DISCLAIMER: No matter how much I wish I owned CSI NY and the hotness that is Danny Messer, I don't. All rights belong to CBS but if they would like to donate Mr Messer to me then I wouldn't complain at all and I promise to look after him.
A/N: This is and A/U fic so Lindsay works at the crime lab but isn't married to Danny and they don't have a child together. Please read and review and thanks for the reviews so far; they mean a lot. I would also like to apologise for the long wait for this chapter but I was on holiday for two weeks and have been catching up on a lot of stuff since I got back. Hopefully this chapter will make up for that.
WARNING: Contains some swearing.
SUMMARY: Lindsay Monroe has a secret which she can't tell anyone about but when her world is turned upside down, will Danny forgive her for lying and be the friend that she need him to be?
TITLE: The Secret Life of Lindsay Monroe.
-CSI-NY-CSI-NY-CSI-NY-
The Secret Life of Lindsay Monroe – Daddy Dearest
"Listen baby, I can tell you're scared but I need you to tell me what's the matter." Lindsay tried to keep her voice steady but couldn't fight the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
The voice on the other end finally spoke and Lindsay's world shattered all over again. "Mommy, daddy's back and I think he's hurt grandma."
-CSI-NY-CSI-NY-CSI-NY-
"What did you just say?" She could hardly believe the words tumbling from her daughters lips.
"Daddy's back…he's in the kitchen with Grandma." Her voice was quivering and Lindsay could tell that Melody was about to cry.
"Okay, I need you to be very brave sweetheart and tell mommy where you are." Desperately trying to keep her own voice steady, she knew that she needed to be strong for her little girl.
"I'm at grandma's house." The terrified whisper tore Lindsay's heart in two. "She told me to hide upstairs."
"Okay, where are you hiding though?" The calm façade she usually tried to keep up had completely vanished.
"In the bathroom, the cupboard behind the door." Clutching the phone tightly, she tried to hold back tears.
-CSI-NY-CSI-NY-CSI-NY-
Downstairs, Sarah was trying to calm down a seething Craig. "Craig, I think you need to calm down." Taking a few steps back, Sarah found herself cornered and closed her eyes for a second before opening them and looking pleadingly at the man in front of her. "This isn't going to get you anywhere."
"Don't fuck me around Sarah! Where is Lindsay…we have a lot of unfinished business?" His steely glare did nothing to ease Sarah's worry.
"She isn't here." Looking down at the floor, a tear slipped over her lashes and she thought about her daughter all those miles away from home.
"Then where the fuck is she? Supermarket? Work?" Grabbing the older woman's wrist, he shoved her back against the wall and stepped closer to her; blocking any chance of escape. "Well?" Sarah winced as he screamed in her face and began to lose patience.
"Go to hell." A sudden determination to protect her only girl set in and her voice came out in a determined, disgusted whisper.
"Don't make me ask twice." Low and warning, he tightened his grip on her.
"You'd have to ask more than twice." She looked up and spat the words at him as her cold hazel eyes met his grey-blue ones.
"No, either you answer me willingly or I make you answer me." One of her eyebrow rose in confusion but she gasped as he released her wrist and grabbed her throat. "Now, where is she?"
"Fuck you." He tightened his grip and she panicked when she found that she couldn't breathe properly.
"That wasn't very nice." Squeezing even tighter, he raised both eyebrows. "Where is she Sarah?" She remained silent but shook her head. "Do I have to tell Melody that she won't be able to see grandma anymore?" Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "Good, where is the little bitch that mothered my kid?" He eased his grip and Sarah took a deep breath.
"Don't you dare talk about my daughter like that." Annoyance passed over his face but Sarah's voice remained full of hatred. "She's in New York, nowhere near as far away from you as she should be if you ask me."
"Yeah but I didn't ask for your opinion." Sarah's mouth formed a sarcastic snarl and he leant in close to her face. "Where is she really? You think I'd fall for that one…I mean what self respecting woman leaves her child behind?"
"She had no choice but to leave Craig, I swear I'm telling the truth…she's in New York." He could tell that she was telling the truth but it only angered him further to learn that Lindsay was in a completely different state.
"Whereabouts in New York?" Sarah shrugged and he once again tightened his grip on her neck. "Don't lie to me Sarah, where does she work?"
"She works for the New York Crime Lab." Her voice came out croaky as she gasped for breath.
"Where does she live?" Again, Sarah shrugged. "Where does she live?" The scream made her wince but she shrugged and he pressed her further into the wall.
"Please…please let me go Craig." He shook his head and a couple of tears fell down the older woman's face. "I don't know the exact address…I swear I don't."
He looked at her suspiciously for a few seconds before nodding and throwing her to the floor. "Listen and listen good." She nodded and scrambled to her knees. "I am going to collect my daughter and I am taking her to New York, I need her passport."
"I'm not letting you take her anywhere." The one thing she promised Lindsay was that she would look after her daughter until Lindsay returned. She tried to make it home for visits as often as possible but still wasn't ready to take Melody to New York with her; to finally reveal her secret life to her colleagues and friends. "You'll have to kill me first."
