Disclaimer: I already said it in the other chapters.

CSY NY

Ch. 9

It was another silent drive for Mac and Danny, but a silence brought about by anticipation as they led the way to Ricky's home in Brooklyn. There was a shared feeling of urgency, but no one could have been feeling it more than Danny. Mac observed him out of the corner of his eye, noting his inability to sit still and the way his eyes darted in search of the familiarity that would tell them they were coming in on Ricky's place. Danny had not been this alert for days, though it was probably causing some discomfort. Mac had a feeling Danny had sacrificed some of his medication just so he could be more clear-headed.

Though Mac felt just as tense, his own anticipation was tempered, and his hopes put on a leash. From all that Danny had told him (excluding the mysterious friend), it all sounded like a long shot. This was supposition based on intel that was gathered a long time ago. Things might have changed since then; Bruno's caution might have been honed to a point that he no longer even risked taking souvenirs. However, as Danny had put it after Mac had told him all this, it was all they had. Danny trusted his friend, Mac trusted Danny, and there seemed no harm in at least trying.

When Mac agreed, Danny then insisted that he come as well, just in case Ricky wasn't home. Danny may have run with another group, but he still knew the territory, especially old hangouts and the like. He also knew Ricky, having investigated him and all. Mac could not deny the merit of Danny's presence in this matter.

" We're almost there," Danny announced. They were pulling into a neighborhood made up of a mixture of old apartments and shops. Being daytime, there was life on the streets, with people coming, going or just hanging on stoops, under canopies, or in the stores themselves. Mac pulled up in front of a red-bricked place with rusting window frames and a few cracked windows.

Mac stepped from the car to be joined by Flack and another police officer. Danny remained in the car, watching them as they entered the building. Ricky lived with his mother on the third floor, according to Danny. And though Ricky was a pushover in the worst kind of way, his mother was anything but.

Inside, the place seemed more like an old hotel with a fading red carpet marked in flowery patters, and wallpaper with a similar design but different colors. Everything about the place smelled old, touched here and there with an odor like bad milk.

When they came to the door, Mac stepped to one side and Flack the other, just in case Ricky got it in his head to throw the door open and bolt. Flack knocked.

" Ricky McCalister?" he called.

" Who is it who would like to know?" Came a petulant, elderly female voice with a slight accent Danny had said was Greek.

" NYPD, Ma'am," Flack said.

There came the rattle and click of locks, and the door swung open, revealing a plump woman with brawny arms, a slightly wrinkled face, and dark brown hair tied back in a bun with strands coming loose. She was wearing a plain apron over a flowered button shirt and a pair of black sweat pants. She placed her hands firmly on her wide hips as she looked from Flack, to the cop, to Mac.

" We're just here to talk with Ricky, ma'am," Flack said. " That's all."

Mrs. McCalister brushed hair irritably away from her face. " Just talk? That's all you want is to talk? Ha! I give you something to talk about. You want to arrest my boy again. You want to pin something else on him. No, you want him to talk about things. Well, he has nothing to talk about."

She was about to close the door when Mac reached out and stopped it.

" Actually, ma'am, we just want to talk, nothing more. No interrogations…"

Mrs. McCalister jerked the door back open. " That's what they all say, all cops. We just wanna to talk, we just wanna talk. Then, they drag my son away, lock him up, then mess up their own case just to make him suffer. My son has already talked. He talked to two others just like you, another cop and that skinny young man in glasses. Now you come in here like you own this city, you with your skinny cop friend… and another cop! What is this? You said you just wanted to talk. Why bring another, huh?" She shook her head, wearing an expression of pure loathing. " Talk. Do you even know how to just talk? Or are you going to force my son to say something he does not want to say."

Flack rolled his eyes, and Mac sighed.

" Mrs. McCalister," Mac said calmly, " we're truly not here about your son. If anything, we're here to help him. Did his cousin Bruno stop by some time today?"

Mrs. McCalister narrowed her eyes. " That scum from the bottom of a pond? He stops by more than I like. He is a bad influence on my Ricky. He is a bad presence in our household. Bruno, he is no nephew of mine. He is my husband's nephew only and nothing to me. But yes, he did stop by. Why, is this all about him?"

