Part 11

Gail held the door open and gestured Holly into the small café that had only recently opened for the day's business. A quick look around and Gail spotted two other customers in the place, one of whom being Chris who was sat at the far end in an out of the way booth.

The other person, a woman in some sort of horrible, cotton blend grey suit, with a cell phone in one hand and the morning paper in the other, was sat at the counter running along the left side of the café. Gail gave her a very suspicious look as she placed her hand on the small of Holly's back and eased her towards Chris.

The waitress caught Gail's eye and the blonde pointed to where she was headed.

Gail ignored Chris' stunned look as his eyes flitted between Holly and her nervously as she slid into the booth letting Holly follow after her. This way Gail could turn and put her back to the window and not only have a view of Holly, but also of the woman at the counter and of the door so she could track the comings and goings.

Satisfied with her view, Gail turned to her table mates as she noticed the waitress head over.

By silent agreement they all placed orders of breakfast and coffee, although this time Gail went with orange juice and chose to ignore the smirk Holly shot her as the waitress headed back towards the kitchen.

Gail rolled her eyes at the pathologist then pointed at Chris who was still wide eyed and nervous.

"Holly Chris, Chris Holly. But you both already know that, huh?" She added with a grin wondering if she could get them to talk to each other or if they were planning on just pretending the other wasn't there.

"Uh, yeah, I mean… hi, Dr Stewart." Chris said, stumbling over his words as he tried to give Holly a smile.

"Morning Officer Diaz." Holly replied softly with a curious look at Gail.

Gail and Chris winced at that.

"Sorry." Holly whispered and ducked her head down, only now realising that maybe she should be careful of what she said.

Gail sighed. "It's fine, just, you know, kinda awkward." She told the pathologist in an attempt to explain.

"I can imagine." Holly muttered back, sending a grin Gail's way just as the waitress returned with their drinks.

Chris looked between the pair. "So, uh, you two know each other?" He asked, partly to make conversation and also because he knew the pathologist was friends with Traci and Steve. And Chris knew Gail wasn't on speaking terms with her brother, so this was just all kinds of strange.

Gail snorted and sipped at her juice. "Oh, yeah Chris, we know each other so well that when you get in this morning you're going to do a travel check on Dr Stewart here."

Chris' eyes widened as Holly's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Check her credit cards for recent transactions, probably air travel, probably to Vancouver." Gail continued instructing her friend.

Chris looked at the brunette who looked to be getting angry. He sipped at his coffee and turned to Gail. "Or I could just ask Traci?" He offered as an alternative to intrusive checks.

Gail grinned. "Or you could just ask Traci." She agreed.

Holly delayed her reaction as the waitress returned with plates of food.

Gail wasted little time tucking in as did Chris.

"Or you could just ask me?" Holly said into the quiet after realising that there was probably very little that the blonde didn't already know about her.

Gail sighed and shifted in her seat as a figure entering the café caught her attention. "That'll spoil my fun Doc, and plus, Chris has to earn his keep."

"That's true." Chris quickly agreed as he stood and a young man Holly vaguely recognised slid in across from Gail as Chris sat back down.

"Holly Romi, Romi Holly Stewart." Gail gestured between Holly and the newcomer as she quickly used the distraction to eat more of her breakfast as she enjoyed the lack of nausea she was experiencing at the moment.

"Hi!" Romi greeted the older woman as he swiped Chris' coffee just as the waitress came over and Romi quickly gave her his order. "I'll have what he's having."

As the waitress walked away Gail watched the way Chris looked at Romi and the way Romi responded by leaning into her friend and saying something too quiet for her to hear but it made Chris redden.

"God, get a room." She muttered to herself but couldn't quite hold back her grin as she continued watching them. Romi had pulled out his cell phone and was showing Chris something on it. Gail watched as Chris put his hand on the back of the booth behind Romi's head and shifted closer than he needed to be.

Holly tilted her head and took in the pair across from her and the mutterings of Gail. Oh. Now she could see it. The way their eyes lit up as they both chuckled and stared at each other briefly, trying not to be obvious.

Holly grinned and nudged the blonde beside her who was now staring forlornly into her orange juice.

"Are they?" She asked softly as blue eyes lifted.

Gail rolled her eyes and then looked back over. She watched Chris attempt to retrieve his coffee but it was half-hearted at best as Romi put one arm out to block Chris and used the other to move the mug further out of reach.

