carefully resting in full sight on his thighs. The room tilted once again and he had to swallow against the nausea that odd movement caused. Getting his stomach under control he got his eyes back open.
His first glance went to where he’d last seen his brother, not finding him until he turned towards the desk. Charlie was frozen in place near the item of furniture, eyes impossibly wide, one hand slightly outstretched towards his brother. Don knew what he would have been thinking given what he’d just witnessed. It was a miracle he hadn’t been forced to watch his older brother’s murder.
Only a second or so had passed before the gun was back in place against his head. Holding still he felt Morris move and saw the restraints being tossed across the room. Charlie automatically scrambled to pick them up after failing to catch them even though Morris’ aim had been true and they’d struck the professor on the chest.
Morris waited until Charlie was standing with the metal loops in his hands. “Sit down and cuff yourself to the chair.”
Seeing Charlie’s hesitation Don added, “Do it, Charlie.” If his brother was cuffed to a chair he wasn’t going to be taken anywhere.
“Don,” Charlie started, clearly worried. He was edging the wrong way, towards his brother not the chair.
“Charlie, no.” Don ordered at the increased pressure of the gun against his head. One of his hands came up in a ‘stop’ gesture. Concentrating he tried to force the headache away so he could sound convincing. “I’ll be fine. Do as he says.”
Clearly reluctant but without any other choices open to him Charlie slowly walked back around his desk, closing one loop of the cuffs around his left wrist before sitting. After another second or so of hesitation he finished his task, closing the other cuff around the chair arm.
There was clear satisfaction in the gunman’s voice as he gave his next order. “Get up.”
The gun remained pressed steadily against his head as he climbed carefully to his feet, staggering for a second or so as he worked to recover his balance. Keeping his hands up and clearly visible he waited until the man’s left hand once again grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back against the other’s body. The voice was harsh in his ear.
“You try anything else and I’ll just shoot you. He’s not going anywhere so I’ll be able to come back for him. Got it?” The gun pressed harder against his head in emphasis.
“Got it.” The threat against Charlie was more the more effective of the two to ensure his cooperation.
“So, we’re going to try this again. Out to your car and you’ll drive me where I want to go.”
Unable to nod Don acknowledged the instructions. “Yes.”
The hand shifted from his shoulder but he didn’t move, feeling the hand take a firm hold of the back of his belt a moment later. Then the gun moved, taking up a new position against his lower back. Morris pushed with both the weapon and his hand indicating he should start walking. Allowing himself one last glance at his frightened brother Don obeyed, heading once again for the door.
This time no one appeared through the glass and he unlocked it. Placing his hand on the knob he waited until the gun was shoved harder into his back before opening the door. Looking out cautiously he saw a student walk by in the hall. Hesitating, he didn’t advance until the student was gone. Finally he stepped forward, Morris keeping close in behind him. Expecting Morris to be more covert about his actions now they were in public Don was surprised when the position of the gun didn’t change. As a result he kept his hands up. Then he recalled Morris being convinced that Don had agents waiting, he figured the man wanted what he was doing to be obvious the moment they were spotted.
The hall was empty but not for long, the inevitable discovery of the situation occurring sooner than he’d expected. They’d gone only a few yards before another student appeared. That suggested that they were coming up on the ten minutes of heavy traffic between classes. He would really have preferred they’d been out of the building before then. Fighting their way through students was not exactly the safest option at the moment. It wasn’t until the student was within arms reach that she realised something was amiss. Her eyes widened as she dropped her books but the scream never eventuated, her hand clapping over her own mouth even as she backed against the wall.
“FBI. Call security.” Don instructed as he kept moving by, the pressures against his back steady. Morris remained silent so he continued. “Make sure they keep everyone back.” A few steps further on and he heard her run down the hall to safety.
“Keep doing as you’re doing and no one gets hurt.” Morris reinforced.
“There are about to be kids everywhere when classes let out.” Don warned. “Stop this now or someone will be hurt.”
Morris wasn’t having it. “Keep moving.”
