Chapter 7
"What do you mean she's gone?" Bo demanded, "Shirley this ain't funny".
"It's not meant to be!" Shirley snapped.
"Shirley what happened?" Lewis asked gently.
Shirley searched Bo eyes for a moment, trying to find rational thought for a moment. Missing people always brought that little element of apprehension now a days. Bo was a little surprised but gave her an encouraging smile that brought her back to Earth.
"Alex went to see Alan two hours ago at least," Sammo nodded, "She only stayed half an hour, then decided to come back here. It only takes twenty minutes at the most to walk from here to the Police Station. It's been an hour and a half!"
"She could have just stopped somewhere," Bo offered reassuringly.
Shirley shook her,
"She told Alan that she wanted to get over here pronto, she had something to tell us urgently".
"One question," Bo said, "how did Alan get your number?"
"The database" Lewis and Sammo said at the same time.
"Or," Shirley put in; "Alex gave it to him, that's not important just now. I've got a bad feeling that the gang's taken her hostage".
"Why her?"
"She knew too much, probably. Don't forget Alex has been on this case for what? Five years? She's been all around the world trying to nail them. Someone must have realised who she was and what she were up to".
"The leak in the chain" Sammo finished for her.
Shirley nodded,
"I just hope Alex is alright".
Alex woke up; her head ached from where she had been hit. Her hands and feet were tied to a chair in such a good knot that escape was virtually zero.
"Ah you've decided to join us" came a familiar voice.
Alex looked up, her face contorted with rage,
"Let me go you prehistoric..."
"My, my, such language from such a small girl".
Alex growled,
"So what is you name?"
"Don't think I'll tell you that!"
"Melanie, I see she is awake, well what have you got to say for yourself brat?"
Alex smiled smugly when the man gave away her name, the woman snarled and slapped Alex round the face. The world was hazy for a few seconds, the man carried on when Alex didn't speak,
"My name is Sirinus".
"Pleasure to meet you" Alex drawled sarcastically.
Her head snapped to the right after another slap from Melanie. Boy she sure knows how hard to hit!
"What do you want from me?"
"Information" the insane glare in his eyes made her heart sink to the floor with a thud.
Shirley sat in the car lost in thought, writing down suspects and doodling. Sammo and Lewis were informing Grace and Terrell on the updates, Bo sat there watching the houses go by.
Lewis stopped the car in the large police carpark, gazing out across the lot Bo noticed something. Out the corner of her eye Shirley noticed Bo's brow crease,
"What is it Bo?"
"See that Jag over there, I recognise it from somewhere".
Sammo, Terrell, Grace and Lewis all looked around and stared at him,
"Where did you see it, Bo?"
"Uh..."
Shirley scrawled DI Miggan Eastern's name several times in her notebook, DI Miggan Eastern.
DI M. Eastern.
DI M. E.
"DIME!" Shirley exclaimed.
Everyone looked at her,
"Bo? Where did you see that car? Think hard!"
Bo gave her a questioning look,
"I... it was this morning um... oh I remember! You know this morning when you packed me off to search the other side of the Industrial estate I saw something odd. Several men were loading crates off a boat, there was a strange smell in the air, I don't know what it was, but that car was parked outside the building".
The four adults stared at each other, not sure whether to believe or not, Lewis studied Bo carefully,
"Uh, Bo are you certain?"
Bo answered with a vigorous nod; Shirley smiled eloquently,
"Am I correct in saying that that car belongs to DI Miggan Eastern?"
"Yeah, um how do you know?"
"Because I know who the DIME Master is".
Five sets of eyes glared with bated breath,
"Who?"
"Never!" Alex jumped up out her seat in a rage. The bonds snapped from her strength even though her body was no more than a twig.
"Restrain her please," Melanie grapped Alex from behind, "I'm a patient man, as you will find out, I will leave you for an hour so that you can have a good think about your position. When I arrive back I expect you to talk".
Alex spat at him as the foreboding body marched importantly away.
"This is to help your thinking" Melanie slapped Alex again, really hard and left, leaving Alexanna weak in her new bonds.
"But why? Why risk damaging his reputation and position?"
"It's a perfect ploy, who would suspect a DI officer?" Shirley offered.
Bo cracked a wicked smile at her,
"You!" Shirley just gave him a withering look.
