Her heels clacked against the pavement and she moved her kit from one had to the other as she made her way to the crime scene, flashlight zigzagging in front of her. Spotlights hadn't been set up yet, it was proving to be difficult due to the rain. Giving the officer standing at the crime scene tape a nod, she ducked underneath and found Flack holding and umbrella and a note pad.

"Hey Linds. Need some cover?"

"No, I'm good. What happened?"

"Owner came out of the store to throw some stuff in the dumpster and found one of his regular customers back here. He says he finds addicts back here quite a bit, needles on the ground. Be careful."

"Any chance we'll get those lights set up before the rain washes away my evidence?"

"Yeah, they're working on it. Where's Jo at?"

"She got a phone call just as we pulled up. She'll be here in a minute."

Lindsay crouched down next to the body, finding no outward signs of trauma, but knowing things could be concealed by the dark, the rain, and the layers of clothing. He was a younger man, probably no more than twenty-five, and the peaceful look that occasionally accompanied death was removed from his face. She noticed an abrasion on his right hand but in this light she couldn't tell if it was fresh or not.

It looked as if the dumpster had overflowed at some point, for there was garbage worn into the asphalt, as if it had been there for a while. Peeking around the back, she saw that the dumpster was actually connected to an in-store compactor so all of this garbage would have come from inside, rather than from passers-by depositing their trash. She wasn't sure how they were going to decide what was evidence and what wasn't, so much of this wet rubbish was going to end up back at the lab.

"It looks like someone jimmied the dumpster open," she noted, pointing her flashlight at the metal lid. "These are usually locked and can't be opened until waste management comes to take it away. They do that so if the compactor gets too full the lid doesn't pop off and spill stuff everywhere."

"Looks like some wiring has been tampered with over there. Watch your step."

Carefully she made her way back to the control panel, finding wires sticking out, stripped of copper.

"Definitely has been. We'll have to ask the owner how long it's been busted."

"Two weeks," Austin answered, coming around the corner with her own umbrella. "I just talked to him, he said they've been trying to get their insurance to pay for the repairs because it's so expensive, but the company is giving them the run-around."

"He tell you anything about the vic?"

"Not much. Says he walks here so he must live or work close-by. He thinks his first name is Mason but he's not certain. He says that his cashiers might know more, they've all talked with him more often."

"It's almost midnight. What was the owner still doing here?"

"He said he couldn't sleep, came in to do payroll. He was looking at the security cameras and found some people skulking in the alley so he came out to chase them off. That's when he found the body. Now before you ask, there's no footage of this area, the camera points only at the receiving door over there. He's burning everything to a DVD though, in case we can pinpoint time of death and find someone leaving the scene."

Lindsay nodded as a few younger techs finally arrived with temporary tenting to at least try and preserve some of the scene. They worked fast and by the time they were done Jo was approaching, a scowl on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Ellie just called. She's engaged."

"But that's good news, why are you making that face?"

"Because she'd rather drop out of college a year early to get married and follow this boy around the world instead of waiting until she graduates to tie the knot. We had words and she hung up on me."

"Ouch."

"I'll fix it in the morning. What do we got?"

Flack gave her a brief overview of the situation and was just finishing up when the lights came on.

"This is going to be a very long night," Lindsay sighed, now better able to see the mess that surrounded the victim. There could be prints, DNA, trace materials and other things on any of these scraps of garbage. They were going to have to gather and test all of it, rainy or not. She shook her head and thought briefly about home, for it was going to be several days before she saw it again.

"So Sid, got a cause of death?"

"Now ladies, I've never seen this before. I'm not sure what it is. It seems like cement or clay but it breaks under pressure."

"Sid."

"I don't know where it came from but I do know that it's sucked most of the moisture out of the victim's body."

Jo and Lindsay exchanged a look and Jo cleared her throat.

"Sid, how about you start at the beginning?"

"Alright. As I was examining the victim, I noticed bruising on his chest and ribs. From the shape and placement I made an educated guess at the bruises being the result of the victim being kicked several times. I didn't note trauma anywhere else on the body. I opened the chest cavity and found the lungs to be full of this substance. It seems that it may be absorbent in nature."

