They lay in bed after their love making; Harry nestled up into Dempsey's body, his strong arm around her holding her tightly as if he was afraid to lose her but he needn't have worried; her arm across his chest was claiming him as hers.
He relaxed his hold a little and his fingers once again played through her hair. "Have I told you lately that I love you?" he asked and without giving her time to answer added "or have I told you there's no one else above you?"

She looked up at him and her mind struggled with a vague memory of a song she kissed his cheek "and what's the next line then?" she asked

"You fill my life with laughter
And somehow you make it better
Ease my troubles that's what you do" Dempsey paused and stopped playing with her hair "Harry I really wanted to do that for you with Freddy…"

"I know, I guess I'm still very independent"

"I came up here"

"We're cops and the role fitted you perfectly, what's more Dave needed the experience"

"You make it sound easy"

"It wasn't, I struggled… but as much with being jealous of Dave working with you as you working up here when my father was ill"

Dempsey sat up "really?" he stopped running his fingers through her hair, he looked at her eyes and supported himself on his arms.

"I really couldn't get my head round leaving you and being so worried about your father. I would have blown the job and come back if he'd gotten worse"

He paused then continued "I drunk doubles all night then took a bottle up to my room, ask Dave" He continued "See over there, that's where I knocked the lot over and Dave wondered why I never had a hang over" and laughed

It was Harry's turn to rub him; "But you phoned the hospital twice a day, Thank you"

"At least it meant I turned a bit more human when I heard the operation had gone well"

"I should never have said you didn't care"

"I shoulda said that I did"

"You showed it though" then it was Harry's turn to change the conversation area; she still found it hard to consider that Freddy had a brain tumor and hard to talk.

"So go on - tell me how Liverpool is like New York" Dempsey nearly started but he caught sight of his alarm clock, it said 4am, he smiled "You know what princes I kinda think we'd better get some sleep" he kissed her cheek and lay back down

"What time is that alarm set for?" Harry yawned

"7.10"

"Switch it off"

"They'll come looking for us"

"I'll say I went for a jog"

Feeling a great need for sleep and with no thought or concern for any consequences Dempsey leaned over and switched the alarm off

"I'll say I slept in with a stunning woman"

They wrapped themselves up in each other and at that instant in time cared for nothing else other than each other's comfort and company.

"Have I told you lately that I love you" she murmured

"Have I told you there's no one else above you?" his arm held her body tight against his.

***

Spikings hammered on the door "Dempsey!"

Asleep he flinched and at the second shout he woke and looked at the clock. Harry stirred next to him

"Oh shit" he vaguely remembered switching it off.

"Do you know where Harry is?" there was a short pause "For Christ's sake Dempsey open up I can't stand here and shout in the corridor"

"Ok Ok" Dempsey threw a robe on and walked towards the door as Harry headed for the shower. He opened the door a little "Sorry Chief"

"Harry?" Spikings coughed his question

"She said something about going for an early morning jog"

Spikings was frustrated and pushed into the room. He glanced at the bed with both sets of pillows crumpled, the bedclothes thrown back from both sides of the bed and the two champagne glasses on the bedside table.

Spikings spoke deliberately loudly so Harry could hear "Sleep well did we?"

With just Spikings there Dempsey didn't really bother about hiding the truth "Eventually"

"LIEUTENANT!..."

"Until someone banging on my door woke us"

"YOU BLOW THIS JOB AND I'LL BLOW YOUR BACKSIDE OUT DEMPSEY" Spikings rubbed his head as he figured how to retreat gracefully "Well if you happen to see Sergeant Makepeace when she gets back from her jog tell her to meet downstairs for this orientation trip in say" he looked at his watch "ten minutes"

"Breakfast?" Dempsey had a gut feeling that his gut would be staying empty

"Is forfeited"

They walked around the docks and Dave explained the set up. Suzy Slow was the boat that brought the goods across from Derry to Liverpool and Filbert had a dozen different outlets he passed the goods onto. What they had discovered was that whichever outlet was used it was always O'Leary who collected and arranged the onward transport.

Spikings asked Dave how he built up the picture; he got the impression that it had proved to be a good training week for Dave. Some of the inspirational jumps had come from Dempsey but Dave had seen the picture build up and obviously contributed a fair bit himself.

But Spikings frowned when Dave explained how he had met Filbert alone. He accepted that only Dave, as the London end, would be necessary but it didn't square with the previous accounts of Dempsey's proactive insistence of meeting everyone along the supply line earlier in the report. He prodded with questions and ultimately Dave was forced to admit that Dempsey hadn't been around.

"He'd made a contact the night before and arranged to meet them again"

"Made or met?" Spikings jumped down his throat

"Is there a difference sir?"

"Describe them" it was an insistent demand made by Spikings

"The same woman as came into the bar last night"

"The American woman?" Spikings felt a knife drive through him

Dave suddenly realised he'd dropped Dempsey in it "Maybe she knows about the New York end?" he suggested hopeful that Spikings would back off but suspecting his hopes were futile.

Spikings knew that if it were true she would be named in the report. He felt an irresistible urge to shake Dempsey by the throat, in a manner that was typical of Dempsey on prisoners, until he got the truth out of him. If Dempsey was playing around he might not be fit enough to even get on the plane back to New York….