There was a tap on the glass, everyone jumped, Terrell rolled the window down,
"hey, jump in, there's a lot you need to know".
Bo and Shirley squeezed closer to allow Alan to fit in the car.
* * *
"But the question is where is Alex?" Shirley saw the fight between utter panic and composure in the mans eyes. It broke her heart, Shirley knew Alex's story, it made her lost mum seem like a minor problem.
"I've got a good feeling I know where the gang is and where Alex is" Bo replied readily.
Sammo and Terrell looked at each other and nodded,
"That other warehouse!"
Lewis picked up the radio,
"Romeo Alpha 10 to base we require back up. The industrial estate - opposite side from last. We'll occupy them until you arrive".
"Let's go" Grace called.
Alex felt herself being jerked up, he had returned, several very familiar men stood beside him. Link, Dr Gloat, Cling, Barkley, Zot, Cage and Ryan they are all there.
The bonds were loosened around her, Melanie's nails dug deep into her wrists. Sirinus brandished a knife,
"Now my dear since you have had time to think it over would you like to give us the information we desire?"
"Never!" Alex screamed trying to get away from Melanie.
"Maybe you'd like to meet someone special, the head man in this game? Hmm. Let me introduce to you the DIME Master".
"The DIME Master..." Alex whispered in dread.
The doors opened and in walked several men in pressed suits, they guarded quite a large and dominating man who disguised his identity with a mask. His swaggering and proud walk reminded her of someone...
"I'll give you one more chance to co-operate Miss Kingsley" Sirinus boomed interrupting her thoughts, he handed the knife to Melanie.
"I won't tell you anything" Alex replied calmly but the hint of complacency in her voice was obvious.
The knife started to come closer and closer, it was half a centimetre to her cheek - getting closer and closer, Alex shut her eyes tightly awaiting the pain to follow. There was tingling on her cheek the, CRASH,
"STOP! LAPD!" Alex opened her eyes to find her friends and fellow detectives aiming guns at the gang.
The next second was a blur, the gang attacked, everyone started fighting, Sammo flung two men at the wall with one kick, more men on the wrong side of the law appeared from Sirinus's call.
Shirley watched in awe as Sammo kicked a man sending him flying into a post- ouch! Lewis and Grace caught her attention, men surrounded them at least five to one, and in sync they smiled and faced back to back. Grace let fly with a sidekick, sending one crashing backward into another. Lewis punched the lights out of one then using the weapon he had gained knocked another two out with one swipe. Terrell was devilishly using the old blanket trick where you pulled it out from under them. Alan was doing his best but clearly this wasn't his greatest skill, Bo grabbed her,
"He's getting away!" He pointed to where Sirinus, Melanie and the (she assumed) the DIME Master were making a bolt for it, Melanie had Alex in tow. In unison Shirley and Bo looked at each other with childish delight, nodded and took after them. In a matter of seconds, Bo was having a good old fight till the death with Sirinus and Shirley was combating with the DIME Master. Alex took advantage of Melanie's surprise; with one nice sharp kick backwards at Melanie's stomach, Alex was free. Turning around she aimed another one and it rang true,
"That was for hurting my arm back in Scotland!" A punch to the face,
"That was for kidnapping me" Melanie doubled over,
"And this" Alex continued, sweeping Melanie's feet from under her and finishing off with a nice slap to the cheek, "Is for slapping me!"
Alex stood up and noticed Bo standing looking at her in, what she thought, was shock.
"Those Karate lessons were worth it after all" Alex miffed.
"Duck!" Bo yelled at her as Sammo flew a guy over her head.
There was a noise from the doors, back up had arrived, it was a matter of minutes when the men were arrested and held firmly but Shirley was still battling it out with the DIME Master. Finally she rolled away, the whole hall gradually became quieter, grace gave her a hand up, Lewis joined them, so did Sammo and Terrell.
"The game's up" Shirley told the man in front of her,
"You won't get anything from me, I've got men coming anytime now and you don't even know who I am".
`Correction, I know who you are DI Miggan Eastern" there was a gasp around the warehouse.
