17 June 1991
"Where did you get to last night?" Viv asked, as Christina made her way into the office later that morning. "I went to the loos at one point and, when I came back, you were gone."
"Oh, sorry. I couldn't find you anywhere," she replied, sitting down at her desk. "I figured you'd got lucky."
"You were the one with your tongue down that bloke's throat."
She felt herself blush at the memory, and a chorus of 'oohs' came from around the room as the others grinned at her, in anticipation of lurid tales of her antics.
"Well, well, well…" Mike laughed. "Wonders will never cease!"
"Oh, she deserves it," Jim chipped in. "After Stewart, she needs a bit of fun, don't you Chris? Did you go home with him?"
"No, I didn't!" she replied indignantly. "But I did get his number."
"Didn't he ask for yours?"
"No, he didn't as it happens."
"Better check it's not a fake one then," Mike winked at her.
"Do blokes actually do that?" she asked, somewhat shocked. "Do they really give out fake numbers?"
"You'd better believe it."
"Blimey…" she shifted slightly in her seat and met Ted's curious gaze. "What? I'm guessing you've given out a few fake numbers in your time."
"Not really my style," he replied. "But then, snogging random men in clubs doesn't seem like yours either."
"Yeah well, it was my birthday."
"If it's what you want, I'm glad to hear it," he nodded. "Better prospects than what you've been pinning your hopes on here."
"Oh, shut up," she said quietly. "You don't need to go on about it at every opportunity. We're friends, that's all."
"Really? You could have fooled me these last few weeks. It's been colder than Siberia in here at times."
"Well, we sorted that. Things are fine between us now." He raised his eyebrows at her. "Really, we're friends."
"Is that all?"
"Yes, that's all." She looked down at the papers on her desk, unwilling to allow him to read any more into her comment than she wanted. That was the status of her relationship with Frank, friends. What she wasn't entirely clear on, however, was whether that meant friends and seeing other people. "Where is he anyway?"
"In with Reid," Ted replied. "Something about annual leave, I think."
She paused as he turned back to the tasks on his own desk, a funny feeling washing over her. Annual leave could only mean one thing; he was still going to Spain with Fiona. She wondered how he had managed to swing that, given how upset she had apparently been the previous night after her appearance at his door. He must have worked quickly given how little time had passed. She tried not to think about it as she read over her burglary case again. She and Tosh were due to go out that day and speak to the homeowners who, apparently, weren't best pleased that no action had been taken so far. That was another thing she knew she should have pulled Frank up for, deliberately putting her in that position, but the relief at the improvement of their relationship had cast it from her mind.
"What time do you want to head out?" Tosh called across to her, as though reading her mind.
"Half an hour? I could murder a coffee."
"Suits me. Get me one and all if you're going to the canteen, will you? And a bacon roll."
"What did your last slave die of?" she muttered, pushing her chair back and getting to her feet, only to come face to face with Frank when she turned around. "Oh, morning Guv."
"Morning or is it afternoon?" he greeted her, making a show of checking his watch. "You got a second?"
"Yeah, sure," she followed him into his office and closed the door after her. "Sorry, I got in as soon as I could, but I did oversleep a bit."
"I'm only winding you up," he said, moving around to the other side of his desk. "Listen, how do you fancy a trip to Spain?"
She blinked; unsure she had heard him properly. "What?"
"Spain. Benidorm to be precise. Flying out next Friday morning, back Monday night. What do you think?"
"What about Fiona?"
"Well, she's not exactly in the mood to speak to me right now, can't say as I blame her. But, regardless, I could do with a few days in the sun and there's nothing worse than going on your own, so…what do you say?"
She paused, her mind racing. "This would be a trip as…friends?"
"Yeah, course. Friends go on holiday together all the time, don't they?"
"Yeah, but…"
"Two-bedroom villa, pool, plenty of space...just what I reckon you need after everything that's happened this year so far."
"I don't understand…"
"Chris," he came back around the desk towards her, "there is no hidden agenda here, I promise. I'm just trying to be a good friend, get you away from things, take you somewhere where you can clear your head. Might be good for us to be able to talk away from everything and everyone here, with no pressure or expectation, on either of us, for anything else."
"Anything else?"
"Sex, the future, whatever. Just two friends having some rest and relaxation. So, you up for it?"
"I…" her brain could think of a million reasons why she should say no and yet her heart was telling her to say yes. "What about the DCI?"
"I've already cleared annual leave for both of us."
"You told her we were going to go to Spain together?"
"No, of course not. I told her I was going to go to Spain and that you wanted to pop back down to Brighton to see your old man and next weekend was the only time you could do it. You'll just have to make sure you stay in the shade, though with your skin tone, I'm guessing you don't tend to tan much anyway. You'll have to spin that line for the others too." He looked at her questioningly and she felt herself nod. "Good. Right then, I'll get it sorted and let you know all the details. Give me a ring later with your passport number." He moved back around to his side of the desk and sat down. "You and Tosh dealing with that burglary today?"
