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Who guards the guardians Part 2

Jane's viewpoint

We were still sitting there, digesting Bill's last comment, when there was a quiet knock on the door. At Brenda's call Gabriel walked in and whispered a message to her. She nodded and looked around the room before turning and replying.

"Please ask him to wait, we should be through here shortly" David nodded and left, as we turned our attention back to Bill and Brenda continued.

"Could you please explain what you mean by that last statement Bill" He shrugged.

"Everyone in D-Crypt's circle's black, oh sorry, African American. We were tolerated at best because of our skills, but Tony, well he fitted in. D-Crypt really liked him; I think he looked up to him a bit. That didn't go down too well with some of D-Crypt's people; they saw him as a threat"

I nodded, from what I'd heard, in a lot of these groups the hangers-on were tied to the meal ticket through friendship, they often had little else to offer than being there to hang with the star and make them feel good. If Tony Jefferson was as good as his past as a Green Beret suggested, then he had a lot to offer someone like D-Crypt.

That would make a number of people very nervous, but enough to do something stupid? Possibly, but as Bill had suggested, car bombings weren't their style. Ana nodded and spoke.

"Anyone in particular have issues with Tony?"

"A couple, he was a pretty impressive guy, made most of them look like the piss weak poseurs they are" It occurred to me that the poor guy was probably getting whiplash, Bill was copping the questions from all of us, even Maura had gotten in on the act. Brenda took up the questioning again.

"Anyone specific" Bill sat there for a moment, obviously considering it, before slowly nodding.

"Three guys had issues I guess. Two of his posse, Truck and J-Bow both made it clear they didn't like him. Both like their guns; thought that was all it took to make Tony back down. Stupid, Truck went for a gun during an argument; Tony took it off him and told him if he was ever stupid enough to pull a gun on him again, he was dead"

I frowned, that sounded like motivation and intent to me. Sharon spoke up next.

"What about J-Bow?" Bill snorted.

"He's a useless punk; after he saw Tony in action, he backed off, started bad mouthing Tony behind his back. Probably all talk, but you never know I suppose"

"You mentioned three people Bill, who was the third?" It was Natalie, who'd been quiet for a while.

"Oh, that'd be Paul. D-Crypt's manager Paul Weatherly" Bill nodded to Natalie and Ana. "He's the guy you met outside. He's the face man, handles all the negotiations and the dealings with record companies, he's smoother than the rest of the posse, dresses better, speaks better. He's superficially charming; hence that's why he tried to talk you two into partying with them tonight. He's the one who tried to negotiate a truce with G.B.H. and his studio, Hard Time Records." Natalie nodded as Maura smiled and stepped back into the conversation.

"May I ask what his problem was with your associate?"

"Oh, Paul was D-Crypt's go to guy, he organised everything, Paul was the closest to D-Crypt, but when Tony turned up, D-Crypt took a shine to him. Found him more interesting, more likeable I suppose, he'd sometimes blow Paul off to spend time talking with Tony, which didn't go down too well, pissed him off in fact"

"I see" Brenda looked around at us. "Where were D-Crypt and his posse tonight?"

"They had dinner in one of the restaurant's here, LA Market. They were planning on heading to a nightclub afterwards, which is when Tony was called and asked to bring the car round" She nodded.

"Who called him?"

"I did, I rang his mobile and told him to come round. I was waiting for his call that he was out the front to bring the group through the foyer and into the car, that way no one's standing around out in the open" Brenda looked around again, looking at each of us in turn, then turned back to Bill.

"Bill, your boss, Carl Walters is here and we'll need to speak to him, but could I ask you to please wait around until after we finish talking to him, if you don't mind that is?" He smiled.

"Brenda, that's gotta be one of the nicest orders I've ever got, specially from the police. I'll wander back and brief in the new team taking over D-Crypt's security, then hang around until you need me" Brenda smiled, her charm on full blast..

"Why thank you so much for your help Bill, we all appreciate it" There was a murmur of thanks from everyone in the room.

Brenda accompanied him to the door and passed him to Gabriel, then asked Walters to be brought in to the room in a few minutes.

