Previously On My Little Eye: Emily wakes up with a hangover and uncomfortable, painful memories of the events of the night before. Meanwhile Cook wakes up in bed next to the attractive young female doctor he used as cover in making his escape from the hospital. He uses his innate charm to persuade her to let him stay at her place a few days while he contemplates his next move. Emily begs a reluctant Naomi to keep an eye on a seriously wiped out Katie until she gets back from work. In the police station Chief Superintendent Innocent is on the warpath looking for Lewis and Hathaway who are studying a new anonymous note from the serial killer announcing the impending event of the next victim who it is planned will be buried alive.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

PART 1

Emily looked up from her computer as she suddenly became aware of someone standing close by her side and was far from overjoyed to see Sarah Hawkins looking down at her with what the redhead could have sworn was a poorly concealed smirk on her face. The two hadn't exactly been bosom buddies since Emily started at the paper and Emily's recent coverage of the series of local grisly murders, including the paper's own former chief editor, had only made matters worse between the two of them. Emily was convinced Sarah had become intensely jealous and resentful of Emily's unexpected promotion to chief reporter on this important case which Sarah had probably assumed would be assigned to her due to her far greater experience.

'How's your story on the murders going, Emily?' asked Sarah with a passable impersonation of someone who genuinely gave a shit. 'Do you need any help with it?'

Emily saw straight through Sarah's clumsy and unconvincing attempt at comradely concern and friendship and responded in kind with the kind of sweet smile that was way too excessive to be mistaken as sincere. 'Oh, that is sweet of you, Sarah, but I'm absolutely fine. It's going really well, I think. But thank you so much for offering.'

Sarah made a peculiar noise which Emily thought started off sounding like a snort of derision but which Sarah managed quite skilfully to turn into a spluttering cough which she sought to embellish with an exaggerated rub of her chest.

'That's a nasty sounding cough you've got, Sarah,' said Emily deliberately fixing her gaze on Sarah so as to force her older rival to look at her rather than her computer screen which Emily suspected she was longing to do and presumed to be the reason for Sarah's unexpected appearance at her desk. 'Are you sure you shouldn't be at home in bed rather than at work? I'd be more than happy to cover for you until you get better.'

'I'm perfectly okay, Emily,' said Sarah sharply with an expression on her face that hinted at simmering anger and barely controlled resentment. It was all Emily could do not to burst out laughing at the sight of Sarah having to rein in her fury and keep up the pretence of politeness and cordiality in front of their colleagues. The redhead had to turn her head away and back to the computer to hide the tiniest of self-satisfied smiles from being picked up by Sarah.

'Did you have a nice time last night with Miss Peters?' Emily's ghost of a smile immediately vanished as Sarah Hawkins's question, delivered with an air of casualness which was expertly judged to cause maximum embarrassment and shock, shook the very foundations of her inner core and caused her to be gripped with an inexplicable feeling of horror which seemed to freeze her in time and space for a few moments as she sought to recover her composure.

'What on earth are you on about?' said Emily defensively, desperately playing for time as she frantically sought to consider how best to react to this bombshell of a question.

'Well, it's all around the office today that the boss took you out last night for a cosy little drink, just the two of you,' Sarah replied, staring with quiet glee and increasing anticipation at the redhead who had kept her back firmly turned towards Sarah to conceal any traces of anguish and discomfort that might have become apparent if she had turned round to front up to her tormentor.

'Susie…..Miss Peters asked me to go for a drink with her to discuss work, Sarah,' explained Emily, as she fought back a scream of despair at her schoolgirl error of referring to her boss by her first name in front of Sarah. How could you have been so fucking stupid? she reprimanded herself inwardly. She doubted that Sarah would have missed such a faux pas or would choose not to exploit it to embarrass her further still.

'Of course she did, Emily. You know that, I know that, but….. you know what people are like. Tongues will wag. Rumours will fly. It's almost impossible to keep a secret in a place like this.'

'There's no secret to keep, Sarah! Why are you making such a big deal of it?'

Emily had decided she could no longer remain on the defensive and allow Sarah to dictate the tone and direction of the conversation. She was well aware that Sarah was looking to provoke a reaction from her but equally Emily was smart enough to realise that an indifferent attitude of 'no comment' was likely to be just as damaging. Attack was often the best form of defence and Emily was determined that she should try to get a few retaliatory punches in herself so as to even up the contest.

