Apologies for the delay way too much work this week, here is another update for you though hope you enjoy.
Sandra looked into Harris eyes, she searched them for any sign that there was still a perfectly nice human being in there somewhere, but she could see nothing but pain and anger there, beneath the thin veneer of cockiness that was. Lifting the side of her mouth in a kind of half grimace she gave an almost in perceivable nod of her head. Harris saw it and he smiled in return.
"Good you know it makes sense, why make yourselves suffer more than you really have to." He said getting down so he was squatting on his haunches in front of her. As he spoke she could smell his breath, it was the first time she had detected the smell of cigarette smoke on him and she wondered if she even smelt it at all, or was it just wishful thinking. Hoping to replace Harris's face with someone much more familiar and welcome. Glancing over Harris's shoulder to the still slumped figure of Gerry, Sandra was grateful that he was not going to have to watch this. It was going to be hard enough without seeing the look on his face afterwards.
Before she had time to react Finn Harris planted his lips over hers, the kiss was bruising and she remained impassive to the point of almost slamming her lips closed at the intrusion.
"I'm sure you can do better than that Sandra." Harris said pulling away slightly so he could talk to her but there was no way she was saying anything right now, because the only words that wanted to come out of her mouth consisted of only four letters.
"Get your slimly face away from her you bastard."
Sandra jumped at the sound of Gerry's voice, and so did Harris, he whirled away from Sandra and turned on Gerry.
"Me and the little lady were having a private moment if you don't mind." He said his voice full of distain as he looked down at Gerry as though he was nothing.
"Well actually I do mind mate, so whatever it is you offered her for that little tryst I suggest you shove it where the sun don't shine." Gerry spat and Sandra's eyebrows almost disappeared off her head. She had never seen Gerry like this, then again she had never been in this kind of situation before. He was going to get himself killed at this rate, and for what her dignity, no that was for her to look after not him.
"Gerry I think that is my decision." Sandra said quietly not recognising the sound of her own desolate voice for a second. It was enough however to get both men looking at her.
"You got what you wanted, now get me and my colleague some water, that or don't bother coming back." Sandra said regaining some of the strength in her voice as Harris rounded on her and she tensed her muscles and straightened her spine.
"Guess I won't be seeing you for a while then." He said with a smile and Sandra realised that Harris had no intention of giving them any water. Right from the start he had played her, and what made her really angry was that she let him.
Jack was pacing the hallway waiting for Brian to come back from the bathroom when his mobile rang. Scrambling for it he saw that it was an unknown number and he pressed the phone soundly to his ear.
"Jack Halford."
"Sir its detective Johnson here I was sent to bring in Aaron Ward, I am afraid he is not here sir and no one has seen him since yesterday."
"Shit." Jack said under his breath as Brian rejoined him with a pained expression on his face.
"Pardon sir?" Johnson said at the other end of the phone and Jack snapped his attention back to the phone call.
"Sorry nothing, ok make some more enquiries see if you can track him down, check credit cards, passport the usual, we will see what we can find out this end." Jack said not waiting for a reply and hanging up. This was getting silly now, they had nothing, almost twenty four hours had gone past now and they had gotten precisely no where.
Ok they knew who had taken Gerry and Sandra, they even knew why, but it had gotten them no closer to finding their missing friends than they had been at the start.
"This is getting ridiculous, what are we going to have to do?" Jack said the frustration getting the better of him as Brian sat down on a nearby chair and held his head in his hands. He was not good at this, analyzing and organising, he was good at that, looking for the logic in the abstract, and seeing things that no one else could, but now all those powers of observation and single-mindedness had failed him, all he was left with was the worry and the guilt.
"Jack we need to back off this." He said finally, it was so unlike him to give up but for once he knew it was the right thing.
"Brian I can't believe you said that." Jack said with an extra emphasis on the word you.
"I can't think Jack, I can't see what is there, just like with the Stewart thing I should have see that but I didn't, maybe a fresh set of eyes would give us a breakthrough." Brain said as Jack collapsed in the chair next to him. They had been up all night poring over files, old cases linked to Caroline Stewart, trying to find out how she got involved, any places she might have used to meet her criminally minded friends but they had once again drawn a blank.
Now both men were bone tired, having not slept for the entire time the rest of UCOS had been missing was now catching up with them both, and time it seemed to be running out.
"You know they say if you don't find them within 24 hours." Brian said but Jack raised his hand.
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, don't even think it Brian, they have a reason to keep them alive, there would be no reason to kill them, because they want information,"
"Information that Gerry and Sandra don't have." Brian chipped in just as Jack's phone rang once more.
