From Chapter 6

Jo sighed before kissing Ellie's forehead "Just promise me you won't do anything like what you did this morning again"

"I really promise not to do it again, but please tell me why you won't even try it."

"Because Mac's already with Christine. He loves her as she loves him. And everything that had happened between Mac and I were enough for me." Jo paused as tears filled her eyes "a woman's heart could only take as much" she whispered.

Chapter 7

-Jo's apartment-

"Danville" croaked Jo throatily on the phone.

"Jo, it's Mac. I'm sorry to wake you up but we have a crime scene just two blocks away from your place." Mac paused unsure if Jo had heard what he just said.

"Okay, text me the address?" Jo's sleepy voice said causing a very tiny smile to creep up Mac's lips.

"Yeah, I'll send it to you."

Jo clicked the phone shut before tossing it on her bedside table. She glanced at the clock and scowled. Why don't these thugs go get some more sleep instead of committing crimes at 4AM?

-Crime Scene-

15 minutes later, Jo walked up to Don "Mornin', what's for breakfast?"

Mac smiled when he heard Jo. His back was turned to her so she didn't notice his smile.

"Well, if you fancy some tomato soup for breakfast, feel free to go near the body. It's over there, Mac's already taken photos." Don said smiling as he jabbed his thumb to the direction of where the body was lying.

Jo hesitated a moment when he saw Mac bent over the body examining something. She then walked over with Don beside her, briefing her over.

"Witness said she just came out from that alley when a man mugged her. She yelped in surprise but did not fight back. Probably too stunned to move, she just stood there and stared at the man. The perp might have thought that she was trying to remember his face so he shot her. Our witness said she was shot first on the body but when the killer saw her still breathing on the ground, he put another bullet on her forehead, killing her. Satisfied with what he saw, the perp ran away. Her name's Serena Aniston, student at the NYU." Don said reading from his notes.

When Jo saw the body, she immediately understood what Don had meant by 'tomato soup'. The female vic was lying on her back, on a big pool of blood. There was a single shot wound on her forehead and another on her side.

"I'll process the alleyway, maybe the perp was hiding somewhere in that dark alley, waiting for a victim."

The two senior detectives working separately without any acknowledgement of each other's presence did not escape Don's notice. He was watching them at the corner of his eye when he noticed something.

A mischievous smile spread on his face.

Mac had just bagged another evidence and signed off the label when he stole another glance at the person working just a few feet away from him.

"Want to process the alleyway, instead? I can ask Danny to take over the body if you want."

Mac was caught off-guard by Don's voice behind him, causing him to jump a little.

"Too much coffee is bad for you, man." Don told his boss when he noticed him jump at his voice.

Mac felt himself blush so he turned his back at Don and pretended to be examining another 'evidence'. "I think Jo could handle the alley all by herself. I'm about done with the body you can ask them to bring out the body bag now." Mac said trying to get a hold of himself.

"Uh huh... copy that." Don said turning away from Mac, only to walk back to him.

Don positioned himself between Mac and Jo, and then he faced Mac.

"Are you sure you don't want to process the alley?" Don said with a huge smile on his face, when Mac looked up to him.

Mac raised his eyebrows at Don "Yes. I'm sure"

"Okay then." Don said smirking.

Mac frowned at him before walking back to his avalanche. Don must have had seen something. His smile was mocking to say the least. Damn it Mac. Get a grip of yourself before you regret it. Mac scolded himself as he drove off to the crime lab.

-Crime Lab-

Mac was on the phone when Jo walked out of the elevator. He followed her with his eyes, waiting for her to look into his office like the way she used to do since her first day in the lab, but failed. Jo passed his office without so much as a glance to his direction.

He ended his call and picked up the first case file on his desk what's wrong with you Mac? Why even wonder when you knew that you're the reason behind Jo's change of attitude. If you were not such an ass to her, maybe you're still basking at all the attention that she gives you. But no, you chose to hurt her when she was just trying to help. And what's worse was you didn't even try to right your mistake.

Mac sighed at the irony of his situation. He wanted to bring their relationship back to how it was before. He tried to amend the situation by saying that you were a 'bit short' with her? Mac groaned inwardly, looked like his own conscience would be the one to prove him guilty.

Mac rubbed his face with his hands and sighed. Maybe it was not enough. Maybe he should have tried harder. Or maybe you should have just told her everything. His mind was still occupied by all thoughts about how to make it up to Jo when he heard a soft knock on the door.

Mac was surprised to see Christine standing on the doorway smiling at him.

"Hey. Come in." He said, standing up to meet her.

He froze a bit when Christine leaned in to place a soft kiss on his lips. His eyes immediately shot to the hallway to see if 'anybody' was looking and was relieved to see that nobody's paying them any attention. Were you afraid of anybody seeing Christine kiss you or were you afraid of ONE particular person seeing Christine kiss you? He mentally kicked himself for thinking that.

"Here, sit down." He said pointing at the chair opposite his desk.

"I brought you lunch. Can you take you a little break so we can eat together?" Christine asked him still smiling.

He glanced at the wall clock in his office. 1:25. He didn't even notice that it's already past noon. He looked at his folder-strewn desk and realized that he still hasn't halved the paperwork yet.

