Chapter 4.

Note: Thanks to RW for technical details.

Mac stared at the vehicle that had killed Lindsay. The car's front end was a wreck of dented, scratched metal, the signs of a collision obvious. He stared at the dents and gouges and general other damage to the car's hood and windscreen. Damage caused by Lindsay's body. Because of the colour of the car, he couldn't see any bloodstains, but he knew they'd show up under a UV light. In his mind's eye, he saw Lindsay's last few moments as Sid had described them. Saw the impact, saw her body fly up on to the hood, hit the windscreen...

'Mac, boss, you okay?' Adam asked at his side.

'No, Adam, I'm not.' he admitted.

Adam nodded. He was staring at the car too.

'Do you keep seeing it in your head, too?' he asked.

Mac nodded.

'What do you need me to do, boss?'

'I need you to go over this vehicle with a fine tooth comb. I want every fibre, every piece of trace, anything at all that the bastard left behind.'

'On it, boss.' Adam said, and moved towards the car, focused on it now not as the instrument of Lindsay's death, but as the piece of vital evidence it was. He pushed thoughts of Lindsay away for now.

Mac walked round the car as Adam started processing it. Looking through the driver side window, something caught his eye, made him frown slightly.

'Don, Adam, over here,' he said.

They came over. Adam dusted the driver's side door handle for prints, and then Mac carefully opened it. In the footwell on the driver's side were two empty bottles of Miller beer, and in the ashtray in the centre divide was a half smoked joint.

'Adam,' Mac said, and he didn't have to say anything further - Adam immediately started taking photos of the evidence in situ, and then bagging it.

'You think our perp had a little fun before he killed Lindsay?' Flack asked, quiet anger in his tone.

'Maybe. But I don't know. So far, everything suggests we've got a cold, calculated hit, by someone who knew what they were doing and had planned it enough to steal the car and choose a place to go after Danny and Lindsay. Somehow, that doesn't mix with smoking pot and having a beer. That's too...it seems unnecessary.' Mac replied.

Flack shrugged.

'Maybe the creep got nervous at the last minute.'

'Maybe, but then why not just have a joint? Or just a beer? The two together...I don't know, it's something I'd associate more with someone out having fun with a stolen car, not using it as part of a calculated murder plot.'

'I guess you can ask the bastard when we find him. Or her, I guess, though I don't see a woman doing something like this. Still, you never know.'

Mac nodded.

'Did Jaime track down the owner?'

'Yeah, he's in the clear. He was at his boss' place that night, some kind of meeting about whatever he was doing in Cincinnati. The boss, the boss' wife, and a couple colleagues who were also there all confirm. Guy said he didn't notice the car was even missing until he went to get it the morning after Lindsay was killed. It was in one of those paid lots downtown.I guess our perp just picked one he liked best.'

Mac nodded.

'So, what are you going to do now?' Don asked.

'Head back to the lab and see how Jo and Sheldon are doing running down those suspects we've identified so far.'

He'd gone over this with the whole team before leaving the lab with Don and Adam to come to the garage.

'Jo's checking out Casey's family, and Hawkes is doing Katums, right?'

Mac nodded.

'I hope there's no link to the Caseys,' Don said, 'That crazy fucker Shane caused Danny enough problems. So who's left?'

'Elgers, our Neo-Nazi friend who Danny went after when he made racist comments to Sheldon, and that little scumbag Sonny Sassone.'

'I'll check Sassone out for you,' Don offered.

Mac nodded.

'Thanks, Don. I thought he was in prison, but he might be out, or he might have put out a hit on Danny. He killed Louie, maybe he wants Danny dead too, only it went wrong.'

'I'll turn up everything I can on the creep,' Don said. Then he added,

'Hey, Mac, what about that guy from the Sandoval case? Olly something?'

'Olly Barnes,' Mac supplied, 'I thought of him, too, but he was shot and killed in New Jersey in June last year. Drive-by. He was pretty heavily into drugs. The murder was never solved, but the detective on the case said they reckoned that Olly pissed off the wrong bad guy and paid the price. Guys like him tend to have a short life span.'

Don nodded.

'I'll go start running leads on Sassone and his associate douchebags,' Don said.

