Rose couldn't believe what she was hearing as he quickly told her on their way to the pub where he had been told Tess was waiting and Alec couldn't believe she'd had the nerve to call Dave Harris instead of him when realising her car had been broken into. What the hell had she even been doing there when he had witnesses to say he'd told her to go back directly to the station and that had been over two hours ago.
"So tell me again why he let Ashworth's wife see him?" Rose asked as they were almost there.
"I don't know, that is what I intend on finding out. What the hell was he thinking?"
"She probably gave him a sob story and he believed it, he believed your wife. Well that's what me and my friends reckoned anyway, sorry. I did tell you that was just our theory, it may not be actually true though."
"Yes it is, I know that I gave her enough reason to go to someone and complain about me because she told me to stay away from you and she was trying to find a reason for me to get rid of you as my DC. I drove her to it."
"No, I did too, stop blaming yourself Alec, that's what she wants, that's what she's been trying to do and you never saw it."
He knew Rose was right, that was exactly what Tess had been doing and now he was doing something about it.
Dave of course had kept Tess in the pub, in a quiet corner where he had slipped his arm around her and tried to kiss her, being lucky the second time. No-one knew them there which is why when he'd found out where she was he knew the pub was the best place to meet her. He felt no guilt about it, Hardy was surely fooling around with his little blonde DC and though she was a bit of alright, she wasn't married so he wasn't interested in her himself but he'd had his eye on Tess for a long time and since she'd been upset at her husband taking too much of a liking to Tyler, she was ready to be coaxed into confiding in him.
They'd finally agreed to sneak off the following night to a cheap hotel he knew of to 'spend some time together' so he said and was walking her out to her car and as she was approaching it, could see the broken glass on the ground. He'd told her not to panic, he'd call the station for her and claim she had just called him and since he didn't live far away, he could claim he'd just got there but if anyone from the pub came out, well he'd have to deal with it but he didn't think anyone had seen them together in the corner. He just hoped there was no CCTV to prove otherwise or he'd have some explaining to do.
As they waited for everyone to arrive, Dave had sat her in his car.
"What's been stolen Tess?"
Tess put her head in her hands. "Just my work bag that had my work phone and the evidence bag."
"You are kidding Tess? You left the pendant in there?"
"How was I to know someone would pick my car to smash their way into? It's Alec's fault, he told me to take it back to the station, he's probably gone off somewhere with Tyler, he thinks I don't know what he's up to. Those rumours going around are about him and her, I know they are."
"Calm down Tess, you knew this was coming, you said so when she arrived. I heard them too and I'm convinced it's him and Tyler, who else could it be?"
They got out of the car as a uniformed patrol arrived, the WPC going to Tess to see if she was ok, thinking she must be in shock.
"I'm fine, really. I just want my car fixing so I can go home."
"DI Hardy said we had to wait for him and forensics Ma'am, sorry."
"Can't you just write it up for her?" Dave asked.
"Sorry Sir, he insisted she waited here until he arrived."
"I expect he'll be waiting for his DC to pick him up knowing him. Carry on."
"I have to ask you a few basic questions Ma'am. When did you park your car?"
Tess thought she might get away with denying the evidence had been in the car but Alec was too clever to believe that and when it wasn't at the station, he'd just go mad with her over it.
"I had to stop to use the ladies room so as I was off-duty, I stayed for a drink. I never realised what time it was, I'm worried about my daughter having to stay with her grandmother during this investigation."
"Sorry Ma'am."
The forensics team arrived and began going over the car, then Rose pulled in under the lighting, Alec getting out and seeing Dave next to Tess, leaning on his car.
"Were you already here Harris?" he asked, ignoring Tess, who was just asking forensics how long they would be so she could call the auto glass company.
"No Hardy, Tess called me, I'd just got home."
"Why did she call you then?"
"I'm her partner in this investigation."
"So that gives you the right to interfere with mine and allow a visit by Ashworth's wife?"
"I saw no harm in it, she was upset and wanted to see him."
"You should have turned her away and told her to come and see me tomorrow. Tess, what the hell did I tell you before you went off? I said go straight back to the station, did I not? Tyler, come here. What did I tell DS Henchard before she left the car lot?"
"To go straight back to the station with the evidence we found Sir."
"Yes, you would side with him Tyler," Tess said sarcastically.
"You said you had to go back to the station, we trusted you."
"You let me Alec."
"Tess, you are a detective sergeant, I should be able to trust you to follow orders."
"Oh you love ordering me around, don't you?"
"What the hell do you mean by that? Forget it, I'm not arguing with you. So, where's the evidence bag then?"
