Disclaimer: I do not own Rookie Blue or any of the characters

Sorry for the delay in the update. Life has been busy and thrown up some difficulties of late. However, this is the longest chapter I have written so far. I had a day off yesterday and was supposed to do my tax return, which is very late, but who wants to do tax when you can write about Gail and Holly. It has been a real treat though to have so many other Golly fics updated lately.

Thank you to all the people who continue to follow and fav, and to the dedicated reviewers who chapter after chapter leave comments which I so very much appreciate. If you feel so inclined, please do leave a review, long or short I don't mind. I've said it before, reviews give me inspiration to keep writing, but also I really do want to know what you think of this. I could wind this up after this case, although I have a few other plots I could also pursue.

Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. Apologies for any mistakes – proofing your own work is always challenging. A warning there is mention of rape in this chapter.

..

'I didn't want it to define me,' Gail said, trying to explain to Holly why she hadn't told her about Perick, 'I didn't want you to look at me like I was a victim.'

They were sitting on the patio outside Gail's room. It was big enough for two chairs and a small table and to Holly's surprise a planter box with some annuals just starting to flower. The evening was unseasonably warm for spring, and Gail had suggested going outside because she figured it might be a more neutral space. Beside Chloe was still downstairs, and had looked a little anxious when she saw Gail and Holly's somber faces as they came in from the front porch.

When Holly said she knew about Perick, Gail had nodded and replied 'Frankie told you.' It was more a statement than a question.

'No,' Holly had replied, 'I worked it out myself'.

'Figures,' Gail said, 'you are such a nerd.' The playfulness of her words belied her nervousness.

Gail felt she could trust Holly with her whole self yet she hadn't. She had kept this broken part of herself hidden, afraid it would sit like a weight between them, coloring forever the way Holly saw her and, even though she knew better, a very small part of Gail feared it might be the thing that finally pushed Holly away. At the very least, based on how Holly reacted to the Ford shootings, it would make Holly more afraid for her. Gail took a deep breath and said 'I need to tell you things you might not want to hear.'

So Holly had heard those things and felt her heart break again and again. It was like a physical hurt, at once both heavy and somehow hollow, and it left her with a desperate longing to go back in time and stop this terrible thing happening to Gail, impossible as that was. Now hearing that Gail had doubts about how she would react, Holly felt her heart break a little more. She couldn't help but think it was the fault of all those people in Gail's life, starting with her parents and right down to Chris and Nick, who made her reluctant to trust.

'Gail,' she said, wanting to reach across the table and take her hand, but resisting because she sensed Gail didn't want to be touched. 'Being abducted is always going to be a part of who you are, whether you told me or not, but its just one part. It doesn't define you. You are so much more than that to me.'

Gail looked at Holly doubtfully and then dragged her top teeth over her bottom lip. Vulnerable, she looks vulnerable, thought Holly, realizing that it was partly this, the vulnerability that was threaded through the snark and the attitude that had first drawn her to Gail. Back then she had been so captivated by Gail, so caught up in falling for her, Holly hadn't fully understood how rare it was for Gail to show this side of herself or what it said about their relationship that she was willing to let her guard down.

'And I don't see you as a victim,' This time Holly did reach for Gail's hand, 'I see you as someone who did something incredibly courageous to catch a serial killer and stop more women being abducted. You are very brave.'

'Or crazy,' Gail interrupted, but didn't remove her hand from Holly's.

'No, brave.' Holly was adamant. 'You put your life on the line and even after being abducted, you keep going out there, doing your job, protecting other people. To have the strength to do that makes you extraordinary.'

'But I'm a mess,' Gail said, and Holly could hear the self-loathing in her tone and see it in the way Gail twisted her mouth in disdain. 'I couldn't concentrate on my job properly today because I kept thinking about Perick, and I still can't catch a taxi by myself'

Ah, thought Holly that explains it. She'd always thought Gail was being petulant when she refused to take a taxi.

'You know a big reason I went home with Frankie after Andy's wedding was because I didn't want to get in a taxi by myself,' Gail continued, thinking well at least that night had confirmed that it wasn't just Holly but women she preferred to have sex with. 'And I have nightmares where I'm back in that basement.'

'I've never noticed the nightmares.' Holly said, deciding to concentrate on that rather than the fact of Gail having sex with Frankie.

