"Sam, getting us and a dozen other people killed is not going to bring Jo back safely. Slow down!" Phil braced himself as the car hurtled towards another set of traffic lights.
"Just give me directions, Phillip." Sam ignored his warning, her only concern reaching Jo before Somerton could do any more damage to her.
"Next left, then first right, we'll miss more of the traffic that way." Phil dialled Mickey's number to see what the latest was. Sam screeched round the first bend, stamping on the brakes as the right turning rapidly approached, the back end of the car fishtailing as she made another high speed turn. Phil broke off his conversation with Mickey, muttering curses under his breath. "That's it Sam. Pull over, I'm driving."
"Where now?" Sam stared ahead intently.
"Sam, stop the car." Phil shouted at his colleague. "NOW!"
"What's going on?" Mickey, blind to the scene but hearing the panic in Phil's voice, kept asking the question over and over, hoping that Phil would answer him.
"Stop arguing with me Phil and just tell me which way I need to go." Sam spat at the man who she had once fleetingly entertained feelings for.
"No. You could make a whole tyre out of the rubber you just left behind, now stop the damn car and get out. To save Jo, we need to get there in one piece. One more corner like that and we won't be going anywhere but St Hugh's." Phil felt his seatbelt lock as Sam skidded to a halt, slamming him back into his seat with immense force. "Mickey, I'm passing you over to Sam, fill her in and stay outside until we get there ok?" The rugged DS handed his mobile over to a scowling Sam as they passed one another behind the car.
"Mickey, talk to me, where's he taken her? Did you see her? Is she ok? Did she look badly hurt? Where are you?" Sam rattled off questions, firing them like bullets into the tiny handset.
"Sarge, let me get a word in!" Mickey cut across her, trying to answer her whilst position himself where he could see the warehouse Somerton has disappeared into. "I'm outside a warehouse on the old industrial estate by the docks, Phil said you're on Beckwith Road, it's only three/four minutes from there. Jo's with him, she was conscious but I'm too far away to tell anything else. Somerton's a big guy, looked about 6'3", he was dragging Jo inside as though she weighed nothing even though she was fighting him."
Phil had pulled away from the curb they had slewed into when Sam stopped so abruptly and was racing towards Mickey's position. "Sam, end the call, get onto the station and arrange for backup." He took charge, knowing that Sam was too personally involved to be thinking clearly. He too was desperate to secure Jo's safe release but knew losing his head would achieve nothing. Sam did as she was told, slightly reassured at the news Jo was still fighting her captor, knowing that it would endanger her more but also it meant that she couldn't be too badly injured… yet.
Mickey watched as Phil parked beside the car Mickey had been driving. Sam was out of the passenger's seat before the car had completely halted, sprinting towards the young DC.
"Which one are they in? Mickey, where are they?" Even in her distraught state, Sam had the presence of mind to keep her voice low, knowing that alerting Mark to their presence would almost undoubtedly result in Jo's execution. Mickey pointed to a dilapidated building with boards over many windows and few doors intact.
"They went in through the doorway at the end there. The van's parked down the side of the building, out of sight from the main entry road to the estate. He seemed to be in a hurry to get her inside even though there's no one to see him around here, he looked pretty irritated that she was still struggling." Mickey filled them both in, Phil having joined the pair after securing the car.
"I'm going in." Sam stated in a calm, flat tone. "Backup is on it's way, Mickey keep watch for them, let them know who, where and what when they finally put in an appearance." Without waiting for confirmation that he would follow her orders, Sam stalked off towards the old warehouse, using the other buildings to shield her approach from view.
"Sam, wait up. Are you insane? We wait out here for SO19. We can't go in there unarmed, he could have a gun or anything. If you go in there, it could make the whole situation a hundred times worse."
The Acting DI walked into the abandoned building, heedless of Phil's insistence they wait for backup and with no mind for her own safety. Her only consideration was that Jo was nearby and needed her, before the monster who had her did something truly unspeakable. She stalked the ground floor of the old warehouse, listening for any signs which might lead her in the direction of her prey, moving stealthily on silent feet in the gloom. A muffled cry from above drove her onwards, looking for a way to the next floor. Finding a rusting metal staircase, she climbed it with as quiet footsteps as the old iron would allow, hoping that the attacker would put it down to the building settling. Sam heard another cry, this time louder, more agonised from a room to the left of the top of the staircase. Movement below her made her jump, Phil's yellow shirt standing out in the gloom as he reluctantly provided unarmed support. Sam continued her ascent of the staircase, after a brief smile expressing her gratitude to Phil. Crouching as she reached the top of the stairs, she scooted over to the wall separating her from the source of the cries, hearing heavy footsteps inside the room, followed by yet another groan, tortured but fainter than the previous two, as though the recipient was losing her battle with consciousness.
"Where's your copper friends now? I'm so sick of women like you poncing around acting like you own the world, expecting everyone to bow down and worship at your feet." Sam was close enough to hear bones cracking as Jo's attacker landed another powerful blow. "Not so powerful, irresistible, independent, Miss Almighty now are you? I'm going to show you what you're missing out on, show you how sex should be: between a man and a woman, give you something to think about if anyone shows you enough pity to touch you ever again." Sam nearly gagged at his words, knowing they could wait no longer to rescue Jo. Glancing at Phil, she could see he had heard every word too from his position on the stairs. He scooted across next to Sam, looking further down the corridor for another entrance to the room, somewhere they might sneak in undetected. Turning back to Sam as the hint of an idea formed, he was horrified to see her straighten up and walk brazenly into the room, holding her badge out in front of her as though it would shield her from whatever the man inside was capable of.
"Drop the knife and get down on the floor. We have this place surrounded, you're going nowhere." Phil heard her extend her asp, all business-like with the deranged man, sparing only a fleeting glance at Jo, knowing any more than that would unbalance her. Phil sprinted down the corridor and took up a position behind the man, hoping for the element of surprise. All hope of that blown as he rounded the corner only to stopped dead by the vista before him; their chief suspect standing behind Jo with a knife to her throat, as she was suspended by her wrists from a metal pipe running along the low ceiling in a crude imitation of a crucifix, clothing ripped and dishevelled from her struggle with him. Extending his own asp and cautiously approaching Sam's own position, hoping to prolong the illusion that the windows all had snipers trained at them, Phil found his voice.
"Do as she says, you ain't going to do yourself any favours if you do anything stupid." A trickle of blood oozed from beneath the blade as Mark dug the knife further into Jo's neck in defiance of Phil's words. Sam was more concerned by Jo's lack of response, the fight seeping out of her before their eyes as she battled to remain conscious, her injuries making it increasingly difficult for her.
"Jo, stay with us, we'll have you out of here in no time." Sam addressed her close friend and potential lover, hoping for some sort of reaction to rally her spirits, disappointed when there was barely a flicker of recognition. In the split second Sam had taken to transfer her gaze to her stricken colleague, Phil too had been distracted by the distant sound of sirens approaching. It was all the time a desperate Mark needed to sink the knife deep into Jo's side, dashing out from behind her and swinging the blade dangerously at Phil and Sam as their colleague slumped, effectively suspended only by her arms, her already impaired breathing made even more difficult by the increased pressure on her chest. Sam realised that if she remained in that position for too long, she would suffocate, her predicament imminently life threatening even without the gaping knife wound.