This is a work of fiction. No copyright infringement intended.
Hunter and its characters belong to someone like Stephen J Cannell
Unfinished Business originally written by Morgan Gendal
OK - we all saw Unfinished Business right? So why did it happen? And what happened after? It helps if you can pretend that nothing from Streetwise onwards happened, except maybe in our nightmares. ;)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS - the whole story.
Chapter 2
Half an hour later they were back at the scene, courtesy of Officer Williams, and McCall was trying to explain to their captain how they had lost the guy. "We followed him into a warehouse, and I heard this noise and I doubled back. And I guess he must've gotten by me." Charlie wasn't unduly concerned. These things happened. "Well, did you get the license of the car he was driving?" Sitting on the bonnet of a black and white, Hunter appeared to have regained his sense of humour. "It'll be in the report, Captain," he grinned. "'Scuse me, Sergeant Hunter," Officer Jakovich approached. "They just found your car. It was left abandoned a couple of miles from the warehouse." Charlie looked at the officer in astonishment. "Abandoned?" "That'll be in the report as well, Captain." Before Charlie could pursue the matter a voice called out to him. He turned to see who it was. "Lieutenant Malone, nice to see you. Your captain said you were on your way down." He turned to introduce her to Hunter and McCall before realizing that it was unnecessary. It seemed they already knew each other. Lt Malone approached Hunter and clasped his hand firmly. "Rick. It's been a long time." She nodded over her shoulder. "McCall." Dee Dee nodded in return. "Hunter and I worked a case together three years ago," she explained to Devane. "Yeah, but she wasn't a lieutenant then." "Well, I had a few lucky breaks." "I think it was a little bit more than luck." Charlie glanced at McCall, standing away from the rest of them, noting her reluctance to join them. Maybe more went down at the warehouse than they had told him. Later he'd have a word with Officer Williams, but now there was work to be done. "Lt Malone's been working at Hollenbeck, in the Robbery Division. Her captain called this morning and said they may be looking for this guy." Malone continued. "His name's Nick Streiber. He hits lotto places Wednesdays and Saturdays when there's been a big score. Up until now, that's as bad as it's been." "Well, McCall and I got a pretty good look at our guy," Hunter told her. Malone took out a wanted poster and showed it to him. "Is this him?" Hunter nodded in confirmation. "Looks like your boy's graduated to murder."
It was almost two hours before Charlie had time to collar Williams for a chat. Things were winding up a the scene and many of the officers where heading back to Parker Centre, including Williams. He looked rather abashed at having to the Captain about Hunter and McCall's argument, but an order was an order. "So, Hunter blamed McCall for losing the suspect and the car? Is that all?" "Yes, sir." Charlie put him out of his misery and dismissed him. He couldn't understand why it was causing so much animosity between them; it was so out of character. But no doubt they'd have it all sorted out by tomorrow. Before he could climb into his own car he heard the sound of raised voices from within the store. McCall came storming out. As she did so she snapped a reply back over her shoulder at Hunter, ". and you can pick up the car yourself, since you obviously don't need my help." Ignoring the looks of surprise on everyone's faces she stalked across the parking lot and hitched a lift with Officer Martinez. Charlie frowned pensively in the wake of the car.
