Chapter 5

Day 4

He thought about the day the towers came down. He thought about Claire and the way her hands had played through his hair. How he had always seemed to find his rest in her. How she had centred his soul. And the incredible loss he had felt that day.

He stumbled over a root and went down, the knuckles on his right-hand scraping on a stone hidden in the leaves.

"Get up."

He squinted back, his eyes still giving him trouble and all thought of Claire and the towers and his hurt fled away. Joe met his gaze unflinchingly.

A hand grabbed his shirt, roughly pulling him up and then shoving him in the back. "Get moving."

The forest around them was quiet. There was no refuge. No peace.

They were alone and Mac knew that this deep in the woods the chances of anyone finding his body was slim to remote. His body ached, multiple bruises competing with his headache.

"Joe, you need to think about this." His voice was raw and sounded dry and brittle in his ears. Joe didn't answer. So, he kept walking.

Flack slipped on his bullet proof, the heaviness of the vest settling on his shoulders. There was a hive of activity around him from other officers, everyone doing his or her thing to get ready for a potential explosive situation. Adam had come through. He had no idea how but had managed to trace the phone to an east Bronx address. The police detective had no idea what they'd be walking into but it was better to be safe. The only way that the person who had phoned Stella had come by the number must have been because Mac had given it.

"You ready?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, let's go."

Danny was right behind him, covering his back as they quietly and quickly made their way up the stairs. The hallway was dark which wasn't too good. He waited until everyone was in position before he knocked on the door.

"NYPD, open up."

There was no answer and he tried again before moving away, watching as the door splintered open. It took all of 15 seconds for him to realise that no-one was home.

Don felt angry. He turned around, walked down the stairs while ripping at the Velcro strapping of his vest.

Mac, you'd better not be dead. You hear me. You'd better not be dead.

The rest of the CSI team was waiting downstairs, bags already in hand. His disappointment wasn't that hard to read.

"It's clear. No one is around."

Stella nodded and then gathered strength from somewhere. It was a visible transformation, a thinning of her lips as she pressed them together and she put a hand briefly on his arm before the whole group moved past him and up the stairs.

Following the other man's commands, Mac stopped and turned. They were on the edge of a small ravine, a stream flowing swiftly down the bottom. Mac could hear the water clearly. He glanced down the hillside that was steep and boulder strewn with small bushes and trees hugging the incline. He faced Joe as the other man lined up his gun. "No hard feelings," Joe said and pulled the trigger.

Mac felt the bullet slam into him. He stumbled backwards and then he was airborne.

He slammed into the ground, momentum rolling his body further down the ravine. He felt a rib give way when he hit a hidden boulder and then his feet splashed into the river.

He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think past the trauma of what he'd just experienced. He lay quiet, too dazed to think past what had just occurred. Then darkness edged into his vision and he lost consciousness.

Lindsey was standing in the chaos of the main living room. Somewhere in this room there might be a clue on the owner of the phone. There might be a lead that could tie back to where Mac was. A nondescript couch was placed in the middle of the room, the floor covered by a dirty brownish coloured carpet. She wrinkled her nose. The rank smell of days old vomit permeated the room.

"You ready to do this?"

Danny put his case right next to her, taking his time to survey the room.

They both looked at the coffee table that had already been processed; the bright pink powder visible against the dark texture of the wood.

"Stella said that they've asked Adam to process the call history of the phone." Danny said, picking up his kit and moving to the right side of the room where he could better process the scene.

"Adam will find something. He always does," Lindsey answered, hoping that by saying the words they'd turn out to be self-fulfilling.

The evidence was overwhelming. Stella tried to think back on what they'd usually mean. What it means for Mac. The scuff marks of a size 13 boot. The blood and small splinters that had broken off when someone had scratched into the wood. The vomit - obvious signs of a possible concussion. Gauge marks on the radiator pipe where it seems he had been cuffed. The movement of dust around that area was enough that she knew that Mac had been cuffed at the same spot for the better amount of time that they had been searching for him. A quiet knock had her look away from the evidence on her screen and up into Sheldon's concerned face.

"The fingerprints in the apartment came back positive for Derrick James. We still don't know who Joe is. He isn't in the system."

She nodded, suddenly feeling the lack of sleep of the last few days acutely.

"You okay, Stella?"

"Yeah, just feeling my age," she replied. "Any other results back?"

"The vomit is definitely Mac's. Lindsey double checked. There is no blood so something to be thankful for."

"He's smart."

Sheldon had a questioning look on his face.

"Joe. Derrick might be the muscle but Joe. He's smart. He is not making it easy. We don't know anything about him. And he did this professionally enough that it tells me that he has done this before. Have gotten away before."

"That means there might be bank heists with similar MO's." Sheldon was already turning to the door. "I'll talk to Flack. See what he can turn up."

Sheldon was outside her office, already talking on the phone when Danny entered her office. "Adam had checked the phone. The only call made was to you. But get this Stella, not Joe or Derrick had handled the phone. The fingerprints are not theirs."

Stella stood up, already following Danny as they walked to the lab where Adam was processing the phone.

"Any hits in CODIS?"

Danny shook his head. "Nope, no hits."

