Well, the man did not give him a reason to back off. Just a piece of the puzzle that does not fit. The turf war the idiot instigated takes precedence over the conundrum which he might hold the key to.
(Blackstone's quip is exactly that - a conundrum. He knows where McNally is. She's in Fort Erie, she's not hiding in the evidence lock up. So - )
They rally the troops to scout. It's a good thing Nash does the talking, his mind is otherwise occupied.
'Not one of my guys'? The hell?
He's about to tell her about Blackstone's disturbing remark, when she starts going on about the gas tanks. Apparently they got their link (and according to Shaw - he got some delicious tapas in his taste buds , so) -
Good initiative.
Blackstone does not see it that way.
They did not bring him new information, it turns out.
"So pull our people out," it's a simple plea, a gentle and logical one at that. You ran out of budget - you want to keep your assets, your UCs, safe. You need them for court, you need them for this whole thing to actually stick.
They're dealing with a drug squad D, the dude needs this gentle reminder.
"I can't," is that worry in Blackstone's eye?
"Why?"
"Because I uhhh, I can't reach them. I haven't heard from Collins in 12 hours we're not gonna do anything until we do."
"Uhhh... what about McNally?" Nash asks, before he gets a chance to. He should have told her. She noticed both her partner and Frank did not ask the next obvious question, so she did.
"McNally's not one of my guys."
"Excuse me?" It's Nash.
"Collins' partner? It's a gal named Reeves, from 25. Yeah, she's," Blackstone has a bit of a stammer suddenly, " she's been off the wire since this afternoon. "
"Your'e telling us you lost both of them?" He's not sure why he's even surprised. These kind of detectives have only have one thing on their mind.
"It's fine, we got a spin team working on it," Blackstone doesn't sound convinced.
"Reeves? As in Dana Reeves? No way she goes off the wire, no way."
Both Blackstone and Best give him questioning looks of varying degrees.
Nash, apparently, is still in shock.
"And you know this...how, exactly?" Blackstone's question is doubtful. TPS is a huge force, it's a well placed doubt.
"Was a rookie with her back at 25, we did a stint togather in oh-7. Trust me, I know." Reeves didn't go to college. Took courses while on mat leave. Has two kids - Jason and Emily. She's a year older than Andy. It was a drug trafficking ring back in '07, accolades and all that after 5 months of hard work.
"You don't know Reeves, alright? She doesn't go off the wire, she doesn't miss calls."
"It's a glitch, it'll be fine."
That's when Frank pulls the plug. Sarge is not leaving it to chance - Fifteen division lost enough of its people in the past year.
He knows Reeves. She's the female him practically. Except, she has a family, a life. The rules she plays by are more conventional than his. Undercover, female officers have more leeway. They can get away with more stuff.
He truly hopes her experience would pull her and Collins through.
( but he trained Collins, and he knows one thing – both opratives off the wire within several hours – that's no glitch. Frank thinks so, too. With or without warrants – they're going in. )
Now, there's a warehouse to storm. Something to focus on, to silence the voice in the back of his head.
They're on their way out, down the corridor when Blackstone falls into step, seeing the looks Nash is throwing in her partner's way.
"You guys don't talk to each other ? some partners you are." How the dude finds the nerve to chide him right now, is beyond him.
On the other hand - he used to be the same about UC stings, so.
"Didn't have the chance," it's an apology in the form of a look, what Nash gets.
"Yeah you were busy wrecking my op." They're at the door, it's the usual pre-bust chaos outside.
"You did that all on your own, buddy," is his parting remark for Blackstone, as he and Nash make for their car.
Nash gives him a look.
'You've got explaining to do, partner.'
They're driving to the warehouse, Kevlar vests and all. He's doing his best to focus on the road.
"You know something," she states and it's like a time jump to six months ago. ('Yeah, McNally and Collins? Fort Erie.')
"It doesn't make sense, that's what I know."
"If she's not with Nick, then where is she?"
"Nash, I don't know. Let's just focus on the task at hand?"
Reeves is able to make contact - they find her and Collins in a trucking warehouse, find the drugs hidden in the back of a truck. The day is a success, yet there's no McNally in sight or even in passing mention -
a bingo turns into a beep, and not just for him.
But there's no way they can start piece this thing together right now - aside from friendly taps on the back, the occasional hug and a right hook from Peck, Collins disappears in a quiet flash for his debriefing in headquarters, a busy-looking Best does not seem disturbed with McNally's absence and everyone are reeling from the bust. They're not in the loop on the whole task force, so maybe- .
For the moment - it's just a short beep.
Nothing, really.
(a grateful Blackstone sheds some light before he leaves –
there were only Collins and Reeves when he took charge, less then 4 months earlier. Heard the name McNally but not much more.
