Chapter 28
It seemed like they were on a wild goose chase and always two steps behind Simon and Kim. First heading to Currys, they found that they'd missed Simon by a matter of minutes as he'd been called away urgently to a branch of PC World where some slightly imbalanced woman had been scanning her breasts into one of the display computers and an over amorous gentleman was humping a 17 inch. Monitor, that was.
"What the bloody hell is happening to the world?" Gene demanded
"I've heard of cybersex but this is ridiculous," Alex muttered as they tried to take up the trail but every time they thought they were about to get to Simon he'd been called to another random computer shagging incident.
They tried to find Kim next but despite trying all the local tattoo and piercing places that they could find they saw no sign of Kim and Gene almost ended up with some metal shoved through a very unpleasant place for threatening a random tattooist.
"She has to be with Shaz," Alex said, a little flustered, as they headed back to the car.
"Unless he's got his mitts on her," Gene said grimly.
A look of horror came over Alex's face.
"Oh, please don't say that," she breathed. She rubbed her forehead which hadn't stopped throbbing all day. "No, I don't think he would go after Kim right now. Every time he almost gets the prison treatment he licks his wounds for a few days before he starts making his next move." She looked at Gene. "But we still need to find Kim."
"Do you know where Granger lives?" Gene asked.
Alex shook her head.
"I don't even know what station she's working at," she said.
"Where's that poofy club they're always at?" Gene asked.
"That doesn't open for hours," Alex sighed.
"Alright," Gene leaned against the car, "we'll get back to the station. Simon's got to get back sooner or later with a bunch o' computer copulation twats. We can get him to tell Stringer."
But as with all the best plans it hit a snag as they arrived back in time to hear of another arson attack and the rest of the day was thrown into chaos. By the time the end of the day rolled around neither Alex nor Gene had a chance to find Kim or Simon and before they knew it the evening had arrived and both were on their respective nights out to forget the strains of the day.
"Alright," Gene tried to look at it from a different light, "give them one more night of sweet dreams before they start 'aving Jimbo nightmares. We'll go to Shoebury's in the morning before he leaves and talk to them then."
Alex closed her eyes as she leaned back against the couch. There was a part of her that wanted to warn them as soon as possible and thought about going to Bask or Kim's favourite club to find them but her whole body ached and her limbs felt heavy. They hadn't stopped chasing their tails since they'd received the fateful call that morning and she felt exhausted.
"Alright," she said quietly, "I wish we were in the sweet dreams section of the population. Too late for us though."
Gene started to walk to the kitchen.
"Bottle of red, Bols?" he asked.
Alex shook her head slowly.
"No thanks," she said quietly.
"Something not right with you today, Gene frowned, "not like you to say no to a glass."
"I'm too tired to lift the glass," said Alex.
Gene sat beside her and his concern started to grow. Something really wasn't right with Alex. Was it the Shaz stuff that was dragging her down, or had Keats's escape been the final straw?
"Bed, then?" he asked quietly. Alex nodded, her eyes closed. Gene got back to his feet and hauled her up. "Get some sleep. Need you full of beans tomorrow."
"Don't want any beans," Alex mumbled half-heartedly, already half asleep.
"You didn't say that when we did Come Dine With Me," Gene reminded her, still slightly resentful that her beans on toast topped his Dolphin-Nosed Potatoes.
~xXx~
It wasn't the most peaceful night's sleep that either Gene or Alex had ever had. Thoughts of Keats on the loose caused them to wake repeatedly in the night. Gene checked the door was locked and bolted three times. Alex checked twice. At one point they were both awake and had a short discussion about moving the bookcase up against the door.
By the time morning arrived Alex felt little more refreshed than she had the night before and sat staring at her cornflakes like a zombie.
"They're not going to tell you the secret o' life you know," Gene commented.
Alex pushed the bowl away and barely looked up.
"I'm not hungry," she said quietly.
"Eat," Gene pushed them back across the table, "this week's already full of bollocks, not having you passing out in the middle of our game of Where's Jimbo this morning."
Alex gave a sigh, stood up and carried her bowl across to the bin where she quickly emptied the contents out before Gene could try to force the cereal down her throat.
"Let's get this over with," she said, "and then I'll eat."
