"Is it true, what the DI said about you and Sam?" Mickey had fleetingly harboured feelings for the cute blonde sergeant, the DI's words ringing in his head in the silent car.
"Leave it Mickey." Jo's tone brooked no nonsense. She was still fuming about the encounter with Tanner, mentally preparing her grievance report. She was also a little disappointed that Sam hadn't phoned back, giving her mood an extra sour edge.
"I've no problem with backing you up, I'll go on record for you about Tanner and what he said tonight. He can't be allowed to get away with that, maybe back in his heyday it was the norm…" At Jo's fierce glare, Mickey hurriedly explained, "I'm not saying it's right just that times are different now to thirty years ago when Tanner was a lowly plod. Anyway, I'll do whatever you need me to, to get him done for what he said." Mickey fell silent again, still pondering over whether Sam and Jo could be a couple and have hidden it so well. The way Jo kept checking her mobile, it was obvious she was waiting to hear from someone. The buxom brunette nearly tore her pocket open in her hurry to remove the tiny phone as it started to ring.
"Jo Masters." Jo listened as a tinny rendition of Robbie Williams 'She's The One' rang out from the other end, frowning in confusion. "Hello? Anybody there?" Hanging up when no one answered, Jo threw the phone onto the dashboard of the pool car, glancing over at Mickey when she felt his inquisitive stare burning holes in the side of her head. "Wrong number or some idiot misdialled. Just music, no one there."
"You had that before with the other prank calls?" Mickey reached for her phone, checking to see if the caller's number was listed, not surprised when it had been withheld.
"No. It's nothing, probably just someone who had their phone in their pocket without the key pad locked."
"So why's the number withheld?" Mickey felt there must be more to it, knowing that Jo was still potentially a target for the rapist and wondering why she seemed so blasé about the possibility of it being him.
"I don't know, Mickey. Can we please just drop it?" Jo snatched her phone back, checking again signal strength in case she might miss a call from Sam.
Jo returned home, weary after the long night's surveillance. The hours had been long and tedious, not even Mickey's constant chatter could keep her interest in the cold, dark night. They had returned to the station shortly before dawn with nothing to show for their efforts, earning them both a public dressing down by DI Tanner in front of the rest of the team. All Jo could think of was how much she was looking forward to soaking in a hot bath before getting some much deserved sleep. So preoccupied was her tired mind that she never gave it a second thought when she saw the gas man reading the meter at the back of the house. She crossed the kitchen, hand hovering over the bottle of wine she had opened a few nights before, before deciding a hot chocolate was preferable. Leaving the kettle to boil, she wandered to the bathroom, setting the hot tap running and allowing the water to heat up before putting the plug in. Hearing a click, she assumed the kettle had boiled and made her way back through to the kitchen, freezing when she saw the open door. Spinning around, she found herself face to face with the man who had been hunched over her meter minutes earlier. "What do you think you're…" Before she had a chance to finish her question, he lunged at her, a can of pepper spray in his outstretched hand.
Sam frowned as Jo failed to answer her phone again. She couldn't wait to share the joyous news with her that she was finally a grandma to a beautiful, bouncing baby boy. Assuming that she must be in bed, Sam returned to the maternity ward where her daughter was resting after the gruelling birth.
"Did you manage to get hold of her? Is she coming in to see him?" Abi had fallen for Jo's charms almost as heavily as her mother had, having become close to the brunette over the few weeks they had known one another.
"No, still no answer," Sam answered distractedly, gazing down at her slumbering grandson, her heart beginning to echo her mind's fear that something was amiss.
"Have you called the station, seen if anyone's heard from her?" Abi accurately read her mother's concerned frown, wondering when the two women would finally accept their feelings for one another and stop hiding behind their fear.
"No, I'm sure she's fine." Sam perched on the edge of Abi's bed, pushing damp hair out of her daughter's eyes. "How are you feeling? Thought of any names for him yet?"
