Disclaimer: I obviously do not own CSI: NY. I just own my car, my laptop and my crazy muse who seems to want to write 4 different stories at a time. I also do own any characters that you do not recognize. You can borrow them if you ask permission first!

A/N: Okay. Thanks to everyone that read and reviewed! Here's the next chapter!! Many thanks to Aphina and Axellia for the beta. I don't own the chapter title either. That belongs to Foreverdown!!

Chapter 8.

Breaking at Dead-Ends

By the time Danny got back to the crime lab, Adam had studied all of the phone records of Angela Cummings. There was one phone number that had started popping up over the three months prior, but when he researched the number, he was dejected to see that it was a disposable phone. He sighed in defeat, knowing that their case was going nowhere fast.

When Danny came in, he quickly filled the more experienced CSI in on what he had discovered and watched as he sighed in resignation. "Well, that's what we expected," he conceded. "Maybe we can get more information off of her computer. She definitely wasn't the brains behind the operation and hopefully there is something saved in there." Danny handed the computer over to Adam as he said this and turned to walk out of the lab. "I'm going to grab a bite to eat. Want me to grab you something?" he called over his shoulder.

Adam shook his head. "Nope, I'm good," he said as he smiled back. Allison had called him back and said that she would bring dinner to him since she knew how likely it was for him to forget to eat.

Danny nodded and headed out of the lab to try to quell the growling beast that was his stomach at that moment.

Adam stared at the laptop and silently prayed that it wasn't security encrypted. Not that he couldn't break the encryption, it would just take more time and he didn't think he had that kind of time. He sighed in relief as the computer booted up without needing a password and quickly opened up the email folder.

He scanned the content, not seeing anything that looked out of the ordinary and had just about given up hope, when he clicked on an email that looked like spam. It was simple, just a single line of text that said, Wednesday, usual time. He furrowed his brow for a bit until he realized that the woman had been murdered on a Wednesday night, well really Thursday morning. Smirking, he began to trace the email account and had just finished when Danny walked back in.

"Find anything?" he asked.

Adam smiled. "I found an email saying Wednesday, usual time and just finished tracing back the email address. It was from Dorian Driscoll, but I'm afraid the trail ends there. It was send from an internet café, and there is no way to trace it from there."

Danny exhaled. "We need a break. We really need a break here," he said in frustration.

Adam shrugged. "It looks like it was a professional hit and those are notoriously hard to solve. Pros rarely leave any evidence to tie them to the crime."

Danny rubbed the back of his neck. "I know; it's just frustrating." He looked at the clock. "I'd better fill Cory in on what we found. Maybe she has some way to connect all of this."

--

Cory was sitting at her desk, staring at the latest note from the person making insinuations of a school shooting. Lydia was sitting across from her, watching her expression with trepidation. "What is it, Cory?" she asked. "What does it say?"

Cory drew a breath. "You have the warning. Now watch as a new order arises." She shook her head. "How fast can you get this to your ex?"

Lydia bit her lip. "I can fax it to him right now. I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Neither do I, but I can't do anything about it! There is not a threat of specific violence, so I can't have the schools locked down and I've already warned the school superintendent that there could be violence."

Lydia shrugged as she took the note from Cory, so she could fax it. "I'll get this to Derek, but in the meantime what's going on with the smuggling case?"

"Agent Fitzhugh is on vacation in Belize right now and unavailable for comment," she said sarcastically. "I don't know. I think there's more to this than him just not wanting the case anymore. Maybe he found out something that put him in danger," she theorized.

Lydia pursed her lips. "Maybe, but why not tell anyone about it?"

"Fear of repercussions," Cory replied automatically. "It was like that with Travis. He started out working with Ortiz because his family was in danger, but he took it to the next level. Maybe Fitzhugh knew about that and didn't want it to progress any further." She let out a harsh laugh. "Hell, I've had a target on my back since I became an agent, so I'm used to dealing with that."

Lydia laughed in return as Cory's phone rang. "I'll go talk to Derek and see what he wants to do," she said as she walked out of the office.

Cory just shook her head as she answered her cell phone. "Hey Danny, you got anything for me?"

"Hi, bella. Not really, the only things we have are a disposable cell phone and an email trace that leads back to a guy at the security company—our unknown victim. Everything else is a dead end."

"Can't say that I'm not surprised. Still no trace of the gun?"

"Nope," Danny drawled. "With this lack of evidence, I'm going to have to put the case on the back burner. So I think I'm going to send you all the evidence and hopefully it will help you with your case."

"Okay, thanks. I may be home late tonight. I have a couple of different cases up in the air that I need to focus on," she told him.

"Okay," Danny responded with a little disappointment. "I'll see you when you get home."

--

It took fifteen minutes after Lydia had faxed the latest note to Derek for him to call her. She smiled as she answered the phone, "Hey Derek."

"Hey, Lyd. When did you get this note?" he asked, all business.

"Today," she replied with a sigh. "I don't like it."

"I understand. He's escalating, but there is no specific threat. I ran it by the team and they said that there was nothing that they could do," he replied.

"I expected that. Cory's done all she can. She warned the school district that there may be a threat, but without a specific target there's nothing they can do either."

