Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed my story! I'm so happy you are enjoying it! Special thanks to XTimeGirlX who has once again Beta'd this chapter for me! Please continue to review! I'd love to hear where you think the plot is going ;) Thanks! xxx

Chapter Four:

The interview room was cold and icy, which suited Alex perfectly as her body was still burning up, especially her head and its throbbing made the heat even worse. Gene was sitting in his usual spot to the right of Alex, blowing cigarette smoke everywhere. She'd told him not to smoke as they were interviewing Mrs Ellis, a heavily pregnant woman, but in typical 80's fashion, Mrs Ellis herself sparked up too. Alex watched the woman in front of her rub her stomach, soothing the baby inside her; she was reminded of Molly and what it was like to be pregnant, to be a mother, and how she'd forgotten how desperate she was to get out of this world to be with her again. She began to absentmindedly fiddle with the bow on the front of her satin blouse.

"Drake!" Alex snapped out of her day dream and turned to face the Guv. "Are you going to start or shall I?" Gene motioned to Mrs Ellis sitting opposite them who was looking from Gene to Alex, her watery eyes holding an unmistakable fear.

"Right, yeah, sorry." Alex focused on why they were there and showed Mrs Ellis the plane tickets they found in the suitcase "Do you know an Emily Richards, Mrs Ellis? As these plane tickets to Dublin were found in your husband's suitcase, which we found at your home under the bed."

Mrs Ellis was still rubbing her enlarged stomach and shook her head. "No, I don't know her. Maybe she was a work colleague of Pete's." She silently sobbed after saying her husband's name.

"Right, well that clears that up." Gene said, getting up and motioning that the interview was finished. Alex glared at him from her seat and turned back to face Mrs Ellis. Alex was still playing with the bow on her blouse; she was shaking it so her top would get some circulation inside that would cool her down. As Gene was still standing he had the perfect view down her top as she shook it. He knew she was ill, she'd been looking rough all day, and now he could see the beads of sweat rolling down her neck and disappearing between her heaving breasts. He had to sit down. That woman drove him insane but now was not the best time to analyse her health or her body.

"Mrs Ellis," Alex began, "do you know why there was a suitcase filled with most of your husband's clothes and belongings under the bed?" Alex wasn't being her usual patient self; there was something not quite right about the look in Mrs Ellis's eyes. On the surface she looked like a grieving widow, but her eyes did not reflect it at all. Besides, Alex thought, the sooner we're done here, the sooner I can go home and have a nice cold glass of wine.

"It was a business trip. Pete was always going away somewhere. That's why I said I thought that woman was a work colleague."

"Must have been difficult for you," Alex stated, which prompted a quizzical look from Mrs Ellis. "Your husband away, leaving you alone in the house, pregnant."

"Yes, I suppose it was. But I loved him and I knew he would always come back to me." Mrs Ellis began to sob again, slightly louder this time.

"How would you describe your marriage, Mrs Ellis?"

"What?" The flicker of a frown crossed her face.

"Your marriage - how would you describe it? Happy? Difficult? Loud? Perfect?"

"No marriage is perfect." Mrs Ellis stated, quite coldly compared to the emotional sobs she'd been doing a second previously.

"But what about your marriage, Suzanne?" Alex leaned in closer so she couldn't avoid the question.

"I...err...we...we certainly had our fair share of arguments." Mrs Ellis looked uncomfortable; she rubbed her stomach faster and slightly rocked in her chair. "But I loved him, so much."

"Were you happy?"

"Happy?" Mrs Ellis looked down to her bump.

"Were you and Pete happy together?" Alex got frustrated, why did she have to dart around every single question?

There was a pause as Alex and Gene waited for a response; Alex was getting more fed up with every second because the pounding in her head was getting harder and harder.

"Ow!" cried out Mrs Ellis, her hand no longer rubbing her stomach but grabbing one side of it.

