Chapter 3: A Night on the Town Gone Bad
Don had returned to his hotel room and gone to bed after his conversation with McAllister. He woke up around eleven in the morning and had wandered down the block to a Denny's after taking another shower. Feeling full and lazy he headed back to the hotel to the pool. He swam a few laps and flirted with the cute girl serving drinks to the hotel guests before grabbing a good mystery novel and lying by the pool.
Don had already read about eight chapters before realizing how red he was becoming. Wincing at the sting of his sunburn Don decided it was time to head back to his room. He was lying on the bed in his room, still reading the novel, when his cell phone rang. Without ever looking up from the book, he grabbed his cell and flipped it open.
"Flack," he said into the phone.
"Hey Donny boy. How's the vacation? You meet any pretty girls yet?"
"Messer, why're you buggin' me? And you've already got a girlfriend, so why're you asking me about girls?"
"Well, Montana wanted to say hi, and I wouldn't let her call you, since I know you'd tell her some awful story to embarrass me, so I said I'd call." Danny replied.
"Right. Well it's fine so far, except I'm redder than a lobster from lying by my hotel pool." Don grinned when he heard Danny telling Lindsay what he'd said. God they've only been together for two months and he's whipped like a dog.
"Montana recommends some aloe vera for your sunburn, and to take a hot shower to get the sting out." Danny repeated, dutifully.
Laughing, Don replied, "Messer, you are so whipped." He grinned when he heard Danny's protests. "And tell Lindsay thanks for the advice, I'll buy her a cup of coffee when I get back."
"I'm the only one allowed to buy her stuff, Flack, so keep you hands off my girl, okay?" Danny said with a laugh.
"Right Messer. See you in a week."
"Yeah, have a great one Flack." Don flipped his phone shut and placed it on the nightstand next to his badge and gun. He'd had to get special permission to keep his gun while traveling and had had to check it with airport security during the flight. Glancing at the clock he realized it was only a little past three. Since he was going to go to a club tonight, he figured he'd better get some sleep before he went out. But first, some food.
Don grabbed the Room Service menu from the desk drawer and flipped through it. Hmm…a nice steak and some French fries aught to do it and maybe a Coke to drink. After placing his order he flipped on the television to a local news station, KTLA. He watched the weather forecast, "Sunny with some humidity during the day, with a slight chance of showers tonight,", while waiting for his food. When it arrived he ate it while watching the news report, "On the hour, every hour", and wished he was back home. He still had six more days left of his vacation, and this doing nothing was killing him. He hated not doing anything. He rolled the idea of calling Mac around in his head before giving it up; he wouldn't bother Mac just so he could talk about work. Shaking his head, he turned off the lights and lied down for a nap.
He woke around nine, still exhausted from the flight and the time change. With a groan, he made a mental note to get some aloe vera for his sunburn when he went out tomorrow morning. Picking a dressier shirt than last night, an ice blue button up, he paired it with a black pair of jeans and his leather jacket. After all, the weatherman had warned about a chance of showers. He stuck his badge in his back pocket and used an ankle holster for his gun since most women don't enjoy finding out that their dance partner is packing heat. Running a comb through his hair, he decided to eat at the hotel restaurant before heading to the Emerald Room.
Don arrived at the Emerald Room around eleven, right when the club was getting busy. Don stood with the crowd in line for a few minutes before they were allowed inside. He grinned at the décor. The walls were kinked sheet metal that had been painted a deep green; green glassed sconces were spaced along the walls to give just enough light and the stage, where the DJ was working, was framed by huge green velvet curtains. He headed to the bar, which was framed by neon lights, thankfully not all of them green, and ordered a scotch on the rocks. He noticed a stairway leading upstairs, which appeared to be the lounge that McAllister had told him about. He leaned on the bar as he watched the throng of people dancing.
Hs attention was caught by the woman heading his way. She was more than just attractive, she was gorgeous. She was tall, nearly his height with those heels she had on, with dark brown hair and green eyes. Her top was a sheer pink with heavy beading around her breasts and intricate swirls across the stomach and when she turned, he realized the shirt was held on by two thin straps tied behind her back. She wore a black skirt, if you could call a piece of material that small a skirt, and hot pink "fuck me" shoes. Don swallowed hard and took a gulp of his Scotch. She stopped next to him at the bar and waved to catch the bartender's attention.
"Hey Chris!" she shouted at the bartender, since the music in the club was deafening.
"Hey Danni girl, you off of work tonight?"
"Yeah, hey can you make me a Cosmo? It's hotter than hell in here tonight."
