Author's Note: Something I forgot to say previously: A really big thank you to Timeless A-Peel for her beta work, continuous support and encouragement. I don't think I would've finished this fic without her help.
And secondly: thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and subscribed. It really means a lot to me!


Alex was so lost in her own thoughts, that she didn't even notice that they had arrived at the crime scene. She nearly jumped up out of her seat as Gene opened the car door.

"C'mon Bolls, can't sit there daydreaming, we've got a job to do."

Alex got out of the car quickly, and they started making their way over to where the coroner stood waiting for them.

"So Harry, what have you got for us?"Gene asked as he shook the man's hand.

"Sad business here Gene. Young girl, I'd say no more than 18 years old. Hit over the head with a blunt instrument. Of course I can get you more details later, once I've done a thorough examination."

"Can we see the body now?"Alex asked. "I really need to know if it's the girl we're looking for."

"Yes of course, sorry to keep you waiting. Bloody cold isn't it?" Harry replied. "It's this way, follow me."

As they made their way over to where the body was lying, they saw Chris and Ray, who had arrived not long before them.

"Morning Guv, ma'am" they said in unison.

"I think it's the girl we've been looking for ma'am," Chris said as he looked down at the body. "I believe I've got a picture somewhere, I brought it along so we could check if it's really her."

Chris started to search his pockets frantically, but found nothing.

"Must've lost it," he said as he grinned sheepishly.

"It's ok Chris, I don't think we need the picture. It's definitely her," Alex said.

Having said that, she quickly turned around and started walking away from the body. She was used to crime scenes, and normally she had no problem dealing with them, but right now she was finding it hard to fight back her tears. She didn't want to be seen breaking down in front of her colleagues, least of all Gene, who would immediately think she wasn't up to the job anymore, and would have her behind a desk before you could say fire up the Quattro.

She decided to sit and wait in the car, while Gene, Ray and Chris finished dealing with a few formalities concerning the body and the crime scene. By the time Gene got into the car, she had wiped the tears from her cheeks and had managed to steady her breathing. Although she had done a good job at composing herself, Gene wasn't falling for it.

"What happened back there Bolls?"

"Nothing Gene, I was just feeling a little queasy so I decided to sit down for a bit," Alex replied, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible.

"You sure?" Gene asked.

"Yes I'm sure. I'm fine, trust me," Alex reassured him.

Gene still wasn't convinced. "I shouldn't have brought you along this morning. I should've known this would upset you."

"So you're saying this doesn't upset you Gene? Seeing that young girl there, lying face down in the mud? A horrible crime has been committed, it's supposed to upset people! Now I can't help the fact that you're such a bloody Neanderthal sometimes, but at least I am in touch with my emotions!"

Alex didn't know what exactly caused her outburst just now, but she was fuming with anger.

Gene took a deep breath, trying not to respond immediately, which would cause him to say stupid things he'd later regret, and he didn't want to upset Alex any further.

He turned slightly so he was facing her, and took her hands in his.

"Of course it upsets me Alex. A young girl has been brutally murdered, and I will personally see to it that the scumbags responsible for it will go down, even if it's the last thing I do. But I've been doing this for a long time, much longer than you, and you can't let your emotions get in the way of your job. It blurs your vision; stops you from thinking straight."

Alex sniffed, as more tears were forming in her eyes. "You're right, of course you're right. I don't know what came over me just now. I'm sorry."

"It's okay Bolly, probably just hormones eh?" Gene grinned.

Alex slapped his arm playfully. "Oh shut up you, and drive us to the station already."


Back at the station, Gene gathered round everyone in CID and gave them a quick briefing about the events of that morning.

"Right, listen up everyone. We've found a body early this morning, and it's 99% sure that it's the girl we were looking for. All we need now is for the husband to formally identify her. Which means this is now a murder investigation instead of a kidnapping. Now we're going to nail these bastards who killed her, so I need everyone at its best. Is that understood?"

This was answered with a chorus of "Yes Guv" from the team.

He turned to Alex. "DI Drake, anything to add that might help us with the investigation?"

Alex was caught off-guard, as she hadn't expected Gene to want any input from her at this stage; but she quickly composed herself and stood up in front of the team.

