Disclaimer: This is a work of fan-fiction, written, and hopefully read, strictly for enjoyment. The main characters of Mark, Steve, Amanda, and Jesse, as well as Cheryl, CJ, Dion and Chief Masters are from the series Diagnosis Murder, and as such are the property of CBS/Viacom. All other characters, especially Detective Reagan Yeager, her family, Martin Robertson, Phil Levington, Jan Burlington, Officer Campbell and Doctors' Collins and Dobson are mine.
This is the continuation of Rae's life in Los Angeles. The story starts two weeks after Suffer Little Children finished. You don't need to have read that story, but as you will find out who the murderer was by reading this one, you may like to read it first. I am grateful for all the kind words I received about that story, it was my first effort and the reviews were much appreciated.
This story was a lot of fun to write, the more so because of all the help I got from Jo. She read my story, commented on it, and made helpful, insightful suggestions. I wouldn't have enjoyed it so much without her. Here's to more stories my friend.
MondayRae stretched lazily in bed and turned to look at Jesse, who was still sound asleep. She smiled over at him and picked up her book off the nightstand. Today was the last day of her sick leave and Jesse had taken the day off so that they could spend it together. Rae smiled, put her book back down and her hands behind her head. She had to admit she'd needed the two weeks off that she'd been given. At first she'd felt fine. The painkillers that Mark prescribed had meant that her neck wasn't sore, and she'd tricked herself into believing that she was bouncing back easily. But when the medication had stopped the nightmares had started. She no longer dreamt that Mara was in any danger, now all she could see were Leticia Howard's hands holding the scarf in front of her, and even though she knew it hadn't actually happened, she could see Jesse running to save her, but getting further away instead of closer to her. Rae shuddered and got out of bed. She padded into the kitchen and put the water on for a cup of tea.
"Hey, I thought we were having a lie in!" Jesse's sleepy voice followed her out into the living area.
"Jesse, it's nine thirty in the morning! How late did you want to get up? Besides, I didn't wake you, I was very careful."
He followed Rae into the kitchen and she smiled at him. His hair was sticking up and he looked half asleep, and very cute. "Hey, handsome, I was gonna bring you a cup of coffee in bed." She walked over to him to give him a good morning kiss.
"Mmm, that's better than coffee! So, what do we have planned for today?"
"I thought we could go to the store and get the groceries in, as we'll …
The phone rang; Rae stopped talking and went over to pick it up. "Travis' residence…Oh, hi, Steve, oh." Rae's shoulders drooped. "No, that's OK, we were just going to have a lazy day… yeah I'll be there as soon as I can, we can talk about it then. Bye." Rae picked up her cup and walked over to the sofa. She sat down heavily and looked up at Jesse. "I would imagine that you got the gist of the conversation?"
"Yeah, you have to go to work." Jesse sat down next to her and took her hand. "Look, we both have jobs where we work long hours, and days off. I'm just thankful that you're still here for me to enjoy having around. So go do your job already, and I'll get the shopping in, and if you're real lucky I'll even cook dinner!"
Rae leant over and kissed Jesse on the lips again. "Thank you for being so understanding, I better get dressed." Rae wandered back into the bedroom and looked in the closet. She had half of her things at the Beach House, and half here. The trouble was, she could never remember what was where. She grabbed a pair of black jeans that she'd bought on her shopping trip with Amanda, and an orange t-shirt, I'll look like a bumble bee today, smiled, took her underwear from the drawer and headed for the shower. As she got into the water she heard the phone go again.
"Hey, Mark, how's it going?" Jesse was pleased to hear the voice of his friend, he'd been away from the hospital a good deal while Rae had been off work and they hadn't seen that much of each other. "No, she's in the shower right now, but Steve just called she has to go into work a day early... I think she's fine, Mark, she's still troubled by the nightmares, but they'll ease, and she seems to get back off to sleep easy enough…No, I'm at a loose end now, I don't mind covering at all… Yeah, I'll see you later."
Jesse went into the bedroom and called out to Rae. "Hey, are you still in the shower?"
He heard a muffled voice, which told him that she was brushing her teeth. "That was Mark on the phone, he needs me to cover a shift, so I'm working as well. I guess it'll be take out again tonight."
Rae came out of the bathroom; she had the handle of the hairbrush in her teeth, as she tried to attach her badge onto her belt while she walked. Jesse noticed her gun in a holster on her belt as well now. He was glad, if that had been there a fortnight ago, she wouldn't have nearly died. "Well, Doctor, I guess I'm no longer under your care. Thank you for the wonderful personal service." Rae walked over and ran the brush through his hair; she put her arms around him and kissed him slowly and passionately on the lips. "I gotta go, I'll speak to you later, OK?" She untangled herself and walked over to the door.
