Disclaimer: I don't own CSI: NY or Horatio Caine.
Series: None.
Spoilers: Manhattan Manhunt. Dialogue in bold came from the episode. Also, I don't really watch CSI: Miami, so I apologise if Horatio's out of character. He's not there for long anyway.
Chapter Eight – Manhattan Manhunt I
"Lindsay, you okay?" Jess asked quietly.
"Fine." Lindsay answered bluntly.
The two had originally been called to the Endicott residence, only for Mac to send Lindsay back to the lab and, sensing a deeper reason than the one he gave, Jess had gone with her.
"No, you're not." Jess disagreed. "I didn't tell Mac about what happened, if that's what's bothering you."
"No." Lindsay sighed. "Sorry, Jess; this has nothing to do with you. I promise. I know Mac probably knows about them, but … Dammit, this is why I wanted out of Bozeman in the first place! I'm sick and tired of people treating me like I'm about to fall apart because …"
"What do we got, Montana?" Danny asked, tapping on the door as he entered.
Jess winced. One of the things that hadn't changed was Danny's pet-name for his partner, but that was not good timing.
"Danny, stop calling me that!" Lindsay snapped. "It's Lindsay."
"A'right, a'right." Danny grinned at her. "I'm just joking."
"Well, it's not funny!" Lindsay told him. "Am I supposed to be the new girl and the butt of all your jokes?"
"You upset that Mac dismissed you?" Danny asked.
"I can handle it." Lindsay muttered.
"C'mon, it's not about that." Danny nudged her shoulder with him. "He was just lookin' out for you; you saw that place – it was a slaughterhouse in there."
Uh oh. Bad move, Messer. Jess began mentally measuring the distance to the door, wondering if she could get out of there without either of them noticing.
"You think I haven't seen blood like that before?" Lindsay asked.
"I dunno, tell you the truth." Danny shrugged. "Have you?"
Lindsay glanced at Jess, who nodded encouragingly. "Yes. And a lot worse than that. My … My best friends were murdered when I was 14. I was in the bathroom."
"Lindsay …" Lost for words, Danny squeezed her hand softly. "If there's anything …"
"It was a long time ago." Lindsay told him. "I don't want to be treated differently."
"A'right." Danny gave her a crooked smile. "I'm still callin' you Montana though."
"Pick your battles." Jess advised. "He never stopped the first time either."
Lindsay frowned, but they could both see a traitorous smile lurking around her mouth. "Fine. But if anyone else starts calling me that, I'm blaming you."
"Fair enough." Danny chuckled. "What do you got?"
"Mac, you know I respect your judgement as a friend and a colleague." Horatio stated. "But how is Detective Angell, who wasn't even in New York when Henry Darius first killed, going to help us?"
"You'll see," was all Mac responded with.
They didn't have to wait much longer for the door to the conference room to open and Jess stopped, looking over her shoulder into the corridor. "I'll tell you if I think of something else Flack. Mac, before you say anything, Henry Darius and Alexa Endicott were …" She trailed off. "Oh. Sorry, I didn't know you had company."
"Hang on, Jess." Mac gestured for her to come in and shut the door. "Horatio, this is Detective Jessica Angell; Angell, this is Lieutenant Horatio Caine, from Miami."
"Pleasure." Jess shook his hand. "Does he know …?"
"Not yet." Mac answered. "Jessica … how can I put this? She's a time-traveller."
Horatio just looked at him. "I see."
"I know, it sounds crazy." Jess sighed. "And I really don't know how much help I can be, seeing as I wasn't around for this part, but Detective Flack did tell me some things that I'm hoping can help."
"Go on." Mac prompted.
"Henry Darius and Alexa Endicott were brother and sister through their father." Jess told them calmly. "Her younger sister – is it Sarah? She took the money from the safe, split it with … I don't know her name … she worked for a doctor … Oh, and Henry Darius didn't kill the woman he claimed to; he just wanted to get to Miami." She knew immediately that the newcomer didn't completely believe her, but Mac immediately pulled his phone out and called the DNA lab.
"Jane, can you run Alexa Endicott's DNA against CODIS?" Mac held up a hand to stop either of them interrupting. "Henry Darius. Thanks." He hung up. "She's right."
