Chapter 33: Friends
Gus paused, seeing the flickering of a fame flare and extinguish. Someone was definitely out there.
"Hold that thought", she said to Paul as she moved off of both him and the sofa.
"What?" he asked, blinking in confusion as they had been making out hot and heavy seconds before.
"Just don't move," Gus ordered, pulling her dress down and slipping in her gun out of her purse.
"Kinky", he said with a grin.
"No, you idiot, there is someone out there, watching us."
Gus flung open the front door and pointed her gun into the bushes bellowing, "NYPD, don't give me a reason to shoot you." Gus winced when she heard the reply, she had been hoping for anything but this.
"Sunshine?" Flack said sheepishly, stepping out from behind the hedges, a freshly lit cigarette hanging from his lip.
"Damn it," Gus sighed, slumping against the railing.
"Everything okay out here? Do I need to call the cops?" Paul asked from the shadows of his foyer.
"I am the cops! And everything is fine, more or less, I just think we are going to call it a night. I'll call you later." Gus slipped in and grabbing her belongings and ducking around Paul as he craned his neck out the door.
"Good night, Paul", Gus said, moving back around him and pulling the door closed.
Gus moved down to the other side of the hedge, where Flack was stubbing out his unsmoked cigarette.
"These things will kill ya", he joked halfheartedly.
"That would be better for you, because I plan on killing you in a much more painful manner," Gus growled at him with such anger that Flack took a step back, flattening himself against the brick of the house.
"I just didn't think he was the right kind of guy for you and after I ran a background on him...", Flack started to explain as Gus closed the space between them and gripped his upper arm.
Gus dropped her vice grip as her mouth fell open in shock."You didn't think he was the right kind of guy for me, so you checked up on him and then you decided to spy on me?"
Flack shrugged, this had seemed like a much better idea earlier when he floated it by Messer."You deserve better, Gus, that's all, I was just looking out for you. That's what partners do."
"That's what partners do?" Gus hated herself for parroting him, taking a deep breath she launched into a tirade.
"No, partners make sure you ass doesn't get shot out there, partner's back you up when maybe you get a little rough with a suspect or cover for you when you are late coming in or make sure you get home safe after a bender, they don't stake you out on a date and follow you to another frigging borough, Don!" Her chest was heaving by the end, anger causing her vision to blur.
Flack wanted to reach out to steady her, but was afraid she would lash out at him. "I was just trying to stop you from doing something stupid, something you would regret. He is married, Gus."
"You think I don't know that?" Gus cried out.
Flack looked at her, shock written plainly across his face. "I though that would mean something to you."
Gus shook her head, her hair whipping around her."What meant something to me was that he liked me, for me, and we both wanted a good time. Do you know how long it has been since I have had that? For Christ sakes, Flack, I just wanted to believe that I might have a chance at being happy again, I wasn't planning on breaking up a marriage that wasn't already down the shitter. His wife wasn't at their house because she was off screwing her boss at a conference in LA, but I guess you didn't get that in your background check, huh? It was just going to be a fling."
Flack sighed and rubbed his neck."You can't just do that, just run off with a guy, who knows how you might end up."
Gus narrowed her eyes at him. "Is that some badly veiled reference to what happened with Nasenko?"
"No, it was me not wanting to have to come ID your body down at the morgue or have to watch Mac fall apart when he loses yet somebody else because you were off having fun." Flack set his jaw in a tense line.
Gus threw her hands up in the air. "What the hell do you care anyway?"
"I care because I care about you!" His voice cracked slightly on the end and Gus looked at him for a long moment, trying to decipher if there was a deeper meaning in Flack's words.
"You don't get to play the jealous guy anymore, Don, you gave that up."
"I gave that up?" he demanded, his eyes flashing icy blue, as he emphasized the word 'I' in disbelief.
"Yeah, you did," Gus nodded.
"I am not trying to be jealous, I am trying to keep you safe, something you can't seem to do on your own." Flack gave her a warning look.
"You could have fooled me, because is looking a whole lot like jealousy from where I am standing. You were the one that moved on, first with Devon and then this little flirtation thing going on with Angell!" Gus knew she was yelling and that anyone could overhear, but she didn't particularly care at the moment.
Flack moved in towards her, hoping she would lower her voice before Paul or the other neighbors came out to see what was going on with them."Sounds like jealousy might be running both ways there, sunshine," he replied with a little smirk.
