So sorry for the long wait and I hope you think it was worth it. However, Chapter 8 is nearly complete so hopefully you will not have to wait too long for an update. For giggles811 as promised.

Chapter 7 - To Catch a Sniper

It was just after 2.00 am when Sam entered the car park of the hospital. The autumn weather had suddenly turned wintery; flakes of snow swirling around the biting wind. Oblivious to the cold, he didn't feel the icy wind ripping through his uniform as he walked to his car. Slow, unhurried steps: He hadn't wanted to leave, but she had insisted. He had stayed until her eyes grew heavy and sleep had overtaken her shattered and injured body. Brushing a soft kiss on her tender lips, he had told her he loved her and quietly left.

Sam sat in the car. He leant back in the seat trying to summon up the energy that had been stripped from him hours before. The sound of blaring sirens from a speeding ambulance heading to the hospital entrance startled Sam out of his lethargy. As he turned the key and started the car he wondered momentarily what trauma had befallen its occupant.

He wasn't going home and for that he was grateful. Home without Jules was an empty shell and he needed people, not isolation. Isolation meant thinking and remembering and wondering what might have been. Sam was on his way to the SRU where the rest of his teammates, even at this late hour, still were. It had been a long day for everyone and it wasn't over yet.

Sam had finally told Greg at the hospital what he discovered about the sniper's second victim and Greg had deemed the information important enough to warrant a call being made to the Mayor's office. Although Greg had not asked, Sam knew he was needed at the SRU and although he would have rather stayed with Jules, he couldn't let the team down. This case, he knew for sure, was about Otis Sanders and that meant ultimately it was about him.

The drive to the Barn only took Sam twenty minutes; the traffic light at that time in the morning. As he walked into the briefing room he saw a familiar face.

"Wordy?" Sam said trying to sound upbeat. He liked Wordy immensely. The stalwart member of the team; his departure had left a gaping hole and although Leah had more than adequately filled the void, Sam was pleased to see him back in the briefing room. "What are you doing here?"

"I felt it was necessary with Jules being out of action that we had an experienced officer replace her especially as the sniper is still at large. Wordy agreed and the Mayor approved the transfer request on a temporary basis." Greg explained.

"Nice to see you back."

"Sorry my return isn't under happier circumstances Sam; so sorry to hear about Jules ... and the baby."

Sam swallowed hard trying to keep his emotions locked inside. He knew everyone was concerned and wanted to know how Jules was doing but his stomach somersaulted every time someone mentioned Jules and the baby. His military training resurfacing; afraid to let anyone see how much he was hurting; scared he would be perceived as weak. He knew he was being irrational, but it was the only way he knew how to cope: It was how he dealt with loss; how he had dealt with Matt's death and every loss he had endured in his life.

He had rationalized it in his head a thousand times; the baby, barely a baby at all; the size of a walnut, or so he had read in one of the dozen pamphlets Jules had picked up at the doctor's office. He hadn't lost Jules and he was grateful he truly was, but this tiny baby who had been growing inside of her had managed to completely capture his heart. It may have only been the size of a walnut, but it was a baby, their baby.

"Sam, how is she doing?" Ed asked as Sam took a seat next to him.

"Not great, but she was finally sleeping when I left".

Greg saw how uncomfortable talking about Jules and the baby was for Sam and how difficult it was for him to be at the SRU so Greg subtly redirected the team's focus.

"First order of business; Ed, Leah you have both been cleared by SIU; detectives found newspaper clippings of SRU previous hostage negotiations in Lisa Sheldon's bedroom, plus Google searches and a recording made on her computer. It explained in detail what they had intended to do. It had been planned down to the last detail; they wanted to die together and go out in a blaze so people would remember them; unfortunately, this was a tragic case involving two teenagers desperate not be parted. However, I think we are all relieved Ed and Leah have been exonerated."

"Stupid kids; they had no idea how this would affect their families and the officers involved". Leah exclaimed, displaying her inner most thoughts out loud to the rest of the team. It didn't matter if they had planned it or not; it didn't make killing them any easier. This was the only part of the job she honestly hated.

"The press will still crucify us" Ed added.

"For sure" Leah agreed.

"It is tough and we will have to ride the storm; but we have much bigger problems, there is a sniper still at large with possibly only three days before he strikes again. We now have a lead; Sam recognized the second victim as the jury foreman on the Otis Sanders trial." Greg explained to the team.

"But, Boss, how is that possible? Jury selection is highly confidential; there would be no way someone could just find out that information."

