Saturday 27th July. 13:00
Mac and Angell rushed into the hospital and in the elevator, towards the ICU. Sheldon could already be dead, all the woman would have to do was to persuade the doctor that she was indeed Sheldon's sister. Once the elevator stopped at the ICU, Mac and Angell ran outside in the hallway. A nurse stopped them.
"Whoa! Hold on Dt.!" She said, "The sister is in the waiting area, I called security."
"Thank you." Mac panted.
"I knew something was wrong. Her last name is Hawkes, but she white, I mean Mr. Hawkes is not." The nurse said, "She's acting nervous and is waiting for you, with Dr. Victor Carter."
Mac and Angell nodded and went towards the waiting area. The woman avoided eye contact with the Dt., as soon as she saw them. The Dr. looked confused at everybody. One minute he was telling the sister that Sheldon would probably survive, and then one minute later, a security guard takes her to the waiting area and tells her that the police are on their way.
"What's going on?" Dr. Carter asked.
"Dr., this woman, whoever she is, is not the sister of your patient Hawkes." Angell said.
"Who are you?" Mac asked.
"Natalie Hawkes. 27 years old, and works as a teacher." Natalia sighed, "I know I seem nervous, but that's because I'm in the system for driving over the speed limit."
"Alright. What is your brother's name?" Mac asked, he had a feeling that this was all simply a misunderstanding.
"Simon Hawkes." Natalia said, "Like the person that the papers wrote about. Simon got shot with an arrow."
Angell sighed and started laughing. Natalia and Dr. Carter looked confused at her. Angell and Mad had both thought that the killer had sent someone to finish Sheldon off, and it all turned out to be a misunderstanding.
"Look, the papers wrote that an S. Hawkes had been shot with an arrow." Natalia said confused.
Mac had read the paper, and knew that it said, Dt. S. Hawkes. Natalia must have missed the Dt., part. Unless of course her brother was a cop too.
"Is your brother a cop?" Mac asked.
"No." Natalia said.
"Then you got the wrong S. Hawkes." Mac said, "The man you tried to turn off the life support for is names Sheldon Hawkes."
Natalia seemed to doubt Mac, so Mac decided to show her instead. He led her into Sheldon's room. Something he almost regretted, as the sight of Sheldon lying with tubes in his body and bandaged made his eyes water. He hadn't been to see Hawkes yet, so he wasn't prepared for the sight of his friend lying injured on a hospital bed.
"Oh, I am so sorry." Natalia said, "I thought…"
"It's okay." Angell said, "We understand."
"Well, thank you for clearing everything up. I have to call my brother." Natalia said and excused herself.
Angell noticed how Mac had gone off to la-la-land. She understood why. She also wanted to cry when she saw Sheldon, but she held it in.
"Mac?" She asked.
"Give me a minute." Mac said, he walked closer to the bed, while Angell left the room, to give him some privacy.
Mac grabbed Sheldon's hand. It had only been a few months since he had been at the hospital the last time. And here he was again, poor Sheldon. The last thing Sheldon needed was another recovery to go through.
"I'm sorry Sheldon." Mac whispered, "Get better soon."
With that said, Mac left the room. Angell waited for him outside. The two of them left to get back to the apartment.
-I-
13:30
Mac and Angell raised the eyebrows in confusion as they entered Mac's apartment. There was a woman pacing in the kitchen, she was crying and Lindsay was doing her best in calming her down.
"Lindsay's mother, Joan." Stella explained as Mac and Angell joined her in the living room.
They could hear Joan talking about being so lonely. Something had very obviously happened. And of course they were a little curious in finding out what it was.
"Mac, Sid is hocked up with a camera now. He's ready to search on my computer for info on Larry Howard." Adam said.
"Tell him to wait just a little while, I won't be able to concentrate while that woman is crying." Mac said, and looked at Joan.
She was still pacing, and Lindsay sighed as she tried grabbing her mother's arms and guide her to a chair. Lindsay gave Mac an apologetic look. She had no idea how her mother had found out their little hiding place, but now she was here, and it was obvious to Lindsay, that her father had left his mother. Sooner then he had said he would.
"He left me." Joan cried, "Why?"
"Oh mom, he will tell you why." Lindsay sighed, "Please sit down."