A loud bell suddenly sounded, ringing in short bursts that continued for almost a whole minute. The noise level around them rose, voices suddenly sounding fearful. The next sounds were series of clicks as doors were locked. Don finally realised what was happening. The bell had indicated a lock-down was in force, students were now barricading themselves into their classes. Glancing automatically at his watch he realised something else, the alert was far too quick to have been the student they’d just passed, Charlie had to have called it in from his desk.
Relieved, Don allowed Morris to continue pushing him forward towards the stairs that would lead outside. With the students safely locked away from harm it just came back down to Morris and him. If he hadn’t been concentrating so hard on keeping his head on his shoulders he was sure he would have been able to think of something to take advantage of the situation.
They were down the stairs and making for the doors out of the building when the sirens he just realised he’d been hearing for the last minute or so grew suddenly loud before stopping. Morris reacted, jerking the agent to a stop before slowly moving forwards to where they could just see out through the doors. There was the sound of tyres skidding across asphalt before the nose of an LAPD black & white slid into view. A second vehicle skidded to a stop followed a moment later by doors opening. A hard shove against his back and Don moved forward, out through the doors and onto the landing at the top of the stairs. The sudden appearance of the agent and the offender had the officers ducking behind their vehicles for shelter even as they aimed their weapons towards the threat. The sound of a shotgun shell being pumped into place though had Morris again pulling him to a stop. There were few sounds quite as threatening as that.
“Drop your weapon!”
Not surprisingly Morris ignored the command, pulling the agent firmly back against him as he brought the gun up and around to rest now against the side of his hostage’s head. He shouted his own command as more sirens could be heard approaching. “Back off!”
“Drop your weapon and release the hostage.” The LAPD officer with the shotgun repeated.
“Tell them.” Morris hissed.
“It won’t make any difference coming from me.” Don argued.
“Your job is to get me past them.” Morris reminded him.
Thinking of his brother trapped back in the office behind them Don kept to his word. “Officer, he’s serious. Let us by.”
“No can do, Agent.” She responded. Her shotgun didn’t move as she addressed the man behind the agent. “Surrender now before this gets any worse.”
Two more black & whites arrived. As the new officers climbed out to join the first responders pointing weapons their way Don felt Morris shift in sudden nervousness. Being on the wrong end of his gun Don swallowed, all too aware of how much danger he was in, a nervous finger on a trigger was enough to give anyone pause. A black sedan finally joined the party, doors opening to reveal David and Colby. The two agents threaded their way through the vehicles until they were standing next to the officer with the shotgun.
“Give this up, Morris.” David called.
The gun shoved against his head. “They aren’t going to listen to me either.”
“Make them.”
Remembering the nervous finger on the trigger Don gave in. “David, you have to let us by.”
Following procedure and ignoring his boss’ words as they were made under duress David spoke again. “Release Agent Eppes and drop the weapon.”
“I’ll kill him!” Morris warned. He directed his next words at his hostage. “Tell them.”
“David, he means it.” Don added obediently as he saw no point to arguing further. He knew David wouldn’t capitulate unless he said the specific words they’d long ago agreed to. Until then David would stick to the rules and the rules said the HT was not to go mobile, especially not with a hostage in tow if there was any way to prevent it.
Morris took a half step sideways, moving in the general direction of Don’s SUV dragging the agent with him. The weapons aimed at them jerked up and followed their move causing Morris to stop once again at the threat. Despite his tough-guy attitude the man was obviously fearful of the weapons arrayed against him, even though he held a trump card.
Seeing the target of Morris’ move David spoke quickly to the officer beside him. The woman reacted, radioing a brief message via the handset clipped to her epaulette. As they watched an officer jumped back into his black & white and drove forwards until he stopped parked across the front of Don’s SUV blocking it in. The officer quickly climbed out and abandoned his unit, joining one of his colleagues behind another vehicle.
“Move it!” Morris demanded, anger and frustration clear in his voice. “Move it or I kill him!”
“No, you won’t.” David responded calmly. “Morris, look around you. This is not going to work. Put the gun down and let Agent Eppes go.”
Next chapter - here
Author: ALEO
aleo_70
Genre: Gen
Characters: Don and Charlie with brief appearances by David and Colby
Rating: PG 13+
Warning: violence
Spoilers: nil
Summary: Anything can be used as a weapon
Status: Chapter 2 of 3
Wordcount (this chapter): 2612
Total wordcount: ~8050
A/N: written for Clue Challenge #3, September 2009 athurt_don. Prompts: Who? - Don. What? - Book. Where? - Charlie's office.
