Andy waited a healthy fifteen minutes before she launched into cop mode; she couldn't bear to keep quiet another second. Really, she should be congratulated for holding out as long as she had.
"So..." she started, aiming for nonchalance."What happened out there?"
Sam frowned as he tried to put the pieces of the puzzle back together. Everything in his head felt muddled, and he had to expend a lot of energy just to try to recall the events of yesterday. He remembered the morning - or the night rather - Brennan coming by and telling him a deal was going down at Gyer's Pier. He relayed this information to Andy and she nodded furiously, a determined look on her face.
"When I got there I didn't see anyone else. I was kind of confused; I mean why would Brennan send me on a deal alone? But I figured it was just another one of his quirks; the guy's not your typical drug dealer. So I'm just waiting there for the other party to arrive when I'm conked on the head from behind.
"When I came to I was tied up and gagged. They pushed me up against 'my boat' and said 'So much for God's good grace, huh?', like that was supposed to mean something to me. And then they started beating me..."
Andy gasped involuntarily, even though she already knew that part of the story; she had witnessed it after all.
"Your boat? What do you mean your boat?"
Sam nodded. "Yeah, the boat Boyd gave me. It's how JD supposedly shipped his drugs in."
Andy frowned in concentration, wondering what the connection could mean. She also couldn't escape the feeling that she'd heard that name before. She focused back on Sam and noticed his eyelids drooping.
"Are you alright?" Her hands fluttered around his body, wishing she could do something, anything, to make his pain go away.
"Yeah," he mumbled softly, "just tired."
With that, his eyes closed and he fell back to sleep.
Andy felt bad for tiring him out, but at least now she had something to go on. She was going to find out all there was to know about God's Good Grace.
Andy left the hospital, greeting Sarah on her way out, with promises to be back as soon as possible. She jumped into her car - which Traci and Sarah had been kind enough to drop off at the hospital for her - and headed to the station.
As soon as she stepped in the doors she was surrounded; officers converging on her from all sides with questions of Sam's state. She informed them all that he was doing well, as she tried to shake off the feeling of claustrophobia; she knew they were all just worried about Sam. Slowly, she made her way over to a door she always, as a rule, tried to avoid. She gave a tentative knock and took a sharp step back.
The door swung open and Luke looked up from a file, surprise clearly written across his face.
"Andy! What can I do for you?"
He sounded a little too happy to see her. Did he think she had forgotten his little comment that had led to her break up with Sam? She brushed it off though; she couldn't exactly criticize him and ask him for help in the same breath.
"I was wondering what you know about a boat by the name of God's Good Grace."
"I've heard of it." he replied vaguely. He gestured for her to take a seat opposite him. "Why?"
Andy repeated the information that Sam had given her.
Luke's brow furrowed. "Are you sure that was the name of Swarek's boat?"
"Yeah definitely. Why?"
"Andy...that boat was part of a high profile drug raid. It was one of the biggest busts of the year. It was all over the news."
Andy's mouth opened and closed slowly as she tried to process this new information. That would certainly explain why the boat name had sounded familiar.
"That...that can't be!"
Luke nodded adamantly. "It is. It was my rookie year as a detective, and I'll never forget it because I actually played a small role in the bust."
The look on his face was reminiscent of a cop earning his badge. Again, Andy didn't appreciate his expression; the nonchalance written on his face as he took a mental trip down memory lane. Didn't he understand what this meant? Boyd was to blame! There was really no other explanation. She whirled around. Her hand was on the doorknob when she felt a hand at her shoulder.
"Andy, what are you doing?"
"Going to tell Best!" No way in hell was she letting Boyd get away with this.
"Andy, wait, you can't do that."
"Like hell I can't. He nearly got Sam killed!" She tore her shoulder from his grip.
"If you go to Best now without any proof it's only going to end badly for you. Come on, let's figure this out. I'll help you."
She hated to admit that he was right. Reluctantly, she turned around and sat back down.
"Alright, what do we do?"
An hour later Andy and Luke were still perusing through files in search of something pertaining to the Wayne bust. Andy wondered aloud why the files were not better organized. Luke told her that the detective on the case had been notoriously sloppy. She sighed in frustration; it felt like they weren't accomplishing anything.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Sam.