Joan didn't hear her as she kept on crying and pacing. She couldn't understand why she had been left alone by the man she loved the most. She couldn't survive on her own. Lindsay knew this would be the ultimate test for Joan. To live on her own, take care of a house on her own. Lindsay would have loved to help, but she lived in NY and was not about to pack up her stuff and move back to Montana. Her life was here with Danny, and the team. After a while, Lindsay managed to make her mother sit down, Joan cried for a few more minutes. Before falling asleep at the kitchen table. Lindsay joined the others in the living room.
"Okay, Sid go ahead." Adam said in to a microphone.
"Alright, Larry Howard was it?" Sid asked.
"That's correct." Adam said.
Everybody waited for a while longer before Sid said he had found something.
"He lives at Linton Street 14. " Sid said.
"Yeah, we know. That's our crime scene." Adam said.
"Well, he also owns a place at Central Park, right across the street." Sid said, "Jacob's Street 3. With Terry Walters."
"How did you find that out?" Mac asked.
"Well it says here that Terry Walters got arrested for assault five years ago, he was released in court. And well, it also says that Larry Howard co-owns that place. I guess Larry's named popped up because he shares an apartment with a criminal." Sid said.
"You have no idea how good this is." Mac said, "Thanks Sid."
Mac, Angell and Stella stood up and got ready to move. They called dispatch and told them to head for Jacob's Street 3. Maybe they would finally get Don back, and arrest their killer.
-I-
Larry looked down at his victim. Don looked right back up. What no one on the team had even though of was that Larry had started listening to the police radios. He knew that they were coming to his apartment. So he had to get rid of his victim, and then escape, he only had a few minutes to do that.
"Time to die." Larry smirked, as he grabbed Don's collar and lifted him up.
Don groaned in pain. Everything was spinning for him. He couldn't make his feet lift up and walk. Larry growled as he had to drag Don, to the front door. He opened it and pushed Don down the stairs.
"Run." He told him, "Towards Central Park."
Don shook his head. He knew that if he moved he would be shot with an arrow, and he really didn't feel like dying that way. Larry growled and kicked Don at the ribs. Don groaned and gasped for air. But he still didn't move.
"Alright." Larry sighed, and lifted Don up over his shoulder.
He started walking up, towards the roof. His victim would die, one way or the other. When he heard footsteps in in stairs he walked faster. The police had arrived quickly. Once up on the roof, Larry blocked the door, with a big chair he had brought up earlier. It was either from the roof or his window that he shoot his victims. Depending on how much view he needed.
"Run!" Larry growled and pushed Don towards the roof, on the building to the right.
Don shook his head. Larry ignored him, while he peeked over the edge. He could see cops standing outside the building. Don saw his chance of getting free. He stood up and ran towards Larry. He yelled as he pushed him over the edge. However, Larry managed to grab both Don and the edge of the roof. Don was now hanging on for dear life, holding onto Larry's legs. Larry grinned and started shaking his legs.
"Mac!" Don yelled as loud as he could.
Down on the ground everybody looked up to see their colleague and the murdered hanging over the edge of the roof.
"We're coming up, Don!" Mac yelled, "Hang on!"
"Why do people always say that? It's not like you're going to let go." Larry muttered.
"Please, you don't have to kill people. Climb up." Don said.
"With you hanging on me? How strong do you think I am?" Larry asked, sighing.
Don groaned. He was in pain, and he hated heights. He looked down and saw that it was a long way down. He would never survive if he fell. Stella had called fire rescue. They were on their way with a big mattress to save Don if he fell. Mac was on his way up to the roof, together with several officers. Once they reached the door out on the roof, they noticed that it was blocked by something. They started kicking and banging on the door.
"If they get out here, I will let go." Larry said, as he heard the banging on the door.
Don was really scared. The only reason he was still alive, was because Larry wouldn't let go. Larry didn't want to die, unless he felt it was necessary, and so far it wasn't. Mac growled and managed to finally get the door open. Not all the way up, but enough for him to squeeze through. Fire rescue arrived, and managed to blow up the mattress just, as Mac jumped forward to the edge to grab Larry's hands. And just as Mac touched his hands, Larry let go and fell.
TBC…
AN: Please review!
