Part 13

Gail felt numb. She had no idea if Romi or Holly were hurt, moments after the gun shot two other patrol cars had arrived on scene and after a brief word Nick had returned and drove her back towards the station.

She hadn't asked Nick a thing since he got back in the car, she just kept her head turned to face out the window. All she could remember was that no one had got out of her car and one of the other cops had taken the rookie's gun from him.

That was a bad sign.

Gail swallowed down the desperate need for information as Nick pulled the car into the Sally port and turned off the ignition as the doors closed noisily behind them.

"Well, let's get you into a nice quiet jail cell." Nick said with a grin as he turned in his seat to her.

She ignored him.

She wasn't going to play any more games, not after this. Not when her friends could be hurt or worse, dead.

Gail's eyes hardened as her door was opened and Nick pulled her out of the car still with her hands cuffed behind her. He grabbed her upper arm and forced her forward.

"I'm sure your little boyfriend will be fine." Nick told her.

Gail stayed quiet. She knew he was trying to goad her into reacting, but she wasn't stupid.

She'd react all right, but not here, not in front of a camera or in front of witnesses.

Nick had just run out of every last chance Gail was willing to give him for being a police officer and once upon a time someone she cared for. Everyone had their limit and Nick using a rookie to wave a gun around just so he could find another excuse to arrest her was hers.

Nick stopped them and buzzed through to the holding area where he pushed Gail forward into the desk.

Gail grunted as her side caught the edge of the desk, but then she just stepped back and took up position at the line and waited for Nick to sign her in to the officer working behind it. She even kept her gaze lowered and her body language meek and compliant.

She wasn't giving anyone any excuse to hold her longer than necessary and when she got out, when she got out, she was going to take care of this once and for all.

Nick eyed Gail before turning to 'Mac' or Senior Officer Mackenzie, who was waiting patiently for him to give an arrest charge for the blonde. "Ah, resisting arrest." He told him only to get a shake of the head from the older cop as he typed it in. Nick then went through more of Gail's details that were added to the arrest sheet before he started reaching to do a search on her.

Mac pointedly cleared his throat.

Nick grins. "Let me go see if there's a WPO available, I forget sometime Mac, I mean look at her."

Mac just turned back to his computer.

Nick glanced around then pushed Gail over to the bench and unlocked one of the cuffs and snapped it shut across the metal rail that would keep Gail from going anywhere.

"Be right back." He told her then walked into the main part of the station.

Mac eyed the blonde now that Nick wasn't there. "Resisting arrest? Again?" He asked her.

Gail snorted and brushed her free hand across her face to remove any lingering tear stains.

"That boy never learns does he?" Mac continued but Gail stayed quiet just like he expected her to. He shook his head as he went back to his work, he wondered what it was going to take for the kid to understand when he was in a no win situation.

The arrest was never going to hold up and the blonde would be out of here in the next hour or two. But Mac would still have the paperwork to get done and so would Nick.

Mac hated having his time wasted like this, especially when he knew Nick had already been warned to stay far away from Gail Peck.

Frank Best was not going to be a happy man.

xxxxxx

"No, no way!" Andy said as Nick asked her to do a strip search on Gail Peck. "Are you out of your mind Nick?" She hissed at him as he leaned on her desk. "You know what Frank said, he could have your badge for this, hell, Gail's lawyer will probably do that the second she calls him!"

Nick scoffed. "Give me a break Andy, Duncan was technically the arresting officer."

"Then why isn't he here?" She asked.

Nick shifted uncomfortably. "He, uh, discharged his firearm at the scene." He muttered as quietly as he could.

"He WHAT?" Andy asked loudly as she leaned towards him. "Was anyone hurt? Who was she with, jeez Nick, don't you know who she's messed up with?" Damien Wolf wasn't a small time criminal he was seriously dangerous, which made Gail dangerous just by association.

Nick sighed. "I'm just asking you to do a prisoner search Andy."

Andy shook her head. "No. No way, I don't want involved Nick." She told him.

"I'll do it." A voice spoke up quietly as Nick and Andy faced off with each other.

Nick frowned and turned to see Chloe Price across from them at her desk with a grin on her face.

"I'll do the search." She repeated as she continued to wait on Nick's reply.

Andy shook her head. "Chloe don't get involved. Seriously, just, stay out of it."

Nick smirked at Chloe and gestured towards the holding cells. "Thank you Chloe." He said giving her his best smile that made her grin as she stood.

Andy shook her head and tried to get back to her report. Chloe was curious about Gail, she got that, but Nick was going really close to the line on this one and Andy wanted nothing to do with it. If Chloe had any sense she would have said no too.

Nick watched Chloe leave and then turned back to Andy. "Nice to know I can get help doing my job from someone around here." He threw at Andy.

