Chapter 15 - Suspicion

As Neil got out of his car he bumped into Gabriel Kent as he walked around the corner.

"Sorry, sir."Gabriel said. "Everything okay?"

"Errr, yes. Thank you." The Detective Inspector replied, slightly taken aback as Gabriel Kent was the last person he expected to see. He had rarely spoken to Gabriel ever, and now he struggled to look him in the eye, knowing the truth about him. Neil wished he could arrest him there and then but knew he had to keep his emotions in check for the time being, so he quickly hurried on into the station.

Sergeant Smith was standing alone on the custody desk; it was unusually quiet.

"Smithy," Neil nodded to his colleague as he entered the room.

"Sir," Smithy replied before checking no one else was nearby. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Neil said before hesitating. "Well I just saw Gabriel in the yard. I don't know how you manage to work so closely with him..."

"Gabriel? In the yard?" Smithy questioned, confused. "Inspector Gold told me she'd sent him to the Cole Lane to help with some unrest down there."

"He's certainly in the yard now." Neil said. "Sorry Smithy, the DCI called so I can't talk. I'll be in touch about us all meeting again soon."

"Sure," Smithy smiled as Neil rushed out and along the corridor to find the DCI.

However, as he headed there he saw Inspector Gina Gold watching him.

"DI Manson," she said as he approached. "I do hope you're not trying to poach Sergeant Smith for a case. I saw you having a lengthy conversation with him earlier."

"No, not at all," Neil mumbled. "We were just discussing the fire. I think he's brave being back so soon after being caught up in the brunt of it."

"Mmm," Gina remarked.

"Sorry, the DCI is waiting for me." Neil made his excuses and left. He had felt so happy when leaving Andrea's flat, feeling somewhat hopeful for their relationship, but now at the station he was beginning to feel paranoid. He didn't like keeping his knowledge about Gabriel secret and his relationship continuing with Andrea was something else that he had to hide. He felt like everyone was watching him; the pressure was beginning to build.

"Gov," Neil said as he found the DCI.

"Where have you been Neil?" DCI Jack Meadows asked in an annoyed tone.

"Sorry," Neil said, pausing and trying to think of what to say. "Philippa called; needed to talk to me."

"I know we've all been through a lot here at the station Neil but now isn't the time to let our personal lives affect our work."

Neil wondered if Jack knew about his affair with Andrea and if that's where Jack's comment had come from. However, he knew that Superintendent Okaro was unlikely to have told anyone. Adam Okaro had made his disappointment in Neil clear and Neil knew that Adam would be very unlikely to risk the rest of the station finding out. Neil knew he just needed to try and relax. While his mind was very occupied with bringing down Gabriel Kent and his relationship with Andrea, he needed to stay focused on his job right now too.

"It won't happen again," Neil replied, knowing that he needed to make sure he wasn't using his work time anymore for anything personal.

"Good," nodded Jack in response. "A body has been found down at the river. DI Nixon is already on the scene. But we are needed down there."

Following the DCI out of the office, Neil sighed. A murder case was all he needed right now. He couldn't wait for the day to be over.

Meanwhile, Smithy was rather bored on the custody desk. He'd been expecting some of the officers who'd been dealing with the unrest on the Cole Lane estate to have arrested people, but so far no one had come through. He also had expected to see Gabriel Kent as Neil Manson had said he'd seen him in the yard, but Gabriel had never entered the station, at least not through the back entrance. Smithy wondered what he was up to.

It wasn't long before Gina Gold happened to enter custody; Smithy decided to see if he could find out about Gabriel.

"Gina..." Smithy began, clearing his throat. "You told me you sent Gabriel to the Cole Lane, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did." Gina answered looking at Smithy suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"

"Uh, no reason," muttered Smithy before changing his mind on his reply. "Only I heard someone saw him in the yard."

"And who might that have been?"

"Just DI Manson. He came through and said he'd seen him. I assumed that meant the officers from the Cole Lane were back, but it's been thirty minutes or so since I've seen the DI and no one has come through here."

"Interesting," commented Gina. "I'll go and see what PC Kent is up to."

With that, Gina left the room, leaving Smithy alone once again. He knew he probably should be more careful asking questions. He didn't want to arouse suspicion. However, Smithy's interest in Gabriel Kent was nothing new and Gina Gold was aware that Smithy and Gabriel were not the best of friends. Plus, Smithy trusted Gina fully. While he didn't want to drag her into everything and put her in a compromised position, he could think of many worse people to find out what he was up to. However, he did wonder whether Gina would believe anything that had come from Andrea. He knew most people would be sceptical of Andrea now, though thankfully around the station it seemed Andrea had almost been forgotten. She was rarely mentioned.

