Part 29

"Talk to me." Oliver said as he poured a glass of whisky out for Luke. It was after shift and the night desk Sergeant was manning the station from one of the offices upstairs.

Oliver had listened carefully as Detectives Rosti, Peck and Nash explained the operation Inspector Jarvis and head office had set into motion. He'd also listened to the record of the conversation between Dr Stewart and Gail Peck.

And boy was that a doozy.

The big building were going to have a field day going over that with a fine tooth comb. If it ever saw the light of day. Oliver wasn't stupid, as soon as he was alone he'd downloaded a copy of the file to his own workstation. Just in case it mysteriously disappeared.

But he'd also informed the detectives to get their reports completed ASAP and hand them in. That he was kicking to Jarvis, with a copy sent to a friend over in IA off the record. Patrick Murphy. That had been a lesson he wasn't quick to forget, not when they'd sent in two of their rookie to try and find the dealer and it turned out that Murphy had be in on it the whole time.

They'd never been able to prove that and not long after Patrick had disappeared from Toronto. Oliver hadn't cared why Patrick was gone, or whether Mackie's crew had anything to do with it. If Patrick had been a bit smarter he might have gotten away with it and still been running drugs out of his nightclub.

Patrick Murphy had taken a bullet meant for Oliver, and looking back on it Oliver had realised that his old was trying to get him to do him a favour by making sure he was kept in the clear. He hadn't understood completely at the time guilt over Patrick's retirement still plaguing his thoughts, but Best had, Best had warned him to be careful.

Well this time Oliver was watching his own back. Jarvis had practically begged him to take control at 15 after Best had been removed. Frank had lost the station but he'd moved sideways over to the main building and with his young family at home, Oliver knew it had been a good switch.

But now Oliver had to deal with the mess left behind, deal with Sammy and his vendetta against Gail, and now this.

Luke picked up the glass, he couldn't stay long, but for Oliver he'd take the time to tell him everything he could. "How much contact do you still have with her?" He asked, unsure how much he could say in Oliver's office, and how much should be left to somewhere with less ears.

Oliver glanced at the blinds he'd purposely closed. Then he picked up his drink and took a sip. "Now and then." He admitted cautiously.

"You hear about the break in at the morgue?" Luke asked.

Oliver nodded. "And the shit storm at the docks." Jarvis had implied they were both connected but again, like a lot of things lately, there was no proof to work from.

"Right." Luke took a drink. "Word has it that was supposed to be one of the biggest dope deals in Toronto history. But after the dust settled and the dogs had been through what was left, not a single hit."

Oliver sighed.

"It was a disaster. From the intel to the execution." Luke went on. He hadn't been part of the take down but with the fall out such as it was, everyone knew what had happened. "Just a mess."

"Same as this place." Oliver added with another stiff drink, he refilled his own glass and offered to top up Luke's but the detective declined. "Jarvis told me about Sammy gunning for her, that he probably put Collins up to it."

Luke shrugged. Sam Swarek had never hid his dislike for Gail Peck, not after Jerry's death.

He played with his drink. "He still blames her you know." He told his friend softly. They both knew what he was referring to Jerry.

"Yeah, I know." Oliver replied sadly. He'd spent a long time in hospital and then on rehab before he'd realised how broken 15 were, and by then he was stuck on the outside. He'd tried talking to the rookies, telling them that it was no one's fault.

Wearing the badge was a dangerous job and sometimes the only thing that saved you was a lucky twist of fate, like Oliver's vest, or Gail not being in the van.

For Oliver it had been luck that saved him, for Gail, it had been a helping hand.

But that was then and this was now.

"Tell me about your take on Stewart, you think she was involved?" He asked Luke, meeting his gaze squarely. He was looking for honesty, something he couldn't guarantee he'd get with either Sam or Steve.

Luke put his glass down and shook his head. "Timeline won't fit. She had to have been at her computer, logged in, to send that report. And at the same time, the break in had already occurred." He told his boss. "She was knocked into as they were making their escape, she's lucky she didn't end up dead."

"Lucky." Oliver grinned as he thought about that word. Was Holly lucky not to have been killed for stumbling into that body snatch or had she gotten a helping hand?

Damien Wolf was a very calculating criminal who was known not to leave loose ends that could cause him problems, that was one of the reasons no one had been able to get close to his operation to shut it down. The few attempts that had been made got them nothing but dead cops.

Which made Gail's involvement all the more remarkable. She was in, no matter how she had gotten there, in the space of a year she'd gone from uniformed officer with a family pedigree of law enforcement to working closely to a well-known criminal element in the same city.

