Chapter 4: Victim Number Two

"Stella," Mac whispers, shaking her shoulder gently. "We have a scene to process."

She slowly starts to stir, "What time is it?"

"A little after six. Get up, sleepyhead, or the day is going to waste away."

"Six is too early," she mumbles.

He gets himself up and heads to the bathroom to take a quick shower, deciding to let her sleep for a few more minutes. When he comes out of the bathroom ten minutes later to grab a change of clothes, she is not in the bed. He figures she went to fill her caffeine addiction in the kitchen. As he finishes buttoning his shirt, she returns, two steaming mugs in her hands. "We're leaving in fifteen minutes so you'd better not take a long shower," he says, taking the mug from her hand.

"I showered last night before I came over," she sets her mug down, now awake, and pulls an outfit out of her bag. Exactly twelve minutes later she meets him in the kitchen.

He hands her two pieces of toast with strawberry jelly on them, just how she always has them when they have breakfast together. "How'd you sleep?"

"I think I should be asking you that."

"Very well. I don't think I've slept that long since before Claire died."

"Are you going to need my services again tonight?" she smirks.

"Do I have to pay you for both nights, or do you have some sort of a discount?" he keeps a straight face and holds the door open for her.

"For you, I think I can arrange a discount. Or we could just say that I don't owe you for making you do dumpster duty anymore."

"Hm… I'll get back to you on that."

"I suppose you're going to make me get in the dumpster today," she says as she slides into the passenger seat of his Avalanche.

"The body's in the park," he simply says.

"Did Flack say whether the body was like yesterday's victim?"

"No, he just said there was a body in the park and gave me the location."

*****

Upon seeing the body, Mac and Stella look at each other. "I told you so," she gives him a smug look. "I really wish I had been wrong though."

He sets his case down and pulls on a pair of gloves, "Do you want the body or the surrounding area?"

"I'll take the body."

After fifteen minutes of searching, he squats down beside her, "I've got nothing. Not even a condom."

"Maybe he didn't wear one this time. Anyway, I don't have anything new here. You want to check the purse? He left it right next to her this time."

"ID says Dawn McAdams. I, uh, think I found the missing condom," he pulls it out of the purse. She hands him a bag to put it in. "There's something else. But it could just be something she had in there." Mac pulls out a folded half sheet of blank white paper. After opening and reading it, he offers it to her.

"Star, only you can put an end to this. The Vampire of New York City," she reads, frowning. "Well, I think it was left by our killer. But who's Star?"

He shrugs, "Maybe it's a nickname."

Flack joins them, "Got anything different from the other scene?"

"A note," Stella holds it up so he can read it.

"Who's Star?" he looks between the two of them.

"That part is your job," she smiles. "Good luck."

"Anything else?"

"No, everything else is the same as the other scene. DNA will all match, but we won't get a match in CODIS."

"He's smart. He leaves us DNA and fingerprints, enough to put him away. But it does us no good if we can't match it to a name. And he gives us no other evidence to go by."

"We have the teeth and the note. It's a start," Mac says.

"Okay, I'll get to work with this Star person. You guys head back to the lab and confirm that this is the same person," Flack directs, starting to head to his car.

"Hey, Don, who found the body?"

"Some guy jogging in the park. He was terrified; it seemed real. I doubt he had anything to do with this. And he didn't have any fangs."

The two CSIs wait while the body is loaded on the gurney. As he lifts the woman's head, the ME's assistant frowns. He picks up her head again and peers underneath it. "If feels like she was hit on the back of the head," he tells the two detectives.

"That's consistent with the other body."

"It feels like it shattered part of her skull."

"Be sure to tell Sid about it," Mac tells the young man. He looks back at Stella, "What are you thinking?"

"I don't get it, Mac. How does he do this? How can he suck the blood out of his victims and not leave a drop of blood anywhere?" she asks, focusing on the ground before them.

"What kind of sick person drinks the blood from another human being?"

"We're going to find out. I hope."

He touches her arm to consol her, "Of course we will, Stella." After voicing her name, he freezes, his mind suddenly moving even faster than before.

"What's wrong?" she looks at him curiously.

"What if that letter is addressed to you?"

"How can it be? No one calls me Star."

"Stella means Star. But… why you?"

"I think that's a long shot, Mac. How would he know that one of the detectives working the case is named Stella? And why am I the only one that can stop him? I'm sure there are plenty of other detectives that can solve this case."

"Maybe he wants something from you."

"Maybe. And maybe we're just desperate and grasping at strings here. I really don't think this has anything to do with me."