Author's Note: Thanks to my reviewers, your comments are very helpful. In fact I've went back and tweaked Chapter 8 to make it accurate with the NYPD Academy entrance requirements. So check it out. Flack and his Daddy still don't see eye to eye! I'm also struggling with keeping Ash from turning into a Mary Sue, so let me know if I am successful with this quest. It's harder than I thought to make an original character less than perfect. With each conversation I think, "Did that make her a little too wonderful!" Well here's another chapter, hope you like it.
"Mac, that's Flack's tie. Aiden gave it to him for his birthday two years ago. She said it was the ugliest damn tie she could buy." Danny's heart soared, if Walker was dead and Flack's coat and tie were on top of the body that had to mean Flack was alive.
Standing up Mac pulled out his phone and placed a call to the lab. "I want two more people out here to process right away." Seeing Detective Mitchell approaching the scene, Mac went over to fill him in on the newest findings.
Danny opened his kit and began to work the scene. Photographs would be first. The hope that his friend was still alive began to grow. Where Flack was at currently was still a mystery, but at least it appeared they might be closing in on the answers.
Ash led him through the darkened interior of the store. Empty fixtures and a ratty looking Backstreet Boys poster made him think that this had probably been a record store. Either that or someone had lousy taste in decorating. She opened a door and motioned for him to enter. Once in she shut the door leaving them in total darkness.
"Hold on a moment." Her voice came from right behind him. She brushed by him and a moment later he heard the sound of a match scraping and suddenly a light illuminated the room. It was an amazing sight. Knowing that it was the backroom of a deserted building, it was like finding an oasis in the desert. The room was furnished and decorated. A bed occupied one corner of the room and was accented with hanging curtains. The rest functioned as living space. The walls had been painted a light gray and various cast-off items hung from it, creating a collage effect.
Ash could see the amazement on the man's features. "Hey, I may be homeless, but it doesn't mean I'm going to live like an animal. I'm just trying to get my feet back under myself and I'm sure you know what rent goes for in these parts."
Confusion again crossed his face. Thinking and wondering, where was his apartment? "Yeah."
"How are you doing? Any more coming back to you?" Ash lighted other candles around the room. "Hey, you look beat, why don't you kick your shoes off and take the bed. I think a good night's sleep will do you good. If the rest of the alcohol is out of your system, you'll probably start remembering things." Ash guided him to the bed and indicated that he should sit.
He kicked his shoes off; they were wingtips. They had looked fine with his dress pants, but had been out of place with the clothing Ash had gathered for him. "I just feel like there's something I've got to do. I remember running. Then ducking into some place. But that's it."
"Hey don't worry. You can stay here as long as you need to."
"This place is amazing. How did you find it?" He took in the room.
"Find it, I made it. A guy I know told me about it, guess he used to work here several years ago. Told me about the door and mentioned it would be a good place to get out of the weather. He had used it after the store closed up. Since you can see how businesses aren't doing so well in this area, no other business moved in. He took off a couple of months ago, but I'm still using it. Decided to make it a little more homelike." Ash looked proudly at her creation.
Looking at her in the warm light of the candle she looked so young and innocent. He wondered how she had ended up here. "Where is home?"
"Small town in Massachusetts. Typical story. Small town girl comes to big city to go to school and ends up involved with things that get her in over her head. Can't go home and can't make it here."
Shaking his head slightly he spoke softly, "There is always other options."
"Not this time. Too many mistakes. But hey it's like my father always said, "Make your bed and lie in it".
"That sounds like a defeatist attitude." He looked at her. His blue eyes warm with concern. "Parent's love is unconditional, you screw up, they yell and scream, but deep down they still think of you as their baby."
"Suddenly you're Dr. Phil. Well thanks, but if your mistake is bad enough they can't forgive and forget." Ash's voice was low, her dismay evident in her tone.
"Better Dr. Phil than Oprah." A smile crossed his face, "What is so bad that you can't be forgiven?"
