Part 45

Gail grinned at Holly as she tucked her phone away.

"What are you up to?" Holly asked cautiously, having already learned that smirk didn't always mean good things for people.

Emily watched on from the couch where she had the TV on as Gail and Holly finished breakfast at the table.

"Me?" Gail asked as she stuffed a slice of toast into her mouth.

Emily snorted and focused back on the TV show.

Holly swallowed some coffee and pointed to Emily. "What she said."

Gail chuckled and pressed a kiss on Holly's cheek as she moved back to the coffee pot for her second cup. "I just got good news."

"Someone die?" Emily asked jokingly.

"Emily!" Holly was horrified partly because Emily said that and partly because it was also one of the responses that crossed Holly's mind as well.

"What?"

Gail just shook her head and sat back down. "Your car is back downstairs and it was clean, apparently brother dear wasn't up to anything too much."

"Hm." Holly wasn't willing to comment further on her thoughts on Gail's brother. "Good news on my car."

"Yes." Gail agreed.

Emily narrowed her eyes as she looked over at Gail. "You're still not coming today."

Gail put her hand to her chest. "That hurts Emily." But she grinned over at the young girl to show that she wasn't angry or upset. "Holly I hope you know what you're getting yourself into." She warned with a shake of her head.

Holly grinned and sent a wink over to Emily. "We'll survive."

Gail put her hands up. "It's fine, I'm still turning up for the best part – lunch." She replied before pointing at Emily. "And you don't get a choice in that kiddo."

Emily turned back to the TV to hide her grin. "Whatever." Holly had already explained to her this morning that she was taking her out for some new clothes and notebooks and anything for school Emily might need.

Gail had mouthed the word 'laptop' at her, and Emily was shocked but excited at the prospect that she might have things of her own. New things.

"What are you going to get up to today?" Holly asked.

"Some of us have actual jobs." Gail pointed out, ignoring Emily's snort. "So, I need to make sure my staff have everything they need, then maybe some shopping of my own." In the way of a new car. "Then I guess I can spare some time to have lunch with you guys." Gail shrugged but grinned at Holly. "If I'm not too busy."

"Wouldn't want to take you away from your job Gail." Holly replied only slightly concerned about what Gail would be getting up to today but knowing it was better not to ask.

Gail shrugged and got up, taking her plate and Holly's now empty plate, over to the sink. "You two about to get going, I'm hoping for lunch at one."

Holly checked the time and got up. "You ready Emily?"

Switching off the TV Emily went to get her trainers from the front door. "Just need my jacket."

Gail grabbed her own jacket then made a show of looking at her watch, waiting on the other two to finish getting ready.

"Keep that up and we might just be too busy to stop for lunch." Holly warned.

"Your loss." Gail retorted as she ushered them out of her apartment. "I'll have you know I'm excellent company. And I know all the best places to eat."

Holly snorted she could believe that.

"So do I." Emily pointed out.

Gail rolled her eyes. "Whatever, get out, I've got stuff to do."

Emily grinned then looked at Holly as they got in an elevator. "You got enough money to bail her out of jail?"

Gail faked a dramatic gasp and grabbed at her chest. "That hurts Em, I thought we were friends."

"You kidnapped me." Emily pointed out.

Gail quickly got the girl into a headlock. "Hey, I befriended you."

Holly rolled her eyes at the pair and was grateful when the doors opened. "Okay children." Gail eyed her with Emily still in her hold. "Yes you."

Gail snorted and released Emily.

Emily grumbled and fixed her clothes and her hair as she followed Gail and Holly out of the apartment complex to find Holly's SUV right in front of the building. "I didn't think you could park there."

Gail sighed. You could, you just risked your car being towed. But she just went to the drivers side and checked the wheel. "Bingo." She held up the keys.

Holly scowled and held out her hand. She checked the key set and then eyes her car. She was pleased that Gail had said there wasn't any listening or tracking device on it.

At least from Gail's brother.

But Holly wasn't sure Gail's 'friends' were any better.

"What?" Gail asked when she noticed Holly hesitate.

With a shrug Holly sighed as Gail came over and put an arm around her waist. "Just, your sure there's nothing on the car, from Steve or…" Kurt. Or from Gail's very scary boss Damien Wolf.