"Well, at this stage there isn't much for me to add to be honest. It seemed like a very easy story at first. A young girl, away from her home country for the first time, discovers this free world which is so completely different from her own, and decides to make the most of it. Now we had our suspicions that she'd run away and might or might not have been kidnapped. I think it's safe to say now that she was indeed kidnapped, but we have no idea why. So we need to find out the reason why she was taken and why she was killed. So far we have no leads whatsoever. So try to investigate every tiny detail you can find, no matter how unimportant or insignificant it might seem. Remember; everything is significant."

And with that she sat down again and left it to Gene to end the briefing.

"Chris, Ray, I want you to do the door-to-doors. Both in the area of the hotel she was staying at, and in the area where she was found. If anyone has seen or heard anything, take a statement, and bring them in for questioning if that seems necessary."

"Yes Guv," they both answered and quickly made their way through the double doors of CID.

Alex turned to Gene. "So, what are we going to do?"

"I am going to pick up the husband, because we need a formal ID on the body. After that, the coroner can conduct his autopsy, and once we get the results, we might actually get somewhere with our investigation, because so far we have nothing," he replied. "But first, I'm gonna take you 'ome."

Alex's eyes widened in surprise. "What? What do you mean you're taking me home? I'm just as much a part of this investigation as anyone else is!"

"Look, you're still a bit shaky after what happened at the crime scene this morning, so I think it's best if you take the rest of the day off."

He took her hand, not caring that they were in the middle of CID and that there were people around. "Alex, it's for your own good. I'm just tryin' to protect ya."

"That's very sweet of you Gene, but I don't need protection. I'm fine, and besides, you need me on this case. You can't be in the same room with that man for more than two minutes before you beat him to a pulp. I'm staying, and I'm coming with you right now."

Gene sighed. He wasn't happy about this at all, but he knew that once Alex had made up her mind, nobody would be able to tell her otherwise.

"Alright then Bolly, get yer coat."

Alex couldn't help but smile. Gene really was too easily convinced these days.

"Oh wait, one more thing before we go." She turned to Shaz. "Could you please go over Mr. Gibran's statement again for me Shaz, just to see if there's anything odd about it. You know, little details that don't add up, things like that."

"Alright ma'am." Shaz smiled. She wished she could be really involved with the cases, but she was grateful that Alex gave her some interesting work to do. At least it was a lot better than just typing up reports.


As they pulled up at the hotel for the second time in three days, Gene turned to Alex.

"Bolls, I think it's best if you do most of the talking for now. We didn't get off to a very good start, and if I have to tell the husband that his wife is dead, things might get ugly ya know."

"See, you do need me. Told you so." Alex briefly stuck out her tongue and got out of the car.

"Bloody women," Gene mumbled, before he got out of the car and followed her inside the hotel.

Alex knocked on the door of the bridal suite.

A voice came from inside. "Who is it?"

"Mr. Gibran, it's DI Alex Drake. I would like to talk to you if it's not inconvenient."

The door opened. Nour Gibran was stood on the other side; he looked rough, as though he hadn't slept for days. He managed a weak smile for Alex, and shot a foul look towards Gene.

"Please, do come in."

He walked towards the sitting area, and motioned them to follow.

"Do sit down. If you need more information, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you. I've already told you everything I know."

"No it's now what we're here for." Alex paused for a moment, and took a deep breath before she continued. "Mr. Gibran, we found a body this morning, and we're almost certain that it's your wife. I'm so very sorry."

Nour stared at her in disbelief. "No, no it can't be her. You must've gotten it all wrong. She just ran away, maybe she was kidnapped. But not dead, she can't be dead," he stammered.

He looked up, and was met by Alex's eyes, who by now were welling up.

"If you're up to it, we need to take you down to the morgue to formally identify her. I know this is a lot to ask Mr. Gibran, but it really has to be done. Then we can continue our investigation."

"W-who would want to kill her? She was just an innocent young woman who didn't do harm to anyone." He had started shaking now, all the pent up emotions and frustrations from the last few days spilling out all at once.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out, I promise you." Alex reassured him. "If you're not capable of coming with us now, we could always come back later today."

"No, I think it's best if I do it now. Get it over with."

Alex nodded in agreement. "Yes, I think that's a wise thing to do. If you'd like to follow me outside to the car."

Alex looked around at Gene for the first time since they had entered the hotel suite. As usual, his facial expression was hard to read. She was surprised at the way he had composed himself. When he said he would let her do most of the talking, she had expected him to let her go on for a while, and then interrupt when the conversation started to annoy him. But he hadn't done anything like that, and had let her get on with what she was doing. She had never seen him act like this before. Maybe he's finally starting to learn, she thought to herself.


