Chapter 82: When It Rains
Gus walked through the pit, catching sight of Stella and Flack interviewing someone. She stopped, trying to figure out what she had missed in her trek back out to the crime scene.
She was able piece together that Dario Gonzales apparently was picking up extra cash bilking tourists with card games and one of the other Three Card Monty guys was less than pleased at having somebody else in his territory.
Gus hadn't ever given much thought to the con men working near the ferries, it was usually a fairly victimless crime and a misdemeanor not worth the time or paperwork.
Judging by their harsh interrogation, however Gus surmised that Stella and Flack thought Curtis had something to do with Dario's murder, given that the man had already done time for assaulting him.
Gus watched raptly at the scene unfolding before her. Stella was her usual razor edged self, but Flack...Gus suppressed a shiver. She couldn't pinpoint if she was attracted to or repulsed by the way Flack was questioning Curtis, and this frightened her.
Gus knew she needed to step back from the situation, focus on it just being about work, otherwise Daddino might end up taking both their badges. This was nearly impossible for her to do, however, Flack was more than just an ex to get over, he was the missing puzzle piece that helped complete everything.
She shook herself back into the present, the first thing she had to tackle was getting their work partnership back on track before Flack found himself on leave
"Nice work," Gus said, as Flack came out of the interview room with Stella staying behind for a handwriting sample. Gus hoped if she pretended nothing had happened early so would he.
Flack shrugged, "not that it helped, didn't get anything out of him. The scene choke up anything else?"
Gus gave an inward sigh of relief. Maybe he wasn't so far gone. "Nope, not a damn thing except some perky little clean up tech trying to steal Adam's job," Gus replied.
Flack smirked, "she still at that?" He looked everywhere except directly at Gus, though he was grateful she didn't seem to be bringing up their argument in surveillance earlier.
Daddino had given him an earful, though he had only listened to every third word the Lieutenant was throwing at him. The man had gotten his point across, work with Gus or don't work at all.
"Seems that way," Gus tried to ignore the fact that Flack couldn't seem to make eye contact with her. At least they weren't yelling at each other.
"Looks like it is up to the lab. Guess we should go return the media calls that I am sure have piled up. Did he really have to string that guy up on Ellis freaking Island?" Gus sighed.
"Murderers are so inconsiderate these days," Flack smirked back, a small slice of his former wit coming though, enough to give Gus a kernel of hope at least until Cliff Angell came walking into the pit a while later.
Gus pretended to be captivated in her phone call with some grating reporter, all while truly listening in on the conversation happening over at Flack's desk. Her heart dropped a little upon hearing Cliff invite Don over to the Angell's house for an old fashioned Sunday dinner to mark what would have been Jess' birthday. Gus was expecting Flack to decline, making up some excuse, so she almost fell out of her chair when she heard him tell Cliff to count him in.
Gus quickly righted herself, but not before Parker shot her look. "You okay over there, Slugger?"
"I'm fine, you got any more donuts over there?" Gus sighed, needing the sugar, trying to ignore Flack's frame slumped at his desk as Cliff Angell left the precinct. He was putting on a good show, that was for sure, but Gus knew all too well what was happening behind the curtain.
One day bled into the next with Mac getting a compass delivered to his desk, matching the one found on the first victim. Gus was beyond exhausted as she, Flack, and several uniforms worked on searching high-profile locations across the northern segment of the city. Mac was sure the killer was trying to point them to another victim, but after hours of searching and cross-referencing missing person reports, they had come up empty.
She caught a couple of hours of sleep in the crash room and had just exited the locker room after a shower when Flack caught up to her. "You even try to sleep?" she asked, taking in his even more disheveled appearance.
"Tried and failed, but Mac's got something for us. Apparently there was some trace on the compass, some fancy plant over at the gardens in the Bronx. We're heading over there now." Flack strode off without so much as a backwards glance, leaving Gus to practically run to catch up.
The search of the gardens turned up nothing, leading Gus, Mac, and Flack to the closed for renovations conservatory. None of them shocked to see the woman's body hanging there, though Mac seemed distraught they were too late.
"Mac, I'm sure Professor Plum had already offed her before he sent you the compass," she said, trying to find some levity in the situation. Both men just stood with grim faces.
"Can't believe I wasted a perfect Clue joke on y'all. I'm going to go see who I can rouse to find out who she is and how she got in."
