Here's the next chapter! It's pretty much Shane Casey's criminal life in a nut shell. IF YOU'RE NOT CAUGHT UP WITH CSI: NY I SUGGEST SKIPPING THIS CHAPTER! I DO NOT WANT TO SPOIL ANYTHING FOR ANYONE! Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Explaining Messer's Mess

Dinner with the Fentons was something that Mac swore he would avoid at all costs in the future. Maddie made the mistake of cooking dinner using her own inventions… powered by ecto-energy. The Fenton Hot Dog Cooker Mark 2 made everyone's hot dogs come to life and fly all over the kitchen. It took the combined efforts of Jack, Maddie, Messer, and Mac to destroy every one of them. Danny and Jazz looked like they would die of embarrassment. Afterwards, everyone agreed to order takeout instead.

Several hours later, Mac and Hawkes were getting ready for bed in the spare bedroom in the Ops Center. The Ghost Shield was on; a greenish light surrounding the entire house now obscured the view of the city. Even though Jo assured Mac that the Messers were perfectly safe, he still wondered if Casey could enter the house via Fenton Ghost Portal. Even Jazz assured Mac that everyone is perfectly safe.

The temperature suddenly dropped, making the room a little cooler than it already was. A head popped out of the floor. Mac was taken aback at the sight. The head looked around and faced Mac. It was just Phantom. The hybrid flew out of the floor and landed.

"Please don't do that again," said Mac. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Phantom rubbed the back of his neck. "Eh, heh, heh…sorry about that."

Hawkes then came in. He almost dropped the book he was reading when he saw Phantom standing in the bedroom. Phantom just waved. "Hey, Hawkes."

"What brings you here, Phantom? Am I interrupting a meeting?"

Mac shook his head and gestured Hawkes to come into the room. "No, Sheldon. This also concerns you. Phantom needs to know who and what Shane Casey is."

Hawkes clenched his fist. Just hearing that name made his blood boil. He entered the room and sat down on his bed (there were two beds in the room). Mac rubbed his temples, wondering where to start.

Phantom broke the silence. "So, um, who exactly was Shane Casey? My friends and I read on the Internet that he escaped from jail more than once. What possessed him to hurt all of those people? How did he escape during that prison riot? How do Messer and Hawkes tie into this?"

Mac put up a hand to silence the teenage hero. He turned to Hawkes. 'He might as well start from his side of the story.'

Taking Mac's hint, Hawkes sighed and looked up at Phantom. "I might as well start. Before I do though, I need to remind you that what some of the details of this story might be a little gruesome. Stop me if you can't take it."

Phantom nodded. If he was going against Casey, he needs to know every detail, no matter how gruesome.

Hawkes sighed again. "The whole story pretty much starts with me. Shane Casey's brother, Ian, was on trial for a robbery-homicide. Thanks to one eyewitness, Ian was found guilty and was given the death penalty. He later committed suicide in prison.

"Shane believed that Ian was not given a fair trial. He thought the testimony of one eyewitness was not enough to convict his brother. He blamed everyone who participated in his brother's trial. He killed two people: the eyewitness and a member of the jury. I'm not going to go into details on how he killed them. However, Mac and the others eventually figured out that Shane's next target was going to be me."

"Why you?" asked Phantom who was now floating in the air in a sitting position. "What did you do that made you Shane Casey's next target?"

Hawkes hesitated for a moment. His grip on his book tightened. "I testified at his brother's trial as the medical examiner. Because I testified, some of that blame rested on me in his eyes. However, we managed to catch Casey before he could make the next move. Unfortunately, he escaped the following day.

"Several days later there was a robbery at a tavern. Two people were shot and killed and I was framed for it. Mac got a message from Casey saying that he'll give the team evidence that will clear my name in the robbery in exchange for finding evidence that will prove his brother's innocence."

Phantom's eyebrows went up. "Wow, and I thought Skulker was persistent. This guy was going to extreme measures to clear his brother's name."