"I got in about two months in, no idea when she got pulled.")
She got pulled? Excuse him - what?
Marlo finds him when he gets coffee, sees his faraway look, says she'll see him tomorrow - he has a few more hours at the desk and she's got the early shift, so-.
He'll be alone with his thoughts for the night, that damn beep echoing from his gut to his ears and vice versa.
McNally's friends are huddled in a corner together with Shaw, worried looks on their faces, yet all they can do is talk about the bust and their plans for the Penny. Not a word about the elephant in the room. Not a word about the beep.
"She was with me for only a week or so," it's a couple of nights later, he sits in a far corner of the Penny with Nash and Collins (one of Nash's rare appearances in the Penny as of late) -
Collins emerged from his post-debrief never-ending snooze to be dragged by Peck to the Penny (she heard the concern in Nash's voice that morning and decided to take one for the cause) -
McNally didn't meet anyone of importance, just stayed in the apartment. Got a call from their handler, went to a meet in a diner. Came back hours later, cried for a bit behind a closed door, packed her bag, went to bed.
The next morning - she was gone.
"Did she talk to you, say anything?" Nash asks, looking a bit confused.
"She said something about her safety in this cover, that she ran into people who know her in town," is Collins' answer.
" 'Know her in town'?! Who does she have in Fort Erie? " The next question is accompanied by Nash's darting gaze between both men, an incredulous look on her face.
Collins just shrugs, takes a sip from his beer, looks around - there's something he's not telling them - McNally wouldn't cry because of a failed attempt at UC.
(Next day, they're sitting at the office combing through paperwork, Nash clues him in on McNally's history of fresh starts and disappointments. Parts of it he knows, other parts - not so much. Doesn't feel comfortable talking about his ex-girlfriend with his partner, even if she does most of the talking. Nevertheless - the conclusion remains the same - )
McNally isn't a crier. This is not the whole story.
( If he wasn't supposed to show his affection to Marlo in a few minutes - he would've dragged army boy in for a second debriefing without a second thought - but he is and he can't.
It's not his place.
He's the ex that moved on - only there as the former TO, the best friend's partner, the trusted second opinion. It's not his place to pose questions, take actions.
Even if it concerns the person he cares about the most - he's the one to break the heart of Collins' break-up buddy. He's out of the loop.)
"What did your handler say? He must have gave you a reason," Nash tries again.
Their handler didn't add anything to the reasons -
There was a phone call McNally couldn't receive to her cover cell, that was what the meet was for. She took the cell, received the call, went outside. Of what he could tell - she mostly listened, her face were barley visible though, couldn't really tell -
She ended the call outside, went back in to return the cellphone, gave some vague answers, and left.
Called an hour later, said she needed to be pulled out. 'She's not safe in this town, with this cover.'
Two days later - Collins meets the handler and Reeves. There's nothing about where McNally had gone off to so he just assumed she went back home.
"Apparently that was not the case," another sip of the beer, Collins storytelling time is over.
Marlo walks in through the door. He quickly excuses himself, goes on with his evening alongside an unsuspecting Marlo, hopes it will be enjoyable enough to rid him from the feeling in his gut -
Pulled out within a week of going under, yet she didn't come back home - beep.
What he misses -
Collins continues to sit with Nash, fills her in on his suspicions concerning her partner and McNally's tears - McNally's not a crier. But maybe the break-up changed that, there's nothing to be certain of. For a while he thought maybe the tears and the departure were related, apart from the whole 'missing-an-opportunity-to-get-ahead-and-get-away' bummer. Collins isn't sure anymore, so is Nash. They get their own beep.
It takes a few days but - they talk to Frank.
Or better yet - Nash talks to Frank. He just sits behind his desk, tries to concentrate on some case file he was handed this morning, and fails miserably - his gaze keeps wandering through the glass towards Best's office.
(He wants to be there. Pose the question and gauge Frank's reactions up close. He can't. Might send the wrong idea. They might get the sense he's beyond intrigued, but actually worried. A rookie he trained, after all. He's allowed to be intrigued.
Nash fills him in (she only does that as a second opinion kind of thing, a second opinion of someone who knows McNally just as well as Nash does. It's not because he shows major interest or anything, at least he thinks he does) -
White shirts' spin of the story - she was sent back under with a different op, same taskforce.
"They don't usually do that do they, send burned operative from one crew to the other?"
"Unless you pull some strings, talk to the right people, have enough credit. Other than that - no, they usually don't."
'You talkin' from experience?' is the look she sends him next)
"And she certainly doesn't have any of these."
(with McNally senior forced retirement, most of the former colleagues and ties were fried - you don't want anything to do with those kind of situations - bad vibes, no matter the reason. So no strings.
