A/N: I'm not sure why I wrote this fic. I guess it's just because I love Danny so much and felt the series should have more episodes dedicated to him. :grin: Criticism asked for and appreciated for this fic, so please read and review!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I can take no ownership of any of the CSIs in this story, they belong to someone else, currently I can't remember who.
Claimer: However, the plot, the Satin and Lace Lounge, and any of the Lounge's inhabitants ARE mine, and I will be irritated if someone were to steal them - though why you would want them I'm not sure.
Warnings: adult concepts and situations, language, violence, abuse, and some sexuality
ENJOY!
Saving Her
"Watch where you're going!"
There was a startled yelp, a muttered curse, and the dull thumps of several objects hitting the tiled floor. Danny turned away from the counter to see what had happened. A small girl in an oversized t-shirt and sweats was picking herself up off the floor. She glared down the alcoholic beverage aisle after a big man in a sweat stained oxford, then bent to retrieve the several peanut butter jars that had toppled from her bag. Danny left the checkout counter and picked up two of the fallen jars. "What a jerk," he muttered sympathetically, handing the peanut butter to her. "You okay?"
Her head snapped up at the question, then she immediately looked back at her bag. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks," she murmured, then hurried out the door.
Danny didn't have time to say anything, and he wanted to because when she'd looked up at him he noticed a fading, but still prominent bruise on her right cheekbone.
"Don't worry about her," the man at the register cautioned, "She's tough, she can take care of herself."
Danny wanted to ask what he meant, but his pager went off before he got the chance.
►◄
He met Detective Bonasera in a grungy alley.
A mangled body in torn and bloody lingerie lay in a heap on top of a pile of trash bags.
"Restaurant employee found her when he took out the trash," Stella Bonasera told him idly. She squatted down to better examine the body. "The body was dumped here. There's no sign of a struggle."
Danny nodded in agreement and squatted down next to her. "What's this?" He pointed at a piece of paper stuck in the girl's garter.
Stella reached out a gloved hand and removed the one-inch by three-inch card. "Business card?" she suggested, holding the bloodstained and very much unreadable card out to Danny, who was holding an envelope open for her to put it in.
"I'll take it back to the lab, have them see if they can get anything off it." He sealed the envelope and headed to his car.
It took nearly two hours for the lab to remove enough dirt and grime off the business card for it to be readable, and when they had finished and returned it to him, it had taken twenty minutes to find Stella again.
She was in the medical examination room with Mac.
"Cause of death was a punctured lung," he heard Sheldon explaining. "Poor girl was just beat and beat until she died is my best guess," she said, looking up from where he had been showing Mac and Stella the broken rib when he noticed Danny had entered.
"Hey, Danny, whatcha got?" Stella asked.
"The business card we found on the body," he answered. "And it ain't from any normal business." He handed the plastic wrapped card to Stella.
"Satin and Lace Lounge," she read aloud. "Where your midnight fantasies come true," her voice rose in amusement as she read the cliché line.
Another fifteen minutes and they were at the address written on the card.
It was in the upscale part of the city, and looked as much.
The inside carpet was red velvet; the desk was gold flecked black marble; the stair rail was polished gold, and the staircase itself was also covered with red velvet. A woman in a silky red corset, matching thong, and red fishnets greeted them.
"Hey boys, can I help you?" she cooed, running a hand down the front of Mac's suit.
"Yeah." Mac was always so collected in situations like this. "Do you know this girl?" He flashed a picture of the victim.
The lady stopped and backed away. Her eyes widened in horror. "Oh my God," he exhaled. "That's Mel."
"Mel? So you know her?"
"Yeah. She works…worked here. Let me get you Bill." She disappeared into lavish room behind the desk.
Bill came out straightening a blue silk suit, a pretty little thing hanging on his arm. A pretty little thing with a bruise marring her right cheek, Danny noticed.
She flashed them both a sultry smile and pressed her face against the man's shoulder. Danny wanted to gag.
Mac offered him the picture.
"Yeah, that's Mel. She's one of my girls."
Mac resisted the urge to smack the man. "She's dead, sir. If you could offer any information, it would be greatly appreciated."
He shrugged.
Mac was getting really frustrated. "Look, Bill, why don't we go somewhere and talk about how calmly you're taking the death of one of your employees." He looked at Danny. "Why don't you talk to the girls?"
He nodded.
The next thing he knew the woman in red had whisked him upstairs into a large room full of cushions and every girl who worked there was sitting before him.
Suitably awkward, he stood before them and explained the situation with the assistance of the still yet to be named woman in red.
Almost immediately after he had finished talking a particularly pouty girl with died black hair wearing orange lingerie piped up, "Leila was her best friend, why don't you ask her?"
The girl snatched the arm of a smaller girl beside her and hoisted her up effortlessly. It was the same girl from this morning, the one who had been hanging on the pimp's arm. Leila jerked her arm away from the other girl. "Get the hell off me, Mia," she hissed.
