A/N: *Grins* I'm back! You know I love to tease, but I couldn't leave you hanging like that for too long. I'm not that mean! Thank you all once again for your reviews... just awesome!

So, how many of you figured out what happened to Danny? Come on, raise your hands. I know from your reviews that several of you caught on to what was happening. You each get a million billion points! As for the rest of you, I hope that this chapter offers you some enlightenment.

Again, I was hesitant about doing scenes where I have to delve into the actual science of investigation. I'm not an expert, and any errors (and I'm sure there are a few!) are my own. So please be patient with me!

So, here we go... Chapter 10 (Yay! We're in double digits! Woot woot!)

Flack muttered his thanks to the hot dog vendor, who had taken his sweet freaking time putting his order together, as he pocketed his change and picked up his hot dogs. He had gotten two for himself, and after seeing how truly ravenous his friend was, he had gotten another for Danny as well. He turned and walked back toward the building, being careful not to get mustard on his favourite tie as he pushed open the doors.

As he walked toward the side doors leading to the courtyard, he turned his wrist and looked at his watch. For the majority of the people working in the surrounding buildings it was a little late for a coffee break, and a bit too early for lunch. He shrugged his shoulders, figuring that after the events of yesterday, and what had probably been a rough night for his friend, Danny would prefer a little more privacy anyway. Flack emerged into the courtyard and looked around. He didn't see Danny anywhere. He paused. This is where Danny had said they'd meet, right?

Flack's insides began to churn as he noticed what looked to be a bag lunch abandoned on a bench near the garden. Taking a few more cautious steps forward, Flack looked down at the bench. The bag definitely belonged to Danny. The name D. Messer was written in Lindsay's swirly printing on the front.

Something wasn't right. Danny had been near starving... he wouldn't have dropped his lunch like that unless something had come up.

Beside the bag was a half a sandwich with one, possibly two bites taken out of it. Flack looked up, taking in his surroundings, trying to ascertain if Danny was just off somewhere talking on his phone, or if there was genuinely something wrong. He listened hard. He thought he heard the distant sound of a door sliding shut out in the alley, but other than that, it was relatively quiet in the courtyard.

As he looked around, something caught his eye. Over in the flowerbed, something was poking out of the ground. Something that didn't belong there. His detective instincts took over and Flack dropped the hot dogs on the ground and moved over to the flower bed. As he approached, his heart jumped up into his throat. It was a shoe. It was a black and white running shoe.

It was... Danny's shoe.

He grabbed his phone from his belt and dialled Mac's number.

"Taylor."

"Mac, it's Flack," he said. "We gotta situation here. I think something's happened to Danny."

"What? Don, where are you?"

"I'm downstairs, Mac," he replied, getting up and walking back to the bench where his friend had sat waiting for him. "I'm in the courtyard. Danny and I were gonna have lunch together and when I got here... he was gone."

He could hear the wheels turning on the other end of the line as Mac processed what he had just told him. "And you're sure he's not there? He's not out back talking on his phone, or gone to the bathroom?"

"Not without his shoe, he's not," Flack replied.

"What? Hang on, Don. I'll be right down," Mac replied and Flack could hear him rustling around in his office, drawers being opened then slammed shut in the background.

"Bring your kit, Mac," Flack said, "I think you're gonna need it." He hung up his phone and closed his eyes, hoping to God that he was wrong.

Adam Ross shuffled nervously, gripping his kit tighter. Mac had grabbed him out of the AV lab just a minute ago and told him to drop everything and grab his kit. He peeked up at Mac out of the corner of his eye and saw that his boss was standing stock still, his face a mask of anger and worry.

"Where are we going, Mac?" Adam asked.

"Downstairs," Mac responded sharply. Adam swallowed hard. Mac was a great boss, really. He was fair and understanding, and he was really good at his job. But he was also tough and intimidating, and he expected a lot from his team. And frankly, there were times when he scared the bejeezus out of Adam.

"Oh, okay," Adam mumbled, shuffling once again and looking away awkwardly.

