Partners

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Chad looked down at the finished letter ruefully – he’d meant to explain everything to her as concisely as possible, but had found that once he began he’d been unable to stop. There was a pretty good chance that he wouldn’t survive the week, and Andrea deserved an explanation that answered any questions she might have. Anyway, the letter along with the evidence he’d gathered would bring Detweiler down if he and Hopper weren’t able to. Thinking of his former partner made his mouth twist into a wry smile. He’d never have thought he’d work with Brett Hopper ever again, especially after Rita, but starting tomorrow the two of them would be going up against any number of crooked cops and God knew who else. It was too bad he’d given up drinking – just the thought of Hopper was enough to make him long to run for the nearest bar.

He trailed his fingers across the top paper lovingly, knowing that Andrea’s hands would be the next to touch it, then folded the whole thing to slide it into an envelope. Digging through his desk drawers, Chad found a handful of photos he kept hidden beneath stacks of papers – most were just of Andrea, but some were pictures of both of them together. Chad smiled as he found the one he sought; taken during Faith and Justin’s wedding reception, the picture was of a half-drunk Andrea perched on his lap and pretending to pour her glass of champagne over his head while he kissed her cheek. He looked at the picture for a few more moments before adding it to the envelope along with a few from Germany that he’d never shown Andrea.

After driving home and gathering up the rest of the papers – one stack of copies with a few extra things would go to Andrea, and the others would be for Steve and Annie – Chad spent the remainder of the night getting things ready while Meredith watched from his perch on the bed as if he knew something important was happening.

In the morning, Chad drove to his sister’s house and was thankful that Annie regularly slept late when he saw that the shades were still drawn. He slipped all three packages beneath the seat cushions of the porch swing and left quickly, making a mental note to call her later and leave a message on her answering machine when she’d be at work. Walking into the SWAT offices just after seven, he was there in time to witness Steve fielding the call about Hopper. “Get your team ready in ten, Lieutenant,” Steve yelled, already picking up another phone.

“What’s going on, hostage situation?” Chad asked, playing dumb. He had to admit that he’d enjoy being the one putting the cuffs on Hopper, even if Chad would have to let him go shortly after he was arrested.

Romero’s brows lowered in a frown and he dropped the phone back on its cradle. “I wish. Both teams’ve been called out to arrest a detective from Metro – former partner of yours, Brett Hopper.”

“Arrest him for what, being a jackass? I didn’t think there was a law against that,” Chad snorted.

“Assistant DA Alberto Garza was hit last night.”

Chad felt his mouth drop open in shock – he’d known he was supposed to put Hopper’s prints on a gun, but he hadn’t realized what the gun would actually be used for. “Whoa, what? Hopper’s being arrested for… for murder? ” He wasn’t sure why he was so surprised about it and that, despite the fact that someone had been murdered, he knew that he could use the surprise he felt to evade suspicion for as long as he needed to. Always using someone, right, Shelten?

Steve shook his head. “Yeah, we got a tip that points directly to him…this type of thing makes all of us look bad,” the other lieutenant growled. “If there’s one thing I hate, it’s a dirty cop. Get your people together so we can take him down.”

Chad reached for his phone as he turned away. “We’ll be ready.” And they were, after the code went out on the radio frequency SWAT used for emergency activation. It was rare that the whole unit was called out together, but the time usually filled with joking comments was charged with tension. “I want First Team on the ground, in case he runs – we’ll go up with Spivak,” Chad called over to Romero, who looked up from fastening his jumpsuit. “I’ve been at his place before.”

“Good – let’s get going so our jailbird doesn’t fly the nest.”

Despite himself, Chad exchanged grins with Faith at the senior lieutenant’s use of metaphor as they headed out to their cars. “You really think he did it?” she asked, buckling her seatbelt.

“Guess we’ll find out for sure once he’s in custody and we find the murder weapon,” Chad murmured as he pulled out of the parking garage behind three of SWAT’s other unmarked cars. They spotted Hopper’s car and parked, watching First Team send some of its members in to scout the lobby. Chad glanced around quickly, his gaze sharpening as he caught sight of a familiar car…well, he should have figured that Fencik and Buchalter would be there watching. He swore to himself – this meant that instead of immediately going after Detweiler for answers, he’d have to wait until Hopper was booked for Garza’s murder. Well, he could work with that.

Checking his watch – it was nearly eight, so only one more hour until he could call Annie – he strode over to where Spivak and Choi were lounging against the side of the building drinking tea. “You must feel pretty good, Shelten,” Spivak smirked. “You know, putting Hopper away after he stole your wife.”

“Ex-wife,” Faith corrected, narrowing her eyes.

