Beyond The Blue

The next few days are weird in the set-up of things because this is both mine and Connor’s first undercover role and for me, it only comes after such a short time in the force and Connor’s after two years. I don’t know what is going to happen but all I can think about is what if it goes wrong.

“Trent, this is what we need to do and catch who did this to me and Jamie and stop them from doing it to anyone else,” Connor says to me as I nod and agree with him about this but I’m just so worried about losing Connor again.

“Yeah, I know that babe, but seriously you’re only just coming back from being shot and it’s pretty quick,” I notice Connor getting annoyed about having to repeat himself to me again. “Look, I’m not going to be doing anything other than sitting up there and watching what’s going on down in the street below, you know that and I know that too,” he says as he smiles and just shakes his head at me.

As the planning is going on, there is a group of 8 having a briefing to go along with Connor and me, this includes Ange and her choice of officer to join us Steph who wants to catch Jamie as much as we do. Sitting there, we learn about what the plan is going to be just to make sure that we know what is going on and keep our eye on things.

“So Trent and Connor, you’ll be going in as a married couple just looking to expand your gym franchise, I don’t think that’s going to be too much of a stretch for you, in that time you’re going to be doing basic work on the property, that’s all that anyone knows other than the head of the agency, the consultants won’t know,” Dad says as I think this plan is way too convoluted but he says that it needs to be done this way to make sure word doesn’t get out in case there are people knowing.

Steph is going to be working at the bank in an office, the branch manager and the National Bank’s head of security is actually a former cop who worked with Dad so has the all ok in case anything happens and then there are going to be other cops surrounding the area as well.

Leaving the briefing, I look at Connor and tease him “So how did you propose to me then?” I smirk at him as he looks across at me and shoves me. “Who said anything about me proposing to you? I would’ve thought it was the other way round?” he says as I just laugh and shake my head at him as Steph and Ange behind us laugh and both comment that we truly are like an old married couple.

Finishing the day off, Connor has stuck around to make sure he knows what is going on as he is going to play a big part in the whole situation over the next week because who knows how long it’s going to take and this could be the justice that we want.

Heading home, Connor and I just have leftovers for dinner as we sit down on the couch as I look across at him eating the pasta and chicken and just think how lucky that I am to have someone as special as him in my life. As we sit there, Connor who has been home much more than what I have has a look across to the fireplace and has to have a double glance before looking back at me.

Sitting there, Connor puts his plate down on the Coffee table and realises that there are now three pictures sitting up there, Harry and Me, Chase and Connor and then now the picture of Connor and me that we took at the beach that day.

“How long has this been up here?” he says as he picks it up and shows me as I smile “I put it up there last night, that’s what I was doing when I came down last night after you drifted off to sleep. Connor comes over and takes my plate and puts it on the table as he grabs hold of me and kisses me “Why would you do this?” he asks as I look at him as if to wonder why he’s asking.

“Because that’s where our special pictures go and why wouldn’t I have a picture of my boyfriend up there with the most special people in my life,” I say as Connor looks across at me with a smile. “I know I’ve said it a million times but when I lost Harry I never thought that I could ever find anybody as special, someone who just lets me be me and is my best friend, the person who I can’t live without seeing or talking to in a day, you’re everything and more and there is just nothing that I can ever say that truly proves how special you are,” I say to him as he smiles and both of have tears in our eyes as we just sit there together arms wrapped around each other.

Connor and I kiss before going back to our dinner as we sit there just enjoying each other’s company as we finish our dinner off because both of us are starving after the day we’ve had as we sit there.

Finishing dinner, I take the plates to the dishwasher as Connor is sitting there watching TV as he looks across at me as I strip off my shirt and Connor whistles as he stretches out on the couch and then starts acting like a patient again that needs my help as he begs for me.

