title: Boulevard of Broken Dreams
author: BambiBlake007
pairings: none, yet. hints of DL/past & present
rating: M just to be safe :)
summary: Danny & Lindsay are investigating the death of a young up & coming movie star.
disclaimer: i do not own csi:ny or the characters portrayed within.
author's note: i take full responsibility for errors. they are all mine. also, i'm no CSI/lab tech in real life, so any kinda technical/science mumbo-jumbo tht may be spoken of here, i really have no idea what i'm talking about, lol. totally pulled it outta my ass!! again, R/R. feedback is love :)
Chapter 3
"What have ya got for us, Sid?"
Danny and Lindsay stepped into the coroner's office. Sid Hammerback, holding a clipboard full of information in his hand, turned when he heard the two CSI's approaching. He welcomed them with a smile as he reach up and removed his black rimmed glasses.
"Our vic tell ya anything?" Lindsay asked.
"Oh, she told me a lot," Sid agreed. "She was definitely hit over the head with some type of wood--probably just a random branch that he found in the park--nothing special. She also put up a fight, like you thought. She dug her nails into the gravel, probably trying to resist him."
"What makes you say that other than the dirt beneath her fingernails?" Lindsay asked, curiously.
"Uh... At first glance, you wouldn't notice the bruising on her ankles, but when I removed her shoes and what was left of her stockings, I found what appears to be bruising from a hand being wrapped around them," Sid explained solemnly. "Very light bruising, but still bruising."
"So, the SOB grabbed her by the ankles and pulled?" Danny asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"That's what appears to have happened. Also, I noticed the bruising on the mouth. That was deliberate," Sid continued.
"Flack and I figured that much," Danny agreed. "To keep her quiet, right?"
"That's about right. He broke her nose, too."
Danny glanced up from the body. "He break anything else?"
"A couple ribs. He kicked her. But that was after she was dead. Probably just wanted to get a kick in for good measure. Very deliberate," Sid said again.
"So it wasn't random?" Lindsay asked.
"I'm not sure about that one. I have Hawkes looking through our files to see if this murder matches any other MO's around the city like Flack asked. But he hasn't found a match, not even a partial one, yet."
"Do you think it's a fan killing?" Lindsay asked, not meeting Danny's eyes as she spoke.
"This was definitely not a fanatical killing. I think this was just someone who wanted her dead. I mean, he went to a great length of trouble to make her bleed. That's not matching up with a fan killing. They usually strangle their victims or suffocate them, don't make them bleed out like this guy had her do," Sid confirmed what Danny had told Flack and Lindsay at the crime scene.
"Did you find anything inside of her?" Danny asked. "Linds said she was raped."
Sid flipped through his notes, pushing his glasses back on. "There was a small trace of semen found inside of the vic. I sent it, along with Lindsay's findings, to DNA. We should have results soon. But I doubt our perp's in the system."
"Why do you say that?" Lindsay asked.
"He's a pro. He knows what to touch and what not to. I mean, he left no prints behind. Probably wore gloves. He didn't ejaculate very much, just a small amount. He obviously didn't use a condom, so he wasn't afraid of getting caught. He knows we don't have his DNA in our data bank. I'd say this isn't the first killing he's done. But he hasn't been processed either. He's gotten away with a lot of crimes and I'd say he's expecting to get away with this one, too," Sid explained. "We can always give it a shot and hope for the best, though."
Danny and Lindsay nodded in agreement.
"Got a time of death for us, Doc?" Danny asked.
Sid nodded. "Between midnight and 2 a.m."
"That would explain why the blood clotted like it did. We didn't arrive til well past six," Danny told the ME. A grimmace came over his face as he thought back to it.
"I'll let ya know when the test results get in from trace and DNA. I still have to send the samples for tox, but that shouldn't take long, I have a buddy who owes me a favor down there. Other than that, we just have what you guys found at the scene and what the body told me: she was a young, healthy girl, who didn't deserve to die this way," Sid smiled weakly.