"Bye, sweetheart, I hope you have a quiet day."
"Yeah, you, too." Rae walked out to her car. Tom was shining in the sun. She had spent a happy hour yesterday washing and waxing him. She got in, shut the door, put a Michael Ball CD in the player and headed into town. The traffic was easing back a little after the morning rush, and it seemed no time at all before she was pulling into the parking lot at the precinct.
"Detective Yeager, nice to see you back. How're you feeling?" the desk sergeant smiled at her as she walked in.
"Morning, Bob, Not too bad, thanks. Is Lieutenant Sloan in?"
"Yep, I think he's waiting for you in the Chief's office."
Rae raised her eyebrows and headed for the stairs. As she entered the squad room she caught sight of her desk, there seemed to be a lot of paperwork spread all over it. She smiled; she hadn't expected anything else. She walked over and knocked on the Chief's door.
"Come."
Rae walked in and both Steve and the Chief stood up.
"Good morning, Gentlemen."
"Detective, I'm sorry you were called in a day early, but we needed you in at the beginning of this case. Did Lieutenant Sloan explain anything to you over the phone?"
"No, Sir, I said that I'd discuss it when I got in, it seemed the quicker option."
"We got a call about one and a half hours ago, to say that a body had been found in an apartment block in Venice. The victim was related to the woman in the call girl killing you were looking at for Detective Campbell. I want you two to take over the whole investigation. Start at the apartment house, and let me know what you find."
Steve and Rae stood up and went to leave the room. "Detective Yeager?"
"Yes, Sir?" Rae stopped as Steve carried on out into the squad room.
"I want two things to be perfectly clear. One, you do not go running off on your own again, everywhere you go let Lieutenant Sloan know first." Steve turned to listen to his boss.
Rae lowered her head. "Yes, Sir, I understand."
"And two, if at any time over the next few days you feel at all out of sorts, under the weather, or whatever you want to call it, you let the Lieutenant know, and you go home. I don't underestimate what you've been through, and you shouldn't either. That's all, dismissed."
Rae turned, joined Steve and went over to her desk. "Well, that went better than I'd hoped. I did wonder whether I'd be on the first plane back to London… Ah, there appears to have been a minor disaster on my desk! Haven't we been here before?" Rae smiled as she referred to the first day that the two detectives had met, and Rae had spent most of the afternoon clearing their desks so that she could work efficiently.
"Right, Rae, I guess we'd better head over to see the crime scene. The last I heard the Scene of Crime Unit was waiting for Amanda to come and view the body. She was held up by a six-car pile up on PCH this morning. I've been over there already, but I came back to get you. I wasn't sure if you would know how to get to this particular location, and I didn't think you'd want to see the Chief alone."
Rae smiled at his thoughtfulness and headed for the door. As they walked out into the parking lot she looked over to him and smiled. "So, your car, or mine?"
"Mine! No contest. I know we used yours a couple of times on the last case, but trust me that won't be happening again this time!" Steve pressed the remote control and his car unlocked itself. Rae slid into the passenger seat and put on her seatbelt. Steve got in beside her, smiled and pulled out into the street. "Remember, if you need to rest, or you feel bad, let me know, OK? Jesse'll kill me if you don't!"
"Steve, I'm fine, honestly. I needed the break, I don't deny that, but now I need to be back at work. Tomorrow would have suited me better, but we can't have everything now, can we! So what do we have on this case so far? Not the stuff that happened last month, but today's murder."
"OK, so far I know that the victim is called Ethan Norville, he was twenty-eight years old and worked as a delivery man. He was shot, at point blank range, the same MO as Kelly Brown, about six weeks ago. At present, all we know is that they were related by marriage, but if there is anything else we'll find it, won't we, Detective?
"Yes, Sir." Rae leant back into the headrest and took a deep breath. She was glad to be back in the saddle and although she had needed the rest she'd missed being at work. She was relieved that she hadn't come back to desk duty, but was able to get straight back out onto the streets.
As Steve pulled up outside the apartment house they could see the coroner's wagon parked in front of them. They both got out of the car and walked towards the building.
"What floor?" Rae pressed the button to the elevator and waited for it to arrive.
"Second, Apartment Six." The doors opened and they both got in. As they arrived on the second floor, moments later, they could see Amanda working in the corridor. They walked up to her, pulling on their gloves as they went.
"Hi, Amanda, how are you today?" Rae was smiling as she walked up to her friend. "What do you think of the jeans?" She gave a little twirl.
