Huge, huge, huge thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far - your very kind words leave me quite speechless. :)
Thanks to Boleyn and Elainhe for putting up with me. :)
Chapter 10
The buildings rolled past as Danny drove aimlessly down the streets of New York, his mind trying to find some logic, any logic, in what has passed in the last few hours. But he had analyzed it so many times already that he was just going in circles, driving himself crazy.
Instead he turned up the volume on the radio, the heavy bass drowning his thoughts, his chest slightly vibrating with each beat. It was easy to get lost in the bustle of the city – headlights and taillights flashing from all directions, horns sounding, people filling the sidewalks, dodging the puddles from the earlier rainstorm. Above him, the sky was still painted shades of grey, the clouds hanging low, threatening more rain and misery.
Danny slowed his car to a stop at a red light, taking the opportunity to remove his glasses and rub his eyes. But the minute he closed them, one image appeared: Lindsay. If ever there was a time to have regrets and ask 'what if', this was it. He should have known better than to take advantage, seize an opportunity when she was vulnerable, no matter how innocent his intentions.
But oh, what it felt like to kiss her, hold her, taste her, to run his hands along her body and through her –
Beeeeeeeeep came the blaring horn from the truck behind him.
"Get out of the way, jackass!" yelled the clearly irate driver. The light in front of Danny had turned green and traffic was moving all around him. He pressed down the gas and waved an apology as the driver passed him… and flipped him off.
"Yeah, same to you, fucker," mumbled Danny, resting one arm against the door and gripping the top of the wheel with his right hand.
A light rumble from Danny's stomach told him he was hungry, even though he had no appetite to eat. Might as well force something down, he thought to himself.
He watched for restaurants as he drove, waiting for something to talk to him. JimJam's Steakhouse… nope. Mama Hanily's… nope. McDonald's… definitely not. Giomo's Pizza… nope. Wait, Giomo's, thought Danny, glancing over his shoulder as the restaurant passed. Number Four ordered takeout from Giomo's. Might as well go there.
It took another minute to find parking a block away, but soon enough Danny was inside the restaurant. Considering its small size, it had a huge pizza menu, a chalkboard with about thirty different pizzas, everything from traditional pepperoni to spinach and salmon to eggplant and duck.
"What can I get you, sir?" asked the burly man behind the counter.
"What's good?"
"Obviously if you're asking that, it's your first time here," laughed the man. "This one just came out of the oven – barbecue chicken, carmelized onion, red pepper, Italian spice. Fantastic."
Danny looked at the pizza the man was pointing to. "Sure, sounds good."
The man smiled, cut a slice, and passed it to Danny. "Take a bite, I want to see your reaction!"
Danny did as he was told and smiled before sinking his teeth into the piping hot slice. Immediately, the flavour bombarded his tastebuds. "Wow," he said through a mouthful.
"Hahaha, you won't find pizza this great anywhere else in New York, my friend."
"That's phenomenal," said Danny as he reached for his wallet. "How much do I owe you?"
"Nothing, first-timers get a slice for free, as long as you promise to come back. Here, take a brochure," said the man as he passed Danny a pamphlet with a menu printed on it. "We have a delivery service, so you can have hot-and-fresh Giomo's whenever you want."
"Yeah, I know," replied Danny, glancing over the pamphlet briefly before sliding it into his back pocket. He took a seat at a nearby table, finished his slice, and left, thinking about how much better the experience would have been… if he had someone to share it with.
"Danny's not back yet, I take it?" asked Flack, standing in the doorway to Lindsay's office.
"No, he's been gone about an hour," mumbled Lindsay, avoiding eye contact with him. "What do you want?"
"Well, good to see you're in a chipper mood too," mocked Flack. "Anyway. I'm still coming up empty on trying to find a connection between these women – I take it you haven't found anything either?"
"Nothing so far," said Lindsay, looking up from the mound of papers before her. "But I suppose that's nothing new. It's frustrating, and I think we're all starting to take it out on each other, which does nothing to help our situation."
"Danny gets like that, don't take it personally," said Flack softly as he walked deeper into the office. "These cases never sit right with him, it's like a compulsion – he has to solve it, and until he does, this case will completely consume him. You've already seen the beginnings of it."
"Yeah, I have," said Lindsay slowly, turning her attention back down to the papers. That's probably not all that's on his mind, though, she thought, remembering where they had been just an hour earlier… what hurtful things she had said to him.
