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Love has no pride when I call out your name
Love has no pride when there's no one left to blame
I'd give anything to see you again
Gail was gone. Disappeared, completely off the raider. Dov was missing too, but God help me, all I could think about was Gail! It had been twenty-seven days, five hours and seventeen minutes since we said our goodbyes at the safe house, and now twelve hours and thirty-six minutes since I had received a panicked call from Steve asking if Gail had tried to contact me. Once again I had dropped everything and run with shaking hands and a sinking feeling in my gut to Division fifteen, knowing that this time there would be no chance of Gail being there. It took me less than five minutes to make the ten minute drive.
Division fifteen was buzzing like a nest of angry hornets when I arrived. The aging patrolman barely blinked at me as I rushed past the front desk. Sam was standing in the middle of the bullpen, pointing with his cane and yelling at the Rookies to move faster. He waved at me and pointed to Frank's office where a knot of people could be seen leaning over his desk. Just as I was mounting the stairs, a hand gripped my elbow from behind.
"Hey Holly! Hey, we're going to find her. You know that, right?" Oliver was looking grim, but I was grateful for his presence just the same.
"Oliver, can you please tell me what's going on? I mean, I know this is a top secret undercover op, but it's killing me…" I knew I was starting to ramble. I had better put a lid on it fast if I was going to get any information.
"Aw, come on Holly, you know I can't do that…" He began
I gave him the kind of icy glare that would have made Gail proud.
"Come on Oliver.." I demanded. My face must have said it all because he shook his head and replied.
"Ok Holly, ok! Let me see what I can do."
He sprinted up the stairs into Frank's office and was back within minutes ushering me inside. As I entered, Frank gave me a curt little nod and Traci wrapped an arm around my waist.
"As we know," Frank continued, "the GPS in Dov's car was activated last night near London, but we lost the signal shortly after. It is believed that they may have been headed toward the border at Lasalle, but we have heard nothing from the border patrol or from our friends in the States."
Frank paused and looked around.
"Victor Sanchez has been running guns, cocaine, and heroine out of Detroit for the past few years. He has tried to establish himself as a music promoter and entertainment mogul to legitimize his business. There must be people in his organization we can squeeze. Dig deep into your contacts! We don't leave our people hanging! Does anybody have anything they would like to add?"
There was a shuffling of paperwork and feet.
"Ok! Let's get back out there! And remember, report directly to me immediately if you discover anything at all, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you!"
The sauna at the farm is stoked with wood as Gail adds another log or two to the firebox. Early morning mist rises from the fields beyond the hot tub and the stream. Gail is wearing only combat boots and a robe. She coaxed me out of bed with steaming mugs of coffee and the promise of a morning dip in the hot tub, which is apparently also heated from this wood-burning device.
"Come on!" She demands, pulling me by the hand, "I'm freezing! And I thought you were into trying new things!"
There are pegs on the wall of the alcove just inside the door, and towels on a bench below. I can't help but smile at her child-like enthusiasm. Gail can be a lot of things; she can be cynical, cold, or whiney at times, or flirty and sarcastic, she can even be sweet and thoughtful, but I love it when she is unabashedly enthusiastic and playful about something she thinks will be fun. I take a sip of my coffee and watch her over the rim of my cup. She turns from me and places her mug on the window ledge next to the door. She rotates back with wicked smile on her lips and a twinkle in her eye, her hands pulling suggestively on the sash of her robe. She undoes it slowly and lets it slide from her on to the floor. She steps forward and takes my mug from me, as she undoes the sash of my robe with her other hand. She peels it from my body, and hangs it on a peg on the wall.
"What are you doing to me?" I smile and tease feeling the air suddenly holding a charge between us.
"Nothing…" Her eyes widen with mock innocence. "Not yet, anyway." She smirks and kicks off her boots.
I laugh as she opens an inner door and leads me into the steam. Tiny droplets of water cling to each erect hair creating a halo of soft light on our skin. She steps into the warm fog, pulling me to her. Our bodies collide, our lips meet, the sensation is intoxicating.
Someone is calling my name. I don't want to be anywhere but lost in this memory with Gail. There is a hand gently shaking my left shoulder and someone is definitely trying to get my attention. I awaken with my head resting on my arms, my body hunched over Gail's desk. Ugh. I think my back is stuck this way. I manage to finally sit up. Chris is holding out a cup of coffee and looking concerned.
"Holly, Steve and Sam think they may have a line on them…" He begins.
I am suddenly fully awake, my attention darting to the white board behind the wall of glass and the growing crowd of officers.
I lurch to my feet. "Tell me what's going on Chris!" I look at the clock. It's been seventeen hours and forty-one minutes since I heard Gail was missing.
"Sam and Andy picked up one of Sanchez's runners. They are interviewing him now. We also found the body of his head of security in the back of one of his recording studios, so you might want to get back to the morgue. I can drive, cuz I know Callahan will want someone to go with you."
"Thanks Chris!" I say, sincerely glad it's him going with me.
As we enter my lab, I feel all the blood drain from me and I know I'm going to be sick.
"What is it Holly? Geeze, are you ok?" Chris says awkwardly as I run and heave the contents of my stomach into the trashcan.
"That guy…that guy…" I finally manage to reply, looking pointedly at the autopsy table, "He was the one with Gail and Dov in the trailer…"
"What! Holly, are you sure?" Chris stares at me for a moment, his face becoming ashen as well.
"Yeah, that's him. That's Sal…" I say shaking my head and trying to regain some sense of equilibrium.
"Hang on, I gotta make a call…" I hear Chris say, just before there is a deafening noise and everything goes black.