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Boats, Hijackings & Breakups
By Rachel Holloway
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From: rachelholloway@yahoo.com

I've taken quite a liking to the something, something & 
something titles. But anyway me hopes that you all know 
something about Stingers as this is a cross thing. If not 
please read below, if so keep scrolling.

Bernie Rocca runs the unit (you don't refer to rank in 
undercover units)
Ellen MacKenzie (Bernie's right hand woman)

Peter Church (The maverick of the unit)
Oscar Stone
Angie Piper

Together they make up and unit of undercover police based in 
Melbourne.

O.k that's the bare, bare facts on with the story. This is 
my last idea some of you will be pleased to here. The rat 
fic barrel has been licked dry of ideas, so I might be quiet 
for a while. YAY say some!!! At times I think this fic 
reflects the fact that it is the last one in a large number 
of fic's to come off the production line. The brain is 
overworked. Enough CRAP on with the show.




An expensive cruiser bobbed in the waters of Port Phillip 
Bay, the occupants were fishing in a quiet spot of the bay. 
The skipper and his men laughed over a beer until he got a 
bite and was too busy reeling it in to notice a tinny boat 
approaching. It was too late when the skipper noticed. There 
were three men in the boat, two jumped on board, one headed 
straight for the wheel while the other pushed the occupants 
overboard and tied the tinny to the back of the cruiser and 
they powered off.

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4 WEEKS LATER

'Copy that' Helen said into the civilian radio.

'VKG Sydney water police to police launch Nemesis,' she said 
into the police radio.

'Go ahead VKG,' Tommy's voice boomed back.

'We have a report of two people in the water, outside the 
heads,' she told them.

'Copy that, we're on our way, E.T.A. two mins' he replied.

'Another one?' said Jeff coming down the stairs.

Helen nodded in the past three weeks they had been fishing 
people out of the water past the heads. All claimed that 
their boats had been hijacked and stolen by three men of 
Mediterranean appearance who came into the boat, took over, 
pushed them overboard and took off, disappearing from the 
face of the earth.

There was never any evidence left behind, and the approach 
tinny wasn't registered. The descriptions given were too 
nondescript to form a suspect, and the heavy accents told 
Helen these people were not native to Australia.

'Taking a risk in a tinny outside the heads,' Jeff said, 
reflecting.

'Yeh,' Helen agreed. 'But what are the ends to the means?' 
she questioned. 'Why are they talking the boats, where are 
they going and what do they need them for,' Helen said 
frustrated.

'I don't know, smuggling things back into the country,' Jeff 
guessed.

'Yeh, but it's a little too obvious for me, these are 
professionals, they're organised and quick. They've got the 
boat and gone in no time flat,' Helen answered.

Their thought patterns were broken by the phone, which Helen 
answered.

'It's for you,' she said hand over the mouth piece passing 
it to Jeff, 'Melbourne homicide.'

'I'll take it upstairs,' Jeff said, heading in that 
direction.

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Bernie Rocca stood in front of his team in 'The Crimplex'. 
Ellen Mackenzie, his 'right hand woman' stood next to him 
with her hands full of files. The rest of the team stood 
around, Church, Stone and Angie and others. The white board 
was filled with writing, no photos as yet.

'O.K. this is the black and white of it,' he began.

'We've got 3 cowboys, professional cowboys, hijacking boats 
from Port Phillip Bay. They're quick clean, and we have no 
leads. They take the boats and disappear without a trace, 
we're not sure what they're doing with the boats, but we do 
know they pick their times and places, quiet spots in the 
Bay, late in the afternoon or at night. We suspect that 
they're expanding to Sydney, Newcastle, North Coast of NSW 
and as far as Queensland, so we want to wrap this one up 
A.S.A.P. Mac....' Bernie said, passing the torch.

'O.K. we're going to set up Peter and I on a boat they can't 
resist. We will be well situated; we'll be out there for as 
long as it takes. When it happens we're going to pose as 
rich experienced sailors, who are interested in a cut in 
whatever they are in on. Tania and Logan - Peter and I, will 
have contacts in every port in Australia and some overseas 
contacts, hopefully making it too attractive to resist. 
Stone and Angie, you'll co-ordinate the communication on 
this one, we'll need a house set up and the boat and the 
house wired. At the moment Peter and I won't be wearing a 
wire. That's it,' she concluded 'Operation hijack will start 
tomorrow.'

