At least fifteen marksmen were poised, ready to fire, as the four men slowly walked out of the automatic doors with their hands in the air. It was just beginning to get dark, and police cars and vans surrounded the office block with their lights illuminating the large two-storey building.

"DOWN! On the ground NOW!"

The men dropped to the floor quickly and lay spread-eagled as police rushed over and cuffed them, after checking them for weapons. Several others ran into the building to bring out the hostages.

"Alright everyone,' Jack Meadows sighed and turned to his officers, "I want you all in there to check the building; make sure there's nobody left inside and make it secure. It doesn't look like there's much more needs doing, so be thorough and we can be done by the end of the shift."

As they entered the building, the seven hostages were being led outside, shaking and crying and being comforted by other officers and a pair of ambulance paramedics.

"Poor sods," Sam Harker remarked, shaking his head. "I bet they weren't too confident they'd be getting out alive."

"It's weird, innit?" Cass Rickman looked puzzled. "Meadows said three of those guys are really ... y'know, not the sort to just give 'emselves up without a fight."

Sam shrugged. "Maybe they just used their common sense for the first time in their lives! They're not stupid but from what I've heard, they don't really think things through. They've done time before for getting caught over daft mistakes. Doesn’t look like this’ll be the exception!"

"Ok, everyone spread out and check the building," Meadows commanded, looking at his watch as the officers began to spread through the building. He realized that the siege had lasted just under four hours. In a way it seemed much longer, but then again much shorter ... it’s amazing how quickly time goes by when lives were at risk, he thought.

He shook his head, snapping himself back to reality as a senior officer from another station strode over to him, suppressing a yawn.

"Jack, a word?"

"Yes sir. What can I do for you?'"

"The boy we arrested with the others, Daniel Wright, wants to speak to you. He says you've dealt with him and his father before, is that right?"

"How could I forget?" Meadows raised an eyebrow. "Never anything like this before, but I suppose it was only a matter of time before he followed his dad into the family business. Why does he want to talk to me?"

"He won’t talk to anyone else, but he says it's important ... my guess is that he'll try to blag his way out by saying it was all Davy and Tyler's idea. He'll never drop his dad in it."

Meadows walked stoically over to the nineteen year-old boy, who looked even younger now; scared and fidgeting like a child who had lost his mother in a supermarket.

"Hello Daniel," Meadows muttered, shaking his head disappointedly. "It's a shame about you, turning out like this; I didn't think you had it in you."

"Look, Mr. Meadows," the boy stuttered, "It weren't me really, y'know, not my idea or nuffin’, I didn't wanna go along wiv it, it were all Tyler's idea; me an' my dad didn' have anythin' t'do wiv…."

"Not now, Daniel..." Meadows cut him off mid sentence. "Save all this; we'll be hearing it all again at the station." He turned to go back to into the building.'

"Why're they all goin' in?" he asked, looking around nervously.

"We've got to search the building, Daniel," Meadows said, rolling his eyes. "I would have thought that much was obvious!"

"Stop!" Daniel uttered, as Meadows went to leave for the second time. He stopped and turned around, slightly taken aback at the urgency in the boy’s voice.

"'Look, if I tell you sumfin', will you promise not to tell me dad and the others it was me that told you?"

Meadows stepped closer to the boy, sighing testily.

"Well, that would depend what it is, Daniel," he said. "But if it's important, I think you should tell me."

"Nah, come on, you gotta promise! If they find out, I'll be dead meat!"

Meadows looked around him in frustration, but eventually turned back to Daniel.

"Ok, I promise."

Daniel smiled weakly and nodded.

"Cos, y'know, I'm no angel, but I don't want any of your lot to get killed...I wouldn’t wanna be involved with nothin’ like that."

Meadows felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Go on.'"

"After a while they knew we was gonna get caught 'cause this geezer pressed the alarm, so they said at least they'd 'ave one up on you lot - make you think everything was ok, like, by letting all the people go, coming quietly an' stuff ... but Tyler had brought this gear with 'im. Said it was insurance in case anything went wrong like last time."

"Gear?" Meadows enquired. "Drugs?"

"Nah, worse than that," Daniel muttered, 'He went and made a bomb, didn' ‘e. 'E said it's not that big or sophis’, but it'd take out a good half of the building and show you lot that they’re not guys to mess with."

Meadows froze. "And they set it?"

The boy nodded, genuinely concerned.

"When's it set to go off?"

