AN Okay, I had to do a lot of exposition in this chapter, and I'm still not entirely happy with the way it all came out. It's pretty unrealistic, as far as I'm concerned, but I guess that's the beauty of fiction, isn't it? Anyway, it was the easiest way to explain the situation without dragging it out, so please forgive me if this chapter feels a little choppy. Any suggestions for how to make this flow better are appreciated!
:oP NeverMind

Flack grinned. "I know just who we should talk to."

Back in the lab, Mac and Stella were processing the evidence from the shootout in their lobby that killed their intern. Mac had been stoic and distant the whole day.

"Anything?" Stella asked, indicating the bullet Hawkes had pulled out of David that Mac was running through IBIS.

Mac just shook his head. "Not yet."

"So what's up with you and Danny?" she asked casually.

"Nothing."

"Yeah right. You hauled him into an empty office yesterday and then sent him up here like a disciplined teenager and told him he was going on leave after he finished the face case. Something is definitely up."

Mac sighed heavily. "Did I make a mistake hiring him?" he asked her.

"I don't think so. He's good at what he does, even if he does screw up on occasion."

"The subway incident was more than just a screw up."

"That was out of character for Danny and you know it. Have you ever asked him why he panicked like that?"

"All he would say was that he 'followed procedure.'" Mac rubbed at his eyes. He'd been losing sleep over this.

"But you think you know why now?" Stella ventured.

"He used to be a Tanglewood Boy," Mac finally told her.

"What? As in the same gang as the guy we're supposed to be prosecuting at the end of the week?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't he tell you?"

"He said, and I quote, 'What was I supposed to say, Hey Mac, I used to be in a gang, want to hire me?'"

Stella couldn't help but grin at that. "Okay, but what does all this have to do with the case? I mean, he didn't even work on it."

"No, but he and the prosecutor used to be an item. She has told me to keep him as far away from this case – and her– as possible because she thinks he could end up dead."

"Why would Sonny Sassone want Danny dead?"

"I'm not entirely sure. Lita did get Danny out of Tanglewood."

"Oh. How?"

"Danny doesn't know, but he felt so guilty about it that he ended their relationship."

"One doesn't just leave a gang like that quietly."

"Danny did."

"Wow. So either Lita has some serious connections or…"

"Exactly. Danny did call her a mob princess, though."

"So she might have the connections."

"She might, but she's been prosecuting nothing but mob-related cases for years. I can't imagine that that's put her in very good stead with her grandfather's cronies."

"Who's her grandfather?"

"Carlito Giambi."

"He's a big gun."

"Yeah."

"She must really care about Danny."

"That's the impression I'm getting."

"And Sassone… knows Lita would do anything for Danny."

"Like drop the case," Mac mused, the pieces starting to fall together in his head.

"So he's got our evidence and now he knows she's prosecuting. He might try to use Danny for leverage," Stella said, starting to understand the gravity of the situation.

"This is bad. I need to get him into protective custody," Mac said, obvious concern in his voice.

"Have you talked to Lita yet?"

"Not since yesterday."

"Maybe we ought to get her side of the story before we do anything rash."

Mac nodded. "You're probably right. All the excitement may be making me blow this out of proportion."

"Let's hope so."

Mac and Stella were shown into Lita's moderate office by a pretty young legal assistant. Lita was already making her way around her overflowing desk towards them.

"I've been expecting you," she said with a smile, taking each of their hands in turn.

Stella noticed something on Lita's neck and moved her hair away to get a better look. "That happen yesterday?" she asked, indicating the black bruise.

Lita pushed the hair on the other side of her face away to reveal a matching bruise. "The shooter decided to get personal with me," she explained.

Mac's brow furrowed a little deeper. "Did you know him?"

"Oh yes. One of Sonny's cronies. He hadn't expected to see me, but he'd been given an order, so he tried to follow it through. Couldn't bring himself to shoot me, though, so he decided to try to strangle me instead. Didn't do a very good job of that either. I've already had him picked up. Unfortunately, he'd already got rid of the evidence. I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet, but once I do, he'll learn that he needs to be more afraid of me than of Sonny."

Mac and Stella sat down in the leather chairs in front of her desk. Lita rearranged her piles of paper so that she could actually see them both. "So," she said when she was satisfied. "How can I help you today?"

"Well, we just have a few questions for you," Mac started.

