Thank you as always Hollie! Originally this was two separate chapters but I've combined them this time for a longer chapter. Enjoy!
Callum,
I am guessing that you've already checked who this letter is from, and I want to beg you not to rip it up or throw it away, as I assume you would do, understandably so. A few weeks ago, when I came to the station to meet you, I had played out our first meeting over and over in my head. In my head, when I tell you that I'm your older sister, you're shocked, but you're happy, because you're in the same position as me, you have no family. And then we would go to a small cafe and spend hours talking, catching up on each other's lives. You would accept me as your sister. But, as we both know, it ended up badly. To start with, I found out you were married. I hadn't even considered the possibility that you could be a husband, and you could have made your own family. I realised then that our meeting would not go as I had hoped, because you had someone when I had no-one. I want to apologise for the way I treated Jess. It was unkind and I think I got just got overwhelmed with the whole situation, but I shouldn't have taken it out on her. She loves you very much, that is obvious, and clearly wants to protect you.
Another thing I hadn't expected was that you wouldn't actually want a sister. I just thought that you would feel like you had a part of our dad back in me, I thought that it would be a comfort to you, like it was to me. Again, I was wrong. You were stubborn and untrusting, which is completely understandable. Our dad was one of the most stubborn men you could meet, according to my mum. I know you may not like it, but you do have to accept that I am your biological sister. When I found out about you, my first thought was anger and hurt. I didn't want to think that my dad had left me and my mum to go find himself some younger, prettier woman who would bear him the son he wanted. I was jealous of you for having him all those years when I didn't. Dad didn't have any brothers or sisters, and my mum was an only child too. So I literally only had my mum, obviously dad was with his other family, with you.
When he died, I felt nothing. That's terrible, and I felt so bad about it. But I didn't know the man who died, all I knew was that I had his genes, but I didn't know him. Mum told me he had died a few days after it happened. She found out in the papers, isn't that awful? The man she had loved and had a child with was dead, and she had to find out in such an impersonal, cold way. We found out in the papers when his funeral was, so we bought some flowers and put on our smart black clothes. When we got to the Church, your mum was standing outside the door with your grandfather. You didn't see me. Your mum saw us. She came over to us, and she was so angry. She told us we had no right being here, that Jake was her husband and she wanted to mourn him without his ex being there. My mum was so distraught, she just wanted to say goodbye to her one love. She walked off in tears, seemingly forgetting about me. Your mum looked at me and gently touched my face. She told me that I looked so much like Jake and Callum. She told me she was sorry, but I couldn't come in. Then I left.
I got home and asked mum who Callum was. Mum just cried harder, telling me that she didn't want me to know yet. I told her what your mum had said, and she swore. But she sat me down and told me all about you, my brother. She told me why dad had left us. It hurt me so much. I hated my mum, I hated my dad, and I hated you most of all. I went AWOL for a few days, I just couldn't bear to be in the same house as her. I ended up at the cemetery, at dad's grave. I read your message to him. I took it, I still have it now.
Over the years, every so often I would find out where you were, what you were doing, how your life was going. I was so proud when I saw you had become a police officer. I don't know why I cared so much as you were a stranger really. I wanted to meet you and get to know you, but mum said it wasn't a good idea. Not so long ago, she developed bowel cancer. It was discovered too late, and she died a few months after her diagnosis. As she was dying, she told me that she didn't want me to be alone anymore. She told me to find you. She had an address and the police station where you worked. So I found you.
I thought that I would tell you all this, because I want to make amends with you. I want to get to know you, I want to develop a bond with you, a sibling bond. I'm sorry for how our first meeting went. Maybe you would give me the opportunity to meet again, and we can start over? If you have got this far without ripping it up or burning it, then there must be something that's keeping you from doing it. I hope it is curiosity and a belief that you could get to know your sister.
