Weapon of Choice
Chapter 21: Feelings Show

Thanks for the reviews on the previous chapter, I really appreciate it. I hope you like this one, too! xxx

The walk upstairs and through the bustling CID room, even on a Saturday evening, to Jack Meadows' office seemed to take an unreasonable amount of time. At least that was how it felt to Cameron Tait. He tried to think of something; anything that he had done to warrant a reprimand from the DCI. In fact, that only thing he could have done to land himself in hot water was to have interacted with Kerry and Smithy in the coffee shop. That had been less than an hour ago, and he was sure that they both had better things to do that report him. If he had thought that speaking to them would have jeopardised their cover he wouldn't have approached them. He admitted, but only to himself, that if things had been different between him and Kerry, or if she had been undercover with anyone other than Smithy, he probably would have left without even acknowledging that they were there.

By the time Meadows sat down and indicated that Cameron should take the seat opposite his desk, he still had no idea why he had been summoned to the DCI's office.

"I expect you're wondering why you're here, PC Tait?"

"Yes, sir." He replied, folding his hands in his lap so that he wouldn't fidget.

"As I'm sure you're aware, Sergeant Smith and PC Young are working undercover at the moment." Cameron nodded. "They're making good progress for so early in the operation; better progress than anyone here expected or hoped for. Things are beginning to move rather swiftly and I think it's about time that we sent another officer undercover. Would you be interested?"

For a moment Cameron had no idea how to reply to this unexpected request. It could be a wonderful opportunity, it could propel him up the ranks and it would make for an interesting change from paperwork, being out on the beat and being vomited on by drinks. Yet, did he really want to give up his life and freedom for an undefined amount of time, to work on a case he wasn't really committed to and be forced to endure watching Kerry and Smithy act as a married couple?

"I would, yes." He finally replied. "But I think you should know that, until recently, Kerry Young and I were romantically involved."

Meadows did not look surprised or shocked, it wasn't like he hadn't fallen under the spell of a female colleague himself. "Will that affect your ability to do this job?"

"No, sir." Cameron replied, and in that moment his mind was made up. Kerry might not like it, but then his feelings had never mattered to her when she had thrown herself head and heart first into the case.

When Kerry and Smithy arrived back at the house it was almost time for dinner, so they pored over take-away menus in silence for a while. Once they had made their choice, Smithy rang up to place their order and Kerry went upstairs to run a bath in the main bathroom. She poured some lavender bath oil into the swirling water, and its aroma relaxed her. She turned on the Jacuzzi jets, undressed and slid into the silky hot water. Kerry lay back into the water and breathed deeply, in and out. She was startled back to reality by a knock on the bathroom door. Smithy popped his head around the door.

"They're very busy, so the food won't be here for about half an hour." He said, then stopped, his mouth remaining open. Kerry was half amused and half annoyed at his slack-jawed expression. As much as he would have loved to undress and join her in the water, Smithy turned away and shut the door. If they had really been married he wouldn't have hesitated in joining her, but as it was they still hadn't discussed their previous sexual encounter.

The hot water and the gentle buzz of the jets didn't seem to be so relaxing now, and she felt frustrated more than anything. She wasn't sure how much longer she could put off having 'the talk' with him.

Twenty five minutes later the doorbell rang, and Kerry heard Smithy go to answer it. She pulled herself up out of the water, which had cooled considerably and began to dry off with a fluffy towel. Being alone with her thoughts for half an hour hadn't helped her to be any clearer about the way she felt for Smithy. As wonderful as it had been when they made love, what they had was so much more than just a sexual connection.

Despite telling her father that she would be spending the evening with her friends, Jasmine actually went to Joe's house. She knew better than to go straight there, though. Her father trusted her, at least to a certain extent, but it didn't mean he wouldn't have someone following her. She knew that she would be safe, but the same was not necessarily true for Joe. Grant Black may be finding Joe useful at the moment but it didn't mean that he'd be disappointed if the young teacher's life came to a premature end. Jasmine herself didn't know how she felt about him either, but she did know that she liked him more than anyone her own age.

Grant expected his daughter to be out all night, staying over at a friends' house so she was able to spend the night at Joe's place; a rare occurrence. They hardly ever spent a whole night together, and Jasmine knew that he would not send her away. He understood that upsetting Jasmine was almost more dangerous than getting on the wrong side of her father.

With very little to trouble her, Jasmine slept the night through with her head resting on Joe's shoulder while he stared up at the ceiling, wondering once more how his life had become such a mess.

Although sharing a bed with Smithy was still awkward, Kerry found that she felt rested and serene when she awoke on Sunday morning. Leaving Smithy to sleep for a while longer, she went downstairs and began to make preparations for breakfast. She turned on the coffee maker and began to get ingredients for pancakes out of the fridge. When Smithy came downstairs, following the scent of coffee and baking, he found Kerry mixing together pancake batter with a smear of flour on her cheek.

"Good morning," He said, pouring coffee into two cups and setting one near Kerry on the kitchen counter.

"Morning." She smiled, but her attention was still on the pancake batter.

"Stop." He said, taking the spoon out of her hand and pushing the mixture aside. "We have to talk."

"I know," Kerry sighed, pushing her hair back out of her face and adding more flour to it in the process.

In spite of himself, Smithy grinned. He reached out and wiped the white traces from her cheek and forehead. Kerry blushed as she realised what a mess she'd made, and sweep of colour on her cheeks made Smithy want to kiss her, even more than usual.

"What do you want Kerry?" He asked. "What do you want from us?"

She leaned her head against his chest and closed her eyes. "I don't know, Dale. I'm so confused."

"Me too. I've liked you for ages Kerry, and I hated seeing you with Cameron but I don't know if what I feel for you now is real or if it's because we're pretending to be married." Kerry looked up at him and was about to reply when he continued to speak. "I know that this case is your priority right now, and I don't want to make you decide anything until you can think clearly, but I do want you to know that I care about you, a lot."

"I care about you, too. Breaking up with Cameron and this case, it is a lot to deal with. I love you as a friend too, and I don't want to lose that. When the case is over I promise we'll try and make a proper go of things."

"Okay," Smithy nodded. "But what about now?"

Kerry leaned up and pressed her lips to his. She didn't know, but she did know that being near him made her feel safe and happy. He kissed her back, pulling her into his arms. They stayed like that for a while, then she pulled away from his embrace.

"Now," She said, with a smile and twinkling eyes. "Now, we have pancakes."

Jasmine was getting ready to leave Joe's house early the next morning, intending to make her father fulfil his promise of taking her shopping that afternoon, when she heard the doorbell ring.

"Joe, someone's at the door." She called, stuffing her dress from last night back into her overnight bag. If it was her father at the door, he wouldn't have bothered with niceties such as ringing the bell.

Joe, fresh from the shower with still damp hair, went down the hallway to answer the door. He wasn't expecting anybody, and felt a strange twinge of fear in his lower abdomen.

He opened the door and was greeted by a friendly looking, smiling man whom he had never seen before in his life.

"Hi there, Joe. It's Cameron."

Before Joe could respond, Jasmine slipped past him in the corridor and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. She gave Cameron an appraising look before heading out into the street.

"Can I come in?" Cameron asked once they were alone.

"Uh, I suppose." Joe reluctantly stepped back to admit the stranger into his home.

"We have a lot to talk about, Joe."