Chapter Four

1.15 pm

Stella caught up with Lindsay and Hawkes after getting their instructions from Mac. She insisted they all go for lunch first before heading back to work. It soon became clear however, that none of them had the slightest appetite for the egg salad sandwiches they ordered at the café.

They soon pulled up in front of the crime lab. A couple of squad cars were parked in front of the main entrance and so was a big spiffy looking Mercedes. Stella knew whose car this belonged to all too well. Chief Dwight Hillborne, Internal Affairs Bureau.

Stella pretty much expected him to get involved. A crime scene in a crime lab… it was the IAB's idea of a perfect day.

They entered into the lobby. Crime scene tape blocked the elevator where the shooter went up in while the other elevators were being used to siphon people away from the 35th floor.

Stella flashed her badge to the officer guarding the front of one elevator who immediately waved the three CSIs through. They were silent as the elevator began it's ascend.

A strange feeling came over Stella. She wondered what could have been going through the shooter's mind as he made this exact ascend four hours ago. Was he nervous? Calm? Angry? Or even insane? How could anyone have been able to walk into a building full of cops just to shoot one man?

The elevator door opened. Stella was looking at a place she knew so well, yet, everything was different about it. Lab technicians were stuck in their rooms, sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting for detectives to come and ask them pointless questions where they will give pointless answers to.

Stella said to Lindsay and Hawkes, "I'm going to go run these bullets through IBIS, you guys gonna be okay with the crime scene?"

Hawkes nodded, "We got it covered."

Stella nodded back and headed for the lab. Interesting… now results could be obtained super fast since all the evidence was within a two mile radius of the machines that processed them.

"Detective Bonasera!" called out a deep voice.

Stella knew that voice. Hoping her face didn't look too annoyed, she turned around to face a tall stern looking African-American man, "Chief Hillborne…" she greeted.

"Where's Taylor?"

"At the hospital…" Stella replied curtly.

"Alright then… perhaps you can explain to me how in the world did a man walk right into the NYPD Crime Lab and shoot one of our detectives?"

Stella answered, "We're doing all we can to find out, sir."

Hillborne shifted impatiently and said, "The press is having a field day, Bonasera! People are going to question our ability to protect New York City since we can let someone come in and fire shots to their fancy!"

Stella wasn't the least bit surprised that Hillborne's first concern was his image rather than Danny's condition.

When she didn't say a word, Hillborne asked, "Do we have any idea who did the shooting?"

Stella said, "Many people saw his face, including Detective Taylor and I. I'm positive we will catch him soon enough."

Hillborne nodded and said, "Tell Detective Taylor that I want the shooter behind bars, Bonasera. And I also want the motive. Let me know when my men can talk to Messer. He should know something."

Stella said through slightly gritted teeth, "Detective Messer is in a coma, Hillborne. And I am sure he is not involved in this shooting in any negative way…"

"Messer was involved in the shooting of an undercover officer before, he was suspended from duty for a cigarette found at a crime scene with his DNA on it, and now this?" Hillborne raised his eyebrows, "Well, forgive me if I tend to be a little suspicious…"

"Just do your job." He muttered before strutting off.

1.17 pm

Hawkes got off his cell phone and turned to Lindsay, "That was Mac… no change in Danny's condition…"

Lindsay nodded, "You want the lift, or the crime scene?"

Hawkes said, "You take the lift…"

Lindsay nodded, looking almost relieved. Hawkes saw her cast a nervous glance at the middle of the crime scene. A big pool of thick blood lay there. Hawkes still found it hard to believe it was all Danny's blood.

As minutes passed, it became increasingly obvious to Hawkes that he and Lindsay were wasting their time chasing an empty lead. The elevator was used by several hundred people a day while the lobby had a lot of foot traffic, making finding footprints and fingerprints essentially useless. Finding anything that belonged to the shooter will be like looking for a needle in several hay stacks.

A quick interview with the desk receptionist revealed that the shooter touched nothing while waiting for Danny.

After awhile, Flack came up to Hawkes and said, "How's it going?"

Hawkes noticed Flack's eyes were focused on the blood pool on the floor. "Not good… this is pretty much a dead end."

Flack's eyes were still fixed on Danny's blood as he said, "Yeah. Witness statements have nothing new to follow. Middle aged man, 50s to 60s, five foot nine, graying hair, dark clothes… Came to the front desk, asked for Danny, shot him once in the gut, and then in the neck when he was down…" Flack stopped talking, his eyes never leaving the blood pool.

"Flack!" Hawkes said loudly.

Flack jumped slightly and his eyes finally returned to Hawkes. "He'll be okay… you said so yourself…"

Flack sighed, his eyes downcast. Without another word, he walked away.

