Thoren - I'm sorry I made you wait - I'm just glad the wait didn't put you off! I'm trying to get back into a pattern now

miss wizzard of oz - I'm glad to hear that. I do that too sometimes - I end up missing key bits and then think, huh?

sparkyCSI - And that's the best way! I'm still laughing over Carrie's Little Sister. I'm almost tempted to dare you to post it for real!!

meadow567 - It is. It was mainly to show that death doesn't take a holiday and the dead still need help. Also, I was feeling mean and wanted to confuse Taylor for a bit

demolished-soul - Aw, thank you for that! It's such a nice thing to hear! Well, I've worked out the plot now - I see an end. Worryingly, it's a while off. But there is an end!

RK9 - What kind of dog do you have? I will have to be nice and give her a holiday eventually, won't I? Maybe a honeymoon? (:P)

KiPpiEi - Is Holland that far behind? Well, I truely hope it doesn't spoil too much - I'm trying to be a season behind, although it is tempting to move in to season 4 soon. Where are you up to?

Still semi-spoilers for Sleight Out Of Hand. And thanks to sparkyCSI for betaing, as well as to Aphina for helping me with the ins and outs of this chapter!

What The Eyes Can't See

Chapter 140: The headline reads "the man hangs", but the jury doesn't

Taylor took a sip of water, watching Lindsay shred her napkin into numerous pieces. They had broken for lunch and Taylor had spent the time telling Lindsay what had been said (even though she knew she probably wasn't supposed to) but it didn't even seem like the petit brunette had been listening.

Finally Lindsay looked up at her. 'Thank you for coming.'

Taylor gave her a bright smile. 'You know it's not a problem.'

'No,' Lindsay sighed. 'It is. So thank you.'

Taylor shrugged. 'You're welcome.'

'Do you ride?' she asked suddenly.

'Um,' Taylor put the fork she had been playing with down. 'I can manage a walk if it's all tacked up for me.'

'You want to go for a ride?'

'What about the case?'

'After,' Lindsay sighed, resuming the shredding. 'I need to get out of here.'

'Wouldn't you rather go by yourself?' Taylor asked her curiously.

'I need to be with someone who can distract me from myself.'

Taylor pursed her lips and nodded. 'But trotting is out of the question.'

Lindsay gave her the first real smile Taylor had seen on her all day. 'We should be getting back.'

Taylor nodded and followed Lindsay back to the courthouse. Whilst Lindsay went to the bathroom, Taylor pulled out her phone, contemplating whether or not to call Flack.

'I might have known I'd have run into you here.'

Taylor looked up, slipping her phone back into her pocket, the call forgotten about as she found the disapproving glare of the officer from before bearing down on her. Taylor gave him a wry smile in return. 'Yeah. I was waiting for you to turn up so I could break into your files and get the inside scoop.'

The officer's glare intensified to the point his eyebrows became one.

Taylor glared back, her hands now on her hips. 'Joke. I'm here for moral support for my friend.'

'And would she be dead or alive?'

Resisting the urge to launch something large and heavy at his fat head, Taylor instead clenched her hands into fists, but kept them to her side. 'That's hilarious,' she informed him dryly. 'The jokes better every time I have to tell someone. I take it there hasn't been a call out to a dead body then?'

The officer shook his head. 'Probably because there isn't one.'

'Excuse me,' Taylor forced her voice to remain level as she turned to reenter the courtroom. She took a seat, unsurprised to find the ghost awaiting her. 'You wanna give me a clue as to where I can find you?' she hissed at her.

The ghost coughed, the fabric dislodged itself and fell to the floor in a transparent heap. Taylor blinked, amazed, and bent over to pick the thing up. Her fingers, of course, went straight through the fabric. With a frustrated sigh, she stared at the red fabric, her eyes tracing the white outline of a rabbit in a hat.

'What does that mean?' she asked, bringing herself upright to find that the fabric gag was back in the ghost's mouth. 'Never mind,' she muttered, doodling the image onto her notepad, aware that the officer had stepped into the room and was seated on the other side of the isle, glaring at her.

However, she didn't have much time to think about either further as the court reconvened and the prosecution continued with its witnesses.

-------------------------------------------------

'It's a store receipt for a Walther P22 handgun,' the lead criminalist from the case was saying. 'Dated September 1996, just weeks before the murders. We recovered the gun and matched the rounds recovered from the bodies to the gun.'

