Author's note: all usual disclaimers apply.

"Is the smell always this bad?"

Tommy Lynley turned to the sergeant beside him and smiled. "Not always."

"The blood. It smells so... metallic!"

"First day?"

"DS Josie Cabott, I just transferred from Traffic. CID was always my goal. I'm working with DI Saunders on the recent bank robberies. These two may have been murdered by our thieves."

Tommy extended his hand. "DI Tommy Lynley. Happy to have you aboard. Yes, we will sort out investigative jurisdiction once we get back to the Yard. They say we smell iron in the blood, but humans cannot smell metals. What we smell is a chemical reaction where the blood contacts skin and other surfaces."

"Who's your partner?"

"Sergeant Havers. She's over there by the car interviewing the man who found the bodies."

"You're not supervising?"

"Barbara? No, she doesn't need supervision. We've been together a decade. I can tell from here exactly what she's asking. If she does forget anything, I'll think of it, and she will ask."

"You sound as if you send telepathic messages to each other."

Tommy smiled. "Yes, I suppose we do. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to speak with the pathologist."

Lynley thought no more about his encounter with Cabott until three days later when Barbara complained about her accosting her in the bathroom. "So what did say exactly?"

"She demanded to know about our relationship. She'd heard we were or had once been an item. She wanted to know if I stood between you and her."

"Me? I only spoke to her once, at the crime scene. Nothing I said could have given her the idea I was interested."

"She'd done her homework. She knew about your title and Howenstowe, and..." Barbara looked at him with sad eyes.

"Helen?"

"Yes, and your baby."

"What did you tell her?" Barbara looked down. "Barbara?"

"I might have given her the impression that she'd have to come through me to get to you."

"Really?" Tommy grinned at her. "Thank you for acting as my guard dog. So are we in a relationship?"

"I never said that exactly. She just assumed our relationship was..."

"Sexual?"

"Intimate."

Tommy swallowed. "It is intimate, Barbara. You and I... we're closer than most people married twice as long."

"And if she lies awake pining over you, I rather like the idea that she blames me."

"What do you mean her car was hijacked?" Tommy had just put his key in his lock when he received the call. "I just had dinner with her. She was driving back to Chalk Farm."

He raced back to the pub. Barbara's car was parked half on the gutter, half on the road. Her bag was lying open on the passenger seat. There were finger marks on the dash where she had fought not to be pulled from the vehicle. Someone had turned off the engine, but he was told it was found running.

Witnesses saw a figure in a hoodie leap out in front of Barbara. There had been a heated verbal exchange before the figure had yanked Barbara from the car, knocked her unconscious and dragged her away.

Tommy ran his hand through his hair as he barked orders. Saunders came up to him and squeezed his shoulder. "Anything I can do?"

"No, thanks, Dave."

"You haven't seen Cabott anywhere, have you? She should be here."

Tommy frowned as he remembered Barbara telling him about her suspicions. "How's she working out?"

"Not bad, but I can't compete with you. She idolises you."

"Me?"

"You were always the ladykiller, Tommy. Havers is the only one who's immune to your charms."

Tommy ran his hand through his hair. Panic was beginning to knot his stomach. "We have to find her."

Saunders put his hand on Tommy's arm. "I didn't know. We'll find her."

"Didn't know what?"

"That you love her. It's okay. I won't tell Hillier, but when you get her back, I suggest you tell Barbara."

Tommy nodded. He feared never having the chance. "I will."

Four hours went by before they had any leads. Cabott was still missing, and Tommy had a nasty feeling she was involved. Finally, officers searching CCTV footage had a lead. Saunders, Tommy and Hillier watched in horrified fascination as the hooded assailant had dragged Barbara away by the feet, letting her head bang constantly across the cobbles. As Barbara was pushed into a van, they caught a glimpse of the hooded face. "Cabott!" Hillier cried, "why would she attack Havers?"

Saunders turned to Tommy and frowned. "She had a crush on Lynley, Sir. I think she was jealous of Barbara being his partner."

"She accosted Barbara a few days ago," Tommy added. "Havers and I laughed about it. We had no idea she was..."

"Deranged?" Hillier asked. He turned and issued orders to find them and bring up all the background data on Cabott. "Why would she think you and Havers? That's preposterous. If you were going to become an item, you'd have married her months ago."

Ten minutes later, Saunders called them over. "Cabott was an orphan. She was brutalised there it seems, possibly sexually. No significant relationships recorded. She lives in Notting Hill."

Tommy frowned then stared out the window. "Is the orphanage now a derelict building?"

"I don't know," Saunders replied. He typed furiously on his PC. "Yes. Yes, it is."

"That's where she's taken Barbara."

"How can you know that?" Hillier demanded.

Tommy could not explain it. In his mind's eye, he could see old pillars and faded green walls. His wrists and ankles felt tight and constricted. He closed his eyes. "Barbara is tied to a chair in an old dormitory. Green walls, rusted bed frames. She is not well." He looked up. "We have to get there, NOW!"

The three policemen and six members of the armed response team stormed the old building in a quiet corner of Willesden. Guided by instinct, Tommy raced up the stairs and down a long hallway haunted by the ghosts of abuse. Saunders was behind him, but Hillier stayed below to co-ordinate the search.

Tommy froze when he heard a scream. It went straight through him. It was Barbara, and she had just been hurt. He took a deep breath and raced on. He paused at the door to the dorm. Through the mould-speckled cracked glass of the window, he could see Barbara tied to an old aluminium framed chair. Her face was swollen and bloodied. Above her loomed Cabott holding a baseball bat.

"Tell me you don't love him!" Cabott screamed at Barbara.

Barbara smiled at the woman. "But I do love him."

As Josie raised the bat to swing at Barbara, Tommy raced into the room. "Drop it, Cabott."

The woman stared at Tommy, then Barbara. "How?"

"How did I know where to find you? Barbara told me. I could feel it. See this room. DI Saunders found the address when he looked in your file. Now give me the bat."

"No! She's not for you. You can't love her."

Tommy turned to look at Barbara. "But I do. More than life itself."

"Sir!"

At her warning, Tommy ducked. He grabbed at the bat as it crashed down on his arm. He wrestled with Cabott and took the bat. She fell to the floor. Tommy stood and raised the bat.

"No, Tommy!"

He turned at the sound of his name. Barbara sheepishly grinned at him. Saunders rushed and landed on Cabott and handcuffed her quickly. Tommy dropped the bat and ran the few steps to his sergeant. He untied her hands and ankles, then pulled her into his embrace. Her arms held him tightly as he gently kissed her hair.