TORN
His finger ghosted across her cheekbone.
'Sandra, darling? Wake up.'
'Mm?' she mumbled, disorientedly. 'Gerry...' She was still half asleep.
'Yes, I'm here. You need to wake up.'
'Don't want to wake up... why... dream...'
'Dream?' he repeated.
'You... hurt...' Her eyes shot open. 'You were hurt. Someone had hurt you.' She was wide awake now.
'Honey, don't worry. You're not awake yet. I'll get you some coffee, okay?' She nodded, still dazed from the shockingly vivid dream.
-
She was held hostage along with Gerry while Brian tried to negotiate with the armed murderer, Billy. He pointed the gun at Sandra. Gerry almost lost it.
'Move and she dies,' Billy snarled at Gerry.
'NO!' he screamed, jumping forward, trying to knock the gun out of Billy's hands.
The gun went off.
Sandra watched Gerry fall, almost in slow motion. She heard a piercing scream but didn't realise she was the one screaming. 'NO! NO, GERRY!' she cried out. 'Gerry! Gerry! Gerry...'
-
She looked puzzled as she was thinking over her dream. She'd had this nightmare before, but something was different today. She wasn't just angry and sad because of the murderer. There was a strange, new edge to her thoughts. The way she had felt so fiercely protective of Gerry was unlike anything else she'd ever experienced.
-
'Do you want to tell me about your dream?' Gerry came in and sat down on the bed, handing Sandra a cup of coffee.
'Gerry... you remember last year? Shadow show...' He went quite pale.
'Of course I remember. We nearly got killed.'
'Yes... that's what my dream is about. Only this time, no happy ending... I've dreamt this often, and every time it ends with you getting shot...' she whispered.
'But that's just... fear. It doesn't mean anything. Right?'
'I guess...'
'Come on, drink your coffee. It'll help.' Sandra took a sip, closed her eyes and sighed.
-
'So, where do we stand?' Jack asked.
'Well...' Sandra said. 'We know that Julian Swan is presumably not a sex criminal, since Ginny Massen lies about everything, apparently.'
'We know that Julian's mother is certainly convinced Julian was a nice boy,' Brian added.
'We know that Lizzy Keating thought Julian was plain and boring,' Gerry said.
'Ah, yes, but we also know that she's actually hiding something, we just don't know what,' Jack reminded them.
'Basically we know that this case is impossible!' Sandra exclaimed. Brian and Jack frowned. It wasn't like her to give up a case like this. They were usually the ones convincing her to take some time off and do something outside of work. She grabbed the case file and went into her office, slamming the door.
'What's up with her?' Brian wondered.
'I think I've got a pretty good idea,' Gerry said. 'I'll go talk to her.'
He knocked on the door and cracked it open carefully. 'Sandra? Can I come in?' She was sitting at her desk, staring at the case file though it was obvious she wasn't actually reading it. 'Yes, of course,' she said softly. She didn't look at him.
'It's your dream, isn't it?' he asked. Sandra nodded. 'What scares you so much about it?'
'Something happening to you...' she whispered. 'I couldn't stand it, I couldn't live with it if...' He pulled her into a hug. 'Nothing's going to happen, sweetie. I'll be fine. You can watch over me every minute, day and night, if you like.' She smiled slightly. 'It'll be alright. I promise. I'd kiss you to prove it, but unfortunately Jack will kill me if I do that at work.'
'Yes, and I'll bet he's watching,' Sandra said, sounding much more like her normal self. Gerry checked out of the corner of his eyes and said 'Indeed he is.'
-
It was lunchtime. The four of them had spent the morning going over the case file and repeating the same things, not seeing a way out in this case. Jack had gone out to get lunch, Brian was eating a sandwich at his desk and Sandra was still locked in her office. Gerry was standing in front of the window, thinking about her, as usual. He recalled Sandra's panic about her dream. Had her bad night had anything to do with her failed conversation with Tom? He checked on Sandra, who was in her office eating a sandwich and still going through case files. On impulse, he took his jacket, shouted to Brian he was going out for lunch, and drove to Tom Eldridge's office.
-
He told Tom Eldridge's secretary he wanted to speak to Tom on police business. She sent him through.
'What can I do for you – oh. Sandra's colleague, aren't you?' Tom said, his voice cold.
'Yes, I am, and I'm not here on police business.'
'Oh? What personal business could you have with me?'
'You better treat her right, Eldridge.'
'You're sleeping with her, aren't you?' It was more of a statement than a true question.
'So what if I am?' Gerry snapped.
'It should be me telling you to treat my sister right.'
'Oh, no, it shouldn't! Not if I've known her for seven years and she didn't even know you existed until last year!' Tom didn't react.
'Either treat her with a bit of respect, or leave her alone!' Gerry looked at Tom, then left his office, hoping the message had got through.
-
'I thought you'd gone out to have lunch?'
'Yeah, I did,' said Gerry, showing Brian the bacon sandwich in his hand, and walking over to put the kettle on for a cup of tea to go with it.
'It took you an hour just to buy a sandwich and not even eat it?'
Gerry gritted his teeth. 'I had to see to something first.'
'Like what?'
'Never you mind! Where are Jack and Sandra?'
'They went to interview Mrs Swan again. They were desperate for any hint of a solution.'
'Didn't bloody get it, though,' Jack said crossly as he came in.
'Julian was just your ordinary perfect guy. No one had any reason to kill him,' Sandra said agitatedly. 'Come on, let's call it quits for today and go for a drink.'
'Aren't we supposed to be working until five?' Brian asked.
'Yes, but we often stay until seven or later, so I think a collective afternoon off is perfectly in order.' Sandra reasoned.
'You're the boss,' Gerry said.