40 hours missing

Jess chewed on her thumbnail and stared at the floor. Her mind was racing. She dreaded seeing what was in those envelopes. She could almost feel them on the table next to her. All six of them. Six. Five at her office. Left there for her viewing pleasure… her viewing agony.

Jack looked at her and then at Viv, who raised an eyebrow. All of the Missing Persons Unit were just as afraid to look at its contents.

"This makes eight," Martin was the first to break the silence, unable to sit there much longer.

"I…" Sam started to speak but couldn't find the words.

Danny's eyes were solely on Jess. He desperately wanted to reach out to her, to comfort her and let her know she wasn't alone.

Jess dropped her arm and taking a deep breath, grabbed the top envelope.

"Are you sure you want to open that?" Vivian asked.

Jess ripped it open, "Too late to turn back." She tipped the contents onto the table and felt the bile rise to her throat as she looked down. She placed her hand over her mouth, trying to stop herself retching.

It was then that Danny placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezed it and leant forward, picking up an envelope. The rest of the team followed suit. Soon there were 12 photographs joining the previous four on the board.


Jack shook his head, "Right, we need to run these. And quickly. We need to know who these girls are. And who connects them. People, places, times."

Vivian pulled the new photos off the board, "I'm on it."

"Jack…" Sam's voice caught in her throat. The team turned to look at her. She had backed away from the board, her face ghostly white.

"Samantha?" Martin moved towards her, "What is it?"

"I know them, I know this case," she whispered.

"How?" Jack demanded.

"I know her," Sam took a photograph out of Vivian's hands, a young blonde girl, and ran a finger along it.

"Sam," Viv looked at her. Soft, slow tears made mascara-smudged tracks down her cheeks. "Sam," Viv repeated, "Who is she?"

"She…" the team strained to hear her voice, "She was my sister."


"Tell me everything," Viv sat in front of the blonde, holding her hand. The rest of the team sat behind her.

Sam took a deep breath. She prepared to lift the veil on her life and let those around take a peek at it.

"All those girls; what they have in common is their age. They were all thirteen, when they…" her words stuck in her throat and she took a deep breath. "When Jules was thirteen, she disappeared. When the police found her five days later she was dead. She'd been…" tears fell unchecked down her cheeks and her wracked breathing became sobs, "she'd been tortured and raped. They all were; tortured, raped and murdered. I was sixteen. She was the first of a long line of girls. It's a case that's been on-going for nearly fifteen years."

The team sat in shocked silence. No-one knew what to say. Sam's sobs began to subside.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be." Vivian wrapped her arms around the young woman, "Its okay, everything's going to be okay."

She looked up at Jack who shook his head. Martin sunk slowly into a chair, watching the usually strong blonde break down. Danny and Jess stood behind the team, watching them. Jess ran a hand across her face, drying her eyes and slipped her hand into Danny's. He squeezed it, never taking his eyes off Sam.

Her heart was pouring out. Her previous life, the life she'd tried to hide, was being revealed and her current life was falling apart.