It was early afternoon by the time Gail was allowed off the clock. She and Sanderson had stayed after their shift to help transport Holly to their new location; a PD owned safe house several miles away from Holly's home. Gail had to give her statement about the encounter with their attackers, and sign her weapon over for testing as it had been fired in the line of duty. She had been pleased when the local cops told her they had retrieved it from the street where the incident happened, but the good news ended there when she realised she couldn't have it back immediately. Not to mention the three different incident forms she had to complete and the full report she was asked to write detailing why she had fired her service weapon.
By the time the squad cars had arrived at the scene, there was no sign of the three men or their van. The blood on the sidewalk and the remains of the smashed planter confirmed Gail's story was accurate and indicated she had indeed hit one of the men when she fired, therefore teams were currently checking the local hospitals for any patients admitted with gunshot wounds. Given the sickening crack she had heard when she head butted the other gangster, Gail suggested they also look for broken noses and threw in head wounds too to cover the thug that Holly had knocked out cold. That was a lot of canvassing and records to trawl through, much to the local cops' delight - in other words, nobody was expecting results any time soon.
After liaising with the police, the team then spent a long time getting familiar with their new place; it was a large townhouse in the suburbs which, from the exterior at least, blended in with all the others. However it had several important modifications; the main one being that the sensors and camera system were permanently integrated into the house as opposed to the temporary set up installed by the technical support officer at Holly's. This allowed for everything to be hard wired into the small surveillance room on the ground floor. It also meant no more van duty for whoever drew the short straw each evening. There were panic buttons installed throughout the house; and the attic and basement were reinforced rooms designed to be barricaded if necessary. The other advantage of the safe house was that it had a couple of spare rooms which any member of the team could use. Gail had actually stayed at Holly's a couple of times when she had worked extra hours, but although the doctor had been a more than willing host, staying at this place was more appropriate. She felt like she was in a motel rather than intruding on someone else's space.
Gail eventually managed to grab an hour's break to collect some of her own stuff from home, then she and Sanderson both decided to crash at the safe house to grab a few hours' sleep before their night shift started at seven.
All this meant that apart from a half hour ride in the back of the blacked out sedan on loan to the team, she hadn't seen Holly all morning, not since she had pretty much sprinted from her room. McNally had informed Gail that Holly was a little bewildered about the whole situation and certainly not happy to leave her home. As it was the doctor's day off, she had been ensconced in her new room for most of the morning, unpacking the meagre amount of personal items she had managed to shove in a suitcase. McGregor had told her that he wanted her off work for the next couple of days, but Holly was due back tomorrow and was arguing the fact on that one. Gail thought that this might be the one time McGregor would win a battle of wills with Holly; given what had happened that morning, there was now no doubt that the threat against her was real.
Despite her exhaustion from being awake nearly twenty four hours, not to mention the physical strain of her confrontation with the thugs, Gail had tossed and turned in her bed all afternoon. She tried to tell herself that it was still the adrenaline from their narrow escape, but that wasn't what was filling her thoughts. In truth, she couldn't get what had happened in Holly's room out of her mind. Every time she closed her eyes she could feel Holly's soft lips on her own, and the sensation of her gentle fingers pushing into her hair as she cupped her cheek. And whenever she remembered all that, she berated herself for getting so caught up in the moment and letting her guard down. It was only yesterday when she had assured Sanderson that she wasn't going to let her feelings cloud her judgement and do something silly. Yet not fifteen hours later she was falling into Holly's arms and kissing her like she was the oxygen that she needed to breathe. She felt guilty for letting her partner down…and for taking advantage of the pathologist.
She was well aware that Holly had said she liked her; really and truly liked her. But perhaps neither of them would have allowed that to happen if they hadn't just experienced the terror of being hunted down on the street. Besides Gail was the professional one here, she should have been able to detach herself from the situation and not allow an emotional reaction to creep in. It was natural for Holly to let the fear and adrenaline manifest itself into the joy of simply being alive and trying to make the most of that. But Gail should have known better and should have stopped it.
An hour before her new shift started, Gail gave up and rolled out of bed. Her legs immediately gave way beneath her, and a screeching pain shot through her calves. "Fuck!" she exclaimed, sitting back on the bed. Her legs were as stiff as boards. She rubbed the muscles, trying to get the feeling back. Clearly lying down for a few hours had allowed the lactic acid from yesterday to build up. This is what people meant when they said they felt like they had run for their lives Gail thought, basically like their legs would never work again. Finally she was able to limp around the room to pull on some clean clothes. She sat down on the edge of the bed to yank her boots on but as she did so she was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Who's that?" she called out.
