Chapter 3

It was late in the evening, when the taxi pulled up in front of the house again. Mac paid for the ride while Millie and Christine walked up to the house.

Millie placed both her hands on her stomach and let out a long breath. "Phew ... I have eaten TOO much."

Christine stifled a laugh, placed her arm under Millie's and looked at her. "Well, it's not surprising. You ate two whole desserts."

Millie gave Christine a strict glance. "I blame you. You shouldn't have let me tasted your dessert, it was TOO good not to order one myself." Millie smiled at Christine.

Mac, who was coming up the garden path, looked at the two women and he couldn't help but smile. The meeting between Christine and Millie had gone beyond all expectations. Right now in this Moment he felt like the most happiest man in the world.

30 minutes later, Mac and Christine were lying on the bed, all snuggled under the duvet close together. Christine had her head on Mac's chest – her favorite place in the whole world. She loved listening to Mac's heartbeat, because it brought her a relaxation she had never known before in her life.

"Thank you for a wonderful evening. That restaurant served the best meal I have ever tasted," Christine said with half closed eyes. "I wonder if they would be willing to exchange some recipes with me?"

Mac, who had stared up at the ceiling, placed his head so he could look at Christine. She was so beautiful in the very rare moonlight, that came through the window. "Christine, how would you take it, when another restaurant owner asked for your recipes?", Mac asked her with a smile.

"You know that. I'll protect my recipes with my li...", she said and stopped mid sentence, looking at Mac's face. He looked amused at her, with a gaze that told her "I'm-so-clever-what would-you-do-without-me look?". She slapped him on the chest and he pretended that he was hurt. "You put that gaze away "mister know-it-all", if you know what's best for you."

Mac let out a laugh, pulled her close to him and gave her a deep and passionate kiss. "Oh God... I love you so much", he said and rolled over so she was underneath him. They slowly and quietly began to undress each other.

Mac was the first, as always, to wake up the next morning. He turned his head and looked at Christine. She looked so beautiful when she was sleeping. He turned his gaze at the digital clock on the nightstand and sighed. It was only 6:15 am and it was way to early to get up on a Saturday. Mac snuggled into Christine again, hoping he would drift back into sleep again. But after 30 minutes he gave up. Carefully not to wake Christine, he got out of bed. Mac saw that their nightwear was scattered around the bed. He hoped that his mother hadn't heard them. Slightly blushed he began to pick up the clothes and place them on the large chest at the foot of the bed. He went to the drawer, opened it and took a pair of sweat-pants and a sweat-shirt. If he couldn't sleep he could just take a run. Before he left the room, he went to Christine's side of the bed and gave her a gentle kiss on her cheek. Christine murmured something incomprehensible in her sleep and rolled on her other side. "Absolutely not a morning person," Mac thought with a little chuckle. He went to the door, opened it, and with a last look at Christine he left the room and closed the door behind him.

When Mac was home again, the clock was 7:45 am. Millie was out in the kitchen preparing the breakfast, but Christine wasn't anywhere to be seen. Millie turn around and smiled at Mac.

"Good morning Dear. Was it a nice run?", Millie asked while she poured a steaming cup of coffee and handed it to Mac.

Mac took the cup and took a sip of the hot liquid. "Thanks Mom. Yes it was a nice run. I couldn't fall a sleep again, and I wouldn't wake Christine that early. Has she woken yet?" Mac asked looking out in the hallway.

Millie shook her head, and continued preparing the breakfast. "No, I thought I would serve your breakfast in bed. But now that you're already up, you can bring it up instead.", she said and placed the finished breakfast on a tray, which she then gave to Mac.

Mac was grateful for that. He wasn't fond of the idea, of Millie finding Christine naked in the bed. When Mac was back in the room, he saw that Christine still was a sleep. He placed the tray on the large chest and went to her bedside and sat down. He bent down and caressed her cheek. "Christine, Honey wake up. My mother has made breakfast for us."