"Someone did; Olivia confirmed it was her. I know I could have been mistaken - I had only given evidence for four days, but Liv was there for the entire trial. Andrew gave evidence, and Karen Jackson was the jury foreman; that isn't a coincidence Spike". Sam's tone had become more positive; his brain relishing the distraction.

"We are going on the assumption that this isn't a coincidence; I have spoken to the Mayor and Team One's primary focus is the sniper case so we will not be attending any calls unless they are sniper related. The objective primarily is to protect those believed to be most at risk. The Prosecutor on the case Christopher Connelly, and the Judge, Edward Simpson have both been notified and given round the clock protection. The Defense team and defense witnesses will also be given protection. The remaining jury members will also be protected, but as Spike pointed out, it is not easy to find out that information. However, the Court administrative staff is complying and will be furnishing us with a list shortly. That leaves the Prosecution's star witness, Tracey Winters, three members of Team 2 and Sam. No one has been able to tell us where she is - can we find her please Spike, a.s.a.p?" Greg knew that with everyone else being protected the people most at risk were Tracey Winters and Sam.

"On it Boss". Spike replied as his fingers danced swiftly over the keyboard.

Greg knew Spike would find her; if anyone could he could.

As each team member took a further cup of coffee, caffeine helping to stem off the exhaustion every one of them was feeling; Spike let out a satisfied "Got her Boss: She left Canada shortly after the trial and moved to live with her grandmother in Aberdeen, Scotland. I have an address and contact telephone number."

"Good work Spike; what time is it in Scotland?"

"Hold on, let me check" once again fingers rapidly moving over the keyboard "it is around 8.00 am" Spike confirmed.

"Not too early, let's call her and make sure she is where we think she is."

Greg had skated around the exact reason for calling Tracey Winters, not wanting to alarm her unnecessarily. It was confirmed, she was safely out of the Country. However Greg wasn't taking any chances so a call was made to the Aberdeen Police Department. Detective Inspector Donald Murray agreed to ensure extra patrols would be provided around the area Tracey Winters was living.

"Next step would be to find out from the Governor at Kingston Penitentiary who has visited Mr. Sanders, but that will have to wait until a more reasonable hour. I suggest if you want to leave and get a couple of hours sleep, do so or you can bed down here. Shift starts at 07.00 hours."

Greg dismissed his exhausted team. They had one hell of a day and they needed more sleep than he could allow them. Knowing what may lay ahead in the coming days, he knew they would be up for the task, but was he asking too much from them, especially Sam? He made a mental note to keep a close eye on his young officer; he was mentally as tough as they come, but Sam had suffered more loss in one week than most would in a lifetime and wondered if Sam should really be at the SRU. Was he guilty of ignoring Sam's emotional state for the greater purpose? Greg did not need to deliberate for long; unfortunately he already knew the answer.

Each team member drifted off; all had decided to bed down at the SRU, except Sam, he was going back to the hospital to be with Jules.

Sam sat in the chair by her bed and watched her sleep. He sat quietly for thirty minutes before stealing a gentle kiss on her cheek. He hadn't wanted to wake her, but, a little selfishly was happy to see her eyes slowly open.

"How long have you been here?" She asked stretching out her hand to take his.

"Not long" he took her hand and placed a gentle kiss on it. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've gone ten rounds with your boxing buddy, Slim".

"Stretch" Sam corrected.

"Slim, Stretch, whatever his name is - I feel like I have been used as his punching bag".

"Why don't you ask the doctor to give you something extra for the pain?"

"I don't really want to take any more; they make me have weird dreams, When are you back on shift?"

"In about three hours" Sam replied, trying to ignore the exhaustion which was creeping up his body.

"Why did you come back?

"To see you, silly. "

"Sam, you're bloody exhausted; you know if the Boss catches you sleeping on the job, he'll Scorpio your ass straight out of the SRU."

He smiled genuinely at her as she motioned for him to put his head on the bed and when he did she ran her fingers through his hair. "My hero" she whispered to herself as Sam had fallen asleep within seconds. She kissed the tips of her fingers and placed them on his forehead. Her eyes closed, happy he was with her if only for a little while.

Sam woke two hours later; every part of him wishing he could climb into the bed and curl up next to Jules and sleep for an eternity. She was still sleeping; he felt bad waking her up, but he needed to hear her voice before he left. He swept his hand gently over her face, and quietly whispered her name. She woke immediately and placed her hand over his cheek.

"Have you got to leave already?" she asked; her voice tinged with disappointment.

"Afraid so, I just wanted to say goodbye and I will be back as soon as I get off shift".

"Be careful… I love you"

"I will - love you too."

