My Beautiful Doll

Chapter Twenty Eight

Ian felt like he just got sucker punched in the gut at Charlie's statement. They all had their suspicions at the odd Agent, but to hear the truth come up from Charlie, it almost didn't seem real. Every single loose bit of information clicked into place, creating a horrifying picture.

They were all staring at the phone when suddenly, the door burst open. Everyone except Ian jumped at the sudden sound, whirling around to see who it was. Megan, Colby, and David had come back, worry written over their faces. "Whose that?" Megan asked, raising her chin at the open cellphone on the table.

"It's me," Charlie replied.

"Charlie?!" She looked relieved. "Are you okay?"

"We're fine, just a bit of smoke inhalation."

That caused all of them to blink in confusion. "Alright backup," Colby said, "Megan, David, and I just got here so we missed a whole chunk of conversation. What the hell is going on?"

Charlie sighed before he told what happened, regaling the story in vivid detail. Ian could feel his stomach churn a bit at the ring and judging by everyone's horrified expression, neither could they. Charlie continued to tell them about Baker's odd mannerisms, his confession and admission that while he did know that Don didn't love him like that now, he knew he'll be able to change the man's mind. Ian's blood ran cold as he heard that, imagining the cool calculating tone that the man had as he made Don choose between himself and his family, knowing exactly what he would say.

"That's what the ring was for," Ian breathed out, realization hitting him harder than a bullet.

"What?" Billy glared, his blue eyes now as sharp as ice.

Ian stiffened before telling his story, disappointment mounting with each word he spoke. As soon as he was done, Billy grabbed him and shoved him harshly to a table. "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU STOP HIM?!"

"WE HAD NO EVIDENCE!" Ian shouted back, clenching his fists. "All we had were suspicions, none of it was enough for us to fucking detain him."

"Well ya could've done something!" Billy snarled, poking him hard in the chest. "You could've asked him to stay, ask more questions - HELL! Even get into more arguments with him!"

"He wasn't even a suspect up until now," Ian replied, trying to keep his cool. His glare was so harsh it would've stopped a stampede of elephants in its tracks. "Contrary to popular belief, I'm not a damn psychic Cooper."

"Well you should've been," Billy said, "Because now we've lost him. Your mistake cost Don his freedom."

Ian growled before throwing Billy against the wall. "FUCK YOU!" He shouted, "You can't blame all of this shit on me just because you felt like we failed to look out for him."

Billy was about to snipe back before Megan stepped in, her heels clanking harshly against the tiles as she tried to keep her expression neutral. "ALRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH!" She ordered, frowning at the both of them. "None of this is anyone's fault! We did the best we could with the information we had and that's that." She crossed her arms as she looked at everyone in the room, "Now that we know everything, we're going to double down our efforts to find this son of a bitch, okay?"

They all nodded in agreement, determination written on every single one of their faces. Ian and Billy were still scowling at each other though, furious at the implications that they've thrown. Megan stepped between the both of them and glared. "I'll give you guys two choices," she said sharply. "One, you put aside your little petty rivalry and help us track Baker down so that we can free Don faster or two, you guys stay out of the investigation and have your little fistfight somewhere else." She leaned against the whiteboard which had Don's handwriting, his hard work on full display. "While that last one might help your egos, it won't help Don and then you both would really hate yourselves." She raised her chin in a challenging manner. "So? What's your choice?"