Hi all many thanks for the reviews, D&M ladies, I think I've solved the mystery of Harry's spare room...read on lol.

Chapter 14

Two days later

"Okay, think!" Leroy was standing in his flat, marker pen in one hand, presiding over several large sheets of paper pinned to the wall. "We know Chapman used to work with Robert Makepeace then got struck off for malpractice.." Leroy turned to Maddy sat on Alex's old stripy sofa, "Why did he get struck off?"

Maddy took a sip of wine and replied "He tampered with evidence to get his client off."

Leroy turned back to his make-shift case board and wrote on the wall "Bent, threw a case...why didn't he go to jail?"

Maddy shrugged and offered "Friends in high places...Robert would have made sure he got off to protect himself?"

"So, that suggests Makepeace was up to his scrawny neck in it as well?" he looked back at her for confirmation.

"Wouldn't surprise me in the least." She said dryly.

Leroy rubbed his chin thinking "How did he tamper with evidence...what did he do?"

Maddy looked sheepish, she knew where Leroy was heading, she took a deep breath "He arranged for the Coroner's report to state a different time of death, making it look like his client had an alibi."

"Ha!" Leroy jabbed a finger "So the Coroner was bent as well."

"Not necessarily, " said Maddy quietly, hoping Leroy would ignore the Coroner angle.

"Come on Madds! It fits; they must have paid the Coroner off? Dontcha think?"

"Maybe..."

Leroy enthusiastically pounced on one of the files on the coffee table and rapidly flicked through it. Maddy watched him with apprehension...it was only a matter of time...

"Gotcha! The Coroner was a Doctor Andrews...hey wait a minute..." Leroy bounced across the room and pulled out a notebook from his jacket pocket and read his scrawled notes. "Whaddya know, Dr Andrews is heading up Dempsey and Harry's inquest...what about that?" he beamed at a disconcerted Maddy.

Maddy became serious "How did you find that out?"

"Easy babe, I called his office pretending to be a lawyer," Leroy read her deflated expression, his grin dropped and he growled "But you knew that..dintcha?."

Maddy looked away guiltily, not wanting to make eye contact."

"Dintcha?" he pressed more forcefully.

Maddy desperately looked anywhere but at him.

His face turned into an angry scowl "Am I being taken for an idiot? Have I got schmuck stamped on my forehead?"

"Noooooo," she whined "I was going to tell yooooouuu!"

"Tell me what?" he snapped.

"I'm Maddy Andrews...he's my father." She sighed her confession.

"Oh right! I knew there was more to this...you just want to save Daddies neck...niiice." he was being sarcastic now, his anger clearly audible. "You don't give a damn about Dempsey and Harry...just soos long as your Daddy keeps his neck off the block."

"It's not like that at all!" she blustered "I want to help Harry...really I do, but I have to protect Daddy as well. Pleeeeaaase...Leeeeroooy." she simpered "I can't do this on my own. Help me, Robert will ruin everything..for me, for Daddy...for Harry and Dempsey. He doesn't care ...family or not."

Leroy softened a little "You really wanna get Robert?"

Maddy nodded enthusiastically "He's a parasite...Chapman bullied Daddy into helping him swing the case and Robert covered it up." She added bitterly, "All because bloody Robert wouldn't lend us the money for Mummy's treatment in Switzerland, Daddy had to take Chapman's bribe. Don't you see ? He had no choice. Now Robert is using Daddy to get at Harry...payback. Robert wants his pound of flesh."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hold that thought.." said Leroy as he opened the door to Alex.

"Leroy, we were wondering where you were. Gene's buying everyone a drink, I should get in quick before he turns grumpy again." smiled Alex, as she invited herself in.

"Oh hi Alex, I'm kinda busy."

Alex stopped dead as she saw Maddy looking upset on the sofa "Oooo, I'm sorry, I didn't realise you had company."

"Alex, this Maddy Andrews, Maddy this is Alex, DI Drake..."

"Pleased to meet you." Maddy replied politely.

"I'll leave you two to it." As Alex turned to leave she spotted Leroy's paper diagram on the wall. "err, what's all this then?" she pointed suspiciously.

