Chapter 23 - Acceptance
Tears of hope run down my skin.
Tears for you that will not dry.
They magnify the one within
And let the outside slowly die.
Remember when it rained – Josh Groban
There was a strange stillness and quiet in the lab as news spread of Aiden's murder, the sad news seemingly hitting everyone hard. In a strange way Anna almost felt as though she were somehow imposing on their grief, for she didn't know Aiden. To escape the dark cloud that now hung over the 35th floor Anna had sought out sanctuary in the garage, hoping to figure out more from their burnt out Cadillac.
The owner who for a while had been a suspect was clean. The ear print they'd retrieved was no match to his own and he was allowed to go free. It turned out though there was another suspect, a more likely, already well known to the team and Aiden, suspect.
DJ Pratt. A rapist Aiden had obsessed over catching. Due to the lack of DNA evidence she'd never been able to pin him for the Crimes. According to what Stella had said, that ate away at Aiden. So much so she'd sacrificed her job in the lab, as well as conducting her own investigation in the privacy of her home. DJ Pratt was the killer; there was no doubt about it, now all the team needed to do was find enough evidence to support that fact.
"How does DJ Pratt, go from rape, to car theft, then to murder?" Anna asked Stella as she looked up from the arm rest of the car. Having just out the strange indentation, Stella from her position in front of the steering wheel shook her head,
"I dunno but if we can tie him to the car theft, we can tie him to the scene and Aiden and that is all I can think about." Stella replied, pulling the steering wheel off. Anna nodded slowly,
"We're gonna get him you know..." she said softly, hearing Stella pause her actions behind her. Looking over her shoulder Anna smiled gently, "I have a feeling he's not getting away this time."
Stella smiled softly, and nodded. There was reigned in emotion shining brightly in her eyes as she looked away from Anna, and out of the window. "I wish you could have met her. You would have liked her." She said, looking back at Anna, who sighed sadly and nodded,
"Yeah I wish I had too. Danny's talks about her all the time, some of the stories..." she laughed slightly and shook her head. "I'm worried about him Stella." She admitted, looking down at the arm rest.
"Danny's tough Anna, he'll get through this. Just keep reminding him your there. Danny has a tendency to push people away when things get tough...just keep with him, he'll come around."
Anna looked at Stella and nodded, smiling gratefully at the other woman before they both turned their attention back to the jobs at hand. As she looked closer at the indentation, taking away the top layer of fabric Anna frowned, "This looks like a bite mark," she said in surprise turning to look at Stella who was shining her torch on a white fleck she held between some tweezers,
"And this tells us our thief popped the ignition with a paint speckled tool...and do you know who's been painting apartments?" Stella looked at Anna with a smile. This was solid evidence, as Anna looked from the fleck to Stella she laughed softly and nodded her head once,
"DJ Pratt."
The paint Stella retrieved from the ignition of the stolen Cadillac turned out to be an everyday paint, used in every building in New York meaning there was no solid way they could tie it to DJ Pratt. Stella hadn't taken that news well and had long since headed off to find Mac.
Whilst she did that Anna stayed behind working on the dental imprint she'd recovered from the arm rest of the car. Praying it was Pratt's she along with Hawkes compared the dental imprints and found them instead to be Aiden's. After making a dental cast the conclusion was solid. Aiden had in fact bit down onto the passenger side armrest during the attack.
According to Mac this was all they needed. Aiden had in fact given them enough to bring DJ Pratt in. It was with great pleasure that Anna and Hawkes got to watch Pratt being held in the interrogation room. Every inch of them looking forward to witnessing Mac and Stella wipe that smug look from his face. As they watched from the observation room Stella dropped a file onto the desk behind her and opened it,
"You two happy? You finally got me, I'm under arrest. Of course 10 minutes from now I'll be at Ray's enjoying a slice..." Pratt was smirking; sure they had nothing on him. That once his Lawyer arrived he'd be out of there.
"You're not going anywhere." Mac interrupted him, standing stoic in front of Pratt. Anna glanced away from the two way mirror and at Hawkes as she watched him lean forward, resting his hands on the frame.
"She finally did it..." he whispered. Cocking her head to the side slightly Anna stepped closer to Hawkes, keeping an eye on the scene unfolding in front of them.
"Aiden?"
"Yeah, this case haunted her. She sacrificed everything to catch this son of a bitch, even her own life." He replied shaking his head. Proud of his friend in a way, fighting for justice till the end, Anna smiled and placed a kind hand on his shoulder as they looked back to Mac and Stella.
