Author's Note – As always, thanks so much for the reviews. I really appreciate them.

Disclaimer - I don't own CSI NY, unfortunately.

Special thanks to Axellia for the help and nominations! Thank you to anyone who voted for me!

************

Adriana stood outside of the small town house located about a half hour away from the city. She looked at the doorbell but hesitated before pushing it. She knew that this wasn't in her job description but something inside of her pushed her to make the small trip after leaving the precinct. She had been once before but for different reasons.

She bit her bottom lip before pushing the doorbell, leaving herself no room to change her mind. For a moment, nothing happened and Adriana thought that maybe no one was home. She let out a sigh of relief before turning around on the small porch to head back down the small set of stairs leading to the sidewalk.

The sound of the door opening caused her to stop and look back, finding a woman standing in the doorway.

"Hi, Mrs. Mayer," she greeted softly.

Paula Mayer was Susan Mayer's mother. Adriana met her after being assigned to the case. She was a short, plump woman with dark brown hair that was cut short. From the moment Adriana met her, she had the feeling that the woman would never get over the death of her daughter. Susan Mayer was an only child, and from Adriana could tell, very close to her mother. Paula would tell Adriana how the two would talk everyday.

"Ms. James," she said in surprise. Adriana could tell that her presence alone saddened Paula, for she understood that the only reason she would be there would be to discuss her daughter.

"Please come in." She gestured for Adriana to come in to the small house.

Adriana gave the woman a comforting smile as she walked past her and into the house. Paula led her to the living room where the two sat on opposite ends of the beige colored sofa. "Can I offer you anything?"

"Oh, no thank you," Adriana insisted, shaking her head. "I actually came to talk to you about the case."

Paula paused, sensing that it wasn't good. "Is everything okay?"

"Well…" She stared but was interrupted by the sound of someone coming in the door.

Both women looked up to see Robert Mayer come into the house. The moment her saw Adriana, a grim look came over his face. "What's going on?" He asked, his deep, rough voice, matching his physical appearance. Robert Mayer was a large man, most likely six feet tall if not taller.

"Um, sir, I came to talk to you two about your daughter's case."

Robert nodded as he moved to sit in the recliner that sat near the wall across from Adriana.

Adriana couldn't help but notice how Robert had not looked at his wife since entering their home. She knew that the death of a child is one probably the most devastating blows to a marriage. She figured the Mayer's were no exception.

She began to regret coming to tell that them that their daughter's murderer was found dead. She didn't know if it would make them feel better or not.

"Well, what is it?" he asked, a slight amount of harshness in his voice.

"Robert," Paula scolded.

"It's okay Mrs. Mayer," Adriana assured her. From the moment she met Robert, he had been insensitive in the way he addressed her. But she understood that it was the frustration of losing his only child. "I wanted to tell that you that Charles Easton was murdered last night," she said slowly.

"Oh my God," Paula cried out, bring her hand over her mouth. "So this means that there isn't going to be a trial for Susan?"

"Yes," Adriana answered.

Paula nodded in understanding but excused herself from the room. Adriana heard her sobs as she made her way up the stairs.

She turned to look at Robert Mayer, who hadn't said a word. His gaze remained fixed on the floor, completely ignoring Adriana's presence.

"Look Mr. Mayer, I'm sorry that…"

"It's fine," he said simply, his eyes still fixed on the same spot.

Adriana sat awkwardly, not knowing if she should leave or stay. Luckily, her phone began to ring. She glanced at the screen as she stood from her spot on the sofa. "Um, I have to take this, but I am really sorry about everything sir."

Robert nodded, acknowledging that he heard her.

Adriana sighed as she moved past him and towards the front door. She looked up the steps to see if she saw any sign of Paula but she didn't. She turned back towards the door and let herself out.

The moment she stepped outside, she released the breath she didn't realize she was holding as she flipped open he cell.

"James."

