Chapter 4

Both Adam and Frank looked up at Sally in disbelief.

"Sal, what do you mean?" Frank asked her to ensure he had heard her right.

"What do you think I mean?" Sally snapped at him as her panic started to take over. "She's not in this flat."

Frank got up from the floor and walked up to Sally. "Did you check everywhere?" He asked her. He could see the look of panic and fear in her eyes but they had to be sure before they called the coppers.

"Go and check for yourself if you don't believe me." Sally glared at him as he asked her again. If she hadn't checked everywhere, she wouldn't be saying this right now.

Frank seen the look she gave him and knew she was serious but he didn't want to believe her. The fact that James was still sobbing in Sally's arms also proved something wasn't right. He bolted from the entrance room to go into the flat to search everywhere again.

Sally turned back to Adam who grabbed his mobile phone out of his pocket to call the ambulance and police. He didn't need to wait for Frank to come back to confirm what Sally was saying. In the years he had known her, he had never seen her so panicked and scared before.

He flipped his phone open and dialled 999 and put the phone to his ear. "Hello I need police and ambulance straight away. Someone has been knocked unconscious and a baby is missing." Adam answered to the operator on the other line.

Her baby was missing. Four words Sally thought she would never have to say but now she did. It was true but how did she go missing.

Her mind was racing as to what had happened but little James had other ideas to occupy his mum. He started to get fussy and tried to break out of his mum's arms but luckily she had a tight hold on him.

"Oi you." Sally said to her son as she moved him to her other hip and bounced him again to try and settle him. "I know it's scary but mummy's here." She cooed to him as she bounced him.

As the bouncing continued, James stopped trying to break free from his mum but was still sobbing and fussing. If somebody didn't know James, they would think he was a tired and cranky baby but Sally knew otherwise. James knew he wasn't with his twin sister who he did everything with and he was scared and upset without her. Sensing the bouncing wasn't doing any good; Sally stopped doing it and would have to let him stop when he was ready. It was heart breaking to see but she knew there was nothing she could do to stop him and he would get tired eventually. She hugged him to her and stroked the top of his head where the little tuffs of brown hair were to soothe him as much as she could.

She heard noise coming back into the entrance room from the hallway and turned around to see Frank coming back in. He had the same look of panic on his face as Sally did.

"Did you call the coppers?" Frank asked as he ran his hands through his hair to stay calm.

"Yeah mate, there on their way." Adam replied to Frank. "Where's Ajay?" Adam asked them.

"He's in the playpen. He's fine." Frank said.

Adam slid past them both and went to check on his son. Once he left, Frank could see Sally was on the verge of tears and went to hug her but she stopped him.

"Don't." She said softly as she took a step back. "If you do that I'll cry and don't know if ill be able to stop." She said as she looked back at the sobbing baby still in her arms.

It hurt him a little when she said it but he knew that she didn't mean it against him personally. Right now she wasn't Sally Fields the strong, brave fire fighter. She was Sally Fields the caring, loving mother but not all of her kids were where they should be. He was seeing a whole new side to her and it was hurting him to see her like this. He would need to be strong for the both of them.

"You want me to take him." Frank asked as he looked at James.

"Yeah go on. He's getting heavier by the day." Sally said as her arms were getting tired with having to hold James a little tighter than normal to stop him squirming again.

"Come here, mate." Frank said as he held out his arms to take their son from Sally.

She carefully passed James into Frank's arms where he settled onto his dad's hip but still continued to sob.

"He's just not himself is he?" Frank said as he wiped away a fresh tear from James's cheek.

"No he's not. He knows something's wrong as well." Sally replied as she leaned over and kissed James's forehead. "Hopefully he'll get tired soon and fall asleep."

Frank knew as well that James was missing his sister. Since the day they were born the twins had never been apart for more than 5 minutes and only separated by different rooms. Now his constant companion wasn't by his side and James didn't like it.

"Here Frank. Try this." Adam said as he walked back into the room with Ajay in his arms and handed Frank James's dummy.

"Cheers." Frank said as he took the dummy from Adam and placed it in his son's mouth.

As soon as Frank had placed it in his son's mouth, James stopped sobbing and stopped fussing. Sally and Frank exchanged a look of relief but the little boy had other ideas. After five seconds James spat the dummy back out and his petted lip returned again as he continued sobbing.

