Here we go: Chapter 2!
Enjoy!!
PS: I own nothing. Really, not Rush, not even the jeans I'm wearing… Do own undies though, and I'd really appreciate it if you didn't take those off me…
Chapter 2
Grace cupped a hand to the nape of her neck, rubbing away a tight spot. It was going to be a long night.
Footsteps behind her alerted her to Josh's approach, but she kept her stride.
"Grace?"
She didn't look at him as he swung into step beside her.
"You know that guy?"
Still no answer.
"Grace-" She felt a strong arm grasp hers and she was forced to slow, leaning in.
She looked at him, frowning in defiance.
She was a little annoyed to see the familiar look of stern worry on his face. He stared at her then, and it always made Grace feel like he saw straight through her when he did that.
"What?" She insisted, impatient at the look he was giving her.
His expression became softer, a smile playing on his lips. He could be so frustrating sometimes; he always did that. Then it made her smile and they both would crack up for absolutely no reason. Then, shed shove him and go do something else and he'd watch her go with a big smile on his face. Walking clichés, the pair of them.
"Yes I know him" She said, avoiding his eyes, trying not to smile and give in to his knowing expression.
"Or knew." She began to walk again, Josh right beside her.
"We went to the same high school. He got done for some drug-related things after, but we stayed in touch. Haven't talked to him in three years now though."
She shoved the door to the lockers open with a little more force than necessary.
"Matt was a good guy. Why he's got caught up with this stuff is a mystery to me." She opened her locker, pulling out her drink bottle.
She paused for a second, weighing it up.
"He's just…" She looked at Josh, shaking her head. "I don't know."
Josh nodded.
"Do you think he has anything to do with that stuff that happened last month?"
Grace leant against the locker, thinking to herself. She glanced back at Josh.
"I don't know. He's changed a lot since I knew him."
She pondered this.
"I never thought… he was the last person I would have thought to get involved with this stuff. Drugs, I mean, everyone had done something in high school…" She looked back at Josh with a frown. "But terrorism? Gangland shit? Matt? No way." She shook her head. Josh looked up at her from the bench, lost in her reminiscing. Suddenly she turned, pulling out some things from her locker, as if brought back to reality.
"Kerry will want us back out there soon."
Josh stood up and patted her on the back gently.
"I'll see you up there in a minute K?"
She turned to meet his eye and nodded in reassurance.
"Yeah" She said softly, and after exchanging a glance, Josh left her to her thoughts. He knew her well enough to know when to leave her to think things through on her own. She knew he'd be back in an instant if she needed him to.
*
7 South Avenue was a typical suburban brick, complete with satellite dish and white picket fence. The porch light threw a hazy golden glow onto the flyscreen front door, the hallway within visible from the curb.
Lawson exchanged ominous glances with Dom, before getting out. There was no shouting; everything was eerily silent.
"Stell, I want you to stand at the gate, report on anything out of the ordinary when we go in. Dom, you and I will go in, and see what's going on."
Stella and Dom nodded, preparing to take their respective positions. Something seemed off to Lawson, something wasn't right.
"Right, let's move in."
Unhooking his Taser, Lawson sidled up to the front door, gesturing to Dom to keep a look out. He tried the flyscreen, it was open. He turned and looked at Stella, who nodded.
With a sigh, he went to knock on the frame-
CRASH
Pulling out his gun, he gently pushed the door open amid the sound of shattering glass and a cursing female voice.
The hallway was lit by dim lamps on either side, and Lawson made his way along; the crash had come from a room off the left of the hall.
He peered into what looked like a lounge room for less than two seconds when a flurry of movement drew his attention to a black-clad man moving toward the woman who belonged to the voice.
Immediately, the man had leapt behind the woman, pulling her back into the Christmas tree. A flash of silver accompanied this strange exchange, he had drawn a knife to the woman's' throat.
'Drop your weapon!" Lawson yelled, aiming at the man.
Something thumped within the house, the back door. They all listened as a scuffle took place, a man yelled and a figure walked past the window. Dom had caught another assailant around the back.
"Was that your mate? Huh? What are you doing here?"
The man looked wildly from the gun to the window and back again, obviously taken aback by their efficiency to take his accomplice out.