"I'm fine, Mum, really. I've got a few names in mind – maybe Phillip, he was good to us both after everything with Hugh, or Joseph, but it could get confusing having two Jo's around since I presume from the gooey face you pull whenever you mention her, she will be staying around. I like Bradley too, there are so many great boys names. There's no rush though is there?" Abi spoke softly, gazing at her son in adoration.
"None at all, get to know him first and see what suits his personality. You'll know what's right for him in no time." Sam's mobile ringing interrupted the tender moment, her brow creasing into the familiar frown when Phil's number flashed on her display, knowing that he was aware of where she was. She rushed out of the nearest door catching Phil just as he was about to hang up.
"Sam, I'm really sorry to disturb you but we've had a report of another abduction…" Phil was interrupted by a blast of a horn as he relayed the news to Sam.
"Jo?" Sam's voice increased in pitch, her heart clutching, knowing Phil wouldn't have rung otherwise.
"It looks like it. The neighbour is a wily old bird, got us a good description and a registration plate number for the van he was driving. She even checked with the gas company to see if he was genuine, having taken heed of warnings about bogus callers posing as company representatives. We're heading over there now, SOCO's are on their way too. I thought you'd want to know. The description matches Mark Somerton and the MO seems to be the same as with the other victims."
"I'm on my way, I'll meet you there." Phil knew better than to argue with Sam, having witnessed how close the two women had become over the previous weeks, still jealous that he didn't share that same spark with the feisty blonde. No matter how much peril Jo was in, he was sure they would find her, not least because Sam would leave no stone unturned until they did.
Sam raced back into the ward, hurriedly explaining to Abi that she had to go, knowing her daughter was too smart to accept that this was just another random abduction.
"Bring her back safe, Mum." Sam kissed her daughter before running out of the hospital and screeching out of the car park towards Jo's house, mentally kicking herself for ever agreeing to go along with the ridiculous scheme and for not insisting that surveillance be maintained on the DC's house.
"Looks like she put up one hell of a fight." Zain commented as he surveyed the damage and bloody smears inside Jo's kitchen.
"Right now, that doesn't fill me with a great deal of joy, it just means he'll use more severe methods to subdue her… and probably get more satisfaction out of overcoming her." Sam looked around wondering if all the blood was Jo's or if she had managed to force her attacker into leaving some part of himself behind. "I want the results of the DNA tests this afternoon, you have DC Master's records on file, anything that isn't hers I want run through the system. Same with the fingerprints, we have to move quickly with this guy, before he gets bored with her and moves on to his next victim." Sam tried to sound professional as she dished out her orders to the scene of crimes officers, knowing they would pull out all the stops to thwart the assailant now that he had taken one of their own.
Phil entered the kitchen, reviewing the notes of his very informative chat with Jo's neighbour and his findings on the information they had been able to follow up. "The plates on the van were from a car parked in a long stay car park near Luton airport. No surprise there given the false plates used when we spotted the van in the area before. The owner's been abroad for the last three weeks and the ticket on his car checks out, as does CCTV. We've got uniform going through the tapes to see if they can spot our guy switching the plates but it could take a while to get anything from that. I've been on to Easigas, Somerton has gone AWOL, he's not answering his mobile and he's missed two appointments this morning." Phil reached into his jacket pocket as his mobile started to ring. "Mickey?" He listened for a moment before gesturing for quiet in the room. Mickey had still been at the station writing up his own report of Jo's run-in with Tanner when the call came through about the abduction, insisting that he would stay to help find his colleague. "Which way's he heading? Stick with him, but keep back, we don't want to spook him."
"He's been spotted?" Sam nearly hugged Phil with relief, allowing a brief glimmer of hope to spark within her.
"The van has at least, Mickey's tailing him now. He's heading east towards that old industrial estate – nice and secluded, plenty of lockups, abandoned buildings, could be where he's been taking his victims."
"Let's get going then. Zain, wait here until they're finished, then show the photo of Somerton to the neighbour, see if she can positively identify him as our guy. Phil, you're with me." Sam's tone brooked no arguments and no matter how much Zain wanted to be in on the action, he knew that they would need a backup plan if Mickey lost the van.