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

Again sorry for the delay in updating. Life really is just too busy and demanding. This is the longest chapter I have written so perhaps that will make up for it. I have a feeling that at the moment I probably will only be able to update about every two weeks.

Thanks again to everyone who reviews, favorites and follows, and of course the dedicated readers too! It means a great deal to hear from you all. I love to know what you think of this fic so please leave a review with your thoughts if you are inspired.

I proof this myself so apologies for any typos or mistakes. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Gail was standing alone in a small clearing in the forest. It was in that hour before dawn when the light was nearly blue and the air still, almost suspended, as if in wait for something to begin, for some catalyst to break the tranquility and start the day. Gail heard a noise behind her and recognized it as footfalls. She turned and saw Perick walking towards her, dressed in a prison orange jumpsuit.

He was intoning something over and over like a mantra, but she couldn't make out the words. As he drew closer, she realized he was saying, 'Two by two, two by two Gail. You need to bring a companion.'

Gail was not surprised to find Perick in the clearing. She didn't even think to question how he had escaped prison and managed to get here or even how he knew she would be in the forest.

When he reached her, Perick stopped and said, 'This will be your final resting place. I've chosen a beautiful location for you.' He indicated a spot beneath a maple tree on the edge of the clearing where the earth had been freshly dug to form a shallow grave. His voice was soothing, almost unctuous, and Gail imagined it might be how a funeral director would speak to the recently bereaved.

'Unless they find you, and dig you up.' He clapped his hands suddenly. 'Oh, that would be delicious. I wonder if your doctor friend will enjoy caressing your body as much when she performs the autopsy,' Perick said. He reached out and ran a hand down the side of Gail's face. Gail flinched then, but didn't move. She felt rooted to the spot. Not sure what was holding her there.

'But you need a companion, Gail,' Perick's tone changed to one of annoyance. 'Go back to the bar. Make sure she's blonde and has blue eyes.' He started to laugh maniacally.

Gail woke. She sighed heavily. Screw Perick and screw her subconscious. It was the first time Holly had figured in one of the nightmares. Gail could guess what that signified. Although it was interesting the dream annoyed rather than frightened her. Perhaps that at least was a good development, she thought.

It was early. Barely 6am. They hadn't finished up until nearly one last night and Frankie had told everyone to come in late. She wanted them fresh for the undercover op. Gail stretched. Her head felt fuzzy from lack of sleep but she was too alert to even doze now.

….

Gail welcomed the cool rush of the water as she plunged into the pool. She had taken up swimming because of a bad back, but kept it up because she found it meditative. Holly still thought it faintly amusing that Gail voluntarily exercised, although she did appreciate the extra muscle definition it had given her girlfriend. Not that Gail had swum much since Holly got back to Toronto. It was extremely difficult to get out of bed when Holly was in it, and then Gail had been working back late most nights because of the case.

Celery had told Gail she took to swimming because she was a water sign, if you believed that astrology stuff. Gail had discovered that as she counted the laps, soothed by the rhythm of her breathing and the repetition of the stokes, her mind calmed, the thoughts competing for attention slipping almost effortlessly into some sort of order, given the right proportion and weight.

It was not working that way this morning. All she could think over and over was that she needed to speak to Holly about the undercover operation and that Holly was not going to like it. Strangely she felt more nervous about telling Holly than about the actual op. In fact she felt surprisingly calm about going undercover.

When Matt had said she was the obvious choice to go undercover at the FindLove event, Gail had already resigned herself to this inevitability. Over the past week, the more Matt kept mentioning her resemblance to the victims and the more the others avoided talking about it, the more Gail realized it might come to this.

What had surprised her though was that as soon as she said, 'Yay, I guess it's me then', Andy and Chloe had rushed to say 'I'll do it', speaking over the top of each other in their haste to offer themselves in her place.

'I could dye my hair blonde,' Chloe suggested.

'Yeah, me too,' Andy said.

Gail had regarded them dubiously. 'Really, I don't think you two could pull off blonde. Anyway neither of you have blue eyes.'

'Gail, you don't have to do it,' Dov spoke up, the concern evident in his voice, 'does she?' He turned to Frankie.

The detective waited a moment before she spoke. 'No, no, I wouldn't expect that of you Gail,' Frankie said finally, looking directly at her.

'Can someone tell me what's going on,' Matt interrupted, looking from person to person and then settling his gaze on Gail.

'You've heard of Ross Perick?' Gail said, her face impassive and her voice even. She guessed she should be grateful to her mother for teaching her how to school her features to give nothing away.

'The serial killer, yeah, of course,' Matt said, and then it was as if the proverbial light bulb went off in his head, 'Oh, you're the officer he took.' As Gail nodded, Matt's curious expression turned apologetic.

'Can all of you stop looking at me like you're kicked puppies,' Gail huffed, 'I've been undercover since then. I've just come back from a successful undercover op. You don't need to treat me like I'm gonna break.'

'Okay everyone, can you give Gail and I five minutes,' Frankie said.

As the others filed out of the room, Gail rolled her eyes. 'Dramatic much, Anderson.'