Daniel shrugged. "I'm not sure ... about ‘alf an hour from when he set it ... that was about half past five."

The senior officer looked at his watch. 5:56. He looked towards the building.

"My God," he whispered.

~

Down in the basement, the beams from several torches flickered around in the darkness. Rod Skase edged down the stairs, feeling the walls for a light switch and swearing quietly to himself when he couldn’t find one. Kerry Holmes tapped him on the shoulder from behind, and tried to pass him a torch.

"I wouldn’t need the bloody torch if I could find a light switch, would I?" he snapped impatiently, at the same time almost tripping over a pile of boxes on the bottom step. Kerry rolled her eyes as she exchanged glances with Debbie McAllister.

"Just use the torch, Rod," sighed Chris Deakin from somewhere behind him. Skase scowled, but snatched the torch from Kerry and stalked off down the corridor. Debbie shook her head despairingly as Kerry rolled her eyes.

"Right, this is where they came … must have been looking for another way out. You two go right down to the end," Deakin pointed down the black corridor. "Then go to the left and check the toilets and offices. Rod! You and Tom do these round the corner here … Duncan, you with me down this way."

"Any more torches, Gov?" asked Kerry.

"Nope, you’ll have to make do with one between you. Off you go, come on; I don’t want to be here all night!" Deakin turned on his torch and opened the door nearest to him.

Kerry and Debbie trudged down the corridor; the thin beam of the torch barely giving adequate light to see the walls, let alone search the place.

"Trust us to get the one with the flat battery," Debbie sighed. "I can’t see a bloody thing!"

She pushed open the door to the men’s toilets at the far end of the corridor and shone the torch around. A damp, stale smell wafted out, making them grimace. Even in the dim light, they could see that the floor was damp and mildew had been creeping up the walls over several years by the look of it.

"This is a waste of time," Debbie snapped, leaning against the door. "Check the cubicles and we can get out of here."

Kerry resignedly took the torch and stepped past Debbie into the toilets. She rounded the corner, and glanced briefly into each cubicle.

"Nothing, Sarge," Kerry sighed, edging down the row.

"EVERYONE OUT! NOW! THERE’S A BOMB!"

Jack Meadows yelled down the steps as loudly as he could, as people ran past him, coming down from the upper floor.

Deakin jogged up the steps. "Sir, what the hell’s going on?"

"There’s a bloody bomb in the building somewhere, set to go off at any minute! Get out now!"

"Come on, Kerry!" From so far away, Debbie had not heard exactly what had been said, but could tell from the urgency in Meadows’ voice that now was not a time to be hanging around.

Kerry jumped; in the confined space, Debbie’s voice had echoed like a foghorn. She turned sharply towards the door but slipped suddenly on the shiny wet floor. Taken by surprise she landed awkwardly and the torch flew out of her hand, skidded across the ground and came to rest beside the wall.

Debbie, who had all but left the room and was standing outside the door, holding it open, heard a sudden crash and a short cry. "Kerry? What was that?"

"Sarge," Kerry’s voice was short. "I’m gonna need a hand."

"Everyone move, now!" Deakin stood at the top of the steps, watching anxiously as his officers came running up towards him. Duncan, Tom, Rod …

"Come on, Sir, MOVE!" Deakin grabbed Meadows’ arm and pulled him away.

"But Chris, they’re not all out yet…."

"They’ll have heard the warnings; they’ll all be on the way! Come on!"

Exasperatedly, Debbie flung the door open and entered the room, almost slipping herself. She glanced backwards into the corridor where the light and voices were dying out, then stepped precariously over to Kerry.

"For God’s sake, Kerry, there’s a bomb!" she gasped impatiently, seizing the torch from the floor; "This isn’t up for debate!" She reached out a hand to help Kerry up, trying to avoid touching the mildew-coated wall.

"I can’t, Sarge," Kerry winced as she struggled to stand up, "My ankle, I think I twisted it when I slipped; It really hurts, I don’t think I can walk."

With genuine fear beginning to set it, Debbie took charge and quickly helped Kerry into a standing position. "Take the torch. Now, put your arm round me and let’s go, come on, move!" They left the room and started back down to the stairwell at the other end of the corridor at an unsteady pace.

~

The crowd of onlookers to the incident had begun to disperse once the hostages had been brought out, but soon began to reassemble, as it became apparent that the excitement was not yet over. The bomb squad pulled into the scene, closely followed by two fire engines.

The Sun Hill team stood beside the van as Meadows and Deakin came running over to them.