Danny was startled. She had seemed so timid in the drug store. "Are you…"
"Yeah," she snapped before he could finish.
"Uh… the rest of you can leave, I guess. I may need to talk to you later." He thanked the woman in red. She just shrugged and herded the others out.
Danny pulled a recording device out of his pocket.
"How old are you?" he asked.
"Eighteen."
"Did you know the victim?"
"Yeah," her shoulders sagged a little, and some of her aggressiveness seemed to drain away. "We were best friends." It came out as a sigh, and Danny looked up from the recording device when he heard her sniffle. She wiped daintily at a tear and looked away from him.
"I'm sorry for your loss," he offered.
She shrugged. "She's happier now, I bet. She always did want out of here."
"Why?"
"Who the hell wouldn't?" she looked him pointedly in the eye. "This is just a brothel with a pretty name."
Danny started at the coldness of her voice.
"Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt her?"
Leila looked at her feet, curling her toes absently in the rug. "Uh uh," she answered.
"Any of the girl's not like her? A client who might not of thought he got his money's worth?"
Leila shook her head. There were more tears dripping from her eyes onto the carpet.
"Leila? Is there something you're not telling me?" He tried to look at her face, but it was hidden by her hair.
She looked around the room. Danny recognized the action. She was trying to decide if there was anyway that anyone could squeal on her if she told him. She opened her mouth to say something, but Bill burst back into the room.
"Aw, baby, is this big, mean scary detective harassing you?" he cooed sickeningly.
The tears were wiped away abruptly and the harsh façade she'd started in reappeared. "Yes, daddy," she pouted, obediently wrapping her arms around his waist and nuzzling his chest.
Danny again found himself wanting to gag.
"Come on, Danny," Mac grabbed his arm. He looked back at Bill. "We'll be back later," he informed him, "With a warrant."
If Danny had looked back, he would have seen her pleading gaze on him.
►◄
Danny was irritable all the next day. He had slept badly, nightmares of Leila and The Satin and Lace Lounge plaguing his sleep. His irritation only served to worsen when no headway was made on the prostitute case.
Leila knew something. But he wasn't even sure he could trust Leila. He sat at his desk with his head in his hands. He had to go back to the lounge. He had to get whatever information he could out of Leila.
He slipped on his sports coat and headed out to his car.
►◄
Mia could hear the shouting all the way from her place at the front desk. She smirked. Leila was probably in a world of hurt right now. More hurt than she would have been in if she had just let the customer have his way with her. Said customer had stormed out twenty minutes ago, muttering something about mis-advertising. Mia looked down at the Leila's picture and description on the counter. Bill advertised her as being tiny and tough and never saying no. She wondered absently what Leila had said no to.
The bells above the door rang as a man in a khaki colored suit walked in.
"Can I help you?" she purred at him, not recognizing him as the detective from the day before.
"Mmm, I think so." He made his way up to the counter.
Mia grinned. "Right this way then."
Danny stopped. "No, actually, I was wondering if Leila was available." He noticed the ad on the counter and resisted the urge to demand an explanation for it.
Mia was about to pout and insist that she was just as much fun, when she realized how awful it would be to give Leila a customer after Bill had his way with her. "Oh, well, then she's room 628; it's on your right."
As Danny made his way up the stairs, a clearly disgruntled Bill pushed his way past him, so distracted by whatever was on his mind that he didn't notice Danny.
He knocked on the door.
Danny could hear voices inside the room, growing in volume until a very tired sounding, "Luna, I'll be fine. It'll be worse if I don't do this and you know it," ended the soon-to-be argument
The door opened.
The woman in red from the day before stood before him. She narrowed her eyes at him. "You come to get a taste of yesterday's eye candy, you asshole?" she growled at him.
"No!" Danny immediately denied. "I just wanted to talk to her."
Luna snorted, "I'm sure," and moved from in front of the door.
Danny was aware that she was going to take up a post outside the door, but he didn't care.
The minute he was in the room, he was pressed back against the door, a small mouth pressed against his, tiny hands working to undo the buttons of his shirt.
"No, no, stop!" he managed to hiss out when she broke away for air.
"What?" she sounded frantic. "Do you want to do it differently?"
Danny didn't like the panic in her eyes. "No, it's not that. Can we just sit down?"
"Of course," was her answer, and as soon as he'd sat, she was in his lap, mouth hot on his neck, fingers again undoing his shirt.
"Leila! Leila, stop it!" He grabbed her forearms a little more forcefully then he had meant to and held her off him. She winced, and he loosened his grip. Slowly, he let go and slid out of his jacket.
"Oh my God! You should have…" She reached to help him.
He gently pushed her hand away, then took the jacket and wrapped it around her bare shoulders, pulling it tight around her and covering her barely clad body.
Leila was staring at him, confused, holding the jacket shut with her hands from the inside, not even bothering to put her arms in the sleeves. For a moment all Danny could do was pray she would try to turn his gesture into a sex game.
