Author's note – I know, I know – this chapter's been a very long time coming (believe me, I've been told enough times!). There's only two or three chapters left so I hope you'll stick with me for the final showdown. Many, many thanks to Peacewish and to BlueSimplicity who gave me an honest opinion and helped shape this chapter into something I was (eventually) pleased with. I hope you all enjoy it! Until the next update - Swordy

Somewhere in Between

Chapter 22 – Deadly Affection

Ryo awoke to the sounds and smells of breakfast being prepared. He lay there for several long minutes, smiling at the sound of singing that now joined the other kitchen noises. Tyler sounded so happy, and positive vibes were what he needed right now. Not hearing from Dee on his birthday had been something of a setback, but he was still resolute about wanting his lover back. Tyler would surely be pleased to hear of his decision and a little encouragement in the face of yesterday's disappointment would be very welcome. Thinking there was no time like the present, he pushed back the covers and swung his legs out of bed.

"Morning, Randy," Laura chirped, her expression brightening further seeing him up and about. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

He slid into an empty chair at the kitchen table, briefly glancing at the newspaper she had laid out for him. "Not at all. Bicky popped in to say bye before he left for camp. I must have dozed off again but I wasn't really asleep."

She smiled, loving his tousled hair and lightly stubbled face. "Well, your timing is perfect. I just made your favourite."

"Wow, it's not my birthday again today is it?"

Once he was furnished with eggs and French toast Laura sat down opposite and began to pour him some tea. "It doesn't have to be a special day to treat you how you deserve to be treated, does it?"

He smiled around a mouthful of eggs. They were damn good, but Dee was known to make a pretty mean breakfast too. "Well it's sweet of you to say so, Tyler. Are you not eating?" He nodded in the direction of her empty plate.

"Oh me? I've already eaten." She dismissed his concern with a wave of her hand, gesturing back to the food in front of him. "I had mine earlier so I could concentrate on making yours."

Deciding now was the time to tell her what he had decided to do about Dee, he opened his mouth to speak, but Laura gestured for him to stop. "I've told you, you just concentrate on you. We can talk all you want when you've eaten."

Not wanting to offend her, he turned his attention back to his breakfast and the paper in front of him. He knew that the girl was still watching him, a fact that made it strangely difficult for him to concentrate on either.

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The ashtray bore testimony to their all-night planning session. Overflowing with cigarette butts it threatened to spill its contents on the table already laden with coffee cups and scrawled notes. The mess was worth it.

"So you can get the wire?" Dee asked, scratching Bright's head as the dog sat with his head resting on his knee. Across the table Drake nodded.

"Shouldn't be a problem. JJ has a buddy that works in surveillance. He can get us the equipment, no questions asked."

"Good. If we can get it for this afternoon, I can go round in the evening when Ryo's at work."

"And while you're there I'll ring and leave the answering machine message for Ryo to say that the remains have been identified as Tyler's."

"That's the plan. And I'll be there for her reaction."

Drake grinned as he ran a hand through his already messy hair. "That should make for an interesting conversation if nothing else."

Dee's reaction was slightly more reserved. "So long as we get some evidence that interests the detectives at the Fourteenth…"

"What about Ryo? Do you think you should warn him?"

Dee looked thoughtful. If he was right in his suspicions about his insulin then Laura was dangerous, but if all her efforts were to get to Ryo then he was surely safe. Bicky might have been warned had he not been away at camp.

"No, I don't think we need to warn Ryo, but I'd planned on ringing him today anyway. I'll mention her, see if he has any suspicions himself. What time's his shift?"

"The schedule said five but I'll double check when I go in."

Silence descended with nothing more to be clarified. The plans were laid – what remained to be seen was whether they were as good in practice as they were in theory.

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Detective Steve Mazowski was definitely on edge. Delaney could recognise the signs as confidently as he knew that he should have left the six pack in his refrigerator well alone when he got in from work last night. Hangovers were a bitch when you were on an early shift, but it was a lesson he was unlikely to learn no matter how many times it was repeated. Still, watching his partner fiddle with the many items on his well-ordered desk was enough to take his mind off his abused body. He knew what Mazowski's problem was. The captain had asked to be updated on their current cases and his by-the-book partner was not relishing the idea of having to explain that they'd let their main suspect go so that he could, in essence, do their job for them.