"Just put down the knife, and we can talk about this OK?" Lawson eyed the knife.
The man faltered, the woman quickly struggled from his grasp. Instead the man pressed the knife to his throat.
"Now you don't really want to do that do you?" Lawson reached around for his Taser, ready to strike.
"Mate, look just put down the knife, and we can talk about this." Something behind him caught Lawson's attention. There was another door into the lounge, and Stella had taken it to see what was going on.
Lawson relaxed his grip on his Taser, focusing on getting the man to relax his grip on the knife. He took on a relaxed stance.
Stella cocked her Taser behind the man.
"Can you just put that away from your face for a second, so I can talk to you?"
The man hesitated; the knife was now inches away from his throat.
Stella fired, and Lawson came forward to arrest the writhing man.
"Thought you could use a little extra firepower."
Lawson looked at her as he frog-marched the man past.
"Really? How thoughtful."
*
Grace stood in the main hallway, arms folded, frowning at the white glow of the computer screen. Matt Hueblanc sat in the centre, staring at the bland table he was seated at.
A door on the left opened into the screen, and Kerry stepped in. He didn't even look up.
Grace saw her try to talk to him, leaning against the wall casually making conversation, but to no avail. Matt stared blankly at the desk in front, not moving so much as an inch even when the door snapped shut.
Kerry reappeared beside Grace.
"We're ready to get back out on patrol Kerry, Josh's' just gone to refuel the car." Grace said reassuringly, beginning to leave.
"No, wait Grace."
Intrigued, Grace patiently waited where she was.
"You went to the same high school right?"
"Yes we did."
"Do you think he will talk to you?"
Immediately onto what Kerry was suggesting, grace stiffened and shook her head a little.
"No… I mean I don't know about that-"
"Grace, right now he's the only lead we've got on this. We've been tracking this organisation for months now, trying to figure out what they've been working up to all this time, and he is here right in the middle of it. And you're the only lead we've got on him, Grace." She looked at Grace from under her brow sternly.
Grace threw her hands up in exasperation and smirked in resignation.
She didn't give Kerry a second glance as she strode from the room straight into the one holding Matt.
At her he looked up, watching her as she went to stand in front of him.
"Matt?"
"Yeah. You are Grace right?"
She nodded.
"We went-"
"-to school together, yeah." He smiled.
Grace frowned.
"C'mon Matt, what happened to you?"
Matt looked away, at the desk again.
"I… honestly don't know. Time just… sort of slipped away I guess."
Grace looked away solemnly.
"Yeah, it does that doesn't it?"
"Kerry, we're all set to go." Said Josh, striding into the main office and giving Michael a light-hearted punch on the arm while he was at it.
"Where's Grace?" He paused, following Kerry's focused line of sight to the nearest computer monitor.
At that point, Leon chose to reappear, having been printing off some files.
"Hey Kerry? I got some info on this guy; apparently he's been arrested for this stuff before-" He looked up from the files in his hand and stared at the small crowd of people at his desk.
"Oi, how come my desk has gotten so interesting all of a sudden? What did I miss out on?" he squeezed in beside Michael and found the source of their interest.
"So Gracie got him to talk?" he said grinning and sliding into his chair in front of the other three.
"Put it on speaker can you Leon?"
"Can do; just give me a tick…" Leon looked up to the monitor, and began typing away. A minute later Graces voice came through the speakers of the desktop.
"What where you doing there tonight?"
"I was selling drugs, what I always do on a Saturday night."
Josh heard Grace's undeceived laugh.
"No, no you weren't just selling drugs Matt. What's with all this anti-government group crap? I always thought you didn't care."
He didn't answer.
"I'm sure you'll care when they see you've been arrested again. It sure ain't going to roll very well when you get taken back to prison."
Still no answer.
"You're not doing yourself any favours." She said, brushing him off.
"What if I could tell you something about my group huh?"
Grace paused, folding her arms.
"What 'something'?"
He grinned to himself, still staring at the table. Grace stiffened, this didn't look good.
"Their latest plans to put our theories into action."
Grace looked at him with growing sense of dread.
"When?"
He looked up at her, grinning.
"Tonight"
*
BUM BUM BUUUUUUUM! Ooh, what will the team do? Tune in and find out soon!