"You've always been in this business" Shirley continued, "All those years in the force, you could cover up well, and it was easy to put the police off the scent. Nobody would have suspected you. I mean the earlier trap, you took us to the wrong warehouse, you knew what would happen, nobody telephoned you, and it was all your doing. It was to put us off your scent while on the opposite site of the estate your business was booming. Quite clever, really, always one-step ahead of the force. If it weren't for Bo, I don't think we would know at all. Your name was a give away as well, it was sheer luck that I found that out DIME Master? Clever, take your rank, DI, that's the first part, then your initials and it spells DIME".
"Clever girl, but you're gonna wish you hadn't stuck your nose in where it doesn't belong. He turned and ran through a hidden door on the wall, Sammo immediately sprung after him, a copter was hovering outside, Sammo managed to catch him just as he reached the rope, the helicopter started to pull away, Sammo pulled hard and both fell to the ground. Once on the ground Sammo had him secure, Lewis was behind Sammo,
"Well done, Sammo!" He turned to Miggan, "I have to caution you, you have the right to remain silent but anything you do say will be taken down as evidence and used against you in court".
Goodbyes are always hard, Shirley noted, Alex was going back to Scotland with Alan, and the plane was due to leave soon.
Shirley turned to Alan and smiled holding out her hand,
"It was a pleasure working with you".
"Likewise". He turned and shook Bo's hand as well.
"You take this very well" Bo replied, Alan knew what he was talking about,
"Bo, I've worked with Alex, she is as stubborn and persistent as you can get, I'm used to it now".
Bo smiled knowingly.
Shirley turned to Alex and they hugged,
"Thank you, have a good flight and don't forget to keep me posted about what's going on over there," Alex nodded, "Take care and if you ever need someone to talk to you know my E-mail address".
"Thank you Shirley, for everything... I've never really had friend s of my own age, all to in horror of my work. I guess I don't get to mix a lot since of my predicament. Shirley saw that sadness flicker through Alex's eyes and it hurt her heart immensely,
"Take care Shirley - okay?"
Sighing Alex turned to Bo,
"Well done Bo, you are coming on nicely," Bo gave her a funny look, "I mean it, if it wasn't for you realisation, hard work and the extra surprise of you actually taking photographs of his car and the warehouse that day... Thank you! Take care..." she leaned closer, and whispered, "And take care of Shirley as well". Bo nodded.
Alex picked up her bag and turned away,
"Oh Bo," Alex dug in her pocket, "Here," she handed him a letter, "This will explain a few things about me. Shirley already knows but I think you ought to too".
Alex gave Shirley another hug - Bo was surprised to see Shirley struggling to keep from crying. Then Inspector Alan Goodyear and Alexanna Kingsley were gone. Shirley and Bo stood and watched the plane go, sneaking a look at Shirley he noticed in real revelation that tears masked her face,
"Hey" he whispered and pulled her close in a tight hug, Shirley sobbed but was grateful.
"Got everything?" Lewis asked,
"Yeah" Terrell sighed.
"It was good to see you again, we must keep in touch" Sammo put in.
"Yeah, I'll pop by when I get back but I've got to sort this out properly and stay for the trial. Anyway I shouldn't keep you away from Amy, hmm?"
Everyone smiled, an announcement sounded over the speakers for their flight,
"Hey you're not leaving without saying goodbye?" Called a voice.
Everyone turned; Bo and Shirley smiled at them.
Once all they had shaken hands, hugged and promised to keep in touch and stay out of trouble Shirley and Bo stepped back.
Lewis turned to Terrell,
"Great to see you again man".
"Likewise. Now hurry up and get back and see us again".
Lewis nodded consciously then turned to Sammo,
"Look after yourself okay?"
"You too, drop in anytime for a session".
"By the way, if you ever need a hand remember to call me" Lewis's gaze turned on everyone then fell on Grace.
In one movement they were in each other's arms, Grace choked back tears,
"I'm going to miss you".
"I'll miss you too".
"Call- okay?"
"Sure babe!"
Both were reluctant to let go, Terrell coughed politely and murmured,
"It's time to go".
Lewis pulled back slightly and kissed Grace's forehead, Grace let out a shuddering sigh, pulling away she picked up her suitcase.
The three called goodbye to Shirley and Bo again and to Lewis then turned and walked away. Lewis refused to look up but then smiled,
"Hey Grace whatcha doin' in two weeks time?"
Grace could hardly contain her grin,
"Nothing, probably..."
"Good! See you then" He turned and walked away slightly.
Bo and Shirley just mimicked throwing up.
