Gene lay on the bed, his head resting in the small of Alex's back, his hand smoothing over the curves of her leg, over her bum. Gently he moved over her, slowly kissing her back, her shoulders as she sighed contentedly.
"Alex, you asleep? Wake up" He lay down next to her.
"M not asleep. But I'd like to be. My god Gene it's only been 15 minutes."
"No, no" he chuckled lightly, spanking her on the arse. "Maybe later, though. Need to tell you somethin'."
Alex wriggled over to face him. He'd propped his head up, his elbow resting on the pillow. His hair was gorgeously tousled, his eyes bright and shining. Against all possible physical realities she wanted him again. Right that minute. She smiled and settled for slipping her hand around his waist and pressing her body against his.
He responded, pulling her close as she tucked her head under his chin. "'M not soft, Alex. I know that. I'm better. That's what I wanted to tell you. Better." He whispered it in her ear, kissing her head, breathing in her hair.
"Gene…"
"Shh. 'M not done 'n y'know I won't say it again." He squeezed her tighter, as if looking for something to hold onto. "It's easier with you. All the bloody changes...hate 'em. But I can do it because of you." He kissed her ear, his hand playing with her hair. "And don't go thinkin' I mean this is easy, we're easy" He quickly changed gears. "You are a bloody pain in my arse. It's me that's easier." He smirked as she playfully pushed him away, climbing on top of him.
"Gene?" She kissed his chest, her tongue teasing against his skin.
"Hmmm?" He'd closed his eyes, putting his head back and enjoying her touch. It was a little soon, but not impossible. He played with the images in his mind, felt the twitch between his legs. Yeah, he could do this.
"I'm bloody starving. You dragged me up here to make a point and we missed dinner." She rolled out of bed, grabbing her dressing gown as she sped towards the kitchen.
"Alex!"
--
"So what've we got? He stood behind her in the kitchen, wrapping his arms around her waist as he looked up into the open cupboard.
"Well….soup. We have soup." Alex pulled two tins off the shelf.
"Soup's good." He released her, reaching for a bottle of red wine on the counter. "D'you think this goes with tinned soup?"
"I'm sure it'll be perfect." She kissed him on the chin.
Once the food and wine had been tended to they moved to the sofa, Alex curling her legs up underneath her.
"Gene, this kidnapping case worries me."
"I know. Somethin's not right. I keep feeling like I'm missing something." He shook his head, staring into his bowl. "It's the parents. There's something they're not tellin' us, I can feel it, but there's no evidence. Just a gut feeling."
"I trust your instincts, Gene. You know I do. We just need something more to go on."
They ate in silence, both lost in thoughts about the case. "Alex" Gene finally spoke. "I thought Wrenfield's son was older, a teenager. This boy is what, nine years old?"
"Yes" Alex nodded.
"This is where not bein' a Londoner comes back to bite me on the arse. Jus' don't know enough about these people." He shrugged setting his empty bowl on the coffee table, refilling both glasses. "D'you know anything about this bugger?"
Alex shook her head. "Nothing I can remember. But I haven't been here that long either."
"You grew up 'ere!"
"Yes. But I studied in the States for a few years. Still catching up on the local gossip." She deflected his question.
Gene grunted. "Yer no help, then."
"Depends on what kind of help you need" she said, taking Gene's glass from his hand and setting it on the table next to her.
"Izzit that time already?"
Alex had slid a leg across his lap, straddling him. Pushing a stray lock of hair out of his face, she kissed his forehead. "What time, Gene?"
He didn't answer immediately, his tongue busy meeting hers, slowly dipping in and out of her mouth as he pulled her closer. "Time for you to have yer filthy way with me" he finally murmured into her neck, lips over her shoulder.
"Oh, it's definitely that time" she breathed as he loosened the belt on her dressing gown.
"Goody." He tilted his head slightly to look up at her as his hands slipped into her gown, moving over her body until he reached her shoulders and pushed it gently off onto the floor.
Alex looked down at him as he eyed her breasts as if for the first time, fingertips tracing every curve as her nipples, hard and aching, reached out to him, offering themselves. She felt him grow hard beneath her, the fabric of his own clothing keeping them apart as she tried desperately to rub against him.
Sensing her need, he pushed aside his own gown so flesh met flesh and she shuddered, the tiny bundle of nerves between her legs pushing against the head of his cock, not taking him, teasing him. "Use me, Alex" he growled, one hand moving to her arse holding her firmly on his lap, letting her lead, the other guiding her breast to his mouth, his tongue answering her motion above him.