'And I'll get back to the lab and see what I can find out on the not-so-illustrious Mr Elgers,' Mac said.

xxxxxx

Mac hung up the phone and cursed under his breath. He walked over to the list of suspect profiles and drew a red cross across the image of Michael Elgers' sneering face. He'd just finished talking to someone from the Hate Crimes division of the New Jersey P.D. who had informed him that Elgers was doing hard time up at Rikers for burning down a synagogue.

Shane Casey's associates had also been discounted, because Jo had discovered that he had none - his brother and parents were dead, and Jo had turned up no trace of any close friend who might be seeking justice on Shane's behalf. Don was still working the Tanglewood and Sonny Sassone angle, and Hawkes was working on Katums, the man who'd killed Lindsay's friends when she was a teenager. He'd been executed, but maybe someone out there believed he was innocent, and blamed Lindsay for his incarceration and execution.

Mac was about to call Adam to see how he was doing on the car, when there was a knock on his door. He looked up to see Jo. He gestured her inside.

'Anything on your Neo-Nazi?'

'Yeah, he's doing time in Rikers for arson.'

'So that's another one off the list. Who the hell could have done this, Mac?'

Mac shook his head wearily.

'Let's hope Adam finds something in the car.'

'Danny's on his way up with Lucy,' Jo said.

Mac grimaced.

'He called earlier to say he was coming in. He wants to give his statement. I just wish there was something we could give him, some kind of hope that we're closing in on the bastard who just ripped his whole world apart.'

Jo nodded.

'Want me to take care of Lucy while you take Danny's statement?'

'Actually, I'd rather have you do Danny's interview with me.'

'Of course, Mac. I'll get one of the techs to look after Lucy. Jenny in Ballistics loves her, I'm sure she'd be delighted to do it.'

'Thanks, Jo,' Mac said, 'Let's go get Danny. He'll be here any second.'

As they headed out of Mac's office towards the elevators, Jo asked,

'Do you think Danny's ready for this?'

'Probably not, but given that he wants to give it a shot, we should let him. He might remember something important.'

'I agree. Are you ready for this Mac?'

'No. You?'

'No. I hate this whole thing. I still can't believe she's gone. How did her father react?'

'As you'd expect. He's devastated. He's heading down here tonight.'

'That'll be good for Danny and Lucy.'

Mac nodded.

The elevator doors opened, and Danny stepped out. He looked exactly as he had that morning - pale, exhausted, red-eyed, shrunken in on himself. Lucy looked like she'd been crying too, and she had a daunted, confused look on her face. When Mac knelt to hug her, confused blue eyes met his, and she hugged him tight.

Jo took her off to find Jenny the tech from Ballistics, and Mac hugged Danny. He didn't ask how he was doing, but instead said,

'I hate to tell you this, but we don't have any solid leads yet. Sheldon is looking into Katums' family and friends, and Don's running down Sonny Sassone. We looked at Michael Elgers and anyone connected to Shane Casey, but both of those came up empty.'

Danny nodded numbly.

'Don said you found the car?'

'Yes, Adam's working on it now. It's our best lead, and as soon as we have something, I'll let you know.'

Danny nodded.

'Thanks, Mac. Knowing you're all going after whoever...whoever did this is about the only thing keeping me sane right now. That, and Lucy. Robert called me just now, said he's heading down. Thanks for taking care of that for me. I just couldn't face it.'

'No problem, Danny. Anything you need, just let me know.'

'I need to get my statement over and done with,' Danny said, 'It keeps...what happened...it keeps going round and round in my head.'

He clenched his fists at his sides and looked away.

Mac nodded.

'Let's go,' he said, 'I thought we'd do this in Jo's office.'

'Sure, I don't care where we do this. I just want it finished.' Danny said.

Mac nodded again, and Danny followed him to Jo's office where she was already waiting.

She hugged Danny, and then all three sat down. Jo had a recorder ready, and after stating their names and the case details, she focused on Danny.

'All right, Danny, are you sure you're okay with this?' she asked.

'No,' he said, grimly, 'but I'm going to do it anyway. For Lindsay.'

'Just take your time,' Mac said, 'Anything you tell us might help, and we can stop any time you want.'

'Just say the words, and we can take a break,' Jo added. 'Now, I want you to concentrate on your breathing. Slow, deep breaths...that's it. You're safe here, Danny, no one's going to push you. If you can't remember something, or it's too painful, it doesn't matter.'