"Exactly, if they haven't told them anything they will still be trying to get it out of them." He said quickly as he pulled his phone to his ear once more.
"Jack Halford."
"Mr Halford, listen very carefully, I have your colleagues, for the moment they are alive, but I can assure you that won't be the case for much longer."
Jack froze and stared at Brian. Brian caught on quickly and leaned in c loser to the phone so he could here the conversation.
"They are refusing to tell me where or who has what belongs to me, I was hoping you would be more co operative. I will give you one day bring me the jewellery and I will let them go, if not I will kill them and come for you next."
"We don't have it, we can't bring you what we do not have." Jack said knowing that this maybe their only chance to convince him about their innocence in all this.
"Then you had better find it Mr Halford, your were a detective, detect. I will ring again with drop off instructions." With that Finn Harris hung up and Jack slowly closed his phone and looked at Brian.
"Why didn't you tell him we knew who he was?" He said standing up and looking frustrated once again.
"I think he already knows, plus he is more likely to panic and kill Sandra and Gerry if he thinks we are getting too close." Jack said as he turned and walked back towards the office Brian on his shoulder.
"Good point, so where do we start with the jewellery it has not been seen in eight years, and our only suspects for taking it are either dead or missing." Brain said as they pushed open the doors and walked into the very empty filling room.
"There." Jack said pointing to a photo on the board and Brain smiled back at him.
Gerry's eyes followed Harris out of the room and then hung on the closed door for a second before he turned to Sandra and she was staring right at him. She did not turn away this time and he was slightly unnerved by the look in her eyes. She seemed somehow distant, yet so intense at the same time.
"Sandra I." He stated, but he realised that he didn't even know what he was going to say beyond that except perhaps that he was sorry.
"I know, its all about power Gerry, he is just using it to try and scare me, don't worry it won't work, I'm a big girl." She said her gaze not fluctuating and Gerry was getting worried about his boss.
"I know Sandra, but please don't do anything because you think you have to protect me, I am ok, nothing an aspirin and a good night sleep won't fix anyway." Gerry continued knowing full well that Sandra had given into Harris because she knew he was thirsty.
"Would you have done the same, not given in if it was the other way around?" Sandra asked, one eyebrow raised at him in a challenge that they had skirted around many times before.
"I don't think I'm his type Gov." Gerry said but she didn't smile this time, she just blinked slowly.
"You know what it is like Gerry I bet you know what it is like right now sitting in that chair watching him." Sandra couldn't bring herself to say it but she didn't need to, the slump of Gerry's head and the closing of his eyes told her, he knew what she had been referring to.
"It's exactly the same from this side of the room, I will do anything to keep us alive for as long as I can, to give us as much chance to be found as possible." Sandra said as she caught his eyes again and could see the pain reflected in them, both emotional and physical.
"Yeah but how much of you will there be left to find, how far will you let him go Sandra?" Gerry said no longer caring about how she looked at him, how much distain there was in her eyes for his attempt of comfort. He would prefer that to the distance she had in them when Harris first left the room, any emotion was better from her than none.
"As far as I have to I guess." She answered truthfully with out actually mentioning specifics. And tried to gauge Gerry's reaction, looking him right in the eyes and allowing him to look back, it was said right there and then, that if Sandra was going to let Finn take what he wanted in exchange for their lives, then Gerry was going to do everything he could to stop him including giving his own life, and there was nothing either of them could do to stop each other.
Strickland had managed to get hold of Carline Stewart, he had tracked her down, but not let her know they knew about the corruption. In fact Strickland had managed to spin her a very convincing story about needing her help and Sandra respecting her insight and would want it to be here that saved them.
Getting her here was proving to be a problem though the airports were closed and were not due to reopen for at least another day.
"Damm it we don't have that long." Jack said to Brian hanging up on Strickland after getting the news. They had not told him about the deadline or the phone call, they didn't want tracers and dogs and the entire Met out there looking for Finn Harris and the drop site, they did not want their friends to die and right now Harris was holding all the cards.
"No go?" Brian said but he already knew the answer, closing his lap top Brian stared across the room at the only colleague he had left and he finally had a brain wave.
"You know if Finn Harris didn't die, and it appears he didn't leave the country, someone must have known where he was, I mean you don't just vanish in to the ether do ya, my money is on his mother." Brian said, when they had originally visited Mrs Harris she had been very vague, just stating she didn't know where her son was, and that she had no idea about any robbery. The woman was in her seventies but was pretty alert and she was certainly no fan of the police. At that point none of them had any reason not to believe her, now they knew better Jack and Brian were going to go back and press her.
