** For authors notes, disclaimer etc. see chapter 1

Blonds have more fun 4/?

"Sandra I'm sorry about this had I been fully briefed I would never have agreed to put you in that position." Strickland is furious I can hear it in his voice and I could have predicted that he would be. The thing is the more I've thought about it since leaving the station and coming back to the hotel the more I'm not sure that pulling out is the right thing to do. "The investigation is clearly compromised Sandra and the officers involved know it which is why they didn't tell me. I'm calling you back in there's no way you can be put at risk this man is a psychopath and yes I know we were aware of that already but if he knows there was an undercover female officer in his immediate circle and he didn't spot her immediately then he's going to be hyper aware of any new faces and even someone as good as you is going to be at risk."

"I know sir but I've been thinking Louise Cathcart screwed up there's no getting away from that but she's still one of us or was, don't you think we should nail this guy? I've enough experience not to put myself in a situation that's potentially dangerous. The plan was never for me to get that close to him it was simply for me to be there in the hope it might make him panic." I know he's not going for this I can hear it already in the way he's just sighed in my ear but it's something I feel I have to say, if he decides to pull me in there's nothing I can do but I think I should at least put it out there that under the right circumstances I'm prepared to stay.

"I understand what you're saying Sandra and I'm not doubting your abilities for a second but loyalty isn't a reason to take unnecessary risks. What are you thinking?" Ok at least he's giving me a chance to put my ideas across though I still think he's leaning toward pulling the plug right now.

"Look just by attending the funeral and getting the lay of the land doesn't mean we're committed to following through with the operation and before that I can get a look at the case and see if it's salvageable. I know that they won't be able to use any of the undercover information they got from Cathcart because of her personal relationship with Marx but there may be a case still. Their SIO has basically given up and I out rank him anyway so spending the day going through the files and report back to you tonight." I that the idea of a guy like Marx getting away with what he's done because of a screw up on the part of the SIO who seems to have no decided he should just hide in his office and do nothing. Yes the WPC shouldn't have got involved like she did but as soon as it looked like it was going that way he should have brought her in and had her debriefed then kept as far away from Marx and his people as possible so it's as much his fault as hers.

"Ok I'll sanction you spending today examining the case but I'm not prepared to say yes to you going anywhere near Marx until we know more. I'll call the SIO though like you say he seems to have given up, then I'll ok you taming temporary control with the Commissioner. I'll get back to you in half an hour until then sit tight and don't go back to the station I'll call you there."

He's gone and now I'm sitting here on a hotel bed in a soulless room and I know I have a bigger problem than waiting for his call. How much do I tell Gerry or do I tell him anything at all? See if I tell him nothing and Strickland briefs them I'm in big trouble and I can't tell Strickland not to tell them because then he's going to want to know why and Gerry and I have worked hard at making sure he doesn't know about our relationship.

"Gerry it's me." He sounds so glad to hear my voice I can't tell him that I'm seriously considering putting myself in danger I know how he'll react and the fact that he's there and won't be able to do anything about it will only make it worse.

"How's it going baby? I miss you already! How did your briefing go this morning?" Shit this is too hard I need to think this through before I talk to him.

"It went ok, look I just wanted to call quickly to hear you voice I miss you too I'll call later ok?" I've hung up on him so fast I'll be surprised if he hasn't immediately worked out that something's wrong but what the hell am I supposed to do? It's been 20 minutes since Strickland told me to wait half an hour and he'd call back and suddenly I'm not sure what I want his answer to be when he calls back. I meant it when I said I thought we should at least try but there are bigger issues as well. Gerry will go completely nuts if he hears the details of what's been going on here, there's every change the current SIO won't want to let me stick my nose in his case even though he has given up on it, and Strickland is right in one sense putting myself in danger out of loyalty and the idea of getting justice for one of our own isn't really going to achieve anything. I want to do this but when I do these things and take the risks the boys are always complaining about me taking I always have them for back up. I'd never tell them that but the fact that they have my back no matter what is what gives me the confidence to do it.

"Sandra I've made some calls." Strickland is back on the phone and there's a resignation in his voice that tells me his calls with the local guys hasn't help his opinion of how the case has been run so far. "Forsyth has been taken off the case and the commissioner says the case is yours if you want it. He says go in today look at the case, speak to the other officers who've been involved and report back to us in the morning if you think there's no way to save the case against Marx then we will pull the plug, if you think there's still a chance of getting him then we'll discuss options then."

"Ok sir is Forsyth being given another team to work with while I'm there?" I don't want the SIO to be shunted out without accepting that he needs to go because if he has been his team are going to resent me like hell and I'll get nowhere with them. I need them to be on side, actually I need them to be on side and I need my guys here too.

"He's gone willingly, the commissioner says he's pretty defeated by this case he's going to take some leave apparently he and Cathcart were close he'd brought her in for the job because he knew her and assured them all she was good. In short he blames himself for her death. His team know he's not up to it you shouldn't have a problem with them."

"That's something, Forsyth must be in a bad way though can't have been easy for him when he realised she was getting too involved I suppose he didn't want to believe it especially if he knew her and recommended her." He's agreeing with me and now I have to make my one and only request and considering that I've been thrown in her blind I don't think it's an unreasonable one. "If we decide to take this on after I look at it today I want my guys up here too."

"Sandra I don't see what Jack, Gerry and Brian can do that the team you have there can't." I expected him to say no straight out and to have to fight a little more but there's a certain level of acceptance in his tone that tells me if I put my argument across well here he'll give me them without much of a fight.

"They know the way I work and they have more experience in these situations than the rest of the existing team put together I'm not suggesting them go out interviewing suspects or doing busts on Marx's business premises but I need them here in the office as backup they can find things and look at evidence in a way that serving officers just don't see you know that."

"OK look just go look at the case and get back to me in the morning and we'll discuss it then if you really need them you can have them but we need to see if there's a case to work first."

"Yes sir I'll get back there now and I'll speak to you in the morning." He's gone again and at least I know that if I do end up staying here and working this case they'll be here with me. With them by my side I can face anything.