It made no sense.

Which explained in part why 15 had no idea what to do about her. They'd tried before, to talk, to investigate her. But that hadn't got them anything but more headaches.

So now what would they have to do, after using Holly the way they had? What would Gail do in response? If Gail hadn't known about the wire during the café meet, she'd certainly know about it now.

"Do you know what did fit?" Luke spoke up again.

Oliver looked over at him. "Hm?"

"The security guard. He fit."

Oliver frowned. "Yeah, I thought he gave his statement…fell asleep, right?"

Luke shrugged. "The cameras went down during a time we know Holly had to have been at her desk, but the controls were just inches away from him." He explained. "He might not have even known Stewart was still in the building, that check he did when he found her, it was the one just before shift change. He couldn't exactly miss that one."

Blinking Oliver tried to remember the file he'd read. "But they fingered Gail straight away." It was why Sam had been called in to take over from Peck and Nash.

Luke nodded. "If it ties to the docks and with her knowledge of the morgue, sure she's a suspect. But anyone that had worked there before would know the layout. Especially a security guard that's now out of the country with no contactable address or number."

Oliver felt his jaw slacken. Had they really been so focused on Gail that they skipped over the evidence trail? Reasonable doubt, if the night guard could have done it then it was up to the detectives on the case to work him over until he was ruled out. They'd never make a case if they left a hole that big.

"You're shitting me right?"

Luke lifted his glass and drained it. "Talk to Sammie, he was running the case." Luke had only been brought in after Sam had screwed up enough for Frank to pull him and even then he'd let Jo do most of the digging.

He pushed his glass across the desk and stood up. "I gotta go. Thanks for the drink."

Oliver watched him leave. "Anytime."

He'd planned on talking to Sam tomorrow anyway, now it was just going to be a little more official.

xxxxx

Dov looked up to see Andy finally stood before him. "You're late." He told her having already waited nearly two hours after their shift ended for her to get here.

Andy sighed tiredly and pulled a chair out to sit down.

"You okay?" Dov asked, taking a closer look at his friend. "You don't look so hot."

Rolling her eyes Andy waved her hand to dismiss the concern. "I had… let's just get on with this." She said needing to get this problem out of the way at least.

"Can I get you a drink? This might take a while."

Andy groaned. That wasn't what she needed to hear. "Just a spritzer, hold the wine."

Dov gave her a funny look. "That'd make it a soda water." He informed her.

"Yeah I'm…ah…driving." She said before frowning at Dov.

Dov chuckled and backed away with his hands up slightly. "Okay, one soda water coming up." He confirmed before heading to the bar.

Andy glanced around but she couldn't see Traci or Steve around and after the way the operation had backfired she was a little concerned for her friend. She pulled out her cell phone and sent off a quick message, ignoring the missed calls and messages Sam had left for her.

Dov returned and placed Andy's drink down before returning to his own seat.

Andy picked it up and took a small sip just to be sure it was what she'd asked for. It was. Placing it back down she turned her attention to Dov. "So what's the deal?" Nick was in serious trouble if Oliver and Jarvis found out he had a possible DUI on the cards.

Dov grimaced. "It's not good, whatever it is." He told her. He'd escaped the station and took a squad out and while it was quiet he'd gone to the hospital to get Nick's side of the story only to see how bad he looked. He'd got the run down from the doctor treating him, besides the alcohol in his system, which they had repeated on a request from the arresting officer, it was bruises and broken bones.

Two ribs and his wrist and three fingers.

The doctor had planned to insert pins in Nicks hand to stabilise it, if he was extremely lucky he might get eighty percent functionality back. But the doctor insisted that was likely to be a best case scenario.

Dov checked again which hand it was but he'd already guessed. So if Nick couldn't hold his gun anymore he would lose his job, unless he took a desk.

"He's out I think, his gun hand's totally messed up." He explained. "They're going to operate when the swelling goes down but, broken fingers, bones, it doesn't look good that he'll come back active."

Andy felt her eyes widen. She hadn't thought it had been that bad, she thought the hardest thing would have been trying to talk to Oliver about Nick's drinking. How it had gotten worse after Gail had left. How angry he was most of the time.

But now?

"How do you do that much damage to your hand when crashing a motorbike?" She asked suddenly. Nick had gave her a few lessons. Happier times. But he'd told her that a bad crash, a rider risked their legs in a crash.

"Yeah." Dov said as he down his own drink. His was definitely alcoholic. "That's the thing, I don't think you do." He continued. "I don't think he crashed his bike, I think he got beat up."

