Jack strolled into Richard's office, taking not the slightest notice of his mentor's harsh glare in his direction.
"Didn't I tell you to keep your distance?" Richard asked with a nervous glance towards the door that Jack had left standing slightly ajar.
"We were 'formally' introduced at Tru's apartment," Jack calmly replied. "No more nasty surprises if she or Harrison walk in on us; they'll just assume I'm trying to get to Tru through you."
"You don't know that for sure," Richard said as he walked across the room and carefully closed the door. "If you're spotted here too frequently they'll start to notice. We were careless and only saved from exposure by the day rewinding; we may not be so lucky the next time."
"I'll make this quick then," Jack compromised, knowing the futility of arguing with Richard when his mind was made up. "It's about Carrie."
"What about her?"
"She needs your help." Jack hesitated, he knew what Richard was like when it came to helping out, he wouldn't have bothered but for the fact this was not rewind help.
"Is this about Natalie Gallagher, the former colleague due for parole this month?" Richard asked as he returned to his seat.
Jack started in surprise. He knew that Richard had done a check on both himself and Carrie but he had had no idea that he had been quite that thorough in his investigations.
"She swore revenge on her when she was incarcerated," Jack said with a nod. "She's going to be coming for Carrie as soon as she's released. Can you use your influence to keep her inside?"
"You credit me with more power than I have," Richard replied with a shake of his head. "Even if my powers did stretch to the influence of the parole board, Ms Gallagher was released four days ago."
"Carrie thought the hearing was next week?"
"She was wrong."
"She'll come here," Jack said, in a tone far calmer than he felt.
"She already has. I've had her followed since her release."
"And she's in town?"
"Not half a dozen blocks from your new apartment. How are you liking it by the way?"
"Not as much as my old one," Jack replied with a scowl as he recalled the way that Richard had quickly turned his apartment over to Harrison as a Christmas gift, or more accurately to cover their tracks.
"Who's following her?" Jack asked with a frown. "Not Harrison?"
"Of course not," Richard replied. "Far too risky."
"I'd better tell Carrie that Natalie's out already," Jack said, rising slowly from his seat; he was not looking forward to that conversation.
"If it looks like she's getting close to Carrie, we'll step in before things go too far," Richard assured him as he left the office.
Jack nodded but felt little comfort in the words.
"You and Carrie seem to be getting along?" Tru commented with a smile after Carrie had disappeared out of the morgue.
"Yes," Davis said with a frown at his feet. "She's a really special person."
"I'm sure she is," Tru replied. "I'm looking forward to getting to know her better too. Maybe you can double date with me and Jensen?"
Davis finally looked up, startled at her words.
"Okay, maybe not," Tru said with a laugh. "But since she seems to be becoming a big part of your life, I would like to get to know her better. Maybe I'll suggest going out after work one night so I can see if she's good enough for you?"
Davis laughed nervously in reply.
"Not tonight though, I've got to go visit Harrison's new apartment before he drags me there by force."
"About telling Carrie…" Davis began in a hesitant tone.
"Not yet," Tru interrupted, raising her hand to fend off his arguments.
"Yet?" Davis repeated. "You mean you're considering maybe in the future…?"
"I know she means a lot to you, so yes," Tru compromised. "Maybe in the future, when I get to know her better."
"Okay," Davis replied with a nod.
Tru looked at him and got the impression he wanted to say something more but when he remained silent she didn't press him. Davis would tell her what he wanted to in his own time.
"Harrison!"
Harrison stopped in his tracks and turned around to see who was calling him. Running towards him from across the road was a young man who he vaguely recognised as someone else who worked for his father's law firm; he frowned slightly as he tried to put a name to the face. It wasn't that he was unfriendly with the others in the office, it was more that they kept their distance from him, he suspected because of his close connection with Richard Davies, one of the partners.
"Glad I caught you," the dark haired youth said between gasps of breath. "I need a favour."
Harrison frowned again, suspecting that the only reason he had been approached was because of his connection.
"You got anything planned for tonight?" the youth, who Harrison finally recalled was named Dean, asked.
"Why?" Harrison replied cautiously, not wanting to commit himself one way or the other until he knew why he was being asked.