Gus was able to quickly connect with the directory of the garden guild. The man shakily identified the woman as Carole Hillcroft, patron of the guild and widow who had last been to the gardens the evening before.
Flack had already found signs of breaking and entering on the back door of the building and was directing the uniforms to canvass Carole's contacts.
The team was already hard at work on the scene, leaving Gus feel at a loss about what to do next. She barely registered Flack talking to Mac and Stella saying, "if you guys don't need me to stick around, I got a bunch of 5s to type back up at the precinct."
She only processed it when she heard Mac say, "go ahead, Don, we got it." Gus moved closer in time to hear Stella half mutter, "you know he used to shave every day,"
He'll get through this," Mac stated simply, "it just takes time."
They both looked over at Gus. "What?" she asked, her brow furrowed while contemplating her next move.
Stella gestured with her chin in Flack's direction, "you can go help him, it's going to take a while to process the scene."
Gus sighed, heading after Flack, even though she figured he was going to brush her off. "Hey, Don, wait up!" she called after him as he headed to his car.
He turned, looking more through her than at her. "Since when are you the one to do the paperwork? I can get it."
Flack gave her a curt nod, before softening slightly. "Actually, I have someplace I need to be, can you cover for me?"
Gus realized it was Sunday night, the night he was expected at the Angell's for dinner. "Yeah, of course, always," she closed the distance between them, giving his arm a squeeze and trying to not take it personally when he bristled at her touch, "call me later if you, uh, yeah...drive safe, Don." She held her hand up to say goodbye as he got into his car and sped away.
She was tempted to follow him, but knew she would be awfully conspicuous in a patrol car, not to mention Flack would spot a tail in a hot minute. Gus knew she had to just let him go, even if it meant him spending the night reminiscing with the Angell family about how wonderful Jess was.
Despite their minute breakthrough the other night, her argument with Flack in the surveillance room made it clear Flack was battling too many ghosts at the moment. She resigned herself to just picking up the pieces when he fell apart as she flagged down a uniform to take her back to the precinct.
Gus had finished all the paperwork she could but was still sitting in the pit, unable to force herself to go home, half believing Flack would call when he was done at the Angell's or at the bar he was sure to hit up after.
Mac had already harrassed her to go home twice, telling her there was nothing more to be done until Sid finished autopsy and he probably wouldn't even get to it until the next day. One shift change had already occurred, and Mac was worried Gus would still be sitting at her desk through another one. He was about to demand she go home for the third time when Sid called.
Gus finally gave up sitting at her desk, knowing Mac would bug her until she went home and she didn't want to have another conversation with him about how he was concerned. Concerned Mac could turn into righteous Mac in a heartbeat, and she didn't have the fortitude to deal with that. All her energy reserves were being put into not falling off the edge herself and worrying about Flack.
Flack sat in front of the brick house for hours, watching the scene unfold inside. He watched Cliff and the rest of Jess' family reminisce, sharing happy memories of their daughter and sister. He lost count of how many times they toasted her throughout the long dinner, though he wished he had brought a flask to toast her on his own. He couldn't bring himself to get out of the car and walk up those steps and knock on the door.
No matter how he tried to act like he was fine when faced with Cliff Angell in the precinct. He wasn't fine. He missed Jess, not just for their blossoming relationship, but also for his partner and friend, they had shared plenty of good times long before they had ever slept together. It was more than that though, he missed so much of his old life and he was worried he would never get anything close to it back.
Happiness, contentment, restfulness, all of that seemed to be slipping further and further out of his reach. Gus kept trying to throw him a lifeline, but he couldn't make himself hold on, he didn't deserve it.
He was a murderer, no better than the scum he put away, even if Cade had killed Jess, would have popped one in his own head if he had reached his gun in time...Flack shook his head, he couldn't keep thinking about that moment, the true moment when everything came crashing down around him.
Yes, he had been falling in love with Jess and yes, he was willing to avenge her death no matter what the consequence. But he also loved Gus, so why did he keep pushing her away, why was he hurting her and himself? Would that wipe the slate clean on Cade? Was his salvation in staying miserable?
Flack took a deep breath before turning the key in the ignition and driving away from the idyllic family scene occurring in front of him.
Sitting at home wasn't any better than at the precinct, Gus just kept pacing, wearing a pattern into the floor and probably driving her downstairs neighbor insane.
She realized she was waiting for her phone to ring, for a drunk Flack to call her to come get him, to bail him out, to save him. And she would, despite their argument, despite knowing better, despite everything, Gus was determined to be there for him no matter what price she had to pay. She hoped her efforts would be rewarded one day, when Flack climbed out of this pit he was in, no, they were in and maybe...
