Hi, so sorry for the really late update with this one. I've been practicing like mad for a French speaking test, revising and making notes for a 'Romeo and Juliet' essay that I need to write next week for my coursework and just generally stressing about a chemistry exam coming up that I'm sure I'm going to fail. Anyway, enough about my school-life! Here's the next chapter, I hope you like it and please keep the reviews coming; they really make my day!

X =D

Disclaimer – I don't own Ashes to Ashes. =D

Chapter 10 – Happy Families

When Tanya Humphreys opened the door, Ray couldn't help but swallow, his mouth turning dry all of a sudden. Alex's words echoed in his mind, 'That does not mean hitting on her whilst telling her that her brother's been murdered, do you understand?' Well, of course he understood, and sometimes he swore that his female senior officer underestimated his experience most of the time. He did know what proper and correct conduct was, he just...chose not to abide by it sometimes. Dragging his gaze momentarily over Tanya's flawless face, brightened by blue eyes and surrounded by a cascade of mahogany waves, Ray wondered whether Chris would tell if he maybe put a comforting arm around her as she cried...

The young woman before them cleared her throat, one eyebrow rising in annoyance as she stared at the two silent men. "Yes, can I help you?"

Ray coughed, shaking himself out of his musings. He pulled out his warrant card and briefly showed it to her, before offering the most sympathetic smile he could manage. "DS Ray Carling."

"DC Chris Skelton," Chris added, grinning the usual goofy grin, tactless as ever. He glanced for a moment at his best friend, remembering their DI's warning. She'd absolutely do her nut if she found out that Ray so much as made one suggestive remark towards Ian Humphreys' sister.

"I'm afraid we've got some bad news for yer, love," Ray told her, stuffing his warrant card back into his pocket. "You might want t' sit down."

Tanya frowned slightly, but stood back to let them in. She lived in a small flat close to the station, not dissimilar in size and layout to Alex's above Luigi's. A small, slightly worn sofa sat against a back wall, facing a TV and covered in a fading throw cover. Tanya sat down at one end as Ray sat a remarkably respectable distance away and Chris perched against a dining chair loaded with clothes waiting to be ironed. There seemed to be more things littering the small living area than one person would ever leave lying around, leading Chris and Ray to guess that Tanya probably lived with a friend, or boyfriend. "What is it?" she eventually asked, glancing between the two of them, "Because if this is about the party last week, I wasn't here. It was my flatmate Keira, she invited more people than planned and things got a bit out of hand. So if this is about that, you'll have to wait to talk to her."

Chris gave Ray a confused look, wondering what to say in reply.

"Don't worry, love," Ray told her casually, "It isn't about this party yer talkin' about..." he trailed off, his voice growing a little more serious. "It's about yer brother, Ian."

"Yeah," Chris added, not realising that Ray was pausing for a reason, not wanting to bombard her with the information. It may have come as a surprise to some people, but Ray did actually display some semblance of sensitivity now and again. "He's been murdered...sorry, love."

"Nice place," Gene remarked as the Quattro pulled up outside a tidy looking house, sat in the middle of a long row of terraces. A creaky gate guarded the path up to the front door, the paintwork looking quite new. "Reminds me a bit of me and the Mrs' old place."

Alex glanced at him for a second, an inquisitive and slightly surprised expression on her face. "You barely ever mention the ex-Mrs Hunt, I'm surprised."

Shrugging, Gene pulled the keys out of the ignition and opened the car door, throwing a brief glance in her direction. "Well, it's not like she never existed, is it? However much I try an' pretend she didn't. Should never 'ave bloody married the naggin' mare in the first place." He slammed the door shut as if to emphasise his point and waited for Alex to follow suit. "Talking of marriage," he said, panicking Alex for a moment as she dreaded Gene asking about her own failed marriage, "Does this Samuel Harris' wife 'ave a name? We know all about who's possibly been in 'er knickers, but those two divs never gave me a name."

"Delilah," Alex told him, letting out a sigh of relief. Gene had technically met Pete, after all. Just ten or fifteen years too early – the Pete of his teenage years was nothing compared to the man she had been forced to divorce after almost being killed as a result of his drink driving. The accident had been the final straw in a long line of drunken mistakes and shouting matches, and it was certainly something she never wanted to relive by telling someone all about it. Especially not Gene. "She was mentioned in Harris' statement, so I presume she's the wife who Simon Taylor and Ian Humphreys allegedly had an affair with."

Gene nodded and raised a hand to knock loudly on the door. "Well then, let's meet the not-so 'appy and harmonious Harris family."

Alex rolled her eyes, smiling slightly. "Overkill, again."

"Huh?" Gene asked, giving her a brief frown.

"Alliteration," she told him, "With that and the never ending stream of metaphors. You should have been an English teacher."

To that, Gene merely looked at her in disapproval, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly. An English teacher? Now that was just being disrespectful. Just before he was going to give his retort, the door opened to reveal Samuel Harris. At average height, with short brown hair and a nose slightly too long to suit his face, Samuel wasn't the most impressive of men; neither did he look particularly harmful. But then, Gene reminded himself, as Alex constantly quoted, never judge a book by its cover.

