It was just another Wednesday night in the Hawkes household; the family of four sat down to have dinner. Tara was arguing with Cheryl to get off her phone while Kelsey was refusing to eat her vegetables. The phone started ringing and Sheldon volunteered to answer it.
"Hello. Sheldon Hawkes"
"Sheldon, it's Cassie, We've got a situation at the lab and I need you to come down immediately"
Sheldon looked up from the ground of the elevator to see FBI agents tearing up the lab. He walked over to Mac's office where Mac, Cassie, Adam, Haylen and Lindsay were
"What's going on?"
"The FBI's been going after us for a while and now they think they have a case" Mac revealed a secret he had only told Cassie
"Why the FBI? Why not internal affairs?" Lindsay questioned
"I don't know" Mac said honestly
"I see your whole team is here" Agent price said
"Yes. So are you finally going to tell us what you're doing here?" Mac asked
"Everyone in this room is either guilty of corruption or careless working an I'm going to prove it"
"We'll see about that"
The team watched as the FBI tore apart their lab.
"I'll call Jo and see if she has any connections that could find out what's going on" Mac said
"And I'll call some friends" Haylen said
"How long has the FBI been after us?" Sheldon asked what was everyone's minds
"About 3 months" Cassie answered
"You never told us?" Lindsay asked
"Mac and I both decided it would be better if we kept you guys out of the loop"
"Better for who?" Lindsay was angry
"I know that you all might not agree with our decision but we honestly believed that it would just blow over"
"Yeah well it didn't" Lindsay said checking her phone again
"What's going on?" Sheldon whispered to Lindsay who he was sitting next to
"Ruben went out with some friends. He was supposed to text me but I haven't gotten anything"
"I'm sure he's fine Linds"
"Jo's gonna call in some favours" Mac said entering back into the room
"So I called some friends from the FBI and they said that the order came from the mayor's office" Haylen said
"The Mayor's office?!" Everyone was confused
"That's all they could find out. It's a classified file"
"Why would the mayor want to do this?" Sheldon said
"I'm going to find out" Mac said picking up his office phone and calling the mayor
"Mayor Martinez why is the FBI tearing apart my lab?!"
"I have no idea what you mean"
"I know the order came from you"
"Detective Taylor, I love what you and your team does and I have no reason to want to change that." The Mayor tried to convince
"You're going to find anything" Mac said hanging up the phone
"What did he say?" Sheldon asked
"He denied it of course" Mac said when another call came through
"Detective Taylor" mac said
"We've got a case. Sheldon, Lindsay and Adam you go"
"Victim is Tom Hunter, 43, he's a real estate broker" Flack said meeting the team at the scene. Outside the victim's home.
"Appears to be stabbed but we'll have to get him back to Tara for confirmation" Sheldon observed
"So what's happening at the lab?" Flack asked
"The FBI is trying to close us"
"Can they even do that?"
"Mayor's orders"
"Why?"
"We have no idea" Sheldon sighed
Sheldon looked over at the victim's widow who was crying in her son's arms.
"Mrs Hunter?" Sheldon approached the two
"Do you know what happened to my husband?"
"It appears he was stabbed"
"Stabbed? Who would hurt my husband?!"
"That's what we're going to find out. What was your husband doing outside?"
"I don't know. My daughter had a recital tonight and Tom never showed"
"We'll find who did this."
Sheldon grabbed the knife out of an evidence bag and began his examination. An agent stepped in the room and Observed Sheldon. Sheldon didn't care at first but then it started to annoy him
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Sheldon said to the agent behind him
"Agent Jeffries"
"Okay, Agent Jeffries, what are you doing?"
"I'm observing your investigations"
"Can't you stand somewhere else?"
"That would be against my orders"
Sheldon sighed and rolled his eyes
After finishing his examination Sheldon went to tell Mac's his results
"The knife is a kitchen steak knife and the DNA is a match to the victim and an unknown contributor."
"Go to the hunter's house and see if they have any missing steak knives" Mac instructed
"Why are the FBI watching me examine a knife?"
"They're waiting for us to screw up so don't give them a reason to be right"
"You got it boss"
"I don't understand. You want to look through my kitchen?" Mrs hunter, the grieving widow cried
"It's just a process of elimination"
Sheldon went into the kitchen and looked through the Hunters kitchen. He found a Knife block with a missing knife
"I don't understand. The knife was always here"
"This missing knife could be our murder weapon"
"Hey Linds did you get anything off of the victim's laptop?" Sheldon asked Lindsay in the Lab
"A chatroom which shows that the Victim was having an affair with "Brunettehottie""
"Do we know Brunettehotties real name?"