The Assistant District Attorney nodded, turning to the jury. 'If you look at page fourteen of your booklets, evidence MA142007A, you will see the scientific evidence. Detective Phillips, if you would care to explain.'

Taylor tuned out whilst the CSI explained about ballistic analysis and matching wear patterns – lord knows she had heard about that one enough times. Not that she could ever have the patience to stare under a microscope and match minute lines with each other.

In fact, it wasn't until he was cross-examined that she tuned back in.

'But Calendale has already admitted to the fact he hunts,' said the defense attorney.

'But for a person to hunt with this type of weapon is highly unlikely.'

Taylor didn't think the attorney could leap on a bit of information like that – the CSI might have well as told him the magic words to turn pennies into dollars.

'Unlikely, but not impossible?'

The CSI nodded, somewhat reluctantly. 'Yes, but.'

'Thank you, Detective Phillips.'

Taylor narrowed her eyes, her stare boring into the back of the attorney's head. 'Seriously?' she muttered, earning a reproachful glare from the judge. She gave him a small smile and sank into her chair. Getting thrown out of a courtroom was probably not something she wanted.

Finally, Lindsay was called into court. She swore on the bible and took a seat. Taylor gave her a reassuring nod and placed her pen down on her pad. Whilst Lindsay had shared a lot of what happened, she was sure there was more to hear.

'Well, Miss Monroe, would you care to explain what happened?'

Lindsay nodded and took a breath. 'It was late afternoon, but it was dark out already. I was in the lab trying to get some work finished so I could get home for the weekend. My two sisters, my husband and two of our friends were in there with me. They were trying to get me to hurry up – Ryan, my husband, had a surprise arranged for me back home. I didn't know that – I thought we had to get home to check on my mom. She'd been ill.' Lindsay stopped and took a deep breath.

'Are you alright, Miss Monroe?' the attorney asked.

Lindsay nodded. 'I wasn't far from finishing the experiment, but the battery I was using died. I told the others to wait there, not to touch anything, and I left them. The last thing I told them was that if they touched anything I was going to kill them.' Lindsay let out a sound which was somewhere between a dry laugh and a strangled sob. Judging from the tears welling up in her eyes, Taylor assumed it was probably the latter.

'What happened next?' the ADA asked her gently.

Lindsay sniffed. 'I left them and went to the store cupboard across the way. The store cupboard locks and as there's no handle on the inside, you have to wedge it open. I was half up the shelves, trying to reach a battery on the top shelf. I heard Phil suddenly ask "who are you?" and then I heard Emma scream.'

'Miss Monroe, could you tell the jury what you saw?'

Lindsay nodded. 'I turned around. There was a man in the doorway. He had something in his hand – a gun. Emma's scream was cut off by a bang. Before she hit… everyone was screaming. I just froze. I should have run, tried to get some help, but I just stood there clutching the battery….'

Taylor couldn't understand anything else that Lindsay was saying because she was crying to hard.

'You honor, can we take a break?' the ADA asked.

The judge glanced at his watched and nodded. 'We'll finish here for today and reconvene at ten tomorrow.'

-------------------------------

Back in New York, Danny was pacing back and forth. He hadn't slept in what was literally days, and the Luke Blade copycat killings were frustrating him beyond belief. Plus he was hallucinating. He was certain he had seen Lindsay walk past. Which was impossible, considering she was in another state.

'You look like crap.'

Danny looked up and glared at his friend over the top of his computer monitor. 'Don't hold back, will you?'

Flack grinned. 'You could call her, you know? Get her to take your mind off things.'

'Lindsay?'

Flack stared at him, a smirk across his face.

'What?' Danny demanded.

'I was referring to Nixon. I bet she could keep you occupied. But if this whole thing with Lindsay is bothering you, maybe you should go see her. Give her some support.'

Danny sat bolt upright. 'Support? What do you know that I don't? Stella said she was having a hard time of it.'

Flack bit his lip. 'Look, I promised I wouldn't say anything, Danny. But the case she's giving evidence in, well, let's just say it's hitting a little closer to home than she's gonna admit.'

Danny sighed. 'I can't. I am actually meeting Nixon.'

Flack glanced at the clock. 'Well, if you change your mind, there's a flight in a couple of hours.'

------------------------------

'What's the matter, Blue Eyes?' Nixon asked in her ever chirpy tone.

Danny snapped back to reality – the burger joint they had met in. 'Nothing.'