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'That was Inspector Bray on the phone' Jeff started coming 
back down the stairs from his office.

'They've had the same thing happening in Melbourne, they 
have an undercover team onto it. Operation starts tomorrow, 
they're hoping to get on the inside soon, but they suspect 
the operation is moving up the east coast, so they want to 
come onto our turf and work with us before it gets any 
worse,' Jeff told her.

'Right, have you told him it's started here already, have 
you informed the detectives yet?' she asked.

'No going now,' he said 'Can you pass on that latest boat 
rego to customs for us,' he asked her over his shoulder.

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'Do we have anyone watching us' Church asked Mac, wrapping 
another jumper around her.

'Stone and Angie are around the next point listening in, we 
can talk to them through the radio on board and Rocca and 
backup are up there,' Mac said to him pointing to the scrub.

'Not exactly what I'd call too close for comfort,' Church 
announced.

'What is it about fishing,' Mac snorted. 'It's boring, 
what's the attraction. I mean us girls all know that when 
you don't catch anything, you just duck down the co-op.'

'I dunno, I'm with you on this one Mac, I have no idea,' he 
laughed.

'We've got action guys,' Rocca's voice boomed through the 
radio. 'Tinny coming from the east, get set up and down 
below.'

The fishing rods were packed up and the diversion was 
checked, the diving flags were up, gear correctly placed and 
ropes over the side of the boat. Down below the boat had 
been set up for them to hide in, a false back on a wardrobe, 
and a set that had enough storage space underneath for them 
to both fit in. There was also a trap door in the floor.

'Cosy isn't it?' Church said as they slipped into a section 
each of the L-shaped seats and locked them shut. 

Upstairs the men had come on board. The team was listening 
in, but their hands were tied when it came to following the 
boat. They knew no one had seen them, and were unsure of 
what the reaction would be if it appeared they were being 
followed. Thus the heavy wiring and tracking device on 
board.

'They're not here,' a heavily accented voice drifted down.

'Search below,' barked another.

Heavy footsteps could be heard and someone started going 
through things.

'No one here,' the voice called back.

'Let's get out of here then,' called a third voice as the 
heavy footsteps went up the stairs.

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Mac switched on the little light that was next to her. She 
wasn't claustrophobic, but the dark small place was 
beginning to make her uncomfortable. The coast was clear, so 
she got out of the seat. Church was already out blinking in 
the change of light. They smiled and waved at the hidden 
video camera that was being beamed back to Stone and Angie.

'We're heading out to sea,' Church said looking out the 
window.

'Right so what are you thinking, they take the boat and meet 
someone who takes care of it there?' Mac questioned.

'I don't know, but if that's the case, I hope you don't get 
sea sick,' Church replied.

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5 HOURS LATER

Darkness had descended onto the station, Helen and Jeff were 
the only ones left besides those who had been designated 
night shift.

Jeff and Helen were waiting for an update from Melbourne, 
and they laughed as they both went for the ringing phone at 
the same time.

'It's on, that's all we know at the moment, we'll keep you 
updated,' and Inspector Bray hung up.

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'We're slowing,' observed Mac, her and Church were sitting 
at the table on top of their hiding spots. One ear was to 
the ground, listening for movement.

'We've stopped,' Church added.

'I feel a little better now it is dark and we can be 
followed,' Mac said edgily.

'You ready?' she said fingering her gun.

'Ready as I'll ever be,' Church replied as he followed her 
to the stairs.

On deck three men were on board. The cruiser was pulled 
along side one that Mac
recognised as being stolen from 6 months ago.

'How you goin guys?' Church said gun not drawn yet.

The men weren't armed and their hands were in the air in a 
flash, looks of shock on their faces.

'Amigos, amigos, relax, we're not cops. We've heard about 
your little business, and we want in, this is my lovely wife 
Tania, and I'm Logan,' Church told them, forceful but not 
arrogant.

'What do you have to offer?' one of the men said, confidence 
returning as the arms went down.

'Contacts in every port in Australia, some overseas as well, 
extensive knowledge of the east coast of Australia, not to 
mention excellent sailing skills,' Church replied, cocky and 
full of confidence.

'What do you want?' asked the second man.

'Simple,' piped up Mac... 'A cut in whatever it is your 
getting'

'And in return?' asked the first man.

'We'll navigate, tell you the best spots to look for boats, 
and you guys can do the jobs, that's your thing,' Mac said, 
confidence growing.

