Part 31

Gail walked out of her apartment building and glanced around. She quickly spotted Anan across the street and smiled at him as she lifted her hand to let him know she'd seen him.

Her stomach tightened when he turned and walked away.

"Today is gonna suck." She muttered to herself as her bad feeling grew. Anan clearly wasn't happy with her, or at least Wolf wasn't.

Stealing herself Gail cut across the road and followed after her friend. She turned the next corner and saw him leaning next to a dark SUV, similar to Holly's but one she knew belonged to Wolf.

"Hey, welcome back." She greeted him.

Anan eyed Gail then opened the passenger door. "Get in." He told her dispassionately.

Swallowing down the need to ask questions Gail just did as she was told. Once she got in she spotted Kurt in the driver's seat.

Kurt glared at her as Anan got into the seat behind her making her feel even more uncomfortable. But she guessed that was the point.

"Ist es wahr?" Kurt snapped at her accusingly, the look of betrayal on his face.

Another sign that this was not going to be a good day for Gail. She shrugged a reply for her normally stoic friend and turned her head away. Gail might not know exactly what 'it' was but she guessed if Wolf had sent Anan for her like this that he knew for himself that it probably was true.

Kurt let out a heavy sigh. "Das ist eine Schande." He muttered as he began the drive to take Gail to their boss.

Gail did her best not to cry. It was a shame. Not for whatever reason Kurt was thinking, but that Gail had only just found Holly Stewart.

She would have liked to have had more time with Holly. To see her smile or to hear her laugh.

And as the car drove the familiar streets to what Gail knew would lead them to an old warehouse owned by Wolf, out of the way of witnesses, Gail reached up and clutched at the rings around her neck.

Despite only knowing Holly a short time, Gail didn't regret any of the time she spent with her. Or choosing Holly's life over Lucky's.

So as they continued on driving Gail thought about Holly, and how she'd smiled at her when she'd agreed to live with her. She'd happily take that image to her grave.

She wondered briefly if it was thoughts of Traci that had comforted Jerry in his last few moments.

xxxxx

Holly stared at her boss across the desk in his office and just felt angry all over again. She was so mad that it was his phone call that had led to her being stuck in a room being told that working with 15 Division detectives was the only way to save her job and possible jail time if she was found to have anything to do with the break in at the morgue.

"I do not appreciate being blindsided Alan." She ground out.

Alan let out a breath, Holly had just broken an almost ten minute silence as she glared at him. "You have to understand the position I was in." He started. "Superintendent Peck was very insistent that you were a potential witness to the robbery of a body in my morgue. She made it very clear that if I refused to allow her to work with you on the investigation then this unit would need to be reviewed."

Holly scowled and crossed her arms. She was becoming very aware that Elaine Peck was willing to push whatever angle she could to get what she wanted but to tell Holly's boss that she was working with them as a witness?

Holly snorted and shook her head.

Alan lifted his hands and shifted in his seat. "Her insinuation was that she would push for a complete review of my department with possible criminal charges to follow." He went on.

"On me?" Holly asked wondering how Elaine could call her a witness and then basically accuse her of being a suspect all in the same meeting, possibly in the same breath.

Placing his hands in his desk Alan leaned forward. "I have had no reason to ever question your work here Dr Stewart, you have been a fantastic addition to this unit and your work is impeccable."

Holly nodded and relaxed a little at the praise.

"But," Alan cautioned. "Given Superintendent Peck's attitude towards not only yourself but my own leadership I took the step to review each case you have worked on while you have been with us."

Holly blinked and sat up straighter. Her jaw clenched and she glared at her boss again.

Alan chuckled slightly and put his hand up to calm his colleague down before she lit a fire under him or warned him that no one would ever find his body. "It was only a precautionary step, I will not have your work questioned from here on out."

Some of the tension left Holly's shoulders but she held back her thoughts on it as Alan didn't look like he was finished either.

