Seven Days and Counting

Disclaimer:- Don't own them just borrowing!

Episode:- Lots of little things from early series no major spoilers

Pairing:- Sandra / Gerry

Rating:- M

Achieve:- . /group/new_tricksff/

Summary:- Sandra's missing can the boys work out who's taken her and get her back before it's too late.

Author's Note:- Ok let me think, not really sure how to authors note this other than to say it's not the usual thing I write. It's angsty and tense and involves serious character danger and so if you are opening this expecting my usual sort of fluffy sexy smut for the sake of smut STOP NOW. If you don't like to see our fav characters in distress or danger STOP NOW. To be honest I can't think of any other way to warn you so here goes and please review if that's what you're into since this will be as hard for me to write as for you to read lol

Day 1

The room is cold and dark as I fight to breathe the smothering feeling of compression on my chest and cotton wool; no make that steel wool, in my head. Trying to force my eyes open I realise that I can't move my body feels too heavy, my head too sore and the crushing pressure around my wrist too strong as I try to rub my eyes and find I can't move my arms. Trying to quell the panic I can feel rising in my chest I try to piece together what's happened, where I am and why I feel so bad. I try to work out what I last remember I know I left the office yesterday I know we went for a drink and I left the boys in the pub discussing the merits of 70's verse 00's policing but then it's blank, from the fresh night air by the river to this crushing darkness and paralysing fear. Forcing my eyes open I try to adjust to the darkness, try to make out anything other than the soft mattress below my body and as my eyes adjust I realise I'm in a bedroom, an ordinary looking bedroom, but as I try to move again and feel the cold steel of handcuffs on my wrists I know it's not an ordinary bedroom not by a long chalk.

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"Well she's probably not speaking to us after last night she was pretty pissed off when she left." Gerry sighed as he Brian and Jack glanced around the office noting the distinct and conspicuous absence of their boss.

"She was pissed off she was bored." Jack laughed pushing aside his uneasiness as they all looked at each other for a second confusion obvious. They were used to Sandra arriving into the office later than them but not into the building later and they had all noted the absence of her car in her usual space when they'd come in.

"Look I'm the one who's supposed to over react." Brian laughed moving over and putting the kettle on as the tension seemed to lift from the room, "she's probably slept through the alarm or something let's get the coffee on or she really will be pissed off when she gets here."

Milling around the office all three men lost themselves in what they were doing seeming to have forgotten the glaring absence in the room until the door opened and they collectively raised their heads then sighed in union as a young WPC entered the room carrying a box wrapped in brown paper.

"If that's for superintendent Pullman leave it on her desk she's not in yet." Jack sighed sinking into his chair again and looking suspiciously at the young woman as she brought the box over and set it down in front of him.

"No it's address to Mr's Halford, Lane and Standing c/o UCOS." She smiled getting Jack to sign the docket in front of her before leaving the room cheerily.

"A parcel?" Gerry asked looking at the box on Jacks desk suspiciously.

"For us?" Brian added

"Oh for pities sake it's probably Sandra's idea of a joke it'll be a complete set of modern policing magazine or something don't look so worried you two." Jack sighed pushing aside his own discomfort as he lifted the scissors off his desk and slipped them across the tape holding the box closed. Lifting the top off he felt his blood run cold as Brian and Gerry looked over the flap and for a second they all stopped in their tracks.

"Is that…..?" Gerry asked shaking his head in disbelief.

"It is and that's…." Brian tried to add before the words stopped in his throat as well and Jack stared at them both.

"Gloves!" Jack commanded as both other men seemed to jump into action Gerry grabbing the phone on his desk and phoning Strickland's office and Brian shoved gloves in his direction.

"That's her coat." Brian said quietly as Jack put the gloves on and lifted the familiar black jacket from the box holding it up before setting it on the sheet of clear plastic that Brian had always set on the desk in front of him before lifting the next item from the box.

"And that's her warrant card what the hell?" Gerry muttered as it joined the coat and Jack lifted a video tape and envelop from the bottom of the box just as Robert Strickland pushed the door open demanding to know where the fire was.

"Sandra's missing she….."

"And that's her coat and warrant card and there's…."

"Look let me tell him the whole…."

"Quiet all of you!" Strickland shouted as all three men stared at him for a second and Jack held the video and envelope up. "Jack, tell me what the hell is going on and where is Sandra I swear she leaves you lot alone for ten minutes and you all go nuts!"

"We got in this morning and she wasn't here." Jack explained trying to sound detached and like he was giving the details of any other strange events. "She left us last night in the pub at 10:30 and we assumed she'd be here when she wasn't we thought nothing of it. Thought she'd slept late or was pissed at us and decided to take the day off nothing out of the ordinary."

"And you changed your mind and called me because?"