Andy bit her lip before turning in her seat to glare at Nick. "If you want to risk your career because she wouldn't give you the time of day when you started here, that's your problem Nick, but don't expect me to risk mine!" She told him angrily as she did her best to keep her voice lowered with other officers close by. "Now you have Moore doing your dirty work and he's the one going to pay for it." She glared at him. "Do you even care that he'll have to be investigated for firing his weapon?" She asked him.

Nick scoffed and stood. It wasn't his fault Duncan had fired. Shaking his head at Andy he started walking away only to come face to face with Frank Best, who looked very angry.

Frank leaned over into Nick's face and growled at him as he ordered, "My office, now."

Nick swallowed before nodding and taking off up the steps to Frank's office.

Andy's eyes widened as she tried her best to pretend she knew nothing about what was going on behind her while she tapped away on her keyboard.

"He say anything I need to know about?" Frank asked as he hovered behind Andy.

Andy pursed her lips and shook her head. "Not that I know of Sir."

Frank eyed her for a moment longer then took his leave.

Andy let out a sigh of relief then got back to her work. She really didn't want to get involved and if Frank didn't take care of Nick's reckless actions then she was positive Gail would.

xxxxxx

Chloe eased Gail into the cell. She had done the search and without Nick returning the redhead felt that she should just continue with procedure and finish booking Gail in.

Gail just went over to the bench and sat down. There was no point asking for her lawyer yet because she doubted the redhead officer would do anything but pass her request on to Nick who would probably never make the call.

Her thoughts drifted back to her car and the gun shot from the rookie.

If Romi was hurt…

If Holly was hurt…

Gail clenched her fists and stood up, and started pacing.

"Well look who's stopped by for a visit."

Gail narrowed her eyes as she turned to see Sam with his hands resting around the bars of her holding cell. She glared at him. Partly because Nick wasn't there but also because she knew he probably had some influence over Nick's recent actions.

"What do you want Sammy?" She asked him as she stayed back and leaned against the far side wall.

Sam tapped on the bars. "Beginning to feel like home?"

"Fuck you Sam."

Sam grinned. Finding out Gail had been arrested again had made his morning. He just couldn't stop himself from coming by and saying hello.

Gail had looked up to Sam a long time ago, but those days were over. Upset that she'd yet to hear about Holly and Romi, Gail decided to spread a little bit of her pain around. Walking over to the bars Sam was practically hanging off of, Gail stopped just an inch from his reach through the bars.

"Tell me Sammy, you ever catch Jerry's killers or did you stop looking when his snitch turned up dead?" She asked him bitterly.

Sam's face contorted at the mention of his best friend. Then his arm jerked forward in an attempt to grab at Gail. "Why you…"

"Now now, Sam. Remember, you're supposed to be the cop." She reminded him with a smirk.

Sam glared at the blonde then kicked at the cell door.

"Hey now!" Mac called over in warning. "None of that Sam."

Sam glanced at the other officer then stared back at Gail. He hated her. Deciding that he could return the favour he leaned closer. "Sorry to hear about your little friend, they pronounced on scene."

"What?" Gail felt all the air leave her lungs as she unconsciously stepped forward.

Sam watched Gail tear up and couldn't help but feel elated at the sight. It was about time something he said finally had an impact on her. "Yeah. Done, gone. No longer fit for this world."

Gail blinked. Romi was dead? Sam had to be talking about Romi because he must have worked with Holly so she doubted he would refer to her as her 'little friend'. She stumbled backwards until her knees hit the bench forcing her to collapse onto it.

"Yeah," Sam couldn't help but gloat. "And this one's all on you kid, remember that." He told her leaning through the bars again.

Gail just stared at him blankly as tears fell with every blink of her eyelids.

"What the hell is going on in here?!" Franks booming voice sounded into the holding area.

Sam stepped away from Gail's cell and straightened his jacket. "Just passing through Sir." He informed Frank before heading past the Staff Sergeant.

Frank eyed Swarek until he was gone then he looked towards Mac and gestured faintly with his head, telling the other officer that it would be best for him to step out.

Mac cleared his throat awkwardly then muttered something about coffee and disappeared soon after.

Not that Gail had noticed. She was still trying to come to terms with what Sam had told her. She'd have to see for herself of course but then, then she'd have to get hold of Anan, which wasn't going to be easy.

After that she'd have to deal with Nick, she'd leave the rookie for Anan. Although she doubted that would be enough for her friend.

Sam was right though, this was on her.

A noise made Gail blink rapidly to clear her vision and what she saw was Frank Best holding open the door to her cell.

"Well? Don't just sit there Peck, I want you out of my station as of an hour ago." Frank told her, surprised when she didn't rush from the cell or give him any hassle over Nick arresting her yet again.

