Chapter 34 Business as Usual

"Good morning, Margaret, is he in?" Rae had finished her phone call and, armed with the information she had discovered, made her way to Chief Masters' office right away.

"No, he's not; he's on vacation right now." Margaret smiled; she liked Reagan Yeager, and was glad to finally be able to actually tell someone where her boss was.

"You're kidding? Vacation? I've been here, what, five years? He's never even had a day off sick." Rae shook her head; she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I guess I'll just have to wait until he gets back, I hope he's having a good time, I'll see you later." Rae made her way towards the door, turning her head slightly to ask a final question. "Where did he go by the way, somewhere nice?"

"Barbados."

Rae stopped walking and turned to face the secretary. "I beg your pardon?"

"Barbados, he said I wasn't to tell anyone else, but if you asked, he's gone to Barbados."

"Oh, I don't believe it, stupid, stupid, man." Rae knew that Margaret, just as she had done in the past, would know pretty much all of what was going on in her boss's life and so she didn't censure what she said.

"I didn't try to stop him, it wouldn't have done any good, and before you ask, yes, I know who Elizabeth Masters really was."

"I figured as much, Margaret, what sort of mood was he in before he left … oh my, did he say where he was staying?" Rae suddenly had an awful thought.

"Yes, he said he was booked in to the Palm Trees Beach Club and I would have to say he was pretty despondent." Margaret shook her head; she had actually been quite worried about her boss, her concern increasing as the case continued. "You can contact him on his cell, I have the number right here." The piece of paper had been inside the office diary since the Chief had given it to her and she was glad to pass it over.

"Um, thanks, do you think I could go into his office and ring from there?" Rae wasn't sure she wanted to make this call from the squad room.

"Of course, would you like an herbal tea while you make the call? The kettle's hot." Margaret still kept a box of the special tea bags in her own office for when Rae came to visit.

"That would be lovely, just come in when it's made, you know most of what is going on, and I know he trusts you." Rae made her way into the Chief's office and sat down at the desk; as she did so she noticed a picture that she hadn't seen before and carefully picked it up. There was no doubt in her mind that the two very young people in the photo were John Masters' children, and for a moment she paused, the pain that she knew he was feeling seemingly radiating out from the faces of the little boy and baby girl. The door to the room opened before she had done anything else and Rae hurriedly put the frame back on the desk but Margaret had seen what she was looking at.

"That just arrived a week or so before he left, I don't know who they are, but I know that there is no way he can talk about them." Margaret looked pained, and Rae was suddenly glad that she was his secretary and so obviously liked him.

"To be honest I don't think that there is anyone else he would tell apart from you, I do know but I can't tell, and I wouldn't. Don't ask him, it's very sad."

"I thought as much. When you've finished your call let me know, I'll be at my desk, somehow the fact that Chief Masters isn't here doesn't seem to have reduced my workload."

"It never seems to go that way, does it? Thanks for the tea." Rae took a sip and then waited until the other woman had left the room before picking up the phone.

ooo

Matthew sat at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee and tried to get his mind in order. It had never been an easy task being him, he knew that he was the weak link, the personality who dealt with the janitor or the store clerk because they tended to feel sorry for him, but gradually he had felt himself becoming more and more a part of Dominic instead of an individual in his own right. He didn't feel comfortable being Dominic, the clothes were different, the way he behaved, even the words he used, the way he stood, walked, he guessed that compared to Dominic he was an uneducated slob.

He wasn't sure when he realised that the blood, the odd clothes and memories were due to Dominic killing people, but he remembered a young woman in a barbeque restaurant, she had been pretty, bouncy and cheerful. He knew he had seen her again, only this time she had been lying in the grass, her cheerfulness all used up and there had been the blood, always such a lot of blood, and he had known, known that he was a part of what caused it.

The kitchen table had a drawer under it and Matthew pulled it open; inside was his notebook, the one with the red cover, the one in which he wrote down all his memories, all his fears and problems, the one he had never read through since he started it, he took it out, laid it down in front of him and opened it.

'The blood was there again, I got rid of it, but it scares me, I know it comes from something bad, but I don't know what. I burnt the shirt, but that was wrong too, I got into trouble. I wish we were still in San Francisco or New York, that way I could go talk to someone, but here, there is no one here.'

Matthew flicked through the pages, some of them were beautifully neat, just as the first one had been, but others were more uneven, printed instead of cursive, sometimes words were in capitals other times they weren't and he knew that as his writing had deteriorated so his anxiety had increased.

'I know I have seen her before, she was dead when I saw HER TODAY, but before she wasn't, she was alive, she was happy, DOMINIC it must be him, just as I know it isn't me, I know it must be him. Things are coming To me, things I HAD pushed so far AwaY that I didn't DIDN'T EVER have to think about them again, I SEE FACES, well, one face in particular, I don't know who she is and I don't want to, BUT SHE keeps coming to me in my dreams and she blames me FOR SOMEthing.'

Matthew had to read the words through twice, he didn't even remember writing it, and the dream, it was familiar, but still he didn't know who she was, just that she was the one responsible for the routine, for the things that Dominic did, the terrible, terrible things that resulted in girls dying, and he wished that he could vanish, could disappear into Dominic and not have to face the consequences of his actions.

ooo

Rae's desk was empty when Steve walked into the squad room and for a moment he wondered whether maybe she hadn't made it in after all, but then he saw open mail on her blotter and an empty cup next to it and he knew that he had his partner back.

There was a message on his own desk to say that the captain had been delayed and wouldn't actually be back in until the Monday morning. Steve realised with a sinking heart that not only would he need to tidy up the room and change the desk back to how it was, but that he had, in the short time he'd been in here, actually enjoyed being the desk bound cop he always vowed he would never become.