She used him, gripping his shoulders as she writhed and bounced over him, taking only his head into her, rubbing her clit along his length, driving herself closer as he waited, grunting occasionally. "More Alex, tell me you're close. Tell me you're coming" "Oh god Gene, oh god. I am, I'm coming." She bucked and he bit down on one nipple as she spilled over him, holding her tight so she wouldn't pull away, his teeth clamped tightly to her. Spreading his legs, he moved hers wider as she continued to shake. Guiding her over him, he thrust fully inside her for the first time.
"Fast or slow, Gene" Gathering herself she looked in his eyes, unfocused now as she pulled her hips away, moving up and down, riding him. "Slow" he croaked, laying his head back on the sofa, his hands firmly on her hips. "Good, god that's good. More of that" he murmured, mouth open in a half smile He let her do the hard work, helping her when he could feel her getting tired. "Don't stop" he encouraged "Keep going." He wanted to come, erupt inside her. "Oh Gene, oh, god, again, please" shaking, she climaxed again, never stopping her movement over him. He was so close. "Oh god, oh god" he groaned, as finally once, twice, again he came, as she slowly, rhythmically thrust against him.
Gene held her close, hands smoothing over her body as they both regained control. "C'mere" he pulled her to the sofa, shifting them both to curl her back against him. He reached for the blanket that had fallen to the floor and pulled it over them, both to0 spent to object to sleeping where they lay.
--
The next morning the team had gathered again in the squad room in front of the whiteboard, everyone looking for a lead. Gene was tired of the waiting. No notes, no clues.
"We really should bring the parents in again Gene. Just to talk. Maybe something will come out." Alex sat at her desk with a frustrated sigh.
He nodded at her. "Yeah. You're right." He stood up, walking towards his office.
"Ray, take Chris and go pick up the Wrenfields. Ask them nicely, but if they give you any stick feel free to insist."
"Alright Guv." He nodded, grabbing Chris by the back of his jacket and shoving him out the doors.
"And Ray – when you bring them in put Mrs. Wrenfield in the interview room, but have 'im sit in 'ere. We should keep them apart until we decide which one of them we're going to arrest."
"Will do."
--
"Alex, when Ray gets back, you and 'im take the mother in the interview room. I'd like to keep Wrenfield here waiting 'is turn. I'm hoping an MP's natural inability to keep his mouth shut will keep Wrenfield talking even while we're waiting for you to finish." He turned to the roomful of officers "And no one speaks to the bastard. No questions at all. You may only answer if he asks a question, and, if he does ask a question and I'm not in the room to hear it I want you to find me, even if all he wants to know is where he can have a piss! Everyone understand?"
A low murmur of assent travelled the room.
"Good."
Gene had turned to go back to his office when Chris opened the double doors, holding them so Ted Wrenfield could enter. Chris nodded a silent indication that Mrs. Wrenfield had been deposited in the interview room. Gene watched Alex as she slipped out of the squad room.
"Ah, Mr. Wrenfield. Thanks for coming in." Gene offered him a chair.
"Why am I here Mr. Hunt? Your man said something about additional questions?"
"Er, yes. We're working very hard on all of the information gathered yesterday, but we haven't had much luck finding any leads. Your staff all seem to check out, so we thought it important to bring you and your wife back in to see if there was anything else you might remember."
"I'd like to see my wife, if you don't mind?"
"Well, I do mind. We feel it's important at this stage of the investigation to speak with you separately. Now, if you don't mind having a seat?"
Wrenfield sat, clearly not liking the situation but correctly assessing there was nothing he could do to change it at the moment.
--
"Gene" He was pacing in the corridor as Alex came through the door to the interview room. "Peter Wrenfield."
"Who's Peter Wrenfield?"
"Ted Wrenfield's nephew. The Wrenfields had custody of him after his parents were killed in a car accident. Had a bit of trouble a few years ago and they sent him off to some boarding school in Kent. Uhh...Oakham, she said the name was. It explains why you thought he was a teenager."
"Oakham, eh? Pretty strict place. And costly. What did young Peter do to get himself sent off?"
"He molested another boy at school, apparently quite severely. Possible that torture was involved. It was a minor scandal that was hushed up pretty quickly when they sent him off. I wouldn't be surprised if they paid off the other boy's parents as well."
"Bloody hell. Why didn't they mention 'im before?"
"I get the feeling he's disappeared out of their lives. Mrs. Wrenfield didn't know where he was, if he was even in London. It's certainly possible that Peter has lingering resentment at being tossed aside by the Wrenfield's. He might target their son as some sort of revenge."
"OK. Get on the phone, Alex. Find out anything you can on Peter Wrenfield. Where is 'e, does 'e have a job. If he's been in London I want to know. Ray and I will continue with the both of them together. Maybe we can shake some more out of them."
--
An hour later they'd picked the younger Wrenfield up at his job painting flats. His supervisor had told them where to find him. When he arrived at the station he was still covered in paint.