Hunter was going over his preliminary report early the following morning when McCall arrived. She headed straight for the coffee machine, without saying a word. In fact, apart from the argument in the market, she'd barely said a word to him since the warehouse. He realized he'd been rather brusque with her, maybe an apology would smooth things over. "Lookit, what happened at the warehouse yesterday - it was a big misunderstanding. I'm very sorry." "No problem." She still sounded a little distant, but no doubt she'd get over it. They had work to do. "Oh, Megan sent over all her information on Streiber." "How considerate of her," McCall murmured sarcastically without looking up from her paperwork. Hunter was perplexed. "Is, um, is something bothering you?" "Just making a statement." Still she refused to look at him. Before he could delve further Charlie approached, pulling absently on his ear lobe. Obviously he had something on his mind. "You know, I think we're going to need some help on this Streiber case," he announced. "I was thinking about asking Lt Malone to join us." McCall appeared less than impressed. "She's been working on the Streiber case for what, two months now, and she hasn't gotten the guy? So, I think we can just read her reports." Charlie looked at Hunter. "What do you think?" "Well, I disagree. I think that Lt Malone's a very good police officer." Last time she was here she'd broken open a case that had flatlined on them. "And we do need all the help we can get on this case." Nodding in agreement, Charlie said, "That's right. I'm going to talk to her captain. Hunter looked speculatively at his partner. It wasn't like her to refuse help with a case when they both knew they needed it. And although he'd been rather curt yesterday she didn't normally take criticism so personally. There had to be some other reason. "What's going on with you?" "There's nothing 'going on' with me," she snapped. "Can't I have a different opinion, other than yours, without it becoming a big deal here?" "I just asked a question." "Well it sounded more like an inquisition to me." Hunter felt his hackles begin to rise. "Well maybe you're not listening to me clearly." McCall shoved the report aside, looking directly at him for the first time, her eyes spitting fire. "I suppose like yesterday?" "Look, I didn't say that." "It's exactly what you're thinking." That was the final straw. If she wanted a fight, she would damn well get one. "You know, come to think of it, it was a very standard tactical procedure that you blew yesterday." By now they were practically shouting at each other. "What are you talking about? 'Standard tactical procedure'? Right! 'I'll go in this way, you go in that way'." Her expression changed to a sarcastic sneer, "That's textbook strategy right there." As they both glared at each other across their desks, Hunter became uncomfortably aware of how quiet the room had become. Work had ceased as their colleagues whispered amongst themselves. The odd disagreement was nothing out of the ordinary, but for the two of them to be sitting shouting at each other was an unusual spectacle. "Look," he began in a lower, more reasonable tone of voice, "let's not discuss it, OK?" McCall picked up the next page of the report and slammed it down on her desk. "Fine. Drop it."
OK - we all saw Unfinished Business right? So why did it happen? And what happened after? It helps if you can pretend that nothing from Streetwise onwards happened, except maybe in our nightmares. ;)
UNFINISHED BUSINESS - the whole story.
Chapter 2
Half an hour later they were back at the scene, courtesy of Officer Williams, and McCall was trying to explain to their captain how they had lost the guy. "We followed him into a warehouse, and I heard this noise and I doubled back. And I guess he must've gotten by me." Charlie wasn't unduly concerned. These things happened. "Well, did you get the license of the car he was driving?" Sitting on the bonnet of a black and white, Hunter appeared to have regained his sense of humour. "It'll be in the report, Captain," he grinned. "'Scuse me, Sergeant Hunter," Officer Jakovich approached. "They just found your car. It was left abandoned a couple of miles from the warehouse." Charlie looked at the officer in astonishment. "Abandoned?" "That'll be in the report as well, Captain." Before Charlie could pursue the matter a voice called out to him. He turned to see who it was. "Lieutenant Malone, nice to see you. Your captain said you were on your way down." He turned to introduce her to Hunter and McCall before realizing that it was unnecessary. It seemed they already knew each other. Lt Malone approached Hunter and clasped his hand firmly. "Rick. It's been a long time." She nodded over her shoulder. "McCall." Dee Dee nodded in return. "Hunter and I worked a case together three years ago," she explained to Devane. "Yeah, but she wasn't a lieutenant then." "Well, I had a few lucky breaks." "I think it was a little bit more than luck." Charlie glanced at McCall, standing away from the rest of them, noting her reluctance to join them. Maybe more went down at the warehouse than they had told him. Later he'd have a word with Officer Williams, but now there was work to be done. "Lt Malone's been working at Hollenbeck, in the Robbery Division. Her captain called this morning and said they may be looking for this guy." Malone continued. "His name's Nick Streiber. He hits lotto places Wednesdays and Saturdays when there's been a big score. Up until now, that's as bad as it's been." "Well, McCall and I got a pretty good look at our guy," Hunter told her. Malone took out a wanted poster and showed it to him. "Is this him?" Hunter nodded in confirmation. "Looks like your boy's graduated to murder."