All my love,
Claire Stone
Callum read through the letter a couple of more times. He needed to get it all clear in his head, so he could decide what to do. On the one hand, he wanted to know more about this person who was his half sister. He wanted to catch up with her life properly, and tell her all about his life, about his wife, about his unborn child. But on the other hand, people he loved left him all too soon. He didn't want that to happen with Claire. He suspected that Jess had guessed this, which was why she hadn't pushed him to contact Claire again. If he was being honest with himself, he was desperate to know this woman, this Claire Stone. But what if she wasn't what he wanted or expected? Or what if she was everything he had wanted and more? He groaned in frustration. He needed to talk to Jess.
"Hey honey, you ok?" Jess asked, craning her neck so she could see him better. He pulled the sun lounger up next to her own, lying down on it and looking at her. She had on her black bikini and sunglasses, and her skin was glowing. Callum looked closely at her stomach and the gentle swell there. He smiled at her, giving her a kiss.
"I'm ok. Did you know it was from her?" Callum asked, getting straight to the point.
She nodded sheepishly, "She came round the other night while you were at work, wanting to talk to me. She just wants to get to know you, that's all. She seems like a nice enough woman, and she apologised to me about the way she behaved. What did the letter say?"
Callum handed it to her, and she began to read, "Basically it's about her life. Sounds like she had a rough time of it as well."
Jess finished the letter, handing it back to Callum, "Poor Claire. I can't imagine losing mum or dad, let alone both."
"Our lives seem to have correlations, what with dad dying, and both our mums leaving us, although hers didn't choose to like mine did. I'm just angry, because if I had known about her when dad was still alive, I could have gotten to know her then, I could have had a family for all these years." Callum said in frustration, shielding his eyes from the sun.
"You can get to know her now, you can let her into your life." Jess said gently, placing a warm hand on his arm.
"But it's not just my life I'll be letting her into, it'll be yours as well, and then the baby's when it's born." Callum said, looking at her.
"Callum, let her in. She's your sister, and she wants to know you. Why don't you just go out for a coffee or something?" Jess suggested, "Start slow, see how the lay of the land is and go from there. No pressure, no expectations."
"I don't know. What if it's not right? What if we don't like each other?" Callum said, worriedly.
Jess got up, sitting on his lap and wrapping her arms around him, "Honey, you won't know until you try, will you. I think you should go for it, and if it doesn't go right, at least you tried. Ok?" She kissed his temple softly, resting her head on top of his head.
"Yeah, you're right. Ok, I will. There's a number on the back of the letter, I'll give her a ring when we get back from work." Callum said, a smile in his voice.
"Good. Now come on then, let's get ready for work." Jess said, getting off his lap slowly and walking into the house.
The couple arrived at work hand in hand.
"Have you got the scan picture?" Callum asked her as he locked the car.
"Yeah, it's in my pocket. I wonder what she'll say?" Jess wondered, thinking of the potential reactions Gina would have when the couple announced they were having a baby.
"I think she'll be happy. And she'll try and keep you on station duty for the next six months, knowing how clumsy and trouble seeking you are." Callum said with a grin. Jess punched him in the arm, but laughed.
"I am not a trouble seeker...it just seems to find me, I don't encourage it!" she said.
"Yeah sure. If I had to list all the times you had been in trouble, it would be at least ten pages long!" Callum said with a nod, holding the door into the station open.
"Thanks. It's through no fault of my own that these things happen!" she said, trying to defend herself.
"Really, because I'm pretty sure..." Callum started to say, before they were interrupted by Gina.
"Could you two stop bickering!" she said sharply.
"Sorry ma'am." they said, heads bowed, feeling like they had just been caught making out by their headteacher.
"That's better." Gina said with a smile, a twinkle in her eye.
"Oh, ma'am!" Callum shouted at her retreating back.
"Yes Sergeant Stone?" Gina said as she turned round slowly.
"Could we have a quick word please?" he asked her. She looked momentarily confused, but nodded and signalled for them to go with her.
She settled down at her desk, signalling for them to take a seat. She rested her head on the cradle of her hands.
"Now, what can I do for you?" she asked them with a pleasant smile.
"We have some news for you." Jess started, looking nervously at Callum, who smiled encouragingly.
"Oh?" she said, one eyebrow raised.