"You bloody won't, I know you," Gene shoved his last slice of toast into his mouth practically in one go and mumbled something that sounded like "."
Alex stared at him.
"What?"
Gene spent several moments trying to chew the large amount of toast, swallowed it down and repeated,
"You say that now, but afterwards you'll eat nothing. You know you'll feel worse, telling them."
Alex shook her head slowly.
"Couldn't possibly feel worse than this," she said. She looked at him seriously."we'd better get this over with."
Gene took a deep breath and finally relented.
"Alright," he said, "Jimbo newsflash first. Then breakfast."
It was with a less than enthusiastic sigh that the two of them set off for Simon's flat. They barely said a word to each other along the way and upon their arrival Alex was the one who asked,
"Who's going to be the one to tell them?"
Gene wasn't sure.
"We could draw straws," he said.
Alex pulled a face.
"We haven't got any."
"Rubber johnnies then."
"We haven't had any of those in months."
"Alright, fingers then!"
"I'm not cutting off my fingers just to…" Alex sighed. This was all getting a little ridiculous. "Let's just get in there. We'll take turns."
Gene nodded.
"Fair enough Bols," he said.
As they walked slowly towards Simon's flat Gene started humming the funeral march which didn't exactly help and earned him a glare from Alex. They knocked on the door and waited for the inevitable. It was a conversation they really didn't want to have.
~xXx~
"Oh who the bloody hell is that?" Simon mumbled as he tried to fasten his shirt sleeve. He was surprised to find Kim on the couch, getting ready for work. "Oh, hello," he said, "I thought you'd be staying over," his voice became a little strained, "with Shaz."
"She was on an early shift this morning," said Kim, "but we spent yesterday together."
"I thought you were supposed to be working yesterday," said Simon.
"Supposed to be is right," said Kim as the knocking sounded again.
"Bollocks," Simon muttered as he stomped to the door,. He opened it to find a very grim Gene and Alex standing outside. "What's wrong?" he asked, "Oh god, not more people booting up their floppies?"
"Can we come in?" Alex asked quietly.
Kim glanced around and saw the pair of them.
"Great," she mumbled, "I suppose this is where I get a bollocking."
"Got bigger fish to fry than you, Stringer," Gene told her.
Now Kim was worried.
"What's happened?" she asked quietly.
Gene and Alex walked in slowly and shot the door behind them. They stood facing Kim and Simon. They looked a little like they were about to perform some street theatre or something.
"Go on," Simon prompted , "what is it?" he saw their expressions become even darker. "Come on, you're scaring me now."
"And me," Kim added.
Alex and Gene exchanged a glance. Neither knew how to begin.
"Maybe we should have drawn straws after all," sighed Alex.
Gene took a deep breath.
"Jimbo did a disappearing act yesterday," he said.
The words were out now. Simon and Kim turned to each other, their mouths open and their eyes suddenly dark and terrified.
"He's what?" Kim whispered.
"That's impossible," Simon cried, "I saw the chains. The guards on the door."
"Never stopped him before," Gene said darkly.
"We found out yesterday," said Alex, "we tried to track you both down but Simon, you were off trying to prevent random computer copulation and Kim…"
"Stringer seemed to have pulled off a disappearing act too," Gene finished for her.
Kim glanced down, looking suitably ashamed. Suddenly it all seemed so silly.
"Sorry," she said quietly.
"We don't know exactly where he is," Alex said quietly.
"And I don't fancy looking for him," Gene added, "if he goes to ground for a while that might not be such a bad thing."
"But he could turn up anywhere," Kim felt faint quite suddenly and had to take a seat, "anywhere, at any time., he could come after me or –"
"Kim, I know you're scared," Alex began quietly, "but we'll all do whatever we can. The super is talking to Fenchurch West, in all likelihood Keats will find a way to disappear for a little while before coming back with whatever his latest plan is. But I'm still going after him the legal route. The charges still stand as far as I'm concerned. I'm going to look him in the eye in court and stare him down for what he's done."
"Then I want to press charges too," Kim said. She got to her feet.
"What do you mean?" asked Alex.
"He needs to go down," Kim said firmly, "he shot me. He'll go down for that. There were witnesses."
Simon rested his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm the main one," he said with a sigh, "bullet was meant for me."