'If you must know, Miss Peters was very impressed by the story I wrote on poor Mr Wells' tragic death. I'd come up with a new angle on the story on all these murders and she invited me to talk it over with her over a few drinks. It was all perfectly harmless and above board, nothing to get excited about'

'Well, yes, you're right, of course. That's pretty routine stuff, it happens all the time in our business, editors and reporters talking shop at the end of the day over a few beers or a glass of wine.'

A relieved Emily nodded and relaxed just a little, sensing that she might have succeeded in digging herself out of a hole but she should have known better than to become complacent in the presence of a wily old campaigner like Sarah Hawkins.

'Or…. at least it would be if it wasn't for the fact that I know the boss secretly fancies the arse off you and is desperate to get into your knickers. I mean, come on! Why else would she have given you that job?'

All the blood suddenly felt like it was draining out of Emily's face as she stared dumbstruck at a smugly grinning Sarah in complete horror. She opened her mouth to protest, she tried to formulate some words of righteous indignation, some justifiable expression of disgust and distaste at such a mean-spirited, groundless accusation but no words could come out, so gobsmacked was she with Sarah's shocking remarks. All she could think of were the images of Susie from the previous night, of her strikingly beautiful boss pressing her curvaceous body right up against hers whenever she could, smiling at her continually with her big, wide, seductive eyes and leaning in towards her face with her moist, full lips. Sarah stared at Emily intently, observing the young woman's all too obvious silent anguish and discomfort with a triumphant smile on her face which she made no effort to conceal, indeed which she strove to accentuate with a cruel little snigger which struck at Emily's rapidly disappearing self –respect like a dagger to her heart.

Emily couldn't bear to be in the presence of this nasty, vindictive, spiteful woman a second longer. She needed to get away fast, to be alone with her thoughts and feelings. Summoning up as much dignity and composure as she could muster in the circumstances, she calmly got up out of her chair, picked up her mug and gave Sarah the best passing shot her frazzled mind could think of as she turned on her heels and headed for the corridor which led to the kitchen and the toilets.

'I take it from the tone of resentment in your voice that she's never shown the slightest interest in you, Sarah. You know it's quite true what they say. There's no one quite as sad and pathetic as a bitter, jealous, old has-been.'

Emily forced herself not to look back even though she would have loved to have seen the expression on Sarah's face which was a picture of blind fury, pink embarrassment and silent shame.

PART 2

'You're not going out, are you?' Katie looked and sounded unusually alarmed as Naomi stood in the hall putting her coat on.

'I've got a tutorial to go to, Katie. Much as I'd love to, I can't stay here all day hanging out with you and swapping girly gossip. I've got a thesis to finish – unless of course you think you can help me with it better than my professor.'

Naomi had reached the limits of her patience, kindness and generosity as far as Katie and her self-inflicted problems were concerned. She had done all that her beloved Emily had begged of her that day, and much more but now she had to leave the poor old soak to her own devices to see if she could stand on her own two feet – although just standing up at all without falling over had been a major job in itself earlier on in the day when she was still feeling hung over and light-headed.

'Please, Naomi, don't leave me here on my own. Please!' Katie turned her head away from her blonde babysitter while she pleaded for company, as if it was bad enough that she should have to say the words out loud without Naomi actually seeing the pain and embarrassment etched all over her face as she did so. 'I….I really don't want to be alone …..not today, please!'

Naomi was shocked to hear Katie sound so desperate and even her heart, which could often be icy cold and unfeeling where her girlfriend's twin was concerned, began to thaw just a little. Clearly Katie had to be feeling at her wits end, at a real low point in her life for her to be pleading so abjectly with her long-time rival for Emily's love and affection. Perhaps, just this once, she ought to cut her some slack. Maybe she could put up with Katie's self-pitying misery and dejection just a little bit longer, especially if that made Emily love her even more!

'Okay, okay! Get your coat and bag. You can come into college with me. But hurry up, I don't want to be late.' Naomi heaved a weary sigh of resignation which was not greatly improved by the sight of Katie's face immediately lighting up with relief as she rushed off to get her things. Naomi couldn't help but be suspicious that the tearful, heartbreaking pleading had all been an act, another one of Katie's clever, subtle ruses and mind games which she had fallen for in her desperation to do anything to make Emily happy.

'I thought you normally cycled in to college,' said Katie as she hurried out of the front door in pursuit of Naomi and shut it behind them.

