Flying Under Radar.
Disclaimer: as usual, mostly not mine, so don't sue.
CHAPTER FIVE
A tow truck has pulled up outside the club, and the driver is preparing to remove George Walker's car. Watching from a distance, DC Webb sees the doormen confer briefly, before one of them disappears inside the club. Radioing for PCs Hemmingway and Valentine to stand by, Mickey joins the driver of the truck, waiting for Walker to appear.
In a matter of minutes, the doorman returns, accompanied by George Walker and Xian-Tau Roku.
Before Mickey is able to reveal that he is a plain clothes police officer, George Walker starts shouting abuse, so Mickey arrests him for breach of the peace. When Xian-Tau steps in to protest, Mickey gets Yvonne to search her, and she is arrested for possession with intent to supply cocaine.
Mickey texted Sam with the news whilst waiting for transport for the prisoners to arrive.
Meanwhile, inside the club...
Having spent the entirety of what seemed like Kylie's entire repertoire subtly scanning the crowds of clubbers, both Sam and Jo are certain that Jaimeson and Collins are no longer in the main part of the club. As yet unaware that Mickey has taken care of Roku and Walker, Sam and Jo are still dancing/spying when the song finishes, and 'I Try' by Macy Grey begins to play.
Looking at the dancing couples, Jo finds her vision blurring with tears, the lyrics of the song striking a chord with her slowly breaking heart. Wiping her eyes, black streaks across the back of her hand remind Jo of the mascara that has now smudged and run. Excusing herself to the ladies, Jo escapes from the emotional atmosphere of 'couples night'.
"What's the matter Jo?"
"It's nothing, just, um..nothing"
Sam is already following Jo when her bag beeps, informing her of Mickey's update. Pausing to check her inbox, Sam gives Jo time to recover her composure before going after her.
Walking quickly down the long corridor towards the restrooms, Sam steps into the ladies' toilets, only to find herself pulled into one of the cubicles. Preparing to strike her assailant, Sam is surprised to find herself facing Jo, still with streaks of mascara down her face.
"Jaimeson followed me in here, she's still in the other cubicle" Jo whispered, her breath tickling Sam's ear where Jo had leant forward.
" kay, are you alright?"
"Yeah, fine. I just saw Collins slip through the 'Staff Only' door in the corridor" Jo replied.
"Right, well we can't arrest Jaimeson now, we'd blow our cover, so we'll have to follow Collins, and worry about her later.
"As far as I could tell, the door leads to a large storeroom, with rows of shelves and stacks of crates of bottles." Jo informed Sam.
"Okay. By the way, Mickey's already got Walker and Roku, so the odds are certainly in our favour now. We'd best put our phones on silent, just in case." Sam suggested.
Turning to retrieve her phone from her bag, Jo caught sight of her reflection in the shiny surface of the toilet roll holder, and realises she still has badly smudged mascara.
Seeing Jo go to wipe her eyes, Sam catches her hand.
"Here, let me do it, you'll only make it worse if you can't see what you're doing properly."
Gently sweeping the pad of her thumb across Jo's cheek, Sam concentrates on her task, ignoring the fire that has ignited inside of her. Closing her eyes briefly at Sam's delicate touch, Jo can only hope to ignore the sensations that even the lightest touch invokes. Finally wiping away the last of the mascara, Sam still has her hand resting on Jo's cheek when they lock eyes. Smiling slightly, Jo is about to bring her hand to rest on Sam's waist, when a door bangs shut. Jaimeson has left the toilets.
"We- we should, y'know, follow her" Sam stammers, the spell broken, the moment gone. Watching Sam leave, Jo exhales deeply, then follows.
Jaimeson goes through the staff only door, which seems to be unlocked. Alone in the corridor, Sam flashes Jo a nervous grin before gently pushing the door open a crack. As far as she can see the storeroom is deserted. Sam whispers,
'Its all clear' to Jo, just as Jo hears approaching footsteps. Swiftly pushing Sam through the door, spinning on her heel to shut the door as she did so, Jo found herself unexpectedly pinning Sam to a wall of stacked crates. Listening to a shocked Sam breathing heavily as she attempted to recover her composure, Jo felt her own breathing deepen.
