Omerta 15

Jul. 28th, 2005 06:45 pm
bedlamsbard: natasha romanoff from the black widow prelude comic (Default)
[personal profile] bedlamsbard
Man, I spend four three hours locked up in my room writing this by hand, and a lousy 2048 words is all I get for it? I'm depressed. Very very depressed. On the bright side, canon characters! The B-case! Reminders that Danny and Flack are, in fact, sleeping together! Me actually having a clue what's going on!



Danny crossed his arms and stared resolutely at Flack’s back. “You’re not gonna tell me anythin’, huh?”

Flack stayed with his back to him and clicked away at NYPD file after NYPD file on the computer. “Probably not.”

Danny stared at him for another minute. “Okay,” he said.

That made Flack turn around, blinking in surprise. “What?”

“I said okay.” Danny raised his hands as Flack stared at him. “I know you, you’ve got a bee up your ass about something and you’re not gonna tell me shit if you don’t have to. So okay. I’m good with that, s’long as it don’t got nothin’ to do with the case. I trust your judgment, even if you are a blueblooded son of a bitch.”

“Look who’s talkin’,” Flack snorted, then looked over at Danny. “Okay,” he said. “Thanks. That’s good to hear. It’s nothin’ important, just somethin’ I got a hunch about I wanna check out.”

“Oh, a hunch, huh? Well, keep it to yourself; this is the NYPD Crime Lab. We only deal in hard evidence and scientific fact.”

Flacked rumbled laughter and turned back to the computer. “I hear ya’ on that one, Messer. Good thing I’m not a Crime Scene dick, huh? Go outa business, I would.”

“Nah, you’re not a Crime Scene dick,” Danny grinned, even though he knew Flack couldn’t see him. “Just a regular one, so don’t go claimin’ airs you don’t got.”

Flack flipped him off without turning around. “That’s Homicide to you, pal. And you don’t do too well yourself in the no hunches department, I’m thinkin’.”

Danny scooted forward in his worn leather office chair to brush his lips against his partner’s ear. “Save it for Mac then, should I?”

“Oh no you fuckin’ don’t,” Flack said, and turned his head enough that he caught Danny’s mouth with his own. “I’ve missed you.”

“We’ve been in the same room or the same car for the past five hours,” Danny said against his lips. “What’s there to miss?”

Flack did something mind-boggling with his tongue and teeth, and Danny’s mind briefly stopped working. “Oh,” he said, when he’d started breathing again. “You mean you’ve missed me.”

“No, I just thought I’d put on a little show for the security cameras,” Flack said, pulling back with his eyes a little glazed over.

“What?!” Danny yelped, glancing frantically from side to side.

“Relax,” Flack said, patting his thigh and sounding a little breathless. “The camera doesn’t cover this area. It points at the door.”

Danny took a shallow breath. “Bastard.”

“And proud of it, believe me that.” He glanced up at the discreet black security camera above them. “Any chance we’ll be goin’ home tonight?”

Danny pushed his glasses up and rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. “Christ, I hope so. I haven’t slept in thirty-six hours and it’s pissing me off. Plus,” he gave Flack what he hoped was a smoldering gaze, “I’ve missed you.”

Flack grinned and leaned forward, hand tightening on Danny’s leg. “Well, I guess it depends on whether you actually wanna sleep or you wanna –”

The door banged open as Aiden breezed in. “God, can you two just get a room already?” she demanded.

Flack sat back heavily, looking disappointed as he removed his hand from Danny’s thigh. “Well, see, if you hadn’t come bargin’ in, we woulda had one –”

“The walls are glass, pal.” She jerked her thumb at the lab across the hall. “You’re damn lucky Chad was too busy talkin’ to me to look over his shoulder and see you two sucking face.”

“Glass walls,” Flack grumbled. “Who the hell diseigned this place with glass walls? They oughta be shot.”

Danny sighed, hoped he could get Flack up against the wall of the locker room sometime soon, and looked over at Aiden. “Now that happy hour’s over, whaddaya got for us, Aid?”

“You’re workin’, pal. Happy hour’s for offtime.”

