Thank you Hollie for your reviews, they make my day!
September came and went, and the Stone's found themselves halfway through October, with just over two months to go until the birth of their child. Jess was preparing to go on maternity leave soon, much to her chagrin. She wanted to stay at work, not laze about at home. She woylf also miss the social side, although it was better now that her mum and dad had finally moved into their new house and were all settled in.
Michelle and Robert had already christened the house by having a housewarming party with both their children and their respective partners, along with some friends who lived in the area. The nursery for their grandchild was all done, and they were looking forward to their first Christmas in their new home with Jess, Andy, Callum, their new grandchild and Mia, Andy's girlfriend.
Callum came in from work one cold evening to find downstairs in darkness. He shrugged off his jacket, kicked his boots off and dumped the keys on the small hallway table. He peered up the stairs, seeing a light on, and upon hearing movement, began to ascend them. It was the nursery light that was on, and Callum slowly crept down the hall, intending to scare Jess. He peeked his head round the doorway, a smile lighting up his face as he watched Jess.
A dark pink and black plaid shirt was tied above her bare bump, with her light coloured jeans rolled up and she was barefoot. She was listening to her iPod, dancing with abandon around the room, cleaning and putting the finishing touches on the nursery. She was singing along and smiling, beaming even, with pure happiness and fun.
Callum leant against the doorway, his arms crossed, singing along with her quietly. He stood watching her for five minutes before going up behind her and placing his cold hands round her, settling them on her bare stomach. She squealed in fright and coldness, her headphones falling out.
"Jeez Callum, what are you trying to do? Send me into early labour?" she said once her breathing had returned to normal. Callum spun her around, her laughter filling the room.
He kissed her bump, before kissing her passionately on the lips. As they broke apart Jess gave him a look, raising her eyebrows.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"Good day at work?" she said with a smile.
"It was alright, I was just happy to get home to my sexy wife." he said quietly.
"Sexy wife huh?" she said with a grin.
"Oh yeah, she's real sexy, especially when she's dancing around and singing at the top of her voice." Callum said with a nod.
Jess batted him around the arm with a laugh, but he caught her hand, pulling her against him again. As they kissed he began to untie her top, undoing the buttons and letting it fall open. He pushed it off her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor. Jess responded by pulling his top off over his head, and going to work on his belt. Once that was discarded, they unbuttoned each other's jeans, stumbling and falling against the wall. Their laughs echoed through the otherwise quiet house as they set to work on christening the nursery.
The next morning as Jess and Callum got into work, they were pulled aside by Smithy. They followed him into the Sergeant's office, watching him carefully, noting his grim face.
"What's happened?" Jess asked immediately, sitting down.
"Lana Ramirez has been murdered." Smithy stated. The room was silent for a few beats.
"When?" Callum asked.
"Last night. Her body was found in some woodland by a dog walker not far from where Cheung's brothel was." Smithy answered.
"How did she die?" Jess asked quietly, her good mood evaporating rapidly, "She was supposed to be safe, in witness protection Smithy. I promised her! Why was she still even in the area? Surely they would have placed her the other side of the country?!"
"I know, there will be a full enquiry into how this happened Jess I promise you that. She was suffocated with what we think was a belt, judging by the marks round her neck, and slashed across her breasts and between her thighs." Smithy said carefully. Jess took a deep breath, shaking her head.
"Any idea who did it?" Callum asked, hanging up his coat and sitting behind his desk.
"It could have been any of Cheung's accomplices. The Inspector wants us to go to the prison where Cheung is being held and question him." Smithy informed them.
"Ok, let me just change and I'll be with you." Callum said with a nod, kissing Jess as he went past.
"What about me?" Jess asked, getting to her feet.
"Mickey and Stevie are leading the case; they need a hand going through Cheung's accomplices, doing cross references, that sort of thing." Smithy said.
Jess nodded, "Ok, I'll go up there now." She left the office, shutting the door carefully behind her, trying to ignore the headache that was building. She couldn't believe Lana was dead. She had promised her, in exchange for her cooperation, that she would be safe. Lana had held up her end of the deal but the Met couldn't. The thought that she had indirectly been a part of Lana's death made her feel sick. She headed up to CID, determined to find something to pinpoint the murderer.