"Are the lungs completely full?"

"Yes, it looks like it was inhaled. I found traces in the mouth and nose. It wasn't until I got to the eyes that I realized that the material was absorbent."

He bent over the body and opened the eyes, revealing dry, red, dusky, almost caved in eyes. It looked similar to cataracts though they both knew that the victim didn't have vision problems.

"Whatever this is, it has literally sucked the life from him. The trauma to the chest broke three ribs. I am imagining that the victim was gasping for breath and the substance was inhaled by force. That's why there's so much of it. Any of the rest that was on the body was more than likely washed away by the rain."

"I found some unknown trace on the victim's coat," Lindsay explained. "I'll test to see if it's a match. Meanwhile, I think I have a hunch on what this might be. Thanks Sid."

The girls headed back to the lab, Lindsay going straight for the GCMS with some of the mystery substance while Jo began work on the clothes.

"What a horrible way to die," Lindsay said after a while. "Gasping for every breath, getting less and less air every time. Your entire body working against you."

"And the pain. It seems like whatever that is probably burned a lot."

"I think it's Spill Magic."

"Spill Magic?"

"It's a powder you throw on spills, especially if they're big or if you don't know what they are. It soaks everything up and then you just sweep it up and throw it away. Kind of like the stuff they use at gas stations to clean up fuel and oil. We used to use it at the grocery store I worked at. If it gets on your skin it dries it out; I once got it puffed in my face and had chapped lips for weeks. It washes off but the damage is already done. I can't imagine ingesting the stuff."

"Looks like it's about the consistency of sawdust before it's used."

Lindsay nodded and pulled the report from the printer, seeing her suspicions confirmed.

"Do we have any more information on the vic?"

"Jess and Austin are looking into it, Flack is overseeing the canvass. Hopefully they'll come up with something soon, now that we have a time of death more narrowed down. And the security tapes should be arriving soon."

"Good. I think I'm going to go call home. I want to talk to the kids before they go to school."

"When are you going to actually go home?"

"Couple hours. I want to get this all squared away first."

Jo nodded in amused understanding and Lindsay made her way into the office, laying back on the couch and calling Adam's phone.

"Well hey there mama, this is Ben! How are you doin'?"

"I'm doing just fine, buddy. How are you?"

"Pretty great! I got my field trip to the planetarium today you know."

"Yeah, you've been looking forward to that for a while."

"I'm glad that daddy taught me a lot of the constitutions already."

"Constellations."

"Yeah, those. I can already find the Big Dipper on my own. Hey, wanna talk to Cole?"

"Sure. Have a fun day and remember it all so you can tell me about it when you get home."

"Okay mama. Here he is."

The phone changed hands and Colton came on, chattering excitedly about how well he'd was going to do on his math test and how after school he and Isa would stay late to learn how to be crossing guards. He'd been looking forward to it since he was Ben's age and now that it was time, he was a little nervous that he might make a mistake.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine, honey."

"I know. I just have to listen to what they teach us but I'm afraid I'll forget something and make a mistake."

"The only way to know that is to go and do it. Daddy and I will help you any way we can, you know that."

"Yeah I do. Here, you'd better talk to Aves. She is trying to climb on me to get the phone."

"Okay. I love you, son."

"Love you too mama."

There was a scuffling sound, then a loud clanking noise before Avery picked up the phone.

"Hello mama, it is I, Avery Grace, along with Thomas. Good morning to your pretty face."

"Good morning to your pretty face too, baby. What are you doing?"

"Getting dressed for school. Right now I am just in underwear. I cannot decide what clothes to wear. Daddy says I have to hurry so we can take the boys an' then he's gonna take me to the store to get some stuff before it is my turn to go to school. When are you coming home? I did not get to snuggle with you when I woke up. Just had to snuggle with daddy an' he growls like a bear."

"Yeah, his voice is pretty scratchy in the morning."

"You still love him so most, even when he gots messy morning hair and breath?"

"Of course."

"Ew. So when do you get to come home from work?"

"I'll be home in time to pick you up from school."

