A/N: I know that the story's been low on action for a while, I do hope you're bearing with me. Thank you for all your kind reviews, and please do feel free to add more! ;) Kate x
The sky was still grey, dull with dead hopes.
There was nothing. Mac re-examined every shred of evidence from Stella's apartment with Hawkes dropping in every now and then to see how he was doing, a subtle hint that he was wasting his time, however much he'd like Mac to turn up something new. But eventually Mac was forced to admit that there was simply nothing to be found that could help them.
Hawkes gave a weary shrug when Mac finally gave in. "Sorry." He didn't say, I told you so.
Mac felt the urge to punch something. It wasn't right, it was hideously wrong, that someone should be able to attack Stella, hurt her, keep her captive in her own home, and be able to escape punishment for it.
"Go home," Hawkes told him, concern in his eyes. "You're exhausted. Go and see Stella. You think she's going to prefer you staying here?"
"Can you finish up with the documentation here? I've got work in my office waiting for me," Mac said, ignoring Hawkes, who sighed, but had no time to reply as Mac strode away down the hall without waiting for an answer.
He came face to face with Stella.
"Morning," she said with a grin.
He opened his mouth, couldn't think of anything to say that she would listen to, and closed it again.
"What've you got for me today?" she asked, and then had to laugh at the expression on his face. "C'mon Mac, I've been medically cleared to return to work."
"How much did you pay the doctor?" he asked sceptically.
"Don't look so horrified. Which case do you want me on?"
He thought for a second. She wasn't going to go home, he realised. And he wouldn't be able to persuade her, all he would be able to do would be to drive her into retracting her promise to him and going back to her own apartment. And, despite the fact that she was probably no safer there than anywhere else, for his own peace of mind he wanted her at his so that he could attempt to protect her. Come to think of it, the lab, full of police officers, was probably the safest place of all.
"You're back on the serial case," he told her finally, and reluctantly. "The dead girls. And while you're at it, you can try and stop either Danny or Lindsay from becoming the next murder we have to investigate. Too much paperwork for IAB."
"That bad?" she asked, with her laughing smile which he loved to see.
"You have no idea."
- - - - -
Mac and Stella both turned as Danny came jogging up the hallway. "Got a lead," he informed them breathlessly. "C'mon, Flack's picking us up now."
"What kind of lead?" Mac asked, falling quickly into step. He glanced back at Stella, who sighed, nodded, and remained where she was. One less thing for him to have to worry about.
"An address for the delivery guy. Well, the address of a company at which he may or not work, but we've got his photograph, so they should be able to help us."
"How'd we get the address?"
"Dunno. Ask Flack."
They climbed into the waiting car. "Did Danny fill you in?" Flack asked.
"No, was he meant to?"
"Yeah."
"You didn't tell me anything," Danny complained.
"You don't listen, Messer. Ok, Mac, we got a phone call from a woman, name of Beth Porter. Apparently she was talking on the phone to her daughter Jenny when the girl received a delivery of a bouquet of irises, no sender name. She dropped the delivery receipt, and when the delivery guy bent to pick it up, there was a gun inside his jacket which she saw. She told her mother, who didn't like it and phoned us."
"So where are we going? To see the girl?"
"Nah, the flower delivery company. Guy didn't leave his card, but he was wearing a jacket with the company logo on, and the girl remembered it and told the officer who went round to talk to her and her mother a few minutes ago."
"What's the name of the company?" Mac asked.
"Uh, 'Bowers of Flowers' or something stupid like that. Yeah, no kidding. Some people have no imagination."
"Yeah? So what would you name a flower shop then?" Danny challenged.
"Well, something better than that, anyway. But I've no intention of ever having anything to do with flower shops, so it doesn't matter."
"What, not even to buy your girl flowers?"
"I'll leave that soppy stuff to you and Monroe, thank you very much," Flack retorted. Danny snorted at the implied insult.
"Is this the place?" Mac asked as they drew up to the kerb.