They entered the lab, stepping over to the table where the note and phone had been set up. Taking a magnifying glass from a side table, Stella examined the whorls and ridges that were highlighted in front of her. There was a definite pattern to the arch and loop of the smaller and bigger prints.

"You think this guy might be in the building?"

"I don't know, Stella. But the probability is high. But we have no cause for a warrant and we can't forcibly fingerprint residents. Although there were scuff marks by the table. Someone scratched the surface recently and we managed to get a few alleles. Not much but enough to know that it's a male."

"Okay." Stella rose, thinking as she looked down at the phone. Closing her eyes, she recalled the phone call. The voice…the timbre…it definitely has some element of a higher pitch than you'd expect. Almost…

She gasped. Opening her eyes and taking up the magnifying glass again, she studied the fingerprints more closely.

Danny knew enough to not interrupt as she angled the glass over the evidence until she straightened.

"I think the owner of this phone is an adolescent male. Probably mid-teens if my guest is correct."

Danny's eyes widened. "Oh…that makes sense."

Stella smiled. "Don't schools have a program to voluntarily fingerprint students in case they get missing."

Danny grinned. "We can swing it for a warrant. I'll get it going. You think the kid lives in the building?"

"It makes sense, right? Maybe he walked past when the door was open and saw Mac cuffed against the radiator. The angle is just about right. Mac could've given him the number. Look, when he phoned me, he asked about a reward. So – money problems?"

"Yeah…but I think that's pretty much everyone in that building, Stella. Not a great divider at the moment."

"Yeah, I don't know."

"Okay, fine. How much did you say?"

Stella gave the number and Danny whistled. "That's not chump change."

"No. It's not."

"Paying off a bookie? Drugs?"

"Or what about a medical bill? He said it's not enough."

"Yeah…okay. That could work. Let's see if we get a hit off the fingerprints. If not – then we can see if we can get a list of tenants in the building, if possible, from the super and check on them if any family members are hospitalized."

"Will do."

Stella watched as Danny disappeared out the door. Her worry for Mac had gone up a notch and she was very much in fear. The fact that they took Mac with them rather than just killing him in the apartment and leaving his body, did give her a little hope that he was still a hostage to Joe. Maybe a bargaining chip until he got away clean.

Until that happened, they had a bit of time to make sure that Joe and Derrick got caught. And she'd take whatever she needed to make sure Mac came home alive.

Even if it means bending the rules just a little so they can get the warrant to do a school and hospital search for the boy.

Flack was juggling too many things and he felt that he was losing the battle against his mind. They had sent out a state-wide APB on Mac and his two abductors. There wasn't much he could do until they had a more solid lead on his friend. Sheldon had come with a request on similar bank heists. He had sent the request to the guys down at data, knowing that they will work their butts off. Because it was Mac. And the respect everyone he had met had for the ex-marine.

And here he was, standing in front of the building with Danny and a few uniforms.

"The building supervisor says there are around 20 families that fit our requirements."

Danny nodded as he divided up the apartment numbers he had been given. They split up, each taking a uniform. Flack started on the floor where they had held Mac. He had seen Danny's face when he had allocated that floor to himself but he had not fought him on it. He was grateful for that at least.

Knocking on the first number, he waited as a familiar wail of a small baby filtered through the door, into loud decibels when a clearly tired looking lady opened the door.

"Yes?"

"Police," and as she started closing the door he interjected his foot into the opening. She sighed, wiping at her face. "What ya want?"

"You have a husband?"

"No, does it look like I have a husband?" She gave him a warning look and he moved his foot out of the way just in time as she slammed the door shut this time. He gave his uniform a knowing look as he moved onto the next door.

It took 3 tries and he was onto the last number on his list when the door was opened by a boy. He looked to be around 14 years, dressed in oversized jeans and a basketball jumper.

"Your dad home?"

Flack tried to keep his voice casual, glancing into the apartment.

"No."

"He at work?"

The boy nodded, eyes suspiciously on him. "You alone?"

"He'll be home soon," the boy said defensively. "What you want?"

Brown eyes stared back. Flack had been in the game long enough to know fear when he saw it. The boy was trying his best to hide it. Also, the apartment from what he could see also looked neat. Too neat. The detective had the sneaky suspicion that the family was about to move somewhere else.

"You wanna talk about the cop that was held against his will two doors down?"

The boy stood like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. Raw fear filtered straight through and a moment later it was broken when the kid slammed the door shut. Even though Flack had anticipated the move, the door still rebounded off his body to slam back against the wall. The boy was already at the open window, lithely sailing through it and Flack heard his footsteps echo back at him from the fire escape. The uniform was already pounding back down the hallway as Flack sailed through the window after the kid. Using his height, he jumped stairs, rebounding off the railing of the fire escape. And still the boy was two floors down, already on his way to the ground. He wasn't about to let the boy get away. Ignoring the little voice in his head on the sensibility of what he was about to do, he climbed the railing. Dropping his body so he hung by his hand, he dropped the last few feet to the ground to land just in front of the boy. He felt his ankle wobble but he had enough sense to grab the kid's jacket and as he stumbled to the ground, to bring him down with him into a heap.