Gus lowered her voice, her rage starting to shut her down. "So what? I am not the one following you around on dates. I am not the one who moved on first!"
Flack spoke before thinking,"but you were the one that left."
The sound of Gus' palm hitting Flack's cheek shocked both of them more than the actual sting. "Screw you, Flack" Gus hissed as she whirled on her heel and hailed a cab.
"I deserved that," Flack sighed, rubbing at his face.
Gus patently avoided Flack for the next few days, working diligently to try to get through the mountain of sleeper cases on her desk. On the rare case that they managed to be in the pit at the same time, Gus made sure to find something to do on the phone or with another detective, so she wouldn't have to speak to him. Her rage was still barely contained at his checking up on her, not to mention the fact that she still wasn't sure what was going on between the two of them.
Flack put up with it for a short time, not wanting to make waves with brass still pissed about the assassin case that went so horribly wrong. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't entirely sure why he had followed Gus out to Bay Ridge, other than feeling territorial. Angell had also been paying him a lot of attention lately, and he had to admit it was rather nice to have a female not spitting fire in his direction.
But finally, the silence between them was becoming palatable enough for others to comment on it, and Flack had to admit he couldn't stand the gulf between him and her. He cornered her by the fax machine, as she was struggling to clear a paper jam.
"There is no damn door D you piece of crap!" Gus screamed at the misbehaving machinery, pounding on it with a vengeance.
"How long is this going to go on?" Flack asked, coming up behind her and blocking her egress.
"Until this hunk of junk starts working again," Gus replied through clenched teeth.
"Not what I was talking about, sunshine, and you know it."
"My name is Gus, or Broussard if you prefer, Flack", Gus hissed back, refusing to turn around.
"Quit acting like a brat," Flack said, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her so she was pinned against the machine.
"I'm acting like a brat? You're the stalker here, I'm not the one who-"
"Everything okay in here?" Daddino asked, walking back and cutting his whistle off mid-note.
"Fine!" Flack and Gus snapped in unison.
Daddino shook his head and continued whistling down the hallway, while internally contemplating what it was he could do about his two problem detectives other than lock them in an interrogation room until they worked things out or killed each other.
Daddino wasn't sure what would occur first, but he did think that perhaps it was time to give Mac Taylor a call.
"We've been down this road before, Gus, you can't keep avoiding me," Flack said, with a slow shake of his head.
"We don't have to be friends either, Flack, how about we both just do our jobs and try to be professional about it?" Gus raised an eyebrow at him, wanting to cock a hand on her hip, but unable to free enough space to do so.
"I thought we were partners," Flack shot back.
"We haven't been for a while, Flack, besides cops change partners all the time, keeps things fresh. Stops them from getting too attached." Gus struggled to swallow, her throat suddenly closing and her mouth becoming dry.
"Something you know a lot about, right, Broussard?" Flack looked at her, his eyes taking the anger out of his words. He moved to tuck her hair behind her ear, but she ducked under his arm.
"Let me know if that fax comes through, would ya," she mumbled as she rushed out.
Chapter 34: Come On Over
Gus furiously wiped the tears from her eyes as she exited the elevator at the Crime Lab. She didn't have any particular reason to be there, all her cases cold enough that the evidence had been processed, but she just needed to not be down in the pit.
She knew she wouldn't be able to keep a lid on her emotions enough that others wouldn't see, and she also knew that far too many of the men down there would be unforgiving.
Focused on keeping up appearances, Gus didn't see the Lieutenant from Special Victims coming down the hall until she ran into her.
"Lieutenant Fields, I am so sorry," Gus said, as she stooped to pick of the file folders she had knocked out of the other woman's hands.
"It's fine, I was off in la la land anyway. Apparently that is just another wonderful side effect of being with child," the woman said with a laugh as she accepted the stack from Gus.
"I heard you were expecting, congratulations," Gus replied, more out of reflex than anything.
"Thanks, it was a bit of a shock, Phil and I thought we were done with having children."
Gus nodded, shifting her weight from foot to foot, unsure of what to say, she hadn't really talked to Lieutenant Fields since her UC case had gone sideways and her only parting gift had been a stalker and being threatened by Brass.
"Actually, Detective, I was up here looking for you, I heard you might be available to help out other departments."
