A/N: Your wonderful reviews have really made my day once again. Thank you!!!

Without further ado, Chapter 7...

I own nothing and no one...


Mac looked down through the magnifying lens at the area that Danny had pointed out on the photo. Just over Flack's left shoulder he saw it. A poster stapled to a telephone pole advertising a St. Patrick's Day pub crawl, starting at Finnegan Hasnard's bar - Ceilidh's. The ad gave info about their organic home-brewed beer. Studying the poster carefully, Mac could just make out a cramped, messy scrawl in the bottom left of the poster.

See you soon, Messer.

Mac had the troops mobilized in minutes. He and Danny were riding together. Stella, Hawkes and Adam were in the car behind them. They were joined by a huge contingent of the NYPD, racing through the streets of Manhattan with sirens blaring and lights flashing.

While trying not to break his concentration on the road in front of him, Mac risked a quick glance at Danny sitting in the passenger seat beside him. He was staring blankly at the note Casey had left on Flack's windshield, his hands shaking slightly.

"Danny? When we get there I want you to stay in the car," Mac said. "Do you understand?"

"What?!?" Danny turned, snapped out of his trance by Mac's words. "No fucking way, Mac! That's my wife and my best friend in there! You've got to be fucking insane if you think I'm just going to sit on my ass out here while this goes down. No way. I'm going in."

Mac looked over at Danny. He saw his blue eyes flashing with determination. And while Mac was glad to see that he hadn't lost his will to fight, he wasn't going to delude himself into thinking that they were going to be walking into a happy ending. In fact Mac had a pretty good idea about the kind of situation they would be walking into, and he was dreading it. He had seen firsthand the destruction Shane Casey had wreaked upon his previous victims. He had no idea how Danny would react if faced with that kind of scene. Hell, Mac didn't' even know how he would react in that situation. He knew from previous experience that Danny could become a lose cannon if he wasn't kept reigned in, and Mac knew that whatever happened, he had to keep Danny away from that scene.

"Danny," Mac's voice rung with authority, "I don't care if I have to handcuff you to this car. You are not getting anywhere near that scene."

"But, Mac..." Danny's voice had lost it's combative edge, and he was once again gazing at the picture still clasped in his hands.

"No buts, Danny," Mac said firmly. "You are on suspension. You have no badge, no gun. You are essentially a civilian right now. And a civilian has no place at a crime scene. This is not a discussion. This is an order. You are staying in the car."

Sometimes Danny wished that his boss didn't have to be so damned by-the-book. He sighed and rubbed his eyes with his fists. Deep down, he knew that Mac was right. He had no right to be at the scene in an official capacity, and he was lucky that Mac had even let him come along with the team. He realized that Mac had probably assumed, correctly, that Danny would show up whether he was invited or not. So Mac had taken the path of least resistance.

Danny looked up at Mac. He would stay in the car. For now. But neither an act of God nor Mac Taylor would be able to keep him away if Danny found out that Shane Casey had harmed a single hair on his wife's head.


Sirens still blaring, they pulled to a screeching halt outside of Ceilidh's. Mac turned to look at Danny, who was staring off into space again, twisting his wedding band nervously on his finger.

"Danny?" Mac said gently, trying to get the young man's attention but not wanting to startle him. "Danny?"

"Yeah Mac," Danny replied, his voice flat. He did not turn to look at Mac, but continued to stare blankly off at nothing.

"I promise, I'll let you know as soon as there is any news... whatever happens. We won't keep you in the dark. Okay? Danny?" Mac reached across the centre console and once again placed his hand reassuringly on Danny's shoulder.

"What if I don't want to know, Mac?"

Mac squeezed Danny's shoulder gently in an attempt to reassure his friend. "You deserve to know, Danny."