"Think you're a pretty hard case, eh?" Gene asked the young man as he sat next to Alex at the table. Ray stood against the wall.
"Don't I get a brief?" He snarled.
"Do you need a brief" Alex asked gently. "You haven't been arrested."
"Guess not, then." He shrugged.
"D'you know why your here, son?" Gene leaned forward.
"Someone nick Princess Di's knickers? I confess, it was me."
Gene chuckled. "Regular comedian."
Alex watched him, he didn't seem scared or worried. Either he didn't have anything to do with the kidnapping or he did and he was playing games with them. She couldn't tell yet.
"Peter – your cousin David has disappeared."
"Yeah. Read it in the papers. What's it got to do with me?"
"We were wondering if you'd had any contact with him recently?"
"Nope. I stay away from them. They weren't much help to me. Sent me away."
Alex watched his body language shift. He was uncomfortable now.
"I know they did. That must have hurt." Alex saw Gene glance at her out of the corner of her eye. She knew he'd let her go for a while before he resorted to a more forceful approach. She needed to make the next few questions count.
"Not really," Peter answered. "Got on without them alright. I still have some money from my parents. Hasn't been too bad."
"Tell me about David, Peter. You lived with him for a while. You must feel something like a brother to him?"
"Brother? To that brat? They spoiled him rotten. Doesn't even remember me."
There! That was it. Gene knew it too and stood suddenly. "Inspector Drake is going to finish questioning you. DS Carling will stay with her. Inspector?" He looked at Alex.
"Yes, of course." She knew Gene was going to search the boy's flat, see what he could find. She just needed to keep him occupied until they knew they could hold him.
--
"Arrest him Alex" Gene's voice came through the telephone. "We've got the boys pyjamas from his flat. Arrest him and make sure you call him a brief now."
Gene arrived back at the station as Alex was finishing up the paperwork.
"He's in a cell downstairs Gene. Did you find anything else?"
"No. But the pyjamas fit the description given by the parents. I stopped to see them on the way back and they confirmed. Forensics is coming to pick them up. Thankfully there's no blood on them." He set the plastic bag of evidence on the desk. "Viv, call me when they come to pick this up." Viv nodded and took them back off the desk.
"Now, let's get Peter back upstairs. Maybe I can knock something else out of him."
Alex took a deep breath, girding herself for the interrogation to come.
--
They got nothing from Peter, other than a confirmation that the boy was safe. After two hours, Gene gave up.
"We'll start again in the morning. They boy may be safe now, but if we've got his kidnapper he won't stay that way."
"We could release him Gene. Follow him. Maybe he'd lead us to David."
"No way. Too risky and we're not that desperate yet. I've got officers looking all over London for him now. We'll take another crack at Wrenfield tomorrow."
"It could work, Gene. He's in the grip of resentment and revenge - both powerful emotional motivators. He won't be acting rationally and he'll feel compelled to return to his victim. It may be our best chance of finding him soon."
"I said no. I am not letting this kidnapper out, and if he thinks a hundred coppers are following him he'll never go to the boy." Alex tried to protest again, make a stronger argument, but Gene stopped he with a look. "Let's go home. We can start in the morning."
Alex followed him reluctantly.
--
The next morning started with another hour long interrogation of Wrenfield. It didn't get them any further than they were the night before. Alex was convinced her plan was the quickest way, and tried to talk Gene into it as they argued in his office.
"Please. Ten officers won't be noticed and we can keep better track of him."
"For the bloody last time, no. I am not letting this bastard out of jail. There aren't that many places he'd be able to keep him. We'll keep scouring the warehouses and empty buildings along the canal. We can't be that far." He grabbed his jacket, shrugging it on. "I have to update the twats upstairs. I'll be down in an hour and we can start over."
"Ok" Alex pouted, following out after him.
She stood in the corridor for ten minutes, making sure Gene had got into the lift.
"Viv, uh, have you got those forensics reports from the drug busts last week. I need to look over a few things in them."
"Sure Ma'am." He turned to dig the files out of a drawer and Alex quickly snatched the extra keys from behind the desk.
"Thanks" she said, taking the files from Viv and turning to go back to the squad room.
She didn't have much time. Dumping the files on her desk, she hurried out, taking the stairs two floors down to the cells.
"Releasing Peter Wrenfield" she told the guard. "Not enough evidence."
"Paperwork?"
"Oh, right. Forgot it upstairs. Can I send it down?"
The guard shrugged at her, letting her in.
"Peter?" She unlocked his cell. "You're being released. For now. Not enough evidence to hold you any longer."
"What? Oh, OK." He eyed her warily as she held the door open. He walked out past her. "How do I get out of here?"
"I'll walk you out. Follow me."
Alex led him outside of the building, watching as he rounded the corner out of her sight, then following quickly to see him round another. She noticed dark clouds gathering in the sky, threatening heavy rain as she realized this would be harder than she'd thought.
