There comes a time
1.
They were in the cutting room when the call came. Leo appeared at the window, "They've found another body."
Harry let out a breath and glanced over to Nikki and saw the colour draining from her face.
"Where?" she asked shakily
"About 100m from where the first one was found," Leo replied, "I'm going over there to find out the details – call me if you find anything new."
Harry watched as he walked out of the viewing room then turned to Nikki who had not moved since hearing the news. "You alright?" he said gently moving around the table to stand next to her.
"How many more Harry?" she said, looking into his eyes. It frightened him to see them so lifeless. He knew that the case was getting to her – it was getting to all of them. How could six – now seven – identically murdered girls NOT get to them? He pulled her into a hug and let her head rest under his chin, where it fitted perfectly. "I don't know," he murmured.
Nikki could feel the tears welling in her eyes and she pushed Harry away. She didn't want him to see her cry again, to see the pain yet another case was causing her. "Can you finish up here?" she said roughly, turning away from him.
"Nikki –" began Harry, grabbing her shoulder and turning her body to face him. He looked down at her but she did not meet his gaze. He felt her pulled out of his grasp and watched as she walked out of the cutting room.
Harry sighed. This case was getting ridiculous. They had to find the killer now. Seven girls were now dead, each raped and strangled but with not enough DNA evidence to suggest who did it to them.
As Harry looked at the body in front of him, he thought of the murderer who was affecting so many lives. And now it seemed that they were affecting Nikki, more than he and Leo had first thought. They knew that she got caught up in whatever case she was doing but this was more than that. Even before they found the second body Leo had expressed concerns to Harry about Nikki and how she was handling the case. Since then, he had been watching her closely – watching her slowly become so involved in this case that it scared Harry.
He remembered the look on Nikki's face when she'd heard about girl number 7. He could not bear to see her in pain or upset and this was what the case was making her. As he stood there, Harry vowed to himself that he would do whatever it took to solve the case and make Nikki happy once more.
As he was driving to the crime scene all Leo could think about was his colleague's faces as he told them the news. It was Nikki's in particular that stuck in the front of his mind. It concerned him that she got so wrapped up in the death of someone's life that she forgot to live her own. He thought of Harry and the way he saw him look at her. He could see, even if they couldn't, what feelings they had for each other deep down and it gave him comfort to know that Nikki had Harry to protect her.
He soon pulled up at the scene where about half a dozen police officers where milling around waiting for him to get there. A man with a stern look on his face approached his car, "Professor Dalton?" he asked in a deep, husky voice.
"That's me."
"Good. I'm DC Gunn. We've been waiting for you. Shall we get started?"
Leo sighed inwardly. Here was yet another police detective who had the emotional range of a needle and thought he knew it all. It was going to be a long day.
"So here we have the body. Female, roughly aged nineteen, found just behind that clump of bushes over there," DC Gunn pointed to the small patch of bushes to their right, "The park gardener found her when he was tidying the flowers."
Leo bent over the girl's body and turned her over. Her face seemed so young and pale and the large, violent bruises around her neck contrasted her innocence completely.
After finishing his inspection of her he turned to DC Gunn, "Well, it certainly seems related. I'll have to take the body back to the lab and do a PM and some tests to be exactly sure but from first glance it seems that the killer has struck again."
He snapped off his gloves and stepped out of his overalls before getting into his car. Inside, he took a deep breath and pulled out his phone. Leo selected the number to whom it would be easier to confirm the news to.
"Dr. Cunningham," came the voice from the other end of the phone.
"Yeah, Harry – it's me. I've just seen the body and it appears to be another one of the girls," Leo said watching the police wrap up the body of the girl.
"Oh God, I'd hoped they'd been mistaken. Are they bringing the body to the lab now?"
"Yes and I'm about to leave too."
"Ok, I'll speak to you when you get back – do you want me to tell Nikki or will you when you get here?"
"Oh," Leo paused for a moment, "Could you Harry? She might take it better if it came from you."
Harry laughed but it was strained, "I don't think that she'll take it any better if it came from me or you Leo. But yes, I'll tell her. See you in a bit."
Harry hung up and noticed a figure behind him. He turned and saw Nikki leaning against the door to Leo's office, with her head down.
"Jeez Nikki, you trying to give me a heart attack?" he joked, trying to get her to smile. She didn't reply but continued to stare at the floor. "Hey?" he asked, more gently this time. He got up and went over to where she was standing. She moved her head up and met his gaze.
"Was that Leo?" she asked.
"Yes," Harry could see no point in lying to her, she could always tell anyway. He watched as she nodded as if already knowing the answer.
"And the body they found – it was another one of the girls?"
"Yes," he replied again, even quieter still.
"Right," She forced a smile at Harry, "Guess you have even more work to fall behind on then."
"Oi, I'll have you know that my work is always up to date thank you very much," he teased. "You are ok though?" he asked, serious now.
"Yes Harry – stop fussing please!" she said, the ghost of laugh playing on her lips.
As Harry watched her go and sit at his desk, he knew that no matter how many times she told him she was fine, she wasn't – and neither of them could pretend otherwise.