"My lawyer is going to have a field day with you Detective Taylor." Pratt sighed, leaning back casually into his chair, not looking the least bit concerned as he met Mac's unwavering gaze.
From behind the window Anna shook her head and frowned, "Really sure of himself isn't he." She commented, counting down the seconds till Mac and Stella revealed the evidence.
"He's gotten away with it for so long, probably thinks he's gonna do it again."
"Boy is he in for a surprise." Anna smiled, her shoulder brushing against Hawkes, offering him a little support, as she to leaned in closer to the window.
"See this? It's an ear print we found on the passenger side window of a burnt out Cadillac..." Stella said holding up the print Anna had retrieved in order for Pratt to see. Pulling out a photo of Pratt's left ear, she pressed the two images together with a smile, "And that's your left ear. Look at that, perfect match! This puts you in that Cadillac"
"Lift up your left sleeve," Mac ordered, his eyes narrowing as Pratt shook his head, his calm exterior shifting slightly,
"No. I'm not saying anything else till my lawyer gets here."
"You don't have to. Aiden told us everything we need." Mac replied, picking up another photo from the table. This one showing the bite mark, "This is the bite mark on your forearm. Aiden bit you. We know what you did Pratt."
"Just so you know, your lawyer can't protect you anymore." Stella told Pratt,
"And we have the evidence to make sure you never see freedom again." Mac finished both him and Stella watching Pratt crumble. This was no longer a confident man thinking he'd gotten away with murder. This was a scared man, who now knew he'd been caught and there was no way he'd be getting out of this one.
In the observation room Hawkes laughed and pushed away from the window, clapping his hands. Anna laughed at him and as he leaned down to embrace her, she returned the gesture. The elation they both felt now the case was closed was high.
Pulling away Anna shook her head, her gaze flickering back to Pratt. "Aiden did good." She said, turning back to Hawkes, who let out a small laugh and shook his head, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, he guided them both out the room and into the precinct.
"Nah, Aiden did excellent."
Hearing the shared stories of Aiden, from those sat around the table that knew her, made Anna wish even more so she'd got to meet this wonderful woman who'd meant so much to so many. The tough talking Brooklyn Native had kept Danny on his toes and Anna liked that. Aiden was truly going to be missed by the team, and the regret each one of them felt would take a long time to heal.
Glancing at herself in the bathroom mirror Anna smiled softly, doing what she could do shake off the bad feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. There was a saying, something her Grandfather believed, bad things happen in threes. With Louie, then Aiden...Anna was left to wonder what was next.
Shaking her head she quickly dried her hands, ashamed in a way she'd allowed herself to think like that. Things would be fine, of that she was sure. Blowing out a breath she squared her shoulders and headed out the bathroom, almost colliding with the figure now blocking the doorway back into the bar.
"What is it with you and stalking me outside bathrooms?" Anna teased Danny, planting her hands on her hips. Danny laughed slightly, and looked slightly nervous, almost sheepish as he looked down into her eyes,
"I needed to make sure...you know I'm sorry right. What I said to you earlier...I was just mad..." he trailed off as Anna placed her smaller hands over his, clasping them tightly between their two bodies as she smiled at him in understanding.
"Danny there is nothing you need to apologise for...I'd rather you yell like that than bottle everything up inside." She told him gently, brushing her knuckles against his jaw as she smiled softly. Danny sighed and leaned into her touch, his own hand coming up to rest over hers as he turned his head, pressing a kiss into the palm of her hand,
"I don't know what I did to deserve you but I want you to know, everything that's happened over the last few weeks. Louie and now Aiden...there's no way I would have made it through if you hadn't of been here." Danny whispered, his forehead resting against hers.
Anna smiled again, closing her eyes, enjoying their closeness before she looked back at him and whispered, "I love you to Danny."
Here's the next chapter for you guys, I'm posting quickly before I go out.
Lady – Yeah I'm feeling better thanks! This episode always makes me cry so you're not the only one. Danny will be okay me thinks! Thanks for the review
Shippo – Don't worry about not being able to review earlier chapters hun! Hope the vacation was good! Glad you liked this chapter, moving onto my other favourite episode soon!
Sam – Once again thanks for your review hun!
Exodus – I think Danny does know that Anna was just trying to help, his emotions were just so raw in that moment he couldn't see that. As you can see though they are okay and have made up, she understood his reaction so there's no problems there. Thanks for the review hun!