Smithy and Callum sat in a small room in the prison where Cheung was being held, waiting for the prison guards to bring him in.
"He's not gonna talk to us." Callum said bluntly, leaning back in his chair.
"We've gotta try. He's got to be connected with it somehow, even if he gives us a hint." Smithy countered.
"Fine. But I think it's a waste of time. I don't know why the Inspector thought I'd be the best one to come with you though, and surely CID should be the ones doing this not us." Callum muttered.
"I did question it with the Inspector but she insisted. I think CID were tied up with something else, so they wanted us to poke around to see if it's worth them coming out as well." Smithy said with a small grin. Their laughter was cut short by the door to the room opening; two guards led Cheung in, pushing him into the chair before one left the room, with the other guarding the door.
"Ah, what can I do for you two then? Sergeant Stone wasn't it? The one with the lovely wife? Has she had the baby yet?" Ricky sneered. Smithy saw Callum flex and put a warning hand out. "You should really get a hold of your temper Sergeant; it'll only lead you into trouble."
"That's enough Cheung. We're here to talk about you." Smithy warned.
"Lucky me. How can I help?" he asked with a smile.
"Lana Ramirez was murdered last night." Smithy said bluntly. Ricky's face was passive, not changing.
"That's a shame. But obviously it wasn't me, cause thanks to you I'm holed up in this shit hole. Not for much longer though hopefully." Ricky said happily.
"We know it wasn't you directly Cheung. But we think you're connected to it." Callum spat.
"Oh really. I never would have guessed. You're not pinning this on me though, no way. You've already tried to ruin my life, I'm not going to let you do anymore damage." Cheung said determinedly.
"We never said we were going to pin it on you. But we'll be investigating any calls you've made while in here, all the people you've been talking to in here, everything. Your cell is getting tossed as we speak. So if you are in any way involved, we will find out, and we will get you for it." Callum warned.
Ricky smirked at them, "You can try, but you won't find anything. I've been a model prisoner. And anyway, who gives a shit if another tom is dead really."
"Just be warned, Cheung." Smithy said coldly.
"Is that everything? Only there's a programme I want to watch on TV." he said sarcastically.
"That's it for now, although we might be seeing you again shortly." Callum said.
"Say hello to the missus and that beautiful baby of yours for me, won't you. Shame if anything were to happen to them when you weren't there." Ricky shot back conspiratorially.
The grin left Callum's face, and he was about to lunge across the table and throttle the bastard when the guards entered the room to take Cheung back to his cell. As he was led out he winked at the two sergeants.
"I swear to God, if I ever meet him down a dark alley..." Callum let the threat hang in the air.
"You're not going to anytime soon; he's gonna be here for a long time." Smithy said with a nod as they picked up their hats and left the prison.
"What did he have to say?" Stevie asked, looking up from her computer as the two Sergeants walked in.
"Not a lot. He claims we won't find anything, that he's been the model prisoner, and so far the prison guards are backing him. Nothing was found in the search of his cell either." Smithy replied, sitting on the edge of a desk.
"There must be something though. He didn't seem surprised to hear Lana was dead; bit suspicious isn't it?" Callum wondered aloud.
"Agreed. He was cocky, mouthy and his general charming self. He knew before we went to talk to him that Lana was dead. But I don't know how he knew. The guards said he hasn't had any visitors or phone calls since he's been in there, except for his solicitor that is." Smithy said.
"Could be that he's bribing the guards not to say anything, you know how corrupt it can get in there. He might have paid them to look the other way, or he might have done it in a way that wouldn't draw attention to himself. What about any other prisoners who he may be acquaintances with? Did the guards strip his cell properly?" Mickey asked.
"Yep, we were there for most of it. They found nothing. No phone, no notes, nothing to incriminate him. He keeps himself to himself apparently." Callum answered.
Stevie sighed in exasperation, "It's gotta be linked to him, I'll put my badge on it."