I sat back as I considered what we'd been told. Bill had been straightforward with us, answered everything we'd asked and as far as I was concerned his answers had helped clear things up.

Brenda walked back and stood next to Sharon, smiling down at her for a moment, before taking us in.

"Well, that was interesting. What does everyone think? Should we hand over to the Feds or ask them to go home?" Ana looked up from where she'd been gazing into the floor.

"Not a terrorist attack, too localised, not enough explosive, this was an assassination, not a bombing" Brenda looked at me, I shrugged in return.

"Don't think it was a terrorist attack either, looks like if we toss that theory in the trash we're left with an attack on D-Crypt or on Tony Jefferson. We need more info on the New York rapper before I'd write him off, but I'm leaning to Tony being the target" Brenda nodded.

"I'm leaning the same way, but we do need more on this G.B.H. person. Unfortunately we won't get anything for hours from New York, given the time zone difference" Maura suddenly looked up, catching my eye, before she raised an eyebrow, asking the question. I thought about it for a moment and then nodded.

"I might be able to help there Chief" Brenda looked back at me. "I have a friend who I could ring; she'd pull the info for us if I asked"

"Jane, it's after midnight in New York, it's too late to call" I smiled.

"Olivia is a friend, she'd do it if we needed, besides, it's not like she's not used to getting late calls, it's part of the job really" I could see Brenda was interested, even as her Southern manners said no.

"Who's your friend Jane; and why would you even think of getting her out of bed at this time of night?"

"Olivia Benson, a detective with the NYPD, a damn good one. She's also a friend, a very good friend" I could see Brenda wavering.

"Let me call her and see; one call"

"No, we couldn't, it's not worth it to upset your friend, it can wait" Maura smiled.

"Brenda, if Olivia finds out we needed her help and did not call her, she will be even more upset. Trust us" Brenda looked uncertain before looking down at Sharon. They shared a look for a moment, Sharon raising one eyebrow and getting a small smile in return before Brenda looked over at me.

"Oh ok then, but Jane, please apologise on my behalf for bothering her, please" I nodded and fished my cell out of my clutch and scrolled through the address book for the right number, highlighting 'LIV' and hitting call. It rang a few times before Olivia came up.

'Jane, is everything ok, are you and Maura alright?'

"Hi Liv, we're both fine, but we've had an incident here and we could really use your help"

"What's happened, you're ok?' I could hear a sleepy Alex in the background and Liv's voice tell Alex it was us but we were ok. 'Sorry, go ahead'

"There was a bombing at the hotel where we're attending a function, a car belonging to a rapper got blown up. It looked like a suicide bombing at first, so we're now ass deep in Feds"

'Oh shit, that sucks, how can we help?' I grinned, that was Liv for you, both of them actually.

"The car belonged to a rapper named D-Crypt; he got into one of these stupid rap feuds with a New York rapper named G.B.H. No, I kid you not, G.B.H. Anyway, it looks like it might have been an attempt on him. Can you chase up anything on either this G.B.H. character or his studio, Hard Time Records?"

'I take it this is rush urgent?' I nodded, even though she couldn't see me.

"Liv, the hotel was hosting the LAPD Police Benefit Ball; we've got three dead and over 50 wounded, some seriously, a lot of them are cops"

'Oh god, is it on the news? Alex, turn on the news baby, one of the news stations. I got it Jane; I'll head in and see what I can find. Hang on, there's coverage on the news, shit what a mess. There's some spokesperson trying to keep a lid on it' I looked over at Natalie.

"Attractive blonde in a black evening gown?" Natalie's eyebrows went up.

'Yeah, stunner actually, who's she?'

"That's Natalie, our media person; she was here with us when the bomb went off"

'Isn't she one of the people you told us about out there?" I looked up to see Brenda walk over to me and hold out her hand for the phone.

"Yep, hang on Liv, my boss wants to speak to you, here you go" Brenda took the phone, flipping her hair out of the way to speak.

"Detective Benson, this is Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson of the LAPD, I'm sorry for any inconvenience our call has caused you…" She paused for a moment. "I appreciate that Detective, I really do. We have a couple of leads, but if we can ask you to look into G.B.H. and Hard Time Records, it will make the job so very much easier" Brenda stood there for a moment, listening to what Olivia was saying. "Anything tying them into explosives use, anything at all" She paused for a second.

