~ And I know it's true

I still love you

You know I do~

"Gail… I'm sorry. I-I know it's hard, I feel it too." Holly's voice came through the phone. "But I've tried everything."

"Did you, though?" Gail scoffed.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you don't sound too broken up about it. And you seem to have given up pretty quickly." Gail pulled at the loose string at the bottom of her shirt. She was angry. She was hurt. She missed Holly, why didn't Holly seem to miss her?

"Gail…" Holly murmured, "you know that's not true. Not even a little."

"Did you tell them-"

"I told them it's been in the works for months. I also tried telling them I'd come in early and work late every day the week before. Gail, I've tried begging! They said there's just no way. They need me here."

"No one else can do it?"

"Apparently not."

"Call in sick?" Gail pleaded.

"You know they'd know and I'd lose my job…"

"Do you really even need this job? I mean how important is it really?" Gail asked quietly.

"Gail…" Holly breathed, "I would give anything to be there. I miss you so goddamn much."

"I miss you too."

The words were barely a whisper, but Holly still heard them.

"Maybe I can convince them to postpone it," Gail spoke thoughtfully.

Holly snorted and rolled her eyes. She chuckled as she spoke, "Yes Gail, I'm sure Steve and Traci would postpone their wedding a couple more months just for me."

"Well, if I tell Steve his best woman isn't going to go unless her date is there, I think he'd do it," Gail said.

And Holly knew she was serious. The only reason Gail had agreed to be Steve's best woman, was if Holly was there with her. And by there, she meant next to her throughout as much of the ceremony and reception as possible. Gail had reasoned that if she was going to be forced to be "center stage" (she argued that no one would be looking at Steve if she was up there) and give a speech at the reception, then she needed Holly there. Gail had even tried to convince Steve to make Holly a grooms-person, so she could be next to Gail during the ceremony. Steve informed Gail that if Holly was to be in his party, he'd have to kick someone else out, and that person would be Gail. Steve was not amused when Gail agreed to those terms. He did, however, agree that Holly would sit in the front row with the rest of the family, and she would be seated next to Gail at the reception. Holly would take it to her grave before ever telling Gail that Steve had spoken with Holly about her required attendance and seating arrangements weeks before he'd spoken to Gail.

"Gail," Holly breathed.

"I can't do it without you."

"Yes, you can. You're gonna do so good. You'll be the best Best Woman there's ever been," Holly said.

"Well, duh," Gail replied. "I just don't want to be there alone. I miss you so much." Gail's voice was barely above a whisper.

"I'm so sorry, Gail."

"I know." Gail sighed heavily. "I should probably get to bed."

"Ok, well I hope you sleep well." There was no response on the other end, so Holly continued. "I love you."

"Yeah… I love you too, Holly."

The line went dead. Holly placed the phone on the couch next to her and breathed deeply. She hated how this was making Gail feel, but there was nothing more she could do. Dejected, she went about her evening routine.


Frankie plopped down into her chair and kicked her feet up onto her desk, sighing loudly. When Gail didn't look up from her paperwork, Frankie tossed a pen at her. Gail paused, but still didn't look up.

"What's up your butt?" Frankie asked.

"Nothing."

"Bullshit," Frankie scoffed. "You've been weird ever since that Holly chick started working at the morgue."

"Stewart," Gail said.

"What?"

"Her name." Gail finally looked up at Frankie. "Her name is Holly Stewart."

"Whatever," Frankie said, spinning in her chair.

"Did you have a point, Anderson?"

Frankie opened her mouth, but decided to hold her tongue. She looked at the board covered in crime scene photos and suspect leads that sat at the front of their office.

"How have we not figured this out yet?" Frankie mused.

"Figured what out?" Gail looked up again and followed Frankie's gaze to the board. "Oh, that. I figured it out weeks ago. I've just been waiting for you to catch up."

"Hee haw haw," Frankie laughed sarcastically. "Seriously though, we know he lived alone. He doesn't have a dog, so why was there dog hair on him? Whoever took his credit cards hasn't bothered to use them yet. What are they waiting for?"

"What if it wasn't a simple robbery gone bad? What is someone wants us to think it was?" Gail mused.

