"Matthew Donovan, our fifteenth victim," Damon briefed his team as he stuck a photograph of the latest addition to his multiple murder case on the whiteboard. "And our very first male victim. His body was found last night in an alleyway in Birmingham. He had the telltale wound scratched into his back in the same pattern as all the other victims and I'm going to take a swing at saying the coroner will tell us he died exactly seven days after being reported missing."

To say he was tired of this case was an understatement. The dark bags beneath his eyes and the sudden appearance of a few grey hairs were sure enough signs that he was coming apart at the seams. He'd never failed, always managed to stay one step ahead and solve cases that others would have buried and forgotten about. But not this one. This one had him chasing his own tail, day after day, night after night.

It had been two years since the first body, Hayley Marshall, had been found on Brighton Beach; a wound in the shape of the sun scratched into her back as if her body was an Etch A Sketch. The coroner said she'd died seven days after her husband reported her missing and yet there was nothing, aside from the wound, that could tell you how she died.

A few months later, Lexi Branson was found dead in Dublin with the same symbol etched into the skin of her back. Her date of death was pronounced seven days after her mother reported her missing.

"Any link between him and any of the other victims, boss?" Alaric, Damon's best friend and colleague, asked.

"Nope, there is no suggestion that Matt knew any of the other bodies found. His wife doesn't recognise any of the names given to her. Matt is - was - an environmental lawyer, well known in the community, liked by all, never had a run in with the police," he explained. "Just a normal everyday family man."

"Parents?"

"Orphaned."

"Weren't some of the other victims orphans as well?" Stefan asked. "Could our killer be going for orphans?"

"It's a possibility, but not all our victims were orphaned at a young age. Currently it appears that our killer or killers are picking at random. The murder of Matt suggests this is no longer a crime against women," Damon said. "And if I'm honest with you, I don't think we are looking at one murderer. I think we've got a team spread across the UK that are working in cahoots."

"Like a gang?"

"Possibly. The wounding may be their signature," Damon said.

He walked over to the map on the wall where the locations of all the bodies had been circled in a blood red marker pen.

"But that leads me to ask, if this is a gang, where are they keeping our victims for seven days? Do they have a central location they bring them to while they're still alive and then when they've killed them they return them to their home? If so, they've got a large scale operation running and I've gotta say… it's impressive."

"Our victims have been found in Scotland, London, Ireland, Birmingham, Devon, Leeds and Coniston, boss," Stefan said. "If this is organised crime, surely that suggests that our victims are planned and not just chosen at random. Moving a living hostage and then a dead body fifteen times and not even leaving a shred of evidence behind, that's planned. These guys know exactly what they are doing."

Damon leaned back against his desk with his eyes firmly glued on the images of the fifteen victims before him. These were innocent people, good people, with families left behind to grieve without any answers as to why their loved ones had their lives cut short. Never in his working career had he been left so utterly stumped and answerless. He always had something to go off but these 'Sunshine Killers' had him questioning everything he knew.

"Stefan, I want you to go to the coroner's office and wait for his report. Ric, get on the phone to West Mids and I want them to check all the ANPR cameras of all the cars in the area where Matt's body was found, have them check five hours before the body was found and five hours afterwards. Trudie, I want you to go back to Matt's family and just show them pictures of our other victims one more time. If this is organised crime, there has to be a link between our victims."

He had a good team of detectives, all cared deeply about their work and they glued well as a team. Himself, he was a Detective Chief Inspector and he'd worked damn hard to get there. Late nights and lost relationships, his job had always come first. Ric was his second in command, a Detective Inspector who had somehow managed to have a life alongside work. Stefan, his brother, and Trudie, the newest recruit, were Detective Constables, right at the start of their careers. They had a lot to learn but Damon was always impressed by their willingness and determination.

"Let's not let them get to number sixteen," he spoke quietly. "We can't afford for them to get their hands on their next victim."

Elena perched on the old school stool by the window in their makeshift living room. It was half boarded up and partially smashed. The bedsheet, the one they used as a curtain at night, she'd tucked into the wooden boards to let in the light as she sat by the window quietly for most of the day.

