If she thought Monday had been tough — well, little did she know what the next day had in store for her.

Starting right after breakfast.

"Roger that. On my way."

Hoping she was done throwing up for today and it wasn't too early to answer the call from dispatch just now, she buttoned up her uniform and threw the boots on, grabbing the car keys on the way out.

Turning off her radio and readjusting the somewhat loose earpiece — for fuck's sake, something was always wrong with that shit, she had to get a new one — she was about to get in the car when — as if she wasn't pissed off enough already — she sensed it; the charge in the air, an unpleasant chill shooting up her spine at the familiar, unwelcome presence behind her back.

"So, how was the trip down memory lane?" the raspy, female voice stung her ears, high heels clicking on the driveway.

She'd never said a word to Alexis about visiting the orphanage; apparently, didn't have to. "Alexis… Don't you get tired of stalking people?" she asked flatly, pressing the key till the car doors clicked open.

"Me? No. I have people for that, honey."

"Good for you."

"Not a good time?" the voice teased. "I was hoping you'd give me a ride, we'd catch up."

"Call yourself an Uber."

"You know, I finally met your prince charming."

Her ears perked up, blood coursing so fast in her veins she felt it in her temples. "I'm on a clock, so get in or get lost," she hissed, fastening her seat belt and slamming the car door close, inhaling deeply to calm her breath so that fucking witch didn't pick up how much the topic unhinged her. "You're getting off at the next crossing," she announced flatly, her eyes on the road as she hit gas.

"Actually, I'd appreciate it if you dropped me off at Ritz — I'm meeting him there just now."

She let the breath out slowly and waited a moment, till she was sure her voice would come out flat and even. "In that case, you'd be better off catching a bus from over there."

"You can't be serious—"

"—it's my final offer, I advise you take it."

"You know — you two are so alike it's unbelievable," the sickeningly hoarse chuckle filled the car. "Must be why me and him get along so well — well, that among other things."

She thought it was past her morning sickness, but she could swear she was going to vomit if she heard another word leave that pursed fucking mouth.

"We closed a nice deal in Vegas last week… and damn, he gives a good head. No wonder you tried to keep him all to yourself."

She pulled over at the bus stop. "That's great. Now get the fuck out." She tried to keep her voice down and her breath even; seeing the fucking smirk on that damn face wasn't helping.

"Don't tell me you've fallen for him." Alexis sighed dramatically. "Honey — you'd get cured in an instant if you saw what he occupied himself with in Vegas for the past several weeks — speaking of which, you might wanna remember to use condoms on your next date. Though, if you heard what he had to say about you — I'm not sure you'd wanna see him at all…"

Finally alone in the car, her fingers clasped tightly on the wheel, she stopped at the next gas station, rushed out of the car and, another wave of nausea hitting her, she just prayed there wouldn't be queues in the restroom.

#

Un-fucking-believable.

She drove all those miles to a bar on the other end of the city to avoid expressly that — and here it was, before she even finished pouring the contents of another water bottle into her glass.

"Water on the rocks? What, you finally started with AA?" the annoying male voice resounded behind her back as she took another sip from her glass. "High time, if you ask me."

"Gazpo… what does a person have to do to avoid seeing your face after work?"

"But seriously — what's with the not-drinking? You're pregnant?" he laughed out loud.

"It's quite a hassle to travel such a way just to have a glass."

"Could say the same about you."

"Well, I came here to be alone, so, if you don't mind..." She grabbed her glass and slid off the stool.

"I knew it." His voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Knew what?" Here it was, the pain-in-the-assery starting. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for it.

"That you'd fuck it up just like two years ago."

She took a slow, deep breath in. "Sorry I hurt your feelings, but maybe it's time to be a big boy and get over it."

"You've been working this case for months — just to, what — flush it down the drain 'cause you can't stop thinking with your cunt?"

She moved closer, her hand sliding up his back till she grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled hard. "You really don't know when to keep your mouth shut, do you?" she whispered in his ear. "I could teach you, it won't take long…"

"Touch me and I'll report your ass."

Smiling, she tightened the grip on his hair, getting a hiss out of him. "Well, in that case, I should give you something to report, shouldn't I?"

He snorted. "Truth hurts, does it? You're just another one to confirm women shouldn't be cops."

She pressed her mouth together, her lids closing briefly. This ended now, if she let him provoke her, she would lose it.

She jerked his head forward and let go, leaning in till her mouth reached his ear. "Look, I appreciate you coming all the way down here to share your concerns with me, but… I was kinda in the middle of having a peaceful evening by myself, so, if you know what's good for you, get out of my face before I stop being nice."

Minutes after he left, her ears burning, she was still clutching her glass in her hand, so hard she wondered when it would break.

Well, if this was how short her fuse was going to be for those nine months, it was a damn good thing she would spend this time sober.

#

Though, being sober didn't help much when she drove back home and — before she had time to turn the key in the lock — her phone chimed with a text message from that idiot.

There was a photo of a big yellow envelope and a caption. "Just when I thought this night couldn't get juicier… look what I just found at my door."

An instant hunch gripped her gut, her heart skipping a beat as another text came.

"Think I'm gonna bring it to work tomorrow — your dossier needs serious updating, from what I'm reading here…"

She inhaled deeply, dread making her chest tighten as she realized what just happened.

There was only one person that had access to those records.

Alexis.

Not the only one anymore, apparently.

There was only one reason for Alexis to pull a stunt like that; the deal was off. She smelled the rat. How? It was impossible, not with the level of precautions that had been taken. Even if Alexis were to hack her phone, she'd find nothing; all she had on Alexis was stored in a cloud secured with firewall and passwords that would take months of neurocomputing to break through.

Well, Alexis did have time.

And, slim as it was, there had always been a chance of that happening. She just hoped for it to come later rather sooner, to give her enough time to put the bitch behind bars first.

Too late for that now.

Now she had herself to think of. It was time for plan B; the emergency exit waiting for her in the little box sitting under one of the loose planks of the floor she was standing at. She hoped it would never come to this, but — right now, well — it was this or prison. And she couldn't have this child in prison, have it taken away from her after eighteen months — she had seen too much of that in her life to know that she wouldn't survive this — fuck no, this wasn't an option — never. The very thought gave her murderous instincts.

Which didn't change the fact that herself and Gareth were going to have a nice little chat regarding the topic, at his earliest convenience.

It had been a while that she'd been longing to have a little one-on-one with him.

Now that she had nothing to loose, she might as well just indulge herself.