Gus grimaced, wondering if Daddino had sent out a city wide memo on her recent screw ups. "Are you sure you want me?"
Caroline Fields broke into a hearty laugh at the other woman's shocked expression. "Yes, I am sure. I was young once and made a few mistakes along my way, but I don't think they made me worse at my job. In fact, I would say they made me a better detective. And sometimes we all need a little change of scenery."
Gus studied Caroline carefully. The truth was, she wasn't enjoying working on cold cases and running into nothing but dead ends. Not to mention the fact that after her interrupted date with Paul, she could use a little distance from Flack. Distance she was never going to get as long as she was held captive in the pit.
"Im in," she answered.
"You don't even want to know what the case is first?" Caroline asked, furrowing her brow.
"As long as it is something recent and will keep me out of the homicide pit and I don't have to issue press releases, I could care less,", Gus said with a nod.
Caroline smiled, "easiest sell ever, know we just have to clear it with Tony."
"What about Mac?" Gus asked hesitantly, knowing her uncle had her in his sights as of late.
"Whose office do you think I just came from?" Caroline asked with a wry smile.
"You know how crazy things get around Halloween, Fields," Lieutenant Daddino grumbled from his desk.
"Which is irrelevant, Tony, considering you have that poor girl sifting through cases that most likely can't even be solved," Caroline shot back.
"That poor girl got relieved of her own weapon after being linked up with her own cuffs by a known Russian mobster!" Daddino replied, reaching for his antacid.
"What, a girl can't have a little fun when off the clock?" Caroline quipped.
"Broussard had a little too much fun on and off the clock. Just ask about her and her partner."
"Come off your high horse, Tony, and give me some of those Tums. We all know how you met your wife, or have you conveniently re-written history?"
"I can't win when arguing with a pregnant woman, can I?"
Caroline shook her head, "Tony, you can't win when arguing with a woman period."
"Ain't that the truth," Daddino replied, waving the woman out of his office.
Gus was throwing some things from her desk to her bag when Flack came in for his afternoon shift.
"They didn't can you, did they?" Flack asked, a bemused grin on his face.
"You should be so lucky," Gus muttered under her breath before looking up. "I'm consulting with Special Vics on an ongoing case", she said, staring Flack down and forcing her insides to stop quivering.
"That mean you are going to miss all the homicide Halloween tricks and treats?" Flack asked, feeling a tinge of worry that Gus was slipping even further away than just Special Vics.
"Somehow I think you can handle all the monsters without me," Gus sighed as she hoisted her bag unto her shoulder.
"This isn't permanent, is it, sunshine?"
"Nothing is permanent, Detective Flack," Gus said before walking out of the pit.
Gus walked into the conference room in Special Vics and was suddenly overwhelmed at the amount of people around the table she didn't know all that well. Scratch that, the men she didn't know that well.
Other than Lieutenant Fields, she was the only female. Gus pondered this for a moment, because even in a male dominated field, women tended to flock to Special Vics because they felt they could related better.
"Detective Broussard, good to see you. Gentlemen, for those of you who don't know, this is Detective Augusta Broussard from homicide. She is also a clinical psychologist, so try to be on your best behavior around her; I don't want half of my team locked up in Bellevue." Lieutenant Fields motioned for her to take a seat.
"Breaking up the boys club?" a detective joked. Gus thought his name was Ramirez.
"You boys did that to yourselves when you scared away every female on this team," Caroline quipped with a grin, propping herself on the edge of the table, her hands cradling her belly.
"Nah, they were just scared of catching that parasite they heard was going around," Ramirez volleyed back.
"Parasite?" Gus asked under her breath.
The man to Gus' right snickered."He means they were worried about getting knocked up, Loo was the third in a row, other two asked for transfers the next day."
"That's all I frigging need," Gus grumbled.
"Very funny, Ramirez. Now if we could all focus on bringing Detective Broussard up to speed on our case, I would really like to be home in time to make sure my teenagers aren't planning on egging anyone's house."
Gus spent the next several hours trying to wrap her head around the case. Apparently a very persuasive gentleman had been convincing Chelsea University co-eds to switch their majors from undecided to solicitation.
The matter in which he was doing this was unclear, but all indications were that the young women weren't always volunteering for this creatively illegal way to earn their tuition dollars. University officials had alerted Brass, who didn't want any more screw ups and wanted this matter handled quickly, quietly and effectively.
