At your door
Here you are Smuffly, the last chapter didn't give anything away, so I have edited this one and posted them both together :)
Chapter 25
"Taylor" Mac answered his desk phone wearily.
"Detective Taylor we have a man here insisting on seeing you" the receptionist told him.
"Name?" Mac sighed.
"Rosie" the woman replied "That's all he'll say"
"I'm on my way" Mac ended the call and left his office.
He could do without this. He kept contact with some of his old informants from his uniform days, and Rosie was one of them. The man tended to seek him out when he had information on serious crimes, things that Rosie himself found abhorrent. He was a homeless man, making his bed in the dark and dangerous tunnels that littered the city. But he always had something good, and despite the current situation, Mac knew Rosie wouldn't waste his time, and he never took anything in return for his information.
In the elevator Mac closed his eyes, it was now over 36 hours Kate had been missing. Divers had scoured the river. He himself had plotted the course a body could have taken, even searched a few himself. Nothing. No sign of her at all. They were now onto divers searching the foundations of the bridges and alerts had been given to boats. But they had to face the possibility that after the time that had elapsed, Kate's body would never be found.
The mood around the lab was sombre. People talked in hushed tones, no one smiled. Mac ached, he hurt. He hadn't slept, he had devoted all he could to finding Kate, but he was at a dead end. He faced the act tomorrow of telling Don they needed to call off the search, and if anyone knew about not having closure, it was Mac. He ached for his colleagues too, they were all grieving in their own way, they were a family and that family had grown with girlfriends, wives and children, and now someone was missing from that family. He hurt for Kate and Don's children, who would be devastated, how could a child ever come to terms with that? And finally for Don, who knew all too well the heartache that faced him, and the struggle he would face to try and support his family alone from now.
He left the building, heart heavy but shoulders straight as ever.
"Rosie" he greeted the man he'd watched fight the odds for many years on the streets.
"You gotta come with me Mr Mac" Rosie said urgently "We gotta go now"
Mac considered him for a moment.
"My car will be quicker" he decided "Wait here"
…...
Rosie was a man of few words, and the more Mac pressed about where he was being taken, the more Rosie clammed up, only speaking to give directions.
Switching the car off at a lonely tunnel Mac shivered. For the first time he considered the wisdom of what he was doing. Rosie had never hurt anyone, but he was largely an unknown quantity.
In for a penny... Mac thought and followed Rosie into the tunnel.
Groups of homeless people huddled around fires, sending him suspicious looks. Rosie had done this before, led him right to a murderer and then just walked away. Mac felt for his gun and glanced around him. Police weren't welcome here.
Pulling aside a filthy blanket crudely tacked to the wall to create some privacy, Rosie gestured to the figure lying on the bed.
"She'm need a doctor" Rosie replied "She'm sick, and they looking for her, your people"
He held up the front of a newspaper, detailing the missing NYPD officer.
Mac ripped the blankets back, seeing Kate's eyelids flicker.
"Kate?!" he shook her urgently, she groaned.
"Where did you find her?!" Mac demanded "What happened?!"
"Them pulled her out da river" Rosie nodded to a group hovering "She'm pretty cold was gonna get her warm an' send her on her way, but she'm too sick"
"Why didn't you call an ambulance?!" Mac shot back.
"Wouldn't ha made it" Rosie nodded knowingly "Them won't come 'ere without cops, an' she'm too cold, needed to be warm an' get right. Anyway, I'm not for trusting no uniform but you Mr Mac"
Mac picked Kate up, relief flooded through him as she opened her eyes.
"Mac" she croaked.
"It's OK Kate" he soothed, carrying her out of the tunnel. Without looking back he couldn't see that Rosie was now tidying up where Kate had been, without an acknowledgement at all of what had happened.
…...
Mac punched at the numbers on his cell, driving erratically through the deserted streets of New York. The horizon was brightening, streaks of grey and pink becoming visible.
Jo answered on the third ring.
"Danville"
"Jo I got her!" Mac yelled over the siren of the avalanche "Kate, I have her"
"Is she...?"
"She's alive" Mac told her "Barely. I'm on my way to Mercy, it's closest. Go and get Don, don't call him, I don't want him driving over, just go and get him, and call the others"
"I'm on my way" she replied, Mac heard the jangle of keys as he hung up.
Kate coughed violently, her whole body doubling over with the effort. She struggled to open her eyes.
"Lewes?" she choked.
"You got him Kate" Mac said "He's dead"
With that she slumped again, losing consciousness. Mac shot her a worried look before urging the engine faster.
…...
"Where is she?!" Mac physically stepped in Don's way as he ran along the hallway of the emergency room.
"They're taking care of her Don" he said "She's alive"
"Where?!" he demanded.
"Give them a few minutes Don" he urged, eyeing Jo as she ran to catch up with Don.
"Damn Flack you're fast" she puffed.
"Is she gonna be OK?" Don asked "What happened? Where was she? What's wrong with her?"
"Easy OK?" Jo stood next to Mac "Calm down Don, you need to get your head together before they let you anywhere near her"
"She has pneumonia" Mac said "And hypothermia, but that's all I know right now. She's pretty banged up from the collision. Some homeless people pulled her out of the river"
"And what?" Don ground out "Just kept her?!"
"They tried to take care of her" Mac reasoned.
"They could have killed her!" Don raged.
"Hey!" a nurse stopped "Keep it down huh?"
"Sorry" Jo smiled at the nurse.
The incident seemed to bring Don to his senses, he sat on one of the chairs, rubbing his hands over his face.
"How long...?" he started "When will they let me in?"
"When they have her stabilised" Jo soothed sitting next to him.
"She's going to be OK" Mac said absently "She's sick but they said she will be OK"
Don leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes without replying. Maybe in a minute he'd wake up, and realise he'd been dreaming and they hadn't found her at all. Or maybe there actually was a God, and his reverent prayers all night had been answered. He didn't have time to ponder for long.
"Detective Taylor?" a man in scrubs stood before them, he looked as exhausted as them "Sergeant Flack is stable, she has double pneumonia, and we're trying to warm her up with warm IV fluid, she's got a few minor injuries, but overall she's been extremely lucky"
"Can I see her?" Don had jumped to his feet, seeing the doctors confused look Don explained "I'm her husband"
"Of course" the man smiled "She asked if you were here, though she did say that we'd hear you before we saw you"
Don allowed himself a small smile before following the doctor into the room.
Jo simply smiled at Mac, and then put her arms around him.
"Well done" she said, feeling the tension and stress in his body.