Millie's Last Day
Millie strode through the halls of Sun Hill Police Station in her jeans and jacket. No reason to wear that uniform today - or ever again! She looked at her former colleagues as they walked around in their uniforms; all that restriction, all those responsibilities. Some of them had been working for hours, and here it was, after midday and she'd been asleep most of the morning.
Millie cleaned out her locker and said her final goodbyes. Quite a few of the people who had been at her farewell looked a bit worse for wear this morning, she noticed.
She was taking one final look around just as Smithy appeared
"Come on Millie, it's time for your visit to the Super."
Millie had completely forgotten her appointment with Jack. She and Smithy walked up to Jack's office and knocked on the door. She was a bit surprised that Smithy was insisting on accompanying her, and even more surprised to see DI Manson and DC Grace Dasari seated there as well.
"Ah, Millie," Jack smiled and extended an arm to gesture her to sit down. "How are you feeling this morning? Some of us must confess to feeling a bit tired."
"I'm OK Sir, I got to sleep in."
"Enjoying your retirement already I see," smiled Jack. "Now, you're probably wondering why I have gathered you and your other colleagues here together."
"Yes, Sir, I am."
"Well, Millie, if I can begin," said Smithy, "We all agree that we're sad to see you go, and that we think you're making a mistake leaving the force."
"Both you and DI Manson have already made that clear," Millie was unmoved. Her mind was made up.
"How would you feel then Millie, if we offered you a special assignment?" said Jack. "Something hand-picked for you because it relates to both your career choices: policing and singing. Could we get you to change your mind?"
Millie's curiosity was piqued, even though the policing part of her life was finished.
"Curtis Jenson," Jack continued. "Does the name mean anything to you?"
"Yes, local crime figurehead, local drug dealer etc. etc. Oh, and when I was kidnapped everyone thought he was responsible." She said 'everyone' but they all knew she meant Max.
"Your handling of things while you were a hostage impressed all of us," Jack said. "And a good part of the reason why you were so good in that situation is that you are able to read people and understand their motivations. Even your kidnappers. The successful outcome that day was largely due to the fact that you saw the kidnappers as people, and instead of just judging them, you related to them and got them to work with you."
Millie smiled to herself, remembering how she 'related' to Mick. Then she said, "Well, thank you all for your praise. It's a shame the paperwork's gone through then and I'm no longer a member of the Metropolitan Police."
"Actually..." said Jack, "I pulled a few strings and your paperwork's on hold for a wee bit longer." Millie frowned at Jack and started to say something, but he continued. "Look, I don't normally like to pull stunts like that, but I really believe that you'd be the best person I have for this job. I need you. Your particular skill set is exactly what's called for to infiltrate the inner-workings of Jenson's empire. And you've never actually met Jenson, have you?"
"That's true, but..."
"Think of it this way Millie," this time it was Neil who spoke, "if you accept this offer, you not only get a break from the humdrum of police work, you build up some singing experience for your resume, which you can use for your future if you end up deciding during the operation policing is not for you."
Millie sighed, "What would be involved?"
Neil went on, "Basically you'd be working at a club of Jenson's as a singer and dancer. It's solo and chorus work, several nights a week. We would set up a flat for you nearby. In a nutshell you'd be keeping an eye on the everyday wheelings and dealings of the operation. Grace would be your handler." Grace smiled and nodded.
"If nothing else," said Smithy, "it's a safety net for you until you've reestablished yourself as a singer."
This observation did appeal to the very strong practical side of Millie.
"Why don't you just audition for Jenson to start with, see how you go?" suggested Grace. "Then, if you succeed we can discuss the particulars of the job in more detail."
Seeing as my paperwork's been put on hold, I don't really have a choice do I? thought Millie angrily. "OK, I'll audition. But if I'm not successful, that's it."
"Agreed," said Jack.
A Discovery
Max bumped into Callum Stone on the way into the station the morning after Will's send off. It was obvious he had partied quite a bit later than Max, who had at least got some dream-free sleep and felt slightly better refreshed than he had been in the last week.
"Hey, thanks for leaving me your spoils. What happened with you and Linda?" Stone asked.
"Ah, so you took up my leftovers huh? I don't know. I said something, I offended her, and, well I just really didn't care," replied Max. "Some things are just too little a challenge, if you know what I mean."