"You got all of this?" the detective who had been sitting beside her asked as Fields finally released them for the night.
'Jimmy Doyle', Gus thought to herself, running through her mental roster of guys on the case."I think so, I hope so," Gus admitted, her head feeling foggy.
"Looks like it is going to be a long night of reading," she continued, gesturing to the huge stack of paperwork in her arms.
Jimmy shook his head at her."It's going to take you forever to go through all of that on your own. Why don't we stake out some diner space and I'll show you what is actually relevant."
"Don't you have some place better to be on Halloween?" Gus asked incredulous.
Jimmy looked suddenly bashful, "wish I did, truth is, I am avoiding going home because I didn't buy any candy this year. My wife usually took care of it, but-" Jimmy broke off.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Gus said, her eyes widening.
Jimmy shook her head, "No, no, Penny's not dead. She needed...some time...she's up at some retreat place in Vermont, communing with sap or something."
"Thank god! I mean not that she's there but that she's still..." Gus trailed off, feeling like an idiot.
"So how about that paperwork, Broussard?" Jimmy asked, saving her from further mortification.
"That would be great, thanks", Gus replied, "but you gotta call me Gus, Broussard makes me think I am in trouble."
"Gus it is," immy said, pulling half of the stack out of her hands.
"Holy shit!" Jimmy exclaimed a while later, as Gus was intent on the case file in front of her.
"You got something?" she asked, not looking up.
"Zombies", Jimmy gaped.
"I am not sure what angle you are going for there, Detective Doyle, but I am pretty sure I have never heard of a zombie pimp," Gus said, leaning back in the booth.
"Out there, smart ass," Jimmy said, pointing out the window.
Sure enough, a large group of people costumed and acting like zombies was passing by in the direction of Time Square. "Flash mob, read about it on Twitter," Gus said with a shrug.
"I am going to pretend like I know what any of that means," Jimmy said, still staring.
"Just don't worry about it, and let's get back to the case."
"You always a slave driver?"
"Only when I got a stack of files taller then the Empire State building", Gus retorted, flipping through another file and making furious notations.
Jimmy looked up a couple of minutes later, "so you seriously aren't going to break for zombies, I mean you just don't see that everyday."
Gus replied without even looking up from her note taking. "Sugar, I am from New Orleans, zombies are nothing."
Chapter 35: Another Cup of Coffee
"Heard you had an interesting trip up to Amityville", Gus said, digging in to her breakfast with gusto. She was happy to be catching up with her friend, even if it was early in the day.
Lindsay rolled her eyes before answering. "Doesn't it negate the fact that you are getting egg whites when they are piled high with steak?"
"Says the girl from Montana," Gus teased, "now quit changing the subject."
"It was pretty crazy, I just felt so bad for that poor little girl..." Lindsay trailed off wistfully.
"So, how are things with your cowboy?" Gus asked after a moment of silence.
Lindsay blushed before answering, "You know..."
"Complicated!" both women said in unison, breaking into laughter.
"Heard you helped Mac with the voodoo angle," Lindsay added after they both stopped laughing.
"Not that he will ever give me any credit for it," Gus said with a sigh, "not that I really care, I have been so worried about him lately."
"He's been pretty worried about you too, we all have." Lindsay looked at Gus with eyes full of concern.
"I'm fine. I know it may not appear that way, but I am. Or at least I am getting there. I am excited about working with Special Vics."
Lindsay smiled back at her, "I'm glad. I am sure you will do awesome. And maybe you will get to go undercover."
"Clearly you spend way too much time in the lab if you think going undercover is anything to get excited about, Linds," Gus wiped her mouth with her napkin.
Lindsay opened her mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by the incessant buzzing of her phone. "Dang it, its dispatch", Lindsay said, hitching up her bag.
"I got this one, you go and get 'em, tiger", Gus said waving her off.
Gus returned to the precinct to find Lieutenants Daddino and Fields toe to toe, or belly to belly as was more apt for the pregnant Fields and the too long on his ass Daddino.
"Rape victims are always handled by SVD, Tony, you know that."
"And homicides belong to homicide, end of story", Daddino shot back, not seeming to care that he was yelling at a pregnant woman.
Gus was willing to bet that those two had worked together before and this was not the first argument they had had.
