Chapter 4: Because, To Catch A Kid...
Wednesday, May 9th, 9:07 AM, Abandoned Apartment Building
Nick Jacobs sat near a small fire him and his friends had built. "Hey, Nick, would you pass me some gum?" Gyro asked.
"How many is that?" Nick asked as he passed the pack of spearmint gum to Gyro.
"A lot," Gyro said with a grin.
"You know that stuff isn't healthy," the third member of their trio asked. Tanner Davidson was his real name, but he preferred 'Post-It.' Tanner could remember just about anything under ten words or digits like a Post-It. Nick sighed and smiled.
"What's up, Nick?"
"I ran into Detective Stella Bonasera yesterday."
"Really? Is she gonna turn us in?"
"No. She gave me her word."
"You know those cops, they never keep their word." Gyro commented through a wad of gum.
"We'll just have to wait and see." Nick replied.
--9:24 AM, CSI Lab--
"The prints just came back from Danny." Stella was telling Ryan.
"Any matches?"
"One. The brother of the vic."
"The brother? Didn't he have a grudge against the vic for being such a great baseball player?"
"Yeah."
"So, we've got motive, fingerprints, and the blood of the vic on the bat."
"Yeah. Let's go get him."
--9:23 AM, CSI Lab, Conference Room--
Lindsay, Danny, and Flack all stood watching the TV in the conference room. "CSI and NYPD have just arrested John Larz for the murder of Carl Larz." The reporter was saying. The camera zoomed in on Stella, Ryan, and two officers escorting John into the prison where he would be held until trial.
"Another one bites the dust." Danny commented. Lindsay laughed, and Flack smirked slightly.
"Alright, Danny. You wanted to talk to me?" Flack said, flicking off the TV.
"Yeah. It's about Ryan."
"Mac told me about that conversation."
"Right, well, I think he's going to try something soon. Stella already trusts him, and Hawkes...Well, I don't know. But still, we've got to say something."
"Well, unfortunately for you, I agree with Stella. There's no way the DA would've picked Detective Carter if he thought Ryan might be up to something."
Danny looked as if he had been punched in the gut, and frowned. "Alright. That's all, then."
"Thank you for your input, though." Flack said before leaving.
"Flack too?" Danny asked Lindsay.
"I guess so. What're we going to do now?"
"I don't know. Did you get any leads on that cookie jar?"
"No. Not yet, at least. I ran the writing through the database, but no matches came up."
"I'll run it again. I have an idea about who might've sent them."
"Alright. Good luck." Danny nodded and headed off. Lindsay sighed and sat down to think.
--10:32 AM, CSI Lab--
Danny smiled as a match came up. "Perfect." He muttered before printing off the results.
Lindsay walked up. "Looks like you found something."
"I did." He said, handing the paper to Lindsay.
"Detective Ryan Carter?"
"Everybody likes cookies." Ryan commented as he walked by. Lindsay spun and watched him go with a glare. Danny put a hand on Lindsay's shoulder. She quickly shrugged it off, though, and handed Danny the paper before hurrying after Ryan.
She caught Ryan just before he got into his car.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Get in. We can talk on the way." Lindsay frowned but got in.
Ryan started the car and started driving around New York City, aimlessly it seemed.
"I bet you're wondering why I sent those cookies."
"I'm more wondering whether you're a stalker or not."
"I can assure you I'm not." Ryan said with a laugh.
"Fine. But how did you find my address?"
"Lucky guess."
"Liar."
"I have my sources."
"Right. You're best friends with the old lady who lives next to me."
"Actually, it might be the fact that I live in the same apartment building as you."
"What?"
"Yeah. Coincidence, it seems."
"I reccomend you stay away from me, Ryan."
"Why? We can't be friends?"
"The cookies were kind of stalker creepy."
"I'm sorry if they came across that way. We got off to a rocky start, and I wanted to fix that."
"So the cookies were a peace offering?"
"In a way."
"They were good, if you were wondering."
"Great. I wondered if I had added a little bit too much sugar."
"You made them?"
"Yeah. You expected store bought?"
"Maybe."
"No way. Took me two hours. The first batch had too much sugar. Way too sweet. The second batch I knocked it down, but still added a little bit. I always like my cookies sweet. So, four hours total, I guess."
"Thank you, I guess."
"Don't thank me. Trust me."
"I'll see what I can do."
"Now I've got to figure out how to get Danny to trust me."
"Good luck." Lindsay said, smiling.
"Thanks. I think."
--11:25 AM, CSI Lab--
Stella sighed and headed towards Danny. "Where are Ryan and Lindsay?"
"I don't know. They went for a drive together. To talk, I think."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Ryan sent Lindsay the cookies, so I think they were talking about that." At that moment Ryan and Lindsay walked in, talking like old friends and laughing.
"What's up, guys?" Ryan asked as he and Lindsay approached.
"Nothing." Stella quickly said.
"Where'd you guys go?" Danny asked.
"For a drive. We were talking."
"About what?"
"That's for us to know and you to find out." Lindsay said. Danny frowned and made a mental note to ask her about it later.
"Alright. Well, we've got another possible homicide. Ryan and I will handle it." Stella said. Danny and Lindsay nodded.
--1:46 PM, An Abandoned Apartment Building--
Nick sighed and took another bite out of his stolen Subway sandwich. Gyro was devouring his with obvious delight, and Post-It was eating his slowly, taking measured bites. Nick looked towards a window they had blacked out with a sheet, and wondered when he would see daylight in this place.
Gyro looked up and followed his gaze to the window. "What?" He asked.
"Nothing. Just thought I heard something." Nick quickly said.
"Oh."
"It was probably just a bird or something." Post-It said.
"Yeah." Nick agreed.
"They're still looking for you, I'll bet." Gyro said to Nick.
"I know."
"You gonna go out tonight again?" Post-It asked.
"Probably." Nick replied.
"Why? We've got Subway for dinner."
"There's something else I wanted to take care of." Nick said, finishing his sandwich.
"Oh. Okay."
"I'll be back later. I'm going for a walk." Nick announced, and headed out of the room.