'Something's not quite right.' I could hear that little nagging voice in the back of my mind but I pushed it aside, concerned only for the safety of the woman that meant more than anything to me. It was for that reason that it took me so long to recognise that voice wasn't my thoughts with a tongue of their own, but the young enthusiastic officer walking along beside me.

'What?' I asked sternly, feeling enraged at her for such an inappropriate comment, it was obvious something wasn't right, four officers were missing and by the looks of it that number was only set to rise. Instantly feeling guilty for using such a harsh tone when addressing her, I was about to apologise, only stopping when she continued, obviously dismissing my rash tone as something understandable given the circumstances.

'Well, I mean four officers disappear in the space of five days and not one of them appears to have put up a fight. They've all been trained in self defence, all have weapons, CS spray, radios, handcuffs, you get the picture, but not one of them has put up a visible fight or made any attempt to radio for help.'

I had to admit, she had a point. She may not be the best of coppers, hell; she was a long way from the best, but she could come up with valid points at intervals. Sparse intervals. Sighing, I stopped, turning to face her, shaking my head slightly as she continued for a few steps before having to retreat backwards, having noticed thirty seconds too late that I'd paused. 'What are you thinking, Beth?' I questioned hesitantly, fearing I'd regret asking.

'Well, did they know the kidnapper? Or was it someone that called the police and they believed to be a victim? It could even have been a friend.' She suggested enthusiastically.

'What makes you think they weren't drugged, that'd be a lot simpler.'

'Even when people are drugged, there's always that split second when they react, there'd be some sign of a struggle, but there's nothing out of place, nothing at all.'

'So you think they were willing victims?' I asked dubiously, wondering if she ever had a useful thought fly through that brain of hers. I also found myself wondering why I'd been given such an inexperienced PC to work with. I mean, I'm not one of those coppers that think working with uniform is beneath them, but with such a high profile case I had been hoping I'd get someone a little better at their job if truth be told. Or maybe just someone that wouldn't look out of place in a high school.

'Maybe not willing, maybe just unprepared.'

I paused for a moment, considering the possibility. 'I guess it's another avenue we can explore. But to be honest I don't think DI Nixon would be unprepared for anything.' I consciously forced myself into remaining professional when I spoke about Sam, refusing to allow anyone to hear the hurt I felt when discussing my secret lover. What was hardest was that I had no one to talk to about it; Sam had wanted to keep our relationship quiet. I don't really know if I can even call it that, it wasn't exactly hearts and flowers, in fact all it seemed to be was sex, but what did that matter? I love her and that's all I care about, being with the woman you love is the most magical feeling in the world. Being apart from them is the strongest pain you could ever imagine. I just hope I won't have to get used to this feeling of isolation and loneliness.

'Sorry, I guess I don't know her as well as you do, I mean, you work with her everyday, I've spoken to her twice. What about the others?'

'Emma would be prepared, I think. I mean, she's not one to get enraged easily, but if someone were attacking her, she'd put up a fight, I'm sure of it. Leela's a bit worrying I guess, I mean, her work had been getting a bit sloppy before she went missing, what with all that business with her lodger, she may have been distracted. I'm not really sure about Diane, I guess I don't really know her well enough to comment.' I admitted, inwardly scorning myself for not making more of an effort to get to know the woman, wondering now if I'd be given the chance again.

It took me a long time to realise the young woman beside me hadn't responded, too long if I'm honest. I can't deny that Sam going missing is affecting my work, but I'm just trying to ignore it as best as possible, obviously I'm not doing that great a job because when I turned around I found I was now walking alone. Feeling my heart skip a beat, I turned backwards, breathing a sigh of relief when I saw the PC ordering an ice cream from a van. 'Beth, get me a Mister Whippy.' I called, rolling my eyes as I looked to her.

'Sorry, I just get these cravings I guess. I'm a sugar addict.' She admitted, turning to face me with a cone of soft ice cream in one hand, and orange lolly still in the paper in the other. She caught me up, handing the cone to me as she opened the lolly, discarding the wrapper in a bin we were passing as she took a lick, eyes fluttering shut briefly as she tasted it. 'Sorry, secret love, these things, I can't help it.' I smiled slightly, licking my own ice cream, feeling a pang of guilt as I enjoyed myself while my girlfriend was missing somewhere.