“Well, if you’ll tell me what offtime is, I’ll make an appointment.”

“Close the case, then maybe you can get lucky.” She glanced around and commandeered a nearby desk chair from another computer bay. It made wispy squeaking sounds as she dropped into it, and Aiden glanced down with a surprised, wary look before flipping open the folder she held. “Tox came back on the stuff that was all over Anna Dove’s clothes and hair.”

“What stuff?”

“The black stuff, remember? Or maybe you two were still out tryin’ not to get arrested.”

Danny took the computer printout from her, mouthing the chemical names silently to himself as Aiden and Flack squabbled. “Ink,” he said.

Flack stopped mid-sentence. “What?”

“That stuff’s ink. Like from a printer, or a copier…” He began sorting through the piles of folders on the desk. “Hey, aid, where’s that employment record…?”

Aiden picked up a folder at random. “Anna Dove worked as a secretary for a law firm,” she said, grinning.

Danny sat back, dropping the DNA report Jane had sent over when they were out in his lap. “I hate you,” he said. “What law firm?”

“Berg, Clayton, and Wampler. Their offices are in – wait for it –”

“The Empire State Building,” Danny finished. “Don’t happen to be on the forty-fifth floor, do they?”

“Well, whaddaya know…that’d be a yes. You think we should go check ‘em out?”

“Just a sec.” Danny flipped open the folder in his lap. “DNA from the rape kit Hawkes ran –”

“Lemme guess, we didn’t get a match,” Flack said, fingers beating a sharp tattoo on the desk as he leaned back.

“No, we did.” Danny glanced over at Aiden. “Matthew Berg,” he said. “I don’t suppose that’d happen to be –”

She grinned. “Oh yeah, it is. Let’s go pay Berg, Clayton, and Wampler a visit, huh?”

*

Matthew Berg was a tall gangly guy with a head full of dirty blond hair and ice-pale blue eyes. He was probably somewhere in his mid-thirties, and the suit and slacks he wore seemed ill-tailored and out of place on him.

“No, I haven’t seen Anna all day,” he said. “Not since she left last night. I called her when she ddn’t show up this morning, but she didn’t answer her phone.”

“What time did she leave last night?” Danny asked.

Berg’s lips moved silently for a moment, then he said, “Our offices close at five. I stayed late, and she left a little before me. Say, five-thirty, five thirty-five.” He gave Danny and Aiden anxious looks. “Why? I she all right?”

“Well, not really,” Aiden said. “She’s dead.”

“Dead? But – she –” He shook his head. “She was fine yesterday.”

“Yeah, she probably was.” Danny glanced at Berg’s left hand. Bare. “Are you single, Mr. Berg?”

“Yeah, I – well, not really. I’m engaged.” He looked abashed. “Sorry, it’s still kind of new.”

“To Anna Dove?”

“Are you kidding me?” He shot Aiden a bright grin. “That’s like some cliché out of a bad chick flick. No, to my partner in law, Rae Clayton.”

Aiden glowered back at him. “Does Rae know you were cheating on her with Anna?”

Berg gaped at her indignantly. “What? No – I – I never –”

“We recovered your semen from Anna’s body,” Danny said. “You’re in the system, pal. Your clients know you have priors for stalking?”

“Look, that’s behind me,” Berg said. “I was just a dumb kid, okay? What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Nothing, only you still haven’t answered my partner’s question.”

Berg swallowed. “No,” he said. “Rae doesn’t know. At least I don’t think she does. Don’t tell her, all right? I really like the woman.”

“You really like someone you go out with,” Aiden said. “You love someone you ask to marry you. I’m feeling mighty sorry for Rae right now. Is she here? I wanna talk to her.”

“She’s in court.”

“What about Molly Wampler? She here?”

Reluctantly, Berg said, “She should be in her office, but she might be on break.”

“You four the only ones who work here? You, Anna, Rae, Molly?”

“Molly was talking about taking on an intern from Columbia, but we’re the only ones –”

“Great. Thanks.” Aiden turned in a whirl of black hair and was out the door before Berg could do more than open his mouth.