Why was it so easy to open up to someone that was a complete stranger? "Well, to make a very long story short, I came to New York, found that partying was more fun than going to class, ended up spending more time with a bottle, dating whoever could fund that party and one night while with a real loser I had the chance to do the right thing and I didn't. So, I held on a little tighter to that bottle and tried to forget." Her eyes were moist, but no tears fell. "Several months ago I decided I couldn't take any more and walked into an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. I've been sober since then, but a couple of weeks ago I thought I was going to slip. I had five dollars in my pocket and I was ready to walk into a bar and order."
Gentle concern filled his voice, "What happened?"
"I saw a homeless woman with a little boy sitting on the corner holding one of those "I'm hungry" signs. So I gave her the five and I walked as far away from that bar as I could. While I was walking I realized there is going to always be another bar. I couldn't run from it. I need to face it. I guess that's why when I saw you I felt like I should help you. Maybe it will be some positive karma for me. Redeem myself in someway."
"It sounds like things are moving in a positive way, why don't you think your folks will still want you back?"
"My father is a more Catholic than the Pope. Sins must be atoned. I'm just doing my penance. Lets put it this way, the cops will be more lenient on me than my dad."
"I know what you mean, my old man and I don't see eye to eye on anything." He shook his head ruefully.
"Hey, you are remembering." Excitement colored her voice, "Anything else?"
"Uh?" He thought harder, wherever that knowledge came from there was no more forthcoming. "I don't think so. I guess you're right, morning will be better."
Ash got up and moved towards the bed, realizing how spent he looked. "Danny, you look terrible. Come on. Off to dreamland.
He laid back and pulled the faded blanket up around him to his shoulders. Closing his eyes felt so good. Within minutes he was out.
Leaving one small candle burning safely away from any combustibles, Ash left the store again. She wanted to check on Danny's story. If there was a body back in that alley, someone needed to know. It took her 20 minutes to make her way back to were she had meet him. It was now a three-ring circus. Police cars were blocking the alley and a small crowd had formed. Making her way towards the front she recognized one of the Mission's regulars. "Hey Tomas, what's up?"
The wrinkled brown face smiled at her, showing gaps where teeth were missing. "Ash! I've missed you, I haven't seen you for a while." He embraced her quickly. "Bad business here, someone took a head shot. Real messy. I was looking for cans and found him all covered up with a suit coat. I didn't want problems, so I called the cops."
She nodded her head in agreement. When it came to being on the street it was always better to keep the cops on your good side. The ones that didn't want to work with the police were usually the ones that were hassled. Tomas calling in a dead body was not uncommon. If you wanted to be ultimately left alone, you stayed on the good side of the cops. "A suit coat?"
"Crazy huh, like tossing a coat over someone's face is going to hide them. I'd drag him behind something or toss him in the river. Of course, I've seen my share of dead bodies."
"I bet you have." Ash looked down the alley, trying to see anything. Two people were making their way towards the police cruisers. Moving closer she strained to hear their words.
"We've got proof that he was here. The bullet came from a 9mm and it was his jacket. What else do we need?"
The two men move out of her hearing range and the she was left with her thoughts.
Placing their cases in the trunk of the car, Mac got into the car and waited until Danny climbed in. "It still doesn't add up. We've got Flack's coat and a db that was last seen being chased by Flack. But where's Flack? Let's head back in and see if they've brought Walker's ex-girlfriend in for question yet. If we can expand our knowledge about who he would hang out with, possible we can get somewhere." Mac put the car in drive and pulled away from the crowd.
Unsure what to do, Ash turned and headed back towards her place. What little she had gotten made it seem that the cops knew who the killer was. She had a hard time believing the man in her apartment was a killer. Then again, she had made that mistake before. Once upon a time when a naïve coed started dating a bad boy, thinking how exciting it was to be with someone so "dangerous", so unlike the boys back home. It wasn't until it was too late that she had realized what bad news Frankie Scalero was.