Disclaimer: I own nothing and no-one from CSI:NY, I'm just borrowing them for a while. No infringement intended. Any new characters - well they're mine!

A/N: You guys have honestly made me so happy! The feedback from the last chapter was fantastic, so thank you very, very much. Thank you too if you are a new reviewer – I appreciate the time you've taken. Bundles of new alerts too, so let's hope you enjoy this one – it may not be the relief some of you were looking for…!

Decisions

Don went into work the next morning feeling much more centred and in control. Things had gone better than expected with Elinor last night and when he'd reluctantly left she'd agreed to talk with him about the case. He'd explained that he'd have to bring Lina along with him for partiality, which hadn't gone down too well, but she'd understood. Now he was going to meet up with Lina first thing and answer any questions she had before they saw Ellie. This meeting was important. Although Lina knew that she was being assigned to the high profile rape case not only for her experience and input but also for her unbiased presence, she hadn't been told why.

After grabbing a couple of coffees, he went to one of the meeting rooms where he knew Lina would be with Ellie's file.

Acknowledging him for the drink she went straight down to business.

"So what don't I know?" she asked.

Don smiled to himself. He liked Lina. She was smart and tough and pulled no punches.

"Elinor Kingsley, the girl in the file. She's my girlfriend."

"Damn," said Lina sympathetically. "I'm sorry Don."

"Yeah, well, thanks. Anyway, although the information in the file is detailed about the attack, it's the details from other conversations that we need to talk to her about."

"Okay, so you mean the stuff she doesn't know she knows?" Lina replied, keeping her tone light.

Don smiled. "Exactly."

They talked about the case for a while and how it linked in with their serial rapist. Don explained about Ellie still being the target for him.

"So how do we play this interview?" Lina asked. She'd never worked a case where there was such personal involvement. Actually no-one had as usually the officer in question would be pulled off it immediately. Pushing aside the thought, she continued. "Usually, it'd be the female officer who takes the lead on a case like this."

"Yeah, I know but I think Ellie would be more comfortable with me asking the questions. She's a bit raw right now and I just think that she'd respond better to me. Feel free to jump in though and make sure I don't 'lead' her okay? Not that I think that's going to be too much of a problem. I've a feeling that Peter Lorrimer may also be there."

"Judge Peter Lorrimer?" Lina asked, not quite believing it would be.

"Oh yeah," replied Don smiling in spite of himself. Before she could ask any more he stood up, threw his empty coffee cup in the trash and headed for the door. Lina got up to join him still with a questioning look on her face.

"Believe me, you've no idea about his family. Come on, I'll explain on the way. Wait 'til you see this place."

NYNYNYNY

It was turning into a very productive day. The crime lab had been busy comparing the findings from Ellie's files to their rape cases and although they were still awaiting some results, the similarities in other areas including tests they did have the results to, were conclusive. Kenneth Kinnon was their man.

The time change with the UK had worked in their favour as well and Mac had spent the morning on the 'phone with the officer who had been in charge of Ellie's case and although she had been indignant about how a US Crime Lab had gotten hold of the file, she was able to give Mac some useful information, including names of known associates that they could run down.

Don and Lina had found Ellie ready for them and in a distant, almost clinical state of mind. Lina couldn't help but see the slight hurt in her new partner's expression but had to admire the professionalism of the man and the bravery of the woman in front of her as neither let personal feelings be a part of what they were talking about. She'd spoken to Don afterwards about Ellie's approach and he'd assured her that he understood why she had been like that.

There had been initially very little to glean from Ellie's recollections. She'd actually only had a couple of conversations with the guy but eventually she had remembered that Kinnon had mentioned a friend in Chicago. It wasn't much but Don had checked passenger logs as far back as six months before the attacks started for JFK, La Guardia, Newark and Logan and drawn a blank. Now he could try O'Hare as well. If he got anything there he could then check internal flights, trains, buses and car rental places. Of course Kinnon may have been travelling under a different name but sometimes you just got lucky with these things, especially on cases where the perp is obsessive. Sometimes, these guys forgot about the obvious things. He hoped this was one of them.