"This arrived." Jack continued as the others paced the floor both trying to keep their thoughts to themselves in. "We opened it and we found Sandra's coat there's staining on the collar that looks distinctly like blood, her warrant card was in the box too and these a video tape labelled 1 and an envelope numbered 2."

"Why are we standing about here discussing things why aren't we watching the video and opening the fucking envelope?" Gerry shouted as Brian continued pacing counting out his steps ten back then ten forward.

"Gerry we're about to but there's no point in letting this get insane before it needs to." Jack sighed as he and Strickland exchanged worried glances and he knew they were thinking the same thing. "Brian; fire up the video will you?"

Waiting as Brian pulled the television stand round in front of the row of chairs then inserted the tape all four men stared at the screen. Flickering from grey and white snow to a gloomy picture of a room in shaded light there was a collective intake of breath as they all saw the figure lying on the bed a sheet pulled over the obvious nakedness of the woman below as the camera zoomed in and they saw Sandra's face in stark relief looking for all the world like she was sleeping peacefully were it not for the trail of blood making a stain from her nose across her cheek and down to her collar.

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The door opens and there's a chink of light and a voice, a voice I'm sure I recognise but through the fog in my mind I can't place.

"I've brought you something to eat and some water." He says quietly as I try to focus on his face but the blinding light coming from behind him makes it impossible as he uncuffs one of my arms. "Eat and have some water you must be starving I'll be back later."

"Who are you…what do you….." I start to try to question him before he has completed the job of releasing one set of handcuffs from my left arm and leaving the room completely ignoring the fact I'm talking at all.

Staring at the tray now beside me I think for a second, my mouth feels like sandpaper I don't know what he's done to get me here but as my mind starts to clear and I feel the soft cotton of the sheet around my body I feel my stomach lurch. I'm naked, has he? Would he? Will he again? My mind is full of questions as I ignore the panic that has now turned to terror in my chest and sip slowly at the glass of water. If I am to understand what's happening here I need to be aware of my surroundings and years of working abduction and murder cases tells me that dehydration is the real enemy of consciousness, food I can do without for now but without water I have no hope.

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Staring at the screen as it went blank all four men were silent for a moment before Gerry, Brian and Strickland's eyes fell on the envelope in Jack's hand.

"Open it." Strickland said quietly as the other two men looked on and Jack used a pen from his desk to slice across the top of the envelope carefully lifting out the crisp sheet of paper.

"I'd like to say hello officers of the law but I'd be lying." He read quietly from the neatly hand written words in front of him "I'd imagine DCI Strickland is there so I suppose you're not all civilians now he needs to listen to his more than most of you. I have DSI Sandra Pullman and I'm planning on keeping her until I'm bored with her but I'll put off my game playing for 7 days, I believe in giving the elderly a chance but I will be watching and if I get even a ghost of a hint that there is anyone involved in this but the four of you in the room right now it's over I will have my fun then leave her body somewhere for you all to find! I don't think I can make it clearer than that. Have fun and I'd say good luck but I'm counting the hours until she is mine. Bye for now!"

"Right I'll call CID and we'll get forensics to look at all that stuff then we'll interview you three and…." Strickland began before he was shouted down by three voices all saying the same thing.

"No!" Jack said finally breaking though the debacle as the other three men looked at him in surprise. "Right now I don't care if you out rank me in some imaginary world were we're all still on the force, I don't care about protocol or how this should be done or anything else. This isn't some anonymous person in trouble. This is Sandra and if I have to lock you in her office and pull the fucking phone out of the wall we are going to do this our way. That's what he wants and whoever he is he wants us to find him and we won't do it because we're ex-coppers or because it's our job but because she's our friend and we love her and if we'd listened to her in the first place this might never have happened!"

Looking around the room and the three older men in front of his Robert Strickland felt his mind start an epic war, he knew Jack was right Sandra had been telling them all, even him that something wasn't right for weeks and they'd all ignored it. Now he had to decide whether he was prepared to ignore his head which was telling him to let the "professionals" deal with this and go with his gut and let these men do what they had to do to bring back the woman who had brought them all back from the brink in one way or another.

"I swear if you don't let us do…" Gerry began before Strickland held a silencing hand up in front of him shaking his head slightly, knocking aside the last vestiges of common sense that were left as he took a deep breath.

"Ok look we all know we've screwed up here, we all know we've ignored what we should have paid attention to but I'm going to trust you all just like she does." He sighed walking toward the door and staring back at them "I'm going to pretend I wasn't here, I'm going to pretend that she's here and I'm just getting on with things like I do when she is and I'm going to trust you but if you need anything, and I mean anything, if you need a signature, a call made, anything at all you call me. I'll be on your back so much for the next few days that you will be sick of the sight of me and when we've found her we'll deal with everything else then. Now get to work remind me why she has so much faith in you to begin with."