"We did find footprints at the scene and I think they're analyzing some tree branches that we picked up in the park, just in case one of them was used. I think we should go talk to Adam now," Danny told Lindsay.
"Sure," Lindsay agreed.
They told the ME not to hesitate to call them when he found out more, and left him to finish his work.
"You ok?" Danny asked as he and Lindsay stepped onto the elevator.
Lindsay hugged herself--moving back toward the wall. "I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"I told you I was fine, Danny. You don't have to baby-sit me," Lindsay answered, colder than she meant to sound.
"Alright. I get it. You're shutting me out again. That's cool, Montana. Just shut me out like you always do," Danny told her, his voice rising slightly as he spoke.
Lindsay sighed, heavily. "Look. I know you worry about me, Danny. And that's sweet. Really. But I can't have you worrying about me. We can't--"
"What?" Danny demanded, his blue eyes widening in confusion.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought this up. I know you're just trying to be supportive. I just--"
"Tell me, Lindsay."
"She was so young, Danny. Just a kid, really. And she got her life snuffed out of her..." Lindsay answered, softly.
"It's sad. I know it reminds you of a lot of bad shit, but we have a job to do here and you can't let that get in the way of doing your job. Understand?" Danny asked as he chewed on his bottom lip.
Lindsay stared at him for a moment without answering. "Danny. I can't deal with your bullshit right now."
"You don't mean that."
"I do. You don't get to decide how I feel. Not when it comes to the stuff that happened to me in Montana," she told him.
"I didn't mean to be pushy, Linds. I just--" Danny sighed as he scratched the back of his head. He wasn't good at apologizing, but if that was what he had to do in order to make things ok between him and Lindsay, then that was what he would do. "I'm sorry."
Lindsay bit her bottom lip for a moment, avoiding his eyes. "I know you just worry about me."
"That's an understatement," Danny smiled.
"I just--I want you to know that I'm ok now. I don't want you to feel like you have to handle me with gloves. Alright? I'm not one of your cases."
Danny nodded. "I got it. No glove handling."
Lindsay smiled up at him, feeling herself let the moment take over. Letting the warmth between the two of them settle down in the elevator. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted him to hold her. She wanted him to be her rock. She needed Danny Messer more than he would ever know. But Lindsay had decided a long time ago that she would not let him know what she secretly longed for.
He might have his own secrets to hide, but she knew that he could never fully understand what she had been through. She did not want sympathy; she did not even want empathy from him. She wanted him--the flesh wanted what the flesh wanted--but she knew better than to go down that road again. He was reckless and dangerous in his own sweet way, but Lindsay didn't want him to know she wanted him to be everything for her. If he thought that he was her everything, then he might not be all the Danny he needed to be. He was unique. She was not. And Lindsay wanted to keep it that way.
They held each other's eye for a moment longer. They started leaning toward one another, but the moment was over as soon as it came--interrupted by the sudden ding of the elevator and the doors sliding open. Stella Bonasera and Flack stared back at the two of them, an odd expression over both their faces.
"Danny. Lindsay. You going up or down?" Flack asked, trying not to grin.
"This is our floor," Danny cleared his throat as he stepped through the elevator doors.
Flack smiled at Stella. She returned it with one of her own. Lindsay stepped through the elevator, gave a nervous smile to the two Detectives, quickly following Danny down the main corridor toward the tech lab.
"Let's go," Stella told Flack as she stepped through the doors.
"Those two are definitely hiding something," Flack stated as he stepped onto the elevator, too.
"They're young. Good looking. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's going on between the two of them," Stella told him.
"They're sleeping together?" Flack asked, cocking an eye brow up.
Stella smiled back at him, but said nothing.
Flack stared down at his shoes for a moment before he spoke again. "Messer's such a man-whore."
"Jealous, Flack?" Stella asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
Flack sighed. "Just a lil bit."
