Nikki and Harry were sitting in the lab reflecting on the phone call they'd just received from Leo

"I can't believe she'd do that to her own daughter" Nikki sobbed as Harry cuddled her in his arms

"I know" tears were brimming in his eyes too

"Making her daughter have sex for the sake of drugs" Nikki spat "It's wrong, so wrong"

"They'll lock him up and throw away the key" Harry said darkly "DI Johnson won't let him get away with this"

"But what about Erin? Goodness knows what's going on in her head"

"She'll get help. They have counsellors specialised to deal with situations like hers"

Nikki nodded "The world let her down. Do you think she'll be able to deal with this?"

"She's a fighter" Harry said looking down at Nikki "She's gotten this far and survived it. I think she's a lot stronger than she knows"

"Its enough for anyone to go through, let alone a seventeen year old girl" Nikki sobbed

"Do you want to know something?" Harry asked Nikki, stoking her hair

"What?" she said, her voice laden with tears

"When we were going through Erin's medical records, I found something very interesting. Erin was premature, three months premature"

"She must have been tiny" Nikki said clearly lost in thought

Harry nodded "The doctors weren't sure if she was going to pull through. But she kept hanging on and she kept struggling forward. That's why I have no doubts that she's a strong little fighter who'll get through this"

"I'm sorry for being such an emotional mess over the last couple of days"

"It's been a tough couple of days. Let's hope Leo doesn't pull in any more strays off the street in the near future" Harry said pulling Nikki closer to him as she huge a watery laugh

The two of the sat there for what felt like an eternity, their bodies intertwined. No words needed to be said, they were so at home with one another that words didn't even need to be said to communicate what either of them felt


"Have you been here all this time? Leo looked up and saw DI Johnson come in to the hospital room

"I didn't want to leave her" The DI nodded "I can't believe she suffered for so long in silence"

"I can't believe how this went unnoticed" Leo said sadly "It shouldn't have come down to this. She should have never lived her life in such fear"

"We've got him though, Ryan Thompson. He's a notorious dealer with one hell of a temper. We've brought him in suspicion of murder but hopefully we can pin him down for a lot more"

"Will he go away for ever?" a sleepy sounding voice came and the two men looked down and saw Erin blearily staring up at them

"A very long time" the DI nodded "He won't ever come near you again; we'll make sure of that. But there's only one more thing to do now Erin"

"What's that?" she said pushing herself up into a sitting position

"What are we going to do with you?" he said smiling gently "You've not been talking to social services"

"I don't want to" Erin said avoiding eye contact with both of them

Leo and DI Johnson both saw that she was in danger of clamming up on them and so they tried a different route

"Where are you going to go? You can't go back on the street, that's no place for young ladies like you. And we don't really have any family to put you with; they're the people who can find you somewhere safe to go"

"No" she shook her head wildly "I don't want to go with anyone"

"Erin, listen to me" Leo said cutting in "We need to find you somewhere to go. I know it's not what you want. But you're going to need a place to sleep and do your homework"

Erin looked up at Leo and he saw how scared and vulnerable she looked "I don't know" she mumbled

"It'll be a fresh start" the DI coaxed "And you'll have a safe, warm place to go and you'll still be able to do all the things you love like drawing" Erin looked up at him slightly puzzled "We saw your drawings in your room. They're very good; you're a very talented girl"

"They're rubbish" she shook her head

"No one is going to force you to go anywhere you don't want to but we need to make sure you're safe and sound. Its decision time Erin"

Erin looked across at DI Johnson and Leo who were both watching her intently. Her gaze moved back down and she sighed resignedly. She knew she had limited options now and she was going to go whether she liked it or not

"Ok, I'll talk to them" she said wrinkling her nose, obviously not totally satisfied with what she had just agreed to

"Good girl" DI Johnson said leaving the room to give Erin and Leo some space


Back at the lab Nikki was analysing the results from DNA sample they had taken from Ryan Thompson against the residue from under the fingernails

"Well?" Harry said looking nervous

Nikki smiled "It's a match"

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the phone to give DI Johnson the good news

"Johnson?"

"Hi, It's Harry Cunningham. We've just got the results back from the DNA analysis"

"And?"

"It's a definite match. The residue from under Karen Jones' fingernails was from Ryan Thompson"

"That's the best news I've heard for a long time, I'm going to interview him now and I'm sure we'll nail him"

The phone rung off and Harry turned to Nikki and smiled "I don't know about you but I need a drink after today"

She retuned his smile "Only if you're paying"

He rolled his eyes "Since when did I become your personal cash point?"

"You've always been my personal cash point" she teased "Exactly what any man should be"

Harry sighed dramatically and pulled on his coat follwing Nikki out of the lab and towards the pub


In the interview room DI Johnson sat down at the table and watched Ryan Thompson carefully

"You're very sure of yourself aren't you Ryan?"

"I've done nothing wrong" he sneered

"Do you know a Karen Jones?"

