"Good work on the stand today, Steve," DCI Adams informed his DI as they quickly collected their belongings before heading home. They had driven back to the office together from the court where they had spent a very long day. Thanks to Steve's impressive performance on the stand, and failing to let the defence barrister get under his skin, a guilty verdict looked almost certain, which made all the hard work that the Violent Crime Unit had poured into the case seem worth it.
"Thanks, sir," replied Steve, pleased that he had impressed his senior officer. "Haven't been in court in a long time. One of the upsides to working in anti corruption, I suppose,". Not many police officers enjoyed spending the day in court, even less spending time on the witness stand playing games with barristers who wanted to trip you up.
Steve had been in VCU for nearly a year now. He had transferred out after Ted Hastings had lost his appeal for his forced retirement and AC12 had been disbanded. The current case in court had been his work for his entire time in VCU and Steve was determined to get a conviction, almost to prove his worth and show everyone he was a good addition to the team.
"Well you would never guess it had been a long time," DCI Adams commented as he made his way to the door. He turned back and saw his DI sit down at his desk as he powered his computer up. "Go home, Steve. Take the night off!" he recommended.
"I'm not working, sir, just checking my emails before I head off," Steve replied.
"Well don't be long. I'll see you tomorrow back at court," the senior police officer said as he finally left the office, the door closing quietly behind him.
True to his word, Steve was soon turning his computer off having checked his correspondence. He had been awaiting a reply to something he had booked and he had finally received confirmation that everything was confirmed. Picking up his suit jacket, he turned the lights off as he was the last to leave and made his way to the car park. Firing off a quick message as he unlocked the car and got in, he wasn't aware of anything untoward until he felt the gun barrel pressed against the back of his neck. Not again! Steve made a mental note that next time he bought a car he was going to have to enquire about extra security. By his count this was the third time he had had an intruder in his car threatening his life!
"Face forward," came an instruction from the back seat as Steve tried to see who was in the car with him. "I haven't got long,".
"What do you want?" asked Steve.
"You to reopen your anti-corruption investigation. You arrested the wrong person,".
"Which one?" asked Steve.
"Don't try to be clever. You know which case I'm talking about,".
"I'm not sure I can help you," replied Steve. "One, I'm no longer in AC12 and two, the evidence we had would suggest you are wrong,".
"You honestly think that moron Buckells is some bent mastermind?" asked the voice from the back. "He couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery!". Steve admitted he had a point. He could remember his own shock at being confronted with the evidence that had suggested Buckells was the person that they had been after for so long.
"So who should we have arrested?" Steve challenged.
"Chief Constable Osbourne," was his reply.
"You're going to have to show me the evidence before I do that!" Steve demanded. He hated the man, but there was no way he would be able to go after the top police officer in the area without something.
"I'm working on it. I think he knows that I'm back though, so not a word to anyone," the voice warned.
"Why do you want to take Osbourne down?" Steve asked.
"I can't prove it, but I know he was behind the murder of my wife and brother," the voice explained.
"Who are you?" Steve asked, still not having a clue who was threatening him and throwing such heavy accusations about the Chief around. He looked in the rear view mirror as his uninvited passenger leaned forward and his face could now be seen in the dingy car park lighting. Steve recognised him immediately. This couldn't be happening. The deceased DCI Marcus Thurwell was still alive. He looked back in the mirror but he had gone.
Pulling into the driveway of his home, a car already parked there and lights on in the house told him that his housemate had beaten him home. He turned the engine off and sat contemplating what had just happened as he removed his tie and undid his top shirt button. He wouldn't mention anything about his visit until he was presented with the evidence that AC12 had been wrong, he decided to himself.
He got out the car and headed to the front door. Opening it, he heard music and movement coming from the kitchen. Closing the front door behind him, he went to the open kitchen door and rested against the door frame as he took in the sight before him.
Kate Fleming, no longer his work partner, but his partner in life was doing a little dance to herself as she made their evening dinner. He smiled to himself as he continued to watch her bust her moves. It had only been since they had been in a relationship together, that he found out she was harbouring a secret desire to be dancer. After spending ten years working with her as a partner at work, and just over a year in a romantic relationship with her, he could definitely say he preferred her in this role in his life. He could have a shitty day at work and not really care, knowing he would be going home to her.
They had transitioned really easily from friends to lovers, after finally having THAT talk. He had never dated a friend before, but would recommend it to anyone who asked. Realising that they had something special, they were soon looking at buying a house together. Whilst some thought it very quick, they argued that they had been in some sort of relationship for over a decade.
"Christ sake, Steve! You scared me for a moment!" Kate admonished him, breaking him from his musings. She had turned around to see him silently watching her, not realising he was home. She walked over to him, Steve admiring her as she did so. She had changed out of her work clothes into a loose pair of yoga pants and a spaghetti strapped vest top that revealed she had also removed her bra. He was a very lucky man he thought to himself as she finally reached him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Steve's hands going to her waist in reply. "How did court go?" she asked, before giving him a quick welcome home peck on the lips.
"Not too bad," Steve replied. "DCI said I did well. Looks like they will send the jury out to deliberate tomorrow but the CPS are fairly confident we will get the result we want," he continued.
"Well done, mate," Kate praised her partner. "I told you everything would go well. We can celebrate later," she continued, a hint of flirtation in her voice.
"Can't wait," Steve replied. With Kate's help, Steve had finally gotten the courage to speak to a specialist about the problems his back injury was having on his sex life. After fearing the worst, he was very relieved to find out that a simple Viagra tablet would be all that was needed to help him have sex again. After working up the courage to give it a go, neither had any complaints about the physical side of their relationship.
"Dinner's ready in about ten minutes," Kate said as she left his embrace and returned to the food. She didn't want to burn it at the last minute.
"I'll just get changed," Steve said before heading to their bedroom. He was back fairly quickly in tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt and set about getting the table ready as Kate dished up, working together as easily as they had in AC12.
"You ok?" Kate asked in the middle of their meal. "You've been a bit quiet this evening," she noted.
"Sorry. Just a bit tired," Steve lied. He felt terribly guilty doing it, but didn't want to dampen the evening by talking to her about Marcus Thurwell and AC12. He made an effort to forget about him though and concentrate on the woman beside him. "How was your day?" he asked.
"Fine. Not much going on at work at the moment," Kate replied. "Josh called. He did well in that assessment he was worried about,". Kate had been worried about Josh accepting her new relationship with Steve, but was incredibly happy to see him easily bond with Steve. He stayed at the house on alternate weekends and enjoyed spending time with them both.
"That's great," Steve replied.
After eating, they headed to the sofa to watch some TV cuddled up together. Although they had settled on a channel, Steve couldn't really concentrate on it.
"You sure you're ok?" Kate asked again after receiving no reply to a question she had just asked.
"Just can't seem to relax. Maybe the trial took more out of me than I thought,".
"How about a massage in bed to help you sleep?" Kate suggested as she stood and offered her hand to Steve to help him off the sofa. She had proposed the same thing the first time they had slept together and he had discovered just how good she was at massage. He quickly took her proffered hand and willingly let her lead him to the bedroom.