Back at his office Don picked up a message from Mac that told him of aliases that Kinnon had used before, so Don started the ball rolling on adding them into the mix, before calling Ellie to see how she was. Before he could make the call, his desk 'phone rang. It was Stella.

"Don, we got another one."

NYNYNYNY

Ellie switched off the tv and slumped back into the armchair. Another one. Another woman's life devastated because of this monster – because of her. She sprang out of the chair at the thought and began pacing the room. Frustration and anger raged as a wave of guilt hit her. The rational part of her knew this wasn't her fault and yet she had heard with her own ears that the police were convinced it was her he was after. She sat down again quickly as she felt suddenly light headed and tearful at the thought. 'God Elinor enough with the crying,' she said to herself 'you hate whiney women and you're becoming one. Stop it, you need to think.'

She smiled as she thought about Don's visit the previous night. She hadn't realised just how much she'd missed him until she was back in his arms. She would have sworn that she had physically felt her depleted reserves of strength replenish at the contact with him. He did that to her, he always had – he made her feel good about herself, strong. She replayed his words to her 'don't let him make you a victim again'. An idea began to form in her head. It'd be a tough sell though and she'd have to be sure – really sure. She went through every possible argument she could think of as to why this idea wasn't good and then came up with the counter argument. She wrote a list of pros and cons and gave each one values of importance. Whichever way she looked at it, the answer was the same.

Elinor took a deep breath. She could do this, she had to, there was no other choice that she could see. Picking up her cell, she punched in number one on her speed dial.

"Don, it's me. I need to talk to you. Can we meet at your place though? Great. Oh and Don? Bring Lina."

NYNYNYNY

Don and Lina arrived to find a heavy set man – who Don had no doubt was armed - waiting outside Don's apartment. They flashed their badges at him and he knocked on the door. Almost immediately Elinor opened it, letting Don and Lina in.

"Well that's a first," said Don drily, as Ellie smiled at the humour in his voice.

"Sorry," she said quietly, "but I thought you'd rather I didn't just hop in a cab on my own."

Lina looked away, giving the couple a little privacy as Don kissed Ellie lightly.

"So what's this all about?" asked Don, concern clear in his voice. He'd been edgy about this since her 'phone call. They'd only just gotten back together and Ellie hadn't been wild about Lina's involvement and yet here she was in his apartment, asking him to bring Lina. No Peter or Ed either, so he'd bet they didn't know where she was or certainly not why she was here. This was going to be interesting.

Ellie broke away from Don's hold and started to pace a bit, wringing her hands as she walked. Both Don and Lina were experienced enough to just let her be; she was clearly winding up to something, though it was killing Don to keep quiet.

Eventually Elinor stopped pacing. She hadn't realised that she was standing strategically behind the sofa putting a physical and psychological distance between herself and the police officers in front of her. Slowly she began to speak.

"I saw the news today. That was him wasn't it?" she asked quietly.

"Ellie, you don't have to worry, you'll_" started Don before she held up a hand to stop him.

"Don't Don, or I won't be able to carry on. Just answer the question – please?"

"Yes it was." It was Lina who answered.

Ellie nodded as she continued. "Stella said before that you still think it's me he's coming after.."

Don went to say something but Lina's hand on his arm stopped him.

"….so that woman was raped because he wants me. And even though you know who he is, you can't find him. So what will happen? He'll keep on doing this until he does and there's me safe and locked up in my ivory tower. But that's no life. I can't live like that."

She cast a glance at Don. "I can't love like that, and neither can you."

Don had an idea where this was going and he didn't like it but he had to keep quiet.

"So I've made a decision – and before you say anything.." she said turning to Don, "I've thought it through long and hard. I want to help you catch him. I want you to use me as bait."