"It was in my work bag, which was taken."
"I give up. If you had to go for a drink, could you not have dropped the evidence at the station first or is that too much to ask?"
"I needed to make a stop, I wasn't intending on staying."
"So you called Harris to join you?"
"What about you and Tyler? Where do you get to?"
"I'm not discussing this here. Harris, see her car gets repaired and drop it at the station, Tess, you are coming with us. Have you given your statement?"
"Of course I have and I'm not going with you. I'll wait for my car, I'll see you at home."
Alec indicated to Rose he wanted to leave. Forensics cleared Tess's car and she called the glass repair company.
"I cannot believe she was so stupid," Alec was complaining while Rose was asking where he was going. "Just drop me at home Rose, I'm sorry, we will have to continue later."
"It's ok Alec but why are you giving her the satisfaction of going home?"
"For her to see me packing. I have had enough, Harris will have met her after she left the car lot, then he has the nerve to say he felt sorry for Claire Ashworth."
"You'd better calm down Alec, before you get home."
"Yes, sorry Rose. I will see you tomorrow, I will just pack my car and find a hotel for the night."
"I'm still looking for a flatmate."
"No, I have caused you enough trouble."
"Where are you going to go? You can have the spare room tonight, no charge unless you want to put the heating on."
"I will think about it and I will call you when Tess gets back."
"Are you going to let her try to persuade you to stay?" she asked as they approached his house.
"No, what makes you say that?"
"Won't she use your daughter against you?"
"She will try but nothing will change if I do stay, she will have won. She will have me where she wants me, agreeing to get someone else made my DC and she will have you transferred. No, she will not persuade me to stay. I will call you when I get finished but if she starts an argument, I may just grab a few things. Actually, I may just do that anyway to save myself getting into one."
Rose pulled up outside his house and he went to get out. Since there was no sign of Tess yet, he leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"Do you think she meant what she said Alec? She thinks you like ordering her around at work and that's why she does what she does, tries to boss you around at home?"
"You may just be right Rose, I never looked at it that way before."
"That's because you're too close to it Alec. We're all gonna be in for it tomorrow when the chief finds out. We have to find something else out about the Ashworths."
"I know that. I had best go, I will call you."
"Just come round, I'm not going anywhere. Alec, you don't think Tess did it on purpose do you?"
"No, I doubt it but, was it a coincidence Ashworth's wife went to visit him then Tess's car got broken into?"
"Now you mention it, it was a bit funny but we can't do anything about it tonight. See you later then."
Alec had been in nearly an hour before Tess finally got back and in that time, he'd packed a case and a holdall and had them by the kitchen door when she came in.
"Oh, going somewhere?"
"Yes to the nearest hotel. Are you just trying to ruin any chances of putting Pippa's killer behind bars and in what way do I order you around except as your boss where work is concerned? You had your chance Tess, you could have made DI if you had wanted. You are the boss around here and I am done with it. I am done with you telling me how to dress and style my hair and if I shave or not."
"Yes, I can see about the shaving bit. See how long you last on your own Alec and what about Daisy?"
"I will collect her tomorrow night and bring her home and talk to her and don't you go trying to turn her against me either. She can stay at your mother's until you get home during the week, there is no reason why she can't come home though now, you have probably ruined the conviction."
"Don't go blaming it all on me, you could have refused to let me offer to take the evidence back."
"Come on Tess, have you heard yourself? You made a rookie mistake, who do you think the chief will put the blame on? I am not taking it to spare you, you chose to stop off, not me. I have a witness to say you drove off with it after being told to go directly to the station and you chose to ignore it. Meeting Dave were you?"
"Don't think I've not heard the rumours about you and Tyler Alec."
"What rumours? What are you talking about? The rumours a senior male officer is bragging about a senior female officer? Tyler is not a senior officer, she is a junior officer and if you remember, you warned all the female officers to stay away from me."
"Well who are the rumours about then if you think you are so clever? Tyler didn't heed my warning though did she?"
Alec began to laugh, putting one hand on his hip and pointing a finger at her.
"You Tess, the rumours are about you and Dave Harris. Tyler has nothing to do with this, you have no right to tell anyone to stay away and especially not my DC when I give her orders to collect me every morning and you countermand them and if Lee Ashworth walks free over this, you are going down on your own Tess."
"If you don't stick up for me Alec, I'll tell Daisy you're leaving me for another woman."
"It won't work Tess, when do I have time for another woman eh?"
"You and Tyler are getting very friendly."
"So are you and Harris so if you try that little trick with Daisy, expect some payback. Do you want her to find out because if not from me, she will find out when Ashworth walks free and it gets in the papers. The chief will put the blame on someone and yes, I was the officer in charge but I took you with me so things would not go wrong and they did. Expect to be called into his office in the morning, I will see you there."
