Master of Disguise
Part one. . .
The last two weeks was pretty tiring to the CSI detectives. Six homicides, two robberies and one kidnapping all done by one person caught them off guard that it took the whole team to finish the case, they even had some help from the FBI.
Another two weeks passed and Mac Taylor, Stella Bonasera, Danny Messer, Lindsay Monroe, Adam Ross, Sheldon Hawkes and Don Flacks were having a little chat inside Mac's office.
It's 6:30 PM and the group crowded up around Mac's table. Stella was sitting on a seat beside Mac's table, moving on was Lindsay sitting by her side, followed by Danny who had his arms around Lindsay, Adam came next to him and then Don. Hawkes stood up on the other side of Mac's table.
"Ugh. These pass few weeks were pretty dull. Not a single case. I'd live for a lost cat!" Danny complained.
"Quit complaining Danny. At least we get to rest." Lindsay grinned at her fiancé and that made Danny chuckle a little.
"Ha-ha. Mrs. Messer's right Danny, we rest, no threats, the big apple's safe—that's that." Flack seconded Lindsay as Danny raised his hands in defeat with a grin on his face and the rest continued to corner Danny. As the crew were making fun of Danny, Mac's train of thought was focused else where.
"Hey Mac, what are you thinking?" Adam asked in confusion.
"Yeah Mac, you've been awfully quiet today." Stella seconded curious Adam.
"Nothing, I just remembered something." Mac replied with a frown as he placed his fingers on his temple.
"Something bothering you?" Hawkes finally cracked and asked away.
Mac sighed as his jaw clenched, "Yeah. Remember when you said no threats Don?"
"Yeah. Why? Is there a threat?" Don replied teasingly, hoping to make Mac snap and finally laugh—or at least smile.
"Yeah. There is a threat." Everyone flinched when they heard what Mac has said until Stella broke the silence. "What, what threat are you talking about? Is there something you're not telling us?" Stella said in shock that Mac kept something important from them.
"I received an e-mail telling me that a series of death will occur in a few weeks soon." Mac explained.
"When did you receive it?" Adam asked.
"A week ago."
"Have you found the sender?" Don questioned.
"No, can't get through. I always end up with a different server. I always find nothing."
"Why didn't you tell us anything?" Stella asked—this time quite mad.
"I didn't want to worry you. I thought I could find him on my own and then tell you once I've found something out. I never thought it would be dragged out this long." Mac explained his own side.
All of them simply froze—of horror, of shock and a lot of confusion flew all around them. Don tapped his fingers on the table—lips pursed—which created an off-beat rhythm. Hawkes clenched his jaw while his hands rested on the table. Lindsay and Danny were worried—wishing Mac would joke about e-mails such as this. Adam looked goofy as ever—but that's just the way he thinks of plans, ways or what-so-ever it is that he does, keeps his head clear. Stella's eyes studied the room but her mind was studying the mail sender. She thought, this one must be good. Untraceable?! Impossible. Mac was simply thinking, how he would figure this thing out. But he knew nothing can come out of this thinking unless the killer would make his move—if the e-mail wasn't a joke that is.
The night ended without anymore words but goodbyes.
Mac stayed in his office for a little more while. He finally cracked—he opened his e-mail to see the message again. But something came in that was absolutely unexpected; another e-mail. It was from the same sender—.
"Bluckriestre. . ." he whispered to himself. He has been wondering if the site name was even a word. He searched every server on the internet, searched through every computer they had if it has something in its memory such as the bluckriestre website—and nothing.
This pissed Mac off—him having no intelligence what exactly was going on, that he couldn't figure it out at all. Instead of letting his emotions get to his work, he opened the e-mail.
Hey detective,
No cheating. You can't get any help from your friends remember? I thought I had made it clear that you're on your own. If I found out that you are having more help, the murders will come to life. All you have to do is figure me out and arrest me, then that's that. I'll admit it any way—or maybe not. I want to play with you and don't disappoint me, be as challenging as they say you are. Ciao detective.
Yours truly,
Playmate
"Looks like I have to play your game." Mac whispered to himself while his thoughts ask, was telling them a call for help to him? How did he know so quickly? I have to figure this one out, and fast.
He turned his laptop off, fixed his table, grabbed his coat and went home.
"Adam! No!"