'I need to know you're okay to do this. One week ago you could barely look at the bodies. I wasn't even convinced you should be on this case.' Frankie sighed, the usual brittleness absent from her tone.

She hadn't told Gail about the visit she received from Superintendent Peck on day two of the investigation, demanding to know why her daughter was still on the team. Frankie had never responded well to bosses who tried to push her around and it angered her that Elaine Peck, who barely spoke to her daughter, believed she could interfere in Gail's life. Now she couldn't be sure if part of the reason she was keeping Gail on the case was to aggravate the superintendent. Frankie trusted Gail when she said she could handle undercover, but what if she was making the wrong call. She just hoped her judgment wasn't clouded by her friendship with Gail.

'That was a bad day, the day we found the bodies,' Gail said, 'I've been focused ever since. All I want to do is get this bastard, and if that means going undercover I'm okay with that.'

'We have other options. You're not the only blonde at 15.'

'Yeah, but the only one who looks like our victims. Anyway Frankie, I know the case. It make sense that it's me.'

Finally Frankie had agreed. Calling the others back in, she outlined her plan for the operation. Gail would go undercover at the FindLove event but with Matt, Chris and Anna Robinson, the rookie Dov had been flirting with at the Penny.

'Robinson doesn't exactly look like our victims,' Frankie had said, 'but at least she's blonde and blue-eyed. '

Gail noticed Chloe look across at Dov before the redhead turned back to focus on Frankie.

'Matt, Diaz and Robinson will keep tabs on Gail and also see if anyone is watching her, taking an excessive interest without actually approaching her. Dov, lets see what we can do about getting vision in the bar without alerting anyone who works there. We can't rule out the possibility that one of the bar staff is our perp. Gail will be wearing a wire so if we don't get vision at least we can hear who she's speaking to.'

'What about Chloe and me?' Andy asked, 'We could be in the bar.'

'You'll be in the surveillance van with Dov and me. I know there were only a couple of stragglers left at the bar last night, and that the FindLove event is at a different venue tomorrow, but I don't want to run the risk of someone recognizing me or Chloe, even if she wasn't in uniform. If needed though, we'll go into the bar.'

Frankie didn't need to spell it out. If needed meant if the operation went to shit and they'd be needed in the bar as backup. Frankie was at least thankful she had the foresight to tell Chloe to wear plainclothes to the bar the previous evening, not wanting to draw attention to the fact that they were police or that they were investigating FindLove.

'What if they recognize Gail?' Andy asked, 'She was with you too'.

'I won't be wearing my combats boots and jeans,' Gail said, a little snarkily. Andy looked at her blankly, so Gail explained very slowly, almost as if she were speaking to a small child, 'you remember what I look like in a dress, McNally. Lots of make-up, my hair done-up.'

Andy nodded, 'Oh, I guess you do look very different.'

'Okay, this is going to be interesting,' Matt said, 'I don't think I've ever seen you in a dress, Peck.'

'Well, it's hardly practical for a detective, Kennedy. Come to think of it, I've never seen you in a dress either,' Gail gave Matt one of her fake smiles.

'Okay, very funny,' he said.

So now Gail had to break the news to Holly. The pool was not far from Rachel's place and, after showering and changing, Gail decided to try and catch Holly before she left for the morgue. This wasn't a conversation she wanted to have in either of their workplaces.

Rachel answered the door when Gail pressed the buzzer. She had an overnight bag and looked as if she were about to head out.

'Conference in Montreal,' Rachael explained after greeting Gail, 'Holly's having breakfast – just through there.'

She indicated a door that led from the small foyer where they were standing into an open plan room, with a breakfast bar separating the kitchen from the living area. Gail hadn't actually been inside Rachel's apartment before. So far Holly had always stayed over at her house. While she suspected Holly was quite happy to have a break from Lisa, Gail thought it was mainly for her benefit so she could avoid Dr Boob Job.

Holly was perched on a stool at the breakfast bar, idly chewing on a piece of toast while reading a journal article. Her glasses, which she wore because she was shortsighted, were on the counter top. Gail loved seeing Holly like this, so engrossed in a task, so caught up in her enormous brain that she became oblivious to everything around her. There was something of the absentminded professor about her, thought Gail leaning against the doorjamb. It was adorable. Then as she watched Holly put down the toast and run a hand through her hair, giving it a little shake so it fell in long waves down her back, Gail felt her mouth go dry. Holly was so ridiculously, effortlessly sexy.

'Hey,' she said.

Holly looked up and a huge lop-sided smile broke across her face. 'Hey, what are you doing here?'

Gail didn't reply. Instead she pushed herself off the doorjamb and walked across to Holly and leant over and gave her a lingering kiss, pulling her bottom lip between her own. The need to always touch Holly, the constant physical pull to her, was something Gail had never really experienced with anyone else. It was hard to be in the same room with Holly without giving into the desire to place her hand in Holly's, to run her fingers down her back or along her arm, to feel those astonishingly perfect breasts, to cup her face and kiss her and tug Holly close.

'Did you miss me detective?' Holly asked as they pulled back from the kiss. The way Holly said detective, just like she used to say officer, drawing out the word, her voice low and sultry and teasing was normally enough to set Gail's thoughts running to how she might get Holly naked, but not this morning.

