Chapter 56: Kelly Ripa
"Things worked out with Flack?" Doyle asked a few days later as they walked back from the conference room at the DA's office.
A pow wow had been called trying to untangle the mess of the Shirazi case, which was being fought over by the New York DA and the Feds. A Grand Jury had already moved the case forward, but the Feds were trying to swoop in and make an example of the case. Gus felt like she would go crazy if she had to go through one more deposition, but at least she could do it practically in her sleep by now.
Gus paused briefly, giving him a small smile. "I'm going to need you to be more specific, Jimmy. If you mean he got his badge back and was cleared, yes, everything is peachy keen with Don Flack."
Doyle cleared his throat, rocking back and forth on his heels. "That great, huh?"
"Yeah, so I finally stopped hiding down in the evidence locker because you and everyone else kept bugging me about it only to be faced with the cozy twins being all coy. Tried to convince Parker to move our desks around and he said it was too obvious and I needed to grow a thicker skin." Gus rolled her eyes, then drew herself square as she saw Deputy Inspector Whitford heading their way.
"Assume she wants some of the glory now, heard she's got a bee in her bonnet over the whole thing," Doyle said, shoving his hands angrily in his pockets.
"Play nice, Jimmy. She means well, I think. Inspector Whitford, nice to see you!" Gus smiled at the other woman as soon as she got in hearing distance.
"How many times must I tell you, it is Gillian. I am mostly well and it is serendipitous that I find just the two people I needed to speak with together. May I treat you both to coffee and we can go have a chat in my office?"
Doyle gave Gus an uneasy look, but Gus kept on smiling. "If I ever turn down coffee, please check my pulse. Let me just call Parker and let him know where I will be."
They all settled in to Whitford's office as Gillian flipped through some files before facing them. "I know you have been in the middle of dealing with the Shirazi case, I am also aware the Feds are trying to take it away from us. The Mayor and Governor are debating starting a Task Force and your knowledge would prove invaluable. I have already had several meetings as to whatGus observed inside the operation, but Lieutenant, I would love your input as well. Not only is this a personal cause for me, it is a professional one as well, increasingly so. The Mayor has passed off another letter from another concerned father about his missing daughter. He is flying into New York in the next couple of days to talk and I cannot imagine it will be a pleasant chat."
"Why isn't major case involved or missing persons? Do we know it is a SVD case?" Doyle took the files Gillian proffered, flipping through them. He whistled, "these are a lot of letters. How come I haven't seen any of them before?"
"These are girls that have fallen through the cracks, as much as I hate to admit that. I would like for you both to sit on the Task Force as my representatives. Doyle, I do know you recently took over as Lieutenant in SVD, so this will dovetail with your administrative role nicely." Gillian's smile was nice enough, but her tone left little room for argument.
Gus knew from the few in-depth discussions she had had with Gillian that her niece had been one such girl to fall through the cracks and Gillian deeply suspected the girl as being sold. Gus had revealed nearly everything about the Shirazi case, and had found their talks therapeutic in many ways. Gillian was far more interested in learning how to stop girls from being abducted and sold than to judge Gus for anything, so for the first time in months, she was able to open up about everything. It still didn't free her from the pain of seeing Don with Jess, but it did help her believe that she was healing enough to get back to the field should she want to.
"I'm guess the correct answer is yes, I am honored to join this Task Force?" Doyle asked with a smirk.
"Nice to have you on board, Lieutenant. I will let you both get back to your busy lives, but please know I am genuinely glad to have both your knowledge bases and expertise on this."
"Expert, BS, she just wants to make sure all the departments play nice with each other," Doyle grumbled as he stabbed the elevator down button.
Gus rolled her eyes. "Jimmy, these are tons of missing girls, underage, half of them barely speak English, I am pretty sure they meet criteria for being special victims. Not to mention they are all pretty, so that means lots of press."
"No wonder the Mayor is so hot to trot then. I just hate Task Forces, all this nicey nice and no actual work being done."
