Thank you as always to Hollie! Enjoy!
Jess was waiting in reception while Beth was being checked over. All the doctor had said to her was that they would be doing bloods and taking urine samples, and not to worry. But Jess couldn't help thinking what would have happened if she hadn't found Beth. Would she have been raped? She jumped as her phone rang.
"Hello?" she said wearily.
"Jess? It's Max Carter. How's she doing?" Max asked, and Jess could tell that he was pissed as hell with Beth's attacker, even if he was trying to hide it behind a cool façade.
"I don't know, they're examining her now. They're going to take bloods and do a urine sample, and the doctor said something about a rape kit. Who's taking the case?" Jess asked.
"I am." Max replied quickly.
"Do you think that's best?" Jess asked cautiously. She knew that there was something going on with Max and Beth, she just didn't know how involved they were.
"What's that supposed to mean PC Hunter?" he asked, a steely note to his voice.
"Well, I know that there is something going on between you, so you're too close to this. Why not let Grace and Terry take it?" Jess suggested.
"With all due respect PC Hunter, I am the detective here, not you. I'm quite capable of handling this like a professional. I want to do it, need to do it, for Beth. Ring me when you know more." And then he hung up.
"Charming." Jess muttered to herself.
"PC Hunter?" a female voice asked.
"Yes, that's me." Jess said, quickly standing up and walking to the female doctor. The doctor had short dark hair, and a Northern accent.
"I'm Doctor Donovan, I've been looking after your colleague." the doctor said, leading Jess to a cubicle.
"Yeah, how's she doing? Does it look like sexual assault, penetrative?" Jess asked quietly.
"No I don't believe so. There is no bruising on the top of her thighs, and she wasn't penetrated, so I think he was touching her but didn't proceed any further." the doctor said.
Jess quickly wrote it down on a scrap piece of paper that was in her bag, "And what about the rohypnol? Was it rohypnol?"
"From what you described it does sound like it, but I've sent bloods and urine off to be sure." the doctor said with a nod.
"Right, can she remember anything?" Jess asked, trying to peer into the cubicle.
"All she remembers is being at the club. She kept saying something about Jess being a sly one?" the doctor questioned.
Jess laughed, "Yeah, I'm Jess. We were at the club to celebrate me moving in with my boyfriend, who also happens to be my Sergeant. None of my friends knew."
"Ah right ok. Well if you want, you can come and see her. We've filled her in on what happened to her at the club, so she may have some more questions for you. I'll be back soon with her results." the doctor said with a smile.
"Thanks doctor." Jess said gratefully as she walked into Beth's cubicle.
Beth was laying on her side on the bed, the covers pulled up to her neck. There were tear tracks down her face, and her make up had run. Jess quietly walked to the bed, sitting in the chair. She took Beth's shaking hand in her own.
"I'm sorry Beth." she said quietly, her green eyes meeting Beth's blue ones.
Beth sniffed, "It's ok, it could have been worse. Thank God you and Sergeant Stone came when you did."
"I'm sorry we didn't come sooner." Jess said. She felt so guilty.
"Jess, it's fine. He didn't get the chance to do anything. The thing that I hate is not being able to remember!" Beth said, wiping her eyes and sitting up slowly, her arms folded over her chest.
"What do you remember?" Jess asked.
"Literally up to when we found you and Callum kissing, and then when I went to sit down. That's it. I have nothing after that." Beth said with a frown.
"Well the guy is at the station, Max is interviewing him. Oh, I need to ring him." Jess said, remembering suddenly.
"Max is interviewing him?" Beth asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Yeah that's what I thought." Jess said with a small laugh, "But he reminded me that I am only a lowly police constable, and he is the detective."
"He didn't, did he? I'll have a word! I'm glad it's him because I know he'll do everything he can, but then, he'll do anything to get a result, even if it means intimidating the guy." Beth said, confused.
