Sorry for the delay - a cracked bone in my wrist slows my typing. The last section is borderline M - you can ignoire it and still imagine what happens.

Tommy surveyed his audience. ACC Innocent looked tired. She had been fending off the media and trying to reassure the Oxford hierarchy that the town and their university was safe. Hillier had returned to London, but Tommy knew he regularly phoned which visibly annoyed the ACC. It was bad enough having Cheif Constable Coleman breathing down her neck. He was grateful though that she was shielding his team from the politics.

"Ma'am," he began, "thanks for attending this briefing. We think we have pieced together the puzzle. We'd like to run it by you before we make arrests."

"Run through the whole thing for me, so we're sure." Innocent's shoulders relaxed. Tommy could see her relief that they were on the verge of a breakthrough.

"Certainly." Tommy moved to stand in front of a map of the building. "The key facts are that there were two bombs hidden in each of the main photocopiers, here and here. They exploded simultaneously, either because they were linked or because there was a slow gas leak in the building which seems to have been in the line that ran along this wall here and effectively linked both rooms. Seventeen people were killed, and several others wounded. From the injury patterns, our pathologists have been able to determine the locations of the deceased before the explosion. Laura, perhaps you'd like to continue this part."

"Thanks. Most of the bodies had no material evidence regarding the crime, but two did. The first, Donna Higgins…"

"I remember Donna," the ACC interrupted, "such a shame. Sorry, Laura."

"Donna's body was dismembered suggesting that she was very close to the point of impact. Initially, we thought she was outside of the copier room. Now we believe she was in the room and may have inadvertently triggered the explosion."

Innocent gasped. "How?"

Tommy continued. "Ms Higgins was friendly with Peter Spendling, the man who serviced the photocopiers. During his interview, he revealed that she had rung earlier to report a fault. He was scheduled to service the machine the next morning. With the recall of officers, however, Laura and Stuart suggested that she might have tried to fix it herself, thinking it might be needed. When we asked Spendling, he told us he had previously given her the service access code. That code unlocks the machine to allow deeper servicing beyond just the clearing of paper jams."

Stuart took up the story. "That code was written in pen on the inside of her palm. We believe that the code triggered the bomb, not a remote device as first thought."

ACC Innocent frowned. "So, you think what exactly?"

Tommy nodded to Barbara. "We think ma'am that the intended victim was Spendling. Both machines had been rigged, but we believe they were to be single explosions. The second one was only there in case the first failed."

"Why would someone target a photocopy repairman? I know we all get frustrated by the damned things, but that seems somewhat extreme."

"By his own admission, Spendling had been caught up selling drugs for an Oxford crime syndicate headed by Dafydd Davies."

Innocent frowned. "We've been invaded by the Welsh mafia?"

Tommy tried to keep a straight face. "Ma'am, Davies foster brother was Constable Jones. We believe Jones had been helping Davies with his crimes. Jones hated Spendling because he was on the losing point of a love triangle between Higgins, Spendling and himself."

"So, let me get this straight. A corrupt police officer allowed his brother to try to kill his rival, in front of his would-be girlfriend in a police station?"

Tommy nodded. "Yes, essentially. We believe Jones may have planted the bombs."

"But he was killed."

"Bad timing or his foster brother was trying to kill him too. Jones was supposed to be on patrol but had bad diarrhoea and had returned to the station. Laura confirmed the illness from his inflamed intestines. We believe Davies contacted Jones with the threat. I'm sure Jones knew everyone was being recalled, but I do not think he knew the bombs would go off, or if he did, he believed the damage would be confined to one area. I think he thought it would take a while for Spendling to be called in."

"Where is Davies now?"

"We think he is still hold up in Cowley ma'am. He probably thinks there is nothing to link him."

"How did they make the bomb?"

"Davies spent time in Australia and South America in open cut mines under an assumed name, David Jones. We believe he picked up the expertise or contacts there," Tommy replied.