"I got tickets for the game tonight," Dean said as he pulled the tickets from his jacket with a grin. "But your old man has me working."
"And you want me to ask my dad to let you off work?" Harrison asked with a groan. Why did anyone think he had any sort of control over the decisions his father made?
"No," Dean replied with a shake of his head as he put the tickets away. "I just wondered if you'd cover for me during the game. Your old man need never know and I'll make it up to you."
"How much?" Harrison asked, never one to pass up an opportunity without at least having all the facts.
"Not money," Dean answered. "But I could help make things a bit better for you round the office, get the other guys to cut you a little slack, maybe. What do you think?"
Harrison paused for a moment thinking it through. Since he'd helped shop Billy to his father his old friends hadn't called him at all, even those not involved in Billy's deal had been keeping their distance. Word had soon got out that he was working for his father and no one wanted to risk ending up inside of a prison cell, courtesy of the new Davies team.
Now he had the opportunity to make some new friends who were less likely to lead him straight into his own cell, all in return for a few hours of extra work.
"Okay," Harrison agreed. "What's the job?"
"Knew you'd make the right choice," said Dean who grinned before filling Harrison in on the assignment, that of keeping close tabs on one Natalie Gallagher.
"Welcome, welcome," Harrison said with overdone enthusiasm as he opened the door to his apartment and waved Tru inside with a flourish and bow.
"This is it?" Tru asked in astonishment as she looked about the spacious and bright apartment. She had known the address of the apartment and she had known the area it was in, but she had had no idea that it was quite so nice. It made her own place appear small and shabby by comparison and she smiled at the irony of her messy and disorganised younger brother having such a great new apartment.
"Check out the entertainment centre," Harrison said as he swung his arm around her shoulder and steered her in the direction of the same. Tru whistled as she saw it and Harrison proceeded to put on some music, at least by his definition of music.
"And dad paid for all of this?" Tru asked as she looked around, taking in every detail and every item, and noticing everything was top of the range and brand new.
"Well apart from those items that fell off the back of a truck," Harrison joked as he dropped down onto the sofa and swung his feet up onto the table. "Just kidding, I told you he'd pimped the place out. Now sit down and check this out."
Tru sat down beside her brother and grinned, his enthusiasm was infectious and she could not help but be happy for him. As she sank back into the luxurious leather she sighed with content and shut her eyes, only to open them again a moment later at the sound of the television. The screen took up most of the opposite wall and the sports channel was showing an advert for the big game that evening.
"We watching that?" Tru asked with a nod to the screen.
"I gotta work," Harrison said. "But you can stay and watch it here if you like. I bet Jensen would like it."
"Jensen's helping out Avery tonight," Tru said. "Besides I thought you had the night off?"
"I did, but one of the guys asked me to cover for him on a job."
"Things are really going well for you at dad's firm?" Tru asked, it was the first time she had heard Harrison mention anyone else at the firm besides their father. She had wondered whether the others had accepted the boss's son into their midst or not and now was as good a time as any to ask.
"Things are going great," Harrison replied, though Tru privately thought his enthusiasm didn't ring quite as true as it had as he had shown her into his apartment.
"You're sure?" Tru pressed.
"Yeah," Harrison said. "This is gonna be my year…our year."
"Right," Tru agreed. "So how about offering your guest a drink to celebrate that?"
Harrison jumped up from the sofa with a nod and Tru settled back and picked up the remote control for the television. Harrison returned a minute later with her drink and after she took her glass from him he used his, now free, hand to snatch back the remote.
"You had the perfect opportunity to tell her this morning," Carrie pointed out to Davis with a frown.
"She said she'd like to get to know you better," Davis muttered. "I thought maybe we should give her a bit more time. Besides if we wait for her to rewind a few times and you help out without her knowing, maybe she'll be more accepting of the idea."
"Would you like me to tell her?" Carrie asked cautiously. "I could pretend I'd figured it out like you did."
"No," Davis quickly replied, hurriedly shaking his head. "I don't want you to have to lie to her. She's willing to consider you knowing in the future, let's leave it at that for a little while longer."
