Chapter Two: Undercover Criminals

With Commander Holleran's permission – and blessing – Team One took their trucks, though it was an odd looking caravan that set out the morning after. Zach Callaghan took the lead and Jules drove the first truck, keeping in contact with her father, ostensibly using a CB radio to connect with him. In reality, she was using her magical smartphone with her team, as well as the two Guns 'n' Gangs detectives, listening in. Sam and Ed, more used to long distance driving than their teammates, drove the second and third trucks, while Roy brought up the rear in his old faithful, but battered, sedan. Wordy had already volunteered to swap out with Roy when he needed a break – despite his two years working in the techie world, Onasi had yet to learn how to drive.

Rather than head straight for Lyndhurst Flats, the group angled for the Callaghans' old farmstead; although the farm itself had been sold, the next-door neighbor had offered to put the Toronto officers up for the duration. Despite being in the next county over, the rural community was well aware that any illicit dealings in their area reflected badly on all of them.

The caravan made good time, stopping only for gas and driver trade-offs until lunchtime, when Zach Callaghan guided them to a decent roadside diner for food and an hour's worth of not being cooped up in a moving vehicle. Giles was particularly grateful – although he'd known techie travel time tended to be much longer than magical travel time, he hadn't had to experience it. Not with almost all of his travel in the city environs. He was honestly taken aback that none of his colleagues found anything odd about driving all day.

After lunch, the caravan headed for the nearest gas station, then hopped back on the highway, driving until well into the evening. As the clock edged towards six, Jules' father got in contact with Lou, taking his turn at driving the lead truck, and recommended stopping for the night. Agreement flowed in from the rest of the group, so Callaghan altered direction and headed for a hotel he'd used in prior trips down to visit his daughter. Once at the hotel, Roy kept Giles away from the older man, stomping on his foot when the Auror opened his mouth to ask why the trip was taking so long.

The next morning, rested, refreshed, and vastly amused by Onasi's reaction to the hotel's idea of breakfast, the caravan set out once more, reaching the outskirts of Medicine Hat, Alberta by lunchtime. Their host greeted them, then helped tuck Team One's trucks in his barn to keep anyone from realizing Toronto law enforcement had come to pay a visit. Although the Toronto officers had no official authority outside of their home territory, between their Auror badges and a little discrete string pulling from Commander Holleran, they were covered.

Once the trucks were hidden, Team One pitched in to help set the farmer's table and get dinner together, all of them following Jules' lead – they were city boys and unused to a rural environment. Hodgkin and his wife traded a few chuckles at the officers' askance looks, then stepped in to show the city slickers how it was done. After dinner, Hodgkin and his wife cleared the table, then left their visitors alone to plan their strategy.

Auror Giles Onasi was well aware that Sergeant Ed Lane was not happy having two Guns 'n' Gangs detectives tag along on a simple Missing Persons investigation. He was also well aware that Lane's unhappiness had far more to do with his brother's presence than any real danger. Inwardly, the Auror cringed. Parker's death had destroyed his former team – both he and Roy agreed it was only a matter of time before Team One went their separate ways, unable to cope with the memories and the ghost of their fallen leader.

In the meantime, the whole of Team One was overreacting in a thousand different ways, but every last one of them had taken overprotectiveness to entirely new heights. The worst of it was, Giles couldn't even blame them – he still hovered over Roy whenever a situation even hinted at going sideways. Still crafted contingency plans left, right, and center to keep those he loved and cared about safe. That he'd not been able to save Parker burned at him, even though there'd been no possible way he could have changed the outcome.

He shook the morbid thoughts away and focused back on Lane and Wordsworth. "You want us to do what they did?" Giles asked, tone carefully neutral.

"Well, you're out-of-towners, so we can't do an exact scenario," Wordy pointed out. "But getting you two inside that station would give us a look at how they handle this sort of thing in general."

Roy glanced over at his brother's closed, unhappy expression. "So, what, we just crash at the local bar, pretend to get drunk, and…"

"Won't work," Jules' father interjected.

All attention turned to the dark-haired man, though the brunet detective turned indignant. "I can pull a drunk act!"

"The bartender," Giles realized. "He would know."

Callaghan nodded unhappily. "He's friends with most of the deputies. There's nothing that goes on in that bar that he doesn't know about and he's really good at spotting sleight of hand tricks."

The Auror frowned, eyes flicking back and forth as he debated potential options. No matter how good the man was, a brief, simple Notice-Me-Not Charm would keep him from seeing the alcohol Vanished. Or, just to be on the safe side, Giles could haul along Sobering and Headache Potions, thus neatly skipping the issue of what the bartender saw. Feeling Roy's gaze, he looked to his partner, hands moving in a Team One 'all-clear' signal. Aloud, he said, "I can handle that part."