"Mrs Ellis?" Gene said, who had so far taken a back seat in the interview. "Mrs Ellis, are you alrigh'?"

Alex scoffed, not loud enough for Mrs Ellis to hear but Gene certainly did.

"I'm not feeling too good." Mrs Ellis whispered, still staring down at her bump. "Can I go home?"

"Yeah sure, love." Gene said, standing up and going over to help Mrs Ellis get out of her chair. Alex stayed put and rolled her eyes – no-one noticed.

"You sure you're alrigh'?" Gene grumbled as he took her hands and pulled her out of the chair.

"Yes, I'll be fine thank you. It was just a little twinge-oh!" she grabbed Gene's arm and he held her waist as her knees weakened a little in pain.

"You don't look alrigh', love. We can take ya to the hospital."

Mrs Ellis looked up into Gene's eyes and smiled appreciatively. "Thank you, Mr Hunt, but I'll be fine. It's just the baby getting ready, that's all." She turned away from Gene and picked up her bag from the table.

"I'll walk ya out, Mrs Ellis." Gene leaned in towards Alex "When I get back DI Drake – a word."

Gene and Mrs Ellis left the interview, Alex's head dropped onto the table in frustration. Was Gene so blind he couldn't tell that Mrs Ellis was faking it? The moment she asked a question she couldn't or did not want to answer, she was suddenly all in pain from the baby. And the way he jumped out of his seat to help her! Argh! That man was so irritating.

The table was nice and cold on Alex's forehead but she knew she'd have to get up at some point. If the Guv saw she still hadn't moved there would be hell to pay. She lifted her head up and immediately the throbbing came back. She hadn't quite realised how hot she felt, Gene took up so much of her thinking she hadn't thought she might actually be quite ill.

Alex stood up, took a few moments to adjust to standing, and then went back to CID. Gene was already in his office, door shut but the blinds were up. He watched her walk in and before she had a chance to sit down, he had already opened his door and cleared his throat as a sign for her to enter.

As Alex waltzed over to Gene's door, CID fell silent. Everyone appeared to be absorbed into whatever they were doing but every ear was going to be listening to this one. Alex stepped into the office and Gene shut the door behind her and pulled down the blind.

"You can't seriously be falling for that stunt, Guv?" Alex blurted out in her usual patronising way.

"What stunt? You're the one who was askin' personal questions to a pregnant widow. No wonder she 'ad to go home, it was like the bleeding Spanish Inquisition in there!" Gene raised his voice slightly to regain his authority that his DI had a tendency of forgetting.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me! That wasn't grief she was showing in there – it was guilt!" Alex threw her arms about wildly as she usually did when the Guv wouldn't listen. "She's hiding something, Guv, and if you didn't fall for her 'oh I'm in pain from the baby, please rescue me, kind sir' routine," Alex put the back of her hand against her forehead, mimicking a damsel in distress, "then we might have found out what it is!"

"What is up with you today, eh Bolls? First you go fainting on me now you're wound up tighter than a baboon's backside."

"I am not wound up!" Alex proclaimed, rubbing her temple as the pounding and the heat got worse. "I just don't understand how you could fall for it – I mean it was so obvious! You know what, Gene," Alex took a step closer to him. "Not all women are damsels in distress and need rescuing from the likes of you. Some are cold, hard and calculated, and trust me; Mrs Ellis is one of them."

"I know women are cold and calculated – I've worked with you long enough to realise that!" Alex gritted her teeth and glared at him "Next time you get your bony arse in a mess because you're too stubborn to ask for help, I'll remember that you're not a woman who needs rescuing!"

Alex gave him the dirtiest of looks, grabbed the handle to the office door and stormed out, slamming it loudly behind. She stomped across the office, grabbed her white leather jacket and left. "Men!" she scoffed under her breath

Gene walked around behind his desk, kicked the bin across the room and downed the whisky that was sitting in a glass in front of him. "Bloody women."