Chapter Twelve

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Sipping his coffee, Hawkes knocked again at the door. Saturday morning and here he was again, standing on the tan straw mat bearing the word 'WELCOME' in green outside Lindsay's apartment. He had kept his word to Danny and came straight here after his shift last night, recalling how it went.

--

Hawkes fidgeted outside her door. He'd been standing out in the hallway for the past twenty minutes. There could be a thousand reasons why Lindsay wasn't answering, his logical mind stated. She could be out with friends, sleeping, taking a shower, passed out with a hang-over, or just plain ignoring him.

He had no reasonable cause for concern, no reason to give in to the urge to get the superintendent up here, key in hand, and open her door. He looked at his cell phone again and sighed. Stella was surely back at the hospital, Mac was down for the count, and Danny...Hawkes cringed. Lindsay didn't need to talk to Danny, Lindsay didn't need to see Danny...that...would just be disastrous. Possibly Chernobyl disastrous. He shook his head. Okay, that was exaggerated. He paused. He could call Flack. Laughter followed that thought.

In the end, tired and starting to attract suspicious looks from some of Lindsay's neighbors, Hawkes gave up for the night and went home, making a note to return tomorrow.

--

And here he was. Getting worried with every passing minute. Screw it. Hawkes turned and jogged down the stairs to the superintendent's office, only to groan in frustration. Gone for the day was scrawled on a small piece of paper stuck to the door. Never before had the quiet gentle doctor wanted to scream and possibly throw some things. What was he going to do now?

Looking at his watch, Hawkes knew what he had to do. He had to go to work. And with a sigh, Hawkes let himself out the front door, feet taking him to the subway.

The rest of the day, despite Stella's bolstering words Friday afternoon, held the same disappointment. Finally, with feelings of chagrin, the team was forced to place Mac's shooting and Jane Doe's murder on the back burner as crime in New York did not halt for anything or anyone. Stella and Hawkes worked on a triple homicide while Danny and Flack tackled a rape case.

With a heads up from Flack the night before and agreeing that Chief Sinclair's appearance meant nothing but trouble for the already fragmented team, Stella did not need to appear to be busy in order to duck the inevitable conversation as she ran all over the city, trying to catch what turned out to be multiple murderers for a multiple murder. All in all, four young men ended up behind bars, being responsible for killing a colored family of three in a case of racism. Flack also took the time to update her on his and Hawkes's lack of success with the missing persons reports the day before and it was with a slight tiredness to her walk that night when Stella and the rest of the team visited a healthy-looking Mac.

After hanging around for a while, the team dispersed with Stella staying behind, expressing her feelings of hopelessness with Jane Doe.

Mac sat up against his pillows and spoke steadily with no hoarseness in his voice from the tubes. "You know the population of New York, Stel. And she's just one person. Until someone comes forward with her identity, we're stuck."

"I know. It's just..." Her identity could be a piece of the puzzle to finding out who shot you. Stella gave a short laugh. "Maybe I should start my own pile of case folders on my desk, huh?"

The two smiled at each other and it was with a soothed spirit that Stella left the hospital to get some sleep shortly after.

"I'm really sorry about this," Hawkes apologized once more as Mr. Atwight jingled the keys in his hand before pulling out the proper key and opening the door to Lindsay's apartment. Saturday night and third time was a charm.

The middle-aged balding man gave an uncaring shrug. "Not a problem for an officer of the law. Ms. Monroe has always been polite, never any trouble, kept my little niece happy when my sister dropped her on me one day. I'd hate for anything to happen to her. Here you go."

Hawkes smiled. "Thanks. I won't be long."

"Take your time." Mr. Atwight handed him the keys. "Just give me them back when you're done."

Stifling the urge to raise his eyebrow at the near-carelessness of the man and deciding whether or not Mr. Atwight really trusted him or just didn't care. "Thanks," he called to Mr. Atwight's retreating back.

Hawkes shut the door. "Lindsay? Lindsay, you here?" He flipped on the lights in the dark apartment. Everything looked neat and tidy...and un-lived in. "Lindsay?" He walked the whole apartment, checking her bedroom last.

"Oh no..." he murmured as he saw her open closet door and a lot of empty hangers. A quick peek in her bathroom revealed missing personal paraphernalia and though he couldn't confirm it, Hawkes would bet that Lindsay's luggage was gone too. "Oh Lindsay, tell me you didn't." He completed his search and then sank slowly onto his missing friend's couch, his mind whirling at this new turn of events.

Reaching for the phone, Hawkes dialed Stella's number, he got her on the phone before mentally thanking Lindsay for opting to have the option of three-way calling (calling both her brothers at the same time, so that they could all share news at the same time) and phoned up Danny to join the impromptu conversation.

"Danny? Stella? Can you hear me and each other?"

"Yeah." The TV was blaring in the background. Danny's voice was rough and for the hundredth time, Hawkes worried for him. His news now would be yet another blow and he winced.

"Yes." Stella sounded tired, but otherwise fine.

Hawkes took a deep breath. "I'm at Lindsay's place."

"How is she?" The question came from Stella. Danny remained silent, but Hawkes could tell he was listening intently.

"I wouldn't know. She's not here."

"Whaddya' mean?" Danny, this time. An edge to his voice.

"I mean, she's not here," Hawkes explained. "And I've got a really bad feeling. Some of her clothes are missing, toothbrush, purse, cosmetic bag, they're all gone. I couldn't find any suitcases either." He paused. "Guys, I think Lindsay took off for Montana."

"What?" Stella exclaimed. "That's impossible. Mac ordered her not to. I heard him tell her to take some more days off, but to report on Sunday."

"Yes, well, it looks like she disregarded all that and left anyway."

"What? You saying Lindsay's gone AWOL? Don't believe it," Danny said disbelievingly.

"When was the last time anyone talked to her? I called her late Wednesday; she didn't answer."

Stella saved Danny from answering. "I think the last time she talked to anyone was Mac early Thursday morning."

After what appeared to be a slight guilty silence, Danny asked, "So, she could've been in Montana for what? Nearly the last three days?"

"Great, just great. And with Sinclair sniffing around too." Lindsay, what were you thinking? Stella thought despairingly.

"I could kind of see it coming, though." Hawkes looked around the empty and cold apartment. "You didn't see her when she left on Wednesday. Shaking and eyes full of fear and dread. Mac forbidding her to be with her family, even if it was for her own good, and not be part of the search effort must've just about pushed her over the edge." He paused. "It looks like she's heading into a dark place."

"One she's heading into alone," Stella finished grimly.

Danny felt his heart break.

A/N: Mac's case seems to have hit a dead end with his shooter still out there. I know that there's not a lot of romance going on, but that's why I put this in the drama genre, duh! A lot of Hawkes in this chapter, but he is one of my favorite characters. I personally think that 3-way calling (which I have) was poorly done on my part, but in the original version of this chapter, I had Hawkes returning to work to tell them all instead of having them all at home already and now I'm too tired to rework everything, sorry. But hey! Now the rest of the team is aware that Lindsay's gone! Anyway, next chapter: we return back to Lindsay. (Finally...it's been six long chapters!)