Again, Crossing Lines is not mine. Also, I was just thinking, they've killed off most of their main female characters so far (Sienna, Anne-Marie), so I'm choosing to remain in denial that Eva won't be returning (as well as Tommy). Perhaps if we lodged some sort of feminist complaint? Just a thought...


The city of Granollers had not yet begun to rise when Gerard Puyol pulled into the lot of the highway rest stop his family ran. It was not even five in the morning, but he had always preferred to start his day earlier than most, enjoying the emptiness of the usually bustling highway into Barcelona. He had already bathed, eaten and had his coffee, but he tucked a newspaper under his arm as he locked his truck, planning to make himself a second cup of coffee while he read the football results.

Unlocking the main door and switching on the lights, he was surprised to notice a small, older model, SUV parked at the far end of the lot. It appeared to be empty, but it wouldn't be the first time that local teenagers had used his parking lot as a late night make out spot, though he had no idea why, as the parking lot of a highway rest stop was not particularly romantic; his wife would have laughed at him had he tried to bring her here during their courtship.

Gerard shook his head and approached the car, rapping on the window and scanning the inside before jumping back and letting out a startled yelp. In the back of the car lay a man about his own age, with what appeared to be a bullet hole directly between his eyes.

He sprinted back to the main building in search of a phone, really wishing it had just been teenagers.


Michel Dorn arrived in Castiglione della Pescaia just as the town began it's morning. Vendors were setting up their stalls and children were making their way to school. The sun had not yet warmed the town, so it was bright, but still chilly; the wind blowing hard enough to pull a tarp out of the hands of a fruit vendor up the street from where he stood.

He had just come from the small basement morgue, and the fresh air had not yet cleared the scent of formaldehyde from his senses, though the sea air was beginning to remedy that. The Italian medical examiner had been insistent that the body on his table was in fact Eva Vittoria, but something in the man's eyes had begged him to look closer, to do some digging of his own. It was perhaps unintentional, but after years in the profession he had chosen, Dorn could spot a coerced witness from miles away and with his eyes shut. Although he was fairly certain of his observation, he knew enough not to immediately go to the ICC team with this information; clearly there was more going on under the surface than even he was aware of, though he had a sinking suspicion that it had everything to do with Giovanni Vittoria.

A small boy in a school uniform waved at him as he passed, and Dorn couldn't help the smile that came across his face, waving back.

"Did they send you to retrieve the Irishman?"

Dorn turned to face the man who had spoken to him; a tall, polished Italian who immediately put him on edge. Sergeant Bresci, he assumed.

"Something like that, yes."

"I stepped outside to make a call and when I got back he was gone, the desk sergeant said he took off and did not come back. He seems a bit, reckless, yes?"

Making a small sound of approval, Dorn nodded, still assessing the Italian sergeant.

"He is known to deviate from the script, yes."

Bresci laughed, the noise irritating Dorn in its smugness.

"It has been a rough few days for the team, as I'm sure you've heard."

Bresci nodded.

"It was one of yours that was shot up in France, yes?"

"Yes. Sergeant Bresci, do you know where I might find a decent cup of coffee?"

The abrupt change in subject obviously confused the younger man, but he nodded.

"Um, yes. I can take you if you'd like?"

Dorn nodded once again, hoping to pump the Italian for information under the guise of a friendly coffee.


"Eva, are you alright?"

They had just passed through Sanremo, and Tommy knew they had to be close, but with every kilometre that passed Eva had slipped further into unconsciousness, unable to support her own weight any longer.

"I thought we agreed not to ask each other that."

Her words were slurred as she spoke, but he took it as a good sign that she even remembered that conversation.

"Yeah, well excuse me for worrying, you're barely awake."

She chuckled dopily against him.

"Now who is mothering whom, hmm?"

Giuseppe turned from the front seat and spoke.

"She sounds delirious."

Tommy nodded.

"Yeah, how much longer do you figure?"

"Perhaps a half hour, although I can make it in less if I speed up. I think that may be necessary, yes?"

"I think you're right, yeah. She should have seen a doctor hours ago."

Eva shifted against him and spoke, still slurring her words.

"You do know that I can hear you, right? I am not a child."

Even given the dire circumstances, Tommy couldn't help but chuckle, finding her slurred indignance adorable.

"Of course not, Eva. We know you're not a child."

This seemed to placate her, as she hummed and slumped against him again.

Giuseppe, noting his niece's deteriorating state, pressed down harder on the accelerator.


When they finally pulled into the parking lot at the Princess Grace Hospital Centre, Eva was completely unconscious, despite Tommy's increasingly panicked attempts to wake her. He managed to disentangle them both from their seat belts, but was grateful when Giuseppe held the door open for him as he stepped out and lifted Eva into his arms once more.

They jogged to the entrance as quickly as they could without jostling Eva unnecessarily, and were quickly met with very concerned looking nurses.