Team One relaxed at the pronouncement, earning Giles a curious, searching look from Callaghan. On the brunet's other side, Roy cleared his throat. "So! We go in, get arrested, and then Ed bails us out the next morning?"

"Or I could," Jules offered.

"Better not, Julie," her father countered. "The sheriff knows I'm an ex-cop."

Jules groaned. "You've been poking around already, Dad?"

Callaghan's embarrassed silence spoke volumes. Then, in an attempt to be nonchalant, he remarked, "Well, you know me, Julie."

"Julie?" Roy asked, a lilt to his voice and a touch of mischief in gray eyes. Giles shook his head at his partner, but the lean man completely ignored it.

But rather than exploding, Jules simply shrugged. "I started using Jules in college," she explained. Then her eyes narrowed. "Dad and my brothers get a pass, Roy. Not you."

Ed coughed loudly. "Drop it, Roy. If we start talking about names…"

To Giles' surprise, Roy flushed bright red. "You swore you'd never tell!"

"I haven't," the lean sniper replied calmly. "And I won't, if you leave Jules alone."

Roy opened his mouth to retort and Giles elbowed him, casting his partner a 'shut-up' glare. Given how on edge the whole of Team One was, pushing any farther was liable to end with their heads chopped off.

For a minute, tension hung, then Ed's shoulders slumped. "Roy," he said, leaning forward and meeting his brother's eyes. "Be careful."

All jocularity dropped away. "We'll be careful, Ed," Roy promised. "See you tomorrow?"

"Bright and early," the Sergeant vowed.

"So what's the plan, partner?" Roy asked as he guided his battered old sedan down the country road that led towards Lyndhurst Flats. Now that they were safely away from Team One and Jules' father, the detective intended to get the lowdown.

At first, Giles didn't respond, gazing out the window at the massive fields and wide open spaces. Roy understood – both of them were city boys; he'd been rather taken aback at the idea that Lyndhurst Flats only had one bar. The crops waved in the wind, planted in neat rows and perhaps a meter tall – Roy did know enough about farming to know the plants were still growing and destined to get much taller. In a field on the driver's side, cows grazed, flicking their tails and completely uninterested in the lone sedan making its way down the road.

After a minute or two, the wizard shook himself and got back to business. "Dealer's choice," he remarked, smirking at his friend's askance look. "I can spend all evening Vanishing the stuff or we can actually get drunk and take Sobering Potions before we get arrested."

Roy made a face. "Hangover headache in lockup?"

"I've got Headache Potions, too."

Well now…that put a much better spin on things. Even so, Roy cast his partner a sidelong glance. "Worried about the guy being a Squib?"

Giles hiked a shoulder. "Notice-Me-Not should work either way, but yeah, kinda." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "I guess you really can't tell anymore, who has magic and who doesn't. I mean, never would've pegged Wordy as a Squib."

Roy snorted. "Not enough like a wizard for you?" Beneath the joking tone, a hint of scorn lurked.

The Auror fidgeted. "Come on, Roy, you know I didn't mean it like that. It's just…"

"You're used to tech-borns being the only ones who didn't know about magic before?"

"Something like that," Giles admitted. "Never really thought about where their magic came from or anything like that."

"Not until you met us, huh?" Roy's voice turned a bit wistful.

Onasi shook his head, then changed the subject. "Hey, you mind if I ask you something?"

Roy braked for an upcoming red light, then flicked a quick look at his friend. "Shoot."

"How come you and Ed never got along before?"

The brunet huffed. "You never fought with your brother growing up?"

One shoulder hiked. "Two sisters, no brothers," Giles replied. "And sure we fought, but Mum and Dad never let us drag it out. A day, two at the most, then they'd sit us all down and demand we make up." Brown eyes darkened with memory. "Mum always said family was too important for petty squabbles."

For several minutes, Roy was silent, thinking even as he guided the car along the country roads. When he spoke, the words were slow. "I think Mom would try," he confessed. "And I'll kill you if you ever tell, but I always wanted to be like him."

"That's why you're a cop."

"Something like that." Roy paused long enough to check for oncoming traffic before turning left. "I dunno, we just…rubbed each other wrong. Always have, even after I met you. You don't even wanna know how many times I had to bite my tongue those first couple of months." At the startled, curious glance, the brunet squirmed. "Like I said, we rub each other wrong. Put us in the same room and we'd always end up fighting."

Onasi cocked his head to the side. "So what changed?"

"I'm not sure." Again, the detective paused, thinking hard. "Just…after McKean, it was like…that's my brother. He almost died, almost went to prison for something he didn't even do."

"You almost died, too," the Auror murmured.

"Yeah…" Silence hung between them, then Roy huffed a weak laugh. "Wonder what Grandma Beloved would think of us now."