"Arrest him. Bring him in and shake his tree until we know." Innocent turned to everyone on the team. "Thank you for your hard work. I know this has been stressful and personal for many of you. It is appreciated. If Davies is responsible, though, I want a one hundred percent water-tight case. No if, no buts, no wriggle room or interpretations lawyers can use to get him off. And I want to know exactly what Jones' role was in this too."

A series of 'yes, ma'am' echoed around the room.

"That went well," Barbara said to Tommy.

"Yes, but you heard her. We have to nail him yet."

"Well, you're a sight for sore eyes. You just missed Lizzie and Tony."

"Hello, Robbie, Laura," Tommy said, "how are they?"

"Grand. Tony's having counselling, but they'll be fine."

Tommy looked around. "Where's James?"

"Hydrotherapy would you believe. Apparently having a hot bath helps you move your limbs."

"Ignore him. He's turning into a crotchety old man," Laura said. "James has movement in his legs now too. They think he will recover completely with no lasting damage. The pool helps the therapist develop his coordination."

Barbara groaned loudly. "Right now, I'd love a hot bath. It's been a long two days."

"But our case is watertight," Tommy said firmly. Since the briefing, they had barely stopped. Interviews, arrests, new leads and additional suspects had meant only brief naps at their desks and hours of painstakingly documenting their case.

"Good!" Robbie said, "Laura told me about Davies. Did he confess?"

Tommy nodded. "Not until one of his henchmen told us about stealing the semtex from a quarry in Yorkshire and rigging two bombs with detonators linked to the service code on the machines. They were only designed to kill the person who entered the code. He was upset about the destruction and blamed Davies."

"So what went wrong?"

"Davies had his own explosives. He simply strapped them onto the bombs and made them bigger. Jones had planted the bombs days before. He had been called by Davies to say Spendling was on his way. Jones opened a small cock in the gas line as planned because Davies had told him that it would build up and cause people to evacuate the building and lessen the chance of collateral damage. Trouble was Jones had eaten lunch with Davies who had slipped a large dose of laxatives into his meal. Davies had planned to kill as many police as possible."

"So he called in the threat?"

"Yes."

"Why kills his brother?"

"He had to sacrifice him so that Jones could not tell anyone what happened. Also, any link to Davies would be overlooked as he assumed no one would think he would kill his own brother."

Robbie shook his head. "We always have to assume the worst in people. And we're usually right."

Tommy nodded. "Anyway we have two days off now, and I'm going to ensure DI Havers here gets her long bath and plenty of bed rest."

Robbie flicked his eyebrows up and down a few times. "So you plan to spend the two days in bed then lad?"

"Something like that," Tommy said cheekily as he ignored Barbara's glare and put his arm around her shoulders.

They said goodbye to Laura and Robbie and walked slowly to the car. Barbara pretended to ignore him so as he unlocked the car for her, Tommy leant over and kissed her. As he suspected, her reticence vanished, and her lips moved eagerly against his own.

"I still want that bath," she said as they paused.

"And I need some sleep. We don't have to rush this Barbara." She nodded and stared at his jacket. "What?" he asked gently.

"If we had done it earlier... Now I'm..." She did not finish her sentence.

"Nervous?"

"Mmm."

Tommy pulled her closer to him. "So am I."

"You? Why?"

"I want to make you happy. I want to fulfil your deepest needs in a way that makes me indispensable to you. I want to hear you scream my name, and whisper it gently. It's natural to fear that I may not be what you need."

"Oh, that makes it worse!"

Tommy stroked her back. "Why?"

"I was only nervous about you seeing me naked. I hadn't thought about not being able to fulfil your deepest needs and being indispensable."

They rested their foreheads together and laughed softly. "I believe that we're overthinking this. You are already indispensable. You are my sanctuary, Barbara. Let's go home."

Despite being close to exhaustion, Barbara accepted Tommy's offer of a hot bath. "I'll run one for you."

When he called her into his bedroom, the steaming bath was covered in bubbles. Four small candles stood on the rim near the base of the tub and cast a romantic light in the otherwise darkened room. She gave him a gentle kiss. "Thank you."