Morgan thought for a moment. "Listen. I have some vacation that I've been meaning to take. Why don't I head up there for a couple of days and see what I can do to help you."

Lydia raised an eyebrow at that. "Really? I don't think you'll have any more luck here. You have all the information that we have."

He chuckled. "Maybe I just want to see you and meet this boss that you obviously admire and respect. I've never heard you refer to your boss by their first name before."

Lydia laughed. "Oh, Cory has a way of making you do that. She said that being referred to by her last name annoys her since she's from Texas."

"Still, maybe with all of us working together, we can come up with something," he persisted.

Lydia just shook her head. "Do what you want, Derek. I can't control your vacation time."

"All right. I'll see you in a couple of days," he assured her.

Lydia murmured her good-bye and wondered why he was making it a point to come and see her. God. I hope that he doesn't want to reestablish our relationship. I'm happy with Sheldon, she thought.

--

Danny was getting ready to leave and was standing by the elevator when a cute blonde walked out, looking lost and carrying what looked like take-out. Feeling like his normal self, he shot her a grin and asked, "Can I help you?"

The blonde looked up and gave him a dazzling smile. "I hope so," she said. "I'm looking for Adam Ross?"

Danny shot her another smile, realizing that this must be the woman that Adam had his date with. "Then by all means, let me show you to him. I'm Danny Messer," he said, quickly reversing his direction to guide her towards the break room.

"Allison Benoit," she replied cordially as she followed him. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Danny responded as they reached the break room. "Why don't you wait here? I'll go grab Adam."

Allison nodded as she walked into the room and began to set the take-out on the table. Danny turned and walked to the A/V lab to grab Adam. He walked in to find the younger man studying the laptop that he had left him, obviously looking for anything that could tie someone who was still alive to the crime.

"Hey Adam. You have a visitor in the break room," he said as he ambled into the room.

Adam looked up from the computer screen. "Really? Who?"

Danny smirked. "A very cute blonde that goes by the name Allison."

Adam flushed a bit. "Oh, okay. I'll just go there."

Danny chuckled, remembering what it was like to be in the first stages of a relationship. "She brought food, so enjoy. I'm really trying to head home now," he said as he began to make his way back to the elevator. He was nearly there when he heard Kendall yell his name.

He turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What?"

She smirked. "I wanted to catch you before you left. Guess what was just dropped on our doorstep?"

Danny, who was tired and really just wanted to go home, sighed. "The new Messiah?" he said sarcastically.

Kendall rolled her eyes. "Nope, but good guess," she returned just as sarcastically. "Actually, it's a .480 Ruger."

Danny looked at her in surprise. "Really?"

"Yup," she said as she turned to head for the ballistics lab. "I was just going to process it to see if I can find anything."

Danny fell into step next to her. "Okay. Does it have a serial number?" he asked, hoping that it would lead them to whoever had purchased the gun.

"I haven't looked at it yet, but since I have a fairly heavy caseload at the moment, I'll let you process it if you want."

Danny nodded his thanks as he grabbed his lab coat and walked towards where Kendall had placed the gun. Carefully, he picked it up, studying the gun. This is some serious firepower, he thought as he looked at the imposing gun. It had a seven and a half inch long barrel and a chamber for six rounds. He turned the gun over, looking for the serial number, which was normally on the frame by the trigger and found that it had been removed. Pushing his glasses on his forehead, he put the gun under the microscope and realized that it had been removed by acid and there was no hope of it being recovered. He sighed in defeat and he inspected the rest of the gun.

It looked as if it had been thoroughly cleaned and when he spread the fingerprint powder over it, he got not results. He shook his head and he wiped the powder off the gun and went to test fire it. Carefully chambering a round, he squeezed the trigger and was surprised by the relatively low recoil from it. "Huh, that's nice," he said as he retrieved the bullet. He put the newly fired bullet under the microscope and without surprise discovered that the bullets did match.

Sighing, he rocked back on his heels. Whoever is doing this is playing with us, he concluded as he stared at the screen trying to make sense of the discovery.

AN: Okay, so I'd really like to apologize for my lack of updating, but I just haven't been feeling the story! The good news is that I have started on 9, so I have hopes to have it finished here soon, but please...reviews really do full my muse and give her great ideas!! Don't forget to vote on what you think the sex of Flack and Lindsay's baby is on my author page!

Soccer - I've tried cookies, ice cream, REAL Dr. Pepper, Red Bull, but she's being really flighty right now. :( I'm trying to write again tonight, so cross your fingers!

turtyhurty - Thanks! I love where I'm taking this, but I'm just blocked on a fluffy chapter right now! I hope I can get over that and move on with the story! I must say that the chapter where she gives birth it going to be wickedly exciting. But that's all I'm saying for now! I'm glad you're enjoying the story!

lapland - I only have 1 other character from another writer (that's Taylor), but everyone else is mine. To answer your question, I keep them straight by having character files (36 and counting) so that I have a solid background on each one. That's saved my bacon a couple of times. :D I'll try to check it out, but I've really dropped down on the fanfiction that I read b/c I want to try to get my original story finished sometime!

BEG - Thanks have just been eff'd up. But, I'll survive. Hopefully, I'll come back with a hell of a lot of angst for the characters! Here ya go!!