A buzzing to his left was the first thing Neo heard as he tried to get his sleepy brain into gear. A foreign arm around his waist made him pause, and for a second he panicked. But then he realised who it belonged to.

He shuffled forward and turned to look at the sleeping beauty behind him. Her blonde hair fell over her cheek and pooled in the nook between her shoulder and neck. The sight of Charlie lying naked in his bed set his heart racing and the thoughts of what they'd done invaded his mind. He had known how feisty she was, but the passion was something he hadn't expected.

They'd come together perfectly. She had met his every demand for more with her own until they'd both climbed to the highest peaks of pleasure multiple times. And yet, even though he'd had more than his share of her, his body wanted her again. The feel of her skin on his was bliss and only fueled his hormones to pull her close and continue where they'd left off, but the continued buzzing of his phone made that impossible.

With a sigh, he slipped from the bed and picked up his mobile. He closed the bedroom door behind himself and looked at the time.

Only 20:14pm.

Samira and the kids wouldn't be home for another hour at least, she'd promised to take them to the cinema, a sure-fire way to Dante's heart though Willow had been less than impressed.

He coughed to clear his husky throat. 'DCI Denzel, speaking.'

There was a moment's hesitation on the other end of the phone before Barry pressed on.

'Hope I'm not interrupting anything?' He could hear the sleep in Neo's voice and knew there was only one thing that would have the DCI in bed at just after eight and that was a woman. Barry's stomach sank, already guessing who was snuggled up in Neo's bed. It was going to make the news he had that much more difficult to share.

Neo snagged his boxers off the floor. He didn't know how they'd managed to end up there, when he was sure that Charlie had removed them in his room, but he pulled them on regardless. Barry rarely contacted him about nothing, which meant this was no casual call for them to chit chat about the weather.

'Nothing,' Neo said gruffly. 'What do you need, Barry?'

Barry contemplated hanging up. It had been years since Neo had let a woman get so close to him, and now Barry was going to ruin it all. But his pathologist side won out.

'Lucy Phillips had undergone a medically induced abortion at least two days before she went missing.'

Neo took a moment to stare at the picture of his two kids hung on the wall next to his head, unable to think of a response.

'H-how was something like that missed?' he stammered.

'Incompetence, lack of governance, inadequate training. You can take your pick. The pathologist's report is a catalogue of errors if you ask me,' Barry said unamused.

Neo rubbed a hand down his jaw, pointedly not looking back at his bedroom door.

'What the hell am I supposed to do with this news, Barry? The murder of Lucy Phillips and George Turner happened twenty years ago. What does it have to do with the Bennett family going missing now?' he demanded, knowing that Barry wouldn't be able to answer him.

He exhaled with a gust. 'Sorry, Bar, it's just this case. Whenever I think I'm close to something, it just disappears.'

'Are you sure that's all that's on your mind?' Barry asked. 'Nothing to do with the very alluring Charlie Hoggins?

Neo closed his eyes in frustration, his earlier actions now coming back to haunt him.

'It has nothing to do with Charlie,' he said through gritted teeth, hating the fact he was having to lie to his friend.

But like everything that was happening around Marton; it had everything to do with her. There seemed very little that didn't in some way connect to her. And try as he might, he couldn't shake Palmer's words. A leopard doesn't change its spots.

How many times had Charlie told him about her run-ins with the law? Hell, she'd even admitted to stealing back property confiscated by the police. She was no stranger to bending the rules.

'You can lie to yourself all you want, Neo, but I know she's turned your head. Can you honestly say to me that she isn't right at this moment tucked up in your bed?' There was a pregnant pause where Neo remained silent.

'I thought as much,' Barry sighed. 'So what are you going to do now?'

'Email your findings over to me. In the meantime I'm going to get some answers.' Neo ended the call, cutting off whatever Barry was trying to say to him. No doubt it would have been something about thinking before he acted. But those calm, reasonable words didn't resonate with him now.

