Thanks for the reviews as always, they never fail to make me smile.

Sorry again for the delay in posting, had uni stuff to sort out as I go on Saturday, but mostly I just put off this chapter because I didn't want to write it (you'll see why once you've read it). The story's heating up now and all is revealed, well a lot anyway.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of it, although I really wish I did.

Enjoy.

Gene and Alex's good mood left over from the weekend seemed ill-placed when they entered CID together on Monday morning. The blank, bored looks on the faces of the early birds that were already in the office dampened their spirits a little and the couple only sent a slight smile to each other as they went their separate ways; Alex to her desk and Gene to the beckoning comfy chair in his office.

Chris and Shaz walked in, hand in hand, just as Alex took her seat and the cheery smiles were wiped off their faces just as quickly when they registered the depressing mood of the room.

'Morning Ma'am.' Shaz said brightly.

'Morning Shaz. Good weekend?' Alex asked.

'Yes thanks. And yours? Did you enjoy the rest of your time with Mikey?'

'Yeah, it was brilliant.' She smiled.

'Good.' Shaz returned the smile. 'Not very cheerful in here this morning, is it?'

'Not exactly, but there's lots to be done. Are you going to work with Tom on researching that Nottingham guy today?' Alex asked Shaz.

'Well, Tom said he'd be busy for most of this morning, tying up loose ends on their case before they head home. But he's had a load of stuff faxed over for me from Nottingham and left me a couple of contact numbers, so I guess I'll just start trawling through it.'

'Do you want some help?'

'No, it's OK. Looks like there's enough cases here for you to be going through,' Shaz gestured at the mountain of files on Alex's desk, 'I don't mind researching this guy; it looks more interesting than that lot anyway.'

Alex laughed. 'Yes, you're probably right. Keep me updated though, OK?'

'Sure.' Shaz said and went over to sit at her desk.

Alex sighed and turned to the files on her desk, picking the first one off the looming pile and starting to leaf through it. Having come up with nothing from their hard work last week everyone's spirits had been thoroughly dampened and they now had to resort to looking through files that were much less closely linked to their case to see if anything sounded alarm bells.

Alex knew that this couldn't continue for long; they were getting nowhere just looking through what seemed to be irrelevant files and Gene would have a full scale mutiny on his hands if he made them keep up this tedious set of tasks for much longer. She and Gene both knew that at some point they would have to put an actual plan into action, but both were delaying suggesting it as it could be so dangerous for the woman they would have to use as bait.

Alex hardly even noticed that CID had practically emptied for lunch until Gene came and perched himself on her desk, she had been so engrossed in catching up on all the other little cases that had been neglected over the last few weeks due to the Nottingham case and the rapes.

'You look knackered Bolls.' Gene remarked, making her jump and look up from her work. 'You work too 'ard.'

Alex smiled. 'I know, but someone has too.'

'You sayin' that I don't work Drake?' He raised an eyebrow at her. 'I could class that as insubordination.'

'I said nothing of the sort Gene.' She grinned. 'So what have you been up to this morning then?'

'Meetin' with the Super if you must know.'

Alex looked surprised. 'Really? I didn't even notice you leave your office.'

'Charming.' He said sarcastically. 'Don't even notice me now.'

Alex rolled her eyes and smiled. 'Stop being so sensitive, you big girl.'

'Oi! I'm not a flamin' girl, I…'

'All right, all right. I take it back.' She interrupted him mid-rant and held her hands up.

'Hmph.'

'Does your ego need a boost?' Alex asked in mock sympathy. 'You're a big, strong man and you're the king of everything.'

'Better.' He grinned. 'Now get back to work Bolly; I won't tolerate slackers on my team.'

Alex opened her mouth to protest but Gene had already retreated to the sanctuary of his office.

'You busy Ma'am?' Shaz asked when she got back from her lunch break.

'Not hugely, still going through these files.' Alex gestured to the, now slightly smaller but still substantial, stack of files on her desk.

'Have you not stopped for lunch yet Ma'am? You must be starving.'

'No, I'm fine, honestly Shaz. What did you need me for?'

'Oh, just wondered if you wanted an update on what I've found on Michael Freeman so far.'

'Sure. What have you got?'