Sally let out a heavy sigh and bent down to pick up the dummy off the floor but as she bent down something shiny caught her eye. A few hundred yards between Elaine's unconscious body and James's dummy, was Elaine's house key. How could it be lying there? She looked up from the key and back to the door where the key had been sitting. There was no way a key could fall this far back into the room but someone could have thrown it this far if they had thrown it from outside the letter box.

"What is it Sal?" Adam asked her when she didn't stand up again.

She stood up slowly and turned back to the two men. "Think about it for a second. Your mum is lying unconscious with open gash on her head. Do you see anything in here that could have caused that injury? Now look where the door key is. How could a key land here when the door is 13 meters over there?"

Both men looked from the key on the floor, to Elaine and then to the keyhole in the door.

"This wasn't an accident. Someone planned this whole thing. They wanted to take the kids." Sally said as her voice broke and she was fighting to stop the tears flowing.

Adam and Frank looked at each other and knew that Sally was right but they didn't want to believe it. Someone forced entry to the flat, knocked Elaine out, kidnapped Sarah, locked the flat from the outside and tossed the key back in.

But the main question was, who would want to do such a thing?

The sound of emergency sirens getting louder as they arrived on the street could be heard and three of them knew this was not going to be an easy few days off.

What had happened over the past hour was a blur for Sally. She could remember pieces of what had happened but not the whole picture.

Both the paramedics and the police had arrived at the flat at the scene. The paramedics immediately went over to Elaine and carried out their assessments on her condition before she was placed on a stretcher and taken away in the ambulance. Adam had wanted to go with her but the police needed a statement from him about what had happened. He felt guilty leaving her but he knew she was safe with the paramedics and that finding little Sarah was more important.

Once Elaine was taken away, more police officers came into the house. Some officers where taking pictures of the house and everything in it while others were swabbing surfaces looking for DNA or finger prints.

Two officers asked the three of them briefly what had happened and took DNA samples from them to eliminate them as suspects. The police needed detailed statements from them but all of the commotion was upsetting Ajay and making James worse. They agreed to let them go to the police station to give their statements so Frank drove them and the two babies to the station. As the flat was a crime scene, they weren't allowed to take Ajay or James's car seats but it seemed to soothe James more as he sat on his mums lap and cuddled into her chest, sobbing lightly. On the way there, Adam called and told Kate that his mum was in the hospital but he needed picked up from police station. She was worried and concerned but Adam said he'd tell her the full story later. Once they arrived Adam had asked to go first to give a statement as he knew he wouldn't need to stay as long as Frank and Sally. While Adam was giving his statement, Frank took Ajay from him while Sally still had James on her lap. The little boy was still sobbing but the closer he was to his mum, the more he almost stopped.

Adam was done quickly with his statement and took his son from Frank. Once Adam had Ajay, he left the station and went outside to wait for Kate to pick them up and head to the hospital to see how Elaine was doing. Sally and Frank had come out with him as well. Frank walked off to the side to have a smoke and try to compose himself before he and Sally were called into the meeting room.

Sally was now standing with Adam over at the pick up zone with a sobbing James still in her arms. While Adam was giving his statement, she had called Andie to tell her what had happened and if there was any way she could take James for a couple of hours. Andie had agreed straight away and was on her way with George to collect James and take him back home while Frank and Sally were with the police.

Just as they reached the pick up joint, Kate pulled up in her car. Once she stopped, Adam went round to the passenger side and jumped in with Ajay on his knee. Kate wanted to get out of the car and comfort Sally. As a mother, Kate would do anything to protect her child but if her child were missing, she would be a mess as well and could tell by Sally's eyes that she was a mess on the inside but trying to remain calm on the outside.

"Hi Sal. If you need anything we're all here for you and Frank." Kate said as she rolled down the window.

"Thanks Kate. Just going to talk to the police soon." Sally said as she readjusted James on her hip.

Kate wanted to keep talking to Sally but when Adam got in the car, she could tell how anxious he was to get to the hospital and knew just now Sally would have Frank to comfort her.

"They'll find her. We better head to the hospital to see Elaine. We'll call you later to see how you got on." Kate said as she started the car.

Sally knew that going to see Elaine was more important right now as there was nothing either Kate or Adam could do just now.

