Disclaimer: I don't own CSI NY.

Summary: Informing the family only leads to problems

One more piece of evidence. They already had a strong case against Kevin Edforns. His breathalyzer read .1 at the scene. There was an open bottle with his fingerprints and his saliva. His blood was in the driver's seat, still wet from the head wound he received. Paint transfers on both the cars came back to each other. The last piece that would drive the point home was that he was driving on a suspended license, because ten weeks earlier, he had been caught drinking and had almost hit someone.

Then the circus started. The Edforns were fighting to keep their son out of prison. They fought and won the right to have him released on bail. Their son was with them, safe and sound.

Another son, however, was crying in the arms of the man who had married his biological mother. Reed had gone over to Mac's apartment after he heard the news. He wanted to know why he had been allowed out. Mac wasn't able to give any answers.

"I've become a magnet of people dying," he mused, holding the glass of water that Mac had gotten him.

"Reed, why do you think that?"

"First Mom, then Brian, then my parents. All of a sudden, death seems to happen more around me."

"Reed, you can't think that."

"It's true. Maybe if I had never been born, Mom and Brian and my parents..." He was on the verge of breaking down. Mac, for the first time, gave him a hug. Reed sobbed into his shoulder while trying to stay up by using Mac as a weight.

===/========

The funeral was on a cloudy day. Reed knew about the myth that burying the dead on a rainy day helped the spirits move to heaven. He didn't believe in it as much as his parents, but his parents had requested that their funerals be held on a rainy day. No one wanted to be out in that weather, however, and they held the ceremony before the clouds let go.

He was wearing a suit he hadn't wanted to wear so soon for a solemn occasion. He stared at the ground while the minister read from the book. None of his other relatives could make it on short notice, so friends of his parents were the ones filling the seats. Mac sat next to him. He had an arm around his shoulders while he also joined in the staring game.

"Come on, Reed. Everyone's leaving," Mac said, bringing him out of his self induced trance of staring at the ground. He simply nodded and walked out with Mac at his side.

The media circus had followed to the cemetery. Many photographers were trying to take photos of the young man and more than one had been blocked by Mac. Several reporters were trying to ask questions, which Mac replied with a no comment each time. The ringleader of the circus wanted some real reactions.

Standing next to the exit of the cemetery were the Edforns. Senator Robert Edforns was in a dark gray suit. His wife was in a black dress and their son, Kevin, was in a black suit that mirrored Reed's. At least one camera crew knew of the planned meeting. They were in the back, the anchor standing to the side.

"Reed Garrett. I'm sorry about your loss," Mr. Edforns said, holding out his hand. Reed took it and shook a couple of times before moving back next to Mac. "I'm sorry for what my son has done. He shouldn't have been out that night."

Reed kept his mouth shut, not sure if he could control the anger he felt. "Yeah, maybe next time I'll have to take my girlfriend on her offer," the young man commented. Reed noticed that he looked familiar, then he placed him. He was at a party where Reed had been trying to get information on people that took tests for others. "He was one of the ones that had the tests taken for him. He would hire guys like Brian," Reed thought. Painful memories flashed forward and he bowed his head to keep his tears hidden.

"Mac, can we get out of here? I don't like this," he whispered to Mac. Mac nodded, and resumed leading Reed out of the cemetery and through the media circus.

"Dad, what do you think?" Kevin asked.

"I think we may have ourselves a mistrial. We have to play it right though."

===/==========

"Taylor! What the hell is this?" Gerrard yelled, slamming the latest edition of the New York Times on his desk. It showed Mac and Reed at the funeral.

"Reed Garrett was a victim on a case a few weeks ago. We've kept in contact and he asked me to be there for the funeral."

"You know what this shows? It shows a personal connection to the victims. You knew them!"

"I met the parents briefly as I informed them of their son's attack. There was nothing after that."

"Edforns asking for all the evidence that you processed to be declared unusable in court."

"He'll need a better reason. One meeting is not enough to establish personal connections with a victim."

Gerrard breathed deeply before going on to the next part. "If there's anything else, anything with the victims or their son, the Edforns will be battling to have the evidence thrown out." Gerrard left.

Mac was just calming himself down when Stella walked in. "That's the second time in a week Gerrard's been yelling in here. I think he's going for a record," she tried to joke. Mac didn't reply. "How's Reed?"

"He's been staying over since he can't get any rest at his room. Reporters are knocking on his door."

Stella nodded. "Something bad's going to come out of this, but that doesn't mean something good won't also come out of it."

"What's with the wisdom?" Stella just smiled as the phone started to ring. "Taylor." He listened for a few minutes, listening to the voice on the other end. Stella's smile faded.

"What's going on?"

"The apartment was broken into. Someone attacked Reed."

===/===============

"I'm fine," he insisted to the medic. He was holding an ice pack to his head while a medic looked at the bruises forming on his arm.

"Reed," Mac shouted, making his way over to him.

"Mac, did you come to see the damage?"

"What happened?"

"I was asleep on the couch, heard the door open. I thought it was you, so I went out and saw this guy wearing all black. He started attacking me and I think I got hit in the head because I didn't wake up until he was standing over me," Reed explained, pointing to the medic. "He keeps wanting me to go to the hospital."

"That's probably not a bad idea."

"Mac!"

"Taylor!" someone yelled. Mac groaned internally as Gerrard approached him. "What the hell is going on?"

"Someone broke into my apartment. I wanted to know what was going on."

"That can be done over the phone now." He looked over and noticed Reed sitting in the ambulance. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"He came to look for me and found the apartment. The intruder attacked him."

Gerrard would have continued, if Sheldon Hawkes hadn't come over. "Mac, someone went through one of your cabinets."

"Anything taken?"

"No, but some of the files were laying out. One was concerning your late wife."

Both Mac and Reed looked at him. "What was the file?"

"A birth certificate. There was other things, letters, pictures."

"Great, now they know," Reed said.

"Who knows?"

"Whoever hired the intruder."

"Could you please tell me what is going on?"

Mac thought for a moment. Reed stood up and face Gerrard. "My mother was Claire Conrad Taylor."

Hmmm.

Aren't you supposed to be doing a movie?

What? Can't I have some time off?

(:) (Hit upside the head.)

What was that for?

I felt like it. (Read please. Review pretty please.)