"Well, well, we meet again James. Looks like you had another fall. They treating you a bit rough in here?" Phil chatted jovially with the sullen prisoner who's face resembled that of a boxer after a tough fight. "We're not here to waste time, tell us what really happened the day you abducted Joseph Nixon. Who asked you to do it? How much were you paid? What was supposed to happen to the baby? Were you going to ransom him? Only problem with that is, his mother's got next to no money and Hugh ain't exactly rolling in it either."
"It wasn't about the money, it was never about money." James muttered, knowing that he was in serious trouble and that the police, as much as he disliked the fact, were his only hope of staying alive. "It wasn't meant to go down like this."
"So tell me how it was meant to go down?" Phil leaned forward on the wooden table separating him and James.
"The woman wasn't supposed to be in the café. She was supposed to be at the bus stop. The kid was supposed to die in the explosion. If the mother died too, well she was collateral damage as far as Ciaran was concerned. I'd sent Lisa into the café to watch the bus stop so she could give me the signal to detonate the device. I didn't want to stand and watch at the window in case I was seen. When the girl went to the café, Lisa rang me from the toilets, asking me what she should do, she was bordering on hysterical. I told her I'd detonate the bomb and for her to snatch the kid after the explosion; we couldn't leave the car parked there any longer, there was a traffic warden sniffing about, I couldn't risk it being towed away. I said we'd do the same for him as she did to Wayne, nice and easy, no mess, no fuss. She gave Wayne them drugs you know, not me. I might not have liked the screaming little brat but I had no reason to harm a hair on his head. Lisa's not the sweet corrupted innocent she makes out. She was playing Ciaran and Hugh off against one another, getting information from both of them and feeding it back to the other. Did you know she's Ciaran's daughter too? The tart he was banged up for beating to death – she wasn't a tom really, she was Ciaran's mistress, one he'd managed to get pregnant years before. He did his fruit when she gave Hugh an alibi, went round to sort her out, found her dead when he got there. He's always insisted he was innocent of killing her, said he never had a chance to lay a finger on her, someone else had got there before him."
"Why did Ciaran want the child dead?" Jo pushed, feelings Phil's heckles rise beside her and knowing that they needed to keep a tight rein on any emotions the confession invoked.
"The Nixon girl wasn't the first young woman Hugh had fooled around with. Ciaran said his daughter was pregnant with Hugh's kid when he pushed her off a motorway bridge, the fall killed the baby, left her permanently brain damaged. He said that it wasn't right that Hugh should get to play God, that it wasn't for him to decide which of his seeds should prosper and which should 'wither before seeing the sun'. When he found out about this other baby, I guess something in him snapped."
"How do you know Ciaran?" Jo asked supposing James' version of events may have some truth in them.
"We served some time together in Manchester before I came down to Longmarsh. It was Ciaran that arranged for me to be transferred down here after he heard about Hugh getting banged up. He has friends all over the place. Told me to befriend Hugh, keep tabs on him so I could feed information back to him. He's been planning his revenge for a long time. Originally he was going to just have Hugh executed but then he wanted to shoot him himself. When I heard about the kid coming to visit, I told Ciaran – I never thought for a minute he'd try and kill him instead." James picked at the varnished wooden tabletop.
"Why did you get beaten up?" Phil interjected bluntly.
"Because I messed up… and as a reminder to keep my mouth shut. He has ears everywhere, can find out if you so much as fart in the shower. I'm only telling you this now cos either way I'm a dead man. If Ciaran doesn't have me killed, Hugh will. After we snatched the kid from the café, I phoned Ciaran to tell him what had happened. He yelled for a while telling me how much of a prick I am for not even being able to do such a simple thing right. Then he calmed down, told me to sit tight and keep the baby alive, that he was on his way to make sure the job was done properly. Lisa got a bit kooky about it, started having regrets about Wayne. That's why she ran, she thought the officers who came knocking were from Ciaran, that they were going to kill the baby." James looked at Jo, locking his eyes with hers as he continued, "she'd never have jumped you know, she didn't have the guts."
