**For authors notes, disclaimer etc see chapter 1**
Seven Days and Counting – Epilogue
Looking around the sitting room of her home, or what used to be her home, Sandra smiled, In the six months since her experience at the hands of Tom Christie she'd barely set foot in the place. She'd dug her heels in for the first couple of days and insisted that she wasn't letting him drive her out of her home but in the end common sense had prevailed and Gerry had convinced her to move to his place until they could sell both properties and buy somewhere together. They'd signed the contracts for the new house that morning and were handing over the keys to their own places that afternoon.
"Are you ok have you made sure you haven't left anything behind?" Gerry asked entering the room and standing behind her wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Yeah I'm fine and no I haven't left anything behind other than the bad memories anyway. Let's go the sooner I close the door on this place the better."
"Good well Jack and Brian have left already with the final car loads of stuff let's get out of here."
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"I thought we could all do with a drink." Gerry smiled as he walked into the sitting room of his and Sandra's new house with a tray of champagne glasses and a bottle in an ice bucket and a glass of orange for Brian then stopped in his tracks as he realised everyone's attention was focused on the newscast playing on the TV screen.
"In other news today wine merchant Tom Christie has been sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of abduction, unlawful imprisonment and assault after being convicted last week in the high court of kidnapping DS Sandra Pullman of the metropolitan police. After the sentence was handed down the prosecuting barrister issued a short statement stating that DS Pullman believed that justice had been seen to be done and she hoped it would serve as a deterrent in future to anyone thinking it was acceptable to deprive another person of their freedom. Mr Christie's barrister declined to comment."
"I was hoping we'd get through the day without having to hear about it, are you ok Sandra?" Jack said quietly as they exchanged concerned glances and all waited for a response.
"Well we were going to have to hear eventually if it hadn't been on the news someone would have phoned who had seen it, probably my mother and at least this way when she does call I'm forewarned about what she's talking about.." Sandra smiled lifting the remote and changing the channel on the TV "It's over boys, we beat him, all of us even you Esther, he tried to break us, to terrorise me and tear the team apart and look at us now. He's going away for a very long time and we all have a future to look forward to where he can never be a threat again. Personally I think that really does give us something to drink to."
"Here, here!" Esther smiled as Gerry filled their glassed and handed them out.
"To new beginnings." He said holding out his glass as he wound his spare arm round Sandra's waist and they echoed his words.
"I'll second that." Sandra agreed "And to the best team in the business especially now that we've proved beyond a shadow of doubt that they might try to break us but we're stronger than any of them and always will be.