It's McNally first UC op, new identity and all, and she has a UC-related suspension in her record - no credit.
And talking to the right people? She's a talker, and he trained her well so she could put that ability to good use, but without at least one of the first two? No way. So -)
"This stinks," Nash vocalizes his own thoughts.
She needs a second opinion - he figures that's the only reason why she even shares her concerns with him, why she asked him nicely to join in on her chat with Collins the other night. She's the best friend, he's the former TO turned partner, now ex - they can form a whole 360 of the way McNally operates.
Plus- he's been more years on the force, UC experience, all that crap.
Yeah, he hopes that's why she's bouncing her theories off of him.
Nothing to do with any feelings he might still have stored somewhere, collecting emotional dust. Nothing at all. Doesn't want his partner to get any ideas - it's none of her business.
Making sure Tommy didn't fall off the wagon, he concludes it's a Claire related issue. He has nothing to go on and Noelle is the one with ties in the child protective services - he can't clue her in when it's something he's not even supposed to know about an officer which is no longer under his wing - Frank Best does not snoop.
He lets it go.
It's a weekly ritual. Nash creeps into the Sargent's office. Are there any news about Andy?
(he knows very well Nash's partner scouts from their office).
When Nash comes knocking, spewing things about doctors and files, he relents.
McNally had a few days in Toronto while things were in motion, must have been then.
"Now, I don't know why she had that window, I'm not even supposed to know about said window, but she had it. And this stays between the three of us." He hopes Nash would call this a meaningful look.
"Sir, I do not want to overstep my boundaries here, but she's my best friend, I'm worried. The busts and warrants - the op is done. Where is she? Why would she do this? "
"Nash, my hands are tied, and I'll appreciate it if you don't go over my head. Have you heard from the child protective services recently?"
(Frank Best doesn't snoop. But that does not prevent him to send interested parties in, he assumes, the right direction).
She's not going guns blazing to Claire. First, she doesn't have that kind of relationship, if any, with Claire. Second - she doesn't want to alarm.
It's a dead end, for the time being.
"What's the first thing you did when you got home after Andy burned you?-"
Stakeouts are Fun. At least, they used to be... tolerable. Emphasis on 'used to'.
There's an ex-con, got out, found out he was ditched by his girl, got pissed. They keep watch on her new place. She's in safe keeping.
Plenty of time for Nash to get on his nerves. (She does this to everyone, he thinks...No, she doesn't. Not anymore.)
"-You call your loved ones, right? Let them know that your'e okay, right?"
All she gets is a nod. He has the binoculars.
"She was here, in Toronto for a week before she went back under. Didn't call me, didn't call Frank, he had to find out from Luke."
An almost immediate transfer to a different agency - no phone calls to Nash or even Best.
Beep.
It's another day.
They just came back to the barn from a scene where, just his luck, one of the suspect found it necessary to throw up all over the place. One of the casualties- his shirt. He excuses himself at the locker rooms, when suddenly-
Nash goes in, gets out, looks a bit confused. at his questioning look she simply says - "Her locker's empty."
He knows who. Asks all the same.
"Andy. Her locker's empty. "
She's not coming back.
Beep.
Oliver is the first to be out-in-the-open worried. He has the experience (doesn't buy into the whole 'UC on a different agency'), knows about the night she went under-the confession to a grenade-wielding McNally, the "I'll be at The Penny" fiasco - the whole shebang. He's the one to talk with Tommy, and while he carefully avoids alarming his retired TO, he's alarmed himself -
Tommy hasn't heard from her.
Beep.
Her condo? The 5-year-plan , aka 'the toilet factory' ? Vacant and on the market, for sale.
He and Nash are mistaken for a couple of potential buyers. That's how he now stands, alongside Nash, in an empty apartment. The one McNally used to reside in. They return the keys (show their badges), pose (friendly) questions.
What happened to the plan, the big five-year plan. The one that sent him undercover?
('Drink the champagne, eat the good candy' notwithstanding)
Beep.
(Oh, and the neighbors, the ones who know everything ? Don't have a clue.
Beep.)
When he dubbed it a 'Houdini' he didn't know the extent to which he'd be proven right. Almost seven months, he just now realizes – that's exactly what she did.
A/N: Thank you all for your lovely reviews, it's encouraging to see people still care about these characters and their stories. (I really thought I'm posting this just for me.)
A few notes:
1. I am not a native english speaker, and I don't have a beta. You've been warned.
2. Most of this story is already laid-out, but there's plenty of editing to do, as I wrote most of it more than five years ago and my english got slightly better since. Anyway - this will take time. Please be patient.
3. Writing this was difficult at times. But, I talked myself down from the 'I hate Sam' tree. Please do not throw twigs (or hateful comments, civil ones are ok) at me.
Until next time,
totheboats.