"Is everyone here?" Deakin panted.

"No, Gov!" Cass’s eyes widened as reality hit her. "Kerry and Debbie haven’t come out yet …. we were waiting; we thought they’d be with you."

Meadows looked to Deakin, then back towards the building. He turned and started to walk back towards it, but Deakin caught his arm to stop him.

"Sir, you can’t, it’s not safe! They’ll probably be out any second; there’s no point in you going back in and getting …"

Without warning, an ear-splitting explosion rocked the square. The two glass doors shattered and blew out of their fittings, the ceiling caved in and the whole second level seemed to jolt down a few inches as the crowd gasped in horror.

Smoke began to billow from what had once been the windows and flames licked at the doorway.

Meadows stood still, frozen to the spot. No. Oh God, no.

Rod stepped away from the van he’d been leaning on and stared at the awful sight in horror. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind as he acknowledged the destruction before him. All those times he had mocked Kerry ... and the times he knew she was right but never admitted it...

He began to walk over to Meadows, but before he could reach him, the DCI had broken into a run towards the entrance. As he neared the tattered hole where the doors had once been, a fireman grabbed him by the shoulders to stop him.

"Hey mate, what the hell are you tryin’ to do? You can’t go in there!"

Jack dug out his warrant card and waved it in the fireman’s face. "I’m DCI Meadows, Sun Hill, okay?" He pulled away and made for the door, but was stopped again, more forcibly this time.

"You could be William the bleedin’ Conqueror for all I care, mate! The rest of that could collapse at any time – nobody is going in there yet!"

"Two of my officers are still in there!" Meadows yelled in desperation. "They were down in the basement checking things out and they haven’t come back!"

The fireman stopped and relinquished his grip on Jack’s shoulders. "Two, you say?"

"Yes. DC Holmes and DS McAllister. Both female. Everyone’s accounted for except them."

"Alright lads!" the fireman called back to his crew. "We’ve got two coppers still inside, we gotta get a move on!"

The three older men in handcuffs exchanged glances and sniggered.

~

Darkness.

Silence.

Slowly, Kerry opened her eyes.

She had not been knocked out, but had shut her eyes and covered her head as the ceiling had started to cave in. It had been all she could do; there had been no warning, no time…

Her mind was still fuzzy, but the last thing she remembered was she and Debbie being knocked to the ground by something collapsing on them from behind. Damn those high-heeled boots, she thought; if it hadn’t been for that, they might have got out in time. Virtually pinned up against the wall by a fallen beam, she looked above her, almost too scared to move in case she dislodged something that might cause a second collapse, but was slightly consoled by the fact that whatever had caused it seemed to be over: no smoke or fire that she could see. She shifted uncomfortably and flinched; her ankle still hurt and falling over again probably hadn’t done it any good. But then suddenly something far worse dawned on her. Where was Debbie?

"Sarge?" Her voice was no more than a whisper as the dust caught in her throat. She coughed, then tried again.

"Sarge?"

Kerry felt tears sting the backs of her eyes as the realization and fear began to set in. It was still incredibly dark, and she could hardly see a thing. The dust didn’t help either, but as she felt around the floor, her hand fell upon something cylindrical shaped...a torch? She picked it up and felt for a switch. Yes, there it was. Now please, she thought, work!

Suddenly there was light. Not much, but it was a start; one of the others must have dropped it on the way out. The dust was still quite thick, but now she could see that there was nothing balanced too precariously around her, though the corridor was strewn with debris and she could no longer see the staircase up to the ground floor.

Slowly, she shone the torch around, looking for Debbie. She couldn’t be far, but if she was unconscious - or worse - no, she didn’t want to think about that. Suddenly she spotted her a few feet away, lying on her back, motionless with a long wooden plank that had probably once been part of the ceiling lying across her chest.

"Sarge?" she coughed again, trying desperately not to panic.

No response.

"Debbie?"

Debbie’s eyelids flickered as she realized that somewhere, someone was calling her name. At first, the sound seemed far away, but now it was becoming closer. It was blurred, as if it were being spoken underwater, but it gradually became clearer as she came to her senses.

"Debbie?"

There it was again.

"Mmmhmm…?" She half opened her eyes and found herself once more in the devastated corridor. There was light now…not much, but anything was better than total darkness.

A surge or relief swept over Kerry. Debbie was alive, at least.

Kerry shuffled over to Debbie’s side, "Sarge, are you ok? Try not to move."