"No. It's clean." And if Gail found out differently Kurt would very much regret that. "I swear. It just got took somewhere that they could raise it and do this little electronic check thing." Trackers and listening devices would have to be left on to work and the reason to take the car out of the city for the check was to prevent any of Wolf's locations being put at risk if there was something in the car.

"If they had found something it would have taken longer for you to get it back." Gail explained softly.

Depending on where the device had been stashed it might have been easier for Kurt just to trash the car and Gail would have had to get Holly a replacement.

"Hey look, if you're not comfortable we'll get rid of this one and we can get you a brand new car. Same make and model. I can even put the dent back in." Gail offered.

"What dent?" Holly asked, eyes widening. She hadn't had the car long enough to damage it. "If he crashed my car I swear…" She noticed Gail smirking. Even Emily was trying not to laugh. "Okay Gail, go find a bus."

Emily giggled and moved around to get into the passenger side of the car.

Gail put her hands out. "I didn't want a lift anyway."

Holly shook her head and smiled at Gail as she rolled down the window and Gail came over. "I'll call you for lunch." She said then accepted the kiss Gail leaned over for.

Emily made a noise and stared out the other side. Partly to give them some privacy but also to check if she saw anyone or anything out of place. Something she'd learned to do herself but Gail had helped her see signs quicker.

That's what Emily liked about Gail, she didn't make her feel like a charity case just because she was in the system. Gail understood about safety and got it into Emily's head that running should always be her first instinct rather than waiting to see how things played out when her gut spooked her senses.

Gail patted the door. "Okay kid, she makes more money than me so you don't be shy."

Holly started the car with a shake of her head. "Bye Gail, we'll do just fine without you."

Emily stuck her head around Holly with a grin and parroted her. "Bye Gail."

Watching for a while Gail forced herself to eventually turn and head in the other direction as she went to catch a bus.

She was going to the bar but now she was going to see Kurt too and make sure he hadn't done anything stupid with Holly's car.

xxxxxx

Steve sat down and rubbed at his face. "Wait, explain this to me one more time." He begged. "You're actually using Sam? Sam Swarek?"

Jacob Blackstone grinned into his coffee. "Hey, he jumped at the chance."

Steve snorted. "Of course he did! You've just given him reason to go after my sister all he fucking wants!" Steve couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Hey," Jacob snapped at the detective. "We're running out of time and my options are limited. We have major Russian crime figures in this city and the two biggest gangs in this city taking shots at each other." He explained. "Sam knows some of the players."

"Yeah," Steve agreed. "And he'd be happy to put a bullet into a few of them." His sister included.

Jacob let out a sigh. "He's on suspension and has the time to do the dirty work on the streets and honestly Steve, he would be out there on his own anyway." It didn't take Jacob long to see how angry Sam was at how it had gone with Gail Peck and his removal from 15.

"Yeah, but you've gave him a legitimate reason to go after my sister." Steve worried about this.

"And like I just told you, this is not just about your sister, this is about finding any talk on the streets about what is going down here." Jacob explained. "We don't have the time to put undercovers in place or try and manoeuvre CI's into areas that aren't theirs."

Steve ran his hand through his hair. "I get that." And he did, he worked his own CI's for the gangs unit and it was a long term chess game, having someone just show up in the wrong place would likely get them killed. "But Sam?"

Jacob chuckled. "He's a cop that's not that clean and the streets know him." The good and bad side of Sam Swarek was known in certain circles, the brass at work just learned to turn a blind eye to it and that would probably give Swarek more notoriety as a bad cop.

"It could get him killed." Steve pointed out.

Jacob winked at Steve. "He sees it as a way to earn his spot back in the club."

Steve wasn't sure he believed that. Not if what Traci had told her was true, that Sam had dumped Andy while she was pregnant with his kid and now had been close to losing his badge for threatening Gail on top of everything else in his file.

Seeing the doubt still in Steve's eyes Jacob shrugged. "Just wait and see how this all plays out, he might not get anything useful and at least it'll keep him busy until he's finished his suspension and gets back out on patrol."

Steve stood and shook his head as he got ready to leave. "I just hope you know what you're doing."

"Only time will tell." Jacob replied as he watched the detective leave his office.