The mail was light and he had finished with all of it by the time he saw Rae come back into the room, notice his presence, and walk towards him with a strange expression on her face.

"Hi, what's wrong?" Steve looked at his partner, she didn't look anywhere near as tired and exhausted as she had done, but she did look … well, to be honest he wasn't sure quite how she looked.

"The Chief is on vacation." Rae folded her arms and waited for a reaction.

"What?"

"The Chief is on vacation, and it gets better."

"He's not coming back?"

"Steve!" She pretended to be shocked but his comment made her smile, she ran her fingers through her hair and sat in the offered chair before continuing. "He's in Barbados."

Steve didn't answer he had no words that fitted the situation and he realised that he probably had the same look on his face as Rae did.

"Anyhow, I would imagine he will be back in the office on Monday."

"Why's that? Steve had a feeling that if he had ever had any real presence in this conversation it had all but disappeared.

"Because Callum Edwards and his family are returning on Sunday morning so, as he is staying at the same place as them, I'm guessing he will either be on the their flight or the next one."

Steve had no idea how to reply to that piece of information and so he just shook his head and said the first thing he thought of. "I need a coffee."

ooo

Leonid knew that something had woken him the night before, or it might have been early this morning, he had thought about going to investigate right away but he also knew that most things dumped near where he slept would still be there the next day, and the next, and the day after that, for as long as it took to either decompose or be taken by someone less fussy than the person who left it in the first place.

The tunnel that he slept in had a six-lane highway running over it, but it never bothered him unless there was an accident on it, and that had only happened once. Last night however, was one of the many that he had been disturbed and Leonid was considering moving on to another location.

Now though, he made his way out into the late morning sunshine and towards where he thought the noise had come from. The embankment down from the road was fairly steep and most things that were either thrown from moving cars or heaved over the barrier ended up down on his level. He had a dog, a funny, wiry little animal; he had gotten that when it had been sent flying towards him from a vehicle that hadn't stopped. He'd called him Bounce, because that's what he'd had to do, all the way down to land whimpering just a little way away from where Leonid and another guy had been downing a bottle of cheap vodka.

Leonid felt Bounce's clothesline leash pull in his hand and he let him have his head as he led him over to where last night's flotsam had landed. Ten minutes later, after relieving himself of his breakfast Leonid was moving as fast as he could towards the pay phone at the end of the street, knowing that what he had found, unlike his dog, would never bounce again.

ooo

Jo had waved Michael off at the airport with an extremely heavy heart. She had remembered, just as they climbed into the car, that Little Miss Prissy Knickers was coming for her visit on the Sunday and now she would be without her one ally against the dreaded almost sister-in-law.

Gilbert Sholte had been sitting in his crowded office smiling benevolently as Jo entered, and he had risen to his feet. "Mrs Sloan, my dear, how are you today? I haven't seen you since I heard your wonderful news, wonderful, just wonderful; your grandmamma would be so pleased."

Jo smiled and enjoyed the hug and kiss she got from her old friend. They were more than lawyer and client; they had known each other for many, many years, and Jo could remember his father too, who had represented her grandmamma.

"I think she would, I know she suffered so when I lost David, but this time it's different y'know, nothin' is like it was back then, an' even though I'm scared I'm excited at the same time." Although she didn't know it Jo's eyes were shining and Gilbert believed every word she said.

"Sit down, sit down, I don't want that husband of yours coming to arrest me for keeping you on your feet too long." Gilbert chuckled, and Jo joined in politely, she was used to her lawyer's comments about Steve, but the next one made her laugh aloud. "Although I'm sure that Catherine would be all of a flutter if he came to the office again." Catherine was, Jo thought, ninety if she was a day, and had been Gilbert's secretary forever, and had worked for his daddy before him. "Now," Gilbert grew serious, "I have drawn up all the paperwork that you requested and I must say the figures and details you e-mailed me were a great help."

"Good, I'm glad, I know that I asked you to do this in double quick time, but that poor chil', I just want to do something, an' not have them turn me down."

"Yes, quite, I understand that. Well, you can take it all with you today, and once the papers are signed then the transfer will be done. I will get in touch with Mallard and Fox to let them know that gift tax will be due before the end of the financial year."

"Gilbert, thank you. I have other things for you here." Jo reached into her purse and took out a folder with neatly typed pages of facts and figures. "I want to get paperwork ready for when the baby is born, an' I know that most people don't do these things when they are only in their first trimester, but I am tryin' to be real positive about this an' that is why I have done it. Also, the final papers came through from Daniel's adoption an' they are here. I know he is mentioned in Steve's will an' mine, but now he is our son legally I want it changed a little bit again."

"Of course, that is no problem either, here are all your documents, and I hope that I will see you again soon."

Jo got up and smiled at the gentleman the other side of the desk then, once they had said their goodbyes, she left him, and found she was already excited by what she had done.

ooo

Rae had just been leaving Steve's office to get the paperwork on Callum Edwards up to date when her phone began to ring and she hurried towards her desk. "Detective Yeager." It was only two minutes before she put the phone down but her whole demeanor had changed. She visited with Steve again for a short while and then left the station.

ooo

Leonid had been waiting with Bounce it seemed forever. The black and white police car that had arrived a little while after he had made his call was parked just in front of his tunnel, but Leonid knew for certain now that last night would be the final time he slept there. His English wasn't very good, he had arrived from Russia twelve years before, at least he thought it was twelve, and for a while the land of the free had been good to him, he had worked on the docks, lived in a small but beautifully white apartment, he had even owned a TV and video recorder. But the job had gone, then his home, and now he lived on the street and wondered what would have happened if he had stayed in the mother country.