Gus shook her head with a sigh, no it wouldn't be that simple. She knew Don and knew he would keep punishing himself for killing Cade, even though any cop on the force probably would have done the same, even sanctimonious Mac. Whether he was in love with Jess or not, his descent into destruction had little to do with Jess and more to do with his inner guilt. Gus desperately wanting to quiet his demons, but she knew despite her best efforts, she wasn't that strong, all she could do was sit and wait and try to remember how to hope.
Time slipped by and Flack didn't call her, not at closing time, not after. Gus was torn between relief and worry. Maybe he had just gone to the Angell's, maybe it had done him some good and he then went home and got his well needed sleep.
Something in Gus' gut didn't believe this though, which is why she picked up the phone and dialed his number despite the so late it was an early hour. It rang and rang, not even clicking over to voice mail, her heart sinking with each hollow ring.
When Flack didn't show up for work the next day, she covered for him, even though she was sure Daddino didn't believe her. She tried him again and again, from her cell, from the precinct line, from his own desk, all to no avail until the ringing stopped and his phone started just going to voice mail.
Seeped in worry and panic, but not knowing how to approach things without landing Flack on forced leave, Gus headed up to the lab to seek the help of someone she hoped she could trust.
"Of course I can track Flack's phone, my question is why do I need to?" Adam asked, seeming more flustered than he had in months. Gus worried his mojo was wearing off since Stella had made it clear there would be no repeat performance, not to mention Haylen was fighting tooth and nail to impress Mac.
"What part of no questions asked did you not get, Adam?" Gus asked, now pacing in his lab, alternating on chewing on her lip and fingernail.
"Gus, I want to help you, you have to know that," he ran his fingers through his curls and bounced slightly on the balls of his feet, looking at his friend with concerned aqua eyes.
"So help me, work your magic and tell me where Flack is," Gus said, her voice low as she came to a brief rest beside him.
"I am not that much of a magician, I can only tell you where is phone is, if it is on. Didn't you say it kept going to voice mail? Shouldn't we tell Mac or your Lieutenant about this?" Adam looked around to see if anyone was observing them.
"Please, Adam!" Gus begged, looking like she was about to cry.
Adam felt his resolve crumbling, "I want to help you, and I am worried about Flack too, everyone is, which is why I think we should tell Mac. I can do it, but I don't know if I should, especially since Mac hired Haylen," he gestured toward the lab where Haylen was batting her eyelashes at Mac.
"Mac did not hire Haylen, she hired herself with her stupid grant and he would be a fool to not take free help. Who is going to know anyway? I know you know how to cover your tracks. I will owe you one big time, Adam, and I would never ask this otherwise."
Gus leaned on the buzzer at Flack's building one more time, Adam tracing the phone to his apartment, still on, just not receiving calls. "Jesus Christ, woman, he either ain't home or ain't gonna answer!" Flack's bottom floor neighbor yelled at her through his window, hearing the constant buzzing. Gus glared up at the man, the look on her face prompting him to continue, "hold your horses, I'll buzz you in."
Gus knocked on his door, the cop knock echoing both in the apartment and down the hallway. She was positive she wasn't making any friends with his neighbors.
Maybe he had left the phone there and was out god knows where without it. A thousand horrific scenarios played through her head and Gus was starting to wish she had looped Mac in when she heard the door open a crack, the chain holding it mostly closed.
"What the hell are you doing here, Gus?" Flack asked, his face shadowed by a beard and dark circles under his eyes.
"Checking sure you weren't dead you jerk! Did you forget something important, like showing up to work today?" Gus was an exhausting combination of relieved and furious.
Flack gave a small grunt, "everyone keeps saying I need some time off, so I'm taking it."
"You could pick up your freaking phone and call us or answer me-" she broke off, catching a whiff, "Jesus Flack, how much have you had to drink? You smell like a moonshine still in the backwoods!"
"Nice chatting with you, Broussard, I'll see you at work in a couple of days." He slammed the door shut, loudly clicking the dead bolts into place, not answering Gus' subsequent pounding.
Chapter 83: Blues at Bay
Gus waiting out in front of the high-rise, uniforms buzzing around her working on the initial canvas and securing the scene as neighbors leaving for work stopped in their tracks.