"What are you here for, if not sex?" she asked quietly, looking down at her lap, closing her eyes against tears.
He tilted her head up with two fingers under her chin. The bruise was still there, he noticed and there was a darkening black eye to go with it. He winced; it looked painful.
Suddenly she recognized him. Her eyes widened.
"I want to know what else you know about Mel."
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"I just can't!" she snapped quietly, looking away from him again, tears dripping from her eyes.
"Why not, Leila?" Danny snarled, not meaning to lash out.
"He'll hurt me! Or he'll get someone to hurt me!" she looked at him with large pleading eyes, tears trailing down her cheeks in mascara polluted rivulets.
Danny froze. "What do you mean?" He had a feeling he already knew.
"I can't tell you. I don't know who could be listening." Her voice was a whisper. He could barely hear her at all.
He reached and held her chin in his hand. His thumb brushed over the bruise and grazed the edge of the black eye. "Whoever he is, he did this, didn't he?"
Leila sniffled. "Yeah."
Suddenly, Danny hooked his arms under her legs and stood. Leila had no choice but to slide her arms into the sports coat and wrap them around his neck, or risk falling.
"What are you doing?"
"Kidnapping you," he answered plainly.
She reached out with one arm and opened the door for him, as he very well couldn't let go of her.
Luna met them on the other side.
"You don't really think Mia is going to let the two of you just walk out, do you?" She stood with her hands on her hips.
Danny hadn't though about it. He was going to fight his way out of here with Leila if he had to.
With Luna occupying the front desk, Danny made his way to his car, Leila still in his arms. Her own arms were wrapped tightly about his neck, and her face was pressed into his shoulder. He set her in the passenger seat, and walked around to the driver's side.
Leila was looking at her hands, which were in her lap. "You know if there's anything you want in return for this…"
Danny reached out, holding the bruised side of her face gently in his palm. Leila stared at him, confused. "You know what you can do? Promise me you'll never so much as think of using your body or letting others use your body like that again."
Leila froze for a second, then grabbed his wrist in one hand and used the other to hold his palm against her cheek, and started to sob against it. "No…nobody's ever…I…"
Danny shifted awkwardly in his seat and wrapped his arms around her softly, afraid of what bruises his coat hid. "I'm so sorry, kid," he told her gently.
She looked up at him, eyes and nose swollen with tears. "Thank you."
The rest of the drive was silent. Leila didn't even ask where they were going.
But her eyes widened in fear when he parked in front of the large, imposing office building he worked in. "What are we doing here?" her voice sounded frantic.
"I still need you to tell me everything about Mel."
"I told you, I can't. He'll…"
"You're never going back there, Leila, he won't be able to hurt you."
"You don't understand! He'll find me!" she plead.
"Then we'll give you an armed escort."
She snorted.
Danny sighed. No one believed escorts could save you anymore. Too many people still got shot when they had one.
"I'll tell you everything I know on one condition," her voice sounded both firm and pouty at the same time.
Danny let out another sigh. "What?"
"You stay with me until he's locked away."
He looked over at her. Leila was staring at her hands, which were clasped tightly in her lap, an embarrassed flush painted across her nose and cheeks. Danny had to resist laughing. Suddenly she looked up at him, jaw set resolutely. "Well?"
"I can't promise that."
Leila pouted.
He sighed, took his glasses off, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He was in the middle of a case. He didn't have time to baby-sit his best witness, but he also couldn't afford to lose her because she was afraid of her boss. Flack wasn't on a case was he? "I'll…" he struggled for a good word, "watch you whenever I can, but, if I can't, will a close and trusted friend of mine suffice?"
Leila thought about the offer. "You better be telling the truth."
"Swear to God," Danny answered. If Flack was on a case, he was off it now.
►◄
Leila sat on one side of the steal table, Mac and Stella sat on the other. Danny leaned against the wall behind her. There was an armed cop outside the door, which, Danny assured her, was simply procedure.
"So, what do you want to know?" she asked timidly, tugging Danny's sports coat a little tighter around her.
"Why don't you start by telling us about the victim?"
"You mean Mel?"
Stella nodded.
"She hated having to work at the lounge, I mean who wouldn't? She was always telling me about her plots to get out, to find a new job, start a new life. Bill would beat her. Beat her a lot, whenever she mentioned it. I was in awe of her. She always took the beatings without protest. She never let Bill break her. Mel was tough." Leila's hands were clenching and unclenching under the table. Tears were starting at the corners of her eyes.
"Is that all you know?" Stella asked gently.
Leila shook her head, wiped at her eyes, and regained her composure. "Mel met a guy, a customer. They fell in love, I guess you could call it." Leila shrugged. "Anyway, the guy said he'd help her get out. She bragged about it a little too much, and Bill got wind of it."
"So he killed her?" Mac sounded disbelieving and a little harsh in turn.
Leila jolted.
Danny glared at him.
