Hey everyone, I finally got round to writing the next chapter! Thanks for all the lovely reviews so far and subscriptions etc. Please continue to R&R and let me know what you think! x

Alex was still shaking with rage as she sat on her sofa with another glass in her hand, occasionally rippling in the glass as her tears mingled with her wine. She knew that what she had said to Gene was out of order and completely unfair, and she knew that she wasn't having fun with Alastair; he was a job and she knew that underneath the smooth exterior, he was a monster. But he had fed Alex's ego and when she looked into Alastair's eyes she couldn't help but wish that he was different, so that she could justify her attraction towards him.

And then there was Gene, who had been there for her since the beginning. Yes, he could be difficult, and Alex had seen his darker side, but she knew his heart was always in the right place. When he was near her, her heart raced and her head swam... who was she kidding, she loved Gene, and had for a long time now. But, every time they became closer, something would push them even further apart... and this time that something was Alastair Stoke. No, this time, it was Alex's stupidity, and deep down she knew it.

Getting too close to Alastair was a way of proving to herself that Alex was over Gene Hunt, and to show Hunt that she was still a free agent and what he was missing. Instead, she had gone so far down in his estimation he probably wouldn't touch her with a barge pole now. She knew what she had felt towards Alastair was real, however, and she knew she would now struggle with bringing him down because despite everything he had done, Stoke had shown Alex that he could be gentle and loving.

She was in too deep now. She could no longer ward off Stoke's advances without compromising the case, and the way it felt when he touched her... she didn't have enough self control around him anymore. Alex could never explain this to Gene, and she could never explain to him how she really felt; that's just how their relationship worked. Alex needed this to be over quickly, for everyone's sake.

***

The meeting was taking place in an abandoned car park a few miles from the docks where the order was arriving two days later. Alastair was silent for the duration of the journey from the club and his only movement was to grip Alex's hand, seemingly to reassure himself more than anything else. Smith was driving and another of Stoke's staff was in the passenger seat, playing with the safety on his gun nervously. There was another of Stoke's cars behind them containing more 'security'.

"Thanks for coming with me, Alex," Stoke smiled, "I really appreciate it. This is a really big deal. This could make my empire. Our empire, Alex."

Alex smiled back, hating the guilt she felt for betraying him. She leant over and kissed him gently on the lips, but he pulled her into a more passionate embrace which she did not refuse. She turned away from him and looked out of the window casually while trying to locate which rooftop the team were watching from.

***

"Gov, the target has just entered the car park, and is heading to the 5th floor where the other vehicles are."

"DC Skelton," Gene grunted as he took the binoculars from Chris. He could see Alex in the back of the car and he felt fear course through his body. Their car came to a halt opposite the black sedan which had arrived 10 minutes previously, but there was no movement. Gene focused in on Alex and she could see her having a rather heated discussion with Stoke: she was scowling and pulling that annoying face she has when she's being sarcastic. Eventually the car door opened and she stepped out.

"Why the bloody hell isn't Stoke getting out of the car?"

"Don't know, Gov. None of the security guys are either..."

"Jesus Christ, Stoke's using Bolly to do the deal..."

A man neither of them recognised stepped out of the other car with a brief case. He looked as nervous as Alex did, so Gene assumed that both Stoke and his associate were using the same method. That way no-one important to the next deal was in the firing line and no-one could say that Stoke had done the deal. This proved, to Gene at least, that Stoke didn't care about Alex as much as she thought he did. But would she that?

Gene and Chris held their breath as Alex proceeded to open the briefcase. What could be in the briefcase that had everyone involved so scared?

"You are joking!" Gene barked. The briefcase simply contained money, most likely Stoke's cut from a robbery he is distantly connected to. "That's it? For Christ's sake..."

Gene gave the binoculars to Chris and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Wait," yelled Chris, "they've got another briefcase..."

Gene grabbed the binoculars again and, as Chris had said, someone else had gotten out of the other car with another briefcase. The case with the money had been given back with only a few notes taken out by Alex, and the next briefcase was handed to her. She opened it.

The same process occurred again with the second briefcase which appeared to contain a substantial amount of cocaine: it was shown to Alex, she took a sample and it was handed back. It was something, but not enough to explain the fear.

A third briefcase was brought out and handed to Alex. But there didn't seem to be anything in it: Gene had expected drugs and money to be exchanged, and possibly guns, but this briefcase didn't contain anything like that. He focused the binoculars in slightly more, and saw a deep red flash of colour coming out of the case.

"Gov, what is it?"

Gene had dropped the binoculars, his eyes wide with disbelief. "It's passports, Chris. Bloody fake passports."