Author's notes: Dang it. My invite to the big TomKat wedding must have been delayed or lost in the mail. Oprah isn't going either, so maybe we'll just hang out this weekend. Thanks so much for all of the reviews. I'm becoming somewhat a review junkie….just can't get enough!
Well, here it is. The last chapter. Let me know what you think.
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"Hey there sleeping beauty. You going to sleep all day or what?"
Flack opened his eyes slowly to look at the young man standing next to his bed. "If you try to kiss me Messer I'll show you that I can beat your ass even from a hospital bed."
"Waking up on the wrong side of the bed there Flack?" I talked to your Mom outside in the hall and she said you've been sleeping for the last three hours." Danny pulled up the chair next to his friend and sat down. "You know I'm giving up lunch to come and visit you." He looked for some sympathy, but finding none he continued, "Seriously, it's good to see you awake and functioning again. You really gave us a scare. How are you feeling?"
"Like a cab ran over me." He shifted to set up more and winced as pressure was put on his wound. "I've had better days, that's for sure. So did you get the guy who had the gun?"
Danny frowned, "Yeah we got him and we've got the forensics to back it up." Danny proceeded to run through the whole story, asking Flack to fill in where he could, finishing with Ricci's reluctance to finger Scalero. "The problem is without a body, Ashley's information is worthless. To make matters worse, Mac had her downtown this morning and she up and disappeared. He's got the uniforms looking for her. Of course if we don't find her the worry is Scalero will."
Flack had gone very quiet. "She was here this morning to visit me. She said she had stuff to do and took off. I should have realized that being here by herself wasn't right."
Danny placed a hand on Flack's arm, "You couldn't have known. Did she say anything else?"
"Goodbye." Flack slumped back against his pillow.
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Two weeks later – Dec 5
It was his first day back at work. He was riding a desk for a while, but it was good to be back with people. Sure people had stopped by his apartment to check on him and Messer had been over so much that Flack had contemplated changing the locks, but it was good to be back to "normal". Catching up on paperwork and relationships had consumed most of his day. Mac had stopped by to welcome him back. The trial for Ricci was scheduled in February, but no new developments had surfaced with the case against Scalero.
Walking home from the subway station Flack noticed a few flakes of snow were in the air. Christmas was just around the corner and that meant starting the dreaded job of Christmas shopping. Actually, he had already found one gift. Yesterday, on his last day off from work, he had been walking by a store that carried a wide variety of items. Glancing distractedly at the window he stopped in his tracks as he noticed the perfect gift in the window display. Hurrying inside he made a purchase and waited patiently for the clerk to wrap it in brightly colored Christmas paper. The gift currently was sitting on top of the bookcase in his apartment. Inside the small box was a golden angel on a golden chain. A guardian angel is what the display called them, each style having a different name applied to it. It was an easy choice; he had selected the one named Ashley.
Climbing the steps to his apartment he stopped at his mailbox and picked up the day's mail. In his apartment he laid the mail on the counter and shrugged off his coat. Turning his attention back to the mail he noticed a postcard showing a picture of the Statue of Liberty. He turned the card over and on the back was a short message. Hope you are recovering. Things still not resolved. Hope to see you again. Ash
Moving to the window he looked out and noticed that it had started to snow, the flakes falling quickly to the ground. He thought of a certain blonde haired angel and hoped that she was safe and warm.
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The white flakes stood out in sharp contrast to the dark hair. Fingers combed through the short hair and displaced those flakes that had gathered. A dark hat went on and was pulled down to protect the back of the visible neck. Stomping army boot clad feet in an effort to keep blood circulating, the individual tucked fingers under armpits seeking warmth. Headlights suddenly cut the night as it pulled away from the house set back from the road. Winding its way down the drive, it turned and continued down the street. Once out of sight the person standing back in the shadows crossed the road and began making their way towards the house, the dark and the snow swallowing them up.
Sequel? Yes/No?