Note: Okay, now, officially, this may be it for a time. But I make no promises. Life is unpredicatble and procrastination is big in my family.

Ch. 12

When Tomorrow Comes

Midnight was the estimated time of death, and it seemed fitting. Just about every, and any, religion or cult had a taboo concerning midnight: the witching hour. To Mac it wasn't such a superstition. All bad reputations came from somewhere, and midnight always had a way of living up to its own. It was an appropriate time for a death that had now officially knocked the entire Hangman case on its side.

The new vic was found, hanging, from the exposed girders of an office complex under total reconstruction. The woman's name was Vicky Anderson, a thirty year old executive who had obviously gone out on the town straight after work since she was still in her business attire of black slacks and a dress-coat. But there was another twist to this death - the woman's wrists had been slit rather than her throat, allowing the blood to drip down the fingers. Blood still continued to drip like crimson tears from the manicured nails.

Farrone's wide-eyed but silent reaction made it apparent that her head was reeling at this new set up. The first words out of her mouth, though murmured was "copy-cat." Yet the uncertainty of this was betrayed in her eyes.

Mac and Stella made their routine scrounging, then handed off what was left to another forensic Mac had called in. They accompanied the body back to the morgue to wait out Dr. Hawkes' assessment. Stella took the gathered evidence to process the blood used for the serpent. Farrone was still considering a copycat killing, but she was too uncertain at this point. Only the blood would tell for certain.

As they waited, she paced slowly around in a circle, staring hard at the floor with her hands folded behind her back and her brow creased. Mac watched her for a moment and could almost feel her mental flux pour off her in waves. She may not have quite the number of years that Castle had, but she certainly threw herself at the work more deeply than he had.

They had probably only been there a few minutes when Danny arrived, walking fast and rigid with his usual agitation. He made straight for Mac and began speaking quietly.

" I just saw Mavin, and he looked pissed. He was talking to an officer so I thought I'd beat him to the punch and give you a heads up."

Mac nodded. " Thanks, Danny. When he'd come in?"

At this, Danny became confused. " Actually, I'm not sure. But I think he's been here a while. I saw him when I was coming back up after Dr. Farrone left. Thing was, he didn't talk to me or nothin'. I thought for sure he was gonna dog me with a crap-load of questions about the evidence."

" Do you know why he was upset?"

They heard loud footfalls echoing quickly toward them.

" Hey!" Mavin called, but neither Mac nor Danny looked his way.

" I don't know. Maybe because he just heard about this new vic…"

" Hey, Taylor!" Mavin called again. This time Mac finally turned to face the irate detective. Mavin halted before Mac, glaring at him with frigid eyes. Mac returned the gaze with his own countenance of tired impatience.

" What Mavin?"

Mavin averted his eyes to the doors of the morgue, then turned them back to Mac.

" What's this I'm hearing about a new body?"

" We found a new body," Mac replied matter-of-factly.

" Cut the crap, Taylor. Why wasn't I called in?"

" Because you're not the only detective working this case. You can't have them all, Mavin. But I am a little surprised you're only hearing about this now. Maybe you should check to see if you shut off your cell by mistake."

Mavin began rubbing the side of his tired face. " I had something else going on. Look, you're wasting your time. No way can this be our guy's work. He never deviates from the game."

At this, Farrone looked up, though she continued to pace. " He has lately."

Mavin turned, eyeing Farrone as though she had just materialized out of no where, though he seemed more annoyed by it than surprised.

" You know that for sure?"

" We will once Stella deals with the blood," Mac answered. " If the blood used for the serpent is from our last victim, then we'll know it was no copy-cat job. And what's this other thing you've got going on?"

Mavin looked back at Mac. " We finally located someone who last saw Rachel Harrison. I've been waiting all day for her, but she hasn't shown. So I sent someone to get her."

" And yet you accuse me of not keeping you informed. You're very much a hypocrite, you know that Mavin? When is she coming in?"

" Soon enough. Why? This one ain't yours, Mac, she's mine. You had your witness, it's my turn now."

Mac sighed, maintaining calm inside and out. " That's fine Mavin. Here's the thing, though. I want Danny in on the interview."

" Me and Diega got it."

" Take Danny," Mac said more slowly and with a hard edge to his voice. He didn't know Diega too well, but he knew Mavin, and did not trust him with a potential witness. Mavin tended to treat everyone like a suspect.

