Disclaimer: I will say it one more time, I don't own CSI.
Note: This chapter contains some violence, but a I was not certain whether it crossed over to the PG-13 arena. I don't think it does, so I stand by my PG rating, but I'd thought I'd just warn you, just in case.
CSI NY
Ch. 4
Rest. There wouldn't be any rest, not for Danny Messer. He may have looked weary on the outside, but on the inside he was strung out and wired. He had to clench his fists and shove them in the pockets of his coat to stop them from shaking.
For him, it was not a simple matter of hating to have to speak about his past, but speaking about it in front of people he knew and respected. It shamed him, what he had been, and he didn't want them to know. Would they still be his friends if they knew? Perhaps. Would they still respect him, look at him the same? That he could not say, and it was that he feared the most. He did not want them to see him any other way than who he was now.
It had been a mistake to take on this case. He had been overly hopeful that, maybe this time, Bruno would be the one to end up behind bars and not just one of his cronies. The way things were going now, not even the crony would get his, and Danny would probably be the one in jail.
The day was still cold and wet, but it was a weak chill without the wind to make it worse. All the same Danny shivered, both from the slight chill and tension. He moved slowly as he walked. There were fewer people on the sidewalk today so he didn't have to maneuver as much. The parking lot wasn't far, but it felt far to him. He stared at the sidewalk as he went, paying no attention to the people walking by him.
Then one passing figure suddenly reached out and caught hold of the shoulder of his coat, stopping Danny abruptly. Danny looked up, turning partway, to stare into a somewhat familiar face.
The guy was shorter than Danny, but heavier, with a round face, small blue eyes, and dark brown hair slicked stiffly back. He was wearing a heavy black coat with neatly pressed Khaki pants and expensive looking black suede shoes.
" Hey Danny, how've you been lately?" The man asked. Danny didn't remember the guy's name, just his face. He was one of Bruno's.
Danny jerked his shoulder away and continued walking. The man quickened his steps to catch up with him.
" Danny, my man, why the cold shoulder?" He laughed at this. " Hey, I just wanna talk is all."
Danny quickened his steps, and so did the man. " What, you pretending not to know me? It's me, Steve. Don't you remember me? Ah, Probably not, huh? It's like you said, we're all just a bunch of Godfather wannabe's. Bet we all look alike to you, don't we."
Danny scowled. " 'Bout time one of you realized it," he mumbled.
" What's that? I didn't catch that. Anyway, the boss sent me here to ask a question, about Ricky… and something about evidence you left at his place? Is that true Danny? Was some evidence messed with?"
Danny slowed, startled. They weren't supposed to know this. Then again, Steve could just be testing him, getting reactions to see what was true and what wasn't. It was on the news that evidence was in question. There was no secret there. The rest could only be speculation.
" Wouldn't know anything about that, Steve. So be a good little messenger and tell you're boss that."
Steve clasped Danny on the shoulder. " Danny, I don't think that's the answer he's looking for. He just wants to know what's up with it. Did somebody frame his little cousin? Was it you? I bet it was you. He just wants to know what's going on, what'll happen to his cousin, that kind of crap."
" Tell him his cousin's going to jail."
Steve tightened his grip on Danny's shoulder until it began to ache, but Danny held back any reaction so as not to give Steve the satisfaction.
" That's not very nice, Dan. And it ain't true if what I hear tell is going on."
Danny stopped and turned to face Steve. " You always believe what you're told? Sometimes those news reports have it wrong. And why would you think I did it? I wasn't the only one after you guys."
Steve lifted one shoulder in a shrug. " Bruno seems stuck on the idea. I don't think he likes you much Danny. Not much at all. I'd watch it if I were you."
Danny shoved Steve's hand from his shoulder. " That a threat Steve?"
Steve raised his hands and began backing away. " Just a little warning. You know, between friends?"
Danny chuckled bitterly. " What makes you think we're friends just 'cause of a little warning?"
Steve shrugged, then turned and walked on, whistling happily.
Danny watched him for a moment with anger twisting his insides. " Stupid son of a…" he mumbled, then turned and walked away as well.
Danny did not go home right away. He was too agitated to simply sit around and wait for tomorrow, especially since it would only be a repeat of today. He drove about, thinking, stopping at his favorite sandwich shop but only eating half his sandwich.
He was certain that it had been Tom that tampered with the evidence. The reason why wasn't important, everybody hated Bruno and his gang. What he wondered was if the two cops were in on it, but he could not say for certain. Jennings seemed the clean-cut type, by the book as it were. But that had been an immediate impression and Danny knew better than to stick with those.
Danny went through these thoughts over and over. He wished he could be part of the investigation rather than on the wrong end of it. He trusted Mac, Stella, and Aiden but he needed something to do.
When the daylight began to fade, Danny finally headed home. The time it took past like a blink, the only good aspect of having troubled thoughts. When he arrived, he parked, turned off the ignition, and sat there for a moment.
He did not want to go in tomorrow. He did not want Alecson asking more questions. The thought of it made him queasy, and for the first time in his life he had the sudden urge to fake sick and call it in. It would only be one day, one brief respite, but it might help him to prepare. He knew it wasn't true, but it was still tempting. He dreaded what Alecson might dredge up, and dreaded even more having Flack and Mac hear about it.
The world was growing dark outside with the stars hidden by gray overcast, and the dropping temperature was seeping into the car. Danny waited a moment longer, then shuddered and got out of the car. The moment he turned to lock it, something pressed into his back while simultaneously a hand gripped his shoulder.
