A Shadow Darkly
I was sitting in the driver's seat of the training car at the old runway near the airport waiting for the instructor to come out of the building; this was so embarrassing and so not my fault!
The previous week we were involved in a high speed chase and I didn't have access to my manual drive SUV, I could never get the handle of automatic and the SRU had bought a manual especially for me to use. Well, I was in the chase with Ed as my partner and he was directing me where to go along a stretch of road that I had never been down before, he was holding onto the dash as I made quick cuts around corners and went across speed bumps at over 70 miles an hour – personally Spike loved my driving since I liked to go fast in the prairies. We had hit a bad pothole at one point while coming around the last corner and the only way to right it was slam the other way into the oncoming subject's car and side swipe it to right ourselves before we rolled – the trick worked but I was in deep dodo for it!
After we had arrested the subject and the patrol car took him away for processing, I was talking to Spike about the GPS tag being adaptable for the TDR as an extra tool in our arsenal; he liked the idea and after he got in a joke about Ed holding onto the handle during the chase, I was called over by Parker – I gulped and turned around.
"Yeah boss!" I said arriving beside them.
"You were great, but you're going to be put through your automatic training next week, you need to learn to control any kind of vehicle and that includes our beloved SUVs. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to go get Ed sedated after being your wingman in the SUV!" he replied laughing.
I stood there with my hands on my hips; anyone in the near vicinity was chuckling at me as I did a great goldfish impression and waved my hand at the boss as he walked away.
"Thanks boss – my driving isn't that bad!" I called waving.
"Not that its bad Mac, you just need to remember you aren't driving in the desert anymore – trust me, I hate manual gears, they annoy the hell out of me – automatics are a step removed from driving. Come on – lets go scare Ed some more by offering him a lift!" he replied laughing with me.
I looked at the rest of them who were laughing at the expression on my face and I grinned back and headed over to see Ed who was sitting on the wall trying to catch his breath again after doing a 100 meter dash and climbed three ladders to catch the subject.
The instructor finally left the building and made his way over to the car, he had a clipboard, full tactical gear and a crash helmet on; I was staring at him and as he sat down beside me I was biting my lip to stop from saying something cheeky. He wrapped on his off-road harness and told me to start up and drive to the runway where the obstacle course was; I did so and I knew this was going to be a bloody long day when I saw the score sheets.
I was dropped back off at the barn just after 5pm and I bounced into the building with a plan to get changed for the gym and beat some frustrations out before going on duty tonight, the place was empty – where the hell was everyone? I looked around the place and finally went in to the side entrance in case they were in the briefing room; I went into the room and flipped the lights on.
"SURPRISE!" everyone shouted at me.
I jumped out of my skin and then burst out laughing as I saw everyone dressed up for a party and the room had been decorated in streamers, balloons and pictures of me in the car with the instructor all geared up. I went over to where they were crowded around the small table and was passed a soda and given numerous hugs and kisses from everyone before Parker called calm on the place.
"So, it is with great honour, and relief, that Officer Mackenzie Fraser – our resident crazy Highlander – has passed her automatic driving exam with full colours and is also 29 years old today!" he said saluting me with his own soda.
"Thanks guys!" I yelled over the cheering.
They pulled me to the middle of the floor beside the TV wall and Spike came to stand beside me looking goofy, I knew he had planned this – uh oh, where was the cream cheese? The rest of the team came out to the front and started to hush everyone down so they could start some prepared speeches to get me all embarrassed.
"It is also with great respect and honour to announce that she has also qualified through her marksmanship training and can now support us in another role within the team unit. It is a remarkable achievement and we are all very proud of her hard work, dedication to preserving human life and the ability to still surprise us!" Ed continued.
He gave me a kiss on the cheek and passed me my official exam results with a huge grin across his face, I returned it and started to go red – Jules was next as she moved forward.
"You have grown into your role with a lot of responsibilities and you chose to save lives more than you follow orders to take them – I pray that you keep saving lives on a daily basis, and rarely have to take them!" Jules continued.
She gave me a massive hug and whispered into my ear, I nodded and we both flushed red.
"You are my number one back up when it comes to tactical entry Mac, you surprise the crap out of us on a weekly basis and you are to quote, 'one of the meanest highland lassies in Toronto and not to piss you off!' – here's to you!" Wordy continued with the speeches.
I was going bright red from laughing and getting poked at by everyone who was there, including Team four who I was working with for a few days last week on a warrant raid of several medical facilities. Sam was up next and I grinned at him.
"Well, what can I say about you huh? Sister in arms and honoured to work with you!" he called saluting me.
I laughed as he came over for a hug and he handed me a cold cloth to cool my red face down with – didn't help as I went red again as it was Spike's turn.
