Your reviews have been awesome, thank you so much for them. Here's chapter 16.

Purple

When Alex and Shaz met up with Gene again outside The Olive Tree, he had driven them to Shaz's flat and ordered Shaz to show him the other letters. He had even followed her into her room as she got them to make sure she didn't hide any. He was relieved that she didn't appear to have destroyed a single one. Like Alex, she had hidden them in a shoebox.

Alex made to follow Gene and Shaz but something in another room caught her eye. Pushing the half-ajar door fully open, a girl's bedroom was revealed to her. Leanne's room. Alex stepped in and instantly started building a psychological profile of the owner- she couldn't help it. She breathed in- the scent was familiar, it reminded her of her father, and it was strongest near Leanne's bed. Deep purple walls complimented a pale lilac bedspread and all over the floor were discarded clothes mingling with books. Alex picked a few of them up: Poirot, Holmes, Marple, Grisham. Leanne loved crime novels- no wonder she had been so thrilled to meet Gene.

Alex replaced the books and looked around again for what had caught her eye. She found it on the dressing table opposite the door. Surrounded by bottles of hairspray, hairdressing scissors and curlers was a huge typewriter. And next to the typewriter was a pile of blank yellow cards, identical to the ones she and Shaz had received.

"Bolly."

Alex span around guilty to face a furious Guv. She pointed to the dressing table. Gene glanced towards the pile and nodded to show he understood what Alex was implying but the anger emanating from him didn't diminish. He brandished another stack of yellow paper towards Alex and she took it.

Alex read though them quickly and understood why Gene was so cross- the anger wasn't directed at her, it was for Shaz. Her blood began to boil. "It goes back as far as that?"

Gene didn't answer. When Alex looked up, Gene was standing to one side and Shaz was at the doorway, looking as though she was close to tears.

"We need to find Chris," she whispered.

"Oh, as if you care," snapped Alex. Shaz stepped forward and slapped Alex sharply round the face. Gene cried out, something about Shaz respecting her senior officer but Alex cut him off.

"Stop it, Gene. I'm sorry Shaz, I know you had no choice."

Shaz broke into tears and Alex took her in her arms, letting her cry for a few seconds before finally breaking away. She heard Gene tut in disbelief.

"Do you have any idea where they might have taken him?"

Shaz shook her head.

"Then I suggest we turn this flat upside down. Shaz, this is going to upset you, but Leanne is behind the letters that you've received. I got them too. It's possible that she's left some clue here as to where Chris is."

They searched the place all over. Alex was trying not to think about how illegal this was. Chris' disappearance hadn't been formally reported and they didn't have a search warrant for the flat- did it make a difference if Shaz was there too?

It was Shaz that found it. Alex recognised instantly what had happened. Leanne had been here and received a telephone call. The caller had told Leanne where Chris was being held and she had written it down on a small notepad on the telephone table (along with Chris' name- the big giveaway), ripped off the sheet and left, presumably for this location. Shaz had come along and lightly shaded with a pencil the sheet underneath, revealing the impression of what Leanne had written earlier.

"I've worked it out," said Alex quietly as she, Gene and Shaz got into the Quattro, Shaz in the back and Alex riding shotgun. "Shaz, I need you to answer some questions. Please be honest, Chris' life could depend on it, whatever the letter said."

Alex's interrogation lasted the whole journey. Alex faced forwards to take the pressure off Shaz but she snuck looks at Gene every so often. He kept his eyes on the road and his mouth firmly shut, despite the confessions Shaz was making. It was all becoming clear to Alex.

XXX

"Pull up here," said Alex when they were around the corner from the house.

Gene obeyed but not without asking, "Why?" It was the first time he had spoken since they had left Shaz's.

"I need to go in alone," said Alex. Shaz protested and Alex deferred.

"Alright, Shaz too. But not you, Gene."

Gene kept his eyes in front, even though they were no longer driving. Finally, he said, "DI Drake, a word."

"I'm not your DI," Alex muttered as they got out, leaving Shaz in the back. Alex walked round to Gene's side and froze as she saw the look on Gene's face. If she had ever seen him angry before, this was nothing compared to how he looked now, how small his mouth seemed, how sunken yet bright his eyes were, how uncharacteristically still his body was.

"Two things: first there is no way in hell I am letting you go into that house without me. You could be killed. Secondly, Shaz is not leaving my sight."

"I knew you'd say that," Alex sighed. "But it's the only way."

"How? Enlighten me, Bolls."

"If I'm right- and it's a big if- we have very little evidence and none that will stand up in court. We can't send them down based on an ex-coppers hunch. We have to get them to confess and they won't do that if you're there."

"You'd be surprised," said Gene drily.

"We have to make them believe they are the dominant people in the situation," said Alex, ignoring Gene's comment. "They have to think that there is no help for me or Shaz."

"There might not be for Shaz," Gene snapped, "She doesn't deserve anything from us, or were you riding in a different Quattro just now?"

Alex hoped they wouldn't have to address this yet, all though she knew Shaz was the cause of his rage. She felt just as betrayed as Gene.

"We can't keep her away from Chris," said Alex, "I know she's let us down-"

"Us down?" Gene snapped and Alex shut her eyes and turned away, "Us? How about the Force? You aren't her superior officer any more, Drake. You're not my DI. You left the force, left me…"

"I didn't have a choice," she whispered, cursing the tears that were leaking from beneath her eyelids. "Nor did Shaz for the same reasons. And as for not being your DI, that doesn't matter. Who do you turn to still when you need someone? When Ray was arrested, when Shaz got that note?"

"Yet you don't turn to me," Gene retorted. "I still don't know how Bryson figured you out."

"You still want to bring that up? Now? After all this time?"

Gene didn't reply.

"Do you want to know why that operation failed, Gene?" Alex asked, opening her eyes. "Do you want to know the last secret? How Bryson realised I was a copper?"

Gene said nothing, but his eyes widened.

"I said your name. I was lying in Bryson's bed, his hands were all over me and all I could think about was you."

Gene didn't move, didn't say a word, but his eyes left Alex's to stare, unfocused at a spot over her shoulder. Alex opened the Quattro's door to let Shaz out. She turned to Gene, who looked dazed. "Give us a five minute head start then follow. Chris is likely to be held in a room above the ground floor so be careful climbing stairs. Listen as closely as you can but stay out of sight until I give the codeword."

Gene finally found his voice. "What is the codeword?"

"Shoebox."