'I do,' replied Naomi curtly without bothering to turn round.

'So, how's this gonna work, then? We could take my car, I suppose.'

'No, we couldn't. You're probably still half pissed. You'd get nicked for drunk driving before you'd even got halfway across town, you total arsewipe!'

'Okay, okay, it was only an idea! So, tell us, Einstein, how are we going to get into town on your bike? Unless of course you've got a tandem secretly stashed away that I didn't know about. Or do you expect me to sit on your lap?'

'We're going to walk in to town, Katie. A bit radical, a bit out of left field, I know but we don't have much alternative. Besides, the fresh air will do you good, believe me.'

'Walk? Are you out of your tiny mind? Walk? I don't do fucking walking!' Katie looked aghast at the idea of putting one foot in front of the other for longer than it normally takes a person to walk from their front door to their car.

'Well, you will today, Katie - unless you've changed your mind and prefer to stay at home all on your own. The choice is yours – I don't care either way but if you are coming with me then you'd better hurry up and make up your mind.'

Naomi strode purposefully off down the road leaving an indecisive, indignant Katie stamping her feet in frustration. After letting out a prolonged, strangled cry she puffed out her cheeks, drew the zipper up still further on her coat and trotted after Naomi, calling out to the blonde now many yards ahead of her to 'slow down, for fuck's sake! We're not training for the bloody Olympics.'

PART 3

Emily stormed into the ladies and without even pausing to make a cursory examination of the room to check she was alone, let out a loud, anguished shriek and threw her handbag across the room, watching with utter indifference as it crashed into the washbasins and dropped unceremoniously to the floor, spilling half its contents in the process. 'Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!' she cried, giving full rein to her feelings now that she was alone and able to express herself freely. 'You fucking cow!' she added as the image of Sarah's smug, triumphant grin returned before her eyes in all its grisly, painfully embarrassing glory and she went over to the washbasin area and clung on with both hands as she struggled desperately to contain her emotions. 'You vindictive, spiteful, nasty little piece of shit!'

She felt like bursting into tears and probably would have done so, a course of action which might have made her feel a lot better, had it not been for the sound of a toilet being flushed from behind the closed door of one of the cubicles behind and to her left. She froze in horror, unable to move a muscle for a few moments as she realised that she had clearly not been alone when she had unashamedly poured forth her torrent of justified abuse against her hated rival. She spun round, her heart pounding and her legs trembling, her eyes fixed on the closed cubicle door behind which she could hear further sounds of someone adjusting their clothing and preparing to open the door. Emily wondered briefly if she might have time to flee the scene before the involuntary eavesdropper, doubtless intrigued and amused at the events she must have overheard, could emerge from the cubicle, but she had dilly-dallied too long when immediate action might have saved her from further embarrassment. The door opened and Emily's heart which was already racing like the clappers must have missed several beats when she saw that the person coming out of the cubicle, already sporting a quizzical look and the hint of an amused smile on her face, was none other than Susie Peters.

Emily instinctively closed her eyes and let out a strange half-stifled wail of despair. To her credit she did quickly open them again, realising this was not the most advisable reaction to portray on meeting one's boss, whatever the circumstances but it was too late to prevent Susie from noticing it and raising a curious eyebrow in her direction.

'Are you alright, Emily, my dear?' asked Susie, walking across to the washbasins, her gaze fixed the whole time upon her young employee who was far too busy wishing the floor would open up and swallow her whole to be capable of an instant, reassuring response. Not only did Emily discover that the power of movement was temporarily beyond her but her powers of speech also seemed to have deserted her as she opened her mouth to reply but no intelligible words came out, only an indeterminate grunt which got stuck in her throat and seemed to be slowly suffocating her as she struggled to breathe normally.

'Do I know who this vindictive, spiteful piece of shit is who seems to have upset you so much? Susie turned a benevolent, almost twinkling eye on a stunned Emily as she assiduously washed her hands under the tap. 'I hope it isn't me,' she added with a friendly chuckle as she moved over towards the hand dryer whilst a still dumbstruck Emily groped desperately for the right words to extricate herself from the horrendous and unenviable situation in which her careless actions had now dumped her.

'Oh, God, no!' Emily blurted out, feeling her cheeks turn bright red and her bladder contract like she wanted to piss herself on the spot out of sheer terror and shame. 'Of course I didn't mean you, Miss Peters!'