'Stay here, we'll be back, we give you answer then,' one man 
said as he ushered the others onto the stolen boat and 
disappeared.

Mac and Church were quick into action, all the radio gear 
and tracking devices had been totally destroyed, much to 
their dismay, but they now knew how the boats were 
disappearing, but the men were taking a huge risk. Church 
scanned the water and nothing; it was too risky for the 
other to identify themselves. Much to Mac's dismay their 
only form of contact to the others, the radio had been 
destroyed. She informed them through the radio, what had 
been done, and wished she could get a reply.

The arrival of the men back onto the boat surprised Mac and 
Church. They had another man with them. He was significantly 
older then the rest of the men, and appeared to be the 
leader.

'How did you find us?' he asked.

'Read about it in the paper,' Church told them matter-o-
factly.

'Well we could use the contacts, so you're in,' the older 
man told them.  'I'm Roberto, this is Alex, Peter, and 
Michael,' he finished.

'We're going to need our radio back,' Mac requested.

'What for?' asked Peter.

'So we can communicate with our contacts, of course,' 
answered Church.

'We have a code, for places to meet and do our talking 
there, security is not compromised,' Mac informed them.

'O.K. and call up your contacts from Sydney, were finished 
in this toilet, we're heading that way,' Roberto told them, 
motioning for the other men to fix the radio.

'You follow us, we travel at night only, no tracking or 
communication devices are turned on, and you get us what we 
want, for your cut. We arrive in Sydney in two days, your 
contacts MUST be ready to roll then,' Alex told them.

'No problems, so what do we do with these boats, once we've 
got them?' Mac asked, hoping it wasn't pushing the limits.

'Some get sold overseas, others we use to bring stuff back 
into the country, but the hot thing at the moment is 
bringing in refugees, no one suspects an expensive cruiser 
situated off the coast, that is if it's being tracked,' 
Peter told them.

'Smooth move mate, let's hit the high seas,' Church replied

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2 DAYS LATER.

Rachel rolled over in bed, it was barely sunlight through 
the window, 6:15 am according to the clock, and she was wide 
awake, she rolled right on top of Jack, who didn't stir at 
all. She hated his bed, it sunk and was lumpy, he liked it, 
and she preferred her firm bed. His may as well have been a 
waterbed; she had a rotten night's sleep, Jack had snored, 
made worse by a cold, and as much as she loved him, she 
loved her good night's sleep too. 

He would have stayed at her place last night except that he 
had offered to drive and she had way too much to drink to 
argue the finer points of the offer. His ringing phone was a 
welcome distraction, but she knew he wouldn't wake up for 
it. Like her, he wasn't a morning person either. Both 
preferred to stay out late, flushing the day from their 
system with some alcohol and come home and put it out of 
their minds forever together.

She grabbed his mobile phone and delicately balanced it on 
his ear. Point taken, he groaned, grabbed and answered it, 
eyes still shut. That is till he rolled over to give Rachel 
a dirty look. 'O.K. Jeff, I'm coming,' he said, hanging up. 
'Yours'll ring in a sec,' he said, rolling back over to 
sleep.

'The Melbourne people are in and here, homicide and 
undercover units are here, and we're ready to roll on this. 
The thieves have arrived in Sydney earlier this morning, and 
their next target we suspect will be this evening. Full 
briefing as soon as you get here,' Jeff informed her.

'Get up,' she said poking Jack in the ribs 'Get up, we've 
got an operation on.' He didn't move. She called his name 
again, this time shaking him. 

'Do you suppose,' he started, turning over and finding 
consciousness. 'That one day, we might take a holiday, I 
know this great place down the south coast, and we could 
stay in bed all day, and drink red wine, and take long walks 
on the beach, and just get away from this crap.'

'I'd like that,' Rachel replied, their heads so close, she 
could feel his warm breath on her face. 

'Let's be a little late today' he said between mouthfuls of 
her sweet tender kisses. 'I feel I could get a little 
carried away in this moment.' 

'AAaarrrrgghhhhhh reality check Jack, god I hate that, but 
we have a job, and responsibility and the whole nine yards. 
We can't send Gavin and Tayler out on that boat, they'll 
sink it before it gets stolen,' Rachel said, pulling back 
slightly from Jack, who was by this point far from being 
disinterested, in Rachel that is. Rachel too was having a 
hard time stopping herself from moving back in. He continued 
to caress her neck within his lips

'We'll be quick,' Jack whispered from the left side of her 
neck. 

