Title: Internal Affair
Author: The DreamyOne and Gypsy
Rating: PG-13 – some swearing, violence and sexual content
Summary: Co-Authored by Gypsy. Donovan sends his team in to expose a dirty cop. Unexpected dangers develop endangering the two most important women in his life.
Disclaimer: UC Undercover belong to Shane Salerno, NBC, etc. We claim no rights to them; we're only using them for our own amusement. All original characters belong to us. Don't sue. You'd only get my mortgage, car payments, movie collection (okay, I'd miss those) and our clones (who only listen to us).
Author's Note: This is a sequel to 'A Shock to the System', 'Another Shock', 'Cruel Misunderstandings', and 'UC Vacation Undercover'. If you haven't read them and would like further insight into these characters, you can find them under my profile at http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=154477
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Understanding the life of an undercover agent and actually having to live with that life are two totally separate issues. Up until he met her, it was never a problem. Now being away from her was like living in a hell on earth. The sky always seemed tinged with darkness, the flowers carried no fragrance and the birds always sang off key. Had she really changed is life that much?
Sighing loudly, he picked up the morning reports that Cody dutifully downloaded for him each day and he began reading the progress of his two undercover agents.
Officer Pete Brunell was involved in the shooting death of an apparent suspect fleeing the scene of a drug bust. Officer claims suspect showed hostile intentions and wielded a switchblade. Statement backed up by Brunell's partner, Officer Jace Parker.
IAD investigating. Officer assigned to case: Detective Brenna McKendry.
His agents had been under now for nearly two months. He wasn't about to forget the day the case was dropped into their laps. The Police Commissioner of Peoria, Ira Ebhart needed help with a cop rumored to have his fingers into everything from drugs to hookers to illegal gun running. It just so happened that the Commissioner was a good friend of the Justice Department Director Deirdre Burkholtz.
When asked why his own Internal Affairs Division could not handle the case, the Commissioner admitted that there were suspicions that the head of the IAD was also in Brunell's pocket.
They would need to get someone close to Brunell and it just so happened that Brunell was in need of a new partner. It seems his had died mysteriously -- with a bullet to the back of the head. Execution style.
Of course, Jake was the natural choice to send in as Brunell's new partner. His profile read Officer Jace Parker, 30 years old, married with a child on the way. Excellent arrest record, with a couple IAD investigations into alleged police brutality. All charges were cleared.
When Burkholtz and Ebhart announced whom they wanted to go in as Internal Affairs agent, Frank had come close to letting his emotions get the better of him. He had assumed it would be Alex, who was his only other UC agent. Unfortunately, that was not possible because Alex had a history with Brunell, having dated him for a brief period two years prior. When Ebhart insisted he wanted Shay to go in, Frank was floored and more than a little angry. Especially when they questioned his ethics.
He could not argue the fact that he was married to one of his agents, but their relationship had never gotten in the way of their work. As a matter of fact, it may very well have led them to work closer as a team. Sometimes more than not, they anticipated the needs of the other without so much as a word from that person.
When he explained that Agent Shay Donovan was a psychological profiler and not an undercover agent, Deirdre insisted that Shay was the best qualified. Her background in psychology as well as her experience profiling would serve better in investigating Brunell and his associates. Therefore, she saw little need to bring in an agent outside of Donovan's SOG.
Taking the case to the team and laying it on the table, it was not surprising they all reacted in a negative way. Jake, because he did not want the woman who was like a sister to him to put herself in more danger than she already did on a day-to-day basis. Cody, because although he would never admit it, liked having Shay as his partner. Alex, because she was the UC, she did not like taking the back seat for anything. She understood her previous link with Brunell kept her from going under as the IA agent, but that did not mean she had to like it. That coupled with the fact that she would have to work closely as Cody's sidekick.
Shay shared Frank's feelings on the subject. She had done her UC stint with the DEA and that part of her life was over. If she were on her own, she may not have hesitated to jump in, but she was a wife and mother now. Her family was the most important thing in her life.
Those arguments would not hold water with the JD Director, however, and Shay Donovan was now Detective Brenna McKendry of the Peoria PD Internal Affairs Division, much to Frank's chagrin.
--
The cell phone in the jacket that hung on the back of his chair rang, causing Frank to jump slightly. He reached behind him and dug the phone out of the pocket.
"Donovan."
"Donovan," the voice at the other end repeated.
Frank sighed with relief every time he heard her voice. "Hey, Baby." He leaned back in the chair to relax while he took a moment to enjoy the sound of her voice. "I miss you."
"Tell me about it, Tiger. I don't think I've slept the night through since we've been apart. I know we're in the same city, but not being able to see you is killing me."
Shay paused long enough for Frank to let her words and tone of voice sink in. She had been away from him and the children for too long. He could hear the loneliness in her voice. He knew the children missed her. Little Jake toddled around the rented house each day searching for his mother, while five-month-old Ariel refused to be anything less than fussy without her mother to tuck her in each night. Shay's father, Thomas, did his best, but when a child wants their mother, there is no substitute good enough.
"The kids miss you," he said softly. He almost wished he had not said anything because he heard the catch in her breath. However, not to discuss their children would be far worse.
"I hope this is over soon, Baby. Unfortunately I haven't uncovered anything that would connect Captain Edward George to Officer Pete Brunell."
"So you've reviewed all the cases IAD had on Brunell?"
"Yes. Excessive force cases. And each one had a different team investigating. No formal charges were ever brought up."
"Have you seen Jake?"
"Not yet. I will today. I need to take his statement regarding the shooting death of that suspect during yesterday's drug bust," she explained.
He nodded at the phone absently. "I read the report this morning. You'll have to play it on the down-low, no one can suspect you know each other."
"Don't worry, they won't. I haven't made contact with either him or Frankie since we've been in Peoria. My existence has been rather limited," she laughed half-heartedly.
"Well, buck up, Ashling. I've been told you're getting a new partner tomorrow." Frank grinned sheepishly.
"Ah man...I don't need no stinking partner," Shay whined in her best fake Mexican accent.
"Ebhart thought you without a partner seemed a bit obvious, and it so happens than an extremely experienced IA Detective has just transferred to the PPD."
"Well, yippee for me," she replied sarcastically. "I better get going. I have to be down at the station in an hour to interview Parker." Shay frowned and bit back the tears that threatened. She really missed her husband and children and talking to him was the only respite she had to the situation. The last thing she wanted to do was end the call. "I count the moments until we're back together, beloved."
"As do I, my darling Ashling. As do I. I love you. Be safe."
"Promise. Love you..."
Frank pushed the end button and dropped the phone back into his jacket pocket. Yes, this was hell on Earth.
************
To be continued...