Chapter 9
Chapter 9
The summer air had a chill in it. They were walking in Central Park. Lindsay hadn't brought a sweater with her. She shivered at Flacks side. "MMMMMMMM. It is so beautiful this early in the morning." She said. "Yeah it is; but it can be awfully dangerous this time of morning by yourself. Are you cold?" He asked. "Yeah. A little, but I'll live." She smiled looking up at him. He shrugged of his suit jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Thank you!" She said.
"How are you feeling? You okay? How's your head?" "Don. I'm fine. My head actually doesn't hurt right now; my hand is starting to throb though. But I promise you I'll be fine. Come on. Please stop worrying about me." They both let out a small laugh.
They walked for awhile. It was very quiet. Flack and Lindsay were talking about the dangers of being in the big city. They hadn't noticed Charles Palmer following closely behind. They were too wrapped up in just talking to each other.
Flack began to feel a little weary. He started to feel uneasy. "Linds, why don't we go back to your apartment." He started to tug at her arm. "Why? I like it out here; besides I still can't sleep; and I like walking with you." She noticed the nervous look Don had on his face. "Are you okay? You look like…." Just as Lindsay was asking Flack if he was okay Charles Palmer came out of nowhere and clocked Flack on the head with a huge rock. Don fell to the ground; blood streaming down his face. Palmer didn't knock him out but he did make Flack see stars. He was sure that he too had a concussion. Lindsay stood there in shock. She screamed "Oh GOD!! Don!!" "Lindsay run. RUN!" Lindsay took off and Flack's jacket fell to the ground. Charles Palmer started to chase after her. As she was running she twisted her ankle and made the quick decision to ditch her sandals because she couldn't run in them. She could run pretty fast. She would always run when she felt stress; so even though this was different she knew how to pace herself breathing wise.
Flack had gotten enough strength to get up and call for help. "Messer" "Danny its Flack. Palmer attacked me and Lindsay in the park. He's after her. We are in Central Park by the fountains. I'm goin after her." Danny didn't get a chance to ask Don any questions. He immediately called dispatch and told him to get assistance in Central Park. OFFICER IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE!!"
Flack was searching for Lindsay but he didn't know where to start. He saw which direction she went but he lost sight of her due to the darkness.
Lindsay was running for dear life. She wasn't very familiar with Central Park. She was scared. She went into the woods to take a breather. She couldn't run anymore. Her feet were all cut up and she was getting scratches all over her body. She was soooooo scared. She couldn't stop thinking about Don; he had blood running down his face. She had to get back to him; but she didn't know where she was. She didn't have her phone with her. She thought maybe if she could get to a main street she would safe.
While Flack was searching for Lindsay he ran into Danny. "Flack?" He seemed out of it. "Flack? You alright man?" "Yeah. Yeah." You find Linds?" "No not yet." "What happened?" Danny asked. "Um..we were taking a walk and then all of a sudden Palmer came out and pounded me on the head with somethin. I told Linds to run." "She went that way." Flack said pointing in front of him. Danny walked over to the direction from which Flack had pointed. "This your jacket?" He said. "Yeah." "We gotta find her Dan. She not in the best shape." Danny rubbed his eyes. "I know man. I know."
While Danny and Flack were trying to decide which direction Lindsay went from there; Mac, Stella, Hawkes, Adam and Angel showed up.
"Danny, Flack? Anything?" "Nothin. I'm thinking she went that way." Danny said. Adam walked over to an opening in the woods and started to work his way through. "It looks like she came this way. Two sets of footprints in the dirt. Broken branches." Stella made her way in front of Adam and about 500 ft. She spotted a pair of wedge sandals. "Guys…these are Lindsay's sandals. I was with her when she got them." Stella shuttered. "She took them off to run faster. We have to find her!"
Mac got a group of officers together and sent them in a circle in a 2 mile radius. As soon as anyone came across something they were to notify Mac immediately. He told every officer the same thing. "REMEMBER THIS MAN IS CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS! DO NOT PROCEED WITHOUT BACKUP! I REPEAT DO NOT PROCEED WITHOUT BACKUP."
Charles Palmer was desperately searching for Lindsay. He was looking around. The only light he had was the moonlight. "Detective Monroe…why don't you bring your beautiful self out here. I need to see you face. Your eyes are…well their my inspiration for this early morning!" He said with a menacing laugh. "I just want to see you; tell you what happened with those girls." Lindsay could hear him, she closed her eyes and sighed. She knew she was in trouble. He was close. "Those girls laughed at me. I told them that I loved girls with brown eyes and they laughed at me."
She was trying to find a way out but it was soooooo dark and she didn't know where she was. She was getting all scratched up from branches and thorns. She had finally worked her way out into a clearing. "Is that where I started?" She asked herself. She could hear approaching foot steps. She came across a fountain. She could hear Palmer a short distance away. He wasn't close enough to see or hear her near the fountain. She actually got into the fountain and went to the huge statue in the middle. She climbed up onto the cement in which the huge statue was attached. The fountain was on so Palmer hadn't heard her wading through. Charles Palmer was now getting closer. So were Detectives Flack and Messer.
It was about a 10 minutes later and Lindsay didn't hear or see anything so she decided to leave the statue and head out of the fountain when all of a sudden she felt someone grab her from behind. "YOU LITTLE BITCH!! I knew you were here all along. You thought I left. Didn't you?" He turned her around to face him. He saw the fear in her eyes. "Look at you! You're a mess." He said with slight compassion.
