Chapter Fifty Six
All
this time spent in vain
Wasted years
Wasted gain
All is
lost
Hope remains
And this war's not over
Trading Yesterdays - Shattered
The door in front of Mac Taylor was sturdy and ominous, the dark oak sheen glistened in the extravagant cream colored hallway. The manila file was clenched between his hands. The sheets of paper between it's thin pages were potent, damaging, corrosive. There had been some hard decisions he'd been forced to make in his life, but this wasn't a decision, it was a fact.
A fact that needed to be out in the open. He'd confided in Stella before he left the office. Either way arrest was imminent, it was his duty, but he also had a duty to his colleagues and that impulse won out over all of his other beliefs. It was unfair to pull the rug out from underneath one of their feet.
His left hand reached inside his jacket pocket, his fingers traced the outline of the golden shield,his fingertip brushing over the numbers with resignation before he withdrew his hand and rose it to knock on the oak panel.
It took a few minutes for the sound of locks to chime through the air and then the door swung open revealing a weary Mia Auster. She was dressed in tight blue jeans, and a teeshirt. ACDC wasn't a band he thought she would have liked but the evidence was there in the small item of clothing she adorned. Her wavy hair was tidied back, stray curls falling over her face. Her clear blue eyes widened in surprise at the sight of him standing there.
"You should really check the peephole." he warned, as she wordlessly held the door open.
Mac took it as an invitation and stepped inside, the manila folder weighing heavier in his hand with each step he took inside.
"Me and you need to talk." he told her, as she moved to the kitchen area, indicating for him to take a seat on the couch.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" she asked politely as he sat down, the folder coming to rest on the glass coffee table in front of him.
"I'm fine." he brushed her off, waving his hand to empathize his words.
Mia nodded before dropping into the chair across from him. She crossed her legs gracefully, but Mac could see the tension set rigid in her posture.
"Aiden told me where you were that night." Mac began.
Mia bowed her head in response to his words, she knotted her fingers around her knee before meeting his gaze.
"Do you see why I couldn't tell you?" she asked him.
"I can see why you wouldn't tell me." Mac corrected her. "I know what that can do to a reputation."
"I couldn't out Aiden and Taylor like that, they're known in that bar. The last thing they need is gay cop splashed through the NYPD." Mia submitted. "IAB aren't known for their subtlety."
"You still should have told me." Mac contradicted.
Mia shrugged her shoulders.
"But I didn't. I can't change that. You know the reasoning behind it." she pointed out.
Mac nodded with a small smile. She was feisty, and smart, she'd proved she was fiercely loyal. All of that seemed to make this all the more harder. His hand reached into his pocket withdrawing the gold shield. He set it down on top of the manila folder and slid it across towards Mia. Her eyes were on him suspicious and reproachful.
"The charges against you have been dropped, both of them." he informed her, his hand still resting on the folder. "You're to be reinstated if you wish to, but I think you should look at the folder before you make any decisions."
Mia frowned, looking perplexed as she reached out, her fingers caressed the smooth edges of the olden numbers before she set the badge back down and picked up the folder.
"We discovered a latex glove in the trash can in the locker room. It was powdered, the type we don't use in the lab." Mac reiterated. "It came back to a member of staff from the morgue, Marty Pino. He planted the cocaine in your locker."
Mia shook her head at the unfamiliar name.
"I don't know him." Mia said, looking at Mac confused.
"Pino had gambling debts; he owed out twenty grand to loan sharks. Those are his bank statements, someone paid them off for him." Mac told her as Mia flicked through the pages.
The amount was circled in red to highlight where she should look on the paper for the information she desired.
Her face crumpled as she studied the name of the account intently. Her lips clamped together as her skin drained of color, her eyes closed briefly before she read the name again. The paper sounded crisp as it bunched in her fist.
"You're sure about this?" she croaked, with a hard swallow.
"Yeah, it checks out." Mac told her.
"I... just can't believe." she wheezed, her eyes screwed up.
A tear plopped audibly onto paper, causing the ink to run. Mia clasped a hand to cover her eyes as she inhaled deeply.
"I'm sorry." she sniffed, pulling herself back together after wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "I just can't believe she would do this."
"Mia." Mac spoke drawing her full attention back to him as he made eye contact. "Do you know where your mother is?"
Mia clutched the paper to her chest, shaking her head.
"We haven't kept in contact since Patrick died, she wanted me to leave." Mia told him, wrapping her arms around herself.
"We'll track her down." he assured her rising to his feet.
Mia followed suit, biting her bottom lip.
"My dad?" she asked quietly.
Mac inhaled deeply before responding.
"He's given us the go ahead." Mac told her.
Mia felt her throat constrict, her eyes burned and her throat ached.
"Okay." she whispered as they made it to the door.
"If you find out where she is, let me know." Mac commanded gently, before stepping through the apartment door.
Mia closed it behind him before slumping against it, and taking her cell phone out of her front pocket. She dialed the familiar number before clasping it to her ear, steeling her voice and making it void of emotion.
"Mom, we need to talk."
Hey, sorry it's been a while guys, I have been mad busy pre-launching Dan Brown's new book and with Xmas implimentation. Anyway Enjoy!
KJL: lol I'm sure the awesomeness will fade away!
Sam: lol I wouldn't count on that for too long *evil cackle!
Nik: mwhahaha that is my plan!
Blue: lol you were wrong about the albi thing. Time passes between chapters and I hope all was revealed in this chapter. Yea I've heard all about your scenes.
Dreamer: I tink she is too. Jenny was awful esp when it turned out not to be Pat's. I still miss him!
