Ray and Blair walked back into the cabin laughing and soaking wet. It had started raining about an hour after they had started fishing. By the time they got back to the cabin, it was pouring. "You best get out of those wet clothes," Ray said as he took the fish they had managed to catch to the kitchen. "I don't think Jim would be too pleased with me if I let you catch pneumonia."
"Probably not," Blair laughed. Then he started to cough. Ray didn't think anything about the cough until it didn't stop and he saw Blair hanging onto the back of the couch for support.
He rushed over to the younger man. "Blair!"
"Backpack," Blair managed to get out.
Ray rushed over to the backpack and started rummaging through it until he found an inhaler. He handed it to Blair. Blair took a couple of puffs before the coughing stopped. Ray looked at him. "Get out of those wet clothes. Then I think you better tell me what's going on."
Blair nodded. Thirty minutes later, he had told Ray everything about Alex Barnes, only leaving out the part about her being a Sentinel.
"Let me get this straight," Ray said as he got up and started to pace. "This woman tried to kill you and instead of staying in the hospital where you belonged, you went after her?"
"Pretty much," Blair said as Ray gave him a look. "I know it wasn't the best idea I've ever had. I had to go, Ray. Jim needed my help."
"Jim's a trained police officer!" Ray said as he started to pace again. "He should have sent you back home. He should have never let you go traipsing through the jungle."
Blair got up and stood in front of Ray. "It was my choice to go after Jim. It was my choice, Ray. You can't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing."
"No, and that's what scares me," Ray said as he went out the back door.
Blair sighed. "Well, at least it stopped raining," he said to himself. He heard the truck pull up and went outside to great Jim. "Did you find out everything you wanted to know?"
"Not everything," Jim said as he walked up to the younger man. "There's a file on him that's sealed. It requires government clearance, Chief."
"Yeah, that would be what led to the job burnout," Blair sighed. "Come on. Ray's gone for a walk. We need to clean the fish."
"What happened?"
Blair sighed. "I told him."
"Including?" Jim asked and Blair shook his head.
He hadn't been asleep for more than an hour when he heard someone knocking on his door. "Bloody hell," he said as he got up and headed for the door. He opened it and frowned. "Murphy, what are you doing here?"
"Something came up," Murphy said as he came into the flat.
William Andrew Phillip Bodie glared at him as he shut the door. "If I recall, you are the one who told me to go home and get some sleep."
"Yeah, well, I thought you might want to see this," Murphy said as he handed Bodie a file.
Bodie looked through it and sat down hard on his couch. "This is legit?"
Murphy just nodded and let Bodie read the rest of the file. "The bastard has been there all this time?"
"So it would seem," Murphy said as he sat down beside Bodie. "There's a ticket waiting for you at Heathrow. The flight leaves at 8 a.m. You have time for a kip before you have to be at the airport."
Bodie just looked at his friend. "Murph, I can't just fly to America. I have responsibilities here. I'm controller of CI 5."
"Co-controller," Murphy interrupted. "CI 5 will survive without you for a little while. You've waited 13 years to find out why he left."
Bodie looked at him for a long moment before he finally nodded. "All right, I'll go."
"I'll send a car for you in the morning," Murphy said as he headed for the door. "Bodie, don't be too hard on him. He must have had a good reason for doing what he did."
Bodie just nodded. After Murphy left, he thought back to that day in 1985. The day he found out his partner had abandoned him.
He walked into Cowley's office and right away knew something was wrong. He had been called in on what was supposed to have been a day off. He had just come back from a solo mission up north. Doyle had argued with their controller about that one. They watched each other's backs. That was the way it was and had always been. Cowley had insisted. Now, Bodie walked into the Controller's office expecting to see his partner waiting for him. Ray Doyle was nowhere to be seen.
Cowley looked up from his desk. "Sit."
Bodie obeyed. Cowley looked at him for a long moment then spoke. "Murphy has been assigned to be your partner from now on."
"Sir, I have a partner," Bodie said as he sat up a little straighter. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew he wasn't going to like it.
"You had a partner," Cowley corrected. "While you were away, Doyle tendered his resignation."
Bodie exploded out of his chair. "What?"
"He resigned," Cowley repeated. "It has been a week now."
Bodie didn't even wait for permission to leave. He stormed out of the office and drove straight to Doyle's flat. He used the key he had insisted that Doyle give him and rushed into the apartment. All he saw was an empty flat.
Bodie hadn't seen or heard from Ray Doyle for 13 years. Now he had information that told him Ray Doyle was alive and well in Cascade, Washington. He went into his bedroom and packed a bag before he lay down to try and get some sleep before his flight.
