Respect, Loyalty and Love

Chapter 2

As personal tensions escalated between Gene and Luke, their strong permanent friendship began to weaken even more before each and every Fenchurch East detective to see. It was hardly helping matters especially as this looked likely to be affecting the latest robbery case,as respective feelings and attention seemed rather elsewhere and beyond. Nobody wanted to see tempers flaring and arguments intensifying especially WPC Alice Quinn, a 24 year old fresh new recent recruit to the station, she'd always felt greatly let down whenever she saw Gene and Luke squaring up against one another and pressurizing the other to throw the next punch.

She'd found herself respecting the determined Detective Chief Inspector straight away on her first day in June 1998 when the station found themselves coming under attack from rival football hooligans after England's defeat to Argentina at the World Cup. Without getting a closer enough description, Alice had been deliberately pushed over on the side-street pavement along Fenchurch High Street, which resulted only in a sprained left ankle. She was extremely lucky at the time as Gene managed to save her in time before she could have been hurt all the more. Nowadays admittedly she would always be looking out for him as an honest friend whenever he appeared to feel troubled anytime.

Right on cue as she snapped out her thoughts, as always Gene called her name out from the other side of the room and she was happy to help out as soon as possible. "Quinn, over here want you to analyze this, mud splattered foo-tmarks right by the back entrance door. Armstrong isn't exactly going to explain how many there are, so I thought you could describe how many there might be. You know how many bank robbers we could be contending with, whether its two, three or a 11 a side football team" Gene conjured up the thought while thoroughly supervising the WPC brunette.

Without voicing her opinion Alice heaved a sigh, she placed a hair curl behind her ear and at that precise moment lightly knelt down on one leg, she slowly began to painstakingly examine the ram-shackled crime scene properly by the book.

"I don't know Guv, I'd say two of the robbers might have been walking side by side, carrying heavy backpacks for putting the money in and a possible third robber could have followed behind." Alice shared her thought with him.

"Well according to the bank manager, Mr Roberts. He only seen one of them not carrying a baseball bat. Told me this bastard robber looked like he had a death wish thought out." Gene looked tense as he told her, he didn't want to tell anybody yet but he believed that something about this was becoming clearer. Cracking this, might feasibly mean his time in this incomprehensible spiritual life was concluding in a matter of days.

"Guv...Gene, are you feeling alright? its looks like you seem a little distracted, its nothing to do with the argument you had with Luke is it. Because believe me you didn't deserve to be shouted at." Alice softly spoke his name as she got back up, steadily on her feet. For whatever unexplained reason she couldn't help feeling considerably worried about the way he was behaving.

Fleetingly for a few seconds Gene contemplated on telling her the truth about why he hadn't truly been himself for numerous weeks. "Its funny isn't it how the world changes before you know it. It getting rid of old-school policing and bringing in contemporary tactics. It's hard to tell really because I know I should be feeling bloody dismayed by this but for some reason I can't. I've come to know that younger coppers nowadays seem to enjoy giving us over the hill detectives a right ungrateful booting up the dangle berries" Gene finished talking as he and Alice were now being joined by a calmer looking Luke.

"So come on then, what have you gone and discovered for us this time?" Gene unwearingly questioned him right away, hoping he'd found something vital, something that rang true and that accurately counted up.

After opting to place his latest dispute with Gene out of the way for the time being, Luke soon gradually filled his colleagues in on what unanswered clues he had unearthed behind the banker's counter. "I think there's something you ought to see. You might be familiar with the symbol. " Luke led them both across the room to the four counter, seating areas and observantly pointed out what he actually meant. Fenchurch's finest and respectful soon explored and looked for more probable clues.

As they studied an recently drawn faint sketched pencil drawing beneath the counter, Gene was doubtful over what Luke had suddenly found.

"What I'm suppose to be looking at, Lukey boy?, don't tell me its not that offensive doodle under the desk" He hoarsely replied.

"If I'm not mistaken Guv, you haven't identified the handwriting and I honestly reckon you should take a closer glance" Luke willingly recommended, as he suspected the identity of one of the equipped bank robber. He was absolutely optimistic and utterly convinced that it shouldn't take the Guv too long to realize who the handwriting belonged to. He could tell within minutes that Gene looked taken back once he remembered the name.

"Michael Sachs" Gene clumsily stepped back away from the counter, his eyebrows strongly raised up. Now despite knowing that he was the person who masterminded this dangerous bank robbery, he soon wished that the name hadn't been bought up suddenly. Remembering the name also dredged up unwanted memories of the many months he'd led and conducted a peraonal grudge against both Fenchurch stations throughout the late stage of the 1980's.

"Who's Michael Sachs?" Luke and Alice both curiously grilled the unsociable detective, both of them eager to learn about how Gene knew this person.

"He's Jason Sachs' younger brother. He's a name I would rather have forgotten. Used to be a police informer for DCI Barnes at Fenchurch West until he turned against the good coppers by going corrupt, his bloody poncy greed was to blame." Even though he had so much worries and uncertainty on his mind, Gene ably answered their inquisitive question with confidence.

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After they'd returned back to the station and for 15 minutes while he happily relaxed back within his more updated office which barely ever impressed him as he always constantly loathed any thing that was cutting-edge or state of the art. However while he sat contemplatively alone that mid-afternoon without any logical warning after he had placed his police warrant down on the desk. Gene was soon beginning to feel plagued and tormented by an visible reflective figure of a younger female standing right behind Alice Quinn's temporarily unused desk. He tried desperately to look closer and put a name to the face. He knew this was seriously alarming him and that if he'd told anybody about this, they'd believe he was as mad as a hatter.

As he almost stumbled over while slowly strolling across towards his office door, he was getting obsessed and distracted by matching a name to this person's identity.

He looked watchfully out of the window, his blue steel eyes scanning everywhere across this young female's saintly body features. "Why do I feel like you're trying to tell me something important. Are you someone I've sadly forgotten or someone that stole my heart when you worked alongside me..." Gene's answers were given pretty quickly as the woman turned to face him, Alex Drake, the lost and much missed love of his life. "Bolls...why are you bleeding?" He swore he felt his stomach doing awful somersaults.

Gene looked on horrified by the strange sight of an emotional looking Alex and her injured bloodied right shoulder before him. "What is it?, what are you trying to tell me? Is this one of them horrible premonitions. Please tell me are you in danger from Keats or Ros...if they're hurt you I swear to the big guy I'll get my revenge on them for you"

A knock at his office door bought an untimely end to Gene's worrying daydream/forewarning dream . "Guv its me, Luke, I think there's something worth looking at" While attending to buried records and previously taped suspect interviews in the evidence room, Luke was left completely surprised as he had uncovered a crucial clue that could help crack the investigation. Out of the blue he'd come across old CCTV footage from Fenchurch prison of the last prison visit Michael Sachs made to his jailed brother before he was violently beaten to the death behind bars. Michael had politely given his older brother detailed clues of where, his new lockups were in Thorpe Street, on the west side of Fenchurch. Although this might have proven to be nothing Luke considered this might still be worth mentioning to the DCI.

"Oh trust me guv I know you're gonna want to see this for your own eyes only. We're onto a certain winner with the robbery investigation" Luke happily presented Gene with the folder.

End of Chapter

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