"Very nice, try not to get them covered in brains, Mr. Norville appears to have left most of his inside his apartment."
"She has such a way with words doesn't she?" Steve smiled and they walked around the body and made their way into the apartment. They both knew that until Amanda had finished her examination they couldn't touch the corpse.
"Nice flat – for a deliveryman." Rae looked around. The room was open plan. There was a kitchen area over to the left and in the opposite corner there was the bedroom, the only part of the room that had any privacy was the bathroom and toilet which was on the right hand side with a door about ten foot in from the front entrance. "I could not live like this, everybody who visited would see your whole life set out in front of them." She walked over towards the bed and picked a sock up off the floor, "See what I mean? Everyday visitors aren't supposed to see your dirty laundry, or your clean for that matter!" She picked up an ironed shirt, which was draped over a chair. As she did so she heard a noise and saw a coin roll away.
"Did you see where that went?" Rae got down on her knees. She could see the coin under the bed. "Ah, Sir, you might want to come and look at this." Her voice was muffled. She moved away from the bed. "You'll have to come down to my level though."
Steve got down onto the floor, and peered down to where Rae was indicating. He stood up again. "Has anybody got a flashlight?"
"Yes, Lieutenant." An officer came in from the corridor and handed over the torch to Steve. He nodded his thanks and got back down on the floor. He looked over at Rae and said "So this is what the world looks like from your perspective then?" She stuck her tongue out at him and indicated under the bed with her hand.
"Back to work, Lieutenant, if you don't mind!" but she was smiling. She'd missed his company; it was one of the few things that she had enjoyed during their first case together. It'd been an awful one, but it had resulted in her gaining three good friends, and Jesse.
Steve shone the flashlight under the bed where Rae had seen a pile of magazines, there was just enough of the front cover of one of them showing for her to know that it wouldn't have been on a newsstand next to Time Magazine. The beam of light also picked out a black box. Steve looked over at Rae. "I'm far to big to get under there, you on the other hand …" he let the sentence remain unfinished.
Rae got down flat on the floor. She shuffled her way under the bed, and started to hand the magazines out into the room. She had just passed the black box out and was about to move back into daylight when she started to sneeze. "Atishoo, Atishoo, Atishoo!" She felt Steve lift the bed up and she crawled away and stood up. She shook her head and looked at him. "Why couldn't you have just done that in the first place?"
"Sorry, I didn't think about it until you started to sneeze. Was it dusty under there?" He smiled as he said it and Rae looked down at herself.
"Oh, great! Now I look like a bag lady!" Her new jeans were covered with fluff, and her orange t-shirt was creased and stained. "I've been back at work what, less than two hours, and already I have to go change."
They walked over to the kitchen counter and put the magazines in a pile. Then Steve tried to open the box. He expected it to be locked. He wasn't disappointed. "Have you got a hairpin?"
"Do I look like the sort of woman who wears a hairpin? I don't have enough hair for a start! Why don't we wait until we get back to the station and open it there?"
"Steve, Rae," Amanda called them from the hall. "I'm about to head back to Community General."
"What can you tell us before you go?" Steve walked over to his friend.
"Not much that you couldn't work out for yourself. He was shot from the side at point blank range, and lost most of the front of his skull on the wallpaper. There's nothing under his nails, so I would say that he either knew who killed him, or he was so stunned that he didn't have time to put up a fight. He's still warm; I'd say he died a little after nine. I can't tell you anything else until I get him back to the morgue. If you come over in the morning I'll let you know what else I've found out. OK?"
"Yes, thanks, Amanda, we'll see you then." Steve put his hand on his friend's shoulder and she smiled at him. Then she picked up her things and followed the corpse out to the wagon.
"OK, I had a couple of officers start door to door enquiries before I came back to the station. Let's go and see how they're getting on."
Rae and Steve walked out into the corridor, just in time to see Officer Robertson get out of the elevator and head towards them. "Hey, Martin, how are you?" Rae was pleased to see the young man. She had become quite friendly with him on their first case, and he had sent her some lovely flowers while she was recuperating. "Thank you for the flowers, they were beautiful."
Martin felt himself turning red. He stuttered a little and then said, "It was a pleasure to send them to you, Detective. Are you feeling better now?"
"Yes, thanks, much. What have you found out so far?"
"Not a lot. Mr. Norville kept himself to himself. He'd lived here about two years according to the janitor. He was a deliveryman; he delivered newspapers to local newsstands and was usually back here by nine each morning. Apparently Friday's and Monday's he was a little later, but nobody seemed to know why. His neighbours knew that he slept for most of the late afternoon and early evening, but they said that they didn't see much of him, even when he was awake."