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 places and organisations are used in a fictional sense. Original characters and the storyline are mine however.
CHAPTER TWO
For a long moment there was no sound or movement in the office aside from another rattle at the door. Now Don spared a glance at his brother’s terrified face before he turned back to Morris. Another hostage they did not need. He kept his voice low. “Leave her out of this.”
Morris grabbed at the agent’s arm, pulling him to the side as he stuck the gun into his ribs. He gave his next hissed instruction to the professor. “Get rid of her!”
Charlie’s desperate gaze flicked between his brother and the door in equal shares. Receiving an encouraging nod from Don he finally got out of his chair, moving quickly around the desk and approached the door. He made sure to give the gunman and his brother a wide berth, the threat of the weapon pressing under his brother’s ribs ensured that. After a final quick glance at the two men he unlocked the door and pulled it open a bare inch, his knuckles white on the knob.
“Charlie, what?” Amita was clearly puzzled. She pressed up close to the gap, trying to see in. Fortunately the angle meant she couldn’t see the drama only a few yards away and didn’t know how much danger she was in.
“Uh, hi.” Charlie stumbled. “Um, I can’t let you in.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve, uh, I’ve got some stuff you can’t see.”
“Since when?” Amita’s confusion deepened. They almost always ended up working on the same material at some point, whether it was his own work or classified material for the government. Her clearance was nearly as good as his enabling her to help from the sidelines if not actively participate.
“Amita, I just, I can’t.” Charlie tried to explain, starting to sound desperate. He couldn’t think clearly enough around his fear for her and his brother to make up something that sounded reasonable. “Please.”
“Huh.” It was more than clear that Amita was now not impressed. “Well, alright then. I’ll come back later. Assuming that will be allowed then?”
Charlie didn’t hear the dangerous tone, concentrating solely on the fact that whatever he’d said had been enough, she was leaving and would be safe. “Yeah, sure.”
Without another word Amita backed off and vanished. Charlie eased the door closed, turning the lock without being told. Backing away he turned in time to see a sudden flurry of activity. Instinctively he scrambled out of the way as his brother struggled with Morris.
Don had finally seen an opportunity. As Charlie had sent Amita away, Morris had relaxed slightly, the gun not pressing so hard against his hostage’s side. Charlie had then meekly locked the door, relaxing Morris even further. The offender had then started to move away, his attention momentarily concentrated on the professor. With the gun no longer in contact with his body Don reacted, jerking his elbow back and striking Morris hard in the ribs. He followed up with a strike to the man’s gun hand which failed to knock the gun loose. Seeing that he made a grab at the wrist but Morris was already twisting away and he missed. Considering his build the offender could move surprisingly fast. Following the man Don again tried to secure the hand holding the weapon. Movement out of the corner of his eye distracted him; it was Charlie getting out of their way. The moment of inattention cost him, not seeing the fist until it struck the side of his head.
Ears ringing he stumbled, the fresh blow undoing much of his recovery so far. His stubborn streak and urgent need to continue what he’d started had him forcing himself back into the fray. Leading with a fist of his own he landed a solid punch that seemingly had no effect before his feet were suddenly swept out from under him. Already off balance and twisting he landed hard. Rolling he made it up onto all fours and started to work at getting his feet under him when a large hand gripped his shoulder holding him down. That wasn’t the only thing that stopped him, the hard edge pressing against the back of his head forced the point.
“You move another inch and you’re dead.” Morris panted.
Breathing heavily Don remained frozen in place, not even able to look up to search for his brother as he desperately wanted. He’d made his play and failed, now everything depended on what the offender would do next. Eyes closed so he couldn’t see the room spin all that was left for him to do was to relax his tensed muscles in an effort to show his surrender. The grip on his shoulder tightened briefly, a warning, before loosening. The gun didn’t move. A moment later the hand was at his waist, unsnapping the pouch there and pulling out his cuffs.
