A/N: You people thought I'd forgotten this story, haven't you:) I haven't, trust me; in fact, I've finished it, but will be posting every week or so to give me a chance to possibly write up a sequel. It's in its early stages still. Argh! Some of your reviews have been asking questions that I can't quite answer without giving away something that happens later!! Gah! Be patient! I told you all that I take my time building things up; am I really that slow or are you all just impatient? 'grin' Once again, the bold indicates Mac writing.
Chapter Ten

After excusing herself to call Danny, Flack, and Hawkes, informing them that Mac was awake, alert, and doing just fine interrogating her for news on the case, Stella and Mac continued 'chatting' when she asked, "Mac, I haven't called Lindsay yet." She bit her lip, feeling bad that she hadn't called the other woman when Lindsay would assuredly want to know what happened. Stella had heard how upset she'd been during Stella's ordeal with Frankie. But it was late at night and...

Mac reassured her with a shake of his head.

Don't. She needs to take care of other stuff. I am fine.

Stella exhaled deeply. "But Mac, regardless, I really think - " She stopped as he held up a hand, writing.

Stel, her parents were kidnapped by Daniel Katum who escaped on Tuesday morning. He may be accompanied by another dangerous inmate. Last I knew, there was no news. Let her be.

Inhaling sharply, Stella raised a hand to her mouth in horror, green eyes wide with shock. "Oh my god." She sat in silent terror for her friend.

I gave her until Sunday morning off to deal with it. She wanted to fly to Montana.

"She must be going crazy," Stella murmured before fixing accusing eyes at her friend. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier? Lindsay must be in pain, and she's suffering alone! Mac!"

It was a private matter, Stella. It was up to Lindsay to tell anyone. You know how she is.

"Yeah, unfortunately. Stubborn as a mule." Stella bit her lip. "I still think I'll go over and see her today."

Mac smiled at her. You should also get back to the lab. Find the bastard who shot me, Stel.

When Flack met up with Danny and Hawkes in the early Friday afternoon, they both shared the same look. Discouraged, but not defeated.

"Hey, what's with the looks, guys? Mac's fine." He smiled happily.

Danny leaned his elbows on the lighted lab table where their evidence, what little there was of it, lay scattered. "Too bad we can't say the same for the case." He looked up at his friend. "How 'bout you? Any luck with the rental office?"

"None. Nobody saw anything the day of the shooting. The receptionist at the front was away from her desk, getting coffee, and the people who work in the rented offices saw no one suspicious. The owner knew nothing and the building doesn't have any cameras. I checked the surrounding shops and came up nothing." Flack leaned against the table. "Your turn."

Hawkes adjusted the glasses he sometimes wore. "We determined by the make of the bullet where the shot was fired from. A window on the fifth floor to the right of the office on the fourth floor where the newspaper was taped. We found the bullet casing, but there were no fingerprints on it or the open window or the floor and surrounding area which is surprising considering the shooter had to be standing there for a long time. After all, he couldn't predict when the body would be found or when a CSI would show up. He wasn't even guaranteed that it would be Mac considering the newspaper and these phone calls to Mac's cell phone seems to indicate that the killer/shooter has a personal vendetta against him."

"So what?" Flack looked incredulous. "Are ya telling me this crackpot with a gun, was just waiting to shoot whomever showed up to check the body?" His mind spun at the revelation. Though it was clear that Mac was the preferred target, the killer would've just as well shot any one of them. "This guy's flippin' crazy!"

Danny sighed. He was unnerved by the lack of evidence on the case, the fact that this killer was slick, and where the hell was Lindsay? He and Hawkes had talked about her absence from the lab and he had tried to, without success, subtly grill the doctor on the bad news from Montana. Hawkes just shrugged with a gleam in his eye.

Danny dropped the subject and mentally hit himself. It didn't take a genius to figure out that whatever news that had Mac sending Lindsay home was terrible. He'd seen the first-hand aftermath. Haggard and distressed. And Danny felt like an asshole for heaping on more crap on her. Her words made sense to him now.

"I do not need this right now. Jesus...I fucking do not need this right now."

He wouldn't have put it past her to call in sick just to avoid him, except Danny didn't think Mac would approve of that...and Lindsay herself would never risk her job for it. So, the only conclusion he came up with was that Mac had given her additional time off to deal with whatever was happening in Montana. It had to be bad. Checking the shift board, Danny (and Hawkes), noticed that Lindsay was scheduled to work Sunday. Three and a half days off. Oh yeah, it had to be bad.