“Hey, Matt,” Danny said. Berg turned to look at him. “What?”

“You own a gun?”

“No.”

“No? You’re a defense attorney, don’cha ever worry that somedoay one’a your ex-clients is gonna get outta jail and come for ya’ –”

“I live in a building with twenty-four hour security and I work in the Empire State Building,” Berg said. “I don’t need to carry a gun.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve pulled bodies outta both of ‘em, including Anna Dove’s. You know she died in this building? On this floor, even.”

Berg looked shaken. “No – I – I saw the police tape when I came in but I didn’t –”

“What time’d ya’ leave last night, Matt?”

“Am I a suspect, Detectve Messer?” Berg asked indignantly. “Because if I am, then I’m well aware of my rights and –”

Danny held up his hands. “Nay, you’re not a suspect,” he lied. “I’m just trying to establish a timeline of what Anna did last night and who mighta seen her last night. So –”

“I probably left around five-thirty,” Berg said. “I had a date with Rae last night and I was running late – she’s been in court for the past couple days and I haven’t had a chance to see her.”

Danny noted down the indiscrepancy. So you left at five-thirty, huh? But you said Anna left at five-thirty or forty-five – before you. What kinda game are you playing, pal? “When you were working late last night, did you hear anything funny? Raised voices, crashes – a gunshot?”

Berg shook his head immediately. “No.” He tapped the iPod on his desk. “I had my headphones on, so –”

“Yeah, I know. Just one more question: do you know a Mordecai Giovinazzo?”

“Mordecai Giovinazzo? The name’s familiar – I think I had him as a client a couple months ago.”

I don’t think so, Danny almost said, but he held his tongue. All the Constantine Family used Val’s lawyer, Sterling Townsend, or his junior partner Clarissa Bernstein. Mordecai wouldn’t have settled for a bum like Matt Berg. Maybe Rae Clayton or Molly Wampler, if he thought he had a chance of getting laid, but not Berg, not when the best criminal lawyer in the city was a phone call away. Instead, Danny said, “What was the charge?”

“Gunrunning,” Berg said quickly. Too quickly.

Well, he was probably right on that count, at least.

*

“Berg’s lying,” Danny said as he met Aiden in the tiny lobby where Anna Dove’s desk was. “Lying like a rug.”

Aiden shrugged. “I got straight answers out of Molly Wampler. Rae and Berg have been fighting a lot, supposedly, and Rae’s been threatening to call off the engagement. Then, a couple days ago, she walked in on Matt and Anna.”

“Who? Rae?”

“No, Molly. I guess they’re pretty good friends, so she was pissed off on Rae’s account. Plus, Matt Berg is, and I quote, ‘a piece of slime who runs around chasing skirt when Rae’s not around.’ End quote.”

“Sounds like a real prince.”

“Just the kinda guy you wanna marry.” Aiden gestured at the broken copy machine, the “out of order” sigh, and the ink stains on both the machine and the floor. “Then I asked her about that.”

Danny flinched. “Man, I totally forgot to mention that to our friend Matt.”

Aiden slipped on a pair of latex gloves and pulled Anna’s trash from the container. Danny began going through her desk. “So Molly said she confronted Anna about Matt over by the copier yesterday while Anna was refilling ink. Things got physical, and Anna ended up with ink all down her front.”

“Classy.”

“Just a little.”

“She say if she told Rae about Anna?”

“She said she mentioned it.” Aiden sat back on her heels and looked up at Danny. “You see anything interesting?”

He held up a small white box. “Just this.”

Aiden reached for it. “Pregnancy tests,” she said. She glanced back up. “Anna Dove was trying to get pregnant.”

*

Author's Note: The "Oh, you've missed me" line comes from Dennis Lehane's book Gone, Baby, Gone, which I highly recommend.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-23 12:19 am (UTC)
ext_2135: narnia: home sweet home (soraki) (Default)
From: [identity profile] bedlamsbard.livejournal.com
*rereads chapter* Man, this is really good. What happened to my mystery-writing skills?

