A/N: I love writing this plot-line! It's going to be awesome!
Feeling broken
Barely holding on
But there's just something so strong
Somewhere inside me
And I am down, but I'll get up again
Don't count me out just yet
Cher — You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me
Three days had flown by and Don was on a plane to Wilmington, North Carolina. He glanced over at Danny, who looked a bit nervous.
"Afraid to fly, Messer?" he said. Danny chuckled, shaking his head.
"Nah, I'm just jittery 'cause of all the coffee I drank", he replied. They were due to land any minute. Isabella had told them to look for her at the baggage claim.
"Please turn off all electronic devices, we will be landing momentarily", the stewardess said. Don felt himself jostle at the feeling of the plane landing on the runway and driving up to the port. After everyone had gotten off, they walked through the airport towards baggage claim. He chuckled when he saw Isabella standing on a seat and looking into the crowd. She was standing with a tall man with dark brown hair. Don sneaked up behind her and poked her in the back. Whirling around, she looked ready to fight. When the look of recognition crossed her features, she nearly jumped out of the chair to hug him.
"Y'all get here okay?" she asked. Her Southern accent was adorable, always had been.
"We got here fine, Rocky. Glad you missed me", he replied, hugging her back. She hugged Mac, Hawkes, and Danny.
"This is one of the detectives on the case, CSI Logan Ross", she said, gesturing to the man standing next to her. Logan shook hands with everyone.
"Well, let's get y'all to the stay-home and we'll get you to the lab and get ya situated", she said, clapping her hands together. Her aqua eyes were mixed with emotions. They followed them to the car, apparently the vehicle was Logan's minivan.
"I rock the minivan, I know", Logan said with an easy grin.
"It's his mom's", Isabella stage-whispered. He gave her a death glare.
"Like you've never driven your mom's car", he shot back.
"Yeah, my mom drives a frickin' truck", she replied with a snort. Everyone laughed. She looked back.
"I will warn you guys, my mom had a stroke a few months ago and it broke her speech up pretty bad. Her English isn't that good", she said, her eyes softening.
"Is she bilingual?" Hawkes asked. She nodded.
"My mom is full-blooded Irish, right from the old country itself", she replied. Don felt better. He could just use the Gaelic he knew to talk to her. They pulled into a vast parking lot to a revamped hotel and everyone filed out. Two dogs charged from the garage, barking.
"Dallas, Wrangler, get down!" Isabella commanded. Both dogs dropped to their bellies, wiggling.
"I'm scared now", Don muttered to Danny. Logan chuckled. One dog was a Border Collie, the other a massive German Shepherd.
"They won't bite, they're just excited", Isabella said, shooing the dogs away. She led the way into the main house.
"Mama, we're home!" she called. A woman even smaller than Isabella walked into the kitchen. Don was struck by the similarities between the two women. They had the same striking aqua eyes, same curly jet-black hair, same smile. Isabella was taller than her mother, by about four inches and more slender.
"My name Marnie", the woman said, extending a hand. She spoke out of half of her mouth.
"Is é mo ainm Don Flack", Don said. Marnie's eyes widened.
[My name is Don Flack]
"Mar sin, go deas bualadh!" she said, shaking his hand.
[So nice to meet!]
"Mama, we have to go to the lab soon to get the ball rolling on our case", Isabella spoke up. Marnie nodded.
"I stop by later?" she asked. Isabella smiled and kissed the top of her mother's head.
"Sure", she agreed.
They pulled up to a large building in downtown.
"You and your mother look very similar", Mac commented. Logan clapped his hands.
"It's scary, ain't it?" he said, speaking for the first time. He had a Southern drawl, just like his teammate. Everyone got out and followed Isabella into the building.
"We're not a very big city, so we don't need as many precincts. Downstairs, is the ME's office, upstairs is the lab", she explained breezily. She pointed to a group of desks.
"That's the Homicide department. Our Narcotics department is a lot bigger, as there's more of a demand for dope cops than homicide cops", she said, pressing the elevator button. She slid her card in and pressed in a four digit code, presumably her badge number. The doors opened and a wide layout was before them. Glass offices much like the lab in New York, a very open layout. Lab techs were scurrying around.
"This is the Wilmington Crime Lab, gentlemen", she said with a smile. A tall Italian woman with long, shining dark hair approached.
"Are these our visiting dignitaries?" she asked with an amused look. Isabella nodded.
"This is Detective CSI Aria De Luca. Aria, this is Detectives Mac Taylor, Danny Messer, and Don Flack. With them, is Dr. Sheldon Hawkes. They're here on the cop killer case", she replied, gesturing to them. Aria shook each of their hands. Don noticed everyone was very welcoming. Aria pointed to Isabella.
"What time do you get off?" she asked.
"Around nine", was Isabella's reply. Aria nodded.
"Come with us to the morgue, Ree-Ree", Isabella requested. Logan had slipped out by now and was gone.
"Nah, you got it, Killer", Aria replied. Isabella pressed the 'LL' button and the doors closed.
"So are you the lead detective on this one, Isabella?" Mac asked. She shrugged.
"Well, me, Aria, and Logan are the heads of this case. Daniel was very close to this one and he didn't trust himself on it", she replied. The doors opened and everyone filed out.
"Guys, this is Charlie Hamilton", she sighed. Don could tell she was not looking forward to this part.
"You guys are very very quiet and that is very unsettling", she said. He chuckled.
"Well, this is a very serious situation. There's not a lot to say", he replied. Charlie Hamilton pulled out two bodies from the morgue freezer, each covered with a sheet. Isabella nodded to him and the sheet was pulled back on one. Nothing could have prepared Don for the sight before him. Vivienne Marx, his detective, was mangled. Massive chunks were torn out of her flesh, fingers were missing. He opened her mouth to show teeth were missing as well. Same as Janet King.
"Dear God, who could have done this?" Sheldon said. Danny's face was pale with horror. Not even Mac could say anything
"He targets women cops, and he thrives on dominance. Our killer was most likely belittled by a dominant woman figure in his life, and once he had fought back, he became addicted to that feeling of victory. He wanted to defile as much of them as he could", Isabella replied quietly. Charlie looked like he was about to say something, but she silenced him with a look.
"Go ahead and speak, Dr. Hamilton", Mac gently prodded.
"The neck wounds were licked clean by the killer. DNA around the body came back human. Your killer's a cannibal", Charlie said. Now Don could see why Isabella had silenced him. Nothing would have prepared them.