“Is there a sexy guy who can help me here? I could really do a piece of cake from the fridge and maybe a Coffee to go with it” he says all mournful and acting incapable when he can do it at all. I smile and can’t resist doing it and I want the slice of Mud Cake that we got just because it looked too good to just walk past when we went shopping.

I cut him a slice and make the coffee before bringing it over to him as he looks across at me “Wish I could have all nurses hot and sexy as you, instead of those mean old bitches” he says as he grabs my ass as I turn around to walk back to the kitchen.

Connor and I sit together cuddled up, just feeling the warmth of each other as I look at him “Spirit Cove” I say as he looks at me slightly confused “That’s where we both had had the look in our eyes at each other that told us we wanted to be together forever”. Connor then quickly looks at me and nods “100% that’s it and although we can’t really tell people it was in the police locker room” he says as I laugh and realise that we both had the same feelings right when we met.

Getting prepared for the next few days isn’t a hard thing because pretending we’re married is something that comes naturally to us given how much we love each other and the time we spend together makes people think that we already are. We get our final briefing from Dad and head out to start the operation and get the ball rolling on things as we head home to get ready to look less like cops.

Driving to the future gym, we park behind it in the parking as the real estate agent is waiting for us as we get out of the car “Hey, sorry we’re late there was some traffic on Junction Road” I say which is always an acceptable excuse because there is always traffic on Junction Road no matter whether it’s 11 am or 11 pm.

“I’m Trent and this is my husband Connor,” I say introducing him to the estate agent and saying that sounds just as natural if not more so to me than saying that he is my boyfriend. Connor shakes the estate agents' hands and we go through all the details that we need to ensure that it looks like we are actually taking the space for a gym.

Everything works out between us and the Real Estate agent and she leaves about 20 minutes later as I just enjoy looking at the space “Imagine what we could do with this space, we could put a whole Café here and then have the gym up the front because it’s massive” I say getting carried away about how good a gym here would actually be.

“Don’t get carried away Trent, this isn’t our space remember?” Connor says to me as he brings me back down to earth as I realise that he’s right although my gym manager instincts are fully taking over me right now. Heading to the upper floor, we have a look around at the massive window that overlooks the street and the bank as well which will be good for us to spot if anything is happening.

“Do you think that this is too obvious?” I ask Connor who shrugs and isn’t sure as he heads downstairs and outside to go and have a look up at the window. Wandering down I can see Connor as I wave but he doesn’t wave back which makes me wonder if something else has caught his attention but he heads back upstairs to me “Are you too good to wave to me?” I ask as he just smiles.

“I couldn’t see a thing, it’s one of those windows where you can see out but can’t see in,” he says which actually helps our situation perfectly. Wandering around the space, I’m still trying to design the gym as Connor laughs and shakes his head “You really are back into full gym manager mode now” he says laughing as I can’t help but deny the fact back in this situation, I’m enjoying the thought of building up a gym again.

Connor snaps me out of my fantasy and I ring Dad

Me: “Hey Dad, everything is good to go here, we’ve signed off on the space and even better that front window has an opaque screen on it so you can see out but can’t see in” 

Dad: “Perfect, just what we need to spot out on the street, the guys should be there shortly to set up”

Dad and I get off the phone as Connor and I just wander the empty space as he looks across at me as he smiles as I’m back into the mind of trying to set up the gym as Connor looks at me. “Would you ever want to get back into the gym management game?” he says as I look around the space and think about it for a little while before shrugging.

“I don’t want to stop being a cop because I love it but the thought of just working on another gym project is something that excites me,” I say as Connor laughs and I can see him thinking it over “Why don’t you?” he says to me as I look across at him as we wait for the equipment from the station to get here.

I look at Connor and think about it for a minute “Because there is so much going on, I’ve got all the stuff with the other gym, being a cop and mostly with you” I say as Connor looks across at me and talks about his condition for the first time.

