Chapter 8
Frank reached the front door and braced himself for whatever news the coppers were going to tell them as he grabbed the door handle to open the door.
"Good Afternoon Mr Mooney." Detective Campbell greeted Frank as he opened the front door carrying an empty baby car seat.
"Alright. Please come in." Frank replied as he stepped out the way so Detective Campbell could come inside.
"Thank you. Nice place you got here." Detective Campbell said as he walked into the flat and looked around.
"Yeah just looking after it just now for a friend." Frank said as he closed the front door and followed the copper back into the flat.
"Better than some of flats around here I've had to visit." Campbell replied before he walked over to couches to greet Sally.
"Good afternoon Miss Fields." He said as he held his hand out for Sally to shake.
"Afternoon." Sally said as she shook his hand.
"And who's this little handsome lad here?" Campbell asked as he looked at a wary James on Sally's hip.
"This is James." Sally said as she looked back at James.
"Hello James." Campbell said as he waved at James.
Normally James would try and wave back but he didn't today. He gave Campbell a look that said, "I'm normally very friendly but I'm not in the mood today and I want to stay close to my Mummy and Daddy."
"He's not normally this shy." Sally said as she smoothed James's hair on his head.
"He'll be missing his twin sister and all of the excitement from yesterday will have tired him out. I've brought back his car seat. The CSI's have finished with it and said it can be returned." Campbell said as he stopped waving at James, knowing the little boy wouldn't wave back.
"You right there. Can I get you anything?" Frank asked Campbell as he took James's car seat from him.
"Some water would be great please." Campbell said as he moved to sit down on the blue couch.
"Sal?" Frank asked as he started walking back into the kitchen.
"No I'm fine." Sally replied.
Frank walked into the kitchen to get Campbell his water and put the car seat away. Sally moved to sit down on the cream couch to face Campbell. Before she sat down, she took James off her hip and placed him in his play nest and handed him the baby keys that he was playing with this morning. As she put him down he looked like he was going to sob again but when she handed him the keys, he calmed down and started playing with them. It was easier to put him in there, instead of having him wriggling and squirming on her lap while they spoke to the detective about Sarah. Just as Sally sat down, Frank came back with a glass of water for the detective and placed it on a coaster on the table opposite him.
"Thank you." Campbell said as he reached forward and took a drink.
"No problem." Frank replied as he sat down beside Sally and placed his arm around her shoulder as she leaned in close to him.
"Did you manage to get any rest last night?" Campbell asked as he placed his glass back on the coaster.
"As best as we could but we've had easier nights." Sally said with a slight shake in her voice.
"I can imagine. Even though I said to get some rest, I didn't think you'd be able to get any." Campbell as he got out a notebook and pen.
"Luckily he slept all night after we eventually got him down." Frank said as he looked down at his son who was still happily playing with the baby car keys.
"At least that let you have a bit more rest if he hadn't slept all night." Campbell replied as he flipped open his notebook.
"Do you know who took our daughter yet?" Sally asked getting tired of all the politeness and small talk.
Detective Campbell took a moment to answer Sally, choosing his words carefully.
"We do have a potential suspect, Miss Fields and an update on the case." Campbell said to her.
Frank felt Sally relax slightly as she leaned into him further at the news.
"Throughout the day myself and PC Grant contacted everyone on the lists that you gave us last night. Everyone said the same thing when we asked them questions. That you both love your twins, keep to yourselves, good fire fighters and don't know of anyone that would want to hurt you. Once everyone was contacted, we went to see Ms Reeves, Mr Benjamin and Miss Spencer at the hospital. We got the same information from them but Ms Reeves became quite upset and needed rest, so we left. She's blaming herself for what happened to your daughter." Campbell said to Frank and Sally.
"We don't blame her. There's nothing she could have done." Frank replied to Campbell.
"That's what myself and Mr Benjamin said to her but she wouldn't listen." Campbell said as he took another drink of water.
"We're going to see her soon and tell her the same thing. She might feel better if she hears it from us." Sally said.
"That was my thinking as well Miss Fields." Campbell said as he placed the glass back on the coaster. "At this point we didn't have any suspects but just after 1pm the CSI's came back with some evidence that will allow us to put together a suspect."
