Chapter 4: Secrets, Lies, and More Murder

Danny knew there was something wrong with Nikki, he wanted to find out what. He also knew that she had changed since she left. Something had been bothering her, he just didn't know what. As Danny bit into his slice of pizza, Don asked, " Hey, Messer! What's wrong?"

" It's nothing, probably this case, it's really gotten to Nikki", Danny lied. When Don heard her name, his heart skipped a beat. He couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. First, her image kept appearing in his head, then that morning, when he couldn't stop looking at her, and now this, hearing her name made him jumpy.

" Hey, Flack!", Danny exclaimed trying to get Don's attention.

" Yeah, sorry. In my own little world, you know", Don said.

" Yeah, I've noticed. Hey, you've been doing that a lot lately, I don't know if you've noticed, but it's just strange", Danny emphasized.

" Yeah, so have you. Ever since…", Flack cleared his throat, " You know, she came back. Your sister, something's bothering you, Messer. Your eyes say everything."

Just then Flack's cell phone rang, and he answered, " Yeah, Flack ….mhm ….ya …ok….I'll be right there…..Danny's right here, we're on our way." Flack closed his phone, and looked solemnly at Danny and repeated, " Well, lunch is over, Dan. We got ourselves another murder. This is the third one in a row. Now he's got three days to kidnap three more people, torture and kill them."

" Wow, Flack. You're really pessimistic about this", Danny replied.

" Yeah, well, we can't seem to catch this guy. If it's true, than we're screwed", Flack explained.

" Can't think like that, man, we'll get through this", Danny lied. Danny had a bad feeling about this case, and he knew that Nikki was struggling with it. This guy had been killing for six months straight, every three days, for three weeks.

Danny and Flack paid for the pizza, and headed to an alley about twenty minutes away. When they got there, Nikki had already started processing the crime scene. Don looked in her direction, she glanced up, smiled, then looked back to what she was doing. Her smile sent shivers down his back. He didn't know how to respond, he didn't even know what was wrong with him. So, he focused on the crime at hand. It wasn't another routine crime scene, it was the work of their "Triangle Killer".

" I would…umm, ask what happened, but I think it's clear", Don directed to Nikki.

" Yeah, basically. He did it again, Don. He killed again. Six months, how does someone get away with that? I just don't understand", Nikki wondered.

" Don't worry, you're not the only one to question this. I gotta tell you, this guy is smart. He knows enough not to leave behind evidence", Don continued, " How sick does someone have to be to do everything that this guy has done?"

" I don't know, Don, I just don't know. He can't not leave behind evidence, there has to be something that we're missing. Although, it's giving Mac a hard time, from what Danny said, even Mac doesn't know how this could happen for months and this guy not get caught. He has to slip up, he just has to", Nikki explained.

Don gazed at her while she was explaining, until he realized she was looking back at him, and asked, " Umm… Don, are you alright? What's wrong with you?"

Don wished he had the answer to that question, he had no idea himself. So, Flack lied, " Oh nothing, I'm just wondering the same thing about how he got away with it." Pheww… that was close, but, only a minor save, I just don't know how to explain it…but, maybe if I told her what was going on, she could tell me what it all meant. Wait.. I can't do that, she'll laugh at me, Flack thought.

" I can't even get a clear fingerprint, every fingerprint here is smudged. I think this guy lives in gloves. I'll tell you guys why, it's because I bet that if it's not smudged, it belongs to a homeless person, or otherwise not in the database. This guy is smart, he's meticulous. He knows what he's doing, and he's pretty damn good at it", Danny explained, sending another jump through Flack.

Later on, as they finished processing, Nikki noticed Flack watching her again. It wasn't creepy, just kind of strange. It was in the way he looked at her. He seemed to always be looking at her, at least since this morning. She would just keep smiling at him, to knock him out of his trance. He is attractive, and funny, and witty. I can't do this, not now. He wouldn't like me, I'm not his type. I really don't know that, but I bet he goes for the really skinny, dumb, blonde haired, blue eyed girls, Nikki thought. Somehow, thinking that made her angry. " I need a life", Nikki whispered to herself, as she rolled her eyes and turned back to the truck that held all of the evidence of the crime scene her and Danny just processed.

A few minutes later, in the truck as Danny was driving him and Nikki back to the lab, he decided to break the silence.

" So, I'm sure a lot of people have asked this, but, are you alright?", Danny asked.

" Yeah, Danny, I'm fine. It's just this case, you know? It's all so wrong", Nikki lied.

Danny knew her better than that. He wouldn't ask her, he knew better, but there was something wrong. The case bothered him, probably not as much as her though. She had been working on it for six months, and hadn't been able to solve it. He was beginning to wonder if anybody would be able to catch this guy.