"No mushy stuff now Spike – we're still at work!" shouted a voice from Team four.
A round of giggles and then squeals came from the back of the room as Troy was ribbed by a few of the staff.
"Mackenzie Fraser – force of nature, compassionate and so tuned in to people it's scary! Now that I have been forewarned that she is a qualified sniper, I really do need to watch for those special days in the year! Here is to your future with your family and friends who have got your back!" he called to a round of cheers and laughs.
He pulled me into him and gave me a massive kiss, of course that's when the wolf whistles started and people started chucking their handcuffs at us; we picked a pair up and shouted 'already have a set' at them – that was another burst of hilarity and shouts of 'too much info'. Parker called for quiet for a second and came up to me.
"You remember what I said to you a few months ago? Well that has never changed and I am so proud of how you have grown into an amazing officer under my command and fitted into the family the SRU are. You make me so proud with the work you do in every day call outs and the follow ups you do when one of our own are injured in the line of duty. With you, we are stronger than ever because you bring out the best of us with your witty comments, sarkie attitude and the ability to mesmerise people with that accent - Happy birthday!"
Okay, now I was wiping away tears and leaned in to give him a massive hug and clicked the soda cans together before turning to everyone and laughing at the sorry state the meeting room was in – then I noticed the cake – it was two smashed up SUVs.
"Ed you're a dead man!" I called over the noise and chased him out of the room.
After we had got off shift we all headed to the Goose for a drink and time to relax with the teams off duty for a while, I was still getting ribbed rotten about my driving skills but they at least felt a little safer now they knew I could drive an automatic; we had an early start in the morning and Spike and I headed off after dropping off Jules and Sam at the hotel they were in due to the house getting sorted. We told them we would pick them up at 0400 with coffees at the ready and they gave us a final wave as we drove off.
"How did you like the surprise party – been working on that for days!" he grinned at me.
"Loved it, really had me going in the morning with the driving test – Ed's face was priceless! Meant a lot to me with everyone being there – thank you!" I replied.
He took my hand and I winked at him as he drove home.
The next morning after getting changed in the barn after a two hour workout by Ed and Wordy, we were all sitting in the briefing room chewing on the bran muffins I had brought in for some snacks; I was busy stretching off my shoulders, my scars were tight and they were doing my head in when they pulled - I had to go see the physiotherapist later this afternoon if we had time during calls. Parker and Ed walked in after getting changed and called the wonderful briefing to order, he passed us all files and hit the power point up on the screen; this could be interesting.
"Good morning campers, we have warrants to serve today and a possible club raid happening tonight with Vice and Guns and Gangs – tomorrow shift we will be emergency calls only as this could be a long night!"
"Sweet, could do clubbing tonight boss – in the mood for a little 70's revival!" I called out.
I was evil.
I pulled out an A4 photo of Ed, when he was younger, dressed up in his dancing gear roughly the same time Saturday Night Fever came out – he looked priceless.
The place was in hysterics as I passed around the photo and got my revenge on Ed for the birthday cake; he was red as beetroot and the hair – seriously! The place finally calmed down and every time someone glanced in Ed's direction a quiet burst of giggles started and it took us nearly thirty minutes to fully calm down. The photo was soon confiscated and we managed to get back to the briefing before we were useless as a guns team. An hour later we were out on patrol and I was chatting to Spike about where I got the photo of Ed, he was the practical joke expert in the SRU and I had learned from one of the best – with the help of Sophia!
For the next hour or so we went over the warrants that we were going to execute today with support from teams three and five. I would be split up with Wordy and Sam doing tactical entry while the others crowded the main entry point on black wall – I loved hard entry orders – you got a lot of stress relief using the universal key! That was the general plan for each warrant unless something happened and the plans changed from moment to moment. We had just finished the briefing when we were called to order by the Commander who walked in on us just getting up.
"I believe one of us is out of uniform, that's a serious breach of SRU policy!"
We all looked at each other and did a quick check, we were all loaded up with our gear and couldn't think about who and what he was meaning. He pulled out a small black box and every one of them stood at attention while I and Sam just looked at each other.
"Officer Mackenzie Fraser, front and centre!" called Parker.
I moved out of my space and stood in front of the Commander while Ed and Parker came to his side and took something each from the small box, they attached them to my lapels on my shoulders and one onto the front of my shirt beside my printed name. They all fell back into position and Ed winked at me.
"Officer Fraser, since you are one of a kind here, we decided to allow you to wear your home countries flag on your uniform. We decided that the Saltire was more fitting than the Union Jack as you represent some of the best qualities Scotland has to offer us – and we preferred its simplicity on the uniform. Also, on the confirmation of your marksmanship trials and official notification coming through this morning from HQ and the government, your new patch and sewing kit – didn't want to sew it on you while you were in your shirt!"
