Chapter 22 – Heroes
And where did I go wrong? I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
How to save a life – The Fray
Anna wrinkled her nose as both she and Hawkes ducked under the crime scene tape. The distinct smell of burnt flesh hung in the air as they approached a burnt out vehicle. "Hey Stella." She greeted the other woman with a warm smile as Hawkes jumped straight into work,
"So what we got?" he asked, lowering his case to the ground. Stella nodded towards the car, as she held her camera tightly in her hands,
"Windows slightly open, blacked out, bubbling paint...and this," she pointed inside the car, so sharing a look both Hawkes and Anna crouched down enough to peer in through the open door, their eyes landing on the blackened, burnt skeletal remains of their victim,
"Looks like prints are out the question." Commented Hawkes as he took a step back to assess the rest of the car. Shaking her head, Anna straightened with a grimace,
"There are soot stains on the roof and outside the door but the engine compartments undamaged. You thinking this was a torch job?" she asked Stella,
"The fire burnt hot and fast. There was no need for anyone to put it out as the windows weren't open enough to sustain the flames. Once all the oxygen was used up the fire extinguished itself." Stella explained as both her and Anna ducked inside the car.
"Stell...look the burn patterns are contained in the front seat." Anna said, her eyes skimming the body and the seat in which it lay, "The rest of the vehicle appears just to have service charring. This wasn't about torching a car..."
"It was about hiding a body!" Stella finished off for her, the two women sharing the same look as Hawkes approached them again. Holding up his phone he shrugged,
"I've ran the plate, and there's no alarm on the car." He told them. "Hasn't been reported stolen, but the registered owner is called Charles Wright."
Stella nodded before turning back to the coroners who were waiting off to the side, signalling that they could take the body. "Anna I want you to go back with our vic, see what Sid can tell us about who this is, we may possibly be looking at this being Charles Wright."
"Well I can tell you one thing this isn't Charles Wright, it's not even a he. The fire destroyed all the service tissue but the internal organ were somewhat preserved."
Anna followed Sid to the monitor in front of them, holding her lab coat that little bit tighter around her. When the picture came up she frowned and stepped closer, "Well she's definitely female." She commented looking at the ovaries and uterus currently displayed on the monitor. "How badly did she suffer?" she asked, already dreading the answer.
Sid nodded as he lowered down the remote he held to pick up a file, "Quite a lot, but not because of the fire. There was no smoke in her lungs; COD was in fact blunt force trauma. Your killer, showed no mercy on this poor girl."
Anna looked at the x-rays he held up, grateful he was pointing out the injuries for her, "Multiple fractures to the skull, left wrist, and ribs 9 and 10 on the left side. She was beaten to death."
"Where there any signs of sexual assault?" Anna asked, feeling nothing but sorrow for the woman laying on the table in front of her. Sid shook his head,
"I collected a kit, but as you can tell any physical evidence left behind by our killer was likely destroyed in the fire." He told her with a sigh, Anna nodded slightly. They had no idea who this poor girl was, fingerprints had been burnt off, and without a comparison Dental identification was useless, that left one option.
As she opened her mouth to talk Hawkes walked into the room, pulling on his latex gloves and making his way over to them, "Well Hawkes is here to bring our Jane Doe back to life for us." Anna smiled slightly, patting Sid on the shoulder before she left.
After working through collecting evidence on their burnt out Cadillac, Anna and Lindsey had come away with a clear print of what they assumed to be their killers left ear and a photo of the strange indentation on the arm rest of the car.
The owner of the car, according to Stella had put in a call only this morning claiming he'd witnessed his car being stolen. Knowing this to in fact not be the case, Stella had taken Lindsey to visit Mr Wright, leaving Anna to precede going over the evidence.
As she made her way through the labs carrying the few bits of evidence she had so far retrieved from the car, Anna saw Hawkes. A smile spread on her face as she watched him using some of the new equipment Mac had recently acquired for the lab, as she went to hurry over to watch him at work she paused.
Hawkes had a dark look in his eyes, placing down the scanner he was holding he ran his hands over his face once more, taking a deep breath. "Sheldon you okay?" Anna asked as she stepped into the room, he looked at her briefly before his eyes flickered back to the monitor.