Tess watched him put his jacket on and pick up his holdall and the suitcase handle. She knew she had now gone too far, keeping women away from him had been her way of dealing with him bossing her around and it hadn't worked, it had backfired on her. Now she was on her own with a three bedroomed house to pay for, she would have to go see what allowances she could claim because the funny thing was, she wasn't that bothered about it.
He was right that the rumours could have been about Dave, why hadn't she seen it? He'd been so good to her, listening to her complaints and saying he understood what she was going through. Was it going to put her off? Had he done it before though?
Alec pulled into the car park of Rose's apartment block and took his things out of the back of his car and going to the main entrance, pressed the buzzer. Rose had been in a while and tidied the spare room again, wondering what she was letting herself in for, saying he could stay the night again but what then?
Had she given him the reason he needed to move out? Offering him a room for the night might only be the beginning if the kisses earlier were anything to go by. She'd tried to resist him but he was right, she had felt something and she'd tried to deny it. Now Tess knew Alec knew about Dave Harris so Rose now expected things to get really messy. She heard the buzzer and went to answer it.
"Alec is that you?"
"Yes, let me in Rose."
She opened the apartment door and let him in, locking the door behind him.
"You know where the spare room is Alec and I already put the heating on."
Instead of picking up his case and holdall, he turned towards her.
"Rose, I will take the spare room tonight, I don't really want to go find a hotel at this time of night but we need to talk about this."
"I know Alec. Did you argue with her?"
"No, I told her I was done with it all, the arguments are over. Thanks for letting me stay."
"You're welcome. I'll go make some tea while you unpack what you need and there's no rush for you to find somewhere though if I were you, I wouldn't go changing your address with personnel just yet. I guess I can forget putting an advertisement up in the local shops?"
"I guess you can, just until I find somewhere. Rose, things are going to get very bad tomorrow, the chief will have everyone concerned in his office but I am not taking the blame and neither are you. If Ashworth walks out, it will be Tess's fault, not mine."
"We can still get him on the DNA found on the pillow but I was thinking while I was waiting for you. Dave Harris let Claire in to see her husband, then Tess's car gets broken into. Ashworth must have told her where he'd sold the car. What if she saw Tess leaving and followed her?"
"You mean Claire took the pendant back because she knew Pippa had lost it the night she died?" He took hold of her and kissed her forehead. "Of course, Rose, you are a genius. All we have to do is go back to their house tomorrow, the search warrant is valid for 48 hrs. We take her by surprise and search for the evidence bag, she won't be expecting us. Rose, can we pick up where we left off earlier?"
"Well, ok then but we need a drink first, you go unpack what you need for tonight and hang up your other shirts. What happened to your other suit and your coat?"
"At the cleaners, I have the ticket somewhere."
"I'll go pick them up for you, give me it tomorrow," she told him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "You look tired Alec, are you ok?"
"Yes, maybe I should have stayed in the hospital after all? This stress is no good for me."
"Aw, poor Alec. Maybe a kiss will help?"
She put her arms around his neck, going for his tie.
"Later, you promised me a kiss."
He thought back to how things had been with Tess when they had just started out, had he really loved her or had they just got together because they were partners? He didn't want to go making the same mistake again though but Rose was different, he knew she was because it had taken a while with Tess yet with Rose, he'd known the other day when she had shown more concern for him than his wife had done.
They kissed, properly, for the first time, not like earlier.
"We have some talking to do Alec."
"Yes, I am aware of that because this cannot spill over into work, well not in the station and even so, we will have to be careful when we are out."
"I'll ask to be transferred, if it makes things easier?"
"No, then Tess really will have won. We can be professional at work, can't we?"
"Yeah, I guess so but won't she make trouble?"
"How? The chief already got tired of her complaining about you."
"Yeah but this time he might believe her."
"Then we tell him and we assure him it will not interfere with our jobs."
"Well tomorrow, all three of us may not have a job, if Ashworth gets let off. We can still get him, if Claire has the pendant."
"Then let us hope she has. Now, you go make that tea and do I really have to use the spare room?"
"You are getting ahead of yourself – Sir."
Back at the Ashworth house, Claire had been looking for a safe place to hide the evidence and knew there was only one where no-one would look if they decided to come back should they suspect anything. DNA would prove Pippa had worn it and that stupid cow Cate would say her daughter had worn it that night but they wouldn't search her so putting it by the bedside, she intended wearing it tomorrow under a high neck jumper and none of them would be any wiser.