Danny gave a quick nod, closing his eyes. Mac noticed how his fingers were digging into the arms of the chair he sat in, how his body was almost as rigid as the chair itself.

'Okay, Danny, take us through it. Why were you at the restaurant?' Jo asked.

'It was to make up for Valentine's Day. What with work and Lucy, we haven't...hadn't had much time together. Mac said he and Christine would look after Lucy, and I booked us into the restaurant. Lindsay'd been wanting to go there for months.'

'Okay. And do you remember anything strange, or out of place? A little off? Anything at all.'

'No...not in the restaurant.'

'What about in general? Have you noticed anything odd lately?'

Danny paused.

'Maybe...I dunno if it's just me making something out of nothing because of...what happened.'

'Tell us, Danny. Anything might help find who did this,' Mac encouraged.

'Um, okay. It's not a massive thing. No one threatened us or anything. It's just... this last month or so, I sometimes felt like...like we were being watched.'

'How do you mean?' Jo asked.

'Just...that feeling you get, you know? When you think someone's watching, but you look around and don't see anything? I never saw anyone. Don't remember seeing a car or anything or a familiar face...it was just a feeling. But maybe I'm imagining it?'

'Or maybe not. Okay, Danny, I'm going to ask you about the accident now. Remember, we can stop any time you want.' Jo said gently.

Danny nodded, the movement sharp and short. Mac could read the barely restrained emotions roiling between the quivering tension of his body. After going through a couple more relaxation techniques, Jo asked,

'Tell me what you remember, Danny. Just let it all come out. Don't worry if you can't remember things, just take us through it, okay?'

Danny took a breath.

'Okay,' he said, his voice shaking. His knuckles were white where he was clenching the arms of the chair.

'We...stepped outside the restaurant. Lindsay stepped off the sidewalk to hail a cab. The next thing, this car was...it came out of nowhere, it was so fast, I remember thinking maybe it was a chase, or a jacking...so fast and it was...I swear, it aimed straight for her and it...it hit her...and...and...oh God...'

'Do you want to stop?' Jo asked. Danny shook his head.

'No. I need to...I need to do this, now. Linds...she half turned...to the car, or back towards me...she didn't look scared, just more like 'what the hell is this idiot doing?'...and then it hit her and she...she...she...'

Unable to stand it any longer, Mac reached across and took one of Danny's clenched fists. Danny opened his eyes and his fist uncurled, he grabbed Mac's hand with a kind of anguished desperation and clung to it like it was the one thing tethering him to sanity, to the real world.

'It's okay, Danny, you're doing great.'

Danny's focus was entirely on Mac now, and he continued, his voice shaking and rough with emotion,

'She went up on the hood of the car and hit the windscreen and she...flew through the air...it seemed so fast and then she hit the road and...there was blood and there were other cars everywhere and people screaming and it was all nuts, Mac, everyone was moving, other cars were swerving, people jumping out, people coming out of the restaurant and stuff, but she was so, so still...'

'Did you see where the car went?'

'No. I just ran to her and I was screaming her name, but she...she wasn't breathing...and I...didn't know what to do, I just...forgot...everything...and then the paramedics were there...and I don't remember anything till we were in the ambulance, and it was going so fast but not fast enough, and the paramedics kept working her but they couldn't...then we got to the hospital and the doctor there said she was gone, and...I don't remember much after that, until you came.'

'Okay, Danny, that's really good. Now, can you remember any details? Did you see the driver of the car?'

'No...it was red, though, the car, I think. It was so fast, I didn't even get a plate number...'

Jo asked him a few more questions and then Danny suddenly stood up.

'I um...I gotta go, I need to...'

'Go, Danny. You did great.' Mac said.

Danny hurried out of the office, and Mac and Jo watched him head for the men's room.

'God, he's a mess,' Jo said.

Mac nodded.

'I know. He did really well, though.'

Jo nodded.

'So, what do you think about what he said about the feeling of being followed?'

'It would tie in with everything we have that suggests this was a personal and deliberate attack,' Mac said, 'I just wish we could work out who the hell did this.'

'I know. I'm going to head over to the precinct, and see how Don's doing checking out the Sassone link.' Jo said.

