"Pick him up. Now!" There was rage in Mac's voice.
"We'll send a uniform." With that Danny hung up.
Mac walked to Flacks room to speak to Angell. He asked her to keep an eye on Stella. He had something he needed to do and would not allow anyone else to do it for him. Dashing off a quick note he left it by Stella's bed and hurried out. He would be at the precinct when they brought Abe Mala/Kierstoff in and would be asking him exactly why he was living above the woman his brother had tried to kill.
He arrived just as Danny was about to go into interrogation. It took all of Mac's Marine training not to lose his self control. What was it he had told Adam only hours before; not to let bias affect his job. He forced himself to allow the scientist in him to be in control. He tore into the room, Danny on his heels.
"Why did you do it? Why did you attack Stella Bonasara? How long have you been planning on this?" Questions fired out of him as quick as the rounds he wished he were firing into the man at the table.
"Mac. You gotta get outta here. You're gonna ruin this. I'll talk to him. Go into observation and watch." Danny had to pull the older man out of the room with the assistance of the uniformed officer at the door. So much for self control.
In observation Mac watched as Danny questioned Abe.
"How is it that you happen to live in the apartment above the woman who had to kill your brother outta self defense Abe? This cannot be a coincidence."
"It's not what it looks like!"
"Really? You know what it looks like do you? We have witnesses who say they've seen you out side Stella's door. Almost every day. What were you doing? Delivering flowers? Somehow I doubt that."
"I wasn't. I was trying to gain the nerve to apologize but I know that you are gonna have a hard time believing me but it's true!"
"You're right. But try to change my mind."
"I knew what my brother was. He took after our Father. Dad was a bastard. In fact, Dad caused my mothers death. He did not kill her directly but because of the way he treated her she died. I changed my name when I was old enough. I wanted nothing to do with men who could do that to a women. Frankie looked up to the man and often I would hear him talking to Mom the way dad did, it made me sick. When I heard about the woman Frankie almost killed I made it my mission to find her and apologize to her. I've tried several times over the last three years but can't bring myself to talk to her. People probably saw me outside her door trying to get the courage to knock. I've gone and stood outside her door every day since moving in about three months ago. I wanted to tell her I was sorry for what happened. For what my brother did to her. When I overheard her talking about her light I offered to fix it hoping it would break the ice so I could speak to her. But she was not there when I fixed it."
"Yeh? How am I supposed to believe you?"
"Simple. Talk to my shrink. He'll tell you everything I just have. And I was at work till 4 this morning. I had just gotten in when you came and spoke to me. Check my record."
"Don't worry. We will. If you want us to talk to your shrink you need to sign a statement releasing your files."
"Fine."
Danny walked out of interrogation and into observation.
"Well Mac? What do you think?"
"I don't know. Check his alibi and talk to the therapist. Let me know what you have. I'm going back to Stella. If I stick around here I might lose control again. Don't let him leave."
Mac stopped at the lab on his way out. Trace had found something interesting. Stella's entire apartment had been dusted for prints and had found a partial on her flour canister as well as several on the light fixture Abe had fixed. Abe's prints were on the light fixture but not the canister. There were some layered prints on the light they were separating. Once that was done they would compare those to the database and see what they found. The partial was still looking for a match.
Adam was in the AV lab looking at the Club tape. The girl who had danced with Flack was just as Stella had described.
"Gotta name?" asked Mac.
"Yep." Adam zoomed in on a section of the screen that showed the woman's hand bag. It had the logo of a very high-end designer. The kind who only made two or three of each thing he designed.
"I checked with the only place in town who sells these things. They have sold only three of these bags in the last ten years. Of those three one woman is dead and the other moved to, of all places, Iceland, last fall. So the name of the last woman is Erin Heartfield."
"Great. Have someone pick her up."
"Already done. Uhh, Mac? There's something else."
"What?"
"She lived in Stella's building."
Mac was out the door and back in interrogation before they had Erin in the building. He was going to get to the bottom of this.
Back at Angel of Mercy Stella woke again. Calling Mac's name she panicked slightly when there was no immediate response. Angell walked in instead, pointing out the note that was beside her water.
Opening it Stella read:
"Stella,
Something has come up in your case that I wish to see to myself. I know I said I would stay with you for the duration of the case and I still will. When you get this, call and I will be there as soon as I can. Know I'm here for you always. No matter what. I love you.
Mac"
She read the note silently, her eyes filling with tears at the last line. She was not sure what to think about that. He had never indicated that he was interested in anything more than friendship with her. Surely that's what he meant by that sentence. He loved her because they were best friends.
"You ok?" Angell asked.
"Yeh. Can you call Mac and tell him I'm awake. He has my phone." She let the letter drop to the covers. Angell saw, with out meaning to, the last of it and smiled internally. She had known for some time that Mac had loved Stella and was wondering how long it would take for anything to happen. Mac was a careful man, Either the last of that letter was intentional or he was so distracted when he wrote it he had not a clue it was on that page. She was willing to bet the latter.
XXX
A/N: This is going to be longer than I intended it to be. Thanks or bearing with me. I'm glad you like it! I'm not sure how much will get put up over Christmas. The muse is getting lazy. I have to poke it awake to get her going again. Don't worry though! I know how it ends. I'm just not sure where the road is going before we get there.
