Gail Peck stood at the wide open picture window, face blank. She was completely backlit and clearly visible on the darkened streets of one particularly nice Toronto residential area. Gail was concentrating as hard as she could at looking domestic, despite how much of a stretch that was for her, but really she was going through the ever-growing list of weapons she'd like to purchase in her head.

"Fold slowly," she heard in her earpiece. "...Slower."

She huffed, but proceeded to fold the undies in her hand even slower than before. She glanced over at the stack that she had already folded. Hundreds of pairs of women's panties in all color, shapes, and sizes were in tiny little squares.

"Next pair," the voice demanded. "Remember to fold slow-ly."

"Ah, shut up!" Gail snapped. She threw the panties at the window and marched off while pulling the tiny speaker out of her ear. "This is bullshit."

"What happened?" McNally asked as she stuck her nose through the crack of the closet door of the bedroom they were stationed in.

"Diaz is really starting to creep me out with the slow panty folding," Gail said, pointing back at the window with her thumb. "Can we switch?"

"No, we can't switch," a muffled voice came out from under the bed. "No switching. What if he's watching?"

"The only person watching is Chris and the busybody old neighbor bitch who keeps calling the cops only to have us explain that we are the cops."

"I'm fine with switching," Andy said. "Being in this closet is giving me flashbacks."

"See, Price," Gail tapped the floor near where she knew Chloe's head would be. "McNally's reliving her gay panic. You're bullying her. Stop the bashing, just let us live in peace."

"It's too confining!" McNally yelled. "Just like my childhood."

"First of all, it's Price-Epstein, now." They heard boots scrape along the floor just before Chloe's forehead and eyes popped out from under the duvet. "And why are you two always doing that? I can't argue and you know it."

"Heterosexual privilege guilt," Gail shrugged. "Embrace it while we roll over you with our agenda."

Chloe begrudgingly rolled out and got to her feet. "Eff you guys!"

"I'd be down," McNally said as she kicked the door open with a flourish.

"Too damn perky for my taste," Gail said with a pat to Chloe's shoulder. "Having sex with you would probably be like playing Candyland. There'd be a lot of sweetness, but it would just be mind-numbingly boring with no real prize at the end."

"I'd rappel down Gum Drop Mountain," Andy wiggled her eyebrows as she passed by the two of them. She tried to smack Chloe's ass, but Chloe saw it coming and sidestepped her.

"You're a sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen," Gail told her.

"At least I'm getting some, Queen Frostine."

Gail spun around and glared at her. "Don't start!"

"I'm just saying," McNally smiled annoyingly. "What date are you on?"

"Stop trying to guess when we'll do it with your stupid sex-date classifications," Gail said. "It's weird."

"It is," Chloe agreed as she stepped just inside the closet and leaned against the frame.

"Not as weird as whatever you got going on."

"We're getting to know each other, assface," Gail said. "We talk and shit."

"Whatever. Besides, I need to know for educational purposes," Andy told them. "You're past date number five. This girl is on a whole new kind of system. I'm studying her, it's important."

"Are you teaching a class now?"

Chloe giggled, "I do not want to know what the final exam would be like."

"Everybody would enjoy it," Andy assured her. She picked up the basket of folded underwear and dumped it into the other basket marked Toronto Metro Police.

"I like her," Chloe said, changing the course of the conversation. "Holly. She's cool. I like her."

Gail held up her hand, "Don't say that."

"Why not?" Chloe asked. "I do."

"Because," Gail shivered. "It freaks me out."

"It freaks you out?" Chloe rolled her eyes. "C'mon, I'm married."

"Oh, no," Gail chuckled. "I'm not worried about you and her. No," Gail started to laugh at the notion, "oh, no, no, no."

"Okay…you can stop laughing hysterically, Gail."

"It's just that, well, honestly, if you like Holly, then Holly, being the sweet indiscriminate person that she is, will probably like you back."

