Thanks to all readers and reviewers x
Stella,
Arrived safe and well. Currently in the mess with a few minutes of email time to contact home.
I hope all is well and that my replacement is settling in. Don't be too hard on him/her, they're new - they might not react as lightly as I towards a semi-automatic wielding 'Rambo Stella'.
We're stationed in a small town, who seem to be hospitable to us, for the most part.
Stay safe, with love,
Mac
---
He never was good at lying. Or was it that Stella could read him like a book?
For him to remember the gun…incident, meant he'd been reminiscing, thinking of home - missing home.
'For the most part' signalled all wasn't quite as rosy as some would lead you to believe.
But he said 'safe and well'. That was the important thing.
X
Clinging to her smouldering coffee cup like a life-line, Stella stalked the halls, still unable to shake the January New York chill.
Her instinctual glance into Mac's office brought her to a halt. It had stood empty for nearly a week now, the search for a temporary supervisor proving hard on next-to-no notice.
But now a man walked about, opening drawers, flicking through files, disrupting Mac's space.
She took the steps, trying to fight the initial dislike for when she had a reason. "Can I help you?" she asked, swinging the door open and reclaiming the office with her unrelenting stance, her cup still in hand.
The man turned to her voice. He was what you'd diplomatically call 'heavy set' with more hair peeking through his open-collar shirt than sat on his head.
Even on this freezing winter morning he was sweating, sending a glistening film to his skin, not to mention dark patches to his washed-out white shirt and a greasy layer to what hair he had.
"You must be Bondasera" he said, a grubby smile not quite reaching his eyes.
"Bonasera" she replied, through clenched teeth. There was the reason she was looking for. He thumbed through a file as if he cared, "You're right"
'Of course I'm right, Jackass' she thought.
"I'm Jimmy Palmer" he sat down in Mac's chair and leant back. His accent wasn't definable, but she knew she'd soon get sick of hearing it.
"Welcome to New York"
"Listen, lets cut the pleasantries, Babe. I know all about what's been happening at this lab. Cops shooting cops, evidence planting and complaints filed…Now that all screams to me like a boss too friendly with his subjects"
"Subjects!" she took a step closer. Who did this guy think he was?
"So while I'm here, it's all gonna change, Tuts" he leant back again, hands clasped behind his bulbous head.
"Alright, just wait a minute. I am not 'Babe' or -"
"-Candee!" he cut her off, jumping from Mac's seat like an excitable child.
"Or Candee!" Stella shouted. It wasn't until a woman passed her that she realised he wasn't calling her 'Candee', and knew just how much trouble they were in.
"Bondasera-"
"-Bonasera"
"-This is Candeece Carlson. She'll be filling in the open spot while I'm here"
The girl, twenty years old if a day, stood at maybe 5'2", Stella thought, although with the heels she sported, probably 5'6". She stood in front of Palmer, claiming him as her own, while attitude emanated every pore. Her dark bangs, reminiscent of Uma Thurman in 'Pulp Fiction' glossed bottle jet-black with Camero-red stripes.
Her dress sense screamed more street-corner than crime-scene, but the fake smile on her face told you not to bother questioning. "Charmed" she scowled
"Welcome to New York" Stella repeated, her teeth only slightly gritted.
Candee gave a tight smile and turned to Palmer. "Jimmy?" her fingers played over his arm, "Have you got the car keys?"
'Oh brother, they're sleeping together' she thought, rolling her eyes. 'What was that you were saying about too friendly bosses?'
Palmer and Candeece shared a conversation that even to the untrained eye was intimate. It wasn't overtly sexual, but the implication was there.
"So that's how she got the job" Danny whispered to Stella, sneaking into the room.
Stella chuckled into her coffee, the noise alerting the 'couple'. "This is Danny Messer" Stella announced, trying to cover. They didn't seem convinced.
"Jimmy Palmer. This is Candeece Carlson" he said, gesturing to the woman.
"We've met" Danny said, while Candeece smirked.
Stella spun her head to him, a smirk on her own face and her eyebrows in her hairline. Danny closed his eyes and shook his head- it wasn't a memory he wanted to divulge apparently.
"Alright, I have a case for you all" he declared, shuffling pages on Mac's desk, oblivious to the look given from Candeece. He told of the address and status of the scene and handed the page to Stella.
"Me and Danny are on it" They turned to leave.
"Take Candeece with you, show her the ropes"
"…sure" Stella said, definitely through gritted teeth that time.
X
Danny pulled the escalade to a stop in front of the new scene. An adulteress wife shot in her own home. Obvious suspect: the husband, who was currently in the wind. Just another day.
Danny took the perimeter while Stella and Candee took the inside. 'Show her the ropes', huh? Stella thought.
They took it slow at first, Stella taking the lead with the investigation. She questioned the next door neighbour, who heard 'nothing', then exasperatedly went onto examine the house itself.
Once they reached the kitchen, it got interesting. A bloody towel was found in the sink basin, Candeece said she 'had it'. Stella watched as she took a plastic bag out of her kit, open it up and go for the sodden cloth.
"Whoa, hold it! What're you doing?"
"Collecting the evidence"
"Not in that you're not" she snapped, taking a paper bag out of her own kit. She put the towel into the bag and sealed it up. "Moist cloth in a plastic bag seals in the bacteria, disintegrating any possible evidence we could find" an edge evident in her voice.
"…Oh" Candeece muttered, actually looking embarrassed.
Stella moved on, tagging the evidence and putting it by her case. They circled the room, finding the odd fingerprint smudge and/or blood splatter.
Stella had calmed down from the sink, and Candeece had done a good job of lifting a print from the door handle. But that was discredited when she went to extract a bullet with metal tweezers. "What're you doing?"
"Getting the bullet. We might be able to link the striations to the husband's gun-"
"-no, I mean, what're you doing with metal tweezers? They'll add different markings to the jacket of the bullet, rendering any ballistics hopeless" she tried to stay calm, and was priding herself on just how calm she sounded, when really she wanted to tear 'Candee's arms off and beat her over the head with the soggy end. Yep, that would do it.
That feeling was only emphasised when Candeece went to use Luminol to enhance a bloody handprint. By now, Stella was just getting tired of having to bail her out. "Not Luminol" she handed her another bottle, "Use the Leuco Crystal Violet".
"The what?"
Stella sighed, "How long have you been a CSI?"
"I graduated a last year"
"It's only January"
Candeece shrugged.
"Right." Stella peeled off her latex gloves with a resounding smack and threw them into an empty evidence bag. "Well, I'm going to have to talk to Palmer about this"
"About what?" she snarled
"Your inexperience and especially the fact that you nearly cost us evidence 3 times, Candeece"
"Oh, whatever!" she whined, storming off in a huff.
"Whatever" Stella mouthed. 'Very mature'
On her way out, Candeece nearly bumped into an entering Danny at the door. He twisted to the side just in time, watching her bounce off. "Where's she off in such a rush?"
"Palmer, I bet"
"On her own?"
"She needs to sulk"
"What'd you do?" he asked, his voice not as surprised as she'd have hoped. In fact, he sounded like he'd expected it.
"I didn't do anything! No, scratch that, I did everything. That girl has no idea how to work a scene. I had to save our asses three times in there!"
"'Our' ass?"
"Her ass"
"That's what I thought you said" he grinned. He didn't like the situation anymore than she did, but they had to learn to deal with it. After all, this was going to be it for the next 3 months.
"C'mon, lets get back to the lab"