Greetings to all, I have returned with another installment in my Danny Lindsay universe. You might want to read "Going After Montana" and "Forever" before reading this one, but this can standalone.
A few minor notes- I've never been to New York. So I couldn't tell you if there's a 5th and Rhodes on Staten Island. I make 'em up as I go along.
And yes, I did watch the episode "Obsession" where Danny talks about his Mother and her... cooking I think. But in my universe, there isn't a Mrs. Messer (Lindsay or otherwise :). Give me a little creative leeway, yeah?
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of CSI:NY; they belong to CBS and Anthony Zuiker.
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Chapter One
Summer in New York means baseball, NBA finals, the peak of tourist season…and the time-honored tradition of the block party.
Staten Island was bouncing. Especially at the corner of Fifth and Rhodes. Every year, over a hundred people showed up to eat, play games and jam at the home of Aaron and Elizabeth McCann.
The house itself was no big deal, just a blue two-story. What made it a party destination was the huge backyard, mostly unheard-of in New York. The McCann's backyard boasted a fish pond and pool, along with a fireplace on the deck. Aaron McCann prided himself on the redwood deck, which he'd made himself. The landscape designer had planned the house and the backyard. A California native, he'd met his wife, a native New Yorker, on Spring Break in Santa Barbara. When he made the decision to move to New York with his wife, he wanted to bring the party atmosphere of sun and sand back with him. Adding to the California air of the house was a small sand beach-no lie- that lay between the fish pond and the pool. He'd even rigged up a beach volleyball net. It had been so dry in New York the past couple of days that the pool was getting a full year's worth of use in just a few short hours. The entire backyard was fenced in, save for a small gate on the back wall. "Barbara Ann" by the Beach Boys blared on the expensive sound system.
"California Dreamin'." That's what they called the annual party. Most of the McCann's neighbors worked through the majority of the year, and most of them, in this neighborhood, in low end jobs. This was their chance to get away, even if it was only down the block to a neighbor's house.
"Cameron!" Aaron McCann yelled at his sixteen year old son. Cameron looked up from the pool.
"What?"
"Go dry off, it's almost time to eat!"
"Okay, Dad." Cameron climbed out of the pool. He was closely followed by his girlfriend of two years, Jess Carlisle. It amazed Cameron's parents sometimes how close they were; Jess was almost an extension of Cameron, the two were practically joined at the hip.
The music was loud. The food smelled amazing. People talked about their jobs, the Mets, the Yankees, politics. Kids ranging in age from Missy Stevenson's eight month old daughter to Kelly and Lyle LaRue's twenty-two year old daughter who had just graduated from Georgetown ran around the yard, oblivious of everything in the world.
Nicole Keenan had just walked out of the house from using the McCann's bathroom as Cameron McCann brushed by her. He was followed by a girl. Nicole smiled, hey, she'd been young once. It made sense that the two of them wanted to get away. She stopped a moment as she caught an odor of something. She wrinkled her nose. Smells like gas. She looked over at Aaron McCann. Ah. Must be the grill. She returned to the party and soon forgot all about the smell.
Cameron McCann ran into his room. "I'll be out in a sec," he told Jessica. He found a pair of jeans that looked somewhat clean on his floor. He found a Green Day t-shirt and threw it on. Then he smelled it.
Smoke. He came out of his room and grinned at Jessica. "Smells like my Dad botched yet another barbecue," he said.
Jessica coughed. The air around the two teens was hazy. "I don't think that's outside, Cam," Jessica replied nervously.
Cam followed his nose into the living room. It was stronger, there. Then he looked out the living room window and realized that the entire front wall was engulfed in flame.
"Jess!" he yelled. "We gotta get outta here!" He grabbed her hand, coughing, and ran out the patio doors. "Dad! Dad, the house is on fire!"
Aaron McCann dropped his tongs. Someone stopped the music. All turned and watched flames licking up over the roof of the house. Some now, were starting to creep around to the back of the home. "Someone call 911!" Elizabeth McCann yelled from the volleyball court.
Instead, people panicked. Some ran for home, scooping up confused children who became terrified by their parents' strange behavior. It was Cameron McCann who finally called 911 and reported the fire.
Aaron McCann tried to get close to the fire with an extinguisher, but it was too hot. He could only stare from his neighbor's backyard as the house he had planned and built with his own two hands crumbled into a blackened, charred mess.
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"It looks like the fire started outside, here," Detective Don Flack said, pointing out the blackened front wall of the McCann home. The entire right hand side of the house was a charred frame, while the left side of the place wasn't much better off.
Detective Danny Messer studied the area around it. "Looks that way. You find anything nearby, gas can, lighter fluid, maybe?"
Flack shook his head. "We haven't seen anything yet."
Danny pointed to a man getting checked over by the paramedics. "That the owner?"
"Yup. Aaron McCann, age 35. His wife and kid are over there." Flack pointed to where Elizabeth and Cameron were also being given the once-over. "The kid went into the house to change, smelled smoke. Didn't bother to just leave the house, instead, he went looking for the fire. Suffered minor smoke inhalation. He was with his girlfriend Jessica Carlisle at the time."
"I hate fire." Danny said, opening his kit. "It makes it almost impossible to find evidence."
Behind him, on the street, a black Chevy Avalanche pulled up. Detectives Mac Taylor and Stella Bonasera climbed out and surveyed the scene. Mac saw Danny and came over. "How'd you get here so fast?" he asked him.
Danny pointed. "I was over visiting my dad when my pager went off," he explained. He relayed what he'd learned from Flack to Mac and Stella.
"First place to start looking is that front wall," Stella said, donning a pair of latex gloves. Mac and Danny followed suit.
Flack went over to talk with Aaron McCann. "Mr. McCann, did you see anyone go around to the front of the house at all?"
He shook his head. "No. I manned the barbecue. There were over a hundred people in my yard, Detective. It would have been impossible to keep tabs on them all."
Flack groaned inwardly. Great. That means a hundred possible arsonists.
He glanced over and saw an officer taking a statement from a woman with a baby in her arms. Okay. We can rule out the baby. Ninety-nine suspects to go.
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Rumor has it there's this little blue button down under this sentence. Supposedly if you click on it, you get to tell me how you like this story...come on...it'll be fun...