Mac woke up gasping hardly. Breathing became quite harder with his nightmare. There Adam was, standing innocently, smiling at Mac—waving his hand as he started running. A black sports car came rushing to Adam's direction that doesn't seem to have a plan of turning or stopping—like he was going to intentionally hit him. Adam was able dodge the car. A man came out, wearing a black jacket with its hood covering his face. As Adam was still lying on the ground, the man pulled out a gun and pointed it straight to Adam. The man took a time to look at Mac. Mac's face got furious, he tried to run but it seemed that his feet were stuck to the ground. "No help detective. I warned you." He pulled the trigger but before Mac heard the bang, he woke up—shouting Adams name.
Still gasping, he took time to look at his clock. It was midnight and he was sweating like crazy even if the air condition was turned on. He placed his head between his hands—still breathing uneasily. "Just a dream Mac. Your men aren't that weak to die just like that."
Mac tried to get sleep. An hour passed and he finally knocked himself out. His mind wasn't fully resting; it was too conscious that it didn't feel like sleeping to him. His brain was functioning to push those kinds of thoughts away.
Six o'clock came and his alarm went on. Feeling restless, Mac stood up and prepared himself for work. He thought it would be a long day—a long day for sure on the hot seat. He was so certain that his men are going to interrogate him today—with all the shock from yesterday gone.
"Hey Mac!" Adam welcomed. He smiled and ducked his head a little as he squeezed pass Adam. As Mac passed, Adam trailed behind him—unnoticed.
"Hi Mac!" Lindsay greeted politely and did the same thing as Adam has.
"Hey!" Danny shouted to him while Hawkes waved his hand to him and followed him too—like Lindsay and Adam.
Stella smiled at him and followed behind him too—exactly like what all the others did. This time, Mac can feel their presence behind him. Flack—instead of following Mac from behind—walked with him. "Um, Mac, we…" Flack started as he glanced at the people following them, "…need to talk." Mac sighed. He was expecting this the whole morning. "I knew you were going to do some interrogation. Office." He said and they all got to his office.
"Okay Mac, start talking." Stella asked first as they all sat down.
"What will I talk about?" Mac asked—his tone sounded innocent.
"Oh come on Mac, you know very well what story we want to hear from you." Don said using his deep, interrogating tone—as if Mac was a criminal under investigation.
"Okay… I had a dream last night and it was truly horrible. Was that the story you want to hear from me?"
"Mac, stop kidding around, we're trying to help here." Stella said.
"Yeah Mac. Besides, it's our job. We ought to know this crime." Danny spoke up.
Usually, Mac doesn't kid around this way. But he has a strong feeling that this e-mail wasn't a prank at all. It's a hundred and ten percent true. His men's lives could be at stake in this situation—like his dream.
"There's nothing you should worry about. It's all a prank. The mailer sent me another e-mail saying sorry for fooling me like that. I think he was sincere."
Everyone froze for a moment—as if analyzing what was just said. A few more moments passed and everyone got suspicious on Mac. They all eyed him—looking at him suspiciously and curiously—knowing he's hiding something.
"Don't worry, it really is nothing." Mac insisted to calm them down—to lower the suspicions.
"I believe him!" Adam said. Everyone looked at him in surprise—except for Mac.
"You were the one who was insisting something's wrong and then you'll believe, just like that?!" Danny said—confused with Adam's reaction.
"Well… there's nothing we can do in any ways but believe him. He's still our boss in any other way. If he doesn't want to talk, we can't force him." He defended himself.
"Wow Adam, that's very mature of you to say. Are you sick or something?!" Stella asked for hearing Adam speak more maturely than he usually does. Usually he reasons out as if he was a super genius kid who works as a detective.
"I know! It's an achievement to me!" he finally said—being back to being the comedian. Stella chuckled a little, Mac smiled, Lindsay chuckled too, Danny frowned to the corny joke, Flack placed his hand on his temples and Hawkes bursted out of laughter and Adam was waiting for Danny to laugh.
"Sorry, it wasn't funny." Adam realized and covered his mouth.
"Alright. We'll believe you. But if we find something out, we'll be back." Stella threatened. "Come on guys."
Mac gusted out some air in relief. He then checked his e-mail to see if his playmate sent him another e-mail.
Great job detective! I never thought you'll be able to lie to them that way. Way to go! I'm impressed, though it's kind of too late to impress me now, I'll be starting next week. Can you believe it? I've finally found the perfect targets! Trust me, they weren't very pleasing to be with but they were very pleasing to kill. Ciao detective. Find me.