Another vehicle drew up behind the police car and a small woman with light brown shoulder length hair climbed out. Leonid could see that she was wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a red top; he could also see a gun on her belt as well as a badge. She was small, pretty and he liked her immediately. He hoped that she would be as nice as she looked. He watched as she showed her ID before speaking.

"Hi, guys, let's see what we've got then." Rae's voice was tight, the phone call had been unwanted, Steve's absence from the crime scene even more so. She pulled on a pair of gloves as she followed one of the uniformed officers towards the steep embankment down from the highway she had just traveled along.

The body was scratched and bloody, it would have been bloody anyway but Rae had a feeling that the extra marks were from its journey down the hill. It was also female, naked and she could already see the marks on the soles of the feet. Carefully Rae crouched down; the woman was, as all of them had been, on her front, although this time that was purely by chance, her hair short and blonde, but there were some long hairs close by.

"I want a picture taken from here, showing the long hairs as well as the short on the head, ok?"

"Yes, Ma'am." The young officer hadn't ventured too near the body; he'd seen it once and that had been enough.

"I'll come back over when the scene of crime guys are here. Who found her?" Rae straightened up, peeled off the gloves as she ducked under the police tape and pushed them into the pockets on the back of her jeans.

"He's standing over there, funny guy, Leonid somebody or other, I couldn't even begin to pronounce it, dog's called Bounce though."

"Ok, thanks." Rae made her way over to where a fairly tall, dark haired man was standing. He looked like he hadn't seen clean water or a full meal for a long while and she smiled at him. "Hi, my name is Detective Reagan Yeager, how do you do?"

"I do well, my name is Leonid Shcherbakov I am pleased very much to meet you."

"Do you want to tell me what you found?" Rae pulled her notebook out of her jeans but then had a better idea. "Look, I tell you what, it's almost my lunch time, why don't we go someplace else, I can bring you back here later if you would like."

"Leonid not know … understand." Rae could tell that her witness, or at least body finder, was a little bemused.

"I am hungry, I need my lunch, but I need to hear what you have to say too, so we can go get something to eat and then come back here again."

This time he did understand and Leonid nodded his head. He was hungry, very hungry, and if he was lucky he might get a sandwich out of this.

ooo

The phone began ringing as Jo put her key in the front door. She quickly unlocked the house and dashed into the hallway but the noise stopped just before she touched the receiver. "Darn it, can't you see I am here already?" Jo snarled at the phone and picked it up to dial 69 and find out who it was she had just missed.

"Mr. Gillin'ham, I am as shocked as you are at this, we talked … yes, Sir, I reali … no, we don …" Jo gave up, she was obviously not permitted to complete a sentence and so she let the man finish before starting to speak again. "Do you want me to come an' get him …? No, I understand that … Yes, we did, both of us, together an' apart, but he just promised to behave an' we couldn't get any more out of him … Well, I realize you don't call this behavin' I am just repeatin' what we said to him … Yes, I see, well good day to you, Sir." Jo put the phone down and stood staring at it, knowing she should pick it up again, but not wanting to. In the end, after taking a deep breath, Jo grabbed the receiver and punched in the familiar number.

ooo

"They won't let Leonid in." He looked at the fancy restaurant that his companion had driven him to and as if in sympathy with him Bounce whimpered by his side.

"Yes they will, my husband part owns the place, but I'm afraid that Bounce will have to go out the back." Rae looked down at the wiry little terrier at her feet and smiled, then she crouched down. "But I'm sure that we can find you something nice to eat, huh?" She scratched the small dog behind his ear, his tail began to wag and he jumped up at her.

Rae opened the door, saw one of the waiters and indicated for him to come across. "Hi, Jeff, could you take this little guy out back and tie him up? Then maybe find him a good meal?"

"Sure, Mrs Travis, no problem." If Jeff was confused or at all puzzled by what she had just said he didn't show it, he took the piece of clothesline into his hand, walked the dog across the floor and took him out the fire escape at the rear of the place.

Leonid looked around and ran his hands self-consciously down his ragged clothes. Rae noticed and wondered whether she had made a mistake bringing him here, she knew that most other places would have refused him entry, but here, they wouldn't dare.

"You go and wash up in the men's room, and I'll meet you at the table, ok?"

"Yes, thank you." Leonid made a sort of bow before looking round for the little man sign that told him where to go.

Twenty minutes later they were both sitting with hamburgers in front of them, Rae because she didn't want to get barbeque sauce down her clothes and Leonid because it was the only word he was sure he recognized on the menu. They had decided that they would eat first and talk second but there had been some general conversation.

"Leonid busy man, work on ships, but work not busy, no job, no money." He had raised his hands in a gesture of no hope and Rae had felt for him.

"Do you have a trade? A set job that you did?"

"Yes, Leonid … sparks? In Russia, not here, here just do as told."

"Oh, so you did the lights, or electricity, that sort of thing?" Rae wondered why he hadn't tried to go into that type of business when he came to America, but she guessed that very few people had been given the breaks that she had.

"Yes, electric, with TV, people not buy, Leonid put them to work." He took another bite of his burger, the food was very good, and he didn't want it to go cold.

"Would you like another one to take away with you?" Rae smiled; she wasn't sure what his job entailed, but figured it probably didn't matter. The man wasn't as old as she had first thought; maybe thirty-five, forty at most, he was probably her age.

"Da, sorry, yes please, of course, if husband not mind."

"No, he won't mind, and if he was here he would be saying the same." Rae knew that sometimes these things happened, but not to her, however, no sooner had she spoken than the bell went over the door to Bob's and Jesse came in. "Excuse me, he just walked in, I won't be a moment." Rae smiled but Leonid looked confused. "My husband, he is that man there." She pointed towards the counter, and Jesse, somehow knowing he was being looked at, turned and his face broke into a spontaneous grin.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Jesse was surprised how pleased he was to see Rae and he moved towards her quite naturally, "and who's your friend?"