"Penny for them, Steve?" It was a stupid question, but it broke the silence.

Mazowski toyed with his pen before looking up at Delaney. The younger man was wearing the worst shirt and tie combination he'd ever seen.

"Just thinking about what we should prioritise this morning… and wondering where the hell you got that tie."

Delaney grinned, despite the action taunting his headache further. "Which would you like me to answer first?"

The older man shrugged, still scratching at his pad with the pen. "The first one. I'm not sure I wanna know the answer to the second."

Delaney briefly fingered his tie. "And to think I was gonna buy you one of these for Christmas." He let the strip of cloth go before unearthing a bulging file from the stack on his desk and passing it across to Mazowski. "I think we should go follow up those new leads from the Porter case. The first couple look really promising."

Mazowski let the file drop to his desk, then moved it so that it was neat, the bottom edge lining up with the edge of the desk. "What about our attempted murder case?"

Delaney sighed as his partner went back to toying with the many stationery items positioned around his computer. He wondered when Mazowski had last taken a vacation. "Awww, Steve. Don't make me take your pens off you. I told you, McLain will call. He's not stupid – he knows if he doesn't check in with us then we'll haul him straight back in here."

"Well until he does," Mazowski said pointedly, "I'm keeping my pens."

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Drake went to work, leaving Dee to clear away the detritus of their prolonged breakfast while Bright trotted in and out of the kitchen, proudly carrying the squeaky toy Drake had bought for him from the store. Seeing the odd-coloured eyes looking up at him hopefully, Dee stopped what he was doing, dropped to his haunches and held his hand out to the approaching canine.

"Hey, fella. Today's the day, huh? Make or break. Maybe at the end of it all we'll get to go home."

The dog cocked his head, evidently finding familiarity in one of the words Dee had used. He sat patiently while Dee got dressed, hopeful that the routine would extend to his master putting on his coat – one of the best indications that he might be about to be taken for a walk. He was in luck. Once ready, Dee fetched the dog's leash and they headed out, figuring that the fresh air would do them both some good.

With Bright a satisfied customer there was little to do until Drake returned with the equipment they needed to trap Laura. Dee decided to make some phone calls, dialling first the number he had written on a scrap of paper.

"Detective Delaney speaking."

Dee was glad the younger man answered – of the two investigating Kelly Capland's attack, he seemed the least confident that they had the right man in the frame.

"It's Dee McLain. I'm calling to update you on my activities, as you requested." His tone was firm but not defensive; businesslike as if they were colleagues sharing information.

"Okay… shoot."

Dee explained his plan as the other man made appropriate noises to show he was listening. A couple of times he heard the scratching of pen on paper - presumably Delaney was writing everything down.

"So you think she'll confess?"

"Obviously that'd be the best outcome, but to be honest I doubt it'll be that easy. I think the best I can hope for is that hearing that the real Tyler is dead will unsettle her enough to slip up and incriminate herself. And even if she doesn't, you might want to move straight in and question her about Kelly Capland."

"Uh huh. We called round to speak to her after we'd seen you, but she wasn't in. Seems like she's a pretty hard person to track down. Mazowski wanted to try again today, but we'll wait until you've done your bit."

"Good." It was a positive step that they were prepared to work with him, but Dee didn't doubt for a minute that they were still looking for conclusive evidence against him as well. "I'll call you back when I have something."

"Better still, why don't you patch us in to your transmission. Then we can hear it straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak."

He'd expected this – certainly it wasn't an unreasonable request. "I won't know if that's possible until my colleague's brought the equipment. The device may be capable of recording only."

"Okay. Well, if it is, call me back and I'll see what I can do. Our equipment budget stinks, but I'm pretty sure we can rustle something up if need be."