"Now that was not smart," he said as he pressed onto the boy's back. The kid kept wiggling, a whine deep in his throat as he begged Flack to let him go.

"Just stop, dammit. I'm not going to hurt you, okay." As he said it, the uniform that had been with him, joined him in the alley. Working together, they managed to get the boy cuffed and searched before Flack pulled him to his feet. Holding on to his arm, he marched down the alleyway until they reached one of the cars they had come in with. Pushing the boy into the back seat, he made sure he had locked the doors before he radioed Danny.

"Hey, I've got one that ran. Think you can come down to fingerprint him to see if it's the missing kid."

Danny acknowledged him and Flack leaned back against the car. Lifting the hem of his pants, he eyed his ankle that looked to be swelling. He grimaced as he put his leg back down, testing his foot. It didn't feel more than a minor sprain, so he'd probably get away with some ice later.

"Hey, he in there?" Danny asked. He was a little out of breath as he walked rapidly up to the car.

"Yeah, man. He's a bit squirrely. I might have to hold him down for you."

"Yeah okay." Danny wiped at his eyebrow with his thumb before he placed his bag on the trunk of the car. Opening, he took out a card and some ink. Flack opened the back door.

"Hey kid. Look, we're taking your fingerprints okay. Don't do anything dumb."

He grimaced at the words the kid threw his way. Looking back out the door at Danny, he sighed. In the end, it took him and the uniform to hold the kid, so that Danny could get the fingerprints printed.

It was disappointing later, when Danny compared them to the printout of the fingerprint on the phone. It wasn't even a close match. But Danny was more interested in the kids' fingernails.

"Hey, hey…how did you get your nails snagged like this?" Danny asked the boy.

"I'm not gay." The boy glared back.

"I didn't say that." Danny was now seated in the back seat with the boy, whose hands were now cuffed in front. "Look, a friend of mine is missing. We found evidence upstairs that he was there. There was also a phone left and what looked like a fight. Your hands tell me a story…yeah."

The boy shrugged his shoulders but there was something there. Flack could see it. He's had enough experience dealing with suspects to know when they concealed something. This boy knew something.

"What's your name?" Danny asked.

"What's it to you?"

At least it wasn't silence anymore. Danny scrummaged in his jacket and then looked over at Flack. He sighed but took out his wallet, passing a twenty to Danny, who then held up the nearly forty dollars for the kid to see.

"Name."

"JJ."

"Okay, JJ. All this is yours if you tell me about the man in the apartment."

"Look, it wasn't me that phoned, okay. I told him not to. Having cops here is bad."

"Who phoned?"

JJ seemed to consider his options. His eyes kept straying back to the money, a moth to a flame. He took a deep breath and then looked away.

"I'm no snitch."

Danny nodded. "Fair enough. But we're going to find him today, JJ. You see, I've got a fingerprint that tells me so. And we've guessed that he needs money for the hospital…" JJ took a deeper breath at that revelation. "…so, you'll do us both a favour by making everything go a bit faster, yeah? He's not in trouble and neither are you. We just want to find our friend."

"Peter."

"What's that?"

"Look, uncuff me, man. I'll take you to his apartment but he's not there."

At a nod from Danny, Flack leaned in and uncuffed the boy. JJ took the opportunity to snatch the money out of Danny's hand and it disappeared into his jacket.

"Where's Peter, JJ." Danny asked patiently. Flack had to give it to the other man. He would've lost it a while ago with this kid.

"Don't know. He went looking for the dude that was cuffed. Said something about finding him would maybe help his dad. It's bad, okay. He's in hospital and they won't do anything because he's got no money. They're just waiting for him to die."

"His dad is in hospital?"

"You deaf or som'ting. That's what I said."

"Yeah, okay kid. Do you know where he went looking?"

JJ was silent, seeming to consider his options. "He's about the only friend I've got." He finally said, his voice nothing more than a whisper. He looked out the car and then took a deep breath.

"Not sure but he needed money so I gave him some of my mom's stash. Think he's taking a bus?"

Danny nodded. "Can you take us to his apartment and then you can go."

They followed the boy up three flights of stairs until they came to a stop in front of a door, furthest from the stairs. Flack watched as the boy left, swaggering his way down the corridor. He hoped the money they'd given the kid wasn't going straight back into some drug dealer's pocket but the kid had looked clean. Maybe a bit small for his age but otherwise healthy.

It didn't take long to open the door, once he sent a uni to fetch the key from the super. Inside everything was neat, colourful and lived in. The furniture was well loved and old. The fridge was empty as were the cupboards. They found a family photograph against one wall, next to a flag and what looked like a flower lei.

"Peter Kaa."

Flack looked away from the flag against the wall. Danny held a book bag in his gloved hand. The words were neatly printed on the inside of a tag.

"Okay, so we got something to go on. But if he went after Mac…" Flack trailed to silence.

"We now know what he looks like. We can have a look through video records. If he brought a ticket at the port authority terminal, we'd be able to find him." Danny said, as he took the photo of the wall. Flack nodded.

Hope was there. He'd take it.

They've found others on less evidence than this.