It was supposed to be an easy assignment. One week undercover. Gail would pose as a new dealer looking to expand her business and find the guy who was circulating a bad batch of heroin in Toronto. Piece of cake.

Gail jumped at the chance to get out of her own life for a little while. After Holly left and Sophie's adoption fell through, she was feeling adrift, so when Oliver asked for volunteers hers was the first hand to shoot up.

That was six months ago.

Turns out, Gail was great at being a drug dealer and even better at making the bad guys trust her. Taking out the dealer turned into taking out the supplier which turned into taking down the entire chain. Now she found herself in the middle of a joint FBI/RCMP task force trying to dismantle the Pulgatti mob family as they jumped between the US and Canada.

It had been a headache since the first time she shook hands with Ronnie Pulgatti, the only son of mob boss Carlo Pulgatti and heir to the Pulgatti operation. Gail wasn't sure why Ronnie took a liking to her, but two days after they met he whisked her off to Chicago to be his new right hand woman. She punched him in the stomach when he woke her up at 6 AM to show her the famous bean.

They'd been best friends ever since. Well, fake best friends. Trouble was, even though Gail was undercover to take him and his family down, she liked the guy. He wasn't some big bad with a thirst for violence and destruction. Ronnie just got caught up in a family business that he didn't really want any part of and Gail could relate.

That's how she found herself on a park bench in Vancouver on a rainy January morning. She'd just dropped off an envelope of what she assumed was cash at the home of Pulgatti's head distributor and was waiting for her RCMP handler to meet her.

It was fucking freezing and he was ten minutes late. Gail was ready to leave when she felt someone sit on the bench behind her.

"You're late," she said bringing her coffee cup to her mouth.

She heard the crinkle of a newspaper opening. "Yours is not the only operation I'm in charge of. What have you got?"

"Nothing concrete, but I think they're planning a massive shipment. I don't have any details yet, but I've been running money around to distributors and exporters for the past two weeks."

"You sure it's money?"

"Yeah. Pretty sure it's American currency. These are the kinds of guys you don't visit unless you're carrying cash."

She heard a sigh behind her. "From what I've heard from the FBI, there are dissidents in the Pulgatti organization. A lot of the higher ups don't think Ronnie has what it takes to be the new boss. This may be his way to prove himself."

"Whatever he's planning he's being careful. I'm with him every day and haven't been able to catch any details."

Gail heard another sigh. "We knew this would take time. You're doing a good job, Peck. Watch your back, your mother would skin me if something happened to you on my watch."

The weight on the bench behind her lifted and she was alone again. God, her mother must be having a field day with this. Gail would bet that Elaine already had an order placed for the medals. Taking a look around, Gail downed the last of her coffee and made her way to meet Ronnie.

/

"How was Frankie?"

"Tried to grab my ass."

"Yeah I should have warned you about that."

Gail tossed her keys on the bar in the hotel room and threw herself into the chair next to Ronnie. He eyed her with a smile. "You look tired, Walker."

The new name thing did take some getting used to. She was Alex Walker now. For the first few weeks she always had to remember to answer to it. Not it was second nature.

"Well, if you'd stop making me run errands at six in the morning I'd have more time for beauty sleep."

Ronnie's grin widened. "You could use it to."

Gail slapped his arm and reached over to grab a piece of toast off his plate. "What's on the agenda for today?"

"We're wheels up in an hour. I've got a meeting in Seattle."

She sighed internally. Gail hated all the flying they did, but she had to admit she could get used to the private plane.

"While we're there I'll need you to run a couple more errands."

That lit up Gail's radar. Something was definitely going down.

"Whatever you say boss."

/

When they landed in Seattle Ronnie gave her five envelopes to deliver, all heavier than the ones she distributed in Vancouver. If she had to bet, Gail would say the shipment was coming from the US into Canada.

"Get those out by 4 o'clock then meet back here."

Gail groaned. "God, if I knew there'd be this much flying I never would have taken this job."

Ronnie patted her on the shoulder. "Come one, Walker. I'm showing you the world."

They locked eyes and Gail instinctively knew what was coming. Her face fell at the glint in his eyes.

"I can show you the world," he started to sing. "Shining, shimmering, sple-"

Gail put her hand over his mouth and they both erupted into laughter. When she heard the disapproving grunt behind them, Gail rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Yuri," Ronnie said turning to him. "Loosen up a little."

Yuri was Carlo's right hand man back in the day. He got stuck babysitting Ronnie and was clearly pissed about it. From the first moment she laid eyes on him, Gail knew he was the real threat. Ronnie didn't have a stomach for the real stuff, but Yuri did. For years he served as the Pulgatti's enforcer. Gail could only imagine how many kills he had under his belt.