Both Frank and Sally were nearly on the edge of the sofa wanting to hear what he was going to say next and hopefully have a named suspect.
"The team found finger prints that didn't belong to anyone that we took samples from. We checked them on a database but it didn't bring up any matches. The fingerprints did tell us though that the abductor is a woman. As well as the fingerprints we were able to pull CCTV footage of the area and managed to catch the abductor however they knew what they were doing which means we don't have a facial picture. Just the back of them." Campbell told them as he dug into his jacket pocket for something.
While he searched in his jacket pocket, Frank pulled Sally closer to him knowing she would be on the verge of tears. When he thought of whoever had taken Sarah it had never crossed his mind that it could have been a woman.
Campbell finished fishing in his pocket and pulled a photograph. "I know this will be hard for you but can you look at this imagine and tell me if you recognise this person." Campbell asked them both.
"Let us see it." Sally said without asking Frank but he wanted to see it as well.
Frank took his arm away from around Sally's shoulders and leaned forward to take the photograph from Campbell. He took the picture from Campbell and leaned back on the couch so that Sally could see it as well. He gently took Sally's hand with his free hand and he turned the photo over to look at the CCTV image. When they both seen the imagine, their hearts broke all over again.
The picture was a CCTV camera picture of the street, two streets along from where Elaine stayed. There were a lot of trees blocking the full the view of the street but it had captured what they needed. A woman was walking along the street with her back to the camera. She had long straight black hair, looked about medium height and was wearing normal everyday clothes. As the woman walked along the street, she was holding Sarah in her arms and looked like the woman was struggling to hold her, as Sarah didn't want to go with the woman.
"Excuse me a moment." Sally said as she let go of Frank's hand and ran to the bathroom.
Frank wanted to follow her and comfort her but James had seen her leave and looked up at his dad for reassurance. He started to make baby noises again as if to say "Daddy what's happening? Where's Mummy gone?"
"Hey. It's ok mate." Frank said as leaned down to his son and gently tickled his arm to settle him.
It was enough to settle him and James went back to playing his car keys, happy that his Daddy wasn't leaning him either.
"This is hitting her pretty hard. I've never seen her like this." Frank said as he sat up and spoke to Campbell.
"I know what you mean. I met my wife in the police service as well." Campbell said as he took another drink of water.
"Oh yeah." Frank replied.
"She was the bravest and emotionally strongest female officer I had ever met and could even give some of the men a run for their money with how brave she was once. After a few years we had our first baby and something changed in my wife. She was more emotional and more cautious the way she did things. Even though it was a shock to see her change, I wouldn't change it as she become more caring and it brought us closer together when we were parents." Campbell said to Frank.
"I couldn't agree more." Frank said and he meant every word. He had seen a more caring side to Sally and they were stronger together now that they had the twins.
"What about you though? How you coping with all of this?" Campbell asked Frank.
"Well you know what its like. As a bloke you've got to strong for your missus and protect your family from anything. Its not easy but I'll be fine." Frank replied.
It was a lie. It was so hard seeing Sal so upset and James wasn't his normal smiley laughing self. Sarah was his little girl and it didn't feel right without her. Right now all he wanted was to see Sarah's big gummy smile and those big blue eyes, Sally to be happy and James to be laughing and smiling as well to make him feel better. Inside he was struggling with the whole situation but he had to be strong for Sally and James.
"Well if you need to talk you've got my number." Campbell replied to Frank. As a husband and father, he knew how Frank was really feeling.
"Thanks." Frank said back to be polite.
The bathroom door open and Sally came out, closing the door behind her.
"Sorry about that." Sally said as she came back into the living room and sat down beside Frank, who instantly took her hand.
"Not at all Miss Fields." Campbell replied as he gave her a reassuring smile.
"It's just seeing someone walk away with her and she's scared, confused and upset." Sally said as she squeezed Frank's hand and looked down to check James was ok, which he was.
"I understand and I know how hard this is but I need to know if you recognise anything about the woman in the picture." Campbell said to them.
Frank turned to face Sally to ask her if she was ok to look at the photo again. As their eyes met, Sally nodded her head, silently telling him she was ok now and could look at the photo again. Frank reached back over to the coffee table and picked the photo up so they could both look at it again. They both looked at the picture and tried to focus on the women in the picture and not Sarah.
