Ooh an update in what, 2 days? I'm doing quite well at the moment I think. Ooh and get this, how nerdy am I, I now have a graph showing the word lengths of each chapter and write higher than the average for each chapter. So the theory is that they will gradually get longer.

Chapter Twenty Five

The moment those words left his mouth the whole team was ready for action and suddenly weren't as tired as they had been earlier, Chris jumped up off his seat and promptly hit his head on the roof but then Gene figured he had probably been dropped on his head as a baby any way so it wouldn't make much of a difference, though the rather shocked look on his face was worthy of a prize, especially with the bacon and tomato sauce dripping down his top. Ray had found the important piece of equipment that he was looking for which turned out to be his ID card, Gene couldn't remember the last time he had used it, back in Manchester he'd had a tendency to screw up arrests and so was usually prevented from being put in those situations.

Looking around Alex found it hard to believe that this was in fact London Met's CID, Gene definitely looked the part in his smart suit and tie covered with his long black coat to keep him warm this early in the morning. She was dressed, well not what she would call professionally, back in 2008 it was all plain shirts and grey trousers with a suit with a jacket, but now she was dressed in jeans and a baggy t-shirt dress type thing, held close to her body with a big belt. Definitely very 80's, and seeing as she was the only female DI in the Met no one could compare her to anyone else so for once she made the rules. Then there was Ray and Chris and they weren't even worth commenting on, it wasn't particularly the way they were dressed, more the way they wore the clothes. She could never get used to Ray's perm and Chris's tight white trousers that apparently were 'cool.'

The boat was nearly upon them now and it was only at this point that Gene realised they hadn't planned what to do next, Ray it appeared has his own plan as jumping from the side of the boat that they were on and onto the drug traffickers boat. For a moment it looked like he was going to land in the water, as if in slow motion his feet pushed off from the rails and his arms outstretched to grab on to those of the other boat. As his fingers closed around the railings he turned around and Alex was sure that he winked at the busty PC, before swinging himself almost effortlessly up and onto the boat.

That was the last they saw of him for quite a while, they were almost worried that he had forgotten that the boat was still being steered along the docks so he couldn't arrest the driver quite yet. Gene could be heard to mutter "Bloody twonk," as Ray disappeared inside the cabin whilst the young PC seemed to be swooning on the spot much as Alex had been the previous day. Chris was gazing after the boat in absolute disbelief at the magnificent feat that his colleague and friend had just achieved.

Gene was partly dismayed at the stupidity of his colleague, after all he reminisced, Tyler had died because of his own stupidity. Though there was a part of Gene, a tiny part that was jealous. He should have tried to impress Alex like that, but then he doubted that she would have been impressed, she had mocked him for his efforts with the speed boat and probably would have yelled at him for his stupidity and foolishness.

They saw the boat slowly pulling up to the docks and instantly ran up to its moorings to see Ray leading a balding man with a pot belly down the Gang plank that Chris had set up. Alex almost felt that she should cheer, it was almost as if it was something you would watch in a film, however she didn't think the Guv would appreciate her celebrations. "Right then Raymondo, cuff him and get him down the station. Then you and I are going to have a little talk," Gene barked out, "Chris you can go with him, and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid!"

Holding the suspects arms behind his back with one hand with the other Ray was searching around his belt for a pair of handcuffs, noticing this Chris threw him a pair, which very nearly hit him square on the nose though he managed to duck out of the way in time so that he caught one of the rings on the end of his finger. He was doing quite well at impressing PC Godard, having not made a fool of himself once. Though Alex thought, this meant that as the odds were against him he was likely to have terrible luck for the rest of the week.

As Ray and Chris turned to walk towards the car Goddard also turned as if to go with them, however Alex knew where this was going and it would undoubtedly end with her and Ray in the stationary cupboard on the second floor. Leaving Chris to deal with the confused bloke that Ray had escorted off the boat, and though Chris did have his merits she couldn't quite see them securing a conviction based on an interview conducted by him.

For once Gene agreed with her and he racked his brains for a job that she could do, "Yes Love, you can ermn, go and clear up the boat we were on. I'm sure we left it in a bit of a mess."

At this Alex shot Gene a dirty look, if he expected a woman to clean up after him all the time then he definitely had another thing coming, she never picked up her husband's shirts when they were married so she wasn't going to clean up after him.

Sensing this Gene added, "And then take the rest of the day off, you've been up early so we'll see you tomorrow." Reluctantly PC Godard turned and retraced their steps to the boat dragging her feet slightly as she walked, obviously having hoped to get to know Ray a little better once they had arrived at the station.

"Right then Guv," Alex said putting emphasis onto the Guv part of it, probably in order to show how she could also be professional even if he was sharing her bed every night. "We should go and check out these drugs."

Together they walked over to the boat, not wrapped around each other or even holding hands, trying desperately to be professional and show how their new found relationship wouldn't impact their work. However as previously and probably since they had met their strides matched purposely. Gene was even the perfect gentleman by letting her walk up the gangplank first though that may just have been so that he could scare her by jumping up and down on the wooden board to make it bounce under his weight.

Finally Alex felt her feet hit the steady surface of the boat, well it was steadier than the plank was but it still had that typical rock from the gentle waves of the Thames crashing against her sides. As Gene made his way up the board with his arms stretched out to the side mocking her lousy sense of balance he took one foot off the wood and hopped the rest of the way whilst Alex tutted at him and started to look around to find the entrance to the bottom of the boat where she supposed the drugs would have been stored.

Gene jogged over slowly to join her and pointed out a trap door that was just behind the wheel, the wood of it had partly rotted away and Alex worried slightly that it might collapse right there and then. The metal ring on it looked relatively new compared to the rest of the boat and had probably been replaced recently. Suddenly remembering that they needed to have at least some evidence to secure a conviction she dug a pair of plastic gloves out of her pocket and put them on before bending over to pull open the trap door and reveal a steep set of steps leading down to the hull.

Instantly the smell hit them, it wasn't anything as horrible as rotting flesh but it definitely wasn't drugs. So rather cautiously now they made their way down the steps as they creaked under their feet. It was a small dark room that they found themselves in and for a moment it appeared that that was it, there was nothing else down there just those for closely packed walls. Until their eyes grew accustomed to the dark, and Gene's eyes rested on a heavy wooden door set into the wall on their left, his fingers drifted across the wooden panels feeling for a handle but leaving a mouldy green residue on the ends of his fingers. As his fingers closed around the cold metal of the door handle and pulled it gently downwards slightly fearful that it would snap off in his hands. If it was possible, as the door opened the smell increased and Alex and Gene were met with the sight of a room full of cages that housed animals. Closest to them they could see parrots, dogs and possibly even a tortoise but Alex wasn't sure.

Just yet another reminder to read and review, I know I'm a nag but I really do appreciate any feedback that I get.