"Hang on, I might have something." Jess said suddenly, "Grant Trafford was the owner of the house that was used for the brothel Cheung ran right? Someone we've wanted for sex trafficking for a while. Well, I've been cross referencing his known associates with Cheungs, looking for any that stand out for GBH, assault, murder, anything like that, and I've had five hits. Two of them can be crossed off the list straight away, they're serving time, oh, and one's dead, so that leaves two left."
"Who are they?" Stevie asked, coming to stand behind Jess.
"Lee and Harry Clark. Brothers. Lee is thirty two, Harry is twenty nine. Both were done for assault," Jess read off their rap sheets, scrolling down, "It looks like they've both been seen conducting business with Cheung and Trafford previously. Possible suspects perhaps?"
"Possibly. Does it expand on what business they were conducting with Cheung and Trafford?" Stevie asked.
"Nope, but what else could it be besides something to do with prostitution and their sex trafficking?" Jess wondered.
"True, but we need something concrete before we even attempt to go after them." Stevie said, pacing behind her desk, thinking,
"Right, Jess, I want you to look deeper into the Clarks. Find out as much information as you can on them. Mickey, get onto FIU, check Cheung, Trafford and the Clarks accounts, see if any money has moved between them in the last few weeks. Callum, Smithy, could you spare some more officers to go over CCTV near the place Lana was found?"
"Sure, I'll get Kirsty and Leon on it now." Callum said, nodding as he exited CID.
"Mickey? Found anything yet?" Stevie queried as she entered CID with coffees and muffins.
"Well there have been a lot of transactions from Trafford's account into various others, including Cheungs just before we nicked him. Now, Cheung appears to have paid some money into the Clark's accounts just after we nicked him, meaning someone has been dealing with his accounts on his behalf." Mickey informed her.
"How much money were the brothers paid?" Stevie asked, sitting at her desk.
"£25,000 each." Mickey said, nodding at Stevie's incredulous face.
"Jeez, apparently crime does pay. Ok, print out copies of that; make sure it's clear where the money came from. Then talk to Cheungs solicitor, he must know who's dealing with his client's accounts. Once you've found out, let me know and we'll go find out why exactly Cheung paid the Clarks that much money." Stevie ordered.
"Stevie, I've gone through everything I could find on the system to do with the brothers Grimm, and that's a lot of stuff, but it appears that they've been relatively clean recently. Lee only got out of jail about a month ago; he was in there for a drugs bust. I've got their current address; it's not too far from here." Jess called across the room.
"Good, ok. Looks like we're finally getting somewhere." Stevie said with a small smile.
"Sarge, we've been through all the CCTV from around the woodlands where Lana was found. We think we have the vehicle that may have been used to transport that body." Kirsty said after entering the Sergeants' office.
"Yeah, it's an old maroon Ford Mondeo estate, registered to an Alan Lomes who reported the car stolen last week. It shows up twice on the CCTV taken on the corner of West Street and Moors Road, which leads to the woodlands where Lana was found. It appears first at 11.20pm and then re-emerges half an hour later. The CCTV isn't the best quality, but we did manage to zoom in enough to see that there were two people in the car. We were going to send it to the techies, see if they can enhance the picture enough so we can run face recognition." Leon said.
"Yeah, good, get on that straight away; I'll go upstairs and tell DS Moss what you've found ok? Good work you two." Callum said in praise.
As they left his office, he got to his feet, making his way up to the first floor, into the CID office. He found Stevie staring intently at her computer, a half eaten blueberry muffin at her elbow. He looked around the office which was empty except for Mickey and Jess. He smiled at Jess as she caught his eye, and she smiled back. He noticed that she was looking pale.
"Stevie? Leon and Kirsty got some CCTV showing a stolen Ford Mondeo estate driving down a road leading to the woodlands where Lana was found. It was seen first at 11:20pm, and then showed up again half an hour later. They said the CCTV quality was crap surprise surprise, but they know that there were two people in the car. They've sent the CCTV to the techies to see if the image can be enhanced enough to run facial recognition." Callum reported to Stevie.
