Now, Tess may have done the damage she'd wanted to cause all along, that of Rose no longer wanting to work with him and she would have won. He hoped Rose wouldn't give Tess the satisfaction, she had been so strong about it up until now but it could be the final straw.
He saw Kate come back in and she waved to him and he nodded back, to hell with what Tess thought. If it wasn't for Daisy, he would leave and it may yet come to that but would it give Tess even more ammunition to fire at him? She could do more damage by implying he'd left her to spend more time with Rose and even turn Daisy against him.
He saw Rose come back in and go to her desk. It was crunch time, would she pack her things and walk out and ask to be put on leave until she could transfer back to London? He tried not to look like he was interested.
Rose was still mad at Tess but Kate had asked her not to give in.
"Come on Rose, are you coming back in with me?" she had asked.
"In a minute," Rose agreed. "I don't want Tess thinking she can walk all over me and that you dragged me back," she'd tried to joke.
"Yeah, wouldn't want that," Kate had laughed.
Kate had sat down at her desk and Jo leaned over to her.
"What's going on?" she asked Kate.
"Yeah, Rose looked like she was really mad," Trish agreed.
"She was," Kate admitted in a low voice. "Tess as usual, she'll tell you later, don't worry, I managed to calm her down."
"Good thing you did, we can't let Tess win, not anymore anyway," Trish told her. "We've had enough of that and won't have to put up with for much longer, thanks to Rose."
"Yeah, we should hear something soon, if Hardy kept his promise," Jo agreed.
"We still have Rose to thank for that," Kate replied as she noticed Tess looking at them. "I just invented a new nickname for Tess," she then whispered to Jo.
"Can't wait to hear it," Jo whispered back, then whispered to Trish, who had to stop herself from bursting out laughing when Kate scribbled on a bit of paper 'Wizard of Oz' and passed it to her.
Jo managed to pass it to Trish just as Tess got up and approached their desks.
"Any reason you've all stopped work?" Tess asked them with her arms folded. "Who gave you permission to go out after DC Tyler?" she then spoke to Kate.
"DI Hardy did," Kate turned to her. "Excuse me but since when did we need permission for going to the ladies room? DI Hardy nodded for me to follow Rose anyway."
"I never saw him," Tess replied. "I suggest you all get back to work."
Kate felt like saying well you wouldn't, would you but kept quiet.
Tess went back to her desk and the three of them had just about enough of the DS bossing them around.
"Huh, we should all go at the same time," Trish suggested.
After all, it had been Tess's fault Rose had stormed out in the first place, she then thought.
Alec saw what was going on but telling Tess to stop going after Rose's friends would be a waste of time. He knew what she was trying to do, by starting on Rose's friends, she hoped they'd get tired of it and blame poor Rose for it and they'd stay away from her. By losing her friends, Rose would then want to leave. Well he hoped Tess would fail and Rose's friends would stick by her.
At least Rose hadn't given Tess the satisfaction of coming back in with her friend, making it look like she'd been persuaded. He didn't really have anything much to do with running the office, Tess had taken charge even when she was still partnered with him but things had to change. Tess had stopped people applying for more training and that was about to end when the chief sorted it out so there would be less for Tess to boss around but until then, she seemed determined to make the most of it.
He turned his monitor off, grabbed his jacket and thought he would rescue poor Rose by making up an excuse to get her out.
"Rose," he called as he closed his office door. "We have somewhere to go."
Rose got her things and followed him, everyone watching her.
He knew that Tess would find some reason to complain when they got back but he'd deal with her later. They walked silently towards the lift and Alec pressed the button.
"Though you may need to get out," he told her as the lift arrived, thankfully with no-one already in it.
"Ya mean ya thought I needed rescuing?" Rose smiled as she pressed the button for the garage.
"If that is how you see it," he half smiled, glad to see she hadn't lost her sense of humour.
"I'm sorry but she really is a cow," Rose replied, leaning against the side of the lift as it descended.