"It appears the DI was mistaken or Gabriel Kent has disappeared elsewhere," Gina said as she re-entered, the smell of smoke trailing behind her. She'd clearly had a quick cigarette.

"Right," Smithy nodded. "I'll expect it quiet here for a little longer then."

That evening, Neil was relieved to get home. He rarely let things get to him too much, especially work, but right now he was finding it stressful. He was finding it hard juggling work with everything else going on. Usually he dragged out his work day to avoid coming home, but knowing Philippa was going out, he was actually looking forward to spending the evening with just him and his young son, Jake.

"Neil, you're finally home." Philippa snapped as he came through the door. "I told you earlier I had somewhere to be tonight."

"Sorry," Neil sighed. "Murder case. Held me up a little."

"Murder?" Philippa asked, suddenly intrigued.

"Yeah, a body was found by the river. Not much known yet. Seems like it could have been there some time."

"Tragic," Philippa said, unfeeling. " Jake's had his dinner, you'll have to make something. I must go."

Carefully, Philippa kissed Neil on the cheek but there was no real affection there. It was as if the kiss goodbye was because she felt it was what she should do, not that she really wanted to. It was this absence of affection that made Neil attracted to Andrea. Andrea had a warmth that Philippa didn't. Neil tried to remember back to when he and Philippa had first met. They both had certainly been career driven and still were really, but he knew that there once must have been more to their relationship than what it had become. However, it had died so quickly he struggled now to recall the romantic feelings that he once had for his wife.

After Philippa left, Neil wandered into the living room where he found Jake watching the television. He greeted his son and took a seat on the sofa next to him. Neil scooped Jake up onto his lap and he began to watch the children's programmes with Jake. However, unsurprisingly his mind was elsewhere.

A quiet evening with his son is what Neil needed. Though he couldn't completely relax, his son was always his one source of unconditional love, which brought him some needed peace and happiness. Neil knew that it was his love for his son that was the reason he had been with Philippa for this long. That was the one thing Neil dreaded: What everything that had happened would do to his son. Neil only hoped Jake was young enough to not fully understand or suffer from anything that would come from his affair with Andrea.

It wasn't long before it was Jake's bedtime, so Neil tucked him up in bed and read him a story. For a brief moment Neil managed to forget about everything going on and he wished in some ways that he could make that moment last forever.

Once Jake was asleep, Neil threw a pizza in the oven for himself. It wasn't like Neil not to cook a proper meal, he actually really enjoyed cooking, but his heart wasn't in it. He also promised that he'd call Andrea.

"Hello," Andrea's voice rang out through the telephone that Neil held in his hand.

"Hey," Neil responded. For a second there was silence. "Look, about earlier..."

"Don't tell me you regret kissing me?" Andrea asked, though her tone was playful and Neil couldn't help but match her enthusiasm.

"No," he laughed.

"Good."

"But, I think you were right when you said we should focus on getting the evidence on Gabriel first before focusing on us," said Neil. "But I want you to know that I won't change my mind again. Not ever, Andrea. I love you."

"And I love you too. But yes, we do need to try and stay focused. Any updates?"

"Aside from a murder today that took up the rest of my day, I have nothing to report."

"A murder?" Questioned Andrea.

Unwillingly, Neil's heart skipped a beat. He wondered if he should be saying anything about work to Andrea. He couldn't help but feel as though he was somehow betraying his colleagues.

"I get it," Andrea said, upset at Neil's silence. "You don't want to discuss it with me. I deserve that."

"No Andrea, you don't deserve that, I'm sorry." Neil mumbled, feeling ashamed that he was struggling to trust the woman he loved. "I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay," Andrea muttered back. "I'm not under some illusion that our relationship won't be hard. And there are certain things that may take a while to get back, like trust. But for now let me say, you've got nothing to worry about. I promise not to take advantage of your position. I haven't done that before or since Adam Okaro was found with those drugs."

"I know," Neil said, exasperated. He knew all this already. So why was he still struggling to trust everything Andrea said?

"We will find a way to make it work, Neil."

"I know," Neil said, hoping it was true. That was truly all he wanted. "Look, I have to go as I have a long day ahead tomorrow and haven't eaten yet. I'll speak to Smithy about us all coming to yours to discuss things again?"

"Sure," Andrea replied.

Neil hung up the phone, wishing they would get he evidence they needed on Gabriel soon, mainly so he could get his life in order.