Leroy sighed "Alex, I aint gonna lie, we need help."

"You took your time?" Harry called from the kitchen as she heard Dempsey let himself in, "Was it busy?"

It was Dempsey and Harry's first night out of the hospital. Although battered and bruised, they had suffered no ill effects from the chemicals and had been allowed to go home with strict instructions to rest. Their bodies had recovered as predicted, however it was going to take longer for the emotional scars to heal and neither of them fancied going back home to an empty house. Not that either of them would admit they had been shaken by the experience of being shot at, buried alive and gassed all in the same afternoon. Now they sought solace and comfort in the familiarity of each other, the trivialness of a Chinese takeaway and rubbish Sunday evening telly.

"Yeah, they were flat out, folks loading up on takeout to watch the Olympics. Have I missed anything?" He joined Harry in the kitchen and started unpacking their Chinese.

"No, not much, think they're still on the Javelin...we're in the lead." She shuffled plates around the work top.

"That butch broad who looks like she eats steroids for breakfast? They should do one of those gender tests."

"I wouldn't say Tessa Sanderson is that butch..you must be thinking of Fatima Whitbread, we're British, we don't cheat." Harry licked some sauce off her fingers as she emptied the contents of one of the foil dishes. "Fork or chopsticks?"

"Fork, don't have the energy to chase my food around." He opened the wine and poured two glasses. "Is this that Spanish stuff?"

"Yep, don't know what I was thinking, I brought a case home, somehow it tasted better in Spain."

"Spain sure left a sour taste in the mouth." He grimaced.

She handed him his plate "Let's not dwell on it shall we?" she smiled "I would like to forget the whole unhappy episode."

"That's if your Prince Charmless will let us." He muttered ruefully heading for the lounge.

"let's not worry about that now. Robert will get his comeuppance; I'm going to make bloody sure of that."

They both sat down on the sofa glued to the TV, Dempsey nodded towards the Olympic Javelin event on the screen, "Maybe we should get your Tessa to use him as target practice."

"Hmmm that's a jolly thought, skewered barrister...right through his black heart."

"Didn't think he had one." He smirked.

'She's done it! It's Gold for Tessa...that was an enormous throw and she knows it...' shrieked the commentator from the telly.

"Brilliant!" exclaimed Harry with glee.

"Yup, she was thinking of a lawyer when she threw that baby." A small chuckle passed between them. Harry was right, they could worry about Robert later when they returned to work, but for now they were happy in each other's company shouting encouragement at the telly. They playfully bickered about who had the best athletes, the USA or GBR and debated which female members of the East German team were men.

They were comfortable, jovial, and content, the rest of the world and the likes of Robert Makepeace could go to hell for all they cared; for once it was just them and that's all that mattered.

"You sure about this?" Alex looked perplexed as Leroy and Maddy nodded, "Harry didn't mention the inquest to me."

"I think those two had other things on their minds, like staying alive, it aint nice what they have been through." remarked Leroy.

"True," agreed Alex "Poor Harry having a rat like that hanging around her neck...so, let me get this straight, we have to find a way of discrediting Robert so that the inquest is dropped without landing Maddy's father in it and get Robert to do the honourable thing and sign the divorce papers so that Harry can move on ...sounds straight forward..not!"

"In a nutshell." said Maddy "What would you suggest?"

Alex sat down on the sofa next to Maddy. "I don't think it will be easy to do this without leaving your father unscathed, what he did is a serious offence." She pressed upon the younger woman.

"I know." Maddy whispered "But, I've got to try."

Alex thought for a few moments, turning half an idea around in her head. "What about Thomas Lyons, he must know the full story? Will he be loyal to Robert or cheerfully stab him in the back, if Robert's half the man you describe I can't see many people wanting to go out on a limb for him."

"Thomas will be under his thumb like everyone else, I wouldn't be surprised if Robert has him tied up in knots." sighed Maddy "I can't see Thomas as a turncoat."

"Turncoat, what sort of jive is that?" Leroy looked puzzled.

"Oldy worldy English, means traitor, swapping sides." replied Alex

"I get the picture."

