Chapter 100! Who would have believed it?!
18 June 1992
"Well, congratulations. I'm sure we're all very proud of you. It's an excellent achievement."
"Thank you, sir," she replied graciously, though she couldn't help but suspect that his words came from a place of sufferance rather than genuine pleasure.
"Have you given any thought as to whether you wish to remain here at Sun Hill?"
She paused momentarily, not wishing to divulge that she had thought of little else since receiving the news. The previous evening, she and Frank had gone to celebrate, got astonishingly drunk and then wound up back at her flat, completely incapable of doing anything other than sleeping. In the middle of the night, however, she had suddenly awakened, the very thought storming through her brain, along with the start of a hangover, and she had tossed the pros and cons back and forth until she had been due to start work.
"I've given it a lot of thought, sir, and I would like to stay."
"Oh…well…" Brownlow glanced at Jack, stood as he was behind her, as though he was surprised at her decision. "Well, that's very nice to here. I'm sure you'll be an asset to the department in a sergeant's role. Don't you think so, Jack?"
"Oh absolutely, sir," Jack replied. "It'll give us a strong team of sergeants, what with Ted, Alistair and now Christina."
"Yes well…it does leave a vacancy now for a new DC. I wouldn't want you to be understaffed so I'll be looking to see how we can fill that role in due course."
"I'd be grateful sir, thank you."
"Good. Well, congratulations again Sergeant Lewis."
"Sir." She forced a neutral expression onto her face as she and Jack left Brownlow's office and made their way back towards CID. "Seemed as though he was choking on every word."
"Well, you know what he's like," Jack replied. "It is a good achievement though and you will be an asset to the team."
"You mean I wasn't before?"
"No, but a sergeant's role is different. I'm sure you've worked that out by now." He paused and turned to face her. "You're sure you want to stay at Sun Hill?"
"Would you rather I left?"
"No, of course not. But you need to be sure that you're the right fit and that it's the right fit for you."
She paused on his words. Sun Hill was all that she had known for so long, she knew how it worked, knew the people and, most of all, she had no desire to be separated from Frank. Almost subconsciously, she found herself looking down at her hand, devoid now of the ring he had given her, it being safely locked away in her flat. Part of her felt sad that she couldn't wear it, couldn't accept the congratulations of others because of their circumstances, but another part of her enjoyed having the secret and thinking of the looks on everyone's faces when it could eventually be made public.
"I'm happy here, Guv. I don't want to leave."
"Well, that's good, because I don't want you to leave either." He smiled at her. "You're a good officer, Chris. I've seen that in the short time that I've been here, and you're destined for great things, if you keep your mind on the job."
His words were vaguely reminiscent of Kim's, but she had learned by now to take faint praise with a large dose of salt and so she merely nodded. "Of course, Guv."
"Good. Well, first thing's first, if you could prepare a list of what you've been working on and give it to DI Burnside, he'll no doubt reallocate things as he sees fit." He opened his office door. "And congratulations again."
"Thanks Guv," she replied, before turning and walking back into the main CID office.
"There she is, Sergeant Lewis," Jim made a comical show of bowing before tugging on an imaginary forelock. Anything I can do for you, my lady, please do not hesitate to ask."
"Brown nose," Mike commented drily. "Congratulations Chris, well deserved."
"Thank you," she replied laughing, before making her way over to her desk.
"You planning on sticking around then?"
A certain stillness hovered over the room and she looked up slowly to meet the other man's gaze. "You mean, am I throwing in the towel and hot-footing it to another nick?"
"Something like that."
"Nope, sticking around."
"Well, that's good to hear," Tosh piped up from the corner. "Place wouldn't be the same without you."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It was meant as one. Drinks on you tonight then?"
A collective laugh erupted around the room, and she found herself joining in. "Yeah, all right. Just the one round, mind."
"Has nobody got any work to do around here or are we all too busy socialising?" Frank appeared at his office door and surveyed them all with a look of mock despair.
"Just congratulating Chris on her promotion," Tosh replied.
"Something I doubt we'll hear the end of for some time."
"I'm allowed to celebrate, surely," she narrowed her eyes at him. "I can't see you turning down the offer of a drink, Guv."
"Well, if you're offering…"
"She is, first round only though, so we'll need to be quick," Jim replied.
As the laughter and good humour continued around her, she quickly ran through the list of jobs in her tray, jotted them down and then headed into Frank's office, closing the door behind her. "Meadows told me to make a list of what I've got on for you, in case you wanted to reallocate anything." Dropping the list onto his desk, she sat down opposite.
"Well, that was very good of him, telling me how to do my job," he replied, glancing at the page in front of him before meeting her gaze. "You're staying then."
"I would have thought that would have been obvious," she replied, gesturing to the others.
"You didn't seem quite sure this morning."