'Yeah, you sleep like the dead Holly', Gail gave a small, rueful smile. 'Although, I usually sleep better when you're there.' She wondered if this admission made her seem weak. 'I keep a loaded gun in my bedside drawer when I sleep alone. That's not normal.'

'Under the circumstances, yeah I think it is', Holly said gently, even though she hated guns and hated the thought of Gail sleeping with one next to her. 'I'm guessing that's something you're working on with your therapist.'

Gail nodded.

'Gail, the fact that you are making a good life for yourself is proof that you're not letting this define you. You let yourself love and be loved, and to care, to do what is right. They're not the actions of someone who is a mess or a victim. Everyday you defy Perick and people like him, who try to destroy anything that has meaning, by living a life that does have meaning. So no, this doesn't define you.'

As Holly spoke she thought it was possible Gail might be intending to run again and she would need to persuade her to stay. If Holly's words had worked, as she intended, to reassure there was no sign of it in Gail's reply. In a voice laced with sadness, she said 'But today, when Susan Phelps' parents came to identify her body, they asked me if she'd suffered and I didn't know what to say.'

Gail had known the Phelps were searching for some comfort, a tiny positive to weigh against the evil visited upon their daughter to make their grief bearable. Yet she had frozen, unable to think of a single word of reassurance, because she of all people had some idea of just how much their daughter had suffered. Finally Chloe had spoken. 'We can't know for sure, but hopefully it was quick', she said and in that moment Gail looked at her with as much gratitude as Susan's parents did.

'Even if her death had been quick, it's what came before.' As Gail spoke she looked straight ahead, seemingly at a distant point in the darkness, but Holly sensed she wasn't conscious of her surroundings. 'The helplessness as you lie there trying not to think about what he is going to do to you, trying not to give in to the certainty that you are going to die but then not being able to shake that terrible thought that death might be preferable to what he plans to do to you before he kills you.'

'Oh, honey,' Holly said realizing Gail was no longer referring to Susan but to herself. 'Do you want to be taken off the case? Would that help?' Holly asked, hoping Gail didn't think she was questioning whether she could do her job.

'No', Gail shook her head. 'What sort of detective would I be if I have to pick and choose which cases I take. No, I feel like I owe it to these women to do what I can to find out who did this, because Holly this could have been me.'

Holly didn't want to think about that, about how Gail easily could have been Perick's next victim, her broken body laid out on a slab in the morgue and how it may well have fallen to her to perform the autopsy. She couldn't bear to imagine how close she came to losing Gail before she had even met her.

In the moment it took to suppress that thought, it was as if Holly's breath had been sucked away. She had believed she knew exactly what Gail meant to her, but in that instant Holly truly grasped just how precious Gail was and, even though in the past she had scoffed at the notion of meeting 'the one', she realized with absolute certainty that Gail was the love of her life. There could never be anyone else. Not now. Holly understood then that losing Gail could destroy her.

'You don't need this Holly, a high maintenance girlfriend. Bet you didn't realize just how fucked up I am,' Gail said bitterly, withdrawing her hand from Holly's and standing abruptly. 'I'd understand if you want to leave, if this is too much, cause you didn't sign up for this.'

They'd talked about this, Gail and her therapist, about the pushing away. How people always left Gail and how in leaving they confirmed to Gail everything she feared about herself. She was not good enough, a disappointment, not the girl-friend type, not a good daughter or a worthwhile friend. So she pushed people away and chose partners who were never going to stay anyway, when deep down, as Leslie had made her realize, all Gail wanted was to be known and accepted and loved for who she was.

'Yeah, I did, I signed up for this,' Holly stood and faced Gail but didn't reach for her, again not sure if she wanted to be touched. 'You're not doing this to me, Gail you're not pushing me away again. I left once before and I'm not going to again.'

Gail looked at Holly with an expression that was in equal parts mystified and relieved. Every time she had given someone an out, a reason to leave, they had grabbed it with both hands and never glanced back. Not Holly. Even when Gail had told Holly things she usually kept buried away because the telling of it was too hard and the horror of it betrayed just how damaged she was. No, Holly was staying. No one else had been willing to fight for her. To say she was worth the trouble. Not even Olivia, the architect, who wanted so much more than Gail could give and who Gail might have loved but for Holly.