"Maybe you can change that?" Gus suggested as they reached the sixth floor.
"Not likely, but thanks for your vote of confidence. Same time tomorrow?"
"Unless the DA says otherwise."
Chapter 57: Picture of You
A few days went by with little movement on any of her cases or the trial. Gus was beginning to feel more than a little stir crazy at her desk when she heard the distinctive clack of Gillian's heels before the woman was visible in the pit. "Detective Broussard, I need you to take a ride with me."
"Ma'am?" Gus felt like she had been called into Sister Mary Francis' office at Sacred Heart.
"The father who I was telling you about, he was found murdered. Crime Lab traced Rani, to the old mustard factory. They are sending in a team now, so please, come with me."
Gus followed wordlessly, remaining silent for the tense ride to the factory. The team had already swept through. It was clear that many girls had been held in the decrepit space and Gus gave an involuntary shudder.
"You picked quite the case to come back out in the field on," Flack said coming up behind her as Gillian walked off to talk with Mac and Stella.
"It wasn't entirely voluntary," she replied, gesturing toward Gillian.
Flack crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at her. "You ever get put in a place like this?" his tone was full of concern.
Gus shook her head, "nope, supremely lucky, I guess. No drugs except that last night, no flea infested hovels. High class sex trafficking for the win." Gus shivered some more.
"You want my jacket?" Flack offered, seeing her shake.
She waved him off, "I'll be fine, just hits home, you know?" They were interrupted by Stella yelling for all units to look for the the witness they had been questioning who had just done a runner out the window.
"Duty calls, take care of yourself, sunshine." Flack was gone in a flash leaving Gus to follow in Gillian's wake.
Gus found herself in the middle of a heated exchange between Gillian and Mac outside the interview room. Gus flinched, knowing how poorly Mac took being second-guessed. She bristled further when Gillian told Mac they were doing things her way or not at all before storming out.
Mac looked at Gus for a long beat. "She might be right, Mac, but I trust Flack too. There's a lot more going on here."
"I figured that out," Mac replied before following after Gillian. Gus stayed planted in front of the window as Flack came out.
"He's like freaking Burger King in there with his have it his way," Flack said as he shut the door firmly behind him.
"At least he is willing to do it. You trust him?" Gus asked.
Flack smirked, "do I ever trust a CI?"
"About as far as you can throw 'em, I know."
"What do you think?" Flack said, draining a bottle of water.
"I think if Gillian gets her way, it isn't going to happen."
"Gillian? On a first name basis with the Deputy Inspector, are we?" Flack raised his eyebrows.
"We've been talking about my UC cases, she wanted to know the ins and outs of...well everything." Gus shrugged.
Flack glowered slightly, "why didn't you tell her to just read the depositions?"
Gus studied him carefully, trying to figure out what was going through his head as he seemed suddenly protective. "You know lawyers, Flack, she wanted details that weren't ever going to see the light of day in the court room."
"Yeah, like what?" he pressed on.
"Like the operations, like how they find the girls to prey on, just stuff, Flack! Why so interested?"
"Because I don't know what happened to you in there, all I know is you disappeared, again, and I get a call that you are at the hospital bleeding out. You get out and it seems like you've been avoiding me at every turn. I'm worried about you, and I just hope Gillian," he nearly spat out her name, "isn't using you for her own gain."
"So what if she is? What happened to me wasn't great, but it was a hell of a lot better than what is happening to most of the girls caught up in this and if she uses it for her gain, good for her, at least someone is trying to stop this crap from happening!" Gus stepped back, distancing herself from Flack and refraining from replying to his other comments.
"In case you hadn't noticed, I am trying with slick Willie in there-" Flack cut off as Mac came back in.
"Set it up, it's a go." Mac looked at each of them with a long, cold stare before moving on.
Gus turned on her heel and went to check in with Gillian.
It was several hours later and Gus was going through files at her desk. Gillian had waved her off, telling her there was nothing more to do. She had seen Flack pop in and out a couple of times, but couldn't bring herself to approach him, especially since he was clearly a man on a mission.