"No, I suppose I wasn't. But when I arrived here earlier…well…I realised I didn't want to be driving anywhere else to work. Sun Hill's my home."
"How did Brownlow take the news?"
"With surprise. I reckon he thought I'd be angling to leave. He was probably hoping I would, but he managed to compose himself to say all the right things."
"I suppose I should give you some sort of pep talk."
"Pep talk?"
"About how different it is being a sergeant from being a constable. The extra responsibility, the increased expectation, all that kind of thing."
"I think I've got a pretty good idea of what ta sergeant's job entails, Guv. I've been around a while and I used to be married to one, don't forget."
"On that note…" he leaned forwards. "Being married to a DI is a bit different to being married to a DS."
"In what sense, exactly?"
He paused, his eyes flickering over her face, and then sat back again. "Perhaps it's a conversation for another time."
"God, you're nothing if not cryptic," she rose to her feet and rolled her eyes. "Can you let me know about that lot then, so I know what I'm doing?"
"Give me an hour."
"Fine," opening the door, she moved back over to her desk, to find Ted sat opposite her.
"I hear congratulations are in order."
"News travels fast. I don't have to call you 'sarge' anymore."
"Well, you can if you want," he grinned at her. "Well done and well deserved."
"Thanks Ted, I appreciate it."
He paused and lowered his voice, "I hope you celebrated appropriately."
She smiled, thinking back on what a crazy weekend it had been. "Don't worry, we did."
XXXX
"Good news about Christina."
"Yes, very good news. She deserves it."
"Yes, she does." Jack looked up. "She's worked hard, and I'm not just talking about the exam."
He met the other man's gaze, well aware what he was trying to say, and also of how comical the whole situation was. Here was Meadows, alluding to the fact that Christina had worked hard to put their relationship behind her when, all the time, she was now his fiancée. He would have laughed, if it wouldn't have aroused suspicion. "Yes Guv."
"We'll be needing a new DC to replace her."
"I suppose so."
"No suppose about it. With the current caseload, there's no way we can afford to be a constable down, even if we do have a new sergeant."
"Any immediate prospects?"
"A few. I'll let you know as soon as anything's been decided."
"Fair enough." It had been a while since anyone new had joined the department. Viv didn't really count given she'd come up from uniform, so that only left the happy day when Alistair had arrived, clarinet and all. He could only hope that whoever came in now would be verging on normal. "I've had a look at Chris's list of current jobs and reallocated appropriately."
"Good, there's no point in having another sergeant if we don't make use of her."
"She's having a celebration down the pub tonight, if you're interested in joining us."
Jack paused for a moment before replying. "No, but thanks all the same."
"Suit yourself." As he made his way back to his own office, he couldn't help but think that if Meadows wanted to cement himself as one of the team, then he needed to try a bit harder. It was all very well taking a distance approach to being in charge, but there was also a time for getting into the trenches. When he became a DCI, he knew he'd be able to walk that line effortlessly wherever he was posted.
The phone on his was ringing when he stepped into his office and, when he picked it up, was surprised to hear his sister's voice on the other end.
"It's Pat."
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Phil's been arrested."
"What? When? What for?"
"He was hanging around the Larkmead with some of those so-called mates of his and your lot have just swept in and rounded them all up. I don't know what they're supposed to have done, I don't know where they've been taken…I only know because one of them got away and came to the door…" her voice cracked. "I don't know if they've gone to Sun Hill or Barton Street or…"
"All right, calm down," he tried to reassure her. "I'll see what I can find out. If they're here, it should be straightforward enough."
"He's not a bad kid, Frank, not really. You know that…"
"I know…"
"If he starts down this path now…I can't deal with it on top of everything else…"
"I said, I'd sort it, all right? Give me some time to find out what's happening, and I'll call you back." Hanging up the phone, he made his way down to the custody area where he could hear, before he saw anything, the sounds of loud angry voices. The place was swamped with teenagers, all of them shouting and agitated, Bob trying to make sense of them one at a time. A quick glance around revealed no sign of Phil.
"What's going on?" he asked Dave, who was holding one of them by the wrists.
"We rounded this lot up on the Larkmead sir," Dave replied. "Criminal damage, threatening behaviour…you name it."
"How many you got?"
"Nine or ten, I think."
"I only count seven," he replied, his gaze sweeping around.
"Two or three have already been processed," Dave replied, struggling to keep a hold of his prisoner. "They're already banged up."
Making his way through the throng, he walked into the cell area, his heart sinking automatically at the scribble against one of the doors. Philip Callaghan. Pausing for a second, he pulled the hatch down and looked inside. Phil was sitting on the bed at the far end of the cell, but he leapt to his feet at the sight of him. "Uncle Frank!"
"Keep your voice down!" he hissed. "What the bloody hell's going on?"
"We weren't doing anything! We were just minding our own business and then this bunch of pigs…police officers…just grabbed us!"