'Did you tell him he was illegally parked while you were there?' I asked briefly, guessing she hadn't.

'Oops.'

'Mmm, didn't think so. Don't worry, it's a bit late now.' I joked, signalling to the ice cream in my hand, knowing it would be a bit hypercritical to go and give him a ticket now.

I lay back on the hard concrete floor, eyes only half open as I released a small moan, a pair of hands working their way slowly up my clothed body, pulling my skirt up as they went. I felt disgusted in myself for enjoying the feel of the foreign hands on my skin, caressing me lightly and tenderly as Jo would, fingers softly stroking my inner thighs. I let out another muffled groan of arousal, responding willingly to the pair of lips meeting my own, my voice seeming to have a mind of it's own as I begged for more when my lips were finally released. Feeling a breath on my cheek, I shivered slightly, my thoughts unwillingly imagining being taken to the places only Jo had managed. This new pair of hands had yet to take me, seeming to want to wait for exactly the right moment to bury their fingers within me.

I found myself praying they would think this moment perfect, my body screaming for that release I knew I wouldn't be able to bring myself to with my arms tied. The hands wandered further up the legs I had readily parted, I hoped my prayers had been answered, feeling the soft fingers tug gently at my already moist knickers. Revelling in the sensations created by the fabric being pulled over my hips and down my legs, I released another satisfied moan, goose bumps appearing on my skin where the fingers departed, my hips bucking involuntarily off the floor. I gulped as nimble fingers danced over my clit, buried deep within me after just a few seconds, yet another kiss placed on my waiting lips, swallowing my hoarse cries of enjoyment. As the fingers were curled inside me, stroking the sensitive ridge of flesh I found it didn't take mush to send me toppling over the edge. My body jerked spasmodically as the orgasm I'd been craving crashed over me, wave after wave of ecstasy controlling my mind, allowing me to only think of the feeling I was experiencing, my thoughts completely redundant of memories of my lover.

I watched as Beth took the final piece of lolly off the stick and into her mouth, smiling to myself as she chucked the stick in the bin. I saw her vision flick over to me, the young brunette grinning wryly.

'What?'

'Oh, nothing.' I replied quickly seeing her continue to look at me, obvious that she wasn't going to be happy until I told her the truth. 'I was just thinking how much you remind me of Tess.'

'Who's Tess?' Beth asked, not terribly distracted by my vagueness, curiosity evident in her eyes.

'My ex. She had a passion for ice lollies as well, we used to go to a beach on weekends sometimes when I wasn't working and she couldn't help but buy about five in a day.'

Beth giggled slightly, obviously not feeling awkward about being compared to my ex girlfriend. 'When I was a kid my mum used to take us to family holidays at Blackpool every summer, there was this guy that owned an ice cream van he always parked by the beach. I got so many of those callippo things from him that by the time I was five he knew what I wanted before I even asked. We only went once a year so I must have had a fair few.' She added, a grin on her face as she thought back. 'What about you?'

'What about me?'

'Where did you go on holiday when you were younger?'

'Erm, all over really, I guess we probably went to France in the main.'

'Mmm, that must have been nice.'

'Yeah, yeah we had a little villa that belonged to my Granddad that we used.'

'Oh, that must have been great!' Beth exclaimed, walking into a bin as she did so. 'Ouch.' I found myself inwardly groaning, snapping back into reality as I wondered just why I'd been given her to help out on such an important case. I mean, to me it was probably more important because Sam was missing, but four officers disappearing without a trace was hardly the same as simple burglaries that I wasn't sure Beth had even been trained in.

'You alright?' I checked with a sigh, crunching on the last bit of my cone as I did so.

'Yeah, just banged my leg, I'm sure it's nothing.'

'Right, well, I think this is the spot.' I provided, stopping dead in my tracks as I thought for the first time that this must be the exact place Sam was taken from.

'Well, it's a public place, she can't have gone involuntarily.'