"Hello, Mr Harris, can we have a word?" Alex asked, causing Gene to inwardly groan and wonder why he had even bothered bringing her along. She would just sit there, sipping her tea politely and playing the pretty, complacent good cop, while he picked Harris' brains. It was clear that he had the motive – what with his wife's supposed affairs and having to quit his job as a result of one of them. Yet there was still the small issue of opportunity and means...Gene smiled to himself and looked once again at the slight, completely unintimidating form of Samuel Harris. It certainly wouldn't take long to get that sort of information out of him.

"What about?" Samuel asked with a frown, looking between the two of them. "Who the hell are you?"

Sighing quietly, Alex pulled out her warrant card and held it up for him to see. "DI Alex Drake, and this is DCI Hunt. We're here about a murder, well, two murders actually, that took place over the last twenty-four hours."

Watching as Samuel stared at them, half confused, half surprised, Alex put away her warrant card and took a small step forward. "Are you going to let us in then, Mr Harris, or would you rather do this down at the station?"

Gene made a low noise of agreement as he unconsciously brought himself up to his full height, which even Alex had to admit was intimidating. "We've got these lovely cells yer see, Mr Harris, full of poofters so bent yer could mistake 'em for paperclips. So I'd do what the lady says and show us in." He gave Samuel a brief grin, completely contradicting the almost threatening tone to his voice. "My biscuit of choice is the Garibaldi, and I like my tea strong with at least six sugars."

Samuel swallowed, still glancing furtively between the two of them as he stood back a little way to allow them in. "Um, yeah, right, sure...come in. I've no idea what all this is about but I'd be happy to help."

"I'm sure you will be, Mr Harris," Alex agreed, helping herself to a seat on the couch and looking patiently up at him as Gene sat down beside her. "You should probably sit down, what we're about to tell you might come as a bit of a shock."

"Um, okay," Samuel muttered, still looking completely confused and out of the loop. Either he was a very good actor, or he really was just that oblivious. Gene chuckled inwardly to himself; Samuel Harris and Chris would probably get on like a house on fire. It wasn't that he was stupid; so far Gene thought he looked like a pretty sensible bloke...but he had learnt that they were the ones you always had to be suspicious of. "Sorry, I have no idea what this is all about...Who's been murdered?"

Gene felt Alex sigh next to him and she looked up, muscles tightening ever so slightly. She hated breaking the news about deaths or missing persons to people, she never knew how they were going to react, or what she should do in response. The satisfaction when she finally caught the culprits behind the people's suffering though, that was worth it. That was what made it all worthwhile, that and a few people she met along the way... She glanced at Gene for a second, unable to restrain the small smile that crept unto her face. She couldn't think about that now... There was work to do. "Mr Harris," she said gently, making eye contact with him, "The body of your former boss, Simon Taylor, was found stabbed to death late yesterday morning, followed this morning by the body of Ian Humphreys. I understand that you and he had a big fight about a year ago..."

Ray and Chris stared at Tanya Humphreys in a state of mild shock and horror as her whole body froze for just half a second, before a loud, heartbroken sob leapt from her throat and she hunched forwards, sobbing uncontrollably and struggling to breathe. Tears were streaming thickly down her face, her expression utterly devastated as both men just looked on, at a complete loss at what to do.

"Shit," Chris muttered, looking wide-eyed at the hysterical woman before them, "Should've brought Shaz..."

Ray nodded and anxiously leant forward, awkwardly reaching out a hand towards her before pulling it back, not sure quite where to put it. Alex's warning was ringing loud and clear in his head now, but how on earth was he supposed to calm her down? They could hardly leave her wailing her head off like this. "Um...Don't cry, love," he said, knowing he sounded ridiculous. "It's, um, alright...Don't worry, we'll catch 'im..."

"Yeah," Chris added, nodding and trying to assist in calming Tanya down. Feeling a little more at ease around women, he went round to the side of Tanya's chair and put a loose arm around her, trying his best to rub soothing circles into her arm. "The bloke that did this t' your brother, we mean...not your brother, obviously, 'cause he's not going anywhere anytime soon..."

For a reason unbeknownst to Chris, this only served to make Tanya's crying louder, her mascara beginning to run and stain her face as she choked on her own sobs and gasped for breath. "No," she sobbed, squeezing her eyes shut tightly and leaning against Chris. "He can't be...don't...no..."

"Sorry, love," Chris mumbled, not knowing what else there was to say. With another loud, heart-wrenching sob, Tanya turned and completely buried her damp face against Chris' chest, one arm coming up to cling to him desperately, her nails digging into his arm to an almost painful degree. Looking down at the hysterical, weeping young woman, Chris began to panic and glanced over at Ray with a look of complete and utter alarm on his face. "Help!" he mouthed, looking back anxiously at Tanya as he tried to gently detach her from his side. Ray just sighed, not knowing what to do now. Maybe the Guv was right; this stuff really was just for the women to deal with.

Again, sorry for delay with this and for the lack of Galex. I promise a lot more will be happening in the next chapter. Thanks for reading and please review!

X =D