'Susie,' her boss corrected her softly with a comforting smile as she sought to alleviate her employee's obvious distress. 'Well then, who on earth can this fucking cow be who's upset my blue-eyed girl so much?' Susie leaned in slightly towards Emily and gazed unashamedly into the redhead's face whilst she brushed away a few strands of hair which had fallen down and partially obscured Emily's wide open eyes. 'Although of course your eyes aren't actually blue at all, are they, my dear?'

Emily had never heard Susie Peters swear before and she couldn't help thinking how the abusive language which she herself had used so freely and forcefully a few moments earlier and which her boss was now repeating back to her somehow sounded much less harsh and distasteful coming from her lips than it ever could from her own. She also was momentarily distracted from responding by Susie's close attentions on her face. Not for the first time in the last couple of days Emily felt Susie's sweet breath and delicate perfume permeate her nostrils and fill her head with a strange giddiness that quite overwhelmed her momentarily.

Inwardly pulling herself together Emily finally found the strength and courage to answer Susie's seemingly casual yet quietly probing questions about her extraordinary display of fury and rage at someone whose identity Susie was clearly curious and anxious to ascertain.

Oh, no-one, Miss….I mean, Susie. It's nothing important, just a stupid row I had with someone that I've probably blown up out of all proportion. I…I just needed to let off steam somewhere private, you know…..get it out of my system. I'm okay, now, honestly.'

'Are you quite sure, Emily? It's nothing to do with work, is it? Because if someone in the office has said something or done something to upset you, then I want to know about it.'

Emily started shaking her head vigorously from side to side in a desperate attempt to put Miss Peters off the scent and stop her right at the outset from going down a path that was bound to lead Emily towards further misery, embarrassment and discomfort. 'No, no, Susie, it's nothing like that at all, I assure you. It was…..' and Emily paused for a while, suddenly all too conscious that Susie's eyes were exploring her face with quiet intent and close scrutiny. She looked down at the floor before plumping for the most convincing lie she could come up with on the spur of the moment. 'Well, if you must know, I've just had a row on the phone with Naomi – you know, the…the girl I live with.'

'Ah yes, Naomi, that would be your girlfriend, wouldn't it?' said Susie gently, flashing Emily one of her typically disarming smiles.

Emily nodded in silence. She had never made a secret of her relationship with Naomi from the day she joined the paper but at that moment she couldn't remember specifically telling her boss that she was gay and was in a long-term relationship with a girl called Naomi whom she completely and utterly adored and worshipped. She had to assume that someone else in the office had told Susie about the two of them – probably that loathsome cow Sarah, she thought bitterly.

'Well, I'm sure the whole thing will blow over quite quickly, my dear. I can't imagine someone as nice as you being angry with anyone for too long – especially someone you're apparently so much in love with.'

Susie's warm, genuine smile which had largely comforted and reassured Emily during their initially awkward conversation had now disappeared to be replaced by an odd, expressionless façade which hinted ever so slightly, unless Emily was completely deceived, at a concealed disappointment, even exasperation perhaps which she was valiantly struggling to put a lid on for the sake of good form, propriety and respect.

Emily gave a shy, uncertain smile in return and to hide her feeling of awkwardness bent down to pick up her bag and the contents which had spilled out beneath her feet. Susie fractionally beat her to it however and their two heads almost bumped into each other as they knelt down on the floor just inches apart and between them silently picked up all of Emily's stuff and put it back in her bag in an uneasy silence. Emily muttered a few words of grateful thanks and hurried out of the ladies without turning back to observe Susie Peters standing at the washbasins staring pensively and possibly a touch wistfully after Emily as she left.

PART 4

A quietly seething Naomi turned towards a still out of breath Katie who had slumped down in a chair in the college reception area to recover from her unaccustomed exertions and spelt out the alternatives available to her.

'I'm going to my tutorial now, Katie so it's up to you how you amuse yourself until I'm back. You can sit here and read a paper or a magazine, you can go for a walk around the college grounds' – the immediate look of horror on Katie's face seemed to rule that option out as a viable one – 'or you can have a nap which will probably do you good. It's your choice.'

Katie pulled a face to indicate that none of the helpful suggestions made by Naomi curried any favour with her. 'Read, walk some more or go to sleep – is that it? Isn't there anything more interesting to do in this dump?'

