Chapter Three – Attraction

By AnnieLouise2011

Lights flickered and the faint sound of rain could be heard in the distance. The underground car park was terrifying at the best of times, but even more so when you were alone. Shadows lingered and caused an atmosphere you would only see in movies. Josie hated it. Holding a stack of books in her arms which Sid had told her to look over in her spare time, Josie rushed to her car. Thankfully, she wasn't parked to far from the lift.

With each step she took, her heeled shoes caused a sharp click to echo through the vast space.

Letting her paranoid thoughts get the better of herself, she hurried her pace. But all of a sudden, Josie tripped, dropping her books and documents across the floor. "Damn!" She cursed, getting to her feet. Rubbing of her dusted knees she heard the lift doors opening behind her. And what made the situation worse, it was the detective she had met earlier.

Her bad mood was escalating and she had no patience for the man if he was going to act like he had done in the morgue.

"Hey! Are you okay over there?"

Josie winced as her knee ached, but replied "Eh, yeah. I'm fine, thanks."

Don Flack, the homicide detective jogged up to her and kneeled down to help the trouble girl to pick up her belongings. He seemed friendlier than before, Josie thought to herself. He was smiling ever so slightly, and the tension in his muscles had gone. There must have been a breakthrough in his case, or he was heading home and really relieved to be on down time. Whatever had made him smile, Josie was thankful for it. Not only did she not have to deal with an ass, he also had a charming, attractive look to him when he had a smile on his face.

"You're studying?" Don looked at one of the books intently, crinkling his nose in disgust at some of the images within its pages.

Josie smiled and took it from him, "I'm qualified, but like any job there's a learning curve. Sid's trying to help me."

"It's Josie, right? I'm Don. Don Flack." He held his hand out after they had got to their feet while Josie juggled her books in her arms so she could give him a firm professional handshake in return. "Hey, I'm sorry about before. Stella told me I was…well; that I was a bit of a jerk."

"It was a tough case."

"You have no idea." Don groaned. "So which is your car?"

Josie, quite embarrassed pointed to the side of them. Not only had she fallen directly next to her car with less than four steps to the door, her car was a beaten old wreck. It was 1994 hyundia luntra. The paint was beginning to peel away and the deep red rust was showing through the navy blue paintwork and it was covered in dents, scratches and it was too far gone to be recovered by a good cleaning. "Right here"

Don raised an eyebrow.

"Most of the dents were there when I bought it." Josie defended her car. "It's my first car."

Don walked round one side and examined it carefully. "It's not a bad car, just bad condition. How does it run?" Josie just looked blankly at him. "Good mileage? Economic on fuel?"

"Eh, yeah…?"

Don laughed. He opened the back door so Josie could slide her books onto the back seat. The interior of the car was not as shabby as the exterior. It was upholstered in black suede, and it had a decent stereo system installed. "How can it look that good in here when the outside-"

"Looks like it's been hit by a wrecking ball? My friend Malcolm was trying to modify before I had move here. The interior really needed doing. Cigerette burns in the seats, wires hanging out of the dashboard; it was terrible." Josie ran her hand over the top of the door and smiled faintly, "He said he was gonna sell it on afterwards and we'd split the profits."

Stepping out of her way, Don watched as she closed the car door. She seemed friendly, slightly shy but it sort of made her more desirable. If she was loud, crude or attention seeking like most new employees had done in the past, he would have avoided her like the plague. And that is why Don was never up for having a new person on the team. They were out to prove themselves which made them arrogant, loutish and annoying. "I'm heading out tonight with some of the guys from the lab. You wanna join?"

Josie smiled but shook her head, "I've got those books to look through and hopefully catch up on lost sleep."

"…Think of it as a toast to your first week here. I'll even buy you a drink to help you celebrate."

"Eh, two weeks. I've been here two weeks." Josie said quietly, trying not to laugh at Dons dumbfounded expression.

Don repeated, "Two weeks?"

Josie nodded and let an involuntary giggle escape her lips. "I guess you've been kept out of the loop…?" She didn't want to giggle. In fact, this man was having such an effect on her she felt as though butterflies were going crazy in her stomach. Not by what he was saying, because frankly, he was a typical male who had only actually talked about cars and booze. She didn't really know what else there conversation could have led to, but cars and booze where not particularly in her interest. Then again, Josie had realized she didn't have many interests other than her work. "It sounds great, but I'm gonna have to take a rain check. I promise once I've got this whole balance between work and down time sorted, I'll join you for a few drinks."

"It's been a while since I was turned down." He joked.

Josie shook her head a small grin appearing across her lips, "You never made it clear you were asking me on a date…"

"What if I was?" Don grinned that charming smile of his. Josie couldn't but think that if she was given the opportunity, she would not pass up the chance to stare at that grin all day. And that was just the start of what this man was turning out to be. His eyes, his friendly demeanour, his man's man attitude; It could make any woman weak at the knees.

Josie opened the driver door of her car, ignoring the faint squeak of its unoiled hinges. Giving a purposeful flirtatious smile, she replied, "Maybe some other time."

Meanwhile, in the confines of his office Mac Taylor hesitated as to why he had invited his close friend and colleague in. In all honesty, Mac was indecisive about his findings. He wasn't sure what to do, who to talk to or whether he should let things lie. So as Stella sat down, relaxing into the plush leather visitor's chair, Mac cleared his throat and tried to find the words to explain the situation. Seeing the trouble mac was having, Stella spoke first, "What's up, Mac? Is there something wrong with our case?"

"It's not to do with our work."

"Then what is it? Sinclair?...Reed?"

Mac sighed, "It's to do with Josie Sullivan."

Stella suddenly made the assumption that she understood. She stood from her chair and shoved her long curly locks behind her ears. She was a beautiful woman; long slender body, beautiful feminine features and eyes that you could get lost in. Mac had long realised this. But due to his work ethic, he never took their friendship any further. "Has she been hiding something from us? I mean, I thought Sid would have recognized trouble after Marty-"

"Stella," Mac said calmly, interrupting her mid flow. "Josie Sullivan's mother passed away during labour. Her grandparents have been her guardians ever since."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Mac sat down, looking to his hands on the desk so he didn't have to hold prolonged eye contact with his colleague. "When I was on leave during my time in the marines, I met this beautiful woman named Helen; Helen Sullivan. I thought she was the love of my life, and I guess she was until I was forced to move on and met Clare who I ended up loving just as much. Helen died giving birth. She had been pregnant with my child."

Stella sat herself down, but didn't say a word.

"I was told that the baby hadn't survived past it first few days. Josie looks so much like Helen, I had to check her records."

Finally finding words, Stella asked, "And you found out that Josie was that child?"

Mac nodded, "Jack and Edna Sullivan, Helens parents are listed as Josie's emergency contacts."

Stella nodded. "Okay, so…what are you going to do?" Mac shrugged in response. Though Stella was shocked about the news Mac had told her, she tried to think logically for Mac's sake. "Are you going to explain all this to Josie? I think she deserves to know. You were told your child died. It's not your fault you haven't been there for her since you finished your time in the marines. I'm sure if you knew the truth everything would have been different."

Thank you for reading. I'm lovin' the reviews, they give me so much motivation. And I'm glad to know people are enjoying reading this story.

Annie x