"Brilliant. Fingers crossed that our two men in the car are the Clarks. Right, Callum, can you get some officers to start tracing this car, we need to find it, comb it for evidence, you know the drill." Stevie asked.
"Sure." Callum replied, about to leave when he turned back, "Stevie, can I steal Jess for half an hour or so? Just to get some lunch."
"Sure you can, she deserves it! Take an hour." Stevie said with a smile at Jess.
"Thanks Stevie." Jess said, putting her computer on standby before slowly following Callum out of CID.
"Are you alright?" Callum asked her as they descended the stairs.
"Hmm? Yeah sure, why?" she replied distractedly.
"You're looking a bit pale." he stated, looking at her closely. She opened her mouth to say something, closed it, and then opened it again.
"I was just feeling a bit off this morning." she admitted.
"Off? In what way?" he asked her, suddenly very alert of what she was saying.
"Just a headache, a bit of nausea, nothing out of the norm really. I don't think hearing about Lana helped." she said with a small smile; Callum saw right through it.
"Have you been drinking enough? Do you think it's high blood pressure again? Is the baby moving around?" Callum quizzed her.
"Yes I'm drinking enough, yes the baby's wiggling and I don't know honey. It might just be winter flu or something. I'll be ok in a few days. Don't worry." she said, placing a hand on his arm.
"I can't help but worry. The sooner I get some food and fluids in you the happier I'll be though." he said truthfully.
They were walking along the downstairs corridor when the receptionist Marie ran into them.
"Jess? There's a call on line 5 for you, it sounded urgent." she informed her.
"Oh? Who is it?" she asked.
"They didn't say, just that it was important." Marie repeated.
"Ok, thanks Marie. I'll go take it now." Jess said with a grateful smile at the other woman.
"Any idea what it could be about?" Callum asked her.
Jess shook her head, "Nope none. Is it ok if I take it in your office?"
"Sure. I'll meet you out front? Or do you want me to stay with you?" Callum asked, grabbing his jacket from the office.
"It's ok, meet me out front. See you in a minute." she said, kissing him as he left the office. She picked up the phone, taking the call on line 5. "Hello? PC Jessica Stone speaking."
"Jess? It's Andy." Andy said hurriedly. She held the phone firmly to her ear, not liking how worried Andy's voice sounded.
"Andy, what's wrong, has something happened?" she asked him straight away.
"It's dad." he said simply. Jess began to feel faint; she pulled the chair from behind Callum's desk, collapsing into it heavily, her eyes drifting to the photos on Callum's desk. One from their wedding stood out, with the new Mr and Mrs Stone standing and laughing with her parents and Andy.
"Is he ok, where are you? Where's mum?" she asked him quickly.
"I'm at the hospital. Dad's ill Jess, real ill." Andy whispered, and Jess heard the hitch in his voice. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes, trying to clear her vision which was swimming before her eyes.
"I don't understand, I saw him the other day, he was fine, and we were in the garden..." Jess trailed off.
"Mum's sat with him now, they're saying it could be a heart attack." Andy informed her, and this time there was no mistaking the sobs in his voice.
"Is he going to be ok?" Jess asked faintly.
"They don't know. They've stabilised him, but they said it was bad, they said it was severe Jess. Mum's in pieces." Andy cried. "I need you Jess, me and mum need you here."
Jess' head swam with thoughts of her beloved father. The only words that had really registered were heart attack, bad, severe.
"Is he going to die?" she asked quietly, slumping further down the chair, one hand cradling her stomach, the other loosely holding the phone to her ear.
"They won't say either way. It's not looking good though." Andy said honestly, nearly choking through the tears. Jess didn't realise she was crying until the tears dripped onto her hand.
"I'm coming Andy, tell mum I'm coming." She said faintly. The phone dropped from her hand, hanging off the desk, and she struggled to get to her feet, she needed to get to her family. She had taken a step, then another, when she began to shake violently. She felt weak, so suddenly weak, like she couldn't support her own weight anymore. She grabbed the door handle to leave the office, but the room began to spin, sound became distorted, and then she was falling, falling to the floor.
