Jo and the rest of the team were in the lab going over the evidence that they had, which was only Christine's purse. There had been nothing unusual at the apartment except that Mac and Christine were not there. The fingerprints on the purse had been Christine's and Mac's.

"It doesn't seem like anything is missing from the purse," Lindsay pointed out.

"This can't be nothing," Jo said.

"As far as we know, Mac and Christine have gone off somewhere together and have their phones turned off."

"But the restaurant wasn't even locked and the lights were on. That's not normal and it is just a little unusual for a woman's purse to be lying in the floor like that."

"But it could have fallen off the desk."

"Whose side are you on?"

"I'm worried too but we have to have some sort of evidence that a crime has been committed."

"Okay, we will go at this from another angle: Mac has had someone break into his apartment, not to mention that someone had tried to kidnap them before. Now, they have disappeared."

Lindsay frowned. "Is the chief going to go along with that?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter right now," Jo said. "Right now, we have to locate Mac and Christine."

Just then, they were shocked to see Mac walk out of the elevator. They did not know that he was trying desperately to hold his composure. He tried not to swallow too many times. He knew how observant Jo was. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly.

Jo and Lindsay came from the lab. "Mac, where have you been?" Jo asked. "We couldn't reach you at all."

"I'm sorry," Mac said. "We just went and spent the night in a hotel room." Mac hated lying and he could hardly keep from breaking down right there.

"But the door to the restaurant was unlocked."

"Oh, well, I guess we forgot to lock it. I kinda just swooped in and whisked her away."

Jo stared at him a moment. "You scared us when you didn't come in this morning. Your ex-partner, Stella Bonasera, was here this morning too."

Mac knew Jo was fishing. She had been at this job a long time and she was not easily fooled. "Oh really?" he asked trying to act surprised. "What was she doing here?"

"She wanted to discuss a case she is working on. I haven't even heard about anything involving New Orleans. Have you?"

Definitely fishing. "Well, I don't hear about 'every' case in the city. Did she say she would be back? Maybe she had to go to court."

Jo stared at him a moment. "Yes, she said she would be back," she said.

"Okay then." Mac noticed Christine's purse on the table. "Why is that here?"

"We didn't know what had happened to you guys," Lindsay said.

"That was found in the floor of Christine's office," Jo added. "It was spilled."

Mac stared at the purse. "A robbery?" he asked.

"Doesn't seem to be anything missing."

"Well, I'll take that and give it back to Christine."

"We'll have to check it out of evidence," Lindsay said.

"I will."

Mac took the purse and went to his office. He thought he would not be able to keep this up. He could not keep making up lies.

Jo looked at Lindsay. "He's lying," Jo said.

Lindsay looked surprised but she had to admit…he was acting strange. "What?" she asked.

"He is obviously not telling us the truth. I think something's wrong."

"Like what?"

Jo looked toward Mac's office where he was just sitting there as though he were in deep thought. "For one thing, he didn't even ask about his case we've been working on," Jo said. "He seems to be preoccupied."

"What's he hiding?" Lindsay asked.

"I think it has something to do with that case." Jo looked at Lindsay. "And I hate to say it, but I think your friend, Stella, is involved."

"What?! That's impossible. She even asked where Mac was."

"Yes, but she didn't ask about how he was doing since he was struck by lightning. It was a cover-up. And other than that…I just thought she had an attitude."

Lindsay could not believe what she was hearing. "You don't know Stella," she said.

"Sometimes it takes an unfamiliar observer to see what's really going on."

"I can't believe it."

"Let's just wait until Stella returns and see his reaction."

Jo watched Mac as he started looking through files to sign. She knew something was not right and she wanted to know what. She knew the direct approach would not work. If Mac was this afraid of letting them know, someone had leverage over him. She had to wonder where Christine was and she did not think Mac acted like a man who had spent a passionate night in bed with his wife.

