Part 37

"Take it." Gail muttered as she pushed the envelope towards Ed as she waited on Anan getting their drinks. The games held in the back room were on hold until the rest of the players turned up with their table fee.

It gave Gail the time to pass along Wolf's latest payoff and get her in even better standing with Ed and his boys. "You took care of something important for me." She added as he hesitated, his eyes flicking to Anan whose back was towards them.

Ed placed his hand over the packet of cash and gave Gail a nod before placing it on the ledge under the bar discretely. "From you to me?" He couldn't help but question.

Gail replied with a nod. The request had been on her, Wolf might know some of the things she had going on but not everything. Plus Nick and the rookie had threatened Holly so Gail wouldn't have asked Wolf for permission in the first place. She knew Anan would have offered if he'd been around but as it was using a biker gang just made it less obvious who was behind it.

Or more obvious to certain people. Gail didn't really care, her whole point was that both cops would know exactly what it had been pay back for.

It had actually surprised her not to have been pulled in and questioned over the assaults but then it just goes to show that even Nick could figure out when she was serious. It had taken him long enough though, but she should have remembered that from all the times they had broken up and got back together.

Her fault those times definitely.

But there was the whole gay thing on her side to back up why she had such a bad dating history.

She was on the upswing right now though that was for sure and Gail planned to keep it that way. No more cops, no more idiots her mother tried to hook her up with, not that she had to worry about that happening ever again being the 'bad' Peck now.

The Black Sheep Peck.

That tag never bothered her before as she was growing up under Elaine and Bill Peck's idea of family. Gail would take her reality over their fabricated illusion of family any day of the week. She had her own nowadays anyway, one she'd die for. Chris, Anan, Romi, and now Holly. And on a good day even Steven was counted, though he might be an absentee brother she knew he loved her, he might not trust her and would willingly arrest her if he could, but she didn't doubt that he loved her as she still loved him.

And she looked after her family. Be that with threats and beatings or with gun shots to the vests.

Ed had just finished nodding as Anan joined them, handing a beer to Gail with a smirk.

"We ready?"

Gail took the beer with a scowl then looked to Ed, raising an eyebrow.

Ed shrugged at them both. "We are waiting on one more player."

As it cost five thousand dollars to take part tonight, and that was just to get a seat at the table for the first game, Gail was willing to wait for a bit. Besides, she'd already sent a text to inform Holly she was going to have a late night.

The pathologist's reply had been a short 'ok' which Gail thought wasn't like the other woman, or maybe it was. Gail had to remind herself that she still didn't know Holly well yet. Yet. But after her run in with Swarek this morning Gail was too worked up for a quiet night in with her girlfriend.

"The more the more." Anan commented with a smile drinking his own beer.

Ed shrugged. As host he was taking a cut as he always did but the more people the larger and quicker the game pot grew. So really it was in everyone's best interest to wait for all players to arrive. "Come, we can at least move this into the back." He paused just as he stood, his eyes going to the front entrance. "Ha, speak of the Devil and he appears." He commented as their final guest arrived.

Gail turned her head and saw a guy about Ed's age who didn't look out of place in the bar but something in Ed's tone made her stare longer as their host went to greet the man and usher him towards the bar for a drink. Her mind went over every name and face she could think of as she tried to find a connection. There was no patches on his arm so he wasn't a bikey, and he wasn't showing Ed's colours. Ex-member maybe? He was older and Ed seemed to know him from the looks of their interaction. "Recognise him?"

Anan gave it some thought as he watched Ed and the new comer laugh at the bar but eventually shook his head. "Should I?"

It was the age thing that threw Gail off for a while. "Nah, before our time." Gail replied as Anan snorted. She grinned back at him. "His name's Brennan, Jamie Brennan. He used to work for the North End boys, did a few years inside for suppling firearms and drugs but he went legit when he got out. Nasty guy though." She'd heard stories back in the day from Steve and Jerry, they'd both been glad when he'd been caught with enough for a jail term. Jerry had said Brennan was a lifer so Gail was surprised this was the first she'd seen or heard of him. He had to have been out for a few years now so maybe he really had turned over a new leaf and gone clean.