'No we won't,' Rachel said, giving into temptation. He was 
devouring her like a chocoholic surrounded by eclairs on 
Valentines Day. But he knew where the line was, Rachel hated 
to be over powered, control was a factor in almost 
everything in her life, including lovemaking. This was a 
shared thing.

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'You're late,' Helen said as Rachel walked though the door.

'Yeh,' Rachel replied looking at her watch in surprise, 8am.

'Morning,' said Jack as he rushed through the door.

'What'd you sleep in?' Helen asked.

'Nah, traffic,' they both said simultaneously.

'Well Jeff's waiting for you upstairs,' Helen said in her no 
nonsense voice.

Upstairs in the office Jack tucked in his shirt from 
yesterday, straightened his tie, and applied some deodorant. 
Rachel took of her sunnies, made sure her face wasn't going 
to scare anyone, and straightened her hair; thank god she 
had opted to take the shower this morning. He looked over 
hungrily.

'What, weren't you satisfied, you poor thing,' Rachel said 
teasing.

'We've got to go away for a weekend,' Jack replied not 
taking the bait.

'Yeh I'll think about it,' she said.

'Yeh think about it but just don't say no,' he answered.

'I'll think about it I won't say no....' she grinned as she 
realised what Jack was trying to make her say.

'Soon,' he said as she leaned against his shoulder.

'The briefing,' Rachel remembered out loud.

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ABOUT 2 HOURS EARLIER - 6:00AM AEST


'We got anything that resembles breakfast on board Pete?' 
Mac asked.

It was a gorgeous morning, the sun was rising over the 
water, and there was a slight breeze in the air. Mac felt 
like crap, she hadn't slept, and suspected she was a little 
seasick or hadn't found her sea legs yet. Peter had spent 
most of the night at the helm because of this and now it was 
her turn to take over.

'We're stocked to go in a round the world yacht race, how 
you feeling,' Church asked out of concern.

She pulled a 'you have to ask that question, you should 
know' look on her face and disappeared down below, where she 
prepared some breakfast and found some seasickness tablets. 
Good ole Angie, she must have packed them in.

Up above again, Church ate his breakfast and told Mac he'd 
spoken to the team last night, they had them tracked and 
were moving the operation north to Sydney, in fact they'd 
probably be there now.

'What I'd do to have my feet on terra firma now,' Mac 
commented.

The plan was to set up a sting with the local water police 
posing as wealthy boat owners, Church and Mac, were to lure 
the thieves to the boat and arrest them upon the hijacking. 
If all went to plan, they should put them away for a very 
long time. Also hopefully recover the stolen property.

'O.K. here's what we do,' Church said filling her in. 'We 
are to lure them to Pittwater, and that's where they'll do 
the sting. We just play criminals and give ourselves up as 
usual. In the mean time, we pump them for all the 
information they have, especially who's pulling their 
strings.'

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'O.K. here's how it will go,' Jeff began briefing. 'Rachel 
and Jack are our gorgeous rich couple on their expensive 
cruiser,' the room filled with gooey ohhs and ahhs. 'They'll 
be in Pittwater, now you all have your assignments, with 
regards to backup and surveillance, no one moves till I give 
the signal, and that will be after they are on the boat and 
taking over, is that clear?'

'Let's go them,' Jeff ended the briefing.

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'Nice spot hey,' Jack observed as he and Rachel pretended to 
be dining at an expensive meal, on a boat that neither could 
afford.

'Must be some nice secluded holiday houses around her, nice 
private spots,' Jack continued.

'Not now Jack,' Rachel said, frustrated.

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OFFSHORE SYDNEY

'Time to go to work, wonder couple,' Alex told Church and 
Mac.

'Well, your looking for the best place to hit,' Church 
asked.

'Yessssss,' Alex said agitated.

'Pittwater,' both Mac and Church said together. 'It's all 
national park and the multi-millionaires have all their 
holiday homes and boats there, you're almost guaranteed safe 
passage in and out.'

'I know just the person you can hit, remember that filthy 
rich couple that sued us last year because they got hurt on 
our boat,' Mac said getting excited.

'Perfect' replied Church. 'That'll teach them to be 
whingers, I'll go with you; Tania you can stay here. I'll 
show you where your moored, but they might be out dining on 
the water. They're really posh and snobs.'

Church, Alex and Peter got in the tinny and took off.

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2 HOURS LATER

'How long are we going to have to be here,' Jack whinged 
AGAIN.