"I have went a step further as well and decided that you will not be allowed to work on anything that could possibly be related to your, um, significant other." He stuttered and wouldn't meet Holly's gaze as he cleared his throat, uncomfortable as he was discussing his employee's private lives.

Holly narrowed her eyes. "You mean Gail Peck, Superintendent Peck's daughter?"

Alan fought back a blush as he stumbled his reply, "Yes, the Superintendent was clear that your relationship to an individual connected with Damien Wolf would jeopardise any evidence brought into this department."

"I resent that." Holly bit out.

Alan squared his shoulders as he eyed one of the best forensic pathologists he had ever been around in his career. He understood her anger but he couldn't change the circumstances he had found himself in. "And while I understand your frustration with this it is the only reasonable course of action left to me." He informed her. "I have spoken to several people in the department and while your work is exemplary a defence lawyer would easily prove a case of bias and throw any results you worked on, or even supervised, into question. This is your only option to continue working here."

Holly bit her lip. Logically she completely understood the reasoning behind it but it burned to be told her work and her character could be so easily questioned as to think she would tamper with evidence.

She had spent years building her reputation to where she was constantly being invited to collaborate with other professionals on work, to speak at conferences all over the world, and present her work to students across the US and Canada.

"If you are questioning my competence in continuing my job then I will hand in my immediate resignation." She told him.

Alan shook his head. "I don't think for one moment that you were in anyway involved in the incident at the morgue, unfortunately accusations have been made, however subtly, that could potentially bring this department into question. That bridge has been burned in regards to working on cases involving the Wolf gang. Please understand that it is not this department that is placing any suspicion on your work."

"Sure doesn't feel that way." Holly muttered as she took off her glasses to clean them. She then placed them back on and glared at Alan. "So that's it?"

Alan sighed and shrugged helplessly. "It was the best we could come up with to keep you here." He admitted. "Believe me I know how lucky we were to get you, it would be disappointing to have to let you leave but this is the only option I can give you."

Holly sighed, thinking over her own options, she could teach at the university easily enough if she planned to stay in Toronto but she loved her job and stepping away from it at this point in her career would hurt deeply.

But she'd do that if it meant her relationship with Gail remained in place.

"Do you need time to consider this?" Alan asked after a moment.

Holly shook her head. "No. I'll stay, but I have one condition of my own."

Alan tilted his head more than willing to her Holly out if it meant retaining her expertise in his department. "Yes?"

"I'll go a step further, I'll let you pick what cases I work on but I will not work on any case that comes out of 15 Division, the rest of the city fine, but not that Division." Holly replied firmly wanting nothing to do with evidence brought to her by anyone that worked at that 15, she'd witnessed enough to question their conduct.

If they were discussing who of them would be tampering with evidence and could bias a conviction one way or the other Holly's money was on the likes of Swarek and Steve Peck.

Alan winced, most of their work came out of 15 and 27 Divisions.

"That's my condition or you can have my resignation." Holly added.

xxxxxxx

Gail followed Anan through the back space to Wolf's office, she'd already handed over her gun to him but his silence was making her uncomfortable. No one else was around, Gail figured the less witnesses the better.

As they approached the office door Anan turned and gave her a steely eyed look which was unnerving for Gail but as he opened the door for her she took a breath and stepped inside.

Wolf glanced up from the folder he was looking through. "Ah, now that we are all here." He said closing the folder and sitting back now that Anan had returned with Gail. "Take a seat Ms Peck." He went on gesturing to the seat across from him.

Gail worked her jaw as blood ran cold with fear, besides Bear behind Damien, Dieter was sat in a chair in the corner of the room. She eyed him as she took her seat and felt Anan stand behind her.

Damien grinned at the blonde in front of him. He could see her tension in the way she held her body, he particularly enjoyed the glare she sent Dieter. He chuckled drawing her attention back and as she looked to him with a steady look.

That he had expected. Admired it even.

