Chapter Six

The pain is unbearable and he's not sure how longer he can take it. The metal cuffs around his wrist are heavy and cool, sending sharp and painful shivers up and down his body. His current location smells worst than decomposing hot bodies in the middle of summer and the light from the small window is barely giving him any hope what so ever of freedom.

He leans his head back against the stone cold wall and sighs, his eyes closing with exhaustion. The blood on his face is dry and itches, reminding him of the earlier beating with a baseball bat. All because he would simply not answer to what ever questions that were thrown his way. It sickens him –really, it does- and Flack wonders what sort of high power allowed this to happen to him. As a child, he would stay in the shadows of his father, never once daring to step across that line that his father specifically laid down but as he was here now, twenty-nine years old, he was beginning to wonder if he had crossed that line earlier than he thought.

Rain begins to pour, it sound of emotion hitting the roof of the enclosed building, and Flack glances up at the dark ceiling as if he were able to see the pouring rain. But it's no use; it's only purpose to provide a small and steady rhythm of peace.

Flack knows he lost a lot of blood because he can feel it. He can feel his body beginning to weaken, demanding that he immediately close his eyes and drift off into an abyss of his own. But his heart and mind disagree with his body and he refuses to close his lids, why? Because he is a Flack and as his father told him many times before (when he was telling Flack Jr. late at night of bedtime stories of his chases) that a Flack is always a Flack – a damn, good cop and a man at heart.

He absently bits hard on his swollen lower lip, tasting dried blood while doing so. It's an odd mix, tasting his own blood, his own metallic taste and he begins to wonder if he's going somewhere into insanity because who ponders about their own blood and taste? And he wants to answer his own question but as he opens his mouth to reply, a small and pathetic sigh escapes instead.

Xxxx

"It's everywhere, Mac. Just everywhere." Stella growls as she pulls off her gloves before throwing them down onto the ground besides the vehicle that Flack had been kidnapped in. She and Mac had been processing the car ever since they were able to get in into their hands and from there, nothing more than what they had already known had been helpful to them.

Mac knows Stella all too well, he has worked with her for what seems like ages, and understands her frustration. Deep green eyes posse fire, her dark brows furrow and he's seen that familiar look too many times before to understand what exactly is going on in her head.

"Maybe we're not looking deep enough." Mac suggests, as Stella's eyes quickly look up to him in a curious response. Mac leans further into the vehicle as he pats around the backseat, gloved hands searching for something. And as he pats again, he can feel Stella moving to step behind him, flashlight pointing downwards so lighting can help in his search.

Then, his fingers run across a small rip and if he were not paying such close attention to things, the small defect would have gone unnoticed. He turns his head to Stella and she immediately hands him a carpet knife, anxious as to what they are about to find.

Mac cuts deep, the sharp blade tearing pieces of the carpet away to revel a small silver handle, worn with age. Mac sets the blade down as he reaches for the ripped carpet with his gloved hands, pulling the rest away to reveal a hidden compartment underneath. He gives Stella a quick look before she's right besides him, camera snapping at their new discovery.

When she finishes, Mac reaches over and pulls open the latch, a small 'creak' sound emits and it's all exactly what they need to see to know what has been going on. Stella's breath catches in her throat, Mac swallows down the bile that is rising and the silence is so heavy, that nothing could dare to cut it.

There, in the middle of the small opening, rested a small sharp blade, glistening with dried blood.

Xxxxx

"DNA came back on the blood." Danny says as he steps into Mac's office, his mouth in a tight line as he lays the results on Mac's desk. "It's Don's. They've got him. They fuckin' have him."

Mac senses the angry in Danny's voice and so do a couple of lab techs that had stopped at the mention of the missing homicide detective's name. Ever since the kidnapping, everyone had been anxiously waiting for any type of news of Flack's whereabouts.

"And his parents? They're here. They want ta talk to ya, Mac. Said they've got a couple of questions that need answers."

"All right." Mac says as Danny gives him a doubtful look. He knows, along with everyone else in the lab, that they've got nothing on Flack's whereabouts except for the blade, videotape and vehicle. They've got one suspect too, Grady Akers, but it isn't until now that they've had good and solid evidence to be able to go knocking on doors.

Danny straightens slightly as his boss moves around his desk, grabbing Flack's case file. And it makes Danny's mouth go dry every time his eyes lay upon the file. They had a case file on Flack. A case file that only victims get, not homicide detectives that do nothing but be an anchor to those that need him. "Mac!" Danny calls out as Mac turns from the door, his brow raised.

"Listen, let me and Stel go talk to this guy." Danny says, referring to Akers. "We can kill two birds with one stone. You go talk to Don's parents and we'll go to Akers' home and get the fuckin' bastard. See if we can get some answers or somethin'."

Mac stays silent for a moment as he thinks about Danny's words. He knows that they need to find Flack but there's always that small sense of pain in his heart that tells him that he too should be joining Stella and Danny. But this wasn't a choice on whether or not he should be there while they grab Akers, no, it should be a choice all on the amount of time they had in rescuing Flack.

Turning towards Danny, Mac nods and the smile on Danny's lips widen. "Yeah, go grab Stella and make sure you catch him, okay? I want answers and I want them now."

Danny's smile reaches his eyes as he nods a little too much before almost skipping out of Mac's lab. "Ya got it, boss. Ya got it."

TBC.