" Don't even breathe," a voice hissed in his ear. " And don't even think about turning around. Just go where I guide ya. Oh yeah, and hands up."
Danny obeyed, raising his hands to neck level. The man behind him pulled Danny carefully away from the car, then away from the apartment building.
The man pushed Danny's head so that his gaze was on the ground. " Keep it there," he snapped.
They turned, moving toward the neighboring buildings and onto the sidewalk, keeping to the shadows. Danny knew his neighborhood, but with his eyes down he could not say exactly where they were going. It seemed they went down every turn they came to, moving through allies into darker, more unknown places that Danny had never gone through.
" You want something pal?" Danny asked despite his dread.
" Yeah, we want something."
The use of "we" made Danny's spirits sink lower than he thought possible.
" This isn't the kind of place you wanna be doing anything in," Danny said.
The assailant pressed his gun harder into Danny's back until it seemed to grate against his backbone.
" You'd be surprised how easily people tend to ignore stuff."
They moved into a wide space between two buildings where light seemed not to exist. The shadows were so thick they were stifling, and Danny thought his eyes would never adjust. He saw what he thought was movement flicker out of the corner of his eyes, and the heard scrape and crunch of footsteps. The man with the gun yanked off Danny's coat and jacket, allowing the growing cold to attack Danny. Someone else took his gun and he heard it go clattering and sliding away.
Danny's heart was already pounding the rate of a jackhammer. The increasing cold and his increasing tension caused him to shiver involuntarily until even his breath came and went unsteadily.
But he was well aware of what this was, of who these people were. What he did not know was what would happen next, so he could not help his terror.
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder, and he flinched.
" We're he-re," someone hissed in his ear in a singsong voice like the girl from Poltergeist. " Time for the thing we want. You ready for this Messer? No? I didn't think so."
There came many chuckles. Then the pressure of the gun went away, and the moment it did something hard and fast struck Danny's back. He fell to the ground on all fours, crying out in pain. Hands grabbed him roughly by the shoulders to pull him onto his knees. He saw, faintly, the outline of a head. Someone was crouching in front of him. Someone else removed his glasses, and like the gun sent them skittering away.
" Did you plant evidence at Ricky's place?" the person asked. His voice was deep and hoarse, like the voice of a large man who was also a heavy smoker.
Danny shook his head.
" What was that?"
" No."
The person stood, and then a fist struck Danny across the face. It was a hard blow, and Danny would have fallen if the hands on his shoulders had not jerked him back into kneeling. Then the fist struck him in the chest to force the air from him. Danny gasped it back in, sputtering curses and coughing.
" Okay, maybe you're not hearing me right. Did you – plant evidence – at Ricky's – Place."
Danny grinned viciously, feeling spiteful despite his fear. " No – I – Did – Not. O – kay?"
He was struck again. The metallic flavor of blood fill his mouth, so he spat it out onto the ground, hearing it hit with a wet slap.
" Don't get smart, Messer! Just tell the freakin' truth!" The man struck again, this time in the other direction. Danny sucked in a sharp breath, grimacing, feeling warm blood trail down his face from next to his eye.
" It is the truth you stupid son of a…!"
The next blow pulled him from the other man's grip, and he fell to the ground.
" Wrong answer Danny!" The words were followed by a sharp kick in the ribs, then another and another, knocking the breath from him and keeping it out. He tried to get up, but a foot slammed into his back, driving him down and pushing him into the asphalt. Hands gripped both his shoulders and began pulling him up with the weight of the foot increasing. Danny's back bent, nearly to the point of breaking, until the hands let go allowing him to drop. The foot then lifted away and he was hauled back onto his knees - where he received a blow to the chest with an audible crack by the same instrument that must have struck his back. He doubled over in a fit of burning agony, still unable even to cry out. He was forced to straighten when someone jerked him upright by his collar, twisting it until it choked him. Once again, he was struck in the face.
" Did you plant evidence!"
Danny spat more blood. " No," he moaned. " I would never do that… not even to catch you guys."
The people around him laughed.
" You know Messer, you always were a wuss."
Through the haze, the pain, and fear, Danny still managed a small smile. " I thought you didn't remember me."
" Oh I remember you Messer. Mind you weren't worth remembering until you started busting in, finding stuff that would put away my pals. I let it slide, let you have your glory, just to see how far you could get. But to try and frame my cousin? Come on Messer, that's pretty low."
" You'd know all about that Bruno."
" Shut up Messer. You chose not to play fair, so we chose not to play fair either. Just a little fair play going on here. You know how it is."
" I didn't do it."
Someone gripped his arm at the elbow, pulling it away from his aching chest.
" We'll see."
Another pair of hands gripped his wrist. They straightened his arm out to his side, and Danny cringed, tensing for what was obviously coming next.
Something whistled through the air, then it struck his arm. Danny screamed when searing pain shot through his arm like bullets of fire and ice. Then it struck again, and the bones of his arm cracked loudly, echoing like a distant gunshot.
The accumulation of pain became too much for his mind to handle. Consciousness slipped from him like water though his fingers, and the voices of Bruno and his gang became strange echoes like something in a past dream.
" Did you plant evidence? We'll stop if you tell us the truth."
Danny's breath was ragged and shallow, but he managed a final word, spoken with absolute conviction.
" No."
" Well then, I guess we're done here. Give him his coat back. He might want to call for help… if he manages to wake up."
Danny was helped to the ground and positioned onto his back. He heard the laughter, but it faded away, as did everything else. His last coherent thought before slipping off involved finding his gun and shooting Bruno the moment he woke up. Just as soon as he woke up…
