The day for evidence transfer arrives!
They were both awake before the alarm went off. Matthew reached over and brought Alice into a firm embrace and kissed her forehead, both of her eyelids, her cheek and then her lips. Alice kissed him back and pulled him till he was lying over her. "Kiss me again, Matthew, please." Matthew kissed her, as she had asked but they were trading kisses like they were their last. Both had tears in their eyes, but it was Alice who broke the kiss: she looked at Matthew and said, "Matthew, if something happens tonight…" Matthew put a finger to her lips to stop her, but she moved it away. "Please listen to me Matthew. These past few months have been difficult but, they have been made all the better by having you in my life. I had a childhood that I wish I'd never had but, in some way, it brought me to where I am today. It brought me to Lucien and Jean and their friendship, and it brought me to you. You handsome, smart and funny man." Alice reached up to caress his face. "I love you Matthew Lawson. I want you to know that and I want you to remember this if something happens. I want you to promise me that you will not punish yourself. I never thought that it was possible that anyone would love me the way you love me, and I never thought I would feel so safe with someone as to want their love or accept it. I know it's only been a short few months, but we have known each other for years. That's an awfully long courtship." She laughed and kissed his lips. Matthew leaned down and kissed her with love and longing. It was a hello and goodbye and something so much more all rolled into one. "Alice, you make me so happy. This grumpy old copper with a gammy leg is happy, thanks to you. I love you too and I'm not going to say goodbye because I know this is going to be fine. Tonight, you and I will be back here with a very large glass of something, and we'll fall asleep in each other's arms and we'll have a long lie tomorrow. I'm locking that door behind us and we're not getting out of bed till we're good and ready. The alarm clock will be off!" Matthew pulled Alice over so that she was snuggled into the side of him and he kissed her once more. "Come on sweetheart. Let's get ready and head to the station. We'll be ready for that guy tonight and he'll be sitting in our cells till Melbourne take him out of our cells tomorrow."
Alice and Matthew travelled to work in separate cars. All day was spent trying to finish some paperwork for the men at the station and Alice had a routine autopsy to do for the hospital. Everyone was on edge, even the top brass from Melbourne seemed to be fidgeting and wandering around the station aimlessly. It was like the calm before the storm.
As per the plan, Dr Wallace was to bring the report and the evidence from Melbourne to Alice, and to be seen entering the morgue. They added this step just in case the guy was watching to make sure Alice went through with the plan. Charlie left the morgue after Dr Wallace left and headed back to the station. All of the boys left for home at 5pm but went and changed out of their uniforms and headed to the meeting place at the Lake. Alice was to meet the guy at 8.30 pm, but the police wanted to be in place and hidden away as early as possible, so as not to have people arriving at the Lake late at night and drawing suspicion. The obvious reason the guy had chosen the Lake was because no one went there after dark. Alice did not go to the police station when she was finished for the day. She paced nervously around the morgue waiting for 8 pm to roll around. She had a sandwich sitting on her desk but there was no way she had any appetite.
Alice would leave the hospital and park her car at the Lake at the agreed meeting place. He would arrive at 8.30 pm. They had left in time in the plan for him to check the report and the evidence and then for him to attempt to leave. As he tried to return to his vehicle, the police would swoop in and arrest them both.
Alice sat in her car at the Lake, shaking from nerves and fear. She knew the police were there and she knew Matthew was somewhere around and drew some comfort from this. As 8.30 pm arrived, Alice stepped out of her car but didn't lock the door. She stood there in the car park looking around just in case the guy had arrived before she had, although there were no other cars that she could see next to where they had agreed to meet. Just as she was beginning to truly panic, the guy appeared from the pathway. "Shit, shit, shit" she thought. "where is his car? Will this upset the plan? Surely the police have thought about if he was dropped off or if someone else comes with him?" Alice stepped towards him, looked to him and, as per the plan, offered up the report and evidence. "This is what you asked for. One of the other doctors brought it from Melbourne today." The guy just looked at her and said, "I know. You didn't think I wouldn't keep an eye on you, did you? I had to make sure you were sticking to your end of the bargain." The guy grabbed the folder containing the copy of the report and the letter and checked the contents. "It's all there. The report and the letter. Melbourne never asked any questions when I asked for the letter to be returned for further testing. You do know I might lose my job for this going missing?" The thug just looked at her and said, "better to lose your job than your life…or your boyfriend's. This looks about right." Alice stepped back and said, "if that's all, I'll be on my way." She turned and went to leave and at that the policemen hiding in the darkness ran out and shouted "stop! You are under arrest." Alice wasn't far enough away to make a run for it and the guy grabbed Alice by the collar of her coat and pulled her so that he had her neck in an arm lock. With his other hand, he pulled out a gun from his pocket and leaned into her face. "You double crossed me, you fucking bitch!" he said with hatred and venom. "No, no I didn't. I never said a word to them." At that one of the Melbourne coppers shouted over to him, "when the doctor asked for the letter back, we thought it was a bit suspicious. We sent our doctor to bring the folder and followed Dr Harvey here. We thought she might be conspiring with your lot. She's under arrest for tampering with evidence. Alice, playing her part, started to cry. It was easy since she was scared shitless but also because, as far as the thug was concerned, she was about to be arrested and was about to lose her career. The guy looked at Alice and told her to shut up, but once she had started to cry, she found that she couldn't stop. One of the Melbourne coppers raised his voice and said, "just put the gun down and we'll do this the easy way. You're coming with us. You don't want to take any other option." The thug started to tighten his hold on Alice's neck; she could feel that breathing was becoming more difficult. "This is it" she thought "this is how my sad sorry life is going to end and I can't even see Matthew anywhere." Alice knew he was hiding out in a car somewhere, but she wanted him to be there, she wanted to see him.