"But one of my people should at least have been called out to the scene, considering who your suspect is," Fields rared back, not letting Daddino gain any ground.
Gus thought about trying to sneak back out, but Daddino caught her eye. "Dammit," Gus muttered.
"Broussard, get your ass over here!"
Gus looked from Lieutenant to Lieutenant, not sure who she should be answering to. Fields waved her over, sealing her fate.
"Look, we just caught a homicide, sticky case, Mitchell Bentley, you recognize the name?" Daddino asked.
Gus thought for a moment, "Yeah, just acquitted on rape and attempted murder, case in Central Park, right?"
Fields nodded, "Yes, and it seems homicide has brought in his victim as their primary suspect."
"Alleged," Daddino added.
Gus wasn't sure what her response was supposed to be, or what they were suggesting. "And?" she said finally, shifting her weight from one foot to another.
"Taylor and Flack have her in IR 4 right now, go observe!" Daddino ordered and then turned to Fields, "there, you happy now?"
"The only thing better than one boss is several," Gus grumbled as she made her way down the hall.
Gus watched through the two-way as Flack paced around a slight woman in scrubs that sat at the table in the center of the room.
She seemed to be protesting her innocence, but Gus noted something very much off about the woman's affect.
Mac gave her an odd look as he stepped around her to enter the interview room, file and evidence bag in hand. She continued to watch as the woman, Fern, flippantly cut down the prosecutor and lawyered up.
"Smart woman," Gus quipped as Mac voiced the deduction Gus had been forming about the woman's potential guilt.
"Come with me," Mac said to her as he exited the room, Flack barely glancing in her direction on Mac's heels.
"What do you think?" Mac asked, as he displayed the photographs of the crime scene on the monitor in his office.
"Overkill," Gus said, taking in the multiple knives sticking out of the victim's back.
Mac nodded, waiting for her to continue.
"But calm, methodical, not a rage killing at all. It looks like there is a pattern to the knives. It would have been easier to go in for a kill shot right away, only takes one knife. Unless you didn't have the strength for that. Bentley's a bigger guy, would take a lot to take him down. Might explain the weird circular pattern on the blood trail," Gus replied pointing.
Gus looked closer, something niggling at the back of her brain. "This reminds me of something, I just can't figure out what."
Mac studied his niece as she studied the crime scene, her demeanor changing as she postulated her theory. She seemed much more like her old self, something Mac was starting to think he wasn't ever going to see again.
"We aren't going to loose you to SVD are we, Gussie?" Mac asked quietly.
Gus looked over her shoulder at him, "would you miss me, Uncle Mac?"
She smiled and shook her head, "Nah, something tells me I am not going to be able to take the live victims for very long, but I'm taking what I can get." She turned back to the photos, "what the hell am I missing?"
"You remember that time Claire and I went to Spain?" Mac said, after a long pause.
"Bullfighting?" Gus exclaimed, "where the hell do you find a bullfighter in New York?"
"I am hoping Stella can shine some light on that for me," Mac replied, heading out of his office. He paused at his doorway, "don't stay over in Special Vics too long, Gus."
Gus wasn't sure if it was a request or a warning.
Gus left Mac's office, her sights set on the coffeepot across the hall in the lab's kitchen.
She practically collided with an unhappy looking Adam entering at the same time.
"Awfully early for it to be that bad of a day isn't it?" she asked, as Adam slumped at a table and pulled out a bottle full of yellow liquid.
Gus stared at it for a moment, as she stirred creamer into her coffee. "Adam, what the hell are you drinking?"
He looked sheepish for a moment, making a face after he swallowed. "Well, it's lemon juice, pepper flakes, and maple-"
"You are seriously not telling me you are going all Beyonce and Master Cleansing it are you? Adam!" Gus chastised.
"I've just been putting on some weight since..." he trailed off, "comfort eating, I guess."
"God lord Adam, I think I might be shoving some treats in my face too if I had been there!"
"Yeah, but you would look hot anyway, you wouldn't have girls telling you your baby fat is cute." Adam looked more than a little downtrodden.
Gus snorted, sliding in a chair next to him, "clearly that girl doesn't know her ass from a hole in the ground. Probably some stick thin praying mantis that hasn't eaten in months. You are fine, Adam, I promise. I would- "
She cut off as Kendall entered the kitchen, giving her the evil eye and zeroing in on the hand that was patting Adam on the arm. She noticed Adam stiffen as well.