"That can be arranged dear…don't tempt me." He snarled as she got to her feet, noticing that she was trembling. "Now, I'm going to need her passport and some clothes and then I am taking her to the airport. If you call the police I swear it's gonna be the last thing you do. I have friends…friends who know people…people who don't mind risks." She knew what he was getting at; if she called the police, he would call someone who would in turn kill her.
"And what are you going to do in New York? How will you find her…have you thought about that?" She grabbed hold the dining table to steady herself, gripping the wood so hard that her knuckles turned white.
"Just get my daughter's stuff together Sarah…I don't have time to fuck around." Sarah shook her head and he groaned. "You know what, fuck you Sarah Monroe…I'll do it myself and after this you are never setting foot anywhere near my little girl ever again." He turned and headed for the staircase but she chased after him, grabbing hold of him and trying to stop him from climbing the stairs. "It doesn't have to be like this Sarah. Just let me take my baby and I'll be out of your way." She tightened her grip on his shirt however; knowing that he didn't want to look after Melody, he wanted to use her as a weapon.
He had never sent her a birthday card, gotten her a present…he hadn't even spoken to or seen her for years. He never sent visiting requests to Lindsay and the last time she had seen him in prison, he had told her that he never wanted anything to do with her or Melody ever again; that they were both dead to him. "You don't want her…you want to use her to get to Lindsay."
"Well observed grandma." Rolling his eyes he started up the stairs but she once again pulled on his shirt. "Let go you fuckin' cow!" Whirling around, he knocked her down the few stairs that they had managed to climb and watched as she fell. She hit her head on the banister on the way down and when he looked closer, he realised that she was out cold. Seizing his opportunity, he headed for Melody's bedroom. When he found the room he was looking for, he packed a bag full of her clothes and ransacked the room in search of her passport.
-CSI-NY-CSI-NY-CSI-NY-
"Mommy I'm scared." Lindsay was still on the phone trying to calm her daughter down. She knew that she needed to call the police but Melody had to come first and she couldn't just hang up on her.
"I know you are but I need you to be brave and keep quiet so he doesn't find you." In actual fact, it was Lindsay who was trying to be brave and who was finding it very difficult not to burst into tears with every frightened whisper from her little girl.
There was a loud bang and Lindsay jumped as Melody whimpered. "Mommy, I'm worried about grandma."
Lindsay couldn't stop the crystal tears from falling. Melody was terrified but more so for her grandmother than herself and at that minute in time, Lindsay realised how much of her baby's life she had missed. "I know you are princess but I need you to stay where you are. Promise me you won't do downstairs."
Melody nodded against the phone then realised that Lindsay couldn't see her. "I prom…" She was cut off as the cupboard door opened and she came face to face with Craig Heskins, her father. Letting out a scream, she tried to shield herself behind Sarah's bathrobe which was hung up.
"Melody?" Lindsay's petrified shriek echoed down the phone and Craig smirked before picking up the phone which Melody had dropped. "Melody? What's going on? Speak to me!"
"Melody can't reach the phone right now." His tone was teasing but the malicious manner made it clear that they weren't playing a game.
"Craig?" Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Oh so you do remember me." He let out a mirthless laugh before continuing. "Now Lindsay, me and Melody are gonna be making a little trip…"
"You touch one hair on her head and I swear I will kill you." There was nothing but honesty and warning lacing her words.
"Now Miss Monroe, that isn't a nice thing to say to the father of your child. As I was saying, me and Melody are going to come out to New York to see you and I thought I'd better warn you; if you call the police and if I'm stopped on the way in…I will kill her."
"You wouldn't, she's your daughter too."
"You really don't know me at all do you Lindsay?" The question was rhetorical and Lindsay remained silent on the other end of the phone. "The little brat means nothing to me, she never has done but you…I've hated you since the day you put me behind bars and it's my turn for revenge. How does it feel to have your life in my hands?" He let out another laugh and Lindsay had to stop herself from being sick as the realisation hit her; he really was in charge here.
"What do you want from me Craig?" Her voice was desperate and he smirked against the receiver.
"I told you, I want revenge. Now…we are going to come and pay you a little visit and if you try anything funny, she dies. I will call you tomorrow Lindsay and maybe we can sort something out."
She opened her mouth to speak but he hung up; the beeping sounding from the phone like a death march in her ear. "Craig?" She got nothing and quickly put the receiver down. Falling to the floor, she dropped her head into her hands and wept; the pained wails escaping one after the other and filling the once-silent apartment. "Please God, don't let him hurt my little girl." The broken whisper was sent to the heavens as she contemplated what to do. She couldn't put her daughter at risk by telling Mac or the police but knew that she couldn't trust Craig's word either. Making her decision, she picked up the telephone and dialled the only number she knew she could rely on. When the person on the other end picked up, her voice escaped in a terrified whisper. "Danny, can you come over…I'm ready to talk."
-CSI-NY-CSI-NY-CSI-NY-
A/N: Sorry it took so long and I apologise for all the angst but there's more to come in the next few chapters. Please review, makes updates happen quicker and hopefully I'll be able to update soon.
Luffles
XxoxX