"Detective, you have the thanks of the LAPD and my deep personal gratitude. If your boss has any problems with your assistance to us, please ask him to contact me and I will handle any issues this may cause. Thank you so very much Detective, I'll pass you back to Jane, thank you again" I took the phone back.

"Liv, it's me"

'Love that accent your boss has Jane. Look no problem, I'll head in now. So you want anything on G.B.H. and Hard Time Records?'

"Yes Liv, we appreciate it"

'No problem, Alex says to say hi, she's just happy that you're both ok. You are both ok aren't you?' I looked over at Maura and smiled.

"Yeah, not a scratch thank god, I'll tell you all about it later ok?"

'Yeah, I'm on my way, I'll call you on this number when I have something'

'Thanks Liv, love to Alex, Maura will give her a call her later today. Bye" I ended the call and looked up at Maura.

"Liv and Alex both say hi, they're just happy we're ok" Maura smiled, She'd ring Alex and bring her up to speed tomorrow, well today actually. Alex and Olivia were really good friends, we'd started both our relationships the same night and stayed close ever since.

Brenda nodded her thanks and turned to look at Sharon.

"What do you think Sharon?" Sharon nodded.

"Unless we get information from New York to the contrary, I'd lean towards it being something internal, Jefferson was the target, not D-Crypt" Brenda nodded.

"Why?"

"It certainly looks like motive, Jefferson was supplanting the established order of things in this rap artist's posse, which would make some people very anxious" Brenda nodded, then turned to Natalie.

"Your thought's Natalie?" She looked around surprised.

"Me?"

"Why not, you've heard it all, you used to be a journalist and Ana has told me that you could have been a good cop if you had gone in that direction. What are your instincts saying?" She looked startled; flashing a look at Ana for a moment, then spoke.

"I don't think it was an attack on D-Crypt. The explosion would have killed anyone in the car, but it went off when there was only one person in it. The kicker will be when they work out how it was detonated. I'm betting it wasn't a timer, it was deliberately set off at that point"

"Maura, you're the smartest person in the room, what's your theory" She looked up and smiled at Brenda's words.

"Tony Jefferson was the target, definitely not D-Crypt and his entourage" I blinked, Maura didn't normally make guesses, but she was being very definitive, with no proof that I could see. Brenda must have thought the same.

"You're very confident, may I ask why?"

"The decision to make this trip tonight with Mr Jefferson as the driver was only made an hour before they departed. That suggests an irregular schedule, one not conducive to a timed attack. I would also note that whoever set off the explosion did so at a point that they were aware that only Mr Jefferson was inside the vehicle" Maura looked across at me and I gave her an encouraging smile as she continued, laying out her case.

"That indicates that D-Crypt was not the target. If they knew Mr Jefferson would be in there throughout the period it was parked they would have set it off then, the fact they did not but instead waited until they could be sure that he was behind the wheel is indicative of someone not totally familiar with how the security people were working.. That also suggests that whoever did it was in position to see the vehicle when they set the explosion off"

Brenda nodded slowly; looking around us all as she unconsciously laid her hand on Sharon's shoulder. Sharon smiled gently and placed her hand over Brenda's, causing Brenda to look down at their hands together and smile.

"Well ladies, it looks like we all agree, unless Detective Benson turns up anything, it looks like we have someone in D-Crypt's posse with an axe to grind. I'll get Lieutenant Tao and Buzz to review the hotel security camera footage; perhaps we'll see something there"

I nodded, this had come together very fast, but we were going to be here for a while yet. Apparently I wasn't the only one thinking that, as Natalie looked up, an impish smile on her face.

"Y'know Chief, if we handed it over to the Feds and let them investigate this, we could all go home, well eventually" Brenda looked up; I could see the confusion in her eyes.

"For heaven's sake, why would…" She suddenly stopped and looked down at where Sharon must have given her hand a squeeze. I couldn't quite see Sharon's face but I could imagine the look she gave Brenda "Um, well… yes, I can see why that would be attractive option"

"Very attractive actually" It was Ana, her voice totally deadpan as she looked over the two of them there, rather blatantly checking them both out. Sharon couldn't not tease Brenda either, a smile on her lips.

