Disclaimer: Sam, Jack and Stuart aren't mine.
Chapter 21:
"Right everyone. It's been five days and there's still been no word on DC Masters and no sightings either. Now we had followed up ever lead we have and they have all gone cold, so we're gonna need some more, fast. I'm not letting a member of our team go. We're gonna find her, and if we're gonna do the then we're gonna need as many leads as possible. Whatever you find, however insignificant it may seem, I want to know about it, okay?" Jack asked, and, after a few murmurs of "Yes Guv." he returned to his office where Sam was curled up in his leather swivel chair behind his desk, the petite woman looking so small and vulnerable in the large chair.
"Look, Sam, you've gotta stay strong. I'll be honest with you; we've got nothing left to go on. I need you to think for me, any detail you can give us, no matter how insignificant, we need it."
Sam nodded although looked defeated, like she had given up hope.
"Sam, stay strong. Now I need you to think again. Is there anyone else who has a key or even had a key at some point, even if it was just for a day, and could have had time to make a copy? Whoever it was must have had a key, there was no forced entry."
"No, I told you. Abi has a key, obviously, Jo had a key…"
"Jo has a key. Sam, don't lose hope, stay strong for her. Does it feel like she's dead?"
"What do you mean?"
"You two share an unbelievable bond, you care so much for each other. Do you feel in your heart, that's she's dead?"
"No." Sam struggled to find the words for what she felt, "No, it feels like she's with me, like she's right next to me. Sometimes, I swear I can feel her breath on my neck, but she's never there, every time I look she's not there, I want her to be there Jack. I want her to be there."
"I know Sam, I know."
"She's dead though, isn't she, you've got nothing to go on."
"We'll find something. She's not dead, not if you don't feel she is. Now is there anyone else that has had a key, what about an old boyfriend?"
"Um..." Sam tried to think, "Um, Stuart. Stuart had a key. It wouldn't be him though would it?"
"It's unlikely, but we'll need to check. Did he give it back?"
"Um…" The blonde struggled to think straight, trying to separate fact form fiction. "No, no he didn't."
"Okay, I'm gonna go find him now then. I hate to do this to a member of the team, but he's the only person we have that is even close to a suspect. If he's innocent, he'll understand."
"Guv, I wanna be in the interview."
"No way Sam, you're not on duty. And even if you were I couldn't allow it."
"In the sound booth then, please, Guv, I have to hear what he says."
"Look, okay. But I want no one to know about this, okay? I'm breaking the rules big time her for you, you better not let me down."
"No Guv, no way."
"Look, I'm not doing this because you're more important than the other's you're not getting special treatment okay? I'm letting you listen to the interview because Jo means so much to you. And because you're a good copper, you might pick up on something we miss."
"Thanks Guv."
"Right come on then, I want you in the booth before we take Stuart into the interview room, and I don't want anyone knowing you're in there, is that clear?"
"Yes Guv."
"Right, you've got one minute to get there before Stuart and I get there, if you're not in there by then, it's you loss okay? Don't go in there after we have, you know what this station is like for gossip, someone will notice."
"Yes Guv, thank you Guv, I'll go now Guv."
"Okay."
"Stuart, do you still own a key to Samantha Nixon's house?"
Sam had an earpiece in her ear, listening closely to every word uttered in the room next door.
"Um, yes, I think I do. I couldn't tell you where though. It's been months since I split with Sam, I obviously haven't used it since."
"Okay." Jack replied, only too aware that Stuart would deny it if he was guilty, but the DCI had this feeling in the pit of his stomach that wasn't right about Stuart. Maybe he would admit it; maybe he thought that by being open would lead them away from him rather than towards him.
"This must be awful for Sam, how is she doing? They're close, really close, Sam asked Jo to move in just one day after they got together. She must be going through hell."
"You're still under interview conditions Stuart, I can't discuss Samantha with you."
"Oh right, yeah, of course, sorry."
Something in Sam's brain suddenly clicked into gear. What Stuart had said didn't sit right with her. She practically jumped out of her seat; not caring who saw her she raced out of the sound booth and knocked on the door of the interview room next door, not waiting to be beckoned to enter.