The old silk factory had become a home for the down and out, the homeless, the addicted and the forgotten. There was no electricity or heating, just a few cold showers that she shared with hundreds of strangers. She had a mattress on the floor which she shared with Caroline and a box in the corner of the room for her few clothes.

Although it wasn't safe, both the building and the people who lived there, it was better than sleeping in shop doorways and park benches.

"We've made it," Caroline cheered as she marked another line onto the grey brick. "Five years today."

"Are you really celebrating the fact that we've been homeless for five years?" Bonnie scoffed. "Great, a bottle of champagne, anyone?"

"Well yeah," Caroline shrugged as she hugged her bare knees to her chest. "We've survived five years of this shit. That's a pretty big achievement."

"How is being a gutter rat an achievement, Caroline?"

"Oh c'mon, Bonnie, if you stopped being so moody for just a second you'd see that living on the streets has its upsides."

"Like what?"

"Well, if you weren't homeless then you'd never have met Enzo who you say is the love of your life. If I wasn't homeless then I wouldn't have lost all that weight and be as slim as I am now."

"You're a size six because we don't have much food," Bonnie laughed. "When was your last meal? And don't say one hour ago because a packet of crisps doesn't count."

"But I'm still a size six."

"Fine, I met Enzo because of our situation. But what about Elena, what good has it done for her?" Bonnie asked.

Caroline went quiet as she looked over at her best friend of many years. The past five years had taken its toll on Elena more so than the others. She'd suffered through much worse than them, experienced things that her friends only saw in their nightmares and seemed to have lost more than any of them combined.

Her long chocolatey hair was slightly matted at the back and so she kept it up in a messy bun, her olive skin had lost its glow over time and her walnut eyes didn't twinkle like they once did. Her dreams had been shattered, her hopes lost and her outlook on life was no longer chirpy and positive but now eternally bleak.

Before Caroline had a chance to come up with anything, the door flew open and smashed against the brick it collided with.

"Fuck," Kai snapped as he kicked open the bathroom door. "Get rid of it quickly. Enzo!"

"I'm here," Enzo followed. They dropped a few bags each down the toilet and repeatedly tugged on the flush until it all disappeared.

"What's going on?" Bonnie asked.

"We're being raided again," Kai answered. He grabbed his burner phone and hid it under a loose floorboard along with some money and a bag of white powder.

It wasn't long until the police, in their heavy boots and stab vests, burst into their room shouting and bawling for them to get outside. They turned up the mattresses, ripped the sheets down from the windows, yanked open any cupboard and drawers. Enzo and Kai were handcuffed and led outside while the girls were allowed to walk out on their own.

By the time they got outside, the whole building was booming with the sound of fighting and yelling. Some got arrested, others were being pinned down and Enzo and Kai were shoved into the back of a police van.

"Turn around, ladies, and put your hands against the wall," an officer said to Elena and her friend.

Her heart began to race at the thought of a stranger, especially a man, touching her. She had nothing to hide, she never did, but the thought of a pat down triggered something from deep inside her. Her hands trembled as she turned to face the wall as she was told.

"It's okay," Caroline whispered to her. "It'll be over in a minute."

Bonnie was quickly patted down and let go, Caroline too.

Her heart dropped as she felt the warm breath of the officer behind her. The police themselves had never been nothing but nice to her but a stranger's touch was not something she could tolerate for long. She took a deep breath, filling her lungs and waited for a touch that never came.

"Officer Jones," a familiar voice boomed across the road. A voice so soothing and safe to her that she let go of her breath. "You're needed by the van. I'll take over from here."

"Yes, sir," the officer said and ran off to follow his orders.

"Hello again, Miss Gilbert," the man all but purred.

"Detective," she smirked.

"Come on now, 'Lena. You know what that does to a man," he spoke quietly. "It makes it hard to be a professional."

"Sorry… Damon. Are you going to pat me down or what?"

She felt his presence come a step closer behind her. She caught her breath at the back of her throat as his freshly washed and masculine scent enveloped her. He was much taller than her, larger than her and the other men she knew, but he never intimidated her as they did.