'All you've done since we got back together is help me deal with my shit,' she said quietly. 'You'll get sick of that eventually.'

'Firstly, it's not all I've done, and secondly we talked about this at the hospital - helping each other deal with the crap life throws at us is what you do when you're in a relationship. You do the same for me.'

'You've kind of all worked out Holly. You never seem to have any dramas.'

'Yeah right, put me on a pedestal. I'm the one with the bitchy friend. I already owe you big time for looking out for Lisa. But Gail, you get me. Most people are put off by my job and I guess I can be kind of weird. I mean look at me. You know how socially awkward I can be, I ramble and I get so caught up in my head I misread what's going on around me and –

'But those are the things I love about you,' Gail interrupted, 'Well not Lisa, but she's your friend and I know she just wants what's best for you so I can tolerate her.'

'See,' Holly smiled, 'That's what happens when you love someone, you make allowances.' This time Holly stepped towards Gail, who let her take her hand to bring them closer together. 'So, I guess you go back to the therapist, you talk about this case and how its bringing up what happened to you. And you talk to me anytime you need to, and I mean that, anytime.'

Gail gave a small, uncertain smile, and Holly felt doubt for the first time that evening.

'That's if you want me to stick around, because Gail I want to, you have no idea how much but if –'

At this, Gail took a step toward Holly and bringing her hands up to cup her face leaned in to kiss her gently. 'Of course, I want you to stick around, nerd,' she said softly and then wrapped her arms around Holly to pull her into a fierce hug.

She had never liked to hug anyone before Holly. Hugging had felt stifling, even suffocating, and Gail always felt a little panicky when pulled into an embrace, her skin prickling uncomfortably. Not with Holly. Hugging Holly felt warm and safe and like home, and not for the first time since she'd met Holly Gail wondered how she had become such a sap and why she didn't mind.

Now as they stood with their arms around each other, they were still and quiet, the physical presence of the other a tangible reassurance. For Gail it was the fact of Holly's staying and for Holly it was in having Gail here, now, not lost to Perick, not claimed either by death or the demons in her head.

'We should go to sleep,' Holly said finally, pulling back slightly from Gail. 'Its been a long day.'

'Oh, God, you must be exhausted,' Gail said, at once feeling dismayed that she had been so consumed by her own problems, she hadn't thought that Holly would be worn out after performing two autopsies, with two more scheduled for tomorrow.

'We both could do with some sleep,' Holly said, noticing the slight chill that had settled in with the late hour, and reaching for Gail's hand, she led her back inside.

In the morning, when Gail woke with Holly curled tightly around her, she marveled at how peaceful her sleep had been and how having Holly's body pressed against her like this felt as natural as breathing.

….

When Holly woke a little while later, she kissed Gail gently on the lips and then slowly kissed and touched her way across and down Gail's body, her close attentions almost worshipful, an affirmation of all Gail meant to her. Then Holly brought herself back up to face Gail and this time the kiss was harder, full of love and lust and intent, and as she moved her hand between Gail's legs, she smiled at Gail's moan and at how wet she was. Afterwards Gail could not recall ever feeling so loved.

Later when Holly got to her office, she locked the door and let the tears come, the tears she held in last night because she didn't want her own sorrow to add to Gail's. She cried for Gail, for all the things that had been done to her, not just Perick but all the hurts and betrayals. Holly cried because she had not fought harder for her the first time or the second, choosing San Francisco over Gail, and as the tears began to lessen Holly vowed to always make Gail remember she was her first choice.

…..

It took another six days to identify the other two women as Alison Carlsen and Elena Davidson. Holly had to call on a forensic odontologist to help with the identification because the bodies were so badly decomposed that their teeth had become loose and fallen out, making it hard for her and Rodney to make a comparison with the dental records. The odontologist was able to match individual teeth with Alison and Elena's dental records, and compare what the x-rays showed of the skeletal structure around the teeth with the jaw and sinuses of each of the women. It was painstaking work, although Holly was thankful they hadn't needed to do facial reconstructions. That would have taken weeks, evens months. Once the forensic odontologist was confident he had a match, just to be sure Holly brought in Alison's sister and Elena's brother to do a DNA comparison.

