Sam stalled for time, fussing over her daughter, plumping up pillows, unable to look her in the eye. Jo reached out to Sam, halting her movements, urging her to talk to Abi. When further seconds passed with no word from the blonde DI, Jo took the lead, knowing that Abi must be imagining far worse scenarios than the one she was about to present given Sam's avoidance.
"Abi, Joey wasn't found inside the café after the explosion. At the moment, we don't know where he is. We have CCTV footage of a woman we'd like to talk to in connection with his disappearance. Mickey's on his way over with some pictures, I'd like you to take a look see if you recognise her at all. We've got a great team working on finding him Abi, everyone's top priority is returning him to you, we'll get to the why once he's back safe and sound." Jo took hold of the young girl's hand as she spoke, doing her best to reassure her that her son would be returned to her.
"Why? Why would someone take him? What reason could they possibly have? Is this something to do with Hugh?" Abi's questions fell from her lips like an unstoppable torrent but it was Sam's own questions that caused Jo's heart to almost stop beating.
"When did they find this footage? Why haven't I seen it? You never said anything about them finding anything on the tapes." She turned a stony glare on her lover suddenly thinking she understood why Jo had been so adamant that she speak to their colleagues at the station regarding progress.
"Earlier, when I was going through the tapes, just before you arrived I saw someone leaving the building. She stayed out of sight until later that evening, after dark, and then left via the back door concealing something underneath her jacket. You were in no fit state to be anywhere but home, you were exhausted and overwrought. If I'd let you see the footage then, or let you know of its existence, there's no way you'd have left that station and my primary concern was for your welfare at that point in time." Jo tried to appease Sam, turning to Abi hoping to direct Sam's attention to her daughter. "Abi, we don't know yet why someone would take Joey. I'll need to ask you a few questions when you're feeling stronger, about what happened at the prison and the moments leading up to the explosion, but you tell me when you feel up to it ok? It can wait for a few hours if you need some time."
"What if I know this woman? You could have wasted all these hours searching for an identity for this person and yet the one person who might be able to ID her, you don't ask? Maybe I overestimated your skills DS Masters, maybe you were better suited to being a constable. What does she look like? Has her picture been released to the press yet? As soon as we get an ID we should see if she has any connections to Hugh." Sam persisted pacing about the tiny cubicle in which Abi was placed.
"Sam, trust that I have your best interests at heart. I know you're frustrated and scared and want to do everything within your power to find Joey but you can't do that if you don't take a step back. I want to find him too and I am going to do whatever it takes to do just that. I persuaded DCI Meadows to let me take the lead on the case when I phoned in before and I promise that I will keep you involved at every stage, as long as I don't feel you're compromising the case, but in return I ask you to trust me, trust my judgement." Jo caught hold of Sam to cease her endless wandering, the motion beginning to make her nauseous in the confined space. The petite blonde allowed herself to be enveloped in a warm hug, the knowledge that Jo had made sure she was in charge of the investigation alleviating Sam's fears a little, confident that the brunette would not rest until Joey had been found and the culprit brought to book for his abduction.
"Ask me whatever you need to Jo, I don't want to wait in case anything I say leads to finding my baby." Abi's voice trembled as se spoke of her son, tears welling up in her eyes. "It's my fault. I didn't want him anywhere near me when we left the prison. Every time I looked at him, I saw Hugh there grinning up at me. I thought I hated my own son. But I don't, I just want him back, I don't care who his father is." Sam crossed to her daughter, pulling her into her arms, Abi's own arms snaking around her mother and holding on to her tightly heedless of her injuries.
"It's ok sweetheart. None of this is your fault. You didn't ask for someone to snatch him." Sam reassured her weeping daughter. "We'll find him, you'll be holding him again in no time, I promise." Jo looked at Sam, frowning slightly, wishing she shared Sam's optimism but having dealt with enough child abduction cases to know statistically chances were slim. She only hoped that Sam didn't live to regret her words.
"Abi, can you talk us through what happened yesterday? Start with arriving at the prison, how did you get there? Did you see anyone hanging around?" Jo perched on the side of the bed, notebook open and pen poised.
"I got the bus, I can't remember which one, the ticket's in my purse. The bus stop's across the road from the café, I was a bit early so I crossed the road to get a drink and keep warm. I wasn't in much of a hurry to go into the prison; to be honest, sitting there I was having second thoughts about visiting at all." Abi paused, gathering her thoughts, remembering the people she had watched, wondering if any of them were connected to Joey's disappearance.
Jo interrupted, wanting to get every detail clear in case it proved significant. "What time did the bus drop you off?"
"It was just after 9.45, visiting time wasn't until 10. As the bus pulled away the BMW, the one that exploded, pulled into the bus stop and parked up. A guy who'd got off the same bus as me said something to the woman as she climbed out of the car but she ignored him, locked up and walked off into one of the buildings in the same row as the café, I think she had a key to one of them."