She was tapping her foot anxiously as Flack walked up. "Nice of you to join us, picked a good case to come back to, wife already confessed."
Flack looked at her, his emotions playing out clearly on his face, flitting from sheepish to annoyed until he put on his blank mask, letting Gus know she'd been shut out.
He had taken three days off, all he could handle without going stir crazy in his apartment. He hadn't even meant to take those, but the truth was, after not being able to walk up the steps at the Angell's, he had gone through a bottle of whiskey at home trying to keep the blues at bay and had slept through his alarm.
He only woke up when Gus started banging on his door, her fist of fury the only thing to sound louder than the pounding in his head. He was then too embarrassed to admit his failings, not to mention the way he had treated her in surveillance.
"Confessed?" was all he managed to get out with Gus' looking at him with more concern than he could bear.
Gus nodded as she led him into the building and up the elevator. "Deborah Carter, married to Kevin, the diseased, for seven years. Talk about the seven year itch, apparently she had warned if him he ever cheated, she would kill him. He did and she was true to her word, stabbed him umpteen times, bled out on the spot. My favorite part, she left him and spent the night at the Ritz before coming into the precinct this morning to report it, after enjoying a spa breakfast."
Gus shook her head in disbelief as they stood over the body, "I got a uniform sitting on her now in the bedroom, she still needs to be Mirandized, you want the honors?"
"Sure, you loop them in yet?" Flack jutted his chin towards Mac and the rest of the team.
"Was just about to do that when you called in," Gus looked like she was going to say more, but didn't, ending the conversation by walking away.
Mac just looked at her with raised eyebrows, she had covered for Flack the past few days and everyone was full of questions she refused to answer.
"He's fine, Mac. Now this seems pretty open and shut, Deborah confessed, Flack is reading her her rights now, you'll confirm her story with the scene, and boom, we are free for lunch."
Mac gave her a small smile, "don't let Danny hear you using his catch phrase." "If the boom fits..." Gus trailed off as Flack brought Deborah Carter in.
"I'm going to check on the canvas," she said, sidestepping Flack and Mrs. Carter. Mac's eyes briefly followed her before turning back to the pair before him.
She returned in time to hear Mac talking on his phone to Stella, and judging by the wrinkle in between his eyebrows, her open and shut case was going down the drain. Flack was shoving Deborah at a uniform with clear annoyance.
"What did I miss?" Gus asked.
"She says she did it, stabbed the bastard 17 times, or as she put it until she got tired. Now Stella is calling saying some other woman's DNA was found on the knife. Deborah insists she was the only one involved, so now we get to drill her in interview until she coughs up her accomplice."
Mac watched their exchange as he hung up with Stella, there was something about their body language towards each other that worried him. "Augusta, you observe. Don, you and I will question."
Gus knew by her uncle's use of her full name to not argue, though she had to wonder why he was so insistent upon separating her and Flack.
Gus looked into the interview room, where Mac and Flack were intensely grilling Deborah. She was more than a little taken aback and could understand Deborah's confusion turning into annoyance. How often did the murderer cleanly admit to the crime without so much as a glance at an attorney? Not to mention the woman seemed very matter of fact about it, she had warned Kevin Carter and followed through with her threat. Gus was willing to bet that while the woman may be experiencing a bit of shock, she wasn't lying or even that remorseful, at least not yet.
Mac exited as the woman finally asked for a lawyer, looking perplexed. "What is your take?" he asked, his mouth set in a straight line.
"I know I am not the best at the hard sciences, Mac, but I know my social sciences, and I don't think she is lying-" she held up her hand as he started to protest, "yes, I know, DNA, I just think something is off here and it isn't Deborah Carter."
Mac sighed, "I'm going to see what else the lab has come up with, you two okay to get her to booking?"
Gus nodded, turning back to the room as Mac exited, wondering about the exchange she was observing.
"If you had to do it again, Deborah, if you could go back to that moment, would you do it again? Would you stick the knife in his chest?" Flack asked, more slumped than sitting in front of their suspect.
Deborah didn't hesitate, "all 17 times. Regrets are a waste of time, you can't change the past."
Flack looked at her, his eyes empty, "no matter how okay you think you are, when you close your eyes at night, it is going to haunt you."
Deborah looked her disbelieving and Gus didn't blame her. She truly believed the woman wouldn't be haunted by her act.
Flack, however, was more haunted than the LaLaurie Mansion. She waved for a uniform to come in to escort Deborah to booking, hoping to get Flack to talk, but Flack literally pushed Deborah past her without so much as a glance in her direction.