Just as he had turned Lindsay around to face him Flack and Danny had approached the fountain. They heard him yell at her. They watched as her gently touched Lindsay's face. Lindsay started to shiver. "You're cold?" Palmer said. "Charles. I heard what you said about Paige and Chelsea; about how they laughed at you. I'm so sorry they did that to you." She said shakily.
Flack and Danny were listening to their conversation. They both thought Lindsay was doing a good job trying to calm Palmer.
"You're not sorry. You're just trying to save your own life." He said sadly. Lindsay tried to pull away but Palmer grasped her tightly. "Charles. I can help you. If you let me go I can get you the help you need." He didn't like what Lindsay had to say and he backhanded her. She yelped. Flack and Danny both drew their guns. Lindsay struggled to get away from him. "LET ME GO! Their looking for me you know. Just let me go and I can help you." "You can't help me. Those two girls said they could help me too. But they couldn't help me. They were lying little bitches. JUST LIKE YOU!" He touched her face once more. "Look what I did to your beautiful face." Lindsay winced. "Please Charles. Just let me go and I can help you. I promise I will help you. "NO! IT'S TOO LATE!" With that he wrapped both hands around Lindsay's neck and started to strangle her. She was fighting with all her might. All of a sudden she went down under the water. Danny and Flack had jumped both of them. They didn't even have to ask one another what they were going to do they just knew. His hands still around her neck. "GET OFF HER YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Danny screamed. Flack had jumped Palmer. Trying to get him to release his grip. When he finally let go Flack started punching him in the face. Palmer went down under the water too. All of a sudden Mac and Hawkes came running and jumped into the fountain and pulled Flack off of Palmer.
"Flack. He's not worth it man. He's not worth it." Sheldon said holding Flack back. Danny pulled Lindsay up. She was couching violently. Gasping for breath. Sheldon came rushing over to Lindsay "Lindsay take slow, deep breathes. She was looking at Flack. She was still gasping for breath. "Slow, deep breathes. Linds. Slow, deep breaths."
After what seemed like hours but was only minutes; they had gotten her, along with Palmer out of the fountain.The sun was starting to rise and about 50 officers were at the scene. An ambulance had been dispatched and Lindsay was immediately taken over to the paramedics. While the men were talking, and collecting evidence, Stella was at the ambulance with Lindsay. Sheldon came over to check her vitals. She was so quiet. The paramedics had wrapped her in a blanket. She was very pale. As Sheldon was checking her vitals along with the paramedics the entire team walked over. She was still shivering. She looked straight ahead with tears in her eyes. "I was so scared!" She whispered.
I don't think I've ever been that scared in my life." Lindsay looked straight into Don's eyes. She knew he was scared too.
Sheldon bent down and checked her feet. She had a pretty deep gash in her left foot. He gently placed his hand on her left leg. She jumped because he startled her. "Honey. It looks like one more trip to the hospital." She tried to get up but since her adrenaline had worn off she now felt the pain that her body had endured the past couple of hours. She went to stand up and immediately lifted her left foot and almost lost her balance. Sheldon was at her side and gently sat her down. "Sheldon. I don't wanna go back to the hospital. Can you please just stitch me up here. Please?" He sighed. You guys got an irrigation kit and a suture kit?" The paramedic shook his head yes and handed it to Hawkes. "How about morphine? Let's hook her up to an IV and get it pumping through her veins. I'm gonna have to clean her previous lacerations too." "Here ya go Doc." "Thanks. Linds. We're gonna hook you up to an IV. I'm gonna have to clean and irrigate your head and hand wounds too." The paramedic inserted a needle into her hand and got an IV started immediately. "Honey, I'm still gonna have to insert a needle into you foot."
Sheldon didn't like doing this in an ambulance but he felt that Lindsay had been through for one day. "Linds. Tomorrow I am taking you to the hospital to get tetanus. You got it?" "Yes Sheldon. Thank you!" She said.
Everyone had started to clear out. They knew they had a scene to process. Mac and Angel had taken Lindsay's statement along with a statement from Detectives Flack and Messer. They proceeded to go back to the ambulance while Hawkes was preparing to stitch Lindsay up. "Hey Sweetie! How you doing?" "I've had better days." Her voice hoarse. As she was talking to Flack; Sheldon spoke as he began to insert a needle into her laceration. "Sorry! This is gonna hurt like a mother." She grabbed Flack's hand and held on for dear life. She started to cry. She tried to control her breathing. She kept telling herself to relax. After a few minutes the medicine began to take affect her foot felt numb. She relaxed then. Sheldon had the medic put Lindsay on a gurney so he could irrigate and clean the wound before he began to suture her. She was soooooooooo tired her eyes started to drift. She gently tugged on Flack's shirt. "Is it okay if I close my eyes for awhile?" He smiled at her. "Yeah. It's okay." Don said stroking her hand. He was observing the bruises that started to form around her neck. It made Don sick.
Danny walked around to the back of the ambulance and saw Lindsay being comforted by Flack. He saw Flack staring at her bruises. It made Danny just as sick to see the bruises on her neck. Danny felt a twinge of jealously that he wasn't the one comforting her; but he couldn't help but see the connection they were starting to form. He smiled to himself. Lindsay was special and she deserved to be happy.
"Hey man. How's she doing?" Danny asked. Sheldon looked at Danny and was concerned about their exchange. "She's been through a lot today. She needs rest." Danny shook his head. "Yeah, she does." He placed his hand on Flack's shoulder.
"You take care of her Flack." He shook his head at Danny. "I will man. She's in good hands." Lindsay opened her eyes. Danny was looking at her lovingly. "Montana. I will be over to check on you this evening. "K?" She shook her head. "Thank you. Danny."