Thanks for not hating my guts, guys. I appreciate it.
- - -
Stella walked towards the morgue with a heavy heart. People she'd known had died before, but this just felt different somehow. When she approached the doors to the autopsy room, she saw a young woman standing by the doors. The woman looked to be in her early twenties. She had long, wavy blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed to be almost cobalt in color. It struck Stella that the girl looked like an older version of AJ Blaine. With that realization, she knew exactly who this woman was. The woman glanced up, hearing the footsteps.
Stella gave her a kind smile. "Hello. I'm Detective Stella Bonasera." She held out her hand, and the woman shook it.
"Jennifer Blaine." Tears glittered in her cobalt eyes. "I suppose you know why I'm here."
She was surprisingly composed for any family member in this end of the building. "Yes, I'm afraid I do."
"It's funny; AJ always said that I didn't need to worry about her. But what are older siblings for?" Jennifer sighed. "My parents and my little brother are coming down from Boston."
"Were they on vacation?"
The girl shook her head. "I go to college here in New York. AJ moved down here with me. She never told me why. Then she got involved with that undercover operation. I'd never seen her so into something, you know? Our parents weren't happy at first, but when they noticed the change in her they let it go."
"How did your sister get involved with the operation, anyway?"
Jennifer gave a weak laugh. "She got this whole stream of evidence against a drug dealer in her high school. When she brought it to the cops, they were impressed to say the least. They were suspicious of a drug gang operating in another high school, and inserted her into the school under a different name. I guess it worked in the end."
Stella nodded and said, uncomfortably, "I need to continue my work. I'm, uh, working on your sister's murder investigation."
Jennifer nodded, and Stella started to walk past her.
"Detective Bonasera?"
"Yes?"
"Someone AJ trusted did this."
Stella turned. "Why do you say that?"
"AJ was good at her job. She wouldn't let anyone sneak up on her. The only person that would get close enough to kill her would be someone she trusted."
Stella gave her a small smile. "We'll find the killer. I promise you."
Jennifer's face was cold. "I hope he gets what he deserves."
Stella, sensing danger, asked, "And what does he deserve?"
"Death." Jennifer Blaine turned and walked away from Stella and the morgue without another word.
- - -
"Well, Sid?" Stella asked softly as she entered the morgue. "What do you have for me?"
Medical examiner Sid Hammerback looked up at her entrance. "I have a bullet, which is a good thing. Not much else I can tell you, unfortunately. No defensive wounds, tox didn't show anything abnormal… if it wasn't for the fact that she's dead I'd say that she's healthy." Sid sighed. "She would have made a good cop, you said?"
Stella nodded. "She already was a good cop."
"She should have ended up where you stand instead of where she is now…" Sid shook his head and handed her a container holding a bullet.
"Thanks, Sid. Let's see if we can get anything off of it, huh?"
- - -
Lindsay walked into ballistics, approaching Stella, who was staring at a bullet. "Hey, Stell, did you get anything?"
Stella gave a grim nod. "I ran the bullet and it came back to a service weapon registered to Officer Michael Lewis."
Lindsay let out a soft breath. "Tiger. How is he still in the system? I thought he wasn't registered as a cop any more."
"The gun was listed as stolen before Lewis left the NYPD. They kept it in the database in case it showed up. Not that it would've helped find the thief, but whatever."
"It's a bit circumstantial, but given who he is? We'd get him for AJ's murder easily."
"That may be the easy part, but the hard part is finding him in the first place. He's a wanted criminal; he's not going to be in the phonebook."
Lindsay sighed. "You're right, I know. If he's been on the run for six months, how do we find him now?"
- - -
Danny Messer was frustrated. And, from the looks of Jessica Angell, so was she. They had been assigned to a homicide other than AJ Blaine's. Angell, looking rather sulky, was standing next the Mac, who had ended up in charge of this murder.
"Mac, what's the deal? AJ should be the priority right now."
"Danny, I know you want to help Lindsay, Stella, and Hawkes, but crime scenes don't wait."
Angell seemed to take this as an argument for whatever case she was planning in her head, as she nodded and ducked under the tape, heading towards the first responder, who was standing next to the body of a white male. She stopped dead a few feet away, staring at the man's face. Her expression was one of shock.
"Angell?" Mac walked over to her, Danny close behind him. "What's wrong?"
"It's just… The vic… I…"
Danny had never seen the homicide detective stammer before. Something about the victim was clearly bothering her. "What is it? Do you know him?"
"Yeah." Angell gave a small laugh. "It's Michael Lewis."
"Isn't that-?"
Angell nodded at Mac's half-question. "Tiger."
- - -
You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?
By the way, if you were wondering, I totally named AJ's sister "Jennifer" because of Angell's original name. I am not ashamed to admit it.