"We're having a baby." Jess blurted out, thrusting the scan picture at the startled Inspector. She picked the ultrasound picture up gently, studying it closely. She was silent a while, before she broke into a smile.
"Congratulations! He's beautiful already!" she said, enchanted by the baby.
"Thank you." Jess said, relieved.
"How far gone are you?" Gina asked, handing the picture back to Jess.
"Just over twelve weeks. I'm due just after Christmas." Jess said with a smile.
"What a lovely Christmas present that will be! Does anyone else in the station know?" Gina asked.
"No, we thought it best to tell you first, we know that the risk assessment and everything has to be done." Callum answered. Gina nodded thoughtfully.
"I might just restrict you to the station, knowing what your track record is like." she said jokingly.
"That's what I said, but she didn't believe me." Callum said with a laugh.
"In all seriousness though Jess, you need to be extra careful now. If you get hurt, your baby will get hurt as well, so think about that next time you're about to thrust yourself in danger." Gina said seriously.
"Yes ma'am." Jess said with a tight smile.
"Right, we'll need a risk assessment doing. Sergeant Stone can I trust you with that? I'm sure it'll be thorough and mitigate any risks as much as possible? And last question before you can get to work. When do you plan on going on maternity leave? I know it's a long way off, but I do need an idea." Gina said, pen poised.
"I was thinking I would work up to about a month before the baby is due, maybe even a couple of weeks. If that's ok?" Jess queried.
Gina scribbled it down and nodded, "We'll see how it goes. Now off you go, have a good day."
"Thanks ma'am." the couple said as they left the room.
"That went pretty well." Callum said with a nod.
"It did, now to tell everyone else." Jess said with a laugh.
"Are you sure you're happy for people to know now? I want you as stress-free as possible." Callum asked carefully.
"I think seeing the baby and hearing the heartbeat have reassured me, but I won't be able to relax until this baby is safely in my arms. Having people know means more people to keep me in check in case I get into trouble." Jess said with a small laugh, "If you want to wait a bit longer, that's ok with me." she said, looking up at him before she entered the female changing rooms.
"I'm more than happy to tell everyone the news, it'll be a relief to be fair, the amount of times I've nearly said something is not funny. I'll see you in briefing in a few." he said with a smile, kissing her quickly.
Jess settled into her chair between Roger and Sally. Callum, Smithy and the Inspector all stood at the front, waiting for the troops to be quiet. Gina cleared her throat; the noise stopped immediately.
"About time! I was about to keep you in for lunch!" Gina said with a sardonic smile, once again acting like a head teacher. "Right, today I just want you all on patrol around the Mayweed estate and surrounding areas. We've had a lot of complaints recently about yobs and gangs, so I just want the residents to see that we're there and keeping an eye out."
"You all need to keep an extra eye on the Mercury crew; I'm sure we're all more than aware of those delightful young men who make up the crew. We've had more reports than usual about them, mainly about graffiti and intimidation of the elderly." Smithy added, reading off a sheet which had all the recent crimes from the estate written down on.
"They can try, but they won't intimidate me that's for sure." Roger whispered across to Jess. She pursed her lips, trying not to laugh.
"Something funny PC Stone?" Gina asked, eyebrows raised in the famous Dragon pose.
Jess set her face into one of serious business, "No ma'am, sorry ma'am."
"Right, pairings! PC Gayle and PC Armstrong in a patrol car around the main strip of shops on the Mayweed. PC Fletcher and PC Green, foot patrol around the towers. PC Stone and PC Valentine, take another patrol car and go around the Kemp house area. And finally PC Roberts and PC Stamp, I believe there is paperwork for you two to catch up on from yesterday." Gina said with a smile at her officers. Everyone started to get up; Gina raised a hand, stopping them all in their tracks. "Sit down, I'm not finished yet!" They all grumbled, taking a seat. "Sergeant Stone?"
"This will only take a minute." Callum said with a nod to his officers, "A few days ago, myself and PC Stone received some unexpected news."