Cutting in again, Jo saw the same thrill course through Sam that she herself had felt. "Abi, what did the woman look like? Can you give me a description of her? How many doors down from the café was the building she entered? Anything you can remember about her will really help."
"She had shoulder length blonde hair, really dark sunglasses on and looked like she had a bad smell under her nose, really snooty looking, hard to tell her age she had that much makeup on. Probably a bit taller than you, Jo but then she was wearing heels – I noticed cos she was having trouble walking in them. And she was wearing a khaki green trouser suit that looked a few sizes too big for her, it was hanging off her. I thought it was a bit odd that a woman with such a flashy car would be so badly dressed. I'm pretty sure it was the door next to the café she went through, either that or just one door down, I know it wasn't far away."
"Ok, so what happened after you went into the café? Anybody seem to be particularly interested in you? Or Joey?" Jo asked, scribbling busily in her notebook.
"Not really, one woman made a bit of a fuss of Joey as she walked past on her way to the toilets and picked up one of his gloves on her way back, I didn't realise he'd even dropped it. She asked how old he was, said he was cute. That was about it really." Abi frowned as she wracked her brain trying to remember every detail, no matter how insignificant it had seemed at the time.
"I'll need a description of her as well. She may be completely innocent but I have to cover all eventualities."
"Early to mid thirties maybe, short curly brown hair, quite short, not much taller than me. I didn't pay much attention to her, she was just someone who commented on Joey. I think she was wearing blue jeans and a dark jumper, could have been brown or black. Sorry I can't be more specific." Sam squeezed Abi's hand supportively, listening keenly to her answer Jo's questions, feeling a little guilty for her earlier comment about Jo's abilities.
"What time did you go over to the prison?" Jo prompted, eager to keep the momentum going.
"Just before ten, five to I think or thereabouts. I saw Hugh, told him that I wasn't happy about taking Joey into the prison. He asked me to consider visiting with him once in a while so that he could see his son. He told me he was appealing against his sentence, I think that was the real reason he wanted me there so he could gloat." As Abi finished her sentence, Mickey popped his head around the curtain, asking Jo to step outside for a moment. Sam rose from the bed moving to follow the sergeant from the room.
"No Sam, you stay with here Abi, I promise I'll let you know everything I find out." Jo spoke earnestly to her lover, the grave expression Mickey wore concerning her. After receiving a grudging acquiescence from Sam, Jo exited following Mickey to a quieter corner of the corridor.
"These are the pictures from the tape. We've come up with a possible name for her – Lisa Carmichael, ring any bells?" Mickey handed over the grainy photos.
Jo studied them for a moment, murmuring the name to herself over and over before shaking her head. "No but I'll run it by Abi and Sam, see if they recognise the name or if she looks familiar." Pausing for a moment to see if Mickey would volunteer more, Jo prompted, "come on Mickey, I can tell you're holding back. What is it?"
"CAD called just as I got here. Uniform received a call this morning from some hysterical kids claiming they'd found a body. Emma and Leela are there now, it's the body of a IC1 male infant." Mickey watched his colleague's face turn ashen. "We don't know it's Joey," he attempted to reassure her.
"No but either way it's bad news for somebody." Jo leant against the wall, wondering how she was going to break the news to the two women waiting expectantly for her in the cubicle.
"You want me to talk to Sam and Abi?" Mickey placed a hand lightly on Jo's forearm, offering the only support he could, knowing how close the trio had become.
"No, it's the least I can do. I should have told Sam as soon as I found the footage, if she knows this woman…" Jo's hands balled into fists and for a moment, Mickey was worried she might lash out at the wall.
"Don't blame yourself Jo. We don't know anything for sure yet. It might not be Joey. And Sam wasn't in any frame of mind to be investigating this morning, you did the only thing you could do."
"Let me know when they've recovered the body. One of us will have to identify it." Jo's voice threatened to break as she addressed the real possibility of having to confirm Joey was dead. Taking a moment to compose herself, she thanked Mickey before turning and walking back into the cubicle clutching the photos to her chest.
"Are those the pictures? What did Mickey have to say? Are there any more leads yet?" Sam questioned her lover as soon as she rounded the curtain, reaching out to take the snaps from Jo's hands, frowning and squinting as she tried to make out clear features. "They're not very clear are they? Is this the best we've got?"
"Sam, sit down." Jo guided the blonde into the chair beside Abi's bed, perching in the gap between the two Nixon women, taking hold of each of their hands in her own.
"No!" Sam snatched her hand away, recoiling as she recognised Jo's expression, having delivered enough bad news to be able to make out the signs.
"Uniform were called to an area a few minutes ago, a report of a body. They've just called it in, the body of a white male infant has been found. That's all I know at the moment, I've asked Mickey to let me know as soon as it's recovered." Seeing Sam and Abi's distress threatened to shatter Jo's resolve, a lump forming in her throat and tears welling in her eyes as she watched Sam offer scant comfort to her distraught daughter.