With one final squeeze, Mac released Danny's shoulder and got out of the vehicle and shut the door behind him. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes momentarily, trying to clear his head. With Shane Casey involved he knew that the whole team would need to have their wits about them, and he was no exception. He took one last look at Danny through the side window of the truck and saw that he had leaned his head back on the head rest and closed his eyes, the faint glistening of wetness on his eyelashes the only sign of his inner turmoil.

"He gonna be alright, Mac?" Stella Bonasera was making her way over to Mac, fastening her Kevlar vest over her chest as she walked, Sheldon Hawkes and Adam Ross following just behind her.

"Depends," Mac said simply. He moved away from the vehicle, wanting to preserve Danny's privacy as he sat in the car.

"I just can't imagine what he's going through," said Hawkes. "Haven't they been through enough?"

"It's not fair, and it's not right," Mac agreed. "But I doubt Danny wants us to stand here feeling sorry for him right now. In fact I'm pretty sure that he'd prefer if we got in there and brought his wife out, and Flack too. So lets just focus, alright? We've got a job to do."

"Right, boss," said Adam. "What's the plan?"


He knew they were coming. He could hear their footsteps as they shuffled their way cautiously through the bar above. Everything was going according to his plan. He smiled to himself as he looked around the room. The scene before him was laid out perfectly. Now he only needed his supporting cast to complete his grand finale.


"Clear!" called the uniformed officer ahead of him. Mac followed the officer down the dark, narrow hallway that led from behind the main bar leading into a line of offices and storage rooms. They had just confirmed that the rooms on the main level of the bar were all empty.

"One more door here, sir," said the officer. "I think it leads down into the cellar."

"Alright, lets make it quick and quiet here folks. Get in, assess the situation and get out. Be cautious, people. Casey is very dangerous. He's captured two seasoned New York City detectives and we have no idea what he might be capable of. We can presume that he's armed as both Flack and Lindsay were carrying their weapons when they were abducted. Stay on your toes and be prepared to get the hell out of there if things get bad."

"Right, sir."

"Sure thing, boss."

"You got it, Mac."

Mac looked around at the group of people crowded into the end of the hallway, surrounding the door that they knew would lead them to Shane Casey. None of them knew what to expect behind that door.

Slowly, Mac turned the knob and pushed lightly on the door. It swung open with an ominous creak, revealing a dark and menacing wooden staircase headed down into the bowels of the building. Mac peered into the darkness, willing his eyes to adjust faster to the gloom. He signalled to the assembled group that he was going down. He wanted Stella, Hawkes, Adam, and four uniformed officers to follow him down. The remaining officers were to secure the rest of the building, ensuring that there was no possible way for Casey to escape the building should he elude the group downstairs.

Taking a deep breath, Mac stepped into the darkness.


Danny sat miserably in the car parked in front of Ceilidh's. He had tuned the radio in the vehicle onto the frequency being used by the team. He wasn't allowed in the building until Mac okayed it, but he sure as hell was not going to let himself be completely left out. He listened in as the various rooms on the main level of the bar were cleared.

He turned his attention back to the picture now resting on the dashboard in front of him. He picked it up and ran his fingers over Lucy's sweet little face, and then he gently caressed Lindsay's name displayed on the screen of his phone. A tear slipped down his cheek as he thought back to the last time he had seen her, and he fought desperately to stop himself from breaking down again. He wanted her back. He needed her back. He needed to stay strong for her.

He wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket and leaned back in the seat once again, closing his eyes and listening to the voices over the radio. He heard his friends - Mac, Stella, Sheldon, and Adam - as they worked with the officers to search for his missing wife and best friend. His heart swelled with gratitude. These people were placing their lives on the line for his family - Don and Lindsay - even after what he had done.

A wave of remorse washed over him. Would things have turned out differently if he had reported his badge missing right away? He sighed. Now he would never know. He figured that Casey had taken his badge with the intention of one day using it against Danny. There was no way to escape it. Had Danny behaved differently, Casey would have gotten to him eventually.