Yours truly,
Playmate
Mac sighed. "How does he know everything I do and sends these e-mails faster than it should take? If he was watching me, I shouldn't receive this at least until five minutes later." Mac frowned and thought for himself until he heard his computer make a sound. It was another e-mail.
Great question detective, I'm a lot faster, smarter and better than any human in this world. I can see everything you do wherever I am, wherever you are. By the way, I barely forgot. How was your dream last night? I hope I'm in it.
Mac gusted out another batch of air from shock. It was as if he knew what Mac was thinking, and what his next action would be. Mac placed his head between his hands once again—trying to concentrate.
Meanwhile, while Mac was focusing, his agents were talking about him.
"What do you think Mac's hiding?" Adam asked. Everyone looked at him in surprise once again.
"I thought we believe him?! Make up your mind brother." Danny suggested—angrily.
"Hey! I lied so he can relax. I'm still worried about him." Adam admitted.
"You're not the only one who's worried about him—we all are." Don naively said.
Stella sighed and got her thoughts on the clouds. She was thinking of hacking Mac's e-mail to know what was up. But that didn't seem to be a good idea. It would be disrespectful to her own boss and she knew that.
"Hey, why don't we hack his e-mail and see for ourselves that e-mail?" Adam suggested—sarcastically. Another shocked expression caught everyone's face but sooner thought it was their only option. He wouldn't talk, then they'll see it for themselves.
"But, what if Mac has already deleted that e-mail?" Lindsay asked.
"I doubt that. I know Mac. He doesn't delete those kinds of e-mails. I bet it's still there" Stella assured them.
Danny sighed. "This is bad idea, I'm telling you."
"Are in you or not?" Lindsay dared.
"Do I even have a choice?! Of course I'm in!" Danny smiled when he finished his sentence and Lindsay grinned at him.
"So, everything's clear?" Stella said.
"Sure, but… who's going to hack his e-mail?" Adam asked and everybody stared at him—having a smirk on their faces. Adam sighed and said, "I just had to ask."
"Don't worry, I'll go with you."
"Thanks Stella… You're a life saver…" Adam replied.
"But how are you going to hack it? Mac's mind isn't as simple as any other human in this world—I even doubt he's somewhere near human." Don started, "he could think of ways to protect his e-mail."
"You're probably right." Stella seconded Flack.
"Yeah, probably right. But…" Adam started as he pulled USB device like and showed it to the rest of them, "I have this special gadget that could hack into anything—even if it had protection or whatsoever." Adam contradicted Flack and Stella's statements.
"Where the hell did you get that?" Danny asked.
"Well… I had some spare time." Adam admitted.
"Okay. Everything's planned. How can we hack it with that?" Stella asked.
"Well… we do need to use his computer though…" Danny interrupted in Adam's mid-sentence, "Great! You'll have to sneak in his office now."
"We don't have to sneak. I'll just ask him if I could use his' because mine's not working right, end of conversation. Adam's device is like a USB device so Mac won't get suspicious." Stella said to defend Adam's words.
"Go ahead, good luck then." Danny encouraged.
"Okay, ready?" Stella confirmed Adam as she confirmed herself unprepared.
"I was born ready." Adam replied—imitating the faces he usually see in the television. Danny put off a face, opened his mouth to speak but flinched with what he was about to say and reconstructed the words in his head, "Okay. Be human just this once." Adam rolled his eyes with Danny's expression, pursed his lips and said, "Yeah… okay."
"Good luck man." Don said teasingly—pursed his lips as he was trying to stop a smile from showing—as he tapped Adam's shoulder.
"Yeah. Thanks man, you're, you're really a great help."
"Let's go." Stella requested.
Adam followed Stella. They were only a few feet away from Mac's office until Mac came rushing out the door and bumped to them—worried and frustrated.
"Is there something wrong Mac?" Stella asked—seeing Mac's excruciating look.
"Yeah. I got a message that there's a dead body in Greenfield."
"What?"
"A dead man in Greenfield. We've got to hurry down there."
"Well… let's go." Adam requested.
"Stella, come with me. Adam, get Don and Danny and go after us down there, clear?" Mac commanded the two of them.
"Sure." Adam replied and headed down the direction they came from to call Flack and Don.
"This is something big—bigger than anything we've ever had." Mac said. Stella—curious as ever—didn't bother to ask what he meant by that and simply followed Mac to his car.