Leonid stood up, made his awkward little bow again and then spoke. "Leonid, Leonid Shcherbakov, I very much pleased to meet husband of Detective." He held out his hand, wondering if this incredibly American looking man would even touch it let alone shake it and was pleasantly surprised when he did just that.

"I'm pleased to meet you too, Rae, could I just have a word with you? If you don't mind?" Jesse smiled at his wife's companion and noted the bad teeth when he smiled back.

"No problem … is cool." He wasn't sure if that was right, but they laughed and so Leonid sat back down and took another bite of his burger.

"I wish I could stay, are you alright with him?" Jesse had moved out of earshot of Rae's friend before he started to speak.

"Yeah, of course; Jesse, I meet guys way more presentable and far more dangerous every day, he found me another body from the Red Rose Killer."

"Oh, God, Rae, I'm sorry, I guess that means another late night, huh? Look, I only came in to get lunch for some of the guys, Mark, Amanda, Alex …" he tailed off.

"Susan, maybe?" Rae looked at him and felt her heart freeze, "I don't want you to be with her, Jesse, please."

"Rae, I promise, she came to me, and I'm trying, really trying, to get the message across that what we have is more important than anything else, I … I just don't seem to be getting through to her." Jesse looked away, what he said was true, Susan had attached herself leech-like to him as soon as he'd arrived at work and however hard he tried he couldn't get rid of her. They had been short staffed in the ER and she had been drafted in to help, and his day had been going downhill ever since.

"I have to get back to Leonid, I'll try not to make the day too long, I'll see you tonight, ok?" She watched him nod his head before he went back to the counter to place his order and then she returned to her table, her appetite suddenly gone.

ooo

Daniel had thought his heart would stop when the cop who worked his school came and collected him from the nurse's office where he was holding an ice pack to a rapidly blackening eye.

"Are you Daniel Sloan?" the man was very tall, taller than his dad and Daniel had seen him around campus a lot.

"Yes, Sir, that's me."

"Right, come on then, we need to be going." Officer Guy Tijeras fingered the cuffs that he held on his belt, "You got all your temper out now, Boy?"

"Yes, yes, Sir, I have." Daniel looked around him uncertainly, the nurse seemed to have disappeared and the policeman didn't seem to be in a very good mood.

"Good, so come on then, we need to get you to the station, and I'm missing my lunch because of it."

"The station? What station, I thought … I thought you were gonna take me home." Daniel stood up and backed away from the man.

"Look, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, this time I don't. Let's move." Once again he fingered the cuffs and then watched as Daniel threw the icepack into the wastebasket and preceded him out of the room.

ooo

Steve looked at his desk, he'd asked for no calls over his lunch hour and now he thought that everything was back as it should be, well everything except the picture of Mrs Newman who still resided in the bottom drawer, there was no way Steve could work with her looking at him the entire time. The biscuit tin also needed refilling but he would sort that over the weekend.

Rae had called in to tell him that she was taking her witness for lunch and he wondered what he had going for him to warrant such special treatment. His own lunch had been a very nice Pannini with grilled cheese and red onion in it; maybe not the best thing to have but he wasn't due to meet with anyone that afternoon.

There was another pushpin on the Los Angeles map and he knew that either Rae and himself or Cheryl would most likely be visiting grieving relatives as soon as the body had been identified. For now the corpse was still where it had been found, as far as he knew, Amanda had been working an emergency autopsy when she got the call and had sent one of her assistants to start the process, but, as she had told Steve when she called him, she would make sure she was there when the body was moved.

The phone rang on his desk and he picked it up, "Sloan … thank you, I think I may take a little walk, could you take messages for a while?" He put the receiver back down, shrugged himself into his suit jacket and headed out into the squad room.

ooo

Rae had driven back to the crime scene after they had finished their meal, her mind trying to forget that Jesse had bought another woman lunch, well you bought another man lunch! She knew that was different, but it still made her smile. She pulled up by the tunnel or underpass, she wasn't sure what it was called in LA, but both words would have done in London. The coroner's wagon was there and Rae could see Amanda just climbing out of her car, the dark blue jumpsuit she wore emphasizing her slim figure.

Once Leonid and Bounce were out of the car Rae locked it up and moved round to talk to him. "I may need to speak with you again; I guess I should come here, huh?"

"No, no, Leonid move, not sleep here again. Bad, very bad, find new place, sleep there."

Rae shook her head, she wouldn't want to sleep where a dead body had been found either, but if he wasn't here then she wouldn't be able to get in touch with him. She didn't want him disappearing into the Los Angeles night never to emerge again, and she needed to make sure that didn't happen. "Look, why don't you just sit in my car, you and Bounce? I won't be long and I'll see what I can do to help you find some place safer to sleep." Rae opened the door to her vehicle again and indicated for Leonid to get in the back.

"Thank you, you nice lady." Leonid ducked his head, climbed into the car and made himself comfortable; Bounce jumped up onto his lap, circled twice and then did the same.

Rae pulled her cell phone out as she moved across the derelict area and punched in the number for the station. "Oh hi, this is Rae Yeager, could I please speak with Steve Sloan, he's on Captain Newman's extension this week … oh, ok … no, I'll try later, bye." With a sigh she thought for a moment and then put in another familiar number and stopped walking as she listened. "Hi, this is Detective Yeager, could you please put me though to Doctor Sloan?" after a moment or two another voice could be heard on the end of the line.

"Nurse Susan Hilliard, ER."

Rae resisted the temptation to growl or say something insulting, she was almost sure that Hilliard was the surname of the woman Jesse had kissed, but not sure enough to say anything. "This is Detective Yeager, could I please speak with Doctor Sloan?"