"Uh… sure. Yeah. We can eat at the coffee table there." He said pointing at the low glass table near the couch.

Jo was about to enter Mac's office with the DNA result that she found on the chewing gum wrapper in the alley when she saw him and Christine huddled together at the couch, eating.

She quickly turned around and went back to her office. Pain was tugging at her heart as though somebody was pricking a needle at it. She took a deep breath before walking out again to find Adam. At least he's eating. She thought while trying to even her breathing.

"Anything on the CCTV?" she asked Adam when she walked through the door, startling him.

"Yeah. The CCTV had managed to catch the mugging but there's no clean shot on the face. He was burly and tall. He shielded his face with the hood of his jacket. I was still waiting for the CCTV footage from where he rounded the corner. Maybe we would be able to identify him from that one." Adam said while tapping his pen on against the keyboard.

"Okay, keep me posted."

It was already a little over three in the afternoon when Danny entered Mac's office with a tablet in his hand.

"Richard Matthews. 20 years old. Studies at NYU" Danny handed the tablet for Mac to see.

"Adam was able to ID him when he rounded the corner after he fled the scene." Danny continued. "It was not random mugging, Mac. He was really waiting for Serena at that alley. We run his head shot through our database; turned out he had already been arrested once. Fraternity brawl. That's when we found out that he was studying at NYU, with three of his subjects, the same as Serena's."

"How about the gum wrapper Jo had found in the alley? Did it have any DNA on it?"

"Yep, Jo run it and it came out with both Matthews' and Aniston's prints. It only strengthened my theory that Richard and Serena knew each other. Maybe he wanted something that's inside Serena's bag."

"But why mug her? Why didn't he just ask for it?"

"Maybe it's time to ask him to come pay us a visit."

"Go with Flack. Get that man down here." Mac ordered Danny.

Danny turned to go when something caught Mac's attention.

"Danny, you said Jo run the DNA on the gum wrapper?"

"Yep. She showed it to you, right?"

"Nope. That's why I asked about it."

"But she was already on her way to show you the result when I bumped into her earlier."

Mac frowned. Then his head suddenly shot up. He looked at Danny and with a pounding heart, he asked

"What time again did you say you saw Jo on her way to show the result to me?"

"Oh… I'm not sure about the exact time but it was somewhere between 1:20 to 1:30. I just came out of the pantry when I saw her."

Shit. Why didn't she come to my office then? Did she see... Shit! Mac shut his eyes at the thought of Jo seeing Christine kissing him.

"Is there a problem Mac?" Danny asked concern in his voice.

Mac shook his head before opening his eyes again.

"Nothing Danny. You may go with Flack now." Mac said, while his mind kept on playing the kissing scene over and over again.

-Precinct-

It took them fifteen minutes in the interrogation room before Richard Matthews spilled his guts out. With ballistics report matching the bullet marks to his father's gun, his fingerprint and saliva on the gum wrapper in the alley, and the CCTV footage with his face on it, he was smart enough not to waste the already-impatient Don's time.

Serena was his on-and-off girlfriend for the past year and a half. She discovered that Matthews was using drugs. She confronted him before but he denied it. Last night, she went to him and showed him a picture of him sniffing cocaine in a bar. She threatened him that she will show the picture to his father who is a lawyer with a very good reputation. Afraid of what his father would do to him, he begged her not to do it. But she was determined. The only thing that she said could change her mind was if he would change his ways. He gave her his word and asked her to never tell on him.

They then went to a bar to spend some time together. It was already nearing dawn when a bunch of his friends came in and sat with them. Not really fond of these people who she knew were the ones giving Richard his supply, she asked Richard to leave the bar with her. When he refused, she stood up and left. She went to the ladies' room first before heading home but when she came out, she saw Richard sniffing cocaine down his nose. Enraged by what she saw, she confronted Richard again and threatened him about the picture before storming out.

Fueled by cocaine and alcohol, Richard went after her but was not able to see which way she went. Knowing her route home, he waited in the alley where he knew she would surely pass. He snatched her bag from her and was about to flee when he heard her whisper his name. Little did she know that he was carrying his father's gun to show off to his friends when she came to him earlier at his dorm. With the deadly potion clouding his judgment, he whipped out his father's gun and shot her. When he saw that she's still breathing on the ground, he stood over her and shot another one into her skull before fleeing.

Both Jo and Mac, who were watching the whole confession at the other side of the one-way mirror, were speechless. Don joined them a while later as he left Richard to write his confession "Damn these kids. Doesn't matter if you're schooled at one of the best the country has to offer, man. Doesn't really matter." Don said shaking his head.

"Yeah, you care for them, try to help them, the next thing you knew you got shot at by the very same person you wanted to save." Jo said, disappointment and sadness in her voice, eyes not leaving Richard who's now crying while writing his confession.

Mac stiffened at her words. He knew that she was talking about Richard and Serena but somehow, he could feel her words stabbing at him like a sharp knife too. Didn't she also cared for him, tried to help him, and the next thing she knew, he was scolding her for doing so and then he pushed her away?

Mac went out of precinct with a very heavy heart. What he wouldn't give to relive that moment in the sidewalk so that he could stop himself from hurting Jo like that.