Don't hate me…I had an idea, but it didn't flow quite the way I wanted. I may continue this; I may not. Depends on how Wednesday's episode plays out.
Disclaimer: I only own bobbleheads. If I start writing about those, put me in the funny farm.
"You don't trust me?" The words haunted her now. Why hadn't she given Nico the memory stick? He would have helped her. For all his secrecy, he was a master at protecting people.
Dani stared out at the city from the roof of Carl's apartment. She was certain that he hadn't committed suicide. Nico had set up the meeting for Carl to meet his FBI friend and go over what he knew about the case. Why wouldn't he keep it? Her thoughts drifted. When was Nico with the FBI? And TK said Nico studied cooking at Le Cordon Bleu? Who was he? It was beyond her comprehension that he thought she was the only one who really knew him.
Snap out of it, Santino! You've got bigger problems to worry about right now. Dani shook her head to stop her train of thought.
"I told Connor the day he hired you that you were nosy, but he called it 'effective." Troy's voice sliced through the air. He had taken her purse and was dumping it out on the rooftop. Suddenly, her cell phone rang. He looked up at her, and then picked up her phone. Nico. He raised his eyebrows and hit "ignore". He sifted through more items. Her cell phone dinged with a text message: "911". Nico again.
"You and Careles seem awfully close all of a sudden. You know he didn't even want you working at V3, right? He said you caused him trouble in the past. What did you do, Doctor Santino?" he asked as he looked for whatever information she had that had brought her to Carl's rooftop.
Dani smiled. She would keep him talking – anything to give Nico time to realize something was wrong – she would never ignore one of his "911" texts. Would he realize she was in trouble? Could he find her?
"Annoying Nico was icing on the cake when I took this job. He thinks I'm at his beck and call whenever an issue comes up that can't be solved with money or brute force. Just because he never sleeps, he thinks it's OK to knock on my door at 3am on a regular basis. He drives me crazy. I won't tell you how many times I've thrown him out of my house." Only once, but you don't need to know that.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Troy asked, holding up a memory stick.
"Oh – those are photos from the Hawks game last week. TK and Rex both played great. The new coach is really something…"
"Enough! I know this is what Carl sent you. What is on it?" he barked.
"I just told you – photos from the Hawks game." Dani replied. "I don't know what you want from me!"
He pulled a laptop out of his own bag, turned it on, and plugged in the memory stick. He scrolled through the images….all of the Hawks game. Was she telling the truth? Did Carl only send a goodbye note and not any incriminating evidence? He slammed the laptop shut.
"Tell me again why you're here." Troy ordered.
"I told you. I've never lost a patient before – I am devastated. We only had two sessions, but I still missed the signs of someone contemplating suicide. I just wanted to come here and see what he last saw. See if there was anything here that he would have found comforting before he died." She sniffled and blinked back her tears.
Troy looked at her. She didn't look like she was lying. She looked sad – not scared.
"Look – we've known Carl for years and had no idea he was stealing money – and I'm the CFO. Needless to say, I'm not in a trusting mood right now, especially new employees." Troy still didn't trust her, but with no proof, there was nothing he could do. He put her things back in her purse and handed it to her. She held her other hand out. Troy reluctantly put the memory stick in her hand.
He turned and walked to the rooftop door. "Don't stay out here too long, Doctor Santino."
Dani shivered. His words sounded so menacing. After this confrontation, she knew he was behind Carl's "suicide". Did he do the deed himself?
She waited another 10 minutes so Troy would be long gone and then made her way down the steps. As she stepped out of the front door, a black Avalon came to a screeching halt. Nico hopped out of the car.
"You OK?" he asked.
"No. I am not. Troy scared the hell out of me. Demanded to know what Carl had sent me."
"How did he know?" he inquired.
"I don't know. How do you know things? Can you drive me home? I'm still a little shaky. He dumped my purse out on the roof and found a memory stick."
"He has it?" he interrupted.
"Nope." Dani put her hand down her shirt and whipped the green memory stick out of her bra. "Ka-pow!"
His eyebrows lifted in surprise, but amusement shown in his eyes.
"Come on. Let's go." He guided her to the passenger side of the car, his eyes ever vigilant watching for suspicious cars.
The drive to her home was quiet. Dani stared out the window the entire time; her arms folded across her chest. As he parked in her driveway, she finally spoke. "Will you come in so we can look at this together?"
Nico nodded. "Sure." He hesitated, put his hand on her left arm, and spoke again. "Dani, I meant what I said. I won't let you down. I will help you figure this out. You're not alone."
Just like she had the other day, she caressed his fingers, "I know." and handed him the memory stick. "Come on. If I'm right, Carl didn't kill himself. Troy did."