Mavin rolled his eyes. " Fine, whatever. She's supposed to be here in five minutes." He turned his head to look at Danny. " You'd better be up there."

With that said, he turned and stalked off. All three watched him go in growing perplexity.

" What crawled up his butt and died?" Danny murmured.

Mac shook his head. " I could probably name a hundred things. Listen, Danny. When you go to this interview I need you to try and keep things under control. Try to do most of the asking. Mavin's questioning techniques have yet to ever be reliable if you get my meaning."

" Mavin really hasn't change, you know that?" Anita said, grinning and folding her arms as she paced methodically in a figure eight.

Mac smiled. " Actually I think he's gotten worse."

Danny, however, did not look so amused. If anything he looked suddenly weary and nervous. Mac clapped him on the shoulder.

" You'll do fine."

Danny checked his watch, then adjusted his sleeve over his splint to hide it better.

" Yeah, sure."

CSINY

They were in the interrogation room, which Danny thought totally inappropriate. They were talking to a potential witness, not a suspect. But it was where Mavin had taken the girl, and had kept a deaf ear when Danny kept asking him about it. Now that they were here, Danny had no choice but to keep silent about it or risk upsetting the only one to step forward on Rachel's behalf.

Mavin had told Diega to wait outside since there was no reason to have three in the room. Not only did she comply; she seemed rather relieved about it, which was pretty deep foreboding in Danny's mind.

The girl, Angie Ronald, was in her mid-twenties, with waist-length honey-blonde hair streaked in highlights, pale green eyes, and a tan face. She was wearing a yellow blouse, jeans, and sandals, with a small green leather purse by her feet. She had her hands in her lap, twisting a soaked tissue between nails painted in glittering dark blue polish. Her cheeks glittered with shed tears, and her eyes glistened with more tears about to fall. But there was more than just sadness in her downcast eyes. There was also fear.

" I'm so sorry," she said, swallowing back a rising sob, " that I didn't come sooner. I just… I mean after I heard… what happened to Rachel... I got scared."

Danny was sitting across from her, but Mavin had opted to stand.

" Hey, it's okay," Danny said kindly. " I know this is hard."

" He won't come after me for this, will he?" Angie asked next, her wide, frightened eyes darting up to fix with Danny's gaze. The fear he saw in those eyes was verging on wild terror. " I mean, I keep hearing about all this Hangman crap on the news. Then I get this call that Rachel… that he…" Tears fell heavily down her cheeks and off her chin.

Danny shook his head. If the Hangman had wanted this girl, then she would already be dead. " No, most likely not. Not the way this guy works. I just wouldn't go out partying for a few nights if I were you."

The panic flitted from Angie's eyes, but not the fear. Danny fell silent, deciding to let Angie do the talking. She wanted to talk, so there was no need to nudge her into saying anything.

Mavin, however, had other ideas.

" What were you doing the night you last saw Rachel?"

Lifting the tissue, Angie rubbed her already red nose. " We went out for drinks, like we usually do. We always go out for drinks when we can, meet guys where we can. But we never go home with anyone," she added quickly. " We never go that far. We just like to talk and see who we can meet." She sniffed, wiping her nose again. " It's kind of a game we play. We see how many guys we can talk to in an hour, keep tabs and tally them. Whoever talks to the most, we have to buy them dinner on the weekend. It's just something we do for fun."

" And is that what you were doing the last time you saw her?" Mavin asked next.

Angie placed her hands on the table and began unwadding the tissue. She nodded stiffly. " Yes."

" Were there a lot of guys where you went?" Danny asked.

Angie nodded again. " Tons. We usually go to sports bars. There was a big game on that night, and it was a weekend. We were all over the place, talking to just about everyone."

" So you didn't stay together?" Danny said.

This time, Angie shook her head no. " It was crowded, hard to keep track. Rachel won that night, though. We take names, you see. That's how we tally. She got fifteen."

Danny could not help a slight mental groan at that. He knew his next question was pointless, but he asked all the same. " Did you see any of the men Rachel talked with?"

Again, Angie shook her head. " I wasn't paying attention. When we saw eachother again it was back out our table to write down the names."

Danny was a little shocked by this. They may have been just gathering names, but it was still a dangerous game they had been playing. Angie could have just as easily been the victim, and Rachel the witness. But Danny had a feeling that there was probably more to Rachel being the one on the slab and Angie the one still breathing.