"What about friends, and family, did he have many visitors?" Steve was taking notes as he spoke.
"His next door neighbour said that he had two friends that used to come over once a week at about seven and she could hear them through the wall. She thought they watched videos or the game on Monday night football."
"So they should be coming over tonight. Right I want somebody on watch here, I want to know who comes over. Martin, what time do you finish today?"
"I've been on since three am, Sir, I'm due to finish at three this afternoon."
"Oh, right, well, I guess we'd better get somebody else then. Good work, Officer, we'll see you back at the station."
Steve turned to Rae, "How do you fancy a stakeout tonight, Detective?"
"I'd rather be at home with Jesse, but if you insist." She went back into the apartment. She could see where the wall had been marked to identify the brain matter there, and also the blood splatters. There was a man taking photos. She stopped and waited while he finished what he was doing.
"Thank you. You'd be surprised how many cops just walk in front of me when I'm doing that." The young man behind the camera smiled and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Phil Levington, and you are?"
"I'm Detective Yeager. Hi, how much longer do you think you'll be?"
"Not much longer. I'm on the last set of shots now. Good job I've got a strong stomach I guess."
Rae moved back over to the counter. "Steve, have you got anything we can put all our copies of Pleazure magazine and the box in? I think we're likely to get arrested ourselves if we carry them out like this." Rae looked down at the top cover and shook her head. She opened the cupboard under the sink unit and pulled out a black plastic rubbish bag. Trash, remember, it's trash. "Do you think I could use this?" She held it up as Steve came back into the room.
"Sure, just jot it down when we get back to the station, so there are no discrepancies."
Rae placed all the evidence into the bag and placed it over her shoulder. "Not quite Santa Claus, but who knows, this might help trap a killer."
They walked back down to the parking lot and got into the car. Martin Robertson came over to them. "All the officers have finished the door to door, Lieutenant, should we head back now?"
"Yes please. Can you make sure they all have their reports on my desk within the next hour?"
"Sure thing."
Steve put his seatbelt on and they headed back towards the station. "You know I get the feeling that it won't be long before Martin joins the ranks of Detective. He's a good reliable officer. I think he'd do a good job."
As they were driving along Rae's phone began to ring. She put her hand in her pocket and took it out. "Oh, great, it's the station, I wonder where we have to go now. Hello, Detective Yeager… Oh, yes, Sir, we're actually on our way back at the moment… No, I didn't bring it with me; I didn't think I'd need it… Uh, no, I think I'll have to go and get changed first; can you give me about an hour? Thank you, Sir." Rae put the phone back in her pocket and ran her fingers through her hair. "Oh, boy! I think I wish I had been put on a plane back to London!"
"Why, what's up?" Steve had been growing more confused the longer the conversation went on. He had no idea what Rae had been talking about.
"Apparently, the police swap that I've done with Cheryl has caught the eye of the papers, probably because of the Howard case, anyway the Chief has agreed that I can have my picture taken and an article written about me to appear in the newspaper tomorrow! However, as you can see, I'm not exactly dressed for the occasion. He wanted to know if I'd brought my dress uniform for goodness sake!"
"I guess you want me to run you back to Jesse's then?" Rae nodded her head.
"Yeah, I think I've got some clean clothes there... No, have we got time to go to the Beach House? I'll wear, the suit!"
Steve turned the car around at the next junction and they headed out towards the beach. Rae picked up her phone again and rang Jesse. "Hey, do you have time for a bite to eat? Somebody, mentioning no names, but he's tall, blue eyes, sitting next to me, has volunteered us for a stakeout tonight!"
Steve smiled, he could hear Jesse on the other end of the phone, "Yeah, it's quiet here right now, I'll meet you at the station in about forty minutes, OK?"
Rae folded her phone up and put it away. She shut her eyes and tried to ignore the fact that her photo was going to be splashed across the papers, still it would be nice to send to her children and her mother. I must phone her tonight, I really must.
Rae wandered into her room at the beach house, and headed for the wardrobe, she took out the suit and laid it on the bed. She had bought a white silk shirt when she was on her shopping trip and she got that out as well, then she headed for the shower.
Steve sat on the deck watching the world go by. It was good to have Rae back with him. They hadn't been together long, but their first case had been so intense that it felt like they'd worked together much longer than they actually had. He heard Rae clear her throat behind him and turned round. "Well, you certainly don't look like a bag lady now, very nice."
"Thank you, kind Sir, I guess we'd better go back. Ugh, I hate having my photo taken, they never look like you think they will, and I've normally got my eyes shut!"
