Disclaimer: I do not own CSI:NY. I do own Kelly and Amy.
Notes: Part 6 of 9. Like always, enjoy.
No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference. ~Tommy Lasorda
The Perfect Game
Bottom of the Sixth
Bit of a mixup by the shortstop last inning, but still clearly an out. We're scoreless going into the bottom half of the sixth.
Flack gritted his teeth and quietly explained that while a Southern charm with a healthy amount of cleavage was a good way to get what they wanted anywhere else, it absolutely would not work at a Catholic school.
His partner coughed quietly and shuffled around as if to tell him that she would do no such thing. He didn't buy it. After all, he'd seen her pull the same technique at the crime lab and somehow came away with her case being priority.
He ran a hand through his hair as they waited by the baseball field. A nun had politely told them to stay there until Jason Black came out for practice.
There was a desolate baseball along the fence. It practically begged them to play ball so they couldn't refuse. Don bent down to pick it up and grunted a little. He gripped the ball and threw it into the dirt for Higgs to chase.
She immediately got down and scooped the ball. She slid a little in her boots but managed to toss the ball back to her partner. He grinned as he palmed the ball.
"Think you can hit Danny?"
Her response came as a snort and he started laughing too. They had been preparing for the matchup for a while and the detectives and their team were ready. It had been a long year since the last annual baseball game, and the two were itching to play again.
"Jack'll pitch for us."
"I hope so," she mumbled as they continued to throw each other ground balls. "We can't afford anyone else on the mound."
The ball bounced wildly from her hand and hit the chain-link fence. It settled on the grass beside them and Don bent down to pick it up again. He kicked up some of the loose greenery and threw it back to his partner.
It burned when she caught it in her bare hands, but she was used to it by now. She turned the ball over in her hands and lined her lithe fingers up with the seam.
"Can I help you?"
She turned sharply towards the noise, and the ball flew out of her hand and under a shaded bleacher. She fought the urge to swear as she faced the man. It was Daniel Rosen, the baseball coach.
"We just want to ask some follow up questions," Flack said quickly. It wasn't quite the truth, but they were curious about some things.
Rosen wasn't all too helpful, Don decided after he finished asking questions. That might have had more to do with them not having any real question for him than anything else. They would have to wait to talk to Jason until he came out for practice.
In the meantime, Kelly got down on her stomach to look for the ball which was somewhere under the bleacher. She didn't give up even as the dirt pressed onto the front of her clothes.
While she was under the bleacher she found a chewed piece of gum, a couple remnants of cigarettes and a few pennies.
Flack snickered as he watched her crawl around for the ball. "Need some help, Higgs?" He didn't get a response other than some mumbled phrase that he was certain shouldn't be said this close to a Catholic school. His snickering continued as he watched her boots slide on the dry dirt. "Doing a thorough job there."
"I do what I can."
He decided to press his luck with her talking. He wasn't done with his point from earlier in the precinct. "Is that what Mac likes about you? That thorough job you do? Does that thoroughness extend past the job?"
She tried to sit up in surprise but she only managed to slam her head against the underside of the bleacher. There was a hint of a wince as she said, "What makes you think he likes me?"
Despite the fact that she couldn't see the eye roll, she knew it was there. The snort that followed confirmed it. She blinked a few times and raised her hand to her head. She didn't think she was bleeding, but she needed to be sure. Once she confirmed that she was not in fact bleeding or in need of a tetanus booster, she looked around her, placing her hand on a hard, circular object that she instinctively knew wasn't the ball.
The ball was beside her next to a piece of wood under a lower section of the bleacher. She blamed the cloudy day as she figured out what she had her hand on. That piece of wood was what she had her hand on, and this time, she couldn't fight the urge to swear anymore.
"What is it?" Don asked, a little worried by her sudden swearing.
"I think my hand is on the murder weapon."
Her voice shook in surprise as she told him to call Mac. Knowing that now wasn't the time to tease her about it, he quickly dialed the head of the crime lab who told him he'd be there shortly.
Don took his phone out and took several photos for several reasons. One, he needed to be able to tell Mac exactly where she was and how she touched it. Two, he really enjoyed this situation she was in despite the risk to the case.
"Maybe I shouldn't move, Don."
"Nah, I got photos."
"I'll just wait for Mac. I don't trust your photography skills."
He seemed hurt by the comment, but he didn't argue again. She froze as the minutes ticked by. It seemed like several hours before he showed up. It was probably under 25 minutes by the time he turned up, but she wasn't thinking clearly. Her head hurt more than she was willing to admit and her stomach growled in protest.
Mac cocked his head to the side with an amused look on his face when he saw the detective underneath the bleacher. Don didn't miss it and grinned along.
"Did no one take pictures so you could move?"
Flack shook his head. "She said she didn't like my photography skills."
"Yeah, because he could've taken a picture of himself by accident. I don't think he remembered to point the lens at me."
"That has never happened, Higgs," he rebutted indignantly.
Mac chuckled as he crouched down to take some photos of the bat and Kelly's hand on it. Don read him the statement Kelly gave him about how and where she moved.
