Enjoy chapter 7! Chapter 8 is also ready, I'll probably upload tonight too :)
The familiar electronic 'beep' echoed through the empty break room. Stella moaned, and Flack looked understandingly back at her.
"Mac?" He asked, sure the response would be a yes.
In the end, Stella didn't even bother to answer, but explained, "Wants me to go over some results from the dumpster with him. God, Flack, I feel like I've been dodging bullets all day, especially since I got back from the trash dive."
Flack smiled sadly at her, wishing he could help. "We care about you Stel, that's all. Plus, you know Lindsay, she'd help criminals if the job didn't dictate she couldn't!" His ploy to lighten the atmosphere worked, but he was flattered that she'd opened up to him, even for a second. She didn't let people in, and to be honest he couldn't blame her. She'd been through enough to be wary of trusting people. But then, he supposed to himself, they all had demons. Their job seemed to attract troubled people. 'Too deep, Flack', he told himself, and then, checking his watch, he realised it was time to meet Danny, Lindsay, Hawkes and Adam at Casey's, like they'd agreed that morning. He looked to say 'bye' to Stella, but she was long gone.
Stella headed to Mac's office, full of apprehension. Not only had it been the kind of day that felt like a week, but he hadn't spoken to her since they'd been at the dumpster. She'd been sick once more, and that had been enough for Mac to get Hawkes to check her out. She'd protested, of course, and had managed to persuade both men that she'd sort herself out that night once she got home. She was back at the lab before she knew it, mainly to avoid the gazes she'd gotten, and had been working solidly all afternoon. And now it was 7:45 and she was standing outside Mac's door, watching him on the phone, no doubt to someone else in the lab.
He looked up and noticed her after about a minute, and they smiled at each other before he beckoned for her to come in. "Hey, Stel. Thanks for getting here so fast. I need another pair of eyes to look at this. These results suggest that the girl who was found today was Jack's twin sister."
Stella's look of confusion confirmed his own suspicions. "Ah yes, that's what I thought. Nobody knew about the little girl did they?"
"They certainly didn't. But that's not what's been bothering me, Mac."
He looked at her, and nodded. "Go on."
"The way she was murdered, Mac. It's so different from how he was killed. I know we thought there was more than one killer, but I wonder if they're trying to tell us something. The boy was killed by being asphyxiated, most probably in his sleep, as TOD was at ten pm. He was fed all the ice cream he could eat – Sid confirmed that, by the way – whereas this little girl was cut up. It's brutal, and callous."
"You know you're onto something there." Mac dropped his pen onto the glass table. "It gets worse though, Stella. Are you sure you want to hear this?" He continued as she nodded. "The girl, Olivia was her name, she was, well, she was raped before she died." He nodded as Stella's eyes widened. "I know, Stella, and Sid just got back to me on COD. It was exsanguination."
"You mean…" Stella trailed off in horror. "She died because of being cut up?"
Mac could only watch as she lost every last piece of confidence. Her stance changed and the arms that she had put on the table to sort through pictures seemed suddenly to be the only thing holding her up. Her straight posture sagged, and even her hair suddenly seemed to wilt before his eyes.
"Her parents are gonna love this. Hold on, who are her parents? They're not Jack's parents are they?"
Mac didn't understand. "They are, Stel. Biologically Mr and Mrs Sherman are both Jack and Olivia's parents."
"I didn't ask who Olivia's biological mother and father are, Mac. I asked who her parents were." She emphasized the last word, and Mac was shocked – Stella rarely snapped. Stella realised why he was confused, and suddenly her anger left her. "Just because they gave birth to her doesn't make them her parents. Who…I don't know…who fed her when she woke up at two am? Who sent her to nursery? Who looked after her?"
Mac understood now. This wasn't just about Olivia. This was also about her.
Stella arrived, hungry and tired, in her dark, empty apartment. It was, by now, 9:35, and she had only gone home after Mac threatened to have her removed. Automatically, she wandered to the fridge, giving a mental two-finger salute to the people who fussed over what she did or didn't eat. Disappointment met her when she opened the fridge. The lack of food made her stomach rumble in rebellion, and she sighed. Sleep then.
I wonder who might arrive at her apartment to check that she's okay? What do you think?!