DISCLAIMER: Women's Murder Club and its characters are the property of James Patterson, 20th Century Fox Television and ABC. No infringement intended.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.

Cement Shoes Won't Stop Her
By GilliganKane

 

Part 3

Lindsay started coming to as a paramedic was loading her into the back of the ambulance. She groaned and closed her eyes, gritting her teeth against the pain.

"Well, it looks like we're going to have to cancel our date for tonight, huh?" Lindsay's eyes snapped open and she found herself face to face with Simon the Paramedic. She gave a false chuckle.

"Uh yeah, sorry about that. Rain check?" Even as Lindsay uttered the words, she regretted them. Simon leaned down close and whispered in her ear.

"Count on it." He pulled back and grinned. Lindsay willed herself to keep her gag reflex in check as he kept leering at her.

"Lindsay!" Lindsay pulled herself up on the stretcher and saw Claire trying to fight her way past the other paramedic. "Excuse me, but I'm the city's Chief Medical Examiner, so move it." The brunette Inspector held back a laugh.

"Well, you deal with the dead ones, and I deal with the live ones." Claire stared at the paramedic with a look that said "you're kidding me, right?" Lindsay saw Jill approaching the commotion, and knew that the blond would diffuse the situation. Jill grabbed the man by the shoulder and pulled him aside as Claire strong-armed her way to where the brunette was lying down. Lindsay flashed her friend a smile.

"Hey there hero." Claire's voice dropped to a "concerned mother" tone.

"Hey yourself. Did you catch the guy?" Claire smiled sadly and shook her head.

"Nope. But they know his name and physical description and all that crazy cop stuff, so, it's only a matter of time, you know?" Lindsay gave her own smile and nodded, then winced as the blood rushed to the cut on her forehead.

"Woah there Champ." Jill rested a steadying hand on Lindsay's shoulder. "You hit your head while you were playing hero. Your shoulder got a good beating too," Jill offered before Lindsay could ask.

"Any permanent damage?"

"Besides your ego?" Jill smiled daringly and stepped back just out of Lindsay's reach.

"I'm surprised yours even fits through the doorway," Lindsay shot back, sticking out her tongue.

"Now children..." Claire waved her finger threateningly. Jill grinned and when Claire turned to get a medical report from Simon, the blond flicked Lindsay in the ear and jumped away quickly.

"Ouch Jill!" Claire whipped around and threw the two of them a glare so fierce that even Lindsay flinched.

"On a more serious note," Jill said, brushing back some stray hair from Lindsay's face. "How you feeling?"

Lindsay shrugged and then wished she hadn't. "My shoulder feels like someone bashed it in with a Louisville Slugger. Oh, wait. They did. Other than that, I'm ready to get off of this damn thing." Jill snickered.

"I'll see what I can do about that," she said as she beckoned Simon over. The paramedic came towards them, Claire at his side.

"Well Lindsay, I'm not supposed to let you go without taking you to the emergency room, on the account that you hit your head and that's a dangerous injury. But Mrs. Medical Examiner here is capable of taking care of you, so...no reason to hold you." He went to work freeing Lindsay from the stretcher. "So about this date..." he let the sentence hang in the air.

Lindsay risked a glance at Jill and Claire and grimaced. "Yeah, I'm not up for that today," she said solemnly. "Or ever," she added under her breath. "We'll have to reschedule." Simon helped her down off the raised bed and Lindsay ambled past Claire and Jill, beckoning them to follow. "I'll have my people call your people," she tossed over her shoulder casually, leaving the confused doctor wanna-be behind.

As the trio walked back into the Hall, Jill's face crumbled into hysteria. "I'll have my people call your people?" Claire grinned. "Lindsay just say you're not interested and get it over with."

"But it's so much more fun this way."

At the elevators, Claire got in the box going down and waved goodbye to the other two. "Come and pick me up later so we can go get some drinks."

"Oh I don't know doc. I'm not sure I'm supposed to be drinking with a head wound," Lindsay responded mockingly.

"Then you can have a soda!" Claire called back as the elevator doors closed. Jill and Lindsay grabbed the next one that was going on and as the doors shut behind them, the brunette sighed, her shoulders sagging in exhaustion. Her head shot up when Jill pulled her into a hug.

"Geez Linds. Stop doing this." Lindsay smiled.

"Doing what?" she asked innocently. Jill pulled back from the hug and gave Lindsay a skeptical look.