'I just need to talk to you about something,' Gail said, trying to keep it light. 'I was at the pool so.' She broke off, not sure how to continue.

'Are you checking to make sure Jen Luck's not here?' Holly teased.

'I thought we weren't allowed to joke about that, Holly.'

'She's so hapless you have to laugh. Her cluelessness is kind of amusing,' Holly replied, 'So how many times did you turn her down?'

'You worked that out,' Gail asked, unable to stop herself smiling a little at Holly's powers of deduction.

'It was the comment about you being frigid that tipped me off.'

'She said I was frigid,' Gail said, screwing up her face in disbelief.

'Don't worry, I set her straight,' Holly replied sassily.

'If only that were possible, Holly.' Gail said drily and then kissed Holly again. This time Holly pulled her in closer so Gail standing between her legs. Part of Gail knew she was allowing herself be distracted to avoid explaining to Holly the real reason she was there, but it didn't stop her from leaning in again for another kiss.

Until Holly, Gail hadn't believed you could get lost in someone's kisses. Lose all sense of time and place and just be in this moment where all that mattered were Holly's soft lips and the sensation of her tongue against her own. Then the feeling that she was sinking into Holly, wrapped in an aroma of vanilla and cinnamon that was so uniquely Holly, her skin sensitive to every touch, every caress, the moans coming from both of them heightening Gail's arousal. Holly pressing against her in a way that was at once almost too much and not enough and somehow just right, and the world became simply this, just the two of them, all else forgotten.

As Holly slipped her hands around Gail's waist and then underneath her shirt and up her back, Gail heard one of the most annoying sounds in the universe.

'Ugh, you two, seriously get a room,' Lisa said as she made her way past to the front door. She was dressed for work. At least her patients knew where their money was going, thought Gail, taking in the designer suit and heels, and a chunky diamond ring and matching earrings. Gail rolled her eyes. Not that Lisa would notice because she was determinedly avoiding looking at the two women, but Holly had a faintly amused smile.

'Have a nice day, Lisa,' Holly called out but Lisa didn't reply.

'I believe Lisa thinks I'm bewitching you with sex.' Gail said sotto voce as they heard the door slam.

Back when Lisa stayed that week with Gail, she had pronounced that Holly and Gail were a 'thing' because of the sex. When Gail, trying to keep the irritation out of her voice, said 'What', Lisa replied, 'Holly told me, it's the best sex she's ever had.' Gail had been incredulous. 'Holly talks to you about me and sex', she said. Lisa had shrugged, 'She's one of my best friends. I have to listen to that stuff.' It seemed though that this was the only explanation Lisa could come up with for why Holly would choose to be with Gail, even if she was now a detective.

Now Holly laughed. 'Remember what I told you about Lisa?'

'Yeah, yeah,' Gail rolled her eyes again, 'just ignore her.'

'Much as I would like you to bewitch me with sex right now Gail, I have an early meeting.'

'Oh' Gail said, looking down at the floor, biting her lip. She stepped back from Holly to allow her to get up off the stool.

'Hey, how did things pan out with that dating service?' Holly asked as she stood.

'Well, that's the thing,' Gail said, and then stopped because she couldn't think what to say next.

'What's the thing?' Holly looked at her quizzically.

'That's the thing I need to speak to you about. Turns out the four women all used FindLove. It has events for singles to meet, and so um, there's one tonight and we need to check it out because all the other leads have been a dead end,' Gail finished in a rush.

'And so because you have a resemblance to those women you're going undercover,' Holly said sharply.

Sometimes, Gail thought, it was a kind of a pain that her girlfriend was so smart. 'Yeah, but it's not like that Holly.'

'So what is it like, Gail?' Holly asked, her tone cool, her posture suddenly stiff.

So Gail explained how Frankie had set things up so she wasn't the only one going undercover and how four of them, including Frankie, would be watching from a surveillance van parked outside the bar.

'Didn't you get the same assurances when you went undercover in the Perick case,' Holly said.

This made Gail pause for a moment. 'It's different this time,' she insisted, 'I'm more experienced.'

'How can you even think about doing this? You still have nightmares about Perick.'

Gail didn't know how to respond to that. Holly was right about the nightmares. The remnants of the one that woke her this morning still clung to her. It wouldn't surprise Gail to know Holly sensed that.

'I can't believe Frankie would agree to this. A couple of days ago she wasn't even sure you should be on the case,' Holly said, sounding exasperated.

'What do you mean Holly?' This time Gail's voice held an edge.

'Nothing, forget it.'

'You discussed if I could do my job with Frankie,' Gail said quietly, her body very still. Holly knew from experience that the softness of Gail's tone and her motionlessness was not a sign of placidity or calm but rather meant that Gail's mood was dangerous and unpredictable.

Holly sighed. 'I was worried Gail. We both were. You were acting so strangely after we discovered the bodies. You weren't talking to me.'

'But I did talk to you that night. And I've spoken to Frankie. She at least believes me when I say I can do my job.'