He opened his eyes and sat up straight. Something was different. He realized that there were no more voices chattering over the radio. Mac must have ordered radio silence during the final stages of their search. Danny's stomach churned with nervousness for the people in the building. One way or another, it would all be over soon.


His eyes had become accustomed to the dark and he could see that he was nearing the bottom of the narrow stairway. As he descended the last step, he signalled to the group behind him to stop moving for a moment and he turned his head, searching with his eyes and ears for any signs of life.

Hearing nothing, he peered around the corner and saw a faint sliver of light coming from underneath a heavy door at the end of the large room. He turned and motioned for everyone to follow him, their flashlight beams piercing through the murky darkness.

When he reached the door, Mac placed his back against the wall beside the door, poised with his gun ready. He inhaled deeply and reached out to grab the doorknob, turning it as slowly and as silently as possible.

As the door swung inward, he moved swiftly into the opening, squinting as the bright light of the room rendered him temporarily blind until his eyes adjusted. He blinked a few times and took in the scene in front of him and his heart plummeted to his feet.

Blood was smeared on every available surface, pooling in revolting puddles on the floor. Hanging from pipes traversing the ceiling, their arms bound and extended over their heads, were Don and Lindsay. Both of them dangled from their bonds, their toes just skimming the floor. They were limp and motionless. And standing between them, himself covered with blood, stood Shane Casey.

"Fuck me," Mac heard an officer breath behind him.

"Oh my God!" Mac heard the emotions bubbling up in the voice of Stella Bonasera, standing beside him as she peered around him into the room. "Is... is that... are they... Oh my God!" she breathed.

"Well, hello detectives!" Casey giggled, fingering a long and wicked looking knife as he spoke. "So nice of you to join us!" He looked at the faces staring at him in disbelief from the other side of the room. "Although, I am disappointed that Messer couldn't be here. I really had hoped that he would make an appearance. I would hate for him to miss this."

Mac turned to Adam and spoke in a rapid, urgent whisper. "Get upstairs. Whatever you hear over the radio, you have to keep Danny out of here. Do not, I repeat, do not let him get anywhere near this room. Get some of the officers upstairs to help if you need it. Go!"

With that he shoved the young man away from him, back toward the flight of stairs leading up to the safety of the bar above.

Moving into the room, Mac trained his gun on the Casey.

"Put the knife down, Shane," he commanded. "Put it down now, and no one else has to get hurt."

"But detective," said Casey, "if I put my knife down I'll be left defenceless. And that's just not fair." He grinned evilly at Mac. "Unless of course, I happen to have one of these!" he said, pulling what looked like a service-issued gun from his pocket. "If I can keep the gun, you can have the knife!" he giggled.

"You know that's not how this works, Shane," said Mac calmly. "Now come on. Do the smart thing and hand over your weapons."

Casey pretended to consider his options. He then shook his head and grinned as he pointed the gun at Flack's motionless body. "No, I don't think I will."


"Fuck me."

Those were the first words that Danny heard come over the radio in at least five minutes. Shit! What was going on. He held his breath, listening for more.

"Oh my God!" Stella's voice came over the radio. "Is... is that... are they... Oh my God!"

Like a shot, Danny was out of the truck, stumbling over his feet as he scrambled toward the bar. He felt uncontrollable panic and rage building up inside his chest. He kicked in the front door and stormed inside, slamming right into Adam, the collision knocking both men from their feet.

"D...Da...Danny!" Adam stammered. "What - what are you doing?"

"What the fuck is going on in there?" Danny demanded, getting to his feet and trying to push past Adam. "Mac promised me that he would let me know as soon as he found Lindsay. Where is she?"

"Dan - Danny, you... you have to stay upstairs, man," Adam put his hands on Danny's chest, trying to both calm him down and keep him from getting past him. But Danny was much stronger than Adam, and with the extra adrenaline pumping through him in his heightened state of panic, Adam knew that he wouldn't be able to restrain Danny for long. "Hey! Can I get a little help in here!" he called out to the officers in the next room.