"It's me," was the softer reply and she recognised Holly's voice immediately, freezing in the midst of her task. She wasn't ready. She didn't know what to say to Holly yet. "Can I come in?" Holly asked, her voice muffled by the wooden door.
"Yeah," Gail answered, before she could stop herself. There was no good excuse for not letting Holly in anyway.
The door lurched open and Holly appeared in the room, turning to shut the door behind her. "Hey," she said, shooting an uncertain smile at the still seated cop.
"Hi," squeaked Gail, before clearing her throat and trying the greeting again; "Hi."
Holly didn't miss the look of trepidation in Gail's eyes but she tried to quash the panic that it caused. She sat down on the side of the bed, half turned towards the other woman but not close enough to invade her personal space.
"So. This is happening," she said, her words neither a question nor a statement.
Gail watched her out the corner of her eye, "What's happening?" she asked quickly, wondering if Holly was referring to the two of them.
"You're freaking out aren't you?" Holly replied with a wry smile, but Gail didn't feel like Holly was laughing at her. The expression was sympathetic and understanding, and it was that fact which made her answer honestly instead of denying it.
"Yes," she said and kept her eyes fixed on one of her boots which still lay on the floor.
Holly nodded and followed Gail's gaze, idly thinking how ridiculous she looked with one foot encased in a black biker boot and the other showing off a lurid orange sock with tiny little lion faces dotted all over it. She knew Gail had freaked out when she saw the blonde rushing out of her room. Initially she had been angry and upset about it. Without even saying anything, Gail had made her feel rejected. One second they had been sharing an intimate moment and the next the cop had shut down, her face blank and her eyes closed off. However, Holly had just had all day to think about it and instead of her anger growing, it dissolved. She remembered how she had felt the first time she had kissed a girl. The exhilaration and the fear all rolled together into a mass of confusion and turmoil…and her situation had been far less complicated that Gail's. As a shy sixteen year old, Holly had simply given into the longing that had built up over a number of months, leant in and kissed one of her best friends. She didn't have to worry about her job and life threatening situations; just whether she would be pushed away by her friend and run out of school. Fortunately she hadn't been. But she had embarked on an ill-advised, secretive and short lived relationship with her friend, one which ended up with the other girl running off with one of the boys from the basketball team. Anyway, Holly remembered the maelstrom of emotions she had felt that day, and had come to the realisation that's how Gail must be feeling too, even if she was ten years older and wiser than Holly had been. So she had made the conscious decision to cut the other woman some slack and see if she could help her make sense of things, rather than fighting with her about running away.
When she saw the nervous tension Gail was wrestling with, she knew she had made the correct decision. Gail needed a sounding board right now, not a judge. Whether Holly was the right sounding board was another matter, but there was hardly anyone else she could talk to about this at the moment.
"It's okay," she said. "I'd be more surprised if you weren't freaking out,"
Gail glanced over her shoulder. "Really?" she asked, her eyebrows raised.
Holly smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. "I completely panicked the first time I kissed a girl," she told her.
"What makes you think it's my first time?" Gail asked with a touch of sass. "Was it that bad?" She couldn't help winding Holly up a little; the doctor was looking at her so earnestly but as usual had completely the wrong idea.
Sure enough, Holly was completely taken aback by that comment; "No! No, it wasn't bad! I just meant, you know, it's different for you…you've been with men. Sorry, I didn't mean to presume…"
Gail couldn't let her stumble on any longer "It's fine, Nerd. I know what you meant," she interrupted. "But I'm not freaking out because you're a woman,"
"You're not?" Holly asked in surprise.
"No. I don't care Holly. So I'll be the big gay distraction? Big deal. I hate people, remember? That includes men and women…but apparently you're not people,"
"I'm flattered, I think," Holly said with a blink. She wasn't sure that was supposed to be a compliment, but she thought that Gail was admitting that she liked her. Which had to be a good thing, right? Whether she was truly not concerned at all by the fact Holly was a woman remained to be seen; there was a reason all lesbians knew not to fall for straight women. Holly had been there and done it before, as well as seeing it a few times and it never ended well. Although if anyone was going to be so casual about changing teams, she would put money on it being Gail.