"I know, but he thinks he'll be fine. Do you want me to get you a change of clothes or anything?" Jess asked, perching on the bed.
"Please. I think the doctor said I'm being moved to a ward, just for overnight observation, then they'll let me out tomorrow." Beth said with a smile.
"That's good then. I'll get your pyjamas, drop them back, then head down the station to see what's going on. No doubt someone from CID will be here soon to take your statement. I'll be back soon." Jess said, lightly touching Beth's hand before heading out of the ED, ringing Max on her way.
Jess had been to Beth's and packed her an overnight bag, dropping it into her on her way back home with a McDonalds and the promise to come straight back if Beth needed anything. She quietly unlocked the door to her flat, dropping her bag on the table by the door, kicking her shoes off and making her way through to the bedroom. Callum sat up, rubbing his eyes, smiling sleepily at Jess. He held out his hand, pulling her into the bed when she took it. He kissed her gently on her temple, cuddling her close.
"How is she?" he murmured, stroking her arms.
"She's ok physically, no sign of rape, but they've sent bloods and urine to check for date rape drugs and general wellbeing. They're keeping her until the morning for observations; I've taken her a bag of clothes and stuff in as well as a maccies. She knows to ring me if she needs anything." Jess replied.
"We better get some sleep, the Inspector wants us at the station first thing to give statements." Callum said.
"I thought as much. I'll go and take my make up off and get sorted." Jess said, climbing over Callum and heading to the bathroom.
"How's she doing? Is she ok?" Will asked quickly, as Jess and Callum walked into the station the following morning. He led them to the observation room where they would be able to see into the interview room Max and the suspect were in.
"Yeah she's physically fine. She's grateful that the bloke didn't do more. She's only got to stay until some time today, and the doctor will see her later with her test results. I took her some overnight stuff." Jess explained as they walked into the observation room. Inside was crowded; Gina was in there along with the Superintendent, Smithy, Sally, Nate and a few others. "She's fine." Jess said with a smile as everyone looked at her expectantly.
"Is she really though? She's not just saying it is she?" Nate asked from the back.
"Well she'd been crying when I went in, but she said it was more out of frustration of not being able to remember anything. The doctor who examined her said there were no signs of sexual abuse. So it looks like he was touching her, waiting for the opportunity to go further. Has he said much?"
"He's denying that he slipped her the drug, and he's also denying the fact that Beth didn't give him consent. He claims that she was up for it, but was really drained and fell asleep." Smithy said in a tone which implied that he obviously didn't believe it.
"He knows that we're gonna do everything to pin him down for trying to rape one of our own, right?" Sally said frustratedly.
"PC Armstrong, we're doing everything we can. We just need to get Jess' statement, Beth's statement and the results from Beth's test. He's not getting away with it." Gina said.
An hour later, Max exited the interview room, a stony look on his face. He walked into the observation room, and did a slight double take when he saw the sheer amount of people in there.
"He's finally admitted that he slipped the rohypnol in her drink, but he won't tell us where he got it from, or who the supplier is. He's also denying that he was going to rape her, and there's nothing we can do to disprove that unless he has some kind of history of sexual abuse. I'm going to get Jo on that, Terry, can you grab CCTV from the club, see if there were any other victims we don't know about. I'm going to the hospital to get Beth's statement, and Jess, you need to do yours." Max ordered, running his hands through his hair. He was clearly stressed out, but no-one said anything to him because they knew he would just snap. He took a deep breath before spinning on his heel and leaving the room. Everyone just stood there for a minute talking before the Inspector clapped her hands, asking for quiet.
"You heard DS Carter. Jess, to the Sergeants office to do your statement with Sergeant Stone. Sally and Nate, go with Terry to go through CCTV. Smithy, help CID pull all the evidence together. Mel, go and see if Jo needs any help. Right, off you go!" Gina ordered, shooing them all from the room.
They all went off to do their respective jobs, determined to put the guy away.
