Danny was gone when Lindsay woke up the next morning, but he had left her a note on her pillow. She had been lying on her stomach, with the sheets tangled around the lower half of her body. Bleary eyed and fighting a killer headache she reached across her bed to the pillow holding the folded paper and pushed herself up into a sitting position. She checked her alarm clock on the side of her bed and groaned. It was eight o'clock in the morning and usually she would have to be at work in the next thirty minutes, but Danny had talked to Mac last night on their way over to her place and he had told him, to tell her to take the day off.

She hadn't planned on listening to him.

Lindsay wiped her hand over her eyes trying to clear them and unfolded the piece of paper. The note was brief.

Montana,

Had something to take care of, don't even think about going into work.

P.S. I love your P.J.'s

Danny

Lindsay blushed and looked down at her tank top. The strap had fallen over her shoulder and she was sure, as much as she moved during the night, that her shirt had ridden up. She probably should have worn something that covered more of her but it was hot, and besides it served him right for pretty much forcing her to let him baby sit her.

So why was she disappointed that he hadn't stuck around until she woke up? Lindsay shook off that question, knowing that it was best to leave it unanswered.

He was a friend and that was all she was going to allow him to be. The thought depressed her and followed her into the bathroom where she stripped and stepped into the shower.

The warm water felt good against her abused neck and she spent longer under the spray than she normally would have. Her thoughts drifted and landed, like they usually did, on Danny Messer.

From the day she had met him he had kept her off balance. The little prank with Mac had not endeared him to her at the time nor had his instance on calling her Montana, but now she really couldn't imagine him calling her anything else.

The facts of the matter were that he had proven himself over and over, case after case and she could honestly say after their rocky start that she really liked and respected him.

Her problem now was that she liked and respected him a little too much.

She liked the fact that he seemed to really care about people, liked that when he got his teeth into a suspect he clamped down like a bull dog, liked that he was meticulous and contentious with the evidence, but mostly she liked the fact that no matter how bad her day was going he would crack a lame joke or flirt with her until she smiled.

She could fall in love with a guy like that.

She just wasn't going to allow it to happen.

With a sigh Lindsay turned off the shower, stepped out, and wrapped a towel around her naked body. She grabbed another towel and started drying her hair with it before heading into her bedroom. She twisted to pick her shoes up off of the floor and caught site of her neck in the vanity mirror above her dresser.

Lindsay crossed the room and stood in front of the mirror so she could inspect the damage and winced. The bruises stood out dark purple against her skin, making her look like she had just gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson and lost.

Her original plan of covering the bruises with make-up was not going to do the trick. She pulled open the top drawer of her bureau and pulled out a light purple summer scarf that her sister had given her for her birthday.

A light purple button down v-neck top and a pair of tan dress slacks completed the ensemble. She quickly dressed, dried her hair, and put on her make-up, leaving the scarf for last.

Lindsay usually caught the subway to work but today she thought she might indulge in a cab ride; at least that had been the plan. She stepped out of the front door of her apartment building and there waiting for her on the curb, leaning against the door of a department issue SUV, was Danny Messer.

He had gone home to shower and change and was now smirking at her like he had the punch line to a really funny joke.

"You are getting' to be real predictable, Miz Monroe," he drawled. She crossed her arms and glared at him.

"What is that suppose to mean?" His smile grew wider as he pushed away from the door and came to stand right in front of her, closer than he really needed to.

"It means I figured you'd need a ride to work. Your chariot." He gestured towards the vehicle and Lindsay's lips twitched into a smile. Before she could stop herself she started to laugh.

"Am I really that predictable?" She asked. He shook his head and smiled again.

"Maybe, or maybe I've just…"

Danny stopped mid-sentence and cleared his throat. He had been about to tell her that he had gotten to know her so well that reading her mind was like breathing, but he didn't like what that simple statement admitted.

"How about that ride? Either way I gotta get this truck back." She shot him a puzzled look.

"Why? I thought you were on call all week?" He cleared his throat again and wouldn't look at her. Instead he opened the passenger door and motioned her in.

"Danny?" She questioned as she stepped up into the SUV. He shut her door and didn't say anything.

Danny had just hopped into the driver side of the car and was about to turn the key when her touch on his forearm distracted him.

"Danny, why do you have to get the truck back?"

He didn't want to tell her because he knew she would be upset, and after yesterday upsetting her was the last thing he wanted to do. He sighed and looked up. She was looking at him with such a strange combination of concern and suspicion that he almost laughed.

"I got taken off the case and put on leave," he admitted. She blinked in surprise but it quickly turned to anger.

"Mac suspended you! He can't do that Danny!"

She looked like she was about to go to war, with her fist clenched and anger flashing in her whiskey eyes. Her instant defense of him surprised and warmed him.

"Naw, ya got it wrong, Montana. He didn't suspend me, at least not officially. I'm taking some paid vacation time."

"That's still not fair," she groused. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He didn't want to tell her the rest of it, but he figured it would be better for her to hear it now from him than at the lab or in the news.

"That ain't the worst of it, Linds. The reason I ducked outta your place early was because I gotta call from a friend of mine down at the courthouse. Davis called in an attorney and not just any attorney. He got Carl Riker, Congressman Joseph Riker's son. You know the one, from Riker, Crane, and Dunbar. It seems ol' Carl woke up one of his father's old golfing buddies, Judge Abbot and is gettin' this whole case fast tracked. He's gonna use it to go after us, CSI and you and me in particular. I've already been on the phone with Mac and we gotta meetin' when we get there."

Lindsay was staring at him completely dumbfounded. She couldn't believe that Davis was going to take it this far and Riker, just what the hell did someone like Riker get out of this. She must have voiced her thoughts aloud because Danny's face became grim and he answered.

"Riker's got a beef with Mac. There was this high profile case a couple years back. Some judge or other offed his wife and Riker was the defense attorney. Mac got on the stand and did what Mac does best; he brought in die hard evidence. Riker lost and the judge went to prison, or at least he would have if he hadn't hung himself in his holdin' cell. Riker's had a grudge against Mac ever since. For him this ain't about gettin' Davis off, this is about puttin' CSI on trial."

Lindsay crossed her arms across her chest and stared at the passing cars. She felt cold all of a sudden and shivered. Danny noticed, shrugged his blazer off when the hit a stop light and handed it to her. She smiled and took it gratefully, draping it over her shoulders.

It smelled like him, like clean man with a hint of cedar. She knew it had to be his soap because none of them wore any sort of perfume or cologne to work. It messed with their sense of smell and they needed all of their senses to be in top working order at crime scenes.

"Danny, what are we going to do about Riker?" She asked. He frowned but kept his eyes on the road.

"That is what we are gonna find out."