"I already know," Alec told her. "It just took recent events to make me realise I already knew and I apologise, I should have seen it sooner."
"It's not your fault she's like that," Rose reminded him.
"Maybe not but I just let her get on with things in the office," he admitted.
"How did ya know she was gonna hold everyone back?" Rose wanted to know as they arrived in the basement.
"I'm the DI, I should have seen the signs," he replied as they got out of the lift.
He went to push the door to the garage open and allowed Rose to go first. It was then he realised Tess was getting information from the traffic sergeant, she had to be. He didn't say anything to Rose as they drove out of the garage, Rose then asking where they were going.
"Oh I don't know? What are you working on now?" he wanted to know.
"Back to cold cases," Rose smiled as she glanced at him through the mirror.
"I think we can find you something better than that," he replied, seeing her watching him and the road at the same time. "I bet I know where some of the provocation from Tess has been coming from."
"Really?" Rose sounded surprised as they stopped at some traffic lights. "Oh, ya think it's the traffic sergeant?"
"Don't you?" he asked as the lights changed.
"It makes sense," Rose agreed, wondering why he'd brought it up now. "Still doesn't tell me where we're going," she laughed.
"How would you like to do some spying on Tess?" he replied.
"Seriously?" Rose sounded surprised.
"See what detective skills you have learned," he teased her. "Why don't you pull in here?"
Rose indicated to pull into a roadside café parking area. Still confused, she sat for a moment when she'd driven into a parking space.
"What about gettin' you home?" Rose wondered.
"Don't worry about me," he told her.
"But she knows what car I drive," Rose reminded him.
"Then you need to learn surveillance techniques," Alec replied. "Are you getting out?"
Rose stopped staring in disbelief at him and took the seatbelt off.
"Have you never been shown how to follow someone from a distance? Besides, it may be too obvious if you follow her car. Why not start by following her to the garage and see who she talks to?" he suggested as he got out of the car. "She is always complaining about you waiting for me in my office, has she not?"
"Ah!" Rose giggled. "That I can do."
"Good. You can start tonight, we will make sure that we are back in time. You know I can't apologise enough for how Tess is treating you?"
"I know, it's not your fault," Rose replied. "She doesn't need any help anyway, she seems to do well on her own."
"Aye, she does," Alec had to agree. "She could have picked on anyone, it's not just you."
They found a table by the window and Alec said it was his treat so Rose ordered coffee and chocolate cake and Alec just the coffee.
"Sorry," Rose grinned as she saw the price of a slice of fancy cake.
"You can expect those prices," Alec let it go.
"Yeah, back home, ya could get a whole one for that price," Rose laughed.
"Even in London?" Alec wondered, raising his eyebrows, Rose still wishing he wouldn't do that.
She was beginning to think he did it on purpose, Alec thinking the same of Rose when she bit her bottom lip. He often wondered if she knew the effect it had but he shouldn't even be looking by rights. Rose knew he was delaying their return to have an effect on Tess.
When had he got to delaying going back, he wondered as they got back in the car.
"So, do we stay quiet when we get back?" Rose wanted to know as they set off again.
"That would give the game away, don't you think?" Alec replied. "Just act normally, now we know Tess will find out she made no difference."
"Yeah, I suppose so?" Rose agreed. "I'm sorry but I don't care what she thinks any more, my friends know about her and others will get tired of her, won't they?"
"I expect so," Alec replied as they headed back to the station. "Don't worry about it."
Tess had been even more furious that Alec had spoken to Rose then they'd gone out. Rose's friends however had smiled to themselves that Alec was on their friend's side.
"Tess looks like she's about to erupt," Trish whispered to Jo. "Don't know about you but I'm not putting my hand up to be excused to the ladies room. It's worse than being back at school or the academy."
"Even at the academy we were treated better," Jo replied.
When Rose didn't return, they went to make their drinks and sat talking at their desks.
"Don't really blame Rose for storming off earlier," Trish told them. "Wonder where she's got to?"
