By the time I decide that there's no real way out of my situation, the techs have arrived and gone through about half of the search area. Which means I'm losing thinking time and fast. I really should be (once again) concentrating on the case, but, hey, we all have our off days, right? Mine just happen to occur anytime I work with Danny. Or anytime we happen to meet up and talk for a few minutes. Or anytime he's in the general vicinity. I think I might have a slight problem.
I still haven't quite figured out the look Danny gave me either. I know he wasn't mad or upset-- I've seen that enough times to know what that looks like. As I said earlier, he looked... confused. But there was something else there, too. Amusement or happiness, maybe? Maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see. All I know is that he knows now, all because I can't keep my yap shut. I wish, not for the first time today, that I could crawl into a dark corner and die. Or beat my head of a wall (except I can't really do that in this alley-- what with the evidence, and contaminating the crime scene and such).
Couldn't stop and think for once, could you, Flack?I mentally berate myself. Don't they say that hindsight's 20/20? Oh yeah, totally getting that now.
I hear calls from the end of the alley. Thank God, they found something.
As I reach another dumpster, I ask a tech what they others found. She twitters for a moment and blushes, and I find myself mentally rolling my eyes. Of course, I ask the one tech that would find a simple question a come on.
"Uh, well, we, uh, we found a lead pipe covered in blood that could be the murder weapon." She finally manages to stammer out.
"Good." I say before I have to hear her high pitched, nasally voice again. "Send it to the Lab and finish up the rest of the alley, just in case. I'm going back to the office." I turn around before she can say more. Sometimes, women really annoy me.
I'm procrastinating and I know it. At some point, I am going to have to go to the Lab and see what Danny found or didn't find on the vic and the lead pipe. I'm just... well, a little nervous, I suppose. Except, I don't think Danny will want to finish our "conversation" in the Lab. But, we did start at the crime scene, with uniforms and stray techs wondering around (granted, it's my fault it got started there, but still).
Just c'mon, Donnie, I tell myself (and I wonder when voice I use to nag myself started to sound like my mother because it kind of freaks me out), There's nothing to be nervous about. Like hell, there isn't.
I finally manage to persuade myself to mosey on down to the Lab, and just peek in to see if Danny's alone. Because if he is, dunno if I'm going in there. It's when a normally 5 minute walk is going on 10 minutes (and I'm not even halfway there yet), that I realize just how slow I'm going. Like that's not suspicious.
I round the corner and look into the Lab and see... Danny. And Mac. Oh my God, thank you, Mac's with him.
I walk into the Lab and give Mac and Danny a cheerful "Hey, what's up?" Ok, maybe it was a little too cheerful and enthusiastic and uh... well, loud, because Mac's giving me an odd look and a weary "Fine" and Danny's just looking at me like he knows what my problem is.
I clear my throat.
"So... what did we get of the pipe?" I ask in a quieter (and, I'd like to add, calmer) voice.
Danny speaks first. "Nothing, except the vic's blood. No prints, no trace, no nothin'."
Before I can reply about how much that sucks, Mac picks up the conversation. "However, we did find out who he is from a metal plate in his shoulder. Kevin Jacobs, 17, lives up in Albany with his mother, who is confined to a wheelchair because on a car accident that killed Jacobs's father."
I nod, then ask, "Albany? Far from home, don'tcha think?"
Mac nods. "Which is why I'm sending you and Danny to Albany, to talk to the mother, go through his room, looks for any evidence..."
I stopped listening at sending you and Danny to Albany. Mac's looking at me, still yapping about one thing or another. I look at Danny and he has this grin on his face. It looks almost... feral. Uh oh.
Mac turns to Danny. Danny's grin fades and he says something along the lines of, "I'll go get my kit." Mac nods as Danny leaves that room. With one final nod to me, Mac parts too, leaving me by myself.
Me. And Danny. In a car. To Albany. Which is an 4, 5 hour ride, just to get there.