Mac inclined his head. " Yes."

A wicked grin spread on Mrs. McCalister's face. " Then you should have said so sooner. I care nothing for Bruno, and if it is Bruno you want, then Ricky will talk."

She turned her head and cupped her hand over her mouth. " Ricky!" She bellowed. Flack flinched and the cop behind them winced at the woman's grating voice that seemed to cut into the ears like a butcher knife.

Mrs. McCalister held up a finger. " Wait, wait there." She then went into the house, hollering out Ricky's name. When she came back her sour expression had been replaced by one of worry.

" He is not here."

" Do you know where he might have gone?" Flack asked.

She shook her head. " He comes and goes like the wind. Half the time, I never even know he is gone." The sound of her voice held a forlorn quality to it. Mac smiled at her reassuringly.

" When we find him ma'am, we'll send him straight home."

Mrs. McCalister nodded and shut the door.

" Sure she wasn't just covering for him?" Flack said as they made their way back up the hall.

Mac shook his head. " Danny told me she despises Bruno. She kept insisting that Bruno put Ricky up to everything."

" I'm starting to believe Ricky didn't even pull the trigger," Flack replied.

" Maybe, maybe not. I wouldn't put it past Bruno to convince his own cousin to take the hit. Probably told him it would make him a big shot or something. But that doesn't matter right now. If we don't find some evidence soon, Bruno and his gang will walk."

Flack nodded in understanding. " And Danny'll never be able to go home again. But how the hell are we going to find Ricky anyway?"

" We aren't," Mac replied, " Danny is."

NYNYNYNY

" Ricky doesn't have a car," Danny told Mac as Mac pulled away from the curb. " So he'd have to walk. There's three possible places he could have gone, but only one real logical one. He would want to be hidden, out of the way, in a place most wouldn't think to look."

" A place without a lot of people?" Mac asked.

Danny nodded, thinking back. " Something like that. And there's only one place I can think of he would most likely head off to. I've been there… a couple of times. It's out of the way, not by any residence. A place you can go if – you know – you don't want anyone hearing any screaming. Good place to do a little dirty work."

Danny guided Mac down several streets, leaving behind apartments and stores and heading into an area with empty sidewalks and what appeared to be empty buildings. Soon they came to what looked to be some sort of abandoned shipping yard or storage facility full of several warehouses. A sign at the front announced new ownership and the promise of new business and jobs.

But Danny's gaze went immediately to the nearest building - one of the storage units - and to the topmost floor. That may have been where it took place, the beating Danny hardly recalled. All he ever remembered from that night was waking up in the hospital with Tennessee sitting at his bedside. But it would not have been the first time someone brought him here. It was out of the way as he had told Mac. It was where all the discreet beatings took place, the ones not meant to kill but to act as a warning to rivals. Danny was a favored target because he had been young, scrawny, and therefore weak, though he had landed a few punches himself when he had the chance.

But if Bruno had ordered his near-death beating, then this was where it would have taken place. This was where it always took place.

" That one," Danny said, pointing to the building. " On the top floor. Door shouldn't be locked, not any more."

Mac pulled up along beside it, with Flack coming in behind.

" Stay here," Mac told Danny. Danny nodded. He watched as Mac joined Flack and the other officer. The three went in by a small side door with a shattered window and mangled handle. When they vanished inside, Danny turned his gaze upward at the top floor, then gradually moved his eyes downward as he looked the building over. It was plain, square, with a fire escape on the left side hidden in shadows. Danny fixed his sights on the escape and watched it carefully.

He had forgotten about the fire escape. Then again, he hardly recalled it even now, having been nearly unconscious every time he was hauled down it.

Danny got out of the car and headed toward the shadowy side of the building. He stood beneath the fire escape and stared up at it, wondering how they ever managed to drag his limp body down the rickety steps and ladders. The trip down probably constituted half the bruising.