“Trent, you know that there’s a strong chance that I’m never ever going to be perfect again and I’ve got months of recovery left and I’m not going to be able to just sit at home doing stuff on the computer or whatever every day, I need something where I can be active or manage a project, something I feel like I’m achieving my own goals,” Connor says as I never realised how much this has affected him because on the outside he has seemed calm and accepting but this is the first time he has let it all out.

“You’re already doing everything beyond expectations and you’re already back on the job doing this right now which is amazing considering what happened” as I hug him tightly and rub his back and just look at him.

“I know words don’t change what happened, but you are the most amazing person on this planet to have a heart of gold like you do and always worrying about someone else rather than yourself proves how good you are,” I say looking across at him. “Jess approved of you from the minute she met you and not even Harry got that, Logan thinks you’re the greatest thing to exist since sliced bread and loves you more than he does me,” I say as Connor smiles as I keep hugging him.

Standing there hugging, Connor lets out his emotion as we hear a knock on the back door downstairs and head down where some of the tech guys are there to bring in stuff that we need to use to monitor everything including the cameras and sound equipment.

Connor takes a walk and heads down to get Coffee for us and some lunch as I sit there and just watch out as I have a look at the empty shopfront next door and just try and get a good view around the place. I’m downstairs when Dad and Reid come in with information and they want to make this a pseudo headquarters because now we’re outside of the police station we can talk a bit more freely.

“Where’s Connor?” Dad asks as I tell him he’s getting Coffee and lunch for the two of us as he nods as we have a look out the window.

“So, we got the information back on the van that was found burnt out and we found a few sets of fingerprints on them which is why we had to meet here and give you the information,” Dad says as he shows me the document with the fingerprint report which doesn’t surprise me in the least.

I’m not surprised with what I read and I know that none of us but it does give me some comfort that we are going to be able to catch these bastards. Connor comes through the backdoor a few minutes later as we’re all standing around talking “What have I missed? If I knew you were coming I would’ve brought some more” he says as I take the coffee and food off him and put it on the counter that is left over from the previous occupants of the space.

“Read this,” I say giving him the folder as he reads through the results and what it says as he gives it back to me unsurprised as well by what it says as he just looks at the three of us. “Let’s get these bastards and make them suffer,” he says as I smile and we have our plan.

The next day or so we finish setting up the surveillance equipment and then start to make out that we’re building the gym by putting up signs over the downstairs windows again managing to set it up so that we can see out but nobody can see in as we are starting to create a gym.

Connor has actually surprised me over the past few days by coming up with a plan to create the new gym which surprises me as I start to consider the idea of opening up the new place to go along with the other gym. I look around and as we start monitoring the space and it’s going to be harder now to know what is suspicious because the van was abandoned and that we don’t know what they could be using and whether they are going to use anything at all.

I sit there and have a look as there is an old van pulling up, it’s had its old delivery titles removed in what looked to be a rush and it’s parked a couple of doors down from the bank and right near the empty property on the other side. There is nothing that looks too suspicious as someone who looks like a delivery driver comes out and I don’t put it down to much other than a freelance driver who’s taken a second-hand van on for his deliveries and just removed the markings. I don’t pay much attention to it as Tony one of the other guys on Dad’s team comes in and has a look at me referencing the van outside.

“Have you noticed the van out there?” he asks as I nod and have a look out the window “Yeah, just seems to be an ordinary delivery van that’s all” I say as he tells me to have another look at it because he thinks there is something going on.

Looking out the window, I notice that there is someone else hanging around the back of the van which doesn’t match the original driver who was there as this person is covered in all black. After a few minutes, the van drives off with the person going back to the front passenger’s seat that isn’t all that suspicious as we sit up there.

There is part of me that is trying to tell me that we’re not on the right track and that we’ve been either found out or nothing is happening because it’s been slow going and nothing out of the ordinary has happened which is making me doubt every bit of information.