"Oh…yes, we're just about to go out."
"Good, glad to hear it." He looked up at her. "Well, off you pop then. You're not on holiday yet you know."
"No Guv…thanks." Feeling as though the whole experience had been somewhat surreal, she turned and left his office again, moving back over to her desk and sitting down.
Spain.
"Problem?" Ted asked, never lifting his head.
"No, no problem."
"Oi!" Tosh called. "Where's my bacon roll?"
"Sorry," she got to her feet again and walked quickly out of the room, pausing only briefly to glance at Kim's closed door and wonder exactly what had been said within, before continuing down to the canteen. She was going to Spain. With Frank. As friends.
The whole idea was crazy.
XXXX
He was glad she had agreed to go, having convinced himself the entire way into the station that morning that she would say no. Contrary to what he'd said, he'd made no effort to contact Fiona, the idea of taking Christina with him instead having come to him as he'd driven home from her flat. He'd known instantly by her reaction to what he had said, about waiting until after Stewart's court case before making any decisions about their future, that it hadn't been the one she had been expecting. She had wanted him to tell her that the barriers she had listed meant nothing, that they should be together, and though he believed it with every fibre of his being, he felt he now understood a little of why she had wanted to step back from a relationship in the first place.
Her mind was clearly all over the place. Never in a million years would he have expected her to snog a random bloke in a club, much less even contemplate the idea of shagging him in a toilet and he had half a mind to track 'nice guy Tom' down and give him a piece of his mind, or a kick up the arse. He couldn't help but think that, if she had gone through with it though, it would have been his fault. She had been right about the way he had treated her since Whelan's arrest. She hadn't deserved that from him, and therefore, perhaps taking her to Spain was a way of trying to make up for that, as well as giving her the opportunity to relax somewhere away from Sun Hill.
Bikinis, summer dresses, hot weather, alcohol…it would be a challenge keeping his hands to himself, but he couldn't help thinking back on the course of their relationship and how it had progressed from colleagues and friends straight to sex. There had been no period of courtship, no time simply spent together, aware that they liked each other, but not yet taking it to the next level. For all he poo-pooed the old-fashioned dating notions of his parents' generation, perhaps there was something to be said for them after all.
XXXX
"About time you lot got yourselves round here," Mr Henderson, the homeowner, snapped when he opened the door and they identified themselves. "Do you know how long we've had to wait for anyone from your department to show up?"
"Sorry about that, Sir," Tosh said. "But we have been rather busy."
"Yes, and I'm guessing a little burglary doesn't feature high on your list of top priorities, does it? Never mind the fact we've had our home ransacked!"
"Can we come in?" Christina asked.
"I suppose you'd better," he stepped back and allowed them across the threshold. "Obviously we've tided up now. Couldn't have left it looking the way it was. Your forensics people have been and taken photographs and prints, but nobody's bothered to tell us if you've found anything."
"It's still all being worked on."
"Well, that's very reassuring and I don't think!"
"What was taken?" Tosh asked.
"Jewellery, money, some fairly valuable ornaments. All insured, of course, but that's not the point, is it? It's the violation!" Mr Henderson shook his head. "Do you think you'll catch them?"
"Well, we'll do our best. How did they get in?"
"Jimmied the back door," he led them through to where there were still scratch marks on the paintwork. "I've never seen a mess like it! These people just do not care!"
"Do you have an alarm, Mr Henderson?" Christina asked.
"No, never seen the need for one before, but I'll be getting one now, mark my words!" he paused. "So?"
"Well, thank you for showing us around."
"What? Is that it?"
"There isn't really an awful lot we can do right now. Forensics haven't found any matches with any prints lifted, other than eliminating you and your family. We'll keep a look out for any sign of the jewellery and ornaments you described in your report hitting the black market and, well, hope for the best."
Mr Henderson shook his head. "I don't know why I bother paying my taxes, I really don't."
"Charming," Tosh said, as he slammed the door behind them. "I'm sure if he had his way, we'd be out knocking on every door in Sun Hill."
"Does it match any other recent cases?"
"How many unsolved burglaries do you think there are on this manor? Hundreds. Thousands."
"Yeah, I know…but you can understand his frustration. It can't be nice having your home done over like that. I'll check with Ron when we get back, see if there's any patterns anyway. You never know, we might get something."
"Yeah, all right…" Tosh looked over at her as they walked back towards the car. "So, tell me about this bloke in the club then."
"What about him?"
"A good prospect?"
"Not if it's a fake number," she replied lightly.
"You don't know that it is. Give it a call and see."
"I don't know…"
"Why not? You're separated, you can do what you like." He paused and looked at her over the roof of the car. "You deserve to have a bit of fun, Chris. Nothing hot and heavy, just a bit of fun."