He finally approached her, just as she was about to give up and go home. "We found Rani, safe and sound. Whitford's taking her down to Sid now to view her father's body. She told me to tell you to go home."
Gus sighed, putting up her files. "I will, I just about gave up on ever being in the loop again."
Flack still hadn't moved. "You want a ride?"
Gus debated, wanting to spend the time with him but not liking the tension between them, not to mention the jealousy gnawing at her soul. "Not tonight, Flack, but thank you, for everything, including worrying about me. I can take care of myself, though."
"I know you can, doesn't mean I don't worry though." He gave her shoulder a small squeeze before walking away, looking back over his shoulder at her as she pulled on her coat.
Chapter 58: That's What I'm Talking About
Much to both her and Doyle's amazement, the trial actually went ahead. Perhaps riding on the coat tails of the press after the recent trafficking ring bust.
While it was good to try to get the whole Shirazi episode behind her, it meant days on end of sitting outside a courtroom and suffering what felt like a bruised tailbone, not to mention having Parker bitch and moan about her abandoning him.
Gus was finally called in to testify, which ended up a full day of exhausting grilling not only about the case, but also her work as both a detective and a psychologist.
Luckily, they didn't delve too much into her personal life as Doyle figured they would. While she couldn't wait to get home, she decided to run by the precinct first to check in and let them know she would be back the next day. Hopefully, she would be back out in the field making cold cases warm again soon.
She was greeted by an eerily empty pit, except for an angry looking Flack and Daddino.
"Did I miss an alien invasion?" she asked, looking around in confusion.
"Freaking blue flu, and this shit better end soon! Are you done with that damn trial yet?" Daddino roared.
"Sure am, Loo, that is why I was dropping by."
"Good, you better not catch anything on the way home, I will see you bright and early." Daddino turned on his heel, heading into his office and slamming his door.
"Jesus, did everyone call in?" Gus asked, approaching Flack's desk.
"Pretty much." Flack sighed in frustration, running his hands through his closely cropped hair.
"Lafferty and Thatcher don't surprise me, but Parker?" Flack nodded.
"Even Angell?" Gus looked incredulous as Flack nodded and all but snapped his pencil in two.
"Yeah, even her. Hell, even Danny left a crime scene." He paused for a moment, looking her up and down, "we could have used you today."
Gus studied his face, trying to figure out if his tone was one of frustration. "I would have rather been here than being grilled on the stand."
Flack looked weary, "I know, just bad timing."
"Well I'm here now, can I do anything?" Gus asked somewhat timidly.
He shook his head, "Nah, I'm good until tomorrow. Adam's actually questioning my latest suspect."
"Adam Ross Adam, our Adam?" Gus looked incredulous.
Flack nodded with a smile, "I know, they grow up so fast. Some kid who was waiting on him all day, seemed a little, ya know, funny."
This struck something in Gus, more than curiosity, something akin to concern. "He in interview right now?"
"Yeah, room 3. Mac and Stella are observing with the uncle."
Gus sped off, reaching the room in time to see Adam listening to a young kid tell how he accidentally killed his father in a fit of rage as Mac was attempting to explain reaction formation to someone Gus could only guess was the kid's uncle.
They all listened as Adam drew the sad story from the boy, including his years of OCD as a way of coping with his mother's death.
"Jake's just a kid!" the uncle pleaded in shock.
Gus bristled at Mac's sanctimonious replies as Stella looked on into the interview. "Mac, not now," she pleaded with him, leading the uncle out, catching sight of Adam nearly crumbling in the interview room.
She gave Jake's uncle the names of a couple of good mental health lawyers she knew and suggested that he hire his own child psychiatrist to evaluate Jake.
She was just finishing talking with him as she saw Adam nearly jog out of the precinct with Stella close on his heels. Feeling fiercely protective of Adam, she followed, breathing a sigh of relief when she realized Stella was as concerned for his well being as he was. She brushed past Stella who was watching Adam walk away and rushed to catch up with him, as quickly as she could in her heels.
