Chapter 11

In Safe Hands

Immediately, Greg's head popped around the kitchen door.

"Hey, Jimmy! You're home early," he whispered loudly.

Coming through to meet them, he began to steer them through to the living room, nodding over his shoulder towards the closed bedroom door,

"Toni's in bed. She went for a little nap around two. And this is Harry, right?" he beamed, looking momentarily to Dempsey for confirmation before giving her his full attention.

"It's nice to meet you, Greg," said Harry, offering him her hand which he took readily, leaning in to kiss her on both cheeks.

He turned to Dempsey. "Wooooow… Jimmy, I can see why you were so determined to get to work today. She's even more beautiful up close!" he exclaimed joyously.

Harry smiled graciously. "I think he made a mistake coming into work actually. He was as sick as a dog an hour or so ago… so I've brought him home."

Greg fixed Dempsey with a critical look. "See what did I tell you this morning? You need to take it easy, big guy."

"I'm okay," he said listlessly, dropping down heavily onto the sofa, hands still in his pockets and his chin buried deep in his scarf.

Makepeace was getting more worried by the second. Where was the front? Why wasn't he laughing off all suggestion of weakness and infirmity?

"And how's Toni?" she asked, uncomfortable with the sight of him in this state for some reason. "Is she any better?"

"She's doin' better than this guy, that's for sure."

Greg looked down at Dempsey sympathetically.

"Okay, I'm gonna make a hot drink to get you warmed up and then you're goin' to bed, Jimmy, which is where you shoulda stayed this morning."

Dempsey managed a feeble smile. "Uh huh, I guess you were right." And then he closed his eyes.

"Tea or coffee, Harry?" Greg asked.

"Don't you think he should see a doctor?" Makepeace asked quietly. "We don't know what's wrong with him… with either of them. If their drinks were spiked the other night, they could have God knows what in their system!"

Greg lifted his hand in a dulcifying gesture. "Believe me, if I thought it was serious, I woulda had the both of 'em down at the E.R yesterday, honey. Toni's so much better than she was. Lots of sleep – works wonders. I told him…" he shook his head as he eyed Dempsey, "but he said he had to go to work and that was that."

"Pretty typical of him I suppose," she agreed. "Pig headed to the detriment of his own health."

"Now don't you worry, I won't be letting him out of this apartment again 'til I think he's good and ready." He placed a hand on her forearm and gave a little squeeze, "okay?"

"Good luck with that," Harry smiled.

Greg smiled back broadly. "So, which is it to be, tea or coffee?"

"Oh, nothing for me thanks, I should go, let the invalid get some rest," she said, less sotto voce this time but Dempsey was still in a world of his own and seemingly oblivious to their conversation when she looked across.

"You're sure?"

"I need to get back to the office – catch up on the paperwork," she said in a hectoring tone but again, this got no reaction.

She took a few steps towards him. "I'll be off then… Dempsey!"

His eyelids fluttered open and it took him a second to focus on her. "You goin'?"

"I'm going to pop back to the office but I'll ring you later."

He nodded, just the merest gesture of acknowledgement before his eyes drifted shut again.

Frowning, Harry bent forward to place a hand against his forehead. He felt clammy.

"I'm okay, honey," he murmured softly.

The endearment made her skin prickle. He never called her honey, at least, not meaning it as an endearment. When he used the word 'honey' it was invariably dripping with sweet sarcasm with the intention of knocking her down a peg. This spontaneous affection both surprised and worried her.

"If you say so."

Greg saw her to the door whilst reassuring her that Toni was over the worst of it and therefore it was likely that Dempsey would follow suit.

"But if he's no better tomorrow, I really think he should see a doctor," Makepeace pursued. "I've never known him like this before."

She slipped a hand into her shoulder bag and withdrew a card from the inside pocket. "Look, here's my number, just in case you need anything. I'm sure this isn't what you envisaged when you decided to come to England," she smiled ruefully.

"Ooh, thank you sweetie but it ain't no biggie. I'm enjoin' the down-time."

"Yes, well you might not be enjoying it quite as much with Dempsey at home; I'm sure he'll have you running around after him once he's feeling a bit better."

Laughing, Greg held up Harry's card. "That's when I call this number."

"Then don't bank on me answering. I'm strictly advice and transport service as far as that goes."

"Aww, that's a shame, I know he'd rather have you warming his slippers than me."

Harry raised what she hoped would appear a knowing and possibly worldly-wise smile. "He's got Toni to do that for him."

Greg seemed to find that inordinately funny. "Yeah, sure. I can see that happenin' any time soon."

So Toni was no pushover then – that didn't surprise her in the slightest. From the little Harry had seen of her, she had deduced that she was a feisty lady and more than capable of putting Dempsey in his place if the need arose. Maybe he recognised his equal in her, the female equivalent even. They were so perfectly matched it seemed. Harry bit her lip – as opposed to ill matched as she was to Dempsey.

So why, sometimes, did being ill-matched feel so right?

And as Harry made her way back to the lift she recalled Greg's order to Dempsey that he was to go to bed, where he should have stayed that morning. There was only one bedroom in that flat and the only bed was the one Toni was currently sleeping in.

It was easy enough for an SI-10 detective sergeant to work out the sleeping arrangements within that scenario.

However 'close' she thought she and Dempsey had become, it clearly wasn't close enough for anything other than an awkward sort of friendship to exist.


Dempsey knew he was ill. There was definitely something wrong and it seemed to be getting worse. It had started out feeling like a hangover but now it felt like some particularly virulent strain of the flu had gotten hold of him.

When Makepeace had suggested dropping him at his doctor's surgery he had passed it off as unnecessary but the truth was he had never even got around to registering with any doctor since moving to the U.K. If he'd admitted this to Makepeace though, she would have insisted on either getting him to a hospital or having him seen by her own doctor. Neither option appealed. He was already embarrassed about puking at the Embassy and the idea of putting her to any unnecessary trouble for the sake of some stomach complaint was just a ball-ache in the making.

Besides, it wasn't gonna be anything too serious and even if it was, England had their A&E units for cases like this – they weren't completely in the dark ages.

But he could barely think straight the way his head was throbbing. His bones ached from deep inside and all he wanted to do was curl up in a foetal position and sleep.

Greg handed him two Paracetamol along with his tea and Dempsey drank down the hot fluid greedily, relishing the momentary flush of warmth it brought to his cold body.

"I could use some sleep right now," said Dempsey apologetically, aware that his role of 'host' was lying in the gutter somewhere.

"So why don't you go get yourself to bed? I ain't expecting you to sit here and keep me company, Jimmy."

"I'll take the next shift when Toni gets…" he began.

"It's a double! Plenty of room for both of you and it ain't like you and she have never done it before."

"That was different."

"And this is strictly de rigueur, baby," Greg told him smoothly. "You need the comfort of your own bed and I want the convenience of my two invalids bein' in the same room where I can keep my eye on the both of you."

The thought of his own bed was inviting and if he was in the bedroom, at least Greg would be able to do his own thing and not feel like he was having to tip-toe around the apartment. And anyway, he was probably right - it wouldn't bother Toni in the slightest.

"Guess that makes sense."

"Sure it does."

"But I can't just jump in there beside her…" In his mind's eye he was already slipping quietly under the quilt and curling up into a ball.

"She's fast asleep," Greg assured him. "There's no problem, Jimmy, no problem at all. You just do like I tell you and you'll be fine"