Given the state of the bodies, it also took time to establish the post-mortem interval. However, as the bodies had broken down, they had leaked fatty acids from muscle and fat into the ground, so the forensic team was able to analyze the soil collected from beneath the bodies to determine time of death. But it was slow work. They estimated Elena and Alison had been killed about three weeks ago and their bodies dumped not long after. The forensic entomologist concurred. She had based the time of death on the age of the insects and larvae present in the bodies or what was rather macabrely known as 'time since colonization'. The term had at least amused Gail.

Holly concluded that Alison and Elena had been killed and dumped at the same time, as had Susan and Maura Lees, her companion in the forest grave. Which, as Frankie pointed out to her team, either meant the killer was kidnapping two women at the same time or, as seemed more likely, he was keeping at least one captive before he killed both of them.

If Frankie was frustrated by the slow progress forensics was making, she didn't let it show. She did, however, let slip to Holly that she'd noticed how Gail seemed back to normal.

'She talk to you?' Frankie asked and when Holly nodded in confirmation, she said 'Good' and then moved on to discussing the case.

Holly supposed she would have to like Frankie because in her own irascible and off-hand way she cared for Gail and, when everything had imploded, she at least was there for Gail.

It did seem Leslie, Gail's therapist, was right. In telling Holly about Perick, Gail had diffused the hold he still had on her. It was like a weight had been lifted from Gail. It wasn't just opening up to Holly that caused this shift, Gail realized, but Holly's calm acceptance, her insistence that this changed nothing in the way she felt about Gail or how she saw her as a person.

Gail still had the nightmares but each time she immediately woke Holly, something Holly made her promise to do, and each time Holly had simply held her until she felt calmed and able to sleep again. Since finding out about Perick, Holly had spent every night at Gail's house. The previous morning, on her way out of the hospital after a visit to Steve, Gail had run into Lisa who couldn't resist a jibe.

'Have you kidnapped Holly, Peck? We saw more of her when she lived in San Francisco.'

'I didn't realize Holly needed a permission note to leave the sorority house'

'Ha, very droll, Peck. She's always been a sucker for a blonde in distress,' Lisa drawled, making Gail stiffen until she realized that by distress Lisa was referring to Steve being in hospital, 'and throw in sex and there's no holding her back.'

'Lisa,' Gail said, in a solemn tone, her face serious as if she was about to make a statement of some importance, 'I think you need to get laid.'

To Gail's surprise Lisa had laughed as if highly amused, 'I think you're right Peck.'

The exchange had left Gail feeling slightly guilty. Was she taking up too much of Holly's time? Were her needs making Holly neglect her friends? When Gail mentioned it to Holly, she smiled and shook her head, saying 'Ignore Lisa, it's generally the best course of action. I'm right where I want to be.'

….

It was late in the day and Frankie was feeling frustrated. She had gathered the team together to review the case. It was exactly one week since the dog walker had stumbled across the dumpsite and they could find little to connect the four women. They had interviewed friends, family, and colleagues and chased up dozens of fruitless leads and turned up nothing. No mutual friends or exes. None of the women belonged to the same clubs or even followed the same sports teams. Their occupations couldn't have been any different. Susan Phelps had worked as a nurse and Maura Lees, who was dumped at the same time as Susan, was a lawyer. Of the other two, Alison Carlsen was a student majoring in commerce and Elena Davidson was an aspiring actress who waited tables to pay the rent.

They loved in different neighborhoods and had attended different schools. In fact only three had grown up in Toronto, Elena having recently moved from Vancouver after a failed relationship. All four had lived alone, which could be significant, although so far the team hadn't been able to establish how. Only two other things seemed to link them – their age –between 22 and 29 - and their appearance. All were blonde and blue eyed, although even then Elena and Susan had long hair, Maura had a bob and Alison's hair was cropped short.

'Actually they look a lot like you, Gail,' Matt said and it was as if the room froze. Without looking up, Gail was aware all eyes were on her as the others waited for her reaction. She heard Chloe suck in a breath. Clearly Matt was one of the few cops who didn't know about Gail's abduction and she recalled he'd transferred to 27 from Vancouver not that long ago before coming over to 15.

'Matt, don't tell me you're one of these guys who think all blonde haired, blue-eyed women look the same' she said after a moment, but there was no bite in her tone, and she observed Andy, Dov, Chloe and Frankie visibly relax.