He heard Mac sigh. "I'm sorry, Adam," he said. "It's not... it's not you. I'm... it's just, it's Danny."

"What about Danny?" Adam asked, turning to look at Mac.

"Flack thinks that he's gone missing." Mac's voice was low and flat as he spoke.

"What? But I just saw him, like an hour ago! He was sitting across the hall from me in his office all morning. How could he be missing?"

"I don't know Adam," Mac replied, turning to the young lab tech beside him. "But I need you to focus, okay?" He reached out and gently laid his hand on Adam's shoulder. "I know Danny's your friend, but you have to be able to distance yourself, Adam. Treat this like any other case, okay. Don't leap to any conclusions, and follow the evidence. You got it?"

Adam silently nodded his head. How could Danny be gone? Adam had just talked to him hours before when Danny had come into the AV lab and asked him to take a look at Lindsay's phone records for the morning. Apparently, they'd been getting some prank phone calls that had Danny a little on edge. Adam knew that he shouldn't be using the lab equipment for something personal like that, but he had seen the desperation in Danny's eyes and he hadn't been able to say no.

He was about to tell Mac about his conversation with Danny when the elevator chimed to announce their arrival on the ground floor. The second the doors slid open, Mac stalked out of the elevator, followed quickly by Adam. They walked across the marble entrance hall and to the side doors where they could see Flack waiting for them through the glass.

"Anything?" Mac asked as they approached Flack.

Adam's heart sank when Flack shook his head in response. "And it doesn't look good, Mac. Not good at all."

"Show me," Mac said, letting Flack lead the way out into the courtyard. They approached the bench where Danny had been sitting, the remnants of his meal spread out on the seat.

"This is where he was sitting, then something happened. I don't know what yet," Flack said apologetically, "And then over here is where I found Danny's shoe in the dirt. I've already sent uni's to search a five block radius of the buildings, to see if Danny turns up somewhere in the neighbourhood."

Adam had set down his kit and pulled on his gloves while Flack and Mac had been talking. He crouched down in front of the bench and examined the leftover piece of sandwich.

"Hey, Mac!" he shouted, "Come here a sec!"

Mac and Flack walked over to the bench, peering down at Adam who had picked up the piece of sandwich and was sniffing it. "What does that smell like to you?" he asked.

Mac leaned down and let the scent from the sandwich waft up to his nose. His eyes went wide as he recognized the familiar smell. "It's peanut butter."

"What? What the hell would Danny be doing eating peanut butter?" Flack asked. "Everyone knows he's, like, deadly allergic..." his voice trailed off as he realized what he had been about to say. "Shit! Oh, shit!"

Mac straightened up, placing a calming hand on Flack's shoulder. "Call Danny's mom. I need to know what kind of reaction Danny would have if he ingested any peanuts, okay? Ask her if she remembers the symptoms, and whether or not he carried an epi-pen or anything like that."

Flack nodded his head, clearly shaken by the disappearance of his friend. He moved over to a solitary corner of the courtyard before taking out his phone and dialling.

Mac turned back to Adam. "Is there anything else, Adam?" he asked. "Anything that suggests that Danny left the courtyard of his own free will?"

Adam shook his head sadly. "I got bad news, Mac," he said. "Not only do we have the peanut butter, but there's also some blood here," Adam pointed to tiny droplets on the seat of the bench, "and there's a bloody fingerprint over here on the water bottle."

Mac followed Adam's finger as he pointed out the areas where the blood could be seen. On a hunch, Mac looked over the back of the bench, and his stomach did an alarming little flip as he realized that there was a faint trail made up of tiny droplets of blood leading from the bench all the way to where Flack had found Danny's shoe. He looked back at Adam.

"Swab that blood, get it upstairs and see if it's a match to Danny," he commanded. "And I want to know if there was anything other than peanut butter in that lunch that could harm him. And I want those bags dusted for prints, and I want trace on anything and everything in that bag."

"You got it Mac," Adam said, nodding as he opened his kit and took out the supplies he would need before getting down to work.

