Part 36

Oliver tugged at the hair he still had as the shouting in his ear finally came to an end with the dial tone. He placed the receiver back into place and eyed the two detectives waiting outside his office.

This was not how Oliver wanted to spend his day but apparently lawyers were involved and he was being left with the sharp end of the stick. He now had to get the story from Sam and then wait for the Superintendent to arrive for a more official interview to take place.

With a shake of his head Oliver got to his feet and reached for his cane. When he opened his office door two sets of eyes looked at him. "Sam." He said gesturing for his friend to come into his office. He then looked at Traci and pointed away towards the bullpen. "You, you got lucky. I will speak to you at the end of shift but for now, get back to work." He told her waving her off as she stood and started to speak. He didn't want to hear it, he already had enough on his plate just dealing with the aftermath of Sam.

"But Oliver, Sam's my partner." Traci wasn't sure why she was being sent away when she'd been with Sam this morning.

"Not anymore." Oliver muttered and closed the door on her, taking a second to close the blinds as well.

Sam cleared his throat as he waited for his friend to take his seat. "So, what's up?"

Oliver shook his head as he sat down. He eyed the man in front of him. The last few years seemed to have aged him. He always knew Sam balanced a fine line as a police officer and just as much if not more as a detective, but this, today, he might have gone too far.

Sam shifted nervously.

"I'm not sure I even want to hear your side of what happened in that garage this morning Sam, quite frankly I'm not sure I'd believe you anyway." Oliver began, seeing no reason left to sugar coat it.

Sam scoffed and looked off to the side. "So, you're just going to take her word for it?"

Oliver leaned over and waited for Sam to make eye contact again. "Okay, I'll listen to you Sam." He offered. "Did you draw your weapon on Gail Peck this morning?"

Sam shrugged.

"Her lawyer has already filed a complaint and promises to file more tomorrow once he has reviewed the tape in his possession." Oliver explained. This was not a situation that could be brushed off. "Do you understand what I'm telling you here Sam?"

Sam frowned and shifted in his seat.

"Right now, you are suspended until further notice, SIU and the Superintendent are on their way over to interview you." Oliver paused and waited for that to begin to sink in to his friend's brain. "You should think about having a rep in with you for that." He added seriously.

With a laugh Sam ruffled his hair. "This is a joke right?" He asked. "All I did was talk to her."

Oliver didn't believe that for a second. He almost asked how Sam had even gained entry into the garage at Gail's apartment building but stopped short.

"Traci can back me up." Sam claimed. "She'll tell you all I did was have a quick word with her."

Oliver sat back for a moment. "The funny thing about that Sam is that Ms Peck hasn't mentioned Detective Nash in relation to this morning's incident with you." He leaned forward on his desk and gave his long-time friend a hard look. "So maybe you need to think about what you say because she will be questioned and if Traci's statement doesn't match yours or Ms Peck's, or the video evidence from the garage, then I'm almost positive SIU will invite her in for another chat later. Once they've finished with you."

"So that's it? You looking to take my badge Ollie?" Sam asked.

Oliver swallowed back his emotions. He'd known him for years, his daughters called him Uncle. "How many times have you been told to back off, to just leave her alone?" He asked him. "I know Frank warned you off, we had a good long chat before I accepted this job."

Sam winced.

"So however this ends my friend, it won't be because I believed you or not but because SIU have enough reason to take your badge." Oliver explained quietly. "I thought I had helped you by telling you to stay away from her. Frank told you to stay away. So don't sit there and blame me. You want someone to blame then you take a long hard look in a mirror."

"Dammit." With a groan Sam put his head in his hands as he came to the realisation that he might have just gone too far this time. "So would do I do now?" He asked lifting his head.

Oliver wanted to offer some advice, he hated seeing Sam this way but there was nothing he could do now, the situation was beyond their control now. "I don't know mate." Oliver shook his head. "I just don't know."

xxxxxxx

"You sure it's not a problem?" Gail asked, she'd already set the wheels in motion and it was a bit late to be asking her boss if it was okay or not. Luckily Wolf just laughed at her.

