Part 4
It had been playing on Gail's mind, the reason for Traci Nash's late arrival during the bed check, so on Wednesday night Gail adjusted her alarm and woke up at 4am instead of 5am.
Her curiosity meant she ignored how tired she was, and slipped quietly out of bed after switching her alarm off.
Flicking on the light above the bed, dimmed for reading, Gail pulled on a t-shirt and a pair of her sweats before quietly exiting her room.
Padding along the hallway she came to Nash's room. She glanced around to make sure no one else was up and then gently turned the door handle. The dorm rooms could only be locked from the inside so the fact that it clicked open gave Gail all the answer she needed but she continued the movement and stuck her head in for a quick look.
It was empty.
The bed didn't even look slept in so there was little chance of Traci being in the restroom.
Frowning Gail eased the door closed again then made her way down towards the common room. Again it was empty, with no one sleeping off a hangover this time.
Confused Gail made her way back to her own room, pulling her tee over her head and tugging her sweats off before crawling back under her blanket. Whatever Traci had been up to the other night it seemed, from what Gail could tell, that she was still doing it.
Yawning, Gail reached up and turned off the light then tucked her arms around her pillow to get some more sleep, she'd try and figure out what the other woman was up to later.
xxxxx
Grateful that nothing happened to disturb her breakfast time today Gail quickly loaded her tray up with a bowl of cereal, two pieces of fruit, a bottle of chocolate milk and her prerequisite coffee.
She walked past other cadets, gathered around talking about the weekend coming up, some worrying about tomorrows physical and Dov Epstein with his flash cards.
She rolled her eyes at that one as she took her seat at the same table as Jackson, Cole and some of the other instructors that were around to supervise the cadets. The rest of the instructors had morning meal while the cadets were on drills.
"Eating light today?" Jackson asked as he glanced at Gail's tray.
Gail scowled at him and bit into her apple as she stirred a couple of sugar packets into her coffee.
"Looking forward to tomorrow?" Cole asked with a grin as he finished up his own breakfast.
Gail shrugged, it wouldn't pay to sound overly confident but she wasn't the least bit worried about running a faster time over the assault course. It was their final physical evaluation and although they would still have morning drills, she was looking forward to having it over with, then maybe she'd allow herself to slack off slightly and not put in the extra training she'd been forcing on herself since her arrival.
Fuck did she hate exercising.
She understood the need for it and was willing to keep herself in shape for the job, but she didn't have to like it or do it with a smile.
"You guys taking bets?" Gail asked quietly even though the table she was at was a distance from the rest of the tables where the other cadets were scattered around.
"We sure are." Cole told her, shooting her a grin. "Out of the guys, Diaz and Lopez are joint top with Epstein looking a safe bet to come last." He explained. "Then there's you and Nash with Lisa Todd taking the rear."
Gail snorted and swallowed down more of her cereal.
Jackson looked the blonde over, his eyes twinkling. "Not worried about your competition are you?" He asked her referring to Traci Nash.
Gail shrugged trying to act nonchalant. "Guess you guys will have to wait for tomorrow to find out, but I'd bet on me if I were you." She informed them.
"Your old man already has." Jackson told her. "Five hundred. Cleaned up with your brother, I guess he's hoping for a double, but I don't know." He shook his head then gestured over to where Traci was having breakfast. "My money's on her."
Gail narrowed her eyes at the instructor but he just laughed.
Cole stood up with his empty tray and pointed to Gail. "My money is on you Peck, it's in the genes right. Don't disappoint now." He told her with a mildly warning look on his face as he walked away.
Gail glared after him then sighed and went back to her food.
Jackson watched the blonde for a few minutes as he finished his coffee.
"You know we're just joking around, right?" He asked her quietly.
Gail shrugged and popped a grape into her mouth. "He really bet five hundred on me to win?" She asked softly. She hadn't spoken to her dad much since she started the Academy. But of course she knew he'd be aware of how she was doing and when the final physical assessment was due.
"Sure, he knows you've got what it takes." Jackson replied. He then glanced around at the rest of the cadets. "It's surprising how many good officers will be stationed in divisions this year. You're graduating with a good group."
"Hm." Gail didn't feel any added pressure she already knew what was expected of her. She just had to do everything she could to live up to it. And so far so good.
"27 got 5 rookies last round so they'll only get one or two joining them this time, the largest group will be going to 15 with you." He explained.
"Know who yet?" Gail inquired curiously. She already guessed Nash unless 27 wanted her, then there was McNally. Diaz out of the guys and maybe his buddy Samuels who was doing well as were Lopez, Rodgers and Collins.
Jackson grinned. "Got a preference?"