"Yep." They got out. The brightly coloured sign shouted out "Bowers of Flowers!" to anyone who might interested, and the baskets of flower and foliage bunches did seem to be overflowing out of the shop, rather than purposely placed. Danny fingered the petals of a sickly yellow freesia, and one came off into his hand. He dropped it to the floor.
Mac led the way inside. An ivy plant escaping from the bounds of its pot grasped greedily at his sleeve as he passed it on a display rack. A gangly teenage boy was sitting behind the counter, focused on the computer. He stood up reluctantly at the point when it would be impossible for him not to notice their presence for any longer. "Can I help you?" he asked, without interest.
"Do you deliver flowers from here?" Mac asked him.
"Yeah, free within a 10 kilometre radius, if the order's for over forty dollars. Otherwise there's a five dollar delivery fee. We do same day delivery if the order's placed before three in the afternoon," he recited in a monotone. "Otherwise it'll be next day, before noon." He cast a longing glance back at the computer screen.
Mac could hear Danny trying to stifle a laugh at the boy's tone as he placed his badge and the face enlarged from Lindsay's crime scene photograph on the counter. "NYPD."
"Awesome!" The boy's face immediately lit up with interest for the first time. "Are you going to arrest him? Can I watch?"
"You know him, then?"
"Course, he works here. Uh, he's called Eric…something."
"Eric Something?" Flack asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Umm, begins with a J, I think. J… J… Jackson. Yeah, that's it. So what's he done?"
"Is he in?" Mac asked.
"Nah, he went driving somewhere. He mostly delivers stuff. Seriously, you guys are right on time though. He should be back any minute, he only had to go a couple of blocks this time. Unless he takes his lunch break early. You guys are detectives, right? You aren't in uniform."
Mac walked away from the desk and looked round the shop while Flack, chuckling, continued talking to the kid, Danny with him. He counted off tulips, irises, lilies. All here. They stood in pots, colours folding into each other, reds and purples and the dark greens of stems and leaves. The dank smell of wetness hung heavy in the air. He was more sure than ever that this man, Jackson, was the killer they had been chasing. The flowers had probably been used to lure his victims out, he thought. Or to get them to drop their guard. A man carrying a bouquet of flowers doesn't look particularly threatening.
At eye level, bunches of blood-red roses stood in holders on shelves, overblown, the edges of the bloated petals beginning to curl. White lilies in a tall pot cloyed the air with their overpowering sweetness, specks of brown decay spreading from the heart of each flower.
Danny was tapping his foot impatiently. "What's your name, kid?" he asked.
"Mike. Mike Saunders."
"Well Mike, d'y think you could call Eric, tell him to hurry up? We don't have all day."
"Yeah, ok."
"Don't tell him we're waiting for him."
Mike picked up the phone and dialled a number which he read from a sheet of paper taped to the wall beside it. He waited a few seconds. "Hey Eric, it's Mike. You got lost?" A pause. "Yeah, sorry, but we've got an urgent order, can you get back here and pick it up now?" Pause. "You try sitting in here all day. At least you get a proper lunch break." Pause. "Yeah, tuna sandwich and a mars bar. And a bottle of coke."
Danny tapped his watch pointedly. Mike nodded. "Got to go, man, customer's just walked in. See ya soon." He replaced the handset. "He'll be right back."
"Once he's picked up your lunch order?" Danny asked sarcastically.
"He was in a service station already, it won't take any longer. If you guys arrest him I'll have to be here for the rest of the day, and I won't get anything to eat otherwise," Mike defended himself. "I was being undercover, you know, not getting his suspicions up. I'm going to be a cop one day."
Flack laughed. "You've got style, kid. But you're irritating as hell, so good luck with the cop part."
Mac said nothing, busy waiting in silence. No breeze came in through the open doorway, and the air was still and brooding, waiting with him.
Two rose petals dropped, and spiralled down to land, limp and livid, at his feet.
