You know, I don't wanna bore you with all of my lame excuses. I actually lost power twice, though, because NYC has had insane snowstorms and rainstorms. Also, I'm a terrible procrastinator. It's a really bad flaw I have. So if you're still around… thanks for staying. (: Thanks to
Disclaimer: Wow, do I really have to say it? CSI: NY + ownership = CBS
A/N: In this chapter, Mac grabs a jacket. Keep in mind that I started this story in the wintertime, so I'm going to keep the season winter.
Hawkes lurched forward as the cab broke suddenly.
He leaned forward and tapped the driver on the shoulder. "Hey, what happened?"
"I am sorry for braking so suddenly," the cab driver said. "But the idiot in front of me stopped suddenly and I'm guessing the idiot in front of him the same. We've just hit traffic. It's nothing big."
Hawkes nodded and sat back in his chair. In reality, it actually was something big. Even though he just got out of the hospital, he wanted to get to the lab quickly to aid his colleagues in any way he could. The traffic was a roadblock.
The former medical examiner looked at the window and saw that the next exit was for 72nd Street. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He felt that this whole case was one big roadblock after the next.
Mac stood with everybody around his shoulders. His cell phone was clutched tightly in his hands. Everybody around him was silent as they read the message.
"Far Rockaway stop. Abandoned building. Perp armed. Hurry." The message read.
"She's in Queens," Danny read, breaking the silence.
"Who's in Queens?" Lindsay asked, Sid at her heels.
"Stella," Angell answered. "Mac just got a text from her."
Lindsay's brown eyes widened. "Y-you're serious?" She and Sid added to the crowd around Mac as they, too, read the message.
Sid's mouth moved as he read each word. "Far Rockaway. That's right near Long Island, but with no traffic, it'll take you just around half an hour to get there. With traffic, it'll take you two hours."
"At least we know where she is now," Flack stated. "Now we just gotta get there."
"Far Rockaway stop. Abandoned building. Perp armed," Mac repeated the message, his eyes still not leaving his cell phone screen.
"Far Rockaway stop could mean the subway stop at Far Rockaway," Adam mused. "There must be an abandoned building by there."
Beep! Adam's computer sounded, signaling that he had something. The lab tech walked over to his computer and clicked on the item that just popped up. His eyes widened when he saw what it was.
"I got the DNA results from the epithelials I found under the hilt. It belongs to a…" Adam scrolled down to find the name. "Oscar Emery."
Everybody in the room followed Mac to the computer screen. "He has no priors, so why is he in the system?"
Adam clicked on some items. "Well, his former job in construction wanted all employees' DNA and prints in the system." Adam clicked on some more items. "And it just so happens that they were working on a building in Far Rockaway, right near the last stop on the A train."
"Hey Adam, do me a favor. Check this guy's college major. It wouldn't happen to be forensic science, right?" Flack said.
Adam checked his records. "He graduated with a Master's Degree in forensic science." He looked quizzically at Flack. "How did you know that?"
"Flack's just bursting with knowledge today," Danny sarcastically stated.
"Now I can officially call myself a crime scene investigator," joked Flack.
"He got a degree in forensic science, but worked as a construction worker?" Lindsay queried. "Seems odd."
"Well, people do odd things," Sid pointed out. "That's why we all still have jobs."
"Adam, give me the address of the building," Mac said. Adam typed in a few more things on the keyboard.
"1560 Beach 22nd Street," Adam responded, quickly scribbling down the address onto a piece of paper.
Mac nodded his thanks and walked out of the room without saying another word.
The remaining people in the room looked at each other for a moment and went after him.
"Mac," Danny called, following Mac into his office. "We know what you're thinking." The Chicago native opened his mouth to speak, but Angell cut him off.
"You're not thinking about going there alone, are you?" Angell asked, sitting down on the couch.
"Like it or not, Stella's our friend, too," Flack added.
Mac didn't look at them as he grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair. "So what are you saying?"
"What do you think?" Lindsay asked, a knowing smile on her face.
"I think they're trying to say that they're going to go with you," Sid smiled as well.
Flack stepped forward. "Mac, we know Stella's kidnapping has affected you more than the rest of us. Don't try to hide it; we've seen the connection between you two. But we've been affected too. We're going."
"I'll stick with the evidence and call you guys if anything important comes up," Adam piped up.
