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Repetitions of the Future	By : gallygaskins Category: 1 through F > Ashes to Ashes Views: 1463 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Ashes to Ashes and I do not earn any money from this fanfiction.

Chapter List
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Chapter 4 – Clues and Confusions

“DCI Hunt, are you there? It’s Viv, got a message for you, Guv?” Gene Hunt’s radio hissed into action as Station Sergeant Viv James tried to contact his boss. “Gene, please, I really need to talk to you, it’s about Drake!”

Gene took the long blue radio from his coats inside pocket, pressed down the button for him to talk and spoke into the microphone, “Keep your afro on, I’m here! What is it, Sergeant?”

“Luigi has just phoned and left a message for you. Seems there’s a problem with Drake’s flat. Apparently it looks like there’s been a break in.”

“And Drake?”

“She’s not there Guv, but who’s to say she’s even been there for a while, Luigi said she’s been quieter than usual but thought it best to leave her to herself until she was ready to venture out.”

“Hmm,” Gene wondered, ‘where the hell could she be’. He quickly looked at his watch, 11.30 am; it had been a couple of hours since he’d dropped her off. But that was his secret, for now at least. “Ok, we’ll pop by there on the way back; see what’s been going on. We’ve just about finished here; Layton’s gone to ground again.” Gene’s two ‘most’ trusted officers had returned to the car as Gene finished off his conversation. “Right, we’re off to Luigi’s”

“For an early dinner?” Chris asked hopefully.

“Or a late lunch?” Ray continued.

“Sorry no, it’s actually work this time,” Gene responded sarcastically, but the look on his face told a different story. Ray and Chris looked at one another before turning their attention back to the Guv. Coming out of his reverie he looked back to his companions before climbing into the driver’s seat of his Quattro. “Seems there’s been a break in at Drake’s flat; Luigi, being the kind, honourable Italian that he is, was a little concerned about Drake being a bit too quiet and went to investigate.” He started the engine as the other two piled in and took their seats. Before Ray had chance to fully close his door, Gene put the car in gear and put the accelerator to the floor.

It wasn’t long before they had arrived at Luigi’s and just as quickly climbed the stairs to Drake’s flat. The door was already open, inviting them inside but Gene stopped just as soon as he’d crossed the threshold to survey the mess that lay before him. On first inspection he noticed that there had been no signs of a struggle; if Drake had been kidnapped surely she’d have put a fight, she was certainly capable of it to which his own jaw could testify. He stepped further into the living area allowing first Ray and then Chris to walk into the same area. “Chris, get dabs over here asap. I want this place dusted. Then start recording everything in here. Ray, you take the bathroom. I’m gonna check out the bedroom.”

“Aye aye, Guv,” Ray said, stopping abruptly when he noticed his DCI glaring at him. He nodded his acceptance and made his way to the closed bathroom door.

Gene was in a foul mood and he hoped and prayed that it wasn’t going to get any darker as he began to stroll through the flat to the furthest open doorway, the one to her bedroom. He stood momentarily, aiming to control his racing heart and slow the perspiration that he could feel claming up his palms and his forehead. Summoning up the courage he walked through the doorway unsure of what he might find. It was dark, he couldn’t see a thing. He crossed the room in order to open the curtains and once the task was done turned back around to look over the room.

“Nothing, Guv,” Ray said from the doorway, “just normal everyday going’s on in there.” He waited for a response but got none, Gene was still eyeballing the room. “I’ll help Chris then!”

Gene looked to the doorway to see the back of his DS departing back into the flat beyond. He walked over to the bed, searching it for any clues as to her disappearance. There were none. It wasn’t made up on one side, but that was probably where she had been when she had woken from her fitful nights sleep and decided to get up and go to him. Just for clarification he pulled back the duvet from the side that appeared not to have been slept on. Nothing, a few stretches in the sheets but they had obviously appeared as a result of her attempts at slumber than from another person sharing her bed. He laid it back. No visible signs of a struggle in the room either, he was perplexed. “What the hell are you up to, Drake?” he whispered to no one or nothing in particular, “have you been stringing me a line? Are you part of ‘care in the community’? ‘Cause you’re bloody acting like it.” He hung his head, closed his eyes, and shook his head, what could he believe?

“Guv?” Chris shouted from the other room, bringing him quickly back to reality. “Guv, you’ve gotta see this?”

Gene walked back into the living room; Chris had picked up all of the paper that was on the floor putting the pieces into some kind of order. He looked over what seemed to be a handwritten calendar. The first date was 20^th July – ‘Arrived’ it simply stated. The last was 10^th October – ‘Mum and Dad’ was written down with a crucifix. Each of the dates and all of those in between had been methodically crossed through, presumably by Drake.

Chris had also started collating the other bits and pieces, news articles about Tim and Caroline Price, a phone number, business cards, note cards with meaningless words on them, but the most surprising item – a picture of …

“Isn’t that Arthur Layton, Guv?” Ray said pointing to the man wearing mirrored shades in the picture. “What’s Drake doing with a picture of ‘im?”

“If only I knew!” Gene responded, strangely calm but confused all the same. “Why did you have his picture? Why did you really want to go t’ see ‘im?” He whispered.

“What were that, Guv?” Ray asked watching his DCI shake his head.

“Ray, I want you to go back t’ office and find out all you can ‘bout Layton, I want to know all ‘bout his time inside, visitors ‘e’s had, what they were there for, etc, etc. Take Chris with ya; get uniform to drop ya back. I’m going to lock up ‘ere after dabs have gone and ‘ave a word with Luigi.” Ray and Chris left, leaving him in the flat alone. He picked up all the bits of paper, folded them together and stuck them all in his inside jacket pocket.