“Excuse me, ex-wife,” the detective said with another smile. Maybe, if his luck was running right, Chad would get a chance to knock the bastard on his ass. “We’re ready whenever you are.”

Chad dragged his gaze up and down Spivak contemptuously, and deliberately turned to address Choi. “You know the drill, detective – stay out of the way until he’s down. Let’s go,” he finished with a glance down at Faith. Steve set up units at all back entrances as well as the secondary stairwell, and Second Team started up the main flight of stairs. When they arrived in front of Hopper’s door, Chad slid his protective sunglasses on his face and nodded to Hawkins. Justin held up a hand in acknowledgement and moved to the other side of the door. Game on. Inside Hopper’s apartment, a dog – Rambus, Chad remembered suddenly – began to bark and they rushed the door. “LAPD, get down,” Chad yelled in concert with the others, moving forward as Hopper immediately dropped to his knees with his hands raised.

“I’m a cop,” Hopper shouted back, as if this was Tarzana all over again. Yeah, I bet you wish that it was. Marten lifted a bag from the closet triumphantly, calling that he’d found a gun.

Spivak came in just as Chad shifted to allow Williams to move past with a pair of cuffs. “Detective Brett Hopper? You’re under arrest for the murder of Assistant DA Alberto Garza.”

Hopper looked around in disbelief as he was mirandized, and he gaped as Chad pulled off his helmet. “Chad, what the hell’s going on? I didn’t kill anyone, I was with Rita last night and-”

Chad’s mouth tightened with anger and, if he was being honest with himself, jealousy that the other man was able to spend time with someone he loved while Chad would have done just about anything to sleep with Andrea in his arms. “Still gotta rub it in, huh Hopper? Save it,” Chad scowled. “Let’s go do some finger painting.”

Once back at Metro, Chad turned Hopper over to get processed while he went to place the evidence in Roknowski’s inbox and returned to make the call to Annie. As predicted, the machine picked up and he quickly explained about all three packages – she never got off work earlier than eight on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so she wouldn’t have to start worrying about anything until at least nine. A flash of blonde hair made him move back from the door of the office he’d stepped into, and he watched as Andrea charged over to Hopper. She looked so beautiful, Chad thought wistfully. Beautiful, and tougher than nails. Whatever happened to him, Chad knew Andrea would be just fine and that thought eased his heart slightly.

He waited while she talked to Hopper, then Chad’s eyes followed her admiringly as Andrea walked off with her head held high like she would single-handedly prove her partner’s innocence. You’re one magnificent woman, Battle . God, he loved her. When she’d disappeared around a corner, Chad walked out to Hopper and held up a pair of cuffs. “Got you some jewelry, Hopper – let’s see if they fit.”

“And it’s not even my birthday…you’re just loving every minute of this, aren’t you?” Hopper demanded.

Chad shook his head and glanced around to make sure the county deputies were still getting coffee. “Not exactly – let’s go.”

Hopper looked over in the same direction curiously. “What’s going on?”

“Let’s just say we need to have some alone time,” Chad smirked. “After you,” and he gestured towards the elevator.

“You know, you have an ugly smile – women say that about you.”

“I’ll bet they do,” Chad said absently.

“I have no idea what Rita or Andrea saw in you-” he cut off as Chad grabbed his collar and slammed him into the side of the elevator.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Chad hissed. “You know nothing about it, and even less about me.” Releasing Hopper, he stepped back and tried to rein in his temper. “Shut the hell up and follow my lead if you want to get out of this.” The doors slid open, and he forced a smile back on his face as he tugged Hopper out with him and started for the lower exit to the parking garage. A few patrolmen and detectives glanced their way, but none stopped them – after all, seeing a SWAT officer leading a prisoner was a fairly common occurrence. Opening the doors of his car, he shoved Hopper toward the passenger side. “Get in and shut up. By now they’ve found your prints all over the gun that was in your closet, and they’ll match it to the bullets that killed Garza.”

Hopper stared at him in confusion. “What…what are you talking about? How could you know that?”

Chad started the car and glanced over at his ex-partner with a wry smile as he tossed Hopper a copy of the papers he’d been collecting. “Because I’m the one who put your prints all over the gun.”


_ _ _ _ _ _ _


Andrea stormed off to find Lt. Graves – there had to be a mistake here, anyone who knew Hopper knew that he couldn’t kill anyone; the whole thing made absolutely no sense – but was sidetracked by the sound of her phone ringing. Glancing down at the display, her eyebrows rose when she saw that Annie Shelten was calling her. She moved her thumb over the button that would silence the ringer and pressed it, shaking her head. Annie hadn’t given up trying to get her back together with Chad, and although Andrea liked her, the insistence was wearing on her nerves.

She nearly walked right into Rita when she stepped out of the elevator. “Andrea,” Rita blurted, grabbing at her shoulders. “They say Brett murdered someone?”