Jo hung up her lab coat and went to Mac's office. "So, you two got so carried away that you forgot to lock the door to the restaurant?" Jo asked.

Mac stared at her a moment. "Yes," he said. "I guess we just went out and forgot."

Jo folded her arms. "Must have been a good hotel."

"One of the best."

"I'm just glad you and Christine are happy."

"We're very happy…together."

Jo could barely restrain herself from just blurting out that she knew he was lying. Mac knew Jo had to know that he was being less than honest. "If you don't have anything else, I need to get to work here," he said.

"Oh, okay. Well, I guess I better get to work too. Danny and Sheldon are at a crime scene right now."

"Are they? Do you know any details?"

"Not yet, but it's strange that neither of us got that text."

Mac knew Jo was still fishing. "I didn't," he said. At least he could be honest about that.

Jo realized she was not going to get anything yet. "See you later," she said.

Mac was relieved that she left. He did not want her to keep trying to get information. He could not tell her anything because Stella had put a bug on him so she could hear everything he said, and he knew she was going to show up. He did not know how he would pretend that he was glad to see her.

Soon, Sheldon and Danny came in from the crime scene. Mac went into the lab to see what kind of case they had. "Mac?" Danny and Sheldon said at the same time.

"We thought you were lost," Danny said.

"No. Christine and I just stayed in a hotel last night," Mac said. "So, what have you got here?"

Danny stared at him a moment thinking there should be more to that story. "Uh, we have a guy who was stabbed," he said. "I have to get the pictures developed, but whatever he was stabbed with was big and long, and whoever killed him took the murder weapon with them."

"I'll go with you to see Sid when it's time," Mac said.

"Okay."

Mac went to the evidence locker to get the evidence that went with the case. Sheldon and Danny looked at each other. "That's it?" Sheldon whispered.

"Mac ran off like that?" Danny asked.

"Well, he is married."

Mac stopped a moment outside the evidence locker. He knew the others had to suspect that he was lying. It was what made them such a good team…they were suspicious. If Stella thought she could fool them, she was wrong. Mac knew she thought because they knew her that they would not suspect her of anything. However, Jo did not know her, and he had never seen a more suspicious or perceptive person than Jo.

Mac got the evidence for the case and went back to the lab. He put on his lab coat, and then remembered his aphasia. He certainly did not want to compromise the case. He got the chain of evidence log and a notepad. He would make notes about everything he did.

Lindsay came into the lab. "Oh, are you going to help me?" she asked.

Mac nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I feel like working in the lab." He hoped he could keep his mind off Christine sitting in that electric chair.

Mac took the fingerprints from the crime scene and scanned them in. Sid had fingerprinted the victim so their fingerprints were the first. "Dustin Covin," he said. "Any other information on the victim?"

"Yes," Lindsay said. "Dustin Covin is twenty-three years old, a student at Chelsea University, a Vermont Driver's License. He lived in the dorm there."

Mac scowled. "And his body was found where?" he asked.

"In a movie rental store. He worked there."

"So maybe it was robbery?"

"According to Danny's notes, the owner said that the money from the safe had been taken to the bank when he left, so they wouldn't have gotten much."

"So maybe they went there intending to murder the victim."

"Or they didn't know the money was out of there."

Mac scanned the next fingerprints which turned out to belong to the store manager, Bill Denson. It was not unusual for his prints to be there. The next print was unknown and so was the one after that. At least they were in the system now and if they found the person who matched those prints, they would see if they had a reason to be there.

Danny soon came into the lab with the crime scene photos. Mac took the photos and looked at them since he was not at the scene. He stared at the wound in the victim's chest. "Whatever he was stabbed with went all the way through him," Danny said.

"So it had to be something pretty long and sharp," Mac replied.

Mac smiled a sarcastic smile. "Who takes a weapon like that to a robbery?" he wondered out loud.

"It sure seems like a strange weapon for something like this," Danny said.

