The next morning, Danny and Jo had still not heard anything about Mac again. Jo had to go home to Ellie but Danny had stayed at the hospital all night. His phone rang at around 8 am. "Messer," he answered.

"Danny, have you heard anything else about Mac?" Don asked.

"Not a word. I'm wondering why they haven't said anything else all night."

"I'm gonna get Sheldon to come down there. He can find out something."

"Good. You got anything else on that guy who attacked Mac?"

"There were three," Don said. "The bartender, Scotty, said that Mac told him there were three."

"When did he tell him that?" Danny asked.

"Before we got there, and we got some fingerprints from the bar and even some blood from the alley that wasn't Mac's. None of them were in the system. Whoever these guys are, they don't have a record."

"That's why they can get away with it and we can't find them. They're not known."

"Yet."

"Yeah, yet, but that doesn't help us any. Does Jo know this?"

"Yeah. I told her. She's not too happy about that."

"Neither am I." Danny stretched his back. "I hate spending the night in a hospital."

"Me too but I'm glad you are there."

"Talk to you later."

Danny ended the call. He looked toward the nurse's desk. He went over there to ask again if he could know about Mac Taylor. "Is there anymore information about Mac Taylor?" he asked.

The nurse looked at Danny. She was getting weary of him asking that all the time. "They have not given me anymore information," she said.

"When will the doctor be in to see him?"

"He should be in any time now."

"Why can't I see Mac yet?"

"He's in very serious condition. He doesn't need visitors right now."

"How do you know that? Maybe that's what he does need."

"He doesn't need germs and we have to follow the hospital rules."

Danny nodded. "Sorry," he said.

"I understand your concern but you will be informed when we know something."

Danny went back to the waiting area and sat down. He yawned because he had not slept much if any. He had been too worried to sleep. He had talked to Lindsay some during the night but she had gotten a little sleep. He would just sit here and keep vigil while everyone else had to figure out the case. He did not want Mac to be alone.

Jo was back in the office by 9 am. "Are there no leads yet?" she asked as she walked into the lab.

"None yet," Adam replied. "These guys are not well-known yet…or at least that's what Don thinks."

"Well, surely someone has seen them! They can't be invisible."

"The guy's picture has been broadcast all over the city. Maybe someone will see him soon."

"I hope so. This guy has crossed the line and injured a cop. I want him found and his friends too!"

Jo walked out of the computer lab. She wished they would tell them something about Mac too. She thought someone around there must know how he is doing. Was he still stable? Had he had any more trouble during the night? She wanted to know. She rubbed her forehead. All this tension was starting to give her a headache.

As Danny was sitting in the waiting area, Scotty, the bartender came in. "How is he?" he asked.

"I don't know," Danny replied. "They haven't told us anything."

"Nothing?"

"No, not since last night."

Scotty did not think that sounded very good. "Well, wouldn't they tell you if he woke up?" he asked.

"I don't know," Danny said. "Looks like they could tell us if he's improving."

"They don't seem to want anyone to know anything." Scotty sat down beside Danny. "He's a good cop. He comes in the bar sometimes and just hangs out. He respects us."

"Mac's a good guy."

"Yeah. I remember the first time he came in there. It was not long after nine-eleven. He came in there looking like the end of the world had come. Of course, we were all feeling almost like that, but he seemed to be feeling really low. He just sat at that table in the corner and stared into his drink for the longest time. I figured he might have lost someone in the towers but I didn't ask that night. I just let him sit there and brought him drinks when he asked for one."

Danny looked at Scotty. "Did he ever tell you?" he asked.

"Yeah. He finally started sitting at the bar and talking. I just stood there and listened. I didn't even know he was a cop until then. He seemed to want to blend in."

"We all want to blend in sometimes. It's nice to be like everyone else sometimes."

Scotty frowned. "When he came in last night, I figured he was hunting someone that had to do with that treasure. It was all over the news, and everybody who came in seemed to be talking about it. It was quite a haul, wasn't it?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, it was," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."

"Just one piece of it could make a person filthy rich."

"It would be enough for us."

They were silent for a while, both wondering what was happening to Mac back there that no one was letting them know anything. Danny finally stood up. "Well, I have to get some coffee or something," he said. "I'm just about to the end of what I ate yesterday."

"I'll stay here," Scotty replied. "If they come out, I'll let you know."

"Thanks."

Danny went down to the cafeteria. He could smell the breakfast in there and it made him even hungrier. He got himself a plate and then headed back to the waiting room. He sat down at the table to eat. "No one came in while you were gone," Scotty said.

"Thanks," Danny replied. "Sheldon Hawks will be here soon. He will go in there and see what he can find out."

Don had gotten a report that someone had spotted the suspect. He called a team together and Jo was there as well. "Are we sure he's still in there?" she asked.

"I haven't gotten anymore information," Don said. "If we can get the guy and his friends, we'll have both cases solved."

"And then we can get back to Mac."

They were at an old hotel in the Bronx. A report had come in that the suspect had checked in, and that two others were with him. They went up to the room where they were supposed to be. Don nodded to the two officers with the battering ram. They rammed the door and Don went in with his weapon aimed. "N.Y.P.D.!" he yelled as he went in the door. "Freeze!"

There were three men in the room, and not only them, but also three women. They were in no position to run. "Stay right there," Don said. "You're under arrest!"

