Disclaimer: I don't own CSI:NY.
Series: None.
Spoilers: Cool Hunter.
Okay, I am so, so, so, so, so sorry this took so long; my only excuse is that I'm trying to find ways of mixing the formula so every chapter isn't 'Jess gets told about case, Jess remembers case, Jess solves case', which isn't easy. Plus, I know exactly where I want the story to go – future episodes are practically written in my head – so my mind doesn't seem to want to slow down and get the story there, if that makes sense. One of my reviewers suggested the basis for this chapter … unfortunately, I can't remember which one *ducks*, but that's probably because this fic, as I write this has 253 reviews, making it the most reviewed story I've written XD
Anyway, I've rambled on enough …
Chapter Nineteen – Cool Hunter
It was April, but the wind was still cold as the CSIs huddled on the rooftop of an apartment building, peering up at Mac at the top of a water tower.
"Did you know this building's supposed to be cursed?" Lindsay asked.
Jess glanced at her. "No. I can honestly say that I didn't. How do you know that?"
"I took a tour after I first moved here." Lindsay explained.
Jess chuckled. "Only you, Linds, would move to NYC and take a tour like that."
Lindsay laughed too. "Yeah, you're probably right."
"Angell?" Mac called.
"Yeah?" Jess jogged over to him, carefully avoiding treading in the flower-bed at the base of the tower.
"Take a look." Mac suggested, climbing down.
Jess scaled the ladder and looked in to where Stacie Avida floated in blood-stained water.
"Anything?" Mac asked.
"I don't …" Jess paused climbing down again. "Wait a second. Lindsay? What did you say about the building?"
"It's supposedly cursed." Lindsay repeated, joining them. "There's been a load of suspicious deaths. I took the graveyard tour." She knelt beside the flowerbeds. "Weird. These footprints aren't very deep."
"She killed herself." Jess concluded.
Mac and Lindsay looked at each other, then up at the water tower. "How did you get there?"
"Lindsay told me about this one." Jess explained. "One of the deaths was her daughter; she choked to death on this roof-top. A doctor who lived in the building performed first-aid, but he's using morphine and managed to crack her ribs. She faked her own murder; all the evidence will point back to him."
"So how did we realise it was a suicide?" Mac asked.
"Like Lindsay said; the footprints aren't deep enough if he'd carried an unconscious woman through the soil." Jess pointed out. "But we're still gonna need to investigate."
"Obviously." Mac agreed dryly.
Jess's phone went off and she answered. "Angell."
"Hey, Jess. You know a guy called Ben Hatfield?" Don asked, with no preamble.
"Which time?" Jess asked.
"This time." Don answered. "Well, if you can remember him from the first time, that'd be great, but …"
Jess frowned. "No. And I don't think so. Why?"
Don sighed. "You might wanna come into the crime lab."
The dialling tone began and Jess looked at her phone. "Flack wants me at the lab, guys. You good?"
"We're fine." Mac assured her. "Everything alright?"
"I don't know." Jess admitted.
Jess wasn't sure what she was expecting when she reached the crime lab, but the photos on the light table certainly hadn't made the list. "What are these?"
"You." Don answered.
Jess rolled her eyes. "I can see that, Detective. I mean where did you get them."
"They were on our victim's phone." Stella told her, handing her a picture of Hatfield.
Jess shook her head. "Never seen him before. Don …" Her voice shook slightly and she cursed it.
Don wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You alright?"
"Some guy's been stalking me, Don; of course I'm not alright!" Jess closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "What did he do?"
"Field Consultant for NHT." Danny explained.
"Next Hot Thing." Jess remembered. "Looked for the latest trends on the street." She frowned, looking at the photos again. It wasn't just her; there was another girl in them as well. "Is it just me or are they focused more on what I'm wearing than my face?"
"That's why." Stella realised. "He wasn't stalking you; he was working."
Jess frowned. "Yeah, but I'm not particularly fashionable."
"But you dress differently to most women." Stella pointed out. "Probably because you dress the way most women will in three years time."
"So, what, some guy takes these pictures and his company makes millions of dollars off my back?" Jess asked. "Doesn't seem fair to me."
Danny picked up the photo of the other girl. "Maybe his other 'model' felt the same way."
