Disclaimer: I only own Scarlett Monroe!

Chapter 14: Hunted

"Flack, open up!" Scarlett yelled angrily, knocking on the door for what felt like the millionth time. She'd been standing outside of Flack's apartment for at least ten minutes and still no answer. Finally, she heard the lock turn.

Flack opened the door wearing only a towel around his waist, water dripping from his muscular chest and down his abs. "I was in the shower, Lett," he said, stepping aside to let her in. She wanted to be pissed at him, but when he looked that damn good it was hard.

"Yea, that much I could've figured out," she said, stepping into the apartment with her collection of shopping bags. "Heard anything yet?" she asked, dropping her bags on the floor.

Flack looked at her a moment before answering. "I think it's best if you speak to Mac yourself," he finally said. He wasn't one to keep secrets from people, but this wasn't a secret. He was simply following Mac's order.

Scarlet crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked up at him, "I know you spoke to him, Flack. Tell me what he said."

"Look, Lett, he called me and gave me an update but he told me specifically that he would give you the news himself once you got to work."

"You're useless," she muttered under her breath so that he couldn't hear her, "good looking and useless." Scarlett opened up her shopping bags and picked out a change of clothes and moved towards the bathroom. She didn't have the time or energy to argue with him at this point. "I'm guessing you're all cleaned up? I need to shower before we leave."

Flack nodded, "I'm done. Go ahead, I'll wait for you."

Scarlett slammed the bathroom door and stripped off her clothes. She couldn't believe he was withholding information from her! But on the other hand, if Mac had wanted to deliver the news to her himself, it must have been important. You really need to stop being such a drama queen, Scarlett, she told herself.

She showered in record time and threw on a new pair of dark wash skinny jeans with a black blazer and a tank top underneath, her signature work attire. She rolled her hair up into a neat bun, leaving a few pieces out around her face and applied a few coats of mascara to her already long lashes.

"I'm ready," she yelled as she left the bathroom, kicking the door shut behind her.

"Well, you look nice," said Flack with a smirk on his handsome face from where he sat waiting for her on the couch.

She made a face at him and said, "Don't try and suck up to me now, Donnie." She'd let go of her earlier anger and was now eager to get to the lab and start getting some answers for herself.

"Hey, Mac," Scarlett said as she walked into his office. Her lab coat was hanging over her arm and Flack was a few steps behind her.

"Sit down and shut the door," Mac said as Flack walked in. Once they had sat down, Mac continued, "I spoke to Flack earlier today and I told him that we've determined that the threat on your apartment door is connected to the deaths of the two Jane Doe's we found in Central Park."

Scarlett nodded, satisfied that she was now getting some answers. "What about running the prints from my apartment?"

"We're on that right now, so with any luck we'll get a hit in AFIS." Mac cleared his throat before continuing, "But since we've determined someone is after you, I've assigned Flack to keep an eye on you."

Scarlett resisted the urge to roll her eyes in front of her boss, "That part I know," she grumbled.

"It's for your own safety, Scarlett. You saw how those two other victims ended up. We're just taking the necessary precautions."

Scarlett nodded and stood up, "Alright, I better get to work then." She waited for Flack outside of Mac's office and stopped him for a moment. "I'm sorry I keep doing this - these little angry outbursts. I'm just stressed."

Flack nodded, "I know, I can tell. But we're all here to help you. Sometimes it's best to just accept the help you're getting instead of pushing it away." Scarlett smiled at him feeling a little bit better. He understood her. He understood that she was independent and liked to take care of herself. But she was going to try her best to accept the help she could get. Little did she know, she was really going to need it.

Near the end of her shift, Scarlett was with Lindsay in the lab trying to make the time pass while waiting for the results of the finger print analysis.

"Linds," Scarlett moaned, dropping her head into her hands. The frustration was getting to her.

"Scarlett, stop. You're starting to drive me crazy," Lindsay said, looking up from her microscope.

"Sorry, sorry. I've been - "

"I've got a hit in AFIS," Danny said as he walked into lab, waving a sheet of paper in his hands. Mac was a few steps behind him. "The fingerprint Mac lifted from your apartment door belongs to a Ted Larson. Name ring a bell?"

Scarlett shook her head, and thought for a moment. "No," she said. "At least I don't think so. Does Flack know?"

"Does Flack know what?" said Don, stepping into the lab.

"Great timing," Danny said. "A print from Scarlett and Lindsay's apartment came back to a Ted Larson. We're trying to establish a connection here."

Flack nodded, "Anything yet? Why is he in the system?"

"Mostly just auto theft and illegal possession of a firearm. He was locked up in Jersey for a little while."

Scarlett bit down on her lip, trying to find the connection between herself and this man. "Larson, Larson," she repeated to herself quietly.

"What about connections between the two Jane Doe's and Scarlett?" Flack asked Mac.

"We've got nothing. As far as we know, their paths never crossed," Mac answered.

"I don't think we need to look for a connection between Scarlett and the Jane Doe's," Lindsay said, "The message on our apartment door said Two warnings is all you get. You're next. I mean if the killer knows Scarlett's line of work, he would know she would come across the bodies. It's a strange warning, killing someone just because they resemble your target but we've all seen stranger things happen."

"Lindsay's right," Mac said, "We need to focus on the connection you have," he said to Scarlett, "with Ted Larson. His last known address is in New Jersey. We'll have to get in touch with New Jersey CSIs. This may be bigger than we originally thought."

"In that case, I should probably call up the Jersey CSI crime lab. I mean, I used to work there so I should be able to take care of this pretty quickly," Scarlett said.

"Alright, you do that and let me know how it goes," Mac said before leaving the room and going back to his office.