He cleared his throat and decided to get on with it. "So, it has come to my attention," He turned to Dieter and gave him a smile before turning back to Gail. "That you're placing me in an uncomfortable position by being involved with this, this pathologist…Holly Stewart." He said as he opened the folder again and pulled out a couple of pictures that he pushed in front of Gail of the two women.

Gail swallowed hard as her mouth went dry at the sight of images of her with Holly. She had intentionally kept her name out of Damien's mind so that he couldn't connect her to the body snatch and figure out she was the one that had recognised her.

She held her tongue not really having a defence to the accusation. All she could do was send Dieter another death glare wondering if he knew what he was doing by going to Wolf with this. She knew he had been pissed at her but to put Holly's life on the line…she'd kill him for that if she ever got the chance.

Instead all she could do was glower at him.

He smirked at her. He actually smirked.

Gail tore her eyes away from Dieter and stared back at her boss as she realised her so-called friend knew exactly what he was doing. He knew that telling Damien Wolf about Holly could cost her and Holly their lives.

"I don't hear any denials." Damien said as he glanced over Gail's shoulder to Anan.

Gail felt a hand rest on her shoulder and for the first time since her beating she flinched at his touch.

Damien turned back to Dieter and nodded to him. "Thank you for bring this to my attention. It seems I will have to discuss this further with our colleague here."

Dieter got to his feet knowing a dismissal when he heard it. "Sure boss, and I'm sorry it had to come to this." He added looking over at Gail as he stood. "I did try to warn you." He shook his head then went to leave the room.

He'd given Wolf enough to know that Gail could no longer be trusted. And that was all he cared about. She could be pissed at him all she wanted but he still had a job to do and she was getting in his way.

Gail felt her muscles tense as she watched Dieter stand from the corner of her eye. She couldn't believe he would do this. He was supposed to have been her friend, someone to have her back when they went out there together.

Except he'd just stabbed her in it. Not only that but he'd twisted it by placing a civilian in danger. She thought only her ex-friends at 15 or her mother were stupid enough to try that, only them she could handle, Damien she had no control over and absolutely no leverage to use to spare her own life never mind Holly's.

Anan felt Gail shift in her seat and his eyes widened a fraction which caused Bear to react by putting his hand on his gun just as Gail leapt from her chair and rounded on Dieter.

Gail threw her fist as hard as she could at Dieter's face and followed that up quickly with her elbow as she knocked into him and they both unbalanced and ended up on the floor. There wasn't much space between the office wall and the furniture but that didn't stop Gail from getting in as many hits as she could before she was physically pulled off of him and had her arms pinned back in a restraint by Anan.

She didn't struggled against her friend. She'd only wanted to give Dieter a taste of what was going to be waiting for him if she made it out of this alive.

"Bitch, you broke my fucking nose!" Dieter yelled as he scrambled to his feet and pulled his hand away from his face to see it coated in his own blood. He spat a mouthful of blood at Gail feet.

"Enough!" Damien shouted as he slammed his hands onto the desk. Everyone in the room froze and waited. He pointed to Dieter. "You go, you've left me with enough shit to clean up." He told him.

Dieter sniffed and swiped his arm across his face to stem some of the bleeding he could feel.

"And get that looked at before I see you again." Damien went on with a shake of his head before eyeing Gail still being held by Anan. "You will sit down and stay seated or I will have you tied down, am I clear?"

Gail swallowed the bile in the back of her throat as she nodded and Anan released her. She glared at Dieter one last time before he left the room, only then did she adjust her top and sit back down to stare across the desk at the man that was about to possibly have her killed.

Damien sat back in his chair again and shook his head once more. "I am still unsure if you are brave or incredibly stupid for having ever come to me." He told her.

Gail shrugged and worked her hand a little under the desk out of sight of Damien. Dieter's face was harder than it looked. "Probably a bit of both." She admitted.

Damien hummed then riffled through the folder Dieter had given him just a few short hours ago. Pictures not only of Gail with Holly, but of Holly at the police station and what looked to be a very cooperative woman working with the police. There was also a report, a copy of a report, naming Holly as a participant in a sting operation on a certain Gail Peck that was now sat before him.