"Those damn strobe lights the boss had installed are giving off that extra heat. I'll have your Cosmo in a minute, okay?'
"Sure." she replied as she glanced at the offending lights. When she glanced over at Don, she smiled. "Hi," she said. "I'm Danni."
"Don," he said taking her hand and placing a kiss on her knuckles. Hey, he figured if she knew the bartender's name, she was a regular, though not a drunken one, since she wouldn't care about or recognize the bartender. When the bartender returned, he bought her drink and paid for a refill of his own.
"Thanks for the drink. Do you come here often?" she asked as she sipped her drink.
"Actually, no. I'm on vacation and this place was recommended to me."
"Ah, a vacation. I think I've forgotten what one of those feels like," she said with a smile.
"Yeah, no kidding. I've been goin' stir crazy and it's only the second day." She laughed at his comment and finished her drink. "Would you like to dance?" Don asked her.
"Lead the way," she said putting her empty glass on the bar and grabbing his hand. A fast song came on just as they reached the dance floor and they began to dance together. The music and the atmosphere kept them moving and they danced together song after song for nearly an hour and a half.
Finally, out of breath and thirsty they made their way to the bar for a drink before Don led her towards one of the less busy corners of the club. Dizzy with alcohol and the effects of dancing so closely, he had been aching to kiss her since they'd gone on the dance floor, and finally he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. With a moan, Danni leaned into him, kissing him back as her arms wrapped around his neck. Don's hands slid from her waist up her sides, sliding underneath the flimsy material of her top, to cup her breasts. She arched into his touch and gasped into his mouth as his fingers kneaded her breasts.
"Come back to my room with me?" Don asked her, his voice raspy with desire.
"Yes," she whispered, "Right now." Grinning, Don slid his hands out from under her top. And that's when chaos erupted. Three gunshots exploded in rapid fire, people began screaming and running for the exits. Don whirled around to see where the shooter was, he could feel Danni's hand grab his arm. Two more shots erupted and Don could see the muzzle flash coming from the far side of the stage, but he couldn't see the shooter because of the crowd. More screams followed the gunshots, and people panicked more. Some fell to the ground when people jostled too hard and he saw a woman get stepped on by panicked bystanders.
He was reaching towards his ankle holster when he saw him. Juan Martinez, a gang banger from New York who was the primary suspect in three open homicide cases. The guy had gone AWOL only hours after Don had finished questioning him. But because of rules, since they hadn't had hard evidence at the time, he had been released, only to disappear. Martinez saw him though, and the gun which he'd been holding at his side came up in an instant and, before Don could even move, fired. Don felt burning pain in his right arm and fell back with the impact of the bullet. He felt Danni behind him, and then she was gone, as Don fell to the floor. Martinez, paying no mind to Danni, had a nasty smirk on his face, Don, realizing he was probably going to die, tried to get to his gun holster.
"LAPD! Drop your weapon immediately or I'll fire!" Recognizing the voice he jerked his head around to see Danni holding a gun that was pointed at Martinez. Don could still hear gunfire from other areas of the club, but was staring at the scene before him with undivided attention. Martinez just laughed at Danni, and raised the weapon towards Don's head. BANG! Danni fired a round into Martinez's right shoulder, forcing him to drop his weapon and drop to his knees. Don could hear his swearing and was about to say something when Martinez lunged for his dropped weapon. Danni fired another round, this time into his left shoulder.
Martinez screamed louder and writhed on the ground in pain as Danni, carefully kicked the weapon out of Martinez's reach. Don doubted Martinez would even be able to move his arms, let alone fire a gun, but better safe than sorry. All other gunshots had stopped at Danni's yells towards Martinez and the club was essentially empty now except for the groans of Martinez and other injured patrons.
"Don are you okay? Where did he hit you?" she asked, never turning her back on Martinez, but managing to look him in the eyes just the same.
"The arm, but I'll live. I'm pretty sure it's a through and through. There are other worse off than me," he said, tilting his head towards the downed customers. She dropped a hasty kiss on his forehead before pulling a cell phone from… well, someplace. Don still wasn't sure where she'd had the gun.
"This is Detective Danielle Adams, badge number 714. There's been a shooting at the Emerald Room club. I need a bus out here ASAP. I see at least ten injured, including one of the perps, and several casualties. We have at least one more perp who's escaped. I need backup and I need it now!"
A/N: I'm kind of sad my story seems to be the only one in the CSI:NY section without any reviews. I have to ask, is anyone reading my fic? Anyways, have a safe weekend. For anyone who IS reading this, the next chapter will be up by Monday.