Andy considered that. There was really only one person that would have a reason to go after Nick and possibly take his career from him. "You think it was Gail." She said quietly as she leant over the table they were sharing.

Dov shrugged. He had no proof yet because Nick hadn't been conscious but he'd try again tomorrow.

Andy scowled. "But Nick wasn't the only one there, and he didn't even fire the gun."

Dov grunted. "And have you seen Duncan since that day?"

"Santana was at the station." Duncan's stepfather. No wonder Jarvis had wanted to get Nick into the station so badly. "You think something's happened to Duncan as well." Andy said as she tried to link it all. "She wouldn't be stupid enough to do something like that."

Dov finished off his drink at that. "Lucky she's got one of Toronto's biggest criminal leaders as a best bud then isn't it. I'm sure if she asked nicely he'd lend her a few goons." He said bitterly. He couldn't believe that once upon a time he'd been in love with her.

Andy sat back feeling a sick twisting in her guts. "We've got to go to Ollie with this."

"And tell him what?" Dov scoff. "What we think might have happened?" Tell that to Oliver Shaw, the same Oliver Shaw that still greeted Gail Peck with open arms. "He won't want to hear it."

"Maybe not from you or me, but he'd have to listen to Nick." She told him. With a statement from Nick Oliver would have to do something.

Dov snorted and stood up, catching his balance before heading back to the bar.

Andy watched him carefully. She watched him take a shot at the bar before returning unsteadily back to their table with a pitcher of beer and a clean glass.

"None for you, I know, you're driving." He said with a smile as poured himself a pint.

"You going to get home okay?" Andy asked, worried about Dov, it wasn't really like him to get drunk on his own.

"Chloe is picking me up." Dov informed Andy. "Although she's barely speaking to me. Kept asking about Gail, and the story behind her leaving 15."

Andy winced. "What did you tell her?"

Dov drank his beer and then shrugged. "That it wasn't any of her business." He noticed the frown on Andy's face and grinned. "Yeah, she didn't like that."

Andy grunted. She wouldn't have either, but then she was used to dealing with Sam. She wondered when she stopped questioning everything he did and figured not knowing made her life easier. And after years of dealing with her father, didn't she deserve to just be happy with Sam and their life together.

But she couldn't do that anymore. She chewed her lip before studying her friend closely. She wondered briefly when everything had started falling apart for them. Dov and Chris barely spoke these days, and she hadn't spent time with Diaz outside of work in forever. Even things with Traci were different.

She looked down at the table wondering when life had gotten so hard. "I miss us, the old us." The rookies that were supposed to always have each other's backs.

Dov chuckled. "Yoko fucking Ono, well and truly broke up the band."

Andy sighed, not wanting to get into a discussion about Gail Peck while Dov was this drunk. She got up and pulled the glass from Dov's hand. "Come on, I'll drop you off on my own way home."

Dov glanced around to see if he could find an argument to stay but there wasn't one. If Andy left he'd be sat there drinking alone. And that would just make it all worse. He let Andy pull him towards the door. "I miss Chris. I mean he made the apartment smell, like really bad, but it's different, I miss him." He lamented sadly as he stumbled into Andy as they cut across the parking lot.

Rolling her eyes Andy struggled to get her friend into the passenger seat and strapped in. "I'm sure he misses us too." She tried.

Dov shook his head. "He's still got Gail, she's always had Chris, us she left behind." He took a breath and let it out slowly. "She just walked away. Didn't even look back."

Andy started the jeep giving concerned glances to Dov as she started driving. She wondered if that was part of the reason Dov still hated Gail, that she could walk away from them back then, like they hadn't been family.

But that was hardly Gail's fault.

After Jerry died no one knew what to think when they found out Gail hadn't been at the scene with Jerry and Oliver. She hadn't explained herself to anyone, not even to her own mother.

Maybe that had been hard on Gail at the time.

But it was Gail that chose to hand her badge in and walk away.

xxxxxx

The pounding beat of the music and the mass of people surrounding her just made Gail hold Holly all the closer as their bodies pressed and pushed against each other. Gail was in such a haze she wasn't even conscious of the song playing only that it let her body move with Holly's and that was all she cared about as she tucked her head into Holly's neck as their legs bounced rhythmically, grinding against each other.

Their hands held and gripped and touched and traced every inch within touching distance. Sweat dripping from their overheated bodies as they kept dancing. Half the people on the dance floor were probably halfway to orgasm and Gail was no exception. She pulled Holly's hips tighter into her own and let her teeth trail along Holly's neck before nipping at it.