"Hello Ms. James, I'm calling for Mr. Anderson. He would like to see you in his office as soon as possible," the woman's voice on the other end said.

Adriana sighed. "Okay. Can you let him know that I'm on my way? Give me about thirty minutes."

The woman promised to relay the information to her boss before hanging up the phone.

Adriana made her wait to the awaiting cab. He offered to wait since she had told him she wasn't planning to stay very long. She was grateful knowing that the time it took her to get a cab could have added another twenty minutes to her journey home.

She smiled as she got in the car, thinking that she wouldn't have to worry about it if a certain someone were there.

************

Adriana sat outside her boss' office waiting for the secretary to let her know that it was okay to go in. She was secretly wishing that she'd gone home to change out of her jeans and t-shirt first.

"Mr. Anderson will see you now," his secretary said from behind her desk.

Adriana gave her a polite smile before moving towards the door. She took a deep breath before entering the office.

She walked inside and was surprised to see more than just her boss looking at her. On her right, Levi sat on the row of low shelves along the side wall. He gave her a small wink when she looked over at him. She nodded in his direction before looking at the other people in the room.

On her left was an attractive woman whom she had never seen before, who stood a few feet away from her boss' desk. She was looked to be about five foot nine with long blonde hair going down her back. She was dressed in a pair of black slacks with a simple white blouse. She looked at Adriana with big brown eyes, slightly hidden by her bangs, as she offered a small smile. Adriana returned the gesture before looking towards her boss.

Martin Anderson was a middle aged man with pure grey hair that she assumed her got at an early age. He was a tall man that carried himself in a way that made those around him instantly recognize that he was the boss and they reported to him. The minute Adriana met him; she knew that she would enjoy working for him. He was nice enough in her opinion but also knew how to do his job.

"Please, have a seat Ms. James," he told her, gesturing to the two chairs in front of his desk.

She took the one closer to Levi, looking at him to give her a hint of what was going on but instead got a sly smirk. Adriana fought the urge to roll her eyes as she turned back towards her boss.

"So I see that you've met Levi. This is A.D.A. Rachel Cunningham, Rachel, this is Adriana James."

"Nice to meet you," Adriana told her.

"Likewise," she replied.

"So Ms. James, I wanted to talk to you about the recent development with the Susan Mayer case," Martin started. "I understand the Taylor and his team have a couple of leads there following."

"Yeah, they are. So far there may be some possible video footage of the person who gave the money for Easton's bail to the roommate," she informed him.

Marin nodded before glancing at the other two occupants of the room. "Look Ms. James, I've decided to give Rachel and Levi the lead on this one."

Adriana looked at him with a surprised expression on her face. She didn't know whether she should be hurt or upset. Currently, she was both.

"But sir, I don't understand."

"The reason I gave you the Mayer case was because it was simple and I knew it wouldn't be a problem. Now that Easton's the victim, that changes," he told her.

"With all due respect sir, I think I can handle this case," she countered.

"I don't doubt your ability in any way. But we have to consider what the defense is going to say. Whenever you try to get sympathy for Easton, there just going to remind the jury that a week before you were labeling him as a dangerous rapist and murderer."

Adriana remained silent, taking in everything he was saying. She knew he was right, although she didn't like it.

"Look Ms James, I said that I'm giving them the lead. You're still on the prosecution team; you're just not going to appear in court. I still want you to help Rachel and Levi in any way you can. You are the one who as been with Easton since the beginning so you could be a big asset."

Adriana sighed as she nodded in understanding. "I understand."

Martin smiled at her graciously before moving to stand. "Well, I have a meeting to get to, so I'll leave the three of you to get started," he said, leading them out of the office.

After Martin disappeared towards the elevator, Rachel spoke up. "Sorry about that. I don't want you to think we're taking your case or anything."

"Don't worry about. Besides, he's right. I mean, if we want to win this, we got play our cards right."

"Aw, look at my little Jamie all growing up," Levi teased.

