Organized Crime: Unorganized

Chapter 38

"We get any more faces up here and Tom will stick his nose in where it doesn't belong" Marco told him.
"He will soon enough" James told him "Is Grace talking to you?" James asked, his eyes staying on their murder board.
"No, why? Is something wrong?"
"She's been...off this past week and we've haven't really spoken. I was just wondering if she had spoken to someone" James sighed slightly.
"We spoke when we were working surveillance, she told me how much she valued us and the team and how we felt more like a family than her real one. She just shrugged it off as being sentimental but I think that she had something else on her mind but, I didn't push" Marco explained.
"Will you keep an eye on her for me?" James asked earning a chuckle from him.
"Me? What about you? You are her boyfriend you know"
"I know. I just don't want her to feel pressured into telling me" James sighed "I love her Marco. I didn't think that it was possible after Molly died but, I love her. I feel like I've spent my whole life loving her, learning her. And yet, she is still a mystery to me but, I don't care. Even if it gets complicated, she's worth it to me" James sighed deeply. Marco slapped his hand on James's shoulder.
"Just tell her that because I know she feels the same way about you. Whatever she's not telling us it's because she wants to protect us. She's doing it because she loves us. You more so"

"There's a safe in the bedroom" Lorenzo told her.
"Behind the big painting? Yeah, it's not going to be in there" Grace told him before she moved towards the armchair "It's going to be somewhere he can sit and still gain access to it" Grace rummaged around the newspaper basket but found nothing "And he's got to be quick..." Grace trailed off from searching for a latch under the side table as she spotted something on the wall. She gently pressed on the wall eventually finding an opening with a file inside.
"No way. I've got to get one of those" Lorenzo lit up with joy as the secret hiding spot as Grace opened the file, finding a picture of a group of people in army uniform.
"That's Ruth and Arthur" Grace pointed out.
"Mark's not in that picture. Why wouldn't he be in it?" Lorenzo asked.
"Maybe he was their handler" Grace suggested earning a look of amazement from Lorenzo.

"Tell me, on all the paperwork I can find on Cormac O'Reilly why does it say he was put into a Japanese prison?" Sadie asked them all.
"Because he was?" Lorenzo replied.
"Wrong. Anyone take a guess as to what language those road signs are in?"
"It's Russian" Grace told them.
"That explains why O'Reilly went after them" James added.
"The paperwork was probably forged. They must have took Cormac to a Russian prison in secret" Marco suggested.
"But why is there no paperwork to prove that? Who were they hiding Cormac from?" Aneesa wondered out loud.
"All we know is that he was never married, had no children and he was arrested in his French villa" Sadie told them.
"There's evidence to back that up?" Grace asked.
"Were getting a list of who was there that day and there may be photographs, Lilly's looking into that now" Sadie explained.
"Those people need to be warned that he's on a warpath" Grace told her.
"They had sweetie. But, there's a whole different life he's led that isn't on any file" Sadie told her.
"Did you hear off your contacts yet?" James asked her.
"I'm waiting on a document. I'll see if they have it" Grace told him, leaving the room quickly.

"Cor was in Russia!?" Grace bit.
"That was on a need to know-" Simon began but Grace cut him off quickly.
"And you didn't think that I needed to know!? That's bullshit and we know it" Grace bit back.
"How would knowing do you any good?" Simon argued.
"You have to be kidding! You and George and everyone else does not get to decide what is good for me!" Grace bit "What else did you leave out?"
"Nothing. I promise Grace"
"Your promises mean jackshit"
"Really Grace. We couldn't tell you because we all knew about the kind of relationship you had with him-"
"Clara get him off the phone"
"What are you going to do Grace? Run away? Your good at that!" Simon bit as Clara moved the phone to her ear.
"I need a favour. Do you remember Shawn's? The back alley, the buzzer says Saunders. I need you to get the pictures before my team find any connection to Shawn. Please. And don't take that asshole with you"
"Okay" Clara sighed deeply, giving in to her friend "He's right you know. You couldn't know where he was, we didn't know if you were going to turn" Clara argued gently.
"I know" Grace sighed deeply "I just hate it when he's right" Grace sighed before she hung up the phone.