"Do you think we were right in letting Philip go? The guy who owned that cleaning service?" asked Flack, interrupting Lindsay's thoughts. He was flipping through Emma Mezollo's case file.
"Yeah," replied Lindsay. "I mean, you can't rely on reading a suspect's reaction to determine if they're guilty or not, but that guy seemed genuinely freaked out… and like I pointed out to Danny during the initial questioning – the guy had a very shaky hand, there was no way he could have held a knife steady enough to make the types of incisions we saw on the victims. It just doesn't add up."
"Yeah, Dan said the same thing," said Flack, closing the folder. "How are you holding up?"
Lindsay looked up at Flack, surprised by the personal question. "Okay, I guess," she replied, unsure of what else to say.
"Good, that's good," replied Flack, standing up. "I'm going to go talk to some of the neighbours of the last victim again, see if anyone's memories are bringing up anything new."
"Good luck," said Lindsay with a small smile as Flack exited the office.
Lindsay sat back in her chair and stared out the window at the city below her. It was still raining as it was earlier, though it was saturated with the dark of night now. The millions of lights of the city were blurred through the rain running down the window; the soft pattering noise it made was strangely soothing.
"Hey," came a voice behind her, causing her to jump.
Danny walked into the office, stripping off his wet coat and hanging it on the back of the door.
"Hey," she replied, sensing the still-thick air between them. "Good food?"
"Yeah," said Danny as he sat down. "I ended up at Giomo's, the place Natalie Dumontcalled for food one night. Great pizza there, you should try it." He pulled the pamphlet out of his pocket and handed it to Lindsay. "Don't forget to mention you're a first-time customer, you'll get your slice for free."
Lindsay smiled as she fingered the paper, absently skimming over its contents. "Mental note made," she said, trying to lighten the air. "Any ideas on where to go from here?" she asked.
"Well," said Danny, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. "Look, I'm sorry if I hurt you, that was never—"
"I meant the case," interrupted Lindsay, feeling very awkward.
"Oh. Right. Of course. My mistake," stammered Danny. "But to be honest… no. I'm out of ideas."
Lindsay nodded and breathed a sigh. It was late, and she was tired, but a part of her was unwilling to give up searching for this guy. It was ironic – Flack said that Danny let cases consume him, that he didn't stop until he solved it… little did he know she was exactly the same way, if not worse.
She yawned and stretched her arms out above her head. Danny took note of the action.
"You need to get some rest," he said, not looking up from the papers.
"I'm okay," she protested.
"No, you're not." He looked up at her, his eyes bearing an emotion she hadn't seen before in him, and couldn't recognize. "It's been a very long day, both case-wise and personally. Go home, get some rest, and we'll start fresh in the morning."
Lindsay couldn't help but smile – somewhere within the awkwardness of the events from that evening, the old Danny was still there, still looking out for her… still caring.
"Alright, as long as you promise not to stay too late yourself." She smiled as she picked up her purse and jacket. "See you in the morning, then."
Danny smiled and waved as she walked towards the door. She had nearly excited, when she turned back to face him.
"Danny," she said slowly, "You didn't hurt me. And it's not over." She smiled widely at him, and turned and walked out of the office and out of sight.
Danny was speechless and he watched her disappear down the hallway of the lab. He wasn't sure whether to be overjoyed or utterly confused over what she had just said, but either way, it provided him some happiness and comfort, if at least only for the moment.
He knew he should also be taking his own advice and getting some rest, but now his mind was reeling far too quickly for him to settle enough to sleep. He decided to at least put in another half-hour or so, and then he'd head out.
He picked up the case file for Michelle Gregor, and opened it to her phone logs. He had looked over these logs a million times, each time expecting to find something new, and each time, nothing.
He turned his attention to his computer, opening his internet browser and staring blankly as his home page, the cursor in the search bar blinking mockingly at him. Not knowing what else to do, he glanced back at the logs and typed in the first company name that jumped out at him: Soo-Yin Chinese Takeout and Delivery.
He absently scrolled through the pages – the menu, the prices, the delivery area. This is pointless, he said to himself. But just as he moved to close the window, something caught his eye.
He reached over to Lindsay's desk, where she had left the Giomo's pamphlet lying idly. He flipped it to the back and found what he was looking for.
Danny grabbed his phone and speed-dialed Lindsay's cell.
"Lindsay," he said when she answered, "I found the link."