Claire was preparing to have a showdown with Rose the following morning. Rose and Alec had woken up and kissed then made breakfast early and Alec took Rose back to her apartment.

"So are you coming round tonight?" she asked him as she got out of his car.

"I don't know darlin' I may be late, there will be a lot of information come in over the weekend but I will try to get away at a reasonable hour but if not, I'll call you eh?"

"Ok but I'll be worried about you, you know that?"

"Yes, I am aware of that love. Stay away from Claire, she'll just make trouble if she gets a hint you and I are seeing each other, right?"

"Yeah, got it, don't make trouble with Claire but if she wants to still go to lunch, I'll have to tell her I've got to nip to the doctor's for something. I'm gonna see if I can go back on something, I might not be too late. See ya later lover."

Alec smiled and leaned over to grab her arm, pulling her back.

"Less of the lover. Now give me a kiss."

Rose leaned on the passenger seat and reached over, just catching him.

"You're gonna make me late and you are my lover, aren't you?"

"That's beside the point, just don't refer to me as that where Claire might hear. Just be careful with her, she can wrap people around her little finger, especially if she gets you to feel sorry for her. You will tell me if she mentions her husband or where she came from, won't you?"

"Yeah, I'll tell ya, now I really gotta go."

She watched him turn the car around and went up to her apartment to get ready for work. Claire was on the bus on her way to the salon, still plotting how to get Rose away from Alec and trying to decide which story to go with. She finally settled on one and thought how long it would take her to convince her new friend Alec was friendly with more than her, if she could get Rose to believe he'd only just recently left her, Rose might get jealous enough to leave him.

If that didn't work, she would have to go to step two, play on the hospital visit while she was in Sandbrook and Alec going with her only she wouldn't say the baby had been Lee's, she would claim it was Alec's and he forced her to go with him and to get rid of it. If that didn't work, nothing would.

Rose got to work on time and Claire was in the staffroom drinking tea, talking to another girl. Rose did not want to bring up the fact she'd almost been left in Weymouth with a creep and would have had to wait for Alec if Claire had refused to let her get in the cab. Rose knew her friend would not be happy with her, if she remembered. She did.

"Thanks for that on Saturday night Rose, you almost put my bloke off. So did you get lucky with Alec then?"

"There's no need to be like that Claire."

"Well he answered your phone, didn't he? Why was that then? Was he on top of you?"

The other girl, Tiffany was enjoying the conversation, since Claire didn't seem to want to keep if private, other women's love lives were much more interesting than her own with Wayne.

"I'm not discussing it Claire, you were going to leave me in that bar with that creep."

"What creep was that then?" Tiffany asked them.

"None of your business," they both replied.

"Charming."

Their boss, Maureen stood in the doorway.

"You should be getting ready for your first clients instead of discussing men," she reminded them.

They went to rinse their cups and went out one by one, Rose being last for some reason, mainly to keep out of Claire's way.

"What's wrong with you two?" Maureen asked her. "I thought you'd made friends?"

"We did until Saturday night when two blokes tried to pick us up and I was apparently more fussy than Claire was. She got the huff because I didn't want the one I got left with, well I didn't want either of them."

Maureen laughed. "Well I don't want to hear about it and please, keep if off the shop floor?"

"Yeah, I will, can't say the same for Claire, she's got a real Welsh temper on her."

"I'm well aware of that Rose and I know she has a more senior position than you but she did used to run her own salon, she's had more experience. You're coming on well though, you're more popular with the male clients."

"Yeah, that's getting a bit embarrassing since I've just got someone interested in me."

"The man from Saturday night?"

"No, someone in the town but it's awkward, Claire introduced me to him and I think she's jealous. I only met him twice but we get on well, I saw him yesterday."

She didn't want to let on who it was but everyone would find out if he turned up to have his hair cut tomorrow. She also didn't want to let on how Claire knew him nor the fact he rescued her on Saturday night. The morning went fairly quickly, Rose being kept to doing the men's hair when they came in and a few trims of teenagers and it was soon lunchtime. She went to get her jacket and wondered if Claire was going off again like she did last Friday.

Rose quickly walked to the clinic, relieved it wasn't very busy but disappointed to learn she'd have to wait until next time but was given some anyway and told not to start them until after her monthly. That meant Alec was either going to have to keep himself in check or continue to take the precautions and neither of them were favourable but he was going to be busy, they may only see each other at weekends or he would be too tired.

She just had time to grab a sandwich and was just finishing when Claire came back in.

"Thought you'd got away with it earlier?"

"What is it with you Claire? You said Alec wasn't anyone special to you, when I asked you so why are you making a big deal out of it?"

"So he was in your bed then?"

"What's the point in denying it? So, what if he was?"

Claire thought she was getting somewhere and Rose couldn't figure out why she was so bothered about it.

"Why couldn't you just say so? There are things you should know about him."