Shaz consulted the file in her hand. 'Born 15th February 1944. His father was a Scotsman, fought and died in the second world war, so he never knew his dad. His mother was a prostitute and died of a heroin overdose when he was fifteen, leaving Michael to raise his half-sister. Appeared to live a normal life from then onwards, left school at sixteen and got a job in a convenience store. As far as I'm aware he continued to work there until he was called into questioning about his girlfriend's murder at the age of twenty-two. When he was told he was free to go he dropped off the map, no mention of him on any employment or police records since.'

'What about his sister?'

'Claire? She's five years younger than Michael, so she'd have been seventeen about the time of Catherine's murder.'

'Do you know anything about her now?'

'She's now Claire Winters, since she married a man called Bryan Winters in 1972. Lives in Birmingham with her husband and three children; I've got a number for her here.' Shaz said, passing Alex a piece of paper with a telephone number on it.

'OK, good. Any idea what might have happened to Michael after the investigation?'

'No, no ideas at all. I can't find a trace of him anywhere.'

'All right. Leave it with me. I'll call the sister and see what I can find out. Thanks Shaz.' Alex smiled at the younger woman.

Alex picked up her phone and dialled the number Shaz had handed to her. A woman answered the phone.

'Hello?'

'Mrs Winters?'

'Yes. Who's asking?'

'I'm Detective Inspector Alex Drake. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about your brother.'

Silence.

'Mrs Winters?'

'I haven't heard from my brother in over a decade. What is it you want exactly?'

'Just a bit of background information.'

'What for? Why can't you leave him alone? He was found innocent over fifteen years ago, leave him in peace.'

'I'm afraid it's important to our investigations to find out what happened to your brother after he was released.'

'That investigation ruined our lives. Michael had just started to build a life for us and after the investigation we couldn't go out in our own street without being shouted at or spat on. No wonder he moved away.'

'Moved away?'

'I don't know where, so save your breath. He couldn't take it any more, so he changed his name and upped sticks to somewhere else about six months after it happened. He didn't tell me any of the details, just that he was going to make a new life for himself someplace new and I haven't seen him since.'

'He didn't tell you his new name? Didn't hint as to where he might go?'

'No he didn't. He sent me a letter a couple of years after he left saying that he was well and finally starting to move on with his life. If that's true then he may well be leading a happy life now, so please don't dredge up the past searching for him and ruin it all over again.'

'We aren't trying to ruin anyone's life Claire, just trying to find some answers. Thank for your help. Sorry to bother you.' Alex said politely.

'Good day, Inspector.' Claire said and put the phone down.

'Shaz?' Alex called and the junior officer hurried over to her desk. 'Get Michael Freeman's file and we'll go through it.'

'What did his sister say Ma'am?' Shaz said, placing the file on Alex's desk and pulling up a chair.

'That he got a new identity and moved away after the investigation finished and she hasn't heard from him in years.'

'Do you think she's telling the truth?'

Alex shrugged. 'She didn't give me enough information for it to be worth lying about and anything she said could be backed up by the people that knew the two of them at the time. The only thing she could have lied about was the contact she has with him and not knowing were he is, but I don't think she was and if she was I'm sure we can fill in the missing pieces anyway.'

'Good afternoon. That looks like fun.' Tom remarked as he appeared at Alex's desk.

'Super fun.' Shaz smiled sarcastically.

'Hi Tom. You sorted everything out yet?' Alex asked.

'Almost. Just a few more people we want to interview, mainly workers down at Maddock's shipping place. DI Gordon's just checking a few things and then we'll head out again. Sorry to leave you with all that paperwork Shaz.'

'It's no problem. I had to have something to keep me out of trouble, didn't I?'

'You and DI Gordon must be glad this is nearly over, mustn't you? You've been out of Nottingham for a while now.' Alex asked.

'Well, Nottingham's my home, lived there all my life so it'll be nice to go back, I'd like more time down here with Sarah though. As for Mitch, he's not really settled in yet, so I doubt he's missing it all that much.'

'What do you mean?'

'He only joined us a few months ago, transferred down from Aberdeen. I don't think he wanted to move really, he's been up there since he joined the force but he had to transfer when he got promoted and lucky for us he picked Nottingham.'

'Oh, I just assumed he'd always been with Nottingham CID, you two seem to know each other very well, and I haven't noticed his accent.'

'He's a nice guy, he gets on with everyone.' Tom shrugged. 'What have you found then?'

'Just general background really, DI Drake spoke to his sister and said that he disappeared after the investigation, so we're just trying to fill in the gaps now.'

