Chapter Thirty Six
You can't touch me now there's no feeling left
If you think I'm coming back don't hold your breath
What you did to me boy I can't forget
If you think I'm coming back don't hold your breath
Nicole Scherzinger – Don't Hold Your Breath
The crime scene in the Hotel Tribeca was one of the worst that Grace had ever attended, second only to the Shane Case murders. It was a struggle to take in the extent of the horror all at once as she hesitated in the doorway surveying the scene. It was a massacre, four young adults, two boys and two women were lying in pools of their own congealing blood. There were hack marks in each of their victims, slices from what she assumed was the missing fire axe from further down the hallway. They were all lying in different positions, Grace stepped over the dark haired man lying face down on the beech laminate flooring closest to the door before setting down a yellow plastic number beside his body.
Copper twanged in her mouth as she took a step another step, the stench was in her nose already flooding her senses as she crouched beside a young girl on her side, arm twisted over her body in a protective stance. The woman had stood no chance against the power of the killer's swing, the axe had caught her in the back of the head splitting her skull wide open.
The art deco brown and duck egg coloured rug in the centre of the room squelched underfoot as she tread lightly across it, flecks of red were already staining her baby blue booties as she heard Danny's intake of breath behind her. She ignored it. He had allowed her on numerous occasions to make the same concession. The two of them were professionals but sometimes Grace had to admit there was a scene that caught you completely off guard.
The second male and also the third victim was laying on his back, his skin was a waxy shade of white, his lips apart as if the last words he meant to utter were caught somewhere in the brief space between life and death. She could see the muscle transcended in his chest through the frayed edges of his grey T-shirt. He had been one of the last to die.
The final victim was also lying on her back. Her glassy dark eyes were staring vacantly at the ceiling, a trickle of blood was leaking from her lips tracing a pathway down her cheek before soaking into the carpet underneath. She had been cut down across the stomach, her intestines were exposed and lacerated making Grace's stomach churn at the knowledge that her death had been slower, more antagonized than all of the others.
Her attention came to focus on the blood spatter from the massacre as Danny unpacked the camera they used to record their crime scenes. It was everywhere, arterial spray was splashed across the beige walls as if it were nothing more than crimson paint. It was hard to tell what blood belonged to who and she knew on her crime scene sketch that she would have to take note of every single blitz of body fluid that massed the area.
Allegedly they already had the perp in custody. James Roberts had been tasered by the unis after he was caught running down the main street, covered head to toe in smears of blood, swinging a fire axe at oncoming traffic. He hadn't obeyed their order to stop and had been suitably subdued. She'd heard that they'd had to transport the perp in a body bag in order to preserve the evidence. Grace shuddered at that thought.
Grace rose her head, tilting it towards the ceiling as her eyes focused on the cast off pattern flickered across the white ceiling. There was a lot of rage in this killing, to take down four people with a fire axe with this much ferocity was the work of a seriously sick mind.
"Hard to believe one fucked up kid did all this." she murmured to Danny as he came to stand beside her angling the camera in his hands to take a picture of the pattern.
"Fucked up kid with a fire axe." Danny corrected, lowering the camera before taking the yellow markers out of her hands and setting one down next to their third victim.
In a way the two of them were lucky, Sheldon was on his way to come help out with the documenting and collection of this scene. Between the three of them the workload would be cut down by half, something that Grace herself was very grateful for.
It was Don who had the unfortunate task of interviewing James Roberts. Him and Mac had been the first responders to this abysmal crime scene and she knew that despite the fact her husband was as seasoned as they come that this scene had unnerved him in the same manner in which it had shaken both her and Danny.
Stella had drawn the short straw and taken it upon herself to process the evidence still attached to James Roberts person. As far as Grace knew this included messy bloody hand prints that were patch worked all over his half nude body as well as a DNA swab from his mouth. Being in the same room as the person who did this would put the fear of God into Grace and she wasn't ashamed to admit that.
"This is awful." Grace uttered, crouching down beside their remaining vic and placing the marker next to her corpse.
"Whenever there's something this messed up there's usually drugs involved." Danny commented, with a shake of his head as he snapped a shot of the splatter pattern on the wall.
They were interrupted by the sound of Grace's phone ringing from the back pocket of her jeans. She removed her phone for a second, casting a glance at the caller I.D before flicking the Purple Blackberry onto vibrate.
"You wanna explain that?" Danny requested, his cornflower blue eyes fixed on her curiously as he held the camera between both hands.
Grace shrugged as she stepped over one of the bodies to set a marker down alongside an authentic looking Walter PPK, she could tell from the plastic valve on the back that it was in fact a water gun.
"Not really." Grace said with a sigh.
"Uh huh, the two of you fighting already?" Danny asked as Grace moved across the room, distributing the numerical markers as Danny took pictures.
"God no." Grace responded, pulling a face at the thought. "The two of us are better than ever."
"Your mom?" Danny persisted, watching Grace's reactions intently.
"My mom's still not speaking to me after the whole finding out about the wedding over Facebook thing." Grace informed Danny before kneeling down alongside of her kit and clinking the metal catches open.