"You're the one that needs to grow up," Rachel countered. For a minute, Adriana felt that there was more to her comment than what was going on at that current moment. She saw the two exchange a look before Levi turned back to her.

"Jamie?" she questioned.

"James, Jamie, whatever," he said with a shrug.

Adriana's phone rang just as she rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me," she told them before moving off to the side. "James."

"Adriana, it's Mac. We've got some new information if you're close by."

Adriana glanced down at her watch. "Give me ten minutes."

After saying their goodbyes, Adriana hung up her phone and turned back to her two companions. "That was Mac. He said that he had a couple of new pieces of information. I assuming you guys want to go too."

"Yeah, let me just grab my bag from my office. I'll be right back." Rachel headed towards one of the rooms located further down the hall. Adriana noticed Levi watching her closely as she left.

"Real subtle," she teased.

"What," he asked.

Adriana was surprised to see that he actually seem unaware of his actions. "Never mind," she said, wondering what the deal between the two was.

Another day she thought.

************

Adriana, Rachel, and Levi arrived at the crime lab about ten minutes later. They stood in silence in the elevator before Rachel spoke up.

"I'm glad that we have Taylor's team on this one. They're good."

"You work with them often?" Adriana asked.

"Sometimes. I mostly work on the cases dealing with any type of sexual assault, but I've done simple homicides on occasion," Rachel answered.

Adriana nodded before turning towards Levi. "What about you?"

"Probably not as much as Rachel but enough to know they're good. I mostly deal with the cases involving the higher ups ya know. Politicians, members of law enforcement, and so on," he paused, a smirk coming across his face. "But I guess Anderson felt like sticking me with the lower class today."

"God, you're so annoying sometimes," Rachel complained.

"Never bothered you before," he countered.

Adriana watched as Rachel gave the same look from earlier. She was beginning to think that there was more to their relationship than what they were letting on.

The elevators arrived at their destination. They made their way out of the elevator and towards the conference room where Mac had told them to meet him.

They walked inside to find Mac, Stella, Sheldon, and Lindsay already seated around the table. After proper greetings went around Adriana, Rachel, and Levi each took a seat of their own.

"So, we were able to gather a couple of possible leads that could tell us what exactly what happened to Charles Easton," Mac started as he glanced at Sheldon.

Sheldon nodded before speaking. "Our M.E. was able to recover some clear views of the bruising on Charles Easton's face. Once we have suspect, I'd be able to match a mold of their fist to the bruising, proving that they beat up Easton."

"Well, Lindsay and I went back to Charles' apartment," Stella began. "While we didn't find any blatant death threats, we did find that he had been receiving pictures of Susan Mayer."

"So someone was mailing them? Did you get an address?" Rachel asked.

Lindsay shook her head. "There were no return addresses, which makes us think that they were physically delivered to the apartment."

"The strange part is that there was fourteen pictures total. Now, they weren't dated, but there was exactly fourteen days between the time that we named him one of our suspects and when he went into custody," Stella continued.

"So whoever was sending them, knew the details of the investigation. They knew when he'd been arrested so they stopped sending them." Levi assumed.

Stella nodded in his direction. "I think it's someone that we may know, or at least talked to."

Just then, Flack walked into the room, followed by Adam. He acknowledged everyone's presence before turning towards Mac. "I was able to get some video footage from the convenient store that Easton's roommate worked at," he told him.

"Is it hooked up Adam?" Mac asked.

"Yup, got it right here," he answered, pulling the footage up on one of the large screens in the room with a portable remote. "So the tape starts at 12:00 am yesterday and goes until midnight."

"Well according to Ricky Nanter, the man gave him the money at about ten o'clock so take it there," Mac stated.

Adam nodded and began to fast forward the tape. He stopped it exactly where Mac asked him. It showed Ricky Nanter talking to someone at the counter. Everyone member of the room leaned forwards to get a better look.

Adriana gasped when she saw the mysterious man on the tape. "I know him."