She tilted her head slightly. "Did he finally tell you?" she asked.

Mac nodded. "Called you a mob princess," he said. It sounded a little funny to say it out loud.

She smiled. "Danny has an exaggerated opinion of me."

"So you're not a mob princess?" Stella asked.

"I wouldn't call myself a princess. My grandfather is what some have called the 'godfather' of the Giambi family, but he hasn't been involved in organized crime since I was five."

"What happened when you were five?" Stella asked.

"My parents were killed in a mob hit. Some kid who'd been given 'orders' came and shot them in front of me. Turns out he got the marks wrong. And guess who'd given the original order? My grandfather. Ironic, isn't it? A man who orders people to die accidentally has his own son killed. He was devastated and vowed never to order another hit as long as he lived. He even made all of his associates swear on their own blood that they would never order another hit." Her voice had grown quiet as she told the story. "I don't think I'll ever forget that day.They stood around me in a room, sliced their hands open and swore that they would never have another person killed. 'This little girl is a reminder that there is a better way to do business,' my grandfather had said."

Mac and Stella couldn't help but think that Lita had aged in that moment as she remembered that story.

"He had me sit with him during every family meeting from then on. All those men are like uncles to me. So I guess if that's what makes me a 'mob princess' then I am. I just always thought that my unfortunate circumstances have given me a responsibility to make sure what happened to me never happens to anyone else."

"Danny said you fought with your grandfather when you decided to get into law," Mac said.

She sat back in her chair with a smile. "I'm sure they could hear us blocks away. We screamed at each other for a week. He was afraid that I would come after him or after his friends. I told him that when he had made that oath over me; he had destined that I do this. I eventually convinced him that this was the right thing for me to do. It was hard for him, but he agreed. He made me promise not to start in New York and I made him promise to help me get Danny out of Tanglewood."

"And you both kept your promises."

"The mob does have some redeeming qualities, Detective Taylor."

"So it was your grandfather who pulled the strings to get Danny out," Stella observed.

"Sonny and his father are a lot of big talk, but they could never handle the pressure of my grandfather – as old as he was even then."

"But I thought your grandfather didn't order hits."

"He doesn't, but he's still a very convincing man. Especially when you've asked him to invest in your business to the point where he pretty much owns it."

"So why Danny? And why did you never tell him any all of this?" Mac wanted to know.

She grinned. "Danny is the only guy I've ever met who genuinely wanted to improve himself because he cared about me. I'll never forget that. But Danny is also a very proud guy. He couldn't handle the thought that I had done anything to get him out of Tanglewood; if I had told him it was my grandfather who pulled the strings, he would have flipped. Owing me is one thing, owing my grandfather is a much bigger deal."

"So what about the case? All our evidence is gone," Stella said.

"I wouldn't worry about it. It'll show up again," Lita said.

"How can you be so sure?" Mac asked.

A dark look came over her face. "Sonny has never been the brightest bulb in the box. He's already made the mistake of sending his stupidest counterpart to do his dirty work. I'll have that guy singing in less than an hour, I can promise you that."

"And what about Danny?" Stella ventured.

Lita sighed. "Danny was definitely my biggest risk factor when I agreed to take this case. Sonny knows how much I hate the Tanglewood gang, so for me to go out of my way to help one of their members must mean I care about him a lot."

"So he might try to use him as leverage to get you to drop the case," Mac finished her thought.

She nodded. "That's why I told you to keep him as far away from this case as you could."

"I'm thinking of putting him into protective custody," Mac said.

She nodded again. "That might be a good idea. I want to talk to Bobby first, see what else Sonny has up his sleeve. I'll give you call and let you know how serious he is. You can make the call from there."

"Is there anything else we can do to help?" Stella asked.

"Process any new evidence you get as quickly as you can," Lita said.

"New evidence?" Mac asked.

"In my world, hurting the godfather's granddaughter is still a pretty big deal. I wouldn't be surprised if some things started popping up."

"Will it all be kosher?" Stella asked, dubious.

Lita laughed. "Don't worry, Detective Bonassera. When I told everyone that the law was just the mob done right, a lot of them actually took me seriously." She stood and the two detectives followed her lead. "Do you have some time? We could go talk to Bobby right now. He's in a holding cell just down the street."

"Sure. Let's do that," Mac said. "I have some questions of my own for him."