Jo felt the room blurring around the edges, a wave of heat rising from her toes. She mentally shook herself, thinking, 'not now, of all times, please God not now!'
"We've got him Jo, Joey's safe. I repeat, we've got him. He isn't with Lisa." Jo heard the words but was distracted by the blur of movement in front of her. Instinctively she raced forward, horrified as she saw Lisa heading towards the edge of the unstable framework.
"Lisa, don't do it!" She grabbed the young woman, feeling metal begin to buckle under the strain. With every ounce of strength she could muster, Jo pushed the body away from her onto the safety of solid ground, just managing to get her clear before the metal disappeared from beneath her feet. She felt herself plunging towards the water below, surrounded by falling debris as the entire structure collapsed. Her last thought before she hit the icy torrent was of Sam, of how much she loved her. She felt her heart break as she landed, the impact as solid as hitting concrete, the air rushing from her lungs in one swift gush and refusing to return.
She was cold, so cold. Where was she? Why was it so dark? Why was breathing so difficult? She tried lifting her head, squinting as daylight crept in, nausea and pain crashing over her and threatening to send her spiralling back into the vast blackness lurking close by. She felt her legs being buffeted about, a strong force trying to drag her sideways, a force she almost felt powerless to resist. Somewhere in the dim recesses of her addled mind a tiny voice was screaming at her to get up, to find help, that lying here was not an option.
"Jo… DS Masters!" Phil placed a hand tentatively on Jo's forearm, feeling the judder course through her as she was shocked out of her trance. Her face was ashen, beads of sweat standing out on her brow and top lip. As she slowly became re-oriented, the pallor of her skin turned to a sickening shade of green, her throat constricting madly as she tried to swallow down the waves of nausea. "Are you alright? Want some water?" Jo shook her head wildly.
"No, the last thing I want is water! I'll be fine, just give me a few minutes." She stood as Phil watched as she shakily made her way to the door, heading straight for the nearest toilets as fast as her prison officer escort could get her there. She knelt over the toilet for what seemed like an eternity, heaving until there was nothing left to lose. Shakily the brunette rose and crossed to the sinks to clean up. She splashed cold water on her face, running her wrists under the icy jets for long moments before she dared look in the mirror. The scar on her forehead stood out still angry looking in the harsh luminous light. In some respects, despite her appearance, she felt better, the latest episode bringing the last few months back into her mind with startling clarity. She checked her watch, seeing that there was still another three hours before her shift was over and wanting nothing more than to curl up in bed with Sam in her arms, making up for the lost weeks. Remembering their promise to name a day once Joey was safe and well, Jo hardened her resolve to find the people responsible for the threats to his life and bring them to justice so that they could all move on to a happier and brighter future.
"What did you find out Phil?" Sam pounced on the detectives as soon as they re-entered the office.
"Have a word with your girlfriend, tell her she's not invincible would ya? She drifted off again, in the middle of interviewing James King! She shouldn't be back at work yet." Phil raged slumping into the seat behind his desk before picking up a file and flicking through it roughly.
"My office?" Sam invited Jo through, closing the door quietly behind them, directing Jo to take a seat in the chair in front of her desk. "Want to tell me what happened?" She asked gently, seeing Jo's troubled expression and obvious distraction.