'No, no', Matt held up his hands in mock surrender, 'never.'

'You're right though, I guess there is a resemblance,' Gail allowed.

'Maybe,' Dov ventured, 'we should be looking at other women who look similar who've been reported missing. There could be more victims we don't know about.'

'It might be worth a shot,' Frankie agreed, 'but a huge task. It could be like searching for a needle in a haystack. You know how many women go missing in Canada each week, Dov. Lets give this another day. Tomorrow we'll go through the evidence again – all the interviews, all the information we've gathered – systematically. There has to be a connection we're missing. So bring fresh eyes in the morning, which means I don't want anyone drinking too much at the Penny tonight.'

At this everyone groaned. It was Frankie's birthday and Chloe had organized drinks at the Penny, which had surprised Gail given how much Frankie hated birthdays. Last year, Gail had gone over to Frankie's place with a bottle of tequila, and they'd ended up doing body shots and a lot more besides. In fact it was the last time Gail had slept with Frankie. After that Frankie seemed to get a little clingy, and Gail thought it best to keep the relationship platonic.

This morning when Gail had asked Holly if she wanted to come to the drinks, Holly had also expressed surprise.

'Frankie doesn't seem the type to celebrate birthdays.'

'No, she hates them,' Gail said.

'What did she do last year?' asked Holly, and Gail immediately blushed and cursed her fair skin. 'Oh, I see,' Holly said a little coolly, 'you two had sex.'

Gail bit her bottom lip and nodded. 'Ah, it was the last time.'

'I kind of forget you and Frankie used to have sex.'

'That's probably a good thing. I try to forget it too.' Gail gave a nervous laugh. She wondered how she'd react if she ever met any of Holly's exes, the idiots giving her up. Oh that's right, she'd been one of those idiots.

'So, you know how she claims to give women the best sex of their lives,' said Holly, sounding a little unsure, 'did you, was it like that, I mean you don't have to tell me, but'

'Oh god, Holly,' Gail rushed to interrupt her, 'do you even need to ask that question. I mean the sex we have, there's no way anything could be better than that.'

'So that's a no?'

'Absolutely,' Gail smiled and pulled Holly into a fierce kiss.

When Gail was late for work that morning she didn't feel the need to apologize to Frankie. Or to explain that she'd spent the last two hours proving to Holly how absolutely sensational sex with her could be. She had a feeling Frankie might have guessed from the smile on her face.

….

Holly was already at the bar when Gail arrived at the Penny and, to her annoyance, she was talking to Jen Luck. Gail wondered briefly about her chances of spitting in Jen's drink again but quickly dismissed the thought because she was trying to be a bigger person, or so she told her therapist.

Holly didn't appear to be contributing much to the conversation. She had the look of someone trying to be polite but desperate to make a break for it. Of course Jen wouldn't pick up on that, thought Gail, which was why she'd always be a uniform. Holly smiled as Gail approached. One of her huge, loving smiles that made Gail feel like the only person in the room. Jen whipped her head around to see who had caught Holly's attention, and when she saw Gail her scowl was almost as large as Holly's smile.

'Hey,' Gail said looking only at Holly.

'Oh, look it's the chicken police,' Jen said, and Gail thought it really was about time the officer got some new material because that epithet really was wearing thin.

'Officer Luck,' Gail said icily.

'We're having a private conversation, go scratch in the dirt somewhere else, Peck.'

Gail raised an eyebrow, 'With lines like that it's a wonder you ever get lucky, Jen'. She was going to really enjoy telling Holly about Luck's clumsy attempts to pick her up not once, not twice but three times. 'Luck by name but hapless by nature.'

Gail smiled, one of her dangerous smiles she reserved for people she thought idiotic or base and occasionally Elaine. Holly was well aware that you never knew what was coming next. Gail might toss out a snarky put down or become mean and vindictive, or simply stalk off. She placed a hand on Gail's arm in a gesture of restraint. So Holly wanted her to play nice, thought Gail. Well, she could deal with this insufferable woman on her own then.

'I'll leave you two to get better acquainted, ' Gail said in a tone syrupy with insincerity.

