On Friday, Jack had arranged for the three undercover officers to be interviewed for the positions that had just become open at Henderson and Tweed's. It was set-up so that Jo, Ben and Chesca would get the jobs, but it was open to civilians as well to avoid suspicion. Hannah smiled grimly, thinking that if the manager turned out to be involved after all, a lot of preparation and work would be for nothing.

"So..." She struggled to think of something to say to the young PC as they sat in the pool car round the corner from the Travel Agents waiting. A young woman left the building, looking unhappy as she wandered away. "This is your first undercover operation?"

"Yeah." Chesca agreed with a nod. Clearly she didn't feel as awkward as the detective about the situation and didn't feel the need to fill the silence with conversation. She pulled down the sunshield and glanced at her reflection in the mirror, rubbing under her eyes to remove non-existent eyeliner smudges.

"It's one of the most exciting parts of the job, in my opinion." Hannah told her, aware she was rambling. "But it's hard too; having to pretend to be someone else and being away from your loved ones... Have you got a partner or kids?"

The young brunette shook her head. "Nope… young, free and single; that's me."

"Oh right..." Everything inside Hannah was screaming at her to steer clear of the subject, but she couldn't stop herself. "Look... There's been some gossip round the station that you... well that you like Jo... Sargent Masters. I thought I should just make sure you knew that–"

"You and her are together." Chesca finished for her with a shrug. "Yeah, I know." She glanced at the clock on the dashboard before opening the door and getting out. Bending down to look at the red-head, she smiled cockily. "But that's life, hey. And I'm not really a big believer in commitment."

She slammed the car door and stalked away, leaving the older woman watching her in confusion. As the threat behind her words sank in, Hannah's mouth dropped open.

Pulling out her mobile, she stabbed angrily at the screen before holding it to her ear. "Stevie... You are not going to believe what Chesca just said to me."

She repeated the words to her friend, listening as Stevie tried to make her feel better about it. "I thought you said you'd decided to trust Jo."

"I did… I have… I do!" Hannah protested. "But I don't trust her!"

"Chesca?"

"No, the Queen." The red-head snapped sarcastically. "Of course, Chesca."

"Don't do anything stupid, Han." Stevie warned her.

"Like what?"

"Don't kick off." Hannah rolled her eyes as the blonde continued. "Whatever she's said, I very much doubt Jo will let it go any further. Besides, you've got a job to do, Hannah. You're Chesca's handler. You're a bloody good cop and you can't compromise yourself by letting anything happen to her or the operation because you're pissed off. Anyway, don't forget that if something happens to Chesca then Jo's at risk too."

Slightly offended, she frowned. "I wouldn't risk anyone, Stevie, not even some of the scum we deal with on a regular basis!"

"I know that. Just don't get distracted."

"Anything new on the Hussein case?" Hannah asked, changing the subject and tapping her fingertips on the steering wheel. "Did Ollie chase up the witness that claims to have seen the IC4 male running away?"

"Not yet, he's been looking at CCTV with Ellie."

Hannah arched an eyebrow. "Why?"

Stevie chuckled. "She was having trouble… apparently."

"Find him and tell him he'd better have spoken to the witness before I get back, because I'm not in the mood for his crap today." The red-head ordered. She glanced up and spotted the PC she was waiting for heading towards her, a smirk on her lips. "Oh… She's coming. I'll have to go. See you soon."

Hanging up before Stevie could reply, Hannah barely waited until Chesca was in the car before starting the engine. She didn't want to be in such close proximity to the woman for any longer than she had to be. Taking the corner at speed, she pulled onto the main road and headed in the direction of the station.

"Aren't you going to ask how it went?" Chesca asked.

She shrugged. "I can guess how it went; you're guaranteed the job."

They said nothing else on the journey back to work. Pulling up in the yard, Hannah was out of the car and stalking up the ramp before the PC had even opened her door. Hearing it slamming, the detective locked it by pointing the fob over her shoulder, not even turning round. At the door, she bumped into TDC Baker and her daughter heading out and folded her arms.

"Where d'you think you're going?" She asked the young man, arching an eyebrow at him.

Recognising the expression on her mother's face, Ellie smiled weakly and carried on walking, catching up with Mel at the bottom of the ramp and hurrying away. "I was just helping Ellie with–"

"I don't wanna hear it. I asked you to chase up a witness and DS Moss has informed me that you haven't bothered."

"Well, no, Han… I was–"

"Ollie, if I ask you to do something, you do it. And it's Sarge to you." She snapped, pushing through the doors and stalking through the station, leaving him to trail behind her. She passed Smithy but, when his smile was ignored and he spotted the trainee's abashed expression, he didn't attempt to stop her. "I don't ask you to do these things for fun, you know! This morning there was a vicious assault on a fifteen-year-old boy and he's in a critical condition in hospital. That witness might have seen the attacker and you couldn't even be bothered to go and speak to her?"

"Sorry, Sarge, I just–"

"No, you don't 'just' anything. Get down to her office and speak to her. NOW!"

He nodded and hurried away, leaving Hannah to take a deep breath before pushing open the doors to CID. Stevie raised an eyebrow at her from her desk and the red-head rolled her eyes, moving to perch on the surface.

"Give me some good news, please." She demanded, rubbing a hand tiredly over her face before taking a breath and smiling weakly at the blonde.

"Eddie's found a brick that he thinks must be the weapon in the assault case and he's looking for forensic evidence for us." The woman said at once. "There's also this…" She held up CCTV stills for her friend to examine. "Images taken from the camera just round the corner from where Hussein was found at around the time it happened."

"IC4 male… I'm gonna kill Ollie if we've lost time on this because he couldn't get on with what I asked him to do without me around to hold his hand."

Stevie shook her head. "Give the kid a break!"

"No! Why should I? I'm not his Mum! I've got enough kids to deal with without him as well!"

"Ah… talking of kids… Canley Comp called."

Hannah groaned and buried her head in her hands. "What's Theo done now? Actually, no, I don't want to know. Can you phone Jo and ask her to deal with her son. If she complains tell her she's off shift, it's her turn and I'm incredibly busy."

As the blonde opened her mouth to protest, Hannah darted away quickly, smiling broadly at her and ducking out of CID. She paused outside the doors and screwed up her face, wondering what to do. She had tonnes of paperwork to deal with, as well as needing to make some headway on this latest case. There were also reports to check and witness statements to go over from the theft case she'd been assigned the day before. But Hannah really couldn't be bothered.

She headed to the canteen, deciding that a coffee and then a cigarette might sort her out and force her to think straight. Half an hour, two coffees and three cigarettes later she was sitting on the desk in Smithy's office stealing crisps from his packet. He frowned at her, barely hiding a smile, pointing out that she had lots to do.

"Yeah, yeah…" She slid off the desk and ruffled his hair annoyingly. "I better go and see if Ollie's back. And if he is back, I need to check whether he interviewed the right witness; I'm not in tomorrow and I refuse to let his stupidity ruin my day off."