Suddenly, he saw movement when the door to the escape burst open and Ricky came tripping out. The platform groaned ominously against Ricky's weight as he scrambled down the steps in a ringing of footfalls. Though short, Ricky was a well-built kid with dark, unruly hair. He was wearing a black coat and baggy jeans that to Danny's amazement had yet to trip the kid up.

Ricky kept looking over his shoulder as he climbed, so had yet to notice Danny. Danny took three steps back when Ricky reached the ladder. Ricky clamored halfway down then dropped with a thud the rest of the way. He turned, ready to bolt, only to stop short with a gasp when he saw Danny.

" Why the rush Rick?" Danny asked.

Ricky glanced around, deciding the best possible escape route. Then, looking back at Danny, he took Danny's injuries into stock for the first time and relaxed. A stupid grin spread on his face as he nodded in realization.

" See my cousin had a little talk with you," he said.

Danny's gaze darkened. " Yeah, he talked with me."

" Didn't learn your lesson then, I guess."

Danny shrugged. " Never have, never will. You got something we need, Ricky. We know Bruno visited you, and we know he gave you something. It's all we want Ricky, whatever he gave you. I promise you won't be taken in if you just hand it over."

Ricky started moving toward Danny. " He didn't give me crap."

Danny let out a sharp breath of annoyance. Ricky always seemed dumber than dirt, and now he was proving it. He walked up to Danny with supreme confidence, just because Danny was hurt, and not even considering that Danny might be armed.

Danny did have his gun with him, but he chose not to draw it. Instead, he waited for Ricky to act, knowing well enough he would.

" He did, Ricky. A glove, maybe? It's all we want, I swear. Just give us whatever he gave you and we can all walk out of here without a problem."

Ricky was now standing face to face with Danny, though the kid was an inch shorter than the CSI.

" You gonna make me?" Ricky asked. " You can try, and I can break another one of your bones."

Danny smiled, then bent his good arm and shot it out to connect his elbow with Ricky's nose. It hit with an audible crack, and Ricky fell to the ground, holding his nose and writhing in pain.

" Ah, crap! Ah man… what the hell!" he wailed. He moved his hand away to look, and saw blood smeared on his fingers. Panic filled his eyes.

" You broke my nose… You broke my nose."

Danny walked over to Ricky, grabbing him by the sleeve of his coat and hauling him to his feet. " I made your nose bleed, doesn't mean I broke it. Quit whining about it. Least the rest of you is still in one piece. You should be happy about that." He jerked Ricky around to face him. " You won't be having to take a crap-load of drugs just so can breathe right. Now hand over what Bruno gave you."

Ricky was still holding his nose with both hands, wincing. Danny rolled his eyes and pulled a Kleenex from his pocket. Grabbing Ricky's hand he shoved the tissue into it. Ricky held it up to his nose, scowling.

" Bruno's gonna kill me for this," Ricky whimpered.

" Actually, should he ask, I'll just tell him I beat the snot out of you for it. Which is kind of true. Listen Ricky; you don't owe Bruno anything. He sets people up and that's a fact. I highly believe he set you for that murder rap you so narrowly escaped thanks to someone else's stupidity. Of course it didn't help that you acted all proud of it. The thing is, Ricky, you don't have much of a choice. I'm pretty sure you're carrying the thing on you, and by not handing it over that makes you an accessory to assault and battery. You wouldn't want that now, would you? I know your mom wouldn't. You got a second chance, Rick, don't waste it on something stupid as this."

Ricky rolled his own eyes, fighting Danny's words. But they sunk in all the same, and Ricky reached into the pocket of his coat, pulling out a plastic bag. He held it up for Danny to see and Danny grinned. Inside was a pair of beige leather gloves, and a nice pair at that, now all ruined by the blood caking nearly every inch: Danny's blood.

" Don't give it to me. Give it to the cop when he comes out."

" Hey Danny!" someone called. Danny looked up to see Mac standing on the top-most platform of the escape.

" Yeah Mac?"

" Thought I told you to stay in the car."

Danny smirked. " You said to stay here. You didn't say anything about the car."

Mac grinned back. " You all right?"

Danny clasped a sullen Ricky's shoulder. " I am now."