The Bug Infesting Their Lives

Chapter 1

November 18, 2000

Stella looked at the files lying on Mac’s desk; she knew that those were the cases that were plaguing him, haunting him with their ever present reminder that they remained unsolved. She picked them up and flipped through each of them, there were four that were the usual, murder without enough evidence to convict the suspect. The last one was different, it was curiously strange, and it was that of a missing child.

“Mac, why do you have a missing person’s case on your desk?”

Mac sighed deeply, he didn’t really want to tell someone else about it, but he couldn’t really keep this from Stella. He knew that if he refused to tell her, she would ask Claire and that was something that he did not want to happen.

“16 years ago, Claire was kidnapped… she was raped and forced to give birth to a child… a little girl, before she was released. I’ve spent most of the time that I can on finding her because there’s a possibility that the child is mine.”

“What would you do if you find her and she’s not your daughter?”

Mac bit his lip as he thought, “Nothing will change, she’s still missing and she’s still Claire’s daughter.”

“How are we going to find her?”

Mac chuckled wryly, “We?”

“I’m not going to let you do this by yourself.”

“She’s 16 now. We don’t know what she looks like, let alone if she’s alive.”

“Sounds like you don’t want find her…” she teased, “Don’t make me tell Claire about this change of heart.”

Mac rolled his eyes and chuckled, “I do want to find her, and I’m only stating the facts.”

“Sure…” she said skeptically before lying the files back down on his desk and walking away.

XXXXXX

She rubbed her eyes as she woke up on the park bench. With a yawn and a stretch, she got up and started to walk aimlessly around the streets of New York. It’s been two months since she ran from the abusive house in California. She ran to be free from that oppressive and destructive lifestyle but found that life was just as oppressive and destructive as her father. She laughed when the thought came into her mind… he wasn’t her father, but she didn’t know what other word to call him. She hated him, but she could never kill anyone, no matter what he did to her.

XXXXXX

September 11, 2001

She stood on top of the roof of a high building, looking down at the people walking on the streets. She breathed deeply as the wind rushed through her hair and cooled her skin. She was going to jump; she was going to end her constant torment by killing herself, when an aircraft flying low in the air caught her attention. The minute it crashed into one of the towers, she raced down the stairs and through the streets in the direction of the towers. She burst through the doors and headed for the stairs when a wail made her stop. She headed for the sound and saw children of all ages and no adult in sight. She took the donut rings grabbed some yarn and tied the rings around her midsection. Once she made sure each child had a donut, she picked up the two infants and lead them out of the building and into safety, before the tower collapsed. She located the doctors and stayed with them to assist others and help reunite the children with their parents.