As Gail sauntered off, careful to give an extra sway to her hips for Holly's benefit, Jen spoke up. 'I didn't think we'd get rid of her that easily. You know her whole family is corrupt and she's a bitch, frigid too.'

'Officer Luck,' said Holly, trying to keep the edge out of her voice, mindful she had to work with the woman. She was already irritated by the fact that Jen hadn't left her alone since she got to the Penny, despite her cool response to Jen's overtures, and that was before she had made this comment about Gail. Now Holly felt livid.

'Please call me Jen.'

'Officer Luck, Gail is my girlfriend. I don't think she is a bitch and I wish I didn't have to share this with you, but she is anything but frigid.' And with that Holly turned on her heel and went after Gail, completely missing Jen's gulp of surprise.

Gail was seated at a booth with Frankie, Chloe, McNally, Traci and Chris. Matt apparently had been dispatched to fetch drinks. As Holly slid in next to Gail, she whispered 'that was mean.'

'I hadn't even got started. Jen deserves far worse if only for that lame chicken police line,' Gail pouted.

'I wasn't talking about that. I meant abandoning me with her.'

Gail laughed and then, pulling Holly towards her by her shirtfront, kissed her for longer than was perhaps appropriate in front of work colleagues. Maybe she would tell Holly about the backwash in the wine as well.

'Feeling a little possessive, detective?' Holly asked, who in truth was feeling a little dazed by the intensity of the kiss.

'No,' said Gail, 'Just wanted to leave Luck in no doubt about who you're going home with tonight.'

After Matt returned with the tray of drinks, Traci asked Holly if she'd had any luck apartment hunting. Matt joined the discussion, regaling them with stories of the over-priced dumps he'd checked out while looking for a place when he moved from Vancouver. Chris, Andy and Chloe were deep in conversation about Nick being promoted to detective and how he had moved in with Juliette.

'I'm glad he's finally found someone who is good for him.' Andy said, and the other two nodded in agreement. While Gail was happy for Nick, she couldn't help but bristle a little at the criticism implicit in Andy's comment, even if it was unintended. Gail knew she hadn't been good for Nick, but then he hadn't exactly been great for her.

'He told me he's going to ask Juliette to marry him,' Chloe said breathlessly, and Gail wondered at the wisdom of sharing this piece of information before Nick actually popped the question. She really didn't have the energy for all this bubbliness tonight. Frankie must have felt the same way because she asked Gail if she wanted a game of pool.

'Sure,' Gail said, knowing as she got up that Frankie, being something of a pool shark, would beat her. At least winning might put Frankie in a better mood, she thought. The first time they played and Frankie trounced her, Gail had asked sardonically if being bad at pool meant she wasn't a very good lesbian. Frankie had looked at her weirdly and Gail couldn't help but think Holly would have laughed.

As Frankie racked the balls on the pool table and then positioned the cue ball to take her first shot, Gail looked idly around the room. She noticed Jen Luck sitting hunched over the bar with Wes and wondered what misinformation she was feeding him about her and Holly. She was relieved she'd never felt desperate enough to sleep with Jen.

She saw that Dov was seated at a table with one of the new rookies. Her name was Anna and she'd caught the eye of most of the single men at 15, who, to Gail's horror, had put bets on which one of them would sleep with her first. Chris had told her and she was pleased to learn he wanted no part of it.

As Frankie continued to sink ball after ball, Gail's attention turned to a large bulletin board on the wall next to the pool table. A flyer with the words FindLove and a bright logo showing two hearts intertwined caught her eye. For some reason it looked familiar and she pulled it off the board. As Frankie finished her turn, she leant over to see what Gail was looking at.

'Social events for the under 30s,' Frankie read out, 'Jeez Peck, I thought you and Holly were happy or is there trouble in paradise.'

Gail rolled her eyes. 'Anderson, its for heterosexuals.'

'Well, maybe you and Holly want to spice up your sex life. Wait. You're not looking for a baby daddy are you?'

'Oh shut up,' Gail said, pinning the flyer back on the board, and picking up the pool cue to take her turn.

When she and Frankie returned to the booth after Frankie had once again thrashed her, Gail was surprised to see that Dov was still talking to Anna and hadn't joined their group. When she looked across at Chloe, the redhead ducked her head slightly and Gail realized she'd been watching her watch Dov.