"How …?" Horatio began.
Jess shook her head. "I don't know. One minute it was 2009, the next it was 2005."
"Jess!" Don called from the hallway. "Need you!"
Jess shrugged with a sheepish grin. "God knows what he'd do without me. If there's nothing else …?"
"Go on." Mac told her. "You remember anything …"
"You'll be the first to know." Jess promised, already halfway out the door. "What's up, Don?"
"We got a lead." Don told her. "Dr. Miles Feldstein; prescribed medication for Alexa Endicott and declared Darius fit for trial. Ring any bells?"
"Could be the doctor you told me about." Jess commented. "But …" She slowed her steps, suddenly remembering something. When Don had told her about Henry Darius, Suspect X had just vanished from their radar and it had been a part-anger-, part-alcohol-induced rant about serial killers in general.
Jess had really just nodded along, but his occasional mentions of Darius had been sporadic and random and interspersed with mentions of Alexa's younger sister, who had, in a way, been indirectly responsible for her sister's death.
Looking at it now, Jess felt that he had been a little unfair; she wouldn't have been surprised if Darius had shot Alexa anyway.
But what had suddenly stuck out in her memory was his description of how close they came to catching Henry Darius several days earlier.
And it was this description that stuck in her head as they drove to the doctors' office, the details of the memory evading her, like a half-remembered line of a song that she just couldn't put a title too. His secretary, Stacey Meyers – a woman Jess took an immediate dislike to – protested against their entry, but Mac and Aiden ignored her, walking in regardless.
Jess caught Don's eye and nodded; the woman was definitely who Sarah split the money with. But there was something else getting to her and she could almost hear his voice as she caught hold of the memory that was taunting her.
"Son of a bitch threatened a window washer into giving up his overalls and going down; I came this close to shooting him, Angell. We chased him down to the ground and Darius got away from the roof."
Realisation hit her with a sickening thud, but, before she could warn them, Mac shouted and he and Don took off. Jess didn't hesitate, going in the opposite direction and taking the stairs up to the roof, gun in her hand.
She emerged into sunlight, to find Darius halfway to the fire escape on the opposite side of the building. "NYPD freeze!"
To her surprise, Darius did, halting in mid-step.
"Turn around; keep your hands where I can see 'em." Jess called, approaching him slowly. She knew she was taking a big risk, but she'd heard Aiden call after her and hoped that the CSI had caught on and followed.
Even if she hadn't, there was no way Jess could let this man walk away.
As she drew nearer, however, she realised there was something very, very wrong.
Henry Darius was 5'9.
This man was about 5'6.
And, if the fear in his eyes was any indication, totally innocent.
A soft footfall behind her caught her attention and she spun around, just in time to dodge the knife slashing towards her, obviously with the intention of slitting her throat.
His next strike was luckier and her piece flew from her hand, skittering across the rooftop.
Now she was unarmed and all she could do was grab his wrist as he thrust the knife towards her again, grappling to keep the blade from penetrating her chest.
Apparently, she was wrong about her back-up and she couldn't help laughing inwardly at the irony.
Two serial killers. I'm used as freakin' bait to catch two different serial killers and it's one completely unrelated that's gonna finish me off.
She could hear the man she'd misidentified as Henry Darius yelling for help and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes – isn't there anything more useful he could be doing? – focusing her energy on keeping herself alive as the two of them stumbled across the tarmac.
It was at that point that Darius surprised her, suddenly changing the direction of his knife; her wrist cracked, causing a cry of pain as the bone fractured and the blade sank into her side.
Then, in the next second, the rooftop beneath her seemed to have disappeared and another scream left her, echoing in the wind, because that last shove had thrown her off the edge of the building and now all she could do was fall.
AN: I admit, that wasn't the direction I was going to aim for, but a plot bunny turned up halfway through. Now I could have carried on, but I do have a slightly sadistic side that likes to come out to play every now and then. Especially since I get to spend 10 hours tomorrow looking after four-year-olds. I got nothing against the kids, but they don't seem to get that four children on one lap means a severe case of pins and needles. I'm hoping to come home to an Inbox full of reviews, so help me out!