When Dee ended the call he didn't put his cell phone down. There was one last call he wanted to make, and there was no time like the present…

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Ryo juggled the bags of groceries to find his keys, eventually locating them, but before he could use them, the door opened.

"Heard you coming," Laura said with a broad smile. "Here, let me help."

"Thanks," Ryo replied as he gave her one of the bags and kicked the door closed with the heel of his boot. Laura was already in the kitchen when the phone started to ring.

"I'll get it," Ryo announced, seeing the cordless handset was on the table he'd just passed. He manoeuvred the remaining bags into his left hand and snatched up the device.

"Hey, Ryo."

"Dee," he exclaimed as he handed the bags over to Laura who had emerged from the kitchen. He missed her scowl as he announced the identity of the caller. "It's good to hear from you."

"I'm glad you say that. I thought you might not want to speak to me since I missed your birthday yesterday. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Ryo found himself saying, despite the fact that he'd intended to voice his disappointment. Hearing Dee's voice wrecked that plan.

"No, it's not. I'm not making excuses, but, well, yesterday was pretty tough – I wasn't exactly thinking straight. By the time I realised what date it was, your cell phone was switched off when I tried to call and there was no answer at home."

Ryo cradled the phone in the crook of his neck as he shrugged out of his jacket. "Yeah, I was out. Me and Tyler just grabbed something to eat."

"Great." There was a pause before Dee's voice came back on the line. "Look, Ryo. I miss you so much. Can we get together to talk? We can't keep going like this, can we?"

Ryo looked up to see Laura watching him intently from the kitchen. "Hang on," he told Dee before covering the mouthpiece and informing the waiting girl that he would be with her shortly. He moved into the bedroom and closed the door, unaware that the girl now simmered with resentment at his description of their first date as 'just grabbing something to eat'.

Ryo sat down on the bed, the phone still clutched to his ear. "Okay, I was just getting a little privacy."

"From Bicky?"

"No, he's still at camp. Tyler's here."

Her name's Laura, Dee thought but said nothing. "So what d'you think about us getting together to talk? You can say if you think it's a bad idea."

Ryo found his heart surging with relief as he rushed to allay Dee's concerns. This was his birthday present – albeit a day late. "I think it's a great idea, Dee. I'd love to. I've missed you so much. I don't want to be without you anymore, but I've been scared that you didn't feel the same."

"Trust me, Ryo. I want it more than anything."

Ryo smiled and lay back on the bed, his free hand tracing the patterns on the bedding he had changed just that morning. "So when do you want to meet? I'm in work tonight but I'm free tomorrow. How about you?"

"Well since I'm still officially off work sick, my calendar isn't exactly bulging. Tomorrow sounds great, but where?"

"Do you want to come over for dinner?"

"What about Tyler?" Dee had no idea how he'd managed to stop himself from using the girl's real name.

"I'll ask her if she'd mind going out for the evening. It shouldn't be a problem."

The mention of the girl provided Dee with the opening he needed. "Uh, Ryo? Is Tyler okay? She's not…" he paused, wondering how best to phrase it, "giving you a hard time or anything?"

Ryo's smiled turned into a frown. "No, why?"

"I dunno… she's changed a lot. Let's just say she's not quite who I thought she was."

It was the wrong thing to say. The scathing tone of his voice incensed the man who only saw all that the girl had done for him during this difficult period in his life.

"Don't badmouth her, Dee. Tyler's been an absolute Godsend these past few weeks. You should thank her – if it wasn't for her then I'd have spent my birthday alone."

He desperately wanted to tell Ryo everything, but stopped short. His lover wanted them to meet up to try and rescue their relationship and he didn't want to jeopardise that by offending him. Ryo would know the truth soon enough.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. That was thoughtless of me. Look, I'll see you tomorrow night, okay?"

"Sure," Ryo replied, his anger dissipating with Dee's apology. "Come over at eight."

"I'm looking forward to it."

Ryo's smile returned on hearing the sincerity in his lover's voice. "Me too." The words then tumbled from his mouth without hesitation. "I love you, Dee."