Stella shot him a look as well. "Continue, Leila."
"Here's what you have to understand about Bill's business. There are some of us that he wouldn't care if they just left, because most of the girls have nothing they can hold against them. He doesn't beat all of us. That's not really what Mel wanted to get him for, though. He advertises most of the girls, some as sweet and sensual, some as rough and kinky, some as incredibly skilled. Mel was "advertised" as being tiny and tough and never saying no. Guys asked for Mel when they wanted to act out perverse, occasionally masochist fantasies. Bill would beat her if she ever said no. He killed her because she was going to tell the law and the press about his perverse business."
"Leila?" Danny spoke for the first time. "He advertises you the same way. I saw the ad on the front desk."
Leila didn't answer. She was staring at her hands.
"Has he ever beaten you, Leila?" Mac asked this time.
She nodded and slid Danny's jacket off her shoulders, followed by the translucent black, feather-trimmed duster she wore over her lingerie. Her head was ducked and her hands were still clasped in her lap, but that didn't hide the bruises that covered her upper arms. From where he stood behind her, Danny could see that the bruises spread down her back as well.
Stella inhaled deeply. "My God, Leila, those are new bruises."
She nodded, slowly curling in around herself in the chair. She felt Danny's coat drop over her shoulders again, covering her, hiding the shameful bruises. "I'd never said no to a customer before. I didn't think he would beat me that bad. I'd never seen him get that angry, but I…I just couldn't let that man…" Her eyes were widening in horror. "He wanted to cut me. I had to say no." Her words trailed away into sobs, and she buried her face in her knees.
Stella was around the table and at her side before Danny had a chance to move. The woman had a comforting arm around Leila and was murmuring consolations in her ear.
Not ten minutes later, Danny was pacing outside the closed door of the woman's locker room. Leila was inside with Stella, who was helping her spread balm on her numerous bruises.
Stella's head poked around the door. "Hey, Danny, Flack always keeps an extra pair of dress pants in his locker, right?"
Danny nodded.
"Could you go get them for me?"
Danny shrugged.
Twenty minutes later, after some clever safety pinning and a hunt for a bra, Leila re-emerged.
She looked awful. Her makeup still trailed down her face, and her hair was mussed, not to mention the obvious sheen of the balm on her cheek. Danny's jacket was large on her, but Flack's pants looked twice as out of place. Stella had safety pinned them to stay up around her waist, but the time she had finished their were no pins to hem them up with, so at least a foot of fabric dragged on the ground.
"Ready to go?" Stella looked at Leila.
She shook her head. "I'm staying with Danny."
Stella visibly started, looking at Danny to see if he agreed.
"Yeah, she's coming home with me."
"Oh. Well, in that case, the balm I used is in the bag."
"Thanks."
►◄
"Thank you so much," she told him once they were in the car. "I don't know how I'm going to repay you."
"I already told you how you could do that," he told her, never taking his eyes off the road.
She bowed her head. "Thanks."
"And stop thanking me. Any upstanding citizen would have done the same thing, and it would be breaking my promise to uphold the law if I didn't. You don't owe me anything."
"Oh," her voice was small, and for a second he thought he might have scared her. "Well, thanks again anyway."
He smiled and reached with one hand to ruffle her hair.
Danny flicked on the lights with one hand and closed the door behind them with the other. "Forgive the mess, but I wasn't really expecting company," he teased lightly, putting his hand up to silence her before she could apologize. "There's a bathroom down the hall on your right, and I suggest you use that one only because I don't use it. Bedroom is at the end of the hall." He pointed to the opposite side of the apartment. "Kitchen is around that corner. Help yourself to anything you can find, though I suggest you smell it first for freshness." He stopped and thought a minute. "I think that's about it. If you want, you can take a shower. I'm gonna go change the sheets."
"Thank you," she said again before disappearing down the hall. Not long after he heard the sound of the shower running.
Danny changed the sheets and strategically hid the blankets he was going to use behind the couch.
Not fifteen minutes later Leila was back, again in his coat and Flack's pants.
He sighed. "You don't honestly want to sleep in that." He gestured the outfit.
She shrugged.
It took him thirty seconds to produce a pair of clean sweat pants and a t-shirt, which she gratefully accepted.
"Hey, where are you going to sleep?" she asked when she came out of the bathroom for the second time. "Is there another bedroom?"
Danny looked around, trying to think of a feasible place to put another bedroom in his one-person apartment. "Uh…"
"You weren't really going to sleep on the couch, were you?" Her eyes widened in horror at the idea. "No. I refuse to impose on you like that." She had the same resolution she had had when making her deal with him in the car earlier. "You sleep in your bed, and I am going to sleep on the couch."
There was no arguing with her. Everything about her was resolute in her decision, from the arms that were crossed over her chest to the way she looked at him.
He threw his hands up in defeat. "I'm not going to argue with you. Blankets are behind the couch."
Leila found them and laid them haphazardly over the cushions, and curled up in them. "Thank you again, and good night."