Stopping back at her apartment to grab some lunch, Jess stopped outside the front door of her building, a familiar sensation creeping up her spine.
She was being watched.
Spinning around, she spotted a black SUV across the street. A cell-phone whipped out of sight and she crossed over warily. "Can I help you?"
The driver – a young man in his early twenties – smiled at her. "Just working up the nerve to ask a beautiful woman if I can buy her a cup of coffee."
"I've got a boyfriend." Jess stated bluntly, turning away again. This time, she heard the click of a camera and turned again. "I can hear, you know."
"Look, it's not what you think." He insisted, getting out of the car. "I'm a field consultant for …"
"You're a cool-hunter." Jess concluded, rolling her eyes. "I've heard of them. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't take photographs of me."
When she turned away and heard the click of a camera phone once again, she stopped and turned to face him for the third time. "I thought I asked you not to take photographs of me?"
"What are you gonna do?" He asked. "Sue me?"
"No." Jess grabbed his wrist, spun him round and cuffed him. "But you are under arrest for harassing an officer." She flashed her badge. "NYPD, smart-ass."
"Aww, c'mon!" He protested, as she walked him back over to the car.
"And now," Jess said, putting a hand on his head to guide him into the back seat, "I have to skip lunch, which doesn't make me very happy." She got into the driver's seat and scrolled through the photos on his phone until she reached another familiar face. "Well, well, Jenny Rodriguez."
"Who?"
"What's your name, kid?" Jess asked.
"Elliot Stanton." He answered.
"Well, Elliot, Jenny is your other lovely unwitting model." Jess told him. "And that's the second time I've seen her photograph today; you know a guy named Ben Hatfield?"
"Never heard of him."
In the rear-view mirror, Lindsay could see that Elliot was nervous. "That's a nasty bruise on your face."
"Fell over." Elliot muttered.
"Yeah, so did Ben Hatfield." Jess started the car. "You know, he worked as a 'field consultant' as well, for 'Next Hot Thing'. Unfortunately, when he 'fell' he was strangled by a park swing."
"Hey, I had nothin' to do with that!" Elliot protested.
"First rule of policing, Elliot," Jess told him cheerfully, "there's no such thing as a coincidence."
"It was Elliot's boss." Don told her in greeting.
"Dammit." Jess sighed. "I was kinda hopin' it was him."
"Well, I think you effectively scared him off." Don grinned, kissing her. "Thankfully."
Jess raised an eyebrow. "You can not be jealous of a kid like that."
"Not jealous." Don insisted, sitting on her couch and tugging on her hand so she dropped into his lap. "Just rubs me up the wrong way; another guy having all those photos of you on your phone."
"So how many photos do you have on your phone then?" Jess teased.
Don flushed. "Seems a bit stalker-ish, Jess …"
"I've got pictures of you." Jess admitted. "How many?"
"About ten." Don grinned sheepishly.
"Any creepy ones?" Jess asked jokingly.
"No." Don hesitated. "Well, I wouldn't call it creepy."
"Don …" Jess held her hand out. "Lemme see it."
Don reluctantly handed her his phone and she scrolled through the photographs. Sure enough, there were several of her, most of which she could remember him taking, although there were one or two candid shots that didn't bother her (she had similar ones anyway).
But in the last picture, she was fast asleep, in his bed, wearing one of his button-down shirts.
"Creepy?" He asked quietly.
"No." Jess whispered, and was surprised to realise that she wasn't lying. "Why?"
"Because sometimes, my life sucks." Don told her. "But every morning, when I wake up and see you lying next to me, I realise that I'm the luckiest guy in the world."
"I think I'm the lucky one." Jess disagreed.
"And that's why I'm the lucky one." Don snagged his phone out of her hand. "Thanks for proving me right."
"We could go backwards and forwards with this." Jess commented. "Let's stop there."
"Good idea." Don agreed. "So you don't mind?"
"Anyone else and I probably would." Jess admitted. "But apparently, it's sweet when it's you."
Don chuckled, a hand on her face, coaxing her in for a kiss, which she willingly accepted. She sighed against his lips and he pulled back slightly. "You okay?"
Jess smiled brightly. "Trying to remember the last time I was this happy."
"And?" Don prompted curiously.
Jess rested her forehead against his. "I can't."
AN: Review please!