Jess and Callum had been sitting in the office for over an hour, and they had only just finished their statements. They had got as much incriminating information about the guy without lying, and they were satisfied that their statements would lend a lot of weight against him when he went to court. Jess leant back in the chair, stifling a yawn.
"All done?" Callum asked her.
"Yeah, the Inspector wants to read through them before we sign them though." Jess said, stretching her arms and grabbing her statement off the desk.
"Then we can go home and go back to bed." Callum said tiredly, and Jess saw the purple bags under his eyes. She kissed him gently as she walked past out of the office, him close behind her. She knocked twice on the Inspectors door and was granted entrance.
"Our statements ma'am. We've checked each others, and they're as accurate as we can get them. We wanted you to read them before we signed them." Jess said, handing them over.
"Right, thank you. Wait here while I read them then." the Inspector said, her eyes moving rapidly from side to side as she read the statements. She nodded and looked up at her two officers, "Good, these are fine. Sign them, then I'll take them. After that, you're free to go home."
"Ma'am, I bought a card for everyone to sign for Beth, and when I took her overnight bag I took flowers as well on behalf of all of us." Jess said with a small smile, passing the card to the Inspector.
"Oh good, that's nice. I'll make sure everyone signs it, then I'll go and see her and take it personally. Have a good day. Bye." the Inspector said, nodding at them as they left.
They walked down the corridors of the station hand in hand, not caring when those who didn't yet know they were a couple looked at them funny.
They had grabbed a takeaway breakfast on the way back to Jess' flat, where they promptly ate and then went back to bed. They slept for over nine hours straight; the previous night had really taken its toll. It was mid-afternoon by the time they were awake. Jess rolled onto her back, staring at the ceiling, last night's events coming back to her. Callum threw one arm lazily over her, still in that hazy state between waking and sleeping.
"Sleep alright?" he mumbled, his face half obscured by the pillow.
She thought about it carefully; she hadn't slept that well, but she had probably slept better than Beth had, "Yeah I guess. You?"
"Not well." Callum admitted, punching the pillow so he could get comfy.
"Me either." Jess admitted as well with a small laugh. Jess looked at the clock, "Do you think she's been released yet?"
"I don't know, give her a ring. Or go and see her later with Sally. I bet she'll be happy to see you both. I think I'm going to go into the station, see how they're progressing. Then I can ring you with an update." Callum said, getting out of bed and pulling on some jeans. "I'll get the coffee going."
"Thanks Callum." Jess said with a smile. She picked up the phone on the cabinet, dialling Sally's number.
"Hello?" Sally answered.
"Sal, it's Jess." Jess said, leaning into the pillows.
"Oh hi, I was just about to ring you. I've just rung Beth, she's been released and is at home. Do you fancy going round?" Sally asked.
"That's what I was going to suggest. Is she ok? Did the test results come back clear?" Jess asked, getting out of bed and pulling her dressing gown on.
"The test results showed rohypnol in her urine and they picked up traces of it in her bloodstream as well. So that's been taken for evidence. She's ok though, just glad to be out of the hospital and home. Do you want to come down to mine in about half an hour? I'll drive." Sally asked.
"Sounds good. See you then." Jess said, placing the phone back in the cradle.
Jess, Beth and Sally had been sat talking for over two hours. A major point of discussion was a certain DS.
"So Beth? Has he been a big support for you?" Sally asked, a wicked gleam in her eye.
Beth didn't notice this, and said with a dreamy smile, "Yes he has actually. He came and collected the evidence from the hospital, then he dropped me home."
"Is that all he dropped?" Jess asked with a wink.
"Jess! It's not like that! He stayed for a cup of tea then went to the station. But..." Beth began, not sure whether Max would appreciate her telling her friends this.
"Yes?" Sally urged.