"No problem. If she's awake, tell her we're asking for her." Sally replied.

"We will. Speak to you later Sal." Adam shouted from the passenger seat.

"Bye." Sally said as Kate waved and rolled up the car window.

Once the car pulled away, Sally moved James from her hip so that she could hug him to her chest while James continued to sob as he snuggled into his mum's chest. She had never seen her little boy so upset and unsettled before. He was always so smiley and happy all the time but when he did cry it was never for long. Seeing him like this was heart breaking especially as there was nothing she could do to soothe him but she wouldn't stop trying.

Not long after Adam and Kate had left, Sally heard another car approaching her and looked up to see George's car pulling up beside her. George parked the car and gave her a small smile. It was a smile that showed he wanted to see how she was doing but didn't know what to say to her. Sally knew that he meant well and gave him a half smile back.

Andie was in the passenger side and practically jumped out and went over to see Sally. "Hey Sal. I am so sorry. Whatever you need we are here for you both." She said to her friend seeing the pain all over her face.

She went to hug Sally but Sally took a step back. If anyone hugged her right now, the tears would flow and they wouldn't stop. The last thing she needed was to be crying with the police.

"Thanks. Just be better when my other baby is back in my arms. Did you see anything this morning when you dropped them off? Anything unusual?" Sally asked as she tried to hold back her fresh tears that threated to fall.

"No. Everything was fine. I carried both baby carriers to Elaine's door at the same time and she was waiting for me when I arrived. I chatted to her for 5 minutes before I left but I seen her take both carriers in the house and heard the door locking. Didn't see anyone lurking about either. I know this is hard but she'll be back in your arms soon. The police will find her." Andie replied.

"I know it's just the waiting that's the worst." Sally replied back.

"I know but remember you've got people around you to help you and Frank. Your not alone." Andie said.

Sally knew she was right. For the first time in a very long time, she was going to need to rely on others to help her get through this. There were some things she could do on her own but she couldn't handle this on her own.

"I know." Sally said as she took a deep breath. "Thanks."

"That's what friends are for." Andie replied before she turned serious again. "Now give me my favourite nephew so I can take him back home. The sooner you go back in there, the sooner you can come home and be with him again."

"Give me a second." Sally said.

A fresh wave of pain had washed over her. Since she woke up this afternoon she had a feeling that something wasn't right but she knew it was because she hadn't seen her babies in almost 24 hours. Then when she went to collect them, she only had one of her babies and the other one was missing. Now at her most vulnerable she had to send her remaining baby away who was upset as well. Sally knew she could trust Andie to take James back to their flat but it still hurt to send him away when she had only held him for a short time and he seemed to almost settle when he was with her. It wouldn't be good to have a fussy and sobbing baby during a police statement. She knew it was the right decision but it was still a hard one.

Sally hugged James tightly to her chest and then moved him to her hip so she could look at him. "Now you be a good lad for Auntie Andie and Uncle George. Mummy and Daddy won't be long then we'll be home. We love you so much."

She pressed a kiss to James's cheek and passed him into Andie's waiting arms.

"Hello you." Andie said as she settled James into her hip. "Your lucky your to young to know what's going on just now."

"I think he does. He hasn't stopped sobbing and fussing since we got him back. He knows his sister isn't with him." Sally said.

"Yeah maybe or he's just hungry. Nothing a bottle, a bath and cuddles with his favourite auntie can't soothe." Andie cooed to the still sobbing baby on her hip.

"I hope so." Sally turned around and seen Frank was just about done with his cigarette and knew it was time to go back in.

"I better go back in. We'll be as quick as we can. Help yourself to anything in the flat for dinner or there's takeaway menu's somewhere to order food." Sally said as she turned back to Andie.

"Take your time. We'll stay all night at yours if we have to." Andie replied as she went back to the passenger side and opened the door.

"Thanks again." Sally said.

"Anytime." Andie replied as she got into the car and put her seatbelt on while he adjusted James on her knee.

George started the engine and gave her another smile before he drove the car away. Once the car was gone, a few tears slid down Sally's face but she quickly wiped them away with her hand and taking a few deep breaths to compose herself.

Once she was confident that no more tears would escape, she turned around and walked back to where Frank was standing as he was stubbing out his cigarette bud.

"Adam away?" Frank asked as he straightened his jacket out.

