Time seemed to go slowly straight after that moment. Sherlock's eyes opened wide as he felt the booth shake, the impact of the explosion knocking all of them to the side, causing them to lean on things for support. Sherlock removed his headset and laid it onto the side, his hands shaking slightly as the video surveillance was fuzzy. Lestrade bowed his head into his hands and Donovan simply went silent which made a complete and utter change for her. John rested his hand onto Sherlock's shoulder and the taller one did not shake it off as he shook his head to himself, unable to think of anything to say. Eventually, he mustered up the strength to cough once and look at Lestrade;
"You need to call the fire brigade," he told the man and he and John left the booth and moved out onto the dark scene of the crumbling nightclub. Bricks and stones were strewn around and there were pieces of paper floating about also. Glass was smashed and bottles were visible whilst the club next door to it had lost some of its wall and the kebab shop on the other side had also been blown into oblivion. Sherlock remained stood across the street; his eyes darted around the injured people who had managed to survive the blast. But there was no Scarlett. No girl in a short ripped black dress who was covered in dust, her long hair would have been matted to her face and her makeup clearly runny. But she wasn't there.
"She might have got out," John whispered to Sherlock whilst Lestrade came up from behind them and muttered a prayer under his breath, unable to think about the numbers of dead inside.
"The search and rescue team are on their way too," Sally called from the booth and Lestrade nodded;
"I want you to go back and see the last images of the tape," he instructed her. "I want to know if any of my men were in there and also where Miss Jenson was at the last moment….that way…we know…"
"The last time I checked the running video," Sherlock said, "she was at the south of the building…before I began to think about what he had text…she was near the bar on the dance floor."
"Where are you going?" Lestrade asked him as Sherlock took off at a run, jumping over the pieces of rubble, moving past some who had managed to crawl from under it. He took the uneven steps without thinking of tripping, marking out where the bar would have been and dropping to his knees, picking up rubble and beginning to throw it to one side. John dropped beside Sherlock and rested a hand gently onto his arm, trying to get him to stop.
"Sherlock," he whispered, "people are on their way and they can do this much quicker than you."
"Well," Sherlock hissed, "I can make a start and when they decide to grace us with their presence then I shall allow them to continue my work."
"She might not be under there Sherlock," John said. "She could have moved…none of us were watching that screen when the building blew…we didn't see where she was."
"There's a chance she could be here though," Sherlock said. "She can hold on if she managed to hide under some object…there's a chance..."
"Sherlock!" Lestrade suddenly yelled, running up to the man with some people in uniform. "You want to come and see this."
"I'd much rather stay here and search if that's okay with you," Sherlock responded.
"There are people here who are trained to do that," Lestrade responded quickly. "You need to come with me. Now."
"Why?" Sherlock asked. The only thing in that club he cared for was trapped under mountains of rubble.
"Because Scarlett was trying to tell us something," Lestrade snapped at him. "On the screen…but we were all ignoring her image because we were listening to you..."
"What is it?" Sherlock jumped up. "Did she get out?"
"No," Lestrade spoke honestly. "But…there's a small chance she may have. Now come with me." And that was enough for Sherlock to take an order for once in his life. Quickly and with haste, he ran back to the booth with Lestrade and John slightly behind, his grey coat billowing behind him and his scarf slowly coming loose from his neck.
"What is it?" Sherlock asked Donovan who was sat on a leather chair. The woman handed him a set of earphones and he took a chair, moving it closer to hers, able to stand her proximity for once in his life.
"Watch," Sally commanded him and she began to play the tape and the sound of music came over them;
"Sherlock…he's gone…he left…" Scarlett's soft voice spoke into his ear and he watched how she went into her bag on the screen and began to search for something. But when she came back out of her bag she brought with her a small card.
"Everyone quiet!" Sherlock's stern voice suddenly shouted into his ear. "Don't even talk or move or think!"
Sherlock's eyes went back onto the screen where he noted Scarlett looking away at the blonde man and then back into the nightclub where she looked onto the card she had been given and then she snapped;
"Sherlock!" her tone was brash. "What the hell is this?" and she motioned to the card in her hand. But she received no answer. Sherlock watched as Scarlett slowly began to move her way from the dance floor, he tried not to lose her black and white image in the crowd as she pushed past and out into open space where she then yelled his name again.
"Scarlett…you need to get out of the club now," he demanded and he watched as she continued walking out the open space, bumping into a couple and then apologising with her hand profusely.
