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Mistaken Identity?
Ray stared at the body under the white sheet in shock. It seemed as though the team had been thrown into another nightmare related to Layton.
"That is not Arthur Layton." Sam stated. Shaz covered her mouth with one hand as she watched Ray kneel and lift the sheet.
"No, e's right. That ain't him. Who is it? Poor bugger. Bad enough being murdered without being mistaken for that piece of scum."
"Dunno." Sam answered. "You want to tell us how it is possible for one inmate to murder another before changing clothes with him and vanishing into thin air?" Sam held the prison governor's gaze as he spoke.
"There will be an investigation." The other man turned on his heel and walked away. Ray shook his head in disbelief.
"Yeah, you can say that again."
"Only thing is." Shaz turned away from the corpse and uniformed police officers as she spoke. "Who is going to tell the Guv and Alex?"
"You are." Ray nodded towards Sam who rolled his eyes before following them out of the prison.
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Alex curled up on the sofa. It was the first time she had been home during the day since she had been on maternity leave with Ruby. It seemed a life time ago. Sighing she pushed the 'off' button on the television.
"You ok Bolls?" Gene walked through to the living room from the kitchen.
"Yeah." She closed her eyes. "Gene."
"Listen." He sat next to her on the sofa and took her hand in his. "This is going to blow over. Layton ain't winning. Some little scrote did the world a favour."
"Don't let the Chief Super hear you say that." Alex rested her head on his shoulder as she spoke. Gene rolled his eyes, he didn't care what the Chief Super said. He swore under his breath as his phone sprang into life. "What?" He pressed the button for speaker phone as Sam spoke.
"SLow down Ethel." He tried to keep his voice calm.
"What is it? Sam. Is everyone ok?" Alex hated to think Sam was ringing with more bad news. She could barely deal with what was happening now, the thought of another one of the team getting hurt made her feel physically sick.
"We're all ok." Sam walked around Gene's deserted office as he spoke. He couldn't help but smile when he saw the poster Molly had bought Gene when he had first moved in with Alex. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly was very apt. It was also his favourite film which Sam thought showed how much Molly had thought of the big, sexist, over bearing nicotine stained copper her mum had fallen for. "It's Layton."
"What about 'm?" Gene closed his eyes as he felt Alex squeeze his hand.
"I should really come over, tell you this in person."
"Spit it out Sammy boy. Don't keep me in suspenders."
"He isn't dead." Sam winced as he imagined the look on Gene's face.
"What?"
"He murdered the bloke in the cell next door. And he's not in the prison."
"Arthur Layton is alive?" Alex swallowed hard. She felt as if she was going to faint. Gene held her gaze as they both let the news sink in. The man who had haunted them since the day Alex had run into him on the way to Molly's school was walking the streets of London and very probably Fenchurch.
"Yeah." Sam hated the fact he had been given the short straw and had to tell his best friend and his wife the news. He could still hear Annie's words of anger when seh had found out.
"Who is the murder victim?" Alex started, trying to get her head back in to detective mode. "How did Layton convince the other prisoners and the prison staff that he was dead?"
"Annie is running a search. It seems he had no visitors since the riot where Danny Smith died. That was until May this year. A woman by the name of Lindsey Morgan came to see him. Annie is looking into that."
"Who's the dead bloke?" Gene snapped.
"The man is Eric Morris. 39 years old. Originally from Manchester. Hyde actually but was convicted of murdering a prostitute in 2010. He's been in the cell next door to Layton since easter this year. Similar height and age, white, skinny and had the same hair colour. Only real distinguishing feature is a tear drop tattoo under his left eye."
"Ok scum killed scum." Gene began pacing the room. "You spoken to the Chief on this?"
"Yeah. He says there is no reason he can see for you both to stay off the case."
"Layton still wants to kill me." Alex said calmly. Gene looked away for a moment. He hated that she took the fact she was the object of Layton's psychopathic tendencies so matter of a fact. It made him feel sick to know there was someone in the world that wanted to hurt her.
"He aint getting anywhere near you." Gene spoke calmly. "Not now, not while there is blood in my body."
"Gene?" Sam spoke more calmly as he waited for Gene or Alex to say something.
"Don't get too comfy running this Sammy boy. I'm on my way back to work and so's Bolls."
"Yeah." Alex got to her feet. "I'll get Molly and Ruby to stay with Phyllis. He isn't going to win this time." She rested her hand on her tiny baby bump. Gene smiled slightly, relieved that the feisty Alex he had fallen for was back. "Not this time."
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A/N please review.