"I pay him, it's good he works now." Wolf assured Gail. "You wait too long, I offered to deal with the copper before did I not?" He went on.

Rolling her eyes Gail stood. She didn't want an 'I told you so' from Wolf after hearing it from Anan not ten minutes earlier. "Well it's done now."

Wolf tilted his head as he eyed her from behind his desk. "You…going somewhere? Your pretty lady waiting yes?"

Gail blew out a breath and plopped back down into her seat ignoring the blush no doubt covering her cheeks at the mention of Holly. "No."

Chuckling Wolf opened a drawer on his desk and rooted around until he located the package he was after. "Here." He said, sliding it across the desktop to Gail. "My buyer was very happy with his delivery."

With a frown Gail picked up the thick envelope and glanced inside. Given what her boss had just said she had a good idea as to what she'd find but she was still taken aback by the bundle of cash.

What was she supposed to do with that?

She laid it back down onto the desk. "Didn't you already pay me for that?" She still had a chunk of uncut diamond she had no idea what to do with, the thought of more cash wasn't helping. There was only so much that she could legitimately put through her books for the bar. Her gym was private and she needed to keep it that way and with banks out of the question it meant hiding it somewhere out of the way.

Wolf waved her off. "Please. You do good job, I pay you for good job." He explained. "You offend me Bravo. Is my money not good enough for you?"

Gail heard Bear chuckle from his spot behind her. She almost rolled her eyes again but instead she tucked the money away into her jacket with a sigh.

Wolf grinned. "Good." He said to her as he stood up and went to a cabinet behind him and lifted a crystal decanter full of an amber coloured liquid. "Join me?"

Clearing her throat Gail got to her feet again. "Actually, I'm supposed to be hunting down Rusty." She told her boss. "He's not returning my calls."

Wolf had to think for a moment before he recognised the name. "Ah, yes, our trickster." And now he remembered why he wasn't as familiar with the name as he once was. He hadn't needed Rusty's particular skill in several months. He gave Gail a considered look. "And just why may I ask are you needing new documents? You are not thinking of leaving me are you?"

Another chuckle from the man mountain behind her and Gail was sitting back down. "No. Of course not." And if she had been thinking about it, which she hadn't, doing it behind Wolf's back would likely get her killed as soon as he caught wind of it. "They're for someone else." She admitted and she felt her cheeks heat up again as she refused to look her boss in the eye.

"Ah." Wolf took his seat again too, bringing his Whisky with him to enjoy. "Clever. It is good to be prepared. Your pretty lady will like them then."

Holly was never going to find out about them if Gail had her way but like her boss had just said, it was better to have them and not need them than get caught out because she hadn't had the forethought to be ready for that kind of event.

But she would be, if she ever caught up with Rusty that was.

"So you have business, I have business, all is good." Wolf went on as he poured himself another full glass from the decanter. Again he gestured to Gail if she wanted any but he set it back down when she shook her head.

"Anything I can help with?" Gail asked, surprised Anan hadn't mentioned anything when she'd come in.

"It is not work really. A phone call only." Wolf explained. "An interesting phone call."

Sometimes Gail felt like her boss enjoyed playing these games with her. "Yeah? About me?"

"In a manner of speaking yes, but only I had knowledge of such." Wolf told Gail with a sly grin. "You see word has spread to even my ears that things are not well across the city." A part of Toronto that Wolf didn't control. "I offered assistance to Mr Hill last night, sorry to hear of his problems," Again Wolf just grinned. "But he assured me that it was an internal matter that he was dealing with." Now he shrugged. "So it seems I am not needed."

Gail sighed. Hill didn't have an internal matter. She'd had Romi clear his account out, it wasn't her fault that Hill was as lazy as 15 were when it came to following the trail that had been left. "Am I in trouble?" She asked.

"For such? No Bravo, this is much amusement for me. To know such things and watch." Wolf told her. "Perhaps they will all kill each other no?" He said with a laugh. "But for your lady I think less amusement. Word is that it was not pretty, the result."

Gail shrugged, Holly hadn't brought up any of the cases she was working on only that she wasn't going to deal with anything from 15 and any that might link to Wolf's organisation.