"Qu'est ce qui se passe?"

Before Tommy could respond that he didn't speak French, Giuseppe responded to the nurse in effortless French as they entered the hospital .

"Elle a été attaquée, nous avons besoin d'aide. Mais, pouvez vous parlez en anglais? Mon ami ne parle pas du français."

The nurse nodded as an orderly appeared with a stretcher.

"Bien sure. We will need to take her to be examined, and you both will have to speak to the nurse at the desk."

Tommy reluctantly settled Eva onto the stretcher as gently as possible, sending up a silent prayer as she was wheeled into a back room.

"Can I go with her?"

"Non monsieur, because of the extent of her injuries you will both have to speak to the desk nurse."

Seeing the look the small woman was giving him, Tommy reluctantly nodded and followed Giuseppe to the nurse's station.

"Let me explain this, Tommy."

The Father's voice was so quiet that Tommy couldn't be sure he had actually spoken, but he nodded anyways, sitting in a hard plastic chair next to Giuseppe, finding himself under scrutiny from the nurse behind the desk.

"Gentlemen, as I'm sure you can imagine, I have many questions for you."

Giuseppe replied, reasonably calmly.

"Of course."

Tommy just nodded, not sure he'd be able to speak if he tried.

"Let us start with the basics. We will need everybody's names and how you are all related."

"My name is Pierre Allen, the woman is my niece; Marie. This is Tom Malone, he is a family friend."

Tommy was fairly sure that is was only sheer exhaustion that prevented him from reacting as Giuseppe spoke, but the older man had said to let him explain this, so that's what Tommy would do.

"Alright, Monsieur Allen, what happened to Marie?"

"She was attacked. She would not say by whom, but I assume it was her bastard of a husband. She has just left him, and he has taken it very poorly."

The nurse nodded.

"And Monsieur Malone?"

"He was the one who found her. Went to check in on her to make sure everything was okay, since her husband has been threatening her, and he found her like that."

"Do you have identification for your niece?"

Giuseppe nodded, pulling a Swiss drivers' license with Eva's picture on it from his coat pocket.

"Of course. Would you like mine as well?"

"Please."

Tommy was surprised when Giuseppe pulled a second Swiss license from his pocket, this one with his own photo.

"Thank you. Monsieur Malone, do you have identification with you?"

Tommy was sure he must have looked panicked, but Giuseppe just gave an imperceptible shake of the head.

"Um, no. Sorry, didn't think I'd be leaving the house."

"Not a problem, it is more of a formality. How did you get that cut on your face?"

Having completely forgotten about his face, Tommy reached a hand up to the cut, realizing he would have to think on his feet if he didn't want the nurse to think he'd been the one beating Eva.

"I, uh, may have had words with her husband."

Once again, the nurse simply nodded, typing incessantly as she had been since they sat down.

"Alright, you may go sit in the waiting room, a nurse will be out shortly to update you on Marie's condition."

Nodding again, Tommy rose from his seat and once again followed Giuseppe into the other room, sitting down next to him in yet another uncomfortable plastic chair.

A few moments passed before Giuseppe spoke again, very quietly, like before.

"In about an hour, a doctor is going to come through those doors and tell us that Marie has died."

"What? What the hell are you talking about? And where did you get those licenses? What was that?"

"Tommy, you underestimate just how powerful my brother is. Silvano has a friend at this hospital who has agreed to help us. Officially, there will be no record we were ever here; everything that nurse just typed will be wiped from the databases, along with any other mentions of us having been here. He has procured a new identity for Eva, Marie Allen, that she will have to assume when she is released."

"She's out of Italy though, hell, she works for the ICC, you don't think they can keep her safe?"

"I am not willing to bet her life on it, Tommy. I have underestimated Giovanni before, and look where it has led us. As far as anyone is concerned, Eva is lying in a morgue in Grosseto. And when Silvano's friend comes through those doors, he will tell us that Marie has died, but there will not be a record of her ever having been here. She will rest here until she is strong enough to leave, and then she will go far away until I can be certain my brother is not a threat."

"That's insane!"

"Tommy, you don't realize how deep this goes. My brother has more police officers on his payroll than most small countries do, and I fear his influence is not confined to Italy. I have spoken with Michel Dorn, and he agrees that this is the safest option for everyone."

"Dorn knows?"

Giuseppe nodded.

"Of course. How did you think I acquired new documents so quickly?"

"So what, Eva spends the rest of her life in hiding?"

"No, of course not. Systems are being put in place as we speak to track my brother's activities and map his influence. With the death of Eva Vittoria, the ICC will begin an inquiry. I do not know how long it will take, perhaps a few years, but this will end, eventually."

Tommy sat stunned, unable to fully wrap his head around what Giuseppe was telling him. This was insane.


Sorry it's taken me a bit longer to post an update, school and what not, but I do plan to continue this story. Thanks to everyone who's been reading/reviewing.