"Well not now and you're off tomorrow, then I'm off so I don't know when we'll have time to talk. He told me about himself anyway, I doubt you can tell me anything I don't already know."

"Then ask him about the hospital, before we came here."

With that, Claire went back to work, Rose wondering what she meant. Had he suffered a heart attack and she had been there with him? He'd said he'd spent a lot of time trying to get her to turn on her husband, it was viable he'd gone too far and ended up needing treatment but he hadn't said if Claire knew about his condition or not so she couldn't ask her about it.

When it was time to finish work, Rose made sure Claire had left before venturing out. She stopped to send a message to Alec asking if he was going to be working late. He called her back.

"It's mad here Rose, I have no idea when I will get done, don't wait up sweetheart."

"Aw, it's ok Alec, just come round and I'll give you my spare key, yeah?"

"Well in that case, I will try my best but I can't promise love. Maybe it will be best if after tonight I don't bother you with my problems eh?"

"Don't be like that Alec, you need someone to talk to, I'm a good listener."

"Well we'll see then. How did you get on with Claire today?"

"Don't ask, I was glad to get away. She was being really catty and she showed me up in front of everyone, I really just wanted to walk out."

"Don't let her win Rose, she is not worth it. Look, I will try and finish early but Miller already hates me and if I give her more work to do, things will be even worse but I suppose some of it can wait, the killer is not going anywhere."

"Ok then and I have something to tell you and to give you a clue, you'd better have a good supply of what you bought yesterday."

"Oh, so you were too late then?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it, I'm sure nothing happened on Saturday night."

Alec smiled. "Well not in my condition anyway, I think you are probably safe. I've not had time to make that call though, I will have to wait until morning now."

"Well don't leave it much longer, I'm really worried about you now. Claire said something about asking you about the hospital. I thought she didn't know?"

"What? What was she saying?"

"Nothing much, just ask you about going to the hospital but we'll talk about it later."

"Yes we will, I have no idea why she brought that up but it was not me who was in the hospital and I never told her, unless she has guessed and it would be a lucky guess at that. Don't worry about it, I'll explain it to you. I have to go now, we have to go out again."

"Just promise me you'll take care of yourself, don't go doing anything stupid like chase a suspect, will you?"

"No, Miller will keep me in check, don't forget you are coming with me tomorrow night to her house."

"No, I'd not forgotten, at least you won't be both working late."

She had reached her apartment and as she approached the steps, Claire was waiting.

"What are you doing here? How did you know where I lived?"

"Lucky guess, you said it was on the seafront. Are you going to invite me in then?"

"No, that's not a good idea Claire. I spoke to Alec, about the hospital and he said it wasn't him who was there so what's your game?"

"I'm not talking about it out here so if you want to know, invite me in."

If she wanted to find out, Rose had little choice as Claire followed her up the steps. Rose was not going to make her feel welcome though as she never offered her anything.

"Go on then, say what you have to. I'm not gonna deny I've been seeing Alec, he said there was never anything between you and him and I believe him."

"Well you might want to have a rethink about that Rose, when I said before, that Sunday, I was trying to spare you. Me and Alec, back in Sandbrook, well he lured me away from my husband when things started going wrong, Lee was a suspect in a murder and a disappearance and in exchange for not dragging me into it, Alec said he would protect me if I testified against Lee."

"He already told me that Claire, well some of it."

"Yeah? Well did he tell you what else I had to do in return for his protection?"

Rose shook her head, knowing she shouldn't believe a word of what Claire was about to tell her but Alec may not have told her everything. She had just met him, Claire had known him longer and come to the town with him but if there was anything between them, why was he hiding her?

"He said he'd only protect me if I slept with him, his marriage was breaking up, his wife was cheating on him but I don't think that would have stopped him. He made me have sex with him and three weeks later, I was pregnant and he made me get rid of it."

Rose sat down before she fell down. Why was Claire telling her this?

"Is that true Claire?"

"I swear on my mother's grave it's true, that was the reason I kept changing my story about Lee, so he'd get off because Alec wouldn't let me go. Then he dragged me all the way down here and he wouldn't even keep me in the same town, like he was ashamed of me and his reputation would be ruined. I have to keep it quiet or he said he would tell Lee the baby was his and I got rid of it when he was arrested, I had no choice Rose, I was scared. That's what we were arguing about at my place, I told him I wanted out and he could tell Lee, that I didn't care any more then that following night he came back and forced me against my will to sleep with him again."

Rose didn't want to believe it but why was Claire making up such a tale?

"You'd better go Claire, I need time to think about what you told me."

"You do believe me, don't you? Why would I lie to you? I don't want you to go through what I did, that's all. He'll be nice to you then he'll start dominating you and how do you think it makes me feel? He leaves me stuck down in that cottage and only comes down when he wants sex, I'm tired of it Rose but I can't get away from him and he'll trap you as well. Get out Rose, while you still can, before you get too deep in it or you'll never be free of him."