"And?"

"And?!" Gail stared at her. "And you might become friends. Who socialize. Meaning I'd have to see you outside of work. And that freaks me the hell out."

"We're already friends," Chloe said. "Well, we were while we were attending the Junior Beaver Ajax-Lake Ontario Camp for Exceptional Science Students. We were cabin-mates in the Hypothesis Hut."

"You were twelve and never spoke to each other again," Gail pointed out. "Let it go."

"Well, I think she's sweet and you're not so bad…sometimes..."

Gail winced at the compliment.

"…and Dov and I don't have enough couple friends."

"They aren't a couple," Andy interjected. "They're not even doing the muff mambo."

"We're getting closer!" Gail nearly screamed in her own defense.

Andy spun around, "Tell me everything."

"Last night she…uh," Gail started softly, not sure how much she wanted to divulge.

"What?" Andy practically rolled up on her tiptoes she was so interested.

"We were…kinda making out, you know."

"Did something weird happen?" Chloe asked, trying not to look as curious as she was.

"No," Gail shook her head.

"Bad breath?" Chloe asked.

"Is she one of those over-salivating types?" Andy inquired. "I hate that."

"Me, too," Chloe said agreeing with McNally. "Does she bite? I have an ex that bit my tongue all the time."

"That's Dov, not an ex, and you should just tell him it hurts," Andy said.

"I've tried."

"Try harder."

Gail cleared her throat loudly, "We're talking about me!"

"Oh, yeah, continue," Andy motioned for her to do just that.

"Like I said, we were making out. And no, she doesn't bite or spit. She's actually quite skilled in that particular area. Good tongue awareness, awesome lip action," Gail breathed out dreamily, enjoying the memory. "Anyway, we were pretty into it," Gail went on. "Like really, really into it…"

Gail thought that she might actually be able to see drool coming out of Andy's mouth for a second.

"…and she leans up and whispers in my ear…"

"What did she whisper?" Chloe asked, drawing closer.

"That she wanted to cross-pollinate with me."

Both of them stood still with wide eyes.

It was Andy who finally broke the silence, "What the fuck does that mean?"

"I have no idea!" Gail said. "I was hoping you would."

"No," Andy shook her head. "That's not in the Lezslang handbook." She whipped a tiny black leather bound notebook out of her pocket and started to leaf through it. "It skips from Clam Slammer to Cuntpuncher!"

"It's basically plant sex," Chloe said casually.

Gail looked at her questioningly. "For real?"

"Science camp," Chloe said in explanation. "She wants to have sex with you…and she's even nerdier than Dov, by the way."

"-L-L-I-N-A-T-E," Andy finished writing in her little book. "It's noted for future reference."

"She's totally nerdy," Gail smiled. "In the cutest way, though. She's all shy and quiet and smart. Sometimes we're just talking about random stuff and she drops this knowledge on me and I'm thinking, 'damn, this woman is amazing and doesn't even know it.'"

"Okay, okay, pipe down," Andy said, tucking her book back into her pocket. "Let's not get all starry eyed while we're supposed to be working."

"So sorry to insult your professionalism," Gail said sarcastically.

"I want to hear about fun stuff, not love stuff," Andy commented. "I don't give a damn about holding hands or making mushy e-cards."

"Fine."

"So what exactly are you two discussing?" Andy asked, recalling the statement Gail made earlier. "Anything related to this?"

"What?" Gail asked, not following.

"You said you talk about stuff," Andy reminded her. "About this case?"

"No," Gail said immediately. "Well, nothing other than a few vague facts."

"How vague?"

"What do you mean 'how vague?' Vague."

"Hmm."

"Hmm what?"

"Nothing," Andy said as she started folding panties. "It's just that she showed up at a weird time…hasn't slept with you…and we keep getting all this crappy intel that isn't leading us anywhere."

"Now you're suspicious of Holly?" Gail scoffed. "C'mon, McNally!"