Debbie rubbed her eyes and looked up at Kerry from her uncomfortable position on the floor.

"What happened?" she murmured, "I must have hit my head. God, what’s that?" she started, noticing the beam for the first time. "I can’t move much; can you get it off me?"

"Does anything hurt?" Kerry sat up a bit more and shone the torch over Debbie. "I don’t want to make anything worse by lifting it up. Do you think…?"

"No, I’m fine," Debbie insisted, "Just get it off."

Resignedly, Kerry got to her knees and gripped the end of the fallen beam. It was heavier than she expected, and it wasn’t helped by the fact that she still couldn’t stand up. She lifted it a short way, then had to put it down again to get her breath back.

"If I lift, can you slide out underneath?"

"Yeah, ok, just don’t drop it on me."

As Kerry lifted the beam for the second time, Debbie slowly manoevered herself out of the way, then helped Kerry lower it back down again, wincing slightly.

"Are you sure you’re ok, Sarge?" asked Kerry, noticing.

"I dare say I’ll have a few bruises in the morning," she admitted, rubbing the right side of her chest and shoulder. "It’s all right, really. What about you?"

"I’ll live. But God knows what happened," Kerry sighed and looked up at the remains of the ceiling. "The question is how long is that lot going to stay up?"

~

Jack Meadows stood outside the devastated building, occasionally taking a few steps through the gaping hole where the doors had once been, before being ushered back out by passing firemen who had evidently been told to keep an eye on him. Eventually he trudged back to the van, from where none of the other officers had moved far.

"Bloody ‘ell, what’s taking them so long?"

Deakin wandered over with a cup of steaming coffee in his hand, and offered it to Meadows, who dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

"They’re bound to know something soon, Gov," he nodded towards the building. "They can’t stop to come and talk to us if they’re busy finding them, can they?"

He knew how patronising that must have sounded, but it was all he could do to mask his own fear. He knew that things weren’t good … maybe in this instance, no news wasn’t good news. Most of the others were in the back of the van or leaning up against it, occasionally sipping at hot drinks, nobody knowing what to say or do for the best.

"Doesn’t look good, does it?" muttered Proctor, blowing gently on his coffee to cool it.

"Oh, you’re really helping, Tom!" Cass snapped irritably. "You never know, they might ‘ave got out a different exit or somethin’, or..." she faltered, and looked at the floor.

"I just can’t believe those bastards would do something like that!" Skase paced impatiently up and down the pavement. "It’s just so not their style; it’s … I mean why?"

Polly stepped out of the van beside him and shook her head sadly. "Kerry and I never got along that well but I never would have wished anything like this on her. Or Sergeant McAllister; I mean she was no angel and I dare say she wasn’t the most popular member of the team we ever had, but …"

"Wasn’t?" Skase turned around sharply to face her. "You don’t know that yet, Polly!"

Polly immediately realised how bad that must have sounded. "No, ‘course not, I didn’t mean …"

"I know, I know," Rod sighed and walked over to Meadows and Deakin.

"No news, Gov?" he asked, trying to remain calm.

Before Deakin could answer, the chief fireman emerged from inside the building. He shouted something over to the rest of the fire crew, then turned to Meadows.

Jack stepped quickly up to him. "Any news? What’s going on in there?"

The fireman removed his helmet and took a few breaths before answering.

"We’ve managed to put the fire out and cleared through the worst of the damage on the ground floor at the seat of the explosion, but I’m afraid there’s no sign of your officers. Mind you, that might be a good thing. If they were in the basement, they will have avoided the force of the blast. The problem is, of course ..."

"…whatever was above them." Meadows finished.

The fireman nodded apologetically. "That’s the thing, yeah. But to be honest with you it’s going to be a while before we get anywhere near the basement. There’s a lot of damage, it’s going to take a lot of work, and I’ll tell you straight, it’s not looking good."

~

Down in the wreckage of the basement, Debbie pulled out her radio and tried to pick up a signal.

"I doubt it’ll work," she sighed. "Not all the way down here … no, nothing."

"Do you think maybe we should move?" Kerry asked. "Try to find a way out that isn’t blocked or something? I just don’t think that lot up there looks very stable."

Before Debbie could answer, a loud creaking sound came from behind them, and a large slab of plaster fell from the ceiling. Both jumped and turned around, tensing themselves for a further collapse, but instead, a door in the wall a few metres away slowly started to open. Instinctively, Kerry picked up the torch and shone it at the door.