Grace grabbed the sheet of paper off the copier before she headed out into the hallway, bumping into Lilly as she went.
"Sorry. I got distracted" Grace apologised quickly.
"What's that?"
"The info from my contacts. Hey, did you find any surveillance photos from Reilly's villa? Sadie said you were looking into it"
"Yeah, I couldn't find anything but, I'm going to try footage from the sedans next. Hopefully we'll get lucky" she smiled before she headed off.
"Yeah, hopefully" Grace muttered to herself before she headed to the conference room.
"Is that from your contacts?" James asked as Grace handed him the info.
"Bank accounts traceable to the first two victims, we might be able to match those other faces in the picture we found" Grace told him.
"Good work guys but, its time to call it a night" James told them all.

"Hey, we got a double homicide" Lorenzo told them the next morning.
"Why do they think that its to do with us?" James asked.
"They said it looks professional. Two victims, one shot point blank in the head the other had two to the chest" Lorenzo told them.
"Where?" Grace asked.
"I don't have the location yet but I know it's some back alley downtown" Lorenzo told her.
"I'll go with you. It's probably worth checking out" Grace explained as she was already making her way out of the door.

"They say it happened late last night. Guy inside the apartment didn't die instantly although he was shot twice and the girl out here died instantly with the first shot. Police still haven't been able to identify her" Lorenzo told her "It looks as if it was a hit but why would O'Reilly go after these two?" Lorenzo thought out loud. Grace wasn't listening to his rambling as she stared down at her dead friend, the woman who had helped her countless times without question, the woman who's life she had saved countless times. Now she was just a body without a name. She was dead. Cormac was really not going to stop at anything to get what he wanted and, right now, he wanted Grace.
"Excuse me" Grace muttered just loud enough for Lorenzo to hear as she headed down the hallway towards the stairs.
"Grace?" Lorenzo called after her, watching as she disappeared out of sight.
When he came outside Grace was vomiting up her breakfast all over her shoes as she gripped the railing for support.
"You good?"
"Yeah, I just don't know what happened. I got it on my pants. Can we swing by my place on the way back?" Grace asked as she wiped her mouth on the tissue he gave her.
"James wants us back quickly" Lorenzo reminded her.
"Its on the way and I'll be quick" Grace assured him.
"Fine. Anything for you beautiful" he teased lightly, earning an eye roll from Grace in return.

Grace headed into her apartment, quickly changing her pants before she went to her floor safe. She took out the small necklace box that had held the ring that Cormac had given her nearly three years ago. The ring that changed everything. Grace quickly flushed it down the toilet before she closed up her floor safe, moving the carpet back into place. Grace closed her bedroom door behind her before she headed back down to the waiting SUV.

When they got back to the office, James was speaking to all the other agencies and agents that would be involved with trying to capture Cormac. To Grace the words just died out in her ears. The room was so full yet so silent. Her James looked as stern as he always did when he was giving out orders. Lilly and Sadie were stood together listening intensely to everything James was saying. Marco was right beside James and Lorenzo was just a few feet away from her. This was her team. No. This was more than her team, this was her family. The people she trusted and loved more than anyone else. She had to leave them. She knew it from the moment Cormac first made contact. They were going to get hurt if she stayed or if she left but, at least this way, they would still be alive to comfort each other.
Grace casted a glance around the room, the place that had felt more like home in a few months than her real home ever did. She was always too good at letting go which is why she always thought that she was designed to be alone. But, now, standing in a room that felt like home with people who made saying goodbye so hard, she didn't want to go. Her eyes began to well with tears at everything she was about to loose, but before she could think about changing her mind Grace turned and walked away.

Prépares-toi à te battre. Mother fuckers. Your about to meet your worst nightmare.