"Fancy a drink?"

"Something strong but sweet."

Barbara undressed and slipped into the soothing water. All the tension of the case seemed to drain away, to be replaced by a tingling excitement about what might follow. When she heard his footsteps on the stairs, she made sure that the foam covered her.

"A Tommy special," he announced, handing her a dark viscous drink. He sat on the edge of the bath watching her. "May I join you?"

Barbara felt her face flush crimson. "Mmm."

She watched as he kicked off his shoes, removed his socks, then moved behind her. At first, she thought he was uncharacteristically shy until she felt his hands on her shoulders. She let out a long sigh as he gently began to massage them. "Relax," he whispered before he kissed her neck.

"I can't if you keep doing that," she croaked.

Tommy chuckle tickled her neck. "I should join you in there."

She was pleased when he moved back to stand in front of her as he slowly stripped off his shirt and trousers. Seeing his naked chest made her squeeze her legs together. She waited impatiently for him to remove his trunks. Tommy turned and gently blew out all but one of the candles. When he removed his trunks and stepped into the bath, she had only the briefest glimpse of a promising silhouette. The water rose around her as he gently lowered himself into the large bath. When he put his arm around her, she happily cuddled into his side.

"I'm glad that's over," she said taking time to adjust to the feel of his naked skin against hers.

"So am I."

"I hear a but."

Tommy sighed much more heavily than she had expected. "I may as well tell you now. When we had our debrief, Chief Constable Coleman offered me the Superintendent's role here for twelve months, until they get the force re-established."

"I knew he would." Barbara tentatively traced a finger across his chest.

"How?"

"He asked me if I thought we could continue to be professional if we were working and sleeping together."

Tommy mimicked her by running his fingertips across her stomach. "Cheeky sod. What did you tell him?"

"That we could. What did you say?"

"That I intended to marry you."

"Oh!"

Tommy removed his hand from the water and gently stroked her cheek. "Is that all you have to say?"

"Yes, until I'm actually asked. How did he react to that?"

"He's going to see Robbie and James tomorrow. Wants to promote them both."

Barbara was pleased that there was a solution but also disappointed. "So I'd work for one of them?"

Tommy moved his hand back under the water and zigzagged his finger from her neck to her navel. "No. You are to get your own squad, training fast-tracked officers as detectives. You'd be based here but report to the training officer in Slough, not me."

"Training? Me? Am I to train fast-tracks? University educated, no-idea-about-life fast-tracks?"

Tommy laughed and held her tightly so that she could not leap out of the bath. "Yes. On real cases though and working with Robbie and James. I'd still be involved with important cases."

Barbara swore profusely for about a minute before she was calm enough to speak sensibly. "No."

To her annoyance, Tommy was laughing. "You did such a good job training me," he said, "besides David would be disappointed."

"Why?"

"Coleman agreed to put him into the programme, but only if you train him."

"That's emotional blackmail."

"Only if you really don't want to do it." He ran his fingertips lazily around her breasts. Barbara knew that he understood she was not going to say no.

"I don't, but I think you'd be happier working than doing your book."

"I'm already happier because you are here. So, back to my question. I know I don't have a ring yet and this is not a windswept cliff by the sea, but will you do me the great honour of marrying me?"

"Probably."

"Not quite the answer I expected." Tommy's hands roamed teasingly across her abdomen. "As I said earlier, you are my sanctuary, Barbara. Your love is all I need."

"Then convince me."

"Oh, with pleasure." Tommy kissed her hard as they slid deeper into the tub. One of his hands rested on her thigh before slowly creeping upwards.

Barbara moaned loudly. "Yes. Oh, hell yes!"

"Oh, hell yes, you'll marry me or oh, hell yes, you like what I'm doing?" Now his hand moved with determination. Barbara began to give into sensations that were new and overwhelming."

"Oh, hell yes both! I love you, Tommy."

"I love you too." He kissed her hard as she arched her back against him. "But I think we should move to the bed before we drown."