"I just mean that, yeah, it's been confusing. I can't get you out of my head and that's crazy. And the fact that you're a woman is just part of that crazy, but it is what it is. It doesn't matter that you're girl. I'm….nervous about this anyway," Gail tried to explain but shook her head, not sure if she was making sense. It was difficult to explain because honestly, she was still figuring out her own feelings. Every single one of her instincts was screaming at her to run yet she knew she couldn't. She was tied to Holly by her role as protection officer. And even if she wasn't, then the little voice in her head was fighting those instincts tooth and nail anyway. She didn't want to run from Holly. At the end of the day, no, she didn't know why she wasn't worried about falling for a woman. It should have shocked her. But deep down, it kind of felt right.
"I'm scared too," Holly said, noticing the hesitation from Gail and guessing that nervous wasn't the first word she was going to put into that sentence.
"I didn't say I was scared!" Gail scowled, automatically baulking at the thought. She had been brought up not to admit fear; it was weak. That was instilled in her early on, and although she had grown up a lot since her mother controlled every aspect of her life, she still had that reaction in front of others. Holly simply raised an eyebrow at her and kept quiet.
Gail waited too, but couldn't hold back her curiosity; which was another side effect of being a police officer. "Why are you scared?" she asked.
Holly sighed. "You're not going to like this," she told her, "but hear me out? I'm scared that this is all new to you and it's a big change. I know you said it doesn't matter that I'm a woman. But it might later on. And you might change your mind and decide it's not for you. I don't want to be an experiment, Gail," she finished, with a wince at how brutal that sounded.
To her credit, Gail didn't flip out at that although it hurt that Holly didn't seem to trust her. "That's not how I see you though, Holly, okay? I can't promise what will happen in the future. But I wouldn't play with you like that. You are not an experiment to me; if I wanted something like that then there would be a lot easier options than you,"
The brunette frowned, appreciating how sincere Gail sounded but not quite understanding what she meant. Easier options? Suddenly she remembered what Scott had spoken to her about a few nights ago – how the two of them had to stay away from each other because of the situation they were in. Gail was almost in a position of trust over her and Holly herself remembered saying when they first met that it would be tragic to hit on her protection detail. Gail must be worried about it too…
"So why are you freaking out?" she probed, trying to test out her theory and also interpret the conflict she saw written all over the blonde's face. She tentatively shifted around the corner of the bed so she was sat next to Gail. She wanted to reach out and touch her, but sensed that could make the blonde bolt again. She settled for bumping her shoulder against the cop's.
Gail did indeed stiffen when she felt Holly's proximity. She bent down and dragged on her other boot, giving herself time to think. "We can't do this, Holly," she said very quietly, forcing the other woman to strain to hear her.
"What do you mean?" Holly asked, consciously keeping her voice on the same level.
"We're supposed to have a professional relationship. I'm at work here…it would be wrong for me to take advantage of you," the blonde replied, struggling to put her words together.
Holly raised her eyebrows, shocked that she would think that. "You are not taking advantage of me, Gail, far from it," she said firmly. She watched as the other woman shook her head, realising Gail was overthinking this. "Are you attracted to me?" she asked outright and as her eyes burned into the cop, Gail was forced to meet her steady gaze. The look they shared spoke far more than either woman could articulate, and the warmth the police officer could see in Holly's eyes made it impossible for her to lie or dodge the question.
"Yes," she answered.
"I'm attracted to you too. But I'm hoping you realised that this morning!" she joked, attempting to lighten the mood and Gail smiled back at her.
"But this situation we're in; it would make things complicated,"
"I know," Holly agreed, "But do you not think it's complicated already?"
Gail pulled a face, "I think I was born complicated,"
"Look, I don't know about you, but I'm sick of fighting this. I don't want to pretend I'm not interested in you, and just be friends. You have been driving me nuts these past few weeks," Holly explained. "Don't you feel it?"
"I do. I've been trying to make it go away and it just gets stronger. But I have to be careful, I have to put it aside and do my job Holly, you know that," the blonde said, imploring Holly to understand.
