A/N: I sincerly appologize to my readers for the lack of up-dates and honestly hope to have the rest of this story completed in the near future so I can focus on finishing my other two stories. Thank you kindly for your patience and the reviews and hope this chapter is up to your usual standards.

Chapter 37

"So the case has been dropped?" Stella asked.

"Judge Indica threw the whole thing right out, saying the evidence had only shown that Elliot's suicide had not been Maddy's fault," Flack said. He took a swallow of his beer before continuing. "Not only that, but he ordered the Dawson family to pay for the lawyer and court costs and also stated that they were to leave Maddy alone, with no more civil suits being pressed against her."

"That's good," Sheldon said.

"That whole mess shouldn't have even been started," Danny said.

"Well, what helped was the little deal we made with that reporter, Russell Edwards, and he sung like a damn canary in exchange for a little less time in jail," Heckadon said, grinning evilly. He was nursing a cup of strong coffee.

Flack, Heckadon, Mac, Stella, Sheldon, Danny, and Lindsey were all at Sullivan's and they were celebrating the fact that Judge Indica had thrown Madigan's Wrongful Death suit right out of court forty-eight hours after the two sides had presented their respective evidence.

Judge Indica had not only thrown out the suit he had also chastened the Dawson family for going after Madigan the way they had.

"I understand you, as a family, are grieving, but lashing out at this young woman, blaming her for something that was clearly a tragic, unpredictable incident, an incident that could have cost her her own life as well as that of another co-worker, that is reprehensible. Your tactics involving Mr. Edwards were also seriously reproachful," the judge had said. "I understand you wanting answers but this time you went about it the wrong way. In an incident such as this, I fear we may never truly understand what went through Mr. Dawson's mind during his final moments. I sincerely hope I never see your family in my court again or next time I shall be very strongly tempted to throw the book at you." Then Judge Indica had looked at Irwin, the Dawson family lawyer, with ice in his eyes and said, "Mr. Irwin, as a judge for New York City, I am a busy man and my time is valuable. As far as I am concerned, this case was a complete waste of the court's time and I would strongly advise that you do not try this tactic in my court room again, Mr. Irwin."

Then, to Flack and Heckadon's amazement, Indica had done a complete turn-around and said, "Detective Flack, might I enquire as to how Ms. Flack is doing?"

Flack, who was sitting beside Heckadon, had stood up and said, "I've heard from her recently and all indications suggest that she's doing okay and will be okay."

"I'm glad to hear that. Your sister is a very courageous young lady with a lot of strength in her. On behalf of the court, I sincerely apologize for this whole incident and sincerely hope it does not happen again," Indica said. And with that, he had ended the court session.

"Thank god it's over," Lindsey said.

"Amen to that," Mac said. "How is Maddy doing, anyway?"

"I got an e-mail from her this morning. Seems a few nights ago she, Alexx, and one of Alexx's co-workers, Calleigh, had a little get-together, which resulted in one heck of a hang-over for her," Flack said, grinning. "Seems someone kept refilling her wine glass."

"Maddy got drunk?" Danny asked, grinning, along with everyone else.

"Apparently so," Flack said.

"Damn, and we missed that!" Danny yelped.

"And it was a good thing we did, too. From the sounds of it, Alexx and Calleigh were, and I quote, 'a tad grumpy' the next day. Maddy over-heard Calleigh threatening to introduce a photocopy machine to the business end of a rocket launcher later that day," Flack said. "I think she said she also heard someone being threatened by Alexx, something about being put in a body cast if he or she didn't hurry the hell up and get the hell out of her morgue."

That elected a round of chuckles from the group.

"Other than that, she's having fun, getting a nice tan and all that," Flack said.

"And you believe her?" Sheldon asked.

"I'm inclined to this time, especially since I've also been getting e-mails from both Alexx and Horatio and they've both been saying the same thing; that Maddy's doing okay. Mind you, Alexx said she and Calleigh deliberately got Maddy drunk to get her to loosen her tongue a bit, especially in regards to Elliot."

"Did it work?" Lindsey asked.

"Sounds like it. Seems Maddy slept pretty heavily and the next day she had, and again I quote, 'a look of peace about her, like she'd come to some sort of realization,'. I understand she had some kind of dream but she didn't go in to too much detail about it."

"You can always prod her about it when she gets back," Heckadon said.

"Oh, I intend to do quite a lot of prodding when she gets back," Flack said, grinning.

"When is she due back?" Stella asked.

"End of this week," Flack said. He opened his mouth to say more when his cell rang. Glancing at the caller i.d., he flipped it open and answered it.

"Flack," he said.

"Did you know your sister has a wicked temper?" came Lieutenant Horatio Caine's faintly amused voice.

"I should, since I've got a scar on my lip and a chipped tooth as a present from her from when we were younger," Flack said. "What did she do this time?" he asked, ignoring the raised eyebrows and looks of amusement from his friends.

"Put it this way; I'm guessing the issue in regards to Madigan's anger towards Elliot will no longer be an issue. A Southern boy took objection to our young Yankee throwing him around and tried to start a fight with her."

Flack groaned and put his head in his hand in exasperation. "Court case?"

"I wouldn't worry about it, Don, considering he started the fight. Madigan simply finished it."

Flack groaned again. "Yup, that's Maddy, through and through. She won't start it, but God help you if she's pushed hard enough because she will finish it. That's how I got the scar on my lip."

"I know the feeling. I've got a scar on my knuckles from a row with my brother, Ray, from when we were much younger," Horatio said, chuckling.

They chatted for a few more minutes before hanging up and then Danny pounced on him. "You got a scar on your lip from Maddy?" he asked.

Flack pointed to a small, very faint line on the top of his upper lip. "I was fifteen, she was seven. Tormented the heck out of her one day and she swung. Nut shot followed by a right cross." Everyone winced. "And the worst part? The worst part was that was the very same move I'd taught her not that long ago. Never did that again. Oh, was she ever mad," he said, chuckling at the memory.