"You too, baby."

The blond ended the call and lay the handset on his chest, the immediate rise and fall motion maintaining his attention until there was a knock at the door.

"Uh, Randy?"

He was amused that he jumped, having been so wrapped up in his thoughts of Dee and the first positive step they had just taken. He caught the phone as it fell from his chest when he stood up.

"Sorry about that," he said as he opened the door to her concerned expression.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, scrutinising him to gauge his reaction to Dee's call.

"Yeah, things are good." His smile quickly broke into a grin. "Great even. I may be being wildly optimistic but I think me and Dee could be back on track real soon. We're meeting tomorrow night to talk. He said he misses me and that he wants us back together more than anything in the world."

Lost in his elation he was unprepared for her reaction – expression like stone, lips pinched tightly until she started to speak. "I think you're making a really big mistake, Randy."

Ryo blinked in astonishment. "I'm sorry?"

"You and Dee getting back together. You're clearly not right for each other. I just think you're setting yourself up for more heartache further down the line." She put a hand to her head, as if she was getting a headache. "I mean, look at everything he's put you through. He tried to kill himself for God's sake! He can't love you that much if he tried something that would cause you so much pain."

Ryo knew he was gaping like a fish, floundering for a response to this unexpected tirade. "That's why we need to talk, so we can understand everything that's happened and work through it."

"Listen to you! You're always making excuses for him!"

Ryo shook his head. "Tyler… I appreciate your concern, but this is what I want – what Dee wants. Sure, things have been rough recently, but I've never stopped loving him and I'm certain he feels the same. If we both want the same thing then how can it be a mistake?"

"Because… because we should be together. Me and you."

Ryo was completely stunned. How could he respond to that? In the end he didn't need to as Laura began to explain her reasoning. "Can't you feel it, Randy? We belong together." She reached out and grasped his hand. "You're straight, Randy. I know it even if you can't see it. You're living a lie. I know you care about Dee, but it's not love – not the kind of love that we have. I know you love me too, Randy, and I can understand that you don't want to hurt Dee after everything he's been through, but don't you deserve some happiness too? You've gone along with what he wanted for long enough."

"Tyler, I…"

"We could go away together, take time to really get to know each other…" She stepped towards him, the distance between them now intimate.

"Tyler." Ryo was firmer this time as he pulled his hand free from Laura's grasp and moved back. "I'm sorry if I've misled you in any way, but Dee's the one I love. I'm gay, Tyler. I asked Dee to marry me, not the other way round. I proposed to him because he's the only person I want to be with. I'm sorry, but that's the truth."

Laura opened her mouth to respond, stopped, then lowered her head. The time wasn't right. He was too wrapped up in pandering to his idiot partner to see what was best for him. If he could, she knew that he would realise that it was her he should be with. She would wait a bit, talk to him again later.

"I'm sorry, Randy." She gave him a weak smile and pushed a hand through her hair. "God, I can't believe what a fool I've just made of myself. I just… well I…"

"It's okay." Ryo replied, seeing she obviously felt embarrassed about her strong words. Despite the shock admission of her feelings, his good mood inclined him to forgiveness. "I'm very flattered and I'm sorry to disappoint you like this. With regards to me and Dee I appreciate your concern, but you really don't need to worry. I know what I'm doing."

She nodded and smiled, more genuinely this time. She couldn't stay angry with him, even if he was deluded. "Thanks for being so sweet about it. I'll start getting my stuff together…"

He frowned. "What for?"

"To move out." She gave a humourless laugh. "If I hadn't overstayed my welcome before then I certainly have now."

"That's not necessary," Ryo reassured her, although he knew he'd be lying if he said her revelation hadn't made things awkward between them.

"No, no. It's time I moved on anyway. Besides," she looked straight at him and smiled brightly, "you and Dee will need to be alone if you're gonna work things out."

Ryo smiled and nodded, bemused at how she was giving his and Dee's relationship her blessing when moments earlier she'd been declaring her undying love for him. It occurred to him that maybe this was what Dee had meant when he'd asked if she was giving him a hard time, and he resolved to speak to his lover about it when they met up tomorrow.