"All of my autopsies are done, so I can give Adam an extra hand. I may be no CSI or a lab tech, but I find hidden stuff on bodies all the time. How different can it be on a piece of plastic or paper?" volunteered Sid.
"Point is, we're a team. We stick together." Danny finished. Lindsay and Angell nodded in agreement.
Mac looked at each member of his team and saw the determined looks on all of their faces. It was clear that they weren't backing down.
"All right, grab your vests and meet me in the garage. And as soon as we get on I-678 South, cut the sirens. I don't know how good this guy's hearing is, but I don't want to risk him hearing us coming." Mac instructed. The team gave him an encouraging smile and turned to leave his office.
"But you know, I wasn't planning to go alone," Mac said. The team turned around to face him. "You guys just started speaking before I could tell you to meet me in the garage." A smile came to his face as he made his way past his team toward the elevators.
"I totally knew that," Flack said, trying to make it seem like he actually did know Mac's intentions.
"Of course you did," Angell smirked as the team hurried to their lockers to grab their bullet-proof vests.
Stella sent the message and made sure to delete all evidence of her message. Then, after scanning the room to make sure nothing was out of place, she stealthily returned to the place she was sitting before.
She heard the toilet flush and her captor walked out of the room a minute later. She kept on her poker face as he walked out of the bathroom.
"Hey there, Detective. Miss me?" her captor said.
"Go to hell," Stella spat. The man chuckled and sat down six feet to her right.
"Language, Detective. I'm not a completely bad man. I didn't want to kill those people for enjoyment. I'm not a sadistic person," the man said.
"Oh really?" Stella said brusquely. "So I supposed you slit their throats because you like the pretty color of blood?"
Her captor chuckled once more and leaned his head against the wall. "No, that's not it. I never really liked the color red. Things happen for a reason, and the killings are no exception."
"I guess you're gonna say that there's a perfectly legitimate reason for killing three people." Stella glared at him.
"Now, now, I don't think you really need to know my reasons. Some things are meant to stay a mystery." he said. Stella chose not to reply. The two sat in silence for what seemed to be ten minutes. The man sat there opening and closing the chamber of his revolver repeatedly.
Stella stared out the window behind her and swallowed a lump in her throat. If Mac and the team left right after they received her message, she estimated that it would take them just over half an hour to reach here. It had been around fifteen minutes since she sent her message.
She kept her eyes glued to the sky. Even with the lights of New York City, she swore she saw a star. Even though she felt kind of silly doing so, she decided to make a wish on the star. When she was little, she thought that a star should answer all of her wishes first because her name meant 'star'.
Stella closed her eyes and wished for Mac and the team to come quickly. She stayed that way for what seemed to be five minutes. When she opened her eyes, she realized that her captor was staring at her.
"Taking a little break, Detective?" he asked. Stella remained in silence. "I know, you've had a tiring few days. Feeling hungry at all? No?"
"I don't need anything," Stella said blankly. She was going to stare out the window again when she realized something. If she could keep her captor's attention focused on her, Mac and the team could come and her captor would have no time to escape.
"No, I don't need anything. But what about you? Are you hungry? Are you tired? Running around cleaning up your messes must be tiring, I'm sure." Stella said, casually directing the conversation to try to get more information about the murders.
Her captor's face broke out into a smile. "I know what you're trying to do, Detective. I'm still not going to tell you about the murders."
Stella tried to coax more information out of him. "Then at least tell me your name. I find it sad that you know my name but I don't know yours."
The man sighed and stood up. "Fine. Since I know there's no way you can escape, I'll tell you my name. Hi, I'm Oscar Emery."
"It's…a 'pleasure' to be able to put a name to the face," Stella said dryly.
The man—Oscar Emery—walked to the other end of the building. "Is that a way to respond after I just told you my name? Really now, I thought you had more manners than that."
Stella bit her tongue to stop her from saying something retaliatory. She had to stay on this guy's 'good' side.
"I'm sorry," she forced the words out of her mouth. "We're just on opposite sides of the game, remember? We're not supposed to be cordial."
"Haven't I been cordial, Detective? I could've shot you, but I didn't. I could've killed you instead of bringing you here, but I didn't. You're still alive and well," Emery stated, fingering his revolver.
"Of course. I forgot about that," Stella said, forcing herself to not sound bitter. She displayed a clock in front of her face mentally. Almost twenty-eight minutes since she sent the message.
