Chapter 13

It had been a long night for everyone. Stella went back to the lab to see if Mac and Hawkes came up with anything.

Mac: "Stella. How's Lindsay?

Stella took her hand to her forehead and just rubbed it for a minute. "Umm she is starting to remember. I don't know if that is good or not." Just as Stella was finishing up her sentence Flack and Hawkes came up to them.

Hawkes: "Stella. She is gonna be okay. It's a good thing that she is remembering. It will be easier for her to work through this now than later."

Flack: (putting his hand on Stella's shoulder) "We are gonna nail this SOB to the wall Stel and he will never hurt her again."

Stella: "I know. I just hate that she even has to go through this."

Mac looked at her and then at Hawkes and Flack. "That is why we also need to be her support system. She is not going to get over this easily."

Stella smiled at them "Well Danny is with her now. I think something is going on between them. I don't even think they realize it yet. He told me that "She needs him now; and that he needed to be with her."

Mac smiled too. "I had a feeling that there might be something going on between those two. They'll be good for one another. They seem to keep each other balanced. Anyway back to Martino. Anyone question him yet?"

Flack: "I am getting ready to interrogate him. Anyone wanna join me?"

Just as he said that Danny walked in. "I do!"

Stella: "Danny what are you doing here? Why aren't you with Lindsay.?"

He looked exhausted. Taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. "The doctor made me leave. They had to sedate her again. She was having horrible dreams. She kept talking in her sleep about what Martino was doing or did to her. She kept thrashing around; the nurse came in and I asked her if they would give her something. I thought she was gonna hurt herself. She needs to rest."

Mac walked up to Danny. "Danny. Are you sure you can handle this? You need to be professional. You can't take personal in there. You know that right?"

Danny: "Yeah! Yeah! I know. I am not gonna go in there and beat the hell out of him and tell him that I am in love with this woman and I am gonna hurt him like he hurt her. I am not gonna do that." Danny surprised himself by announcing in front of his co-workers that he was in love with Lindsay Monroe.

Flack: "Dan. I am not gonna let you interrogate Martino if you can't pull yourself together right now. We can't loose this guy on a technicality. Lindsay's life depends on this guy spending the rest of his life in jail."

Stella looked at Mac. "Mac this is just what Martino needs. He needs to see that someone cares for Lindsay. This will send him over the edge. That is why he killed Maciovelli in the first place. He was a threat to him. To his relationship with Lindsay."

Mac looked at Flack and then at Danny. "Danny go in there and let him know how you feel about her. Let him know that you are gonna get revenge. I think Danny should go in first and Flack and Hawkes you follow afterwards. Got it!"

The all looked at each other. "GOT IT!"

Danny walked into the interrogation room where Martino was being held. "I got it from here Officer Spencer."

Officer Spencer left the room. Mac, Flack, Hawkes and Stella were watching through the 2 way glass.

Danny grabbed a chair and sat right across the table from Martino. "Martino. How you doin? You don't look so good" Danny smiled "Hell you look better now than your gonna look when I'm done with you."

Martino started to laugh. "What are you talking about Messer? How is the love of my life?" Good I hope."

Danny: "You mean the love of my life don't you?"

Martino started to get fidgety. "Messer you don't know what you are talking about. She's mine. Plain and simple. She just hasn't realized it yet. She didn't say no when we were consummating our relationship. She liked it. If only she would have screamed my name!"

Danny stood up and threw his chair against the wall and pushed the table out of the way. "Listen here you sick son of a bitch. She is in the hospital because of you. You beat her and raped her. She did scream. She said NO."

Danny had him up against the wall with his hand on Martino's neck. "Not with her eyes she didn't." Just as Danny was about to punch Martino in the face Flack and Hawkes flew into the room and Flack pulled Danny off of him.

Flack: "Danny he's not worth it. Lindsay needs you. You will not be able to help her if you get yourself thrown off this case."

Martino looked at Hawkes. "Did you see what he just did to me?"

Hawkes walked over to Flack and Danny and looked into Martino's eyes. "I didn't see a thing."

Flack: "Sit back down Martino. You are gonna tell us everything. From the day you started stalking Detective Monroe. Or we are gonna let Detective Messer here finish what he started."