"Oh good! You an' me an' daddy can play!"

"Yeah, we sure can."

"Okay mama. Get back to work now. I love you."

"I love you too."

The old apartment building towered above the street almost swaying in the breeze. The fire escapes creaked and the windows all looked as if they had been placed there in the 1800's. Jess gave a low whistle and locked the door of the SUV, then changed her mind and took the light off the top, locking it inside. This was not the place to leave anything out to be taken.

"Let's try and convince this lady to move the interview to the precinct," she suggested. "This area gives me the creeps, majorly."

"I'll second that," Austin said with a nod, tossing her hair up into a ponytail and checking herself in the side mirror.

"You two are seasoned cops and you're scared of a bad neighborhood?" Lindsay questioned, rolling her eyes. "We're not even picking up a suspect."

"Lindsay, never underestimate the power of a place like this. It's a little too quiet."

"Let's go. All I'm worried about is the roaches in the building."

"What kind of indoor vermin do you have in Montana then?" Jess asked as they headed into the building and by silent agreement took the stairs rather than the elevator.

"Mice sometimes. A snake or two occasionally."

"And you're worried about roaches?"

"Not worried. They're just gross."

"And snakes aren't."

"Snakes are. They totally freak me out. But at least I could shoot a snake. Can't shoot a roach."

"Your logic is dizzying."

The trio chuckled quietly together, making their way up to the ninth floor. They finally had a positive ID on their vic, seven hours after they'd found him. Lindsay had ended up only making it home for an hour then heading back to the lab once the ID was made. She hated missing anything in a case and since Adam was off she didn't feel like she was abandoning the kids.

The vic was 25 year old Marcus Hampton, and he was a resident in this building. Flack had lead a team in searching his apartment earlier but hadn't come up with much. One of the neighbors however had offered up the tidbit that Marcus was in a relationship with the woman in the apartment above him. The girls had offered to talk to her, not sure if she even knew the fate of the man she was seeing. Normally only two of them would be needed to make such a visit but the neighborhood dictated more bodies were acceptable.

"Hey Linds, how's Adam's sister doing?" Austin asked as they started up the second set of stairs.

"She's fine I think. She comes over about once a week, seems like her grades are fine. Actually the other night she seemed like she wanted to ask me something and pulled me into the kitchen to talk but we were interrupted by Avery. I think she chickened out because she kept telling me it wasn't a big deal."

"Think she'll try again?"

"I hope so. I called her yesterday but it went to voicemail and she never called back, so we'll see."

"Apartment 903, right?"

"Yeah, this is it."

Jess knocked lightly on the door of the apartment, actually surprised when it didn't just fall over.

"Sophie Addison, NYPD. We need to talk to you."

The door swung open and a young blonde woman stood on the other side, thin and nervous looking.

"Can I help you?"

The three of them exchanged a brief look; even in her twenties this woman appeared to be no more than fourteen for as small as she was.

"Can we come in?"

"No. I don't… no, you can't come in."

Jess nodded and leaned against the door frame instead while Sophie's eyes drifted to the wall clock that hung just inside the door.

"Sophie, have you been seeing Marcus Hampton?"

"I… no. I'm not supposed to."

"Have you been though?"

"He's nice. He helped me a few weeks ago when a pipe broke. He didn't do anything wrong."

"Sophie, we need to know the truth, okay?"

Light blue eyes met the floor and Sophie mumbled a yes.

"I think you need to let us in."

The small woman moved away from the door and looked at the clock again as the three made their way inside the small apartment.

"Sophie, Marcus was killed late last night."

"What? No! No, he was supposed to take me away!"

"What?"

"Nothing. I can't… what happened?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out. Do you know of anyone that would want to hurt him?"

"No. I don't. He was… we didn't talk about… I'm sorry, I just can't believe…"

She sunk onto the tattered couch, wrapping her arms around her middle and rocking slowly back and forth while she sniffled.

"I don't know why anyone would want to hurt him. He's so kind."

"Sophie, where was he going to take you?"

"Away."

"From what?"

There was a long pause and Sophie swallowed hard, looking up at them with red-rimmed eyes, defeated.