It was almost two hours before Charlie had time to collar Williams for a chat. Things were winding up a the scene and many of the officers where heading back to Parker Centre, including Williams. He looked rather abashed at having to the Captain about Hunter and McCall's argument, but an order was an order. "So, Hunter blamed McCall for losing the suspect and the car? Is that all?" "Yes, sir." Charlie put him out of his misery and dismissed him. He couldn't understand why it was causing so much animosity between them; it was so out of character. But no doubt they'd have it all sorted out by tomorrow. Before he could climb into his own car he heard the sound of raised voices from within the store. McCall came storming out. As she did so she snapped a reply back over her shoulder at Hunter, ". and you can pick up the car yourself, since you obviously don't need my help." Ignoring the looks of surprise on everyone's faces she stalked across the parking lot and hitched a lift with Officer Martinez. Charlie frowned pensively in the wake of the car.
Hunter was going over his preliminary report early the following morning when McCall arrived. She headed straight for the coffee machine, without saying a word. In fact, apart from the argument in the market, she'd barely said a word to him since the warehouse. He realized he'd been rather brusque with her, maybe an apology would smooth things over. "Lookit, what happened at the warehouse yesterday - it was a big misunderstanding. I'm very sorry." "No problem." She still sounded a little distant, but no doubt she'd get over it. They had work to do. "Oh, Megan sent over all her information on Streiber." "How considerate of her," McCall murmured sarcastically without looking up from her paperwork. Hunter was perplexed. "Is, um, is something bothering you?" "Just making a statement." Still she refused to look at him. Before he could delve further Charlie approached, pulling absently on his ear lobe. Obviously he had something on his mind. "You know, I think we're going to need some help on this Streiber case," he announced. "I was thinking about asking Lt Malone to join us." McCall appeared less than impressed. "She's been working on the Streiber case for what, two months now, and she hasn't gotten the guy? So, I think we can just read her reports." Charlie looked at Hunter. "What do you think?" "Well, I disagree. I think that Lt Malone's a very good police officer." Last time she was here she'd broken open a case that had flatlined on them. "And we do need all the help we can get on this case." Nodding in agreement, Charlie said, "That's right. I'm going to talk to her captain. Hunter looked speculatively at his partner. It wasn't like her to refuse help with a case when they both knew they needed it. And although he'd been rather curt yesterday she didn't normally take criticism so personally. There had to be some other reason. "What's going on with you?" "There's nothing 'going on' with me," she snapped. "Can't I have a different opinion, other than yours, without it becoming a big deal here?" "I just asked a question." "Well it sounded more like an inquisition to me." Hunter felt his hackles begin to rise. "Well maybe you're not listening to me clearly." McCall shoved the report aside, looking directly at him for the first time, her eyes spitting fire. "I suppose like yesterday?" "Look, I didn't say that." "It's exactly what you're thinking." That was the final straw. If she wanted a fight, she would damn well get one. "You know, come to think of it, it was a very standard tactical procedure that you blew yesterday." By now they were practically shouting at each other. "What are you talking about? 'Standard tactical procedure'? Right! 'I'll go in this way, you go in that way'." Her expression changed to a sarcastic sneer, "That's textbook strategy right there." As they both glared at each other across their desks, Hunter became uncomfortably aware of how quiet the room had become. Work had ceased as their colleagues whispered amongst themselves. The odd disagreement was nothing out of the ordinary, but for the two of them to be sitting shouting at each other was an unusual spectacle. "Look," he began in a lower, more reasonable tone of voice, "let's not discuss it, OK?" McCall picked up the next page of the report and slammed it down on her desk. "Fine. Drop it."