The main characters don't belong to me but to the creators of CSI NY tv series. But Maria Kostopoulos is totally mine! And Dr. Irene Samaras too.
Thanks to Lily Moonlight for her help. She's incredibly patient and good teacher.
I Can't Say Goodbye
Chapter 15
For Stella in Athens, the second week of November had been terrible. The acid test. Success or failure.
Finally, the two days visit of the US President had taken place, plus the other European Union countries' delegations, all of them there to celebrate the extraordinary summit to renew and ratify the agreements of cooperation in economic and cultural fields. There were no fewer than 28 Heads of State and Government. Organizing the safety and coordinating all had been like making delicate Chantilly lace.
The Greek Department of the Interior had been on the verge of collapse, each one of the delegations demanding attention and priority, and effective protection while bringing their own police and security agents for the summit... and almost all of them did not know a word of Greek.
Stella thought that if it she survived that, nothing would seem difficult in the future. However, she had learnt to be careful, and she had often taken a little time out to breathe, to relax and think about her baby, and how it did not need its mother to be stressed out and driving herself crazy with problems.
Most of the leaders were men and had come to Greece with their wives, and the first ladies (and the two "first gentlemen") had enjoyed a guided tour of the Acropolis and a visit to the National Archaeological Museum on the first day, and a mini-tour the second to see the wonders of Mycenae, Corinth and Epidauros. Stella had focused on the President andAthens, while her assistant had accompanied the leaders' partners.
Everything had run perfectly, exact times, routes as planned... the enormous previous work that Stella had coordinated, including even the smallest details, had been rewarded. Nothing unexpected happened, and the city had barely suffered with the important event - the movement of delegations and agents had minimally altered the Athenians' rhythm of life. The wives and the two husbands of Presidents had enjoyed the visits, helped by incredibly good weather, with temperatures very mild for this late in the fall season.
Stella had been invited to the reception and farewell dinner that the President offered at the US Embassy on his last night in Athens. The ambassador had presented her to the presidential couple, praising her merits and making her directly responsible for the success of the security of the event. The First Lady had been very kind to her, asking her about her pregnancy, barely hidden by the Stella's light dress, in a deep green colour that highlighted even more her eyes. The embroidered round neck and bare shoulders fitted her especially well. In Maria's words when she had tried the dress: "The most beautiful of all the women, for sure. Queens, first ladies, and ambassadors' wives included. Come on, no comparison." Stella had laughed, resting one hand on her belly.
"Yes, especially with this belly"
"Yes, moró mou (*), very especially because of that belly" added Maria, very serious.
The next day, after dismissing the President at the airport, she had returned to the embassy with the relief of a successful work and the relaxation associated with it. The following day would be the time to analyze retrospectively the entire mechanism and see if they could improve or enhance some aspect of the protocol followed, but on this day, Stella had given her staff the day off as a reward for all their hard work. While waiting out the time of her consultation with Dr. Samaras, she looked at the photos taken at last night's dinner.
The photographer who worked for the embassy had already posted on the embassy site hundreds of photos he had taken. Stella appeared in some of them, in animated conversation with the President and First Lady, with her left hand on her belly. She laughed seeing it. Placing her hand in a protective way over her growing belly was something that Stella, as all pregnant women, had been doing with increasing frequency. She wasn't even aware of doing it. Probably a casual observer would not have noticed her pregnancy if she had not taken that position, the dress, loose-fitting from the neck, didn't show her body shape, but that hand resting on the maximum curvature of her belly indicated clearly how far Baby Taylor had reached.
The photographer seemed to have been delighted with Stella as a subject. He had taken her picture often enough to wallpaper a room. Looking at herself, Stella realized how her face had rounded and arguably softened. She felt good. If only she had Mac at her side... then the world would be perfect.
Doctor Samaras, Irene, as she insisted that Stella called her, wasn't very severe with her this time though her weight gain was higher than desirable, although not too much. Stella was eager to see the baby in her third ultrasound, and when it appeared on the screen, looking at them as if posing for a camera, Stella couldn't avoid a gasp. The definition that the machine provided was amazing. It looked like Mac, now she was sure! Those rounded cheeks and the small nose... The baby seemed to yawn, and ended in a gesture like a smile. The doctor caught it just in that moment and sent the image to the printer.
"Could I have the image in digital format? I mean, is that a normal image that can be sent via email? "
"Sure, of course, the snapshot is a normal image file. I'll tell the nurse to send it to you. Anyway, you'll have the total sequences on a disc before you go. Everything is recorded in your file, and Baby Taylor's own file"
When she said goodbye until the following month, the doctor walked her to the exit. The nurse was attending to the phone. When she finished, the doctor asked her to send Stella the picture taken today, and the two previous ones. The girl nodded and immediately started doing it, while a new incoming call diverted her attention. But she seemed to be able to do two things at the same time, so she localized the recorded images, attached the files and sent them to the email address in Stella's file.