She walked out of the house, and Steve locked up behind them. Rae looked at him over the roof of the car and got into the passenger seat. Steve smiled as he got into the car and saw Rae go to run her fingers through her hair and then stop herself.
When they arrived at the station, Steve opened Rae's door for her and she reluctantly got out of the car. "Oh, look, they forgot the red carpet, would you like me to carry you up?" Rae stuck her tongue out at Steve and headed towards the main entrance.
"Hi, Detective Yeager, there's a photographer waiting upstairs for you."
"Oh, great, Bob, is he early or are we late?"
"Stop making excuses to chat, Detective, come on, he won't kill you, just take your picture." Steve smiled.
"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Oh, yeah!" Steve put his hand on her back and guided her up the stairs. As they entered the room they could see the back of the photographer in the Chief's office.
"Ah, Detective, Lieutenant, won't you both come in?"
Rae entered the room and then smiled. "Oh, hi, Mr. Levington, it's a small world isn't it? How come you're taking live pictures then?"
"I work freelance for the national papers as well as taking pictures for the police. It works well because I'm in and out of here all the time, and was in the right place at the right time to do this as well. OK, I'll just take a couple of shots and then the reporter is out in the other room waiting to talk to you. Ah, if you stand in front of the Chief's desk the light will be in the right place. Oh, and remember to smile, unless you want somebody to put a number under your name!"
"Ha, ha!" Rae decided that she didn't want to stand up, so she perched herself on the edge of the desk and waited for Phil to take his pictures. She heard the shutter click and then saw him lower his camera.
"Oh, come on, Detective, I said smile!" Rae took a deep breath, and then out of the corner of her eye she saw Jesse coming into the office and a huge smile broke across her face.
"That's better, that was wonderful, great, I don't need any more, thank you, I wish all my subjects were as photogenic as you!"
Rae slid off the desk, shook hands with Phil and went out into the squad room. She walked over to Jesse and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. The room erupted with catcalls. "Down boys!"
"Hey, if we form a queue, can we all have one?" a voice called out from across the room. Rae smiled, secretly delighted. She guessed she was beginning to be accepted. She saw a young woman move across towards her.
"Hi, my name is Sarah Hutchins, I'm a reporter with the Los Angeles Times, is there somewhere we could talk?"
"Yeah, sure," Rae looked around.
"You can use my office, Detective," the Chief walked out through his door and gestured for them to enter.
"Jesse, are you going to come in, too?" Rae looked over at reporter, "That's alright isn't it?"
"Of course." They entered the room and shut the door. Rae sat down on the corner of the desk once again and told the reporter general information about herself, her age, about her children and why they were still in London, and what she hoped to achieve while she was here. Then she waited for the next question.
"So, Detective, how are you enjoying your stay in L.A.?"
"Great, I'm really enjoying the job," she turned and smiled at Jesse, "The people, and of course, the beaches are fantastic."
"I understand that you helped solve a particularly distressing child abuse case in the first two weeks of your stay, what can you tell me about that?"
"Not a lot I'm afraid, the case hasn't come to court yet, so I'll have to stay off that subject."
"It's true though, isn't it, that you were seriously injured at that time, and you've only just returned to work?"
"Yes, I came back to work today actually."
"So, what are the main differences between working in London and here?"
"Well, let me think. I'm getting used to calling things by different names, freeway instead of motorway, sidewalk instead of pavement things like that. It's great to know that the sun is probably going to shine most of the time, but London isn't as violent as L.A., although it's getting worse." She paused. "And nobody ever tried to kill me in London!"
"Who is your partner while you're here, Detective?"
"Lieutenant Steve Sloan, his normal partner Detective Cheryl Banks is in London."
"Well, I don't think I need anything else from you at the moment, Phil assures me that he's got a great photo, so hopefully you should be in the paper as early as tomorrow. Thank you for your time, Detective, and, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." Sarah looked over at Jesse.
"Oh, I'm Dr. Jesse Travis, how do you do?" He held his hand out to the reporter.
"Did you know Detective Yeager before she arrived here?"
"No, I met her because Lieutenant Sloan is my best friend and business partner in a restaurant, hey don't forget to mention BBQ Bob's, the best barbeque restaurant in town!"
"Oh, right. Well I'd better be going, thanks again for your time," and with that the reporter and the photographer left the room. Rae put her hand into Jesse's and then they followed them out.
"Right, how long do you have left for lunch, Jesse?" Rae looked at her watch, "Good heavens it's half past two already."
"I signed out until half past three, then I'm going to go back and carry on covering for Dr. Collins. There must be a place close by where we can grab something."
