Chapter Sixteen: Spare an Angel
Well, this was it. I prayed that my plan would work, and still, I felt a knot inside my stomach the size of Montana—no pun intended…okay, I lied, pun intended.
I took one last look at Anna and the group. Anna gave me a reassuring smile, and Hawkes gave me a thumbs up. I smiled back at them and took a deep breath before moving towards the balcony door. Crawling on my hands and knees (which was not easy to do in a floor length dress and a couple of posters in one hand) I made my way quietly over to the balcony door. Peering out, I saw that Danny and Lindsay were looking at the New York skyline, backs towards me. I let out a sigh of relief and clicked the lock down on the door.
Alright Elsie, you can do this. All you have to do is hold up some posters. You can do this, you can really do this.
I took a deep breath, stood up, and tapped the glass door of the balcony. Danny and Lindsay glanced in my direction and they smiled at me, moving towards the door. I shook my head, motioning for them to stop walking, and they paused, obviously confused.
"Why can't we go inside?" Danny asked, puzzled. I held up the first poster.
You still have one more clue left.
The pair looked at each other and Lindsay asked: "But this means that we've won, right? No one else has gotten this far?"
Nope. You are the winners.
Danny and Lindsay gave each other congratulatory hugs, and I took that opportunity to pull out my next poster. I tapped at the window again to get their attention. Breaking apart, they read what was written on the poster board.
But, you still need to solve the last clue. Are you ready?
Lindsay looked at Danny with a determined face and nodded. "We're ready." I held up a finger to let them know that I would be back with the next poster in a second. Ducking back near the door, where the entire group was seated, I pulled out the clue on the poster, along with a sharpie. They'd eventually need my assistance. Everyone was looking at me expectantly and I hissed: "Wait for my signal. Anna knows what to do."
I gave them a curt nod, and Hammerback saluted me. I smiled and returned to the balcony door.
Your last clue is this: It's tic-tac-toe and a candy sweet. They even say it'll knock you off your feet.
I felt quite proud of my cryptic clue (not to mention my poetic capabilities), and silently wondered who would figure it out first. I had a bet going with Abbey. She thought Lindsay would figure the clue out first, and I had my money on Danny. However, both of them at the moment looked completely stumped. I turned the poster board around so that the clue was facing me and drew a fake game of tic-tac-toe on it. I turned the poster back around and the two of them looked at it. Continuing to hold the poster up with my left hand, I brought my right one down to my side and used my index finger to make a small circular motion. It was the code. Anna silently crept to the edge of the wall, close to my feet, and Flack moved behind her, creating a train of CSIs.
Danny and Lindsay didn't notice, of course, because: A) the entire team was hidden from view and B) they were much too focused on the clue that they were trying so very hard to decipher.
Lindsay was beginning to rub her hands together in order to keep warm. Danny, being the complete gentleman that he was, took off his jacket and draped it gently over Lindsay's shoulders. I resisted the urge (it was hard, I must say) to squeal at that moment, and instead I gave Danny and Lindsay another look, hoping that one of them would figure out the clue before both of them froze to death. I nearly gasped though, because outside, tiny crystals of snow flurry began to spiral down from the heavens, falling gently onto the balcony, and onto my favorite clueless couple. Clueless as the two of them together may be, Lindsay was good when it came to clues.
"I don't get it," she started, "Tic-tac-toe…well, you use x's and o's to play that game…but what does candy have to do with it? Sweet candy, X's and O's…oh."
Damn it. I owe Abbey five bucks.
That was the cue for the peanut gallery to sneak over to the window. Danny had adverted his eyes from the clue and was now looking curiously at Lindsay. "What? What does it mean?"
Lindsay, even though I couldn't see her terribly well, was turning a brilliant shade of pink, and was tracing neat little spirals in the freshly fallen snow with the heel of her shoe.
Anna sat silent beside me, trying to contain her laughter, or the urge to smack the pair of them upside the head. New York was starting to rub off on her, you know.
"Think about it Danny," she said without looking directly at him. Danny frowned in concentration as I pulled Anna to her feet. Now.
The shades were drawn on the window and I pulled the clue card down so that Danny and Lindsay could see all of us. Lindsay, I had the feeling was about ready to jump off the balcony from embarrassment, and Danny—bless his little male heart—still had no idea what the clue meant.
"Will someone please explain that clue to me?" he said in exasperation. "And what is everyone doing here? Oh no…wait. X's and O's…and candy…you set us up!" he cried incredulously. Suddenly he raised his eyebrows and asked calmly: "You set us up?"
I rolled my eyes and replied: "It took you long enough."
"Are you going to answer that clue, or what?" Anna asked daringly. Danny looked down at Lindsay who was still scuffing her heel in the balcony's floor. She met his gaze.
"Look, Danny, you don't have to do anything. I mean…"
I can't recall at that moment exactly what I did, but I am pretty sure it contained one or more of the following: screaming, jumping up and down, or hugging Anna.