There had been no talk of their lost baby; the hurt still too much to comprehend. The pain etched on their faces masked by normal conversation. They would talk about their loss; all too soon they would need to work through their grief; to explore feelings they had never experienced before, but they would deal with it together and in their own time.

Sam was back at the SRU and in the shower. He stayed under the piping hot torrent longer than necessary, attempting to wash away the tiredness that racked his body and ease his aching muscles.

Sam was already seated in the briefing room as the others drifted in.

"You're here already" Spike said noticing Sam first. "How's Jules?"

"A little better" Sam replied but his didn't enlarge and Spike didn't ask him to.

Winnie had brought in a box of doughnuts and six cups of steaming coffee.

"Breakfast" she announced as she placed the tray in the middle of the table.

"Thanks Winnie; you head off home now and get some rest." Greg told the SRU despatcher.

Winnie was grateful the 7 pm to 7 am shift was over. She found the shift the hardest to deal with. Going from days to nights was always difficult - the body clock resisting the change. She was thankful she could at least go home and sleep. She felt for the guys; only four hours break in god knows how many hours.

As each member took a doughnut and coffee, Greg informed them of the conversation he had with the Governor of Kingston Penitentiary. Greg had brought the Governor up to speed with what was happening in the city and how the SRU believed there was a direct link between the sniper killings and Otis Sanders. The Governor had told Greg that Sanders was far from a model prisoner and had been placed in seclusion on a number of occasions for violence towards other inmates and prison staff. Sanders had only received two visitors since his incarceration. His mother visited him regularly every two weeks until July of this year when the visits ceased. His sister Amelia Sanders visited him in early August, the first and only time she had visited her brother. The Governor informed Greg that Otis Sanders' mother had passed away on July 28th and a request was made by Otis Sanders for him to be allowed to attend his mother's funeral, which was denied. The funeral had taken place on August 10th. Grief Counseling was offered to Sanders but this was refused. The Governor had also stated that Sanders had made threats to kill everyone who put him in prison. Unfortunately, the threats were not taken seriously, as it was believed he was just acting out of grief.

Greg had advised the Governor that detectives would be arriving to interview Mr. Sanders and felt the Governor himself needed to be protected and would make arrangements with the local Police Department.

Greg had also made arrangements for Amelia Sanders to be brought in to the SRU for questioning.

"Thoughts, please". Greg asked his team.

"This guy is a professional without a doubt, probably military or police trained. He has been one step ahead of us all along. These are ordered hits on specific targets; we just need to work out who is next on his list." Ed said.

Sam agreed "Sanders may have used his connections inside the prison to order the killings - if that is the case the only way to find out who the sniper is, would be if Sanders talks and that's unlikely. Boss, a professional sniper will keep going until everyone on the list is eliminated, and not even Tracey Winters would be safe. We need to come up with a strategy; otherwise more people will die and we will be no closer to catching him."

Sidney interrupted the team's discussions, stating that Amelia Sanders had arrived. Greg thanked Sidney and asked him to show Miss Sanders into the briefing room.

Amelia Sanders was a petite brunette and nothing like her older brother. She was impeccably dressed with her hair tied in a high ponytail.

Greg showed her to the briefing room and sat her in the seat adjacent to his. He thanked her for coming to see him so promptly.

She was unsure how she could help, she had only seen her brother once since he had been in prison and that had been one time too many. Amelia Sanders despised her brother. She told the team he had been a violent teenager with an intense anger towards women, with the exception of their mother who he adored. She in turn worshiped Otis and did everything for him. Amelia explained their father had left when she was just a baby and Otis was seven. On one occasion, he and Amelia had argued over a TV program and he had beaten her so badly she had to be hospitalized; she was just 12 at the time, Otis 18. Even then, their mother had made excuses for him and never saw him for the thug he was. Her mother had visited Otis regularly until she became ill and died suddenly in July. Amelia had felt it necessary to tell her brother in person their mother had died so she visited him the one and only time.

Greg had asked her if she had met any of her brother's associates and she had replied that on one occasion a man a little older than Otis had turned up at their house driving a fancy car.

Spike had asked her to describe the 'fancy car' and showed her some pictures on the computer. She eventually pointed out a BMW Z4, black or navy blue in color, but couldn't help with the number plate or anything else, except that the man had a big black moustache. She had remembered it only because she thought he looked so 'old fashioned' like the old re-runs of Magnum her mother used to watch.

Jason DeShawn's name was said simultaneously by everyone seated around the table. The description of the man and the car all matched Otis Sanders' boss. However, he had himself been incarcerated six months previously on drug offences. The team knew DeShawn's power reached far and wide and he had the resources, but he was serving his own very long sentence on the other side of the country. It was doubtful DeShawn even knew Sanders' mother had passed away.

