Danny threw his keys down on the kitchen table. He crossed the kitchen and pulled out a cold beer from the fridge. Popping it open he took a long slug from the bottle before settling himself down at the table. He looked up as he saw the bedroom door ease open and Lindsey padding towards him through the living area. They smiled softly at one another and he held out a hand to her which she accepted as she lowered herself into the chair next him.
'You speak to your mom?' She asked.
'Yeah', he replied quietly. He let out tired groan and covered his face with his hands. 'Its such a mess Linds, please tell me what to do'.
She smiled sympathetically and rubbed his shoulders.
'If you got all the answers from your mom you'll know what to do Danny'.
Flashback
Danny left the lab that evening and drove straight to his mom and dad's house on Staten Island.
'Danny?' His mom cried as he let himself through the front door. 'This is a surprise. If I didn't know any better I'd swear you could smell my chocolate chip cookies all the way over in Manhattan. Is Lindsey with you?'
'No Ma she's not here'. Danny replied in a sombre tone.
'Danny, honey, what's wrong?'
'Ma, I really need to talk ya about something…' Danny began; however his mother cut him off quickly. The thing about Rosalyn Messer was that she loved talk, but unfortunately she wasn't so great at the listening.
'Have you two had a fight? You have, haven't you? I knew something was wrong…'
'Ma?'
'What happened? I hope you're gonna apologise Danny…'
'Ma?'
'She won't wait around forever you know…'
'MA', Danny cried sharply. His mother stopped talking at once and looked at him. 'Linds and I are fine, we didn't have an argument'.
'Is she pregnant?'
Danny made a face, 'no Ma. She's not pregnant'.
Rosalyn made a face that was halfway between relief and disappointment. 'Are you sick?'
Danny shook his head as he pinched the bridge of his nose and focused on staying calm.
'Good, because I just found out that Evie Sanchez' cousin has cancer'. Christ, Danny thought to himself, she's off again. ' It's not looking good for her Danny. You should watch yourself, there's a lot of that cancer about'.
Danny sighed wearily. 'Ma, you can't catch cancer. Its not like a cold'.
The conversation carried on for a little longer until Danny called a halt to it.
'Ma, I need to talk to you about something really important. I wanna talk, and for the first little bit I just need you to listen. Ok?'
'Sure sweetie'.
'I'm erm…I'm investigating the murder of one of the members of Tanglewood; Ricky Russo'.
'Danny, is this connected to Sonny Sassone again?' Concern flashed across her face. Rosalyn had once been a good friend with Sonny's mother. That was before the more serious trouble started and Louis ended up in hospital.
'Yeah, it is. Do you remember Jenna Sassone?
Rosalyn nodded. 'Sonny's sister,' she stated. Danny noticed she look away as she said this and refused to make eye contact with him. He had seen this a thousand times before when he had interview a suspect.
'Yeah, well we thought we found her DNA at the crime scene, but when we tested it from a sample directed from Jenna we discovered it wasn't a match'.
By now Danny's mother was squirming in her chair, her eyes clouded with tears. Danny lent closer and took her hands in his. She looked up and finally made eye contact.
'Do you know what we found Ma?' He whispered.
She nodded. 'Oh Danny, I'm so sorry,' she cried. 'You were never supposed to find out like this'.
Present
'So she admitted that Jenna is her daughter? Your sister?' Lindsey asked.
Danny nodded.
'But how did she end up living with the Sassone's? How come you never knew about her?'
'Well, it turns out that Sonny had a twin sister, Mia, who disappeared about 30 years ago. Lucy Sassone, Sonny's mother, couldn't have any more kids. After her daughter went missing she understandably when into a depression and figured the only out of it was to have another kid. Adoption wasn't a option cause nobody in their right mind would give that family a kid…apart from my mother'. Danny muttered the last part under his breath.
'So she had another kid with your dad and just gave her to Lucy?'
Danny shrugged. 'That's about the size of it'.
'What about Mia? I checked all the reports on the Sassone's and there was never any mention of them reporting a missing child'.
'Apparently they didn't, it was some dodgy business deal that the father was involved in. They figured it was a warning and they couldn't go to the police cause it would cause too much heat on the family. You'd think that would have set alarm bells ringing with my Ma, right?'
Lindsey gave him a wry grin.
'I just don't know how she could do it Linds,' Danny exclaimed. 'Give away her own flesh and blood like that. Her brother is in jail, her sister is missing, her fathers' been under police surveillance longer that she's been alive and her mothers' doped up on whatever prescription painkiller she managed to get hold of that day'.
'What you gonna?' Lindsey asked him softly
'What someone shoulda done a long time ago. I'm gonna be there for her'.