There was a skull; slowly each layer of tissue was being added to hopefully create a representation of their victim. Walking further into the room, Anna stopped beside Hawkes as the face of their victim finally stared back at him. "It's her..." he whispered in disbelief, Anna frowned, placing a hand on his arm to calm Sheldon who looked on the verge of tears,
"Who is it Sheldon?" she asked, as Mac walked in, looking at them briefly before his eyes locked onto the screens in front of them. Hawkes straightened and stepped forward, pointing to the screens,
"Okay that's a sketch of the female victim in the Cadillac..." he explained pointing to the picture on the left monitor, pointing to the right he continued, "This is a fast scan image of the face..."
"Fast scan is a digital representation; the resulting facial reconstruction isn't always 100% accurate." Mac interrupted Hawkes, the latter of whom sighed and shook his head,
"That there is a scaled photo of the skull." He told him, pointing to the middle monitor. "This is a photo I pulled from the official NYPD file...it's her Mac."
Anna frowned deeply, taking a step forward she looked at the photo and watched as Hawkes pulled the fast scan image over the skull, then the NYPD picture of the young brunette. Both pictures fitting perfectly, Mac shifted and shook his head,
"Aiden!"
Anna's hand flew to her mouth as she stared wide eyed. Of course she hadn't known Aiden personally but she did know what the young Detective had meant to those she'd worked with, and what she'd meant to Danny. Shaking her head, she looked at both Mac and Hawkes who both looked stoic, their bodies tense.
Silence filled the room, only broken some minutes later by Mac as he sent a 911 page to the rest of the team. Taking a breath Anna left the lab and made her way down the hall, passing Stella and Lindsey as they quickly made their way towards the room. Reaching out she stopped Lindsey and shook her head, pointing to the break room.
"I think they're all going to need a moment," she told her quietly. Lindsey let her gaze flicker reluctantly back to the room before begrudgingly following Anna who in turn gave her the quick rundown on what they'd found out about their victim.
It hadn't taken long.
When Anna saw Danny flying down the hallway, his head lowered as he moved towards the stairs she left Lindsey in the break room and hurried after him. Descending the stairs she followed Danny into the locker rooms and barely managed to shift out the way when he hurled a trash can towards the door.
Seeing her there his eyes widened in shock, before he began his frantic pacing again. Running a hand through his hair he gripped at the strands, pulling them tightly between his fingers before letting out a cry of anger, and pummelling his fist into a locker.
Anna visibly jumped, her hand covering her mouth as she watched him. It was the first time she'd been witness to his anger in such a way, and it'd surprised her. As Danny began to pace again she made her way slowly over to him, standing right in his way and reaching out her hands to rest on his chest.
There she could feel the tremors wracking through his body, as he attempted to gain control on his emotions. His heart hammered under her hand, and his breathing was ragged. "It was Aiden...who the...how could..." Danny struggled to say anything and blew out a sound of frustration, closing his eyes tightly and fisting his hands into his hair.
Reaching up, Anna gently wrapped her fingers around his. Prying them away from his hair she brought them to rest against his chest, "Danny we're going to catch the bastard who did this okay you just have to try and keep a level head..."
"A level..."Danny laughed and pulled away from her hold, "She's one of our own Anna, my friend! This is Aiden we're talking about not some unknown vic, Aiden..."
"I know that Danny..."
"No you don't know!" he yelled at her, shooting a harsh glare at her, roughly knocking away her outstretched hand, "You don't know...you didn't know her. She was nothing to you, don't pretend you care!"
Anna stood her ground as Danny brushed past her, storming from the locker room. Closing her eyes she took a breath, knowing he was upset she was going to let go of his harsh words and carry on with the case that was apparently all she could do at the moment.
Running her fingers through her hair she blew out a slow breath. Pausing at the door she picked up the trash can Danny had thrown, straightening it before carrying on back up to the lab, and back to her work.
Okay guys sorry for the delay in an update, been horribly sick the last week so much to the point my mum wanted to get me to the hospital as I literally could not move an inch off the couch.
Hope you enjoy, thanks to everyone who continues to review and add this story onto alert your support means the world to me.
Sam – Anna's not a jealous person but I think she was fed up with Lindsey, hence why she hung up Danny's phone. There's only so much one girl can take I reckon! Thanks for the review.
Lady – Hey my minds permanently in the gutter so you're in good company! Thanks for the review hun and yeah there is a little trouble in paradise, nothing they can't handle though.
Nelly – Thanks for your kind words regarding Anna and Danny, I agree I think she's a much better match to Danny but I may be a little biased. Hope you enjoy this chapter