Thanks to Gem, Barb, Laura, Elz, Sam, miss nyx, Ruth and buddies for reviewing the previous chapters! Your reviews are appreciated more than you know!
More SP in this chapter, heading down the Fluff way, I hope! Anyway I shall leave you to read now :)
Chapter Twenty-Eight – No Need
After a short drive Phil pulled the car into a side street, he turned off the ignition and glanced over to Sam, she had again been silent for most of the car journey, and Phil hoped that she wasn't having second thoughts about what had happened earlier that afternoon. "Are you okay?" he asked cautiously as he reached over to place his hand on hers.
"I'm fine Phil, better than fine in fact" Sam replied with a smile.
"You were so quiet on the way here though, I was worried" Phil admitted, knowing that Sam wouldn't tease him for showing some sensitivity, after all she had seen it before.
"Phil" Sam said with a smile, "I was just thinking how you should have let me go home first and get changed, I'm sure that I look a fright in these" Sam said, motioning towards her simple work outfit.
"You could wear a dustbin liner and still look gorgeous to me" Phil said quickly.
"Sometimes you say the nicest things" Sam replied.
"I save them all for you" Phil said with a wink and a cheeky grin, "Are you hungry?" he asked.
"Definitely" Sam replied, and with that the two of them climbed out of the car, Phil waited on the pavement for Sam to join him before he held out his left hand, which Sam took a hold of and they walked towards the restaurant.
"Sam can I ask you something?" Phil asked as they were halfway through their main course.
"Of course Phil" Sam said through bites of her delicious dinner.
"Were you really that angry to see me yesterday?"
Sam paused, before answering, "I don't think I was mad, I think I was just surprised, I didn't know if I'd ever see you again, let alone be abducted by you" she answered with a small giggle, before her mind became lost in her own thoughts.
Phil laughed, "I am sorry about that, but I couldn't let you ruin my case"
"When I left you" Sam began, her voice barely able to be heard by Phil.
"Sam, it doesn't matter, I don't need to hear about the past"
"It does matter Phil, because you should know. I didn't leave because I regretted what happened between us, I left because you and me have always been so complicated, there has always been something in the way, whether it be someone else for either of us, or being interrupted, or just the fact that we work together, and after that day you weren't going to be here anymore and I guess I was just scared"
"Are you scared now?" Phil asked.
"Having you back, working with me, being able to talk with you over these past few days has made me realise that I can't live my life being scared anymore, I'm a police officer who was scared. But I wasn't scared of the big, bad world I was scared of letting people in, so I blocked everyone out, including my own daughter and look what happened to her, I can't live like this anymore. I want you to be in my life Phil, you belong in it" Sam said, the words tumbling out of her mouth as if she couldn't stop her true feelings from coming out, and for the first time in a long time she let them be said, she didn't try to hold them in. "So in answer to your question, no at the moment I am not scared" Sam said triumphantly.
"I think you belong in my life too Sam. I have to admit that I am pretty useless without you being around to teach me" Phil said with a smile.
Sam smiled back, before taking another sip of the wine that was in front of her, "I think we have done enough complicated"
"True" Phil replied, as he took another sip of his beer, and to prove that he was serious he leant over the table, being careful as not to knock over the candles in front of them and kissed Sam, just once very softly on the lips, his lips brushing hers, so lightly that she hardly felt it.
As Phil sat back down the same muted melody that had interrupted them earlier began to play, "Do you ever turn that thing off?" he asked Sam, as she leant under the table to retrieve it.
"No, you know that" Sam said her voice muffled, "Do you ever turn yours off?" she asked, already knowing the answer, "Its Gina" she added before he even had a chance to reply.
"I wonder what she wants?" Phil asked.
"Hello" Sam said as she put the phone to her ear, her eyes still closely watching Phil as he returned to his meal, taking his fork and twirling the pasta around and around.
"Sam, I've got some news about the illusive Jessica"
"You do?" Sam questioned a little shocked, not enough hours had passed for Jessica to have been picked up in Australia.
"It seems that whilst she checked in to the flight, she never made it onto the plane"
"Right" Sam said, another twist in this case, how many more could there be?
"I contacted Heathrow twenty minutes ago, and it seems that the airline paged her several times before leaving, and eventually decided to leave without her" Gina explained.
"So what does this mean?" Sam asked.
"Well I asked them to check all other flights that left around the same time and it appears that she did not board any others"
"So logically we must assume that she is still in England"
"It seems to be that way" Gina answered before asking, "Do you need me to contact Phil? So that he can inform DS Baxter and the rest of Specialist"
"No that's fine, there's no need to call him, I can tell him" Sam said with a small laugh.
"Tell me what?" Phil asked from the other end of the table loudly, he had heard half of Sam's conversation and was wondering what was now happening.
"Sam, was that Phil?" Gina asked, a little surprised.
"It might have been" Sam admitted.
"Are you still at Sun Hill?" Gina said, wondering if before she had made this phone call she should have simply wandered upstairs to CID.
"No, not exactly"
"What do you mean 'not exactly'?"
"It was Phil, but we aren't in the station, we are having dinner" Sam said, as Phil winked at her.
"Dinner" Gina said teasingly, "Good on you Sam, don't take this the wrong way, but it is seriously about time"
"Gina" Sam said seriously.
"Do not worry about Jessica this evening, she obviously does not want to be found this evening, so just get back to that dinner of yours, and tell DS Hunter that I told him to behave"
"Yes Gina, I'll tell him. Thanks for calling" Sam said with a smile, "Bye" she said as she ended the call and put the phone onto the table, next to her wine.
"So what's happening?" Phil asked.
"Gina told me to tell you to behave" Sam told him, swinging her finger in front of his face.
"I haven't done anything" Phil said, knowing of course that his former inspector was teasing him, "But I meant about Jessica"
"Jessica is not as we believed on a flight to Australia, she checked in, but never boarded. So we are back to the beginning as to her whereabouts"
"That girl is good" Phil said exasperatedly, "If we ever find her I think we should offer her a job in the covert unit, no-one would ever find her"
Sam laughed, "What do you think we should do now?" she asked Phil.
"Well" Phil began, "I see no need for us to rush back to the station, clearly she doesn't want to be found, at least for this evening, so I think you should finish that pasta and then we should order some desert"
"You don't think we should go and see if we can track her via the CCTV at Heathrow?"
"Sam she has given us the slip so many times already, we know that for the moment she is alive, and that is all that is important, clearly she knows what she is doing" Phil replied, before noticing that Sam's face was deep in thought, "But if you really want to I will take you back to the station, and we can look for her again"
Sam looked at Phil, she knew deep down that he was right, Jessica was much cleverer than anyone had given her credit for, she knew what she was doing, even if no-one else did, "Okay Phil, I will have the baked chocolate cheesecake then, please" she said with a slight smile.
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