"Yeah there going to see Elaine and Andie just left with James. She's taking him back to ours. Said we'd be home when we're done." Sally said to him.

"Good. You ready." He asked her nervously as he could see the tear stains on her cheeks. He had watched her as she snuggled their son to her and knew she would be feeling guilty at sending him away. Frank did feel guilty as well but he knew, like Sally, it was best to send James home rather than having him here during the police interview. They've wouldn't be long and then they would be reunited with their baby boy.

"As I'll ever be. Are you?" She asked him.

"Yeah. Come on." Frank asked as he held out his hand for Sally. He was surprised when she took it and they walked back into the station together.

They walked back into the same room where Adam had given his statement and an officer was waiting for them. As they walked in, they sat at one side of the table while the male officer closed the door and walked around to the other side of the table.

"The detective who will handling the case will be hear soon. In the meantime, if you could both give a written statement about what happened when you arrived at Ms Reeve's property this afternoon." The officer asked as he slid two pieces of paper and two pens towards them.

Sally let go of Frank's hand and they both reached forward for the paper and pen and began to write their statement. The room was so silent that all you could hear was the noise of the pen leaving its marks on the paper. When they were both finished, they slid the paper back towards the officer.

"Thank you. I'll inform the detective that we're done." The officer said as he collected their statements and left the room.

As they waited, Frank placed his hand on Sally's leg under the table and gave her a reassuring smile, not wanting to say the wrong thing and upset her. She smiled back at him relieved that he didn't say anything. She loved him more than she had loved any other man but she knew her temper would easily flare up given the mood she was in, if someone said the wrong thing. Frank didn't deserve that. He wasn't the one who was wrong and was going through the same feelings as her but handling it a lot better than she was.

After a few more moments, the door opened and the officer came back in the room and was followed by an older man. Both sat at the opposite ends of the table and the older man pushed a button on a stereo at his side of the table.

"Interview commenced at 5:30pm on Thursday 10th October 2003. Interview room 2. Grove street police station. Detective Ben Campbell and P.C Michael Grant. Mr Mooney. Miss Fields. I'm Detective Campbell and I'll be in charge of your daughter's case. I've read your statements along with Mr Benjamin's and they tell the same story. As a parent myself, I can't imagine what your going through and I know this is hard for you both but I do need to ask you some questions to help us find you're daughter. Please take your time to answer as any detail is critical." The older man replied now identified as the detective.

"Ok." Both Frank and Sally said at the same time.

"So having read the statements I can see you that you arrived at Ms Reeve's flat around 4:15pm with Mr Benjamin this afternoon to collect your 6 month old twins from the property. Do you regularly leave your children with Ms Reeve's at this property?" The detective asked them.

"Yes we do. We work shift work during the day and night. When we're on day shift, Elaine is our child minder and she sometimes takes the twins if we have plans or need a baby sitter. She's been a friend for a long time and I trust her with our kids. She's great with them" Sally said as she defended Elaine.

Detective Campbell could tell what she was doing. "It's ok Miss Fields. We are not indicating that Ms Reeves did anything wrong. We're simply trying to identify a pattern of when Ms Reeves cares for your children." He replied to her and turned back to his note pad. "Now when your on night shift, who looks after your children during this time?" He asked as he looked up at the young couple.

"My friend Andie comes and stays in our flat to look after them while we're working. She sometimes looks after them if we need a babysitter as well." Sally replied calmer this time.

"Ok and does this routine ever change or do the carers ever change?" Detective Campbell asked again.

"No it hasn't. They're the only two people who do the majority of babysitting for us. The only other people would be Adam Benjamin or his partner." Sally replied.

"And when was the last time you seen your daughter?" He asked Frank and Sally.

"Yesterday around 5:15pm. Andie came over to ours to watch the kids while we were at work. We left ours around that time and Andie had them all night." Frank replied this time.

"So when did you drop your children off at Ms Reeve's this morning." He asked again.

Sally took a deep breath to swallow her guilt. "We didn't drop them off ourselves. We were up all night at a fire. We were knackered so Elaine offered to take the kids for a few hours so we could sleep. Elaine said she would call Andie and tell her to drop the kids of at her house. I spoke to Andie after she had dropped them off and she said everything was fine and that both our kids were dropped off to Elaine."