'Gail,' Holly drew out her name. 'I know you can do your job. It's just that this case is too similar to Perick. And you were drugged with ketamine in Vancouver. You can't help but be reminded of your own trauma – because that's what happened when Perick took you, you were traumatized - and you're still working through that. I don't understand why you're pushing to go undercover.'

'I'm not pushing,' Gail said icily, regretting that in the spirit of full disclosure she had finally told Holly the whole story of the undercover operation in Vancouver. Now she felt like Holly was using Vancouver against her.

In fact when Gail explained how that undercover op had ended, Holly had been mortified that she was too drunk that night at the Penny to notice anything off about Gail. Mainly though, she was concerned that Gail had once again been drugged and held captive. Sometimes, Holly had thought, it did seem that the universe didn't want to cut Gail a break.

This was the first real disagreement they'd had since getting back together and Gail didn't know what to make of it. It startled her how quickly things had escalated to this standoff. She hadn't anticipated that Holly would react this way. She thought she would be anxious, just like in the interrogation room the day of the Ford shootings, not flinty and unyielding.

'So what are you trying to prove, Gail?' Holly asked, her voice quiet and resigned.

'Nothing, I'm not trying to prove anything, Holly, I'm just doing my job.' Gail was aware she was worrying at the bottom-lip again and that this was hardly likely to reassure Holly.

Holly sighed heavily. 'I need to get to my meeting.'

'Yeah, whatever,' Gail shrugged.

She turned to leave and then turned back again because in that instant she recalled what Holly had told her about that day in the morgue when Gail had appeared with the thumb. How Holly had to steel herself to maintain her composure, to not let Gail in, because even though she had a new girlfriend she was still hurting because of Gail. She didn't want Gail to realize that she thought about her all the time and that her presence in the lab was upsetting the very fragile equilibrium she had struggled to maintain ever since Gail walked out on her at the Penny. So Holly was hard and cold when really deep down all she wanted to do was take hold of Gail and kiss her and keep her close. Gail remembered this and turning back to Holly, she took a step towards her.

'I get it Holly,' she said, 'you're scared for me. But I'm much more experienced at undercover now and I trust Frankie to have my back. Sometimes my job can be dangerous but I can promise I won't do anything risky or foolhardy.'

'Gail, I can't lose you,' Holly finally breathed her greatest fear.

Gail took another step towards Holly and pulled her into a hug, relieved when Holly didn't resist the embrace.

'You are not going to lose me Holly,' she said firmly, 'it's a low-risk operation. I'll be surrounded by other police officers in the bar and under constant surveillance. We don't even know if the perp is going to be there. Really we're just checking out the place.' Gail found herself rubbing her hand in soothing circles on Holly's back.

'But what if he is there and approaches you, what then? Do you go on a date with him? You won't have all that back-up then.'

'Lets not get ahead of things, Holly. We'll deal with that if it happens. You need to trust me that I know what I'm doing.'

'I do, Gail. And I know you need to do your job and I can't let my fears get in the way of that,' Holly sighed, 'I just wish you weren't doing this.'

'If there was any other way, I wouldn't go undercover Holly.'

Holly looked unconvinced.

'You want me to say no?' Gail asked.

'No, I can't ask you to do that.'

'You look like shit, Peck,' Frankie said as Gail rounded the corridor that led to the Incident room, and then added more sympathetically, 'Couldn't sleep.'

Gail shook her head.

'Well, go home. Get some sleep. Don't come back until this evening. I want you rested. You need to be on top of your game for this. That is if you're still okay about going undercover. It's not too late to pull the plug on this,' Frankie said.

'No, I'm still up for it.'

'Okay,' Frankie regarded her for a moment, 'so go home.'

'But there is work to do here,' Gail protested.

'Not for you. I've got Dov and Matt doing background checks on the staff from both bars and Chloe and Andy are looking into who manufactures and distributes green tarpaulins. It's a long shot. I think those tarps are fairly common, but you never know.' Frankie shrugged.

As Gail turned to leave, Frankie called after her, 'Hey Gail, was Holly okay with the undercover?'

Gail grimaced. 'As much as she can be,' she replied.

'So not happy' Frankie said.

Gail nodded. She and Holly had parted uneasily. Holly had to rush to her meeting and Gail felt like there was plenty both of them had left unsaid. She had told Holly she had nothing to prove but now Gail realized she actually did. She had to show Holly that she could go undercover and it would be all right, that she wouldn't be abducted or drugged and that it wouldn't unhinge her. She knew Holly hadn't intended it to, but it put a whole lot of pressure on Gail that she could do without.

…..

At 3pm Frankie went across to the morgue to meet with Holly. The pathologist had called saying she'd found something interesting in the soil samples forensics had collected from beneath Susan's body.

'It's a micro fiber,' Holly explained to Frankie, 'it is so tiny it was easy to overlook the first time we examined the samples. We've established it's the type of fiber used in automotive carpets. And luckily for us the FBI have FACID, which is a database – the Forensic Automotive Carpet Fiber Identification Database to be exact – with information about nearly 1000 automotive carpet samples. For each sample, the database lists several main searchable parameters, or fields, which are dependent upon the characteristics of each fiber. For example color, cross section, diameter, polymer class, the presence or absence of delustrant, color distribution, any striations and visible spectral peaks.'