They wandered out into the street and stopped at the first Deli they found. Luckily it had a couple of tables out front and so they sat, ate their sandwiches and chatted about the interview and Rae's new case until Jesse's pager went off about thirty-five minutes later. "Sorry, Rae, I gotta go, are you coming back to my place tonight, or going home with Steve?"
"I hadn't really thought about it, but it would make more sense to go home with Steve, I'll see you tomorrow, Jesse." She leant over and kissed him, eyes shut, enjoying the sensation.
Rae went back into the precinct and made her way to her desk. She planned to spend a while sorting it out and writing up what she had learnt that morning and she needed to get on to the right authorities to get the details of Norville's bank account. She knew that Steve had gone to get the black box opened, so she hoped that she would have some time to herself.
It was almost an hour later before Rae had her desk back the way she liked it. Then she got herself a drink of water and sat down with her notebook open in front of her. She hadn't had time to make too many notes while she was at the apartment, but she had a good memory and in no time the pen was flying across the page as she wrote down her impressions of what had happened as well as the factual details about what they'd found under the bed. She unlocked and pulled open the drawer of her desk, inside it was a plastic evidence bag with one of the magazines in it, it had been dusted and she was about to look at it when her pager went off.
"Rae, can you come to the evidence lockers? Steve." She put the magazine back where she'd got it from and locked the drawer, walked out into the hallway and headed for her partner.
"Hey, I wondered, after I sent that message, did you know where I was, guess you're getting better at finding your way around."
Rae smiled at him, "It used to be meet me behind the bicycle sheds, I guess this is progress." She felt a blush creep up her face and hurriedly continued. "So what have you got?" She could see that the black box was now open on the counter.
"Oh, you'll love this." Steve held up three CD ROMs. "We put the first one in the computer down here, no virus' thankfully, but it's password encrypted! So this could take a while." They tried all the popular password combinations and came up with nothing. This was a job that was going to take time. Unfortunately they didn't have time; they had a stakeout to do.
Ninety minutes later Steve and Rae were sitting in his car watching Ethan Norville's apartment to see who would come for their usual Monday evening entertainment. Rae had just finished speaking to her mother on the phone. She hadn't spoken to her very much since she'd been here, but had been leaving messages on her answer phone whenever she could.
"So, how's your Mom?" Steve asked, he'd got out of the car and wandered up the street while Rae was talking.
"Not too bad, she says, hi, by the way, I decided that this would be another case I couldn't share with her! Hey, Steve, action stations."
Steve turned around to see two men going in to the entrance of Norville's apartment block. He picked up the camera and aimed it at the doorway; Rae got out of the car and followed the two men inside the building. She waited for the elevator and kept her coat wrapped around her. She felt the comforting presence of her gun on her hip and tried to look anywhere, but at the two men standing with her.
The elevator doors opened and one of the men looked her up and down. "What floor, sweetheart?"
"Oh, two, please." She noticed that the man didn't press any other floor buttons. When she walked out she turned slightly away from the men and bent down to do up her shoelace. She watched carefully and saw both men go to Apartment Six. The larger of the two men banged on the door.
"Hey, Ethan, come on man, open up." Rae could hear his fist as it hit the door again. Then she saw him put his hand in his pocket and take out a key. She reached into her own pocket and found her walkie-talkie.
"Steve," she whispered, "They've got a key!"
"OK, I'm on my way up." Steve jumped out of the car and headed for the elevator. He saw the lights indicate that it was on it's way down.
"Steve, hurry up, do you want me to move down there?"
"No, stay where you are, I'm almost with you." The elevator pinged and he hurried into it. Steve pressed the number two, but the doors seemed to stay open for an age, slowly they closed and he pressed the button again. I should've taken the stairs! The elevator moved upwards and he took his gun out as the doors opened. Rae was waiting half way down the corridor, partially hidden by a fire hose attached to the wall. Steve walked in front of her and they made their way down to Norville's door. Steve knocked and called out "Open up, Police." There was a pause and then a bullet shattered the glass at the top of the door. Steve flattened himself against the wall out of the line of fire, and Rae took up position on the opposite side of the doorway, together they waited. After a few moments Steve moved slowly back towards the entrance, he looked at Rae and mouthed cover me! Then he raised his foot and kicked at the door.
As they waited, with Steve back against the wall the room was quiet. Steve moved slowly out into the doorway and entered the apartment, Rae went silently round so that she could see her partner, but still be out of the line of fire of the men in the room. She hadn't been in this position very often in London, better start getting used to it girl, Steve needs you to watch his back. As she saw one man standing with his gun pointing towards her partner she watched a hand move out from the bathroom and point a gun at Steve's neck!
