The Journey: Chapter Five Chapter 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?"

Mick smirked, "Like you ever had it, Jack."

~~ * ~~

I'm ready for Chapter Six!

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