"Of course, Detective, please hold the line." Either Susan didn't know who she was or she could talk nice too, Rae wasn't feeling at all charitable and it showed when she spoke to Mark.

"Hi Rae, how can I help you?"

"Hi."

"Honey, are you having a bad day? You sound awfully tense."

Rae took a deep breath, "Mark, I'm sorry, no I'm not. I need your help, I have a homeless guy who I may need to speak with again, I don't want to lose sight of him and I wondered whether you could suggest someplace he could stay."

"Let me make a few calls and get back to you, ok?"

"Thank you, Mark, I have to go, Amanda and a dead body are calling me … I'll talk to you soon, bye." With a snap Rae closed her phone and walked the rest of the way to where her friend was standing.

"Hi, where have you been? I've been here, oooh, all of five minutes." Amanda smiled, Jesse had told her about what had happened at Bob's and she hadn't been that kind in her reply. He was a lovely guy, helpful, considerate, and that was his downfall at the moment. Anyone else would have told Susan Hilliard to go get a life, but he couldn't do that, and Amanda knew he would never be able to. It made him the man they all knew and loved, but it didn't make life any easier for Rae.

"Sorry, lunch called. So, tell me something about this body that I don't already know." Rae crouched down again, the long blonde hairs were still there, and she could see that if they had still been attached to the victim's head the hair would have been halfway down her back.

"There is no doubt it's him, is there?" Rae shook her head as she spoke, already knowing what Amanda's answer was going to be.

"Nope, sorry. We have everything, well, everything except the rose, but I'm guessing that we will find one, either on the highway or the embankment somewhere. But even if we don't no-one knows about the feet, it has to be him."

Now that she looked a little closer Rae could see the path of the body etched out in blood all the way down the slope, things had changed, again, and Rae wondered why. "He didn't kill her here, all the others have been killed where they were found, but not her, why not her?"

"I don't know, and I don't think it will be me who finds out. I know you're sending everything to Ron, maybe it's time to speak with him again."

"Yeah, I think you're right, maybe Tuesday or Wednesday next week, I'll have all this processed by then, you'll have done the autopsy … I'll call him." Rae's phone began to ring as she spoke; she checked the display and then answered it. "Hi, Mark … Yes, I've heard of it … yes, that's right … I can do that, sure … ok, I'll see you then, bye."

Rae made a mental note of what Mark had said to her and then focused her attention back to Amanda again.

"I've had the pictures taken that I want, and the officer told me about the hair, I would have taken that too, but I made doubly sure. I'm gonna move her now." Amanda stood up and indicated to the men standing leaning against the coroner's wagon that she was ready for them.

Rae found that she was holding her breath and she forced herself to breathe deeply. "You know, ever since Nadine, I almost don't want to look at their faces."

Amanda smiled sympathetically, "I know exactly what you mean, I feel the same way." She moved a little closer to Rae and then both of them watched as carefully the body was turned and placed on the gurney, and the two friends breathed a collective sigh of relief as they both realised she was a stranger to them.

ooo

Steve made his way through Homicide, took a brief detour through vice, not because he needed to, but because he was curious to see how they were working now that Don Werner was in jail and Martin Robertson was off the force. There were six detectives working at their desks, the phones were busy and Steve didn't stay long. His next port of call was the main objective of his perambulations, Booking, he had timed his arrival almost to the minute and the scene that met his eyes was very interesting indeed.

"Johansen, I don't care whether you liked the guy or not, he had three unpaid parking tickets, you didn't need to keep him cuffed the entire time and threaten him with a lie detector test! Your temper is gonna get you in even more trouble if you carry on this way." There was a pause, which to those listening to the argument seemed almost menacing. "Anyhow, you have a 'client' waiting, so go, and get it right this time." The name on the door was Captain Brownlow, and Steve knew him well, he was a tough, no nonsense cop who was in charge of the uniformed division.

No one knew that Steve was there; least of all the people waiting to be seen, he had positioned himself in a small alcove off the main hallway so that he got a good view without being noticed.

Officer Johansen was now, it seemed, in an even worse mood than before, he stalked out of his captain's office, slamming the door behind him before looking at a piece of paper in his hand. "Daniel Sloan?"

ooo

"I don't understand, you take Leonid where?" He was worried now, the lady detective who had seemed so nice was taking him to the hospital, and he didn't have any money to pay.

"I need to know where you are so that I can contact you again. I know you don't want to sleep in your tunnel anymore so I am trying to find you someplace else to go." Rae kept her eyes on the road, although she occasionally glanced in her rear view mirror at the worried face of her passenger.

The sign for Community General came up in front of her and Rae turned into the parking lot, drove slowly through into the doctor's area and found a space as near to the entrance as she could, while making sure that the vehicle was in the shade.

"Do you think that Bounce will wait in the car?" Rae looked at the little dog, he was absolutely no trouble, but so far she had taken him to a restaurant and now a hospital, both places which didn't like four legged furry creatures.

"He not allowed? Hopstipl, no animals?" Leonid was worried, his day had been one new experience after another, so far he had survived, this though he thought might be one step too far. "Bounce friend, Leonid need friend."

"He will be here when we come out; I just want him to wait for you in the car." Rae wondered whether he thought Bounce was going to be taken from him.

"Have no … no insurance … Leonid not go to hopstipl." Now he was worried, running his fingers into his sweater and twisting them around.

"No, I need some information from a friend who works here, and my husband he works here too. Leonid, it will be ok." Rae smiled at him and indicated that he should get out of the car. She made sure that one of her windows was down just a little bit so that the dog didn't suffocate and then she locked the vehicle up and walked Leonid into the hospital.

Jesse was at the desk trying to work out how to get rid of his shadow when the doors opened and he looked up to see the man from Bob's followed in by Rae. Jesse felt, rather than saw Susan stiffen beside him but he ignored her and moved over towards his wife, knowing that how he behaved now would have implications for what happened at work later.

