CHAPTER FOUR

Lucy chattered happily in the backseat while her mother sat tensely in the passenger's seat up front next to the stranger in the hoodie. "Where are we going?" Lindsay said, fighting to stay calm. The mother wanted to jerk the wheel, put the car into the nearest curb, the nearest tree, the nearest skyscraper. But the detective knew there was an innocent party in the backseat, that the chances of the baby surviving the impact was minimal…and their odds of staying alive were better if she kept her composure.

"Shut up."

Lindsay eyed the passenger side mirror. She could see Lucy's toes and hear her laughing at something only the baby found funny. Thank God she'll be so young she won't remember any of this, Lindsay thought as the car turned onto a busy street. There was construction going on, and the middle of the morning, so there were tourists and others about, but no one noticed the little Geo pull into an apartment lot. "Get out," the driver said coldly. "Get the baby. And don't do anything stupid."

With Lucy in my arms, are you kidding? Lindsay thought as she opened the back door. "Hey Lucy Bug," she whispered as she pulled Lucy from the car seat. The stranger met her around the other side. "Upstairs. Let's go."

Lindsay carried Lucy up the back stairs. "What do you want with Danny?" she asked as they climbed the stairs.

"None of your damn business."

"He's my husband," Lindsay said shortly. "That makes it my business."

"You're lucky you're holdin' that kid, lady," the stranger said as they turned a key in the lock. "Get in. Put the baby in the play pen."

Lindsay stepped through the door into an apartment that looked like it hadn't been lived in for years. And yet, as she looked around, she could see small nuances that indicated it was occupied. A duffel bag sat on the ground near a mattress on the carpet in the living room. A stereo was plugged into one wall. And she could smell garbage. Hesitantly, she set Lucy in the playpen. It sat on three legs and sat cocked on the floor, but the blanket in it appeared clean. She saw store tags on it-definitely stolen. They had planned to have a baby there. Which meant this was all premeditated.

Lucy looked around her new surroundings, batting at the netting around the playpen.

Lindsay heard the door close and lock behind her, and turned around. The hooded kidnapper waved a gun in her face. "Have a seat, Detective Messer," pointing Lindsay to one of the kitchen chairs. Lindsay sat down, spotting nylon cord on the tabletop.

Once she was securely fastened to the chair, her kidnapper reached for a cell phone, while pulling a small black device from their pocket. "Time to make a phone call."

Jess Angell wasn't used to being in the crime lab. The majority of the time, when she interacted with Mac Taylor and his team, she was at a crime scene. Very rarely did she venture up to see what the scientists were doing. Oh sure, the science was cool and all that, but there was something about being on the beat, getting her heels and hands dirty. Chasing guys twice her size down and throwing them into fences and cardboard boxes. The equipment and the low hum and the fourteen-syllable chemical names tended to make her nervous and feel slightly stupid, even with her four year degree.

Plus, there was the added bonus of getting to work with her boyfriend and partner downstairs…

She hefted the evidence box onto her hip and made a left into Mac's office. "Hey, Mac, you called?" she asked, stepping into the room. She set the box down on his desk. "Here's everything labeled 'Sassone'," she added, hefting the box she'd brought with her onto his desk. "The guys still talk about him," she noted. "Is he really that bad?"

"Normally I wouldn't give him the satisfaction, but, yes, he really is that bad," Mac replied, taking the lid off the evidence box.

"You talked to Danny yet?"

"Danny's at Angel of Mercy with Flack and his brother." Mac said.

Her heart skipped a beat when he mentioned Flack's name, but professionally, she stayed on task. "And Lindsay?" she asked. "Anybody heard from her? Have we gotten protective detail for her and Lucy?"

Mac paused. He knew Lindsay was working a later shift than Danny but…he looked at his watch. Getting the baby to daycare on the 14th floor took a little bit of work, expecially with the new part-timer running the desk. But still... Then he looked at Angell. Realization set in.

"I didn't see her on my way here," Jess told him, frowning. "Mac? Have you heard from Linds yet?"

Flack handed Danny the cup of coffee as they stood outside on the street by the ER entrance. "Any of the other Tanglewood Boys still around out there?" Flack asked him.

Danny took a sip of the black coffee and shook his head. "Nah, over the years they've been picked up. Sonny's in Sing Sing doin' 25 to life, Sal Zabo's six feet under…" He shook his head. "I don't know who'd plug Sal Cuccione. I don't know why either."

"Sonny's obviously got someone on the outside doin' his dirty work," Flack said. "I can have Angell check the visitation records and his phone call logs, see who he's been talkin' to."

Danny felt his phone ring in his jeans pocket. He looked at the phone. CALLER BLOCKED. Better not be a damn telemarketer. He didn't know how the hell they got his cell phone number-"Yeah, Messer," he answered.

The tinny voice on the end of the line was short and calculated. "Detective Messer, listen carefully and your wife and daughter will remain unharmed."

Danny froze. His heart stopped, and he could feel the color drain from his skin. This better be the worst joke ever, he thought as he fought to keep his composure. Jesus Christ…"I'm listening," he said in what he hoped was his regular tone. He set the coffee cup down on top of a cement garbage can, for fear he might drop it.

"Can you get away from Detective Flack?"

He was watching him! Danny ran a hand through his hair and glanced around. "Do not draw attention to yourself, Detective Messer. Move away from Detective Flack and I will continue with my instructions."

"Yeah. Yeah, okay," Danny said. Flack raised an eyebrow.

"It's Mac, something about the Clarkson case, I'll be back in a sec," he said, hoping his voice didn't belie the terror and nervousness he felt. He also hoped his friend didn't catch his shaking hands or the fact that he was sweating bullets. He felt lightheaded. Jesus Christ...oh shit...Lindsay...Lucy... He'd thought Lucy and Lindsay were both safe at the lab, God, he wasn't expecting this!

Flack looked at him. Something didn't seem quite right. He'd been a detective a long time, but more importantly, he'd been friends with Danny too long. Something was bugging him. But then he nodded. "I'll give Jess a call." He pulled out his phone and stepped off to the side.

Danny walked quickly down to the street corner, looking around. This is fucking Manhattan-everybody's got a damn phone! And everybody seemed to be on one as he stopped and looked furtively around the area. "Who the hell are you?" he growled into the phone. "What the fuck do you want with my family?"

The voice on the end of the phone was silent, and for a moment, Danny thought he'd lost the call. Then the voice spoke again. "Do you remember me, Detective?"

Danny closed his eyes, but the voice didn't ring a bell in his head. "Let me talk to my wife," he said instead. Hostage negotiation classes at the academy seemed so far away in this moment.

"You don't remember me, do you?" the voice said, sounding angry at the fact.

"Lose the voice changer and talk to me like a man! I put a lot of scumbags like you away every day," Danny hissed into the phone. "Let me talk to my wife!" He could hear Lucy wailing in the background, and it was breaking his heart. He wanted to reach through the phone and pick her up, rub her back until she smiled at him with her mother's eyes. He rubbed his face with his free hand, forcing himself to stay cool. "Hello?" he asked.

He didn't hear anything. He took the phone away from his ears and looked at the display.

The call time was blinking at him. The kidnapper had hung up. The display dimmed, as if mimicking his mood, which had sunk to its darkest corner. Some psycho has my Lindsay…my baby girl…

"Fuck!" Danny yelled, startling several of the passersby closest to him. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he knocked it away and turned around. "Get the hell away from-"

Flack's blue eyes were narrowed at him. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded.