Chapter Two – Recognisable

By AnnieLouise2011

"It always smells like death down here!"

Jo looked up from the body she was examining to see who had said the disrespectful statement. It's not that it personally bother Jo, but she knew if a Family was down in the morgue to identify the body of a loved one, they would find it inappropriate and upsetting. The owner of the husky voice was a man. He was tall, had dark short hair and big bright blue eyes. He would have been attractive if only he whipped the screwed scowl from his face.

"Don! You're the only one who saw the suspect; you're going to have to identify him so we can move on with this case. So stop moaning." A tall, sleek curly haired woman who Jo knew as Detective Stella Bonasera chastised the man as if he was a small child. She approached Jo with long strides, her lips curling into a small smile. "I'm sorry to bother you Josie when you're busy, but could we have a look at our victim again? I think Don here may be able to positively identify him to be the suspect of a previous murder."

Jo nodded while taking of her latex gloves. "It sounds like a complicated case."

"It's getting that way" Stella replied with a lengthy sigh. She was frustrated, anyone could tell. She even looked fatigued with dark circles under her eyes and tensed muscles making her almost hunch over as she walked. It was stressful job working as a Crime Scene Investigator.

Josie pulled out the large drawer that contained the victim/suspect they were investigating. The man led on the metal drawer was of medium height. He'd suffered defence wounds in a struggle before death. A cut to his face suggested that whoever had murdered him had a weapon. Sid had said something about the weapon being blunt, which Jo was still trying to understand. She knew there would be a learning curve to her job, but she didn't realize how much knowledge she would have to remember. Thankfully, Sid was a nice man who was willing to lend a hand until she got into the swing of things.

"That's not who I saw." The blue eyed man, who was apparently named Don, had replied to Stella in a mono tone. "The guy I saw was bigger; more muscle."

"Are you sure?" Stella questioned Don who was apparently 100% sure.

Meanwhile, Josie respectfully covered the corpse back up with a white cotton sheet and quietly closed the drawer. She'd learned after working in New York for two weeks never to interrupt a conversation. She'd received a frightening stare from a man named Danny Messer when she interjected an idea of her own relating to their case. It turned out that Jo had been right all along, the murder weapon had been a fully automatic AK-47, not a M1909 Benet-Mercie machine gun as Danny had thought. How did she know that? Her grandfather was quite the gunman. An expert, in fact. When he was just a little boy his own father had passed down his knowledge and enthusiasm about shooting, wars and types of guns that have been used in different situations.

"Thanks Josie, we'll get out of your way."

Jo smiled at Stella and quickly replied, "It was no trouble. I hope you catch your guy."

"Well, don't we all." Don whispered, in a slightly harsh tone. The new medical examiner was unsure if he was frustrated, having a bad day or just permanently had a bad attitude towards his work. She hoped it was one of the first thoughts that came into mind instead of the latter option. Taking on a positive attitude, she let the thought lie for now, hoping her next meeting with the tall strange detective was more pleasant.

Stella flashed an apologetic smile Josie's way before rushing after Don to discuss the case in further detail.

"Sorry to disturb you, Sid told me that your case was high priority. This is the report on your victim."

Detective Mac Taylor looked up from his files and forms to look at Josie. He was an older man with strong features. He had bright blue eyes that seemed dull with stress and tension, but a thankful smile graced his lips. He gathered up his papers and placed the aside in a neat pile before getting to his feet. Walking around the desk and towards her, Mac took the manila file that contained the report. "You must be Sid's new protégé?"

Jo nodded, "My name is Josie Sullivan, sir."

Mac scanned Josie's features, which Jo didn't understand. He had confusion written across his features, and an almost threatening scowl gracing his lips. Josie felt awkward. She didn't know how to break the tension, so she simply bowed her head. Thankfully, mac took the hint. Realizing she was beginning to feel awkward under his stare, he looked away and quietly said, "You can call me Mac. Thanks for this, it will help my case move on."

"Eh, no problem." Jo turned to walk out of his office, but as she did she saw his reflection in the glass panel doors. He was watching her again. Was she no trustworthy or up to his standards? Jo quickly left the office and keeping her head down she walked silently to the elevators. Something about that man made her nervous.

However, Mac Taylor had a deep suspicion he recognised the new medical examiner. Those bright blue eyes, luscious brown locks and the fair skin with lightly dotted freckles. Thinking quietly to himself as he put the folder on his already cluttered desk, he remembered something he had long forgotten. Helen Sullivan; the one he used to think of as the love of his life. He could remember every waking moment he had spent with Helen. Mac had been on leave from time with Marines, visiting family and having a small break before being shipped off to Beirut to fight for what he believed in.