Heading home that night, Connor has been in full preparation about opening up the second gym which makes me excited and actually keen about the thought of it. Sitting at home, Connor talks through his plans about it and I think that this could be a viable option and that I know Joel has wanted to extend the gym brand to a second and this could be the most viable option right now.

We sit there as Connor talks about his plans as I’m distracted by everything going on with work and this nagging doubt that we’re trying to find something that just isn’t there with the situation. Connor stops talking and then goes on about something about the Kings game as I just nod and go “uh huh, that sounds good”.

“Alright, what’s the matter because you weren’t even listening to me then,” he says as I try to argue that I was listening before just admitting that I’m not. “Alright, my mind is wandering right now and I’m worried about what is going to happen and that after all this planning that we aren’t going to get anything out of it,” I say to Connor as he looks at me.

“Your Dad and Reid wouldn’t have set up an operation like this without solid information, we’ve only been there a couple of days and we knew that we weren’t necessarily going to get anything in the lead-up days and it was more about setting up, we will catch these guys Trent,” he says to me as I nod and accept that maybe I’m being too anxious about it and just want something to happen as soon as possible.

Connor ends up going through the gym plans again and I really love them and think that this could be a goer and it doesn’t matter that we are both still cops because we can own it and it doesn’t mean that we have to work there every day.

The next day, Connor and I are actually planning out the gym and how we want it to look which is actually fun because instead of designing and building a house for the future, we’re actually looking to build a gym and share in ideas. As we’re looking at things, Connor notices something outside at the empty shop as he points it out “There’s Mike” he says as I look across out the window and head up the stairs quickly to see that Mike is hanging around outside the shop which is a day before we were expecting him to be there.

“He’s not supposed to be there until tomorrow,” I say as I text Dad and Reid at the same time worried about something is about to happen before we are ready.

11:04 Me: “Hey, not sure if this is a situation building but Mike’s at the empty building today”

Reid: “That’s expected, we think he will be there these two days, this means everything is good to go for tomorrow then”

I read the text back from Reid to Connor “Reid says this is on plan, Mike has been checking out the space on the day before and then meeting with the estate agents before starting work and it’s on tomorrow”.

The rest of the afternoon is a hive of activity as everybody is getting set up for what they all expect is going to happen tomorrow and everybody has a boost including Connor. We get everything set up and Dad briefs everyone about being on stand-by and having a strong presence around the area without giving away any clues that we are there.

Finishing up, all the equipment is set up and everybody is ready to go tomorrow as Dad notices the plans that Connor and I have made up for the gym and he realises that we’ve got into this idea a lot more than what he was expecting. “You boys got into this idea quickly and pretty detailed,” he says as he looks over everything that Connor has created.

“Well, Connor came up with the idea to go on with this because he thinks that this is actually a good space to create a gym and it’s a project that he wants us to work on together and that he wants to work on in his recovery,” I say to Dad who nods along but then raises an issue which is his inner PIU coming out and I can understand his point.

“For another space or this one?” he asks as I look at him “This one really, it’s perfect because it’s in a good place and the space is just tailor-made for what we came up with,” I say to him as he looks across at me with the concern. “That’s good but I’m just worried that it might be breaking some rules about conflict of interest and then profiting from this position,” he says as I stand there nodding.

I don’t want to break Connor’s heart because he’s got this all set up and wants to work on this project as soon as possible when the listing goes back up. “I know but surely there is something we can do because Connor isn’t officially on the investigation and if we can go through the tender process about it then maybe it could be all above board,” I say as Dad says that it could possibly work as he heads off.

That night, Connor and I get an early night though neither of us can really sleep because we’re both a bundle of nerves and weird excitement that this is all coming to a head and we could finally catch the people that do this.

Laying in bed, it’s nearly midnight as Connor nudges me “You awake T” he says as I nod and look at him “Yeah, can’t sleep either” he says as he snuggles into me as feeling his leg hair stubble as it tickles him and he giggles still not used to it.