"He asked me out for dinner on Saturday. He said he couldn't get the image of the guy touching me out of his head. And it made him realise that he fancies the heck off me and wants to go out with me." Beth said, and she couldn't stop a smile appearing on her face. Max had helped her accept what had happened, and made her feel grateful that she was safe and he hadn't had the chance to go any further.
"Well, he was really pissed at the station after he had interviewed that guy. But he got you a result, and hopefully we'll be able to take down whoever is dealing rohypnol and God knows whatever else." Jess said, filling up their wine glasses.
"It's mad how quickly it's all happening. But hey, I'm not after a promotion, if I was I'd go out with my Sergeant..." Beth began, smirking at Sally. This gossip with the girls was exactly what she needed; it was doing her good.
"Um, I've been going out with him for seven months, and am I a Sergeant yet? No!" Jess said, pouting, but then she laughed, "Nah, I'm not after a promotion, but I do like the benefits of sleeping with the boss!"
"Are you serious?!" Sally asked.
"Sal, come on, he treats me like the rest of you, if not worse." Jess said honestly with a laugh, and it was true for the most part.
"Yeah sure, we'll be watching you at work now!" Beth said with a nod.
"Watch all you like! I'll be keeping a nice eye on you and DS Carter as well. But honestly, I'm glad he's finally asked you out. It's been winding us up no end all those looks you exchanged with nothing coming out of it!" Jess said with a laugh.
There was a knock at the door, and Beth got up to answer it. Jess and Sally heard her talking to a man, and then the door shut and two sets of footsteps returned. Beth's face was bright red as she took her seat, and Max stood in the doorway, a bottle of wine in one hand and flowers in the other.
Sally looked at Jess then Beth. Beth raised her eyebrows at Sally, conveying a silent message, "Oh. OH! Jess, come on let's go, haven't you got furniture to move to Callum's?"
"Erm yeah, sure. But we've had a bit too much to drink, let me give him a call and he can come pick us up." Jess said hurriedly, getting out her phone and ringing Callum. Once that was done, the two women gathered their things, hugged Beth and made their way to the door.
"Jess, Sally?" Max called, stopping them.
"Yes Sarge?" Sally asked, pausing as she opened the front door.
"Thanks for looking after her. And I thought you should know that the guy gave us the name of his dealer. The raid will be taking place tomorrow." Max said with a small smile.
"Thanks Sarge. Have a good night." Jess said with a smile, giggling as Sally pushed her out the house towards Callum's car.
"Marco Jenks. Owner of "The Hawk" pub. Dealer of rohypnol and some other lovely stuff to all the low life's in town. Now as you're all aware, Beth was assaulted by this guy, Ron Vardy. Vardy held out on me for a long time, but yesterday he finally cracked, realising it would help him if he helped us. Now he's agreed to go undercover in order to nail Jenks. He'll be going into the pub later tonight in order to score more rohypnol. Now, Grace and Mickey will be at the bar, Sergeant Stone and Leon will be here at this table, and Jess and Sally will be here. The rest of you will be dotted around. Vardy will be wearing a wire, and as soon as he says red roofies we go in. According to Vardy, Jenks deals it out of his office and stores it in a safe kept in a locked cupboard under his desk. We need to make sure the safe is open, we haven't got the money to spend on a safe cracker. Everyone understands what they're doing?" Max asked.
"Yes, but do we re-arrest Vardy?" Sally asked.
"Yes, Jenks can't know that Vardy helped us, to protect Vardy. And he doesn't get a "get out of jail free card" either." Max said with a nod.
"Will Jenks have any weapons?" Callum asked.
"Vardy didn't see any when he last scored, but he can't be sure. We'll have armed backup just in case." Max replied. He looked around at the officers, "Everybody clear then? Good, meet in the yard at seven pm. See you then."