Hawkes decided to check on Lindsay. To his surprise, he saw Lindsay sitting on the elevator floor, hugging her knees, tears trickling down her cheeks. The elevator was now full of fingerprint dust and the collected fingerprints lay in a pile beside Lindsay's kit.

"Hey…" Hawkes called out, squatting beside her, "You okay?"

Tears filled her eyes but her voice was steady as Lindsay said, "It's frustrating, Hawkes… We saw his face! More than 20 people can identify him! We know exactly what he looks like and yet, we still can't catch him!"

Hawkes nodded, "I know…"

"And Danny's lying in the hospital! A machine is breathing for him! He's in a coma for God's sake, and we can't do anything?!"

Hawkes said, "I know… I'm as frustrated as you are. But we have to keep at it, ok? Sooner or later, we'll get the guy, and lock him up for good." He put a hand on Lindsay's shoulder, "If it's one of us who got shot instead, what would Danny be doing?"

Lindsay smiled shakily, remembering the time Stella was nearly killed by Frankie. Lindsay remembered Danny comforting her and telling her to stay focused on the case, as it was what Stella would have wanted them to do. "He'll never stop working until the shooter was caught…"

Hawkes smiled, "Exactly. And he might give the guy a hard ass kickin' once he caught him to make him sorry for ever messing with his friends…"

Lindsay chuckled. That was Danny alright.

Hawkes said, "He'll be strong for us, so we have to be strong for him, okay?"

Lindsay smiled and nodded. The two of them got back to work.

2.00 pm

Mac sat on the bench outside Danny's room with a Styrofoam cup of coffee in his hand. The shooter's smiling face was dancing back and forth in his brain, mocking him.

A soft but quick patter of footsteps cased Mac to look down the hall. He saw an average-height woman with short graying hair that had hints of blonde, (probably her original hair colour before age caught up with her) hazel eyes and friendly, warm features. With her was a tall man with longish black hair (also graying in some places), crystal blue eyes and long nose. Both of them wore an exhausted and worried expression on their faces.

Even though Mac had never met them before, their features were strikingly familiar to Mac. The woman brownish blonde hair was the exact same shade as Danny's. The man's blue eyes and bright, almost cocky features were just like Danny's. His hair and her eyes, however were just like Louie's.

Danny's parents.

Mac stood up and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Messer…"

Danny's mum cut him off, "Where is my son?"

Mac indicated towards Danny's room. Without a word, the couple went into the room. Mac stood at the doorway, giving them time. Danny's mum murmured, "Oh Danny…" over and over again as she stroked his hair. His father remained silent, but Mac could see the pain and sadness in his eyes.

Curtis Messer looked up at Mac and asked, "What the hell happened?"

Mac felt there was no use sugar coating anything, so he said, "This morning, a man came into the NYPD crime lab and shot Danny…"

"Why?" demanded Danny's father.

Mac sighed, "We don't know yet… but we are trying to catch the man who did this."

Danny's mum asked, "Is Danny the only one who got shot, or-?"

"The man specifically asked for Danny. When he came out, he shot him twice… one in the abdomen and the other in his neck. He ran for it. At that point, we were more concerned of taking care of Danny rather than chasing the guy…"

Lily Messer's eyes flooded with tears but they didn't fall. "Who would want to hurt Danny?"

"Lily… Danny's a cop… there are always risks…" said Danny's father gently, "Will he be ok?"

Mac said, "He's in a coma… but if he wakes up, the doctor said there will be no lasting damage…"

Danny's mother whispered shakily, "If…" She turned back to Danny and gripped his hand tightly.

"I'll get you a drink…" said Danny's father before walking out of the room. When he got back, he stopped outside the window and stared inside. Mac, who was standing at the doorway, came up to him.

Curtis Messer said slowly, "Detective Taylor, barely a year ago, my wife and I were in this very same hospital, looking at the exact same thing. Our son, lying on the bed with tubes connected all over his body…"

He shook his head, "Louie hung out with the wrong people, dropped out of school, got into a gang and he got beaten into a coma. I love him, but I could never forgive myself for not being a better father…for not making him a better person…" Tears welled up in his eyes, "Danny on the other hand… I've always been proud of him… he picked the right path despite everything… became a cop. Now he's in a coma too…" He glanced at Mac, "Good kid, bad kid… looks like it doesn't matter at all, huh?"

Mac couldn't find anything to say.

Danny's father said, "I've already buried one son… I cannot bury another. Do me a favour, Taylor… catch the man who did this, and tell me why he did it."

Mac nodded, "I will."

TBC

Aww... where did all my reviewers go? It's sad when that happens... pouts haha... kiddin'... hope you enjoyed this chapter and please leave a review. It makes me very happy!