Nixon cocked her head. 'It's something.'

Danny pulled his glasses off a rubbed a hand over his eyes. 'It's Lindsay. I'm worried about her.'

Nixon brought her hands up, propping her head on them. 'You care about her.'

Danny met her eyes, nodding. 'Yeah.'

Nixon smiled. 'Can I say something?'

Danny stared at her, almost fearing the verbal lashing he was sure was going to come. It didn't.

'Go talk with her.'

'What?' Danny blinked, unsure as to whether he heard her correctly or not.

'Your mind is in one place right now, and that's with her,' Nixon informed him almost clairvoyantly, completely without malice in her voice. 'You should talk to her. Or better yet, go see her.'

Danny stared, slightly open mouthed.

'Look, don't get me wrong, I like you, Blue Eyes. But if your heart's not in it, at least we can say we had some fun. And if you work out you two aren't meant to be, I'm not going to hold it against you.'

Danny stared at the woman in front of him, a new sense of appreciation setting in. 'You are amazing. You know that?'

Nixon nodded. 'Just tell me straight up. That's all I ask.'

Danny nodded. It was the least he could do.

------------------------------

'This is Apple,' Lindsay murmured, stroking the tall horse.

Taylor stared at it. It was enormous.

'Have you got anything in a smaller model?' she asked.

Lindsay smiled. 'Don't worry, I'll put you on Marmite.'

The two had returned to the ranch a short while earlier and had a quick bite to eat. Lindsay seemed a little better, but when she'd asked if Taylor was ready for the ride, Taylor had been reluctant to say yes. Which was how she was standing in front of Lindsay's horse which was looking at her as if to say, you aren't going to let her anywhere near a horse, are you?

'You know I don't know how to put a saddle on, don't you?'

Lindsay nodded. 'Don't worry. I'm an expert. We can be out of here before you know it.'

Taylor gave her a forced smile, which Lindsay didn't seem to see and followed her to Marmite. This one was a little better – it was smaller and looked… bored.

It took Lindsay no time at all to tack the two horses up and they were out on a trail before Taylor could pluck up the courage to say otherwise.

'I miss riding,' Lindsay sighed, shutting her eyes to the breeze which was blowing through her hair.

'Have you considered moving your horse to New York?' Taylor asked. Strangely, she was beginning to enjoy the ride. Marmite just followed Apple obediently.

'I have, but I couldn't. I work too much, and I couldn't have him boarded – I'd rather have Ben look after him. He's brilliant with horses.'

Lindsay swiveled in the saddle. 'How's the house hunting going?'

Taylor shrugged. 'It's not. Well, on the rare day when neither of us is working, the apartments we see just aren't right.'

'I suppose it's a good thing you're not in any rush.'

'Are you kidding me? I'm dying to find a place.'

'I could give you the number of the guy who found me my place. I went from sleeping on a friend's couch to having my own bed in less than two weeks,' Lindsay offered.

'Thanks,' Taylor smiled. She glanced over at her friend. 'You're dying to go faster, aren't you?'

Lindsay grinned. 'Is it that obvious?'

'Go on,' Taylor smiled.

'I couldn't leave you,' Lindsay told her, shaking her head.

'Don't be silly,' Taylor shrugged. 'I've got this walking lark covered. I'll just keep following the trail. When you've had enough and turn around we can head back.'

'Thank you,' said Lindsay, her smile widening. And then she was off.

'Well, it's just you and me, Marmite,' Taylor sighed. Which was when two things happened simultaneously. Firstly, the gagged ghost appeared. Secondly, Marmite reared – Taylor only just managed to hang on – and the bolted off to the left.

Somewhere along the way, Taylor had lost the reins and was holding onto the horse's mane for dear life, screaming all the way, until eventually, she stopped.

'Whoa!' a man's voice rang out. 'Are you alright?'

Taylor peaked her eyes open to find the officer from earlier, now dressed in jeans and a checked shirt, holding onto the bridle, a collie at his feet. Taylor shook her head and slithered off the horse, shaking violently.

'You?' the officer asked in surprise.

'Hi,' Taylor muttered, trying to get her heart and breathing to something resembling a normal rhythm.

'What happened?'

'Ghost,' Taylor spat, as if using a dirty word.

'A ghost?' he asked, rolling his eyes.

'Yeah, a ghost. Spooked the damn horse.' Taylor retaliated with her eyebrows raised and a fierce edge to her voice as she gave him an icy glare. Which was when the ghost appeared again.