"You'll have to excuse my girlfriend; she's not at her best this late in the evening" Brenda just looked at her, her jaw dropping open, though I wasn't sure if it was the comment or the girlfriend tag. I could see her eyes narrow, then a wicked smile appear. Game on.

"I'll have you know Sharon Raydor; I do some of my best work late at night" Sharon just smiled.

"Well honey, you've been very inspired this week I have to admit" I felt my jaw drop open, what the hell? I wasn't the only one either.

"Oh that wasn't my best by any means. I save that for important things" Sharon pouted.

"Oh, so I'm not one of those important things?"

"Not until I saw you in that dress sweetie, right then and there that moved you to the top of the important category" Sharon's voice was full of mirth.

"That was the whole idea honey" They stood there for a moment, lost in a look, before Maura spoke, teasing in her voice.

"I'd suggest that we could call it a night and reconvene after a good night's sleep, but I doubt any of us would be getting much tonight, sleep that is" Brenda and Sharon came back to us from wherever they'd been and looked at us as laughter filled the room at her words. It took a second for Maura's comment to register with Sharon before she blushed.

"You're probably right, about the sleep I mean" Brenda nodded.

"Let's wrap this case up tonight so we can all go home" I knew I really shouldn't ask, but I was curious.

"I thought tonight was likely to be the first night…" They looked at me, before exchanging a look.

"Oh, we hadn't done anything, at least not yet" Brenda smiled down at Sharon, who smiled in return before looking at us.

"We've been working on a case together, working back late most of this week" Ana nodded.

"Yeah, I got briefed in on that one yesterday" I nodded.

"Is it something we can help with?" They exchanged another look before Sharon spoke.

"Possibly, it's a messy one, which is why we've been doing it after hours" I sighed.

"Messy cases is something we've had plenty of experience with, let us know if we can help ok?" They both nodded. Natalie looked over from where she was standing behind Ana, her hands gently massaging Ana's neck.

I could handle a little of that from Maura right now to be honest. My feet were killing me and I just wanted to cuddle up with her, mind you, as she'd suggested, we'd get no sleep then. Natalie asked the question I'd been thinking.

"So, am I right that tonight was going to be the night?" Brenda and Sharon both coloured slightly and looked at each other, before nodding. That was all it took to get Nat off and running.

"Right, well it's too late for anything tonight, as you said we've a case to wrap up here, but we're going to do this the right way, we're all going out next Saturday night, something casual and fun" Maura nodded.

"That sounds like an excellent idea, I'm sure we can find something more than appropriate" Ana chimed in as well.

"Don't fight it guys, when Maura and Blondie here set their minds to it, it's best to go with the flow" I chuckled, partly at Ana's words and partly at Sharon and Brenda's dubious expressions.

"Everything those two have done since we moved here's been pretty amazing, between them I'm sure they'll come up with something fantastic"

Brenda and Sharon exchanged another of those looks. I was pretty familiar with the type, I'd seen similar plenty of times, between Nat and Ana and Maura and I. Natalie was right, they'd be a spectacular couple together.

"Sharon finally spoke, her eyes on Brenda's.

"That would be lovely; Brenda's told me how much you helped her, so we'd love to party with you" Natalie nodded.

"Then let's get this wrapped up so we can move onto more important things" Brenda laughed.

"You make it sound so easy Nat" She smiled in return.

"Hey, between the six of us we're already miles ahead of everyone outside; they're still thinking it's a terrorist bombing. How hard can it be?" That comment earned her a synchronised groan from Brenda and Sharon.

"Natalie, don't ever say that, don't tempt fate" I had to laugh at Brenda's comment.

"Hey, after everything we've done in the past few months, a straightforward murder investigation's going to be a piece of cake"

Before anyone could respond, there was a knock on the door again. Gabriel opened it in response to Brenda's call.

"Chef, I've got Mr Walters here to see you"

"Ah Sergeant Gabriel, excellent, I have a few jobs for you and the squad"

"Oh?" Brenda smiled wickedly.

"David, it'll be a piece of cake"