They'd known each other for a few years, when he was just a constable. He'd always been friendly and a bit of a flirt, but men like him (the ones who know how handsome they are) were like that. She never looked too much into it. He was a chief inspector, he held a high rank and was paid to arrest people like her. She knew there was nothing behind his flirting.

Even if she wasn't a gutter rat and he wasn't a detective, a man like him, she thought, would never fall for a woman like her.

"I know you well enough, 'Lena, to know that you've not got anything suspicious on you," he said. "I can still pat you down for fun though if you like."

Her knees almost buckled as he smirked and his eyes… well his eyes did this thing that was too difficult to explain but caused her insides to twist and melt together.

"Turn back around," he whispered. "I need to ask you something."

"You mean you want me to snitch," she said.

She placed her hands back against the wall, clocking another officer nearby watching them.

His gentle hands started on her shoulders, softly squeezing and gliding down her bare arms. She never minded his touch, in fact it somehow calmed her racing heart. It took every ounce of power she had not to let her head drop back onto his chest as his fingers carefully danced down her sides and across her fluttering stomach.

"Was Kai here last night?" He asked.

His open palms slowly moved down the span of her back, warming her cold bones.

"No," she told him. "He's been gone for a few days. I don't know where though."

She heard him crouch down behind her and his hands wrapped around her thighs, gently moving up and down. He came back up much slower than he needed, the tips of his fingers dancing back up with him at a seductively agonizing pace. He knew what he was doing, she knew that. He was torturing her in his own smooth way and the dark chuckle from his chest confirmed that.

"And has it all been flushed down the toilet?" He asked.

"Damon," she sighed.

"I know it's risky for you, 'Lena, but we know he is using vulnerable girls to sell his drugs. I just need to catch him with a bag on him," he said. "Please."

"Third floor board away from the window," she told him. "It's where he keeps all his shit."

"Thank you," he smiled as he turned her to face him again. "Are you-"

"Sir!" Another Officer cut him off. "We've found something you need to see."

Damon nodded and sighed, disappointed that his conversation with Elena would once again be cut short.

"Look after yourself, 'Lena," he said. "You know where I am if you need anything."

"Thanks. Detective," she giggled as he rolled his eyes.

She watched him walk away from her without glancing back.

"Got it!" Caroline shouted.

"Got what?" Bonnie asked.

"The benefit Elena gets from being homeless."

"And what's that?"

"She got patted down by the hottest policeman to ever walk this planet. That wouldn't have happened if she'd stayed back at home, would it?"

Drugs. The exact drugs he was looking for to nail Kai Parker for supply and production of Heroin and Crack Cocaine. It had taken a bit longer than expected to get him but like every other one of his cases, he won.

When it came to work, he was always in control. As he looked at all his men at the factory building, he got a strange sense of pride and accomplishment knowing that his hard work had taken another evil man off the streets of London.

"Kai Parker," he said. "I'm arresting you on suspicion of supply and production of a Class A drug. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?"

"Fuck you," Kai spat.

"Get him back in the van," Damon grinned. "Told you I was gonna get you, Parker."

Kai chortled.

"Don't get too comfy on your high horse, Salvatore. Sooner or later someone is gonna cut you down."

Empty threats didn't faze him. He'd been threatened by murders, dealers and traffickers and none of them had ever followed through.

After Kai was thrown in the back of the van, and Enzo let go, Damon headed back to his car. He glanced back at Elena who was talking with her friends as the police continued to search the building.

"Stop it," he mumbled to himself as he ran a hand through his hair.

The one thing he didn't have control over, the one thing that he couldn't handle, was the twenty-something year old girl who had found safety in the shelter of his heart. How it happened he couldn't tell, why it happened was obvious - she was epic. He'd known he was in trouble the moment he clapped eyes on her stealing a sandwich from a corner shop in Holloway, but the more he saw her and the more he spoke to her, he fell harder and deeper.

He'd fallen intensely, completely and utterly in love with the one girl he could never have. She was homeless and he was in a position of power. He couldn't have her.

But he desperately wanted her.

A/N - Hello! A few of you have asked me to upload the rewrite of Never Let Me Go, so here it is :)

I hope you like it. Feel free to leave a review - they give me little seretonin boosts!

Have a lovely weekend! -M