"Is there anything about her that you recognise?" Campbell asked them again.
"No." Frank replied. Truthfully there was nothing he recognised about the woman in the photo.
Campbell gave him a nod in response and turned his head to Sally, who was studying the picture.
Sally was using all her energy to focus on the woman in the picture and not her baby girl. There was something about the woman that seemed familiar. She had definitely met this person before but without seeing her face she couldn't say for certain who it was.
"There is something familiar about her but without seeing a face I can't give you a name." Sally said to Campbell as Frank leaned forward and placed the photo back on the coffee table.
"Thank you Miss Fields." Campbell replied. It was a start that she recognised the person but without a name there was nothing they could do.
"So what happens now?" Sally asked as the woman was still on her mind.
Campbell picked up the picture and placed it back inside his pocket, choosing the words he was going to say carefully.
"I was hoping that when I came over, that one of you would know the woman in the photo and it would give us a name to the suspect. I know there's no face but at least we're now looking for a woman." Campbell explained to them. " As we don't know much else other than the back of this woman, I'll be contacting local papers and transport centres to put pictures of Sarah out to the public to let them know she's missing. Hopefully someone will recognise her or the woman and report them to us. In meantime, the CSI's are still processing CCTV from around the area, hoping we can get a picture of this woman's face and trace where she went. I'm sorry I don't have any more information at the moment."
A fresh tear escaped from Sally's eye and she leaned into Frank for support and he held her tightly to him. As they held each other, a clattering on the floor made them look down to see where the noise had come from. They both looked down and seen that James had thrown his keys on the floor and had his little chubby arms reached out to them with baby sounds coming out of him. He clearly didn't want to be left out and was asking his mum or dad to pick him up. Frank was closer so he let go Sally's hand and got up to pick up James.
"Someone doesn't like being left out." Campbell said softly as Frank picked James up from his play nest and placed a dummy in his mouth to keep him quiet while they spoke to Campbell.
"He's not normally this clingy and needy. He knows what's going on as well." Frank replied as he sat back on the couch and adjusted James on his lap.
"Of course he does. Twins have an amazing connection and can sense when the other one is hurt, upset and they feel strange when the other one isn't near them. My twin boys are the same." Campbell said as he looked at James on Frank's lap.
"Yeah Sarah and James are the same. He misses her as much as we do." Sally said as she placed a kiss on James's cheek. She hoped he would smile but James remained emotionless. "Normally he's always smiling and laughing."
"Poor little lad. I know its not great news today but we have more information than what we had yesterday which is the most important thing." Campbell replied as he looked back at Frank and Sally.
"Its ok. I was just hoping that you were going to walk in the door with our daughter or know who took her but at least the photo is something. It's even harder because he's so upset as well. I just want our little girl back and our little boy to go back to his normal happy self." Sally replied as wiped away another tear from her eye.
"I wish I had walked in with your daughter Miss Fields. Officially I'm not suppose to give my personal opinions on cases and need to remain professional. Off the record though I don't understand this woman's actions. Why would a woman want to take another woman's baby?" Campbell with a heavy sigh.
Sally had been smiling at James while Campbell spoke but her smile quickly disappeared at his last words.
"Wait what did you just say?" Sally asked him as she looked up to meet his eyes.
"I said, why would a woman want to take another woman's baby?" Campbell spoke knowing that she had remembered something.
All the colour disappeared from Sally's face and she looked like she was either going to throw up or pass out.
"Sal, what is it?" Frank asked as he readjusted a fussy James on his lap.
Sally didn't answer him and stayed silent as her mind was racing.
"Let me see that photo again." Sally said to Campbell without looking at him.
Campbell quickly took the photo out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Sally. She practically snatched it out of his hands and brought it up to her face to look at it.
"Sal." Frank said eager to find out what she had remembered.
Sally ignored him as she stared at the picture. After a moment her hands started to shake and placed her free hand over her mouth in disbelief.
"It couldn't be. She wouldn't do something like this." Sally out loud as she kept looking at the photo.
Neither Frank or Campbell said anything but waited for her to speak.
A tear fell down her face and she quickly wiped it away as she looked up to looked at Frank and then moved to look at Campbell.
"I know this woman and I know why she took Sarah." Sally said as her voice shook and more tears fell down her face.