"I do, and believe me I'm really grateful that you're here keeping me safe. Because I kind of want to keep on living! But we're not robots Gail, we can't help the way we feel,"
"I've been trying," the cop admitted ruefully, "This morning, I just lost my control. I was so relieved that you were okay and when you kissed me it felt so good...but we shouldn't have done that,"
"I can't forget it happened, so don't ask me to," Holly warned, hoping desperately that the other woman wasn't going to suggest that.
Gail stared into her eyes, and thought back to the excitement that she had felt this morning; the softness of Holly's lips against her own and how her blood had rushed through her veins making her feel so alert and alive.
"I don't want to forget it," she murmured. "I want it to happen again. But I know I shouldn't,"
Holly breathed a sigh of relief. At least they felt the same about that. And she knew exactly why Gail felt like that, she knew that the circumstances they were in affected things. She chose her words carefully, knowing this was her one chance to convince Gail.
"Okay. I understand, I really do. But all I'm saying is that do you really think we'd be better off pretending there is nothing between us? We're both already struggling with that. It's not working for us Gail, it's making us stressed and that can't be good for the situation either? Yeah our timing is terrible but we can't change it and I know I can't keep ignoring this,"
Gail took in a deep breath as Holly's words hit home. The brunette was right. She had been fighting this so hard and yet it had gotten under her skin and permeated her thoughts so deeply that it had been tearing her up. Now they had taken that step over the line, could she go back to pretending there was nothing between them? In all honesty, she had already been failing to keep a lid on her attraction to Holly, and the kiss they shared had done nothing but strengthen that attraction. She had replayed it hundreds of times already and now she knew what it felt like to kiss Holly, she couldn't even pretend she had a silly crush any more. This was real.
"So what do we do?" she asked.
Holly gave her a gentle smile. "I don't know. We've acknowledged it, that's a start I think. We both like each other. Let's accept that and see where it takes us?"
"I don't know where it will take us Holly, that's the thing. And the guys are going to think it's messy…..McGregor. McGregor might take me off this assignment," Gail told her fearfully. She didn't want to leave Holly. Not after what had happened. And although she knew that she liked the doctor, in a definite romantic way, she was well aware of her track record with relationships. She had the potential to really screw this up.
"Hey," Holly said, interrupting her doubt. "I'm not suggesting we embark on some kind of mad love affair! I can't even take you on a date right now, let alone start a relationship with you. And I really want to take you out," she grinned at the thought of it.
"You do?" Gail asked, with a quirk of her eyebrows.
"Yeah. But we're going to have to wait, which sucks by the way. But I think it might be worth the wait?"
"Yeah," Gail agreed. "So. We just wait?" she asked, unsure what Holly was suggesting.
"We wait. But we know we like each other. And we don't ignore it. And when all this is over with, let's give us a go? See what happens?" Holly proposed.
Gail wanted to agree there and there, but she had to say something first. "We have to remember that I have a job to do though? That's the priority. And when I'm on shift, if I ask you to do something as your protection detail, you listen and you do it, right? I can't change how I have to deal with things work wise. I'm still here to keep you safe, and you need to respect that and let me do it," she told her in a serious tone.
"Of course," Holly answered immediately. "I can promise you that,"
"Alright. So we're not dating. But we're saying that maybe, possibly, potentially we might be one day?"
"Yes. Because when all this is over, I'm going to ask you on a date and you're going to say yes,"
"Okay then. I think that's a plan," Gail decided, and she couldn't help the happy smile that spread across her face. She ducked her head shyly to try and hide it, but Holly lifted her hand and cupped Gail's cheek, turning her face towards her. She leant across and kissed her gently.
"Just so you know, if we're not ignoring it, then I still get to do that. We just won't put a label on it," Holly whispered, before connecting her lips with Gail's once more. This time their kiss was deep and slow, and the cop felt her stomach flip. She almost forgot to breathe as she swiped her tongue across Holly's top lip and felt the other woman open her mouth in response, sliding her own tongue forwards to stroke against Gail before darting back and then repeating the motion. Just as the blonde moaned, Holly broke the kiss but stayed close, her forehead touching Gail's.
"Is that okay?" she asked.
"More than okay," Gail said, and she turned her body completely to the side, placed one arm around Holly and buried her fingers in her hair, pulling her lips back to her own. Absolutely okay, she thought to herself.