"You're going to tell a judge you went all wibbly-wobbly and a bullet went through yer head?" Gene challenged.
Simon shrugged.
"I'll just say he was a crap shot," said Simon.
"He's not going to get away with it this time," Kim said firmly.
"Charges might come to nothing," Gene warned, "he's always wriggled out of them before."
"He won't this time," said Kim.,
"Kim, are you sure?" Alex looked at her seriously.
Kim swallowed with nerves but she was determined.
"He's getting out of our lives one way or another," she said.
Gene looked at all three of them in turn. Their expressions were resolute and Alex looked several times more confident and assured than he'd seen her in days. He supposed the back up of friends was sometimes worth more than anything.
"Right," he said, "then all that's left to do is to fire up the lawsuit." He opened Simon's front door. "Get yer arses into me car. We'll go and talk to Superintendent Fletcher."
"Erm.," Simon blushed, maybe I could finish getting dressed first."
Gene noticed for the first time that Simon was still in his pants.
"Great," he sighed, "that's another year of nightmares sorted."
~xXx~
Alex, Kim and Simon looked like a bunch of kids waiting in the headmaster's office to blow the whistle on a school bully as they sat around in Gene's office, waiting for him to return. Their anxiety was high and none of them really wanted to be there but they knew that they didn't have a choice., Ehen they finally saw Gene heading back in their direction Alex opened the door a little unnecessarily for him.
"It's not good," he said.
Alex's face started to fall.
"In what way isn't it good?" she asked.
"Super's happy to support all of you but the Wild West are going to do everything they can to overturn the charges."
"What do you mean" Kim asked quietly.
Gene sighed and reached for his flask.
"Fenchurch West are working on getting all charges against him dropped as we speak," he said, "we can keep charging him, they'll keep getting him out of it."
Well we can't give up," said Alex, "I'm not going to give up."
"Just prepare yourself that this might come to nothing," Gene warned.
"I won't let it come to nothing," Alex said with conviction. The sound of a radio out in CID was distracting her as she tried to express her determination. "One way or another he's put us through too much," the music became louder as Eddie turned up the volume. "I can't think with that music." That was the moment she realised what was playing. The sound of Wonderwall floated through the doorway and she felt as though her heart might seize up. Flashes of a video watched deep in the bowels of the basement, against her better judgement, flooded back to her and she flinched. The images that played through her mind of Shaz's final moments brought nausea bubbling up inside her chest and a terrible feeling of anger and sadness to her mind. Something snapped inside of her, she couldn't bear to hear that bloody song. "Turn that off," she cried, marching out of the door. Eddie and the other members of CID looked at her blankly. "Turn it off!" she cried.
When no one reacted she angrily switched it off herself.
"Chill," Eddie said, a little indignantly.
"if you've got time to stand around doing impressions of bloody Oasis then am I to assume you've got an arsonist in the cells?" Alex cried. No one answered, "Didn't think so. Get back to work, the lot of you."
Slowly, crossly, the gathering disbanded, mumbling about Alex and alleged PMT as they went. In the aftermath of her outburst Alex breathed heavily, almost panting on the spot. She could barely keep herself together. Eventually she felt the presence of someone behind her and turned to see Gene looking confused and concerned.
"I hate the bloody Gallagher brothers every bit as much as you do," he began, but that was a bit of an overreaction."
"Sorry," Alex snapped, not sounding at all sorry. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried desperately to cool her anger. She breathed in deeply and said "sorry," again, a little more sincerely this time, "don't like that song. That's all." Her face contorted with sadness. "It's…. it's the soundtrack on a video I watched recently." She looked at Gene. She could see from his eyes that he knew what she was talking about.
"Gotcha," he said grimly.
Alex looked down.
"Don't think I can ever hear that blasted song again," she whispered.
"I never wanted to hear it in the first place," said Gene. He glanced towards the office and saw a slightly anxious Kim and Simon watching from afar. "Look, Bols, let's get back in there and talk about our Jimbo incarceration techniques. I'll get me scotch and we'll talk this through."
"Scotch isn't the answer to everything, Gene," Alex said with a sigh, walking towards the office.
Gene froze in shock.
"Well that's news to me," he said honestly.