"What do you mean she's gone?" Bo demanded, "Shirley this ain't funny".
"It's not meant to be!" Shirley snapped.
"Shirley what happened?" Lewis asked gently.
Shirley searched Bo eyes for a moment, trying to find rational thought for a moment. Missing people always brought that little element of apprehension now a days. Bo was a little surprised but gave her an encouraging smile that brought her back to Earth.
"Alex went to see Alan two hours ago at least," Sammo nodded, "She only stayed half an hour, then decided to come back here. It only takes twenty minutes at the most to walk from here to the Police Station. It's been an hour and a half!"
"She could have just stopped somewhere," Bo offered reassuringly.
Shirley shook her,
"She told Alan that she wanted to get over here pronto, she had something to tell us urgently".
"One question," Bo said, "how did Alan get your number?"
"The database" Lewis and Sammo said at the same time.
"Or," Shirley put in; "Alex gave it to him, that's not important just now. I've got a bad feeling that the gang's taken her hostage".
"Why her?"
"She knew too much, probably. Don't forget Alex has been on this case for what? Five years? She's been all around the world trying to nail them. Someone must have realised who she was and what she were up to".
"The leak in the chain" Sammo finished for her.
Shirley nodded,
"I just hope Alex is alright".
Alex woke up; her head ached from where she had been hit. Her hands and feet were tied to a chair in such a good knot that escape was virtually zero.
"Ah you've decided to join us" came a familiar voice.
Alex looked up, her face contorted with rage,
"Let me go you prehistoric..."
"My, my, such language from such a small girl".
Alex growled,
"So what is you name?"
"Don't think I'll tell you that!"
"Melanie, I see she is awake, well what have you got to say for yourself brat?"
Alex smiled smugly when the man gave away her name, the woman snarled and slapped Alex round the face. The world was hazy for a few seconds, the man carried on when Alex didn't speak,
"My name is Sirinus".
"Pleasure to meet you" Alex drawled sarcastically.
Her head snapped to the right after another slap from Melanie. Boy she sure knows how hard to hit!
"What do you want from me?"
"Information" the insane glare in his eyes made her heart sink to the floor with a thud.
Shirley sat in the car lost in thought, writing down suspects and doodling. Sammo and Lewis were informing Grace and Terrell on the updates, Bo sat there watching the houses go by.
Lewis stopped the car in the large police carpark, gazing out across the lot Bo noticed something. Out the corner of her eye Shirley noticed Bo's brow crease,
"What is it Bo?"
"See that Jag over there, I recognise it from somewhere".
Sammo, Terrell, Grace and Lewis all looked around and stared at him,
"Where did you see it, Bo?"
"Uh..."
Shirley scrawled DI Miggan Eastern's name several times in her notebook, DI Miggan Eastern.
DI M. Eastern.
DI M. E.
"DIME!" Shirley exclaimed.
Everyone looked at her,
"Bo? Where did you see that car? Think hard!"
Bo gave her a questioning look,
"I... it was this morning um... oh I remember! You know this morning when you packed me off to search the other side of the Industrial estate I saw something odd. Several men were loading crates off a boat, there was a strange smell in the air, I don't know what it was, but that car was parked outside the building".
The four adults stared at each other, not sure whether to believe or not, Lewis studied Bo carefully,
"Uh, Bo are you certain?"
Bo answered with a vigorous nod; Shirley smiled eloquently,
"Am I correct in saying that that car belongs to DI Miggan Eastern?"
"Yeah, um how do you know?"
"Because I know who the DIME Master is".
Five sets of eyes glared with bated breath,
"Who?"
"Never!" Alex jumped up out her seat in a rage. The bonds snapped from her strength even though her body was no more than a twig.
"Restrain her please," Melanie grapped Alex from behind, "I'm a patient man, as you will find out, I will leave you for an hour so that you can have a good think about your position. When I arrive back I expect you to talk".
Alex spat at him as the foreboding body marched importantly away.
"This is to help your thinking" Melanie slapped Alex again, really hard and left, leaving Alexanna weak in her new bonds.
"But why? Why risk damaging his reputation and position?"
"It's a perfect ploy, who would suspect a DI officer?" Shirley offered.
Bo cracked a wicked smile at her,
"You!" Shirley just gave him a withering look.