Danny tuned back into the conversation just as Hawkes was telling Flack about the synthetic gray fiber found in Jane Doe's hair. "Adam's analysis and further digging revealed that it was from the floor carpet of a car. Popular, used in almost every make and model, which proves nothing except what Stella told me she and Mac suspected earlier. That the alley was a dump site for Jane Doe. And you saw as we did, there were no car treads."

"We also couldn't find anything with the phone calls. Maybe we could put a trace on it when the guy called, but otherwise..." Danny shrugged.

"Damn." Flack slumped slightly, his expression now mirroring those of his friends when he first walked in.

"But based on evidence," Hawkes said, "we also determined that the shooter wasn't aiming for a fatal shot. We did some reconstructions. Here look."

Flack took the folder and examined the bullet, coming up with the same questions Danny had that morning. Based on the reconstruction, the distance that Mac was shot at, while powerful enough to penetrate the body, the bullet was not powerful enough to cause any further vital damage. Basically, it was a shot meant to leave the victim in reasonable pain, but not leave them in a potentially fatal condition with proper medical attention. There were over a dozen other bullets out there that could have killed Mac. "The shooter wanted to get our attention," Flack said. Jane Doe, killed by the same caliber, was shot at a much more closer distance. Much closer.

"Well, he got it," Stella announced from the doorway, her face grim. The guys exchanged a look. Whoa, angry Stella in the building. She had changed her clothes and her stiletto heels were sharp on the floor, walking over to read the files that Danny and Hawkes had collected. Flack unconsciously took a step away from her, prompting an eye-roll from Danny.

"How's Mac?" he asked, straightening up.

"The doctors removed the tubes and his lung is healing fine," she said absently, still reading. "He could be out soon, but the doctors want to keep him in just in case." Stella's brow furrowed as she set the folder down. "So we have nothing on this guy?"

The dejected slump of their shoulders answered her. She sighed and the lab lapsed into heavy silence before Danny cleared his throat.

"Hey, uh, Stel?" He licked his lips nervously and adjusted his glasses, ignoring the others' questioning looks. He could not look at her. "You wouldn't happen to know what's up with Lindsay, would you? It-it's just 'cause I-we're all worried and she's off and..." Danny took a deep breath and stared at Stella, blue eyes searching. "Is it bad?"

One look at his imploring face and Stella made a decision. Darn it, Linds, I know you want to handle this on your own, but...Hopefully you'll thank me later. Stella sighed and looked at Hawkes and Flack, clearly wanting to know too.

"You guys know that case back in Montana she had to testify for? Against the guy who killed her friends?" Danny nodded immediately, growing more concerned by the second, while Hawkes and Flack nodded. Danny had told Flack the gist of it, while in a moment of vulnerability, Lindsay had told Hawkes a few months after she had returned from the ordeal.

"He escaped Tuesday."

Silence reigned again.

"He and another inmate have kidnapped Lindsay's parents. No news yet." The news delivered in a low quiet voice reverberated around the room.

Danny almost doubled over, the air leaving his body with an invisible hard punch to his stomach. Lindsay...

Hawkes slowly closed his eyes in shocked dismay while Flack's mouth parted slightly in astonishment, blue eyes wide.

Stella breathed deeply. "Mac told me to leave her be for the time being, to let her deal," she continued, "but she'll be back Sunday. Just...just, let's just be there for her alright?" She looked appealingly at the group.

"Yeah, sure." Flack nodded solidly and Hawkes had a determined clench in his jaw, strength lying in his stance. Danny still looked like he'd been sucker-punched.

"Danny?" she asked. It took him a moment to come back and he looked at her before nodding and shakily saying, "yeah, yeah, sure." His eyes closed in pain, missing the team's shared worried glance. They'd already lost Mac and Lindsay; they could not afford to lose Danny too.

"Anyway, uh," Stella paused, "the only thing I can think of to do now is to look through past missing persons reports, maybe our Jane Doe has been missing for a while." Hawkes and Flack nodded. "And hey, we're all pretty exhausted and the other CSI teams seem to be handling all the other cases just fine, for now anyway. I know some of your shifts are ending soon, so I want you to clock out then and get some sleep. We'll come back at this tomorrow with fresh eyes. I'm gonna head back to the hospital to update Mac." She nodded and waved as she walked out.

AN: A slightly boring chapter, but necessary. 'shrug'