"I suspect this has something to do with breakfast, Higgs."
She sighed as he finished photographing the bat and focused on the surroundings. "We came here to talk to Jason after realizing there has to be more to this story. We lost a baseball under here and I went searching for it." He didn't say anything for a while. He preferred to take photo after photo and get out of there quickly. "Thanks for coming so quickly," she whispered. "You're a real knight in shining armor."
He nodded curtly but again didn't say anything. Her tone was a little too sarcastic to merit a response other than to tell her that she could get up whenever she wanted to. She did, making sure to not rub her hand on anything as she backed out from under the bleachers and sat on one end of the metal structure.
After a few more photos, Mac switched gloves to take a sample from her hand.
There was no awkward flinching or quickly pulling hands away like there had been the night in the bar. This was work, and despite the fact that she was on edge to begin with, she didn't make a fuss out of this. She watched him diligently take a swab of her hand.
When he finished, she flashed him a large smile and asked, "Are you going to need my clothes too?"
"Only if they touched the bat. You seem to want to make my job easy."
She shook her head back and laughed. "What happened to dinner first?"
"I think we both know where that would end."
"So you're just cutting to the chase?"
"That's a bit presumptuous, Detective."
She snickered. "I didn't think you'd mind."
Don glanced over at the two of them and didn't bother to hide his disappointment with his partner. He ran his hand over his face to avoid watching the two of them. If he had been watching, he would've seen a possible wink pass between the two of them. And if he had wanted to say something it would've been along the lines of, "Are you two sleeping together or do you just want everyone to think that? If it's the first one, you suck at it. If it's the second, congratulations. Mission accomplished." But he didn't.
Instead, he gently coughed to let them know that the team was coming up. Kelly hopped down off the bleacher, sliding past Mac to stand next to her partner. He leaned on her shoulder and whispered something in her ear. Mac watched her tense and glance back at him.
Not knowing what to think of that, he knelt down to document the scene under the bleachers.
"Higgs, any of these cigarettes yours?"
"I'm cold turkey, remember?"
"That wasn't my question. You were down here for a while," he paused as if that might take the edge off what he was asking. "Are any of these yours?"
"No."
Her tone was unmistakable so he backed off. The fun, flirty tone she had earlier was gone, and he wasn't sure it would come back anytime soon.
The team was walking out to field a couple at a time while Don and Kelly watched them.
"Think we could take them on?"
"No doubt," he answered with a sly grin. "But first things first, let's go talk to Jason."
The kid in question was carrying his bag to the dugout. He turned toward the fence when he heard his name called. The detectives approached the fence and flashed their badges. He didn't look too surprised.
"Jason, we need to ask you a few questions," Don started.
The partners knew he was doing his best not to roll his eyes. Higgs shifted in her place as the kid waited to answer them. He smacked his gum and placed the bag on the ground.
"Okay, I can do that."
"You don't seem to broken up over your buddy being dead," Kelly said slowly.
The kid rolled his eyes this time. "We weren't exactly friends."
"Tell us about Sophia."
"She and I dated a while ago. It's over now."
"That's not what I heard," Kelly said as she leaned against the fence.
He scowled and adjusted his hat so it faced backward. The front of his mop of hair stuck out from the bottom of the cap.
"Yeah, well, Miguel and her got together like five seconds after we broke up. It pissed me off."
"How pissed off were you?"
"Not enough to kill him if that's what you're thinking."
"How much did it piss you off when he got more starts than you?"
Jason practically growled. "Look, I watch TV. I know I don't have to talk to you."
Don shifted his position to give a clear view of Mac picking up the bat. "You see, we think we've found the murder weapon —"
"And when we get this back to the crime lab, we'll go get a warrant. Do you think a judge won't let us get your DNA and your prints?"
"I happen to know that Judge Walters will give us one, Higgs."
"So why don't you do us a favor and tell us what you know?"
The baseball cap was flipped around again in his trembling hands. He gripped the fence tightly as the color drained from his face. He quickly wiped away sweat from his face with his shirt.
"I didn't kill him. I was hooking up with Sophia like a month ago. Miguel found out so we got in a fight. Nothin' big."
"That's about the time of his death. You sure it didn't go a little too far?"
Jason's eyes shifted to the dirt. "He texted me to meet me here the night he was killed."
"Did you?"
"Yeah, but I came late. By the time I came to the school, Mig was already dead."
"So you saw him?"
"Yeah," he shuddered. "He was in a bad shape. I was on the ground and I was feeling around. I accidentally touched the bat, and it had blood all over it. I flipped out."
"What'd you do then?" Kelly asked sympathetically. She eased up on leaning on the fence so he would stop squirming.
"I ran here. I called the cops and I was-I- I didn't do this to Miguel!"
Kelly and Don exchanged glances.
Flack ran a hand through his hair. It was always harder when kids were involved. "We need you to come with us to the station. We'll get your prints there."
When he looked worried, Don reassured him that they wouldn't take him away in cuffs. They just wanted to talk to him in a more formal setting.
He agreed and they led him to their car.
A/N: Well, we're at the stretch. Three more chapters left. I hope you enjoyed this one.