Chapter 11 – Just call on me (Part 1)

Things had been kind of weird between Flack and Lily ever since they had slept together. Something was happening between them and she didn't know how to react. He wasn't any better either. He kept flirting with her and she kept taking it as friendly banter. He was a player, after all. Or that was she kept telling herself.

The clock strike twelve on New Year's Eve and Lily's cell phone rang. When she hugged the last of her friends and wished her a 'Happy New Year', answered the phone.

'Happy New Year,' he said on the other side of the line.

'You too,' replied Lily with a smile. 'Where are you, anyway?'

'Still at the Precinct. Snow didn't let me go home,' Flack sighed.

'Sorry to hear that. It almost caught me too, if hadn't it been for the cab driver who violated a few transit regulations. If I could, I'd change the weather for you, honey.'

'Okay, I've gotta keep working, just wanted to greet you. Have a nice night.' What I really wanted was to hear your voice.

'Thanks for calling. And if the weather gets better you can always come and join us. Night, bye,' she ended the call.

'Who called?' asked Lisa curiously.

'Don,' she bit her lip.

'Ooh, the stallion called!' Mary joked. 'Didn't he know New Year's Eve is a Ladies Night?'

Lily rolled her eyes. He shouldn't be alone.

The snow stopped falling heavily and in three seconds Lily was taking Mary's car and driving down the empty streets. When she got to her destination, she saw all the cops were chatting and laughing except Flack, who was slumped over his desk.

'You better not be asleep,' she said while placing a hand on one of his arms.

He lifted his head quickly. It can't be her, I must be hallucinating or something. 'What you doing here?' Flack was surprised.

'Heard someone needed company …'

'It's snowing, how did you get to the Precinct?'

'Does it matter? I'm already here.'

Flack got up and hugged her tightly, whispering 'Thank you' in her ear.

Lily took off her coat, revealing a somewhat low cut dress and therefore receiving a wolf whistle or two to which she responded with a roll of her eyes.

'Did you have to wear that?' Flack asked reproachfully with a blush.

'If you don't want me here, I can go,' she got up but he grabbed her hand and made her sit again on a corner of his desk.

'I'm sorry but that dress …' You're killing me here!

'Your colleagues are on the other side of the room, what do you care?' It's not as if it distracted you …

'So, has it stopped snowing? You think I can go home?' asked Flack, changing the subject.

'Yeah. And if you didn't want me here, you could have told me,' she said with hurt.

'C'mon, Lil! I didn't mean that,' Flack grabbed her from the waist before she could get her coat and made her turn around.

'It's okay, I want to go home too. These boots are killing me,' she tried to sound nonchalant. I just don't want to get mad at you. 'Good night,' she kissed his cheek and left the building, their relationship unscathed.

* * *

A day later Lily was at her office working on a case when someone knocked on the door. A somewhat tall man in his mid-fifties entered and sat down in front of her.

'You working on the Johnson case?'

She nodded and added as an afterthought, 'But you're not checking on me, you need something.'

'You've known me for too long,' he chuckled, 'there's nothing I can hide from you anymore.'

'You know you can trust me Jeff, or you wouldn't be here,' she gave him an encouraging look.

'Ashley asked for a divorce. And well, I want you to handle it with as much discretion as you can,' he looked down.

'Sure, don't worry about it. And you know, I'm really sorry. I'll have it on your desk as soon as I can type it.'

'I know you will,' he smiled. 'You still think you owe me something.'

'You gave me this life, Jeff; of course I do! I wouldn't be here if you hadn't been so good to me.'

'Your work ethic and intelligence got you to where you are. I wouldn't have recruited you otherwise. But the Johnson case has got the whole firm involved so tell me where we are.'

'Working's not going to make you feel better or fix your life, you know? But let's get to business: Fred Johnson, CEO at an advertising agency and accused of espionage. Solid evidence against him includes e-mails, witnesses and footage from the surveillance cameras.'

'You think he did it?' asked Jeff.

'You've asked me that every single case we've worked together for the past five years, why?'

'Because you have a good instinct for that. You're a shrewd person and I trust your judgment.'

'I think he's innocent.' Lily couldn't express how much that meant to her so simply answered the question. 'I really do.'

'Let's give him a hell of a defense, then!'