The night was cool when the police officers slowly entered the pub, trying not to draw attention to themselves. Everyone had taken up their positions, and the van with the remaining police officers had just pulled up around the corner from the pub. Callum and Leon were standing chatting at the bar, one of them able to see the entrance to the pub while the other could see the door leading to the back offices. Grace and Mickey were further down the bar, Grace's bag pointing at the door leading to the offices, the camera in her bag filming. Jess and Sally were sitting at a table in the middle of the pub, sharing a bag of peanuts with their drinks.
"Everyone get ready, Vardy is being prepped now, over." Max said into his radio. He turned to face Vardy. Vardy was in a state; he was convinced that Jenks was going to find out and have something done to him as payback. Max was currently trying to calm him down, "Listen Vardy, if you don't help us, we can't help you, and that means a longer sentence for you stuck inside. And to top it off, you picked the wrong person to touch up, seeing as she was a police officer and all. Do you get me?"
Vardy looked sideways at Max, fear in his eyes, "Whatever. Let's just get this over with." Vardy laid his hand over his heart as if he could slow his heart rate down.
Terry leaned over to where Vardy was, the wire in his hand, "I'm gonna attach this to your skin, and you'll need to put this in your pocket so that we can hear what's going on. Remember the word?"
"Red roofies, I remember." Vardy said with a nod. A thin sheen of sweat had broken out on his skin and his breathing was becoming fast.
"Calm down, otherwise he'll realise you're ratting on him and the wire won't stick. Ready to go?" Max asked, patting him on the back.
"Yep, let's do it." Vardy said.
"Right, everyone make sure you've all got eyeballs on Vardy and then Jenks at all times. SO19 is just round the corner, over." Max said into his radio. Once Max was satisfied that everyone was in position, he gave Vardy the nod, who then got out of the van and made his way into the pub.
From where they were sat, Callum and Leon could clearly see Vardy approaching the bar not too far from where Grace and Mickey were, asking the bartender to see Jenks. The bartender nodded his head, discreetly signalling for Vardy to go through. As Vardy disappeared behind the bar, Callum and Leon lost eyeball on him, but that's where Jess and Sally picked up eyeball. Grace and Mickey moved a few seats down the bar to get a better view. Max and Terry were sat in the van, listening to Vardy. So far so good; he had asked Jenks for the rohypnol.
"It worked then? You managed to get some tail?" Jenks asked, and Max and Terry could hear him opening the safe.
"Yeah, she was a stunner. Long brown hair, gorgeous big blue eyes, and nice and young." Vardy said, and a muscle twitched in Max's jaw as he listened.
"Easy Sarge." Terry said, clocking the look on Max's face. Max nodded, concentrating on listening.
"Are you alright Ron? You look a bit pale?" Jenks asked. Max and Terry exchanged a look.
"Actually, I don't feel so good. Can I just have the red roofies, and then I'll go." Vardy said.
Max gave the signal to his officers to go. And that's when they heard a thud as Vardy hit the floor.
"Ron? Ron, can you hear me?" Jenks asked. "Crap!"
Callum, Leon, Sally, Jess, Grace and Mickey burst into the office, Mickey and Callum immediately restraining Jenks against the wall, cuffing him. Grace ran around to the safe, which was open, and clocked all the different assortments of drugs.
"We've got them Sarge, and there's more than just rohypnol." Grace said into her radio, standing up and searching through the drawers.
"Alright Vardy? You can get off the floor now." Leon said, offering his hand to the man.
Vardy sucked in a big breath of air, but he was still gasping for breath, "I...can't...breathe..."
"Ron? Ron, look at me!" Jess said, getting to her knees next to Vardy. Ron looked at her, fear in his dark eyes. Jess noted that his hand was pressed against his heart. "We're going to call an ambulance, you're going to be ok."
"Sierra Oscar 686 this is an ambulance call. Ambulance required at the Hawk pub on the corner of Meagram Road, man in late forties suffering from shortness of breath and heart pain. Suspected heart attack, over." Sally said rapidly into her radio. Max ran into the room, looking from Jenks against the wall, to Grace who was taking pictures of the stash in Jenks safe.