'Thanks, Jo. I'm going to stay here, wait for Adam to get back to me about the car, or Hawkes about anyone he's found connected to Daniel Katums.'

He walked Jo to the elevator, then headed back to his office, where he found Danny slumped on the couch.

'I told Lucy,' he said.

Mac sat beside him and waited.

'I told her that sometimes, people get hurt so badly that even the best doctors can't fix them, and that they die, which means they go to be with God, and that's what happened with Lindsay. Lucy knows about God and heaven and all that, but she didn't understand. She kept asking when would Mummy be coming back, and I had to tell her she can't. Then Lucy asks me why, and I didn't know what to tell her except that that's the rule, and I don't understand it myself. Then she asked me who hurt Mummy, and I had to tell her I don't know that either. I still don't think she fully understands, Mac.'

'I don't think any of us ever understand,' Mac said, 'You did a good job, Danny. All you can do is be honest with her, and if you don't know, tell her that.'

Danny nodded.

'Yeah. I hate it, though. She keeps crying. I think she understands that her Mommy is gone, but she just can't understand anything more. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing.'

Mac nodded.

'Can I ask you something, Mac?'

'Of course,'

'How the hell did you do this? When Claire died, how did you...how did you get through this without going insane? How are you still doing it, how come you're not screaming your head off all the time? Or sat locked in a dark room?'

'I just kept moving forward,' Mac said, 'As much as I hated that, as much as I wanted to just curl up and die, I just kept moving forward. It hurt like hell. It still does.'

'Even though you're with Christine now?'

'Yes. Because I love Christine, but a part of me knows that as much as I love her, Claire is still gone, and that makes me want to 'scream my head off' if I think too much about it.'

'So...you still miss her? Claire?'

'God, yes.'

'So...it never stops, or...gets easier? People keep telling me it gets easier.'

Mac shook his head and let out a short, harsh laugh.

'It doesn't get easier, Danny. Sorry to tell you that, but it doesn't. Once the world's broken you like this, you never heal fully again. It's like...' he paused, then said, 'You know how you have pain from physical wounds, and it never quite goes away? Even if the pain is gone sometimes, the scars are still there?'

'Yeah,' said Danny, 'I know about that.'

'Well, that's the closest thing I can think of to what this is like. It doesn't stop hurting, you just learn to live with the pain.'

Danny nodded.

'Y'know, Mac, I think you're the first person who's been honest with me since...since it happened. You're the only one who hasn't tried to sugar coat it. Well, except Don, because he's like us, but he hasn't said anything yet.'

'He's waiting for you to talk to him, if you want to,' Mac said.

'Yeah, I know. Like you have been. God, that makes a nice change. Everyone else wants to talk to me, or wants me to talk to someone else, but they don't want to hear the goddamn truth. Not really.'

Mac nodded.

'It scares them.'

Danny nodded too.

'I just keep thinking thank god I have Lucy. She...it's funny, Mac. She needs me now, obviously, I know that, but I need her too, you know? She's...all I have left of Lindsay.'

At that, the emotion that Mac had read so clearly in Danny's fiercely rigid posture belied by tremors he couldn't quite stop every now and then as they'd talked, suddenly rushed out in silent tsunami of tears, and the tremors turned into violent shaking. Mac wrapped his arms tight around Danny's shoulders, pulling the younger man's head to his shoulder, and simply letting him sob and scream out his grief.

In Mac's tight hug, Danny felt like he could finally let go. He didn't have to hold things together for Mac the way he did for Lucy, for her sake, or the way he did for everyone else for his own sake because he didn't want their shock or fear or pity. But Mac had been right where he was now. Mac had shown him no trace of pity, but only a kind of pained understanding, a knowing. Mac wouldn't judge him for losing it, the way Danny's own father certainly would have had he been here. For the first time since the worst moment of his life, he could finally let go.

xxxxxx

A couple of hours later, Mac called the team to the briefing room.

'How's Danny?' Don asked.

'Still barely holding up,' Mac said. 'He's given his statement, and then he went home for a while. He's picking Lindsay's dad up at the airport later.'

'Hopefully they'll be able to help one another through this,' Jo said.

'Let's hope so,' Mac said. 'Now, let's focus on the case. I hate to say this, but we can now say for certain that what happened to Lindsay was no accident, and that someone deliberately targeted her or Danny. We've focused our search for suspects accordingly. I took a look at Michael Elgers, but he's currently doing time in Rikers.'