'Sounds like fun. Well I'd better go. See you girls later then.'

'Bye Tom.' Shaz and Alex said together.

Alex looked back to the file thoughtfully. 'The rapist is very meticulous about the way he carries out the attacks, like he puts a lot of thought into what he does, very little is random.' She stated.

'So?' Shaz asked.

'Well maybe that's his personality. In which case when he was choosing where he would make a new start it's unlikely to be random, he may have picked places or names that meant something to him.'

'Like what? His mother's hometown or something?'

'Well along those lines, yes. But I don't think he'd want to be associated with his mother seeing as she was a drug addict and a sex worker. You said his father fought in the war, a war hero, what about him?'

'Hamish Freeman; worked in the police force before he enlisted in the army.' Shaz's face went white as a sheet as she choked out. 'Born and raised in Aberdeen by his mother, Elizabeth Gordon.'

Alex dropped her mug of tea, spilling hot liquid over all the files and both her and Shaz, but the two women didn't seem to notice.

'Gordon?' Alex spluttered and Shaz nodded. 'Jesus Christ!'

Alex and Shaz scanned the room and Alex's eyes found Tom. She got up and hurried over to him.

'Tom.' She said as she reached him, breathing heavily. 'Where's DI Gordon?'

'He just left. Why?' Tom asked, bewildered.

'Where did he go?' Alex demanded.

'He didn't say. He shouldn't be long though, we've still got a few witnesses to talk to. Is everything all right?'

'Not really. When did he leave?'

'Well I told him I'd been talking to you about that Michael Freeman bloke for your rape cases, he asked a bit about it and then left. What's going on?'

'Erm…don't worry about it. Tell Shaz I've gone to look for him.'

'Have you got news on our case or something then?' Tom called pointlessly as Alex disappeared out of the double doors.

'Where's DI Drake gone?' Shaz asked when she saw the doors swing shut.

'Oh, she's gone after DI Gordon. I guess she has some information about Ricky Ball or something.' Tom said absentmindedly.

'What?!' Shaz gasped and dropped the files she was carrying to put away in the filing cabinet.

'Shaz!' Gene appeared at his office door as Shaz dropped the files, making everyone jump. 'Where the bloody 'ell has Drake run off to?!'

'Shaz are you OK?' Asked a concerned Chris. 'Do you want to sit down?'

'No, I don't want to sit down. And no I'm not all right!' Shaz screeched, not knowing what to do.

'Granger what on earth's got into you? And why has no-one answered my bloody question? Where 'as DI Drake disappeared off to?' Gene snapped.

'Erm…Guv?' Shaz asked timidly. 'Can I have a word?'

'If you must.' Gene sighed. 'C'mon I 'aven't got all day.'

Shaz picked up the damp, tea-stained file she and Alex had been looking through and made her way past DCI Hunt into the lion's den as he closed the door behind her.

Gene straightened his tie a little and stared at the floor. 'Are you all right Shaz? Alex, er DI Drake, told me about, well you know.' He said awkwardly, gesturing to Shaz's stomach. 'If yeh need to go 'ome you just have to say.'

If Shaz hadn't been quite so panicked she would have been really touched by her DCI's rare show of consideration. 'No, I'm fine. It's Alex.'

Gene's head snapped up. 'What about 'er?'

Shaz's throat closed up so that she couldn't speak, she couldn't bear to think of what would happen to her if Alex actually found DI Gordon. She wordlessly handed her DCI the sheet of paper that had horrified her and Alex.

'What about it?' Gene asked after he'd scanned it.

Shaz gulped and swallowed the lump in her throat. 'It's from Michael Freeman's file, background on his father. Michael Freeman changed his identity after the investigation into his girlfriend's murder closed and we think he used his father's roots to start afresh.'

Gene scanned the page again and picked out the key words that had caught Shaz's attention, the police force and the name spoke for themselves and Gene vaguely remembered seeing the word Aberdeen when glazing over Mitch Gordon's file before he and DC Harris had arrived at Fenchurch East.

'Is this a fucking joke?!' He hissed at Shaz, already knowing the answer.

'No Guv.' She whispered.

'Where's Drake? Why the hell didn't she tell me about this?!' He snapped, starting to raise his voice.

'We only just found this. I didn't know she was going to…I would have stopped her…Tom said she went to find DI Gordon.' Shaz babbled.