'It's a fucking college, Katie, not an amusement park.' Naomi sighed heavily and idly speculated whether anyone would notice or even protest if she locked Katie up in a dark cupboard under the stairs and threw away the key for an hour or two.

'I'm not going to sit here and be bored out of my skull on my own for an hour or so while you and your professor sit on a nice cosy sofa in her plush study knocking back a bottle of wine and wittering on about your poxy thesis. I'd rather die.'

'Oh God, don't tempt me' thought Naomi as her anger and frustration threatened to boil over the surface and explode in a tirade of abuse and a torrent home truths aimed at Katie's selfishness and self-absorption. The blonde looked around frantically for inspiration, for something to come to her rescue in her hour of need, anything that would enable her get rid of this high-maintenance, tiresome pain in the arse for the rest of the afternoon. As if right on cue, just when she was struggling to come up with any other acceptable forms of entertainment and amusement suitable for Katie which didn't involve getting rat-arsed, she spied one of the second year students in her department, a certain Sammy Hardcastle, a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky, amenable sort of guy with whom she got on well, despite his typically uncomplicated, call a spade a bloody shovel, Northern male outlook on life. She called him over with as little panic stricken desperation in her voice as she could manage, a cry to action to which Sammy responded with a smile of anticipation and a definite spring in his step.

'Sammy! Get your arse over here right this minute, boy!

'Hiya, Naomi, me old love. What's going down? You sound like you've got a problem.'

'I have indeed, Sammy,' said Naomi, pulling him gently but insistently towards her and spinning him round to face Katie who was looking up at the good-looking young student with an air of genuine interest. 'Let me introduce you to her. Katie, come and say hello to Sammy. He's going to be your tour guide for the rest of the afternoon. Sammy, meet Katie, she's Emily's twin sister and she needs minding while I'm in my tutorial with the Prof. Can you do the honours?'

'I don't need a fucking babysitter!' protested Katie, getting up from her chair but it was only a token gesture of disapproval at Naomi's suggestion as already Sammy was grinning cheekily across at her and conspicuously eyeing her up and down with an admiration which he made no effort to conceal. She returned his smile with one of her most trusted and reliable 'come hither' looks and quite instinctively straightened her stance, stuck her chest out and giggled at him in excited anticipation at what might be about to ensue. Perhaps this afternoon might not be such a complete write-off after all. Maybe he knew where there was a good pub within a very short walking distance.

'Yes, you do,' retorted Naomi disparagingly and she pulled Sammy closer to her so that she could whisper a few basic, clear instructions in his shell-like without Katie hearing. 'I need you to do me a big favour and keep Katie amused until I've finished my tutorial. Do whatever you like but ON NO ACCOUNT are you to take her to any college bar, pub, hotel or any fucking place where they serve alcohol and get her pissed. If you do, I promise you I will personally castrate you and then force you to eat your bollocks, all washed down with the rankest bottle of plonk I can lay my hands on. Do I make myself clear?'

Sammy laughed and nodded. 'What's in it for me?' he asked. Sammy was a kind, generous soul who would always help a friend in need but he knew the value of doing someone a good turn and never knowingly sold himself short.

'I'll do your next essay for you,' Naomi proposed and Sammy took her up on her offer, especially as he had plans on the romantic front for the next few days which would be seriously jeopardised by the requirement to hand in an important assignment by the end of that week. He had been contemplating asking Naomi if she would be prepared to help him out anyway so this was a more than fortunate coincidence, he thought, which it would be churlish in the extreme for him to ignore.

'Done,' he said and with their business concluded he went over towards Katie who was standing by impatiently waiting for this cloak and dagger, ear-whispering bullshit to be concluded before she could turn her considerable charms and attentions onto this handsome young man, much younger than her obviously but still not indecently so, who promised to be her escape route for the afternoon and her lifeline away from the land of the Living Dead.

AUTHOR'S FOOTNOTE

I would like to say a few words of thanks to 'Anony-mouse' who very kindly gave my last chapter a generous review for which I am extremely grateful. I only wish I could respond personally 'one-to-one' but sadly Anony-mouse has not made it possible to do so except like this within the confines of my own story chapters.

I would also love to hear from people who have kindly sent me reviews last year before I started slowing down my output so drastically, especially Covert Fan and KeffyRules. It is of course entirely possible that I have 'lost' them along the way these past few months for which I have no-one but myself to blame. But if either of you are still following this fanfic it would be great to hear from you again – I had a lot of fun corresponding with you!