Cooper was still standing at the window when Sam opened her eyes. She had dreamt that Phil had come bursting into the attic room just as Cooper was about to strangle her, overpowered and arrested him then swept Sam up into his arms and carried her to safety. He had been so brave and macho that she woke up smiling. It had seemed so real to her that she was disappointed when she realised she was still with Cooper and had not yet been found. She even looked round to see if Phil was hiding in the corner but was brought back to reality when she realised the only other person in the room was Cooper.
She could see from her position that he looked absolutely exhausted. His blue eyes looked very red and reluctant to stay open. Without warning, he turned and looked straight into her green ones.
"Your friends almost found us earlier Samantha. They were right outside and they didn't even look up. Must be pretty dim." He added with a smile.
Sam felt fear and panic build up inside her. If Cooper was telling the truth then Phil had been mere metres away and still hadn't found her. She thought if they had searched the street and not found her it was unlikely they would ever come back.
Some of what she was feeling must have showed in her face for Cooper was smirking at her from the opposite end of the room.
Again, her instinct told her to talk to him, to keep him from harming her.
"You look really tired Martin. Did you not sleep well last night?" Her voice was weak and croaky from not being used for so long.
Cooper stared at her for a minute then started walking towards her. Sam noticed something sticking out his back pocket as he got closer: a mobile phone.
He sat down on the box infront of her.
"No, I didn't actually Samantha, and it's nice to know you care" he added sarcastically." I was thinking about you. I was wondering what I'm going to do with you. I'm going to have to take you somewhere no one will ever find you cause your never going back to those police friends of yours."
He had a look of pure spite on his face.
Sam was listening to him but not taking any of this in. She was trying to figure out a way in which she could get hold of the phone."Well first things first. I need to get him to untie me" she thought to herself.
"Erm..Martin? I...erm...I need to use the bathroom."
He sighed and got up, walked over to her and untied her arms.
" Im warning you. One false move..."
He pulled her over to the hatch, opened it and climbed down the ladder, dragging her down behind him. He waited outside while she used the bathroom, grabbed her the moment she emerged and pushed her back up the ladder. She stood at the top, waiting or him to get up and thought how good it was to be able to stretch her legs.
"Ok" She said to herself " I now need to find a way to stop him binding me again."
Cooper roughly grabbed her arm and threw her back into the chair then picked up one of the lengths of rope.
"Martin? Would you mind leaving those off for a while, only my arms are really sore" she said, indicating the rope burn on her wrists.
Cooper gave a laugh.
"You must think I'm really stupid Samantha." He tried to grab her arm but she pulled it away.
"Why not? I still can't get out of here. The hatch is locked and we're far too high up to jump from the window."
She tried to look innocent. He hesitated for a second then let go of her arm.
"Fifteen minutes."
Sam smiled gratefully at him. Her arms were agony from the rope burn and also from the beating she had recieved earlier. He backed away and sat down, staring at her. His expression seemed to soften as he looked into her round, scared looking eyes.
"I am sorry you know" he whispered "I know my mothers death had nothing to do with you personally but your a copper and it was the coppers fault."
He got up again and moved towards her. Sam could see tears in his eyes as he removed some of the dry blood from her face and felt shocked but pleased with this show of emotion. It meant she was making progress.
She watched as he sat back down and leant against the wall. His eyelids were beginning to droop. Sam slowly placed her arms back on the arm rests so there would be less chance of him noticing she wasn't tied there and sat in silence as he drifted off to sleep but her insides were jumping for joy. She knew she was almost free.
Cooper was snoring loudly within minutes. Very slowly, Sam got to her feet. She winced with pain as she tiptoed towards the exit, moving as slowly and quietly as possible. She knew this may be her only chance of escape and she wasn't going to screw it up. She bent down slowly, her arm outstretched, reaching for the handle when the floorboard beneath her creaked...really loudly.
She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the blow...but it didn't come. Cooper was still fast asleep. Breathing a sigh of relief, she grasped the handle and pulled but it was locked and the keys were deep in his pocket. She considered trying to smash it open but that would just wake Cooper and even if it did open, she would never make it out the house. Extremely disappointed, she stood up and turned back.
Something caught her eye. The phone. It was sticking out Coopers pocket. Very slowly, Sam edged towards him and bent down. She knew this was a very dangerous situation and he could wake up at any minute. One wrong move...
She was pulling it gently towards her, praying he wouldn't wake up. Almost there...Just a little bit further...she was holding the freed phone in her trembling hands and Cooper was still asleep. Relief washing over her, she punched in Phils number.
Phil was sat at his desk in CID when his phone rang.
"This better be important" he muttered grumpily as he extracted his phone from his pocket. He didn't recognise the number.
"Hello, D.S Hunter?"
"Phil it's me" Sam said said softly. Her voice was shaking.
"Sam!" Phil shouted, alerting the whole of CID as to what was happening.
"Sam where are you? are you ok? Has he hurt you?"
"Im ok Phil, Im..." There was a long pause.
"Sam?...Sam you still there?" Phil asked, his panic rising with every second.
"SAM!" He yelled down the phone.
The line had gone dead.