A loud cheer and applause as I shook their hands and received a salute from them all, I looked at my shoulders as saw the Saltire sitting there quite happily and was ordered to go sew my new patch on my wrist – thankfully they had already done so on my outer wear! Ten minutes later I came back out the first aid room with my new patches on and posed off my new decorations on the shoulders – I was grinning like an idiot again!
The first two raids went fine, no injuries or accidents and went so smoothly the warrants were being executed in record time and we had record amounts of arrests and drug hauls. The third raid was a lot more dicey, Spike had to diffuse grenades over the locks before we could go tactical and I was used as medical due to a civilian being hit in the cross fire as he came out the factory next door – thankfully he would make a full recovery from the stray subject bullet. Fourth and fifth raid were a nightmare. The place was crowded with chemicals and animal carcases, I had to go in with full mask and gloves with Spike to contain any chemicals that could cause problems for us and then deal with the Hazmat and Decon teams who used us as pin cushions to ensure we weren't contaminated after we came under fire and we ripped our gloves as we fell down the stairs due to the sloppy blood stains – all good on that one thought it didn't do my shoulder any good!
Last raids ended on a three Scorpio shots being taken by Jules, Sam and Ed – SIU was waiting for them as we left the building and the rest of us escorted the live subjects to the waiting police cruisers for transport. A few hours later they were released by SIU and allowed to go back on duty; I had organised clean uniforms for them all from their houses and laid them out on the table for them so they could go and change from the casuals. The day had been exhausting with the amount of work done and I managed to get away for an hour to go see the Physio for my shoulder – he advised me it wasn't my shoulder or back that was causing the issue, but tight scar tissue that may need removed by a plastic surgeon to stop any major issues like the wound re-opening. I drove back to the SRU and parked up, the doc had given me good news so it was a relief there was no major issues, but the scars were part of who I was and getting the worst ones removed due to tearing – not too happy about since it would side-line me for a while. I had been advised to keep them warm, hydrated with moisture cream and if there was any pain over what was normal, to go to the hospital and get an ultrasound to see if there was internal damage.
"Hey, how did the doctors go, everything alright?" Spike asks as I sign back in with Keira.
"Yeah, no damage to muscle or bone – scars are starting to tear in some spots so I might need to get them operated on to relieve the tension on them. I'm good for the next while so no big issues as long as they are treated with respect. It's a common side effect with large scar tissue – not concerning me at all!" I explained further seeing his face.
"Okay, as long as he is sure about it," he replied.
I nodded and we headed to where the rest of the team was waiting for us in the meeting room again after Spike had went out to get some lunch orders from the bakery down the road; thankfully he had grabbed me some food too as I was starving after the workout this morning and then the raids. I sat down on the chair and started munching on my food when Parker came in with another woman from the 52 station that I had seen before during another case a few weeks ago after I came back to duty.
"Alright campers, this is Detective Rose Strachan from Vice squad, she has just been alerted to a detailed warrant being issued for the club raid tonight – it is on!"
"YAY" we all called looking a bit more excited about tonight.
"Team one you disappoint me! You haven't heard the best bit – undercover work and free makeovers for two of you so you look the part!" he called grinning.
We all perked up at that, unless it was going to be two guys they send in, which brought a couple of comments to the table, it would be either Sam and Jules or Spike and me. I hadn't had a chance to do undercover yet and tonight sounded like fun.
"What club are we hitting tonight boss?" Jules picked up.
Parker passed the conversation over to Detective Strachan who pulled up the details on her laptop, seconds later they were on the power point and I whooped without realising it; I stuck my hand up and apologised going red.
"Do you know the club Officer?" she inquired.
"Yeah it's the Phantom on Dundas, massive three level dance factor; the higher level you go up the more intense the music – spent a couple of nights in there with Twinkle Toes here when I couldn't sleep – cool place!" I replied indicating Spike.
"Twinkle toes?" mouthed Sam.
"Seems your favourite dance floor is being used for illegal trafficking of sex slaves into Toronto – want to help put them out of business?" she replied curtly.
"Yeah, lets nail those bastards!" I replied simply.
She turned to Parker and smiled at the comment and the grin he was trying to hide.
"See what you mean about 'spitfire'. Alright you and Officer Scarlatti are my unit tonight inside the building. After this head to this address for wardrobe and makeover and they will transport you back here for the final brief before we get the go."
Spike and me high fived each other and got laughed at by everyone else – we shrugged our shoulders and I was gently slapped by Spike to watch the wounds. We focused on the briefing by Strachan and then after being cleared by the boss, headed to the address in a taxi so we could get prepared for our night out.