'What's up with that', Gail asked quietly with a small jerk of her head in Dov's direction.

'He's just being an ass,' Chloe sighed.

'Do you need me to talk to him?'

'No, I think I might enjoy being single again for a while.'

It was then that it hit Gail. Turning to Frankie, and not caring that she was mid conversation with Traci, Gail said excitedly, 'Frankie, that's the connection, they all had recently broken up with their boyfriends.'

'What Peck?' Frankie asked, clearly not following Gail's train of thought, 'All their exes checked out.'

'No, no not the exes. What if all four women used a, I dunno, dating service, and that's how they met this guy.'

'I guess its possible.'

'You know that flyer I was looking at. I knew I'd seen it before. There was one stuck on the fridge in Susan's apartment.'

Frankie was on her feet. 'We need to take a look at their computers and phones again. See if they used the same service. Matt, go get Dov.'

As Gail, Chloe and McNally stood, Frankie turned to the remaining three at the table, 'Holly, Traci, Chris, sorry. I don't like birthday celebrations anyway.'

Gail leant in to kiss Holly, 'Sorry to abandon you again.'

'I might head back to Rachel's, if that's okay.'

'Sure, just so long as you don't go home with Jen Luck.' Gail said drily.

'Don't even joke about that Gail.'

…..

Three hours later, Frankie, Gail and Chloe found themselves in a midsized bar downtown that had been newly fitted out with recycled timber wainscoting and mismatched furniture, including low sofas with brightly coloured cushions. The sort of place that tried to pass itself off as hipster but packed in as many bodies as it could and charged exorbitant prices for the drinks. Gail bet they were watered down too. It was here that FindLove held one of its 'social gatherings' every Tuesday night.

Dov was whipping himself for not picking it up when he first went through the computers, but at least three of the women had used FindLove. The team hadn't recovered Alison's phone or iPad and was still waiting on a warrant to access her data via her service provider. However, Maura had an email notifying her of an up coming FindLove event, and a search of their browsing history revealed both Susan and Elena had logged into the FindLove site. It was enough for Frankie to make a phone call to the proprietor of the dating service.

Sandra Cookson was perky in a way that made Chloe look positively subdued. In her late 30s, her shoulder-length hair was dyed a coppery shade and clearly straightened, and she favored a lot of eye make-up and gold jewelry, including a row of bangles that clinked together noisily as she waved her hands about expansively.

'Some people don't like the anonymity of the internet,' Sandra was explaining, 'you never know who you're really talking to, it could be a serial killer for all you know.' Realizing what she'd said, she laughed nervously before continuing. 'You get what I mean. People don't always tell the truth on line. They touch up their photos. Lower their age. Inflate their income. Some people prefer meeting potential partners face to face. So that's where we come in. We organize social events for singles to meet and mingle, no pressure, no expectations.'

'Are they always here?' Frankie asked.

'Every Tuesday yes, but we also have a Thursday night at a bar in West Queen West. Sometimes we have extra events at different venues. It might be a club, a restaurant or a visit to a gallery. We've even organized picnics.'

'And roughly how many attend', Frankie said, looking around at the handful of people left in the bar at this late hour.

'No more than 80 - 40 women, 40 men. Members sign up on-line to each event on a first come first served basis.'

'So how many members do you have in total?' Gail asked.

'Oh, thousands. Not everyone attends regularly. Some drop off when they meet their special someone.'

'Do you do any vetting when new members sign up?' Gail inquired.

'Um, we don't really have the resources for that. I've never had any complaints though, about anyone behaving badly or being creepy.'

'So these guys here seem fairly young,' said Chloe, indicating a group at the bar who looked to be barely twenty, 'what demographic are you aiming for?'

'The under thirties is our niche', Sandra said brightly, before turning to Frankie and Gail and saying 'we have nights for gay ladies too.'

Frankie was momentarily dumbstruck. Gail realized Sandra was way more perceptive than she had thought. She smiled sweetly and said 'Oh, Detective Anderson's too old for your niche, and well my niche is very singular and it's taken care of.' Frankie shot her a glare and Gail just smiled back at her.

'So, would you be able to supply us with a list of the events the four women attended, and the names of all the other members who were there?' asked Frankie, having recovered herself.

'Sure, it will take a bit of collating, but I can get my admin staff to help in the morning, unless you need it tonight?'