Slowly Christine opened her eyes and looked a little bit confused. Then, suddenly she sat up straight in bed and looked around and down herself. "Please tell me, that she wasn't in here", she pleaded Mac, grabbing the duvet to cover her naked torso.

Mac gave her a gentle kiss on her right cheek and stroked her right upper arm. "Don't worry. She hasn't been in here. I met her down in the kitchen when I got home from my run, and I took the tray with me." He didn't feel the need to tell Christine, that if he in fact had come home five minutes later, then his mother would have seen her naked. He could see that Christine was red like a tomato in her head of pure embarrassment, and he couldn't blame her. He pulled her into his embrace and kissed the top of her head. "Give me 15 minutes, and then we eat our breakfast. I want to take a shower first", Mac said and got up from the bed. He looked down at Christine, who had placed her head in her hands. "Hey... Don't worry about it. She has no idea what happened here tonight. Trust me – everything is fine." With one last kiss Mac disappeared out in the bathroom to take a shower.

After the breakfast, all three of them sat on the couch and talked. Christine was happy that Mac had been right – Millie didn't know what had happened between them this night. But she was determined that it won't happen again.

By noon, they went out in the kitchen to prepare some light dinner. Millie had big plans about the dinner later that evening and she wouldn't tell them anything. "It's a surprise," she said and tapped her nose with her finger.

Christine looked from Millie to Mac, and back to Millie again. "But if you don't tell us, how we're supposed to help you prepare it?", Christine asked. She would like to help Millie because it didn't fell right not to help her making dinner – and she loved to cook.

Millie shook her head. "Nonsense. The only thing you two are supposed to do, is being together and make plans for the upcoming wedding," Millie said with a smile and gave Christine's left hand a gentle squeeze.

Mac gave Christine a gentle kiss on her right cheek and got up from the couch. "There's no point in discussing it with her, Christine. My mother is stubborn as a donkey," Mac said with a funny tone in his voice.

Christine raised her one eyebrow and looked at Mac. "Oh... So now I know where your stubbornness comes from," Christine said while she was laughing.

Mac didn't say anything, but his eyes said "You just wait till we're back in New York." When both Christine and Millie was done with the laughing, Mac took Christine's hand. "What do you say to a guided tour at some of the famous landmarks in Chicago?"

Christine wiped some tears away from her eyes and nodded. "It sounds wonderful – I would love to. What should I wear?"

Mac looked out the window and back at Christine. "You should definitely wear something warm – it's cold outside. And take your scarf with you", he said.

"Okay, give me 15 minutes to get ready," Christine said. She gave Mac a kiss on his cheek before she left the living room.

"You did good with her, my dear boy," Millie said while she padded Mac on his cheek. "I hope that this marriage will last longer than the last one."

Mac smiled and pulled Millie into a hug. "I hope that to. If she dies before me, I'll die to."

20 minutes later they said goodbye to Millie and got into the taxi.

Chicago is a big city, a little bigger than New York. Christine was happy that Mac was with her, and that he knew where they were going. He showed her some of the famous landmarks, like The Tribune Tower that have stones from all over the world, in it's outer walls. After some time, Christine began to freeze – even though she was wearing a thick jacket, hat, scarf and mittens.

Mac wrapped one of his arms around her, pulling her close to him. He saw a coffee shop on the other side of the road. "You're cold. Let's get a warm cup of coffee", he said and began to walk over there.

Christine gave him a small kiss on his cheek and followed him. "You are my Knight in shinny armor right now."

Mac chuckled. "I know. And I love that you are my damsel in distress – well only for another few weeks. I have some suggestions for our wedding. Would you like to hear them?"

"Of course Mac. It's my wedding to", Christine said while she was looking at him. She had all ways thought that the wedding was something they would discuss together, but when she saw the joy in Mac's eyes, she knew that whatever she had for suggestions, Mac would agree.

Mac and Christine spend the next hours in the coffee shop. Mac would be sure that Christine was warm again, before the went out in the cold. Mac looked at his watch, it was 4.45 pm. "I think it's time to go home again. My Mom all ways serves the dinner at exactly 6:00 pm", Mac said and looked up and down the streets to find a free taxi.