'What the hell?' the guy yelled as he tried to hold onto the horse.

'Go away!' Taylor shouted at the ghost. 'Come harass me later!' Her shouts were joined by the dog barking his agreement.

'Larry, shut up!' the off-duty officer hissed – the barking was not helping the horse. And then the horse had broken free and was gone.

'I get the picture!' Taylor shouted at the ghost. 'I will help you! Just not now!'

The ghost disappeared.

'Larry! Shut up!' The collie finally stopped barking. 'What the hell was that?'

'Lindsay's gonna kill me,' Taylor was muttering, staring at the black dot which was just disappearing out of sight. 'I lost a horse.'

'He won't get very far,' the guy sighed.

'Have you ever lost a horse before?' Taylor shot at him.

'Yeah, I have, actually.'

Of course he had. Taylor groaned. 'Just who are you?'

'Brett Willets,' he told her, holding out a hand.

'Taylor Turner,' Taylor responded. 'And where the hell am I?'

'Where are you trying to get to?'

Taylor scratched at her head. 'You know, I don't actually know. The Monroe Ranch – but I-'

'Lindsay Monroe?'

Taylor nodded slowly.

'Does she know you've been snooping around the precinct?'

Taylor was ready to hit him. 'I wasn't snooping!' she snapped. 'I get stalked by the dead.'

'Then why were you in the courtroom?' he shot back at her.

'She's my friend! She invited me.'

'So why were you taking notes?'

'For her benefit. You know what, screw this. I have a horse to find.' She turned on her heel and stormed off in the direction Marmite had run.

'Wait!' Brett called after her. 'Hey,' he said, appearing beside her. 'Let me give you a ride back to the ranch. Ben knows his horses inside out. He'll know where to find Marmite.'

Taylor eyed him suspiciously but nodded. She followed him a while down the road until they arrived at what she assumed to be his house, and got into the police SUV which was parked up outside. They pulled up outside Lindsay's home a short while later, to which Ben, Katy and Lindsay came dashing out.

'Taylor!' Lindsay cried. 'What happened?'

'I lost Marmite,' Taylor admitted.

'He's there,' Ben told her, pointing at said horse who was munching calmly at some hay as though nothing had happened.

Taylor glared at it.

'What happened?' Lindsay repeated.

'He spooked,' Taylor growled, still sending death glares at the horse. 'Brett saved me.'

Lindsay turned, noticing Brett for the first time. 'Brett.'

'Lindsay.'

Taylor looked between the two of them. There was definitely an atmosphere between them.

'Is the horse alright?' Brett asked Ben.

Ben nodded. 'Just needs rubbing down.'

'You need a hand?' Katy asked.

Ben nodded. 'Sure.'

The two of them headed over to the horse and led him away.

'I should go,' said Brett. 'I'm glad you're okay,' he told Taylor before he too left.

'And he is?'

'Cop,' Lindsay answered shortly.

'I guessed that when I saw him in his uniform earlier,' Taylor informed her. 'What's the history between you?'

'He's Ryan's brother,' Lindsay sighed. 'I think I'm going to get a bath and an early night,' she muttered. 'I'm glad you're alright.'

-------------------------------

True to her word, Lindsay had gone to bed early, leaving Taylor alone again. Ben had also gone to bed, but Katy was keeping her company as the pair of them sat out on the porch. Katy was telling her about her horses, but Taylor was only half listening.

'Who's calling at this time?' Katy asked.

Taylor looked up, finding the lights to a car Katy had noticed. It took a while for it to make its way down the lane, but it finally reached the house. And a familiar figure got out.

'Danny?' Taylor burst out in disbelief.

'Hey Drew!' he responded cheerfully. 'At least I found the right place.'

'Who's that?' Katy asked. 'Your boyfriend?'

'Hello to you, Montana,' Danny muttered, sounding a little uncomfortable.

The proverbial light switched on in Taylor's brain. 'Danny, this is Lindsay's twin, Katy.'

Danny's jaw hit the floor. 'Damn! There's two?'

'There's three of us,' Katy told him cheerfully.

Taylor froze. How the hell was she going to fix this mess? And why hadn't Lindsay told him she was a triplet?

Well, the rabbits seem to be doing fine - I'm hoping they'll open their eyes soon. They have fur though! Two are brown like their dad, and the rest are black like mom!