"Saving everyone all the time you big goon." The elevator came to a halt. "I mean, I was following you out of the building and that guy was clearly aiming for Cindy and if you hadn't pushed her out of the way, he would have...Lindsay?" Jill turned and discovered that the Inspector was not following her. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Is she okay?" Jill nodded.

"She's fine. A little scraping from when you pushed her out of the way, but other than that, she's alright," Jill said reassuringly.

"I can't let you leave for ten minutes and you got to go and get yourself hurt?" Jacobi asked as he rose from his desk.

"Well, thank you. I'm fine. The doctor says there will be minimal scaring. And no, it really wasn't necessary for you to come down the stairs and make sure I was okay," Lindsay replied mockingly. Jacobi grinned.

"Okay, you two play nice. I'm going to see if there's anything Denise needs me to do before I head out for the night. See you Jacobi." With a final wave, Jill headed back to the elevators leaving Lindsay and her partner to stare at each other.

"Really, are you okay?" Lindsay smirked.

"You getting soft on me Warren?" The older man frowned. "No, I'm fine. Honestly. Just a bump." The phone rang and Lindsay snagged it before Jacobi could.

"Boxer."

"Hello Inspector Boxer." Lindsay frowned at the voice.

"Who is this?" Lindsay demanded.

"Oh, that's not important," the voice said. It was definitely a man, Lindsay decided. But his voice was...melodious, almost musical.

"Well then, what can I do for you?" Lindsay signaled for Jacobi to pick up the other phone and the man did so. He perched on the edge of the desk with the receiver pressed to his ear, while Lindsay leaned back in her seat.

"Actually, Inspector, it's not what you can do for me. It's what I can do for you."

"Fine then," Lindsay gave a sigh. "What can you do for me?"

"Take a listen."

"Listen to what?" Lindsay asked the question but the man seemed to have hung up the phone. Lindsay pressed the receiver closer to her, thinking she was missing something, when one word froze her in her seat.

"Lindsay?" Jacobi straightened up and stared at the brunette Inspector.

"Cindy?" Frantically, Lindsay scribbled a note telling Jacobi to get a trace on the line. Gingerly, the older man put down the phone and took the stairs two at a time to Tom's office. Lindsay watched him tell Tom what was going on, and then the Lieutenant was at her desk, his eyes telling her that everything was going to be fine. "Cindy, where are you?"

"Lindsay, I'm sorry." Lindsay waved away Cindy's apology, even though they were separated by distance.

"It's okay. It's okay. Listen, honey, you need to tell me where you are?" The Inspector flinched as she heard the redhead start to cry. "Okay, Cindy, please. Don't cry. Just tell me where you are and I'll come get you." The redhead said nothing, and Lindsay pressed the reciever even closer to her ear.

"I can't Lindsay." Lindsay slammed her free hand down on the desk frantically. She saw Tom flinch, but he signaled that they had a trace going. His eyes told her to keep this guy and Cindy on the line, and not to piss anyone off.

"Cindy listen, just tell me that you're okay. Just tell me he didn't hurt you." There was a pause and Lindsay felt herself to shake. "Cindy?"

"I'm fine Lindsay." But the brunette could hear the reporter's tone of voice change.

"Cindy?"

"Do you remember Lindsay, that night you saw me and Jack - the News Editor?" Hiding a grin, Lindsay nodded.

"Unfortunatly, I do."

"Do you remember what I told you?" The redhead's voice was clipped, and Lindsay was not feeling reassured. Tom tapped her on the shoulder and motioned down to the pad in his hand - "We have them."

Lindsay racked her brain for the answer to the question as she grabbed her gun off her desk. Jill was standning next to her now, and Claire was watching from the bull pen door.

"You told me to let go of you." Jill's head snapped up and gave Lindsay a look of confusion. The brunette collapsed back into her chair.

"What happened?" Claire was at her side instantly, whispering the question to the lawyer. Jill shook her head and nodded towards the phone. Lindsay was pushing Claire away, focused on the conversation at hand.

"And what did you say?" Lindsay closed her eyes at Cindy's question.

"I said 'if you want me to let go, then I'm letting go for good.'" Lindsay's voice had dropped to a whisper.

"So why won't you let her go Detective?" Cindy was relaced by the melodious voice and Lindsay slammed the desk again, this time in rage.

To Be Continued

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