Sally looked round to Jess, a look of concern on her face, "Jess? Is everything ok?" Jess straightened her face, nodding slowly.
"Not bad news I hope Sarge?" Beth called out from her seat.
Callum paused, secretly enjoying the concerned and worried expressions on his officers' faces. He winked at Jess, and his face split into a broad smile, "Far from it Beth. We found out we're expecting a baby." The room was silent.
"I thought you were getting a bit of a belly there Sarge!" Nate shouted out.
"Thanks PC Roberts." Callum said, rolling his eyes. As the news sunk in, people began to get up, offering their congratulations to Callum and shaking his hand. Sally threw her arms around Jess, pulling her close.
"Oh Jess! That's brilliant! Congratulations." Sally said happily, "I wasn't lying when I said your bra looked tight, and that was why!"
"You want to see a picture?" Jess asked with a smile. Sally nodded, and Jess pulled out the first ever picture of her and Callum's child. She handed it to Sally, who smoothed it out and looked closely.
"He's got Callum's big head!" Will said, looking over Sally's shoulder.
"I heard that Will!" Callum called from the front.
"I'm just kidding Jess. He's cute! And let's hope he gets your looks." Will said with a wink as he followed Beth out the room.
"I can't believe you and Callum are having a baby! When's are you due?" Sally asked, handing back the scan picture.
"Just after Christmas. I'm either going to be heavily pregnant for Christmas or have a newborn! It's not gonna be hectic at all." Jess said dead pan. Sally laughed.
"Rather you than me! Now, I better get going, but shall we go for lunch? We can discuss everything!" Sally said excitedly.
"Of course. Text me whenever, have fun!" Jess said, waving as Sally walked out.
"Right then, soon to be mum, shall we get a move on?" Roger asked, coming to Jess' side.
"Yes we shall. I'll drive?" Jess asked.
"If you must." Roger said with a laugh.
They were three hours into their shift. Nothing had happened. There had been no fights to break up, no vandalism to sort out, no stealing from shops, nothing. Jess made herself comfy in the driver's seat before pulling away and driving off towards the estate again.
"Have they all been locked up in their houses for the day?" Roger said with a sigh.
"It's like a ghost town! Where are all the kids, and all the old ladies? Where is everyone?" Jess asked, looking around.
"Looks like it's gonna be a quiet day in the office then." Roger said with a smile, leaning back.
"Oh Rog." Jess said in a chiding tone.
"What?" he asked her innocently.
"You've just jinxed it!" Jess said, shaking her head.
"You really believe in that stuff?" Roger said with a laugh.
"Sierra Oscar 54 to Sierra Oscar 275." Smithy said over the radio, his voice crackly.
"Go ahead Sarge." Roger answered.
"You and PC Stone need to get yourselves over to Halbroke house, flat number 43. A Mrs Tierney has rung in; her husband has taken their daughter hostage. DC's Dasari and Master's are already on the scene." Smithy explained.
"Right Sarge, we're on our way." Roger replied, buckling up as Jess sped over to Halbroke house, not before throwing him an "I told you so" face.
"Why would he take his own child hostage?" Jess said in wonder at what some people would do to their children.
"We don't know the whole story yet, there could be a valid reason." Roger answered wisely.
"I doubt it, Rog. Look, there they are." Jess said, pointing to where Jo and Grace were knelt outside the door to flat 43.
"Jess, Rog. Has Smithy informed you of what's happening?" Jo asked, getting to her feet.
"Only that a father has taken his daughter hostage." Jess replied.
"That's the basis of it. Meet Julian Tierney, thirty two. His wife, well ex-wife Mel, got custody of their eight year old daughter Danni in the divorce. Julian's got previous and the courts saw him as a potential danger to their child. Mel was at the shops this morning with Danni, and Julian saw them. He went over wanting to talk to his daughter, Mel wouldn't let him. Danni ran to him for a hug, he just picked her up and ran." Jo said, filling them in on the situation.
"Where's the mother?" Roger asked, looking around. At that point, a red haired woman appeared from the lifts, hysterical.