"Well I only want you to move on when you feel ready, and we'll be there for you if you need help finding somewhere."

"Thanks." Silence followed, which quickly became awkward. She was first to break it. "Well, I guess I should get on with lunch."

"Okay, but I'll help."

She looked about to agree when her face suddenly fell. "Oh no."

Ryo looked concerned, baffled by the girl's rapidly shifting moods. "What?"

"I forgot to ask you to pick up some eggs at the store. I used the last of them this morning. I wanted to make a Spanish omelette – it's my speciality. Crap… I've prepared the rest of the ingredients now." It was a lie, but she knew it would achieve the right response from the detective.

"Don't worry, I'll go back to the store," Ryo said, pulling his keys from his pocket.

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"And miss out on Spanish omelette? How could I possibly mind?" Despite his smile, he was relieved at being given the opportunity to get away from her for even just a few minutes – give him time to get his head around what had just happened.

She laughed, all trace of her previously awkwardness gone. "I better make it a good one then."

She waited until he'd definitely gone before hurrying to her room and dragging a canvas sports bag out from under her bed. She was completely focussed – her mind made up about what she had to do and she didn't have much time.

"It has to be this way, Randy. I did try to make you listen, I really did."

She tipped the bag upside down, watching as its contents spilled out onto the floor, rattling noisily as the bottles and packets fell. She picked up the first small vial and read the label on the side. They were her pills, prescribed by some quack who'd tried to understand her. He'd said she was depressed. She'd never taken any of them yet for some unknown reason she hadn't thrown them away. Next she picked up a packet of sleeping pills that had been Dee's, prescribed according to Randy, when he'd had trouble getting adequate rest after his kidnapping ordeal. She'd volunteered to get rid of them after Randy had expressed his concern about keeping them in the house. That had been when he'd thought Dee would return home from hospital after his failed suicide attempt. As it had transpired, Dee had gone to stay at Drake's following his release, but Randy had still seemed grateful when she'd informed him that she'd disposed of the pills.

Along with a quantity of regular painkillers she had taken from the bathroom cabinet she figured she had enough to achieve her aim. She'd always hoped she wouldn't have to resort to something as drastic as this, but at the back of her mind it had always been an option if things hadn't gone her way. If they couldn't be together in this life, then she'd speed up their passage to the next.

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Lori Hanson dumped her bags at her feet before depositing a small stack of mail on the table next to the phone. She frowned as she caught sight of her hand, in particular the couple of chips in her otherwise perfectly varnished nails. That would need redoing before she went to work later on. Her boss had insisted she take the day off since they had only just stepped off the flight from DC, where they'd been attending a two day conference, but time off wasn't the way to get yourself noticed and win a promotion. Insisting she needed only a couple of hours to freshen up before she could be back in the office was a sure fire way to score points and her boss had definitely looked impressed before they had parted company at JFK.

She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, this trip having increased her confidence that she would be more that a lowly personal assistant by the end of the year. She was surely marked out for great things and never once had she had to use her good looks to get it, not that some at Henderson's believed it. Laura Burns's face swam into view at that particular thought, reminding her of the phone message she'd left on her colleague's answering machine just before she'd gone on the business trip. She wondered what Kelly had done with the information she'd unearthed. Hopefully the younger girl would be in work, enabling her to find out if that crazy bitch Laura had got what she deserved. That thought earned a smile. She couldn't wait to hear all about it.

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Dee moved from the window after finding no comfort in the mechanical ebb and flow of the downtown traffic. The last time he'd felt this restless was his wedding day; excited and yet nervous as the hours counted down to the moment he would pledge his devotion to Ryo. Forever, he'd said and meant it. He hadn't forgotten his words, spoken at the close of their wedding day, and if anything, his promises resonated more now than when their union had seemed unbreakable. If they could emerge from this mess still in love then forever didn't seem so impossible.

