Author's notes: Sorry for the delay. Between work and my sister's recent diagnosis of colon cancer, life has been crazy. Fortunately we found out on Friday her lymph nodes are clean! She meets with an oncologist on Tuesday, but we are hoping that she won't need chemo or radiation.
Anyway, I'm back and here is the next chapter, one or two left to go. Remember, please review!
Stella had run the blood that she had found on the suit from Ricci's apartment. In addition she also found several hairs caught on one of the jacket buttons. Luckily the follicles were still attached so it would be possible to run them through the DNA base.
It seemed much longer than it actually took, but the results of the DNA turned up hits almost immediately. She placed a quick call to Mac and asked him to come down to the lab.
Minutes later Mac stepped into the lab and approached the white coated figure of Stella. "Good news Mac," Stella looked up from the screen she had been looking at, "we've finally got more that can tie Ricci to all of this. First I matched the blood splatter on the pants to Paul Walker. The best is that I was able to find several hairs that had been caught on a button. They belong to Flack. We can prove that Ricci somehow was in that alley."
"On his button?" Mac looked thoughtful. "How would hair get tangled there unless Flack's head was lower? Hey Tom come here a moment." Mac called to the man working at the next station. "I need to borrow you a moment. How tall are you?"
"Just over six feet," Tom replied.
"Stella, grab his arm and I'll get his other one. Now Tom let yourself go limp." Mac gripped him under the arm.
"You won't drop me will you Stella?" Tom smiled jokingly at her.
"Never Tom. Just keep telling yourself that." Stella moved into position.
Tom lowered himself down and willed his body to go limp. Mac and Stella adjusted to keep a comfortable hold on him. Mac looked over at the position of Tom's body and began to speak. "Notice the position of his head. Flack has several inches on Tom, so I'm thinking that with two men of average height, Flack's head would have been right at suit coat level."
Stella listened to Mac's words and a 3-D version played out in her head. She could see Flack's body hanging between two men who drug him towards a doorway and a waiting vehicle. Flack's head rubbed against the suit jacket as he was positioned and moved into the SUV. "So they carry and load Flack, they unload him, then Ricci kills Walker. It still gets us back to where is Don?"
Tom put his legs under himself and stood back up. "Are you done with me?"
Mac nodded, "Thanks Tom." He pulled out his phone and dialed, he then related the information he had just received to Danny. After exchanging information he hung up and filled Stella in. "They haven't found the junkie that sold the gun, plus Danny said the detectives can't find Ricci. They've put out an APB on him, but it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack. He and Mitchell are going to keep looking for a while."
Stella frowned slightly, "Mac it doesn't make any sense? If they had killed Flack why wouldn't they leave him at the warehouse or in the alley with Walker's body? So if they've taken him, what do they have to gain? There is no reason for them to still be holding on to him."
"I've been trying to wrap my brain around that too. The only thing is if Flack stumbled onto something bigger and they are keeping him under wraps until they can tidy up or finish up business." Mac reached out for Stella's hand and took it in his own. "You're still doing ok, aren't you?"
"I can't help but feel as if it's my fault." Stella's composure began to slip. "If I had been there backing him up none of this would have happened."
"We've been through this before; Flack did what any of us would have done. Come on, let's grab a bite to eat and then we can get back in touch with Danny to see if they've found anything by then."
Stella gave him a ghost of a smile, "Men and food; I can never understand how you can seemingly eat anytime." She shrugged out of her lab coat and followed Mac from the lab.
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The girl and the detective left the alley and turned up a busier street. Knowing that it would it would be foolish to approach them when there were witnesses; Ricci had exited his vehicle and was shadowing their trail. A couple of blocks later they had come to the mission and after standing out in front for several minutes appearing to argue, they went inside. Find an out of the way spot across the street, Ricci settled down to wait.
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Ash didn't want to go back to the mission. In fact, she had recommending going back and waiting for Danny to get more of his memory back. The dark haired man had other ideas. "Ash, I can't go back and just wait. I was in that alley and I need to face that I might have killed that man. Let's talk to Father Joseph. You trust him and I trust you."
"OK, but if you end up behind bars, don't blame me." Ash sighed as she opened the door to the mission.
It didn't take them long to find the priest. "I'm a popular man today. First the police and then the two of you."
"The police?" Instantly Ash was suspicious, but tried to pass it off as just curiosity. "Have too many unpaid parking tickets Father?"
He laughed, his eyes crinkling up, "No, I've learned my lesson and now try to stay caught up. Unfortunately they were here on a more serious matter. A man was killed not far from here and they had come looking for someone they think is connect with the shooting."
Shooting Danny a look, Ash looked back to the older man. "So they think the shooter is hanging out here? Hey Father, I need to get some air, I'll be right back." She turned and hurried from the room.
"Is she feeling well?" The Father sounded concerned and he looked over at the dark haired man.
"I think she is upset with me, I'll go talk to her. Father Joseph, could you get in touch with those officers and ask for them to come back? I'd like to talk with them." He looked at the retreating form of Ash as she opened the doors.
"Yes, the one left me a card. I'll give him a call."
"Thanks Father, I'll be right back after I talk to Ash."
The cool air bit into him, the lightweight jacket that Ash had lent him wasn't blocking much of the cold. She was standing by the corner, her arms crossed. It didn't take a psychic to realize she was angry. "Ash, I've told the Father to call the Detectives that came by. I know you're mad at me for some reason that I can't seem to understand, but I am so thankful for what you've done for me. It means a lot to me."
Ash frowned at him, "I'm just so worried. I've seen first hand that if you've got the money the law doesn't pertain to you. It's the average person who ends up paying." She turned from him again and out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of someone she had hoped to never see again. Their eyes met and the man pushed away from the doorway he had been standing in, making his way towards the mission.
"Oh my God. Danny, I've got to go. This doesn't involve you." With that she turned and started running down the street.
Turning towards where she had been looking, he saw a man starting to run in his direction. A split second later, the tall man started out after Ash, something wasn't right about this and he was determined to find out what.
Inside the mission, Father Joseph spoke into the phone. "Yes, thank you Detective Messer. One of my regulars has brought in a young man who wants to talk to you about the alley shooting."