See prologue for story information and disclaimer.

Chapter Three

Flack was startled by the unknown voice. He honestly hadn't noticed anyone with Mac except Lindsay. But there was in fact another girl with light brown hair and green eyes sitting in the other chair.

She didn't answer the question for a few moments. It looked to Flack as though she were trying to stop herself from bursting into tears. Eventually, she took a deep breath and spoke.

"Becca was my roommate at teacher's college. She came here to teach last year."

All of a sudden, her eyes widened with fear. "Oh God, Linds. He's here. He's in New York."

"He can't be…" Lindsay whispered.

"Who are we talking about?" Danny asked.

Neither girl heard him. Flack could tell the other girl was too terrified to speak. He'd seen the look on many people since he joined the force. Lindsay looked scared too, but also disbelieving. If he knew Monroe, approaching it in a professional manner would snap her out of it or at least get him a response.

"Does this M.O. sound familiar to you, Monroe?" he asked, in his police questioning voice.

Lindsay looked up at him, and nodded. "Yeah, it does. I was just about to tell Mac, but you two can stay since you're here and on the case."

She turned to Mac while Danny and Flack got settled leaning against the wall.

"It's about the case in my personnel file, Mac."

Mac nodded. "I remember the one, but it didn't have many details."

Lindsay folded her hands and looked at the desk, instead of Mac. "Back home, in Bozeman, there was a rape-murder that I was working on with one of the homicide detectives. The girl was found in her bedroom tied to the bed, raped and strangled. I really shouldn't have handled the case, but it was a small town and everyone knew everyone. The vic was Amanda Cook. I grew up with her, and she lived next door until she moved out of her parents' place.

"About three days later, another body was found. Same M.O. as Amanda. This time it was Rachel Dunlop. She was my lab partner in college. We both moved back to Bozeman after. She had to take care of her father. We didn't even see the connection between them until the third body showed up.

"When we found my partner, Kelly Gleeson, the homicide detective, raped and murdered in her home, the pattern was clear. The un-sub was coming after me. When we drew the cases on a map, they made a spiral towards my apartment. My boss took me right off the case. I went out to visit relatives in Texas for a while and the murders stopped.

"There's been nothing for five years. Until my sister Sarah, here, came today and told me about how they found her best friend Samantha Greene killed in the same way. And now Rebecca's dead too."

Flack looked around the room in the silence that followed Lindsay's story. The other girl, Sarah, looked pale and frightened out of her mind. Lindsay was pale too, but with a blank numbness, like she couldn't quite process the facts. Mac had his serious concentration look mixed with concern.

It was Danny's face that surprised Flack. He was looking at Lindsay as if she would disappear at any moment and he'd be helpless about it. His clenched fists and tense muscles were the only signs of the anger Flack had expected.

"So," Mac started, "you're thinking that if the un-sub has struck again, he's probably after one or both of you."

Lindsay nodded without looking up. "There's no other reason that he'd come all the way to New York from Montana."

"I thought we were safe from the Bozeman Strangler," Sarah said softly. If it hadn't been dead quiet in the room, Flack would never have heard her.

"Me too," Lindsay said, reaching out to take her sister's hand.

"Then damn it, we'll keep you safe," Danny growled.

Every head in the office turned to him. Flack was not expecting him to say anything. Quiet rage and vigilante justice were Danny's normal reactions. Though, he is Italian, so I probably shouldn't be surprised, he thought.

"How are we going to do that, Danny?" Lindsay asked. "It's not like we had any leads back in Bozeman."

"Well, if you're never alone, he can't get you," Danny said in a very matter of fact way.

Where is he going with this, Flack wondered.

"I can't be with someone all the time. And besides, he killed the others in their own homes."

"Then don't stay at home."

Flack was watching as if it were a tennis match turning from one to the other as they argued. Lindsay was getting annoyed, which was almost a good thing since it wasn't that emotionless numbness from before.

"Where am I supposed to stay, Danny?" She was almost yelling by now.

"There's an extra room at my place. You could stay there. And Flack has a room for your sister. That way you'd have constant police protection."

Lindsay looked inches away from slugging Danny and Flack wasn't averse to seeing him get slugged. Where does he get off including me in this crazy plan? he thought. Not that I would mind keeping her safe, but still a guy likes to be asked before lending out his apartment.

Lindsay had just opened her mouth, probably to rip Danny a new one, when Mac interrupted.

"That's an excellent idea. We'll put uniformed officers at the doors of the buildings and keep an extra eye on the security footage. Both your buildings have cameras, right?"

Flack and Danny nodded.

"Then, it's a plan," Mac said. "Unless, you can't house Miss Monroe, Flack."

Flack flushed a little in surprise. He hadn't expected to be consulted after Danny had offered his place.

"N-no, it's perfectly alright. She can stay with me," he stammered.

Mac nodded. "Well then, now that this is settled, I want Danny and Lindsay to go over Bozeman records and see if anyone has come to New York since the last murder in Montana. Stella and Hawkes can handle processing the scene. I'll head over to the precinct and work out everything for having officers at your buildings."

"I can go over the records myself, Mac," Lindsay started.

"No, Lindsay," Mac said, "You can't. It's conflict of interest. Danny's going to go over the records. You're going to tell him if you know anyone on the list and how you know them."

Flack stood awkwardly by the door as Lindsay stormed out, with Danny following.

"Uh, Mac," Flack said, "Should I head over to the scene with Stella and Hawkes?"

Mac shook his head. "I'll get another Detective to go with them when I get to the precinct. I need you to take Miss Monroe here to your place and get her settled in."

As he passed Flack at the door, he whispered, "She looks like she could use some sleep. She's had a hard day."

Flack nodded and a moment later he found himself alone with a girl who didn't even know his name. And she was supposed to live with him.

Well, at least I can fix the name part.

He walked over to the girl and held out his hand.

"Hey."

She smiled slightly and shook his hand. "Hi, my name's Sarah Monroe. It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Detective Don Flack, Jr. and the pleasure's all mine."