"Hey, Kendall, bet you've had your hands full this morning," Gus called cheerily as the other woman poured a cup of coffee and sat across from them.
"I guess we all have," she replied coolly, taking a long swallow of her coffee.
Gus wasn't sure how to respond to this, and could tell that Adam was growing increasingly uncomfortable, judging by his squirming.
"Well, I should head back to the pit. Nice seeing you again, Kendall. And Adam, I'm serious, you don't have anything to worry about."
Adam gave her a halfhearted finger wave and Kendall gave her a chilly smile as she exited.
"Just what I need, more drama," she sighed, punching the down button on the elevator.
"So I am getting you back!" Lieutenant Fields said with slight surprise in her voice.
"Yeah, well, they are stuck in lab land, and that may take a while," Gus said with a shrug.
Fields pointed, "rest of the team is in the conference room, working on the boards, we got some new intel on a possible club owner who may be part of the ring. Hope you are up for some surveillance."
"Oh joy. But with enough coffee and donuts..." she trailed off thinking of Adam and his wacky diet, "or maybe some water and carrot sticks."
Chapter 36: Another Lit Bit
Nice of you to join us, Broussard," Ramirez chided as Gus walked into the conference room.
Gus narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything as she slumped into an empty chair.
"Heard you got pulled back to homicide," Jimmy Doyle leaned over to whisper to her.
Gus nodded, trying to catch up with the information on the board and that being given by the team lead, Mike Turner.
"It's not going to be obvious, and we still aren't sure if this is the place. This is going to be a drawn out thing, so I suggest you clear your schedules," Turner was saying.
Groans sounded throughout the room.
"My wife is going to kill me," one of the men groaned.
"Are you kidding, bitch wouldn't put you out of your misery that easily," retorted another.
"Settle it down, boys, and girl. We start tonight, do I have any volunteers?"
No one moved a muscle, until Gus realized she should probably play nice and raised her hand.
"Thank you very much, Broussard. Now that we some attractive company, is anyone else willing to volunteer?"
Gus tried to not be annoyed by the nervous looks exchanged around the room, or by the lack of hands raised. Finally Doyle raised his eyebrows and her and held up a pen, "I'm in, not hell else to do."
"Good," Turner said with a nod, "take a look at the specs and the surrounding topography. And then go catch some sleep before your watch."
Gus yawned, daybreak was right around the corner, but she was feeling the long night of watching nothing deep down in her bones. It had been an uneventful night, other than witnessing a couple of drug deals and domestics, not that they could do anything about them. The club was pretty dead, if the lack of line behind the velvet rope was any indication.
Doyle was nice enough company, not too talkative and not perverted either, a rare combination. They chatted, mostly about the usual stuff that cops who have just met each other chat about. Why the job, worst cases and so on.
Gus found herself not holding back on anything, but not feeling emotional about her story. She also had to give props to Doyle for not reacting much to it either. Gus chalked that up to him working so long with Special Vics, that job clearly required a lead stomach.
She jumped at the rap on the window. "Need your beauty sleep?" Ramirez joked as she rolled down the window.
"Obviously you didn't get yours," she shot back, taking the coffee that he offered.
"You two can pack it in, I've got day shift," he said with a scowl.
"You need a ride home?" Doyle asked as they got back to the precinct to drop off the unmarked back to the pool.
"Nah, I'm good," Gus said, waving him off as she signed the car back in.
"You do know you can go home and get some sleep, right Broussard?"
Gus nodded, "see you, Doyle."
Gus ran into Flack as she was hanging up the keys to the car. "You coming or going?" Flack asked looking her up and down.
Gus yawned again. "Going. Surveillance all night. Bored off my ass. What about you?"
Flack gave her a small smile, "Mac got a lead in the Bentley case. Need to sit on a publisher who, get this, has ten grand fake eyelashes."
Gus shook her head, "I wish that made more sense, on so many levels, but I think I'm brain dead."
"Take care, sunshine", Flack said, giving her shoulder a squeeze.
Gus turned to say something more, to apologize for their last blow up, but she caught sight of Angell coming toward them and saw the flash of excitement behind Flack's blue eyes.
Gus knew that look, she knew it all too well, and she couldn't say she liked seeing it in his eyes for another woman one little bit. And it was her own damn fault.