Emery cocked his head to one side as he stared at her. He was analyzing her. Stella tried to avoid eye contact.
"What's going on, Detective?" Emery asked. "You've never been this...'nice' to me before this moment. Why start now?"
Stella's heart started beating faster as she swiftly invented a plausible response. "Simple. If I'm nice to you, I stay alive longer."
Emery considered her answer. "Smart thinking, Detective. I'll buy it." He walked off to another corner of the building.
Stella exhaled a sigh of relief. Thirty minutes since she sent the message. If she knew Mac—and she did know him—he probably would have left right after she sent that message. It was only a matter of time until she was saved.
Flack swerved the car onto I-678 South, slowed down, and cut the sirens. In the Avalanche behind them, Danny and Lindsay did the same.
"I already called dispatch and informed them that there will be two black Avalanches speeding down I-678 South. Highway cops won't stop us." Angell said from the back seat. Flack sped up a little just as they passed a highway patrol car. The car didn't move.
"All right, that works to our advantage." Flack said, shifting lanes.
In the passenger seat, Mac flipped open his phone to check for calls or texts from Stella. There weren't any.
He was just about to put his phone away when it rang. He quickly flipped it open and answered. "Taylor."
"The building that you're heading to is definitely where they're keeping Stella. I performed a reverse cell phone lookup and pinpointed the exact location your killer called from. 1560 Beach 22nd Street." Adam informed him.
"Any more information on Emery?" Mac asked.
"So far, we haven't found any connection between Emery and Galib or McLaughlin, but it turns out he took a psych class in college with Chris Jackson. I'll keep digging," Adam replied.
"All right, thanks Adam," Mac said, hanging up.
"What'd he say?" Flack asked.
"Apparently Emery took a psych class with Chris Jackson in college," Mac shared.
"Chris Jackson, the first victim?" Angell asked.
"Yeah," Mac said. "I don't know how Jackson went from old college classmate to murder victim, but Adam said he'd keep looking. He also confirmed that our location is the one where Stella's being held."
Flack accelerated a little bit more. "Let's go then. We're almost there." The two Avalanches sped off into the night.
Just as the rest of the team was speeding off toward Stella, traffic on the West Side Highway lightened up and traffic was starting to flow. The cab driver stepped on the gas and accelerated.
Hawkes noticed the change in traffic and kept his eyes focused on the scenery outside the windshield. Now that the traffic was over, they were moving at a steady pace and arrived at the crime lab in a short time.
Hawkes paid the driver and swiftly made his way to the elevator. The elevator came and he pressed a button.
When they stopped on his floor, he got off and searched the lab for Adam. He found the lab tech in the A/V room along with Sid.
"Adam, Sid." Hawkes greeted his colleagues quickly. Both men's faces broke out into smiles.
"How're you doing, man?" Adam asked.
"I'm fine. What's the update on the case? How's Stella?"
Adam and Sid took turns explaining the story to Hawkes.
"So they're heading to get her now? I gotta go help them," Hawkes said. He was just about ready to run out of the room when Sid placed a hand on his shoulder.
"It's no use. They left almost thirty-five minutes ago. They should be there right now. They're going to be fine." Sid said reassuringly.
Hawkes realized that everything Sid said was true. He sank into a chair and watched Adam as he worked. He put his confidence in the team. They would be fine.
The two Avalanches stopped within a close distance of the building. Mac pulled out a pair of binoculars and glanced at the building. He saw Stella and another guy—Emery.
"They're there." Mac confirmed. He then grabbed a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "Okay, quietly make your way to the building. From what I've seen, there's no back exit. Danny and Lindsay, approach from the back just in case. Angell, Flack and I got the front."
"10-4, Mac." Danny's voice said. Mac, Angell, and Flack got out of their car. Danny and Lindsay got out of theirs.
Mac took his gun from his holster and cocked it. He nodded to his team. "Let's go. Stella's stayed with that son of a bitch for too long."
Since I've been such a horrible updater, I felt that you guys needed a longer chapter. But, looking back on it, it's definitely not one of my best chapters. :(
PLEASE LEAVE CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM! Along with your review, of course. (: I always respond to reviews. However, I'll be flying to Miami tomorrow and leaving for a cruise on Saturday, so I may not be able to respond soon.
MANY THANKS to those who are still reading, and I'm sorry for the poor-quality chapter. :(
-Aly