Danny was willing to bet as he undressed for bed that she was out before he even made it to his bedroom.
►◄
Danny shut his alarm clock off as quickly as possible so as not to disturb Leila in the other room and got dressed as quickly and quietly as possible. When he was completely ready and entered the living room, he saw that his charge was still asleep, tangled up in the blankets she had laid on the couch.
He smiled at Leila before carefully lifting both her and the mess of blankets and carrying them to his bedroom. He set her on the bed. Knowing she would panic when she woke up in a bed and not on the couch, he scrawled a note and left it on the nightstand. When he finished that, he realized he should probably find more clothes for her, so after a brief search he laid out a pair of boxers (woman liked wearing men's boxers, right?) he'd never worn on account that they were too small, a pair of pajama pants in case she found the boxers offensive, and a t-shirt, opting to leave a note with those as well.
As he was walking out the door, he realized what he had forgotten to do: call Flack. However, he called Mac first.
"Hey, Mac," he greeted their boss casually, "Flack's not working on anything too important is he?"
"I don't think so. Why?" came the reply.
"Leila is another non-believer in hired police escorts, but she needs someone to watch her in case Bill tries to hurt her like he did Mel. On account that I have to work this case…"
"You figured Flack was the next best thing?"
"Yeah."
►◄
Leila woke up in an uncomfortably large bed and nearly panicked, until she saw the note on the nightstand.
When I woke up you were still asleep, so I moved you to the bed, hoping it would be more comfortable. Don't worry about it.
-Danny
As she untangled herself from the covers and stumbled out of bed, she found a pile of clothes by the door, yet another note set atop them.
Thought you might want to change out of what you slept in. I assure you, the boxers have never been worn and the pajama pants have never been worn without boxers. Everything is clean.
-Danny
Leila tugged on the boxers. The apartment was just a little too warm to want to put pants on again, and then pulled the t-shirt on. She combed her fingers through her hair as she made her way to the kitchen.
And nearly panicked when she saw the tall man standing in the living room.
Detective Don Flack turned when he heard footsteps behind him. He was startled by what he saw. Danny had told him the girl was small, but he had not been expecting Leila. She was barely five-foot tall, he guessed, and couldn't weigh more than one hundred pounds, if the way Danny's shirt was falling off one shoulder was any indication.
"Hello," he greeted, trying not to sound in any way intimidating. "You must be Leila." He offered her his hand. She hesitantly took it. Her smallness was driven home when her hand disappeared inside his. "I'm Don Flack."
"You're just another normal old police escort aren't you."
Flack wanted to just protest the "old" part. Instead he handed her the note Danny had left with him.
Leila, this is Detective Don Flack, a colleague and friend of mine. I had to convince my boss to let him spend the day with you, so be nice. He's not just any police escort, okay?
-Danny
Leila looked from him to the note and shrugged.
Flack didn't know what to think of the gesture, but didn't say anything, just sat down on the couch and watched her as Danny had ordered him to. Threatened him to, really. "You better not let anything happen to her, Flack…" Danny had let the sentence hang ominously.
So watch her he did. Leila was quite funny to watch, only because she had decided that cleaning Danny's apartment was the most productive way to pass the time. Flack watched amused as she toted trash bags that were nearly larger than she was out of each of the rooms, then followed her dutifully as she carried them one at a time (on account that she refused to let Flack help) down to the dumpster.
When she had finished cleaning the apartment down to the stacks of mail that lay unsorted on Danny's coffee table, she disappeared into the kitchen.
When he heard the first thump, he started off the couch to join her. When he got to the kitchen, Leila was climbing back onto the counter, stretching to get something out of the top cupboard. Without hesitation, Flack grabbed her about the waist and hoisted her off the counter. "What do you need?"
She pouted at him and pointed at a large glass bowel.
Without much trouble, and most definitely without climbing on counters, Flack got it down for her. As he handed her the bowel, he scolded her firmly, "Look, if you need anything else that involves climbing on counters, tell me. Danny'll have my ass if you fall and hurt yourself."
"Sorry," she apologized, looking at her feet.
Flack sighed and ruffled her hair. "Just don't do it again."
Twenty minutes later, and after a great deal more pounding and thumping than Flack would have preferred to hear, Leila reappeared with two plates, offering one to him as she sat on the opposite side of the couch.
For all the racket she made mixing the stuff, Leila's tuna salad wasn't half bad.
►◄
Danny's day was not passing so pleasantly.
Mac met him the minute he got through the door. "They dragged Bill in here as soon as they could," he informed. "He's already waiting for us."
And Bill was in no mood to be cooperative.
"What the hell did you do with Leila?" he demanded as soon as Danny was through the door.
Mac glanced at Danny nervously, afraid of what his response might be.
"She's being well taken care of Mr. Leoni, I assure you."
"Don't go all smug on me kid. You kidnapped her! Where is she?"