'Hey, where did you go?'
She felt guilty for leaving; hating that he woke up wondering where she was. He needed her right now. She typed out a response.
"I just had to go into work. I'm going to head back right now.'
Andy made the decision to not tell Sam about her 'investigation' until they came up with something solid. She didn't want him to worry, she wanted him to rest and focus on getting better.
"Hey, I'm gonna go back to the hospital for a bit. We can pick up where we left off when I get back?" She phrased it as a question, after all he was doing her a favor.
"Go ahead; I'll just keep at it until you get back."
She was surprised by the offer. He no doubt had lots of other work to do, but here he was offering to work on a hunch of hers while she went be with her boyfriend. It reminded her of the Luke that she used to know.
"Thanks, Luke, I really appreciate it."
He smiled wistfully; that look conveying more than words could at this moment.
She hurried back to the hospital, surprised at how much she had missed him in the short period of time. His crooked smile greeted her when she walked in the door, and the corners of her mouth turned up automatically and involuntarily.
"I missed you," she proclaimed.
"Mm, you too," he replied dreamily.
She laughed. "Weren't you sleeping?"
He smiled. "Yeah,"
"Wait," She studied him. "are you high?"
He held his thumb and forefinger apart marginally. She laughed again.
"My head hurt,"
She frowned at the reminder of what he'd been through.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you woke up."
"That's alright. What's going on at work?"
"Maybe nothing," she replied, being purposely vague. Hopefully he didn't continue with this line of questioning.
The drugs they had him on must have been pretty strong, because he didn't push the issue. He just smiled at her and patted the bed next to him. She lay down dutifully and snuggled up next to him, careful to keep her hands away from the battered front of his body.
She must have drifted off, because the next thing she knew she was being jolted awake by the loud ringing of her cell phone. She hurried to turn it off, so as to not wake Sam up.
She checked her phone; it was a text from Luke. (Yeah, she still had his number stored in her phone - what's your point?)
'I found it.'
Her breath caught in her throat; she neededto see that file, now.
'I'll be right there.'
She kissed Sam on the forehead, and sent him a text saying she had to go back to work and that she would be back as soon as possible.
She kept her eyes trained on him as she walked away and therefore was not watching where she was going. She ran smack into none other than Donovan Boyd.
"McNally," he acknowledged stiffly. He held a hand out to steady her.
"Boyd," she replied, mimicking his tone.
She tried to dispel the nervousness that had overcome her the moment she noticed his presence. It was silly; it wasn't as if he could read her mind, as if he knew where she was headed and for what. Still she couldn't shake the feeling that Donovan Boyd knew more than he was letting on; that seemed to always be the case. The guy was cunning, Andy would give him that.
She moved to step around him, but a hand at her wrist stopped her in her tracks. A chill went down her spine as she fought the overwhelming urge to tell him just where he could shove that hand. She settled for firmly removing his hand from her arm.
"McNally, look, we both said stuff we shouldn't have last night - you especially, but I'm willing to put it behind us if you are."
Andy supposed that was a Boyd version of an apology. It was lacking in every sense of the word, but she didn't want to draw any necessary attention to herself; so she acquiesced, if only to conciliate him.
"Fine," He would be sorely disappointed if he thought he would be getting anything more from her.
She walked past him and this time he didn't make a move to stop her. This time when she arrived at the station she went around the back, so as to avoid any well-wishers. She told herself that she wasn't being that much of a bitch; if they were so concerned they could head down to the hospital and see him for themselves.
She entered Luke's office and without preamble asked,
"Where is it?"
In hindsight it was probably a bit rude to barge into his office, skip niceties and demand to see the file that he had found for her, but she was too keyed up to pay attention to such things as manners. In any matter Luke didn't seem perturbed in the slightest; another thing Andy liked about him: he was very easygoing.
He handed her the file eagerly, as if he had just as much invested in this as she did. She took the file from him with equal vigor, wondering what could be inside. Her hands shook with nervousness. The contents of this file could have disastrous consequences; maybe for her for implicating an officer of much higher standing than herself, maybe for Boyd for deliberately sabotaging one of his own operations.
She decided she was ready for either outcome, and she flipped the flap of the manila folder open and began reading.