" Angie," Danny began, thinking his words over carefully as he looked at his clasped hands in thought. " Was Rachel… Was Rachel having relationship problems of any kind? Was she," he shrugged, " I don't know, eager to meet someone?"

Angie gave a small, weak laugh. " We all were. That's why we played the game. Not to actually meet anyone, just to make it less serious. We were kind of poking fun at the whole dating scene, to help us feel better. Angie did go about it different, though. She was more... spontaneous, I guess. More open. She would talk to anyone no matter how drunk or weird they were. She'd talk to old men, bikers, goths, cowboys, anyone, and the weirder the better. She won a lot because she would always talk to the ones we wouldn't. She got a lot of them to buy drinks for her. She'd even promise to meet them out back or to go with them, then would sneak off and wait for us."

That explains a lot, Danny thought. Cold though it was to think, the girl had made herself an open target.

Mavin asked the next question. " Was there ever a time she went with anyone?"

" Once or twice, but only to another bard or a club. We'd always follow. She was wild, yeah, but she wasn't stupid."

" Did she ever ask anyone to come over to her place?" he asked next.

Angie shrugged. " I don't know. No one ever came with us, if that's what you mean. We always took one car. If they met her later at her place, then maybe. I don't know. Angie was always… unpredictable. She would hint at things, at having people over maybe. I never knew if they were true. She always liked to exaggerate. She wasn't a liar or anything. She just liked stretching the truth. There was no saying with her."

" Did you get wasted the night before she vanished?" was Mavin's next question. Angie's thin eyebrows shot up. Danny straightened, averting his gaze to the table then two-way mirror to hide his own startlement and keep from turning to glare at Mavin.

" You mean were we drunk?" Angie asked back in a voice that quavered, her eyes flashing. " We were at a bar, what do you think? But it wasn't that bad. We were aware, and the one picked to drive always made sure we didn't do anything stupid."

Mavin kept going, his tone thick with accusation. " Well, apparently your plan, and game I might add, backfired. Rachel vanished, and you didn't report her missing."

Angie's eyes widened. " We took her home! I remember. Vanessa remembers, ask her. She was the designated driver. We took her home."

" Then why didn't you report her missing?"

Angie, shaking her head, looked down at her hands that were now slowly shredding the tissue. More tears dripped from her eyes onto her thumbs. " Because we didn't know. I told you, Rachel's the wild one. I mean she always ups and does things without telling us. She vanishes all the time. She was gone for two weeks once. Everyone was looking for her; her parents, cops, everyone. Then she shows up one day out of the blue, telling us all about her sudden trip to Atlantic City where she won three-hundred dollars but lost two-hundred betting on some gray-hound race. So, no, we didn't report her, because every time we did we got in trouble for it after she popped back up. We thought… we thought she was just doing it again."

No wonder she was the first victim, was Danny's thought. Rachel had been pure gold in terms of a target.

" Well," Mavin said suddenly. " Maybe you should have risked it. Then, maybe, Rachel would still be alive."

Angie's jaw clenched shut, her chin trembled, and her eyes darkened as new tears replaced the old. This time, Danny did not refrain from reacting. He stood abruptly and practically shoved Mavin toward the other end of the room.

" What the hell are you doing?" he asked in a low voice so that Angie could not hear. " She's a freakin' witness, Mavin, not the one who wrapped the rope around the girl's neck. She just lost her friend. Why're you giving her crap?"

Mavin shrugged indifferently. " They sometimes say more when they're upset."

Danny made a quick glance back at Angie. She was staring at her hands, her jaw twitching and the tears raining. He looked back at Mavin, staring the man down though he was inches taller.

" Keep your mouth shut, you got that? Don't say anything or I swear I'll send you through that mirror."

Mavin gave a quiet chuckle at that. " Yeah, sure. Good luck with that, Messer. You'd have it easier sending her through the window." He jerked his chin toward Angie.

Danny held up his hand, half wanting to strangle Mavin. " Just keep your mouth shut."

" It's my interview Messer."

Danny didn't respond to this. There was no point to. Mavin would just argue it until he was blue in the face. Instead, Danny shook his head, turned, and moved back to Angie.