Martino sat down and he knew that he had finally been beat. He began. "It started back in Montana. I fell in love the day I laid eyes on her. She was so beautiful. She was so willing to help me. I asked her out and she said no. She said it would be a conflict of interest. I tried my best to vie for her affections. She wanted no parts of me. I needed to get her attention in some way". He laughed.

Flack" "This is how you get a woman's attention. You stalk her. Chase her away from everything she's ever known. Threatening the safety of her family and friends" Shaking his head Flack looks into Martino's eyes. "You are one sick bastard."

Hawkes was standing next to Danny. "Stay calm man." They both put their heads down unable to look at Martino not able to believe what they just heard."

Flack waved in Officer Spencer. "Get him the hell out of here!"

As Martino was leaving the interrogation room he looked at Danny. "Messer you win for now. If I get out of this; I will be back to claim what's mine."

Danny casually walked over to Martino and looked him right in the eyes. "By the time you get out, Lindsay will be my wife. I will never EVER let you hurt her again. I will make it my lifes work to make sure you pay for what you have done to her."

Martino walked out with his head down. He knew once and for all he had been defeated.

Stella pulled Danny towards her. "Danny lets go see Lindsay. Come on."

They drove to the hospital in silence. Stella couldn't believe what Danny had said to Martino. Actually none of them had. They had all remained silent when Danny had said that Lindsay was going to be his wife. No one knew the extent of his feelings for her.

Stella looked over at Danny. "Danny, how long have you had these kinds of feelings for her?"

Danny: Quickly looking at her while driving. "What?"

Stella: "You told Martino that Lindsay would be your wife by the time he gets out of jail. How long have you felt like this?"

Danny: "Since the first time I saw her, I just didn't want to admit it to myself. I think that she….." He couldn't finish his sentence."

Stella stroked his arm. "She does Danny. You can see it in her eyes. You need to let her know that you feel this way."

Danny: "Yeah! I know. Now' I know. It took something so horrible for me to realize that I have loved her from the moment we first met. Why didn't I realize it sooner? If I would have told her sooner maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe we would have been out for a run together instead of her going alone."

Stella: (looking at him with tears in her eyes) "Danny you can't blame yourself. You can't be with someone 24 hours a day. It just isn't possible. There is no way you could have seen this coming. Martino is sick. He would have found a way to get to her. He probably would have done something to you and then she wouldn't have you at all. At least this way you can help her. You can help her become whole again."

They arrived at the hospital and Stella got a call on her cell. "It's Mac. Go ahead in and I will be up in a little. Go tell her how you feel."

Danny shook his head and walked into the hospital. When he arrived to her room she was asleep. He saw the nurse. "How did she sleep last night?"

Nurse: "After we sedated her she had a very peaceful sleep. She slept through the night. Let me go get the doctor he wants to speak to a member of her family." Danny was about to say that he wasn't a member of her family but he decided to keep his mouth shut.

Walking down the hall. The Doctor saw Danny. "Detective Messer. Are you family to Ms. Monroe?"

Danny scratched his head and Stella came up beside him. "Umm yeah. She's my fiancée."

Doctor: "I had no idea. I'm sorry. I think Ms. Monroe will be able to go home tomorrow. She will need someone to be with her at all times for the next few days. Will that be possible?"

Stella looked at Danny. "Yes. Doctor if he can't, we will make sure that someone is with her at all times."

As they were talking to the doctor Lindsay started to wake up. "Danny?"

He walked over and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm right here. How are you feeling?"

Lindsay tried to sit up. She put her hand to her head. "I still have a headache."

The doctor walked over to her and smiled. "I will prescribe something. It should go away soon. Is it as bad as it was yesterday?"

Lindsay shook her head no. Danny smiled at her. "Good!" She looked over at the door and saw Stella standing there. "Hey Stella."

Stella came in and gave Lindsay a hug. "So the doctor says you can go home tomorrow."

Lindsay looked at Danny a little scared. "What is it Linds?" "Danny I don't want to go home alone."

He took her face in his hands and looked right into her eyes. "Don't worry I am going home with you."

Tbc…………………………………………………………………………