Watch Your Back

2-Broken In.

-TWO WEEKS PRIOR-

Edmund slouched through the sliding doors of Oxfordshire Police HQ, bike helmet in one hand, backpack in the other. He'd forgotten to untuck his socks from riding in that morning, and the receptionist sitting at the main desk kindly pointed them out to him. Mustering a smile, Edmund corrected the mistake and skulked away down the corridor, automatically turning right at the corner, but then remembering who he was working under, and turning left.

Just the thought of spending another day with Blakely made Edmund want to die.

He shuffled along, spotting a familiar face in the hall.

"Brighten up, D.S. Gray, sir!" Officer Verma smiled, as she passed him with arms full of files. Edmund again mustered the energy to grin back at her, but then had a thought.

"Can I help you with them?" he asked, his mood lifting marginally. Verma looked a bit embarrassed.

"If you don't mind" she replied, offloading half of the huge pile onto Edmund, who had put his backpack on and clipped his helmet onto the strap.

"You don't seem yourself recently" the young woman chatted, as they both made their ways back the other way down the corridor.

"Teething problems" Edmund responded. "New boss, and all."

"I thought you'd be happy to be rid of her" Verma pointed out. "Oh, we're off down to pathology with these. Not that far down the corridor."

Edmund realised that his feet had again been taking him to Hawes's old office, but he shrugged off his mistake and followed Verma.

"In my defense" he commented. "You didn't exactly tell me where we were going with these, Officer."

"Fair enough" came the response, as the pair entered the labs, Verma trotting up to one of the white-coated lab technicians and asking not too politely where the files were supposed to go.

"I can take those. You oughtn't to be down here."

Edmund turned with a slightly passive-agressive tilt of his head, to where Anna Kovlova was standing, decked in a white lab coat and blue plastic gloves.

"Sure" he replied begrudgingly, handing over the files as, across the room, Verma was pointed in the right direction.

"How've you been?" Anna then asked, surprising him. Edmund shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly.

"Never thought I'd say this" he replied lowly. "But I preferred my old boss."

Anna smiled wryly, and the corner of Edmund's mouth twitched up too.

"Sorry to hear that. See you."

As the young lady turned away, Edmund scowled, his bad mood returning, and dragged his feet all the way to Blakely's office.

"Morning, champ!"

"Morning, sir" Edmund responded, slumping down at the Sargeant's desk. "What do we have to do today?"

"You seem a little out of sorts" Blakely commented. "Here" he then added, chucking a can of energy drink over to Edmund, who caught it before it hit him in the face. "Might perk you up."

"Sorry, sir" Edmund replied, setting the can down on the table with a crack. "I have a part time DJ job, you see" he added, extrapolating wildly. "I was up a bit late last night."

The real reason for Edmund's late night was that he had been racking his brains about what to do about his little H.H. problem. It had been six worryingly silent days since the fateful text message and Hawes's swift departure, and truly, Edmund was beginning to consider whether or not he ought to just let his timer run out.