'WHAT!' He roared, and the rest of CID that hadn't already been watching what had been going on in their DCI's office all turned in time to see Gene upend his filing cabinet. 'You're telling me she's fucked off on 'er own to God knows where after a fuckin' murderin' perv! Well that's just bloody fantastic! If he lays a finger on her I'll fucking kill 'im!'

'She might not have found him. He'd already left by the time I read that sheet.' Shaz said quietly, trying to convince herself as well as her raging boss.

Gene wanted to believe what Shaz was saying but he knew that it would be just Alex's luck to have found the bastard. He didn't know what to do, the thought of Alex in danger made him feel physically sick. Gene stormed out of his office, out of CID and out of the station, down the steps and stopped dead where DI Gordon's car should have been parked, followed closely by Shaz and a few seconds behind, a very confused Chris and Ray.

Gene nearly passed out on the spot. There on the pavement was Alex's warrant card. He couldn't allow himself to reflect on what that might mean, it would cause too much pain. Instead he gave into the blinding anger and tore over to his Quattro, only to be stopped by a strong hand on his arm.

'What's goin' on? Where are we off to?' Ray asked, flinching as his DCI whirled round and ripped his arm out of Ray's grasp.

'You are goin' nowhere. I am off to find a piece of murderin' scum!' Gene replied.

'What on yer own?' Ray asked surprised. 'You can't do that.'

'I can do what the bloody 'ell I like Raymondo!' Gene spat.

'Ray's right, Guv. It's not safe. And you don't know where they've gone anyway.' Shaz reasoned.

'Hey. Is that DI Drake's warrant card?' Chris asked, as he pointed to the leather holder in DCI Hunt's hand.

Gene had a feeling that he was going to break down any second if he had to listen to any more questions. He pushed past Ray and marched straight back inside, stopping to look at no-one and ignoring any voices directed at him. He walked straight into his office, shoved his jacket off and grabbed one of his emergency bottles of whiskey from his bottom desk drawer.

'What the hell's going on Shaz?' Ray asked when they got back into CID, having watched DCI Hunt down almost half a bottle of whiskey in one.

Shaz briefly explained, her eyes filling with tears as she finished recounting recent events, bringing the team up to speed. Most of them were utterly shocked and Tom's jaw dropped to the floor and he practically fell onto a chair to stop himself from fainting.

Gene slammed the half-empty whiskey bottle back onto his desk. Much as he wanted to drink himself into oblivion, he knew that would not help him find Alex. He marched out just as Shaz was finishing her explanation.

'I don't care what you do or 'ow you do it, but you will find this piece of shit, and quickly!' Gene demanded. 'I want every bit of dirt we can dig up on this bastard and find out where the 'ell he's taken Alex, understood?'

'Yes Guv.' The team responded automatically in surprise and fear as DCI Hunt slammed his office door behind him, taking Michael Freeman's file with him.

Gene pored over the file again and again, finding nothing of use, but not able to tear his eyes away from the life of the psycho that had Alex. He wanted to be doing something productive, he wanted to drive all over London looking for her but knew that it would be useless. He looked back at the file again and threw it down in frustration. 'I can't do this crap! Alex was always the one who looked for patterns from criminals' pasts, and all that other bollocks; not me. I need her input on this; she'd know what to do, what to be looking for. Scrap that, I just need her.'

Unable to bear looking at the same sheets of paper for another minute he gave up and ventured into CID to see what efforts they had been making. He was surprised when he saw them all sitting in the middle of the room, with nothing in their hands at all. He very nearly roared at them to get off their backsides and do some work when he saw that they were all facing Chris, who was stood at the whiteboard talking to them.

'If Alex could be here to see this.' He thought to himself. In any other situation he would have found it amusing the way Chris seemed to be trying to take his DI's approach to policing, much like the young constable had attempted to do with Sam Tyler.

'So DI Drake, er…the victim…was taken just outside the station at about two o' clock…' Chris stumbled over his words, trying to do a run-through of this afternoon's events.

Gene was grateful that they all seemed to be taking it seriously and that they were doing everything they could to find out where Mitch, or Michael, might have taken Alex. But he couldn't listen to it, listen to them talk about and analyse Alex the way they had done with the other girls. He took a deep breath and walked out of CID, desperately needing some fresh air.