'If you don't shut up, I'm going to need a holiday from 
you,' Rachel told him, it worked.

'We've got action,' Jeff's voice came across the radio.

'Dinner tonight, we need to talk,' Rachel asked him.

'Sure,' Jack replied.

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'That's them,' Church said pointing, it had been a rough 
ride in from the open ocean and he now understand how Mac 
felt. 'Rich bastards.'

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Jack and Rachel were sunning themselves on the boat, when 
the hijackers came on board. Hands went immediately in the 
air. Rachel could pick the cop in one, it wasn't obvious, 
but Rachel had too much of a sense about these things. It 
might have also had something to do with the fact that this 
guy was outstandingly good looking, and she found herself 
almost staring at him. Embarrassed, she hadn't been 
attracted to a man in this way in such a long time. She 
snapped out of it, but not before she suspected Jack caught 
her in the act. It wasn't long before the back up team was 
on board and arresting the men, including Church.

'Where are you mates?' yelled Jeff to Alex. Who clammed up.

'Tell them, my wife ' cried Church in an anxious voice. 
'Tell them.' Alex still wouldn't say.

'Up to you then,' Jeff said to Church. 

'Yes, yes I want my wife back.'

Jeff put Church in the Nemesis and they were off, out to 
sea.

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BACK AT HQ

'Ellen Mac Kenzie.' 

'Rachel Goldstein, nice to meet you.'

'My partner Peter Church,' Mac said introducing Church. 
Their eyes locked again as they shook hands.

'Oh and my partner Jack Christey,' Rachel said looking 
around for Jack. 'He's around somewhere,' she said with a 
dimpled grin.

'Mac can I see you?' Rocca's voice floated from the top of 
the stairs.

'Excuse me,' Mac said politely.

An uncomfortable silence prevailed. Both looked down, up and 
around and finally at each other. They laughed 
simultaneously at the fact that two adults could find 
themselves in such a situation.

'So can I buy you a beer?' Church asked.

'Sure, in about an hour or so,' Rachel confirmed, grinning 
as she went up the stairs.

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'Job well done,' said Rocca and Jeff raising their glasses. 
The rest of the teams were perched in favourite places 
around the Cutter Bar.

'So,' started Rachel as she and Church moved to a table by 
themselves 'I could ask you all the boring questions about 
working undercover.'

'And I could ask you too, is it true that all you do all day 
is fish. Or is the only reason you're so popular because you 
have the best view?' Church was weaving a spell that was 
getting Rachel caught right up in him, with his smile.

Rachel laughed. 'I can't believe the myths have travelled so 
far south.'

'I think Mac was happy to hand the baton back to you guys, 
she was a little green out there,' Church said, moving 
closer.

'It's not everyone's cup of tea, much like undercover I 
suspect' Rachel said responding by moving closer herself.

'Mmmmm, much like living your life in a fish bowl,' Church 
replied.

'Not much time for a social life, or personal 
relationships,' Rachel said, she was caught, hook, line and 
sinker. 

Church moved in and kissed her, he was smooth, but his face 
rough from where he had not shaved, and it prickled the side 
of Rachel's face. His mouth and tongue exploring uncharted 
territory.

'I'm sorry,' said Rachel pulling her head away and dropping 
it. 'This isn't want I want, it's not what I need at the 
moment, I'm confused, god I'm so sorry, it's not you, it's 
me.' Her eyes were sad and apologetic, as she got up to go.

'It was nice knowing and working with you, maybe it will 
happen again sometime,' she said as he stood up and shook 
her hand.

As Rachel walked out Church sat back down, drank the last of 
his beer and slammed the glass back on the table. 

'You win some, you loose some,' Mac called from the bar.

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'You ready?' asked Jack, meeting her to the front door.

'No, I don't want to go,' Rachel replied.

'Well we can get a video and some take away and stay in,' 
Jack compromised.

'I want a break Jack, I'm so confused at the moment, and I 
don't know what I want, and where I'm going. I just need to 
cool it for a while,' Rachel told him.

'Where did this come from, was it something I did,' Jack 
asked slightly confused, it was not the sort of conversation 
to be had on the front doorstep, but it was too important to 
interrupt.

'It's not you, it's me,' Rachel said running the back of her 
hand down the side of Jack's face.

'I'll call you O.K,' she finished kissing him on the 
forehead and walking back to her car. She felt horrible.



~*~*~