Both brows arched. "Beloved?"

The detective chuckled. "That's what we always called her. Kind of an odd old bird."

"Sounds like it," Giles mused. Roy laughed again and the car fell into a comfortable quiet.

At the bar, they ordered their first drinks and settled at an out-of-the-way table with a decent view. Roy took a sip of his drink and muttered something about rotgut and paint thinner; Onasi nodded once, accepting his partner's decision. Vanishing spells it was. Beneath the table, the Auror drew his wand and cast a Notice-Me-Not charm on the table. The charm wouldn't prevent the bartender from seeing them or his table, but he wouldn't be able to tell that his customers were drinking with empty glasses. A second spell Vanished their first set of drinks; Roy twitched a smirk, but picked up the empty glass to take a 'drink'.

It was unfortunate that 'getting drunk' and causing a ruckus would take some time, most of it spent sitting in a country town bar that had certainly seen far better days. Giles opened with an idle question about the Toronto Blue Jays, earning an incredulous glare.

"Sports?" Roy hissed. "That's the best you can do?"

"I could do Quidditch or Quodpot instead if you want," Giles sulked.

Roy blinked, then groaned. "You have got to get out more, partner." After a moment, he snapped, "Well, go on."

Embarrassed, the Auror fidgeted. "Morgana usually followed the Applejacks."

"The Applejacks?"

"I didn't name them. I guess they thought it was funny or something. They're not half-bad, usually end up in the middle of the rankings. Got a pretty good pre-game show."

"You don't really have a team?"

Another fidget. "I played in school. Just a youth league, nothing fancy. I like playing more than watching."

Roy grunted agreement on that point. Then, with a little help from his smartphone, he launched into a loud speculation on the Blue Jay's chances in the season. Giles followed his partner's lead, debating just as fiercely in complete, obstinate opposition.

In the end, although it took a bit longer than the men had expected, it was ridiculously easy to 'get drunk' and cause quite a kerfuffle in the bar. Roy acted up and Giles played at being the 'responsible' friend, rolling his eyes and generally keeping Roy from going completely overboard. The only hitch came as the deputy escorted them out and 'accidentally' tripped Roy, who was mouthing off as they reached the curb. The lean detective tumbled, falling heavily into the waiting patrol car. The angle of his fall was either horrible or absolutely perfect; Roy's shoulder struck the taillight, cracking the glass and ticking off the deputy even though he'd been the one to trip the undercover detective.

"You okay, partner?" Giles hissed after the deputy who'd arrested them finally left.

"Owww," Roy moaned, rolling his shoulder. He flinched partway through the motion and froze.

"Stop, let me take a look." Onasi moved behind his friend, but Roy jerked away.

"No, I'm okay. Let's just do this; you can do that tomorrow."

Giles' eyes narrowed, but he nodded once, catching Roy's underlying message – if he pulled his wand, any surveillance camera would see it, busting the Statute of Secrecy in one easy step. "You take the bottom, all right?"

The detective stiffened for an instant, then sighed and nodded. Searching the beds was beyond him, but he could still squirm into the cracks and crevices of the cell, even with an injured shoulder. "Copy."

The pair separated, Roy going low while Giles started turning both of the bunk beds inside out, feeling in the pillows and sheets for anything suspicious. Roy crawled around the cell, doing his best to keep from hitting his head as he searched the cracks and crevices in the walls. His shoulder ached, but he pushed that aside with an iron determination. The odds that they'd find any clues to the missing journalists was low, but they had to investigate while they had the opportunity. The last place he checked was under the bunk beds. Internally, he slumped. Nothing but dust. Then a glint of something caught his eye and he scooted farther underneath. One hand wrapped around his find and he worked his way back and out from under the beds.

Once he was back in the light, he inspected his find and felt his stomach drop. "Giles."

His partner stopped, glancing down to see what Roy had found.

Mute, Roy held it up, just enough for Giles to see. A broken, bloodstained digital voice recorder.

Deputy Saunders made a face at the security camera feed. "What are they doing, checking for bed bugs?"

"Lemme see," his boss demanded.

Shrugging, the deputy turned the monitor. "Buncha idiots," he pronounced.

Sheriff Wallace didn't respond as he watched the two out-of-town drunks. The brunet's eyes narrowed, mouth tightening below his mustache. There was something funny going on with those two…

"Saunders? You got that guy's car?"

"Sure do, Sheriff. Whatcha need?"

"Run the plates. I wanna know what those two are after."

"They're just drunks, Sheriff."

"Drunks who are searchin' their own cell! Run the plates!"

"Yessir."

Scowling, Wallace returned to his office and reached for his phone. If they had another group of troublemakers on their hands, the judge was going to have his head. 'Specially after what had happened to the last two.