"That's none of your concern," Mac interjected. The last thing he needed was for Danny and their suspect to go at it. "Right now, I need to know where you were three nights ago."
"I was at the lounge."
"Can anyone testify to that?"
"Yeah, sure, anyone of my girls."
Danny ducked out to call Stella and ask her to visit the lounge and question the girls, then slipped back in. "Stella's on it."
"What can you tell me about the victim?" Mac continued.
Bill snorted. "Mel was a feisty little bitch. Never wanted to do what she was told. She said no to half my customers, even though I was feeding her and giving her a home."
Mac didn't have time to stop Danny.
"You mean she wouldn't sleep with men that were gonna hurt her!" he lashed out, standing up and pounding his fist on the steal table.
Bill flew up out of his seat as well. "I knew what that girl could take. I would never have let anyone do anything to her that could really hurt her!"
"So letting some guy cut Leila wasn't going to really hurt her?" Danny snarled at him.
Bill's eyes widened. "How do you know about that? Where's Leila? What have you been doing with my girl?" His voice almost sounded sincerely concerned.
"Quit," Danny slammed his fist into the table again, "pretending like you care about those girls!"
Mac caught his arm. "Danny," he warned, "why don't you go take a break. I'll finish this up."
Danny ran his hand through his short, spiky locks. He sighed. "Yeah."
He was on his way to get coffee when Dr. Sheldon Hawks stopped him. "Danny," he shouted as he caught up to him, "I was looking at your dead girl some more." He handed Danny several photos of the girl's shoulders and underarms. "There's a lot of bruising around the girls underarms, all post-mortem. Kinda looks like she might have been dragged."
Danny took the pictures to look at them closer. "Huh," he acknowledged, "that's odd. Bill wouldn't have had to drag her; he could have easily lifted her up. Maybe one of the other girls dumped the body for him?"
"That's what I was thinking."
"Thanks." Danny took the photos to his office and placed with the rest of the papers and photos involved with the case.
Stella called a little later.
"Danny, I have really bad news."
"Crap. Okay, spill."
"None of the girl's remember Bill leaving, and Mia testifies that he was with her all night. It's a twenty minute drive from the lounge to the restaurant where Mel was dumped; if he dumped her, there's no way one of the girls wouldn't have noticed."
"That's okay, bruising on the vic supports that someone smaller than Bill had to have moved the body."
"It's gets worse. Several of the girls remember Leila leaving that night and returning roughly a half hour later."
"Oh God. Stella, I… I'll get back to you… I…"
"Flack's already bringing her down."
"God…" Danny ran his hand through his hair again. "Alright."
►◄
He met Leila and Flack at the doors. Flack was holding her arm, as procedure dictated, and Leila looked thoroughly distraught. "Danny what's going on?"
"Leila… You didn't tell us everything, did you?"
Her eyes widened and tears started to pool in them. "I… I…"
"Uh uh," Flack advised, "Say nothing."
"Right."
Leila again found herself sitting at the steal table across of Mac and Stella. Neither one looked sympathetic now.
And Danny wasn't in the room. Mac wouldn't let him. He was too close to Leila now to be allowed to work the case. He and Flack stood on the other side of a one-way glass pane looking in.
"You care to tell us everything this time?" Mac demanded harshly.
"You mean that I dumped the body for Bill?" she offered timidly.
"Why'd you do it?" Stella asked.
"Bill threatened me. Said if I didn't do it, he'd beat me just like Mel."
"Why didn't you tell us before?"
"I was scared. I wasn't sure I was safe. I still thought Bill could hurt me if he found out."
Mac and Stella weren't saying anything.
The tears that had been pooling in her eyes trailed down her cheeks now. "I swear to God, it wasn't my choice," she sobbed desperately, "You have to believe me."
Nothing in their expressions showed any sign that they did.
"What makes now any safer then before, Leila?" Mac asked. He sounded less harsh.
Leila looked up in shock. "Danny's protecting me, and Detective Flack, too. Bill can't hurt me now." She thought the answer was obvious, Mac could see that much in her face. Her tears had ceased. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I was so scared…"
"You're free to go. Just don't leave town; we're going to need you to testify to what happened the night Mel died. Testify to everything," Mac emphasized.
Leila nodded sharply, "Of course, detective."
Mac watched Danny catch her to him before she had even closed the door. She leaned against him, resting her head on his chest.
"She answered the last question right," Mac explained to Stella. "She really did think she was safer this time around. Chances are she would have told Danny tonight anyway."
Stella's eyebrows raised. "Nice."
►◄
"You ready to go home?" Danny asked the tiny figure that had yet to move from his arms.
"Mmm," was the only answer he got.
Leila leaned on Danny's shoulder the entire drive, but was silent up until they were almost there.
"I was going to tell you."
"Huh?"
"I was going to tell you tonight, that I had dumped Mel's body. I really was. I almost told Flack even, but he's kind of intimidating. He's real big."
Danny laughed. "Let's not worry about it right now."