'Much as I'm enjoying the science lesson, in English please Dr Stewart,' Frankie interrupted.

'Oh,' Holly laughed weakly, 'Sorry, basically we've got a match. It was used in Chevrolet cargo vans between 2000 and 2006.'

'And you're saying it was used by our perp?'

'Now, that I can't be certain of. It is possible he transferred the fiber to the dumpsite on the sole of his shoe. Then again it might not have anything to do with the crime at all. But if you find a suspect with a Chevy cargo van then we may well be able to link him to the dump site by matching the fiber with the carpet in his car.'

Frankie blew out a breath. When Holly had asked her to come to the morgue she had hoped for a significant breakthrough, even something that would mean she could call off tonight's undercover operation. 'I guess it's something at least.'

'I know it doesn't seem like much,' Holly said, understanding Frankie's frustration that the investigation didn't seen to be moving forward, 'but he cleaned the bodies so thoroughly and was so careful not to leave any trace evidence, we're lucky we found this.'

'But you said yourself he may not have left it there.'

'I'd say the probability is high he did,' Holly said.

'You're unhappy Gail's going undercover,' Frankie said abruptly.

If Holly was surprised by the sudden change in topic she didn't show it. 'Gail tell you that?'

'I asked her,' Frankie said, 'She wasn't telling tales. So do you think I should take her off the operation?'

Holly frowned. 'I can't answer that. I'm her girlfriend and of course I'm worried, especially given her history, but you're the senior detective on this case so this is your call.'

Frankie nodded.

'I'll tell you one thing though, if as a supervisor I have any doubts about someone's capacity to do a job I reassign them or at least get them the support they need to complete the task.' Holly continued.

'I wouldn't ask Gail to do this if I had doubts, Holly. Anyway, it's a low-key operation. Really, you have nothing to worry about. You know I care about what happens to Gail.'

'Yeah, you're not over her are you?' Holly stated mildly.

Frankie looked at Holly sharply but saw no judgment there. She looked down and gave a self-deprecating laugh. 'Just my luck, I leave a trail of broken hearts because all I want is casual then I meet Gail Peck and suddenly I don't want to do casual anymore but she's in love with someone else.'

'She can be a heartbreaker,' Holly said, and she realized it was a testament to how secure she felt in her relationship with Gail that all she felt was sympathy for Frankie.

'Yeah, well I'm no threat Holly. I mean that goes without saying. She only has eyes for you, but I count Gail as a friend and I'll do everything to keep her safe,' Frankie said with uncharacteristic solemnity and Holly found herself suddenly liking this women a whole lot more.

Gail was woken by her phone ringing. She didn't recognize the number. When she answered with 'Detective Peck', she discovered it was Iris the dog walker who had stumbled over the bodies. Or more accurately Fudge, her chocolate labrador, had found the bodies when he ran into the gully and wouldn't come back when Iris called repeatedly. No doubt Fudge was lured by the smell of decomposition. That breed was known to eat anything, Gail thought with a wince.

Iris, who was in her mid sixties, had admitted that she liked to take the more remote trails in the woods because she didn't want the Rangers to fine her for walking her dog off leash. In fact she seemed more concerned that Gail was going to arrest her for that infraction than about the fact that she had found two dead bodies.

Gail, whose head had been swimming after seeing the bodies with their deeply grooved ligature marks and platinum hair so stark against the leaf strewn forest floor, had been short with Iris. 'Look, relax lady. I'm not going to lock you up for letting Fudge roam free. I just need some details.'

Iris hadn't been able to tell her much. Yes she walked here regularly, but she rarely saw anyone else and hadn't noticed any suspicious activity in the last few weeks or even days. Now she told Gail, almost breathlessly, 'I remembered something, detective. I saw a white van about two days before, before'.

Gail heard a slight tremor in Iris' voice and felt guilty she hadn't been kinder to her at the crime scene. Finding a body was a traumatic experience for a member of the public and of course Iris' preoccupation with the dog being off leash was probably just shock. At the time Gail wondered if being a bitch was her default position when faced with fear, rather than fight or flight. That thought hadn't made her any nicer to Iris though.

'Before you found the bodies,' Gail finished for her gently. 'Where was the van?'

'On the road near the start of the trail. He was heading out.'

'He?' Gail asked, 'So you got a look at him.'

'Not really, just a vague shape. I was annoyed because he was driving fast, too fast for a wilderness area and Fudge was, well.'

'Fudge was off leash,' Gail said.

'Yes.'

'Okay, would it be possible for you to come by the station and take a look at some photos of vans? See if you can identify the one you saw. We can send a car to pick you up.'

….

When she got back to the station after her visit to the morgue, Frankie was surprised to find Gail sitting with Iris in front of a computer.

'It was that one. Definitely,' Iris said, pointing to a photo of a white Chevy cargo van, 'it didn't have any windows on the side just like this one.'

Gail smiled. 'That's great Iris. This could be a big help.'