In New York, the day had begun early for Mac. Even before arriving at the laboratory, Flack's call announcing that they had a new case had led him directly to the crime scene. A body had been found, apparently in the same place where his death had occurred. He had been stabbed in a blind alley. They had spent more than one hour collecting evidence before and after the removal of the body.
On the way back, Mac had received a call from Horatio Caine, his colleague in Miami. Horatio informed him about the delivery of certain documents relating to a case that they had followed along, which had also involved their colleagues fromLas Vegas. It had been successfully resolved, and some documents needed to be shared, so each delegation could complete their files. Horatio, who had usually a character even more taciturn and reserved than Mac Taylor himself, seemed to be in a good mood that morning. Before hanging up, he gave Mac the first track of Stella in nearly six months.
"Oh, Mac, if I'd known you were willing to let Bonasera go, I would have tried myself to steal her from you"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the rumours have reached me..." As Mac said nothing, Horatio continued. "About that new CSI super-laboratory in New Orleans, and that they want Stella to manage it"
Mac's heart was beating fast. New Orleans? Wasn't she in Europe?
"Who says that?"
"I don't know, I thought you'd be better informed, if you're going to let your right-hand go... Anyway, I've also heard that everything seems to be delayed because of the economic crisis, you know, and they won't have enough funds to finish and complete all the equipment before at least a couple of years... But you should know better than me. Or is it all just rumours?"
"I don't know, Horatio, I don't know with certainty anything at all..." The sad tone of his voice warned his colleague that it would be better not to pry. Horatio pretended he hadn't noticed.
"Well, Mac, I hope you'll come and visit us soon. You know, the sun, the beaches. You'd be welcome."
"Thank you, Horatio. Regards to all your team. "
Mac hung up while parking the car. After thinking a few minutes, he took his case, and thought that before leaving his office today he was going to go directly to Sinclair. It was time for the boss to tell him everything he knew, and it would surely be more than what he had told him when they first talked about Stella's rushed departure.
When he arrived at the Lab floor he saw in the hallway one of the officers in charge of security. Policemen whose retirement was close were assigned to that job, so they no longer had to do street work. The agent Smithson had been Stella's instructor when she started to patrol, and he adored her. He was proud of her seeing how far she had gone. Mac hadn't had occasion to speak with him since Stella had gone, but today Smithson greeted Mac with a smile.
"Good morning, Inspector Taylor"
Mac shook his hand.
"Hi Smithson. Anything new? "
"No, inspector. Do you know? This place is lifeless without Stella here. I miss that rascal, who always gave me a couple of kisses and a hug when she saw me..."
He scratched his head. "And how beautiful she was, this morning, when I saw her. You didn't see her?"
Mac gave Smithson his full attention. Had he seen her this morning? He tried to look calm.
"I haven't seen her... Where was she?"
"In the news, with the President, at that meeting or whatever was in Greece... She seemed to be in her element. Although it was only a few seconds, I have no doubt, it was Stella. When will she return, or did she with the President delegation? "
Mac was apparently calm, but the information was driving him mad. New Orleans? And now Greece? He remembered that the veteran agent was waiting for an answer.
"Well, I don't know for sure, Smithson, hopefully we will soon see her here..."
"I hope so... This hole is much better with her here" Smithson spoke as he walked away to continue his patrol.
Mac went into his office, dropped his case on the couch and sat down at the table. Out of habit, he turned on the computer. He had to think...
He should check, before all, if Smithson was right. He went on the Internet and searched for "President, Athens." Immediately, dozens of pages appeared showing the news about the visit. He opened the first one. They said that the night before the President had said goodbye to Athens with a dinner at the American Embassy... Mac typed "US Embassy in Greece" and entered the website. The events of the past two days, with the visit of the President, were already highly detailed. There were several photo galleries. Mac opened the most recent, with the dinner's photos.
He didn't have to look far. There she was, in all her splendour, in a gorgeous close-up picture. She was changed... she was... beautiful. In the following photo, she was talking with the President, both smiling. In the following, taken from further away... Mac stared, frowning. Stella had her hand on... It seemed like...
The faint sound indicator of an incoming mail warned Mac about a new message. Puzzled still by what he just had seen, he opened the message. The shock almost made him fall off the chair.
From: Dr. Samaras.
To: Next of kin Mrs Bonasera, Mac Taylor.
It was a picture. A baby, or almost. It seemed like an ultrasound image, but so sharp that the baby's features could be clearly seen, and even what looked like the gesture of a smile in the perfectly round little face. In the upper left, a text box left Mac on the brink of collapse.
November 15th 2010
Name: BabyTaylor
Week: 24th
Mother: Stella Bonasera
EXP. O8028-2010
(*) Moró mou means "My baby" in Greek.
To be continued...