"What the hell is going on here?" Jenks demanded.
"You're under arrest, that's what's going on." Max said with a smile as Callum read him his rights and carted him off to the patrol car with Leon's help. "Grace? What we got?"
"Well, aside from the rohypnol, it looks like cannabis and some other drugs which I'm not sure of." Grace replied.
"Right, bag them all up, bring them to the station for processing." Max ordered. He then turned to face Sally and Jess, who were on the floor next to Vardy, "What happened?"
"I don't know Sarge. When we came in he was on the floor like this. Sally has rung for an ambulance." Jess replied.
"Ok, one of you needs to go with him, and I don't care who." Max said.
"I'll go." Sally offered.
"Ok, I'll wait with you until the ambulance shows, then I'll head back to the station." Jess said.
Max walked out of Manson's office, a scowl on his face. He had just been bollocked by the DI for letting Vardy go in with a wire when it was obvious he wasn't comfortable with it, and then he felt under so much pressure he had a heart attack. Max didn't care though, Vardy deserved it. He walked into the briefing room where all the officers who had taken part were, except for Sally who was still with Vardy at the hospital.
"Well done everyone, we got a good result. In fact, it went better than we thought because Jenks had more than just rohypnol in his box of treasures. Eddie is analysing all of them now, but it looks like Jenks was ordering drugs online that you can only get through prescriptions and then selling them on." Max said with a smile.
"So a good result includes our grass having a heart attack?" Jess asked innocently.
Max gave her a glare before answering, "I didn't know he was that against the idea and he felt under that much pressure that his heart would give out. None of us did. Except for that though, well done. You can all go now, do the paperwork etc"
The officers walked through CID, back to the locker rooms to get their uniforms on.
As soon as Jess and Callum got back to Callum's flat that night Jess rang Beth, seeing how she was.
"Hey you! How're you feeling?" Jess asked as soon as Beth picked up, settling on the sofa and mouthing a thank you to Callum as he handed her a tea.
"Good. I'm coming back to work in a few days, thank God cause I'm so bored here! How did the op go?" Beth asked.
"Well, I'm not supposed to tell you..." Jess said, catching Callum's eye, "But I'll tell you one thing. Max gave a man a heart attack in order to get a result."
There was a pause. "What?" Beth exclaimed.
"Yep. We got in there to arrest the guy, and Vardy was on the floor having a heart attack. Max got a right bollocking from Manson, not that Max seemed to care." Jess said with a laugh.
"Is it bad to think it's romantic that Max wanted to get me a result so bad he gave a man a heart attack?" Beth asked.
Jess thought about it for a minute, "Well, in a way yes because Vardy must be in a lot of pain, but then again, he did touch you up. Shows Max must care for a lot. But anyway, I just wanted to see how you were. Is Max coming over tonight?"
"Maybe." Beth said, and Jess could hear the smile in her voice.
Jess laughed, "I better let you get ready then. I know how long it takes you! I'll see you in two days then, you'll have to fill me and Sally in on everything!"
"Will do! Bye!" Beth said cheerfully as she put the phone down. Jess placed the phone in its cradle, moving to walk out onto the balcony where Callum was sat. She sat next to him, resting against his chest, and he wrapped his arms around her body.
"Do girls tell each other everything?" Callum asked curiously.
"How do you mean?" Jess asked.
"Well, do you tell Beth and Sally about...about our sex life?" Callum asked, struggling to get his words out.
Jess giggled, "The only thing I've told them is that I have no complaints whatsoever about it."
"Oh really?" Callum asked, pressing his lips to her cool neck.
"Mmmhm. Why do you ask?" Jess wondered.
"It's just us guys never tell each other things like that." Callum murmured, now kissing her shoulder.
"It's because you think men will laugh at you if you talk about stuff like that. Anyway, less talking, more kissing." Jess said smiling, twisting in Callum's arms and meeting his lips with her own.