He walked straight out of the station and down the alley way to the left side of Fenchurch East where he slumped down against the wall and put his head on his knees. 'Why Alex? Of everyone else in the whole of sodding London, why her?' He opened his eyes and pulled a cigarette out of his inside jacket pocket, lighting it with shaking hands, wishing he had thought to bring a bottle of whiskey with him.

'Guv?' Gene looked up at the sound of Shaz's timid voice before looking back at the ground and exhaling his cigarette smoke slowly.

'What is it Shazza?' He said in a disinterested voice.

'I just wanted to make sure you…that you were OK.' She said quietly.

'Well you've checked. What's the verdict? Do I look OK to you?' He asked, still staring resolutely at the ground.

'Not really, no.' Shaz admitted with a weak smile and saw the corner of her DCI's mouth turn up slightly.

'Ta very much.' He said sarcastically.

Shaz sat down next to DCI Hunt, careful to give him the space he needed.

'She'll be all right you know? We'll find her.' Shaz said softly.

'Now I know you're jus' tryin' to make me feel better.' He said sarcastically.

Shaz smiled a bit. 'We will though Guv. You know we will.'

He finally looked up, all his fear evident in his eyes. 'Do I? I 'ave no idea where to even start. What if…what if…' He tailed off, all the 'what if' questions whirling round his head.

Shaz's lip started to tremble with the effort of holding back her tears. 'Don't start with what ifs, I can't bear it.'

'Hey. Don't you dare start blubberin'. Of course we'll find 'er.' He tried to reassure her, but hearing himself he could tell he didn't sound very convincing.

'Of course.' Shaz sniffed and stood up. 'I'd better get back inside.'

'Hmm. I'll be there in a minute Shaz.' He replied. 'And thanks.'

Shaz just gave him a small, watery-eyed smile and headed back inside.

'You all right babe?' Chris asked when he noted his fiancée's red eyes.

'Fine.' Shaz nodded.

'Where's the Guv?' Ray asked. 'Did you find him?'

'He's outside.' Shaz said quietly.

'How is 'e?' Ray grimaced.

'How do you think Ray?' Shaz sighed in frustrated.

Ray shrugged. 'I dunno, do I?'

'He's a mess, if you really wanna know. Barely keeping it together. There, is that what you wanted to hear?' She snapped.

'Not really no.' Ray retorted. 'If the Guv can't keep it together then we've got no 'ope with this case.'

'I think I can manage Raymondo.' Gene sneered as he reappeared. 'What 'ave we got so far lads?'

Chris fumbled with his words, but effectively brought the Guv up to date on everything they knew so far; which wasn't much. He had never kidnapped any of the other girls and so the team had no grounds from which to work from on how to find out where Mitch could have taken her. All the time Tom just sat there in a stunned silence, hardly believing what was happening. And Gene just sat very quietly on Alex's desk, trying to focus on what the team was saying.

'So how on earth do we find this creep?' Ray asked, frustrated with everyone's lack of input.

Everyone just looked around at each other, shrugging their shoulders, no-one willing to make a suggestion.

'Well…' Everyone looked at Shaz as she started to speak, most then rolling their eyes and sighing.

'Hey. She might 'ave somethin' useful to say.' Chris defended his fiancé valiantly.

'Yeah right. What's a typist gonna know?' DC Miller sneered.

'Let her speak.' The team looked up, surprised at their DCI's sudden interruption seeing as he had contributed nothing to the discussion so far.

'Guv?' The detective constable questioned.

'WPC Granger has spent a lot of time with DI Drake on this particular case and I would appreciate 'er input.' He said finally, gaining very surprised looks from the team for their Guv having stood up for a female plod. He looked back at Shaz. 'Go on Shaz.'

'Thanks Guv.' She said quietly while blushing slightly. 'Erm…It's just we, DI Drake and I, were talking about Michael's, I mean Mitch's, character and she said that he was very thorough; nothing is random. I mean, he proved that with picking his identity didn't he? So maybe he'll have taken her to someplace he knows; I don't think he'd chance taking her somewhere he wasn't familiar with.'

'She might 'ave a point actually.' Ray admitted, secretly rather proud of her.

'That's all very well but how do we find out if he knows anywhere in London?' DC Miller contradicted, seemingly intent on undermining WPC Granger.

'Tom? You know 'im don't you?' Chris asked, addressing DI Gordon's colleague for the first time since the whole situation came to light.

'Yes, but only a little. I only met him a few months ago.' Tom replied. 'I'm sorry, he's never mentioned London to me.'