Bright stirred, alerting Dee to the fact that Drake was home. True to the dog's sharp senses, the door opened and the man stepped into the apartment, smiling when his eyes found his friend.

"I got it," he announced before Dee could say anything.

"Great."

Drake laid the featureless black briefcase on the back of the couch but didn't open it. "Having second thoughts? I'm sensing a lack of enthusiasm here."

Dee offered him a weary smile as Bright wandered over to Drake, sniffing first at the man and then the case. "Nah, it's nothing. It's still the best hope I've got. I just need to get everything sorted before tomorrow."

"What's tomorrow?"

"I'm having dinner with Ryo."

Drake grinned like a madman as he watched Dee light a cigarette and draw on it heavily. "That's great news! You rang him, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Did you ask him about Tyler?" Drake frowned. "Laura, I mean."

"Yeah, but he got a little snippy and since we were getting on I decided to leave it. Obviously she's still treating him like royalty, so he doesn't see a problem. It's gonna come as one hell of a shock when he finds out she isn't who she says she is."

"Yeah, but how was he to know? She had everyone fooled."

"Including me," Dee replied flatly. "Some fucking detective I turned out to be."

"Whoah, tiger." Drake stared at his friend intently until the other man looked up. "You're a damned good detective, Dee. You couldn't have known. Jesus, the girl certainly did her homework."

Dee acknowledged Drake's comment with a nod before blowing out a long stream of smoke. With everything that had happened, he'd had little time to contemplate how much trouble Laura Burns had actually gone to in order to pass herself off as his long lost friend. She'd said things that had convinced him she was the real Tyler Brown; intimate things that had blinded him to the discrepancies that exposed her deception. It had taken Bicky and Cal to notice them, and that didn't sit easy with him as a detective. He was fairly certain he would be berating himself over this for a long time to come, but now he needed to stay focused. When he spoke again, it was on a different matter.

"I also called the guys at the Fourteenth. They've asked if the gear you've brought can transmit rather than just record. I think they wanna listen in, make sure I'm not strong arming Laura into a confession."

"Are you okay with that?"

"I don't think I have much choice." He moved, but only to stub out his cigarette in the ashtray on Drake's coffee table. "They want in. They're probably getting twitchy that they're not doing anything."

Still listening, Drake snapped the catches and opened the briefcase, looking over its contents before he replied. "It'll transmit. JJ's contact was repaying a favour so he says he's given me the best stuff they had."

Dee quirked an eyebrow as he joined Drake in looking over the equipment. "He loaned this, no questions?"

"Yeah. I guess he's a trusting kind of guy."

"Either that, or he owes JJ big time."

Drake made a face. "And that I ain't gonna think about." When he couldn't raise a smile from his friend and colleague, he dropped the humour. "It'll be okay, Dee. A brief chat and the boys from the Fourteenth will be off your back, she'll be long gone and the Dee and Ryo show can resume normal service."

"You make it sound so simple." Dee knew it wasn't like him to be so pessimistic but if the truth be told, he had a bad feeling that he couldn't pinpoint. Maybe he should have let Ryo in on what they were doing. He glanced at his watch. Ryo would be in work soon so he needn't worry about him.

"Come on," Drake said, breaking into his thoughts. "I'll show you how this all works, then you can call those detectives and ask them if they still want to be in on the party."

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Two hours later Lori and her repainted nails were negotiating the revolving doors into Henderson's. Mark, her boss, probably wasn't back in the office yet, making her look even more incredibly efficient than she'd intended. She could check his mail and phone messages and start typing up those reports, despite the fact that Mark had said there was no rush for them.

There was a girl on reception that she didn't recognise and most people were on their lunch breaks, so other than a brief smile of greeting she hurried on up to the twentieth floor without stopping to speak to anyone. Checking the emails took the best part of an hour when she came across several things that needed dealing with urgently. Mark arrived shortly after she'd started on the reports.

"Lori, didn't I tell you to stay home?"

She smiled sweetly, her hands poised above the computer keyboard. "I got a little rest. I've prioritised your messages for you. You need to call Paul Davies first – he's left two messages and he's waiting for your answer on those quotes."