There was a tap on the glass, everyone jumped, Terrell rolled the window down,
"hey, jump in, there's a lot you need to know".
Bo and Shirley squeezed closer to allow Alan to fit in the car.
* * *
"But the question is where is Alex?" Shirley saw the fight between utter panic and composure in the mans eyes. It broke her heart, Shirley knew Alex's story, it made her lost mum seem like a minor problem.
"I've got a good feeling I know where the gang is and where Alex is" Bo replied readily.
Sammo and Terrell looked at each other and nodded,
"That other warehouse!"
Lewis picked up the radio,
"Romeo Alpha 10 to base we require back up. The industrial estate - opposite side from last. We'll occupy them until you arrive".
"Let's go" Grace called.
Alex felt herself being jerked up, he had returned, several very familiar men stood beside him. Link, Dr Gloat, Cling, Barkley, Zot, Cage and Ryan they are all there.
The bonds were loosened around her, Melanie's nails dug deep into her wrists. Sirinus brandished a knife,
"Now my dear since you have had time to think it over would you like to give us the information we desire?"
"Never!" Alex screamed trying to get away from Melanie.
"Maybe you'd like to meet someone special, the head man in this game? Hmm. Let me introduce to you the DIME Master".
"The DIME Master..." Alex whispered in dread.
The doors opened and in walked several men in pressed suits, they guarded quite a large and dominating man who disguised his identity with a mask. His swaggering and proud walk reminded her of someone...
"I'll give you one more chance to co-operate Miss Kingsley" Sirinus boomed interrupting her thoughts, he handed the knife to Melanie.
"I won't tell you anything" Alex replied calmly but the hint of complacency in her voice was obvious.
The knife started to come closer and closer, it was half a centimetre to her cheek - getting closer and closer, Alex shut her eyes tightly awaiting the pain to follow. There was tingling on her cheek the, CRASH,
"STOP! LAPD!" Alex opened her eyes to find her friends and fellow detectives aiming guns at the gang.
The next second was a blur, the gang attacked, everyone started fighting, Sammo flung two men at the wall with one kick, more men on the wrong side of the law appeared from Sirinus's call.
Shirley watched in awe as Sammo kicked a man sending him flying into a post- ouch! Lewis and Grace caught her attention, men surrounded them at least five to one, and in sync they smiled and faced back to back. Grace let fly with a sidekick, sending one crashing backward into another. Lewis punched the lights out of one then using the weapon he had gained knocked another two out with one swipe. Terrell was devilishly using the old blanket trick where you pulled it out from under them. Alan was doing his best but clearly this wasn't his greatest skill, Bo grabbed her,
"He's getting away!" He pointed to where Sirinus, Melanie and the (she assumed) the DIME Master were making a bolt for it, Melanie had Alex in tow. In unison Shirley and Bo looked at each other with childish delight, nodded and took after them. In a matter of seconds, Bo was having a good old fight till the death with Sirinus and Shirley was combating with the DIME Master. Alex took advantage of Melanie's surprise; with one nice sharp kick backwards at Melanie's stomach, Alex was free. Turning around she aimed another one and it rang true,
"That was for hurting my arm back in Scotland!" A punch to the face,
"That was for kidnapping me" Melanie doubled over,
"And this" Alex continued, sweeping Melanie's feet from under her and finishing off with a nice slap to the cheek, "Is for slapping me!"
Alex stood up and noticed Bo standing looking at her in, what she thought, was shock.
"Those Karate lessons were worth it after all" Alex miffed.
"Duck!" Bo yelled at her as Sammo flew a guy over her head.
There was a noise from the doors, back up had arrived, it was a matter of minutes when the men were arrested and held firmly but Shirley was still battling it out with the DIME Master. Finally she rolled away, the whole hall gradually became quieter, grace gave her a hand up, Lewis joined them, so did Sammo and Terrell.
"The game's up" Shirley told the man in front of her,
"You won't get anything from me, I've got men coming anytime now and you don't even know who I am".
`Correction, I know who you are DI Miggan Eastern" there was a gasp around the warehouse.