Which was fine with Gail. The less problems in her relationship the better and this way she wasn't going to have to worry about Holly seeing the results of her or Anan's handy work.

"I told you what to do when you first came to me about this, a bullet to the head and done but no, you handle this your way and so it gets messy." Wolf went on. "I do not mind messy Bravo, if that mess does not touch me and my things you may continue with your game."

Gail didn't really consider it a game but if she wasn't upsetting her boss then she'd take that as a positive.

"But he may never work out it's not his own people Bravo." Wolf warned. "Trust will have been lost and that, cannot always be recovered."

With a huff, Gail slouched in her seat.

"Ah, do not worry so much my friend, the problems are his." Wolf said lifting his glass in salute. "I will sit and watch!"

As Wolf laughed at his competitor's misfortune Gail wondered if Hill would kill more of his own people or if one of them would take care of Hill before she did. It would save her the trouble but if she was after that she would have taken Wolf's advice in the first place and just put a gun to Hill's head and been done with it.

A throat cleared loudly behind Gail and it made Wolf glance down at his watch.

"Ah, and now our time has come to an end Bravo." He explained as he stood and finished off his drink. "More work shall be calling soon. But I do so enjoy these meetings with you. We should have dinner again!" His eyes lit up at the idea. "With your lady friend."

Gail tried not to appear horrified by the thought of a repeat of last time as she stood and nodded. "Sure." She replied cautiously. "When things settle a little more."

"Yes, yes." Wolf replied already distracted by his phone which started to ring.

Bear quickly opened the door for Gail and as she left he handed back her gun before closing the door behind her.

Gail tucked her weapon into the back of her jeans as she stood there outside her boss' office. With a shake of her head she walked back through into the outer room where Anan was waiting by the bar.

"There she is!" Anan greeted her a wide grin.

Gail went over and sat down on the stool beside him and was quickly handed a glass of beer by the barman. With an internal shrug she took a drink, it wasn't like she was driving these days anyway.

"Drink up Bravo, there's a card game starting over at Eddie's and they're waiting on us." Anan explained as he finished his own beer.

Of course, he'd been nursing his drink since Gail had gone in to see their boss.

Gail looked at her full pint and then back at her friend who grinned evilly at her. "I hate you." She grumbled as she put the glass to her lips and started swallowing.

Rusty could wait a few hours because now she was determined to take Anan for every penny he had. And then she'd take his shirt.

xxxxxx

Holly looked up from her desk when a knock sounded at her office door. She was surprised to see Traci Nash stood in the opening but she quickly covered it by turning over her research proposal over. "You must be lost." She said as she crossed her arms and leaned on her desk.

Not one to be deterred Traci stepped further into the room. "I was hoping we could talk."

Holly snorted.

"I miss my friend Holly." Traci admitted. "I know things aren't perfect with you dating Gail-"

"Oh?" Holly cut in. "You think that's my problem?" She asked, giving Traci a look that let her know there were bigger problems between them. "How about you blackmailing me into that meeting with my girlfriend?"

Traci had the grace to wince at the reminder. "That wasn't my doing."

Holly shook her head slowly. "You were as much a part of it as the rest of them."

With a tired sigh, Traci took a chance and sat down across from Holly. She wasn't surprised Holly was still as angry as the last time she'd talked with her, or at least tried to talk to her. "And just like this morning, it was out of my control."

Holly scowled then sat up straight, her hand going to her phone. "What happened this morning?" She demanded as she checked to see if Gail had sent her a text or if she had any missed calls. She'd been so busy with her paperwork she'd barely noticed the time.

There was nothing. Holly had no idea what Traci was talking about. She'd thought if anything had happened with Gail she'd be one of the first to know. If Gail couldn't call her surely Chris, Romi or even Anan would.

Traci swallowed hard. "Gail didn't tell you?" She asked quietly, as a sinking feeling grew in the pit of her stomach.

Angry and upset that she was left in the dark again, Holly glared at the detective across from her.

"You're here Traci, why don't you explain it to me?"

Yeah.

Traci really should have tried calling first.

xxxxxxx

AN/

Thank you for reading!

Next time.