"We're waiting on a warrant"
"Detective Flack" Agent Price knocked on Cassie's door
"What? Did you find our test rat that we stole from the zoo? Are you here to arrest me?" Cassie Flack sarcastically said
"Actually I would to interview you"
"Sure it's not like I have cases or something" Cassie sarcastically said again
Agent Price set up his video camera and sat across from Cassie
"Detective Cassie Flack you worked in California as a CSI before moving to New York eight years ago to be assistant supervisor with the New York city crime lab?"
"Yes"
"And then married Detective Don Flack a year later?"
"I don't see how my personal life has anything to do with my work ethic"
"Quite the professional, Detective. How long have you know Detective Mac Taylor?"
"Eight years"
"And have you ever seen him act out of line"
"No never. Detective Taylor is one of the best detectives I know"
"Has your husband ever mentioned Jessica Angell?"
"Yes. Our daughter's middle name is 'Jessica' in honour of her"
"And has Detective Flack mentioned what happened to Detective Angell's killer?"
"Yes. He died"
"How?"
"He got shot"
"By who?"
"I'm not sure"
"Thank you for your time detective"
Cassie knew that something was up so she called the only person she talked to in times like this.
"Cassie?" Flack said answering his phone and seeing his wife's caller I.D
"I just had an interview with Agent Price"
"What's wrong?"
"He mentioned Jessica a lot"
"Jessica Angel?"
"Yeah. He wanted to talk about how her killer died"
Flack went silent as that painful night replayed in his head
"Don, what really happened?"
"I'll come to your office" Flack couldn't have that kind of conversation over the phone. He couldn't admit to his wife that he was a killer.
"We've got that warrant" Lindsay said to Sheldon
"What's this brunette's name?"
"Emily Adams"
"Let's go"
Sheldon and Lindsay went to Emily Adams home apartment.
"Yes?" A very pregnant brunette woman answered the door
"Are you Emily Adams?" A confused Lindsay said
"Yes I am" She seemed obviously cautious as to why the police would be at her door.
"We're sorry to tell you but Tom Hunter's body was found last night" Lindsay said to Emily before she burst into tears.
"I don't understand, I saw him yesterday and he was fine"
"You saw him yesterday?" Lindsay asked
"Yeah we went baby shopping. How was he killed?"
"He was murdered" Sheldon told her
"Murdered? Who would want to hurt Tom? Everyone loved him" She cried cradling her bump
"Did you know that Tom was married?" Lindsay asked
"What?" She clearly didn't know
Flack walked into Cassie's office and closed the door behind him
"Don, what's going on?" Cassie asked still stressed after her interview with Agent Price. Flack took a seat across from her desk and began explaining himself.
"The day that Jessica died was the worst day of my life. I loved her. And when I saw him lying there begging for help after what he did I just I shot him" Don Flack was a strong man but talking about that night always made him break down.
"Well he probably reached for his weapon and you were defending yourself"
"No his gun wasn't in his reach"
"Well you- "
"Cass! I killed him" Flack interrupted Cassie.
He often thought about the minute where he took a man's life. The man's life wasn't innocent but it wasn't what Flack was. He wasn't a murderer. Cassie sighed and shook her head which she laid in her hands.
"Cass please say something" Flack pleaded but was interrupted by Lindsay knocking at the glass door
"If I'm interrupting something I can come back later" Lindsay said noticing the tension
"No it's fine" Cassie put on her best fake smile
"I need to leave and do some things"
"Sure. That's fine" Cassie said and that's when Lindsay knew that something was wrong. Cassie would never let her leave in the middle of a case. Of course if Cassie knew Lindsay was going to find her son, Rueben, she would have let her go.
Sheldon and Adam headed to Mrs Hunters house to see if she knew about the affair.
"What can I help you with, Detectives?" The newly widowed said
"Did you know that your husband was having an affair?" Sheldon blurted out
"An affair? No that's impossible"
"We're sorry Mrs Hunter but it's true" Adam said
"Her name is Emily and she's pregnant" Sheldon told the unbearable news
"What's going on?" The couples teenaged son came into the room after hearing his mother's cries
"Did you find who killed my dad?"
"They think your father was having an affair" Mrs Hunter told her son, Reece.