"Lisa Carmichael is Ciaran O'Rourke's daughter – I never made the connection before and I should have done. The woman that O'Rourke was charged with killing was a Sandra Carmichael. According to James, she wasn't even a prostitute, just Ciaran's bit on the side whom he got pregnant. Judging by Lisa's age, I would say it happened around about the same time his wife fell pregnant with Niamh! I don't know whether Hugh was sleeping with Sandra as well as Niamh or whether he had something else over her to make her give him an alibi for the night Niamh fell from that bridge. Either way, Ciaran wasn't impressed by her betrayal but insists that she was already dead when he got there that night. King was transferred from Strangeways to Longmarsh so that he could befriend Hugh and collaborate with Lisa to orchestrate his death. When Hugh sent out the visiting order to Abi and starting telling people about his son coming to see him, the plan changed. Sam, Joey wasn't meant to survive the attack – his death was supposed to be revenge for Hugh's part in Niamh's fall." Jo outlined the findings from their latest chat with King, hoping that by neglecting to mention her episode Sam would be too distracted to order her to go home.
"So all of this is because of Hugh Wallis and his inability to keep it in his trousers?" Sam barked, voice dropping to a husky growl in her rage. "If that body isn't his, he better hope he has protection next time I see him or I'll personally castrate him with a blunt pair of scissors!" Jo tried and failed to hide her humour. "And what did Phil mean by that comment before about you being back too soon? Are you struggling? I don't want you feeling like you have to soldier on if you're not ready Jo." Sam's tone softened as she leant against the desk mere inches away from her lover.
"James made some comment about Lisa not having the guts to jump from the bridge. It triggered another memory which in turn triggered a few more and all of a sudden I can remember pretty much everything, I have one hell of a headache and I feel like I could sleep for a week. I remember what it felt like, falling as the bridge collapsed, hitting the water and struggling to breath, the cold, wet darkness of being underwater and the feeling of utter helplessness. I remember thinking of you as I hit the water, crying as I went under because of how much I couldn't bear to be apart from you. I just needed a few minutes to catch my breath that's all. I'm fine. Besides, we got pretty much everything we could out of James anyway." Jo fidgeted with her hands as she spoke honestly, sensing Sam push away from where she leant against the desk
"I meant what I said when we first got together, I won't offer you any preferential treatment. If these episodes don't stop, if I think you're in any way suffering because you're back at work too soon, I will have you removed from duty again." Sam spoke softly, the concern for her lover evident in her tone.
"So does this 'no preferential treatment' thing mean I can't get a hug? I've had a hard day." Jo pouted in an exaggerated manner, eliciting a sweet grin from the enigmatic blonde woman standing before her. Sam sidled closer to where Jo was sitting, painfully aware of Phil sitting around the corner, just out of sight, but far more aware of the magnetic draw the buxom brunette woman emitted.
"Only as far as work Jo. At home you get all the preferential treatment you like. But seeing as you've had an exceptional day, I think I can stretch to a hug, just this once." Sam groaned quietly as she straddled Jo's legs, settling herself onto her lover's lap and wrapping her arms around her broad shoulders in a tender embrace, unable to resist her craving for intimacy. As Jo's hand worked its way inside her loose cotton blouse, tenderly caressing the smooth naked skin of her back, her professional brain kicked in. "We can't… no further… not here…"
"Why not? There's just you…and me… and a door that can easily be locked. Where's the fun in having your own office if you don't get the perks of the privacy?" Jo winked, punctuating her words with sweet kisses and allowing her wandering hands to slide up the outsides of Sam's thighs, disappearing beneath the hemline of her short skirt and causing it to ride upwards, exposing more of the creamy quivering flesh..
"But Phil…" As Jo's mouth latched onto Sam's neck, coherent thought left the blonde, surrendering her to the blissful sensations Jo's caresses were eliciting.
Raising her head slightly, Jo assured her, "Phil's a big boy now, I'm quite sure he can entertain himself and much as I'm sure he'd chew off his own arm to be a part of this, I don't feel like sharing!" The brunette returned to her task with renewed vigour, pressing the palm of one hand against Sam's breast, feeling the nipple harden instantly in response. "Still considering whether I'm ready to be back yet?" She asked huskily, capturing Sam's mouth with her lips and lavishing attention up on it.
"Maybe I should send him off on an errand…" Sam glanced at the door, her own hands beginning to wander over the ample chest of her companion as Jo's hand found its way to the aching centre between her legs.