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Later that evening, Gail could still feel the butterflies dancing through her stomach as she sat opposite Holly conducting another epic Scrabble battle. The doctor had insisted on bringing the game with her to the safe house and it had been Sanderson's idea to play. He was winning comfortably too; probably because neither woman was concentrating properly as they shot secretive glances and smiles at each other across the board.
Gail felt as though every muscle and nerve in her body was on high alert. She had a curious mix of joy, excitement, fear and awkwardness bubbling through her and the number of emotions was driving her crazy. It was almost like being a little drunk. She was glad she hadn't run and she was thrilled to bits that she and Holly had their talk earlier and everything was out in the open. Well, between the two of them at least, obviously not to the wider world. But that was all they could have right now and all she wanted. If she was honest with herself, it was all she could deal with too. However it was enough, as proved by this whirlwind inside her. It was making her a little giddy, but she liked it. She realised with a start that it was happiness. Had it really been that long that she didn't recognise feeling happy?
She caught Holly's eye once more, and could have sworn the other woman gave her a quick wink, but it was so fleeting that Gail wasn't sure whether it was simply a normal blink. She giggled at how silly she was being, but stopped abruptly when she realised Sanderson was staring at her.
"What's so funny, Peck?" he demanded, and she blushed. Actually blushed.
"Just found a rude word in my letters," she made up an excuse on the spot and this time when she met Holly's gaze, there was a definite deliberate wink. Holly's eyes twinkled with mirth and Gail could only shrug at her. It was her fault she had to invent a stupid lie anyway!
"So childish, Gail, so childish!" Sanderson chastised her, as he laid out his word on the board and grabbed some replacement letters.
Soon they reached the end of the game and both of them had to witness Sanderson's exuberant victory dance. Holly decided that was her cue to turn in for the night, and said goodnight to them both before traipsing upstairs.
"So….!" Sanderson drawled. "That was one hell of day,"
Gail couldn't find anything to say as she replayed the last eighteen hours in her mind. It had been an absolute rollercoaster; and Sanderson didn't know the half of it. She shook her head and twisted her fingers together, absentmindedly cracking her knuckles.
"Next time you get a bright idea for cheering the doc up, count me out?" Sanderson announced.
She winced, acknowledging that although he wouldn't say it in so many words, she had royally screwed up today and if the worst had happened, Sanderson would have gone down with her. He had every right to be upset. He wouldn't tell her that though, because he was her partner. He had her back.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Sanderson shrugged, "I'm yanking your chain. I agreed to the plan. I never thought anything like that could happen. And hey, I was the one that checked round the block this morning. I have no idea how I missed them watching her,"
"We got lucky, Sanderson," Gail said with a shudder as she thought of how close they'd come.
"Yeah. But you did good, Gail," he told her and he didn't miss how the blonde woman grunted as if she wanted to disagree. He took in her appearance; the two strips of medical tape holding together the cut on the point of her cheekbone, the bruised forehead and the tired circles under her eyes. He was an experienced officer and he knew that cops were trained to react in dangerous situations and get the job done. It was often only after the adrenaline wore off that they suffered the consequences.
"Are you okay though?" he asked in a serious tone.
"I'm fine," she said with her customary guardedness.
"And is the doc all good?" Sanderson asked, realising there was no point probing Gail more on that.
"Yeah, I think so. We had a good talk," she replied and she couldn't help smiling. If Holly was feeling anything like she was, then she was definitely okay despite the mayhem of this morning.
"Hmmm. I did think you were both a bit chirpy this evening, considering," Sanderson mused, and Gail fought to wipe the smile from her face. Sanderson was a sharp cookie and already knew how she felt about Holly. It would be too easy for him to put two and two together if she gave him even the smallest of clues.
She shrugged at him and waved her hand over the board that was still laid out on the battered dining table. "Another game?" she asked. "Stretch our minds, before we numb our brain cells staring at these screens for hours on end?" As the surveillance cameras at this house were a permanent set up, there was a small box room with several screens where they could monitor the feed and all the other equipment from. Rather than taking it in turns like they had with the van, the two of them had already decided to base themselves in there so whichever one of them watched the screens at least they'd have someone to talk to during the long, quiet night shift.
"Sure," Sanderson readily agreed. "Let's make it more interesting though?"
"How so?"
"Filth Scrabble! Only rude, inappropriate and offensive words can be used!"
Gail laughed. That could be fun. "And you say I'm the childish one?" she asked.
"What can I say? You inspire me!"