Steve froze, how could he have been so stupid, he had left himself wide open! He felt himself being pulled backwards. A voice spoke in his ear "Drop it, or I drop you!" he let his weapon fall to the floor. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Rae had moved so that the gunmen could see her and heard her call out. "Drop your weapons, now or I'll open fire!"
The man who was in the main living area aimed right at her, but she was quicker, she felt her gun ricochet in her hand and watched in horror as she saw him fall. She called once again "Drop your weapon, and let my partner go!" But she knew she wasn't in a position to bargain, Steve's safety was all that mattered now.
"No way, cop, you just wasted my partner, if you don't want me to do the same I suggest that you put you gun down in front of you and then back off!" The voice floated out from the apartment and it was strong and calm, if the gunman had any nerves he certainly wasn't showing them. Rae did as she was told and moved back, away from her vantage point. Now she couldn't see Steve so clearly, how did we get into this position? The man moved forward his gun wedged firmly into Steve's neck. Rae slowly raised her hands so that there was no doubt about the fact that she was unarmed and watched in dismay as the two men passed her. As soon as they had disappeared into the elevator she picked up her gun and raced for the stairs.
Steve walked slowly out of the building, feeling the barrel of the gun pressed tightly against his skin. He knew that Rae would follow them out, but they'd never been in a position like this before, he was certain that Cheryl could cover his back, but Rae? He hoped so. "Which car is yours?" The voice was confident in his ear, he wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
"The silver one."
"Of course, typical cop car. Give me the keys, slowly."
The gunman opened the car door. "On your knees, cop!" Steve complied; he knew he had no choice. He saw the butt of the gun move up, cried out as he felt a crashing pain, and then went down.
Rae came quietly out of the building, just in time to see Steve and the gunman move round to the driver's side of his car. She saw the door open and then Steve disappear out of sight.
The car screeched away and Rae shot at the tyres, but he was too fast for her. She saw Steve in a heap on the ground and her heart lodged in her throat. She'd heard him call out, but now he wasn't moving. "Steve!" She ran over to him and felt for a pulse. She breathed a huge sigh of relief as she felt the steady beat under her fingers. She pulled her phone out of her coat and dialled. "This is Detective Reagan Yeager, I need two ambulances, I have an officer down and a gunshot victim." As she started to give the address to the operator, she saw Steve begin to stir. She put a hand on his shoulder. She finished her call and knelt down by his head. "Don't move, Sir, I've called an ambulance, you'll be alright soon."
It seemed like a lifetime later, but in reality was only about ten minutes, when Rae and Steve were put into the back of the ambulance and on their way to Community General. Rae phoned ahead and told Alex to get Mark. Steve was wheeled through into the ER and the capable hands of Jesse. Mark followed them to the trauma suite and Rae sat down heavily on one of the chairs just outside. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see the friendly and welcome face of Alex looking down at her. "Hey, Rae, he'll be OK, he's conscious in there, its alright." At that moment another gurney was wheeled in. Rae recognised the paramedic from the other ambulance at the scene. Alex walked over to them and Rae heard one of them speak to him.
"No point, Dr. Martin, this one's DOA."
"Oh, my God!" Rae's hand went to her mouth, she suddenly felt very dizzy. Alex was back at her side in an instant. "Alex, I need a bowl, quickly!"
"It's OK, Rae, put your head down for a bit. You'll be fine. Dr. Travis, can you come out here a minute please?" Jesse rushed out from where he had been trying to convince Steve, that he would be admitted, whether he wanted to be or not and saw Rae being sick into a metal bowl that Alex was holding in front of her.
"Rae, honey, he's going to be alright, he has a mild concussion, just like you had a couple of weeks back, it's nothing too serious." Rae looked up at this kind and gentle man that she loved with all her heart. The tears were forming in her eyes.
"Oh, God, Jesse, I just killed a man! I shot him and he's dead! What am I going to do?"
"OK, this is what we're going to do. First of all I'm going to admit Steve, whether he likes it or not, and trust me he won't! Mark will stay with him and make sure he goes off to sleep. Then I'll drive you back to my place, make you a hot drink and we can talk about this, does that sound like a plan to you?"
She nodded. "Thank you, Jess." He straightened up and looked across at Alex.
"Stay with her will you? When we move Steve you can take her into the Doctor's Lounge, I won't be long."
"Sure thing, Dr. Travis."
A couple of minutes later Rae saw her partner being wheeled out of the room. She got shakily to her feet, walked over to him and covered his hand with her own. "I'm so sorry, Steve, are you OK? I was so worried about you."