It was only as the blonde stood that Frank realised that something was wrong. "You okay there Gail?"

Gail looked through Frank, but she finally understood that he was telling her to go. She stood and walked stiffly over to the desk and waited for Frank to come over and pull out her belongings. She automatically placed everything back where they belonged and started for the front of the station, ignoring Frank's questioning look as she started to walk away.

"We'll get your car back to you as soon as we're done with it Peck." Frank said as he watched Gail go through the motions. He frowned wondering what he had missed. He'd have to get hold of Sam later but right now he just wanted Gail out of his station while he tried to deal with the fallout.

To Gail each step felt heavy, each beat of her heart thundered in her chest as she realised she would find out in the matter of moments what had happened to Romi.

A face in front of her caused Gail to stop cold and suck in a breath.

Chris.

What on earth was she supposed to say to him?

It took a fraction of a second for his eyes to turn her way and Gail felt the blow of his concern like a hammer to her chest. Her vision blurred and she collapsed to her knees as she tried to come to terms with the fact that not only may she have lost a brother today but Chris might lose someone none of his other friends even knew existed.

It was all too much and Gail couldn't help but cry out as she covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

Chris was first to react, reaching Gail as the other officers in the room all froze at the sight of Gail Peck breaking down in their station.

Chris got to his knees beside Gail and tentatively put his arm around her shoulder but she shrugged it off with the sound of a wounded animal. It made his heart clench as he quickly put two and two together and realised that no one had told her.

His eyes darkened and he wanted to hit someone for putting his best friend through this, but he tamped it down and tried to get through to Gail. Again he put his hands on her, pulling her close despite the sudden tension of her body. He knew he had seconds before she blew up at him.

He pressed his face close and whispered quietly, "They're fine Gail, they're both fine."

He kept his grip on her body as she struggled but then he felt her stop and knew his words had made it through. She looked at him with such pain though that it almost broke his own composure. Her eyes pleaded with him but he couldn't talk now. Feet shuffled over to them as other officers took Chris' lead and came over to them.

But he gave her a quick nod.

Gail closed her eyes tightly. Romi, Holly, they were both okay. Chris would never lie to her about this so it had to be true. Her body sagged against his in pure unbridled relief.

Then another set of hands touched her and she woke up to the fact she was crying on the floor in the middle of 15 Division with every officer in the room watching her.

"Get the fuck off me!" She growled loudly, shoving Chris away powerfully enough to make him fall to his back on the floor. He'd understand though so she didn't feel bad.

She shrugged away from the other hands and stood spinning around and glaring at the female officer who had searched her. "Back for another feel up?" She spat at her.

Chloe put her hands up and backed off as Andy came over and stood beside her. They both watched Gail nervously before the blonde turned and stalked out of the station using the front door.

"You okay?" Andy asked Chris as he was helped to his feet by another officer.

Chris dusted himself down and stared at the front entrance. "I'm fine." He muttered as his thoughts stayed on Gail and what someone in this station had just put her through. He hated Nick for this.

"You sure?" Andy asked again as she touched his arm. They all struggled when it came to Gail Peck and she knew it was worse for Chris because they had dated for almost a year. She knows he still has a soft spot for the blonde no matter what kind of trouble she was mixed up in.

"Yeah." Chris replied as he turned and eyed Frank's office. He could see Nick sitting inside but Frank wasn't anywhere nearby so he had to wonder what that was going to lead to.

"What was her problem?" Chloe asked the pair as the rest of the station finally got back to what they had been doing now that the show was over.

Chris glared at the redhead. "Take a wild guess Price, we all heard the 'shot fired' over the radio, what do you think that bastard in there told her?" He asked pointing to Nick. "You think he explained it was her car that got hit and not her friend?" He scoffed at her and with a final glare up at Frank's office he made his way back to the front desk, shaking his head the whole way.

Chloe blinked after Chris' outburst then eyed Andy.

Andy put her hands up and backed away. "Like I said, don't get yourself involved."

Chloe watched Andy go back to her desk and get on with her report writing. Then she spotted Frank marching thunderously up to his office. The blinds were open and she saw Nick jump to his feet as Frank walked in.

The whole station then turned their eyes that way as Frank's booming voice filled the station.

"Do you have a brain between those ear holes Collins?!" Frank yelled as he slammed his hands down onto his desk in front of Nick. "You embarrassed that uniform today, you embarrassed ME!" He shouted into Nick's face as he came around the desk to stand toe to toe with Nick. "If SIU don't take your badge, I just might!" He continued at the top of his voice as he added a jab of his fingers into Nick's chest.

It took less than a second after that for everyone to get up and make themselves scarce.