Three men appeared and moved toward Danny. He looked from Adam's face to the faces of the men approaching him. They were coming at him the way that someone approaches a wild animal, hands outstretched, ready to defend themselves if he lashed out at them.

"Danny, come on man," Adam pleaded with him. "You have to stay upstairs. Mac needs you to be up here. He... he hasn't found her yet." Adam hated lying to his friend, but he knew that if he told Danny what he had seen, there would be no controlling him. "Please, Danny. Please. Just stay up here with me."

Danny relaxed his stance and Adam removed his hand from his chest. He signalled to the officers to back down. "That's okay, guys," he said. "He's fine now, we're gonna be fine. Right Danny?"

Adam looked up at his friend and seeing the fear and rage burning in his eyes, he knew that he had just lost the battle.

"Sorry Adam," Danny whispered as he darted around the younger man and leapt over the bar, launching himself down the hallway and down the stairs.


Mac heard the commotion upstairs and he knew that Danny was in the building. It was only a matter of time before he found his way downstairs.

"Shane, give me the gun now. I don't want anyone else to get hurt here. Come on. Hand it over."

Casey stood still for a moment, cocking his head to the side and listening. Then a fiendish smile spread across his face.

"Detective Messer's here!"

"Danny, get the hell out of here," Mac shouted, not taking his eyes off Casey.

"Where is she? Where's Lindsay? Where's Flack?" Danny's voice came from the darkness of the large empty room behind the group.

"Stop him," Mac ordered as Danny tried to shove his way into the room. The four officers grabbed his arms and tried to restrain him as he railed against them, shouting and kicking, trying to free himself.

"Danny, Danny," Stella tried to soothe him. "Come on, Danny. Stop it. Settle down. You're not helping anyone right now. You need to calm down, okay." She reached out and placed her hand on his forearm. "Danny, look at me."

Danny stopped struggling in the firm grip of the men holding him back.

"Where are they?" he asked in a small voice. "Are they okay? Please, Stell. I need to see her. Please."

"Oh Danny, honey," Stella said in a voice that betrayed the tears she refused to let fall, "I don't think that's a good idea."

Danny's face crumpled and his body went limp.

"Oh, God. No! Please, Stell!" he wailed, "Please, no! No, no, no!"

The world spun around him. His legs were shaking beneath him and then they gave out. He felt his chest tighten as breathing suddenly became very painful.

"Guys, let him go," Danny heard Mac's voice over the cacophony of sounds swirling through his head. He felt as the grips on his arms relaxed and he fell completely to the floor. He closed his eyes and tried to forget where he was and why he was here.

"What's the matter, Messer?" Shane Casey's mocking voice broke through his thoughts. "Did you lose something?"

Opening his eyes, Danny took in the scene in front of him. Mac was standing pointing his gun at Shane Casey. Casey was standing in the middle of the room pointing a gun at Don Flack, hanging from his wrists from the ceiling. His head was lolling to the side, a blindfold covering his eyes and there were bloodstains on his shirt. And to his right, similarly bound and blindfolded, was Lindsay.

His Lindsay.

His Montana.

She wasn't moving. He looked at her chest for the tell-tale rise and fall, indicating that she was still breathing. But there was nothing. They were too late. He was too late.

"You fucking prick," Danny said feeling the rage rise up in him again.

"Danny! Shut up," said Mac.

"You're wife is very pretty, Messer. You've got good taste," Casey sneered. "Well, I guess you had good taste."

"You shut up about my wife, you asshole," Danny hissed. "What the fuck is wrong with you? What do you want?"

"I want you to know how it feels, Messer," said Casey, his voice low and menacing. "I want you to know how it feels to lose people you love. To have them unfairly taken from you. I want you to suffer just like I did when you took my brother away from me."

