This is the second part of the Partners story I hope you like it, I'm not as confident about the second part and that's why it's taken me a while to post. Anyway, I hope you like it.

Harry was surprised when James turned up on her doorstep, she hadn't expected to see him tonight as he'd been in a long-involved conversation with Spikings when she left the office. 'I thought tonight was the night when I washed my hair or something,' she challenged him.

'Yeah I know but I got news and I need to tell you about it.' He followed her in and shut the door. Dempsey explained why he'd been closeted with Spikings for the last couple of hours.

'You've been recalled,' Harry frowned. 'Can they do that? I mean you work here now,' her gaze searched his. She'd known that he would have to go back to New York to testify against Coltrane but then Coltrane had been killed by a mafia hitman before he came to trial so she'd assumed that would be the end of it.

'I was only here on a loan; they want me back to clean up their mess. Root out the cops on the take, I hate dirty cops. I've been out of the NYPD for four years so they reckon I could go undercover and get the job done.'

'Wouldn't that be dangerous James,' she touched his arm. 'What if someone recognises you?' Harry hated the idea of him going back there and all the bad memories it would have for him and then there was also Simone and presumably other ex-girlfriends. 'Do you have to go?'

'I feel like I owe it to Joey,' his dark gaze held hers. 'If there'd been someone like me around who'd got rid of Coltrane then my partner might still be alive. He was getting married; I was gonna be his best man.' The American looked down, 'I still miss the guy, it's hard you know.'

Harry wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him to her. She knew how loyal Dempsey was to those he cared about and she knew Joey's betrayal had hurt him unbearably, he still had nightmares about it.

'You shot him in self-defence,' Harry reminded him. 'There must be other officers in the NYPD who could do it, why does it have to be you?'

Dempsey looked down at her and could see she was worried about him, 'I have to go Harry, it's important to me. It won't be forever I'll be back before you know it.'

'You never know you might be glad to be home,' Harry said lightly but it was a very real fear that Dempsey might want to stay in New York once he got used to being back there.

'Harry, I'll always be there for you, you know that,' he tipped up her chin so he could look into her eyes, 'those blue eyes of yours'll be haunting me every minute I'm away.'

'Did you get that from a book, Dempsey? It sounded almost romantic,' she quipped as she knew she was in danger of an emotional meltdown at him leaving her and wanted to lighten the mood.

'Nah, straight from the heart,' he rubbed his nose against hers, 'I'll be back princess, got to come back and claim my fake fiancée,' he smiled and then kissed her gently.

'When do you go,' she asked her body tensing as if expecting a blow. She had known she was passionately attracted to Dempsey but in truth she'd miss his company more than anything.

'Day after tomorrow,' he growled. 'I know it's short notice but the quicker I go the sooner I'll be back.'

'I suppose so,' she buried her face in his chest and breathed in the scent of him. 'If you're undercover it may not be easy for you to phone,' she said quietly.

'I'll phone,' he kissed her hair, he felt troubled at leaving her like some dark cloud was hanging over him. He had to put things right in New York, had to have some difficult conversations too when it was all over. He could come back to her then without the burdens that were weighing him down and be the sort of guy she deserved.

-oOo-

Harry and Joyce had been given a high profile case the 'Ritz robbers' as the papers called it; a high-class hooker had made off with a priceless piece of art that had adorned the hotel room whilst a very wealthy, business tycoon had stayed there. The piece of art along with others was his way of personalizing rooms as he travelled widely.

A spate of robberies followed all with a 'posh'call girl seeming to be in the mix. Harry knew one of her friends had been lured into that scene and decided to go and meet her and see what she knew.

'When is Dempsey coming back? The trial seems to be taking a while; how much longer will it take?' Joyce questioned Harry who seemed to be miles away after she'd asked the question.

'It's complicated. The Mafia killed Coltrane as they thought he might squeal and Dempsey is helping with the clean-up of the cops within the NYPD, he's taking care of the corruption; it's all taking time as dead men tell no tales which of course was the purpose of the hit.'

'Oh, that must be difficult for you both,' Hargreaves responded sympathetically as she knew very well there were strong feelings on both sides even if they weren't about to admit it.

'Dempsey's gone under cover to root out the rotten cops and I haven't heard from him for weeks which isn't uncommon but he hasn't got me covering his back and that is a cause for concern. I've always tried to temper his recklessness and it's worked reasonably well.'

Joyce picked up her tea and nodded understanding only too well. 'I'm glad Christopher's in banking which has its board room assassinations but it doesn't usually involve a trip to A & E.'

Makepeace smiled wryly as she had some sympathy with Joyce's observation. 'I'm going to contact an old girlfriend later, she's a high-class escort, she may be able to help with the Ritz robbery; it's either that or go under cover and I'm not really keen on that idea but we'll see.'

'I'm sure we can find another way, don't rush into any under-cover work Harry, it's bad enough that Dempsey is neck deep in it; when he comes back he'll expect to find you here.'

'Yes well, I may have wrapped it up by then and anyway it's my job to make the call on what options are available and Spikings wants some progress as he's getting some heat from upstairs.' She clicked her pen on an off a couple of times which showed her agitation, 'I'll see you later.'