'Do you think that was him, in the van? That means I was out there walking when he was dumping them in the forest,' Iris shuddered, 'I haven't walked there since.'

Gail put her hand on Iris's arm. 'It may not be him, but it's probably sensible to stick to the more popular trails, even it does mean keeping Fudge on his leash.'

When Gail returned from ushering Iris out, Frankie, Dov and Matt were waiting expectantly for her. Chloe and Andy were still out chasing down camping suppliers to see if any of them stocked the type of tarpaulin used to cover the victims.

Frankie looked at Gail keenly. 'So, Iris saw a Chevy cargo van in the forest?' she asked.

'Yep,' Gail popped the 'p', 'She didn't get much of a look at the guy though. She thinks he had dark hair but he was going too fast.'

'Interesting,' Frankie said, trying to conceal her growing excitement, 'Dr Stewart found a fiber that comes from carpet used in those cargo vans. Dov, how are you and Matt going with those background checks.'

'Almost done. Everyone looks clean so far.'

'Okay, when you've finished I want you to check to see if any of the men who attended the same FindLove events as our victims are registered owners of a Chevy van. In fact any kind of white transit van. We can't rule out that Iris got the make wrong.'

'That's a huge job. We won't get it done before we need to set up surveillance for tonight.' Dov said, a little apologetically.

'That's okay. I'll give you a hand. If we don't find anything in the next few hours or get it finished, you and Matt can pick up the search tomorrow.' Frankie turned to Gail. 'Can you check if any vans have been ticketed in the vicinity of Rouge Park or caught on a speed camera around the time Iris thinks she saw the van. Start with white Chevys.'

Two hours later, the four of them had come up empty handed, however there was still a lot of data to examine. Chloe and Andy returned with the news that the tarpaulins were manufactured in Korea and were a dime a dozen, stocked by everyone from camping stores to Kmart. It would be impossible to trace everyone who bought one.

Frankie called it quits for the day and ordered in some Thai takeaway. It was nearly 6pm and they needed to take up their position outside the bar in just over an hour. Once the event kicked off at eight, Gail, Matt, Chris and Anna would arrive separately and at staggered times. Gail had had the foresight to bring in her dress and makeup when she returned to the station and Chloe offered to help her get ready. Gail snarked that they weren't sorority sisters but accepted the offer anyway.

'What's up with you and Dov?' Gail asked Chloe once they were in the locker room.

'He's got it in his head that there's something going on with me and Frankie.'

'Well is there?' Gail asked, and when Chloe gave her a look, she said 'Well, you two seem pretty tight these days.'

'Gail, she is just a friend.'

'So you're not interested in a bit of experimentation?'

'Gail, what makes you think I've never slept with a woman?'

'Oh, I just thought Wes and then Dov,' Gail trailed off, feeling a little foolish for making this assumption.

'Well, Dov and Wes have been my two major relationships, but before that I wasn't really into labels,' Chloe shrugged.

'Okay then,' Gail said, realizing she shouldn't be surprised by this revelation, 'so not tempted by Frankie's Sapphic charms.'

'She's hot but, apart from the fact that it would be very messy, I love Dov.'

'So why not tell him that.'

'He's being such an ass, I think he should stew for a bit.'

'That sounds really stupid, Chloe. I think you've been hanging out with Frankie and me too much. Just tell him how you feel. Believe me, I know from bitter experience the silent treatment doesn't work,' Gail said.

'Since when did you start giving relationship advice,' Chloe asked sassily, but there was a teasing tone in her voice.

'Even Disney princesses need someone to make sure their crowns don't slip,' Gail said flippantly, 'and I'm sick of Dov being a miserable pain in the ass. You make him almost tolerable.'

Chloe laughed. Yeah, Gail cared all right, she thought and the realization made her smile. If she made Dov tolerable, then Holly had made Gail human.

After that the tech guy appeared to put the wire on Gail so they stopped talking about Dov. As Gail finished zipping up her dress, her phone pinged with a message from Holly. It read 'Keep safe. Will you come back to Rachel's tonight. I don't care what time. I'll wait up.' Gail immediately replied, 'Yes, of course' and added several xxxs.

When Gail reappeared in the Incident room she was wearing an elegant sleeveless sheath dress that was indigo in color and clung to every curve of her body, and a pair of sleek patent leather high heel pumps. Her lips were a deep red and she wore several silver rings on her fingers and a pair of drop sapphire earrings. The whole effect was classy, slightly understated but undeniably sexy. Matt gave a low whistle.

'Looking good, Peck,' he said, 'Hell, I'd even date you.'

Gail regarded him haughtily. 'You would be so lucky'.

'Yeah, really Matt,' Frankie said looking at him like he was something the cat had dragged in, but he just shrugged.

…..

The Cube was smaller than the bar FindLove had used on Tuesday night. It was modeled on the Prohibition era Speakeasies with the bar staff dressed in waistcoats, bowties and bold blue and white striped shirts with sleeve garters. The bar counter ran nearly the whole length of one side of the room and on the other were low booths with seats upholstered in a deep maroon vinyl. The bar was in a basement off the street and entry was via an unadorned cement stairwell and through a nondescript door, which Gail guessed was designed to add to the authenticity of the place. The whole thing was a little affected for her taste. Like it was trying too hard to be cool and not quite pulling it off. Anyway, she was under the impression the Speakeasy fad had come and gone.

