Less Than Graceful: Chapter 3
Danny scooped the little girl into his arms and hugged her to him. It was refreshing to see her face; he'd been sure he would never see her again.
"What are you doing here, Doll face?" he asked, shooting Mac a questioning look as he and Stella came running up.
Grace kept her arms clamped around Danny's neck and her eyes squeezed tightly shut. Lindsay was standing back, watching Grace and Danny closely. The little girl was obviously very close with Danny, and Danny was obviously very taken with her.
Mac cleared his throat. "Grace, I need you to go with Stella, okay?" he asked carefully.
Grace shook her head and tightened her arms around Danny's neck. "Hey, Doll," Danny croaked. "I need to breathe here."
Grace loosened her arms enough that Danny was able to pull her away. He could've passed her on to someone else, but Grace looked at him with her sad eyes and he was putty in her hands. "'Ey Mac, Stell, could you give us a sec?" He didn't wait for an answer. He carried her to his car and set her down on the hood. "Doll face? Could you tell me what's wrong?"
Grace looked up at him with her wide green eyes. Her gaze was pure sadness. "Momma died," she said, a tear slipping down her face.
Although shocked, Danny automatically wiped it away. "I am so sorry, Doll face," he said sincerely. He bent down to her level, looking her in the eyes. "I have to talk to Mac, and I need you to go with Stella."
Grace blinked slowly. "Will you come back?" she asked, remembering their last meeting.
He tapped her temple with his index finger. "I always do." Grace reluctantly allowed him to lead her over to where Stella and Mac were quietly talking. "Sorry," Danny said.
Stella looked down at Grace who was holding onto Danny's hand for dear life. "C'mon, Grace. We'll go get something to eat. Then you can see Danny again."
Danny watched Stella and Grace walk away, turning away when Grace looked helplessly back at him.
"How do you know Grace?" Mac asked at the same time Danny asked, "What happened to Holly?"
Lindsay, who was still standing to the side, stepped forward. "I'm going to go check these fingerprints," she said awkwardly.
Danny waited until she was out of hearing distance before turning to Mac. "I used to date Holly. What happened to her?"
Mac stared at him. "She was murdered in the bedroom of her apartment," he finally said. He saw Danny's worried look. "Grace didn't see or hear anything."
Danny ran his hand through his hair and let out a nervous laugh. "I never thought I'd see that little girl again," he admitted with a sigh.
"Danny," Mac warned, "You have to stay hands off on this case. You have personal ties to the victim and her daughter, and, when we catch the person who did it, I don't want them set free on a technicality."
Danny nodded seriously, remembering what happened to Aiden when she got personally involved. She'd almost tampered with evidence and lost her job because of it. "I know, Mac," he assured the man. "Me an' Montana got a case anyway. DB down at the docks."
Mac smiled thinly and patted Danny on the shoulder. "We'll get the man responsible for this," he promised.
Danny barely acknowledged Mac's attempt at comfort as he turned away with a sober expression. Mac watched him walk away, wondering if he'd loved Holly, knowing how it felt to lose a loved one.
Mac went to his office while Danny met Lindsay in the lab. Lindsay and Danny worked side by side silently until Lindsay broke the silence. "Is she your daughter?" she asked without looking at him.
Danny turned from the garbage bag he'd been processing and stared at the back of her head. "Why would you ask that?" he asked.
Lindsay shrugged, still not looking at him. "Her reaction to seeing you, your reaction to seeing her..."
Danny chuckled. "Naw, she's not my daughter. I dated her mom for a while. It was a pretty bad breakup."
"Was it," Lindsay started hesitantly. She paused. "Was it because of Grace?" There was not judgement of any kind in her tone.
Danny spun her chair around and placed his hands on the counter on either side of her. "Are you implying that I broke up with Holly because she had a kid?" Lindsay was staring up at him with no expression. He didn't want or wait for an answer. "Because I didn't. Grace was probably what attracted me to her the most."
Lindsay relaxed. He was no longer angry or indignant; he was reliving a memory. "I met Grace after dating Holly for a coupla months." He laughed softly. "I stepped on some of her crayons and broke them. She kicked me and told me I had to buy her some more. Holly saved me from Grace when shewas ready to throw a tantrum. I never bought Grace the new crayons."
Lindsay watched as several expressions flew across Danny's face: anger, sadness, happiness before finally settling on sadness. "What happened?" she asked quietly, not wanting to bring Danny out of his memories.
Danny realized that he still had Lindsay boxed in and back away. "We dated for about six months and settled into a sort of family type thing and she suddenly broke it off. One second we were watching a movie, eating at the table then bam. It's over. No explanation. Told me not to come around her or Grace ever again. I didn't listen at first; there was just...I mean, besides work, I'd basically made Grace my life. I couldn't just give up a big part of my life, but Holly threatened to get a restraining order so I backed off."
He pushed back his lab coat and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. "Now Holly's dead and Grace is here. Being sad was never Grace's thing, but she is. Sad, I mean."
Lindsay abruptly stood up and hugged him. Danny stood there for a minute before stiffly hugging her back. She pulled back with a soft smile. "You looked like you needed a hug," she said in response to his questioning look.
Danny rolled his eyes and gently cuffed her chin. "You are somethin' else, Montana," he said fondly.
Lindsay turned back to her work with a smile. Danny had opened up and Lindsay had gotten a hug in. To think that all it had taken was a little girl with bright eyes and a heart melting smile.
((((((CSI:NY))))))
Mac sighed and sat back in his chair. No one would take his calls at Child Services and he didn't know what to do. Everyone, except maybe Hawkes, seemed to be a little more involved in the case than they should be, and that was dangerous.
In the few short hours that he'd known Grace, he'd witnessed and been on the receiving end of her ability to wrap everyone around her little finger.
Mac was brought out of his thoughts when Stella walked in holding a crying Grace and a couple of bags of food. "A little help?" she said, looking pointedly at Grace.
Though it was clearly obvious that Stella wanted him to take Grace, Mac relieved her of the food.
Since she was free to comfort Grace, Stella bounced the girl a little. "Grace, baby," she said awkwardly, "I'll get you another cricket. I'll even spring for a little aquarium to put him in."
Mac watched as Stella tried to comfort the young girl. It could be deduced that Bob, the cricket Grace had stuffed into her pocket earlier that day, was dead.
"No," Grace said tearfully, "He was a bug and I don't care. I want my momma!"
Stella looked desperately at Mac. He had no idea what to say to comfort either one of the females in his office. Thankfully, his pager went off. It was Hawkes.
"Mac," Stella said firmly, making a decision, "Make the arrangements. I'm taking Grace home and she's staying with me until we can find a more permanent arrangement. I'll be back in the morning." She turned and walked out with Grace in her arms.
Mac watched them go, realizing belatedly that Stella had just ordered him, her boss, around and should've been reprimanded for it. Shaking his head at the power Stella had over him, Mac picked up the phone. "I need a favor..."
A little later, he hung up. It had taken a lot of promised favors, but Grace was officially and legally staying with Stella until the case was solved and they could find something a little more permanent. He stood up and went to the lab to talk to Hawkes.
"What did you find?" Mac asked as he pulled on a lab coat and rubber gloves.
Hawkes showed him a blue men's tie. "It was on the bed. It's ripped here and there's a little blood on it. I haven't had a chance to look at the scrapings from the vic's fingernails or her clothes, but here's a blue fiber from the vic's hair. It's the same color as the tie...I'm thinking strangulation."
Mac nodded thoughtfully. "Only one way to find out."
TBC...It's past 3 a.m. and I am SOOO tired. Sorry about the delay getting it up. Reviewing speeds up the process...