"Ok, let's do it. You set it up, I'm going to the bathroom. But don't give me any letters, I'll pick my own!" Gail told him. She remembered what she had done to Holly in their abandoned game weeks ago and she wasn't going to fall for that one.
Gail got up and hurried up the stairs. She didn't actually need to use the facilities, but going upstairs allowed her to address another need. She tapped lightly on the door of the master bedroom which was the one they had allocated to Holly. It was next door to the one she had used earlier, but far bigger and the furniture in there actually looked like it had been bought as a set, rather than put together from various seized possessions the Toronto Police Force had accumulated…which seemed to be the theme in the rest of the house.
There was a brief wait before she got an answer to her knock and Gail wondered if Holly was already asleep. She couldn't help feel disappointed but just as she turned away, the door opened and Holly smiled when she saw who it was standing there. "Sorry, I was in the middle of getting changed," she said and stepped aside to let Gail into the room, closing the door again behind her.
"I just wanted to say goodnight," Gail told her, suddenly nervous now she was here alone with Holly.
Holly looked at her quizzically, her hand still resting on the door handle. She was pretty sure they had said goodnight downstairs, but she was never going to pass up an opportunity to see Gail for a little longer.
"Ok. Goodnight, Gail," she said. She started to smile but only got halfway before biting her lip, not wanting Gail to think she was making fun of her.
It was the sight of Holly catching her own bottom lip between her teeth than set Gail off and made her execute her original plan without any more thought. She stepped into the other woman's space and firmly pressed her lips against the brunette's, soothing that bitten lip by gently sucking on it before brushing her tongue along it. One hand cupped Holly's face, tilting her head to get the perfect angle and the other found a resting spot on a curvaceous hip. She heard the other woman sigh happily as they pulled apart, and decided that noise alone had made it worth sneaking up here. Gail opened her eyes and saw that brilliant smile had widened so far it was in danger of blinding her. Gail trailed her fingers down Holly's jaw and neck and stopped on her shoulder. She stepped back slightly, but didn't drop that hand.
"What are you grinning at, Lunchbox?" she asked, ignoring the fact that her own smile was also plastered across her face.
"Nothing," Holly said, "I just like the way you say goodnight,"
"Yeah. It's one of my talents," Gail told her as she waited for her heart to slow down.
"It definitely is," the doctor agreed and she brushed her fingers against Gail's forearm, watching the way the tiny, fine hairs stood on end.
"Goodnight, Holly," Gail said, deciding she had better make her exit as Sanderson would be wondering what was taking so long. She placed her hand over Holly's on the handle and pulled the bedroom door open slowly. As she stepped round the other woman, she squeezed her hand and stroked her thumb across the knuckles before leaving the room.
"Night, Gail," the brunette whispered, conscious the door was now open. They smiled again at each other, eyes sparkling and full of warmth. Holly slowly closed the door, cutting off the contact but she couldn't stop smiling as she leant back against it. That was the first time Gail had kissed her. She had initiated the others; she had been the one to take the lead in order to prove something to Gail. But this time Gail had been the one to seek her out and make the move. Holly hadn't even realised she was worried, but now the cop had done that, it settled the last lingering doubt. Gail wanted this as much as she did. She couldn't help doing a little wriggle of excitement before continuing to get ready for bed, the wide smile a permanent fixture on her face. How was she ever going to get to sleep after that?
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When it happened, Gail was halfway through wiping the floor with Sanderson in their game of Scrabble insults. They had moved into the control room so they could keep an eye on the monitors whilst they played. A second benefit of this was that there was no dictionary in sight so when Sanderson tried to challenge one of Gail's words, there wasn't any concrete proof either way unlike when she had played at Holly's.
The interruption came in the form of a flashing red light on the computer monitor on the desk and a low buzzing noise emitting from the speakers. Sanderson immediately leapt up to check what was on screen but Gail was slower to react.
"What the heck does that noise mean?" she asked, craning her neck over his shoulder to try and look at the screen.
"One of the motion sensors has been triggered," he answered, clicking some buttons until a map of the security system showed.
"That's all we get? No alarm bells?" Gail said, feeling kind of cheated. She had expected some kind of cacophony of blaring bells, or foghorns maybe. Surely with all this technology at their fingertips they could have a bit more urgency installed into it?