The guy was clearly trying to think of what he could do to get out of this situation: he thought this was an easy job. Turn up, get the documents, threaten the doctor with what would happen if she opened her mouth then leave. This was not in the plan. In one fast movement he pointed the gun at Alice's head and said, "I'm going to back away and she's coming with me. You try to come after me and the doc gets it. I've got what I needed from her, so I don't need her anymore." As the thug started to slowly back away from the car park and head towards the path, he moved sideways to make sure he was heading in the right direction. At that very second, a gunshot was heard, and the guy let go of Alice. She realised that something had happened and took her opportunity to run towards the police and there, with a smoking gun in his right hand, was Chief Superintendent Matthew Lawson. Alice ran into his arms and as she did, she saw Charlie and the other police officers running in the opposite direction to arrest the thug who was now on the ground with a bullet wound to his right shoulder.
Matthew held Alice so tightly she was struggling to breath. "Matthew, I'm alright. Let me go." He looked at her and said "are you alright? Are you really? I thought the bastard was going to kill you." Alice looked at him and said, "but he didn't'. You kept me safe, just like you said you would." She leaned up on her toes and kissed him square on the lips. Suddenly, Alice thought about how the thug now had a bullet wound to the shoulder and was bleeding. "I should go and check on him Matthew. At least until the ambulance gets here." Alice went to head towards the thug lying on the ground, holding his own shoulder. One of the constables said, "I've radioed in for the ambos, Doc. Stay with the boss. This one isn't going anywhere." Alice walked back to Matthew and he put his arm around her shoulder and kissed the side of her head. "We'll wait, get you checked over when the ambos get here and make sure the Melbourne brass say it's ok to leave."
"I'm fine Matthew. I don't need looking at." Matthew gave her a look that said, "I'm not arguing" and Alice never said a word but wrapped her arms around his waist.
Neither one was sure how long it took for the ambulance to arrive but when it did, they put the thug into the back of the van. They still had no idea what his name was, and he wasn't going to give that up easily. Once the ambos were sure he was stable and fit for transport, the two Melbourne coppers released Matthew and Alice and said they'd be in touch next week when they had transferred the guy to their cells in Melbourne. They got in the back of the ambulance with the thug and the doors were closed. Before the ambulance guys left, they checked Alice over and said she'd have a sore neck for a few days and that she was definitely in shock. They suggested some strong sweet tea and bed.
Matthew placed his fingers under her chin and kissed her gently. He said, "let's go home Alice. Let's get you that tea and let's go to bed. I'm bloody knackered!" He laughed with his last statement and guided Alice to her car. One of the constables was taking the car Matthew arrived in back to the station. Matthew drove wordlessly to Alice's house, but Alice never let go of Matthew's knee. When they arrived at the house, Alice sat in the car in the darkness. Matthew realised the shock had set in, so opened the passenger side door, took her hand and guided her up to the door. "Where are your keys, love?" Alice looked at him and tried to put her hands in her coat pockets. Matthew noted that she was shaking and said, "they in there?" pointing to her pockets. He said, "let me help you." He tried both pockets and found the keys and then opened the door to let them in, making sure he locked the door behind them. Matthew took off her coat and hung it up then walked her into the kitchen where he helped her to sit down at the table. Matthew took off his own coat and placed it on the back of one of the chairs before sticking on the kettle and making them both a cup of tea, with lots of sugar. When the tea was ready, Matthew placed it on the table in front of them. Alice was staring into space with silent tears falling onto her lap. She took a deep breath and turned to look at Matthew. "We're safe Matthew. It's all over now, isn't it?" Matthew pulled her in so that she was resting her head in the crook of his neck. "Yes sweetheart, it's all over. There's probably going to be some paperwork for us but that's it." He kissed the top of her head and held her tightly. "Matthew, I just want to go to bed. Please…I know you said we'd have a large glass of something, but I don't want the tea. You said we'd fall asleep in each other's arms and we'll have a long lie tomorrow. Let's go to bed Matthew." Matthew looked at Alice and said, "just a few mouthfuls of the tea and I promise we'll go to bed." Alice did as she was asked, as did Matthew, then Alice got up from the chair, taking Matthew's hand and pulling him with her. When they made it to the bedroom, Alice sat on her end of the bed as Matthew pulled on his pyjamas and went to the bathroom. When he returned, Alice was still in the same place. He looked at her, walked over and bent down to take off her shoes. Alice noted what he was doing but she was so tired that she didn't stop him. Matthew helped Alice to get into her nightdress and walked her to the bathroom where he waited till she had finished and walked back with her. He pulled down the covers and helped Alice into bed before moving round and settling himself into his side of the bed. Matthew switched his bedside lamp off, turned around and pulled Alice into his embrace. Alice rested her head on Matthew's chest. In the darkness, Matthew said, "you were so brave, Alice. So brave. I love you and, like I promised, the alarm is off, and we can lie in until we're ready to get up." He kissed the top of her head and said, "Alice, just say something sweetheart. Please" Alice leaned up and kissed Matthew on the lips, before settling back onto his chest. She could hear his heart beating under her ear and she was comforted by this. "You saved me Matthew. I love you so very much." That was the last words spoken before they both fell asleep.