Mac looked over to where Flack was still talking on the phone. His shoulders were slumped and he was holding the phone to his ear with one hand and scrubbing his face with the other. Finally, he clicked his phone off and put it back in his pocket before walking over to join Mac.

"How is she?" Mac asked.

Flack shook his head, his face blank and his eyes staring off into space. "She's taking it hard. Said the last time Danny had a full blow allergic reaction, he went into such severe anaphylactic shock that he was in the hospital for days. Had him on a respirator because the swelling wouldn't go down and he couldn't breathe on his own. And yeah, he has an epi-pen, but she doesn't know if he carries it with him all the time." Flack looked at Mac, his eyes no longer blank, but filled with sorrow and worry. "She said the doctors told her the last time that without immediate medical attention - and we're talking ER medical attention, not the First Aid station - Danny would have died within twenty minutes at the most."

Mac closed his eyes and lowered his head. It had been well over ten minutes since Flack had called him, and probably close to that again since he and Adam had arrived. Which meant that basically, their time was up. If Danny was out there somewhere, without his epi-pen and with no one to help him get to a hospital, then he was gone. They were searching for his body.

"Where the hell would he go, Mac?" Flack said angrily. "I mean, what the fuck? I thought Danny was smarter than that. I mean, I've never had that kind of reaction before, but, Jesus! Danny decides to tempt fate and eat a peanut butter sandwich and then when his allergy starts to act up, he jumps up and runs off instead trying to get himself help? And where the fuck did he go? He's not in the building, he's not in the alley. No one's reported seeing anyone matching his description in the area. He hasn't gone out looking for help, that's for sure."

"I don't know where he is, Don," Mac said, giving the young detective a pat on the back. "But wherever he is, I don't think he went of his own free will. Take a look at this."

Mac showed Flack the trail of blood droplets leading from the bench to the garden where Danny's shoe had been found. "Look at Danny's shoe, Flack. Does anything seem wrong to you?"

"What, besides the fact that it's not on Danny's foot, you mean?" Flack asked. Seeing the expression on Mac's face, he hung his head. "Sorry. I know I shouldn't be joking here." He looked down at the shoe, then back toward the bench. "Shouldn't... shouldn't the shoe be facing the other way?" he asked. "I mean, if Danny was running toward the alley and his shoe came off, wouldn't it be facing the alley? But this shoe is facing the bench."

"Exactly," Mac said. "And look over here." He pointed further back in the flower bed where two parallel indentations could be seen in the dirt, heading all the way back to the alley. "Those look like footprints to you?" When Flack shook his head, Mac continued. "They're not. They're drag marks. I think that someone saw Danny having an allergic reaction and they came up behind him and dragged him off through the garden and out into the back alley."

"Fuck me," Flack breathed. "Shit!" He looked back over at the bench and watched as Adam placed the remains of Danny's sandwich in a jar and sealed it. "So this was all planned? The peanut butter was left for him?" Flack asked. "Someone was trying to kill him."

"I don't if the whole thing was planned, Don," Mac replied. "But it looks like a deliberate attack on Danny. I mean, whoever did this would have to be flexible and be able to think on his feet. He wouldn't know when or where Danny would end up eating his lunch. He could have been sitting in the break room or even at his desk. But Danny was alone and in a vulnerable state, so I guess the guy saw an opportunity and he took it."

"Shit. This is messed up, Mac," Flack said.

"You're telling me."

"So, what now?" Flack asked, knowing full well what Mac's response would be.

"Adam's going to head back to the lab with the samples he's collected. We're going to get the rest of the team back here and process this whole courtyard if we have to, see if we can't find out who it was that took Danny," he said.

"And Lindsay?" Flack asked softly. "Someone's going to have to tell her, Mac."

Hawkes was busy packing away the samples he had carefully collected at the scene that morning when he saw Mac's familiar black SUV pull up on the other side of the crime scene tape. He closed his kit and stood up, heading back to his own vehicle so he could get everything back to the lab.