"Mhmm," Leila agreed.
Danny was shocked when he opened the door to his apartment. "Where'd everything go?" he asked incredulously.
"Oh! I forgot to tell you! I cleaned the place up."
"Why?" Danny looked at her closely.
"I…" she dragged her toe in a half moon on the carpet. "I really wanted to do something for you."
Danny just smiled. "You're too cute." He tugged her against him again by her shoulders. "I don't suppose you cook, too?" he teased.
"Oh yeah, and there's tuna salad in the fridge. Flack and I ate some for lunch, but there's still plenty left."
"I take cute back." He ruffled her hair affectionately. "You're amazing."
Her face flushed. "Nah…"
►◄
Flack and Leila were sitting on the couch, bowl of popcorn between them, leaning toward the TV watching a baseball game.
"Afternoon," Danny greeted.
Flack looked up. "How'd it go?"
Danny shrugged. "Not bad, could've been better."
Flack sighed. "Not remanded without bail?"
"Mmm," Danny agreed.
"Bail set at?"
"Four thousand dollars," Danny answered.
Flack cringed. "Do you think he has that much?"
"Not that he can access, no," Danny said, shrugging out of his jacket.
"Shouldn't be a problem then."
"The girls will get him out," Leila said from the couch. "He won't even half to dip into his own money. We make that much in two months tips."
"Any of those girls save for that long?"
Leila shrugged. "Don't know, but if they're smart they'll just take Mel's and my savings. The two of us have well over four thousand saved, all part of our plan to get out."
Danny's pager went off before he could say anything. It was Stella. "One of his whores already bought him out," she informed him.
Danny cursed and hung up his cell. "They were already ready for it."
Leila shrugged again. "It's not like he can hurt me now."
Danny and Flack exchanged looks. She'd put a whole lot of faith in the two of them.
Danny had to go back into work so he could help sort everything out for the trial. He had left Flack with money and orders to take Leila shopping. She could only run around his unworn boxers, old t-shirts, and pajama pants for so long. Leila had, as expected, nearly gone into hysterics, and it wasn't until he agreed to letting her pay him back everything plus interest that she allowed him to hand the money to Flack.
Leila spent most of the money one necessary things: underclothes, jeans, and t-shirts. With the last of the money, she was searching for a dress.
Flack was losing his patience. It had taken her twenty minutes to find everything else, so why was finding a dress taking nearly an hour. She must have tried on everyone in each store. They were on store number five. The dressing rooms were down a short hallway, around a corner, then down a longer hallway. Flack was not happy with this set up at all, but the store clerk had been unrelenting in her policy that men were not allowed in the dressing area. So he waited.
Leila was examining herself in a full body mirror when someone came up behind her.
"Leila!" an excited voice greeted.
Leila whirled around. "Ally, oh my God, I never thought I'd see you again!" She hugged the much taller bronze skinned girl.
"We never thought we'd see you again either," she answered hugging her back.
"We?" Leila questioned, looking up at her friend.
"Yeah! We saw you come in here. Come out and see everyone?"
"Of course." She hurried back into Danny's clothes and started toward the exit.
Ally grabbed her arm. "Wait, we're out that door." She pointed to the emergency exit at the end of the hall."
Leila hesitated.
"Chill out, girl! Why you so uptight? They just didn't like that cop friend of yours; he's kind of scary, you know?"
Leila shrugged and followed Ally out the emergency exit, not thinking anything of it. Of course the alarm didn't go off. Those things never do. They just say they will to keep people from using them like regular doors.
One solitary car was parked outside the door. The only person Leila saw was Mia, leaning against the car's hood and the driver who could barely be seen through the tinted windows.
"Hi, Leila," Mia greeted saucily, a smile playing on her lips. "Long time no see."
Something hit her in the back of the head. Stars faded to blackness and the sensation of falling were all Leila remembered.
►◄
Flack waited another twenty minutes. How many dresses had she taken back there anyway? Two? Three? Certainly not enough to need almost forty minutes of dressing time.
"Leila?" he hollered.
There was no answer. Ignoring the saleswoman's shouts, he dashed into the hallway, unhooking his gun from its holster as he went.
"Leila?" he shouted again, absently checking each stall. He looked up hearing a barely audible swoosh and saw that the emergency exit door hung just slightly ajar. "Dammit!" he cursed, slamming his fist into the wall and stomping out.
►◄
Danny nearly panicked when he answered his cell phone and saw Flack's name in bold type. "Hey," Danny greeted cautiously.
"Leila's gone!" Flack exploded on the other end
"What the hell do you mean she's gone? You were supposed to be watching her!" Danny yelled back.
By now the rest of the room knew what had happened. Mac was pulling on his coat and unlocking his gun holster; Stella was doing the same.
"I mean she went into the dressing rooms and someone took her out the emergency exit door. She was long gone by the time I went in there."
Danny cursed colorfully before hanging up.