On the way in, Gail had shown her FindLove key ring token to the bouncer who also crossed her name off a list. Standard procedure according to Sandra, who had furnished them with tokens so Gail, Chris, Anna and Matt could get into the event. By 9pm it was packed, with little room to move. Already Gail had been propositioned twice.

The first was a brash barely twenty something guy who said he was in IT and had a thing for the older ladies as he surveyed Gail from head to toe with a creepy leer. While Gail found him completely unappealing, nothing about him made her think serial killer and after she turned him down he shrugged amiably and went in search of another conquest.

To Gail's surprise the other was a woman who came up and introduced herself as Stacey.

'Why don't we get out of here,' she said without much preamble, leaning into Gail, 'my place is just round the corner.'

'Um, isn't this event for straight people,' Gail said, too taken aback to formulate a smooth reply.

'Oh, you look like you might swing both ways,' Stacey said, making her voice low and seductive.

'Nope, I only bat for one team.' Gail smiled.

'Pity, you're way hotter than any of the guys here tonight.'

Back in the surveillance van, Andy, Frankie and Chloe were chuckling.

'Geez, Peck even has women throwing themselves at her in straight bars,' Frankie grumbled.

'Nice deflection, though,' Andy said.

'And technically she didn't tell a lie,' Dov pointed out, 'I mean she is gay now right, isn't she, so she only bats for that team, I mean your team Frankie. Whatever.'

The three women looked at him almost pityingly and then Chloe said brightly 'Actually I think she only bats for one team and its Dr Holly Stewart's.'

Back in the bar, Gail was beginning to question Sandra's claim that FindLove provided a space for people interested in meeting and getting to know their 'special one'. From what she could see it was something of a meat market. People weren't spending a lot of time in conversation before pairing off. It made her feel grateful she was no longer single.

In fact coming out had put a stop to both her mother's matchmaking and awkward conversations with guys who, because she was on a blind date, saw her as an easy lay rather than, as Elaine hoped, a potential wife. She still had to talk to her mother about the fact of Holly. When Holly had shown up at the hospital after Steve was bashed, Elaine seemed to take it in her stride. Yet Gail was aware that once again she'd failed ExPecktations and put pay to her mother's grand plan to marry her off to the son of one of Toronto's well-heeled establishment families so she could pop out babies to be molded into Toronto's finest.

Gail was heading past one of the booths when a plaster-encased leg came out to stop her progress. Looking across, Gail saw it belonged to Aaron Schmidt, the guy they had interviewed just two days ago about the murders. Shit, thought Gail, they should have anticipated he might turn up tonight.

'Thought it was you, blondie,' he said, smiling up at Gail in a way that could only be described as sleazy, 'you here for work or pleasure?'

'Definitely pleasure,' Gail purred, while mentally gritting her teeth.

'So you catch your guy?'

'Ah, I'm off the case. Not sure where they are up to with it,' Gail shrugged, hoping he believed her.

'Yeah, well then why don't you come join me, have some fun,' Aaron said, patting the space next to him in the booth.

'Aaron you seem like a nice guy, but I'm afraid you're just not my type,' said Gail, thankful he was too stupid or perhaps too drunk to question the plausibility of her explanation.

'Your loss blondie. Can you at least get me a drink from the bar? It's hard to get up with this,' he gestured to his leg, 'get me a Bud.'

Gail decided that buying Aaron a drink might at least shut him up. She didn't want him asking her any other questions about the case or telling anyone else here that she was a cop. While she was waiting to be served a flyer on the bar top caught her eye. It was for a new gym downtown called FuelBurn, which if you asked Gail was a really uninspiring name.

'Interested in working out,' said the barman coming over to serve Gail.

He reminded her a little of Nick. He was tall like Nick with the same square jaw and easy grin and the pin-up boy good looks. Unlike Nick, his hair was jet black and he was even more built, so much so that his biceps strained against his shirtsleeves. Gail suspected steroids might have helped with that.

'Oh, you know,' Gail said vaguely, with a little wave of her hand.

'You look pretty good,' the barman said, appraising Gail in a way that would normally make her skin crawl, 'though your upper arms could probably do with some more work.'

'Who made you the expert?' she asked, unable to conceal the note of irascibility in her voice.

The barman jabbed the flyer with a finger. 'I work there. First week is free for FindLove members. You should have got the invitation when you signed up.'

'Yeah, gym's not really my thing. I probably ignored it.'

'I could show you round if you like. We specialize in workouts for women. I can even create a customized program for you. I reckon I could turn you into a gym junkie before you knew it.'

There was a flirtatiousness to his words that piqued Gail's interest and not for the reasons the barman had in mind. The speed with which he'd zeroed in on her and offered a personalized training session was setting off some alarm bells. Could this be the connection they were looking for? Had the four women gone to FuelBurn? Could this guy or someone else at the gym be the killer? It might also be worth investigating if any other places gave out freebies to FindLove members. Gail realized it was something the team had overlooked. It hadn't occurred to them that FindLove might be doing cross promotions.

