Alex re read the letter. Her mouth felt dry. Taking a large gulp of wine she reached for the discarded diary. Flicking quickly through the pages to May she found several days when there had been no entry at all.

Reading back there had been a sight change in Annies' tone, almost as if she was desperately trying to be bright and positive, not wanting to acknowledge her fears. There was talk of the wedding. Apparently Sam wasn't exactly being helpful.

1st May 1976

Sam didn't come home again last night. He said he was working late. Not wanting to wake me, he went back to his bed-sit. I've been trying to get the flowers arranged but I ever time I try to talk to him he is with her. I suppose the wedding, our wedding just isn't as important as this case. He's working so hard, trying to save the world one bit at a time. That doesn't stop me missing him. The sooner it is over the better.

Always trying to be understanding Annie. Alex thought. But deep down you suspected the worst didn't you? The next entry was several days later.

8th May 1976.

I'm home. Sam has stayed beside me ever since… well he hasn't let me out of his sight. I catch him looking at me, as if he can't quite believe I am really there.

Just before I was kidnapped we had a fight. Sam and me. I was just so angry. Every spare moment he spent with that Journalist. OK she came in with information about some sex trafficking ring, and I understand that to the department it was a huge collar. To Sam a chance to make a difference, save some young women from a fate worse than death. But it was deemed too… upsetting for a female WDC. But not apparently for Jackie Queen.

The Guv said she had the hide of a crocodile.

I saw how she looked at Sam. A little touch here, a gesture there and it was driving me mad. I was trying to make our wedding the perfect day and Sam wasn't interested in anything I had to say. He was focussed on the case… and Jackie.

I hadn't seen him very much. He'd been working late a lot. That's the first sign me mam would have said. I was even getting sympathetic looks from Phyllis. It was making me doubt the wedding would take place at all.

So when he dared, he dared to say to me that the Martins believed Jackie was his girlfriend. I didn't care. I was tired of being Annie the understanding doormat. I stopped thinking like a copper.

The station seemed claustrophobic. I didn't want to deal with Sam right then. I needed to get out, away from the hustle and bustle, and inevitable rows that would be going on between Sam and the Guv. I needed to clear my head.

It was a beautiful day. I took a left out of the station and began to walk towards the canal. My head was so full of Sam, losing Sam, that I wasn't really paying attention. I didn't notice the car pull up beside me. It was only when the bag was put over my head and I was bundled into the back that the sheer terror of my situation hit me. As I struggled I felt a sharp needle point in my neck and then the world went black.

I think it was the smell that woke me. It caught in the back of my throat, a rough mixture of damp and human sweat. Opening my eyes it seemed to be a cellar of some kind, disused and filthy. I tried to clear the dull thud in my brain. I was sitting on the floor; my feet bound tightly by ropes, my hands behind me the same. It took a few minutes for me to realise that I was tied back to back with someone else.

"Annie? You awake?" I recognised the Scottish brogue. Jackie.

"Yes." I managed to croak. My throat felt like it was on fire. "Where are we?"

"One of the Martins' store houses I think. There have been girls coming and going the whole time I've been here. We must have spooked them cos they're moving their whole operation."

My eyes started to adjust to the gloom. I could make out figures crouched silently against the walls. They weren't tied, but then they didn't need to be. They were restrained with fear. A young Chinese girl was staring at me; she couldn't have been more than fourteen. Catching her gaze I tried to smile but she looked away quickly.

"Have you tried to get one of them to untie you?" I asked Jackie.

"No. We've all been too busy playing I spy!" She snapped. "Sorry… sorry… None of them seem to speak English and even if they did I suspect they are too scared to try and help us… So you're the cavalry are you?"

I paused. "Not… exactly… no…"

"I expected just after you arrived they'd all come flying in here to save the day?" There was a slight edge of hysteria in her voice.

"I'm afraid not. I'm in the same boat as you."

She seemed to slump against me. Neither of us said anything for a long time.

"They will find us you know." I said eventually. I had to keep hoping.

"Hopefully before it's not too late." Jackie sniffed. "I know I've complained about Gene's methods in the past, but right now I would give anything to see the big ape come charging through that door."

We lapsed into silence again.

The Chinese girl was staring. I tried my brightest smile in the current circumstances, possibly not that bright. I thought the corners of her mouth might have turned up just the tiniest bit, and then she looked away guilty as the door was swung open.

In the light of the doorway I could see the outline of a medium set man. He moved purposefully towards us ignoring the other girls. Two men followed him into the room and stood sphinx like either side of the only escape route.

"Ah ladies. It is good to see you are both back in the land of the living." His voice was calm as if he was asking us if we would like more tea.

"Martin." Jackie spat angrily.

"The very same my dear. And Miss Cartwright I am most terribly sorry for our meeting being delayed. A small case of mistaken identity, it seems my people got the wrong impressions…" He paused for a moment to chuckle to himself. "Our Detective Inspector is quite the ladies man, so perhaps it is understandable. I am sure you two will have a lot to talk about… compare notes, the old model and the new. Let's hope D I Tyler hasn't already lined up a number three, otherwise you will both be surplus to… requirements."

Still laughing at his own joke, he indicated two girls who had been sitting in the shadows. His men grabbed one each and dragged them through the door before it was slammed shut. What struck me is the girls didn't make a sound.

Despite myself I couldn't stop the tears that were stinging my eyes. I looked up and blinked. If Jackie had taken him away from me then I wasn't going to give her the satisfaction. We had to get out of here, then I would deal with it.

Jackie said. "God I could kill for a smoke!"

"Can't help you there." I replied coolly.

I felt her nod. "You don't want to let him get inside your head you know."

What was I supposed to say? "So you and Sam…"

The Scot laughed. "Me and Sam… you have got to be kidding! For one thing he's far too holier than thou for my tastes. I like my men far from virtuous, and secondly if he wasn't talking about the case he could quite happily talk for hours about you, absolutely bored me to death!"

I couldn't help the smile that crept across my face. The one that Sam always said lit up a room.

"Sam did?"

"Yeah. He's an odd one your fella. I asked him if he was looking forward to the piss up at the wedding. He just shrugged and said he wasn't that bothered about the day, he just wanted to be married to you. I though he was joking at first… but he kinda isn't, is he?"

I felt my smile get a bit wider. Ridiculous. I was in a cellar, god knows where, possibly about to die and all I could see was how I was focussing on this stupid wedding and all he was thinking about was our marriage.

I felt eyes upon me. The young Chinese girl had obviously seen me sitting there grinning like an idiot and she was smiling back… actually smiling.

I made a sideways movement with my head towards the rope. She frowned and glanced at the door. I indicated the rope again and smiled.

"Please be brave" I whispered.

She slid across the dirty floor, all the time one eye on the doorway. When she finally reached us she pointed to herself.

"Lee Chin." She said softly. "Lee Chin."

"Annie." I said.

She nodded and looked at the rope knotting our hands. Lee Chins' hands were shaking as she struggled with the tight bonds. I wasn't sure she would be able to loosen knots tied by men three times her size.