A/N - Titbit of current affairs in this one – SOCA really is set to disappear in 2013 as the UK government announces plans for the new National Crime Agency.
A/N Update - not really 'current' anymore, this chapter has been kicking around for bloody ages, refusing to improve no matter how much I tinker. Fingers crossed Ch40 will be more compliant.
-oo-
Hearing the swish of the door, Suzie looked up and over the helpless body, the sole survivor of the wrecked white transit van, lying in the hospital bed, battered and bruised. Even more so since Suzie had unleashed the possibilities of his future back in his homeland after she had explained just how difficult she could make things for him, if he failed to co-operate. Much of it had been exaggerated. The truth was that Suzie's sphere of influence lay with only a few at Interpol. The Russian Federal Security Service never returned her calls, but this guy wasn't to know that. Yet nonetheless she had woven together a fantastic tale of how he could expect to be at the mercy of not only those proprietors of the infamous Lubyanka but also of his own adopted mafia family. Beneath the cuts and bruises and despite the best efforts of the oxygen mask, Bogdan's pallor worsened. The man was little more than a boy, not unlike the luckless David Austin, still being held in the cells at Sun Hill with no hope of imminent return to his long-suffering mother. It seemed Antonov and Barsukov specialised in procuring the young and impressionable to do their dirty work. The trouble was Bogdan insisted, in his pidgin English, that he knew nothing more than Austin and Suzie's threats served only to heighten his anxiety and set off the buzzer to call for the nurse.
Fortunately the nurse who appeared ahead of Tommy was not the same severe African accented one of earlier in the day, but instead a rather easier tempered young man. Suzie raised her hands in innocent surprise at Bogdan's sudden deterioration and ignoring Tommy's supressed smile as the nurse glanced back at him.
"That was Max. We've gotta go."
"But-"
"Come on, I'll explain as we walk." He tossed the car keys flippantly over the patient and into Suzie's fumbling hands. "You can drive, I've got some calls to make."
Leaving poor Bogdan to his panic attack with a haughty 'I'll be back for you later' glare, Suzie stalked through the door Tommy held open for her. "So?" she demanded as they briskly began the short walk down to the hospital car park. "What is it?"
"Max and Millie have found Antonov. Or at least they think they have."
"What?" Suzie stopped in her tracks. "How?"
Tommy stared back at her strangely, puzzled by her incomprehension. "I don't know. Yet. It doesn't matter how, does it?"
"No, I suppose not," she mumbled and began walking again, managing to just about keep a half step ahead of Tommy.
"Max wants a CO19 unit deployed, so I guess he suspects Antonov must be armed. A fair assumption, in the circumstances I imagine."
"Where are they?"
"At the old brewery on Harpsden Road. Suzie are you okay? You seem … well … oh, I get it."
"Get what?"
"Don't play stupid with me, it doesn't suit you."
"I'm not! But if I'm going to update the DCI-"
"But you're not."
"Hey!"
"I am."
"He's my DCI!"
"And right now, right here, I am your senior officer."
The urge to connect her fist to Tommy's head was incredible. Or at least to do her best to give him a dead arm. But his demeanour was less playful than usual. A certain steeliness underlined his words indicating that he wasn't joking around this time, he wasn't having the usual laugh at her expense. He really meant to pull rank and the truth of it was, that she didn't really want to have to tell Manson that on top of their secret fears that they had woefully misunderstood the role of Georgie Fleischmann and allowed an unknown entity to commit, or at least order, murder and kidnap, that Sun Hill CID had found the sinister mastermind without any real help from SOCA, despite the hundreds if not thousands of man hours spent on Fleischmann and his businesses, all on Manson's say-so. Everything she knew about the man, all the files, the records, all of it was useless. All because they hadn't dug deeply enough into the history of his early imprisonment. Neil wasn't likely to take this well. Taking down Fleischmann was supposed to help him, and her, up the career ladder at a time of massive reorganisation when opportunities were there to be taken. Neil declared it to be a happy coincidence when it looked like Fleischman was about to fall into their laps just as the spotlight fell on SOCA but if Max and Millie really were about to uncover Antonov, instead the spotlight would be on all those wasted resources and man hours. Triumph was about to turn into embarrassment. Suzie clenched her jaw, angrily pulling the car door open and throwing herself in behind the wheel.
"I don't expect you to agree," Tommy spoke softly as he slid in next to her and rested his head back, his blue eyes firmly on her, "but I'm thinking of you, Suzie. It's better that I make the call."
His near misogynistic chivalry should have increased her anger, she should have refused this act of outdated kindness, but it felt sort of good to be cared for, to be protected instead of always doing the protecting and shielding. Making awkward calls, fielding the even more awkward ones. Tommy took her silence for acquiescence, even if it was reluctantly given, and dialled. While the phone at the other end rang, Tommy surprised himself. He compromised and hit speakerphone.
"Manson." The voice barked.
"Guv, it's Tommy. There's been a development."
"You've got something out of the Russian? Hold on for a moment, will you? I'm going to put you on speaker … if I can, how do I … got it …. Grace? In here … Go on Tommy." The sound of a door closing punctuated his command.