Neo was fed up with the lies and mistruths. He needed answers, he needed to reassure himself that he hadn't just made the biggest mistake of his life. He needed to know that Charlie was someone that he could trust.

Because if she wasn't, she had the power to burn him, just as Palmer had predicted.

He watched Charlie wriggle around in his bed as he reentered the room.

'I thought I could hear you talking to someone, everything okay?' She turned to face him.

Even after what he'd just found out, his lower portions stirred at the sultry sight of her creamy skin and the way the duvet outlined her full breasts. He hated himself for it. His reaction to her was something he'd never experienced with another woman.

'It was Barry with some news,' he said gruffly, avoiding eye contact with Charlie, as he found his trousers and pulled them on.

A dent formed between her eyebrows as she thought. 'Barry? The pathologist from the hospital?'

Neo nodded once, remaining silent. A pillow hit the back of his head, making him spin around in anger.

'What the hell is going on, Neo? It's like you can't even look at me,' argued Charlie, a knot forming in her stomach.

Neo chewed on the inside of his cheek. He could see the disappointment on her face and it did strange things to him. It made him hesitant, but he pushed it aside. This was his job, he was paid to find out the truth.

Finally, his eyes settled on her with alarming focus. 'Did you know Lucy Phillips had undergone an abortion in the week leading up to her murder?'

Charlie's mouth dropped open, and she gripped the duvet between two hands.

'W-what?'

'Did you know that Lucy Phillips had an abortion a week before she was killed?' he demanded.

'That's not possible,' she whispered.

'So you didn't know?'

Charlie's head whipped to his. 'Of course, I didn't bloody know. What? Do you think I'm lying?' Her hurt and anger made her lash out. She felt like her world was tilting and she was going to fall off the end.

Lucy pregnant. She couldn't wrap her head around it. The two words shouldn't be in the same sentence. She couldn't even think of the word abortion in there as well; it was just a step too far.

'She was your best friend so I'm finding it hard that you didn't know,' Neo snapped back, his own anger growing. In the back of his mind, he wondered whether she was lying. Now that the doubt was in his head, he couldn't seem to escape it.

Charlie sprang from the bed and began grabbing her clothes.

'What do you want me to say, Neo? Teenage girls don't always tell each other everything. I didn't fucking know, okay?' she shouted, her voice cracking.

'And I'm just supposed to trust you?' he yelled back.

Silence descended. Charlie's jacket hung limply in her hand as she and Neo stared at each other. His words were like a whip across her skin, leaving her reeling.

'Is this really about Lucy or is this about us?' she gritted out, her hands tightening around her jacket. 'You're already regretting what happened. I can see it in your eyes. But at least have the balls to admit it instead of using this to blame me for being untrustworthy. Take your trust issues and stick them where the sun don't shine, cause I don't have to take this.'

Charlie shouldered passed him and Neo let her go, closing his eyes when he heard his front door slam shut.

Shame and regret washed through him. Somewhere deep inside himself, he acknowledged some truth in Charlie's words. He'd had something good, something he enjoyed, and he'd panicked at the first test.

He fell face first into his bed, hating the fact that it smelled of Charlie's fresh perfume. It was an unpleasant reminder of the blissful feeling he'd had before talking to Barry. If only he hadn't answered it, if only he and Charlie could have remained in their own little bubble a few moments longer. Maybe he wouldn't have reacted so harshly.

But Charlie was right. The way he'd reacted wasn't her fault; the problem was his. It wasn't the first time a woman had pointed out his trust issues but it was the first time he was starting to understand it. He'd thought he'd gotten over his ex wife's affair years ago, but now he wondered whether he had. Had Samira's affair really affected him so badly? Previously he would have blamed his job but now it felt like a cop out.

His phone dinged, and he pulled it from his pocket and propped it up against his pillow. It was Barry's report. Neo groaned and hid it under his duvet. What the hell was he supposed to do now?