Stella had to a laugh at what the Detective said. He was over six feet tall, with dark hair, sparkling blue eyes, and chisled good looks. He could easily have any woman he set his sights on. Yet, he was jealous of Danny Messer, who was barely five-foot-nine. True, Danny wasn't very tall, but he was still a lil cutie pie. Every girl thought so. Not necessarily the traditional definition of handsome, like Flack would be categorized as being, but still nice to look at with his dirty blond hair and baby blue eyes that were held behind a pair of glasses, he wore partly out of habit and not so much because he couldn't see without them. He was geek-chic, Stella had often found herself thinking, when she looked at Danny in his glasses. His vulnerability was astounding. He had long reminded Stella of a little boy who needed to be loved and reassured by his superiors that he was doing good. He wanted approval, that was all. But his mystevious side always got the better of him.
No wonder Lindsay Monroe was tailing him wherever he went these days, because he was exciting and dangerous--like a roller coaster ride--you didn't want to go on it because you were afraid of the possible 100 foot fall, but you just had to ride it just to feel the thrill of almost dying, but being pulled back from the brink just before you did. Hell, Stella had to admit that she enjoyed the time she spent with Danny when they got paired up on a case together. He always made her laugh and he always made her think about things in a different light.
Stella was still shaking her head with a grin when she and Flack got off on the ground floor. Flack even let himself grin a little, too. He knew it was silly to be jealous of little Danny Messer, but he just had too many women swooning over him, and that wasn't fair. But why was Lindsay so smitten with him? Flack never could understand that one. He was going to find out what made her want Danny so much, if it was the last thing he did.
Danny and Lindsay stepped into the lab where Adam was working with the samples that Danny had made on the foot prints found at the crime scene. He smiled at the two CSI's when they entered.
"Got your beep. What'd you find?" Danny asked, eyeing the molds he had handed off to Adam.
"Your killer was definitely a man. I can tell you that right off."
"Figured, given that blunt force trauma was COD," Danny said non chalantly. "Women don't usually hit that hard."
"Yeah." Adam walked around the table. Danny was a nice guy and all, and Adam thought of him as a friend of his, but he also made Adam a bit nervous with his cocky exterior.
Adam was a geek, much like Danny was when it came to lab stuff, but while Adam was a geek through and through in every sense of the word (on the job and off), Danny was not. He had street smarts and that always made Adam a little uncomfortable in his presense. Also, Danny had looks and every girl within a 10-mile radius noticed Detective Messer whenever he walked into a room.
Adam grinned, hesitating. Danny and Lindsay waited. Patience was something they had learned they had to have when dealing with Adam Ross. The lab was his territory.
"Anyways. As I said, the killer was male, but there were three different foot prints found at the scene, right?" Adam asked, even though he already knew the answer to his own question.
"Sure," Lindsay went along with him.
"These are our perp's. Boots--probably cowboy." Adam pointed to the first mold. "I'd say there is caked mud on them if you looked close enough. The mud up there at the river is red. He'd have to have cleaned them after he left the scene."
"You think he left some behind, though?" Danny asked as he stepped over to the mold for a better look.
Adam moved back a bit to give him room. "Yeah. There's no way he got all of the mud off. Look at how deep this print is."
Danny stepped back with a nod. "Makes sense. I mean, if he stepped down hard, he'd have to get dirt on the bottom. That stuff is tricky to get rid of no matter how much you scrub it."
"Yeah." Adam paused again. "This second print is our girl. I ran it against the shoes she was wearing and they're a match."
"So, she did run up the embankment?" Lindsay asked, glancing at Danny.
"Looks like it from how scuffed her shoes were," Adam offered.
"And she probably fell, right?" Danny asked.
"Well, her shoes were a pair of those real pricey kind that only rich people can afford. And she was an actress, right?" Adam asked, glancing at Lindsay then back to Danny. They nodded. "I don't think she'd have scuffed them on her own. I mean, why pay out top dollar for something that nice, then destroy it? Just doesn't add up to me. I'd say she had some help from our perp. He chased her and she fell, seems logical to me. If she hadn't have been running or tripped, her shoes wouldn't be messed up like they are."