'So, what do you say. I think I'm proof that I know a thing or two about working out,' the barman gestured to himself.

'Yeah, I can see that,' Gail said.

'Here,' he said, picking up a pen and grabbing the flyer, 'I'll give you my number. I'm Trent by the way and you are?'

'Gail.'

'Okay Gail, I know you probably aren't going to call me, and I promise it is not going to kill you to try this out, so why don't you give me your number so we can set up a time.' Trent ended with a boyish grin.

Pushy, but in the nicest possible way, Gail thought. Interesting. There was actually something about the incongruous mix of arrogance and attentiveness that made him seem quite charming.

'Okay,' she said pulling out the phone she'd been given for the undercover operation and punching in Trent's number. She heard the sound of a ringtone coming from his trouser pocket, which she recognized as the theme from the Saw movies. Maybe he wasn't the killer after all, that just seemed too obvious.

'So, I'll call you,' Trent said with another smile before moving down the bar to serve another customer, and Gail nodded.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. Gail felt like she had been subjected to every lame pick-up line known but none of the men who approached her struck her as likely killers. Frankie sent a text at 11pm calling an end to the operation.

At the debrief back at the station, Chris, Matt and Anna also had little to report, although like Gail all three felt like the event was less about finding true love and more about casual sex. Gail then mentioned Trent and her suspicions.

'Yeah, I didn't pick up on that,' said Frankie, 'he just seemed sleazy, but you're right it's worth looking into the gym and any other places doing cross-promotions with FindLove. We'll do that tomorrow.'

'Hey, Gail do you need a ride?' Chloe asked as the team began to disperse.

'Thanks, but I've got my car. I'm going to stay at Holly's anyway.'

'Okay,' Chloe nodded, 'hey, I thought we might have to close down the op when Aaron turned up.'

'Good thing he was so gullible,' Gail said.

It was close to midnight when Gail gave a tentative knock on Rachel's door. She didn't want to get into trouble for waking up Lisa. A sleepy-eyed Holly answered, wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top, her hair delightfully mussed up. Suddenly her eyes went wide when she saw what Gail was wearing.

'You look amazing,' she breathed and pulled Gail into a hug, 'and you're here.'

'Of course I am,' Gail replied, and then pulling back said, 'I'm pretty wired after the op, you know maybe I shouldn't stay tonight.'

'No, it's okay. I want you to stay. I can make some chamomile tea and you can tell me how it went,' Holly said, taking Gail by the hand and leading her through to the kitchen area.

'Boob job asleep?' Gail asked leaning back against the kitchen counter and watching as Holly switched on the kettle.

'Lisa's out. She went to that new club in Church Street. She was trying to get me to go with her. If she's not home by now she's probably picked up some girl and gone back to her place.'

'So we have the apartment to ourselves?' Gail said with a suggestive lift of her eyebrows, pulling Holly over by the hand so she standing in front of her.

Holly smiled. 'You look so beautiful Gail,' she said linking her arms around Gail's neck.

'You don't like me in jeans and t-shirts.'

'Actually you are beautiful,' Holly gave Gail a quick kiss on the lips, 'no matter what you wear', she gave her another kiss, 'beautiful and gorgeous,' another kiss, 'and sexy as hell,' another quick kiss, 'and I am so lucky you're my girlfriend.'

This time she leaned in and deepened the kiss. It was aggressive yet needy and Gail knew it held traces of their argument from this morning but also came from Holly's relief that Gail was here, the forcefulness a counterpoint to Holly's fear of losing her.

Eventually Gail spun Holly around so she now had her back to the counter. She started trailing kisses down her neck, while running a hand along the inside of her leg and then back up and under her tank top, splaying her hand across that toned stomach before sliding it beneath the waistband of Holly's boxers. Gail smiled at how wet Holly was and how Holly immediately leaned into her, wanting more. Before long she had slipped two, then three fingers inside Holly and Holly was gasping and asking her to go faster and harder and Gail could tell she was close. Then Holly was calling out her name and Gail was laughing in delight at the sounds she made as she came. Just as Holly bit down on her shoulder, she heard a sound that filled her with anything but delight.

'Oh, for fuck's sake. You two get a room,' Lisa said as she stomped through the living area to her bedroom.

Gail went rigid but Holly laughed quietly.

'What's so funny Holly? Lisa is going to hate me even more,' Gail whined.

'She doesn't hate you, Gail. Anyway, the number of times I've walked in on her having sex in inappropriate places, it's about time she got some of her own medicine. But,' Holly kissed Gail, 'what's say we continue this in my bed.' Gail smiled and nodded, Lisa completely forgotten.

….

They were woken by a loud knock on Holly's bedroom door. Lisa stuck her head around the door, but with one hand shielding her eyes.

'Are you naked? Are you two having sex?' she said, 'because Frankie's here. You both left your phones in the living room.'

'What,' said Gail groggily, pulling up the sheet to cover herself and Holly.

The door swung open completely then, and she saw Frankie standing behind Lisa.

'We've found two more bodies,' Frankie said.