Suddenly, Mac frowned and Danny thought his face turned a shade whiter as he was looking out of the lab. Danny looked to see Stella coming from the elevator. He scowled wondering why Mac had reacted in such a way.

"Stella's here," Lindsay said. Mac swallowed hard and then tried to look surprised. "Oh, well I guess I better go see her," he said. He took off his gloves. "Take care of this, Danny."

"Sure," Danny said. He watched Mac walk out of the lab, and then looked at Lindsay. He could see that Lindsay was wondering too.

Mac walked out into the hall where Stella was. "Mac!" she exclaimed with a smile as though she were glad to see him. She hugged him. "How have you been?" she asked. "How's the wife?"

Mac stared at her a moment. "I'm doing alright," he managed to say. "Christine is beautiful and wonderful."

Jo came around the corner. "Well, you're back," she said.

"Yes, I had to see my best friend," Stella replied.

Jo looked at Mac whom she thought looked stony. "So, why don't we go to my office?" Mac asked.

"Sure," Stella agreed.

They went into Mac's office and he closed the door. "I don't think you're doing a very good job of looking normal," Stella pointed out.

"I'm not a liar," Mac said.

"You could at least act like you're glad to see me."

"I'm not. Why are you doing this to me?"

"I'm just setting up the plan. You need to act happier. You know I have the switch and it can reach it from here."

"What do you think you're going to do?"

"You'll see soon."

Jo and the others were in the lab. "Now are you convinced?" Jo asked. "I have never seen such a fake meeting."

"Yeah and Mac didn't look happy to see her," Danny said.

"Danny, I want you to go to Christine's restaurant and see if she's there," Jo said. "If she's not, go to their apartment. I want it to be seen in person. I'll take care of the evidence."

"I'm on my way," Danny said.

Danny left the lab and headed to the elevator. Mac saw him and hoped they would not do anything to endanger Christine. He knew they would not do it intentionally but if Stella thought they were figuring it out, she might kill her.

"Just keep your cool, Mac," Stella was saying. "They can't prove anything."

"Do you really think they won't see through this?" Mac asked.

"You better hope not for Christine's sake. The first switch is already on."

Mac frowned. He remembered how it had felt in that room when she activated that chair. "Turn it off," he said.

"I will when I get out of here."

"Stella, please. Christine has done nothing to you."

"Doesn't matter. She's my key to you." Stella laid a piece of paper on Mac's desk. "Don't read that until I'm gone. It's your instructions for today. And remember, I'm listening."

Mac watched her leave and looked at the paper on his desk. He could do nothing to stop Stella until he could get that switch. He picked up the paper after Stella got into the elevator, and then he saw Jo coming that way. She came to his office and started to say something but Mac shook his head and put his finger to his lips for her to be quiet.

Jo nodded. She had known something was wrong. She watched as Mac wrote something on a paper as he read another paper. She decided she better talk about something. "Lindsay is still analyzing the evidence from the crime scene," she said. "There was evidence that he had been in a fight and there was a piece of skin on his tooth. We figured the one who was fighting him hit him and it snagged the person's knuckle."

"Let me know how that comes out," Mac said. "I will go down to see Sid in a few minutes."

"Good. I'll go with you."

Mac gave Jo the paper and just stared at her a moment, but Jo nodded and went back to the lab. "Lindsay, I was right," Jo said. "There is something wrong with Mac."

Lindsay walked over to Jo and they read the message Mac had written:

Christine is being held hostage by Stella Bonasera and Ella McBride. Ella is a weak link. She has Christine in an electric chair and will electrocute her if she thinks I have told anyone. She has a mission that she wants me to do for her and if I refuse, she will kill Christine. My mission today is to steal a delivery of diamonds that are arriving this evening. Please help me. I don't know what to do. After I steal them, she will pick me up to take the diamonds and take me back to the place she has been holding Christine and me. I don't know the location.

