Hannah and Callum made their way into the dimly lit club and went straight to the bar. He ordered a beer for himself and a glass of wine for her as the woman wandered away to find them a table. When the barman handed them over, Callum joined the red-head at the high table in the corner, perching on the stool opposite hers. The Sergeant was careful not to obstruct her view of the door.
"Any sign?" He asked, taking a swig from his bottle.
She shook her head. "Not yet." Taking a sip of her drink, she swallowed quickly and nodding her head slightly. "That's Genevieve Hillier... real name Jenny Hill."
"The blonde?" Sergeant Stone asked casually looking in the direction she'd indicated.
"Mmmhmm... She's the girl I took to the hospital the day of the raid. It doesn't look like she's your average tom anymore."
"No, it doesn't…" Callum agreed, taking in the woman's appearance under the pretence of picking up Hannah's jacket which she had helpfully knocked onto the floor. "She looks a bit like you."
"Haha…"
As he straightened up, Callum prodded her in the thigh and nodded towards the door. "Hang on… is this him?"
Hannah nodded, taking another sip of wine. "That's definitely Westlake. Now we have to see whether he recognises me."
"Like you said, it has been fourteen years…"
"Shut up." She smirked, kicking him under the table.
As Callum winced and frowned at her, trying not to smile, the man striding towards them met Hannah's eyes. He furrowed his eyebrows for a moment before smirking and changing direction so that he came to a standstill beside their table.
"Hannah Edwards…" He exclaimed, giving the red-head a kiss on each cheek. "You haven't changed a bit."
"Neither have you." She admitted, slightly more coldly than she'd intended. "I heard you got sent down. Didn't know you were back, though?"
"I haven't been out long; only a couple of months." Jared smiled and turned to Callum, holding out his hand and looking him up and down in distaste. "I don't think we've met."
Hannah made the introductions. "Cal, this is Jared Westlake. Jared, this is Callum. He's my… well; he's the Hannah to my Jared."
"Right-hand man, then."
"Something like that." Callum agreed. He glanced at Hannah, as though he was looking to her for guidance. She smiled and nodded sharply.
"So, what brings you here?" Westlake asked, looking between the two figures seated at the table curiously.
The woman took a sip of her wine before answering, her tone totally calm and casual when she replied. "I was supposed to be meeting a client but, clearly, he's decided not to turn up."
"A client?"
Hannah arched an eyebrow. "Not that kind of client." She told him firmly. "I left all that behind long ago. I'm my own boss now; Callum really is the Hannah to my Jared."
"Really?" Westlake sounded intrigued.
Before the woman could reply, her mobile started to ring. Glancing at the display and seeing Max's name, she pulled a face of distain and handed her mobile to Callum, instructing him to deal with it. He nodded and carried the ringing phone away, only answering it when he was outside.
"So this client of yours…?" The man continued when he and Hannah were alone.
"That's confidential, I'm afraid, Jared." She replied smoothly. "You know how it works in this business." Glancing up, she spotted Callum trying to attract her attention from the doorway and nodded. Standing up, she drained the remainder of her wine and smiled. "I have to go."
Westlake rose too. "Listen… maybe we could arrange a meeting to discuss business, sometime?"
"I'm not sure." She said slowly. "Our dealings were in the past; I've moved on since then. I don't like looking back."
"Can we at least meet for a drink to catch up?" He asked, clearly not intending to take no for an answer. Internally Hannah smiled; if he thought she wasn't interested then he would be more eager to get her on side.
"I have a meeting in Base on Heathville Road just after ten. Do you know the bar?"
"Johnny Dean's place?"
"That's the one." She agreed, before nodding curtly and striding across the slightly sticky floor of the club to meet up with Callum.
He grinned as they headed up the steps and out into the daylight. "You know, that exit would have been a lot more impressive if your shoes hadn't been sticking to the floor."
"I know."
Back at the station, she filled the team in on what had happened and informed them of her loose arrangement to meet Westlake that evening. Jack congratulated her on handling the situation so well, but Max looked far from impressed. He watched her grimly as the Superintendent outlined plans for the meeting, combining Uniform and CID forces to keep an eye on the situation.
"Hannah, a word?" Max demanded, his request sounding more like an order. She exhaled as he led her from the briefing room and a little way along the corridor. "What are you playing at?"
She frowned at him. "Excuse me?"
"You are supposed to be trying to reel Westlake in, not alienate him."
"And that's exactly what I am doing." Hannah snapped.
"By telling him you don't want to do business with him?" Max asked, folding his arms and glaring at her.
"Excuse me, Sarge. I think I know Jared Westlake far better than you do. Telling him that I don't want to go into business with him is the quickest way to get his interest. People who say no to him are like a big old red button; he can't resist."
Max lowered his voice and took a step towards her, jabbing his finger in her direction. "I don't remember seeing your name as SIO on this case. Now you listen to me; if this case hits trouble then I know who I'm going to blame."
"What's going on?" Jo demanded, rounding the corner and seeing Max and Hannah glaring at each other. She immediately took in the Detective Sergeant's threatening demeanour and her girlfriend's defensive stance.
"Nothing." Max told her quickly. "Just going over a couple of points."
"Yeah, thanks, Sarge." Hannah muttered sarcastically. "I'm much clearer now."
She turned on her tail and headed down the corridor with Jo, clenching her hands into fists by her sides. Gently, the brunette grasped her arm and pulled her into a free interview room. She perched on the table and looked intently at the younger woman.
"Are you going to tell me what that was about?"
"Just Max telling me how to do my job again. Apparently if we don't get the right result it's my fault because clearly I'm not going about it the right way."
Jo frowned. "Ignore him, Han."
"Easier said than done." The red-head reminded her. "As he so nicely pointed out, he's SIO on this."
"You have to try and forget about it. If you're not totally in this then you're going to get hurt."
"You think I don't know what Westlake's capable of?" Hannah asked. "Do you seriously not think that I am actually a little bit worried about what might happen?"
"If you don't want to do this…"
She sighed and shook her head. "What, Jo? If I don't want to do this I don't have to? Of course I have to do this. Firstly it's my job, which I love and secondly, I want to do it. Jared Westlake is dangerous and, if he's involved with guns or anything remotely illegal, he needs to be put back in prison."
"At any cost?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Sweetheart… this is starting to sound scarily like the Ashley Jamieson case." Jo told her softly.
"What?"
"You told me that the DS that was handling you on that undercover case didn't trust you to do your job and you took stupid risks to prove him wrong; ending up in… well… you got attacked, Hannah." The brunette reminded her, unnecessarily. "The cases are similar, the situations are similar and I'm scared the outcomes might be similar."
"I was young and stupid, babe." Hannah replied with a wry smile.
"It was seven and a half years ago."
"Exactly." The younger woman agreed, moving to stand between Jo's legs as the brunette remained perched on the table. She placed her hands on her girlfriend's thighs, giving them a reassuring squeeze. "I've got so much more to think about now. I had Freya, Ellie, Max and Theo, but now I've got Mol, Cait, Dylan and you as well. I might want to prove DS Carter wrong, but not at any cost."
"Promise?"
Hannah smiled and leant forwards, pressing her lips gently to Jo's. "Promise."
When the two women emerged from the interview room a short while later, both were much happier about the situation. Jo wasn't worried about Hannah's state of mind anymore and the younger woman was less anxious about proving herself to the Detective Sergeant who managed to wind her up with a single look.