'No, tomorrow morning's fine. By the way, is there a surveillance camera in this bar?'

'Not that I know of,' Sandra said.

….

By lunchtime Sandra had furnished them with the lists and they spent the rest of the day crosschecking names, looking for men who had attended the same gatherings as all four women. The women had all only joined FindLove in the past few months, which at least meant they hadn't attended a huge number of these events.

By 6pm that night, they had narrowed the names down to three - Mike Jeffries, Aaron Schmidt and PJ West. Frankie asked Matt and Andy to check if any the venues used by FindLove had surveillance video, and set Dov to work digging up background information on Aaron, Mike and PJ, while she took Gail and Chloe with her to interview the three men.

Mike Jeffries seemed genuinely alarmed when told they were investigating the murders of four women. He'd just returned from two weeks holiday with his new girlfriend, which at least put him out of the timeframe for Susan and Maura's murders.

Aaron Schmidt's leg was in a full cast and his arm was also broken - the legacy of a motorcycle accident four weeks earlier. A pretty boy, Aaron's arrogant air indicated he was well aware of his good looks. He had tried flirting with Gail and even called her blondie, which had left her deeply unimpressed. She did take some satisfaction in the fact that his were the type of boyish looks that didn't work well on men as they aged.

'So you went out to find a date with a broken arm and leg?' Gail asked incredulously.

'They're going to heal. It's not like a disability,' Aaron said defensively, 'I mean, what else am I going to do. Sit at home and be miserable. I'd rather find myself a hottie.'

Much as she'd like to arrest him, Gail had to admit he was unlikely to have committed the murders, unless he had some help. At this stage though, all the forensic evidence pointed to this being the work of one man.

As soon as PJ West opened his apartment door, Frankie and Gail realized he was transgender. That didn't mean he couldn't have raped the women. Holly had found no trace of semen during the autopsies and Gail made a note to ask if it was possible some other object had been used. He was a little man and Gail wondered if he would have had the strength to subdue the women, given there were signs they had put up a struggle. Even his hands were small, which didn't fit with the large imprints on Susan and Maura's necks.

What ruled PJ out though was his work schedule. He was a train attendant for VIA Rail on the Toronto to Vancouver route, a round trip that took nine days, four on the train each way and one day layover. He was working at the time the women had disappeared.

Frankie, Chloe and Gail returned to the station a little deflated. The elation of finally getting a breakthrough was replaced by the sinking feeling that this was just another dead-end. As Gail went to make herself a tea - herbal as a concession to the late hour – Andy appeared.

'Frankie wants us back for a briefing,' she said.

Gail nodded 'Okay, I'll be there in a minute.' When Andy made no move to go, Gail sighed and said 'What is it, McNally?'

'Gail, you know how we were talking about Nick at the Penny. I didn't mean to imply you weren't good for him.'

'But I wasn't McNally.'

'Yeah, well me neither. But you and Holly are so right together I kind of forget that you and Nick were ever a thing. I mean you and Holly are sort of perfect.'

Gail wasn't quite sure how to respond to this. It felt like the verbal equivalent of an Andy hug.

'And Nick and I, well especially me, we shouldn't have done that to you.' Andy continued.

'Water under the bridge,' Gail shrugged. 'I'm happy for him. He and Juliette are good together.'

In the incident room, Frankie was looking anything but happy.

'Neither of the bars had surveillance inside', she was asking Matt.

'Nope, only at the front and rear of the premises. I've got the footage to go through. It's a big job, even if we do know the date of the FindLove events.'

'The gallery they sometimes use as a venue had surveillance,' Andy piped up, 'but the cameras are trained on the artworks in case someone tries to steal or vandalize them, so you only see the people standing near the works.'

'Okay. It's worth looking at though. Tomorrow we need to go through the footage and the FindLove lists again. See if we've missed anything.'

'The next FindLove event is tomorrow night. Should we send someone in undercover?' Matt asked.

Frankie paused for a moment. 'Yeah, I think we should.'

'Well, Peck's the obvious choice,' Matt said turning to look at Gail, 'seeing as she looks a lot like our victims.'

Again the room was quiet and again Gail felt all eyes trained on her. She blew out a breath. 'Yay, I guess it's me then,' she said.