Abruptly the pressure of the gun disappeared from his head. Turning his head ever so slightly and getting his eyes to work he could see that Morris remained close, slightly behind and to one side, even if it seemed he was going to let Don move. He allowed a few seconds to pass before ever so slowly easing back onto his heels and looking up, hands carefully resting in full sight on his thighs. The room tilted once again and he had to swallow against the nausea that odd movement caused. Getting his stomach under control he got his eyes back open.
His first glance went to where he’d last seen his brother, not finding him until he turned towards the desk. Charlie was frozen in place near the item of furniture, eyes impossibly wide, one hand slightly outstretched towards his brother. Don knew what he would have been thinking given what he’d just witnessed. It was a miracle he hadn’t been forced to watch his older brother’s murder.
Only a second or so had passed before the gun was back in place against his head. Holding still he felt Morris move and saw the restraints being tossed across the room. Charlie automatically scrambled to pick them up after failing to catch them even though Morris’ aim had been true and they’d struck the professor on the chest.
Morris waited until Charlie was standing with the metal loops in his hands. “Sit down and cuff yourself to the chair.”
Seeing Charlie’s hesitation Don added, “Do it, Charlie.” If his brother was cuffed to a chair he wasn’t going to be taken anywhere.
“Don,” Charlie started, clearly worried. He was edging the wrong way, towards his brother not the chair.
“Charlie, no.” Don ordered at the increased pressure of the gun against his head. One of his hands came up in a ‘stop’ gesture. Concentrating he tried to force the headache away so he could sound convincing. “I’ll be fine. Do as he says.”
Clearly reluctant but without any other choices open to him Charlie slowly walked back around his desk, closing one loop of the cuffs around his left wrist before sitting. After another second or so of hesitation he finished his task, closing the other cuff around the chair arm.
There was clear satisfaction in the gunman’s voice as he gave his next order. “Get up.”
The gun remained pressed steadily against his head as he climbed carefully to his feet, staggering for a second or so as he worked to recover his balance. Keeping his hands up and clearly visible he waited until the man’s left hand once again grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back against the other’s body. The voice was harsh in his ear.
“You try anything else and I’ll just shoot you. He’s not going anywhere so I’ll be able to come back for him. Got it?” The gun pressed harder against his head in emphasis.
“Got it.” The threat against Charlie was more the more effective of the two to ensure his cooperation.
“So, we’re going to try this again. Out to your car and you’ll drive me where I want to go.”
Unable to nod Don acknowledged the instructions. “Yes.”
The hand shifted from his shoulder but he didn’t move, feeling the hand take a firm hold of the back of his belt a moment later. Then the gun moved, taking up a new position against his lower back. Morris pushed with both the weapon and his hand indicating he should start walking. Allowing himself one last glance at his frightened brother Don obeyed, heading once again for the door.
This time no one appeared through the glass and he unlocked it. Placing his hand on the knob he waited until the gun was shoved harder into his back before opening the door. Looking out cautiously he saw a student walk by in the hall. Hesitating, he didn’t advance until the student was gone. Finally he stepped forward, Morris keeping close in behind him. Expecting Morris to be more covert about his actions now they were in public Don was surprised when the position of the gun didn’t change. As a result he kept his hands up. Then he recalled Morris being convinced that Don had agents waiting, he figured the man wanted what he was doing to be obvious the moment they were spotted.
The hall was empty but not for long, the inevitable discovery of the situation occurring sooner than he’d expected. They’d gone only a few yards before another student appeared. That suggested that they were coming up on the ten minutes of heavy traffic between classes. He would really have preferred they’d been out of the building before then. Fighting their way through students was not exactly the safest option at the moment. It wasn’t until the student was within arms reach that she realised something was amiss. Her eyes widened as she dropped her books but the scream never eventuated, her hand clapping over her own mouth even as she backed against the wall.
“FBI. Call security.” Don instructed as he kept moving by, the pressures against his back steady. Morris remained silent so he continued. “Make sure they keep everyone back.” A few steps further on and he heard her run down the hall to safety.
“Keep doing as you’re doing and no one gets hurt.” Morris reinforced.
“There are about to be kids everywhere when classes let out.” Don warned. “Stop this now or someone will be hurt.”