It happened sometimes.

Well, he couldn't be entirely done with his old life if he was here tonight.

"Think he might be open to work?" Anan asked quietly as he appraised the older man.

Gail tried not to look as surprised as she felt. She offered Anan a shrug having no clue, but as she continued watching Brennan she couldn't help but feel uneasy with the idea. "Can't hurt to ask I guess." She added with an even tone.

It clicked for her why Anan might be asking, he was looking ahead for a ready replacement for Dieter, but she didn't want to encourage it either. The Jamie Brennan she'd been told about enjoyed his work a little too much for her to feel comfortable, her own morals might be skewed, but she still had them.

The North End enforcer she'd seen a file on clearly didn't have any going by the torture scenes and murders he'd been in the frame to have committed. Gail couldn't outright object if Anan offered Brennan a spot with Wolf's gang though, and maybe, just maybe, the cops were wrong about Brennan.

Gail chuckled to herself at the thought. Because according to her parent's cops were never wrong.

Except all the times that they were.

"I hear I'm late." Came the gruff voice of the new comer as he and Ed arrived.

Anan chuckled and held up his beer. "More time to drink."

Ed grinned then gestured between them as they all sized each other up. "Jamie this is Anan, and this lovely lady is Bravo, guys this is Jamie."

"Flattery won't stop me taking your money tonight Eddie." Gail warned her friend, then feeling Jamie's eyes on her she stared back at him and quirked an eyebrow wondering if she was about to hear something sexist.

"Bravo? What kind of name is that?" He asked instead looking genuinely curious.

Gail shrugged and finished her beer. "People get kinda jumpy when they hear I'm a Peck." And the reaction she got from Jamie, who stared at her slack jawed, was well worth it as she turned and headed for the back room. "Go figure."

A moment later a chuckling Anan joined her in the back hallway.

"What?"

Anan shook his head. "Quite an impression you leave."

Gail smirked. "Think his mind will be on the game much?"

Anan laughed out loud as they entered the back room.

xxxxxx

It was late when Holly finally started shutting down her computer and packing her things away into her bag. She'd been swamped with chasing down evidence and confirming findings for several court cases going to trail in the coming days. Not work she enjoyed much especially when they weren't even her own cases.

So when a knock came at her office door she couldn't hold back the grown as her computer screen finally went blank. Whoever this was would just have to come back tomorrow if they needed anything from her.

"Yes?" She called out as she locked her desk drawer and stood, reaching for her jacket and keys, eager to be done with her day.

"Hey, sorry about running off earlier, they needed me on scene." Traci says quickly as she steps into Holly's office.

Right. Traci had been about to explain whatever had happened with Gail this morning. Before they'd both gotten too caught up in their work to talk. "Honestly Traci if it isn't life or death I think it can wait." Holly said, and given that she'd texted briefly with Gail since then Holly was assuming that it was just more harassment from 15 Division and frankly she was done with it.

Traci looked startled but quickly recovered as Holly headed for her and shuffled them both out into the hallway so she could lock up. "Okay, we can, sure, we can do that." It wasn't what she was expecting but the less she had to try and explain any of Sam's actions the better in Traci's book.

"But chances are you'll hear about it anyway. If you haven't already." Traci added wondering if Holly's attitude was partly for that reason.

Holly shook her head, she'd been working through case files, speaking to lawyers and tracing down physical evidence all day so no, she hadn't heard the latest gossip on Gail Peck. "Traci I haven't eaten since first thing this morning, so I'm not in the mood to play games, if you have something to say just say it otherwise good night."

