Chapter Two

The farm case had been relatively simple. An argument between two landowners had gotten out of hand, resulting in the shooting of one by the other. Jack had managed to retrieve a bullet from the scene that had been lodged in one of the rafters. From that he had been able to deduce the make of the gun and even trace it back to the dead man's neighbour who turned out to be perpetrator.

He had been unwilling to confess at first but Jack's forensic evidence had been too compelling and he had eventually blurted out every detail that they needed to secure a conviction for the murder. It had been another victory for the criminal justice system and for Jack's unblemished track record.

He was currently in the lab processing some samples from a new case that had come in that afternoon. Hi colleagues had departed for the evening, leaving Jack alone with his samples. Peering down the eyepiece of the microscope he was attempting to extract any information he could from the sample of hair he was looking at.

"I assume you're attempting to locate your missing Y chromosome," a droll voice said and Jack looked up from the microscope to see DC Reed standing in the doorway

"I'm looking for your personality actually," he quipped

"Ouch," she said sarcastically

"Is there anything I can do for you DC Reed,"

"DS actually," she corrected "I got confirmation of my promotion this afternoon. This latest conviction secured it, although it clearly should have happened years earlier. Still that's misogyny for you,"

"So you've come here to gloat or complain about the patriarchal structure of West Yorkshire police service" Jack frowned "Well as much as I'd love to have a woman to woman chat with you DS Reed, I'm kind of busy,"

"I wanted you to know that it was thanks to your efforts on the forensic side of things that we secured the conviction," she said stepping closer to him "I want you to know that I really appreciate your forensic skills,"

"Oh really?" he said smirking "Because I thought you didn't trust in my abilities,"

"I said I'd be the judge of whether you were a decent scientist or not," she said

"And your verdict?" Jack asked leaning in towards her

"Well let's just say I need to do some further investigations before I come to any conclusions," she smirked

…

Jack let out a satisfied sigh as he leaned back in his bed, shuffling slightly to make himself more comfortable.

"I don't know what you're smirking at." A voice came and he turned to see Chrissie frowning at him from the other side of the bed

"I'm guessing I passed with flying colours," Jack smirked

"Don't flatter yourself,"

"Well if you're unsure I can propose a rematch. After all every good scientist knows that to increase the validity of results, repeating the experiments is necessary," he said shuffling closer towards her

"You're so full of yourself," she sighed but leaned into Jack's muscular body all the same "Just remember this is no-string attached sex," she said

"Of course," he said "Just friends with benefits,"

"Colleagues, not friends," she corrected him sharply

"I just love the blunt Northern charm. It's really winning me over," he said sarcastically

"That was the plan," Chrissie said "Anyway, you can talk with your Irish charm. I see those women simpering over you,"

"You're not one of my adoring fans then?" Jack grinned lazily

"Oh please," she scoffed "I have more self-respect than that,"

"I've seen plenty of your self-respect this evening Detective Sergeant," Jack said as her phone rang

"DS Reed," she barked into the phone "Right, I'll be straight there," she said hanging up "I've got to go," she said climbing out of bed "I've got duties to do,"

"Is that what you're calling me now?" he asked with a grin and she shot him a look as she hastily pulled on her clothes

"Goodbye Mr Hodgson," she said exiting through the door

"Until next time DS Reed,"