Gene, Alex, Nour and Harry the coroner were all standing in the mortuary. Alex shivered involuntarily; whether from the cold, or just from the fact that she was in a mortuary, she didn't know. Identifying and investigating dead bodies wasn't her favourite chore, but it was part of the job, and over the years she had learned to deal with it.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Alex asked Nour. "We could always do it later today if you don't feel up to it."

"N-no it's fine. I want to do it now." He replied, trying his best to keep his voice in check.

Harry pulled back the sheet that up until then had been covering the shape on the table in front of him, revealing the head of a black haired girl. There was no doubt about it, it was definitely Rana. Nour's whole body tensed at the sight of his dead wife, lying there in front of him. Her face was still beautiful, and completely unharmed. But he didn't fail to notice the large injury on her head.

He pointed at it. "Is that what killed her?"

"It is most likely the cause of death, yes." Harry answered. "Of course I can't say anything with 100% certainty until I've completed the post-mortem."

Nour had to swallow hard when the word 'post-mortem' was mentioned. "I'd like to go back to my hotel now please," he whispered.

"Of course, we'll get someone to drive you back." Alex replied, putting a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him.

After making sure that Nour was getting a ride back to his hotel, Gene and Alex headed back to CID.

"So where do you think we should go from here?" Alex asked Gene as they made their way through the long corridors.

"I suppose a quick briefing, and then an early night for everyone," Gene answered. "There isn't much we can do until we get the results from the post mortem, which won't be here before tomorrow morning."

Before Alex had the chance to reply, they were interrupted by Viv.

"Guv, man at reception wants to talk to you. Says it's about the case."

"Who is it Skip?" Gene asked.

"Says his name's James Anderson. He told me he needs to speak with you urgently."

Gene turned around. "Coming with me Bolls?"

"Of course I am." Alex replied, already making her way to the front desk.


James Anderson was a man in his early 30s, with messy blonde hair. He was the kind of man Alex could definitely have gone for in the past (or was that the future?). But not anymore. Not a patch on Gene, she thought to herself, as she sat herself down opposite the man in the interview room.

"So, Mr Anderson, what's this you've come to talk to us about?" Alex asked.

"Well, it's about this girl that was found dead. I read about it in this morning's paper."

"You what?" Gene bellowed. "I'm gonna kill whichever bastard leaked to the press about this!"

"Just calm down Gene, we'll deal with that later." Alex motioned him to sit down.

"Don't worry sir, the article didn't give away many details. That's why I'm here," James said. "I just need to know if the girl that was found happens to be Rana Sulaiman."

Both Gene and Alex were lost for words. How on earth could he have known about Rana?

"Mr. Anderson.." Alex started.

"Please, call me James."

"Right then James, can you tell me how you know about Rana? If our information is correct, this was the first time she ever came to England, and that she knew no one here."

James sighed. "It's complicated. To cut a long story short; I work for an American company, and I was send to work in Saudi Arabia for a year. I lived on an American compound, just outside the city of Riyadh, but I spend a lot of my spare time in the city. One day, in a shopping mall, a young girl dropped her purse, and I picked it up for her. Of course I couldn't see what she looked like, since she was wearing her mandatory burqa, but she dropped a note at my feet with her phone number on it. Apparently many Saudi girls do these sort of things. They're not allowed any contact with strange men, and this is their way of secretly communicating with them. It's a very risky business, and you have to make sure the religious police doesn't catch you. Anyway, I got in touch with her, and we started meeting in secret on a regular basis."

"You were in love?" Alex looked surprised.

James threw his hands up in defence. "No nothing like that! She wanted to run away from home, and she needed my help. She told me she wanted to move to England, to live in a flat all by herself and go to university. She came from a wealthy family, so she could easily afford it. She offered to pay me £100.000 if I helped her. She paid me half of it in advance, and I would get the rest once she was safely settled here. I would get her a flat, and help her enrol at a university here."

"But how on earth were you going to do all of this? How were you planning on getting her out of the country?" Alex asked.

"That was the best part of the plan, we didn't have to." James replied. "She had convinced her fiancé to take her to London on their honeymoon. She told me he would have to attend some meetings as well while they were down here, so we decided that she should escape while her husband was away on business. She contacted me four days ago that Nour was going to be away the next morning, so we decided that she should make her escape then. We had arranged to meet at her new flat, but she never showed up. At first I thought her husband might've caught her sneaking away, or that she'd chickened out at the last minute, but when I read the papers this morning, I got suspicious."