'His sister might know.' Shaz suggested. 'DI Drake spoke to her earlier on today.'

'Good.' Gene said, standing up. 'Shaz you get on to the sister. Ray, Chris, with me. We're gonna go and re-look at the previous crime scenes. The rest of yeh; get on the phone, try and find out if anyone's seen Mitch Gordon's car. Tom, I think it might be a good idea to call your Super.'

There was a chorus of 'Yes Guv,' and the team sprang into action, glad to have been given something productive to do. Tom looked positively terrified of the task he had been set but never-the-less picked up a handset and dialled the number for Nottingham Police Station.

Gene hadn't expected to find anything at the scene of the rapes, he just needed to get out of the office and do something constructive rather than sit around thinking about Alex.

It had been over an hour since she had gone missing and every minute that ticked by seemed more and more ominous. He couldn't stop thinking 'what if'. 'What if she had just come to me first before charging off after him? What if we'd caught him earlier, after the first girl? What if we don't get to her in time? What if he…Stop it Gene, get a grip!' He scolded himself for letting his imagination get carried away and tried to focus on driving back to the station; having found nothing of use at any of the previous places Mitch had committed his crimes.

Ray and Chris sat quietly in the back of the Quattro, neither one daring to take 'Alex's' seat in the front, exchanging worried looks about their DCI. How is the Guv so calm and controlled? Surely he would crack at some point? How would he cope if something happens to DI Drake? Neither one of them dared to ask their DCI how he was doing, but both wondered how long it would last before he started to fall apart.

'What 'ave you found out lads?' Gene asked as he, Ray and Chris re-entered CID.

'No-one's really been much use Guv. It's the middle of the day, there are a lot of blue cars about and people don't tend to pay much attention.' One of the team shrugged apologetically. 'There's a few that have seen a blue Ford about but the sightings are scattered all over town so they're likely to all be different cars.'

'Right.' Gene said, looking at Shaz almost pleadingly, this was not what he wanted to hear. 'Shaz?'

'I managed to get hold of Mrs Winters; just got off the phone with her. She wasn't particularly willing to give any information but she did tell me that she and her brother lived in London for a couple of years with their mother when she was small. She was only two or three at the time so she doesn't remember it at all and said that Michael, I mean Mitch, never really mentioned it to her when they moved back to Nottingham. She suggested we should try a couple of his school mates, they might know more.'

'What school did 'e go to? Who were 'is mates?' Gene asked, slightly more hopeful now.

'Easton Primary School, in Aldwych. She didn't know any of his friends personally but she said he kept in contact with one called Frank Johnson when they moved back to Nottingham.'

'You got an address?'

'Yep. Last know address was a rented flat in Rotherhithe. I've got the details here.'

'Good work Shaz.' Gene offered her a rare praise and she beamed. 'Ray and Chris come with me; let's see what 'e knows.'

'Right-o Guv.' Chris replied jogging after the Guv as Ray walked behind.

'Frank Johnson?' Ray asked as a man in his late thirties answered the flaking door to his flat.

'Yeah. Who's asking?' The man replied suspiciously.

'Where is she you piece of shit?!' Gene shoved Frank up against the wall.

'Who?!' Frank let out a strangled cry.

'Guv!' Ray grabbed his DCI's arm just as he was about to land a punch on Frank's jaw. Gene straightened up and let Frank go but continued to glare suspiciously at him.

'Sorry.' Ray apologised. 'I'm DS Carling, and this is DCI Hunt and DC Skelton. Can we 'ave a word?'

Frank hesitated, looking as if he might refuse but cowered under DCI Hunt's furious stare. 'Of course, come in.' He said, ushering them reluctantly in to the dingy sitting room. 'Can I ask what this is about?'

'You were mates with Michael Freeman at school?' Ray asked, taking the lead with the questioning as Gene just sat and glared at the man they were questioning.

'Mitch, all the lads knew him as Mitch, yeah course. He was my best mate in primary school. What's he got to do with anything, haven't seen him in donkey's years?'

'He's holding a member of our team hostage somewhere in London and we need to find out where.' Ray said impassively, trying to refer to DI Drake as a usual victim rather than his boss.

Frank looked visibly gob-smacked. 'Mitch? He wouldn't! And you think I know where he's taken him?'

'Her.' Ray corrected. 'And no, but yeh might be able to help.'

'How?'

'Is there any place round 'ere that Mitch liked to go? Anywhere you would mess around?'