Smiling awkwardly at Sam, Jo backed off and stealthily crept towards the first row of shelves, investigating the layout of the storeroom. Following suit, Sam examined the stacks of crates, finding a box with a delivery tag addressed to Mr. G. del Vecchio. Photographing it with her phone, to prove his ties to the club, Sam caught up with Jo, who had found an unalarmed fire exit, which had potential as a useful escape route. She had also found a door hidden behind a row of stacked crates, which has a small gap behind to access the door.
Deducing that this was where Jaimeson and Collins had disappeared to, Sam cautiously listened at the door. Identifying three voices, Sam was hardly able to believe their luck when she heard Jaimeson name Giovanni. Using the memo recorder on her phone, Sam was able to record del Vecchio mentioning names, as well as the time and place of delivery of a consignment of drugs.
Making a mental note to hand the evidence to the National Drugs Squad, Sam accidentally swipes her arm on one of the packing cases, disturbing a thick layer of dust. Wincing apologetically, she covers her mouth and nose with her hand as Jo does the same. It isn't enough though, and the urge to sneeze eventually overwhelms the women. Already running towards the exit, Jo tries the fire escape, but the door is locked. Clattering towards the 'Staff Only' door in her boots, Jo realises that the dealers will have heard the sound of fleeing footsteps. It is obvious that despite the slight delay as the men check the storeroom, Sam and Jo will not be unable to outrun the enraged criminals.
The two women had run no more than half a dozen steps down the corridor when Jo pulls Sam into an embrace as she steps back against the wall.
"We can't outrun them; we'll have to blend in."
Catching on, Sam leans in to whisper in Jo's ear, "Then it's gotta look real, babe," before kissing Jo's jaw just below her ear. Hardly daring to think about what she is doing, Sam kisses Jo gently on the lips. Circling her arms around Sam's waist, Jo begins to kiss her back, when the door slams open, and the two men storm out, looking for whoever was spying on them. Shooting the two women a look of disgust and contempt, Giovanni storms back into the storeroom.
With a Herculean effort, Jo gently pushed Sam back slightly from where she had been placing a trail of velvet kisses down her neck along her collarbone and whispered,
"It's alright Sarge, they've gone."
The look in Sam's darkly smouldering eyes, as she gazed up at Jo would have been enough to make Jo take a step backwards, were it not for the fact that she was already pressed firmly against the wall.
"Really?" Sam said, the tone of her voice suggestive rather than questioning.
"I- I think so"
"Well we'd better be safe than sorry then." Sam breathed, her voice little more than a husky growl, blue eyes flashing with the hint of a challenge. Breathing heavily, Jo met Sam's gaze with a look of equal intensity, raw passion exuding from every pore. That, it seemed, was too much for DS Nixon. Time stood still as their pent up energy, the feelings they shared, the crackling electricity that had sparked tonight, all manifested itself in the kiss to end all kisses. Lips met, and worlds collided, shaking the very foundations of their friendship, which was now so much more. Things would never be the same between them again, yet neither woman cared. All that mattered was the here and now, the play of tongue across lips and the feel of fingers running through glossy hair. Fingertips stroking across bare shoulder blades and gentle hands smoothing upwards over her rib cage.
And then it was over. Time restarted, and both women were left gasping in the corridor.
"Sam!...I...you...we...you're?...it was for real?...you- you...me?..." Jo spluttered, really not doing a good job on the whole 'finishing the sentences' side of things.
Nodding sadly, Sam answered, "Yeah, sorry Jo, just forget about it, I guess. I'm gonna call Mickey to come get these guys..."
Turning away to make the call, Sam almost got away with it, until she sniffed. Realising the hurt her friend was going through, Jo made up her mind to talk to Sam about it, after they had sorted out making all the arrests.