Shielding her eyes from the beam of the torch, the shadowy figure of a child slowly emerged from the room, shielding her eyes from the beam of the torch. She closed the door behind her, then started to walk gingerly over the fallen debris to Kerry and Debbie. They looked at each other in amazement, before Debbie sat up, not without a little difficulty, and lowered the torch.

"Who…" she paused. A child here, alone?

"Are you alright, love?" Kerry asked, tentatively. The little girl smiled slightly and nodded, brushing her silky black hair out of her face and patting the dust off her flowery skirt.

"Come and sit down," said Kerry, "You must have been terrified in there on your own … what on earth are you doing down here?

The small child perched lightly on an overturned waste paper bin beside them, looking rather awkward and afraid to speak.

"Do your parents know where you are?" Kerry asked gently, sensing her apprehension.

"No," she murmured, "My mum’s been looking for me but she doesn’t know I’m here … she must be really worried about me."

"What’s your name?" Debbie asked.

"Eve," the girl said softly.

"What on earth are you doing down here?" asked Kerry. "Does one of your parents work here or something?"

"A friend of the family used to," she said, hesitantly. "I used to come down here to help after school if it wasn’t time to go home yet. I know my way around. What about you? What’s going on?"

"We’re with the police," Debbie produced her warrant card and showed it to the girl. "Didn’t you know there was an armed robbery going on up there?"

"Followed by an explosion by the look of it," Kerry added.

"Are you both alright?" the girl asked suddenly, looking concerned.

"More or less," Debbie coughed as she pulled a piece of plaster out of her hair. "Kerry’s hurt her ankle and I managed to get flattened by a sodding great plank but nothing too bad. One of the perks of the job I suppose," she added, a little too sarcastically.

"I always wanted to be a policewoman," the child smiled for the first time so far, ignoring Debbie’s sarcasm as Kerry passed over her warrant card as well. "It was my dream … what rank are you?" She looked closer at the warrant card. "DS … Debbie McAllister. That’s a nice name. And Kerry Holmes … hey, that’s like Sherlock Holmes! I used to love those books!" She smiled again and passed the cards back to them.

"How old are you?" Debbie enquired, looking slightly suspicious.

"I was twelve on my last birthday."

"You’re a bit young to have read those books, aren’t you?"

"Yes, I suppose so," the girl shrugged, "but I learned to read pretty fast, and I’ve had quite a lot of spare time lately." Then the smile on her face turned to one of sadness.

"I’ll never be in the police now. Pity, ‘cause I think I would have really enjoyed it."

"You’re not in trouble, love," Kerry smiled gently. "Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to be down here on your own but nobody’s cross with you. It’s only that people must be worried about you."

Debbie nodded. "I wonder what the others must be thinking. They must have realised we’re missing by now; Rod’s probably put the flags out!"

"I just hope I haven’t caused too much trouble," said Eve, looking uneasy. "There were a few things I should have … should have told my parents that I didn’t. If I had, I might not be here now."

"Oh, don’t worry about that now," Kerry said kindly. "Like I said, nobody’s going to be cross with you. Worried, yes, but that’ll only be because they care about you."

"It’s just … it’s just that me and my mum were always really close and shared all our problems, but this time it was something different … something harder to talk about."

Debbie raised an eyebrow. She knew she was not good with children at the best of times, but at least this one seemed quite mature and polite, not like the little sods on the Jasmine Allen.

"Could we help, maybe?" she suggested.

Suddenly, Eve stood up and looked up with an expression of intense fear spreading across her face.

"We have to move!" she shouted. "NOW!"

"What do you mean? Why?" Debbie looked confused but recognized the sheer terror in the child’s voice and rose quickly.

"JUST DO IT!" She was by Kerry’s side in a flash and helped her to stand, much to Debbie’s relief; she was still rather sore herself.

"Can you walk?" Eve asked

"Yeah," Kerry nodded. "I think so…" She managed to stand, but when she tried to take a step unaided, she faltered and almost fell against Eve as a sharp pain shot through her ankle. "Sorry …"

"You’ll have to help her," Eve took charge. "I’m not tall enough. Quick!"

Debbie stepped over to Kerry again, who put an arm around her shoulders, doing her best to support her weight. They edged down the corridor as fast as they could, in the direction of the stairs.

"Come on!" Eve yelled, breaking into a run. "This way!"

"What’s the rush?" Debbie called after Eve. "Why do you think…?"