Gail looked over her shoulder. Other than drills and some other physical training she really only knew that the rest of the cadets were good enough to still be here, beyond that she couldn't give her opinion one way or the other. "Nope." She answered, because whoever followed her to 15, she assumed they'd deserve to be there with her.
"Well, from next week the real training begins anyway, I'm sure you'll soon have something to say about them after that." He told her with a smirk before putting his rubbish back onto his tray and getting up.
"I'll see you at the start line tomorrow." He told her before leaving her to finish her breakfast in relative peace.
Gail hummed and took another look around at the rest of her class.
Next week was the start of their final preparations for becoming police officers.
When the textbooks were put away and their learning was put into practise. They'd be paired up each day with a different partner and have to properly learn how to be a cop. They'd go through how to clear a house, how to make arrests, deal with crowd control, how to subdue suspects with the use of your baton or pepper spray, and when to deploy your stung gun.
They'd been going through firearm training since the first week so that wouldn't be anything new.
Also, they'd get the chance to attend seminars with specialists brought in to teach them certain skill sets using case studies and mock scenarios to go through step by step how to deal with hostage taking, securing a scene properly, looking for signs of abuse during a routine call out.
Those classes would be where cadets were given a taste of what it would be like to progress further than being a police officer, they'd get to talk to detectives from different areas, hear about undercover work, dealing with confidential informants, the intelligence side of policing and a host of other factors that combined together to form police work.
And as much as Gail was looking forward to the change of pace the last thing she wanted out of it was for anyone to get any idea as to where she wanted the direction of her career to go. So the quieter she was during those lectures the better.
It was bad enough listening to her mother's constant opinions on what she thought she should be doing with her life.
xxxxx
"What's with you?" Andy asked Traci as the other woman failed to react to a joke told at their table as they settled down for anther class.
Traci tore her gaze away from the blonde sat in the front row. "Huh? What?"
Andy shook her head and opened her notebook as they waited for their instructor to turn up.
Traci gave her friend an apologetic look. "Sorry, it's just, Peck. I don't get her." She muttered quietly.
Andy glanced at the blonde in question. "What's to get?" Gail seemed to be the golden girl, even if Traci was giving her a run for her money. Always had the right answer when asked, always on time, always a pain in the ass know-it-all.
Traci shrugged. She hadn't told Andy that Gail had covered for her with Instructor Lincoln the other morning. She wasn't sure why the blonde had done it, and she wasn't sure how to ask knowing Gail could be very brutal when dealing with the other cadets.
"Hey, you guys up for the Penny again this weekend?" Dov asked as he turned around from the row in front of Andy.
"Sure." Andy agree quickly.
Dov grinned and leaned on their desk. "Some of the others got invited over to 27's bar, but the Penny was pretty cool. Maybe we could do both?" They got the weekends to themselves mostly, other than a class on Saturday morning and they were allow out of Academy grounds as long as they made it back for midnight curfew.
During the week they sometimes had an evening class scheduled and although it wasn't a rule, it was encouraged that they all remain on Academy grounds Monday to Friday.
"I don't know, I think I'm going to see my mom and get some study in. We have that exam next week." Traci said, unsure if it was worth giving up the study time just for a few drink at a bar, even if that bar was a cop bar.
Andy rolled her eyes but kept quiet knowing the real reason Traci was so hesitant.
Dov mock gasped. "But, but… you didn't come last weekend! You have to come out with us this time." He insisted. "And anyway, we all know you're going to ace that exam."
Traci glanced back at Gail. She wasn't sure she'd beat the blonde's mark, but she was going to be as ready as she could be. And if that meant skipping out on a few games of pool and some beer then so be it.
She needed to graduate and secure a good division. Her family was depending on it.
"Maybe some other time." She told Dov.
Dov sighed and looked to Andy. "What about you?"
Andy shrugged. She wasn't going to spend her time with her dad that was for sure. "Count me in."
"Awesome." Dov grinned. It was looking like it was going to be another good weekend.
Traci rolled her eyes. "Now turn around and face forward before you get us all in trouble." She told Dov as he kept leaning on their desk.
Dov put his hands up and smiled at them before turning back around in his seat and leaving them alone.
The instructor came in and everyone fell silent as he started writing on the board up front.
"You seeing Dex?" Andy asked in a whisper.
Traci scowled, she hadn't spoken to her ex in weeks. He'd hated the idea of her joining the police force and had tried talking her out of it several times, but if he couldn't hold down a job one of them had to and as far as Traci could tell this was her best option if she didn't want to be waiting tables forever or working the till at her local store.
"No." She muttered back.
Andy made an encouraging noise. She was glad to hear that, she might not have met the guy but from everything her friend had told her he sounded like a loser. And one that was constantly trying to bring Traci down with him. She was proud that the other woman was so dedicated to their training.