Danny picked up an evidence bag. "These her shoes?"
Adam nodded.
Danny turned the bag over and over in his hand. It was a clear plastic baggy that resembled a larger than necessary zip-lock bag. He noted the scuff marks that Adam had told them about only moments before and the red dirt that was caked under the heel. He also noted something that Adam had not told them: one of the heels was broken; it wasn't in the bag with the rest of the shoe.
"Broken heel?" he said out of no where.
"Yeah. I noticed it, too. Cheap shoes break all the time, but these go out of the store for over a thousand dollars. You wouldn't think they'd break that easy, not even from running," Adam answered.
"Maybe knock-offs?" Lindsay suggested.
"No. They're the real deal. I even checked the store that makes them. They are one of a kind, but they shouldn't have broken that easy. Did you find any broken heels at the scene? Maybe they just forgot to bring it to me or something," Adam said as if it were normal for the team to forget part of the evidence.
Danny shook his head. "Naw. Montana and I checked over it ourselves before we left the uniforms to handle the rest. There was not a broken heel there."
"Then, maybe my first thought was correct."
"What was that?" Lindsay asked.
"The third print." Adam turned to the last mold on the table. "It's a girl's shoe, too."
"But not like our vic's?" Lindsay stepped over to the mold to examine it closer. She brushed up against Danny as she did this, but they both pretended not to notice.
"No. This one is definitely not like our vic's." Adam chuckled. "I don't even think it's from the same price range as our vic's shoes. This one is similar to what you'd find at a Mom and Pop shoe store. Cheap. But nice to look at."
"How do you figure?" Danny asked, raising an eye brow.
"I found a little bit of glitter in the plaster. I thought I'd seen it somewhere before. So I checked a couple of the stores out in Brooklyn that are locally owned, but advertise on the TV. Sure enough, I found a Mom and Pop store there that sales designer looking shoes for little or nothing. The only difference is they put a lot of glitter on them--mostly silver like the glitter I found in the print--ya know, to make them sparkle like the stars. I had seen this store a couple times, and when I saw the glitter in the imprint, it just clicked in my mind," Adam told them proudly.
"Cool." Danny agreed with a cheeky grin. "Who knew you knew so much about fashion."
Adam smiled back shyly, his face turning all shades of red.
"If there was another girl there, then why didn't she stop the killer?" Lindsay cut in.
"Maybe she was just a passer-by."
"Naw. No one disturbed the scene. Montana and I were the first there besides the cop who called it in. It was already roped off when we arrived and if anyone had been there, we would have talked to them," Danny answered.
Adam shrugged. "You think this girl who wore the cheap shoes, watched?"
Danny glanced at Lindsay.
"Got off on seeing some one killed?" he asked.
Lindsay shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time."
"But that still doesn't explain where the heel to your vic's shoe went," Adam told them.
Danny moved the baggy around in his hand a little bit more, feeling the indention the shoes made in the palm of his hand as he did so. Something didn't add up about this murder, but he had a feeling the contents inside that small discreet looking bag was very crucial to the case and in solving it.
"What're ya thinkin', Danny?" Lindsay asked.
Danny looked up from the baggy in his hand. "Maybe our spectator took it..."
dum-dum-dum!! so the plot thickens...
author's note: this was the 1st ever csi:ny story i wrote. i thought it'd be a good time to tell ya'll tht :) while, i don't consider myself a DL shipper ever this story does have some moments where ya might think it's headed in tht direction. i did this purposely for 2 reasons: 1, being tht it was shortly after the whole "montana thing" & b, cos the angst b/t the characters is kinda fun to write. also, i think i might write lindsay a lil ooc. i don't mean to do this, honest. but on a positive note, it does give ms. monroe a bit of back-bone, no??
if ya want more, show me some love!!