"Rae, I'm fine, I really could go home. Dad?"
"No, son, would you have let Rae go home when she was attacked by Mrs. Tennant? No, of course you wouldn't and we're not letting you go either."
"I guess it'll be me waiting in the corridor tomorrow morning then, I'll see you about nineish. Sleep well," She leant over and kissed him on the forehead. She straightened up and walked back over to where Alex was standing waiting for her.
"Come on, Rae, come and sit down, before you fall down!"
Now that Steve had gone Rae seemed to shrink in on herself. She sat down on the chair just inside the door of the lounge and ran her fingers distractedly through her hair. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. She had always loved being a cop, but it was so hard and fast here, suddenly she wondered if Cheryl was finding it deadly dull in London. "Hey, Rae, wake up, sweetie, and I'll take you home." Jesse was by her side, she hadn't realised that she'd nodded off, but she didn't think it had been for long. She stood up and turned to look at Alex.
"Thank you, Alex, for being there for me. I owe you a beer the next time we're at Bob's together."
"Hey, no problem, it goes with the white coat and the stethoscope y'know!" He smiled at her, and touched her gently on the shoulder. She'd sure had it rough since she'd arrived. He wasn't sure if he could cope with that much excitement in such a short space of time, "Take care now, I'll see you tomorrow, Dr. Travis."
Rae let Jesse guide her down to his car in the parking lot and she sat motionless all the way home. She gave herself a mental shake as she saw the familiar building where she'd been spending most of her time come into view and was able to smile at Jesse when he opened the car door for her. "Come on, let's get inside and see if we can find enough food to make a reasonably decent meal."
Once Rae got inside the apartment she excused herself and headed for the shower. She let the hot water pound her body for about ten minutes before she turned it onto cold and let that do the same. Then she grabbed a grey pair of tracksuit pants that Jesse had lent her and a baggy top, pulled them on and went back out to where Jesse was hopefully working wonders in the kitchen.
"OK, we have tomato soup, mushroom soup or breakfast cereal! Which would you prefer?"
"Ooh, decisions, decisions, I'll have the mushroom soup if that's alright. Thanks, Jess." He busied himself putting food into the microwave and getting out cutlery, then he made his way to where Rae was sitting.
Jesse sat down and looked at Rae as she made herself comfortable on the sofa. He smiled over at her and was relieved when she smiled back. They sat in silence while they ate their light supper. When they'd finished Jesse collected up the two bowls and left them on the kitchen counter. Then he went and sat next to Rae and put his arm around her shoulders. "What was wrong at the hospital, Rae? You said that you killed that guy, but you were just protecting your partner right?" Suddenly Jesse thought he understood. "You killed him, Rae, you've never killed anybody before, am I right?"
The tears were back in Rae's eyes. "I didn't even think about it, Jess. I knew that Steve was in danger, and I just pulled the trigger. Somebody is dead tonight because of me!" She shut her eyes and Jesse felt her shiver.
"Look, was there any other way out of the situation? Why did you need to shoot him to save Steve?"
"Because the other guy had his gun up at the back of Steve's neck. Then after I'd shot his partner he told me to put my gun down and back away. I did and he moved Steve out and down towards the car… I followed as soon as I could, but I wasn't in time… Rae was getting sleepy, she stifled a yawn and then a thought hit her, "Oh, great, I just thought, my bag was still in the car. All my credit cards, your house keys, everything. This night just goes from bad to worse. Jesse, could you phone Mark, I don't think there was anything to show which key belonged where, but just in case." He nodded and went to make his call.
Rae picked up her phone and called the number for the credit card hotline she'd programmed in, and started to give them the details of the cards she'd had stolen. As she finished speaking it rang. "Detective Yeager… Yes, Chief, I'm sorry… I was going to ring you in a minute… No, I can come back in now if you would like… OK, first thing in the morning then, Sir… Yes, Sir… and I'm sorry, Sir… Yes, Goodnight."
Rae collapsed back into the chair. "That was the Chief, wanting to know why I hadn't phoned him, I never gave it a thought, I should have called him when I got to the hospital. Oh, Jesse, let's go to bed, I think I'd like this day to be over as soon as possible." She got up and walked into the bedroom. Jesse turned off all the lights and followed her through. They both undressed in silence and slipped under the covers. Rae snuggled up against him and hoped that she would have an undisturbed night's sleep.
Jesse eased his body gently away from Rae's so that he could rest his arm over her shoulder. She moved slightly and he lay there and watched her as she drifted off to sleep. He knew that he shouldn't have done it, but he felt sure that the sedative he'd put in her soup would keep her in a sound and dreamless sleep until the morning.