"Where's Danni? Have you got her yet? Why is he doing this!" she screamed, running to the door. She started banging her fists against it, "Julian! Let her go! She belongs with me!"
"Mrs Tierney, please, come away." Roger said, man handling her away from the door and blocking her path.
"Please, he's got my daughter." Mel begged.
"I know, come on, come over here. I need to ask you some questions." Grace said gently. Mel nodded for her to continue, "Do you know if Julian could be armed?"
"What? No! That's not what he was done for. He hates guns! He wouldn't hurt her, but I just want her back." Mel said, wiping at her eyes.
The four officers all remembered a case not too long ago involving Jo. The case had been similar, but it had been the mother who had taken her son hostage. Jo had convinced her to come out with her son, but when she saw SO19 pointing guns at her, she freaked. She ended up dead.
Grace walked over to the door, "Julian?" she called through the crack.
"What do you want? Just leave me and Danni alone!" Julian shouted. They could hear him sobbing.
"Julian, I just want to talk to you. My name is Grace." she said.
"I just want to look after her and protect her, but they won't let me. They think I'll hurt her, my own child! I wouldn't lay a finger on her, never." Julian said, and they could hear him move closer to the door.
"Is Danni ok Julian?" Grace asked calmly.
"Of course she is! She's sat eating her lunch watching TV. Just go away and leave us in peace, please." Julian pleaded.
"Is mummy out there?" a girl's voice called, who they assumed was Danni.
"Yes baby, I'm here, open the door!" Mel shouted as soon as she heard her daughter's voice.
"No Danni, remember what I said? It's just you and me now." Julian said to his daughter.
"I want it to be you, me and mummy!" Danni said.
"I know sweetheart, but that can't happen, you know that don't you?" Julian said.
"But I want it to!" Danni insisted, and the officers heard her start to cry. As soon as she heard her daughter cry, Mel broke down again. Jess walked over to her, placing her arms round the woman's shoulders.
"Danni, don't cry sweetheart. Look, come on, I'll get you some toys from the cupboard to play with ok? Don't open the door!" Julian warned. They heard his footsteps retreating, and Danni stopped crying.
"Hello?" she said through the door.
"Hi Danni, my name's Grace. Can you open the door for me please?" Grace asked kindly.
"No, dad said not to. I love my dad and I don't want him to be upset and hurt anymore. I don't want fighting anymore, I just want it to stop. I want my mum and dad to love each other again." Danni said through the door. She sounded much older than her eight years.
"Danni, babe, come on, come out and we can get some ice cream and go to the park, does that sound good?" Mel asked, moving to the door.
"Mum!" Danni shouted happily.
"Yes babe, I'm here. Just open the door for me?" Mel asked carefully.
"But mum, dad said not to." Danni said hesitantly.
"It's ok, I'm telling you that you can, you won't be in trouble I promise." Mel said, smiling at Danni.
"Danni! Get away from the door!" Julian shouted.
"Mum's there, I want mum!" Danni cried.
"Come on, go and watch TV, play with your dolls." Julian said. "Get away from her, or so help me, I'll do something I regret." he said menacingly through the door.
"Julian, my name is Jess. Listen, if you let Danni out and come to us and her mum, maybe we can sort something out with the custody. They might let you see Danni, with supervision." Jess called through the door.
"You don't understand! I don't want to have to be supervised with my own child! I'm capable of looking after her myself, and I wouldn't hurt her. But no-one can see that." Julian said frustratedly.
"We know you wouldn't hurt her, but it's not in Danni's best interests to feel scared like this, and to feel like she has to choose between her parents. Think how scary this must be for her, to see her parents fighting, and for police officers to be outside, and for her mum and dad to both be crying." Jess pushed.
There was a pause; Julian had started to cry. They heard him sink down the door. "I don't want her to be scared. Hell, I don't want to be scared. I just want my girl with me forever."
The officers exchanged a look, "Julian, you don't have a weapon in there do you?" Grace asked tentatively.
"It's the only way." he whispered.
"You said you wouldn't hurt her Julian." Jess called through the door.