Claire left, reluctantly and Rose didn't know what to think. Should she call Alec or wait and see if he showed up? She made herself something to eat and put the TV on, seeing more about the boy who had died and appealing for witnesses though there was nothing from Alec. Her doorbell rang just after nine – it was Alec and she wasn't sure she wanted to let him in. She did though and when the door closed, he leaned down to kiss her but she backed away. Should she tell him what Claire had just said or leave it?

"Hey sweetheart, what's wrong?" he asked as she hesitated to kiss him.

"Nothing Alec, come on in and I'll make some tea. Have you eaten?"

He cringed at the thought he'd eaten fish and chips out of paper again. "Yes, I'm fine love but what has got into you? Have you been listening to Claire again?"

"No," she lied, hating herself. "What you said earlier, well if you're gonna be busy and working late, maybe we should just see each other at the weekend? I told you about the clinic and it's not fair you having to take the precautions all the time."

"I really don't mind Rose but if that's what you want? Now do I get a kiss eh?"

Two hours later, they had talked about Alec's version of events taking Claire to the hospital after he said Claire had gone to him when Lee Ashworth had been arrested in connection with the youngest girl's death and she'd been scared to tell him.

"So that's it Rose, I went to the clinic with her and that was it, then he got off after the evidence was lost and she came to me because she was scared of what he'd do to her but she kept changing her story. There is nothing else to tell, I accepted a transfer and I was reluctant to leave her behind because if Ashworth comes back looking for her, she may tell me the truth. Now, am I staying or going home?"

"I'm tired Alec, you can stay if you want to but I'm not in the mood for anything else right now."

Alec got up and held his hand out to help her up, he could tell something was bothering her and it was about Claire.

"Don't let it worry you Rose, it's nothing to be bothered about, there is nothing between Claire and myself."

That was what Claire had told her, who did she believe? Alec stayed the night though after Rose only offered him one goodnight kiss and when she thought he was asleep, she turned away from him, he began to wonder how much damage Claire had actually done. He didn't want to confront her in case it drove her away for good so he decided to give her time to come round.

The next morning, he woke up and she wasn't in bed but heard noises from the kitchen so he got dressed and went in to join her, trying to put his arms around her from behind and kiss her cheek.

"Mornin' darlin' do I get a kiss?"

She turned around and gave him a peck on the lips.

"I've made you some breakfast, have you taken your pills?"

"I was about to, I knew you would remind me. Tell me what's wrong Rose."

"Nothing. Well maybe things were a bit intense over the weekend."

"Intense? I suppose you could put it like that after we fell into bed together on Saturday night so if you want to cool things off?"

"It's not that Alec, I'm worried it's all too much for you, balancing a murder investigation and a new girlfriend. I just don't want you to have to choose, I don't want you to overwork but at the same time I don't want you to neglect your work because you feel you should be spending time with me. You did tell me what happened between you and your ex wife."

"That was her fault just as much as mine Rose, I can balance things out," he told her, eating his scrambled eggs on toast.

"Well I just don't want to put too much pressure on you, you have your health to think about. Maybe if you'd told your ex wife, she would have gone a little easier on you."

"That's in the past Rose, I did not think I would have got Tess to go easy on me even if I had told her. Are you still coming with me tonight?"

"Yeah, ok, are you still coming to get your hair cut? Don't worry, Claire won't be there. Don't forget to call the hospital today though."

"No, I won't forget love," he told her as he picked up the plate and took it to the sink.

"You're very well trained Alec."

"Well you did say that I was no longer considered a guest. I'll see you around twelve then?"

He let her put her plate down then grabbed her by the waist. "We need to talk love, after we've been to the Miller house because I'm a detective and I know there is something wrong. Claire got to you, didn't she?"

"Alec, just leave it or we'll both be late for work. We'll talk later, yes and it's nothing to do with Claire."

"You had better not be lying to be about it because if it is Claire, I'll do more than have a few words with her for interfering, trust me. Did I tell you that Tess accused me of getting too close to her, back in Sandbrook?"

"No, you didn't. Did you get too close to Claire?"

"There's no time to discuss this Rose but no, I was completely professional all along with her."

"Apart from hiding her from her husband?"

"Who else was going to do it eh? I got her to go against him, I was responsible for him retaliating, what was I supposed to do, just leave her? I'm not arguing with you Rose, we'll discuss this later."

With that, he put his jacket on and Rose knew to back off before he had an attack.

"I'm sorry Alec, I'll see you later. Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I sometimes forget I have to avoid getting angry but I'm not angry with you, I'm angry with Claire."

She went up to him and kissed his cheek.

"Is that all I get?" he smiled.

"I'll make it up to you when we get back tonight, I just worry about you, that's all."

"Well I will hold you to that promise Miss Tyler. Now I really have to go, you can give me your spare key later then."

Rose wondered if there was even going to be a later, she had to think about this carefully as to who she believed – her friend or her lover.