Days passed and the Johnson trial was nearing. All White, Brandson & Jordan was in the meeting room, organizing the defense.

'The e-mails could have been sent by another person, the witnesses were spies before leaving their jobs so it'll be easier to put their character into question and the footage from the cameras on the building: Photoshop or whatever they use to alter videos,' explained Lily.

'That means he's being framed,' spoke David Rogers, a man in his forties who usually dealt with minor offences.

'Really bright there, Dave! Why not?' interjected a young lawyer named Nick.

'The thing is finding the evidence to prove somebody wants to set him up,' Jeff was always trying to calm things down.

'So … what are we waiting for?'

* * *

Flack entered the Precinct three weeks after New Year's and was headed to his desk when a familiar person caught his attention. He stopped and directed his steps to where she was.

'Lily, what you doin' here?'

'Don,' she said gloomily.

'What happened? Who's missing?' he'd observed the color of the form the officer was filling.

'Jeff White, one of the partners at the firm. He just … vanished.'

'I'll take care of it and keep you posted, okay? Anything else you think may be important call me.'

'Thanks! Jeff was a mentor and I just hope he's alright,' they hugged and she left the building.

Four days passed and Flack was standing over a dead body in an alley. Nothing out of the ordinary about that, except for the fact that the victim was wearing a suit and looked like a businessman instead of the usual junkie you'd find in a place like that.

'What have we got?' asked Lindsay while gloving up.

'Male on his mid-fifties, no ID yet. My guys are canvassing the area but there aren't any witnesses so far.'

'He's got quite an expensive suit, what's a guy like him doing in an alley in the Bronx?' Stella approached the crime scene and started processing.

'That's what you'll tell me,' Flack scrunched up his nose, 'Is he famous or something?'

'Haven't seen him before,' Stella answered.

'I have, but can't figure out where,' he rummaged through his brain and when he was about to give up; it hit him. 'The picture on her desk.'

He dialed a familiar number and a phone in Manhattan rang.

'Tell me it's good news, Don,' she said nervously.

'Sorry Lil, but I think we found him. You have to come and take a look,' he said sadly. 'Can you be at the Precinct in half an hour?'

'Sure,' she put her head on her hands.

'Do you have a possible ID for this guy?' asked Lindsay from where she was bagging a grey fiber she'd pick from the victim's shirt.

'Yeah but we'll have to wait for confirmation. What have you found?'

'I've got a foreign fiber, DNA under his fingernails and some trace from the wound on his head,' Lindsay spoke.

'There are some shoeprints that don't match the victim's shoes and that's it. We gotta find the primary crime scene,' added Stella.

'Dump job?' Flack took notes.

'COD is probably blunt force trauma to the head which generates medium velocity spatter. I don't see any blood here,' she explained.

* * *

'Where did you find him?' asked Lily.

'First check that's him, alright?'

She looked at the picture and nodded, unable to speak. The dead body on the photo had once been her mentor, guiding her through her career, guiding her through life. She had met him on her Sophomore year and now he wasn't there anymore. She wanted to cry, throw up and scream but she couldn't do any of it.

'I'm sorry,' Flack said and hugged her.

'Where did you find him?' she pushed.

'An alley in the Bronx. The guys from the lab are working really hard to get the person who did this,' Flack reassured her. 'I'm working really hard too.'

'I know,' she sighed. 'I can't believe it. He was a great guy, a great lawyer and a great dad. Have you called Ashley, his wife?'

'Yeah, she's on her way.'

Lily buried her face in her hands for the millionth time in half an hour. And Flack hugged her again.

'What happened to him?' she broke the hug.

'Lily, I don't think you …'

'I need to know what happened,' she gave him a pleading look. 'Is that hole on his forehead the cause of death?'

'Yeah. He was a strong man, didn't come down without a fight. The ME found a lot of defensive wounds,' Flack tried to comfort his friend.

'I know.'

He hugged her again, wishing he could do something. He had to wait for the evidence to speak. Hopefully, it wouldn't take long.

Blood, sweat and tears to get this chapter finished! I've divided it into two parts because it would have been too long. I would apologize for the delay but I don't know if someone's actually reading this story. If there is someone out there: I really appreciate if you leave me a review with your comments/suggestions/questions.

Thanks to sparkyCSI who's really patient.

LaUrIsHa-just me