Smithy was about to go for lunch. He headed for his office to get his wallet, but saw that it was occupied by Jess who was talking on the phone; it looked important so he left her alone. He walked to the vending machine just to grab a coffee and wait for Jess to finish. As he sat at the small table holding the hot coffee in his cold hands, he heard a muffled thud come from his office. He frowned, placing the cardboard cup on the table and walking over to the office.
He looked through the slatted blinds, not seeing Jess for a moment, wondering where she had gone. He looked closer, saw the phone hanging off the cradle over the desk, but still no Jess. He tried to open the door but there was something against it. He peered through the slats of the window on the door, squinting into the dimly lit office and making out something in front of the door. A pair of legs. He inhaled sharply, pushing the door firmly but gently, opening it enough that he could slip sideways into the office. As soon as he was in, he grabbed Jess' slumped form under her arms, carefully pulling her away from the door and easing her flat onto the floor. She was unresponsive.
"Jess? Jess, can you hear me?" he said. There was no response, no indication that she had heard him. He scrambled to his feet, yanking the office door open. "I NEED SOME HELP!" He ran back into the office to where Jess was, immediately calling for an ambulance.
Kirsty and Leon, who were going to the Sergeants' office to find Callum, ran to the office as soon as they heard Smithy's shouts.
"Sarge?" Kirsty called into the office.
"Kirsty, round here, quick, help me get her into recovery position, mind her bump." Smithy demanded as soon as he heard his officer. Kirsty hurried to his side, helping him manoeuvre Jess into the correct position.
"Where's Sergeant Stone?" Leon asked quickly.
"Oh shit, Leon, go and find him, quickly." Smithy ordered. Leon ran from the office in search of their other Sergeant.
"What happened?" Kirsty asked Smithy as she checked Jess' breathing.
"I don't know, I saw her on the phone, I went to get a coffee, then I heard a noise, and she was there on the floor." Smithy said, not comprehending truly what was happening.
"Who was she talking to on the phone?" Kirsty asked, grabbing the phone. "Hello?"
"Jess? What happened?" Andy's voice came desperately.
"Sorry, this isn't Jess, this is PC Kirsty Knight. Who is this?" she demanded.
"Andrew Hunter, Jess' brother. Where is she? She was talking to me and then she just went quiet." Andy demanded.
Kirsty covered the mouthpiece, turning to Smithy, "Sarge, it's her brother." Smithy indicated for her to hand him the phone.
"Andy, it's Sergeant Smith. What were you just talking to Jess about?" Smithy ordered.
"Our dad, he's in hospital, he's had a heart attack, the doctor's don't know if he's going to make it. Jess needs to come straight away, we need her." Andy pleaded. Smithy shut his eyes, not knowing whether to tell Andy about Jess yet.
"I'm sorry Andy, but she can't." Smithy said carefully.
"What? Why not? Surely you can let her come in to see our dad, she needs to. Please!" Andy begged, crying again.
"I'm sorry but, Jess isn't...well, she's collapsed, we've called for an ambulance, she'll be going to hospital straight away." Smithy said apologetically.
"What? No no no, this can't be happening. What am I going to tell mum? Oh God, please let her be alright. Look after her, I'll meet you here." Andy said worriedly, hanging up. Smithy replaced the phone, taking a deep breath.
The office was quiet, and then,
"JESS? JESS!" Callum shouted as he sprinted down the familiar corridors, nearly taking out Roger who was coming out of the changing room.
He burst into his office, seeing Kirsty and Smithy knelt on the floor. He hurried round, stopping short as he saw his wife lying on the floor in the recovery position, not moving. He got to his knees, touching her, trying to rouse her. He leant in close to her face, kissing her, talking to her, stroking her hair, holding her hand, doing anything to make her wake up.
"Jess, come on darlin', wake up, come on, please." he begged, tears dripping down his face. His hands came to rest on her sizeable bump. She needed to wake up and get better soon, for their baby, for their baby needed her so much, for Callum needed his wife so much. He needed her.