"Hey! You guys are too late, we're almost done here," Hawkes called out as Mac emerged from the vehicle, followed closely by Don Flack. Hawkes's smile quickly faded when he saw the expression on the two men's faces. "Hey, what's up?" he asked. "Mac? What's going on?"

"Where's Lindsay?" Mac asked softly.

Hawkes felt his insides plummet down to his feet. Something had happened. Something was wrong. They wouldn't be here otherwise, not looking like this, like two merchants of death.

"Can I help?" Hawkes asked quietly.

Mac nodded. "Go back to the lab. I want you to get your hands on Danny's medical records. I need to know anything and everything about any medical conditions he may have. And I particularly want you to focus on any past episodes of anaphylaxis - How severe were they? How long did he take to recover? What caused them?"

"You got it, Mac," Hawkes replied, nodding his head and striding off toward his vehicle.

Mac surveyed the crime scene in front of him. The scene was almost clear. He could see Stella and Lindsay walking toward him, talking animatedly about something, clearly unaware of the devastating events of the morning.

"And he slept there all night?" Stella asked. She grinned as a shy smile curled up the corners of Lindsay's lips as she nodded her head. "Oh my God! How cute are the two of you? How sweet is Danny? You are a lucky girl, my friend."

Lindsay let out a soft laugh as her friend winked at her playfully. "I know I am, Stell," she said. She turned her eyes forward and a delighted smile spread across her face at the sight of Mac and Flack standing in front of her. "Hey guys! What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Stella, you mind giving us a moment alone with Lindsay?" Mac asked. The smile on both women's faces faltered at the seriousness in Mac's voice. Stella gave Mac a searching look as she nodded her head and gave Lindsay's arm a reassuring squeeze before she walked off toward her vehicle.

"Mac? What is it?" Lindsay asked. "Did you... did you find out who sent those notes and... and the video?"

Mac shook his head, trying to keep his emotions from getting the better of him. Lindsay was looking up at him so trustingly, and he was about to shatter her whole world. He saw Flack inch closer to Lindsay, putting his arm over her shoulders.

"Hey Linds," he said in a soft voice, "Maybe we should sit down for a sec, okay?"

Lindsay looked up at Flack, her eyes wide and her face pale. Mac could see that despite her attempts to remain calm, her hands were shaking. "No. I'm fine right here," she said stubbornly. "Tell me whatever it is right now."

From where she was standing, Stella couldn't hear the conversation taking place between Mac, Lindsay and Flack. But she knew that whatever it was, it wasn't good news. They had all read the note that had been left in Lindsay's locker the previous day, and her heart had started to beat a little faster in her chest when Lindsay mentioned that she and Danny had received some prank phone calls that morning, both on their home line and on Lindsay's cell phone. Although Lindsay hadn't been sure, Stella had a gut feeling that the calls were somehow connected to both the note and whatever it was that Mac and Flack were talking to Lindsay about right now.

She watched as Flack placed his arm around Lindsay's shoulders, and how Lindsay stiffened slightly as he tried to lead her to sit down on a nearby stoop. But Lindsay dug in her heals and refused to move. So Mac started to talk.

Stella's chest got tight and she felt a huge and immovable lump forming in her throat when she saw Lindsay's bottom lip begin to quiver. Then the first tears began to form in Lindsay's eyes. She was shaking her head and Stella could faintly hear the words, "No, no, no!" coming from her friend's lips as she wailed in protest.

She watched as Flack wrapped his arms around Lindsay when her shaking legs could no longer support her, pulling her petite form into a tight, brotherly hug as she wept. Stella wiped her own tears from her eyes, biting her lip at the anguished words she could hear as Lindsay cried into Flack's chest.

"Oh, my God! Danny! No!"

Again, I apologize if my crime scene writing skills are a bit awkward. But I hope that what I have written here makes at least a little bit of sense. And I tried to include a lot of character moments as well, hoping that it would make it feel less like a chapter full of exposition.

I know that many of you have a lot of questions about what exactly is going on, who is behind all of this, and what his plan is. The next few chapters will start to really get into the background of our (not so) friendly neighbourhood psychopath.

I would love to hear back from you.