"Come on!" Jack said grabbing his coat as Brian didn't hesitate to follow him snatching his coat and scarf on the way.
Harris was back, Sandra could smell him clearly this time, his sent had wound its way in to her consciousness. That spice on top of sweat was distinctive it also contained no smell of cigarettes and choosing to ignore that little facet Sandra raised her head and watch him pace about the room.
"I have called your colleagues, they are going to bring me the loot or I will kill you. I have given them twenty four hours, plenty of time to have lots of fun with the pair of you." He said with a snide smile as Gerry humphed from his chair having woken up a few moments ago.
"You on the other hand can cut that time down to zero, if you tell me where it is right now." He continued turning from Sandra to Gerry and then back again.
Both people remained silent. There was nothing they could have done anyway, the one consolation from all from this was that in twenty four hours this was going to end one way or another they were going to be getting out of this room.
"I don't get this! Why won't you tell me, why put yourselves through more of this, when I am going to get what I want anyway. That is unless you are kind of enjoying it." Harris said turning to look at Sandra head half cocked and a grin on his face.
"Piss off." Sandra spat at him as he leaned in closer to her and the glob of spit rolled down his cheek as he snapped backwards whipping her offering to him off with the back of his sleeve.
"Oh you are going to pay for that." Harris said pulling a knife from his sock and flicking out the blade with his thumb.
"Oi come on mate don't do anything rash here." Gerry shouted as Sandra's eyes grew wide and she almost seemed to try and shrink in her chair.
"Shut up old man, no bitch spits at me and get's away with it." Harris said not even giving Gerry a glance as he knelt next to Sandra and placed the blade against her neck.
"Now the only question is where to start." Harris hissed as he searched her face wondering what he could cut without killing her. Sandra stilled herself, not wanting him to see any fear on her face, not wanting him to have that satisfaction at least.
A crash came from behind Harris, he turned and stood up quickly his previous task forgotten as Gerry tried to scramble up off his broken chair on bound legs.
Sandra watched as if it was all in slow motion.
First Harris just stood there and watched Gerry as he got his legs free of the chair and managed to stand upright. Then coming out of his shock Harris swung the blade at Gerry who dodged backwards, the blade missing him by mere inches as he almost fell over his own chair.
Gerry's hands were still tied behind him but his legs were free, dogging the first swing of the blade Gerry righted himself once more only to feel the steal dig into his upper arm and he hissed him pain.
The next thing he knew he was on the floor with a body on top of him and a knife at his neck.
"Silly old fool, you would risk your life to save her's but you won't tell me where my loot is, I think you have your priorities mixed up." Harris said breathing heavily into Gerry's face and he had to turn away from the putrid breath, he wondered briefly how Sandra had managed to kiss him, but the pain from his arm soon whisked that horrible thought away.
"Maybe now you will believe me when I tell you we don't know where it is, that is why we haven't told you anything." Gerry stated slowly and deliberately as Harris pushed himself off Gerry and glanced at the ruined chair before turning his gaze back on Sandra once more.
"Well might as well finish what I started." He said with no hesitation this time he walked over to her and flicked the knife across her face three times.
Gerry was too slow to get up, he was almost upon Harris with Sandra's whimper but he couldn't maintain his balance and ended up on his knees in front of the man.
"Now when I look at you I know your mine." Harris said as he backed off and let Gerry see the F he had left on Sandra's cheek. The crimson blood running from the wound as her eyes turned downwards and closed tightly.
"You sick bastard, you think that makes her yours, then you are sadly mistaken." Gerry said his head starting to spin from the pain and lack of food and water. The world seemed to blur out for a second before the opening of the door caught his attention once more.
"Shit Harris, the boss he aint going to like this." Aaron Ward said as he came into the room and spied Gerry first half unconscious on the floor and Sandra bleeding from her face still on the chair.
"Whatever, I haven't killed um have I." Harris said moving passed Ward back out the door.
"What about him?" Ward asked seeing that Gerry was now free and the chair that he had been sitting on was destroyed.
"He aint going anywhere." Harris called back and Ward followed him out of the door. This time Gerry heard the distinct click of the lock and his hopes of a quick escape were gone a second later.
Keeping hold of consciousness, he struggled to his knees, needing to get to Sandra, if not to free her from the confines of the chair then to at least touch her and make sure she was ok, to make sure she was still here with him, however much longer that would be.
Hope that was ok, I know the reveal was kind of expected but like all good new tricks there will be a twist coming. Hope you continue to read and review and I will try and post quickly. Maybe even tomorrow if I am feeling nice.
Thanks for reading XxX