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Date Posted: 02:55:07 12/16/02 Mon
Author: SoldierBlue
Subject: Re: Studs, Texas - Book Two - Sat Night goes on
In reply to: CCCook 's message, "Studs, Texas - Book Two - New segments" on 15:34:32 11/18/02 Mon

All good Studlians were preparing to spend one of the first really warm nights of the year in the most fashionable places around town; but the sheriff’s office still bustled with activity. Nick and Valerie were restlessly pacing on opposite sides of the office, while CeCe and Andy busied themselves at the computer, trying to trace the man whose address they had found during the search at the flat, and Shane sat at his desk, a hand on his forehead as though he had a bad headache.

Valerie was somehow picking up his tension, and it didn’t help. “So there’s nothing else?” she snapped, turning to the two deputies. “All we have is his name?”

“Yes,” Andy said, throwing a warning look in her direction. “Alonso Guerra. Came from Mexico twenty years ago... forgot all about it and now he runs restaurants in town where his countrymen and women work for a scrap of bread.” His voice was bitter.

“So it’s really him,” CeCe said.

“Yep. Unfortunately there’s nothing much we can do against the way he treats his employers, if that were all he did. But his business puts him straight on a collision course with Cassidy. There’s no way the two aren’t connected, for better or worse.”

Nick stopped pacing and leaned against the wall, his arms folded. “So what shall we do? Put him under surveillance, hoping he does something that will help us frame Cassidy?”

“I don’t see any other course of action,” Valerie said coldly, stopping in her turn.

“But we could try to force the situation.”

“How?”

“Like we did with O’Connor. We arrange a meeting...”

“Too dangerous,” Valerie shot back, remembering what had happened during O’Connor’s stakeout – Angel’s death and Shane’s nervous breakdown.

“Well,” Nick said, “just to be on the safe side, I’ve already alerted my sources.”

“What!” Valerie exclaimed. “And who gave you permission to do it?”

“I did,” grunted Shane from his desk.

Valerie stared at him. There was something wrong with him that evening; but as much as it pained her, she had more urgent things on her mind. She would try to cheer him up later, at the Star Trek Marathon they had planned to attend. She could understand that he was supporting Nick to get to the bottom of things, but protocol was protocol. She brought her gaze back on Nick. “Your shadiest sources and methods, I guess.”

Nick leaned back, so sharply that his head thumped against the wall. “Police informers usually are not recruited among Girl Scouts.”

“Knowing you, yours probably are ex-Nazis,” Valerie hissed.

CeCe tried to catch her gaze with a pointed look, and failed. “Well,” she said aloud, “for the moment we only have to file all this data into our growing dossier and wait for something more concrete to pop up about Alonzo Guerra.”

“Yes, and then go out and forget about this for the night... I seem to gather some of us have plans,” Andy said, looking and Shane, who didn’t raise his eyes.

But Nick didn’t exactly need to be defended, nor did he notice the attempt at a diversion. “We are here, right?” he said passionately to Valerie. “We’re down here in Studs, tracking Cassidy straight into his den. Had it been for *you*, we’d still be in New York perusing archives.”

Valerie’s lip curled. “Oh, sure,” she said, “while we came this far on forged search warrants.”

“It wasn’t forged!” Nick snapped. “You really like twisting facts, don’t you? Makes me think why the hell we’re still following *your* leads.”

“Maybe because my leads never led to mindless chaos...”

“That’s enough,” Shane said, so softly that they barely heard him.

They stopped mid-sentence and turned towards him. “Shane?” Valerie enquired, troubled by his tone.

The sheriff stared at nothing for a moment, then he said: “Get out of my office.”

“Shane, what...” Nick began.

Slowly, Shane faced them. “I’ve warned you two more times than you deserved. I’ve had enough. You’re off the case.”

Valerie was frozen. Nick shook his head, opened his hands. “Wait a minute, Shane, you can’t do that.”

“I can and I’m doing it.” His hand went to the phone. CeCe and Andy were rooted at their desks, eyes wide. “I’m calling your bosses and asking them to call you back. Both of you.”

“Shane!” Valerie exclaimed. He looked up, and she saw a cold fury in his eyes, but most of all pain and an underlying emptiness that took her voice away.

“Get out,” he repeated, in a whisper.

Valerie and Nick didn’t say another word. They glanced at each other, then stirred and walked out the door. Shane checked his watch, lifted the receiver, dialled a number and waited for the answer. “NYPD? Sheriff Garnett here, Studs, Texas. Give me Internal Affairs...”

***

Valerie and Nick found themselves in the parking lot, in front of their vehicles. Nick looked at her. “Do you think he’ll do it?”

“Yes,” she said with certainty. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the flank of her car. Then she scowled at Nick.

“We *both* said a word too much,” he pointed out, ready for another fight.

Valerie just nodded. She was holding her fear at bay. If she had stopped to consider what this meant for her relationship with Shane, she could have gone crazy. Certainly their Star Trek Marathon for that night was history. And what else was? The case can go to hell, she thought, even with relief. If he takes me off the investigation, I’ll be free at last... but will he want me still?

No, the case was NOT going to hell anyway. She looked at Nick. “What do we do now?”

He shook his head. “Dunno. I’d say, wait till tomorrow, hope he’s in a better mood, and discover what exactly he’s done. Meanwhile we could call our bosses and try to explain.”

Valerie nodded. She hated agreeing with Nick, but she also felt dazed and numb. “Right. Let’s sleep on it and hope he does the same.”

Nick gave her a small parting nod, then turned towards his bike. Right at that moment, his cell phone went off.

He fished in his pocket, regarding Valerie quizzically, almost excitedly. “Hathaway. Yeah.” A long pause. “Yeah, can do, but...” Another pause. “Look, I’ll call you back in a moment, got to get rid of a previous engagement. ...Yes, I know! I’ll call you.” He lowered the phone and stared at Valerie. “My informer said Cassidy’s going to meet Alonso Guerra tonight at the old fort by the Mexican mission.”

Valerie felt her heart miss a beat. She turned towards Shane’s office.

“Wait,” Nick said urgently. “We can’t tell him. He’d just leave us behind.”

“We can’t leave him out of this!” she exclaimed.

“He knows my informer, knows where he can be found... he’ll want to go by himself. But I’m the one who’s been keeping in touch with these people. I have to be there”

Valerie narrowed her eyes. “What exactly are you suggesting?”

“We go to the meeting, gather evidence and see if we can jump Cassidy. My man Iggy said he’ll be alone. He knows the noose is tightening... he can’t trust his people anymore. He already trusted one too many, it seems, since we got this piece of news.”

“If we capture Cassidy without Shane’s authorisation, it’ll be a worse mess than O’Connor!”

“We can still claim we thought he wasn’t serious about booting us out of the case.”

“Nick, you’re crazy, we can’t go alone, without CeCe and Andy. You’re being a maverick as usual, ready to risk your life for...” Suddenly a thought raced through Valerie’s mind. Going on a dangerous stakeout... without Shane?

The corners of her lips rose slowly. “Tell me more about it.”

Nike looked at her, flabbergasted. “I don’t know what’s on your mind, Valerie,” he said, holding up the phone, “but we got to decide quickly... Iggy’s waiting.”

Valerie made her decision. “You’re on. Let’s go.” She turned and opened her car, gesturing Nick to get in.

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