o0o

Chapter 2

The bullpen of the Organized Crime Investigation Division was a hub of activity. Plain clothed officers and detectives scurried with way and that; handing off files, yelling information across the room at each other. Only a small number of then actually wore suits and the rest of them only a trained eye could distinguish the officers of the law from the criminals that they were detaining.

Feeling slightly out of place in his suit, Logan walked further into the commander centre. He pulled aside a uniformed officer and asked if he knew where Jami was. The officer didn't, but pointed Logan towards Mike Scarlatti's office in the corner of the bullpen.

The sergeant who was in charge of this precinct's undercover officers had just finished a phone call as Logan walked up. From the look on the other detective's face, Logan would bet that it hadn't been good news.

The other man slammed the phone into it's cradle so hard that the desk shook with the force. Scarlatti grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and spun, catching himself before he rammed into Logan.

"Mike Logan." Logan introduced himself not giving the other man a chance to greet him. "I'm looking for Jami Carter."

Scarlatti seemed to freeze mid-motion and his face went stone cold. "Who's asking?" He said, voice like ice.

"A former partner." Logan replied with a frown at the other man's tone. "We were supposed to have dinner."

Scarlatti's face made a funny expression; half-between sadness and laughter. Logan felt a knot form in the pit of his stomach; something was very wrong here. If Jami had been hurt...

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this; but Jami's dead." Scarlatti told him bluntly.

It took a moment for those words to sink in and when they did Logan felt he had been hit with a ton of bricks. All of a sudden it felt like he was walking underwater. It took him a moment to realize that Scarlatti was talking again. "What?" Logan managed to ask.

"I said I don't have all the details yet. I'm just about to head down there." Scarlatti peered at Logan. "You going to be ok?" He asked in concern.

"Yeah." Somehow Logan managed to pull himself together. "I'm going with you." He found himself saying.

o0o

The drive to the crime scene was a blur. Later, Logan wouldn't be able to remember anything about how they got there. He didn't even know where they were until Scarlatti stopped the undercover car and he looked up.

They were in front of Jami's apartment building. The darkness of the early evening was broken every so often by the red and blue flashing lights of the four black and white's that were parked outside the front of the building.

Scarlatti got out of the car to approach the officer's and let them know who they were and what they wanted. Logan followed Scarlatti after a moment. They were quickly waved through the crime scene tape and Scarlatti took point, leading Logan up the stairs to the third floor.

That five minute walk was the longest of Logan's life. He kept seeing the stairs as they had been the night before. On the third stairwell landing, they encountered four other officers in plain clothes and a couple of uniformed officers.

Scarlatti greeted one of the detectives with a brief touch on his elbow and nodded to the others. "Who's the first on scene?" He asked.

One of the detective's cleared his throat. "Ben." He answered. He motioned with his head towards the open apartment door. "He was picking Jami up. He's still in there."

"We can't get him to move." The blonde-haired woman added.

Logan heard Scarlatti draw in a sharp breath. "Thanks." He replied. He placed his hand on the first speaker's upper arm. "Hang in there."

Scarlatti motioned with his head towards the open apartment door and then he headed towards it. With a frown, Logan followed. Just before they entered, they were met by another detective. He nodded to Scarlatti.

"Richards; IAB." He told them. "I'm running point."

"Scarletti, I'm her commanding officer. Where is she?" Scarlatti asked quietly.

Richards cast a glance towards Logan and then back to Scarlatti. "You shouldn't be here.."

"Two minutes." Scarlatti bargained.

"Look, but don't touch." Richards cautioned them. "We have to preserve most of the scene if we want to get them."

He just moved aside, letting them pass. Scarlatti stepped inside the apartment and then stopped in his tracks. Logan -who was behind him- stepped to the side and saw Jami's body. Correction; he saw the large pool of blood first and had to pull his eyes away from it.

Jami was lying in the middle of the open floor plan; half-way between the kitchen and the living room. She still wore the light blue dress shirt that he had seen her in that morning as he had hurried out the door, though now it was bunched up around her waist; exposing her black undergarment. The shirt was bloody too; hand smears covered the left side and shoulder.