Helen had recently moved onto the street he had spent most of his life playing games, riding his bike and enjoying the childhood he had. She was kind-hearted, funny and had an adorable shyness that many people would fail to recognise. Mac didn't believe in love at first sight, but that was the closest he had been to finding it. In the short weeks he had, they fell in love.

Last he had heard from her, Helen was pregnant with his child. When Mac was discharged from his platoon he went to meet his love and the child she would have given birth to. But unfortunately, he found out from her parents she had passed during the strenuous hours of labour. And the child they knew to be a little girl was lost too. Born small and fragile, the child never made it through its first few days. It was that day he had lost everything he had been surviving for. The life he wished he would have once discharged was pulled out from underneath him.

"Mac?" Stella walked into the gentleman's office, seeing his distant stare and worried expression gave her a feeling of uneasiness. "Is everything okay?"

"Do we have records on Josie Sullivan's background?"

Stella frowned, "The new Medical Examiner? Mac, she's reliable, trustworthy and from what I have seen, she's capable of doing the job." Confused and a little wary of Mac's question, Stella added, "Why do you want to see her file?"

Mac sat at his desk, his eyes cast downwards to the files spread out across his desk. He didn't want to tell his colleague about his past, the older man just wanted to see if the new employee was related to the Sullivan's he had once known. She certainly had the same recognisable features that Helen once had. "I like to know who I'm working with."

Stella settled a little, slowly taking a seat in the visitors chair at the other side of Taylor's desk. "From what I've seen she works hard. She moved here from Chicago, just like you did. She was a doctor in accident and emergency until a year ago when she changed her career. That's just from what Sid has told me. If you wanna know more about her, ask him."

Mac nodded. "Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?"

Shaking her head, Stella replied with a caring tone, "Nope. You had that distant look which has the ability to make me worried. 'Cause if you're worried, then there must be a really big problem." Mac smiled. "I'll leave you alone then. If you need to know about Josie, ask Sid before you go snooping through records. She's a lovely girl."

Stella left the room and Mac didn't hesitate to access the NYPD employee database.

The database was more than just reliable. Every member to join the team, whether it was a detective, officer or Medical examiner had to go through thorough checks. Background information, qualifications, criminal records; it was a way of trying to keep the rogue people who secretly worked for criminals out of the inner operations. But Mac wasn't looking for criminal records, or even qualifications. The older man was interested in Josie Sullivan's past.

He tried to keep the worrying thought which was lingering in the back of his mind out of his direct thoughts. He needed to think clearly, though he was expecting the unexpected.

Skipping the sections of her file that stated her name, date of birth, current address and even previous employers, mac looked to the name of her emergency contacts. It was then the sinking feeling returned to his gut. Jack and Edna Sullivan were listed as immediate family and also as her emergency contacts. Jack and Edna Sullivan he remembered fondly as the people who had expressed their sincere sympathy for the loss of Helen and his child.

Mac Taylor was now begging to think they were not sincere.

Going back to the top of her records, he found her date of birth. She was born early in 1982, the year before he was caught in the Beirut bombings; the year of his last leave while in the service.

Mac wasn't sure what to do next.

Meanwhile, Josie sat in the small office and busied herself sorting files, notes and documents related to her cases into an order. It was a compulsion. When nerves got the better of her, she found any little job she could do to take her mind off what was bothering her. Cleaning, organising, baking; anything separate from what had worried her in the first place.

Jo was exhausted. With trouble sleeping, the stress of a new job and now worrying about why the detective seemed so interested in her, she felt weary. She rubbed her hands over her face, hoping it would liven her senses and help to keep her standing for the last three hours of her shift.

"Are you okay?"

Sid, worry written across his features, slowly entered the office. He placed a hand delicately on Jo's shoulder, wondering if her pale complexion, dark eyes and tensed muscles were the symptoms of some sort of illness.

"I'm fine, Sid. Honestly, just tired."

He took a seat by the side of her and asked, "Are you sleeping okay?"

Jo smiled. Sid reminded her more and more of her Papi back in Chicago. He always acted so proud, sending compliments her way anytime anyone visited the morgue to examine their victim. He'd always be there to ask for help and even came in early to check her reports so any mistakes made would be pointed out and rectified before the superiors got a hold of them. She didn't want to worry him. So thinking on her feet, Josie quickly made up a plausible story. "Not really. I'm still settling in, you know? It's hard getting used to living in a new city."

Sid nodded, though still sceptical of her answer.