Wrong Time, Wrong Place

A/N: Chapter four of this story might be a while off... I'm a bit busy at the moment, and I've only written a page of it!

Chapter Three

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Kerry directed the way to Geoffrey's house in the dark of night, with the earlier drops of rain no longer falling on the windscreen. While driving, Lawson noticed that the location of Geoffrey's house was quite close to the Cosmopolitan Hotel. It was something he didn't dare ask or even tell Kerry about, because of that state of denial he thought she was still in. She probably would have known anyway; she lived with the guy for however many years. As they arrived at Geoffrey's neat looking house, Josh radioed through, saying to Lawson, "Michael and Stella are here at the station now, helping Leon and I out, so you can stay with Kerry as long as she needs ... or rather wants."

Lawson smiled wryly at his last few words, and pressed the button on his vest so he could reply, "Okay. Thanks Josh."

Kerry looked over at Lawson questionably, but at the same time, almost hopefully because she wanted to be by herself.

He seemed to notice that small glimmer of hope in her eyes and said, "You are not getting rid of me that easily, Kerry," as she groaned, Lawson glanced out the passenger side window, "Well here we are. Do you want me to come in with you?" when she shook her head, he realised he shouldn't have even asked her that question, "Well, I think I should."

Kerry rolled her eyes at him, before opening the car door, "You're being a real bugger tonight. You know that?"

Lawson gave her a small look that said 'what can I say?'. There was a small pause before he said, "Geoffrey's probably not gonna like you being here."

"I really don't care."

They walked up the pathway leading to the front door together. Kerry was becoming more and more nervous with every step she took. She hadn't seen Geoffrey in a little under a year, and she wasn't particularly keen on seeing him either. Their marriage hadn't exactly ended in the best possible way. In fact, it had ended shit.

Kerry stood frozen at the front door. Lawson glanced over at her and decided to knock himself.

They weren't waiting too long before the outside light was on and the door swung open. There, Geoffrey stood in the doorway, a gruff and somewhat tired looking expression on his face. He saw Kerry and snarled at her, "What are you doing here?" he then looked over at Lawson, having absolutely no clue who he was, "If it's about James," Geoffrey then said before Kerry could even say anything, "He's not here."

Kerry closed her eyes and sighed; that wasn't what she wanted to hear, "Do you know where he went?"

"All he did was drop his bags off here and then he said he was going to the Cosmopolitan Hotel to catch up with some friends for a while. It's only down the road from here," he replied. Glaring at the police uniform Lawson was wearing, he then asked, "Why, what's happened?" Geoffrey always had a soft spot for James, despite not being his biological father.

Lawson thought it was his turn to speak up when he saw Kerry's head slump forward so that her eyes were facing the ground, "There was a shooting at the Cosmopolitan Hotel earlier, we were told that it was James ... But Kerry just got an sms from him, saying he was home and that he was going to bring his bags here."

The flood gates opened and tears began running down Kerry's cheeks again. She knew now that the person who was shot at the hotel had to be James. It had to be. Her ex husband pretty much confirmed it. Who else would it have been at the hotel? His double?

"Oh ..." Geoffrey had no idea what to say, "Shit. Is he okay?"

Kerry couldn't take it any more. The realisation that her son was dead was all too clear and apparent for her now. She felt like such an idiot for even believing for a second that James was still alive. She turned around and walked as quickly as she could to the car. Being there was becoming overbearing and seeing Geoffrey wasn't helping.

Lawson glared over his shoulder as she slammed the car door behind her, before he looked back at Geoffrey, not knowing what to say, "Thanks for your time. Sorry to bother you so late," he finally conjured up as politely as he could, before he too turned around and walked to Kerry's car.

"Hang on, does Kerry want his stuff?"

Lawson stopped just as he was about to open the car door, "Ahhh ... I don't know that it would be a good idea right now."

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At the station, Stella and Michael had no idea why they were at work at 2:45am, despite agreeing to come in. Stella complained that she was tired and wanted to go home to bed. But she really just wanted to go back to the city, which is where she was before she got a phone call from Josh. Stella was not the type of person who simply went home to bed after a long day at work; she had to go out. As a cop, having a social life was very important to her.

Josh rolled his eyes at the sound of her complaining, "Look, Dom has a young baby, I doubt he'd want to be disturbed by me at this time of night. Shannon, she's only just got married recently. You and Michael are the only ones who are unattached ... so to speak," he tried to explain.

"Who says I'm unattached?"

"Stella, just shut up."

Michael decided not to argue with Josh after noticing the mood he was in, "So what's going on? Where's Lawson? Why isn't he here? He's unattached too you know Josh," he asked all of those questions at once, not knowing that Lawson was on night shift with Josh earlier.

"He's with Kerry -"

Stella and Michael shared a glance, before both of them started giggling.

"- Her son died earlier tonight," Josh then told them in a matter-of-fact manner; he really wasn't in the mood for anyone's shit tonight.

Those words instantly made the two younger officers shut their mouths. They both stared at Josh, shocked looks on their faces. Shocked, not only because of the words, 'Kerry's son died earlier tonight', but like Josh and Lawson, they didn't know she had a son. They seemed to realise in their own time that there really wasn't a lot they actually knew about her.

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Lawson started the car and began to drive Kerry home. Neither of them spoke for a little while before Kerry suddenly said, "I have to see James now, Lawson."

He pulled the car over to the side of the road when it was safe to do so, "Kerry -" he began, "You know that is not a good idea."

She shook her head furiously, "No, no, you don't understand. I have to see him tonight. NOW. I won't be able to sleep if I don't see him ..."

"I'm sure you won't be able to sleep anyway."

Kerry sighed as loudly as she possibly could. He sure was being as stubborn as he could be, "Come on Lawson! You know as soon you go back to work, I'll go and see him by myself anyway. So you may as well take me now!"

When Lawson sighed as well, Kerry thought she may have got through to him. She flashed the smallest of smiles and a look that said 'please' appeared on her face. He glared over at her and finally said, "Okay! Fine, we'll go and see James, okay?"

"Thanks," she replied as he started driving again. Although she wasn't looking forward to it, Kerry knew that seeing James would put her mind a little bit more at ease. At least by seeing his body she would know for certain that he was with his dad somewhere other than on this earth. Unsure of what actually happened to him, she asked Lawson while they were on their way to the morgue.

"Well, as you know, Josh and I weren't there when it happened. And all I was told was that there were armed men inside the restaurant," Lawson explained, as his eyes carefully watched the road in front of them, "They got that sorted out before we got there too. Apparently James was walking out of the hotel and an officer started to walk over to him -"

"Are you going to tell me that a police officer killed my son?" the same anger that was in her voice earlier on slowly returned. She didn't wait for him to answer the question, "What the fuck for?"

Lawson quickly glanced over at her before turning his attention back to the road. He didn't know what he should or should not tell her, given that he himself didn't quite understand the full story, "The explanation I was given sounded suss to me. The officer who shot James thought that he had a weapon in his pocket and was about to pull it out."

"And did he?"

He shook his head, "He didn't have a weapon on him."

Kerry leaned her head back on the head rest and closed her eyes. She felt like screaming so loud that everyone in the neighbourhood would wake up at the sound of it as they were driving past. There were no words that could describe the way she felt – especially after finding out another cop had killed James. The thought of it made her so angry. Was there any justice in the world, it made her wonder. Nothing she could say or do was ever going to bring him back. And just the thought of that was unbearable. Kerry had no idea how or if she was ever going to get through this.

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To Be Continued.