"Fine," Mark said, draping his jacket over the back of the empty chair across from her desk. "I'll call him so long as you do me a favour."

"Sure."

"Go get yourself some lunch."

She quirked an eyebrow, the action both humorous and flirtatious. "How'd you know I haven't had any already?"

"Here." He handed her a ten dollar bill, ignoring her attempts to distract him. "I'll have ham salad on rye. But don't rush back – I'll be on with Paul Davies for a while so make sure you get a proper lunch break, okay?"

"Okay." She saved the documents she was working on and accepted her jacket, which he was holding out for her. "I'll be back in twenty minutes."

"Thirty and you've got yourself a deal."

She'd bought the sandwiches from the local deli and was back inside Henderson's when she saw someone worth stopping to talk to. Knowing her boss would only chew her out for not taking long enough, she changed direction. Shelley knew Kelly Capland and would probably know if something had happened. She waved when Shelley saw her and was surprised when the girl rushed over, her features pulled into a deep frown.

"Lori, when did you get back?"

"Just before. Landed early this morning and went home for a couple of hours before I came in."

She'd barely finished her sentence when Shelley cut her off. "Have you heard about Kelly?"

Lori shook her head, alarmed at how frantic the usually easygoing girl had become at seeing her. "No, why, what's happened?"

"She's in hospital, fighting for her life. Someone tried to kill her!"

It took Lori a moment to process the information. "Someone tried to kill her? Who?"

Shelley put a hand to her head. "I don't know. The police aren't giving any information to anyone who's not family. It's horrible, no one knows what's going on."

It had to be Laura, had to be, and if no arrests had been made then Lori figured that the cops didn't know about Kelly and Laura.

"Which hospital is she at?"

"All Saints."

"Thanks." She turned and hurried away, her thoughts rapidly on Kelly. Laura had to have found out that she'd been discovered, and for that she felt responsible. Mark looked up from his desk when she came into the office.

"I thought I said…" he started with a grin.

"I know, but something's come up."

She was obviously upset, prompting Mark to put his pen down and give her his full attention. "Do you want to talk about it?"

She looked pained as she clutched their lunch in a brown paper bag. "I can't – not just yet anyway. I need to make some calls."

He nodded. "Well take all the time you want and if you need to leave, then go right ahead.

Ten minutes later she'd called the hospital and got a somewhat depressing update on her colleague's condition. More importantly than that however, she'd got the name and a number of the detectives working the case. She tried the number with shaking fingers, but found the line constantly busy. A second and third attempt resulted in the same frustrating response. After that final unsuccessful attempt, she made a decision.

"Mark?"

"Yup?"

"Is it alright if I leave?"

He looked up from his work to meet her concerned expression. "You don't need to ask, Lori. Go do whatever you have to and call me if you're not going to be in tomorrow."

"I'll be in," she assured. "And thanks." She quickly returned to her desk to shut down her computer, double checking the address she had scribbled down on some paper before she shoved it in her bag and hurried from the office, her own sandwich still sitting untouched on her desk.

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True to her word, Laura made a mean Spanish omelette, although Ryo found it very heavily seasoned, unaware that it was deliberately masking the large quantity of sleeping pills she had doctored it with. She sat across from him smiling and joking, their earlier altercation seemingly forgotten. She encouraged Ryo to eat everything she provided, and, eager to make amends seeing how pleased it made her, he did just that.

Twenty minutes had elapsed before Ryo started to feel the effects of his heavily drugged meal. He was in the process of dressing for work but found that his fingers were clumsy and unable to tie his tie. His reflection frowned back at him in the mirror as he flexed the sluggish digits before trying again, but to no avail. Suddenly he felt the need to sit down. He was alarmed by the fact that he staggered as he made his way over to his bed, almost falling onto the furniture when he got there.

Laura obviously heard the thud as she hurried in, a concerned expression on her face.

"Randy? Is something the matter?"