"Hey, Adam, wait up!" she called before he could disappear.
He froze, turning around slowly, his eyes red, "Oh, hey, Gus, you look, um, weird." He ran a nervous hand through his hair.
Gus smiled at him, "yeah, I was in court all day, had to play grown up." She paused, laying a hand on his arm. "So, I saw you with Jake in interview, you did good."
"It was, whatever," he shrugged, looking uncomfortable.
"You were really good. But I know it must have been really hard." Gus gave him a small smile. They had grown closer, he had been one of the only people that called her on a regular basis while she was in the hospital, and she was determined to be there for him now.
Adam didn't reply, scuffing his sneaker against the ground. Gus forged ahead, "I heard you say something to Stella about a slice and Guitar Hero, would you mind some company? I could really stand to forget about being grilled on the stand all day." He still didn't reply, Gus had to wonder if he was still holding back tears. "My treat?" she added.
Adam finally looked up giving her a small smile, "well, if it's your treat, sure."
"Good, the works if you want it," Gus looped her arm through his adding, "but can I please go back in and change out of these heels first?"
Adam gave a small laugh, "would you please, you are almost as tall as me in those things."
Settled in with an extra large pie and a six pack and changed into far more comfortable clothing, Gus groaned as Adam obliterated her yet again at Guitar Hero.
"That's what I am talking about!" Adam finished the song off with a flourish " You actually play guitar, how are you so bad! Adam teased.
Gus growled, "shut it, Ross. Put on Grand Theft Auto and you are going down!"
"Fine, fine, I'll let you win a round!"
They cleared the pizza, though Adam did most of that clearing, evenly downing the six pack. Gus finally gave up even after Adam set her level to easy. "I give up, you win!"
"Quitter," Adam shot back, slouching against the back of the couch. He finished his last beer. "Thanks, Gus, for coming over, it's probably better that I wasn't alone."
Gus shrugged, "kind of figured that. Besides, it's been too long since we caught up. Sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it, you were getting better, and I know how long that can take, even if it looks like you're fine. You are fine, though, right?" His face was full of concern.
"I'm getting there, some days are better than others. Hopefully I can get cleared for full duty, though with my luck they'll probably want to partner me with Angell." She sighed, finishing off her own beer.
"You want me to go get more?" Adam asked, gesturing at their empty bottles.
Gus stretched and shook her head. "Nah, I should probably get home. But thanks, I think we both needed this. I do demand a rematch though."
He walked her to the door, grinning as she fumbled with the zipper on her jacket. "You name the time and the place, Blondie, and I will kick your butt again," he teased, tugging on her ponytail.
"Look at you, being all cocky. Good night Adam, get some rest." She landed a quick peck on his cheek, smiling to herself as he turned crimson before bounding for the stairs.
Chapter 59: Saturday High
"Welcome, fully, back, Detective," Daddino said after pulling her into his office a couple of days later.
Gus all but jumped up and down. "You mean it, I am cleared for full duty?"
Daddino nodded, "all squared away as of this morning. Wish it would have happened before that damn blue flu, but at least that is all behind us now."
"So it is, now where does that leave me?" Gus held her breath, waiting for his answer.
Daddino drummed his fingers on his desk, "Brass likes your system for cold cases, you'll stick with them and Parker for now, but try to actually get some play on them, instead of just sorting through boxes. I will pull you when I need you as a floating partner, we still are down at least a couple of detectives with the cuts. You okay with that?"
She nodded, happy her prophecy to Adam hadn't come true, but knowing that she could still be working side by side with either Flack or Angell still made her uneasy. At least she would be out from behind a desk and have some hope of actually using her handcuffs. "Thanks, Loo, for all your patience."
Daddino waved her off, "you make my numbers look too good, Broussard, I'm not a complete ogre. Now get out there and clear some damn cases."