" Sorry about that," he said, still standing. " One more question, then you can go. Did Rachel mention anyone in particular who she seemed interested in? Or did she hint about the possibility of someone stopping by?"
Angie looked up at Danny, the anger gone from her as though it had never been there. " No, I - I don't think so. She was talking about a whole bunch of guys, mostly to make fun of them. I don't remember what she said exactly."

Danny nodded. " All right then. Thank you for your time and I apologize if you were upset. If you can think of anything else… " Danny looked over his shoulder at Mavin. Mavin was staring at Danny with a blank demeanor. Danny looked away, then pulled a scrap of paper and a pen from his pocket. He sat down and began writing several names and numbers. Angie leaned in slightly to see.

" You can call anyone of these. Mine is on the top. My name is Danny Messer. The others are the people I work with. They'll help you out. You can talk to any of them."

He slid the paper to Angie.

" But, for some reason I would never be able to name, if someone named Mavin answers," Danny whispered, leaning in some so that she could hear. " Hang up. It'll save you a lot of grief."

Angie smiled gratefully and took the paper, folding it up and placing it in one of the pockets of her purse.

" Thanks," she said in a small voice. Danny sat back.

" You can go now."

The girl nodded, picking up her purse and hurrying from the room. Danny watched her go, then kept his eyes on the door even after it had closed. He could feel Mavin's stare on the back of his neck. Had the man the ability he would have burned a hole straight through Danny.

" What the hell…" Mavin began in a low, dangerous voice.

" Can it Mavin," Danny cut in, then stood and left the room before the detective could say anymore.

He was stopped short once he was out of the room by Mavin's hand landing heavily on his shoulder. Mavin then maneuvered his arm to drape it across Danny's shoulders as though they were old pals.

Mavin pointed at Angie's retreating form making her escape from the interrogation room.

" You see that piece of work, Messer? That's who we're trying to protect. Day in, day out. People like her, like her dead friend. People who, for some brainless reason, think they're immortal. People who think they can live forever, and because of that can do whatever they want. No disrespect to the dead, but that Rachel chick… I mean she was practically freakin' asking for it! Not in the literal sense, hell no. But, hey, when you wave a steak in front of a starving lion that lion's going to eat. They don't make our job any easier, Messer. In fact, while I was driving home last night, I passed three clubs that had lines extending for two blocks. Even with all this crap on the news about the Hangman, people are still playing at his hunting grounds. I mean, how freakin' stupid can they get? So excuse me if I don't get all sweet and sensitive like you. Someone's gotta pound it into these peoples' heads that - hey, guess what - you're not immortal!"

Mavin moved his hand again to give Danny a slap on the back so hard that it jolted his spine. Then Mavin sauntered off as though he had just one some major argument and was seeking out bragging rights.

Danny watched him go, speechless. Then leaned his back against the door, tilting his head to let it rest there and letting out a long, slow breath.

The thing was, cruel and shallow as Mavin's words had been, there was a small amount of truth to them. Rachel's seemingly harmless wild life had been the death of her. There were people being interviewed on the news, babbling their fear of the Hangman, and people walking the streets late at night, oblivious to the existence of serial killers in general.

It reminded Danny of a case he once worked long ago when a woman's house was broken into and several articles of clothing were taken; underwear for the most part. A stalker was suspected, and five men arrested, all confessing to being that stalker. Then it turned out that, according to neighbors, the woman had the bad habit of standing out on her balcony in either only underwear or nothing at all. Supposedly, it was because it was hot and she needed to cool off. Danny had been very tempted to yell at the woman himself, ask her what she had been thinking, especially since she kept asking why this was happening to her. It amazed him to no end how anyone could be that dense. She could just as easily been raped by any one of those men.

It was a strange sort of naiveté; the sacrificing of common sense in order to do whatever one wanted to do. Everybody did it, some more than others, some so extreme that one had to wonder if they had been dropped on the head as a child. That was what Mavin was talking about and, once again, much to Danny's chagrin, he had a point. It was also what the Hangman was sniffing out. The whole eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die deal. Then tomorrow comes and nobody's ready for it, because tomorrow was supposed to be an eternity away.

Mavin might have been a creep, but he knew in a small way what he was talking about.

NOTE

Laura-Trekkie - Alicia is kind of, sort of,me as well. Although I probably have fewer stuffed animals. And my walls are covered in feirce looking dragons rather than kittens and such. But I do like them action flicks:)