Lindsay had no need to finish her sentence, because Danny had wrapped one arm around her waist, and drew her into a kiss. And from the looks of it, with Lindsay wrapping her arms around Danny's neck, neither of them looked the least bit uncomfortable. And then, from beside me, Anna gasped and pointed out the window. My hands flew over my mouth, and we looked at each other. Like some perfectly fashioned children's fairytale, the snow began to come down faster, falling gently down all around and atop of Danny and Lindsay. Breaking apart, the two of them looked up to the heavens, then back at each other, and laughed, Lindsay resting her head on Danny's shoulder. Danny raked his hand through her curls, and the chorus of 'aw' was heard between the women left in room 2460.
Pulling her away from him, Danny looked into Lindsay's eyes and gave her a gentle kiss on her nose, which led to yet another chorus of 'aw' from the women in the room. You had to hand it to him, Danny Messer knew how to be romantic in the end-of-a-chick-flick kinda way. Looking back into the room, the pair motioned for me to unlock the door. I grinned like a giddy school girl, and obliged, letting the pair back into the hotel room. For a minute, all was silent, and then Mac stepped towards Danny and Lindsay, and we parted faster than you can say 'Red Sea'.
Danny and Lindsay looked to each other and before either one could say a word, Mac interrupted.
"Your lives are your lives, and I can't do anything about that," he said in an authoritative tone, then added in a softer tone: "nor do I want to. I am behind you both one hundred and ten percent, on two conditions: one, you do not let it interfere with any of your cases."
Both Danny and Lindsay nodded solemnly. Work was one thing that they both took seriously. "And your second condition: Danny, don't hurt her."
Danny looked down at Lindsay, their gazes meeting. He took her hand and promised, "I never will."
We would have broken out into another chorus of 'aw' for the third time that evening, if Mac hadn't continued. "And, for the record, I am not anti-dating co-workers…in fact, I might try it myself sometime," he said, making a very poignant glance at Stella. Anna looked at me and smiled, and we squeezed hands, a silent 'aw' uttered between the two of us.
"Alright, that's it! Unless there is another pair in here, speak now or forever hold your peace, because I want some dessert!" Hawkes exclaimed. The entire room burst out in laughter.
"I already got my dessert," Danny said with a wink at Lindsay. She playfully shoved him, but decided that the option she liked better was snuggling closer to him. I motioned for everyone to exit the hotel room and return once more to the Crystal Ballroom. And I swear on my life, that for a fleeting moment, Mac and Stella were holding hands as we descended in the elevator.
A petite woman with long curly red hair greeted us in the ballroom. "Good evening everyone. My name is Kristina, and it is with great pleasure that I welcome you all back into this ballroom to continue the celebration of Anna's 24th birthday." We all applauded wildly. "And now, if you don't mind, we are going to sing 'Happy Birthday'. Afterwards, we will open the dance floor so that you can all burn off all of those cake calories!" We laughed again. After we sang to Anna (we sounded quite good, actually) and dove into eating our cake, the real fun began. I convinced Kristina to take pictures of us on the dance floor, because Hammerback doing the Macarena, or Hawkes doing the YMCA was just too good to not have as blackmail photos.
"Thank you all for coming tonight to the Harmony Suites, and I hope that you all have a wonderful rest of the evening!" Kristina said with a wave of her hand as we exited the hotel. Stepping out into the cold night air, we all parted our separate ways.
"Thank you so much for a great time, and have a happy birthday!" Stella said, waving her hand at Anna and stepping into a cab with Mac. As they drove off, Hammerback and Hawkes said their goodbyes and parted, each man going home. Danny and Lindsay gave both Anna and me bone-crushing hugs before they settled into a cab together. Abbey and Charlene waved their goodbyes, smiling and promising to call in the morning.
And that left one other person.
"Hey," Flack said with a smile, walking up to where Anna and I were getting into my car. I decided to let Anna say goodbye and I turned the keys in the car's ignition, thankful for the warm air that was beginning to blow out of the heater. I glanced out the passenger's side window and saw Flack lean down and give Anna a soft kiss on the lips. Then he too stepped into a cab and drove off. Anna opened the car door, and took one look at my smirking face before replying:
"Don't you dare say 'I told you so'."
"Fine," I agreed, checking the left hand lane for traffic before pulling out into it. We looked at each other for a minute before I spoke again. "Then how was it?"
Anna looked at my smiling face and we both dissolved into the kind of laughter only reserved for the best of friends.
Flufflove, right? Haha. Well, this is the end of the DL mystery fluff. But I am sure that you all still want to know how Greg and Anna met, right? Because then we get not one, not two, but THREE CSI teams involved! Yeah, I think we're due for a Vegas/NY/Miami cross-over. But that will come after this next chapter. Until then, stay tuned!
