CSI:New York : Who Are You? (Don Flack/OFC fanfic)

Run With It

Mac sat behind his desk perusing the contents of the manila file before him. Considering the magnitude of the Sheridan case the file was something on the thin side. They had more than enough evidence but no connections. Frustrated didn't come close to how he was feeling. Every now and then he'd look up at the white-board in the far corner of his office where scribbled in black Sharpie were names and connecting evidence of what they had so far. All leading nowhere.

A brief rap on the glass door took his attention away from the file. Flack came inside, holding another short stack of papers in his hand. So much paperwork, yet not a single suspect.

'Eli and Anna Sheridan were a featured family on the Forever Family  website,' the homicide detective said, getting right to the point of his visit. Both men preferred it that way. No small talk, just right down to it.

Mac took the papers Flack handed him. The first sheet was a print-off of the website homepage showcasing the Sheridan's as the perfect, happy family unit. The usual advertising trick that many adoption agencies used.

'All fairly standard,' Mac commented. 'Nothing unusual about any of it.'

'I managed to get in touch with the head of the agency, a woman by the name of Belinda Fallon. They screen all of the families seeking to adopt. She told ne the agency stood on strong moral ground and never turned a child away. Jeremy's adoption was legit. She even gave me the name of the Social Worker who took the lead on the case. Page three.'

Mac thumbed through the papers, stopping at page three and slowly nodded his head. 'Callen Bane. Do we know anything about him?'

'Already way ahead of you. Bane quit his job with Child Protection Services a few years back to take up a position with Forever Family.'

'Change of heart?' presumed Mac.

'Change in pay check,' Flack amended with a brief smirk. 'He was pushing four figures with CPS. With the agency he was bringing home five.'

Mac quirked a brow. 'That's a hefty increase.'

'Adoption pays. Anyway, from what I can tell it's all clean. Adoption's legal beyond legal, so...'

'So where does that leave us,' Mac murmured.

Flack lifted both eyebrows in agreement. 'One other thing of interest, while I was waiting for Belinda Fallon to get back to me, I took the liberty of looking into Gracie Sheridan's background. Olivia and Danny found the adoption papers on Jeremy, but nothing on the little girl. Turns out there are no papers. No record of her at all. At least in any of the local hospitals.'

'Maybe she wasn't born here,' Mac suggested, even though there were many questions burning behind his eyes.

'County Hall should still have her vitals. But I'm looking into it.'

'Could be nothing.'

'My gut's telling me it's something. I trust that before I trust nothing.'

A hollow feeling swept over Mac. He hated that feeling, like he was digging himself into a hole. What was worse, that it seemed to be getting deeper with each new turn in the case and the inability to dig himself out was becoming greater with each new piece of evidence. New evidence was supposed to bring great rewards. But not with this case. Maybe Flack was onto something. Why wouldn't there be any record of Gracie Sheridan's birth? Why wouldn't the parents or County Hall have any vital records?

'Anyhow,' Flack continued on, 'Gotta date with the Sheridan's neighbor, Mrs. Glover. Says she remembers something from the night.'

'Didn't you talk to her already?'