Gus strutted back to her desk with a renewed vigor. Flack caught sight of her and couldn't help but smile. "Looks like someone is finally back in the field."
She nodded with a broad grin, taking his high five. "Bet you it won't take three middle of the night call outs in the freezing cold before you're complaining about wanting to be back on mod duty."
"Bar tab at Sully's says bullshit, Flack," Gus replied with a wink.
Flack started to reply, but was interrupted by his phone. "Flack, yeah, yeah, what? You have got to be kidding me! I'll be right there." He hung up his phone, shaking his head. "I got a weird one for you, first full day back present."
Gus gave a small pout, "Can't, got to make Daddino's cold case numbers look good, apparently I am a floating partner now, whatever the hell that is."
"Sounds fun. Well, I owe you a celebratory coffee, but don't get it from the place Stella and Mac just called me from."
"Why is that?" Gus asked curiously.
"Stella found, get this, an eyeball in her coffee. Now I know fancy coffee drinks are all the rage, but that is just disgusting." He gave her a dimpled smirk.
Gus made a face, "that is gross, you better go. See you later."
"Thanks. Congrats, sunshine, glad you are really back."
Gus was thrilled to be back as well, even if it did mean going back to shift work. There was something immensely satisfying about delving into cold cases. A lot of the work was going back to the lab to get them to run evidence through using new techniques, but to Gus this meant she got to interface with people she had genuinely missed.
A heavily pregnant Lindsay was often more than happy to be her lab rat. This gave the women time to catch up on the goings on in their lives over the past few months. The least of which was Lindsay's spur of the moment marriage to Danny.
"Sorry I didn't ask you to be a bridesmaid!" Lindsay said, beaming.
"Yeah, because I have so been dying to wear some ugly but expensive taffeta dress that there is no way in hell I ever would wear again. I am happy for you, both of you! When do you head back home?"
"Tomorrow, it was supposed to be yesterday, but the weather was bad out there."
"Why on earth did you come in today then?" Gus asked, looking at her friend like she was crazy.
Lindsay smiled, grabbing the bags Gus had brought up. "Who else would run all your cold case evidence?
The more time she spent back in the lab, the more Gus realized how much she had been hiding. First by leaving, then by going over to SVD and even after, she had separated herself from what was essentially her family.
Gus also was happy to renew her friendship with Adam, his quirky personality being the perfect antidote to the doldrums that still plagued her.
Which is how she found herself agreeing to join him at a street hockey game out on Staten Island on a Saturday she magically had off.
"You know there is high probability I will break something important, right, sugar?" Gus drawled as they got out of the car on the bright sunny day, that teased the first signs of spring.
Adam rolled his eyes at her, "it's street hockey, Gus, and that is why we are swapping off playing goalie. Just stand there, stop the ball from going in the net, we don't even have to be on skates. Otherwise, just cheer from the sidelines."
Gus sighed, "fine, I guess I can handle that." She paused and gave him a smile, "thanks for inviting me, Adam, and for helping to get me out of my state of...what was it you called it again...'hermittude', I appreciate it."
Adam tinged slightly, "it's fine, I mean, you helped me and that's, well, that's what friends are for, right?"
"You two playing or yakking all day?" one of Adam's friends called from behind them.
The game went far better than Gus expected, she took goalie first round and surprised herself at being able to mostly keep up. Adam took over and Gus chatted with other players sitting out and a few of the plus ones, that had been brought along.
"How do you know Adam?" one of the girlfriend's asked.
"We work together," Gus replied, taking a long drink of water.
"Oh, yeah in the crime lab. Are you like a scientist or something?"the other woman flung her hair back.
Gus found herself slightly annoyed, "actually, I'm a cop."
"Like with a gun and stuff? But you're a girl!"
Gus narrowed her eyes at the other woman, wondering what year it was. "I need a drink." Gus stomped off toward the car where the cooler was. She saw Adam going for a ball that had rolled under a car a little bit behind theirs.