"Oh, I see," she teased. "I don't deserve anything hot and heavy?"
"I don't think that's what you need right now, do you?" he looked at her meaningfully and she, once again, found herself wondering how much he really knew.
"Maybe not. I don't know, I'll think about it." Sliding into the passenger seat she waited whilst Tosh started the engine. "Maybe I'm just better off on my own." There was a momentary pause and she looked over to see his reaction.
"Maybe," he replied. "Only you know that."
"Yeah, I suppose." Back at the station, she found herself in the collator's office, asking Ron about the burglaries.
"There's been a few like that over the last few months," he said, digging into one of the filing cabinets. "Back door's jimmied, houses ransacked, jewellery and other personal items taken. Ah, here they are." He produced some cards. "They're scattered all over the borough, no real rhyme or reason to them."
"Any forensics?"
"Only from one of them, seven months ago in Hamilton Road. Forensics lifted a palm print off of a table and matched it to one Rory Evans." He pulled another card out of a separate drawer. "Lots of previous for burglary, spent four years in the Scrubs at one point. But there was nothing at any of the other scenes."
"So, he got careless?"
"Possibly. This was the earliest one."
"Have we given him a tug?"
"As far as I know, we can't locate him. The address I had for him was demolished about six months ago and, unsurprisingly, he hasn't left a forwarding address."
"Ok, thanks Ron." She left the office and climbed the stairs back into CID where Tosh was waiting for her. "Rory Evans."
"Oh, him."
"Yeah…Ron says his palm print was found at the earliest burglary, about seven months ago. Nothing at any of the others."
"He's a bit of a pro is Rory. Not like him to make a mistake like that."
"Any ideas where he might be living?"
"Well, I could ask around," Tosh mused. "If it is him, somebody's bound to know something."
"Great," she replied, feeling the warm glow of an investigation potentially moving forwards in her belly. It was good to be reminded sometimes of what the job was all about, to be reminded that it was, in fact, still important to her.
21 June
"Now, I'll be doing the actual presenting of the findings, but if there's any questions that come up, I want you to answer them," Kim said as she turned into the car park at Area headquarters and pulled into a space. "I think it's important that they see how much work you've done on this."
"Yes Ma'am," Christina replied, feeling an anxious knot in her stomach. "I'll do my best."
"Just remember, you've done excellent work on this." Kim turned in her seat and smiled at her. "I really do hope you've been thinking about the Sergeants' exam again. There's one coming up in the autumn."
"Oh…well…"
"I know we talked about it before, but you've settled back in here well and I continue to be impressed by you. I really think that you need to give it serious consideration."
She knew that what Kim was saying was right and yet, the idea of going forwards for the exam still filled her with a sense of dread. It was all so tangled up in her previous failure, not to mention Stewart being shot in the middle of her studying for it the second time and, since then, there had just been too many other things on her mind.
"It's not that I'm forcing you, but as DCI I do have a duty to make sure that everyone is reaching their full potential and, if they aren't, find out why."
"Well, surely some people are just happy as they are."
"Yes, well…there are certainly people in the department who seem content with their lot, there are others who, for various reasons, might find that promotion continues to elude them and, of course, there are those who consider it to be a given. I don't think you fall into any of those categories. I think it's just been bad timing in the past."
"I suppose so." She looked down at her hands, hoping that they could change the content of the conversation. "Believe me, it is still something I'm thinking about."
"Good, because I know that Mr Brownlow is going to ask me about it, and I'd like to be able to give him a steer. I really do think it would be a wise move for you, personally and professionally." Kim paused. "How are you feeling about going to Brighton tomorrow?"
"Brighton? Oh…yes, I'm looking forward to it," she replied, trying to keep her expression neutral. "It'll be good to see my dad again."
"I'm glad. Family relationships are so important." Kim took off her seatbelt. "Right, let's go."
Christina followed, her mind working overtime, wondering whether or not Kim suspected that instead of Brighton she was, in fact, headed to Benidorm the following afternoon. She wondered what her boss would say if she found out. Could she actually prevent her from going? Her initial trepidation, whilst still there, had given way to something almost akin to excitement. She couldn't remember the last time she had been on a plane, let alone out of the country and even though they were only going as friends, thought of going with Frank gave her a thrill. Three whole days, just the two of them.
She was prevented from thinking much further on it for the next few hours as her mind was totally taken up with the presentation of the fraud case findings. Being in a room with the DAC and other similarly high-ranking officers was both intimidating and exhilarating and she was grateful to Kim for giving her the kudos that her time and research deserved. At the end of the presentation, once decisions had been made about how best to progress the enquiry and coffee was served, she found herself being introduced to the man himself.
"Kim's told me quite a lot about you," he said, regarding her warmly. "Your work on this investigation so far has been excellent."