"What?" she wondered in his ear. "I can't hear you."
"I said," Sherlock replied, "get out the club!"
But then her image on the screen went blank as she continued moving to the exit. She was so close but she disappeared. The image of her on the screen went and the only thing which Sherlock heard was;
"Sherlock I can't hear you…what did you sa-"
"She was close to the exit," Lestrade told Sherlock who removed the headphones and backed his chair away from Sally and then looked up to Lestrade;
"None of us even saw her move from the floor and we didn't notice the card…we weren't keeping watch on her," Sherlock said slowly. "I was too busy shouting and thinking in my own little world."
"So," John raised a hand, "she could have gotten out?"
"The cameras went dead seven seconds before the explosion," Lestrade said. "And Scarlett's wire went down a moment before the explosion. That left her with about eight seconds to get to the door and out onto the street."
"And from where she was when the cameras went down," Sherlock said, "I imagine it would have taken about nine seconds at the pace she was going in those heels."
"I found something Boss," Sally suddenly said and all eyes turned onto the screen as they saw Scarlett speaking with the blonde man quickly and quietly. But they never noticed him sneakily open her clutch bag and drop a card into it. And neither did Scarlett from the looks on her face.
"Zoom in on the card," Lestrade ordered her and Sally complied, using the zoom feature on the camera as they managed to glimpse the card which was being deposited into Scarlett's bag. Donovan quickly paused the tape and they looked onto the scrawled writing.
"221B Baker Street," Lestrade spoke. "That's where you live."
"Hmm," Sherlock agreed, finally knowing the plan which Moriarty had devised for himself.
"How did he know she was going to be in that club?" Lestrade wondered and Sherlock shrugged simply;
"He has moles in the police I believe," Sherlock said. "He knows a lot more than we think."
And with that Sherlock swept from the booth, John close onto his trail as he left.
"He wanted her to meet him there, didn't he?" John checked with Sherlock. "He left our address to get her from the club and meet him at the flat."
"The bomb was a distraction," Sherlock agreed. "He gave her the message so she could get out just in time and leave us to worry about if she has been blown up hence keeping us here," Sherlock concluded looking out onto the rubble and John shook his head as they began to clear away the damage.
"But did she get out?" John asked and Sherlock shrugged in honesty, his eyes emotionless as he looked at the entrance part of the club being cleared. The place where she should have been.
"She bumped into people and spent time yelling at me," Sherlock replied. "There's no telling."
"So what do we do?"
"Wait here," Sherlock said. "If she made it back to Baker Street then Moriarty would have called. You know how he likes to tease."
"But if she got out why wouldn't she just come to us and tell us?" John continued to interrogation and Sherlock shook his head;
"She wouldn't have had a chance," Sherlock replied. "My guess is the blonde would have been lurking outside…ready to just grab her."
"And we aren't telling Lestrade any of this because…?" John asked.
"Because he'll go rushing to the flat and if she was there then she'd be dead if he did so," Sherlock replied honestly. "We wait here until I know for certain her body isn't there."
Three hours later
"They can't find her body," Lestrade informed Sherlock and John who had been stood across the road for all that time. "But they think that the blast could…well…have blown her to bits."
"She's alive." Sherlock stated. "She has to be."
"Didn't you hear me?" Lestrade replied. "She could have been blown up. There is no body Sherlock. We don't know."
"I do," Sherlock said cockily. "She got out of there."
"And how are you so sure?"
"Because I am," Sherlock replied and walked away from the crime scene, John and Lestrade on his coat end.
"There's no evidence to suggest she managed to get out," Lestrade spoke once again.
"He has a point Sherlock," John said. "You can't get your hopes up."
Suddenly, Sherlock's phone began to ring once again and he slowly looked at the number, allowing a grin to enter his face. Scarlett was phoning him. But he knew it wouldn't be her. He knew who it would be with every fibre in his body. As he hailed a cab he looked at John and Lestrade;
"The game is-once again-on," he spoke quickly and then disappeared down the road with John.
…..
A/N: So…is she alive or isn't she? Is Moriarty just playing with Sherlock by taking her cell from Baker Street? Time shall tell my faithful readers. Sherlock seems pretty sure she's alive…and when is he normally wrong, eh? Anyway, big thank you to all the reviews last night! I sensed your eagerness for another chapter and so voila! Enjoy!