"I didn't take your brother away from you, you freak," snapped Danny, slowly rising to his feet. "You're brother murdered an innocent woman for a couple hundred bucks. He murdered her in cold blood and he was sent to jail for it. It's just what he deserved."

"Shut your mouth about my brother, Messer," shrieked Casey. The gun in his hand now moved its focus from the motionless form of Flack to dead-centre of Danny's unprotected chest. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"You're right, Shane," said Danny, moving slowly into the room. "I don't. Because I wasn't there. I didn't arrest your brother. I didn't process his crime scene. I had nothing to do with your fucking dumbass, murdering brother."

"Shut up! Shut up!" Casey screamed, the gun in his hand now shaking slightly as Danny continued to slink toward him.

"Danny, stop," hissed Mac. "Get back here. You're not helping."

"I didn't take your brother from you Shane. He got what he deserved. He went to prison. It's not my fault he was too weak to deal with what he had done. It's not my fault that your stupid, weak brother killed himself."

"Shut up! You're a liar, Messer. A fucking liar!"

"I'm not a liar, Shane," Danny continued. "You know I'm not a liar. I only told you the truth, the truth that your brother was too much of a coward to tell you himself. That he was a killer, that he murdered that girl. That's all I did, Shane. I never tried to hurt you. I only tried to help you, you son of a bitch."

"No! No, no, no! You -" Casey waved the gun wildly in Danny's direction as he shouted, "You took him away from me. You stole my memories of him and you twisted them into lies."

Danny was inches away from Casey now. All he had to do was keep distracting him and he could just reach out, take the gun from him, and end this.

"You're the liar, Shane," Danny said, inching forward now, slowly raising his hand. Casey's wild eyes were focused on Danny's own face. He only hoped that he could get his hand on the gun before Shane realized what he was doing. "You're a liar and a murderer. You're so much worse than your brother. He was an idiot that made a mistake and a girl died. But you? You're fucked up. Your warped little mind turned you into the victim, while you murdered innocent people. And you think that you can just fuck up my life with no consequences? That I'm just going to sit here and let you take people away from me? Huh? You little fucker?"

Danny's fingers brushed against the cool steel of the gun. Before Casey could react, Danny had disarmed him and now stood with the muzzle of the gun pressed against Casey's forehead. He stared Casey down. He expected to see resignation and possibly fear in his opponents eyes. What he saw shocked him. Was the sick bastard smiling?


The sound of the sirens wailing in the distance had given Lindsay hope. Mac and the team were coming for them. And Danny. Danny would be there. Soon she would get to hold him again, she would get to feel his arms around her.

"Do you hear that?" she heard Casey ask. Then she listened as she heard a sharp intake of break from Flack, then Casey whispered "Showtime."

She heard his footsteps moving toward her.

"You won't get away with this, Casey," she said trying to keep her voice even. "You'll never get out of here alive."

"I know," Casey whispered in her ear.

"What?"

"In fact, I'm counting on it."

"What?" she gasped. "What are you going to do? To me? To Don?"

"Don't you worry, pretty lady," whispered Casey. "You'll live to see another day. I'm not a complete monster, you know. I've never killed anyone that didn't deserve it. You and Donald here are simply a means to an end. You were my way to get Messer's attention, get him to meet me face to face. He's what I want."

"No!" Lindsay screamed. "Leave Danny alone! Please, don't hurt him!"

"Oh Lindsay, don't you see? My plan was never to kill anyone else. But knowing Messer, he'll show up here, guns blazing, to rescue his beautiful bride. And then?" Casey let out a menacing chuckle and gently caressed Lindsay's cheek, "Danny Messer is going to go to prison for my murder."

With that, Lindsay felt a prick in her neck and she started to feel very sleepy.

"You need your rest, Mrs. Messer," she heard Casey whisper in her ear. "Your husband will be here shortly, and I have to get ready."


A/N: Next chapter coming very soon. Please read and let me know what you think so far!!!