"Hey, I didn't expect to see you twice in one day, my luck must be really in." He smiled, an unforced, natural smile and Rae smiled back. "Leonid, she is taking you around all the sights, huh?"

"No insurance… Leonid not here for doctor." Leonid was completely confused now, he thought that the husband owned a restaurant, but now he was in a hospital, in a white coat, which was what doctors wore, and he had a nametag on.

"Jesse, is Mark around? Only he got some information for me, and I've come to get it."

"He's in the doctor's lounge. Hey, Leonid, why don't you and I go in here and I'll just have a look at you." He saw the panic in the Russian's eyes as he indicated an empty trauma suite. "I know, no insurance, you don't need it, not for this."

"Doctor Travis, would you like me to assist?" Susan stepped forward, a sweet smile on her face, and placed a hand on his arm.

"Back off, Lady, he's mine." Rae spoke quietly but forcefully as she passed. She didn't look at her rival, or break her stride, but she did hear a sharp intake of breath and that made her smile.

Mark was sitting, a coffee coloured drink in front of him, looking through a pamphlet he had picked up from information. As the door opened he saw Rae and got to his feet. "Rae, Sweetie, how are you?" He took her into a hug, her voice had sounded strained and tired when he'd spoken to her earlier, but he had to admit she looked well.

"Oh, I'm ok, feeling a bit of a failure if the truth be told, we just got another Red Rose victim, and I have no idea how to stop him." Rae hadn't mentioned to anyone else the way she was feeling, and it helped to have finally said it.

"Honey, what I heard from Steve, and saw in his office, this guy is clever, they didn't get him in any of the other places he's killed, but you will, in the end, find out who he is."

"I think I know who he is, or at least one or two names he uses, but they are no help. He has no social security record, nothing on NCIC or ViCAP, I can't even dye my hair and go looking for him, he only likes natural blondes, and I'm not one."

"For which Jesse is eternally grateful, I'm sure."

"Oh, I don't know, he seems to be very friendly with a blonde right now." Rae regretted it as soon as she said it, the worry and distress on her friend's face making her apologize immediately. "Mark, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"No, it's alright, and you're correct, but she seems to be chasing him not the other way round." Mark was upset that Rae had seen Susan with Jesse, but he supposed it was better out in the open, his words though seemed to cheer her.

"Yeah, he said that too. I love him, Mark, I have no intention of letting her get him, not if he doesn't want to be got."

"And if he did?" Mark was curious now.

"Then I would fight for him, but if I lost, oh, I don't know, I can't even think about that now. He came home to me, to me, Mark, it's me he wants to be with."

"Yes it is, and I'm glad he's back with you again, but we need to sort out your friend Leonid, and I have to be back on duty in ten minutes." Mark was delighted to see the spark in Rae's eyes, he'd seen it earlier when Jesse had tried to get away from Susan, and suddenly he knew that they would be fine.

ooo

Steve was sitting in his office reading reports when there was a knock at the door. "Excuse me, Sir, but your son is here to see you." Officer Johansen seemed to have calmed down a little since Steve had watched him earlier.

"I see, I had been informed of his presence in the station, thank you." Steve laid his pen down on the blotter and looked up. "You had better let him come in."

Daniel peered round the large officer who was standing in front of him but said nothing.

"Daniel, I am extremely busy, I suggest you either come in or start walking home."

Without a word the young man came in, and Steve could see that, even with everything that had happened to him, he was still defiant, still a closed book. Daniel sat down on one of the seats just inside the door, the same ones that Steve had laid Rae on when she had passed out, and glared into the distance, never once making eye contact with his dad.

Steve returned to his work after checking the time, it was a little after four thirty, Daniel had been in the station more than three hours, he had been subjected to a very unpleasant discussion with one of the nicest cops in the precinct, who had been chewed out over imaginary infringements by a captain who very rarely raised his voice to anyone. He knew that his son didn't know any of this, and he also knew that the effect he had hoped it would produce was sadly lacking. Something was going on with his son and it was going to take more than a good scare to get it out of him.

ooo

Rae had dropped Leonid off at the Midnight Mission a little after five-thirty. Jesse had given him a complete physical exam, and had been surprised to find that, although he was underweight and a little dehydrated, Leonid was in pretty good health. Bounce had lived up to his name when they had arrived back at the car, and Rae had been sure he was going to hit his head on the roof.

There was a large sign outside the Mission showing how their fund raising for a new building was going. Rae knew from what Mark had told her that they never had enough beds for those who needed them, and she also knew that he had probably pulled strings to get her companion in. The literature told her of the different schemes that they ran, and how all the occupants had to be totally clean the entire time they were there. Rae hadn't seen Leonid drink or take anything but she knew that he probably did both from time to time whether he could afford it or not.

She had just been deciding whether to go back to the station or straight home when a call had come over her radio of a shooting and she had called in to say she would attend.

Amanda had been there already when she arrived, and the scene had shocked her. The small suburban ranch house was neat and tidy from the outside, but inside it had been ransacked. Something about it didn't feel right though and, as Rae stood inside the doorway, she thought she knew what it was.

"Hi, Rae, rough day, huh?"

"Yeah, but this won't take long." Rae knew she sounded opinionated, but she would apologize if she was wrong.

"Ok, Detective, I know what I think from the bodies, what do you think?" Amanda smiled as she spoke, and watched as Rae looked around the living area that they were both now in.

The walls were white, but there was blood splattered across them, the furniture was also white, at least the leather sofas and chairs were, although the blood was all across them as well. The body of a young woman lay on the hardwood floor, her chest forced open by a bullet wound from close range, as well as others to her shoulders and legs. Around her were books, and the shattered remains of ornaments and pictures. On the coffee table next to her were photos of two young children, as well as the woman in happier times, and carefully folded on an unmarked upright dining seat was a soft baby blanket.