'I checked out the Shane Casey link, and came up empty too. He has no surviving relatives or friends or associates.' Jo said.

'Well, that's good news,' Don said, darkly, 'Unfortunately, I don't have any of that myself. Sonny Sassone was shanked in a prison riot last year and died of his injuries. That makes all the members of Tanglewood connected to either Danny or Louie deceased. The gang is no longer really a significant player anyway, so I doubt that's our connection.'

'Same thing for the Daniel Katums link,' Hawkes said, 'His parents are both dead, and like Jo with Casey, I couldn't find anyone who might be holding a grudge against Lindsay on his behalf.'

'So, what do we do now?' Jo asked, frustration clear in her tone.

'We wait for Adam to finish processing the evidence from the car.'

Mac brought up a photo of the car, and still images of it speeding away from the place where it had hit Lindsay.

'The vehicle sustained significant damage during the attack,' Mac said, 'It was drivable enough for the perp to get away, but with that amount of damage, he'd have had to dump it eventually. Footage from cameras on the street show the car heading in this direction and turning left. It was found here,' Mac brought up a map of the city and pinpointed an area, 'About ten blocks from the initial crime scene. Once Adam's done with processing the evidence from the car itself, he and Don are heading out to collect footage from the area in between. Unfortunately, it's a large area, and our perp could have gotten from A to B by several different routes.'

'It's strange,' Jo said, 'Our perp was smart enough to plan this, maybe even to stalk Danny and Lindsay and learn their routine. I spoke to the reservations guy at the restaurant where they went for dinner. He remembers Danny making the booking. He said about fifteen minutes after he left, he had to go deal with something and left the desk unattended. He was heading back when he saw a man leaning over the desk looking at the reservations book. He called out to ask if he could help, and the man left.'

'Did you get a description?' Mac asked.

'Just a white guy, with dark hair. He couldn't remember anything else. I got footage that shows the guy, but he's got his head down, you can't see anything beyond what the reservations guy remembered - white, dark hair. I'd say he was about six foot tall, kind of beefy, but that's it.'

'Six foot tall?' Mac asked, 'You're sure?'

'Yes, more or less that. Why?'

Mac frowned. Something about the description of the man niggled at him.

Just then, Adam entered. He was bouncing on the balls of his feet, his face flush, his expression fiercely excited.

'I think I got something, boss!' he said.

'Tell us, Adam.'

Adam hurried to stand by Mac, and tapped a few buttons on his laptop.

'I found fingerprints on the door handles inside and out, the gear stick, the steering wheel, the ash tray, and the seat adjustor,' he said. 'I also found DNA on both the roach and the beer bottle, and, Mac, I got a hit!'

He tapped a couple more buttons.

On the screen a rap sheet appeared, along with a photo of a young man with dark hair and eyes and a cocky smile.

'Meet Dario Young,' Adam said,

'He's only nineteen, but quite the enterprising young criminal. He's been arrested for possession of narcotics, namely weed, drinking under age, using and selling fake IDs, shoplifting, stealing cars, and joyriding. He was all over the car, Mac. I think he's the one who killed Lindsay.'

They all stared at the photo of the young man.

'So what's his connection to Danny and Lindsay?' Jo asked.

'None that I could find.'

'Maybe he wasn't targeting Lindsay per se,' Hawkes said, 'Maybe he got it into his head that it would be funny to drive his car at someone, and he meant to swerve at the last second but couldn't. Or maybe he wants to up his record to murder. To get in with some gang, maybe?'

'Mac, what do you think?' Don asked.

Mac had his doubts. Something just didn't quite sit right about Dario Young. But he was all over the car that had killed Lindsay. And Mac had seen time and time again how some kid's stupid idea of a 'good time' ended up in someone being killed.

'Adam, good job,' he said, Adam grinned proudly.

'Okay, everyone,' he continued, tapping the image of Dario's grinning face. 'This kid is all over the car. I want him found. Let's get on that, now. We find Dario Young and we might just be able to tell Danny we've found the bastard who killed Lindsay.'

xxx

Okay, guys, that's the end of another chapter! Don't worry though, I have this fic all planned out so should be able to update fairly soon. Thanks for all the lovely reviews and thanks for reading!