"Or maybe you should just stop worrying about him and enjoy what we've started here." Jo pressed harder against Sam's thin underwear, feeling the smaller woman's hips rock forward instinctively to greet the pleasurable pressure. Sam leant in capturing Jo's mouth roughly in a desperate, desire-filled kiss, knowing time was limited but the risk of being caught only adding fuel to her raging hormones.
"More Jo… I need more… I need to feel you on me." Sam panted as the brunette's hand continued to tease her throbbing nub. Lazily drawing her fingers upwards, Jo insinuated her hand inside Sam's knickers, returning to the slick folds she had been caressing moments earlier but this time without barrier. Sensing Sam's imminent need and aware of the privacy issue that could become a problem at any moment, Jo wasted no more time teasing her lover, alternately milking the blood engorged bundle of nerves and feverishly thrusting into her until Sam came, smothering her ecstatic cries with a searing kiss, swallowing them down. The petite panting blonde was about to assist Jo whose own release was teetering on the brink of oblivion when movement outside the door caused them to spring apart and hurriedly rearrange their clothing both assessing one another's appearance before Sam moved to reluctantly show Jo out. Opening the door, a flushed Sam almost cannoned into Phil as he rounded the corner on his way to the office.
"Sorry to interrupt," Phil cast a glance over Sam's shoulder as Jo spun away a disgruntled expression marring her attractive face, "but I thought you'd both want to know we've had a positive ID on that body you found…"
"And? For God's sakes Phil, what do you want? A drum roll? Who is it?" Sam barked equally irritated at his intrusion but also by his need for drama.
"It was Ciaran O'Rourke. Jo'd arranged for his medical records to be couriered down, he'd seen the prison dentist and comparing those records with the examination on post mortem, they're identical. Seems like someone gave him a taste of his own medicine." The macho sergeant explained, reluctantly giving Jo the credit she deserved for her foresight.
"So does this mean Abi and Joey are safe to come home? We know he was behind the bomb attack which James King told you was meant to kill Joey, so now there's no threat to them." Sam pressed eagerly.
"Not necessarily – O'Rourke didn't plant the bomb himself. We know there's this guy on a motorbike involved somehow, Zain's keeping tabs on him right now, but it doesn't mean that O'Rourke hasn't arranged for someone else to make another attempt on Joey's life. I think it's probably fair to say our chief suspect in his execution is Hugh Wallis, so our priority right now has to be tracking him down and arresting him." Phil insisted.
"Surely that's a job for MIT? It's their investigation." Jo pointed out, speaking for the first time.
"Oh you still with us? Thought you'd drifted off again there." Phil hissed childishly. "Hugh is integral to our investigation, therefore we have every right to pursue an arrest and hand him over to MIT once we're done."
"There's no need for that attitude Phil. Jo can't help her condition any more than you can help being a moron and whereas I hold out hope for a complete recovery for Jo, I can't say I hold out any hope in your case!" Sam retaliated bitterly, siding with her lover. "I'll speak to the DCI, see what he has to say."
"Guv, yeah it's Zain. We're still outside that house on Renfrew Lane. No sign of anyone in the house and there's been very little traffic through here in the last couple of hours. The biker seems to be getting fidgety, keeps checking his watch. Oh hang on… he's getting his mobile out, looks like he's expecting a call. Something's got him spooked, he's getting ready to leave… dammit he's heading back this way – want me to follow him?" Zain looked away as the biker roared past, awaiting the DCI's response.
"Yeah we don't want to lose him. The body from earlier has been confirmed as Ciaran O'Rourke but we can't rule out the possibility that whoever's on that bike is acting under his instructions to keep tabs on Joseph Nixon. The address you're sitting outside is the second safe house we had them at, I had them moved via the back door earlier." Zain was already executing a three point turn in the road as he listened to his superior's briefing. "I've got another officer watching the new safe house, he's going to let me know if there's any movement there. This one's unofficial – the last two have been found too easily and something stinks. Keep me informed of this biker's whereabouts." Jack signed off the conversation, turning his attention back to the three officers in front of him. "Sorry, where were we?"