Gus considered trying to corner Flack once he got done with booking, but she wasn't in the mood for another workplace showdown, certain the rest of the guys had already started a pool. She decided to head up to the lab to see what was happening there, to see if any of the nerds could confirm her theory that Deborah Carter had acted alone.
She found Hawkes who was looking annoyed and perplexed. "Sheldon, what is going on?" she asked as he stared at a screen with several open cases from a variety of states.
"I'm not sure," he said, lost in thought and then realizing it was her, "hey, Gus, have you talked to Danny lately?"
Gus shrugged, she was getting more and more hermit like. "No, can't say I have, I tried to, but he blew me off, I don't think he wants me to think he is weak, and I never would think he is, but...you know."
Hawkes nodded, "I hear you, but the thing is, I think he is being weak." "Sheldon! He got shot in the back, he is in a wheelchair," Gus admonished.
"That is the thing, I don't think he should still be in it, I saw plenty of trauma cases, plenty of them worse than Danny's and many of them were already up and walking by now, it has been months."
"And as a doctor, you know that you can't truly put a definitive time line on anyone's healing process. Danny will get there, but don't you think he needs support more than a kick in the pants?" Gus asked, even though she felt she was talking more about Don than Danny.
Hawkes seemed to realize that, "I think he might need both, but I doubt that is what you can all the way up here for and since I don't see coffee..."
"I think Deborah Carter was the one to stab her husband," Gus said, crossing her arms over her chest in a challenge.
"Maybe so, but the other DNA we found in the apartment came up with hits on several cases in several jurisdictions, all pointing to the same unknown female. I am waiting on Albany now to finish confirming them all."
Hearing of red tape, Gus started to back away, "you have fun with that, Sheldon, I'm going to see if Sid has posted the autopsy yet."
Sid was still working on the autopsy when Gus made her way down to the basement, suppressing a shudder.
"Do what do I owe the honor of your ray of sunlight gracing my autopsy room, Augusta?" Sid said in his normal cheery fashion.
"Felt like it had been a while since I had been to a posting and wanted to see how Mr. Carter was doing," Gus said, tying her gown and slipping gloves.
"Always a pleasure, but I can't say Mr. Carter is doing well, he is, in fact, very dead," Sid teased with a smile, making a note in the chart.
"Oh, Sid," Gus replied with a smile and a shake of her head.
"I sent his stomach contents up to the lab, seems like it had a large dinner right before he was killed. I understand the wife confessed to his murder?" He looked up over his glasses at the young woman studying the body with a grave face.
Gus nodded, "yep, apparently he cheated on her and that was the consequence."
"I often feel like my wife would do the same thing, though she would probably poison me, she doesn't like to get her hands dirty, ironic considering what I do every day," Sid said with a grin.
Gus started to reply, before feeling her phone vibrate, "looks like I'm being summoned to the lab, nice to see you, Sid."
"Anytime, Augusta," Sid retorted with a wave, made gruesome by the bone saw in his hand.
Gus caught the elevator up, taking a deep breath when it stopped on the first floor and Flack got on. Luckily it was empty. "You get summoned by Mac, huh?" she asked, hoping to get some response from him.
"Yep, you too?" Flack said, his jaw working. Gus could only nod. Finally Flack gave her the smallest of concessions. "Thanks for covering for me with Daddino and everyone."
Gus gave a small shrug, "we're still partners, Don, I have your back. Just, call me first next time, okay?"
"Fine, but don't try to best down my door next time, either. Johnson has been bitching at me since you showed up."
"Hairy guy on the first floor, yeah, he seemed like a winner," Gus said with a small smile, wondering where she stood with Flack, desperate to maintain a connection, no matter how tenuous. "
Say, um, you want to grab a drink or dinner or whatever meal it might be when this case is done?"
Flack gave a non-committal shrug, until he took in Gus' crestfallen look. "I guess, let's see what is going on first."
What was going on was that Stella wanted to take Flack to canvass the buildings on either side of the Carter's because of a fiber match to their carpets and Mac wanted her to work with Hawkes and Lindsay on building a profile of the now 21 cases the unknown female donor was connected to.
Sinclair was already having kittens at this one woman crime spree and Mac wanted a behavioral profile in addition to the scientific one. Gus sighed as she saw the boxes already coming in by courier and realized it might be quite some time before she got around to that drink or meal with Flack.