Mac looked at Danny. "Any idea what the car might look like?" he asked.
Danny ran his hand through his hair. "No idea."
"Then we need to get our asses to the lounge and ask one of the girls," Stella stated grabbing Danny's arm and pulling him towards the door. "You should go meet with Flack, talk to the mall employees, see if they noticed any cars parked by emergency exits, or if they've seen Leila."
"And here I thought I was the boss."
Stella and Danny were already out the door.
It was thirty minutes from their building to the Satin and Lace Lounge, and Danny squirmed the whole way.
"I'm sure she's fine, Danny," Stella was trying to reassure her younger co-worker. She was far from convincing. If Bill had her, there was very little chance that Leila was okay. Maybe even little chance that she was even alive.
Danny flung the door open, gun raised, not bothering with formalities as he had the previous two times he had visited.
Ignoring the threat of his gun, Luna rushed to them from behind the counter. "Thank God you're here!"
Danny immediately lowered his weapon. "What do you mean?"
"Bill and Mia took Leila upstairs almost forty minutes ago. She hasn't come back down. All the girls are in a panic; they say they've heard screams. You…"
Danny cut her off. "We've got it." As he dashed up the stairs, he could here the sirens of police officers arriving as well. There wasn't time to wait for them. He nearly collided with a terrified redhead, who screeched and ducked out of the way.
Stella stopped to help her up. "I'm a detective," she explained, trying tom pay attention to both the girl and Danny who was kicking in doors as he passed them. "We think a girl named Leila is being held here. Can you tell us where she is?" There was a squeal as Danny kicked in the door of an occupied room.
The redhead pointed toward the last door.
"Danny, end of the hall!" Stella shouted to him.
Danny stopped his assault on doors and sprinted to the last one. He kicked it open just in time to watch Bill tip the chair Leila was tied in.
"Freeze!" Danny shouted, startling both Bill and Mia who had been standing nearby watching with a sick little grin on her face.
"Oh, you think you can take me? Huh, hero? You think you save this whore? She's just like all the rest, she'll come crawling back to this lifestyle sooner or later."
Leila was sobbing from her place on the floor, and suddenly Bill kicked her, digging his foot under her ribs. Her sobs cut off with a muffled scream.
"Get away from her!" Danny ordered. Stella was behind him now.
Bill snorted and pulled a switchblade out of his pocket, flipping the blade up as he stepped toward Danny.
"Sir, put the weapon down!" this time the voice was Stella's.
"Uh uh, I ain't going to no stinkin' prison cell without a fight."
Danny deemed this enough to shoot the bastard. Three shots to his torso and Bill Leoni dropped dead in the middle of the floor.
Danny didn't even bother to reholster his gun, just dropped it and made his way toward Leila.
Mia was trying to slink her way out of the room. Stella's gun in her face stopped her. "You're not going anywhere. I have you for kidnapping and assault."
Several cops that had been waiting outside the room entered and handcuffed Mia, leading her out by her chained wrists.
Stella dropped next to Danny who was frantically trying to untie the knots holding Leila's wrists to the chair. Stella pushed his hands aside and slit the ropes with a pocketknife.
Leila was really banged up. Blood dripped from her nose and mouth as well as her right temple. Bruises marked her arms and neck. Shallow cuts added to the damage done to her arms. Her right shoulder looked out of place, and the arm attached to it hung at an awkward angle. He couldn't see her legs or torso, but he could guess that there was more damage there as well.
Stella was already dialing the paramedic.
Danny easily lifted Leila against him. "Hang in there, kid, you're going to be all right. You better be all right." He shot a glare at Bill's corpse.
His anger was pushed aside when he felt Leila's hands fist in shirt and her face press against his chest. She was sobbing again.
"Shh," he soothed, smoothing down her mussed and matted hair. "It's going to be okay."
►◄
Danny slipped into Leila's room with a bouquet of flowers from the hospital gift shop. She smiled when she saw him come in.
"I'm not going to be here that long."
"I know, but I wanted to get them for you anyway."
Leila blushed. "Thank you."
There was a moment of awkward silence as Danny situated the flowers on the nightstand. "Oh," he started, "Luna said she'd move your stuff into my apartment so you wouldn't have to worry about it."
Leila blanched. "Your apartment?"
"Mhmm," Danny agreed. "I figured you could stick around for a little while, as long as you needed to get back on your feet. Or at least until the guy next door finishes moving."
Leila's eyes brightened at this aspect, then immediately dimmed. "I couldn't afford an apartment."
"I'll pay for it." To beat Leila's outburst, he added, "And I'll help you get a job to pay me back." He rolled his eyes as he said it, as though to say 'but you really don't have to.'
Three weeks later, Leila was living in the apartment next to Danny's and working a secretary job in Danny's building.
Luna went into fashion and design, even if it was for lingerie.
And Mia was scrubbing tables as part of her community service and jail time.
Not an altogether bad ending.
Just a reminder, please review!
muahz
Der Traumer