Hawkes gave the hybrid a sad smile. "Yeah. Unfortunately, for Casey we found further proof that his brother was guilty of murder. Danny Messer went to Casey and showed him the evidence. That's where Messer comes in."

Mac decided to step in. "It looked like the last we would hear from him since he was arrested without putting up a fight. We all thought that Casey came to accept the truth about his brother. We were wrong. A couple of years later, Danny was at an acupuncture studio when he discovered his wallet, badge, and his grandfather's dog tags were stolen."

"Didn't he tell anyone?" asked Phantom.

"He told Lindsay and Flack eventually found out. Danny and Flack were at a pawnshop looking for evidence in a different case. Danny found his dog tags. He got fingerprints off of them. Guess whose they were."

"Shane Casey."

"Correct."

"How did Casey get his hands on Messer's dog tags?"

Hawkes stepped back in. "Danny, Lindsay and Flack were all scratching their heads for weeks trying to answer that same question. It wasn't until I went to witness an inmate's execution that I got the answer."

Phantom's eyes widened. "You mean when you got stuck in that prison riot and Casey escaped?"

"Yes. You know about that?"

Phantom nodded. "My friends and I did some research at school today during lunch. That must have been scary."

Hawkes chuckled. "You have no idea. I noticed that a Pennsylvania State Trooper was helping Casey escape. I found out later that Casey's former cellmate threatened the Trooper's family if he didn't cooperate."

"So the Trooper was the one who stole Messer's badge and wallet?" asked Phantom, slowly putting two and two together.

"I believe so. But, again, his family was at stake. I didn't hold it against him. Casey wore a police officer's uniform and Danny's badge and bluffed his way out of jail. He fooled the entire SWAT team."

"I guess your disguise also fooled the SWAT team?"

"Yeah, it worked a little too well. If I didn't wear that inmate's jumpsuit, however, I would have been dead before I found out it was Casey who poisoned a security guard," Hawkes said remorsefully. Phantom shivered at the thought of him in Hawkes's shoes in that moment in time.

"But you got out, right?" asked Phantom.

"Yeah but it took a lot of convincing."

"So what happened to Casey? Did he still want to clear his brother's name?"

Mac took over the rest of the story. "Surprisingly no. He wanted revenge on Danny Messer. However, Flack managed to catch Casey before he could act."

Phantom narrowed his eyes. "But?"

Mac sighed. This story was about to get ugly. "But he escaped custody again. Unfortunately, we were unable to contact the Messers because they were on vacation on the outskirts of the city. By early evening, Lindsay turned on her cell phone to send us a vacation picture so we finally had a location on where they were.

"By the time we got there, Lindsay was outside of a lighthouse holding her crying daughter. Danny was inside having a showdown against Casey. Flack and some fellow officers went in to quietly apprehend Casey before he could kill Danny. We turned on the search light, blinding Casey and giving Danny the upper hand. Casey, however, fell several feet from the top of the lighthouse into the ocean. Authorities never recovered a body."

"So Casey was still in the wind?" asked Phantom.

"We were hoping he was dead. Later that night Danny woke up hearing his daughter crying. Any normal parent would suspect that their infant child was either hungry or needed to be changed. Danny soon saw that it was neither. He went into Lucy's bedroom and found Shane Casey holding a crying Lucy at gunpoint."

That made Phantom cringe so much he fell to the floor. True, he read about it already online, but hearing it from Mac made it sound like a horror movie. Phantom then sat up and listened to the rest of the story, wondering how much more he could bear.

Mac looked out the window with a solemn look on his face. "Lindsay then woke up and heard Danny's voice on the baby monitor on her side table. Knowing her husband and daughter were in danger, Lindsay grabbed a handgun that she had stashed away in her side table drawer and loaded it. She went to her daughter's bedroom and pointed the gun at Casey. Killing him would be tricky since she obviously couldn't get a clear shot. He taunted them both and threatened to kill Lucy. Lindsay then shot Casey dead. Fortunately, Lucy was not harmed. The three of them then contacted the police and waited outside. I went too for comfort and support.