--
"'ey Viv. Call down and have Wrenfield brought back up. I'm not stopping until I get something from this bastard." Viv nodded as Gene walked towards the squad room.
"Guv! Wait!" Gene had got as far as the double doors. "Wrenfield's gone. Guard said Inspector Drake signed him out thirty minutes ago." Viv waited for the explosion.
"What! Stupid bloody woman!" He stormed through the doors. Within minutes he had every available officer out looking for both of them. For either of them. They can't have gone far in thirty minutes.
Gene sat, waiting. By 5pm there was still no sign and he began to get worried. What if Wrenfield had spotted her? What if she was in trouble? Well if she wasn't in trouble now she sure as shit would be when she got back.
By 7 he was on his third whiskey, no longer sure if her was more worried or more angry when he looked up to see Alex's soggy form walk through the doors. He wanted to shake her. Angry, then.
"What the bloody hell have you done? Where's Wrenfield?"
"Lost him." She sat on her desk, head hanging slightly. She didn't want to meet Gene's gaze.
"You lost him? You lost him?? Our only lead to this boy and you lost him?"
"Well you wouldn't bloody help me!" She shouted back
"What the hell did you think you were doing? Trying to follow him on yer own? You couldn't possibly have pulled that off!" How could she have done this?
"It was our best chance!" She spat at him.
"Our best chance! You lost him. The boy's still missing and now we haven't got the only person who can lead us to him? How, on earth, was this our best chance?"
"If you'd just bloody done what I suggested there would have been enough police after him we'd have them both!" Why couldn't he just listen to her for once!
"If you'd just bloody listened to me I wouldn't have to do this!" It was the only way.
"Do what, Gene?" She shook her head haughtily.
"You're suspended!"
"What!" she shrieked.
"Inspector Drake, you are suspended pending further investigation into your actions this morning. You lied to fellow officers, you went behind my back. You don't leave me any bloody choice!"
"How could you do this Gene!" Suspended! Stupid bastard!
"Me?! You don't listen! You're so bloody arrogant you don't think anybody else can ever be right!" He knew he should take her warrant card, but he didn't have the heart. "You should go home Alex. Let some real police officers clean up your mess."
Eyes flaming in anger, Alex turned and stormed out of his office, out of the squad room, and out of the station.
Gene kicked the desk before dropping into his chair.
--
"Alex?"
He'd waited hours before returning home. After sending more officers out looking for Wrenfield he wanted to hang around in case they found anything. They even had to call in help from a few nearby divisions. Once midnight came and went though, he decided to go home and face Alex.
He hoped that if she had some time to think she'd calm down, understand why he had to suspend her. Maybe not be angry. He didn't hold too much hope on that last one.
"Alex? You 'ome?" No answer. In the kitchen he found an empty mug that wasn't there when he'd left in the morning. At least she came home at some point.
"Probably gone out fer a drink." That's what he'd have done. She'd come in drunk later. Still, he wanted to wait up for her.
Gene peeled his clothes off in the bedroom while the bath filled with water. He hated to admit it as he got in, but he did love a bath. Not that he'd ever tell anyone. He did promise Alex he'd put in a shower if she wanted but he hadn't done it yet. If they weren't going to buy a house right away maybe he should take care of it.
Bloody woman. She never did listen to anything he said to her. Couldn't follow orders, challenged everything he ever said. He supposed that was why he'd fallen in love with her. And he had, too. Painfully, helplessly. He let her get away with everything but he couldn't this time. Of course her hair, her lips, those perfect tits...they helped too.
"Oh, for fuck's sake!" He felt his dick harden under the water. "She's not bloody here!" He shouted, watching himself twitch. He tried to ignore it, talk himself out of it. She's insubordinate, selfish, stuck up. Shags like a bloody animal...wait, that wasn't helping.
Reaching between his legs he took hold of himself, stroking through the warm soapy water. Face it, Gene, all she really wants is your dick. It would serve her right if he was all used up by the time she dragged her drunk arse home. When was the last time he had a right good toss-off anyway? He couldn't remember. Alex was so eager all the time, he never needed to. His hand moved tightly up and down his shaft and he wished she'd come home, pull him from the bath, take his painfully hard dick into her mouth, apologizing the whole time for being wrong. "Oh, god" he stroked faster, murmuring to himself, his head back over the edge of the bath "Apologize, Alex. Show me you're sorry for a change." Harder, faster he pulled himself until finally, alone in the bath, he groaned loudly, his head sliding under the water as he released.
After catching his breath Gene got out, pulling on pyjama bottoms and sitting down on the sofa. If he fell asleep here he'd wake when Alex came in.
But at 7am when he did wake, she still hadn't returned.