"Jo should be at home Guv, that's twice in the last few hours she's faded out in the middle of an interview. I wouldn't want to be out with her, relying on her to cover my back only to find she's zoned out just when I need her most!" Phil insisted. Jo stood silently smarting from the insinuation that she would wilfully let her colleagues down.
"We've already agreed that DS Masters will not be put under unnecessary duress for the next week or so, that means doing all the mundane boring stuff like paperwork and interviews. I can assure you, DS Hunter, that no officer's safety will be jeopardised in any way – unless you know of a siege planned by the stationery that is?" Jack rolled his eyes, wishing that something, somehow would teach Phil some diplomacy. "Sam, do you have any concerns about Jo remaining at work?" Three pairs of eyes settled on the diminutive blonde. Studiously avoiding both sergeants' eyes, she addressed Jack directly.
"As long as DS Masters feels fit to continue working, I don't see that it will be a problem. She's already agreed to restricted duties and counselling, I really don't see what being at home would further achieve." Sam felt the gratitude flowing from Jo in waves, smugly thinking that she would owe her in spectacular style that evening for the turn around.
"She would say that, Christ they were practically shagging in her office ten minutes ago!" Phil blurted out, caring little if he overstepped the mark. Jo and Sam studiously avoided catching one another's eyes, both feeling a warm glow working its way over their cheeks.
"Ladies, I think that's all. Sam, try and trace Hugh Wallis, maybe take a trip to your house, see if he's been there at all – take anyone with you who is available. Jo, I want you to continue going through the paper work, see if that can shed any light on Hugh's likely whereabouts, pick up where Sam is leaving off, no point wasting time rehashing old ground." The two women left the office exchanging a look as they closed the door behind them.
"We have to be more careful, Jo – neither of us want to be transferred and Jack will readily do that if he thinks our relationship is compromising the team." Sam whispered.
"I know, you're right. I'm sorry but you're just too damned sexy for your own good!" Jo winked and pecked Sam on the cheek. "Thanks for not backing Phil up in there, for letting me continue working."
"Oh believe me, you'll be making it worth my while for the next week at least!" Sam grinned cheekily as she sauntered away, deliberately swaying her hips as she blew a kiss over her shoulder towards her fiancée.
"He's gone inside the lockup again Guv but he's taken the bike inside this time. I'm going to see if I can take a look at what's inside, might give us an idea what he's planning on doing next." Zain clambered from the car, his beige jacket flapping against his legs in the light spring breeze as he jogged across the road.
"Go careful Zain, we don't know anything about this person or what they're capable of." Jack warned the maverick as Zain flattened himself against the side of the adjacent lockup, sidling along its edge, treading carefully to avoid anything that might give his presence away. He slipped down the side gauging the height of the windows and wondering if he would be able to surreptitiously peek in without having to find something to stand on.
"Just a minute Guv, I'm going to see if I can get a look through one of the windows." Zain pulled himself up to his full height, mindless to the destruction of the toes of his brand new loafers as he balanced precariously on them, frowning when there was no sign of the bike rider inside the tiny garage but reasoning that his view was somewhat restricted. "No sign of him in there Guv, looks like this is where he's been living out of though. There's a sleeping bag and a pile of books in the back corner, along with a camping stove and some empty tins. The bike's down near the door…" The press of cold steel against his temple cut Zain's commentary off in its prime.
"Give me the phone." The cold voice commanded, the young DC in no position to refuse. "Time to say goodbye, Jack." A shot rang out clearly from the end of the line as Jack's heart threatened to stop beating. As the reverberation of the gunfire died, so did the connection to Zain's mobile.