Fic: Everyone Has A Secret, Chapter 3/3 (Numb3rs, David / Ian, Bobby)
Title: Everyone has a Secret, Chapter 3/3
Pair: Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger,
Don Eppes / Martin Fridegord,
David Sinclair / Ian Edgerton,
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
NUMB3RS Main List
Chapter 1/3
Chapter 2/3
“You want coffee? I can get-”
“Let’s just… get it done.” David murmured and got comfortable on the couch in Martin’s office. “You wanted to talk.”
“Yeah, I…” Bobby closed and locked the door. “You entered my information using your own IDs and passwords.”
“I didn’t-”
“I don’t wanna know why you did it, I already know. It was because of that guy at the restaurant.”
“It got me thinking.” David admitted. “And when I started thinking… your story has some serious holes in it. You came to L.A. over a year ago.”
“No.” Bobby sat down behind Martin’s desk. “That was when they got me an apartment in L.A. and started to set up my new identity. I wasn’t lying when I said I had recently moved here.”
“New identity?”
“That drunk in the restaurant... he knew someone I knew in Chicago. I had no idea I would run into any of them here.”
“Who’s they? And who are you?”
“He… he got my name right.”
“Darin.”
“Yeah. Robert Desmond is a real person. Except that he died in a car crash last year.”
“And you took over.”
“He lived his whole life in Wyoming and he didn’t have contacts outside the area, there was nobody in L.A. who would have known the original.”
“I wondered about that.” David let out an involuntary chuckle. “Why you didn’t have an accent.”
“Well... I studied drama for three years. Nice to hear it paid off.”
“Where? In Chicago?”
“Yeah. I called my handler. Since you’re working for the FBI, I got a permission to tell you and Ian.”
“You mean the bureau set this up?”
“Something like that. I don`t know where to start… You remember when you said I have a really bad taste in men?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s pretty much what got this started. I was studying drama and I did little parts in this small theatre. And one night a guy from the audience sent me flowers. We started talking and… you know.”
“I think I know where this is going…” David groaned. “Violent?”
“Not to me. He always just said he was a businessman, and never told me exactly what he did. That lasted about two months.”
“What happened then?”
“One night we were at his house, and I woke up in the middle of the night. I heard yelling from downstairs, I went to the stairs and… he was there. With his business partners. If you can call them that. They were arguing. Or... not reeally arguing, he was yelling at one guy.”
“About what?”
“The guy had been skimming the profits, he tried to escape and…” Bobby swirled around in the chair till he was facing the window, his back to David. “He grabbed one of his hunting guns from the wall and shot him.” He paused. “One boom and that was it.”
“Did he know you were there?”
“No, I was behind the railing. I heard him telling the other men to take the body and where to dump it. I… I went back upstairs.”
“You didn’t leave?”
“I couldn’t think right. I went back to bed and I pretended to sleep when he came back.”
“But you went to the police?”
“Yeah. Next day when I was supposed to go to my classes. I grabbed all the stuff I had at his house and I went to get most of my stuff from my place and I locked my self into a motel room. And then I called the police.”
“Probably a wise move. Staying in a motel.”
“I didn’t wanna be anywhere where they could find me. They found the body the next day.”
“You testified and in exchange they gave you a new identity. Am I right?”
“Yeah. The feds had been after him for a long time, but they couldn’t link him to anything. Except the murder.”
“Why were they after him?”
“I don’t know exactly. Organised crime, that’s all I know. I didn’t want to know too much about it.”
“What happened then?”
“They kept me hiding till the trial, and after that I came here.”
“And Martin knows?”
“The company has ties to the local government, they thought this would be a safe place to stash me. Keep low profile and so on.”
“Have you heard from them? The other guys?”
“The ones who got rid of the body are in jail. The rest of the organisation… I don’t know. They were just a small part of the whole thing. That’s why they still keep an eye on me. I contact my handler on steady intervals. If I miss one, they’ll come looking.” He managed to crack a small grin. “Like a watchdog with guns.”
“Did you call him from the cabin?” David asked. “We were stuck there for days.”
“I told him before leaving that I was going away with a fed and an ex-fed.” Bobby grinned. “That was enough for them as long as I reported to them as soon as we came back.”
“You reported to them?”
“Not details!”
Bobby couldn’t help laughing and David gave up as well. Both men laughed uncontrollably.
“That report would have been pure porn….” David managed to gasp out between giggles. “At least he knows you got two security guys who have a hands-on approach.”
A new fit of laughter followed.
“Hands and some other stuff…” Bobby wiped few tears of laughter from the corner of his eye. “I like this.”
“What?”
“This. My life here. I was holed up for moths waiting for the trial, and three guys took turns guarding me. I just wanna focus on my life here.”
“Someone else’s life.” David stated. His expression had turned serious.
“It’s mine now. I don’t think the original Robert would mind.”
“Well, I do mind. If you’re still under surveillance, they must have a reason for it.”
“It’s just a precaution-”
“It means you can still be in danger. Someone could still come after you.”
“David-”
“You were with our kid, sometimes without me or Ian around. What if someone had actually tried something?”
“Nothing has happened, it’s just a precaution-”
“You put us all in danger, and you didn’t tell us.” David got up and headed to the door. “Do what you want with your new life, but stay away from us.”