"You've always been in this business" Shirley continued, "All those years in the force, you could cover up well, and it was easy to put the police off the scent. Nobody would have suspected you. I mean the earlier trap, you took us to the wrong warehouse, you knew what would happen, nobody telephoned you, and it was all your doing. It was to put us off your scent while on the opposite site of the estate your business was booming. Quite clever, really, always one-step ahead of the force. If it weren't for Bo, I don't think we would know at all. Your name was a give away as well, it was sheer luck that I found that out DIME Master? Clever, take your rank, DI, that's the first part, then your initials and it spells DIME".
"Clever girl, but you're gonna wish you hadn't stuck your nose in where it doesn't belong. He turned and ran through a hidden door on the wall, Sammo immediately sprung after him, a copter was hovering outside, Sammo managed to catch him just as he reached the rope, the helicopter started to pull away, Sammo pulled hard and both fell to the ground. Once on the ground Sammo had him secure, Lewis was behind Sammo,
"Well done, Sammo!" He turned to Miggan, "I have to caution you, you have the right to remain silent but anything you do say will be taken down as evidence and used against you in court".
Goodbyes are always hard, Shirley noted, Alex was going back to Scotland with Alan, and the plane was due to leave soon.
Shirley turned to Alan and smiled holding out her hand,
"It was a pleasure working with you".
"Likewise". He turned and shook Bo's hand as well.
"You take this very well" Bo replied, Alan knew what he was talking about,
"Bo, I've worked with Alex, she is as stubborn and persistent as you can get, I'm used to it now".
Bo smiled knowingly.
Shirley turned to Alex and they hugged,
"Thank you, have a good flight and don't forget to keep me posted about what's going on over there," Alex nodded, "Take care and if you ever need someone to talk to you know my E-mail address".
"Thank you Shirley, for everything... I've never really had friend s of my own age, all to in horror of my work. I guess I don't get to mix a lot since of my predicament. Shirley saw that sadness flicker through Alex's eyes and it hurt her heart immensely,
"Take care Shirley - okay?"
Sighing Alex turned to Bo,
"Well done Bo, you are coming on nicely," Bo gave her a funny look, "I mean it, if it wasn't for you realisation, hard work and the extra surprise of you actually taking photographs of his car and the warehouse that day... Thank you! Take care..." she leaned closer, and whispered, "And take care of Shirley as well". Bo nodded.
Alex picked up her bag and turned away,
"Oh Bo," Alex dug in her pocket, "Here," she handed him a letter, "This will explain a few things about me. Shirley already knows but I think you ought to too".
Alex gave Shirley another hug - Bo was surprised to see Shirley struggling to keep from crying. Then Inspector Alan Goodyear and Alexanna Kingsley were gone. Shirley and Bo stood and watched the plane go, sneaking a look at Shirley he noticed in real revelation that tears masked her face,
"Hey" he whispered and pulled her close in a tight hug, Shirley sobbed but was grateful.
"Got everything?" Lewis asked,
"Yeah" Terrell sighed.
"It was good to see you again, we must keep in touch" Sammo put in.
"Yeah, I'll pop by when I get back but I've got to sort this out properly and stay for the trial. Anyway I shouldn't keep you away from Amy, hmm?"
Everyone smiled, an announcement sounded over the speakers for their flight,
"Hey you're not leaving without saying goodbye?" Called a voice.
Everyone turned; Bo and Shirley smiled at them.
Once all they had shaken hands, hugged and promised to keep in touch and stay out of trouble Shirley and Bo stepped back.
Lewis turned to Terrell,
"Great to see you again man".
"Likewise. Now hurry up and get back and see us again".
Lewis nodded consciously then turned to Sammo,
"Look after yourself okay?"
"You too, drop in anytime for a session".
"By the way, if you ever need a hand remember to call me" Lewis's gaze turned on everyone then fell on Grace.
In one movement they were in each other's arms, Grace choked back tears,
"I'm going to miss you".
"I'll miss you too".
"Call- okay?"
"Sure babe!"
Both were reluctant to let go, Terrell coughed politely and murmured,
"It's time to go".
Lewis pulled back slightly and kissed Grace's forehead, Grace let out a shuddering sigh, pulling away she picked up her suitcase.
The three called goodbye to Shirley and Bo again and to Lewis then turned and walked away. Lewis refused to look up but then smiled,
"Hey Grace whatcha doin' in two weeks time?"
Grace could hardly contain her grin,
"Nothing, probably..."
"Good! See you then" He turned and walked away slightly.
Bo and Shirley just mimicked throwing up.