"That is the alarm!" Sanderson told her, snapping her out of that thought and into the situation at hand, "What, you want some kind of screaming alarm to panic the whole household, and probably anyone within a block radius?"
She shrugged. Kind of, yeah. "Where?" she asked, instead of arguing that point.
"The sensor that runs parallel with the back fence," Sanderson replied, pointing to the schematic in front of him and the area in question. The house had a fairly big back yard which backed on to parkland. Sanderson switched views and they both scanned the feeds from the two cameras that covered that area of the property. "I can't see anything. No movement, or strange shapes, right?" he declared, glancing over to see if Gail had spotted anything.
"No, nothing," she agreed straining her eyes to get used to the eerie grey scale images flickering on the screen.
Sanderson took charge and un-holstered his gun. He also grabbed his phone from the table and dialled Gail's number, "Pick it up and keep the line open," he said, slipping an earpiece in so he could use the phone hands free. "It's better than radio - it won't crackle at the wrong time or something,"
Gail did as she was told and Sanderson nodded at her. "Right, I'm going to check it out. Stay here and watch my back on the screens. You can talk to me on here, but I won't answer unless I really have to. Don't want them hearing me before they see me,"
"I should come," Gail argued with a frown, not liking the idea of Sanderson going out there to face an unknown enemy with only tiny CCTV pictures for back up.
"No, remember the priority here. If something happens, don't come after me. Hit the panic button, get straight upstairs and blockade yourself in with the doc. Keep her safe," he instructed, his voice intently serious.
"It'll probably just be a branch or something," she suggested, not knowing whether she was trying to reassure him or herself.
"Yeah, although the sensors have a certain level of sensitivity to allow for trees blowing in the wind and the like. So let's go find out," Sanderson replied, slipping his phone into his top jacket pocket and giving her a grim nod before moving quickly from the room.
Gail watched his progress from the second he left the front door, immediately scooting round the side of the building towards the rear of the house, pressing his back tight against the wall in an attempt to remain invisible to any watchers. Sanderson reached the corner of the house and ducked down low to make himself a smaller target whilst he quickly poked his head round and gave the back of the house a fast once over. Gail could tell he had seen nothing by the fact he remained vigilant, standing stock still and trying to catch any sight or sound that would indicate there was someone out there.
She examined all the camera feeds around the garden, but it was no good. "Nothing on the screens, Sanderson," she whispered into the phone, trying to keep her voice down low but still audible for him.
Sanderson waited a few minutes and although Gail couldn't see the detail on screen she knew his eyes would be scanning the yard non-stop. Suddenly his voice came through the phone, startling her despite the fact it was so quiet she could barely hear. "Moving right, thirty secs," he murmured and she selected the camera feed that showed where he was now and the one that showed the right side of the lawn, bringing each one up on her screens.
She began to count to thirty in her head, but when she reached twenty five she whispered a final check for him; "Nothing. Go!" Gail watched Sanderson sprint out from the cover of the building, keeping low against the hedgerow. Near the end of the line he reached a thick, taller bush that he could duck behind and Gail lost sight of him as soon as he did. She flipped to the camera that showed the back end of the yard, hoping to spot him in the corner but the field of view wasn't large enough.
"Lost visual on you," she said urgently and was relieved to hear him breathe a quick okay down the line to her. She flicked through all of the cameras and there was still no sign of anything untoward on any of them.
"Still nothing," she told her partner.
"Agreed. I think it's a false alarm," Sanderson replied. "It doesn't feel like anyone is out here,"
They waited another few minutes before Sanderson broke the silence, "I'm going to check the back fence," He was talking in a slightly louder voice now which showed he was pretty sure he was alone in the yard.
Gail gave him the go ahead and waited to see him appear on her second screen which showed the length of the back fence that the disturbed sensor covered. However, the tall officer never materialised and she frowned. It seemed there was a blind spot between two cameras in the far corner of the yard, and that was a sloppy set up to say the least.
"Son of a -!" she suddenly heard Sanderson yelp in her ear and she felt blind panic hit her.
"What? Sanderson!" she called down the phone, forgetting the earlier need to keep quiet. "Sanderson, what's going on?" she asked again, jumping out the chair and sprinting out the room to go find him. She skidded to a stop as she turned out of the door though, remembering she was supposed to go and protect Holly. As she stood there frozen with indecision, Sanderson's voice came through her earpiece and she bent forward to put her hands on her knees in relief.