"You weren't doing anything? Criminal damage and threatening behaviour is what I heard."
"It's lies! I haven't nothing anything, I swear!" Phil looked at him desperately. "Can you help me? Mum's going to go mad if she hears about this!"
"She already knows! How do you think I know?!" He shook his head. "You're a prat, Phil."
"Please! Can you help me?!"
"Everything all right, Frank?" Bob asked, as he made his way past him to another cell with another body.
"Yeah fine," he replied, closing the hatch again. "Just taking a look at what you've got. I don't envy you all this."
"Seems straightforward enough," Bob replied, closing the cell door. "No need for CID to get involved."
"Yeah," he stepped back, glancing again at his nephew's name. "No need at all." Making his way out of custody and back towards CID, he caught Christina as she was about to enter the canteen and, taking her by the arm, pulled her gently into a corner.
"It's a bit public," she said, smiling at him.
"Phil's in custody," he said shortly.
"What?"
"Threatening behaviour and criminal damage apparently. Him and those so-called mates of his got lifted from the Larkmead."
"Well, how do you know? Did he say he was related to you?"
"No, Pat called me. As far as I know, Phil hasn't said anything." He shook his head. "This is the last thing she needs right now. Honestly, I could wring his bloody neck!"
"So…?"
She looked up at him and, once again, he knew he was going to have to ask her to do things that he shouldn't. Things that he was only asking of her because of what she was to him. But Phil was family, and, in a short time, she would be family too and families stuck together. "I need you to try and find out what you can."
"How?"
"Dave and George looked to be the main arresting officers. See if you can find out anything from them about the circumstances, how involved Phil might have been. Try and figure out if there's a way he could be dropped out of all this."
"And how am I going to do that without looking suspicious?" she asked. "This is a uniform collar and I'm in CID, a DS at that. You don't think George and Dave might think it a bit odd if I start asking all kinds of questions?"
"Make something up. Try and link it back to a case we've got or something. Say that you're trying to find out if it's the same gang."
"Frank…" she shifted uncomfortably.
"What? Chris, this is family."
"I know that, but…"
"But what?"
"If Phil's got himself involved in something, isn't it better that he faces the consequences? How is he ever going to change his ways as Pat wants if he just gets dropped out of things because of his connection to you?"
"This isn't the Great Train Robbery…"
"You don't know that. You don't know what he's involved in and neither do I."
"That's why you need to find out!"
"You're putting me in an awkward position…"
Her obstinance was starting to irk him. "I'm telling you to do your job!"
"My job?" She shook her head, her expression hardening. "Is that an order then, Sir?"
"Yes, it bloody is." He moved away from her before she could say anything else and took the stairs back up to the CID office, lifting the phone on his desk and dialling his sister's number. "I'm going to sort it," he said when she answered.
"What has he done?"
"I don't know yet but, don't worry, I'm going to sort it."
Pat let out a long breath of relief and he could picture her sagging against the wall. "Thank you. I don't think I could bear it if he was to start down this road now."
"Don't worry, it'll be sorted." Replacing the receiver, he felt a slight sliver of guilt in his gut, before pushing it firmly away. She would understand, she had to. It was family after all and, with the exception of her father, who wasn't long for the world anyway, she didn't have any. His family would be her family and, as such, she would appreciate the situation and understand the score.
He had faith in her.
XXXX
"Well, we got reports of a large gang of youths hanging around the Larkmead causing trouble," Dave said, through mouthfuls of bacon sandwich. "So, we took a spin down there and caught that lot."
"What were they doing?" she asked.
"Just hanging around."
"Any damage caused?"
"Few cars had been scratched, wing mirrors kicked off, windows smashed, that sort of thing, but that must have happened before we got there as we didn't see any of that," George added.
"They weren't very friendly at any rate," Dave said, wiping his mouth. "Why the interest anyway? I wouldn't have thought this was a CID matter."
"Not for a DS anyway," George grinned. "Congratulations by the way."
"Thanks," she replied, shifting in her seat. "We've…uh…had issues with gangs on the Larkmead in the past causing problems. There's a few unsolved vandalisms and break ins that we're still investigating so…" she left it dangling, hoping they would pick up on the extent of her interest. "Any of the faces known to you?"
"One or two, but not for anything serious," Dave said. "But I didn't recognise most of them. Did you?"
"No," George shook his head. "You're welcome to have a look though, see if you recognise any names or faces."
"Thanks, I might do that," she replied casually. "You never know." Leaving them in the canteen, she made her way into custody and was relieved to see Matthew on the desk. He would be less inclined to question her than Bob would be.
"Well, if it isn't Sergeant Lewis," he greeted her. "News travels fast. Congratulations."
"Thanks," she replied, gesturing towards the cells. "I hear you've got a bunch of lads in from the Larkmead?"
