Disclaimer: I don't own any CSI: NY characters. I write way too many stories about Flack, but I just can't help it. I hope you enjoy this and please drop me a review.
Don walked into the shop with his gun out in front of him. There were three uniformed officers behind him, also with there guns out.
"NYPD," Don yelled out as they made their way through the front of the store. He directed the officers to go to other parts of the store. Don pushed the back door open and searched around the room.
There was a young woman sitting in the corner, crying. Don looked around the room. "Where is he?" he asked her.
She sniffed a couple times then pointed to another door, which was labeled "emergency exit." She buried her head back into her arms on her knees. Don went out the door and looked back and forth down the alley. He saw nothing but called the other officers out to help her search everywhere.
When he came back inside, there was an officer standing next to the young girl in the back room. "Has she said anything?" Don asked him.
"No," the officer replied and shook his head.
Don knelt down next to the girl. "My name's Detective Flack. Are you ok?"
She lifted her head and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ok."
"We've got paramedics coming just to make sure." He stood and offered her his hand.
She took it and stood then crossed her arms as he walked her out of the store. They passed the body of the man who had been shot and he heard her gasp. He turned and put an arm around her shoulders to lead her out. A female EMT came over and took the girl to the ambulance. Don watched them as she walked away.
"Did we get him, Flack?" Danny asked as he approached.
Don shook his head. "He was gone by the time we got here." He pointed to the girl sitting on the back of the ambulance. "She was in the back room. I haven't talked to her much yet."
"But she's alright?"
"Yeah, she's doing better than our DOA inside."
Don led Danny and Stella inside to examine the body. He told them about the call dispatch got about gun shots and it was believed the suspect was still inside. He excused himself to go speak with the young girl. As he approached the girl was in the same position she had been on the floor now in the back of the ambulance.
"Miss, can I ask you a couple questions?" Don inquired as he flipped open his notebook.
She looked up at him but didn't say anything.
"Can you just walk me through what happened?"
"I, uh, I was in the backroom, stocking a new shipment. My boss, Mr. Russo, was in the front. I heard the door chime then a man yelling at Mr. Russo. They yelled for a little while then I heard the gunshot. I don't know why I didn't run out the back door. Well, the door has an alarm and if I ran out he would've heard the alarm and maybe come after me."
"Then did he come through the backroom, where you were?"
"Yeah I peeked through the door and he saw me then he came back and I curled up on the floor. I thought I was gonna die but then he heard the sirens and he ran out."
"The alarm wasn't going off when we got there."
"Well, it seems that my fears were worthless because the alarm doesn't work."
He smirked a little. "If we get a sketch artist could you give them a description of the man?"
"Yeah, I could do my best."
Later that day Don was in the lab, standing outside the room where the young woman, Riley Brown, was giving her description to the sketch artist. Stella walked up beside him.
"How's she doing?" she asked him.
"She's doing good. Hopefully what we get with the sketch will help us." He looked at Stella. "What've you got?"
"The bullet we pulled from the vic was a .22. And we got no hits in IVIS."
"Well I found that Mr. Russo had some ties to the mob. It's possible this was a mob hit, but I'm surprised you didn't find anything in IVIS if it was."
"It could just be a new gun. We'll find something." Stella's phone rang from the clip on her belt. She looked at it. "This may be good. I'll catch up with you later."
As Stella walked away the sketch artist came out and handed Don the sketch. Don thanked him then went inside the room. Riley was sitting in a chair in front of the table staring down.
"Are you ok?" Don asked her and her head shot up.
She smiled. "Yeah, I'm ok. So, how did I do?"
Don looked down at the sketch. "You did good. This is gonna be helpful." He looked at her again. "I can get one of the officers to take you home if you want."
She shook her head. "I can take the subway. Um, did anyone happen the get my things in the back of the store, or can I get them?"
"Oh, I don't think anyone did. We'll probably have to wait until the crime scene's been cleaned up."
"Oh, well, I actually really need my stuff soon."
"We'll get it to you as soon as we can."
She stood and started to the door. "Well, this has been a really bad day and I'm just gonna go home and sleep forever." She smiled and held out her hand to him. "It was nice meeting you."
He took her hand then opened the door. "It was nice meeting you. Thank you for all your help and I'll call if we need anything else."
She smiled and walked out of the room. Don watched her for a second as she disappeared down the hallway. He shook his head; of all times to find a cute girl, it had to be at a crime scene.