"To be fair Adam didn't know your mom was on Facebook." Danny pointed out, taking a picture of the water pistol as Grace withdrew her fingerprint powder and dust brush.
"I don't blame Adam." Grace said with a shrug of her shoulders.
"You know if I can tell some thing's going on then you know Flack will too right?" Danny submitted into the air between them.
Grace rolled her eyes skyward, biting her lower lip in agitation as she stared at the blood spots on the ceiling.
"It's Jack." Grace muttered, not daring to chance a glance at the expression on Danny's features.
"Faraday?" Danny exclaimed, his attention fully fixated on Grace as she dropped to her knees in front of the door hand that led into the bathroom.
"Yea." she said flatly, her voice purposely devoid of emotion as she twisted her fingerprint brush lightly in the compact of dust before using her breath to blow off the excess.
"You know why he's calling don't you?" Danny questioned, watching as Grace twirled and twisted the brush between her fingertips to sprinkle the powder over the prints.
"Why do you think I'm not answering?" she responded, hand dipping into her kit to remove the fingerprint tape so she could take a hard copy of the print away with them.
"Jesus how long has it been?" Danny asked her, shaking his head in disbelief.
Grace paused for a second, backtracking over the past few years of her life as she actually thought over the answer to that question.
"Two years more or less since we last saw each other. Less since we talked." she informed Danny, using her forefinger to smooth over the tape in order iron out any ripples.
"So he doesn't know about you and Flack?" Danny queried, threading his arm through the strap of the camera so it came to hang off of his shoulder as he focused on collating the information he was gradually weaning from her.
"I was talking about Will the last time we chatted." Grace told Danny, tearing the tape from the handle, running her thumb over it to seal the print inside. "Perfect."
"You should tell Flack." Danny told her sternly. "You know what he's like when it comes to Faraday."
Grace slipped the fingerprint inside her kit before withdrawing a set of different sized evidence bags from the bottom of her case.
"Don's like that with the FBI in general." she dismissed with a wave of her hand. "It took him long enough to warm up to Beth and she's as genuine as they come."
"Grace." Danny tutted as she rose to her feet. "You know better than that."
Grace pursed her lips together as she caught sight of the disapproval in Danny's cornflower blue eyes. He was right in a way, she wasn't sure how she always ended up in this position defending Jack after all these years. What he had done to Don was underhanded and ambitious yet she was glad in a way. If he hadn't claimed the credit for that case he would never have broken it off and rode that promotion all the way to San Francisco.
"Your right." Grace muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I wasn't being fair. I'll tell him."
"Now your thinking like a married woman." Danny teased, slipping the camera off of his shoulder in order to pack it away in the carry case they used to transport it.
The two of them worked the rest of the scene in a companionable silence lost in their own thoughts and memories.
Yo guys! An early chapter because I am up early and energetic. Did everyone have a fab Pancake Day yesterday?
I would like to thank everyone who reads, reviews, adds and lurks. I appreciate your support with this story and I hope I manage to keep your interest for as many chapters as there are to come!
Special thanks to Nat! The discussions we had about Jack! You listened to me whine, moan, chop and change! Your a true friend x
Running: lol I'll admit I am addicted to writing this story. The two of them are a joy to bring to life! I thought their connection had to run a bit deeper. They have each other's trust and I feel like they share something beside their love for Don lol. Danny's protective of Don and Grace as we'll see on and off through the story.
Pheo: Yo! I promise I will update Skin Deep today! Lol I am just glad Grace and Danny didn't go the same way as Danny and Mia lol, there was a real danger of that until I managed to set the tone of their friendship.
Lov: LMAO imagine feminist you fighting anti fem you! Don's the kinda man I would love to have in my life also. I hope your having a great day today and you have a lovely little chap waiting in your inbox for whenever your ready. Hands up, I am a tad romantic but I am also very fiercely independent. I can't believe I have been single for a year now lol. My bros are constantly urging me to settle down.
O'Dell: lol you hit the nail on the head with the review thing. Reviews = love in an authors world. I hope this chapter is a suitable length! It's rare for me to have anything too sappy but I am glad you enjoyed it! I update once a day because thankfully I have a backlog of chapters to buffer in between writing and updating in case I get writer's block or if I spend a few days on a long and difficult chapter. Thankies for your review!
Sch: I was completely surprised by all this stuff, but it just came to me and I thought why not. It's cute and lighthearted and they need something like that. I thought it was time to reveal a bit more about her feelings. She's a very showing type person and it was time for her to let him know how long her feelings had been this strong. LMAO you are becoming champion of their relationship! Defender of DRACE (we can work on that)
Sam: lol Danny and Grace friendship has been the hardest part about this story would you believe? Thankies for the review, I do really appreciate it!
Bel: God you picked up on that huh? Lol The reason I didn't write Grace and Danny friendship before this chapter was because whenever I did they had this chem fizzing between them and it always ended up as something more so I had to keep scrapping the chapters because Don and Grace are solid and stable. Anything Danny/Grace would be sex. In this chapter it became apparent there was a reason for their deeper connection and that's what I needed to make a friendship work. It's a terrible amount of trust to have someone see you in those sad positions and the two of them in a way are besties. Danny is very protective over Don and Grace's relationship.