Traci stood in stunned silence as Holly walked away from her. She had no idea if this was regular stress or Gail related, or she conceded, 15 Division related. But she knew how hard the last few days had to have been on Holly, a woman she considered a friend until fairly recently. She wondered who besides Gail right now Holly had to talk to. But Traci knew the answer to that already. Holly had moved out here on her own so there wasn't anyone that Traci knew of.

Taking a chance Traci jogged after Holly and caught up with her as she waited at the elevator. "How about dinner?" She offered. "My place? Leo's over at a friend's tonight and Steve's going to be working late. It'll just be the two of us."

Holly blinked as she stared at the detective, the invitation taking her off guard given their recent history.

"I'll even cook." Traci went on as they stood there.

Holly's stomach rumbled but that was probably just at the thought of food more than nerves. Traci had been her closest friend at 15 Division, hell, her closest friend in the city since her arrival. But that had been before Gail, before some wet behind the ears rookie shot his gun off into Gail's car, before Traci and 15 had tried to use her to catch Gail out and threatened to take away her career if she didn't.

"I miss my friend, Holly." Traci spoke up quietly as the elevator arrived and she let the other woman enter first.

Holly swallowed and pushed her glasses back into place as they slipped when she pressed the ground floor button. "Okay."

"Yeah?" Traci asked, looking surprised. She'd been expecting a brush off and couldn't blame Holly for that. "Right. Good. My car's is down stairs if you need a ride?" Traci adds quickly not wanting to give Holly time to reconsider.

She knew their situation was a mess but she really had missed Holly the last few days and with the way things were going at 15 right now she was more than ready to try and recover their friendship if she could.

"Thanks for the offer but I've got my own."

The elevator dinged and let them out at the ground floor.

"Okay, sure, well you know where I'm at, I guess I'll see you soon?" Traci said as she headed for the entrance to sign out and head home, only now considering if she had anything in to cook with but if all else fail there was always takeout.

She just needed a chance to sit down with Holly and talk without any police issues getting in the way. Traci wasn't sure that was doable given she was with Steve and Holly had made her allegiance to Gail clear to everyone at 15 Division and above.

But if Traci could find a way to work around that and still keep Holly as a friend then she was willing to try.

xxxxxx

Gail watched eagerly as Anan put his hand down face up. She'd bowed out early on as her hand was not worth even trying to bluff with.

"Two pairs." Anan smiled looking over at Jamie to see if he could better the two ten's and two sixes in his hand.

Jamie snorted and tossed his cards down, "Tough night." He said watching as Anan cheered and reached for the pot of cash in the centre of the table. "For you." He added quietly.

Anan paused and took a closer look at Jamie's hand as did the rest of the table.

Gail slapped her thigh and starting laughing. "Two's. You got your ass handed to you by a set of two's!"

Ed reached over and put the cards in order. Jamie's hand of three two's a six and eight did in fact beat Anan's two pairs. He gave the younger man a sympathetic look as Jamie started gathering his money as Gail continued to laugh.

Anan scowled and sat back in his seat. He poured more money into the pot expecting to win.

"Cheer up, I'll buy you a beer." Gail offered with a consoling pat on her friend's back as she got up and wandered out of the back room.

"Those beers are free Bravo and you know it." Ed called after her.

Gail waved him off as she headed into the main bar area. The crowd had grown, and so too the drinks. It was louder out here than it had been when she'd first arrived. That was good for her as no one but the barman paid her any attention.

She put her hand up with two fingers just she felt her phone buzz in her jeans pocket. She fished it out as her beers arrived in front of her.

It was a text message from an unknown number. She opened it quickly knowing only a select few people had her number and knew to use it only if and when they had to.

With her heart racing a little the noise in the room faded to nothing as she read the short message. Gail turned on her heel leaving the beers on the bar as she hurried out of the bar.

Help me boss.

xxxxx

AN/

Hey, how are you guys? Same old, same old right?

Updates will all happen eventually.

Thanks for your time!