So, ah, two years, eh? Possibly. It's a long time. Anything could happen...
Rated: Fiction T - English - Angst/Romance - Chapters: 18 - Words: 34,646 - Reviews: 10 - Favs: 1 - Updated: Oct 21, 2001 - Published: Nov 26, 2000 - Status: Complete - id: 123411
+-Full3/41/2ExpandTighten
The Journey: Chapter FiveChapter Five
"Morning, Tayler," Rachel called, as the door to the water
police offices fell shut behind her.
"Morning Rachel," the younger woman answered, as Rachel
headed upstairs.
"Rachel!" called Jeff, when she reached the top. "My office,
now!"
Rachel frowned, wondering what she'd done, and followed
Jeff down the hall and into his office.
"What's going on?" she asked, when he sat down behind
his desk.
"Close the door and sit down," he ordered her, and she
did.
"There were some interesting developments in the Alan
Rismore case after you logged off last night," he began. "It turns out
Doug Porter's lady friend is none other than an undercover police officer
named Alex St Clare."
Rachel tried to stifle her giggle, without much success.
Jeff frowned, sternly. "Something amusing about that,
Detective?" he asked.
Rachel shook her head. "I was imagining Jack's face when
you told him that," she explained.
Jeff almost smiled himself. "Undercover has been running
surveillance on Doug Porter because it is believed he is expecting a rather
large shipment of heroin sometime in the next three days," he continued.
"And our investigation puts theirs in jeopardy?" Rachel
asked.
Jeff nodded. "We've come to an agreement that should successfully
conclude both investigations," he told her. "Detective St Clare will expand
her brief to include the location of Clive Porter, and we will assist them
in their surveillance operations. Helen's been out with them all night,
I want you to relieve her." He handed her a printout with all the details.
"Sure thing, boss," Rachel answered, excited at the prospect
of getting out from behind her desk for a while, even if it was only to
watch someone else do the hard work. She got up to leave.
"One more thing, Rachel," Jeff began, "I'm sure I don't
need to tell you that Detective St Clare's true identity is on a need to
know basis. Keep it to yourself."
"Right."
"Oh, and I know it's a big ask, but try to keep Jack on
a short leash, will you? I don't need any stuff-ups on this one."
~~ * ~~
Helen looked extremely bleary-eyed when Rachel arrived
to relieve her; Rachel guessed she hadn't been home since the day before.
"Go and get some sleep," she ordered, as soon as her friend had brought
her up to speed. Helen smiled, too tired to protest, and left.
"She's back," Larsen announced from the couch, and Rachel
turned to the screens to observe "Lanna" being let into Doug Porter's house.
Sitting down on the couch next to Larsen, Rachel put on
a set of headphones. At first it was small talk; "Good morning," "How are
you," that sort of thing. Then came the clincher. Porter gave Alex a shopping
list full of antibiotics and medical supplies. Rachel picked up the phone
and let Jack know, hoping Jeff would keep him from jumping in too early.
Forty minutes later, when Alex returned to Porter's place,
he was gone. Rachel had been watching the front door the whole time and
hadn't seen him leave. Neither had anyone else in the house.
Sighing, Rachel called Jack and reported that their suspect
looked to have flown the coop. He was unimpressed, especially when Doug
reappeared just as mysteriously. After yelling at the surveillance team,
he went to find Alex, before anyone could stop him.
Thumping on the door in true copper style, he barged his
way in and demanded to see the drugs she'd bought.
"Porter might have got you to pick up a bag of fakes to
act as a decoy," he explained to Alex, who was not happy to be dealing
with Jack's interference.
"Yeah, that's why I checked them!" she yelled back at
him.
Back in the house across the road, Rachel shook her head
in disgust, wondering why Jeff thought she could do anything to keep him
in check.
~~ * ~~
Not too much later, Rachel got to actually travel in a
police car again. Conveniently forgetting to inform Detective Larsen of
her restrictions, she headed off with him to the marina to watch for Clive
and Doug Porter.
They had plenty of time to send out their teams, as Doug
didn't show up for at least another half-hour.