"Nope"

"What about her daughter Erin?" DI Johnson watched as Ryan's face suddenly twitched "She knows you, she knows you very well"

"I don't know what you're talking about"

"She tells me that you and her mother used to get very drunk and goes up to her room and abuse her. She told me you used to make it worse by telling her mother lies about her"

"Rubbish, I told you I don't know her"

"She also tells me that you used to give her mother drugs. And then she told me something very serious indeed" DI Johnson paused

"Go on" Ryan taunted

"She told me that you made her have sex with you"

"She's a liar" Ryan yelled

"I thought you didn't know her?" the officer said raising an eyebrow" but Ryan remained silent

"See this is what I think happened. Her mother, Karen Jones was an addict and you were her dealer. Now we know the family was very poor and there was no way Karen would have been able to afford your high prices and so you made a deal. She would sleep with you and you would fund her habit. You also knew that Karen had a daughter, little Erin. Karen knocked Erin around and you loved to see that. For some sick reason it made both of you feel powerful to see the little girl cower away from you. So you made things worse for Erin told her mother lies about her and of course Karen would believe you. You were her dealer, she wasn't going to go against anything you said and let's face it she didn't really care for Erin and so she played along with your little game; Making Erin's life a living hell. How many times she dragged her battered little body down to the hospital I dread to think. But then you wanted more. It wasn't enough to see her squirm under the beatings, you wanted control over her. So this is what happened you stopped giving drugs to her mother and told her the only way you would help her is if she got Erin to sleep with you. And you told Erin that she could make it all better. But Erin didn't want to, but you wore her down, she didn't want to see her mother like this. Erin's a good girl, she thought she was making this better but you were playing sick games with hr mind. And you made her sleep with you. She didn't want to"

"She was asking for it" Ryan spat

"She's seventeen years old. You raped and beat a seventeen year old girl" DI Johnson yelled "Just to get some control and power. But then Erin ran, she ran for her life and you couldn't find her. I bet you looked but Erin's not stupid. She ran far away from you and Karen. But still no Erin, well Karen didn't care in the slightest but you wanted her back. You wanted to keep playing your games. Well Karen was of no use to you now, there was no Erin and so you killed Karen and went after Erin"

"She deserved it" Ryan grinned nastily

"Who Karen or Erin?" the DI asked "Erin had done nothing to you. She was just a lonely, battered little girl who was trying to make the best of a horrible situation"

"And I enjoyed every minute of it" Ryan sneered and DI Johnson felt the sick rise in his throat

"We've got DNA samples of yours which match to those found under Karen Jones' fingernails and we know all about what you did to that poor little girl"

"She wanted it as badly as I did" Ryan bellowed

"No" the DI shook his head feeling the nausea rise in his throat "You twisted her and manipulated her into doing something she most certainly didn't want to do. And so Ryan Thompson, I am arresting you for the murder or Karen Jones, rape and child abuse of her daughter and dealing 'class a' drugs. Et him out of my sight" He spat leaving the room without even so much as taking a second glance at the evil man who'd he'd sat before


"You're going aren't you?" Erin looked up at Leo

They'd been chatting for a while now but both knew the inevitable had arrived

He nodded "You need to get some sleep; you've got a big day tomorrow with moving to your new place"

Erin sniffed back some tears "I'm scared"

"You've been a very brave girl. I know this seems a huge step but it's for the best" he gently squeezed her hand and stood up

"Thank you" she said "For not giving up on me"

Leo smiled "Don't you ever give up on yourself. Promise me you'll talk to people, they only want to help you"

Erin nodded "I promise"

He made his way towards the door and turned back to her "Stay safe Erin, but most of all be happy" and with that he walked out of the door shutting it behind him

Erin lay there with tears running down her face, she tried to cover her sobs by crying into a pillow but she knew they would be able to hear her. She'd always prided herself in keeping composed, she hid her emotions away so as not to get hurt but in the last few days Erin had opened her heart up to these strangers. Now they were leaving one by one and she was going to be alone again. She felt her heart break once more and the pain was almost unbearable. She turned her face away and sobbed her heart and soul out into the pillow


"Could you give this to Erin" Leo said as he passed Doctor Myles on his way out of the hospital

"You're going?" he said accepting the small white envelope Leo passed him

"It's for the best" Leo said although the emotion in his voice betrayed him slightly

"You done wonders for her" the doctor smiled

"I don't know about that" Leo said dropping his gaze to the floor

"She's comfortable around you. If you hadn't been there to pick up the pieces, I don't know what would have happened to her"

Leo sighed "She's going to start a whole new life now there will be people around her who can do the same"

"Not the same as you" Doctor Myles shrugged "Take care Leo"

"You too" the older man said walking out of the hospital

He was glad that he now had his back to the doctor as he walked out of the hospital and out of Erin's' life. At least now, no one could see the tears streaming down his face.

Author's note: Phew, complex chapter. I hope it made sense. Don't you worry; I'm not quite done with Erin just yet. There's a bit more to come if you'll be patient and bear with me!