Yes! And you should read it -- actually, I'd recommend reading the series from the very first one onwards -- the first one is A Drink Before the War. It's a PI mystery series, by Dennis Lehane, who is probably my biggest mystery writing influence. I highly, highly recommend anything he writes.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-23 12:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] limmenel.livejournal.com
Man, this is really good.

I could've told you that :D

I re-read this series in class sometimes, since it's so long that it'll entertain me for the full three hour art history course I'm in :D

The movie didn't look appealing to me, though, so I don't know if I'd enjoy the books.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-23 01:21 am (UTC)
ext_2135: narnia: home sweet home (soraki) (Default)
From: [identity profile] bedlamsbard.livejournal.com
I think I may try writing Snafu and Bloody Sunday for [livejournal.com profile] 14valentines -- try. TRY.

I don't think I can bring myself to look at it again. I really like the dialogue here, though.

Mmm. The movie looks like it follows the book pretty closely (which is made of AWESOME), so you may not. They're deep things, but they have the most awesome dialogue and characters ever.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-23 01:52 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] limmenel.livejournal.com
I'm confused, because I thought 14valentines was all about women....

I guess I can understand, cause I don't like to re-read my old fic, either, usually, but your series is amazing.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-23 02:15 am (UTC)
ext_2135: narnia: home sweet home (soraki) (Default)
From: [identity profile] bedlamsbard.livejournal.com
*blinkblink* No, you can write anything for 14 Valentines. It's to spread awareness of women's issues, but anything you feature doesn't have to deal specifically with women, or at least that's how I understand it.

I have enough distance from it now that I can look at it and be slightly less biased, but still...

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-23 02:56 am (UTC)
ext_2135: narnia: home sweet home (soraki) (Default)
From: [identity profile] bedlamsbard.livejournal.com
That is my impression, at least. Yes. Now let's see if I actually go through with it.

Snafu (CSI:NY, Bardverse)
Bloody Sunday (CSI:NY, Bardverse)
All the King's Horses (SPN/Drive crossover)
Chekhov's Gun (CSI:NY, AU off "Snow Day")
The Last Open Door (S:AAB)
Lazarus (SPN/PotC crossover)
untitled CSI:NY/SPN crossover (the one where Flack is a hunter)
When Human Voices Wake Us (Dark Angel/The Mummy AU)
A Long Time Gone (SW, Lostverse)
untitled third Lostverse story (SW, obviously)
untitled SW/SPN AU

and three wild cards? Wow, that's a lot of writing. *wide eyes*

Er, ignore me. Go look at the Spaceforce teaser instead!

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-23 03:02 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] limmenel.livejournal.com
I'll have to do more research. It sounds like fun, what little i know of it.

GLEE SPACEFORCE.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-23 03:06 am (UTC)
ext_2135: narnia: home sweet home (soraki) (Default)
From: [identity profile] bedlamsbard.livejournal.com
*bounces* We could be crazy together!

That would be on this LJ, not on [livejournal.com profile] bardicvoices or [livejournal.com profile] beyond_bedlam, by the way, if you didn't already see it... (Before my post of rage because CBS cancelled Viva Laughlin. Oh, CBS. Why do you have to be so cruel to me? At least you have not yet reached Foxian levels of cancellation.)

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-23 03:12 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] limmenel.livejournal.com
I assume you mean the post about the title and summary, which I totally just opened in a new tab to read through :D

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-23 03:14 am (UTC)
ext_2135: narnia: home sweet home (soraki) (Default)
From: [identity profile] bedlamsbard.livejournal.com
That would be the one, yes. It's got the backcover blurb bit.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-23 03:03 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] limmenel.livejournal.com
Also, that is a disgusting amount of writing and I THINK I LOVE YOU because your fic makes me gleeful.

(no subject)

Date: 2007-10-23 03:07 am (UTC)
ext_2135: narnia: home sweet home (soraki) (Default)
From: [identity profile] bedlamsbard.livejournal.com
...I have no idea the chances I can write it all before February. Well, if I finish my novel before then, maybe.

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