Friday lunch time Makepeace escaped from the office for some time alone; everyone was well meaning but they continued to ask questions about Dempsey and she found it hard. She stopped by a van selling hotdogs, foul food but it reminded her of Dempsey. She bought a coffee and walked on; as she did so she noticed the same long haired hippy style man that she had passed earlier. She stretched her fingers of her left hand out trying to remember holding hands with James. Such a short time, it seemed as if every other couple on earth had come to parade in front of her, determined to keep her stiff upper lip she decided to return to the office. As she parked her car the same hippy was there, across the road.

Inside she lifted the blind and scanned the area, "Chas" she called him over and pointed towards him "Have we seen that guy around here before?"

Chas thought a moment, "No, do we know him?"

Watson looked out of the window "I've seen him, a day or so ago but I'm sure it was him, a bit too old to have a pony tail I remember thinking"

Spikings joined them, "so you've picked up a tail Sergeant" his dulcet tone conveyed his displeasure

"Not necessarily Sir, and not necessarily anything related to me"

"You may like to take this opportunity to enlighten me of some information that you may have accidentally forgotten to tell me." His tone was one of anger, frustration and sarcasm blended together.

Makepeace looked at Spikings, trying to put on an air of innocence but singularly failing, she glanced towards Spikings' office but the eruption was not to happen in private.

"Some twenty minutes ago I received a phone call from New York Sergeant. It seems that Dempsey…" Harry looked up and Spikings saw the panic flash across her face "…he's still in court every day…" Harry was grateful for the information but knew that it wasn't the only information received "… is somewhat concerned that you should have some sort of protection over here" Spikings looked at Harry, rubbed his hair "God damn it Harry why the hell didn't you say Dempsey was in police protection"

"Technically I don't think he is"

"Don't be clever with me Lady, Coltrane has hitmen on him and therefore quite likely you and you have no one watching your back"

Makepeace went to open her mouth to speak but Spikings jumped in again. "You are not going out of here alone, someone will partner you" Spikings saw Harry's mouth open a second time but again continued before she could answer "And I'll have two beat boys outside your house every night"

"But Sir…"

"There are no buts Harry, no arguments, I want you safe." He smiled and feeling proud of his next sentence kept his voice louder than Harry would have wanted "When Dempsey gets back here, I have no doubt that he will appreciate at least one butt" Makepeace blushed and returned to her desk moving and shuffling papers in an attempt to keep her head down and profile low.

Reluctantly Harry had agreed to the surveillance outside, and as she drew her curtains and turned off her lights that night she admitted to herself that she felt safer and more relaxed.

****a few days pass

Makepeace woke with a start and sat up in bed. She listened carefully ~ there was no sound. She moved quietly and looked out of her window, she could see the unmarked car opposite, she contemplated that there was very little point it being unmarked; no ordinary person spent the night sitting outside in a car. There was no movement outside so it wasn't that that had woken her.

Feeling far too awake for the early hours of the morning she put on a robe and went downstairs to the kitchen. Some thirty seconds after putting the light on the RT sounded "Charlie 27 to Charlie 5 are you ok?" There was an element of reassurance with the prompt response "Charlie 5 to Charlie 27, yes I'm fine; I'm making tea and going back upstairs, is it quiet out there?"

"As a mouse. Charlie 5 over and out"

As she sat in bed cradling her cup of tea she wondered how long this 'in limbo' situation would go on for. When the trial finished would he be free? What if the jury couldn't decide? She could see the jury sitting to the side, a varied bunch of people. She recalled the elderly black gentleman always with a smile, the stern looking woman with her hair pulled back, the man in his 20s who turned up in a T-shirt every day and the other man not much older who always wore a smart designer suit and obviously reckoned himself important.

As her mind fixed on the courtroom she jolted again and nearly spilt her tea; she remembered her dream and consequently what had woken her. The two men who had attempted the assassination ( a cold tremor ran from her head to her toe at that phrase) had been in court sometime every day, but the times they came seemed quite random - she had try to reason why before. It hadn't seemed to have anything to do with who was in the witness box; neither did they stay for any specific witness or to the end of a session; they randomly walked out which was one of the reasons she could remember the two of them. She got out of bed again, and as if to illuminate her thoughts she turned on all the lights as she made her way downstairs to find the notes she had been making on the case.

Before anything else she radioed "Charlie 5 to Charlie 27 no problems in here, over" she gave no explanation, this was her privacy that they were watching and despite the reassurance proffered already she was getting rankled by having to tell them her every move.

The words of her father about corrupt police had started to rebound around her mind and she studied her handwriting trying to recall more detail:

When she had returned from shopping with Simone she had actually followed the two gunmen through the entrance and into the public arena. They had been searched but on this occasion it had been someone different to the officer she had handed her watch, belt and shoes to every morning as she stepped through the metal detector and her belongings were x-rayed.

She tried to remember the search and realised he hadn't done that, rather making some comment about recognising them and with just the briefest run down of his hands on a body search had let them pass. Makepeace thought - the report on the day of the shooting showed everyone having been checked properly, but maybe the gun and ammo had been taken into the courtroom in stages over the previous few days? The officer on search duty that Friday morning would have been questioned, but not necessarily those on different days. She made some notes as to when she could remember the two assassins arriving and leaving on previous days. Looking at the clock she noted it would be 10.00pm in New York, she dialled the number Eddie had given her for emergencies.

*****

Just twenty hours later Harry's phone rang and a jubilant American drawl sounded "Sergeant Makepeace we're sending you your own NYPD badge"

"Eddie?" Harry was hopeful

"We found him, you were right the relief for the security officer was in Coltrane's pay. The two assassins took in guns and bullets over a few days; they were stashed in a false seat in the public viewing area that the night guards never bothered to check, given that they knew not to. The reason they came in at those random times was because they could only enter when the main security went on a break, well done Harry."

"Dempsey?" her heartbeat had increased and anticipation ran through her veins.

"He's good. He wouldn't trust anyone and I can't say I blame him; he shows for court every day" Eddie sounded upbeat, but Harry suspected that was more to do with nailing the crooked cops than Dempsey's welfare.

"Have you any idea how much longer?" she was starting to feel that ache in her heart again

"I'm sorry, but this gives us even more evidence against that bastard" such facts were of cold comfort to Harry.

"I see, well thank you Eddie" her disappointment hung in the air

"He said something about 'tell the Tiger he really does care' oh gosh I hope I got that right, does it sound right?"

Harry smiled again, Eddie really had no idea about romance, it sounded as if he thought it code for a job they were working on. "Yeh, sounds about right to me Eddie"

"Oh good, Dempsey said he'd bust my cahonies if I got it wrong"

"Tell him that Debbie Smith wants to finish what she started with Danny Salaputro" she smiled, wondering if that had really been when it had all started.

"Sure, err Debbie Smith and Danny Sapalutro" Eddie checked

"Salaputro" she corrected him and laughed before hanging up. She wanted to go to bed laughing, it would help her sleep.p