Sorry that I haven't updated in a long time...it had been a very busy week last week with my cousins visiting, and I hadn't had much time to go on the computer. But now I should get around to updating much faster...again, sorry for the delay and hope you enjoy the long awaited chapter!

Chapter Nine: A Date with Megan Johnson

The date hadn't been so bad so far, he and Megan had gone to—yes, you guessed it—the one and only Hammerback Café. For their beginning conversations Megan talked a lot about her job, and they even laughed at Maggie, who was once again angry. But as their food came—they had both ordered steaks—Danny decided to tell Megan about the fire.

"Megan, you know how I said I used to work as a CSI, right?"

Megan looked up from cutting her steak. "Yeah."

"Well, it's true. And all those names I had mentioned to you the first day I came to the lab, I had worked with them when I was a CSI investigator."

Megan raised an eyebrow. "But those people who you mentioned had different professions and they never worked as CSI investigators. How could they have worked with you?"

Danny looked around him to appear as if he were worried and said in a low whisper, "I haven't told anyone this, but the truth is I don't belong here. On Tuesday, when I had come to the crime lab, I had thought it was just an ordinary day of work. But the thing was, on Monday, there had been a fire, and I had thought when I came back to the crime lab that it would be burned down. But instead, I met you and some other investigators and saw that the building was unharmed. And all the people I used to work with had different jobs and they didn't remember me. Isn't that odd?"

"Very," Megan said curiously, taking a sip of her wine.

Danny took a bite of his steak and then reached for something next to him. He held it up to Megan. "And then on Wednesday, my friend Lindsay gives me this article. Funny, how it ended up at her apartment on Tuesday, in her mailbox, a day after the fire. There were only two of these newspapers distributed out to the public, one to Lindsay and the other to Detective Mayor. But otherwise, no one else got these newspapers."

Megan was holding onto her wine glass so hard Danny thought she make break it. But he ignored this and continued on.

"The author of this article titled "New York Crime Lab Burns in Flames" declares that she never wrote it. In fact, she'd never heard of the New York Crime Lab catching fire. So, how could Aiden Burn, who had supposedly written this article, not know about the fire?"

"I don't know," said Megan, putting down her wine glass. "Do you really want to talk about this now?"

"It was going to come up sooner or later, Megan," said Danny, putting down the newspaper. "Did you think you were going to be able to hide this any longer? You started the fire. You wrote this article."

"Prove it," she spat.

"Memory foggy, Megan?" asked Danny. "Don't worry, I'll help you remember. You started that fire at the New York Crime Lab. You had been working on a lab experiment, and suddenly, you caused a fire to start. That's the only reason why Audrey didn't want me at the crime lab; she didn't want me near you, she didn't want me to trust you.

"And then this newspaper just suddenly comes from nowhere. Now, this is just my theory on things, but I think you went to the New York Times Building on Monday night and typed up the article and made two copies of these newspapers, one intended to frighten both Lindsay and I, and the other, just for you to keep. But instead it ended up in the hands of Detective Audrey Mayor, who you most absolutely despise."

"But what you don't understand Danny," she said, her eyes now as cold as Audrey's had once been, "is that, how could I get into the building without being caught? And I was in that fire, too, so I would have been in the hospital on Monday night."

"But you weren't harmed by the fire. You got scared when the fire started and ran out, acting as if you had no idea of a fire even starting. You were able to type the article; you left Aiden completely speechless when she found out about that article. But would you like to tell me what really happened because what I say is just my theory. It could be true, but I'd like to hear the story from your perspective. Of course, I don't know if I should trust your words, Megan."

Danny went back to enjoying his steak while Megan, her gaze intently on Danny, didn't touch any of her food. He looked up at her, and said, "You know, just because I figured out your story doesn't mean you can't enjoy your meal. And I'll pay, don't worry."

Megan took her gaze away from him for one second to look at the steak in front of her, and then looked back at him. "What has been done has been done. Don't worry though, you will find out what happened soon enough." She motioned to a waitress Danny didn't recognize, telling her to get a box for her meal so she could take it home. "This date, it was really nice. We both learned a lot, didn't we?"

Not enough, Danny thought. "Tell me how the fire started, Megan."

"It would be better to show you how the fire started rather than explain it. You'll just have to be patient. You'll soon be dead, just like that article says. And don't worry, I'll pay the bill."

Danny found it hard to concentrate on finishing his meal, after hearing what Megan had just said. He knew exactly what she was planning. She was going to strike again, and this time, it wouldn't be an accident. When he was finally free from Megan, he dashed home—his apartment was only a few doors down—and got in his car. He had to tell Lindsay everything he had learned, not to mention apologize to her for not believing her in the beginning.