He decided to take one last look and turned in a circle casting an experienced eye over the scene that Chris and Ray had swept over earlier. He stopped and glanced back, what was the phone doing on the floor, just lying there with the handset dropped to one side. He searched for anything that would give him a clue as to why it was there but nothing really stood out … apart from … the phone cord, the end that should have been plugged into the wall socket was near the phone coiled around as if someone had thrown it across the room.

Whilst he had been searching for clues, dabs had arrived and had started dusting for prints. “Sergeant, I want that phone dusted too,” he shouted over, the officer nodded his acceptance. Gene spotted the telephone socket and made his way over to it, his stomach lurched with anticipation as he found himself in the dark alcove that Layton had been stood in earlier. Something made his gut ache, an instinct, it told him that Layton was involved in this, find Layton, find Alex, but he needed clues and evidence. He also needed time but he wasn’t sure how long.

‘First things first,’ he thought. He took out the radio and pushed the button. “Viv? I need you to do something.”

“What’s up, Guv?”

“Can you get on to Buzby and get a list of the numbers that have been most recently called from the phone in the flat.”

“What’s the number?”

Gene walked back to the phone and kneeled down to get a look at the handset. “Right Viv, its 01 432 9681.”

“Thanks, I’ll get on to it straight away.”

Gene retraced his steps, his gut was normally good but his nose was better and his hunches, better still. Maybe there was something here he was missing, but what was it. He searched through the coats and other garments hanging up in the alcove and went through pockets to see if there was anything untoward. He looked down to the floor, an iron had been knocked over, water from inside had spilt over the floor and there was a mark. He knelt down again looking at what appeared to be a print. Again there was another closed curtain over his shoulder. Grabbing the hem he pulled the curtain back, a flood of light splashing over the area he had been looking at, there was a print there and he knew it wasn’t from a woman’s shoe, it was from a man’s boot.

He called Viv back on the radio and asked him to send forensics over. Letting himself out he stood at the top of the stairs, he had done his bit for now and he had to let dabs and forensics do theirs. It was unnecessary for him to watch over them so he went in search of Luigi and found him in his restaurant getting ready for service.

“Ah, Signore Hunt, you ‘ave come to ask me about the Signorina, no?” Luigi asked as he watched Gene plod into the restaurant and take a seat at the bar. Luigi pulled him a pint and sat it in front of him, but Gene seemed uninterested, he was a man with a purpose, ‘a man innamorato,’ thought the Italian.

“Yes, Luigi, tell me why you went up to see if she was alright? Did you suspect something?”

“Only that it was unusually quiet. She is not a good sleeper, she’s up and a down all night, sometimes disturbs my wife. But after having an uninterrupted night I thought I’d better check on her. That’s when I found the door open and the flat empty, I phoned you. Signore Hunt, you don’t look your normal self, are you ok?”

He fell over his words, “I’m fine, I’m just concerned about Dra … Bolly … ” To call her by anything other than her name seemed disrespectful. “Alex,” he finished moodily, his eyes downcast. He looked back up to Luigi, “did you not hear anything or see anything unusual, Luigi, I mean, even very early this morning?”

“Well, I … I mean I heard her leave the flat about 3 o’clock and heard her come back about 9 o’clock this morning but nothing more. She doesn’t know how to shut her door quietly that woman.” Gene smiled at Luigi’s observation and wondered if she was ever quiet about anything. He briefly remembered their dinner date the night she had told him she was leaving, the night she told him that she thought she’d ‘rather miss’ him.

“And you wouldn’t have heard her go again because the door was left open, so you wouldn’t have seen her leave with anyone. Which means you wouldn’t have known if she’d been forced down the stairs or had a gun pointed at her head, would you?”

“No, Signore, do you think this is what ‘as happened?”

“Yes, Luigi, things are certainly lookin’ that way.”

“Could she ‘ave been taken off this morning and brought back for something before being taken off again?”

“No!” The word shot out before Gene had chance to check himself.

“You seem very certain Signore!”

“I am; it doesn’t work like that.” That wasn’t going to cover it and he had to tell someone. “Luigi, she came to see me this morning, I brought her back here at 9.”

“Oh, Signore, that is … I’m so ‘appy … but now, you must be beside yourself?”

“Luigi, don’t get above yerself. We’re … friends.” Gene couldn’t help himself, he knew he wanted more but Alex had told him ‘no’ so that was what he had to live with. He hated himself for it.

“But your dinner date the other night, when Signorina Drake was dressed so beautifully?”

“Luigi, stop it! You know as well as I do that she was telling me she was leaving.”

“She didn’t though, did she?”

“Luigi, it’s complicated, she’s got a kid that she ‘as t’ get back to …”

“Oh … well … everything will turn out for the best and I’m sure you’ll not be forgotten along the way. She is very fond of you.”

“Mmm, she told me she’d miss me very much, made me smile, Luigi!” His pouted expression painted back on his face.

Luigi stopped polishing the wine glass he had in his hand, put the objects on the bar and leant forward. He rested his hand on Gene’s forearm and half smiled back to Gene in his knowing Italian way, before returning to his work. He watched as Gene uncharacteristically got up from his seat and walked out of the restaurant leaving his pint untouched on the bar. He shook his head as he took the pint glass from the bar and threw the liquid in the sink. If Gene Hunt could walk out of a bar without having a drink then he must have fallen hard, “I only hope he doesn’t fall too hard and crack his head.”
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Repetitions of the Future