Gail then looked at Holly. "If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck?"

Holly chuckled and nodded. "It's a duck." She then deliberately lifted her own coffee up to her mouth by way of Gail's nose and tried not to laugh as she drank while being on the receiving end of a venomous scowl.

"That was just mean." Gail complained as Holly sat her drink back down.

Holly grinned enjoying her torment of the blonde. As Chris and the new arrival seemed otherwise occupied Holly turned to Gail and raised an eyebrow. "So if they're ducks, and I'm a duck, what does that make you?" She asked, wondering if the blonde was in a sharing mood. Gail was hard to read and Holly had no idea what kind of interest the blonde had in her, if it was purely fact finding about her statement to Detective Swarek then she probably could have found that out from Chris.

Gail smiled at Holly, her eyes dancing as she wondered how best to reply to that.

"What was that about ducks?" Romi asked as the waitress returned with his plate and coffee. His coffee however was currently being drunk by Chris in retaliation to his own theft.

Gail held Holly's eyes for a moment longer, before she went back to finishing her pancakes. "Nothing." She said in answer to Romi.

Holly shook her head but was smiling as she returned to her own food.

Romi looked between the women then shrugged and started eating as well.

"Hey, isn't this where you spotted that cute brunette the other week?" Chris asks Gail as he points out the window towards the park across the road from them.

Gail blushed and kicked her foot out under the table.

"Ow!" Chris complained as he leant down to rub at his knee. "I was just saying!"

Romi frowned at Gail before asking Chris if he'd live.

"Its fine, I'm on desk today anyway." He told Romi as he glared at Gail.

Holly watched the back and forth before glancing out the window and looking across at the park, she then took note of the blush still colouring Gail Peck's normally pale face. Also the fact that the blonde was steadfastly keeping her head down clued her into what, or maybe who, Chris had got into trouble for mentioning.

She leaned over and whispered into a red tinged ear. "Cute huh?"

Gail shrugged indifferently. "Just some fitness freak."

"Fitness freak huh?" Now Holly was enjoying herself. "Probably the kind that likes softball too then."

Gail bit her lip to keep her grin under control but it was a hard task.

"Never can trust those sporty types." Holly continued but she was aware of the curious looks she was getting from the pair across the table.

Gail snorted. "And doesn't my head know it." She replied as she reached up to touch the spot as she was reminded of her headache.

"Don't touch it!" Holly admonished as she batted Gail's hand away earning herself another glare, although this time she felt it was justified.

"Touch what?" Romi asked as he paused and looked questioningly to Gail. "Bravo?"

"Bravo?" Holly repeated as she glanced at Gail with a frown.

Sighing Gail put down her cutlery and tilted her head down and moved some hair back to show Romi and Chris what would likely be a nice new scar for her growing collection.

"Who the fuck did that?!" Romi demanded as he glared hard at the brunette sitting with them. "And why is she even here?"

Gail settled back in her seat. "Calm down." She told her friend softly as she saw the concern building in Chris' expression as well. It was nice to know they both cared but she was fine, a little head rattle wasn't going to do much to slow her down even if it was playing havoc with her caffeine addiction.

Gail frowned when she glanced at Holly and noticed her fidget under the stares from Chris and Romi. She glared at the pair until they stopped. "I said enough!" She snapped at them firmly, not in the mood for macho ego or misplaced loyalty.

She'd broken into Holly's apartment in the middle of the night and got exactly what was coming to her. End of fucking story.

Satisfied when they toned down the looks at Holly Gail knocked elbows with the doctor. "You know I just seem to have this effect on some people," She told Holly as she smirked at Romi, who knew what she was about to bring up and looked less than thrilled at the reminder. "Romi here has an older brother Anan, now he really beat the shit out of me." She continued to inform Holly with a smile. "Six weeks in the hospital, after I was lying there unconscious for three days."

Holly was horrified by this and felt guilt-ridden that she hadn't insisted on taking Gail to the hospital last night for a proper check-up on her injuries. "Oh my god!" She muttered astounded by the way Gail was revealing this information, like she was talking about a cut on her hand or something equally benign. "You really need to get checked out. At a hospital Gail, you should have a CAT scan, head injuries can be-"

Gail reached over and held Holly's hand as she saw the panic raising in her eyes. "Holly?"

