The Strength in Living: Chapter 14

Mac's eyes flickered over to Stella, strapping her bulletproof vest to her body and loading her weapon with ammunition. Usually Mac and the other men might have found such a display incredibly attractive, but instead, he was filled entirely with concern.

He didn't want her to do this, and had Mac still been the lead investigator, he may well have told her to stay in the office. She was one of the most capable detectives he had ever met and also the most intelligent, but she was clearly struggling with something which was beginning to interfere with her work. He had no idea what the issue was, although perhaps he had some idea, but he recognized the same behaviors in Stella that she recognized in him after Claire had died.

Not that he would dare have said a word without risking Stella biting his head off.

"Listen up!" She yelled, and everyone listened. She had cleared the air with Don before heading over, and he thought she seemed better for having done it. The last thing you needed when you had a loaded gun is clouded judgement.

"This is a public space," she started, looking around. "Please remember you have to put the safety of the public above all else. I need everyone to be sure to keep Senator Highsmith safe. We stay out of sight unless I say otherwise. Understood?"

So far so good. Clear mind yields results, he thought. She had put together the team quickly and asked him to read over her operation plan, which he was surprisingly pleased with. She was fine, she was going to be fine. With any luck, the armed team weren't even needed and they'd all go home in one peace. Rarely did such a hope come to fruition, but he could only hope.

"Okay, Mac and I are leading team A, team B with Danny and Lindsay, yes?"

It was then that the feeling of dread overwhelmed him. One minute he absolutely believed in his partner, the next, he knew she shouldn't be here. It seemed that when reality hit, so too did the realization of what was going on with Stella.

He couldn't speak to her now, all he could do was to try and keep her safe. He just hoped it was enough.

X

Stella felt her chest tighten at the thought of wielding a gun at the best of times, but being in charge of tactical operations such as this, she felt physically sick. Before the ordeal with Frankie, she felt confident in her ability to carry out operations. She could pull the trigger of a gun without seeing Frankie falling to the floor. In fact, she used to be able to load a weapon without becoming panicked and reliving the events of last year. She was broken and she didn't know how to fix herself.

She felt Mac watching her as though he knew exactly what was going on in her head.

"You alright, Mac?"

"We need to talk, but not here," he said, not critically, but with evident concern. She gripped her gun a little tighter, but nodded.

"Yeah, I think we do."

He agreed, "What do you thinks going to happen tonight?"

She shrugged and looked around, identifying James in the distance. Giving him a salute, she tried to smile and turned back around to Mac.

"It's either going to be a hoax, or an absolute disaster. But he would have went with or without us, so I thought keeping him safe was the least we could do."

She held in her earpiece and tried to catch James' eye, "James, can you hear me?"

"Stella? Yeah I can hear you. What's going to happen? I'm sorry I couldn't really take it in."

Mac spoke next, "We'll only get involved if we need to, just keep talking to whoever turns up. We'll decide if the source is credible and tell you about any decisions we need to make. Try not to get too worked up either, easier said than done, I know."

"Thanks, Mac," he said, looking around. "Do either of you see this guy?"

"We don't know who we're looking for," she said, uncertain. "But if you look at 11 o'clock, there's a man watching you, so I'd assume that's your guy."

James walked off, hands in pocket, looking at the person Stella had pointed out. Her eyes met Mac's and suddenly she had the feeling this was no longer a hoax. She tried best as she could to look for a weapon on the man, but as it was so dark, she knew she'd just have to be ready to give orders.

"Are you James Highsmith?" spoke an unfamiliar voice. It was quiet, but Stella thought he sounded like them, like New Yorkers. Male, mid-50s, working class; Mac thought the same.

"I know who killed your daughter, but I don't know what to do. You lost your daughter, but my son is still here and I don't want to lose him."

Stella's heart was burning, and she looked at her partner once more. He held up his hand, as though he knew exactly what she was thinking - let's take this man into custody. Not yet, he seemed to say and their attention was back on the situation at hand.

"Your son killed my daughter," James said, "Why didn't you take this to the police?"

"I wanted you to know first, I wanted to know if this even had to go to the police."

Mac's hand landed on her arm, a gesture which seemed to say don't move. She obeyed, and his hand remained on her elbow, whether for comfort or to prevent her from running into danger, she really wasn't sure. But she took comfort nevertheless, watching the scene carefully.

"My daughter is dead, and you expect me to let your son get away with murder? Are you fucking insane?"

Stella spoke through her earpiece, "James, you need to calm down."

"Stella," Lindsay shouted through her earpiece, "This guy has a gun. We need to get James out and get this guy into custody."

She looked to Mac, "If we run in there, this guy won't hesitate in pulling his gun."

"Yeah," he nodded. "But he might just use it anyway."

"James, I'm going to need you to stay calm for me," she said, "But he has a gun and I want to get you out of there, okay?"

She watched as James reached up to touch his earpiece. She felt her heart pound, James, don't. The man looked at him, and eventually put the pieces together.

"I said no cops."

Mac's grip on her tightened, "Stella-"

"I don't have any cops," he replied, waiting on his response. Stella watched as the gun was drawn and pointed straight at her friend. Her body tensed up, and she decided exactly what she was going to do.

"Danny, can you hear me?"

His voice came through the earpiece, "What's the drill, Stell?"

"Split your team, go in from the East and South. We'll cover North and West, I need you to move now."

"My son is a good kid."

"Why did he kill my daughter? She was a good kid, too!"

"James," She yelled. "Keep him talking, we're coming in."

"My daughter had so much to live for, why did he do it?"

"It's done! It doesn't matter," he screeched, pointing the gun more firmly at James. He didn't care. The bereaved father was coming out right before their eyes and despite Stella's repeated warnings, James kept on going. He was a father scorned and there was absolutely no way to stop him.

"My wife wants nothing to do with me, she's seeing someone else. Meanwhile, I have nothing! I have no one and I deserve to know why!"

The teams approached suddenly, with Stella on the lead, "NYPD, put your weapon down."

She saw his finger linger by the trigger just a second too long and as though the entire world finally stopped for a minute, the bullet leaving the gun and traveling so slowly she could have sworn she was the airwaves.

James had a city to serve and a wife to win back. Mac had the lab to lead and a whole new life to build for himself. Danny and Lindsay were just getting started, they were too young for this.

So Stella prayed to the God she wasn't sure existed and finally made her decision.

"Stella!"