Later as Sid was examining the body, he found a fingerprint. He called Nikki and Danny down to the morgue once he finished the autopsy.

" Well, I found some trace under the fingernails. I sent it up to trace for examination. Also took her fingerprints, sent them to the lab to be run through CODIS", Sid explained.

" That's all you got Sid? What about COD?", Danny asked.

" Well, the initial COD was exsanguinations. Although the torture would have killed her if he had kept it up. The beatings are not from fists though. He uses a specific type of torture, something I've never seen before in all the years of being an M.E. Oh, by the way, I had lifted a fingerprint from her body, it's not hers", Sid continued, " Hope it helps."

" Great, so, there's torture that no one's ever seen before with god knows what tools, and a fingerprint that's not hers, that could either belong to someone in CODIS, or not", Danny rambled, " Real help, thanks Sid." Danny and Nikki turned and headed back for the lab.

As they were heading back to the lab, Nikki broke the silence, " Ok, well, it's some help. Maybe he finally screwed up, or maybe he wanted us to find it."

" Why would he do that, Nikki?! There isn't an upside to letting yourself be found after killing over 30 people!", Danny yelled.

" I don't know, Danny. But, it's the closest thing we've come to a break in the case over the six months period that he's killed", Nikki replied, as she felt the hot sting of tears and turned to run the other way.

Don met up with Danny in the lab, " Ok, so, he hasn't killed anywhere else besides Chicago and here. Where's Nikki? I thought you guys went down to talk to Sid about his findings in the autopsy?", Don asked.

" I'm pretty sure she's mad at me, now", Danny answered.

" What did you do?", Don interrogated.

" What's with the questions, Don? Ok, she's a little upset, I yelled", Danny replied.

" Why would you do that?", Don questioned.

" Why do you care so much!?", Danny yelled. Don would've liked to answer the question, but he didn't quite know the answer to it, yet.

" Nevermind, what did Sid tell you guys?", Don asked, changing the subject.

Danny looked at him suspiciously before answering, " Well, Sid found some trace on the body. Which is where I'm heading now. Plus, he also found a fingerprint on the body. It's not hers, which means that it could be anybody's. The COD was exsanguinations, although there was some unknown torture that Sid has never seen before. So, he couldn't identify what type of instrument was used."

" Ok, great, but it's a start", Flack replied, as he headed off.

" That's exactly what Nikki said", Danny whispered to himself.

A few hours later, Nikki walked through the elevator doors. Danny spotted her and ran up to her.

" Hey, where were you?", Danny asked.

" Why would care, Danny!? Come back to yell at me some more!?", Nikki yelled as she took off in the direction of her locker. Real smart, Danny, real smart. Now my own sister hates me. Great just what I need right now, Danny thought.

Stella was walking towards Mac's office when she ran into Nikki on her way to her locker.

" Hey, Nikki. Where's the fire?", Stella asked jokingly.

" Not funny, Stell. Danny keeps yelling at me. Although, I don't blame him. He's so frustrated, and so am I. This guy has to make a mistake, something we can catch. It hasn't happened yet, so, Danny's yelling at me", Nikki answered, just shrugging it off.

" Well, he shouldn't be yelling at you. I know he's mad because of it, but taking it out on you or anybody else is wrong", Stella said.

" I know, I know. But, what can I do? He's mad, and tired, and so am I", Nikki said as she started walking past Stella.

" Where are you going?", Stella asked.

" To take a shower", Nikki answered, as she turned around and ran straight into Flack's open arms.

" Whoops, sorry", Nikki apologized, as she looked up into those handsome, baby blue eyes of his.

" It's ok. Where are you going in such a hurry?", Don asked, still holding her. Stella hadn't walked away yet, and she seen concern for Nikki in Flack's eyes. He hadn't let go of Nikki yet, and Nikki hadn't removed herself from his arms. Stella had a pretty good idea of what was going on, and, she knew that neither Don nor Nikki had any idea of the sparks that flew between them when they made eye contact.

Nikki slowly moved out of Don's arms and replied, " Oh, I'm going to take a shower again. Has Danny told you what Sid had found during the examination of our Jane Doe?"

" Oh yeah, he did", Don continued, " Are you alright? Danny said that he yelled at you, and then you took off."

" Oh he told you, did he? Yeah, I'm fine he's just frustrated and tired, that's all", Nikki explained.

" Yeah, but still he shouldn't….", Don got cut off.

" Yeah, yeah. I know. He shouldn't be taking it out on me, I just got the same speech from Stella. I'm fine, Don, really", Nikki reassured him as she walked past him to go take a shower.