Mac Taylor

Lindsay looked at Jo. "What can we do to help him?" she asked.

"We have to show this to the Commissioner and the chief so they can figure something out," Jo said. "We have to keep this tight. No one outside our immediate team can know about this."

"And Danny went to see if she was at the restaurant and apartment," Lindsay said.

"Call and tell him not to go there. She might see him. I am going with Mac to the morgue."

Lindsay hurried to her office to get her phone. Jo went out into the hall and motioned for Mac to come on. He put on his suit jacket and went with her to the elevator. He was trying to think of a normal conversation they would be having but it was hard for him to think of anything but Christine.

"Did you see that wound?" Jo asked. "What kind of weapon can do that?"

"We'll find out," Mac said. "I want to see that wound in person."

Mac found it hard to concentrate and his hands were shaking part of the time. He had barely been able to write that note for Jo. Jo folded her arms. It made her angry that someone was doing this to Mac when he had just gotten married and then had another tragedy. She hoped Mac would take more vacation after this was over.

When they got down to the morgue, Sid was studying the wound in the victim with his back to them. Mac thought it would be a perfect time to sneak up on Sid…if he felt like playing around. He sighed at that thought. He had thought he would be enjoying life right now.

"Sid," Jo said.

"Oh, hello!" Sid said. "I was just studying the wound on this young guy. Whoever did this had a lot of strength and thrust with a lot of force."

"I noticed," Mac replied. He looked at the wound. It was definitely all the way through. "So this could have been done with a…a, uhm…"

"A sword, I would say," Jo said trying to cover up.

"Right. It would have to be something like that to go all the way through."

"And if you look at the exit wound," Sid said, "you can see that it must have gone pretty far out the back because the exit wound is torn."

Mac looked at that wound tract. "Definitely something sharp," he said. "I guess I will have to go into the weapons…the arsenal to see what kind of weapon was used."

"Right," Jo said. "I love to watch you experiment with weapons in the lab."

"Did you find anything else, Sid?" Mac asked.

"The victim appears to have been in a fight prior to his death," Sid said. "He had some bruises on his face and hands. I also have his clothes."

Mac took the evidence bag with the victim's clothes in it and also the photos Sid had made of the bruises. "That's all I have except some trace that I found in the wound tract. Not sure what it is," Sid said. "There were no signs of any sexual activity or anything. In fact, I would say that he probably had a shower before this happened."

"Thanks Sid," Mac replied.

Mac and Jo went back to the elevator. Jo wished she could talk to mac about his situation and comfort him. She thought of something and took her notepad out. "Is the wire on your or a bug on your clothes?" Jo wrote.

Mac read the note while Jo said something about the victim. He took the pen. "It's a bug on my clothes somewhere," he wrote.

Jo took the pen back. "Go and change clothes," she wrote. "Before you go to the weapons lab."

Mac read that as the elevator doors opened. He wished he could talk at the same time he was writing but he had to concentrate to think and he could barely think while Jo was talking and trying to cover up the fact that they were passing notes.

Mac shook his head. "That would be too obvious," he wrote.

"You don't know where the bug is," Jo wrote. "You always change clothes when you're doing this sort of experiment."

"It's too risky." Mac knew he would change clothes to do experiments. He did always do that but he did not want to endanger Christine.

They went into the lab. "I have the victim's clothing and some trace that Sid found in the wound tract," Mac said to Lindsay. "I am going to figure out what kind of weapon was used."

"Okay," Lindsay replied. "I'll get on these. Danny is on his way back."

Just then, Sheldon walked in. He stared at Mac with a knowing look and nodded. Mac was glad his friends knew now. "I'll help you, Lindsay," Sheldon said.

"I'll meet you in the weapons lab," Mac said and looked at Jo. He finally remembered the word 'lab'.

Mac went to his office and left his suit coat. He was pretty sure Stella would not put the bug on that because he never kept that on in the office. He went to the locker room to change clothes and just as he was opening his locker door, his phone rang. He looked but it was a "restricted" number.