"No, we didn't get anywhere with Bogdan."
"What? Why not? Is Suzie with you?"
"Yes, Guv. I'm right here."
"Why didn't-"
"Guv," Tommy cut in with an obvious lack of regard for the normally accepted rules of respect for a senior officer, "I've just had a call from Max. He and Millie think they've found Antonov." There was a moment of silence while Tommy waited for a reaction. When nothing was forthcoming, he carried on. "They're down at the old brewery on Harpsden Road. We're on our way, but Max wants CO19 over there as well."
"What makes him think he's got Antonov?"
"I don't know, he couldn't say much. But Fleischmann is there as well and maybe Sondra Brown."
"What the hell is he paying at going in on his own!" Manson's control exploded. "He should have called me directly."
"Look, I don't know what is going on over there, but he needs back up."
"Yeah, well we'll take care of that from here," Manson interrupted tersely, clearly unhappy with his sidelined status. "Suggest you RV with them at the junction of Harpsden Road and er, Commercial Way."
"Aren't you coming down, Guv?"
"I don't think there's much point, do you Suzie?" Neil snapped sharply. "We'll talk when you get back here. I'm going to have to figure out how to explain all this."
It wasn't that Suzie was intimidated by the grimness in his tone. Even in his foulest moods, and they could be really foul, she was never intimidated by him. But a distance had opened between them that set her on edge as the call ended. It felt like their team of two was coming apart just as the bond with Tommy strengthened, moment by moment. Suzie slumped back into her seat, silent in contemplation as they sped through the streets towards the rendezvous with CO19. Her loyalty was shifting and the strange thing was, it all felt right, exciting. Tommy made her pulse race, it brought her alive and she wasn't going to let that go. The more she thought about it she realised that separation from Neil had been coming for a while. Ambition had always been his driving force, that and his son, but since joining SOCA Suzie had noticed he seemed to care a bit less about the people around him, depending on her to buffer his professional relationships to allow him more time for his own life. At the expense of hers, it seemed. Yes, it was time to move on.
"You okay?" Tommy asked quietly.
"Yes."
"Liar. Want to talk?"
"No. Maybe later. Maybe."
-oo-
The way Neil jabbed at the button to end the call made Grace wince. He didn't look at her, but she didn't need to see his face to know that he was furious at the turn of events. Still inside Max's office, and uncertain whether she should still be there, Grace watched and listened while Neil made all the necessary arrangements with CO19 command and then with Stone for uniform back up. His frustration was barely contained, a vein in his neck twitched, giving him away to Grace's vigilant eyes. Instructions were given with exaggerated authority, naming DS Tommy Leighton as the senior officer on the ground, leaving her to if that was a slight in Suzie's direction. She frowned, it seemed so odd, so out of character for him to want to censure Suzie.
"It might be a good idea to head over," she suggested as he finally turned his attention back to her. "I don't know whether DS Leighton has had had much experience of situations like this, not on his own anyway. Max isn't exactly great at delegating control. DS Leighton might appreciate the support."
"What from an old hand like me?" he replied with forced lightness.
"Well not exactly old," she smiled back and for a moment Neil's ego appeared soothed at the compliment of sorts. "Experienced."
"Yeah well, this is a Sun Hill case now." His tone staying tight.
"Does that matter?"
"Grace, I've spent nearly three years working towards putting Georgie Fleischmann behind bars. For what? To have Sun Hill CID and Barton Street uniform take the credit?"
"But this shouldn't be about who makes an arrest. We're all on the same side, aren't we? Your work has provided vital information-"
"It's very kind of you to say that Grace, but naïve," Neil retorted dismissively while tearing off his jacket and flinging it over the back of Max's chair, once his own. "That's not how it's going to look to the Commissioners of the Met or the SOCA board. The fact is that Max should have reported in to me and played this by the book. Not haring off like some sort of loose cannon. It's clear that he hasn't learnt anything over the years."
Grace blinked at Neil's tirade against a man who in the preceding days he had urged Grace to support and to ignore his bullying tactics, because despite his failings, Max was such a good officer. A tiny alarm bell rang somewhere in her mind at the inconsistency but just as she had done earlier, while interviewing Charlie Hammond, she silenced it.
"Look, I'm sorry," he went on contritely after a moment's hesitation. "I shouldn't have said that. It's more difficult than I thought, being back here," Neil looked at her intently. "But you and me, we can be honest with each other, can't we?"
Grace smiled weakly, nodding gratefully for his acknowledgement of whatever it was that bound them. "Yeah. Of course we can."
Neil smiled. "Good. That's good. Well, I suppose there is a chance this case might get overlooked, what with the SOCA website being hacked today. Someone will be for the high jump. Anyway, perhaps we should be in the IBO, keep an eye on things from there," he offered, heading for the door and gallantly indicating that she should go first. As she turned, Grace could have sworn she saw the grimness return to his expression but by the time she looked back again, his features betrayed nothing but coolly held control.
A/N 2 - SOCA website really has been hacked today! Quite ironic as one of its functions is to investigate cybercrime ...