"Did you see the son's reaction to his father having an affair?" Sheldon said to Adam once they had left the sadden house
"Yeah. He didn't seem too phased by it"
"We should check him out"
"I'll see if the unknown DNA is a match to Reese" Sheldon said to Adam as they both departed the elevator
"Dr Hawkes I've been waiting for you" Agent Price said to Sheldon
"Why?"
"I was wondering if we could a talk"
"Sure. Adam can you run the DNA for me?"
"Sure" Adam said rushing to the DNA lab.
"Dr Hawkes you have quite the impressive resume. Graduating college at 18 fully license surgeon at 24. Then the chief medical examiner and then a CSI. You're a very smart man"
"Thank you"
"Which makes me wonder, how in 2006 you were framed for a robbery homicide"
"The perp was named Shane Casey he was a mentally unwell man but at the same time a genius manipulator"
"I understand you were close with Dr Sid Hammerback"
"We all were"
"But you took it epically hard when he passed. You took a 3-month vacation to Vegas and Miami"
"It was 13 years ago, why are we talking about this?" Sheldon knew Agent Price was trying to break him.
"Ok I'll speed it up a little bit. Dr Tara Richards was attacked in her morgue. She shot her attacker with a gun you gave to her"
"She was being stalked I gave her a gun for protection"
"The report says you entered the morgue after she killed Wendell Jones"
"I did"
"Did you really, Dr?"
"My wife was raped! She defended herself because I wasn't there!" Sheldon raised his voice
"I'm sorry if I offended you, Sheldon"
"are we done here?"
"Sure" agent price said which led Sheldon to leave and go to the DNA lab
"I ran the unknown DNA against the victim and it came back as a match. You were right, doc, Tom Hunters son killed his dad" Adam told Sheldon
"Thanks Adam. I'll tell Flack"
"No need I already did; he's waiting for you at the station now"
"We know you killed your father, Reese" Flack said to the suspect
"He was cheating on my mom" The 16-year-old said
"So you killed him?"
"He got that skank pregnant! I was on my dad's computer when an email came up from her. I stayed quiet because I didn't want to believe it. When he never came to my little sister's recital I just knew he was with her. I saw him park his car from my bedroom window. I went outside to confront him and he admitted everything. He even told me he was going to leave my mom to start a new family with her! He went back to his car to get the sonogram picture and I ran into the kitchen and grabbed the first knife I saw and then I killed him" Reese confessed
"Ruben, it's me mom – again, please just call or text me to tell me you're alright" Lindsay called her son again who still wasn't picking up. She drove to her son's best friends place where he always was.
"Lindsay?" The mother answered
"Hi Tracy, Is Rueben here?"
"No. Is he alright?"
"Yeah he's fine" Lindsay lied. She was really starting to panic.
Lindsay went back to her car and checked an app that she tried not to use so much. A tracking device on her son. Ever since she lost Lucy she became obsessed with keeping Rueben safe. A red dot flashed at an address she knew too well. Her ex-husbands apartment.
"Lindsay?" Danny answered his door and Lindsay pushed past him
"where is he?" She said. She saw Rueben on Danny's couch playing X-Box
"Mom?" Rueben said knowing he was in trouble
"what are you doing here?" Lindsay said anger clear in her voice
"I just wanted to see dad and I knew you wouldn't let me"
"You came here without telling your mother?" Danny interrupted in his family's discussion
"I'm sorry" Rueben looked down at his feet
"You should have told your mother. I'm sure she was worried sick" Danny defended Lindsay
"Come on, Rueben, let's go." Lindsay said hauling him out.
Danny felt depressed again as Lindsay slammed the door behind her. He lost his family. He lost his wife, the love of his life.
Sheldon arrived back at his house where his wife and two daughters were
"You're home only" Sheldon smiled seeing his beautiful wife helping their six-year-old with her homework
"I just couldn't wait to see my girls and my man" Tara smiled getting up and kissing Sheldon
"Eww gross" their two daughters spoke in unison which made the couple laugh.
"I am so glad to see you" Sheldon rested his head against hers.
All of what laid in front of Sheldon's eyes were things he never thought possible; A beautiful wife with a similar career, 2 beautiful daughters. He was very happy. Going home to his family every night took his mind off of things at the lab.
"Mayor Martinez" Agent price called the mayor
"I hope you have good news"
"I'm still working on it, sir, but I think I've got something on detective Don Flack"
"Wrong Flack, Price, Focus on the crime lab"
"Well I'm working on Detective Monroe. I think I've got something good"
"Good." The mayor said hanging up from the short conversation.