"You thinking neighbor dispute or domestic? Do we know if he had a partner?"

"No, he was alone. No partner, no family."

"That's… kinda fuckin' depressing," Frankie said.

"Yeah," Gail replied. She thought about her own life, and while she was surrounded most of the time by people she considered friends and family, in this moment she felt very much alone. She wondered about this man's life. Was he lonely? Or did he chose to be alone? Did he have regrets? As he lay dying on the floor, did he wish he had done things different?

"Earth to Gail," Frankie said.

"What?" Gail looked up in the direction of her partner's voice.

"I was just saying maybe we should go back and see if any of the neighbors have dogs."

"Uh, yeah, sure." Gail stood and grabbed her jacket.

"Are you going to actually be there with me? Trying to solve this crime? Or are you gonna be in your head over this Holly chick?"

"Shut up, Frankie," Gail replied.

There was a beat of silence, then they shouted in unison, "I'm driving!"


"GAIL!"

"WHAT?" Gail shouted back at the voice coming from downstairs.

"We gotta go!"

"I'm coming!"

Gail grabbed her clutch and took one last look in the mirror. She smoothed her hands over the scarlet sleeveless dress and admired how the scooped neck flattered her chest. The dress was fitted, but not tight, and stopped about midway down her thighs. She turned to look at the back, which plunged low to the middle of her back, showing off her shoulders. Her shoes were classically simple and black, with three inch heels. Between the shoes and the dress, her ass looked amazing.

At the bottom of the stairs, her brother was waiting with Traci. He looked mildly annoyed.

"We're gonna be late," Steve grumbled.

"Well it is your rehearsal dinner, so it's not like they can start without you," Gail countered.

"It's fine, Steve," Traci soothed. She gently scratched at the back of his neck and Steve visibly relaxed. "We'll get there when we get there."

They were only seven minutes late. Gail stood where she was told as the minister walked her brother and soon to be sister-in-law through the essential steps of the ceremony. Once they were finished, everyone began moving towards the reception area for dinner.

Gail looked around the room for her designated seat. She stopped short when her eyes fell on the last thing she expected to see: Holly. She released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Steve slapped her on the back as he moved around her to take his own seat at the head of the table. Slowly, Gail took a step forward, and then another. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the woman she loved.

Holly smiled her patented lopsided smile as she stood from her seat to meet Gail. Gail reached out and touched a hand to Holly's cheek, cradling her face.

"Are you real? Am I dreaming?" Gail asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes, Gail, this is real," Holly replied.

Gail placed her other hand at the back of Holly's neck and pulled her in for a searing kiss. She forgot where she was, until several whistles and hollers pulled her back to reality. She slowly pulled back from the kiss and stared into Holly's eyes.

A voice from behind her pretended to whisper, "Can we eat now?"

"Shut up, Steve," Gail and Traci said in unison.


"You like any of the neighbors for this?" Frankie asked as she and Gail returned to the car.

"Not sure. How is it that all of them happen to own dogs?" Gail asked in response.

"Let's forget the dog angle for a moment. Do any of them have motive?"

Frankie put the car into drive and headed towards the precinct. She drummed her fingers on the wheel as she thought. Gail watched the houses fly past as they drove. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were missing something important.

"What do we know about his work life?" Gail mused.

"Worked in IT. Supervisor said he kept his head down and did his work well."

"What about work relationships?"

"Not sure he had any," Frankie replied.

Gail spent the rest of the drive in her own head. This had to be personal, but how could it be when the victim had no one in his life? There was no sign of forced entry, so it made sense that the victim knew his attacker. So what was the angle? Donaldson and his attacker got into a fight? Someone held a grudge?

Frankie turned into the parking lot of the precinct and parked the unmarked police car.

"I think I need a beer," Frankie said, "You game?"

"Uh, actually, I think I'm gonna stay a little later and see what I can find out about his work life," Gail replied.

"Lame. Just because you're engaged doesn't mean you have to be boring now. You still need a life outside of work and your fiancé."

"I have a life outside of work, it just doesn't include getting drunk with a loser like you." Gail smirked as she exited the car and left Frankie fuming in the driver's seat.