Rose woke up, lying on someone then she remembered it was her boss, who was turning from an ugly duckling into a swan the last few days. His slick hair that had been combed forward just a few days ago was all over the place, he'd not shaved since Tuesday (It was now Friday) and his beard was coming along nicely though he'd thought he wouldn't let it get too thick or Rose may not like it and he'd found himself wanting to do things to please her which was why he'd subconsciously taken her advice and had become less 'stuffy' since she'd saved his ass from the river.

He just hoped she appreciated his attempts to become more 'trendy' if that was even the right word and he was going to sort out his wardrobe and throw out what Tess had made him buy. Then he felt her move.

"Morning Tyler," he thought he'd joke to see what she said.

"Hmm, morning Sir, are we gonna start that again?"

"Well you said last night not to get ahead of myself and you called me sir. Did I get ahead of myself?" he asked moving her so he could kiss her, hoping she wouldn't complain about his growing beard or something else growing in his shorts.

"Ok, truce from the protocol of official titles, I'm gonna give you another name."

"Just as long as you do not call me it instead of sir at work. You are alright, about last night?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't be still here if I wasn't. It was really nice but maybe we can put the rest on hold until tonight?" she grinned as she felt him.

"Yes, sorry, I will try not to get carried away, well not too much. We have a very grim day ahead of us and I wanted to be certain last night was not going to be one of our problems?"

"No, it's not gonna be a problem though you'd better not go around with a look on your face that indicates their might be. It was a really nice first time but I'm happy we didn't go too far Alec, that would have been a mistake until we sort things out."

"Yes, I do not want things to get complicated between us. I will stay, until after the weekend at least but by Monday morning, you may see why my wife turned against me."

Rose ruffled his hair some more. "She's a sadistic cow who wanted to make your home life a misery and she was succeeding and you didn't even know it. It just took someone from outside to make you realise."

He leaned over to kiss her again, then touched just above the vest top she was wearing over the cotton knickers she'd got up to put on before going to sleep and Alec had slipped his shorts back on but she'd made him leave his t-shirt off. Now she was making a circle with her finger through his just the right amount of chest hair.

"Well you made me see what she was up to, how did I not see before? We should have breakfast before we leave, it is going to be a very long day and a lot of accusations are going to fly, Tess will try and make something out of last night, when I left and you will be her prime target."

"Let her, I'll tell everyone we think it's her the rumours are about, you saw them last night, he looked a bit guilty."

"Rose, how could you tell in the dim light?" he asked with a hint of a laugh.

"I know what blokes can be like, trust me, there's something going on."

"Oh, you mean like us being accused of spending too much time together?"

"Well would you prefer the rumours are about us than them? Everyone will be so busy now when it gets around the station he was with her when uniforms arrived and he stayed behind with her."

Alec leaned down to kiss just above her vest top. "I am glad you are on my side, DC Tyler." He kissed her again then got out of bed. "I will make you breakfast, for allowing me to stay."

"I'll have to call the agency and put your car registration down or it may get towed away."

"Yes, I will have to leave it here or maybe from Monday I will leave it at the police garage."

"Hmm, then Tess will get suspicious," Rose smiled kneeling on the bed and putting her arms around his neck from behind, kissing his cheek and ruffling his hair. "You should maybe leave your hair like that," she laughed, doing it again.

"Stop it Rose, do you really want to be accused of anything? I will have to at least try to comb it when you have finished with it," he laughed, grabbing her hand and twisting around, making her fall back on the bed.

He pretended to fall on top of her, placing one hand at the side of her then putting the other under her vest top he lifted it, kissing her tummy.

"Alec, we really should get going, we don't want to be late and have everyone talking about us, do we?"

He placed another kiss then moved, holding out his hand to help her up and catching her, sat at the side of her. He moved a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"Rose, I don't think I care any longer but it will be better for the time being if we kept this quiet and maybe just inform the chief though he will not be in a very good mood once he hears what happened last night."

"No, he won't. Alec, he may split us up if we tell him."

"No because if he moves you, I go as well and he won't do that until this case is resolved. Lisa is still out there somewhere and she may still be the key to it all. We can still hold Ashworth on suspicion of murder despite losing the pendant. Maybe the chief will be able to keep it quiet while we try and get it back and allow us time to search the house again?"

Rose leaned into his bare shoulder. "I hope so Alec, we had him and that stupid wife of yours has screwed it up for all of us. I really think she left her bag in the car deliberately, don't you?"