"Several months later I presented Lindsay a medal for her actions. She still had difficulty coming to terms with what she did that night but in the end, with a little help from me and Danny, she accepted what she did to Casey and let the whole thing become a thing of the past."

Phantom's eyes were big as saucers. His jaw dropped. Mac could tell he was going to have a very hard time going to sleep tonight after telling him the story. Mac looked at Hawkes, who willingly dropped his book that landed with a loud thud. The trick worked and Phantom snapped out of his daze and looked paler than usual.

"That's who we're up against?" Phantom asked in horror. "He makes Vlad look completely sane!"

Hawkes smiled a half-smile. "We know we're asking a lot."

"Of course you're asking a lot out of me!" Phantom exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. "How am I going to fight this psycho if he can easily pull a Houdini on authorities?"

"Can't you simply suck him into a Fenton Thermos?" asked Hawkes.

"Well, yeah, but when I release him into the Ghost Zone it's beyond my control. Either Walker or the Observants have to capture him," explained Phantom.

Mac turned his head at the mentioning of the Observants. He heard that name before. "The Observants?" he asked.

"They're like the… I don't know…High Council of the Ghost Zone or something," Phantom explained. "They hold the more dangerous and more powerful ghosts in their custody. Sending Casey to them would be our best bet."

Mac and Hawkes nodded. "How exactly are we going to send him to the Observants? Like you said, you can't exactly control where they'll be released in the Ghost Zone," stated Mac.

Phantom thought for a moment. His face lit up, realizing he had an idea. "I have an idea. If I capture Casey in the Thermos, I could easily bring it to the Observants."

Hawkes nodded his head, smirking. "That's actually a good idea."

Mac agreed. "But how are we going to find Casey? That's the million-dollar question. I don't want to wait all week for him to come to us."

It was Phantom's turn to smirk. He folded his arms across his chest. "That's where I come in. Every night I go out on patrol to see if there are any ghosts flying around Amity Park. I finished up early tonight so we can have this meeting," he explained confidently.

Mac smiled at the boy's planning. 'He thinks like both a cop and a superhero. He has this whole routine nailed.' One thing still bugged him though. "What about your Ghost Portal in your basement?"

Phantom continued to smile. "I knew you would ask that, so I took the liberty of locking it up before I went out tonight. There's no way Shane Casey is going to bug us tonight."

Both men were impressed. If Jo were here, she would probably be giving Mac an "I-told-you-so" look. Phantom yawned. It was getting late. He had school in the morning. Mac decided to wrap this meeting up. "So, you understand what you're going against?"

"Yeah. What about you guys? I don't think you'll want to stay here all day. Unless you want to listen to my parents blabber on about ghosts all day."

"We're going to explore the city, see what we can find. Where do you recommend we start looking?"

"Most likely Casper High School," answered Phantom. "Ghosts attack me there almost on a daily basis. I also recommend the park and the mall. Avoid City Hall at all costs. That is where a certain psychotic fruit loop of a mayor is."

Mac nodded. He had a grim look on his face remembering his past encounters with Vlad. He was still angry with Plasmius for wrecking his lab a few months ago. He also hated Vlad for nearly turning him into a guinea pig for his twisted experiments.

Hawkes suddenly had an idea. "What if we split up and search the city?"

Phantom seemed to like this idea. "Good idea. I can give you Fenton Phones so you guys can keep in touch with each other."

"That might work," stated Mac. "It's best if we staked the places out. I'll take the high school. Hawkes, take the mall. Danny Messer can take the park. If Lindsay wants to, she can join him."

Phantom nodded and yawned. "Well, if there's nothing left to discuss, I'm going to bed."

"Good night, Phantom," Mac said.

"'Night, Mac. Good night Hawkes." Phantom turned intangible and fazed through the floor.

Well, that's more or less the story of Shane Casey's twisted life. Major action is coming up! REVIEW!

Thank you, jeanette9a for reviewing!