"You want one?" she asked, holding up a can. Adam nodded before slithering under the car, emerging victorious with the ball in hand. Gus laughed, reaching for another can when the explosion occurred.
At first Gus didn't process what was happening, all she knew was that she had been reaching in the trunk and then she was flying in the air, landing on someone's front lawn in an undignified heap.
She shook her head in disbelief, observing the destruction around her. She patted herself down, she was covered in dust and ash, and a series of small cuts, the worst being from the can she had been holding, ready to give it to…
"Adam!" Gus screamed, pulling herself to her feet, shaking herself off and practically vaulting over the car in between her and him. It was then she realized the house in front of them was blown apart. She saw one of Adam's friend's talking to him and then Adam go tearing in the direction of the wreckage of the house.
"Adam, stop!" she called out, trying to go after him, but slipping on debris and ending up back on the ground. Gus had a sneaking suspicion she had re-cracked at least one of her recently healed ribs.
"Crap!" she swore, reaching for her back pocket for her phone. Miraculously it was there, though the screen was cracked. She dialed Mac, her hands shaking. He answered on the first ring. "Mac, it's me, there was an explosion and it was bad and Adam..." she babbled.
"Gussie, where are you?"
She gave him the address and moved as quickly as she could over to the where Adam and another guy were working on moving piles of wreckage on the site of the house.
Her ears stopped ringing enough to hear the calls for help. Gus dug in, hauling away limber and drywall. As they were pulling the man away from the wreckage, what remained of the house crumbling behind them just as the first responders arrived on scene. Gus shoved the guy from the house at them, turning to look at Adam. A large cut was bleeding over his head and he seemed in shock. Not that she blamed him, she was too. "Adam, you're bleeding," she said her voice shaking as she reached out to his head.
"So are you," he replied, pointing to her hand that was still dripping blood.
"I'm fine, what about, you were right by the van!"
"I dunno..." he started.
A truck came screeching up to them, Mac and Hawkes jumping out. "Gus, Adam, what happened?" Mac asked.
"Van, went boom, house, bad, pulled a guy out," Adam spat out.
"There was someone in the house?" Mac asked.
Gus nodded, "EMTs just grabbed him."
Mac ordered Hawkes to go question the man from the house and got a severely shaking Adam to sit down. He looked at Gus' hand. "Get that wrapped, now!" he ordered before turning to question Adam.
A waiting EMT led her to a rig, first aid kit at the ready. Gus had just had her hand wound cleaned and wrapped when Flack came up to her, looking gravely serious.
"You okay?" he asked.
Gus nodded, "yeah, I think so. What are you doing here, I thought everyone was fine."
Flack shrugged, "Mac called. What where you doing here, what happened?"
"That van exploded, took the house with it. There was a guy trapped inside, we got him out. Adam had invited me to play street hockey."
"You were playing street hockey, I would have paid to see that, sunshine." Flack smiled down at her, the smile leaving his face when he saw her grip her side. "You need to get that looked at?"
Gus shook her head, "I'm fine, just dirty and shaken. Little confused." She looked up at the man approaching them, his windbreaker showing he was from Homeland Security. "Looks like we have company," she nodded with her chin.
Flack turned, "great, just great. How about I take this, you take it easy, Gus, I mean it."
Gus would have loved to have taken it easy, but she was too busy getting grilled by an alphabet soup of government agencies, all who seemed less than thrilled that should could give them no more information than she had been reaching for a drink and then ended up ass over tea kettle. It was hours before they let her go and a fed drove her and Adam back to the precinct.
"How you holding up?" Gus asked on the drive back.
Adam rubbed at his cut, "it's not as bad as it looks."
"I wasn't talking about the cut."
Adam slid his eyes sideways, "I'm fine, Gus, really. How about you, your hand alright?"
"No big deal. Last time I ever offer to grab you a drink, though." She turned to look at him with a sheepish smile.
"Yeah, I'm guessing you aren't going to play street hockey again anytime soon either, huh?"
"At least I didn't break anything important."