Alec helped off the bed, properly this time and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Maybe, I really do not know what goes on in her mind now and I thought I knew her Rose. You do know we have an extra ten minutes now you do not have to drive over and collect me?"

They set off after breakfast, Rose informing one of her neighbours whom she suspected was the chief busybody that the black SUV type car in one of the visitor parking spaces was her new flatmate's car and she would inform the agency and he would move it when they got back from work. Rose could have sworn the older woman had a disapproving look on her face as they walked to her silver estate car and she got in the driver's seat and Alec in the passenger side.

Rose burst out laughing as the woman went back inside.

"Rose, that was not funny."

"Oh come on Alec, I bet she saw us the other morning when you stayed. At least I didn't tell her you were my boyfriend."

"Yes and you had better be careful about that, until I do something about separating from Tess though no doubt she will be the first to do something about it but not today. We have enough to keep us busy all day but if we are not working tomorrow, I will go seek some legal advice."

"What are you going to say?" she asked as she tried to concentrate on the road and not him running his long fingers through his hair, now it wasn't plastered with hair products.

Rose thought if he didn't stop doing that, she would pull over and jump him. He looked so cute and sexy now, he'd not fastened his top shirt button again and he'd chosen a blue tie instead of his dark grey one. If he'd ditched that dark grey raincoat, she would have to watch out herself someone else didn't try and steal him away. She knew now that Tess needn't have warned women away from him, he'd done quite a good job of putting them off himself but now, the transformation was incredible.

Alec was thinking about how he could begin legal separation but on what grounds? Cruelty came to mind, well mental cruelty but not only that, if he admitted it, things had been going downhill for a long time and Tess's insecurities had been justified. He could have had any of the women in the department he'd wanted if he'd been that way inclined but one Casanova was enough, now he knew all the rumours he'd heard in the past and ignored were true and Harris had been going around for years claiming victims.

Now his wife was the latest and he should be fighting for her but now, in the car with Rose, smiling at him now and then when she checked the mirror, he knew he'd purposely tried to put other women off and it had worked nicely until she had come along and saved him from the river. Had she not got in and pushed him to safety, he could have easily gone under again and been seriously affected by it but she had selflessly got in, not thinking he could have pulled her under with him and all the men trying to reach him had just stood there and let her.

Would it have made any difference if some of them had got in with her though? It only needed her to give him that push towards the waiting hands of the officers who were trying to pull him out when he'd lost his footing on a stone or something and her keeping hold of him when she'd grabbed him had pulled her out at the same time.

Rose was still waiting for him to answer her as she pulled into the police car park and stopped for the barrier, reaching for the card on the dashboard but Alec got to it first.

"Why don't you have that ready on the approach Rose?" he asked as he handed it to her and the barrier lifted when she'd held the card in front of the sensor.

"Because the card always seems to move and besides, I'm not used to it, I've only had the car a few days. I'll have to hand it back tonight anyway, you can have my parking space until the agency have been told and I may not get the chance today."

"Your neighbour may do that for you. Watch out, Tess just came in behind us."

"So?" Rose just grinned, parking the car in a space marked 'Senior officers cars only' and since she deemed she qualified, driving one around, she dared them to tell her to move, since it was nearer the exit than the other spaces.

Tess pulled in next to them, glancing across at Alec, who was grinning back at Rose as she said let them try and move her, she'd been doing it all week when they'd been out but in the mornings when she'd dropped him by the entrance, she'd gone somewhere else and when they got back from anywhere, most of the best spaces were already taken anyway.

"What are you so cheerful at?" Tess asked him as he opened the door.

"Morning to you too Tess, can't I have a joke with my DC now?"

"How long have you been parking there?"

"I am a senior officer Tess. Tyler here is justified. They do not have names on them, only the chief and the DCI's have them," he replied, pointing at some spaces at the other side of the gap.

"Find a hotel then or did you share with Tyler?"

"That is none of your business so you can stop right now and treat her with more respect. I am not answering to you, when we are inside police property, you will address me as sir or DI Hardy from now on, understood? For your information, before we go see the chief, your threats of telling Daisy anything about me are useless, you had better go find yourself a divorce lawyer, you are going to need one unless you agree to a legal separation. If you think you can name DC Tyler, I will name DS Harris and his wife will get to know. Do we understand each other?"

Tess just stared in disbelief. He was finally standing up for himself when she had been used to walking all over him. That was what she had liked so much about Dave, he was so self-assured, in and out of work so she'd just found out while Alec had been bossy at work but had lost his nerve at home. It might be worth fighting Tyler for him but as he was now looking at her, she doubted she would win.