There was the body of a man lying next to where Amanda was standing, he had been shot, again at close range, this time in the head, and brain matter mixed with the blood around him.

"I think that the guy killed his wife, not right off, he shot her and she tried to get away from him, those marks over there on that wall, they were left by a bloody hand, maybe he came this way round the sofa, there are bloody footprints here, and he shot her, point blank in the chest, she died where she fell. Then I think he ransacked the place, made it look like a burglary, don't ask me why since he then killed himself, but that's what he did. I don't know where the children are, and I hope to God they're not dead in the bedrooms, but look, he didn't touch the pictures of his kids, the baby blanket is unmarked and still folded neatly on one of the dining chairs, but all the others have been tipped over. This is a murder suicide."

"I agree, totally, with everything you said, and no there are no children here, but it doesn't mean we have nothing to investigate, I'll get the preliminary report to you in the morning, but I guess you will be here a while, huh?"

"Oh yeah, I would say so." Rae ran her fingers through her hair, some of it snagged against the latex of her gloves and she thought again about getting it cut. "It's gonna be a long night."

ooo

Rae had arrived home after eleven, and she felt as if all benefits from the extra sleep she had gained earlier in the week had disappeared. She had put a call through to Jesse and he had promised to pick the girls up and leave her a meal in the refrigerator, not that she would use it, there was no way she would be able to stay awake long enough to heat it up, let alone sit and eat it.

The almost mind numbing tiredness that she had felt in the car was still with her as she moved slowly across the front lawn and up to the entranceway. She fumbled about in her pocket for her keys and then, checking the mailbox as she did so, opened the door and went inside. The house was almost totally quiet, but somehow just the knowledge that her husband was sleeping upstairs made it far more welcoming than it had been in a long time.

Although Jesse had been staying for a few days, it was the first time that Rae had come home to him after he had gone to bed, it was almost like old times, except that Jesse was in a guest room and she was still sleeping alone.

Rae checked the alarm was set, and then she hung her coat up in the downstairs closet and climbed the stairs. Rae crept down the upstairs hallway and opened the door to the nursery. Eliana and Anneya, as she had known they would be, were fast asleep. The soggy giraffe and doll had been lost in the fire that destroyed their last home, but Eliana now cuddled a soft brown pussycat. Anneya, on the other hand, had never taken a toy to bed of her own accord, the one from when she had been in hospital was downstairs somewhere and she was fast asleep, her thumb in her mouth and her other hand hidden in the bedclothes. Rae stood for almost five minutes letting the beauty of the scene replace the brutality of her day and then, shaking herself she moved away and closed the door once more.

The book by her bedside about criminal profiling needed to be finished, but it was late and Rae knew that she would only have to re-read anything she tried to take in tonight, so she snuggled down under the covers and turned off the light, hoping that she could put the scenes she had witnessed out of reach until the morning.

She wasn't sure what woke her, but suddenly Rae knew that something was happening downstairs and she needed to check it out. Grabbing the first clothes out of her closet that she could find Rae pulled them on, put her gun in the back of the pants and, for some reason, her cuffs in the pocket of the top.

The house was still in darkness, and Rae, creeping barefoot along the deep red carpet that covered the landing and stairs, made no sound. She took each step of the journey in a stealthy manner, and was sure that as she arrived on the cold tiles of the entrance hall she had been totally silent the entire time.

As she stood there Rae saw a small beam of light from under the door of the living room and, checking that there weren't any lights anywhere else, she moved closer and listened.

'So you're saying that this picture is an original?"

"Yeah, apparently there's another one in the library; we'll go there in a minute."

Rae pressed herself against the wall and held her breath, she needed to think. Would it be better to wait until they came out of the living room and went to the library, or should she try and take them now? She wanted to call 911 but knew that she would be discovered if she did that.

"Cut it out of the frame carefully, I'll go open up the library."

The voice was suddenly much louder and Rae knew that the decision had been made for her. She moved quickly and pressed herself up against the door of one of the unused rooms knowing that her would-be burglar had to pass that way. As he did so she quietly followed him and just as he was about to touch the library door handle pressed the barrel of her gun into his neck.

"Police. Say or do anything and I'll fire." Her voice was quiet but strong and she felt rather than saw her captive freeze. She pulled the cuffs out from her pocket, put them on his wrists and ignoring his gasp of surprise pushed him back and into the unused room and closed the door behind him, he immediately began to yell and she knew that she would have to act fast.

The living room had French doors and she didn't want to scare the other member of the team out into the grounds, if that happened she might be forced to shoot him and that would make for way too much paperwork. Rae stood, just out of sight once again and tried to work out quickly what to do next. She wished she had another set of cuffs, and suddenly she smiled and moved across to the telephone table. In the drawer underneath it was a pair of plastic gloves, two sticks of gum, a bus timetable and a pair of handcuffs. Rae had put them in there when she had needed a jacket to go out shopping and hadn't wanted to carry the tools of her trade with her. As she picked them up carefully so they didn't jingle, the door to the lounge moved and once again she followed her burglar who was calling out to his friend.

"Freeze, Police." The gun was jabbed in his back and the man did just as he was told. Rae put the cuff on one wrist looked around and a smile played across her face. She tried to move him across the floor.

"Hey!" the burglar, who was a small, wiry man dug his heels in and then began pulling against her.

"Do you want me to use this?" Rae still had the muzzle of her gun against his body but it was being jogged around. She pressed it into his shoulder and tried to stand her ground.

"Lady, you wouldn't dare." He pulled hard on the arm that was cuffed, jerking Rae's arm too.