They got all the people in the room and made them get dressed and put them under arrest. "You're under arrest for murder, grand theft, and attempted murder, and I don't know what all else," Don said as he was arresting the main suspect.

They got them down to the precinct and got them booked. The first suspect who had stabbed Mac still had the knife on him, so they did not have much trouble finding that. His name was Bryan Gray. "Who did you steal that treasure for?" Don asked. He laid a picture of Pierre Manicotti on the table. "You killed that guy and you killed his maid and butler. Then you had the gall to try and kill Mac Taylor because he had found you."

Gray glared at Don. "You don't have any proof," he said.

"Oh yeah?" Don asked. Don laid the fingerprint matches on the table. "What does that look like? And when Detective Taylor wakes up, I'm sure he is going to recognize you, and not only that, but we have two witnesses who knew who Detective Taylor was after that night. Trust me, you're going away for a very long time. Now, who did you steal that treasure for?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"I'm sure your friends in there are going to tell me, because I just have a feeling that they are not as favorable toward murder as you are. I want to know who hired you."

Gray folded his arms. "Whatever. I'm not a rat."

Don put his pictures back in the folder. "Well, I hope you like six by eight rooms."

Don left the interrogation room and watched as Jo was interrogating one of the others. His name was Raymond Dennis. "I didn't have anything to do with killing anyone," Dennis said. "Bryan was the one who did that. He stabbed that cop, and he killed those three people. I went with him to try and get the treasure from that chef but I didn't know he was going to kill people."

"Who were you working for?" Jo asked. "I want a name."

Dennis looked down at the table. "He'll have us killed," he said.

"No he won't because he will be behind bars too."

"Are you kidding? He's so rich, he will probably never go to jail and if he did he would have enough money to control the jail."

Jo could not believe what she was hearing. "Tell me who hired you," she said. "He deserves to go to prison too."

Dennis sighed. "It was Eddie Waddle and John Gordon," he said. "They both wanted that treasure."

"What about Arnold Watts?"

"Never heard of him. It was those two who hired us. They were going to pay us a lot of money but then things went bad and…well, it just didn't work out."

"They didn't pay you?"

"No, and Bryan never gave them the eggs either. So where are they?"

"He has a safety deposit box where he was keeping them until they decided to pay up, but they wanted everything to settle down first."

"I want to know where that deposit box is and where the key is."

"Bryan must have it. I don't have it."

"Thank you very much."

Jo left the interrogation room. "Now, we have to get that lowlife to talk," she said.

"I don't think so," Don replied. "When we took up his personal effects, there were some keys in it. Chances are, one of them is to that deposit box."

"Good. Get a warrant for it."

"Don't need one. It's the property of the department now."

"Let's see if we can find it then."

After examining the keys that Bryan Gray had turned in, they found that one of them was from a bank. "That must be it," Jo said. "We have to contact this bank and get into this thing."

Danny finished eating his breakfast and was sitting in the waiting room again when the doctor came in there. Sheldon was just arriving. "How is Mac Taylor, Doctor?" Danny asked.

The doctor sighed and looked at them. "I'm afraid he is not doing well," he said.

Danny frowned. "What…what do you mean?"

"His fever has spiked up to one-hundred four over the last two hours and he has had some hemorrhaging. We've had to give him two pints of blood. I'm afraid we've done all we can do besides try to keep his fever down and keep the bleeding stopped. We're giving him antibiotics to try and bring down infection."

"The tear in the intestine is causing that, right?" Sheldon asked.

"Yes. If he had not gotten here when he did, it would have been a lot worse." The doctor looked at his watch. "I have to get back in there."

"When can we see Mac?" Danny asked. "I want to see him."

"I'll arrange to let you see him soon."

The doctor went back through the doors to the ICU. Danny looked at Sheldon. "What does that mean?" Danny asked.

Sheldon looked at him. "It doesn't sound good," he said.

"Are you saying that Mac is going to…"

"They don't know. We have to wait and see what happens. We can't just give up hope."

"Hope. We could hope all day and it wouldn't help him."

"Well, maybe you should start talking to a higher power."

Jo and Don were at the bank that the key came from. The banker let them into the room with the deposit boxes and took out the one that the key fit. Jo opened the box and there were the two missing Faberge eggs. She looked at Don. "Well, I guess that's that," she said.

"Now, all we have to do is prove that Eddie Waddle and John Gordon had something to do with this," Don said.

"That shouldn't be too hard. They've already had one roll over on them."

"That won't be enough. Since they didn't even have the evidence with them, there's no way we can prove that they hired those guys. These guys killed those people and those guys will get off with this no matter what these lowlifes say."

"Well, at least we got them for murder and for what they did to Mac. They won't get away with that."

When all the evidence was processed, there was nothing that would implicate Eddie Waddle, or John Gordon with being involved in the mess. Jo called Danny to find out how Mac was. "We got the guys who did all this although we can't tie those rich guys to it," she said. "How is Mac?"

Danny was quiet a moment. "Not good," he said.

Jo frowned. "What?"

"He's not doing good, Jo. You guys should get down here."

Jo did not know what to say. "Are you saying that he's going to…that he…"

"I don't know, Jo. Sheldon is trying to find out more but according to that doctor, he's not well."

"That's just not possible."

Danny did not know what else to say. He did not want to believe it either but it was true. Mac might not make it…