"Okay," Carrie agreed, before jumping slightly as her mobile phone rang out. She pulled the phone from her purse and frowned at the number, Jack should know better than to phone her when he knew she had a date with Davis. Walking to the door she indicated to Davis that it was a confidential call from a client to which he nodded in understanding and busied himself at his desk to give her privacy.
"Jack, I told you I was meeting Davis," Carrie said after ensuring that she was well out of earshot of Davis himself.
"Natalie was released earlier this week," Jack said without preamble. "She's in town, Richard's having her followed."
"I thought you said Richard could keep her inside?"
"Apparently I was wrong," Jack replied with a hint of sarcasm. "It has been known to happen. Just giving you a warning to keep your eyes open."
"Thanks," Carrie muttered, trying unsuccessfully to sound grateful.
"I'll let you get back to your hot date then," Jack said before the line went dead.
Carrie frowned at the phone knowing that it wouldn't do to have Jack offside; he'd been a good friend to her ever since they'd met. She glanced at Davis through the glass window and pasted a bright smile onto her face as she went back into the office.
"Is everything okay?" Davis asked with concern.
"Fine," Carrie replied brightly. "Nothing to worry about."
Harrison sat in his car listening to the end of the game on the radio as he carefully watched Natalie's apartment building for any sign of the woman in the photograph Dean had provided him with. A glance at his watch showed that Dean should be arriving to take over from him in another forty five minutes and he impatiently tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.
He looked down the street and frowned at the sight of a familiar figure heading in his direction. He didn't know Carrie that well and had only spoken to her a few times, but he could have sworn Tru had mentioned she lived fairly close to Davis, which was nowhere near here.
He watched her come to halt outside of Natalie's building where she hesitated a minute, glanced at a piece of paper she was carrying, carried on walking and then turned purposefully back and went to the doorway. Turning down the radio Harrison listened to hear what she was saying as she buzzed one of the apartments. He held his breath as he heard her ask for Natalie before the door opened a moment later.
Turning off the engine and quickly leaving his car, Harrison ran to the building and quickly stopped the door from shutting him out. He waited a minute until he was sure Carrie had had enough time to leave the hallway before quietly climbing the stairs to Natalie's second floor apartment.
He heard the sound of raised voices before he arrived at the door.
"You let me take the fall, you bitch!" The unfamiliar voice echoed down the corridor as Harrison approached the open door. An elderly occupier of another apartment poked her head out of the door before hurriedly disappearing back inside.
"You knew the risks," Carrie shouted back. "We both made a lot of money and I didn't hear you complaining when you were spending it."
Harrison paused outside the door, wondering what they were talking about. Tru had mentioned that Davis had wanted Carrie to know about the rewinds, but listening to her now, he wondered if Tru was right not to trust her. He looked through the gap in the door and saw Carrie and Natalie standing just inside the room, each poised as if ready to attack.
"You knew they were on to us," Natalie yelled. "You knew, and you didn't warn me, even worse you turned traitor and helped them set me up."
"It was the only way," Carrie coldly replied. "You'd have done the same."
"You let them think I was some big mastermind, that it was all my idea, all my plan, when it was you who set the whole thing up. You made out like you just innocently stumbled onto the scheme, when the whole time you were the one putting it all together."
"I've moved on from that part of my life," Carrie said with a sigh. "I've turned my life around and you should do the same."
"Moved on?" Natalie screamed. "Yeah, I'll bet you have. You've had the luxury of not being sent to prison, not having a criminal record and actually being congratulated by the police for helping to bring down a black market drugs ring. Yeah, I saw that little write up you got in the press. I loved the part where you said, what was it? Oh yeah, you were just doing your 'civic duty'."
"It's in the past," Carried said harshly. "I can't give you those years back and you can't get them back. You just have to deal with that."
"No," Natalie replied equally harshly. "I just have to deal with you."
Harrison heard Carrie gasp and as she stepped back towards the door he saw that Natalie had a gun in her hand and was pointing it directly at Carrie. He reached for his mobile phone, knowing even as he did that the police would not have time to get there, and stepped through the door to the apartment just as the shot rang out.
Natalie looked at him in horror as she pushed past him and ran from the apartment.
Harrison rushed to Carrie, and seeing that he was too late for the medics to be of any use, he dialled Tru's number. Only she could save Carrie now.