"Hey, Gail? Sorry, I jumped and lost my earpiece!" he said, at a normal conversational volume.
"You're a dick!" she growled at him for giving her a scare. "Is it all clear?"
"Oh yeah, sure. All clear. Come on out here," Sanderson replied.
"Why do I need to come out if it's all clear?" Gail asked, breathing deep to clear the adrenaline. Honestly, she couldn't deal with any more excitement today. One way or another, this job was going to kill her if she carried on like this.
"You've got to see this," he chuckled and she rolled her eyes and made her way out back. Despite Sanderson's assurance that everything was fine, she couldn't help moving cautiously and scanning every inch of the back yard as she made her way to the rear boundary. She soon spotted Sanderson in the corner that had been out of view from the cameras; he was leaning against the fence looking along the gap behind the hedgerow. Gail made her way over to him, frowning as he lifted his finger to his lips to shush her.
"What?" she hissed, elbowing him.
"Want to see what set the sensor off?" he asked. "Just keep watching there," and he pointed down behind the hedge to the narrow gap between the trunks of the leafy bushes and the back fence.
Gail stood there for a couple of minutes, bent over at the waist to get a good look over Sanderson's shoulder as he crouched down at the end of the row. The position was uncomfortable and she soon got impatient, tapping her partner on the shoulder. Before she could say anything though, he breathed a word of caution, "Wait."
Just then, she saw the problem. As they silently watched, a long nose poked through a small gap in the fencing, followed by bright eyes and a tawny face. The fox slipped its body through the fence and made its way along the tunnel space.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Gail exclaimed and the sound of her voice sent the animal scurrying back to the safety of the gap.
Sanderson laughed at her disgust, "Yep! Looks like we got spooked by our feral friend there!" He stood up and turned to face Gail, shaking his head.
"What kind of idiot sets up a sensor along a freaking fox run?" she asked, thoroughly exasperated.
"Niall came and checked this place out before he went back to Vancouver, said it was all fine. He's one of McGregor's boys, and McGregor wanted it set up properly just in case we needed it," Sanderson shrugged.
"Should have called the SPCA, not the tech guys," Gail griped and he snorted. They stood there contemplating the gap in the fencing and how one small animal had sent them into high alert. Gail shook her head in annoyance. "So what do we do, just block the hole up?" she asked.
Sanderson thought about that. "Nah," he eventually said. "Seems a shame to cut off his stomping ground. This place has been empty for a while, it's probably part of his routine now. Aren't foxes really territorial?"
"I haven't a fucking clue," she replied. As fascinating as the nocturnal behaviour of foxes was, it was cold out and Gail had had a really busy day. And even though it was kind of cute that Sanderson was worried about the happiness of the local wildlife, it was also very weird and creepy.
"Well. Let's just turn this sensor off. I can bring one of the temporary ones over from Holly's place, and set it up across here instead," he suggested, walking out a line in front of the shrubbery and gesturing at the ground.
"You can do that?" Gail asked, surprised.
"Sure," he said. "You really should have listened in the tech briefing you know,"
"No need, when there are plenty of geeks like you around to look after that bit,"
"Yeah, because your strength is really the people side of things," he bit back, and she couldn't decide whether he was simply being sarcastic at her general social awkwardness, or poking fun at the pickle she had got herself into over Holly.
"Anyway," Sanderson continued. "It'll work. I think if I angle it right, I can cover that corner too because with this set up now there's a bit of a gap," he pointed at the corner of the yard.
"There's a blind spot on the cameras there too," she told him. "Seriously, what the fuck was that Liam guy doing when he checked the place out?"
"Who's Liam?" he asked, puzzled.
"That gormless tech officer who came to Holly's place! You just said McGregor sent him here too!"
"Niall," he corrected her
"What?"
"His name is Niall, not Liam,"
"Whatever. He looks like a Liam. And he's a moron," she stated.
Sanderson laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "Come on. Let's get inside. I reckon we'll be safe from the local wildlife for tonight, then I'll get the new set up sorted out in the morning,"
"You do that, King of Geeks," Gail said, and led the way inside. Only another seven hours of her shift left before she could draw a line under this crazy day. Violent gangsters and stealth foxes could be forgotten about. Holly and kissing on the other hand, now that was part of the day that she intended to keep in the memory banks a lot longer.