"Yeah, we still need to find out which bastard leaked information to the press," Gene mumbled.

"We'll do something about that later, Gene" Alex said. "Besides, it's not all bad. Thanks to the article, James was able to come to us."

Gene nodded in agreement. "Got a point there Bolls."

Alex quickly finished writing down the notes she'd been taking. "So that's all you know about Rana. Nothing more you can tell us about her?" She asked James.

James tapped his fingers on the table in front of him, as he tried to think of what to say. "I'm sorry inspector, it's all a bit of a blur at the moment. Are there specific things you're looking for, or just general facts?"

"Well, anything that might seem relevant to our investigation. Do you know if she was meeting other people apart from you, girlfriends, other men maybe? What were her other plans for the future, apart from feeling the country. Her hopes, her fears? Anything that might be useful to us."

"She was in love," James answered. "I don't know who with, she never told me that. I don't know whether it was serious, or if the feelings were mutual. Just that she was in love, and really didn't want to marry the man her father had picked out for her."

Alex looked up in surprise. "So you haven't got a clue who this mystery man was?"

James shook his head. "No idea."

"Did she ever mention something about running away together with a man?"

"No, when she spoke to me about her plans, it was always just about her. She never mentioned anyone else."

"You sure she weren't in love with you?" Gene asked all of a sudden.

"Quite sure," James answered. "I was just a friend to her, who she could talk to, and who was helping her to start the new life she was so desperately craving. That's all. Besides, even if she had tried anything on with me, it wouldn't have worked." He paused for a moment, before shyly adding; " I'm gay you see."

Before Gene could make a snarky comment at this last remark, he felt the heel of Alex's boot dig into his foot, which made him decide to keep his mouth shut..for now at least.

"Thank you for your time James," Alex said as she stood up. "I think we've got all the information that we need for now. You've been very helpful, thank you."

"I just hope it'll be of any use to your investigation," he answered as he shook both Alex and Gene's hand.

"I 'ope you won't mind staying in the area for a couple of days, ya know, just in case we need to ask you some more questions," Gene added.

"No problem Mr. Hunt, I wasn't planning on going anywhere anyway."

They lead him out of the interview room, towards the front desk. "If you wouldn't mind leaving your contact details with our desk sergeant here, we'll be on our way again. Again, thank you very much for your time," Alex said, as she shook James' hand again.


They walked back towards CID in silence.

"What ya thinking about Bolls?" Gene asked as they arrived at the great double doors.

"I'm not sure," she replied as she pushed the door open. "This idea about a mystery man intrigues me, but I don't know why. Call it a gut feeling, but I think we need to look into this."

"But 'ow Bolls? Her family and everyone else she knows live in Saudi-bloody-Arabia."

Alex sat down behind her desk. "I want the coroner to be very thorough in his examination. She wasn't hit on the head and killed because she was accidentally in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's more to this than meets the eye, I can feel it. "

"Yeah, I think you might be right" Gene agreed. "But what do you want him to look for?"

"I don't know, anything out of the ordinary. Anything you wouldn't find on a normal 16-year-old girl. Let him do it as soon as possible."

"Okay Bolls, I'll call him straightaway, " Gene said and he disappeared into his office to make the phone call.

He emerged again 5 minutes later.

"Right boys and girls, it's beer o'clock, so mush."

Everyone quickly picked up their things and left, glad that another day was over and that they could go home and relax.

Once everyone had left the office, Alex got up as well. Just as she went to put on her jacket, she felt Gene coming up behind her and sneaking his arm around her waist. "So what'dya say Bolls, wanna get out of here?" he mumbled into her ear, before he slowly started kissing her neck.

"Hmm..definitely. I'm exhausted," Alex said, as she closed her eyes and surrendered himself to his touch.

The fingers of his left hand started to circle idle patterns over her stomach. "This little 'un wearing you out then?"

"Yes, but it's okay," she sighed. "I don't really mind."

Gene continued to place kisses on her neck, slowly moving towards the bare skin of her left shoulder, when Alex stopped him. "Gene, you really have to stop now, or else we'll never get home. Molly's waiting for us."

Gene let out a low grumble as he reluctantly pulled away from her.

"Don't look so disappointed Gene, I never said we couldn't finish this later." Alex gave him a quick wink before she exited the office.

He shook his head as he quickly followed her out. "That woman will be the death of me someday."

TBC