"You need to start showing some respect for your position, kid," Yuri said as he brushed passed them.

Ronnie threw Gail a look, but didn't push the issue further. "See you at four," she said before splitting off from the rest of the group.

/

The jostling from the landing woke her. She was surprised to see darkness when she looked out the window.

"Hate to break it to you, but you need more than two hours of beauty sleep to fix whatever you've got going on over there."

Gail raised a hand to her mouth and was glad she wasn't drooling. Her hair on the other hand, was a mess. She smoothed it down with her hands, but didn't fuss over it, there was no one to impress.

"Where are we this time?"

"San Francisco."

Gail just nodded and leaned her head back against the window as they taxied on the runway. When she looks back on it, this will be the moment where she should have realized she was in too deep. Six months ago just the mention of San Francisco would have sent her into a black hole of sadness. She hated San Francisco with their stupid sourdough bread and fabulous jobs that lured nerdy pathologists away. Once while she was on duty, a man walked into her favorite donut shop in a 49ers hat and Gail almost slapped him.

Now it was just another city. Hearing those two words didn't invoke any feeling in her nor did they conjure up images of the woman she was still in love with.

When they got off the plane Ronnie handed her a briefcase. "Take this to Antonio down in the Marina then meet us at Bocce Bar in North Beach."

"I have no idea what any of that means."

"Walker, you're in San Francisco. Google it."

Antonio was Ronnie's favorite export/import expert. The large briefcase of money pretty much confirmed that the drug shipment was leaving from San Francisco. Gail would have to find a way to contact her FBI handler.

After dropping off the briefcase Gail made her way over to North Beach. The bar was nicer than she expected, but still low-key. She headed straight to the bar and ordered a shot of tequila. The bartender reached for a bottle on the top shelf and filled her glass. Gail downed it and motioned for another.

"Why does she get the good stuff?"

The bartender eyed Yuri. "Because Ronnie actually likes her."

Yuri grunted and eyed her as she took the second shot. "You can stop staring at me."

"How'd it go with Antonio?"

"Fine. Where's Ronnie? I need to punch him for sending me to guys who get grabby."

"Over in the corner."

Gail followed his eyes until they landed on Ronnie. He was sitting with a brunette who had her back to Gail. Ronnie seemed to be enjoying himself.

"You jealous?"

Gail scoffed. "Of the girl? No way. I'm not interested in Ronnie."

Yuri raised his eyebrow and sipped his beer. "That's not what I'm insinuating."

If looks could kill Yuri would be in a thousand pieces right now. Gail stood up straight and tried to keep her voice even. "Do you have a problem with me?"

Yuri stared right back, sizing her up. "I haven't decided yet."

"Hey Walker!"

Still keeping an eye on Yuri, Gail turned her gaze to the corner where Ronnie was beckoning her over. She gestured for another shot and took it before making her way across the bar. Ronnie stood and gestured to the brunette. "Walker, I want you to meet my old friend from med school."

The woman turned and Gail froze. The air went out of the room and she was stuck there slack jawed looking like an idiot. If she had been thinking clearly (or at all) Gail would have been worried that her cover was about to be blown. She should have been formulating a plan to get her and Holly out of here without either of them getting killed.

But Gail wasn't thinking clearly (or at all). All she could do was stare at the pathologist as a weight in her chest was lifted. She imagined the look on Holly's face mirrored her own, but it was gone in an instant and replaced with a polite smile.

"Hi, I'm Holly," she said extending her hand.

Gail's eyes drifted from Holly's face to her hand then back again. She was sure any minute Ronnie was going to figure something was off and have Yuri put a bullet in their heads. Then Holly gave her the patented head tilt and she was instantly snapped out of her daze.

"Uh, yeah, hi," she said shaking Holly's hand. "I'm, uh, Alex Walker."

She dropped Holly's hand a stole a look at Ronnie. He looked pleased with himself. That asshat planned this.

"You have perfect timing, Walker. I was just going to take Holly to dinner, but I've been called away on a business matter. Why don't you two go out instead?"

"It's fine, Ronnie," Holly said noting the panic that flickered across Gail's face. "I really need to finish up some work at home anyway."

Ronnie's smile grew. "Nonsense! You two will have a great time."

Gail grabbed him by the arm and led him a few feet from Holly.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Look you need to have some fun and when I ran into Holly I knew she'd be great for you."

"Are you really trying to set me up?"

"Look it's a harmless dinner. Go have some fun. That's an order Walker." He left her with a wink and a parting smile for Holly.

Gail took a tentative step toward her ex-girlfriend. How the hell was she going to explain this?