-oOo—

'Hi Tiff,' Makepeace had found her old friend back at her parents' manor house in Oxfordshire, 'I'd like to have a word,' she smiled in a friendly manner.

Tiffany looked very awkward but suggested they go to the summer house and asked the housekeeper to have some tea brought out to them. 'Mummy and Daddy don't approve of you being a copper Harry,' the beautiful young woman informed her wryly.

Harry gave a dry laugh, 'I do get the odd whiff of disapproval from some of our family friends so I'm used to it; do they know about your profession which to be honest is probably a lot older than mine.'

The dark haired young woman coloured with embarrassment, 'no, they do not. They think my catering business failed to thrive and I'm currently working out what to do next. Luckily those people I knew in London aren't in our circle but every time daddy brings a new acquaintance home I die a thousand deaths after all we were often given false names of the people we were providing an escort service too.

'Do you still have contacts in that world,' Harry asked hopefully and her friend shook her head.

'Not likely, I've dropped all those shall we say acquaintances and I'm not in the least inclined to pick them up, in fact I'm thinking of going to France and pursuing a cordon bleu course to improve my skills.'

'I did that, my aunt thought it was a valuable asset on the marriage mart, it comes in useful from time to time and I do enjoy cooking when I have time.' Harry eyed her friend fondly. 'I need some names of high class hookers or their, shall we say, management. There are a number of high profile robberies and it's my job to sort that out.'

'Oh yes, the Ritz robbers, it's been all over the papers.' Tiff looked thoughtful, 'well I can give you some names but I can't be brought into this in fact if I do give you the names I will accelerate my move to Bordeaux,' she bit her lip nervously. 'They're not very nice people Harry, you need to be careful. I doubt the girls will tell you much they'd all be too frightened of reprisals.'

Harry nodded. 'Well as you can imagine I'm used to dealing with not very nice people; it's part of the day job,' her blue gaze met her friends. 'Give me the names Tiff and good luck with the trip to Bordeaux, I'm glad you're out of that game it doesn't end well in my experience.'

-oOo-

Harry was called into Spikings office to meet a new officer they'd been donated from C.I.D. his name was Sergeant Steve Bradshaw. Spikings made the introductions and it was obvious that Bradshaw was somewhat disgruntled at having a female boss.

'We don't have female officers in C.I.D.,' he pointed out. 'I don't think it would work, no offence Makepeace. I'd rather be in Jarvis's team as your Yank has something of a reputation.'

'No offence taken Sergeant but as you're assigned to me you will address me as Detective Inspector and you will keep any chauvinistic remarks to the privacy of your own home.' Her cool blue stare assured him that she meant business and hadn't been promoted because she was the Division's mascot or cheer leader.

Bradshaw ignored her and looked at Spikings for support and was surprised when none was forthcoming.

'I suggest you put the Sergeant on the Ritz case Harry as we inherited it from C.I.D. and Bradshaw will have contacts there for any detail we haven't been made privy too.' His dark gaze met that of the blonde officer, 'I'm sure the Sergeant will settle down once he gets used to the way we do things here and I don't think he'd last five minutes with D.I. Dempsey.'

'Certainly sir, I'm sure we'll rub along.' Harry exited the office and noted Bradshaw didn't follow but she left his expulsion from Spikings lair to the Chief Inspector and she could see that the interchange in the office was not going the Sergeant's way. A small smile played around her lips, Spikings had always believed in her and been her mentor so the officer from C.I.D. was on a sticky wicket if he thought he could overturn any decision her senior officer had made.

Hargreaves came in to give her the report on the clubs owned by the escort service they were investigating which were owned by one Angelo Fiorelli. She looked over at Spikings office and smirked. 'It looks like Bradshaw's getting his initiation.'

'Hmm… Apparently, the Sergeant doesn't like the idea of working for a woman perhaps I'll pair him up with you Joyce, working for and with a female officer would probably make his day.'

'No thanks, I'll leave you to knock the edges off him first; I'm just about getting to some kind of understanding with Watson and that's taken eighteen months.'

Harry smiled and nodded. 'Don't worry he's going to work with me on the Ritz robberies and if I do go undercover he'll be my control which will perhaps make him feel a little bit better about it.'

Joyce frowned at that as she didn't like the idea of her friend Harry going undercover as an escort with the added risk of a newbie being her control. 'Are you sure Harry, it's a dangerous operation and Bradshaw doesn't understand the way we work yet. I think it's introducing a level of risk that…

'Joyce you'll have to stop clucking around me like a mother hen. I'm an experienced undercover operative and working on some of our latest operations has been small beer compared to working with D.I. Dempsey. I won't do anything rash,' she promised her eyes dancing.

'I'm beginning to think you got used to an adrenaline high working with Jim and you're missing your fix,' Hargreaves observed dryly. 'You're the D.I. but I'd seriously suggest you think twice about assigning a new officer as your control.' With that she left Makepeace's office to go on a stakeout with Watson and was quite touched to note he'd brought sandwiches and coffee for them both.

-oOo-