"Thank you for a wonderful afternoon. I hope that we can do this more often", Christine said and gave Mac a big hug.

Mac found a free taxi and they both got in. During the ride home, Mac and Christine had their fingers entwined. Mac looked out the window with a strange feeling in his stomach, but he couldn't put words on this uncomfortable feeling.

Christine had noticed how quiet and withdrawn Mac was, so she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Mac, Honey? What's wrong? You're so quiet and you have that "I'm-thinking" face on", she said and looked worried at him.

"I didn't know I had a certain facial expression when I'm thinking," he said with a little smile. "But you're right. I have a funny feeling, that something's not right. But I don't know what it is," he continued. He looked at Christine and then out the window again.

"Is it something wrong in the Crime Lab in New York?", Christine asked. She wanted to help Mac getting rid of this feeling.

Mac looked at her again. "No it can't be it. If there was anything wrong in the Lab, Jo would have called me. I don't know... I just can't shake this feeling of," he said a little frustrated.

Five minutes later, the taxi pulled up in front of the house. While Mac paid for the trip, Christine stood waiting for him on the sidewalk. She turned around and looked at the house. And what she saw was very strange. The whole house was dark – not a single light was burning and it was pitch dark outside. "Mac... the feeling you have, I think you're right – look, not a single window is lit," she said while she was looking at the house.

The taxi drove away and Mac turned around facing the house. He froze in the spot and all his internal alarm bells rang. Slowly he walked up to the house and Christine followed. "Christine, stay on the sidewalk," he said firmly without turning to face her. He could hear Christine stop and that she took a step back. He continued up to the house and with the bottom corner of his jacket he opened the door. Inside the hall there was totally quiet. Slowly he walked to the merchant sideboard and opened one of it's drawers. He found a little flashlight. If there was someone else in the house, it wasn't safe turning the light on.

Mac went trough the hallway and he could hear his own wild heartbeat – he didn't like this feeling at all. With the flashlight he looked in the kitchen. There was one knocked over chair and Mac could see that his mother had been preparing the dinner, because various foods were out on the kitchen table. A cold shiver run down Mac's spine.

Slowly he turned around and headed into the living room. In here several furniture were knocked over and were scattered around the room and the same was the pictures. On the only book stand who still was standing, Mac saw a stain. Mac walked closer and his heart was in his throat. "Please don't be blood. Please don't be blood," he whispered. But the closer he came, he realized that it was blood. Mac felt a rage building up inside, and the only thing he could think of, was to find his mother before it was to late.

He left the living room and made an examination of rest of the house. There wasn't anything different on the first floor, but his mother wasn't in the house. Someone had taken her.

Out on the street Christine looked at Mac disappearing into the house. A thousand thoughts ran through her head. What had happened? Was Millie hurt? Was it a heart attack and was she lying unconscious i the house? Christine wanted to go inside the house, but Mac had ordered her to stay out here on the sidewalk. After what have felt like years, she could see Mac coming out from the house. He looked like he had seen a ghost – he was pale white in his face and his eyes radiated anger and anxiety. She began to walk up to him, a little nervous. "Mac, what's wrong?", she asked placing a hand on his shoulder.

Mac looked at Christine and he was shaking with anger. "Someone has kidnapped my mother. God damn it!", he said and looked back at the house.

Christine took both her hands to her mouth and let out a loud gasp. "Millie... I can't believe it. What are we going to do?", she asked him. Poor Millie, Christine thought. Although it was several month since she had been kidnapped herself, she could still wake up after having nightmares of it. She didn't want any people to have this experience.

Just as Mac was about to say something, his cellphone rang. He looked at the caller-ID, but it was a blocked number. "Mac Taylor", he answered.

"Hi Mac," said a cold, hard voice. "Do you love your mother? Don't answer that – I know you do. My real question to you is on the other hand – what will you do to get her safely and unharmed back?"

Mac's grip on his cellphone became harder and harder. It was a voice he hadn't heard in several years. It was none other than Drew Bedford.