Ashes to mars

The lead and the chase

Yes, he was. She smiled inwardly.

"What's the lead?"

The Guv frowned, not following her."What?"

"The lead on your case," She said, not missing a beat, "- I heard you before, Craig Peters?"

"Bastard." Gene sniffed, somewhat impressed that she wasn't wasting any time."My snout says he's just opened up a bar in Oldham."

"The Cave." Ray supplied, coming forward to blow smoke in Alex's face. "Opening night's tonight. Bill Gates, honest man, tattle tail really but hey, he says the whole thing's dodgy.
Danny Charms, the old owner, Peters beat him and torched his house, made him piss himself scared just so he'd sell up, you can only imagine where he got the money for it."

"Bastard." Sam rolled his eyes at Chris' small contribution.

"So, what?" Alex smirked doubtfully. "We're just going to storm in, all guns blazing?"

"You're not storming anywhere, Inspector." The Guv sniffed, feeling the lack of respect for him coming off her in waves. "You're gonna sit behind a typewriter and give me five hundred lines of 'I shall never again swing for the Guv if I value my life.'"

"Guv..." Sam tried, hoping they wouldn't get off on too bad a foot.

"I'm going to nick him!" The Guv pronounced, ignoring his long term friend. "I know he put that poor lad on the slab and now he's gonna pay."

"That's a terrible plan."

He scowled at his new Inspector and her opinion. "Are you still 'ere? Mush, woman. Typewriter's over there."

"She's right, Guv." His scowl only deepened as Tyler agreed with her. He could see it now - they were going to be as thick as thieves and he wasn't going to get a word in edgewise. "We talked about this. We can't do anything yet; we've no-"

"So help me God, if you say evidence, I will kill you."

Alex's widened at that. That had been the last thing he'd really said to her. He hadn't meant it then. He didn't mean it now. She still ended up with a bullet in her, though. Gene hadn't trusted her in the end. She'd let him down, truth or not. Being where the Guv is, is the right place to be. That's what Ray had said when she'd first arrived, and he'd been right in a way. Their falling-out had let to all of this, and she couldn't afford for that to happen again. She trusted him; she needed him to trust her to.

"How about going undercover?" Alex suggested, trying to find her feet. "I could do it. He's never met me before and I'm guessing you've already made the acquaintance." She raised an eyebrow, only imagining how that had panned out.

Sam looked to her, "Alex, you don't have anything to prove-"

"Nothing to prove." She assured Sam, willing him to be on her side, to back her up. "I've done it before. I'm a psychological profiler, I might be able to pick something up."

"I bet she could."

She ignored Ray's muttering and Gene's frown as she held Sam's gaze. Sam stared at her pensively, silently agreeing to give her a chance before turning to the Guv. "Well, he's not going anywhere. We need this to be watertight and we know it's not just 19 year old kids that he's bumping off, he's involved in all sorts. If he likes Alex, she might be able to get it out of him."

Gene snorted. "He'd get it out for her, more like."

Sam looked to her again, but Alex was determined as ever. He understood it. Proving what a good cooper you are - it seemed to bring you closer to getting home and she had a daughter who needed her. "She's trained to do this, Guv."

"Funny, haven't seen her tart card in a phone box." Gene remarked, getting ticked off by how much loyalty his new Inspector was inspiring in his old one. Goes to show that even Goody Two Shoes Tyler could be guilty of thinking with his todger. "How, Sam? A boogie down The Cave, couple of sherries and then back to his gaff for a slap and a tickle? Don't be ridiculous, Tyler. Look at her. Airs and graces this one. Like a drop of Bolly before-"

"knickers off?" Alex smiled, smug to see him jerk at her following his train of thought. "Very imaginative. I do know how to go undercover, you know." It wasn't her speciality, of course, but she needed an opportunity to prove herself.

"Oh, I'm sure you've been under plenty of covers, love." One more insult for good measure; she rolled her eyes. "I don't like it."

She folded her arms, expectantly. "And your better idea is?"