1 WEEK AGO

"Wow. Now this is some party."

2 DB's were found the Four Seasons Hotel. It looked like a party taken too fast, too far. Very Belushi. It had been an extremely slow week, this being our 2nd case in 3 weeks. Now, that's a first in my career. If only it could happen more often.

"Whoa. Lindsay! Look here. This bottle, $2000. 5 of them! Now I know that the NYPD don't pay enough to let me afford a glass of this."

"Danny. You don't need to enjoy yourself with a $2000 bottle of wine. I'm quite content with your rendition of a London Fog."

Lindsay had been her gleeful self, she had really opened up herself since she told me about Jake. We finally took that step of starting a relationship, albeit trying to keep it quiet from the rest of the group. They didn't need to know, they didn't need anymore distraction.

Guess who knew? Without us even telling?

That sly dog, Hammerback. Good thing he knows how to shut up when he needs to.

We had been together for 3 months now, and everything was going well. I've never had a 'real' relationship before. I finally got off my ass after seeing her almost blown to smithereens, after the bombing that nearly claimed Mac and Flack's lives. Everything was falling into place.

We were taking it slow, doing it right. We made sure that it didn't affect our working relationship, with ourselves and the team. I wonder if anybody else suspected?

More-so, my application for Level 2 CSI had been long overdue and had been approved by Mac. He just needed word from the top brass to make it official.

"Danny?….Hey Danny!"

"Hm?"

"Daydreaming? Come on, I'm done processing. Let's go."

As packed our kits into the truck, my cell phone rings.

"Messer"

"It's Mac, I need you to come down to the Brooklyn bridge. Just next to the river on the south side, as soon as you can. "

His voice sounded serious, it made me wonder what was going on.

"What's up?" Lindsay asks.

"Mac wants us at his scene. I wonder what's going on. Maybe he needs our help."

-----

We drive up to the gamut of yellow tape, police sedans, and we park the truck. Mac was the only CSI on scene, which was odd. Lindsay and I grabbed our kits, and we made our way down to where Mac was.

"Our vic, male. Was found in the vehicle, bound. Beaten beyond recognition. We received a call about a car going into the river, last night. We pulled the car out, and there wasn't any sign of a driver. Even if there was it would've been washed away"
Confused as to why Mac called us here, we proceeded to walk to the wreckage.

"The reason why I called you here."

He lifts the trunk, and I see a familiar sight.

"The position, the rag, the duct-tape. Typical Tanglewood style. The vic's wallet" He hands me a wallet.

"Open it."

Opening it, I read the name. "Michael Messer"

Frozen, I do a double take of the body in the trunk.

"This can't be."

"Danny, somebody is sending you a message. They're back. It doesn't matter that Sonny is in jail, someone's put out a hit on you."

I step back to absorb all the information coming to me, trying to piece together my troubled past. Lindsay, who had remained silent until now had taken hold of my hand out of view from Mac.

"Danny…."

"No…Not Michael. He didn't want to be near a Tanglewood Boy, he didn't want any affiliation. He wasn't affiliated. I'm pretty sure none of them knew him, this can't be. He had nothing to do with them" Though my fear hadn't settled in yet, my rage had boiled up to my chin.

"Are they out to get you?" Lindsay asks in a soft concerned voice.

"Tanglewood………they don't' just kill you. They start out by killing your family, your closest friends, the people you…." I couldn't continue, and Mac and Lindsay tried to squeeze out the rest of my answer.

The whole time not taking my eyes off Lindsay, I take a nervous breath.

"The people you love."