"Taylor," Mac answered.

"Don't even try to get rid of the bug," Stella said. "That elevator ride was awful quiet. You're not trying to be deceptive, are you?"

"You know I would never endanger Christine's life."

"Well, you better hurry with your experiment. I know how long you stay in there. The diamonds will arrive after dark when the jewelry store is closing at around six p.m. That's when you're going to steal them."

"Stella…"

"Just do what I say."

"Why are you doing this? You won't be able to sell those diamonds anywhere. They're traceable!"

"You would be surprised. Don't argue with me. I know what I'm doing."

Mac frowned. "You won't get away with this."

"No one will know it's me. See I won't be anywhere near where you're committing that crime."

Mac ended the call and changed into a t-shirt. He sighed as he went to the weapons lab. Jo met him in the hall but he shook his head to let her know he could not talk. He went on into the weapons lab and opened the cabinet that held swords and other large weapons.

Mac tried to get his mind on the case he was working on. He knew the weapon had to be pretty long to go all the way through a person. It could not be anything small. He looked at all the swords in the cabinet and sighed as he remembered forgetting the word sword and lab. Would he ever be normal again? Would Christine think he was old and not worth her attentions?

Jo came up beside Mac and noticed that he was not even looking at what was in the cabinet but staring into space. She turned Mac around and hugged him. "I love you, Mac," she whispered in his ear.

Mac trembled in her arms. She could feel his fear and it tore at her heart. Mac broke the embrace and turned back to the cabinet as Jo thought she saw tears in his eyes. She wanted to talk to him so badly. "So, which one are we going to stab with first?" she asked.

Mac took one of the swords from the cabinet and looked at it. "That was a pretty narrow cut but the sword was long enough to go all the way through the person," Mac said. He walked over to the dummy that he had set up already and put on his lab coat. "Better cover up. I think this is going to be messy."

Jo put her shield over her face and stood back to wait and see what would happen. Mac thought maybe this would help him relieve some tension. Mac took the sword with one hand and stared at the dummy a moment, trying not to imagine that it was Stella. He could not believe that she was doing this…how did she get in this state of mind? How could he help her? He shook his head and blew out a breath. He had to stop thinking about that and get his mind on this case.

Jo watched as Mac stabbed the sword into the dummy and blood spewed out and practically covered him. He looked at her and swallowed hard and then pulled the sword out. They looked at the wound on the dummy and the wound on the victim. "That looks about right, but figuring out which sword he was stabbed with is going to be the difficult part," Jo said as she put her arm around Mac and leaned on his shoulder just to try and let him know that she cared about his situation.

Mac knew she cared about him but he wished she would not do that because it made him want to just sob loud enough that everyone in that building could hear him. "Well, we can say one thing," he said. "Whoever did this had to have blood all over them."

"I want to see those crime scene photos again," Jo said. "With that much blood flying, there has to be something…I mean, how do you get blood all over you like this and then walk out of this place without anyone seeing it?"

"Good question, but they probably went out the back way into the alley."

"And took this sword with them? And had this blood on them?"

"No. I think this murder was planned and I think they brought extra clothes and they had something to put the sword in."

Jo looked at Mac with her mouth open. "You think this person killed him and then took the time to change clothes and put the sword in some sort of case?" she asked.

Mac nodded. "It's the only explanation. And maybe they left those clothes somewhere around there."

"I'll get Lovato on it."

"How is Flack?"

"Grumpy. He hates having to stay with his Gram and be waited on but she insisted that he stay there so she can make sure he stays off that foot until time to walk on it."

Mac smiled. "He's lucky."

"Yeah. Let's go look at those photos."

Mac took off his lab coat and the shield and laid them on the table in the weapons lab. He was glad he did not have to clean up that mess. He followed Jo out of there…just hoping that something would happen that he could get out of that situation with Stella…