Andrea looked over at Christopher Choi, who was standing a few paces behind Chad’s ex-wife. “Yeah, but we both know he couldn’t have – was he with you?”

The other woman nodded. “All night; I just got here to give a statement.” Rita bit her lip suddenly and looked away. “Is, is Chad here? I need to talk to him.”

Andrea was stunned – Rita hadn’t even been there five minutes, and she was already rubbing it in like nobody’s business. “You of all people ask me that? Excuse me, I’ve got work to do,” she replied coldly, brushing past and ignoring Rita’s attempt to stop her. How dare she? Her phone started to ring - it was Annie again - and this time she flipped it open. “What? ” Andrea yelled.

“…Andy?”

She sighed. “Look, Annie, I’m really busy right now so can I call y-”

“No, don’t hang up! ”

Andrea blinked at the near-hysterical sound of her friend’s voice, and moved to one side of the hallway. “Is everything okay?”

“I need you to come over – it’s about Chad,” Annie said, sounding close to tears. “Please, just – you need to come over, or I can meet you someplace. He made me swear not to tell anyone, but…oh, God. Please just meet me somewhere!”

What the hell? “Okay, just try to calm down – I can be at your place in a few hours, I have some things to take care of-”

Annie interrupted again, sounding even more frantic. “No! I need…you need…to see this. Please, Andy,” she begged.

“Annie, I’m sorry but my partner-”

“Chad planted the evidence!” Annie yelled.

She nearly dropped the phone. “…what? ”

“Now will you come over?”

“I’m on my way.” Andrea ran past Graves and Romero, nearly knocking Faith down as she flung herself through the front doors of Metro. Chad planting evidence? He would never do such a thing… but then, Hopper would never kill anyone, either. What the hell was going on today? Shoving the stupid plug-in light onto the dashboard and refusing to think about all the times Chad made fun of her for even having it, Andrea drove to Annie’s house.

Chad’s sister was waiting for her on the porch, ushering her inside immediately and shoving a lumpy packet of something at her. “I slept through my alarm this morning, and while I was in the shower I heard the phone – of course I didn’t get to it in time, but when I checked the messages I found out it was from Chad. He told me to look under the porch swing’s cushions, and I found these,” Annie rambled, so upset she was nearly hyperventilating. “He came to me last week and told me everything, but from the looks of these papers… he’s in over his head, and I know he wanted to keep you out of it but I didn’t know what else to do.”

Andrea frowned as she pulled the papers out and a few pages of folded computer paper fell out. The words I never stopped loving you written in Chad’s distinctive scrawl jumped out at her and made her hands start shaking. She shuffled through the papers to put them back in order and sank down into the nearest chair, heart in her mouth.

Dear Andrea…

I can’t expect you to ever understand why I did this, but please believe me that I just wanted to keep you safe. I’ve never liked to keep anything from you, and this has weighed the heaviest upon me – let me say first that I love you, and I never stopped loving you no matter what I’ve said and done to hurt you. You’ve always given me what was best in myself, and your love has been the one thing I’ve cherished most in this world. I am sorrier than you’ll ever know for what I’ve done to you, and I hope that you’ll forgive me one day. Everything that I am is yours, and always was…

She brushed the tears from her eyes that threatened to blind her and read through his account of marriage to Rita – including what had ended it – while Annie came to sit beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. When she reached the end, Andrea read the letter once more before she realized that she was meant to look in the envelope again. Upending it over her knees, Andrea’s eyes widened as a ring fell out onto her lap.

“Oh my God,” Annie breathed, leaning in close to take a look at it as Andrea picked it up. “It’s beautiful.”

Andrea stared down at the engagement ring, feeling anger and determination start to replace sorrow. The thought that Chad had deliberately kept such a secret from her when she could have helped him, made her furious. Just you wait until I get my hands on you, Chad Shelten. So he thought he could do this by himself, did he? Well, she’d show that infuriating man a thing or two. She blew her nose angrily and stood, sliding the ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do: I need you to get in touch with Faith and ask her to get contact information for all the men named in the documents – if she can pull anything useful about Hopper’s dad, that could help as well. Steve needs to get his copies as soon as possible, so if you could take that down to the precinct you might be able to find Faith and Justin there.”

Annie gaped. “Well, that didn’t take you too long, did it?”

“I’m a cop, it’s what I do,” Andrea said with a cockiness she sure as hell didn’t feel. “Now, I’ll need some Pepto-Bismol and a tire iron. My stomach’s been killing me lately.”

“Pepto’s in the bathroom cabinet, but why do you need a tire iron…?”

“Because once I find your brother, I’m going to beat him to death with it.”

tbc…
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