"Did you not tell me that she was clean?" He asked, he'd seen Gail look down at the pictures and knew exactly what he was talking about now.

"She is."

Damien glared and slammed his hand back down onto the table, he was getting tired of the games being played around him. "Do not lie to me!" He warned her.

"I'm not." Gail replied as she felt her eyes sting with tears. She could hardly take a deep breath she was so scared. Even when Anan had beaten her she'd never felt like this, but then, she'd never had someone else's life on the line as well.

With a scoff Damien pushed some of the photos closer to Gail. "So this isn't what it looks like? And I have nothing to worry about? Is that right?" He asked her. "Dieter was wrong, you're not sleeping with someone working with the police?"

"No, she is." Anan cut in for Gail. "Ms Stewart left her apartment this very morning."

Unaccountably Gail felt herself blush when Damien stared at her hard. She swallowed and tried to think of what to say, how to defend her relationship with Holly in a way that would counter whatever Dieter had to her boss.

Damien saw the panic starting to creep into Gail's eyes and raised his own past Gail to Anan. They smiled at each other before Damien burst out laughing.

Gail was half confused, half shocked and a lot afraid as she glanced between the pair. Even her the shadow behind her boss had a slight twitch to his lips. Or at least it looked like it. Maybe a little.

"What?" Gail asked turning to eye Anan, he grinned at her, patted her shoulders then went around her to take up the seat Dieter had been using and pulling it closer to the desk. "I'm confused." She said to Damien.

Damien let his chuckles die down. "I want to meet her, this women who seems to have turned your head."

"Holly?" Gail asked cautiously not sure she ever wanted Holly to meet even Anan never mind her actual boss.

"Your girl." Anan said. "Dieter seems to think she might be a problem-"

"A problem you informed me that had been taken care of!" Damien reminded Gail.

Anan hide a grin as he watched Gail try not to scowl at their boss as he pointed a wagging finger at her. "I think she took care of it." He muttered with a laugh.

Gail stood up and smack Anan over the side of his head even as he continued to laugh. "Watch your mouth." She warned him somewhat ineffectually.

Damien shook his head then started to clear his desk of the pictures Dieter had provided him with, along with a very detail conversation as to how much Gail was endangering his whole operation. He turned to eye Anan who was now just grinning at Gail.

"I want a tighter watch place on that cop." He told his second in command.

Anan nodded. "I'll get it taken care of."

Gail bit her lip hard as she eyed the pair again. "Who?" She asked quietly, wondering which cop at 15 they were referring to and why she didn't know about it. She was hoping Swarek, but she'd take Rosati, maybe even her brother.

Damien snorted. "You think I'm stupid and don't know when I cop is trying to play me?" He asked Gail. He was somewhat satisfied when he saw her pale.

"I'm not trying anything." Gail said quickly.

Anan rolled his eyes. "He means Deet."

Gail froze for a second then blinked turning to stare at her boss.

Damien grinned. "You are very lucky I knew about him before you introduced yourself to me. Bravo kid, you were the only one to pass the test."

"But-"

With a shrug Damien lifted the file and handed it over to Anan to deal with. "Before you start pleading for him know this, he suggested the Ms Stuart be taken care of and offered to do it personally."

Gail gasped. Dieter couldn't have really meant that could he? He was undercover, he had to have meant getting Holly taken into protection and 'disappearing' he had to. Right? But even if that was the case she'd still never see her again.

Damien saw the betrayal cloud her eyes. "Ah, it's hard to know who to trust in this game isn't it Bravo." He told her with a sympathetic tone.

"He also said if that didn't work that you would have to be eliminated." Anan said. "You have too much contact with 15 Division to be clean apparently."

"But-" Gail tried to defend herself on that one, most of that was never her doing and she always informed Damien about it.

