Fear

Danny stopped in front of Lindsay's door and knocked. He'd tried calling her cell and home phone, but apparently they were both down, and he was starting to get worried. Mosi Ghedi, the man from the Dominican Republic who almost shot Lindsay when she went under cover a couple months ago, had escaped from prison.

Danny knocked again. No one knew, of course, if the man would go after her for putting him in jail, but you never know with insane criminals. He'd called Lindsay as soon as he heard, which was nearly an hour ago. Danny pounded on the door harder, louder.

"Lindsay!"

Nothing. Fighting back panic, he pulled his gun, expecting the worst, and tested Montana's door. Locked. He took half a step back and slammed his shoulder into the door. It gave way easily, as only the sliding chain and doorknob were locked and not the deadbolt. Danny entered quickly, his gun ready, and scanned the room. Empty.

"Lindsay!"

Fear squeezed his heart, yanking it down to his feet as he was met with silence. He moved forward toward the kitchen, which was also vacant. He turned and headed for an open door to his left, starting to tremble. He slipped into the room, which turned out to be Lindsay's bedroom, and was finally able to breathe again when he saw her. Her back was to him as she rummaged through a dresser drawer. He saw at once why she hadn't heard him: the music she was listening to on her ear buds was so loud he could hear it.

Suddenly she closed the drawer and turned around.

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Lindsay jumped, let out a scream, and dropped the book she was holding all at once when she saw Danny, his gun drawn and pointing at her. He lowered the weapon as though he just realized it was in his hands. Lindsay yanked the music from her ears and stared at him.

"Danny! You scared the—"

She stopped abruptly when he walked to her in two strides and pulled her into his arms. She became worried when she instantly noticed his heart was pounding at an alarming rate and he was trembling.

"Danny, what's wrong?"

"Lindsay," he murmured into her hair. "You're okay." He sounded so relieved.

"What's the matter? What happened?" She knew it must be serious; he only called used her first name when he was.

He didn't answer, just held her tightly, his breathing shaky. Lindsay pulled her mp3 player from her back pocket, turned it off and tossed it on her bed. Then she wrapped her arms around his waist, rested her head on his shoulder and squeezed him back, giving him time to get himself together.

A few minutes later he took a deep breath and loosened his grip on her, but didn't let go.

"Mosi Ghedi escaped from prison, Lindsay." He told her quietly.

"Oh no." She didn't say anymore, waiting for him to continue.

"I tried to call you, to tell you, but you didn't answer your cell or landline. So I drove here, to, uh, to check on you. I thought—I thought Ghedi had come to...get revenge, so...that's why my gun was drawn."

"And why your face was white as a sheet, your heart was racing and you were trembling."

"Yeah." Danny cleared his throat, which had suddenly gone hoarse. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"I think I scared you more." She looked up at him. "So, think I took a few years off?"

"Several's more like it."

"I love you too."

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Danny blinked. Did she just say what he thought she said? She must have seen his surprised face.

"C'mon, Danny. You're the only person who gets freaked out when something bad does or might happen to me! My dad doesn't even react like you do! I'm an investigator, Danny. I listen to what the evidence tells me. And it's telling me...that you love me."

"And here I thought I was doin' a good job of hidin' it." Danny said, smiling slightly.

"You can't hide anything from me, Daniel Messer." Lindsay replied with a smirk. "Now." She turned serious. "Are you guilty of the charges against you?"

"No."

Lindsay looked hurt and slightly horrified. "But you just said—"

"I don't feel guilty for loving you." Danny clarified.

She let out a breath of relief. "How many more times are you going to scare me today, Messer? Anyway, I've already established that I love you, so we can skip that part and go right to the kissing."

"Sounds good to me, Montana." He said, then lowered his head and kissed her until she was weak in the knees.

THE END