If they both got lucky they might even get into the same division.
xxxxx
Holly snorted as she read the email she had just got sent to her from her boss.
"There is no way in hell." She muttered in annoyance as she hit a couple of key then pushed her chair back sending her along the floor to another desk where she waited for the printer to finish. She then grabbed the sheet of paper and got up, marching out of her office and along the corridor.
She pushed through a door and climbed up the steps to the next floor before walking along another corridor and stopping in an open doorway.
She gave the wood a cursory knock with her fist before walking in a slamming the sheet down in front of her boss.
"There is no how, no way I'm doing this." Holly said with a glower, tapping her forefinger down onto the sheet.
Kelly sighed and gestured for Holly to sit down in her guest seat as she was still having a conversation on her phone.
Holly huffed and sat down, crossing her arms over her chest and continuing to scowl at her so-called best friend and boss.
Kelly tried hard not to laugh. "Yeah, listen, can I call you back? Something's just come to my attention here that I need to deal with urgently." She said into the phone. "Thanks, bye."
Holly watched her boss hang up and the second she did she put her hands up to forestall any of Kelly's games. "I don't care what you offer there is no way I'm doing this."
Kelly smiled and leaned across her desk and just waited her friend out. "You did just say that you needed to get out of the lab more often Hol."
Holly scoffed and shook her head. "I meant after work and you know it." She answered back.
"It will be one day next week, and I'm even going let you pick out your own case material." Kelly explained, making it sound like she was doing Holly a really big favour with that one.
Holly laughed, seeing right through her friend. "The answer's still no. I have no interest in trying to explain my job to a bunch of idiots who think they know better."
Kelly gave her friend a reproachfully look for that last comment.
Holly sighed and took off her glasses to rub her eyes.
Kelly glanced at the sheet Holly had sat down. "It is one day of your time to teach a group of individuals on what it takes to properly preserve a crime scene. I know how much you hate poor handling of evidence." She said, trying to appeal to her friend's pet peeve.
Groaning, Holly pouted and closed her eyes, leaning her head back as she slouched down in her chair.
Kelly grinned knowing she was close to getting her way.
"You go over the theory with them in the morning and walk them through a scenario that you set up in the afternoon. Just think of all the shouting you can do when they inevitably screw it up." Kelly told her with a grin.
Holly blew out a breath and sat up properly again, trying to stay professional despite her reservations. "You're buying me lunch today. And tomorrow."
Kelly snorted. "Is that all this is going to cost me? Done, I'll forward you the rest of the information."
Holly glanced to the side and chewed on her lip as she considered her options. She didn't completely hate the idea of doing it but she knew whatever she said was likely to go in one ear and out the other. She'd seen proof of it enough times on the job.
"How exactly am I supposed to explain our work in just one day?" You couldn't, it wasn't possible. Holly had studied and then trained for years to do this job and here she was being told to encompass it all into one lecture and a single demonstration?
Kelly's eyebrows shot up. "I can get you more time if you need it."
Holly didn't reply. She'd already talked herself into doing this when she'd been trying to talk herself out of it. She wasn't sure making it into a two day course was a successful outcome for this meeting.
Kelly took in her scowling friend with a grin. Holly loved her job and she was great with the interns. If anyone could condense the basics of their work into a day then it was Holly.
"You'll do great I know it." She encouraged her friend.
Holly's mind was already racing away with topics to cover. She sighed in defeat. "Fine, I'll do it."
She then narrowed her eyes at her friend as she yelped in shuffled in her seat in some sort of victory dance.
"But it'll cost you big this time." She warned Kelly.
Kelly shrugged. "Name it."
Holly snorted and go up from the chair, she still had a lot of paperwork to get done for a case she was working on, and now she had this to prepare for.
So much for getting out of her lab more often.
"Oh no, when I've come up with something evil and disgusting enough, I'll let you know." She said as she headed back out the open door.
"You do that!" Kelly called out after her friend.
She shook her head then lifted up the sheet Holly had left behind. She was grateful Holly had been so easy to convince because if Holly had refused then she would have had to have taken the class.
And as much as she'd argued with Holly, it was really like talking to yourself.
Police cadets just wanted to learn about driving fast cars and firing their guns. It would take months of on the job training from senior officers before they'd learn how to properly take care of a crime scene, and even then there would be lots of screw ups.
But Holly was the best their lab had to offer and if she couldn't make them sit up and pay attention then no one could.
xxxxxx
AN/
Hey guys! Another episode over with. It was okay I guess. Gail still makes me all sad inside though.
So let's hear it for fanfiction!
Thanks for reading :D