"Don't try me, you shouldn't have broken into a cop's house." The information stopped the robber in his tracks and Rae hauled him, the gun now pointing in his face, over to the staircase and then fastened the other cuff, but only after she had laced it through the balustrades. "Be quiet."

The other burglar was soon three stairs further up, also attached to the poles; he had tried to break away from Rae's grasp too, but she had been fired up by then and hadn't been at all gentle with him. Finally Rae had been able to call the police and Steve. The second call had taken a few seconds to register with its recipient.

"Sloan here … what? Rae, say that again, I don't have … you did what?"

Rae had laughed, his voice had been so sleepy, but she needed him to come so she could check on her family.

"I have caught two burglars in my lounge, would you please come and keep an eye on them while I check on the children."

"Yeah … k … you caught… what? I'll … I'll just come, tell me when I get there."

"Ok, don't forget your gun! Oh, and don't touch anything when you get here, this is a crime scene!"

Rae knew that it would be just a couple of minutes before her partner arrived, and so she had sat sideways on the bottom step and, with her gun resting on her knees, the muzzle in the direction of her two guests she had waited.

"Rae? Is that you, what's going on?" Jesse's voice floated down from the upstairs landing and Rae jumped to her feet. She knew that her captives couldn't get away, but she still kept her weapon pointed at them as she climbed the stairs.

"Don't go away, boys!" Rae moved as quickly as she could towards her husband, but stopped just out of touching range. His eyes darted to the gun in her hand and he moved back. "Honey, it's ok. We were burgled, but they can't hurt us now. Baby, I have to go keep an eye on them, you go back to bed, and I promise I will look in on you once Steve and the Crime Scene guys are here." Rae kept her voice low, so that the conversation remained private.

Jesse looked around, the scared haunted look of previous weeks suddenly back with a vengeance and Rae cursed the fact that these crooks had chosen their house on this night. "You will come in, you promise?"

"Of course; Jesse, they can't hurt us, I have them cuffed up, they just need to be taken away, go on, I won't be long."

Jesse nodded his head, turned round and walked back the way he had come. He looked so little and lost that it was all Rae could do to stop herself rushing after him and taking him in her arms, but she knew that he would hate it and so, hardening her heart, she turned and made her way back down the stairs.

Rae had just made herself comfortable again when she heard a noise and saw a now wide awake Steve come in through the door, his hands encased in latex gloves and a businesslike expression on his face.

"Rae, are you ok … what the … Rae?" Steve couldn't keep the absolute amazement off his face as he took in the scene before him. His partner was sat on the stairs wearing a pink tracksuit top and black shiny pants, but that paled into insignificance as he saw where she was pointing her gun. There were two men, both looking as shocked as he imagined he was, against the banisters. They had their hands behind them and he could see a glint of metal and realised that they were attached to the rails by handcuffs. "What is going on here?"

"This woman is a nut, we just came to investigate the sound of her alarm going off and she attacked us." One of the men suddenly launched into life.

"Yeah, we was being good citizens and look what thanks we got!"

Steve was still so bemused that he just turned to Rae to get her version of the story, but as he did so the dish on top of the hall table caught his eye and a broad grin crossed his face. "Oh, I don't believe it."

"What?" Rae stood up, and with a glare in the direction of the burglars moved over to where Steve was standing.

"Look, there in your dish."

Rae's face lit up as well, the card with the hand drawn owl on it making her realise just who she had caught, and then the two of them began to laugh. "If you would like to just keep an eye on Laurel and Hardy here, I want to go check on Jesse."

Steve became instantly serious, knowing that the happenings in this house could have seriously jeopardised his recovery. "Sure, go on, did you call 911?"

Rae just nodded as she climbed the stairs and made her way to the guest room. She tapped lightly on the door and then, not waiting for a reply went in.

"Jess, Honey, it's me."

"Rae, have they gone?" Jesse's voice was faint and tremulous and she felt so badly for him.

"No, they will be soon. But it's a big case we just cracked here tonight, these guys have been doing this for years, I guess their research let them down big time. Breaking into the house of a cop!"

"Yeah, I guess it did." Rae wasn't sure, but she thought she could hear just a little bit of relief in her husband's voice.

"Do you want me to stay with you? Steve's downstairs, I'll need to go back, give an initial statement at least, but I'll try to get them to leave the main investigating until the morning … or a little later in the morning I should say."

"No, you go, I'll be ok, and the girls, Eliana, she didn't even stir, did she?" Jesse looked round as he spoke, his concern for his daughters evident in his eyes.

"Nope, not a sound, but then I'm not surprised about that."

"Me either." This time there was genuine pleasure in his voice, and Rae, heartened by this blew him a kiss before she left the room.

The crime scene officers came ten minutes or so after Rae arrived downstairs, and for the next hour and a half she was so busy that neither her children nor her husband entered her mind. Steve had taken charge of the case, requesting the officers from the West Los Angeles Community Police Station send everything to him and explaining that the two guys, who had just been released from the staircase, had been preying on households for eight years. The two officers, Sanders and Jacobson, both recognised the calling card, and were delighted to know that the case had been solved and the entire ninety minutes or so that they were there the business was conducted with a feeling of a job well done.

By the time Rae climbed the stairs for what she hoped would be the final time that evening she was horrified to see that it was gone four in the morning. Running her hands through her hair she moved into her bedroom and closed the door. She was too tired to even turn the light on and so she divested herself of her clothes as she walked round the bed, but as she sat down on it she realised she was no longer alone.

With her heart singing Rae carefully got into bed and turned to face her husband. She could tell from his breathing that he was fast asleep and, as she moved slightly, she felt his hand on her pillow as it brushed her face. The brief contact brought tears to her eyes, and she wiped them away before lightly touching him with her fingers, and then, with a feeling of renewed optimism, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.