Frank shrugged his shoulders. 'Dunno. We went all over the place. We had our bikes you see so we explored just about everywhere we could get to: Hyde Park; all around the school; the industrial estate near his place; down by the docks. Anywhere that was fun for a couple of kids to mess around in. Doubt he'd go anywhere near the school though; we hated that place.'

Ray and Chris sighed in defeat. 'All right. Thanks for your 'elp. If 'e happens to contact you for any reason then give us a ring.'

'Will do Inspector. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.' He glanced warily at DCI Hunt and showed the three men out the front door.

'So basically we're looking at anywhere within a ten mile radius of where 'e lived. Well that narrows it down a bit.' Ray stated sarcastically when they got back into the Quattro.

'So it would seem.' Gene glowered.

'Well what about those ones Frank mentioned?' Chris said. 'The park, the school, the industrial estate and the docks.'

'The park's too open; nowhere to hide.' Gene dismissed Hyde Park at once. 'And the school's a no-go.'

'So that leaves the industrial estate and the docks. There's bloody 'undreds of empty warehouses and buildings at both those places; it'll take us a year to search through all of 'em.' Ray muttered in defeat.

'Right. We're 'eading back to the station to let the others know. I'll send out every plod we can spare; I don't care if they have to search all night!' Gene stated.

Ray and Chris exchanged glances in the back seat of the Quattro as Gene drove off, both resolving not to mention the Guv's minor breakdown at Frank Johnson's house, although the two of them were becoming increasingly worried about his state of mind. The three of them got back to the station and immediately set everyone to work on compiling lists of empty and derelict warehouses and buildings within a ten mile radius of Michael Freeman's previous London address.

By nine o' clock, CID was practically empty. Everyone had either gone home or was out looking for Mitch and Alex. The few that remained were poring over lists and maps to try and pinpoint possible locations.

Gene looked up briefly from the mess of papers on his desk to see Ray and Chris actually working hard for once in their lives. 'Bolly would be honoured to know that she was the cause of it.' Gene thought in amusement before he winced in pain at allowing himself to think of Alex again.

Shaz had been working solidly all afternoon, almost as determined as Gene not to rest until Alex had been found. She too, was worried when the Guv's thinly veiled mask of composure would crack. She could see through him so easily, he always had been easy for her to read, and she knew that he was trying his absolute hardest not to let his anxiety and panic overrun him. Shaz was impressed, he had managed to suppress his worries a lot longer than she had predicted, but it made her wonder whether it would be a whole lot worse because of it when the panic finally broke through.

Gene was indeed panicking and every time he let his control on his mind slip he found himself thinking of all the horrible things that psycho could be subjecting Alex to at that very second. He was desperately trying to keep it together, knowing that without a DI to back him up the team needed his full concentration on the task at hand if they had any hope of finding Alex in time. 'Stop it! Stop thinking like that. She's going to be just fine.' He kept repeating that last bit to himself over and over, believing it less and less each time.

He thought back to the weekend; how normal and happy things had seemed then. Christ, he had even been contemplating proposing to her yesterday and now he might never see her again. 'Stop it Gene. She's going to be fine; you'll find her.' But what if he didn't. One thing Gene knew for sure is that his life wouldn't be worth living if Alex wasn't in it. He would be lost without her.

'Stop it Guv.' Shaz said quietly as she entered his office.

Gene snapped his head up, he hadn't even realised that he'd buried his face in his hands.

'What?' He asked.

'I can tell what you're thinking. She's gonna be fine, we'll find her.' Shaz reassured with a lot more conviction than she actually felt.

'Hmm.' He wished he could believe it. 'What did you want Shazza?'

'I've finished with my lists; thought you might want to have a look through them.' She said, placing the papers on his desk and then quietly let herself back out of the office, closing the door behind her.

Gene rubbed his face and picked up Shaz's papers, steeling his mind into Guv-mode again.

'Come on Alex. Where are you?' He muttered to himself and started looking through the dozens of venues that Mitch could have taken her to.

Please don't hurt me! All will be resolved for better or worse in the coming chapters. I know many of you guessed that outcome quite early on, hope I didn't write it too badly!

I'll try my best not to let the posting get outrageously out of control but it's freshers' week next week, so I doubt I'll have a conscious thought throughout that time, let alone enough brain power to write!

Review please, even if it's hateful comments for what I've done to Alex!