"He's here," Rachel relayed when she saw him get out of
a taxi and head over to Alex. The tension in the air increased, and Rachel
prayed Jack would control himself if Clive did show up. Rismore had since
died, which had only made him more eager to wrap this one up.
Alex and Doug got onto a launch and headed out onto the
harbour, followed at a discreet distance by two unmarked police launches.
Unfortunately, not quite discreet enough. Doug Porter noticed the boats
following him and dropped his brother off.
The rats lost him, much to Jack's rather loud indignation.
~~ * ~~
The next day turned up more evidence.
The autopsy results showed Rismore had been killed by
an injection of heroin into his IV, and Rodney Mann's prints were found
all over his credit card. When Mann was brought back in, he confessed his
involvement in Rismore's bashing, but claimed to know nothing about the
murder.
"You believe him?" Rachel asked Jack, when the interview
was suspended.
"Yeah, he 'fessed up to everything else, if he'd done
the murder he would've said. I reckon it was Porter; he had the means and
the motive."
"Doug Porter? How are you going to prove that?" Larsen
asked.
Jack turned to him, "If you could get us a sample of the
stuff he's dealing, we'll send it off to the lab and see if they come up
with a match."
"I'll see what I can do," Larsen agreed. Begrudgingly.
It only took twenty minutes to set up.
"You look gorgeous," Rachel teased Tayler, as she headed
out to pick up the drugs.
"Thanks, I might dress like this more often, what do you
reckon?"
Rachel laughed, "I'd advise against it, unless you're
looking for a second job in the vicinity of King's Cross."
~~ * ~~
Back on surveillance, Rachel and Larsen watched Alex leave
to meet Tayler. A few minutes later Jack radioed them to tell them Doug
Porter had tailed her. Again, they hadn't seen him leave.
"He must have an exit we don't know about," Larsen sighed.
"Well, obviously," Rachel answered, a little sharply,
"But where is it?" She turned back to the house, where Alex had arrived
back, followed closely by Doug.
He sent Alex out again with a package for Clive, and the
boys followed her to Clive's hideout.
At lunchtime, Helen arrived to relieve Rachel, who headed
back to the office.
~~ * ~~
A few hours later, she heard the whole operation had gone
to hell. No more quiet surveillance for Rachel.
It turned out the heroin sample Tayler had collected did
match that in Rismore's bloodstream, which meant Alex was missing, in the
company of a murderer. Clive Porter was brought in, but he refused to talk,
and eventually collapsed in the interview room.
Rachel got the unenviable job of answering the phones
in the office while just about everyone else went out on the drug bust.
She itched to get involved but she knew the risk wasn't worth it. She heard
the next day that Detective St Clare had narrowly escaped death by a forced
overdose of heroin.
There were some aspects of fieldwork Rachel didn't miss.
~~ * ~~
TWO WEEKS LATER
"I tell you though, that woman had balls of steel," Jack
finished, as Helen appeared in the doorway.
"Hey guys, I've got someone for you to meet," she announced.
Three pairs of eyes turned towards the intelligence officer, who stepped
aside to allow Alex St Clare to enter the room.
"Thanks for the compliment," she nodded to Jack, grinning
at his obvious embarrassment. Then she saw Rachel. "Rachel Goldstein?"
"Alex St Clare," Rachel smiled.
Jack and Mick looked on in surprise as Rachel stood up
and hugged the younger woman. Mick spoke first. "Is there something you
wanted to tell us, Rach?"
Rachel laughed. "We worked together at Rose Bay."
"Oh, well, I was a uniform on front counter then," Alex
chimed in, "But we became good friends."
"So why didn't you tell us that, Rach, instead of feeding
us that woman's intuition crap?"
"Sorry, Jack," Rachel giggled, "It was much more fun letting
you believe I was psychic."
"Yeah I'll bet," he told her, not looking particularly
impressed.
"What's all this?"
"Oh it's a long story," Rachel told her, "Why don't we
all go down the bar after we knock off, and we can catch up on old times?"
"Sounds great to me!" Alex exclaimed.
Jack turned to Mick, "Ever get the feeling you've lost
the balance of power?"