"I told him that I would take care of it, and I will do just that." Damien insisted. "And before you feel too badly let me remind you that he has given me enough here that if you were anyone else your body would already be on the way to a distant location."

That made Gail bite her tongue. Dieter had really sold her out? Not only her but Holly as well.

She'd known he was pissed at her but for him to go this far…

He still wore a badge for Christ sake.

Damien watched his young friend crumble a little. He'd never seen her be anything but resolute and determined in everything she did for him, no matter how minor she was always very professional and loyal to him.

He had been right about her and that was one of the few proud moments he had in his position. Just like he had been right about Anan. Dieter Schmidt he hadn't picked out until it was almost too late, it was really Gail he had to thank for making it more noticeable. But that he would keep to himself for now.

"And besides, I'm more concerned as to why he seems to want you out of the way so much." Damien went on as he eyed Gail speculatively. "First at the Docks, and then at the morgue."

"What?" Gail was getting a tension headache. Dieter had always had her back. Hadn't he? "I don't…" She shook her head at her boss, he obviously knew something she didn't.

Damien sighed then went into his desk and pulled out another folder, he opened it and found to images, he placed them both in front of Gail.

Gail eyed the first picture it was Dieter stood with one of his group next to his car. She couldn't remember the kids name but he'd work with Dieter mostly. She looked up at her boss and gave him a shrug not able to connect the face with anything that had happened. She looked at the second image and that one made her feel sick, it was Lucky in the picture with Dieter.

She scowled at Damien.

Anan cleared his throat softly. "Both guys Dieter vouched for which made them suspect to start with, but then we found out how 15 got that information. Lucky we think was supposed to leave you injured, maybe dead, during the robbery."

Gail scoffed, there was no way Lucky could have taken her out. And the kid she didn't recognise.

"Marcus Chzov," Damien explained. He then slipped another image in front of Gail which had Marcus with another man she would recognise this time, it was her brother Steve.

"So that where the drug bust came in to it?" She asked. She knew what Chris had told her about the failed take down by 15 and SWAT. They'd assumed drugs but she'd never really questioned why before.

She saw Anan nod and shook her head as she sat back in her seat. "There's more I take it?" She muttered not really wanting to know, she figured if she didn't have a bullet in the back of her head by now it was because Damien knew she wasn't on the take.

And it meant they knew Dieter was an undercover cop.

Well right now, Gail couldn't find it in herself to care what her boss did with that information. From the sounds of it Dieter wanted her out of the way, probably so he could try and get closer to Anan or Damien himself.

He was even open to killing her himself apparently. Not just her but Holly too.

"Yes, but we can discuss that later if you need to." Damien replied.

Gail let out another sigh wishing she was back in her apartment right now. She rubbed her face with her hand feeling old and tired.

"But I still want to meet Ms Stewart, if she has you so distracted that you cannot see friend or foe clearly." He said with the hint of a grin as he leaned across his desk.

Gail felt herself blush again. "You've never met Anan's wife." She pointed out.

Anan broke into laughter.

Damien eyed Anan before grinning and looking at Gail. "And is she that to you?"

Gail felt her face burn as Anan just laughed harder.

Damien took that as his answer and slapped his desk again. "Then I must meet with her, I have much to talk to her about. She should know what she is getting into with you Bravo. I will have to warn her."

Gail glared at her boss but he just grinned at her.

"Good, then that is settled. Tonight perhaps, we can have dinner while we leave work to tomorrow." He continued ignoring Gail's obvious unease with the idea.

He would enjoy that tonight almost as much as he would meeting the doctor herself.

He chuckled as his friend crossed her arms and pouted at him.

He almost wished he had made Dieter stay for this but he would take his pleasure of that snake on another day.

Today he would enjoy Anan's successful return and his Bravo finding her heart under all of the glare and bluster he was used to.

xxxxxx

AN/

I am currently trying to write up four years of research in the space of a couple of weeks. It's stressful and very time consuming. Updates will not be regular again for at least another month.

Thanks for your patience.

And for reading!