Since they arrived at the station, Sally had been wondering if they hadn't said yes to Elaine looking after the kids, would they be in this situation? Yeah she and Frank would have been knackered but they wouldn't be here and they would have both kids be with them.

"And does this happen often as well?" Campbell asked them again.

"Maybe twice in the last 2 months but not a regular thing. Just depends on what happens during our night shift." Frank said back.

"OK. When you say shift work and fires, I'm assuming you're both fire fighters on the same watch." Officer Grant asked them.

"Yeah we are. Our boss hasn't reported us to help us with child care." Frank said. Maybe it wasn't the watch they had to worry about reporting them but being reported due to this situation.

"He sounds like an understanding boss." Detective Campbell replied. He shifted in his seat, nervous to ask his next question. "This may seem strange question but do you know on anyone that would want to hurt your daughter?"

Sally's eyes went red with anger. "Hurt her! She's 6 months old. Who would want to hurt a baby?" Sally almost shouted at the detective.

"Sal, they need to ask this." Frank said as he placed a hand on her shoulder. It was to try and calm her but also to stop her from jumping across the table at the detective.

She knew that they had to ask this question but Sarah was 6 months old. She couldn't have made anyone mad or angry enough to hurt her. The only person who might ever get mad at her would be her twin brother as Sarah was always stealing his toys but James always laughed when she did this.

"I know this is hard Miss Fields but its necessary to find your daughter. I'm sorry for any additional upset this is causing you.

"It's ok. I just want our baby girl back with us." Sally replied fighting back her tears.

"I know that Miss Fields. I have a few more things to go over tonight then you can go home and be with your other baby." Detective Campbell said with a soft smile on his face.

Sally gave him a weak smile back as her mind went back to James, wondering if Andie had managed to settle him at home.

"Now just one final question for tonight. Is there anyone that would want to hurt either one of you or cause you pain?" He asked them again.

"No. We don't have a large group of friends and we mostly keep to ourselves." Sally replied.

Once Sally stopped, detective Campbell shifted his eyes to Frank.

"No" Frank said with a blank expression.

Detective Campbell had a feeling this wasn't the truth.

"Thank you. At the moment we don't have any further questions. We are waiting on the results of the CSI team to come through to check for fingerprints or any trail left by the kidnapper. We've established a pattern for yourselves in terms of your movements. We will need to interview Mrs Andie Green and when Ms Reeves is feeling well enough we'll interview her. If I could also get you both write down names and contact information of family, work colleagues and close friends here." Detective Campbell replied and pushed another sheet on paper in front of them with pens. "Please note for record I have just handed the interviewees paper and a pen to write with." This wasn't directed at anyone but more for the recording stereo.

Frank took his piece of paper and wrote down all the names and numbers of Blue watch and their station cook Lisa. He knew that questioning them was a waste of time and load of bullocks. None of Blue watch would do this. They loved when the twins visited the station and not one of them would harm Sarah.

Sally took her piece of paper and wrote down Andie's contact information along with Kate, the manager of the gym where she taught her spin class, a few names of other gym teachers who were her friends and also Rob. She hadn't seen Rob for almost two years but they still kept in contact as close friends. He had moved back to Ireland after an accident forced him to leave the brigade and he had been in a rut ever since. He was so happy that she had found love and had kids. They had kept meaning to visit but never managed to arrange it.

"I have family up in Leeds but they've only been to London once. They won't know anything." Sally said to the officers who nodded in response.

Once they we're both done they slid the papers back towards the two officers.

"Please note that the interviewees have passed contact information for witnesses back to us." Officer Grant said out loud for the stereo.

"Now do either of you have any questions?" Detective Campbell asked.

"Just one." Sally said. "Do have any idea who took our daughter?" Sally asked eagerly.

Detective Campbell braced himself for the reaction. He had given mother's bad news before and it never ended good. "At the moment Miss Fields, no we don't."

Sally didn't know what to say instead she lowered her head as a few tears fell down her face. She didn't look up but felt Frank's arm going around her and pull her close to him.

It was as if Sarah had vanished into thin air. Nobody she knew would want to hurt Sally or her baby so who had done this?

Sally slowly pulled away from Frank and looked back at the officers.

"So what are you going to do to find her?" Sally asked the officers.

TO BE CONTINUED.