“You really are struggling with this whole body hair situation aren’t you?” I say to him as he smirks and shakes his head at me “Not at all…” he says as I just look across at him. “Yeah alright, this is so weird and just doesn’t suit me,” he says as I laugh and tell him that it makes him hotter which he just laughs at and then I just tell him that I love him and find him sexy no matter how he looks.

“When we finish all this investigation do you think we should keep telling people we’re married?” Connor says to me as I don’t know whether he’s joking or not but something like this is a big deal and honestly, I wouldn’t mind that fact if we told people we were married.

Looking across at him I smile “Are you proposing to me, it’s no Spirit Cove” he says as I look at him and just laugh as he winks at me “Because if we have to tell everyone that you proposed to me wearing a pair of Black Andrew Christian Briefs in bed with a raging erection, it’s not exactly the story that we want to tell everyone right?”

Connor just laughs and shrugs his shoulders at me as we cuddle in tighter together and eventually drift off to sleep together cuddled up in each other's arms.

The next morning we’ve got to be up early and we sleep past our alarms and then have to rush to the HQ for the morning briefing. Reid gives us the information as Connor and I head to the soon-to-be gym and just move some fake equipment in that we’re using to build as the other cops are acting as the builders and workers.

It’s just after 10:30 when the same van as yesterday pulls up and this time it’s a different driver and one of the officers tells us that it’s a rental van which is why it had the previous advertising removed and that there is a different person. We watch as the van is parked for a few minutes before it drives away but soon after is circling around again which is strange given that we got told that it was pretty empty.

Looking back at the storefront, we get a text from the real estate people that they are inside and the alarm is turned off so that it can’t go off as Mike meets them with someone else and they start talking while he starts working. It’s about 20 minutes later when the special line that we set up to track Keith’s radio when there is an interesting call comes over the line “JN 3 to JN 566, reports of an alarm at 227 Holden Road”.

“There is no alarm going off is there?” I hear everyone say as we quickly realise that something is about to go down at the bank and we’re ready and waiting. Dad is wired up with everyone as he starts talking “The call of the alarm has been made and we’re waiting” he says as we look waiting for everything right now to happen.

It’s only a matter of minutes when we notice a police car that I look at on the computer and realise that it’s not the one that was called out. “Dad there’s a car down there but it’s not Steve Sutton,” he says as I point it out and he looks at the laptop and notices that the car isn’t meant to be out right now”.

“Ok, everybody be extra cautious we’ve got police units on scene that are NOT expected to be here so just act with caution, we think that this could be the targets of our investigation, stay vigilant and just keep a cautious eye,” Dad says as I take a look downstairs and see that Mike is now sitting in the back of the car along with someone and then Keith gets out to look around and see if the coast is clear.

We are all sitting there waiting for everything to go down but I still can’t feel that something is too good to be true right now as Dad is waiting for the go-ahead signal.

Steph radios through to us as she sits in the bank working in one of the offices “Think we’re on here, some guys that have come in just black are in here right now and they aren’t really interested in anything other than scanning the bank right now” she says as everybody gets ready to start the raid on the bank.

We’re sitting there and everybody is just about to go, Connor and I are sitting there because we are the only two under strict instructions not to leave the space and to keep everything monitored right now. The second police car arrives not long after the first one left, almost as if it was instinctive that it had turned up and Steve gets out of the car with Tim Ryan who like Jamie did shifts around the various stations and squads.

They get out of the car and have a look as they quickly realise that there is nothing going on and head towards the car when the van suddenly returns and pulls in quickly as there are three or four people piling out of the back of it.

“ATTENTION ALL UNITS, The van has arrived and everything is about to go down,” Dad says through the radio as he sits next to Connor watching everything as Steph radios through.

“The roast is in the oven,” Steph says as everyone is ready to go which means that the armed robbery is about to happen right now.

“ALL UNITS GO GO GO”