"My father," she confessed after a long moment. "He doesn't want me to go anywhere, do anything. Marcus saw it. He knew. He was going to save me from… everything. He cared about me. We were going to go in the night, after my dad fell asleep. I wasn't brave enough on my own. He made me brave."

"Sophie, is there any way your father could have found out about your plans?"

Shock registered on her face about the same time the front door swung open and a deep voice bellowed for an explanation.

"Daddy did you hurt him?!" Sophie shouted, using up all of her energy to shoot off the couch.

"Who are you people? What do you want? Why did you let them in?"

"You did, didn't you? You hurt him!"

"He was going to take you away!"

In a flash the women were all on their feet, reaching for their weapons.

"Mr. Addison-"

Clearly drunk, he reached for his hip, stumbling as he pulled a gun on them.

"No one is going to take her from me."

The bullet hit the wall and before they had time to react, Mr. Addison had entered the room, grabbing his daughter around the waist, pulling her towards the door.

"No, daddy please!"

"Mr. Addison let her go."

"She's my daughter! No one is going to take her away! Not you, not that good for nothing sorry excuse for a human being!"

Sophie kicked against him, screaming and twisting, making it impossible for anyone to take him down.

"I hate you! I hate you!" she shouted finally, using the very last of her reserves. "Let me go!"

"Mr. Addison, let your daughter go."

His eyes flashed with something that later, none of the three of them would be able to describe, then he flung his daughter as hard as he could against the wall. Her arms hit the drywall and she fell, moaning as her father raced out of the apartment, his feet thudding against the stairs. Austin and Jess took off after him while Lindsay crouched down next to Sophie, who looked shaken and bruised but otherwise fine.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine. Go get him. Please go get him. He killed Marcus."

"I know."

"Please, I'm fine."

"Sophie-"

"Just get him. Please. He'll never lock me away again. He'll never hurt me again. Just please don't let him get away."

Knowing that she had to make the decision now, Lindsay nodded.

"Do you have any neighbors that are home right now?"

"Yes."

"Go there. An officer will come and get you, okay?"

"I'll be across the hall."

Lindsay made sure she was safely tucked inside, then made the call that they had a witness that needed to be picked up. She could hear the yelling and knew that Austin and Jess were chasing Mr. Addison down the stairs still. She quickly ducked into the rusty elevator, pounding the button for the lobby, hoping she could at least catch up to them. This guy must be a fantastic runner for Austin and Jess to not have caught up with him yet.

The elevator arrived at the bottom floor and she watched through the screen as Austin and Jess raced out the front door of the building and down the street. Lindsay took off after them, cursing herself for not working out at all in the last few months. Her side ached already, but she could see that Mr. Addison was slowing down as he rounded the corner into an alley. Picking up her speed she approached the alley and stopped, peeking briefly around the corner.

"Drop your weapon!" Austin shouted, while Mr. Addison took cover behind a pile of discarded furniture. "This isn't going to end well, I can stand here longer than you can."

"No one is going to take her away from me!"

"You beat her didn't you? Imprisoned her in her own home? Broke her spirit? Because you're a coward."

"Shut up!"

"You found out she was going to leave, she was going to go with Marcus away from you forever."

"I said shut up!"

Lindsay tensed; she knew what Austin was doing, trying to rile him up enough that he would come out of hiding. But that put everyone in danger as well. There wasn't a lot they could do until back-up arrived and Lindsay hoped that this man's resolve to remain uninjured was very, very high.

"You killed him, didn't you? Followed him last night and beat him. Grabbed whatever was handy to stop his gasping breaths, stop his life."

"No one can steal what's mine!"

"No one is going to. But you're still never going to see your daughter again."

Austin what are you doing? Lindsay thought, wishing she could send a telepathic message to her best friend. Don't be an idiot.

"Yes I will, she's mine!"

"She's not yours and she's already gone. You tried to destroy her but you didn't and now she's going to walk away. No matter what you've done, you lost her anyway. Now put the gun-"

Two shots blasted off in quick succession, then a third, and Lindsay looked around the corner, afraid of what she would find.