Sam Swarek was a fuck up, but the kind that Jacob could use and that was all that mattered to Jacob right now. And if it worked out all the better, if it didn't well, Jacob lost nothing.

xxxxxx

Oliver put the phone down and turned to survey his officers in the bullpen. He'd just argued with the head office that he needed more bodies at 15. They were thin on the ground and the dust was still settling from the fallout of Sam's removal and Nick and Duncan's stupidity.

He'd made a good point.

Several in fact given that between 15 and 27 they looked after most of the city.

And so Olive had just been promised four new recruits from this years Academy. The best four Oliver had insisted and been assured that unless special operations cherry picked as they were want to do on occasion, then Oliver would get his way.

15 were going to get new blood.

Rookies.

Clapping his hands together Oliver grabbed for his cane and made his way out of his office. He was on a roll. "Officer Epstein, are you busy?" He asked as he made his way down the steps and onto the bullpen floor.

Dov eyed Andy over their desks then spun around to respond to his boss. "Finishing up paperwork Sir."

"Ah, then not busy enough." Oliver replied as he continued walking. "You are with me, on a much more important assignment."

Dov shrugged at Andy and stood, quickly walking at Oliver's side. "And just, what would that be?" He asked.

Oliver grinned at his old rookie. "Just you wait."

Dov glanced behind them and saw Traci walking over to Andy. He sighed and continued walking with Oliver through and out of the building.

"Which is yours today?" Oliver asked, his hand waving over the parked patrol cars.

Dov pointed. "That one."

Oliver walked over and tried to open the door. He scowled and eyed Dov. "You do have the keys don't you?"

Dov giggled nervously. "I'll just go get them." He told Oliver and then did an about turn to head back inside.

Oliver made a face. "And your utility belt, badge, gun, those kinda things." He muttered, rolling his eyes and waiting. It was fine, this wasn't going to ruin the start to his very good day.

Now that he'd secured more staff, even if they were going to be know-nothing kids, it was time to turn his attention to fixing some of the broken parts of this station.

And Oliver knew to start with Dov. He'd give him everything he needed to know whereas the rest of the group, Andy, Chris, even Nick, were too burned by circumstances not to dumb down what they knew and how they knew it.

Dov would squeal like a stuck pig and only figure out that Oliver was bleeding the information from him until it was too late.

xxxxxx

Gail was bored, she had done everything that was needed at the bar but she hired managers to look after the bar for her and other than cash flow and sudden staffing issues, there was little for her to do.

The staff did there jobs well and even with the end of the year for most students approaching, the location of the bar and decent food meant Gail would still turn a profit and still remain open all year unlike some bars and clubs that tended to cater only to the student crowd.

Gail didn't want that for her bar and her staff would happily kick out drunk students making it somewhere for them to go, have a few drinks, play some pool what some sport and leave. And for Gail that was enough trade throughout the year to stay afloat.

The extra income with families and regulars during the summer months was where the profit came in.

The bar wasn't near enough to the city centre for the suits that spent the big bucks, but Gail wouldn't miss the hassle of dealing with those clients.

So, Gail was left with nothing to do after an hour other than close her eyes and rest back in her chair.

Suddenly her phone went off and Gail scrambled to answer it.

"Hello?"

"I find it!" Came the distinctive voice of Kurt.

Gail sighed, she'd been hoping for a call from Holly. Or maybe Emily complaining about shopping with Holly.

But no.

"Found what Kurt?" Gail asked rubbing her eyes and hoping she wasn't going to have a new problem fall into her lap. She still had lunch with Holly and Emily to get to later.

Kurt chuckled over the line. "Your new car."

Gail blinked. "Really?"

"I bring it to you. Where you?"

"You have it now?" Now Gail was excited. She hadn't had a car in what felt like months.

Kurt laughed. "It's very fast. You'll like ja?"

"Hell yeah! I'm at the bar, bring it over." Gail couldn't wait to see it but as soon as Kurt hung up she realised she had left out a few pertinent questions.

Like colour.

Gail grabbed her leather jacket and went to keep an eye out the front window. "It better not be green or fucking yellow." She grumbled to herself. If it was, Kurt would be sent back out on another hunt until he found something Gail did like.

No matter how fast it was.

xxxxxx

AN/ Hey guys!

Happy New Year!

I will do my best to start updating my fics. Hope you enjoyed this update and thanks for reading.