"Oh, thank you sir," she said, her cheeks pinking slightly at the compliment. "It's been very interesting to work on. I'm glad the DCI gave me the go ahead to lead on it."
"Kim's very good at making intuitive decisions. She knows her stuff and she can identify officers who also know theirs. She's a very worthy role model to have as a female officer. We need more like her in top positions."
"Yes sir, of course." The rest of the conversation faded around her as she took in what he had said and processed it through her brain. It felt as though she was being feted for something, as though every expected her to be some sort of leading light, following in Kim's footsteps. Given all that had happened over the course of the last year, it was somewhat surprising, especially as she wasn't entirely clear how much the DAC really knew about her.
Frank wouldn't be happy, particularly given how little regard he had for Kim. If he thought the DCI was latching onto her for any reason, whether it was purely professional or not, he would see it, again, as some sort of betrayal, of her not being on his firm. It was one of the things that still niggled at her whenever she thought about how their relationship could possibly progress.
But at least they would have some time together in Spain. Maybe, despite what he had said, it would be an opportunity to discuss all these issues, iron them all out so that, if and when they felt able to move forwards together, everything would have already been resolved.
XXXX
"Frank, I really think we need to talk about Christina."
He paused as Kim hovered in his doorway, feeling an icy panic grip his insides. Had Christina let something slip whilst they had been out together earlier? Did Kim suspect that there remained more to their relationship than merely WDC and DI, or was he just being paranoid? "Ma'am?"
"Yes…" Kim closed the door and sat down in the chair opposite his desk. "I'm concerned that she doesn't appear to be that motivated towards the next step in her career. Not that that couldn't be said for others in the department too, but I'm particularly concerned about her."
"You mean because she hasn't decided to go for Sergeant again?"
"Yes, exactly."
He felt a slight sliver of relief. "Well, she's had a lot on her plate over the last twelve months, Ma'am. Her husband getting shot, him getting kicked out of the job, her leaving him, him stabbing her…" Saying it out loud, it read like a litany of storylines from a bad soap opera.
"Her sleeping with you?"
"Ma'am?"
Kim regarded him carefully. "I'm concerned that the fallout from that might be what's preventing her from moving forwards. She's a very talented officer and I would hate to see any progression thwarted because of internal factors."
"Meaning what?"
"Meaning…I'm concerned that she either thinks that it would be inappropriate in light of what happened between the two of you or that she feels she wouldn't get your support in light of the end of your…relationship. I think we both know who the author of that was."
He took a breath, trying to work out if she was goading him or not. "I would obviously support her if she wanted to try for Sergeant, Ma'am. It wouldn't affect me adversely, in fact, the department could use another DS."
"Yes, it could. Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that, if she passes the exam, you will require to write her a reference as her senior officer."
"And that would be a problem?"
"Well, I think it very well could be given all that's taken place, don't you? Any reference that you give her would be heavily scrutinised internally as I'm sure you recognise, and much might be made of whatever was written there, good or bad. Which is why I think that, if she does decide to take the exam and pass, I should be the one to write her reference."
"That's fine by me, Ma'am."
"Good, I'm glad you agree. Perhaps if the subject comes up, you could tell her we've made that decision. I fear that if I keep going on about the exam to her, it might have the opposite effect than the one intended." She paused. "In terms of her feeling it to be inappropriate, perhaps you could also stress to her that taking the next step on the career ladder shouldn't be seen to be closed off simply because she, shall we say, had her head momentarily turned."
He shifted in his chair as a wave of irritation washed over him. She knew exactly what she was saying, trying to downplay the whole episode, almost as if she wanted him to admit that it had just been some grubby little fling, almost as if she wanted Christina to see it that way too. He chose to ignore her words. After all, he was going to Spain with the lady in question the very next day. She was on his firm, whether Kim believed it or not. "Yes Ma'am, if the subject arises, I'll make sure and tell her that too."
"Good." Kim got to her feet. "I'm glad we understand each other. What is she working on at the moment anyway?"
"The burglary in Campbell Drive. She and Tosh think there might be a connection to other similar break-ins that have taken place over the last seven months."
"Anyone in the frame?"
"Rory Evans is a possibility, but we don't know where he is at the moment."
"I see. Well, hopefully she and Tosh can make progress when she comes back from Brighton." Kim paused again. "How much do you know about her relationship with her father?"
He hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure Ma'am. She went there earlier this year after not seeing him for a long time but I'm not sure how that panned out."
"Hmm…right, well, remember what I said Frank. Christina's a good prospect. I don't want to see her wasting her talents."
"No Ma'am." Alone again, he thought back on her words and couldn't help but wonder if there was some truth in them. Did Christina think she couldn't progress because of her association with him? He sighed heavily, thinking it could only be one more thing to potentially add to the Spanish agenda.
