Once again, deepest apologies for the delay but the cold weather had temporally paralyzed my imagination (joke).
Here we go, Chapter 16…
Chapter 16
The line cut dead almost instantly. If Morgan had waited any longer the only reply he would have got from Gene would have been anguished splutters. Putting the receiver down Gene rubbed his unshaven face with his hands.
This is bloody insane. Gene thought to himself before lying back down and willing himself to sleep.
If he had rolled in at nine thirty in 1973 he knew he would have simply got a nod of disapproval from Phyllis and a comment from Chris, but instead of "You look as rough as a dog's arse, Gov.", he got,
"What time is this sir?!" Maya demanded to a semi-comatose Gene. "Why Sam left you of all people in charge I don't know." Usually Gene would have come back with some snide comment but he could bring himself to do it.
"Th'n why didn't ya' take charge?" Gene asked in a voice like sandpaper.
"Because I do as I'm told." Maya replied and Gene nodded.
"Apparently me too." He muttered to himself, thinking back to his small-hours conversation with Morgan.
Lucky for Gene he didn't have to do a 'leader of men' act for the whole morning. Many where dealing with the pile of paperwork, Gene included, that arose after the previous day's fiasco. Maya had already run out of people to interview so even she had to spend her time typing. But, just when Gene thought it was going to be a quiet day,
"Phone for you sir." Mark informed Gene and Gene picked up the receiver.
"It's Morgan." Came the voice and in a split second before Gene nearly exploded with anger he remembered where he was.
"What do you want?!" Gene hissed and Mark raised an eyebrow. Fixing Mark with a glare he returned to his desk and Gene continued. "So?"
"That accident really must have addled your brain. But, I can't tell you over the phone, it won't be secure."
"You fool, this is a police number, we don't keep tabs on our own!"
"I need to meet you, in half an hour, by the canal, unit 45, the quayside." Morgan said.
"Fine." Gene replied before hanging up. "Maya, hold the fort, I've got something I need to do."
It had rained heavily for most of the morning and continued unabated as Gene walked down the tow path to the rendezvous point. He hadn't had the forethought to bring an umbrella so was just about soaked to the bone by the time he spotted a man with the forethought to bring an umbrella standing like a living statue on the bank.
"Morgan." Gene called out with chattering teeth and the man turned. Through the rain Gene could almost see the press creases in Morgan's immaculate attire. He had an air about him that made Gene's stomach lurch, he's gut feeling was telling him big time, something was amiss.
"Ah, the man of the hour." Morgan said with a smile and beckoned Gene to follow.
Morgan lead Gene to a car, Gene assumed Morgan's own, and opening the door gestured that Gene should get in.
"For this to work Gene, I need you to tell me, will that team of Tyler's do as you say?" Morgan asked with such force that Gene was nearly taken back.
"Well for course you div' I'm a superior officer!" Gene spat and Morgan laughed.
"Good, good, well then, in two hours from now, you will receive an anonymous tip, there's a bomb in a supermarket. At the same time, on the other side of town I'll be doing the job."
"Bomb?! Job?!" Gene protested, he knew what both meant, and both meant criminal activity, but he didn't have the faintest idea why he was being, told, unless…
"So you want me to have the whole of A Division turn out for a bomb. Dud?"
"Certainly, I don't see why I should run the risk of two convictions." Morgan's laugh made the blood pulse in Gene's brain.
Suddenly it all made sense, the supposed death of Gene Hunt, the midnight phone calls, the yellow girl; clearly a sign of a guilty conscience, who ever Morgan thought Gene was, he knew that he was going to have one hell of a tough call.
"Tell me, my mind's still a little fuzzy, two things, one, how much research did I do into this Hunt guy, and two, which bank again?" Morgan eyed Gene carefully, but Gene gave an innocent, weak smile, something that didn't come at all easy to Gene.
"Oh, barely any research, didn't need it, we only needed his name. And the HSBC on London Road, they have the new bills arriving. You'll need to divert any squad cars or something, you're the Police know-it-all. Remember, pull this off and there's a bag of money, with your name on it," Morgan smirked, "Gene."
The count down is on…
(Once again, sorry for the late entry.)