Chapter Ten
Stella walked into the lab the next morning feeling like hell.
She had lain awake in bed the whole night, playing the conversation with Tomas over and over in her mind. And the only thing that came out of it was that even though she had been so close to the answer she had searched for her whole life, she was now farther away than ever before.
She would never know what her parents had been like, or why they had given her up, because they were dead, as was the only other person who may have known the answers.
Had Aletheia had a nice childhood? Had they been good parents?
When the first rays of sunlight had shone through her window she had finally given up on the idea of sleep and made herself a large cup of coffee.
The funny thing was, that instead of waking her, up the coffee had done quite the opposite and she had fallen asleep with her head on the table.
So now her back ached and she was late for work. She was never late for work, never.
This was her punishment for visiting Tomas and Lillian, she figured.
"Nice of you to finally join us", greeted Aiden with a smile on his face.
"Sorry I overslept", murmured Stella as she sat down next to Danny, they were gathered in the same room as yesterday.
"What? Stella Bonasera overslept? My whole world is falling apart!", joked Danny.
Stella slapped him on the arm a small smile forming on her face.
She noticed Mac standing next to the incident board when she came in. He hadn't commented on her tardiness.
She looked over at him and their eyes locked for a moment.
They had known each other long enough that she immediately knew what the look in his eyes was. He wanted to know if she was alright.
She had to look away, she couldn't stand the thought of him being worried about her at the moment, it made her feel even guiltier.
Luckily for her Flack choose that moment to enter the room.
"I ran a few background checks. The director Mr Coop my favourite suspect had a little run in with the law a few months ago... about an unpaid parking ticket.
The funny thing is that he went to court with it. He said that the policeman who issued the ticket was an old student out for revenge. And get this, he got away with it."
"You've got to be kidding!", said Aiden. "He went to court because of a parking ticket?"
Flack just nodded. "Unfortunately that was his only run in with the police. Our second suspect the Math teacher Mr Norman is an entirely different story. It's like he didn't even exist until about eight months ago. He appeared out of thin air, I cant find any trace of him before that."
"We should definitely talk to Mr Norman, that and the fact that he hasn't shown up to work since Aletheia Gerold's murder makes him doubly suspicious."
This was the first thing Mac said since Stella had entered the room. "Anything else?"
"I checked out the husband's alibi", said Aiden. "He booked the flights a few weeks back and his flight landed at JFK 4.55pm which is 11 hours after his wife died. I also spoke to the guy who organized the conference; he confirmed that Mr Gerold was there."
"I ran a background check on him", said Flack.
"Why? He has an alibi, he's innocent!"
Tomas hadn't killed his wife Stella was certain of that. The poor guy had been through enough he didn't deserve to be treated like a suspect.
"He might have an alibi, but a lot of suspects have had seemingly iron clad alibis that didn't stand up to close inspection. Get this, two years ago his wife died under suspicious circumstances."
"She was found at home in her bathtub she had cut her wrists. She was six months pregnant at the time. Her husband said she committed suicide." He looked over at Mac it had been more than 4 years since Claire died and he knew Mac still wasn't over her death. He sighed everyone needed time to greave and to him Tomas Gerold quick remarriage seemed a bit rushed. Turning his attention back to the case at hand he continued "Your pregnant wife kills herself and two years later you are married with a six month old baby? Nine months after his wife's death he knocked up the next woman. Am I the only one who finds that a bit odd? If you ask me they didn't meet each other after his wife's death", suggested Flack.
Stella couldn't hold back anymore. How could he say something like that! What was he implying? That her sister had an affair with him, while he was married? That maybe he killed his wife?
"That's not true! He loved his wife. Her death hit him hard. He had to go to grief group to deal with it! And that's where they met! He had nothing to do with her death and neither did my sister!", Stella yelled at Flack as she stood up and stepped towards the detective.
Flack held up his hands in defence "Hey I was just suggesting-"
"You were suggesting he killed his first wife, you were suggesting my sister was responsible for her death!"
"Stella!", yelled Mac, so she would hear him over her shouting at Flack.
She stopped in her tracks and turned to face her partner.
"What?", she asked with an still angry voice, she wasn't yelling anymore, but everyone could hear she was very close to it.
"Can I talk to you in my office?", Mac asked in a calm tone.
Stella knew she was in trouble. But at this moment she couldn't care less. Who the hell did Flack think he was to suggest something like that? She didn't even bother to answer Mac she just turned and stormed out of the lab.
Aiden and Danny had followed the screaming match with growing curiosity and were now watching Mac waiting for his next move.
Mac turned and glared at the two CSI's.
"Don't you have work to do? I want you to find the teacher", with that he stalked out of the lab. He used the walk to his office to collect his thoughts. As he stepped into his office he found Stella standing at the window with her back to him. He closed the door behind him.
"You went to see him", it wasn't a question, it was a statement. He tried his best to keep the hurt out of his voice. Why did she go? Why did she lie to him? He waited for some kind of reaction from her, but she gave no indication she heard him at all. This was part of the mystery that was Stella, he never knew what she would do next.
"Yes", she turned around and spoke in a surprisingly calm voice.
Was this really the person that just had a screaming match with one of their best detectives less than five minutes ago.
Silence fell heavily between them neither knowing what to say.
"Why?", asked Mac.
"I had to."
"Why? I just don't understand!",He knew he was raising his voice at her, but he just didn't understand. He wanted to, but the way Stella was acting, just didn't make any sense to him lately.
"Damn it Mac! I had to know! He's the only family I have left! But you don't understand that do you?", she was shouting again and Mac was pretty sure the whole lab could hear her.
"You go through your life with all your rules, you know what's right, you know yourself! We are completely different. I have lived with a lie my whole life. Every time someone called my name, it was a lie, because it wasn't my real name. Every fucking time I was reminded of it! Have you any idea what this feels like?", she glared at him.
"Maybe I don't, but-", Mac couldn't even finish the sentence before Stella cut him off angrily.
"That's right you don't! And there's no but, you have no idea what I have been going through since I found out I had a sister! You have no idea! My life has just gone to hell, everything is turned upside down! I saw her husband and her daughter and her friends! She was fucking perfect! And then I look at my screwed up life! My life is nothing! It has no fucking point! You know nothing about me! About how I feel! Nothing!"
She could feel the tears in her eyes, threatening to fall as her emotions started to get the better of her.
Mac watched her as she raged at him and he could feel his own anger start to rise.
"Maybe you're right, maybe I don't know you at all! Because the Stella I thought I knew, thought about other people and not just about herself! You think this has been hard for you? Well I have news for you! It has been hard for all of us! I saw you lying there dead! Have you any idea what THAT felt like!"
She had no idea how much her words had hurt him, which made him angry. How could she say these things to him?
"After Claire I thought I could never love anyone again! But when I saw you lying there," his voice was caught for a moment. His mind going back to the scene in central park.
"I realized I loved you! Or at least I loved the Stella I thought I knew! The Stella that always stood by my side, that was there when I needed her. The most beautiful woman I knew, who always thought about other people first. The woman who could capture everyone's attention with just a smile.
But maybe I was wrong! I loved the caring Stella, who was dedicated to her job. The Stella, who took care of people and never expected anything in return. Well I was wrong! Maybe your right maybe I don't know anything about you! Maybe the Stella I loved really did die! Maybe it was her lying dead in Central Park after all!", Mac turned around and left the office.
He didn't trust himself look back. He felt broken, emotionally shattered and this time there would be no one there to help him put the pieces back together again.
AN: I know mean cliffhanger, but hey there has to be something I'm good at right?