"Who is that woman Miss Fields." Campbell asked her as he took out his notebook.
Sally turned to Frank knowing that she was going to tell him something that would cause them to argue. She took his hand again and squeezed it.
"The woman in the photo is Shauna Callaghan." Sally said to the two men as more tears fell.
Meanwhile twenty minutes away in another part of East London, Mick was parking his car on the street where his martial home was. When detective Campbell had called him this morning to report that little Sarah Mooney had been taken and he needed to get more information about Frank and Sally, he felt sick. Who would break into someone else's home and steal someone's child. To make it worse, Elaine had be seriously hurt as well. Hadn't the poor woman been through enough after recall's death. Sarah was such a happy and gorgeous baby and any parent would be proud to claim her as their child. Frank and Sally were loving parents to both her and her twin brother but you could tell Sarah favoured Frank over Sally. Since becoming a father, Mick had noticed that Frank had changed a lot and it suited him. He was less of loner, didn't take as many risks and was more compassionate. Sally had changed since becoming a mother as well but it made him regret his decision not to sleep with her when he had the chance. Every time he seen Frank with his arms around Sally or when he kissed her, it brought a stab of jealousy to him as it could have been him but he didn't take his chance with her. Every time he felt jealous, he would remind himself how happy Sally was and that she did love Frank and she never looked at him the same way she looked Frank.
Right now it was time to see if it was make or break for his marriage. He put Frank and Sally to the back of his mind but he would call Sally tomorrow to see how she was doing and if there was anything he could do.
"Come on lad. Let's go see mum." Mick said to Liam as he parked the car and took his seatbelt off.
"His mum cooking or are we getting pizza?" Liam asked as he opened his car door and jumped out.
"Hopefully a pizza if you ask me." Mick replied as he closed his door and locked the car once Liam had closed his door.
"Same." Liam said as he opened the garden gate.
Mick smiled at him and walked through the gate. As he walked through the gates, he was surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. It was only 3:45pm and it was still light outside even though the darker nights were coming in. Shauna hated the dark but Mick shrugged it off knowing he would find out soon what was going on.
"Liam go upstairs and do your homework. I need to talk to mum first." Mick said as he put his key in the front door.
"Ok." Was all Liam said. He knew that probably meant that his parents were going to shout at each other again and his dad didn't want him to hear it.
Mick caught the look in Liam's eyes as well. Almost a year ago when Shauna had lost the baby he had tried everything to console and comfort her but nothing had worked. He tried to be as patient as he could but eventually he had hit breaking point and so had Shauna. After 6 months they decided to separate for 6 months and then see where they stood with their marriage. He had to admit that he had enjoyed the freedom to start with – coming home without Shauna nagging him or always crying and upset. He actually got time to unwind and do some of things that he wanted but the novelty had been short lived. He missed coming home to Liam every night, reading him a story, being in the family home instead of a tiny one bedroom flat but he did also miss Shauna. He still loved her but she had to move on from the miscarriage. It was sad and upsetting but they had to move on and they could always try again. Lately when he had seen Shauna she did seem happier and was giving him signs that she wanted to give their marriage another chance. He just hoped he wasn't misreading the signs.
Mick turned his key in the lock and opened the door to let Liam in. He went in after Liam and locked the door behind them.
"We're home love." Mick shouted.
He couldn't see Shauna but there was noise coming from the closed living room door so he guessed she was watching T.V.
"I'll shout when it's pizza time." Mick called to Liam as he ran up the stairs but didn't bother to answer his dad.
He made sure Liam was upstairs with the door closed before he went to see where Shauna was. With noise coming from the living room he decided to start there first. He approached the closed door and took a deep breath before he opened the door, bracing himself for what Shauna's answer could be to their marriage.
As he opened the door, she had her back to the him but had hear him coming in.
"Hiya lo." Mick had started to greet her.
As he greeted her, Shauna had turned around to face him and Mick felt the bottom of his stomach drop.
"Hi Love. I fixed everything. Now our family is back together." Shauna replied to him.
Mick couldn't speak or move but thought he was going to be sick.
Shauna was standing in the middle of the living room, swaying on feet and gently rocking a crying and fussy baby in her arms.
In her arms was Sarah Mooney.
"Shauna what have you done." Mick asked her.
TO BE CONTINUED.