As Amelia Sanders left the SRU, Greg took a call from the Mayor's office.

The call was short but judging by Greg's facial expression, the team knew the news wasn't good.

"Christopher Connelly was shot and killed thirty minutes ago. His body guard had been shot in the leg and had been taken to hospital" Christopher Connelly, the Prosecutor on the Otis Sanders trial; any doubts about the sniper being connected to Otis Sanders, were now completely dispelled. Unfortunately, the sniper had also changed the timetable and he had also managed to get to Connelly even with protection. Greg rubbed his head and wondered how bad things were going to get and how many more lives would be lost before the sniper was caught. They needed to come up with a strategy; a plan to get the sniper before he killed again and they needed it now.

"How the hell do we catch this guy?" Greg asked his team.

Sam was saddened by Christopher Connelly's death. He had only known him from the trial, but knew he was married with a young family.

Sam was going over what Ed had said; how the sniper had been in control and one step ahead the whole time. They needed to somehow change the game plan, and he had an idea that just might switch control back to the SRU.

"What if we set him up - let him come to us." Sam suggested.

"Set him up, how?" Ed questioned.

"The only way of catching him would be if we were in control. We don't know who, where or when he is going to strike next but what if we lured him to us with a false call." Sam replied. He knew he had the whole team's attention and continued to explain.

"It's a fair assumption that I am on the sniper's list, so we use me as the bait. We set up a false call, using undercover officers. When he arrives we will already have people in position watching the surrounding buildings. We choose the location, so we choose somewhere easy to surveil and cover all vantage points."

"My protégé is all grown up" Ed smiled. "It's a good plan Boss, and it might just work. The problem with Team 2's call was that they were so focused on the hot call; they didn't see the sniper arrive or leave. If the call is a ruse, we can have officers in place to watch for the sniper to arrive."

"It also might get Sam killed" Spike added. He wasn't convinced the plan would work and it was fraught with danger, especially for Sam, but equally he did not know what else they could do to catch the killer terrorizing the people of Toronto.

"Spike I could be his next target anyway. He could be outside right now waiting to shoot me, or at the hospital or at my home. At least this way we have a chance of catching him before he kills again."

Everyone agreed that although the plan was dangerous, it was the only one they had which had any chance of success. Greg had left to speak with Holleran to arrange the undercover operation. Ed and Sam were to come up with a location and tactics to ensure that the sniper was caught and Sam was kept safe.

After four hours of intense analyzing and deliberating a plan was finally formulated which would, hopefully, result in the capture of the Toronto Sniper.

It was just gone six when Greg finally dismissed his team. Each one desperate for sleep, they wearily changed out of their uniforms and headed off to their respective destinations, which meant home for most of them. Sam's destination was St. Simons and back to see Jules. As Sam turned the key in the ignition, Spike's face appeared at the driver's side window.

"Can I come and see Jules with you?"

"Of course, jump in".

The two friends sat making small talk as Sam drove towards the hospital. The traffic was a bitch at that time of the evening, everyone heading in the same direction and Sam was losing his patience with the stationary cars in front of him, desperate to get to the hospital to see Jules and spend some time with her before going home to sleep.

Spike suddenly changed the subject "Are you going to tell Jules about the plan to catch the sniper?"

Sam turned his face to Spike "There is no point in telling her; she is already dealing with so much I don't want her worrying about me."

"She is still part of Team One, don't you think she has a right to know?" Spike replied. He didn't like secrets, even with the best intentions, secrets can hurt.

"Maybe Spike, but with everything that has happened to her, I can't worry her with this."

Spike looked out of the window; secrets, he hated them. But he was just as guilty as Sam; secrets cloaked with good intentions. Two weeks ago Natalie had flown to London to attend her best friend's wedding and he hadn't told her anything that had happened while she had been away. He had rationalized that he hadn't wanted to upset her when there was nothing she could do anyway. He knew she would have insisted on flying back and he didn't want her to spoil her friend's wedding. Admirable reasons for not telling her; only now, he wished he had said something, because she was coming home and he wondered if she would forgive him for keeping secrets from her, however good his intentions were.

Spike looked at Sam "Are you worried about tomorrow?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't Spike, but we've planned it down to the last detail, covered for every eventuality and I have you guys to watch my back and if it does go wrong, I'll just tell Jules it was your idea." Sam said smiling.

"Oh very funny, Sam, very funny."

Hope you liked it - Chapter 8 coming to your screens very soon.