Alex tapped her cheek thoughtfully "In that case, the solution lies with your father.."

"NO!" Maddy yelped "I can't lose Daddy."

"He must come clean!" Alex insisted

"Nooo!" Maddy was becoming distraught at the idea of her father owning up to his misdemeanour. His reputation would be in tatters and he could end up going to jail.

"It's okay honey," Leroy soothed and put a comforting arm around her. "We will find a way round this, won't we Alex?"

Alex was a little taken aback at Leroy's tactile action, noting how close he was to her. She quickly realised that Leroy had taken a great interest in Maddy's wellbeing. She continued.

"We can try, but we are going to have to talk to Harry and Dempsey about this, they're the ones who have the most to lose. We have to tread carefully, have you thought what would happen if they told us to leave well alone?" Alex was going through all the possibilities in her head, she didn't feel comfortable interfering in Harry's personal life, but she could see Leroy's and Maddy's point.

"Why wouldn't they want our help?" shrugged Leroy as if it was a stupid question "As you say, they've got a helluva lot to lose. How do ya think Robert is going to react when he finds out those two were found under a pile of pallets curled up together like Romeo and Julliet? I saw it Alex, those two are crazy about each other. So what are you gonna do, stand back and let Robert blow it all sky high...huh? And aint you forgetting, if Dempsey doesn't have a job here, they will ship him back to the States quick as and he'll wind up the same way as Mickey." Leroy sat down in the opposite arm chair rubbing his head and huffing with frustration.

"Mickey?" Alex suddenly looked concerned.

"Yeah Mickey, remember him? Washed up down the river a week ago...O' Grady told me."

"Oh God, Mickey." Alex replayed the scene of Mickey falling off the Brooklyn bridge in her head. "so, you've been talking to O'Grady then?"

Leroy jumped to his feet, waved a hand and snapped irritably "That's not important now! God's sake sister!"

"Okay, okay I get it!" Alex snapped back. "I will talk to Gene in the morning, I'm not going to mither him with it now, he's in too much of a good mood...and probably pissed. I will see you in the morning and we'll go through it all then...okay?"

"Yeah sure," Leroy relaxed.

Alex got to her feet and made for the door.

Leroy added as she was leaving "By the way...congratulations!"

Alex grinned "Thanks, news does travel fast...night" She shut door behind her.

"Okay Madds, where were we?"

Maddy was baffled at what she had just heard "You were about to tell me what all that was about?"

"Oh no, oh no, I aint going there tonight honey. That's on helluva long story."

"Fair enough," she pursed "I'll wheedle it out of you another night..." she picked up the bottle of wine which was on the table "This bottle appears to be empty."

"Coming right up...you Brits sure know how to drink." He grinned

"We need it for Dutch courage..."

"Courage for what?" Leroy gave her a mischievous sideways look.

"Oh...you know." She sang tipsily with a glint in her eye.

"Nah, I don't think I do...you carryon like that lady, I may have to interrogate you." He flirted.

"Ahh, the very thought lieutenant." she flirted back. "Would it involve hand *hic* cuffs?" the words slipped out of her mouth before she knew it...blimey, she was all of a sudden quite drunk.

Leroy laughed cheekily "Lemme get that new bottle of courage and we'll see."

"Hah! You see that Harry, Americans are the best in the world, that's Carl Lewis's second gold." Dempsey and Harry, having long since finished their Chinese and two bottles of the Spanish plonk, lounged on the sofa together watching Carl Lewis win the 200 metres .

"Nation of over-developed meatheads...clearly.." she teased "Was impressive though." Her sentence was followed by a big yawn. "Skuse me."

"You okay?" Dempsey studied her weary features concerned she was staying up for the benefit of him.

Harry lolled her head away from the TV screen to face him "Just tired, I think it's bedtime." She yawned again and waited for Dempsey to pick up the word 'bedtime'. Instead he shifted away from her and said "Yeah I spose I'd better hit the road."

"You're not going are you?" she said a little alarmed "You can't drive you've had too much to drink."

"I'll get a cab." He replied simply getting to his feet.