Andy just shrugged.

"You're grasping," Gail said as she crawled under the bed and slipped the speaker back into her ear. It didn't take long before she heard, "I need you fold a bit slower, McNally."

!

"Come on in," Gail waved Holly inside her apartment.

Holly grinned as she took a step inside, holding the box in her hands away from them while leaning into Gail slightly to drop a kiss on her lips. "Good morning."

"G'morning," Gail said, not able to keep from smiling. "What brings you by?"

Holly narrowed her eyes while she pulled out her phone and clicked a few times. "You sent me a text that said, 'I'm so hungry I could eat a box of donuts. So if you happen to be in the neighborhood with a box of donuts dot dot dot.'"

"It wasn't necessarily a suggestion," Gail said. "I was just…putting it out there into the universe."

"Knowing that the universe would supply said donuts."

"You're the universe, now?" Gail asked. "Thinking awfully highly of yourself."

"I got the raspberry filled ones that you like," Holly said. "You'll be thinking pretty highly of me, too, once you bite into it."

"You remembered!" Gail clapped once before taking the box.

"It was hard to forget once you sent the jam plus donut emoticons," Holly said. "You really aren't subtle."

"I find that directness gets the job done more to my liking," Gail shared. "You want anything?"

"Already ate," Holly said. "Can't get enough coffee, though."

"Can do," Gail said as she began shuffling around the kitchen to prepare it with a donut hanging out of her mouth.

Holly watched her intently until something else caught her eye. She took a couple steps forward and studied a couple of pictures of a teenage boy attached to Gail's fridge with a magnet. "Who's this?"

"Oh," Gail slid up behind her and tapped the picture with her forefinger. "That's the kid I adopted."

Holly's eyes slid over to Gail. "Wha?"

"That's George," Gail said. "Adopt-A-Kid, you know."

"Whoa, what?"

"You know, it's one of those programs," Gail said. "I send him fifty bucks a month and he sends me pictures of him on a skateboard."

"What the hell kind of program is that?"

Gail shrugged. "I don't know. I needed do to volunteer work and found his info posted on bulletin board at Tim Horton's. Community Outreach or something…"

"How long have you been sending him money, Gail?"

Gail thought about it. "Uh…three?"

"Really?"

"Yeah," Gail said. She watched Holly's face process all the information and waited until right before Holly was going to share whatever conclusion she came up with. "I know," Gail cut her off. "He was full of shit. He put the posting up because his mom wouldn't give him money for new wheels."

"Okay…" Holly was confused.

"His single working mother," Gail explained as gently pushed Holly out of the way of the refrigerator. "Who was working two jobs to support her kids couldn't afford to buy him skateboard wheels. So, being a self-involved teenager, he created a whole scheme to get the money."

"And you went along with it?"

"Not at first," Gail said, still scooting items around. "But then I met him and we began to do some actual community outreach after a pretty intense lecture from me and his mom"

"Oh."

"Yeah," Gail glossed over it and grabbed a bottle of coffee creamer. "Good kid. He uses the money as a donation for the after school program he created."

"That's…" Holly was stunned. "Pretty cool, actually."

"Sometimes, I get to make a difference," Gail stated before letting the fridge door shut. "And that's pretty cool."

A few minutes later they were both seated at Gail's counter, while she absentmindedly tapped Holly's foot with her own.

"So how's the big sting operation?"

"Pretty shitty," Gail answered. "Nothing so far."

"Oh," Holly frowned. "That's too bad."

"Yeah…" Gail accessed her quickly. "You still don't remember anything about the guy?"

"Panty guy?"

"Yeah."

"Uh…," Holly thought back to the day she had met Gail in the woods. "No. Nothing. Just you."

"It's weird that you saw me and not him," Gail said. "Especially considering I was so close to getting him."

Holly nodded, "It is weird," she acknowledged.

"So weird."