Max

"Millie doesn't hate me. Millie doesn't hate me." The happiness and relief these words brought Max as they repeatedly danced through his head were really beginning to annoy him. Why should he care what Millie thought of him? As Grace had said, it didn't matter what she thought; she was gone. Workmates come and go, and having alienated just about everyone he'd ever worked with at some time or other had never really worried him before.

But Millie had not just simply moved on to another station – she had actually quit the police force. Possible motivations for such an act were beyond Max's comprehension. Quite frankly, given the choice between either surviving the kidnapping on the condition of leaving the force or simply be killed, he would be begging the kidnappers to shoot him pronto. To Max there was simply nothing beyond policing. Anyway, he had always found Millie a little hard to fathom.

He remembered the first time he had spotted the pretty new redheaded PC in the canteen. He was very impressed! In the midst of his checking her out, she had looked up and met his eye, and given him the type of smile that if he had been out at a pub or something, he would have moved in on her quite certain he was in for a night of easy, non-committal sex. However, this was work and this type of distraction was something he was not looking for on this sacred turf. He didn't respond to her smile. Another glance over her way revealed her looking somewhat perplexed, perhaps that her usual sure-fire charm hadn't worked this time. When he had actually got to meet her face-to-face she seemed nothing like the confident woman he had first encountered. She seemed uncertain around him, even slightly in awe. But Max didn't analyse this. It served him well enough that she was obedient and obliging when he needed her help on a case.

Until the day of the toyshop robbery. He was sure she was wrong about Jade Hopkins and he told her so. He was convinced he had sussed out the whole scenario within the first couple of hours after the robbery, and he just had to straighten a few points out in his head. Instead of acting to form and stepping back to leave him with his thoughts, Millie seemed to turn into something like a buzzing fly in his ear, questioning him, never letting up. Gee she had annoyed him, but he managed to keep his cool, remembering that she didn't have his experience (or brains, as he believed) and as her superior officer, he had kept his patience and calmly told her again and again she was wrong.

Then she ended up being right. And her conviction that she was right had put her in serious danger. He could see that although they didn't blame him outright, everyone was annoyed at him for not listening to Millie. Neil Manson rolled his eyes. Roger bombarded him with jibe after jibe. Just about everyone else was polite but cold. And then they found her jacket covered in blood…

Max took off his jacket and threw it down beside him as he flopped onto his couch. He closed his eyes and massaged his neck. It was good to be home. Maybe he could lose himself in a bad late movie. He reached over to get his TV guide, but his eyes fell first onto his jacket, and he saw something sticking out of a pocket. He couldn't believe it. How did the damn photo end up in his pocket? He must have just forgotten to put it down after he found it. It had probably been in his pocket all day then. Max hoped to God that no one else had noticed he was carrying it with him.

He decided to face the inevitable. OK, all I have to do is look at this picture and remind myself Millie's not in my life any more, he told himself. Then I can get these stupid thoughts out of my head and move on. Immediately on looking at the photo he realised he was kidding himself. He wondered who had decided to use this particular photo of Millie on the day of her kidnapping and concluded it must have been Roger. It had obviously been chosen deliberately to torture him. It really was a good photo, not just because of how beautiful Millie looked in it, but also because it was somehow so expressive. The eyes were the thing. They stared straight back at you, but there was a sense of vulnerability there as well. Looking at it took Max back to the day of the kidnapping, when he'd had a moment by himself to focus on the picture. It was the closest he had ever come to looking Millie in the eyes, as normally when she spoke to him her eyes would be down-turned, only gazing up timidly to meet his every so often. But looking at Millie's picture that day spoke to him of everything he felt she must be feeling: fear, sorrow - and as he looked longer he began to get a sense of indignation coming through. It was unsettling. The spell had been broken by Will entering the room.

Max sighed. Here Millie was again, still looking at him, still 'missing' and seeming to blame him for it. Max slipped the picture into a book, and slammed its covers shut.

Millie and Neil

Neil Manson sat as his desk, much as he had been doing the day he had had that conversation with Smithy. There was a knock at the door, but this time it was Grace.

"Come in", Neil said.

"Sir, here's some paperwork I need you to look through before I finalise it. Oh, and I thought I'd mention, most of CID were talking before about Millie Brown, and it turns out Max had no idea that she was no longer working here."

"Typical," said Neil with a slight laugh. "Poor Millie. Anything else?"

"Nothing at the moment Sir."

"OK, thanks Grace."

"Guv," Grace nodded as she pulled the door closed behind her.

Neil remained seated, his hands clasped together with his forefingers extended as he rhythmically pressed them to his lips. His mind drifted back to his conversation with Millie.

"Sir, you wanted to see me?"

"Come in Millie and sit down." Millie seated herself opposite him at his desk. "Now, Inspector Smith tells me you are thinking of leaving the police force. Why?"

Millie was surprised Smithy had involved DI Manson in this. "Well Sir, basically because I just don't know if I'm cut out for the job."

"If you don't mind me asking, does your decision have anything to do with some tactless comments made by DS Carter?"

This distressed Millie. She had no idea that what Max had said to her that day was this well known, and it embarrassed her. She decided to play dumb. "Sir?"

DI Manson looked across the desk at her, "I won't make you answer that if it makes you uncomfortable. But I just want to say that I know what it's like when people assume that you are less inspired about your work because you are quiet and methodical. I wouldn't pay any attention to what Max said"

The tears came to Millie's eyes, "The thing is Sir, that he was entirely right! Look what I did! I went out and got myself kidnapped! I caused everyone all that trouble…"

"PC Brown," said Neil gently, 'Listen to me. Yes, you got yourself in trouble. But, Jade would have been kidnapped anyway, and she would have been alone, and things could have so easily got out of control without you there and she could have been killed. Or the kidnappers could have been killed. Everyone came out of it safely because of you."

Millie wiped her eyes.

"I know you were angry at Max that day, and you probably still are. But you have to remember that you are part of a team here, and you'll be able to work a lot better with everyone if you try not to take things personally. What I am saying Millie is that you have to move on from your anger at Max. At least give the job another chance after you have tried doing that."

"Thanks Sir, I'll think about it," said Millie, and she got up to leave. She was so tired and confused about what to do. But DI Manson was right. Before she could even think about leaving Sun Hill, she needed to talk things through with Max.