"Probably taking her time to get back at Tess," Kate smiled at the thought.
When Rose and Alec got back, Rose ignored Tess and went back to her desk, Alec already having reminded her about following Tess at home time.
"I can pretend I'm walking down with Kate," she had told him. "Then hide in the car so Tess doesn't see me."
"See, you already have the right idea," Alec had smiled on the way up in the lift. "You will be ready for stakeouts in no time."
"Hey hang on," Rose had laughed. "What about me and Kate following those two creeps we just arrested?"
Alec just let her out of the lift first, a smile on his face.
"That counted didn't it?" Rose asked as he held the door open.
"What do you think?" he replied dryly.
So, Rose still had a smile on her face as she entered the large office and knew her friends would be curious. She planned on following her friends out and give some excuse for doing so to them. She was very interested as to if she could catch Tess talking to the traffic sergeant. No wonder Tess had got worse than when she'd started there and that had been bad enough.
Maybe that Sunday in the pub had made her a bigger target though, she thought as she tried to get back to work.
When it came to home time, Tess was watching if Rose would go into Alec's office as usual and was surprised when she went to catch up with her friends.
"Hey, wait for me," Rose laughed as the three of them headed down the corridor, leaving a bemused Alec who thought Rose had the right idea.
"Hey Rose, not waiting behind tonight then?" Trish asked as she turned around.
"He said earlier to wait for him downstairs, he just had something to do," Rose replied, trying not to give the game away just yet.
"Yeah, where did you get to earlier?" Kate wanted to know as she pressed the lift button.
"Oh that?" Rose laughed. "He thought he'd get me out of the office before I started a cat fight with Tess."
"Never!" Jo laughed. "Oh, I'd have loved to have seen that."
"So would I," Jo agreed as the lift arrived. "Claws at fifty paces."
"Too right," Rose replied. "Trust me, I felt like it, she's a bloomin' liability."
"Be careful Rose," Kate warned her. "What did Hardy think of it?"
"Tell us tomorrow," Trish told her as they arrived at the ground floor.
"Yeah, I will," Rose agreed as Jo and Trish got out and she pushed the button for the basement.
"Come on Rose, you can tell me," Kate encouraged her.
They got out of the lift but didn't go through the other doors to the garage.
"He agrees she's got worse," Rose admitted.
"Well, that's something," Kate told her. "Why you though?"
"I don't know but it could have been anyone who actually became his partner. Trust me, I never asked for it, I just got told when I arrived," Rose replied. "Maybe because I'd just arrived, the chief thought DI Hardy was the best DI to train with?"
"Well he is I suppose?" Kate agreed, moving forward to open the double doors. "He probably thought since Tess knew the rest of us wanted to work with him, he'd sneak you in instead? You know everyone was envious of you when you first arrived?"
"Sorry, I never meant to step on anyone's toes," Rose told her.
"I told you, no-one blames you, we all knew we were up against Tess," Kate reminded her. "See you in the morning and we want all the details," she laughed.
"Kate," Rose called after her friend. "What do you mean by you were envious?"
"Seriously? Seeing how Tess treats you?" Kate wanted to know. "No-one wished that on you."
Kate went off and Rose decided she'd best wait in the car before either Tess came down or the traffic sergeant was on the prowl and it could be a while before Alec could rescue her again. She got in the car, tilted the seat back so she couldn't be seen easily and waited for Tess to arrive.
The traffic sergeant was sure he'd heard someone talking but glancing around, he only saw Kate getting into her car. He knew Rose now came down with Hardy every night, probably just to annoy him that he couldn't get the blonde on her own again, which was a shame. None of the other female officers were half as good as she was.
He bet that Hardy just wanted to keep her for himself. Still, it meant he could stir up trouble with his wife.
Rose thought Tess was delaying on purpose and had probably stormed into Alec's office to ask what was going on. She wasn't far wrong as Tess took the opportunity to find out just where Alec and Rose had been.