One side of the blood had smears in it; like someone had moved around in it. That someone – Ben, Logan could only assume- sat on the hardwood floor, covered in blood. He was staring blankly at Jami's body. Logan recognized it as shock. His face was pale and at some point he had run his hands though his dark hair, leaving behind dried blood.

Logan's attention turned back to the blood and his feet carried him closer before he realized what was happening. Jami's Glock was in her hand and there was several spent bullet casing on the floor. She had fought back.

There were several smears in the blood pool that didn't look like they had been made by Ben. She had tried to get up; tried to get help. Logan suddenly felt sick.

"I couldn't save her."

Logan looked up at the same time as Scarlatti. It was Ben who had spoken.

He looked up at them. "She was still alive when I got here." He told them hollowly. "She hung on. She..." He stopped; unable to go on.

Scarlatti took charge. He took the couple of steps towards Ben and crouched down in front of the younger man. "You did everything by the book." He said. "There's nothing we could've done."

"I could've been here sooner!" Ben replied angrily. "I could've..."

Scarlatti held up a hand stopping him. "Don't." He told Ben. "Don't blame yourself."

The younger man nodded, but Logan could tell that he didn't believe his supervisor.

"Come on." Scarlatti's said after a moment. "Let's get you cleaned up." He gently gripped Ben's arm and hoisted the other man to his feet. One of the uniformed officers came forward and took Ben out of the room.

Logan's legs suddenly felt like they couldn't support him and he sank down, careful not to touch the floor. His training was running on autopilot. "Oh, Jami." He murmured. "What did you get yourself into?"

As expected there was no answer from Jami. No laugh, no witty comment, nothing about how challenging she found the tough cases. Logan wondered what she would have to say about this scene. He reached out and gently closed Jami's eyes.

He sensed someone behind him and rose to his feet, turning to face the other detective.

"Come on." Scarlatti said. "We should get out of here. Forensics will be here soon."

Logan realized after he spoke that the sirens that he had heard in the background had gotten closer. "Yeah." He managed to say before following Scarlatti out of the apartment.

They passed Richards in the doorway. Shock gave way to anger and Logan turned to the detective. "Do me a favour. Let me know when you get these bastards."

Richards nodded. "No problem. Just keep your nose out of my investigation." He shot a look at Scarlatti. "IAB's got this covered."

Logan nodded, tight lipped. "Yeah, sure."

He and Scarlatti joined the other plain-clothed OCID officers out on the landing as IAB took control of the scene and a few minutes later, the forensics crew entered the apartment.

"Is the kid going to be alright?" Logan asked. He and Scarlatti had retreated to a quiet corner and were leaning against the railing of the landing.

Scarlatti gave a one shoulder shrug. "Maybe." He replied. "They were close." He caught Logan's confused look. "Ben is... uh, was Jami's partner." He corrected himself.

"She didn't tell me she had a partner." Logan replied.

"She was a private person. UC does that to you." Scarlatti said. He turned to look at Logan. "How well did you know her?"

"Not very." Logan admitted slowly as his detective sense started to tingle; Scarlatti sounded like he was starting an interrogation. "We were only partners for a brief time. Haven't seen each other in a few years. Why do you ask?"

Scarlatti shrugged. "Just curious." He replied. "Jami never mentioned you. Ever."

"Like you said, she was a private person." Logan answered. "We only worked a case together before she was transferred back."

"Major Case right?" Scarlatti asked. He shrugged in answer to Logan's confused look. "The timeline fits; Jami didn't talk about her time at Major Case. I was surprised to see her back in UC; thought she was moving up."

"Yeah. Well. The brass had it in for her after that case." Logan said tight-lipped as he thought back to that fusturating case that had ended in Jami being transferred back to the Organized Crime Division. "Has anyone contacted James Deakins?" He asked. "He'll want to know."

Scarlatti shook his head. "I'll get someone to call him." He promised. "Better from us then from IAB. You going to stick around? I can get an officer to drive you home."

Suddenly, he felt tired; very tired. He also had no vehicle. He nodded. "Yeah; that'll be good. Thanks."