Morris wasn’t having it. “Keep moving.”
A loud bell suddenly sounded, ringing in short bursts that continued for almost a whole minute. The noise level around them rose, voices suddenly sounding fearful. The next sounds were series of clicks as doors were locked. Don finally realised what was happening. The bell had indicated a lock-down was in force, students were now barricading themselves into their classes. Glancing automatically at his watch he realised something else, the alert was far too quick to have been the student they’d just passed, Charlie had to have called it in from his desk.
Relieved, Don allowed Morris to continue pushing him forward towards the stairs that would lead outside. With the students safely locked away from harm it just came back down to Morris and him. If he hadn’t been concentrating so hard on keeping his head on his shoulders he was sure he would have been able to think of something to take advantage of the situation.
They were down the stairs and making for the doors out of the building when the sirens he just realised he’d been hearing for the last minute or so grew suddenly loud before stopping. Morris reacted, jerking the agent to a stop before slowly moving forwards to where they could just see out through the doors. There was the sound of tyres skidding across asphalt before the nose of an LAPD black & white slid into view. A second vehicle skidded to a stop followed a moment later by doors opening. A hard shove against his back and Don moved forward, out through the doors and onto the landing at the top of the stairs. The sudden appearance of the agent and the offender had the officers ducking behind their vehicles for shelter even as they aimed their weapons towards the threat. The sound of a shotgun shell being pumped into place though had Morris again pulling him to a stop. There were few sounds quite as threatening as that.
“Drop your weapon!”
Not surprisingly Morris ignored the command, pulling the agent firmly back against him as he brought the gun up and around to rest now against the side of his hostage’s head. He shouted his own command as more sirens could be heard approaching. “Back off!”
“Drop your weapon and release the hostage.” The LAPD officer with the shotgun repeated.
“Tell them.” Morris hissed.
“It won’t make any difference coming from me.” Don argued.
“Your job is to get me past them.” Morris reminded him.
Thinking of his brother trapped back in the office behind them Don kept to his word. “Officer, he’s serious. Let us by.”
“No can do, Agent.” She responded. Her shotgun didn’t move as she addressed the man behind the agent. “Surrender now before this gets any worse.”
Two more black & whites arrived. As the new officers climbed out to join the first responders pointing weapons their way Don felt Morris shift in sudden nervousness. Being on the wrong end of his gun Don swallowed, all too aware of how much danger he was in, a nervous finger on a trigger was enough to give anyone pause. A black sedan finally joined the party, doors opening to reveal David and Colby. The two agents threaded their way through the vehicles until they were standing next to the officer with the shotgun.
“Give this up, Morris.” David called.
The gun shoved against his head. “They aren’t going to listen to me either.”
“Make them.”
Remembering the nervous finger on the trigger Don gave in. “David, you have to let us by.”
Following procedure and ignoring his boss’ words as they were made under duress David spoke again. “Release Agent Eppes and drop the weapon.”
“I’ll kill him!” Morris warned. He directed his next words at his hostage. “Tell them.”
“David, he means it.” Don added obediently as he saw no point to arguing further. He knew David wouldn’t capitulate unless he said the specific words they’d long ago agreed to. Until then David would stick to the rules and the rules said the HT was not to go mobile, especially not with a hostage in tow if there was any way to prevent it.
Morris took a half step sideways, moving in the general direction of Don’s SUV dragging the agent with him. The weapons aimed at them jerked up and followed their move causing Morris to stop once again at the threat. Despite his tough-guy attitude the man was obviously fearful of the weapons arrayed against him, even though he held a trump card.
Seeing the target of Morris’ move David spoke quickly to the officer beside him. The woman reacted, radioing a brief message via the handset clipped to her epaulette. As they watched an officer jumped back into his black & white and drove forwards until he stopped parked across the front of Don’s SUV blocking it in. The officer quickly climbed out and abandoned his unit, joining one of his colleagues behind another vehicle.
“Move it!” Morris demanded, anger and frustration clear in his voice. “Move it or I kill him!”
“No, you won’t.” David responded calmly. “Morris, look around you. This is not going to work. Put the gun down and let Agent Eppes go.”
Next chapter - here