"I won't hurt her, I promise I won't. But the only way I'm gonna be able to be with her is if we're both dead, no interruptions from anyone else. Just me and Danni again." Julian said determinedly.
"No Julian please, we'll get you supervised custody with her, this isn't the way to go about it." Jess said quickly.
"I'm done talking." Julian said, getting up and walking away from the door.
"Roger, ring SO19 now. Jess, inform Sergeant Smith of what's happening. I'll talk to Mel." Grace said with a bleak look on her face.
"Grace, SO19 are on their way." Roger said, coming over to where the three female officers were stood with Mel, who was sobbing her heart out.
"He said he wouldn't hurt her. Why is he going to do this?" Mel questioned.
Jo paused before explaining, "More often than not, mothers get custody of the children. The fathers, especially if they have no access to their children, feel like the only way to see their child is to take them and kill themselves and the child, then only they can see the child. It happens more and more now." she said sadly.
"No, you can't let him, you have to do something! Don't just stand there! Please, she's my baby." Mel begged, sinking to her knees.
"We will do everything we can, I promise. The armed police officers are on their way; they'll be here very soon." Jess promised.
A few minutes later, the lifts opened to reveal six armed police officers. They strode out and came to stand in front of the four officers. One of them stood forward, offering his hand.
"Sergeant Mike Ball." he said, shaking Grace's hand.
"DC's Dasari and Masters, and PC's Stone and Valentine." Grace said, quickly introducing everyone.
"I hear we've got a dad who kidnapped his daughter? And he's armed?" Mike asked.
Jo nodded, "He's insinuated that he's going to kill both himself and Danni, his daughter. He sees it as the only way."
Mike nodded in understanding, "Ah ok. Well my lads have just had a quick scout, and we've decided we'll go into the flat from two directions. At the back, the balconies are linked, so we'll go in through the flats next to his, and over the balconies into the house. We'll get the dad, and one of my men will let you in once it's secure to get the girl."
"No, we'll come over the balconies with you. That girl has gone through enough trauma today without seeing six big men with guns pointed at her dad." Jess said firmly.
"That's not going to happen." Mike said, equally as firmly.
"She's got a point Sergeant. She'll be traumatised if she sees that. Why don't you send two men over either side, then we'll go over, and then the rest of you can follow." Grace suggested.
Mike gritted his teeth but nodded, "Fine, but I'm not happy about this.
"You don't have to be happy about it." Jess said with a glare.
Roger snickered as he walked with Jess through to one of the flats next to Julian's, "Bit harsh wasn't it?"
"He was annoying me." Jess said simply.
"I hope I don't get on the wrong side of you for the next six months." Roger said with a twinkle in his eyes.
Jess laughed, "Watch your back Valentine!"
Four SO19 officers went over the balconies first. They landed quietly on Julian's balcony, slowly opening the balcony door into the flat. Once the door was open, Grace, Jo, Roger and Jess followed, and were joined by the remaining two armed officers. They moved into the kitchen, visually sweeping it for signs of either Julian or Danni. They made their way into the living room, the bedrooms, the downstairs bathroom. Still nothing. The only room left was the upstairs bathroom; the door was shut. One of the police officers tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Sarge." the officer called, signalling the door.
"Looks like he's in here." Mike said, approaching the door. He banged hard on it, "This is the police, open the door slowly now." There was no movement from within. "I will tell you again to open the door, otherwise I will kick it in."
"Daddy, open the door!" Danni said tearfully.
"No sweetheart, just stay there ok?" Julian replied. "Danni, no!" The door opened to reveal a very scared Danni. She took one look at the guns and ran back into the bathroom, clambering onto the toilet seat, pulling her knees to her chest. Two officers squeezed themselves into the bathroom, guns pointed at Julian, who was cradling a gun to his chest. Jess moved behind them, holding her hand out for Danni.
"Danni, do you want to come with me? We can go and see your mum!" Jess said in a gentle voice.
"I want my mum!" Danni cried, dissolving into tears again.