"You don't have to, you're welcome to stay..." she was crestfallen, she didn't want him to go, she wanted him to stay with her...for him to stay close to her.

Dempsey looked at her quizzically, daring to hope "You don't want me to go?" he searched her face for the answer, but she quickly checked herself and her expression became neutral.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to." He probably wanted to go home to his own bed, she surmised, he hadn't been home since Friday morning, was she being selfish by wanting him to stay?

"Hey I'm easy princess."

"I've heard that about you. Seriously, you look just as tired as me, seems a bit daft you going home at this hour?" she ventured hoping he would take the hint.

He took the hint, she wanted him to stay, he wanted to stay but didn't want to push his luck. She was exhausted and probably wanted to go to sleep on her own in her own bed. He didn't want to upset her by coming across as pushy. They were both physically battered and mentally drained; sharing a bed was not necessarily conducive to a good night's sleep, especially since it would feel a little strange.

"You stay right there, I'll get the spare duvet." He offered and headed upstairs.

Harry was relieved he decided to stay, but clearly he was expecting to sleep on the sofa like he always did. He was heading to the linen cupboard at the top of the stairs to fetch his bedding...his bedding! It always made her chuckle referring to it as 'his bedding' it only ever saw the light of day when he stayed. Harry didn't have many house guests, usually people only stayed after a party, normally a pissed Angela was the culprit...and even she referred to the bedding as Dempsey's

'Haaaarry daaarling, is it okay if I crash in Dempsey's bed tonight?'

Harry could hear Angela in her head.

No, she couldn't allow him to sleep on the sofa, not tonight, he had had it just as rough as her the past couple of days, it wasn't fair. She had stopped him from going home to his own bed, it was only right he should share hers.

She followed him up the stairs and found him wrestling with his duvet. "You're not sleeping on the sofa tonight." She said softly and waited for him to react.

Dempsey stood stock still and tried to process what she was implying. If he wasn't sleeping on the sofa where was he sleeping? He didn't want to assume...had she finally got around to assembling the new bed in the spare room? Last time he looked it was still in its flat-packed cardboard with the new plastic covered mattress propped up against the wall.

Harry caught herself staring at a dumbfounded Dempsey still clutching the duvet. He wasn't going to say anything, he wasn't going to do anything, he was waiting for her to tell him to take it into the spare room.

Harry found herself taking charge of the stalemate situation, wordlessly she stepped towards him, took the duvet from his arms and casually tossed it aside...it was surplus to requirements. Dempsey's eyes followed the path of the duvet and then looked up at her questioningly. A thousand scattered thoughts bounced around his head, was this really happening? What was she telling him to do; his feet remained welded to the floor in indecision.

Harry gave him a nervous smile, grasped both his hands and slowly walked backwards leading him to her room, all the time keeping eye contact.

Dempsey still looked stunned as he followed her lead, Harriet Makepeace was leading him into the sanctum of her bedroom! He felt butterflies flutter in his stomach, this was crazy, he felt like a teenager again.

Harry felt the nervous energy too; she tried hard to keep her body from trembling, but her legs were turning to jelly as she reached the edge of the bed. With a shaky voice she whispered "We're going to do this the right way this time."

Her words made Dempsey's breath hitch in his throat, his pulse rate shot up, this was for real.

Still holding his hands she gently moved them and placed them around her waist, Dempsey reacted by clutching at the fabric of her skirt. She then reached up, one hand on his shoulder the other around his neck and placed a tender kiss on his lips. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her closer into him, one hand venturing down to her bottom, pushing her hips into his.

They had both waited a long time for this moment; this is how it should have happened, not on a hot sultry June night in a thunderstorm where sense, feeling and romance had been abandoned in favour of frenzied gratification. It should have happened like this, in the quiet, warm, safety of a bedroom, where they could explore in gentle caresses and delicate touches their true feelings for each other.

Awwww. Now, I'm going to follow krato's example here to be on the safe side. there is an extended version of this chapter...if you would like the 'M' rated version please PM/DM me your email address and I will email it onto to you. you can review both versions as u would normally on this chapter if you wish.

cheers QQ