"Yeah, well you'll be happy to know Linda went home empty handed. Say, do you know what she's got against Millie?" Stone had missed out on all the CID Max and Millie gossip.
"Millie?" Max was surprised. "Why bring her up? I mean, why would Linda think about Millie?"
"After you left and Millie arrived, Linda started having a go at her to me, and, you know, I don't stand for having ex or present members of my team rubbished, so I stood up for Mill, and Linda just went off in a huff. No great loss I guess."
"Millie was there?"
"Yeah, I didn't see exactly when you left, but it wouldn't have been long before she arrived. Say, she's looking hot. Tight little black dress, a bit of makeup, hair down. Very nice indeed."
"Well, I guess I miss out on everything!" Max said, and Stone smiled back, having no idea how weighted Max's words were.
Damn, damn, damn! Every stomp of Max's feet on the steps up to CID seemed to thump out this word. She had arrived just after he left, how unfair was that? He stopped suddenly halfway up the steps as a thought struck him: had Millie seen him with Linda? He felt his shoulders slump as he thought to himself - Millie's moved on, why would it bother her anyway?
Max had a lot of paperwork to do, and no special reason to leave the office, so, as much as he hated it, he was desk-bound most of the morning. Everyone else seemed to be out, except Grace who as usual went about not making small talk, just getting her work done. She spent most of her time at her desk. She got up to collect something from the printer, but was called back to her desk by her ringing phone. At the same time, Max went to collect his own printing and noticed Grace's sitting on the machine. Max picked it up, intending to take it over to Grace.
As he strode back to the desk he glanced at what Grace had printed, which turned out to be a picture. Max realised that he recognised the place in the picture and instead of heading towards Grace with it, he sat at his desk and gave it a thorough look. It was a club of some sort, somewhere in a more up-market part of town. Where had he seen it before and why was it significant? Then it dawned on him: this was one of the more successful establishment run by local 'gangster made good' - Curtis Jenson.
Max had been convinced that Jenson was behind Millie's kidnapping and the toyshop robbery that had preceded it. But it had turned out that while Jenson was connected to the people involved, none of it was his doing. Jenson had been useful to Max, however, as he was able to ID the kidnappers. Max had persuaded Jenson to do this by revealing to him that one of the hostages was a police officer (Millie in fact) and threatening that unless he helped there would be a constant police presence at his establishments. Max and Will hadn't enjoyed doing deals with Jenson to get the info, but as Max said to Will at the time; Jenson's time will come.
So, what was Grace doing with this picture? Had the time to get Jenson come now, and for some reason Max was being excluded from it? Max walked over to Grace, who was now off the phone and left the picture on her desk. She said thanks. Max checked her face for a reaction, hoping for something that would reveal perhaps her awkwardness at having left vital evidence lying around, but Grace as always was cool as a cucumber.
If that was the way Grace was going to play it, Max decided not to make a fuss either. He tried to make it look like he had no interest in the picture whatsoever. Meanwhile, he decided that after enough time had passed for Grace not to connect his leaving with his discovery of the picture, he would be taking a little drive across town to do some surveillance work of his own.
A diversion came in the form of Mickey, Terry and Stevie returning to the office, all chatting and laughing. The peacefulness of the office was gone, and Max grabbed his keys and made his way out the door unnoticed.
The comings and goings of a club like Jenson's during daytime hours are restricted to deliveries, general maintenance and activities concerned with running the business. The day being a Friday, there was more activity than on a quieter night of the week, as things were being prepared for its busy hours over the weekend. Max sat in his car and watched. Vans came containing alcohol, flowers and pieces of sets, someone appeared with arms full of drycleaner's plastic covering costumes, other people just came and went.
Max spotted Jenson himself come and go quite a few times. He was obviously taking a very hands-on approach to running this particular venture. Max looked at his watch. It was 1430. Around this time several young, slender looking women seemed to arrive, probably the singers and dancers in the club's shows, Max thought. He needed to stretch. Checking to ensure he was out of Jenson's sight, Max hopped out of the car and walked a bit closer to the venue. The sight that greeted him made him stop in his tracks. Walking up to Jenson, who placed an almost paternal hand on her arm as she greeted him, was a lithe figure in a dark coat, wearing a thigh length skirt over black stockings. The figure had long red hair. Max didn't have to look twice to positively identify the girl as the former PC Millie Brown.