"No! You could be haemorrhaging right now and we wouldn't even know, you wouldn't know, you'd just be here talking and the next you'd be dead! Look, I know people that can get you seen to right now, please, please Gail?!" Holly pleaded desperately with the blonde as her eyes stung.

"Okay, okay." Gail conceded, her eyes on Holly until she saw her start to relax now that she had agreed to being checked over. Personally Gail couldn't believe she had just given in considering how much she hated hospitals. A glance at Chris and Romi and it looked like they were both in agreement with Holly on going to hospital.

Traitors.

She kept hold of Holly's hand and patted it comfortingly as she looked at Chris. As much as she was willing to do what Holly asked, she was actually here for a reason and there was no point in wasting the opportunity.

"The financials on the guard Darren Ritchie should be back today right?" She asked Chris and waited for him to nod. She then quirked an eyebrow at Romi.

"Midnight, I remembered." He told her.

"Good." She told him before looking back at Chris. "Hopefully they'll follow that but it won't go anywhere." She told her old colleague.

Chris nodded. "Will he say anything?" He asked.

Gail shook her head. "He received an all-expenses paid trip one-way out of the country last night."

Holly wondered if that was code for dead but didn't really want to find out.

"Okay. That all?" Chris asked as he'd need to leave soon to make the start of shift.

Gail nodded her head then remembered and patted her jacket down before frowning as she didn't feel what she was looking for where she was expecting it.

"Here." Romi said tossing Chris a bulging envelope that clearly had money in it, several thousand dollars at least. "Don't spend it all at once." He told the officer with a grin.

"What he said." Gail smiled at Chris as he tucked the envelope away safely into his jacket.

Holly kept her mouth shut and followed their lead as everyone stood and shuffled out of the booth and headed for the exit after Romi dropped money down onto the table to pay their bill.

"Cheapskate." She muttered to Gail as they exited the café first.

Gail laughed as she spotted her car parked next to Chris' jeep and made her way over to it. "You think that was his own money?" She asked incredulously.

Holly frowned then looked back at the boys only to see them talking quietly to each other as they lagged behind by some distance.

Gail turned and leaned against her car as she knew it could be a while before Romi could pry himself away from Diaz. "Want on the payroll Doc?" She asked Holly, only half joking.

"I'm merely looking after a patient, no payment required." Holly replied.

Gail smirked at her as they stood together waiting. "What if I need assistance in the near future?"

Holly shrugged and played along. "You seem to know where I live, so you probably also have my number."

Now Gail's grin blossomed because the doctor was right, on both counts.

"So how long have you been watching me?" Holly asked Gail as the blonde turned her head and scowled at Romi as they heard him laughing with Chris.

"I admit nothing." She muttered offhandedly before calling to her friend over the top of the car. "Just kiss already and let's go!"

Chris shot her a confused look that made her question herself. She was headed to the hospital, why on earth was she in a hurry for that to happen?

Holly shook her head and inched closer to the blonde. It should have really bothered her to know that she had effectively been stalked by the woman in front of her for the last few weeks. But there was just something about Gail that she couldn't quite pin down yet and it was driving her crazy.

Gail rolled her eyes as Romi gave her the bird and turned back to Holly only to find her standing a lot closer than she had been the last time she had looked.

"You are insane, you know that right?" Holly asked as her eyes trailed all over Gail's face.

Gail shrugged and smiled endearingly at the brunette. "Some people might find me charming."

Holly guffed at that, wondering how stalking could be found charming in any way. But she had to acknowledge that she found the blonde very captivating, in a dangerous, twisted, totally bad for her health kind of way.

Without thinking she leaned over and pressed her lips to Gail's before pulling back and giving her a look. "I said insane." She repeated before opening the door and climbing past the passenger seat and into the back.

Stunned, Gail could only grin and shake her head. Then she noticed Chris and Romi staring slack jawed at her. She glared at the pair wondering if she was suffering from some kind of brain injury, Holly was doing very strange things to her and she was smiling way too much considering her headache and her impending trip to the hospital.

"Just get in the damn car." She told Romi before getting into her seat. She aimed a glare at Holly and did her best to keep it there. "And you shut up." She warned as Romi slid in and started the car.

"Yes ma'am." Holly muttered from her seat.

And that's all it took for Gail's smile to come back.

Dammit!