'Not necessarily. I mean, if someone had grabbed her like this.' I explained, gripping my arm lightly around Beth's neck. 'Taken a weapon and told her to shut up and do what she was told, they might have had time to release her…' I let go of her neck, looking around me to see if I had aroused any suspicion , smiling slightly to myself when I hadn't, I continued. 'There's a chance no one would have noticed.'

'I guess, but it's pretty unlikely.'

'Beth, do you see anyone running over here to check you're okay?'

'No, but why would they be?'

'Because I've just re-enacted a possible kidnapping scenario with you as the victim, if I saw that I'd be over her in a shot, no one noticed.'

'Yeah, I guess you could be right.'

I sighed, watching her dreamily stare into the distance, a small smile flicker onto her face. 'What if she was approached by someone saying there'd been an assault or something and they needed her help, I mean, she is a copper.'

'Plain clothed, though, Beth, how would anyone know she was police.'

'I suppose. So we go with your idea?'

'It's the most likely one we've got so far really.'

'Yeah, you're probably right.'

I heard a muffled scream from another room, flinching slightly as I thought about who it might be, almost certain that whoever it was that was holding me here also had Emma and Diane. I also found myself wondering if anyone else had been taken by now. Straining my ears at the sound of voices I heard a desperate plea, Emma's voice the source by the sound of it. Hearing the familiar chink that told me someone was about to come into the dark room I was being held in, I stayed silent, hoping no one had been harmed. 'Sam?' I heard the voice I'd got used to in the past couple of days, her tone soft and light, something different to what I heard when she was talking to the others. I'd wondered to myself previously why I was kept in a different room when by the sounds of they were together, but in such circumstances it never played on my mind for too long.

'Yeah.' I murmured as quietly as she had previously spoken, noting again that she used a different tone when speaking to me. When I heard snippets of conversations with the others I heard a harsh edge to her voice, whereas when she spoke to me she had a vulnerable tone that I couldn't help finding endearing.

'Are you okay?'

'Yeah.' I replied, wondering whether I was meant to answer no given the current situation I was in.

'Do you need anything?'

'Some water maybe?' I suggested, having noticed a couple of hours ago that my throat was dry from hoarse cries I was still unsure whether I regretted or not.

'Yeah, sure. I'll go get you some. You want any food?'

'I dunno, maybe just some crisps or something.'

'Yeah, of course. Anything else?' She offered warmly, her voice compassionate as she enquired, obviously pained at the thought of me being tied. I found myself wondering why she did it if she felt so hurt by it, but I never mustered enough courage to ask her.

'Some company might be nice.' I mumbled, pondering whether or not I was being irrational at asking my captor to sit with me.

'Yeah, I'll grab myself some food and stuff, maybe I could tempt you if I brought some stuff, it'd be like an indoor picnic.' She said with a smile, retreating as she saw me nod silently, forcing herself, however reluctantly, to lock the door on her way out. 'I'll be back in a minute.' She whispered.

I wandered the corridor aimlessly; foolishly hoping some time alone may wipe away the thoughts of Sam that were forever clouding my judgement. Instead I found being isolated only allowing me to concentrate more on the blonde. Hearing the eager voice of the young PC behind me, I spun quickly on my heel, turning to face her. 'Beth. You found anything?'

'Sorry, no. I thought maybe you should take a look, you're more experienced in this kind of case than I am, you might spot something I've overlooked.'

I paused; thinking silently that I was more experienced on any case than she was. Monkeys were more experienced than she was. 'Alright, shove everything on my desk and I'll have a root through, you might as well go and take your refs.' I suggested, hoping to get free of the brunette for a bit.

'Oh, no, it's fine, I don't mind working through.' She volunteered.

'You should take a break.' I insisted, valuing her offer, but still wanting rid of her all the same. As sweet and enthusiastic as she was, she wasn't exactly the brightest spark in the book and she could get a little distracting.

'Alright then, I'll see you in a bit.'

As she wandered out of sight, bumping into Smithy who was on his way up the stairs, I rolled my eyes, sighing briefly before heading to my desk to read the case she'd apparently dumped on it, either that or she'd forgotten to go and put it there. Either way I'm sure it's be easier for me to go and check rather than ask her.