"Come on Tyler, we have work to do and this time, you are not invited Tess."

"Sheesh Alec, that was telling her," Rose remarked as they went up the stairs to the main entrance. "Anyway, how come you didn't get out before I parked up?"

"If I had, she would have made you move, she is still your superior officer."

"Huh, fine example she gives everyone."

"That is beside the point but I will be having words with her about her behaviour."

"I wouldn't want to be her then."

"She has got away with it for too long, she thought she was safe being married to me. Well all that is about to change. Right, you organise forensics and units to meet us at the Ashworth house while I go face the chief. I may be able to pacify him by saying we can salvage this before it leaks to the press. Make sure Ashworth stays locked up and no visitors or I will hang the officer responsible out to dry. Do you have the warrant?"

"Yeah, it's in my bag from last night. I'll call downstairs and tell the duty officer no visitors and keep him isolated and no phone calls."

"I am glad you are more efficient than Tess. Go on, I will catch up with you when I have seen the chief and I will stick up for you."

Rose went off to organise everything. Alec had certainly changed over the last few days and she bet Tess had got a shock and now wished she'd not been stupid enough to let the evidence be stolen but had she left her bag on purpose? She obviously had no regard of protocol and her own personal life had taken preference to her career, well at least on that point.

Alec knocked on the chief's door and prepared to put his career on the line to defend Rose.

"What the hell went on last night Alec? I read the report that Tess's car got broken into and her work related items were stolen. Tell me what happened."

"Well Sir, after we recovered the pendant from Ashworth's car, she said she would bring the evidence back to the station but she decided to stop at a hotel on the way back."

"What? Were you with her?"

"No, Tyler took me home. You know what happened?"

"Yes, I know, the evidence bag was stolen along with the other items. You will have to release Ashworth. I hope you had a warrant to search the car?"

"Yes, the warrant for the house was valid for any vehicle owned by the Ashworth's and seeing it had not been transferred, it was still valid. I see no reason why we cannot hold him, we have the pillow with the girl's DNA and he tried to dispose of the car."

"His solicitor will say the DNA on the pillow could have been left at any time."

"Not necessarily, they claimed the girl was never in their house and now, DC Tyler thinks it was his wife who broke into Tess's car and stole the pendant to cover for her husband."

"Does she now? She's a very bright officer, she'll go a long way. Well, go search the house again before the wife has the chance to get rid of it."

"Oh, I don't think she will get rid of it Sir. I think Claire Ashworth will use it as a hold over him to keep him from dragging her into it."

"You think she had something to do with it?"

"Definitely, if she went to all that trouble of trying to get it back, it will be her insurance policy in case things go wrong and if we get him on something else. She may well be the one behind the whole thing."

"Does your wife subscribe to that theory? She came to complain about you putting her in charge of finding Lisa Newberry."

"I am aware of that and I have to inform you that Tess and I will be separating."

"Because of this case?" Chief Superintendent Moore asked, picking up the folder about Tess's car incident.

"No Sir, this case just brought the inevitable forward. I have already moved out."

"To temporary accommodation? See personnel, they may be able to help with the costs."

"No, I am staying with a friend at the moment."

"Tess allowed you to have friends? Come on Alec, she used to walk all over you and you let her. I noticed you'd made a few changes this week."

"Yes and not before time either and I do have one friend."

"You mean Tyler? So Tess's fears were not unfounded then? Be careful Alec or it could get ugly. Do I need to remind you I only agreed to you and Tess working together on the understanding you conducted yourselves in a reasonable manner? Not that it's been a problem lately."

"I can assure you I know how to conduct myself at work and so can she. She is organising another search of the Ashworth house so I should go. What are doing about Tess?"

"You're her senior officer, I take it you have suitably chewed her out for it?"

"She takes no notice of me. It would be best coming from you."

"Only if you insist. You know I hate getting involved. To make it look good I want you all in here when you get back because I want to know why she felt the need to stop at a hotel instead of delivering the evidence. Have you informed the Gillespies we are holding someone?"

"No, not yet, everything was riding on the pendant being found. I told Tyler to make sure he was held in isolation so he does not overhear anything."

"Good, the less he knows the better but if his solicitor gets to know, he'll be out before lunch. For all our sakes, Tyler had better be right about it being Ashworth's wife breaking into Tess's car."

"I'll get her to send someone back to the hotel, there may be something on CCTV, if they had one installed in the car park. There is another thing, there are rumours going around about two senior officers. Just so you know, the rumours are not about me and Tyler."

"I never listen to rumours Alec, I had enough of your wife coming in complaining about you."