She crouched in front of him, waiting for him to lift his head out of his hands. When he did, she saw the heavy glaze of his eyes. He offered her a weak smile.

"I don't feel so good, Tyler. I don't know what's wrong with me – I've just come over all dizzy and my body feels like I've been weighed down. Jesus -" He tried to wipe a hand across his face. "I feel like I've been drugged."

"My God," she replied, acting suitably surprised. "Should I call the doctor?"

He lazily waved off her concern, eyes closing in long, slow blinks. "I'll be okay."

"Look, I'll get you a glass of water. You just lie back for a minute."

She pushed him gently and in his drugged state he was powerless to resist. "I'll be late for work," he mumbled, already half asleep now sprawled across his bed.

"Ssshhhh. You just rest now. It'll all be over soon." She watched him for a moment before silently slipping from the room, a satisfied smile painted on her face.

She had some suicide notes to write.

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"Can you see it?"

Drake cocked his head to one side, contemplating Dee's question. "Not from the front. Turn around so I can see if you can see it from the back."

Dee did as he was told and waited to see if his colleague could see the wire that they had taped to his body. The bulk of the equipment was tucked into the waistband of his jeans but with his denim jacket - the one that Ryo had bought him for his birthday – on over the top of his t-shirt, there was nothing the naked eye could see that would arouse the girl's suspicion. He would activate it before he got inside the apartment, transmitting everything from that point to Drake who had set up the receiving equipment on his kitchen table. Dee had contacted the detectives from the Fourteenth precinct and informed them that he would be leaving in a few hours. They were due any time.

"So what now?" Drake asked, confident that they were ready.

"Food. I need to check my blood sugar levels then get something to eat. I don't want to be losing focus because I can't concentrate."

Drake nodded as he scratched Bright's ears, the dog comically leaning so far into the action that he eventually lost balance and fell over. "Sure thing, buddy."

They prepared some lunch together after Dee had done his insulin. Conversation was limited, but once they were seated, Dee broke the silence.

"I really appreciate all you've done for me, Parker. I honestly don't think I'd be in any state to sort this whole sorry mess out without your support."

Drake grinned as he handed Dee a plate. "Don't mention it. I know you'd do the same for me if my life was half as interesting as yours."

Dee smiled. "You know, once this is all over, I'm gonna take Ryo somewhere beautiful. Somewhere near the sea, where we can be alone together."

Drake nodded approvingly. "Sounds ideal. I'm sure Ryo'll jump at the chance to get away with you."

"You think?"

"Definitely. Look, I know things have been tough, Dee, but he's never stopped loving you, I swear. He was really upset that I let you come and stay here when you came out of hospital. I guess he thought that if you had nowhere to go, you'd go back home and you could work things out."

Dee stared for a moment, as his mind did a playback of that particular period of time. "Then why the hell didn't he just tell me he wanted me to come home?" He shook his head sadly. "I just don't get it. It's like what we were thinking and what we were saying were two completely different things."

"Chinese whispers," Drake mused.

Dee looked at him. "What?"

"Chinese whispers. You know, when the story gets distorted along the way as it's passed between people."

Dee suddenly realised what he was getting at. For months they'd been communicating with Laura as a go-between. Knowing what he knew now, it was obvious that his thoughts and feelings about the state of their relationship would not have been transmitted accurately to his lover, and probably vice versa. That begged the question about how much of their current situation could have been avoided if they'd just ignored her and talked face to face. Despite their pain, they'd have been able to see the love they still had for each other, a fact that would certainly have influenced their actions. Staying apart had enabled them – with Laura's help of course – to convince themselves that being together was a recipe for disaster. He could feel his anger growing – she certainly had a lot of questions to answer.

"I'm guessing you've got a lot you'll want to say to her," Drake said, apparently reading Dee's mind from the serious expression on his face. "But make sure that doesn't distract you from getting the evidence you need."

"I know what I have to do – this is ultimately about Kelly's attack after all," the dark-haired man said solemnly although Drake could see the anger in his eyes. "And once I've got that, I want to know what the hell she did to us."

TBC…