Weapon of Choice
Chapter 12: Bitter End

Thanks for the reviews! This chapter jumps about it, but I hope you like it!

Early the next morning, before lessons had begun, Joe Harrison found himself in the Headmaster's office. It was by his own choice that he was there not because he was being reprimanded, well he supposed truthfully it was because of Jasmine that he was meeting with Mr Edwards.

Hoping for a quiet evening at home, he had been surprised, and not in a good way, when Jasmine had turned up at his ground floor flat a little after eight o'clock. He had been sitting on the sofa with a beer in his hand, half watching the football on television and thinking over how he could have been sharing a drink with the woman whom he had met at the supermarket earlier that evening. Joe had never been the sort to be unfaithful in a relationship, but then whatever he and Jasmine had going was unlike anything he had ever experienced. For a while he had thought it was a good thing; a scary but exciting thing. Now he longed to spend time with an ordinary woman of a similar age, who had similar interests to him. Strangely; inexorably he had found his thoughts moving towards Kerry Jones, and thinking that if things were different and she wasn't happily married, they would probably make a good couple. He had been roused from these thoughts by the doorbell ringing. Joe hadn't been expecting company and the only person he could imagine turning up unannounced at this time of the evening was Jasmine Black.

"Can I come in?" She asked, pushing by him and into his small apartment before even one word had escaped his lips. He closed the door and locked it, but not before peering outside into the darkened street.

When Joe re-entered the living room, Jasmine was sitting on the sofa in the spot he had just vacated. She picked up his half finished beer bottle, took a sip and made a face.

"I don't know how you can drink this stuff."

"Maybe because I'm legally allowed to." He shot back, but instantly regretted it. He rubbed his hands over his face, his palms rasping over his stubble. "I'm sorry." He meant it, too.

Jasmine waved off the awkward moment but Joe had a feeling she was probably storing it for later as something to tell her father if he ever put his toe over the line that Grant Black had drawn for him, in permanent ink.

"I need to ask you a favour."

"Okay." He replied, unable to keep the wariness out of his tone.

"I need you to arrange a social 'outing'," She made air quotes with her fingers. "For the teacher, as many of them as possible, and especially the new two."

Joe raised an eyebrow but didn't protest, he knew better. "Any reason why?"

"Because I asked. Nicely." She went over to him, reaching up to put both his hands on his shoulders. Her face was inches from his and he felt a lurch low in his stomach. However much the Black family and the situation he found himself in disgusted Joe, there was still something that made him unable to turn Jasmine down; unable to even try.

"I was thinking that it might be nice if we organised some kind of get-together for the staff." He said, bringing himself back to the present. "Especially now we've got new members."

Derek looked at Joe thoughtfully. "What were you suggesting?"

"Perhaps something simple to begin with, just a drink at the local pub but if it's a success maybe a group activity of some sort?"

"It's not a bad idea." Derek replied. "But surely you could have arranged this without coming to me and asking my permission."

"Yes," Joe allowed. He had wanted to do this properly but Derek didn't need to know that. "But I thought you might like to attend to and I didn't want you to think I was going behind your back." Jasmine had not told him that he couldn't invite the Head teacher.

"Ah, very kind of you. I think it's a good idea, yes." He was thinking of the two undercover police officers in his school and how this could be beneficial to them.

Joe stood up. "I was thinking eight o'clock on Friday night at the Rose and Crown."

Derek nodded his approval. "You never know, you might see me there." Joe hoped that he would.

Kerry had slept badly that night. It was hard to fall asleep when you were sharing a bed with someone while your feelings for them changed. It should be Cameron she was sleeping next to and the thought made her feel guilty and uncomfortable again.

The previous evening Kerry had gone ahead and cooked the curry with some help from Smithy. He had poured two large glasses of beer and they had sat chatting for a long time after the meal was over. They handled the cleaning up together, one washing up; one drying up while they looked out on the garden as twilight slowly swallowed it up. September was fading into October and it wasn't long before all they could see were their own reflections in the glass.

Kerry had handed Smithy the last soapy pot and went to dry her hands. She picked up her watch from the kitchen table and had yelped as she put it on.

Smithy had looked around at her in shock. "Alright?"

"No, I was supposed to call Cameron...nearly an hour ago!"

He had tried to make an appropriate facial expression but all he felt was disappointment. By mentioning her boyfriend's name, the evening they had had enjoyed together had been shattered, at least for him. Kerry had rushed out of the room with her phone and the extra sim card, leaving Smithy in the solitude of the kitchen.

"I'm sorry Cam, I was busy and time ran away with me." It sounded lame to her ears, so it must sound even worse to him. Annoyingly for Kerry it was the truth, but if it was him out here living a faux married life with one of her female colleagues, she knew she would react in a similarly bad way.

"Busy doing what?"

"Planning our next move in the operation, Cam. You know how important this is to me."

"Yeah, yeah, I do. I sometimes think it's the only thing you care about anymore."

"That's not fair!" His words stung, especially as there was a measure of truth to them. "Maybe we should talk again tomorrow when we're both in better moods." She was afraid that she would say things she didn't mean if they carried on this conversation right now. Perhaps, even worse, she might say things she really did mean and that scared her more.

It was with a great effort that Kerry dragged herself from the bed, feeling a sick twinge deep in her stomach that had nothing to do with the curry and beer she had consumed the previous night. She carried out her usual morning routine without really noticing what she was doing; only grunting briefly when her and Smithy's paths crossed. For the first time she was beginning to have regrets and doubts about pushing so hard for this operation to take place and to have a role in it. There must have been other ways to find and punish those responsible for Kathryn Walker's death, but then she remembered the weeks she had fruitlessly searched for leads. As difficult as it was both personally and professionally, Kerry knew her only option was to see it through until the bitter end.