"Yeah, the usual," he grimaced. "Why, you interested in them?"
"I thought I'd have a quick look at the names, see if anyone's known to us. We've got a few unsolved cases up that way that might fit the MO."
"Be my guest," he waved her away and she moved around the desk and into the cell corridor, her eyes raking over the individual names. Phil was in a cell with another suspect, so she elected not to open the hatch in case he said anything about knowing her and once she had made a show of looking at the other names, came back out. "Any joy?"
"Couple of possibles," she replied. "Did the arresting officers give any idea of when they were going to be interviewing?"
"Heading to the canteen last I saw them," Matthew replied. "It's Quinnan and Garfield, if you're interested in speaking to them."
"Great, thanks…" she hesitated suddenly acutely aware that she really didn't know what to do next.
"Everything all right?"
When she looked up, Matthew was watching her, a confused expression on his face. "Yes, fine, thanks." With a last glance back towards the cells, she made her way slowly back up to CID, her brain whirring. What exactly was it that Frank expected her to do? And how did he expect her to do it? For all he might give it no value, there was procedure.
"Well?" he asked, as she stepped into his office.
"Well nothing. He's banged up with another kid, so I didn't want to show my face."
"Did you speak to Dave and George?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"And…" she fought for words. "They said they got a call about kids causing trouble on the estate; breaking car windows, that sort of thing, and when they arrived, they nicked them."
"What about Phil?"
"I didn't ask about him specifically." He sat back in his chair and sighed heavily, a disapproving quality about the action. "What exactly is it you expect me to do? Haul each kid into interview and browbeat them until they agree to say Phil wasn't involved? This is a uniform case!"
"Yeah, and I've told Pat it would be sorted."
"Well, you shouldn't have, should you?" He eyeballed her critically. "You're not being fair, Frank."
"What's not fair, is my nephew getting dragged into something because he's chosen to worship the wrong crowd! What's not fair, is my sister having to deal with that on top of everything else she's going through right now!"
"You think I don't care about any of that?"
"I think you're doing everything you can to avoid helping."
"Oh, I see. It's all right for me to put my knackers in the vice, but not you? Why aren't you down there sorting it out, the great Inspector?" He said nothing. "This is the second time you've tried to do this to me. The first time, I did it. This time, I don't see what I'm supposed to do."
He frowned, "The first time?"
"SCS, if you remember," she shot back. "A little something about keeping schtum about the fact you were with me the night Lennie Powell was shot. A little something about lying to a Detective Chief Superintendent!"
"All right, keep your voice down."
"You can't use me like this, Frank. You can't take advantage of our relationship, can't ask me to do things you wouldn't ask of anyone else."
"Sounds like a Kim Reid phrase."
"It is." He looked at her again. "You wouldn't ask this of Jim or Viv or any of the rest of them, would you? Well, would you?" he looked away. "Right, so it's not fair to ask it of me. I will do anything I can to try and minimise this for Phil, but I won't start breaking the rules for him, and neither should you."
"Well maybe you just don't know what it's like to have proper blood family."
It felt as though he had struck her across the face, the blow of his words almost as painful as a physical blow might have been. He'd always been good at insults, ever since she had known him. Always been good at finding the sore spot and pressing on it. She wanted to retaliate, wanted to find something equally hurtful to throw at him, but her mind wasn't as quick as his was and all she could do was shake her head, turn her back and walk back to her desk. Throwing herself into her chair, she kept her gaze away from his office and grabbed the first piece of paper in front of her.
"Problem?" Jim asked from across the room.
"Nope."
"I thought you were supposed to be happy to have made sergeant."
"I'm ecstatic."
"So why the sour face?"
"I'm fine."
"You sure?" Viv asked from where she was stood at the photocopier.
She opened her mouth to deflect, when Frank came out of his office and his gaze met hers. There was an element of conciliation in it, but she was too irritated, too hurt to care. "The DI's nephew's been arrested on the Larkmead," she announced. "Criminal damage, threatening behaviour, you name it." His expression grew dark again and any sense of regret seemed to fly away.
"Oh no," Jim said, "what happened Guv?"
"I'm not sure yet," he replied tightly.
"Is it the eldest?" Viv asked. "I thought he was doing all right."
"Evidently not." He kept his gaze trained on her. "A word?"
"I'm very busy Guv."
"Now."
"I said, I'm very busy."
"And I said, now!"
Silence descended over the room, and she could see Jim and Viv exchange glances. She wanted to remain defiant, wanted to leave him in no doubt that, rank or relationship notwithstanding, he wouldn't speak to her like that. But she also knew that wilful disobedience would only open them up to gossip. "Fine," she got to her feet and moved back towards his office.
"Not here," he said sharply, causing her to pause. "Downstairs." Without a backwards glance, he turned and made his way out of the office, her only option being to follow.