"Water." Holly said as she tried to extract herself from Gail. "I need a drink."

Gail blinked rapidly as Holly pulled away. Their hands found each other and then Holly was pulling her away from the dance floor and the swaying mass and the pounding base. She pouted behind the slightly taller woman but went willingly, tucking a finger into the back belt loop of Holly's jeans.

Soon they were at the bar and Holly was ordering drinks for them.

Gail just pressed herself against Holly's back and hugged her.

Holly laughed as she struggled to pull her wallet free to pay the bar tender. "Here." She lifted the shot glass to her shoulder where Gail was resting her head.

Gail whimpered but downed the drink. "Let's dance!" She called into Holly's ear as she started grinding her body back into Holly's suggestively.

Holly downed her own drink then, with some difficulty due to limpet Gail, turned to face the blonde. Now Gail just started to dance in front of her. Squatting and trailing up Holly's leg as she stood only to drop back down again. Holly laughed and caught Gail's face when she stood up the next time, pulling her into a heated kiss that tasted of tequila and rum.

When Holly slipped her tongue into a waiting mouth she felt hands squeeze at her ass and knew it was time to call it a night. She kept hold of Gail as she eased out of the kiss "Your place or mine?"

Gail pouted, her eyes still on Holly's lips as she spoke, "But alcohol, and dancing?"

Holly chuckled and pressed her lips to Gail's again, letting things heat up a little before moving back to speak, this time she rested her head against Gail's and felt the breath on her face as the blonde sighed against her. "I'm a little too old for sex on the dance floor."

Gail scoffed at the notion. There was no way they were too old for this, there were lots of older people out there.

Seeing she hadn't won the argument Holly dropped a hand to the base of Gail's back and worked it under her top to scratch lightly at the small of her back as she pressed her lips to the corner of Gail's mouth. "How about the two of us, alone, in a nice big bed were we can take our time dancing and fucking?" She asked before nipping at Gail's lower lip.

"Oh." That sounded wonderful. Gail closed her eyes as a shudder worked its way through her body as Holly dragged her nails into her back. She licked her lips and stared at Holly for a moment. "Okay."

Holly giggled and shook her head as Gail spun around and practically dragged her towards the exit of the club. She had to admit that she'd had a good time. This wasn't really her scene but it had been fun, until she noticed how appreciative the dancers were around them for putting on their little show out there.

That she hadn't enjoyed. Even if Gail was being sexy as hell and turning her on enough that she almost ignored it. But she couldn't. Holly was happy to be out and proud of who she was and the person she was with, she just didn't think she had to do it by sharing that kind of intimate experience with a bunch of strangers.

Maybe in a darkened corner somewhere she might have been able to let go enough to get carried away in the moment, but not in the middle of a dance floor.

The fresh night air hit them as they stepped out onto the sidewalk.

Gail kept a firm hold on Holly's hand as she made her way over to the cab line. She then tucked Holly against her back, pulling her arms around her own body as they waited their turn.

Holly grinned at the switch in position. She made small movements with her hips to replicate some of what Gail was doing inside the club. Then she bit down on Gail's neck.

"Keep it up Doc, and you'll be lucky if I let you spend the night." Gail warned as she felt the teeth scrap at her neck, over the tender skin Holly had just abused.

Holly smiled and pressed a gently kiss to the skin beneath her lips and tightened her hold on the blonde before rocking them gently as the queue in front of them lessened. "I'm staying with you then?" She asked, technically her apartment was closer but she liked Gail's place, especially with the camera turned off.

"If you behave."

"Oh, I can be very good when I want to be." Holly told her before nipping gently at an ear. "Or I can be bad if you want." She said releasing the lobe from between her front teeth.

Gail gasped. She wanted to tell Holly to stop and she didn't at the same time, but she also didn't expect to be this close to coming while she was still fully clothed.

Holly almost laughed when it was their turn for a taxi and Gail failed to move. It was only as she peered around Gail's shoulder that she noticed the blonde had her eyes closed.

She unwrapped herself and tugged on Gail's hand to guide her to the cab. "Come on."

"Pretty sure that's what I was doing."

Holly grinned as they sat in the back and Gail told the driver the address of her apartment building.

When Gail sat back she rested her head against her shoulder and whispered, "Trust me Gail, when I make you come, you'll know."

Gail tightened her hold on Holly's hand and willed the cabbie to drive faster.

xxxxxx

AN/

Thanks for reading!