"Danni, sweetheart, you don't need mummy! It'll just be me and you!" Julian shouted as Danni took Jess' hand and they got out of the bathroom quickly.
Jess returned to the bathroom after leaving Danni playing with her toys with her mum and Jo in the unoccupied flat next door, safe from danger. The officers were still trying to get Julian to put his gun down.
"Come on, put the gun down and we can talk about your access to Danni." Roger said.
"No, it's all over. They won't let me see her ever again. I've blown it." Julian cried.
"Julian, put the gun down." an armed officer shouted at him.
"Stop shouting at him, you're making him agitated!" Grace said in a low voice.
"If he doesn't put the gun down the next time he's asked, we shoot him." the officer replied to her.
"Julian, they're going to ask you one more time to put the gun down, or you get hurt. Just listen to them, please." Jess begged. In the blink of an eye, Julian had got off the floor and grabbed Jess, pinning her against the tiled bathroom wall.
"Stop talking, I can't think when you're constantly talking." Julian said quietly.
"Let her go now Julian, or we will shoot you." Mike warned. He couldn't get a direct fix on Julian because of the way he stood with Jess in the small bathroom.
"I just can't do it anymore. I love Danni, but she doesn't love me. She just doesn't love me, not like how she loves her mum." Julian said tearfully, leaning his head on Jess' shoulder.
Jess tried to extricate herself, but he had her pinned. One of the SO19 officers finally got an opportunity and he took his chance, taking a shot at Julian's leg. The gun fell from his hand as he slumped to the floor, his hands around his bloody leg. Jess cuffed him while Roger ran to get a tea towel, pressing it on the gun shot wound. He then got a sheet from the bedroom and tied it, tourniquet style, above the wound, stemming the blood.
The paramedics who had been on standby ran into the flat, and once Julian had been taken to hospital under guard, Roger and Jess brought Mel and Danni to the station, to give statements and to see about pressing charges.
"Jess?" Callum called, poking his head out the office as Jess walked past with Sally. "A word?"
Jess and Sally exchanged a look before Jess waved Sally away, "I'll meet you in the canteen in a minute, can you get me a diet coke please?". Sally nodded, carrying on to the canteen, mouthing "Good luck" as she walked away.
Jess followed Callum into his office, sitting in the chair opposite his desk.
"Are you ok?" he said, his face carefully controlled of emotion. She nodded, not sure if he was mad, upset, angry, relieved or all of the above.
"Are you?" she asked hesitantly.
"I am now that I can see for myself that you're here and fine. Honestly Jess, one shift, just one shift where you don't get into a situation is all I ask. We haven't even done your bloody risk assessment yet and this happens." Callum said, running a hand through his hair.
"You make out that I go looking for trouble, but you also need to remember I am a police officer, this is kind of my job." Jess pointed out.
Callum raised an eyebrow at her, with an expression to rival Gina's, "I am well aware of your job considering I am also a police officer, PC Stone. Some consideration for yourself and your safety, and by extension that of our baby is all I ask for."
Jess' expression softened and she nodded, "Noted."
Callum let out the breath he was holding in a huff, "Good, because I am finding new grey hairs by the day."
Jess stood, moving round the desk to where Callum stood. She gently laid her hand on his stubbly cheek, stroking it with her thumb, "I happen to like the silver fox look so you're in luck." And with that she dropped a kiss on his lips before walking out, smiling as his laugh followed her.
"Well that ended up better than the last similar one." Sally said, when everyone was back at the station midway through the shift.
"Yeah, poor Danni and her mum though. But I even felt a bit sorry for Julian as well." Jess said, sipping her diet coke.
"I know, but maybe it's for the best that he never had custody of her if he was capable of doing that." Sally answered.
"But he wouldn't have felt driven to do that if they had at least given him some access to her, would he." Jess countered.
"True, but he's a criminal Jess, and we arrest the criminals and lock them away. Come on, let's go get an ice cream and sit in the park for lunch, my treat." Sally suggested, getting to her feet.
"Ok, let's go." Jess said with a smile, following Sally out of the station.