Mac Taylor's morning had gotten off to a rocky start and his afternoon wasn't shaping up any better. With Danny and Lindsay gone and Stella and Hawkes on the Davis case, he was doing a little shuffling.

He had a couple of the lab personal that occasionally assisted in the field working scenes under the supervision of some more experienced cops, but despite the extra hands he still had spent the majority of his morning at the scene of what appeared to be a murder/suicide. Needless to say, he was not in the best of moods and the rodent waiting for him by his office threatened to make a bad day, worse.

Carl Riker was the last person he had wanted to see, good day or bad day not withstanding. A deep frown transformed his face before he shifted his features into a blank mask.

"Mr. Riker, what can I do for you?"

The lawyer had been facing away from Mac and he started, but recovered quickly. It would have been a kind of poetic justice if Carl Riker had resembled the rat that befitted his personality, but unfortunately the fates had been kind.

Carl was a very handsome man and what was worse he was grossly aware of that fact. A majority of his good looks came down to genetics, but the rest was maintained by the careful cultivation that only money can buy.

He had perfectly styled dark hair, green eyes that he inherited from his paternal grandmother, a perfect smile that was the handiwork of the best dentist in Manhattan, and soft, manicured hands that a supermodel would kill for.

He was dressed in a dark gray suit that cost more than an economy car and a pair of black shoes that ran somewhere above the thousand dollar mark.

Mac pretty much hated him on sight, but that was because he had no patience for men like Riker. He also knew better than to underestimate him.

"Detective Taylor, I was wondering if you happened to have seen two of your employees? Daniel Messer and Lindsay Monroe?"

Mac eyed him briefly, keeping his face and body language neutral.

"I'm afraid that they are not available. Anything I can do for you?"

Riker's smile never wavered, but annoyance flashed very briefly in his green eyes before the cordial mask fell back into place. His investigators had been unable to locate the two detectives and he was slightly perturbed that he was going to have to adjust his strategy.

He regarded the Detective before him. Mac Taylor cost him his only loss throughout his career and he wasn't a forgiving sort of person. So he had agreed to take on Alex Davis' case, simply because he knew that the two weakest links in Mac's team had worked it.

Stella had the recent shooting she was involved in, but she had acted in clear self defense so he couldn't exploit her. Sheldon Hawkes was so well respected him, he might as well be a boy scout, and Mac's past would just induce sympathy in the jury. Of course, this case wasn't going to see a jury.

"Detective, I have a suspicion that you are actively interfering with the rights of my client. I had trouble believing it at first because Mac Taylor doesn't do anything that isn't by the book, but since I can't seem to get a subpoena served to either Detective Monroe or Detective Messer, I can only assume that they are hiding."

Mac shook his head.

"I don't keep track of my people in their off hours. I'm sorry you can't find them but there is nothing I can do."

He didn't sound in the least bit sorry and Riker's mask almost slipped again.

"You can't protect them forever. Our lovely A.D.A. will have them take the stand to defend their evidence and I have every confidence after the judge hears their testimonies that he will have no choice but to throw out the shoddy work done in this lab."

Mac bristled and the attorney for the defense marked it as an internal victory against the stoic CSI. His smile faltered when the ex-Marine took a step closer, invading his personal space.

"You are not going to get away with trying to drag my team and my lab through the muck. Now, get out of my building."

Riker instinctively stepped back and straightened his tie to hide the fact that Mac had made him uneasy.

"Is that a threat?" The CSI's lips twisted into a grim half smile.

"No, a promise."

The attorney pulled the cloak of his adopted veneer around him and nodded elegantly at the Detective.

"I'm sure I'll see you in court, Detective Taylor," he said and left.

Mac watched him go with hooded eyes. A few moments later Stella came up behind him. She had been watching the whole thing through the glass partition in the lab.

"I thought I smelled something foul. What did he want?" Mac started walking towards trace and she fell into step beside him.

"What else? He wanted Danny and Lindsay."

She frowned in the direction that the little cockroach had just scurried and then refocused on her boss.

"For him to come all the way over here, seems like he's worried."

Mac nodded. "He was fishing. He doesn't like the fact that he can't find Danny or Lindsay, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have a contingence plan."

Stella gazed at him thoughtfully and asked. "So what do we do now?"

He paused and met her eyes. "The fibers are a good start but I want you to take a second or even third look if you have to and dig deeper. We need more."

She nodded in agreement. "And what are you going to do?" He smiled at her in a very mysterious fashion, piquing her curiosity.

"I'm going to see a man about a lawyer."

His cryptic response not only confused her but left her staring after him in surprise. She shook her head, a rueful smile gracing her full lips. The longer she knew Mac the more perplexing he seemed to become. She shook her head again, realizing that she wasn't going to find out what he was up too, until he was ready. Stella smiled and started off in the opposite direction so she could meet up with Hawkes.

While she was waiting for her boss to enlighten her she figured she might as well get some work done, so she had decided to take his advice.

She was going to dig deeper, and when she was done they were going to bury Alex Davis so far down, he wouldn't ever again see the light of day.