Before she could finish her sentence, a sudden crash behind them made them jump. They spun around, to find that the planks supporting part of the ceiling had given way, bringing down a shower of plaster, bricks, old boxes and dust … right where they had been sitting. For a moment all three froze. Then slowly, Kerry and Debbie’s stunned gazes turned to each other, and then to Eve, who smiled weakly, looking rather awkward and embarrassed.

"That’s why," she whispered.

Kerry swayed slightly and sat down on an overturned filing cabinet. Debbie closed her eyes and leaned up against the wall as a wave of dizziness washed over her. "Bloody hell," she gasped. "How the hell did you know that was about to…?"

The child shrugged. "I heard it creak right above us. I wasn’t sure, but I couldn’t just keep quiet and risk…" she indicated the newly fallen pile of rubble.

"Well I think it’s just as well you did," said Kerry, her voice trembling with morbid humour. "If you hear any more, do tell us, won’t you?"

Debbie stepped over a pile of debris, walked down the corridor a little further and looked around. It was not far to the stairs now, though she could see that it was where a lot of the damage was, where a large part of the ceiling had collapsed. Still, if it was the only way out …

"I don’t think we should stay here," she concluded, walking back to Kerry and Eve. "If much more comes down, we’re not going to have anywhere left to run to. I think we should try to clear away some of that on the stairs and try to get through. Look, here’s another torch!"

"No!" Eve stood up and shook her head vigorously. "Not that way, you can’t! I’ve got a better idea. There’s ... there’s another way out."

Kerry raised an eyebrow. "Another way out? Why didn’t you say so?"

Eve looked nervous. "Well it might not be all that safe … but I’m sure it’s safer than that way; come on, I’ll show you."

Kerry started to stand up, but Debbie gestured for her to stay sitting. "I’ll go check it out. I wouldn’t get your hopes up though. We won’t be long, just yell if anything else starts creaking!" She picked up the second torch, switched it on, and followed the little girl.

Eve led Debbie a short way back down the corridor and through a door into a medium-sized room, which appeared to be some sort of office, but contained nothing except a table and a filing cabinet with two drawers missing. There was, however, another door at the back of the room.

"In here," said Eve, eagerly, and ran in. Debbie followed, to find herself in a much smaller room, this one with nothing inside but a large bookcase wedged in against the far wall, and a few pages of yellowing newspaper scattered around the floor. No windows … or doors.

"There’s no way out here!" Debbie exclaimed, somewhat irritably.

"Yes there is," Eve nodded reassuringly. She walked up to the bookcase and tapped it gently. "It looks like a fixture, doesn’t it?"

"Isn’t it?"

"No. Behind that, there’s a door. It leads to a long passage that goes out of here and goes about three quarters of the way across the road. Then there’s a ladder that goes up to a manhole at the side of the road."

"How on earth do you know that?"

"I told you, I knew someone who worked here, I know the layout. That was before it was all blocked off. It’s been there a long time, it’s pretty solid!"

"Look," Debbie began, "I know you’re trying to help, but the chances of this tunnel being any good … I mean it sounds like a death trap! If it’s still up at all – which it probably isn’t – "

"It’s true, I swear!" Eve cried. "I wouldn’t lie – I know it sounds a bit unlikely, but …"

"Let’s try the practical way first, yeah?" Debbie’s patience was wearing thin. "We’ll see if there’s a way up the stairs; the fire brigade might be almost through and then we needn’t take any risks, ok? For a start, if the passage ended in a manhole, someone would have found it by now, when they dug up the road or something?"

"That road hasn’t been touched for years," Eve said flatly. "There are no pipes or electric cables anywhere close so they wouldn’t need to."

"So what’s the manhole for?"

"I don’t know!" Eve exclaimed, exasperatedly. "I didn’t build it! All I know is, it’s there and it’s the only safe route out of here."

"We don’t have time for this, Eve …"

"Please believe me," the girl tried again, but Debbie had already swept out of the room.

"Any good?" Kerry asked as they emerged back into the dust-lined corridor.

Debbie shook her head. "Nothing very practical. Nice idea but in practice … nah."

"It’s safe, really!" Eve protested, looking to Kerry for support. "That way’s the death trap!"

Ignoring her, Debbie walked a little further away and prodded at the rubble forming a precarious roof over the stairwell. She was sure she could see some light coming through, and scraped gently at the tiny gap with her fingers.

"Careful, Sarge!" Kerry exchanged glances with Eve. "I wouldn’t…"

Before she could finish her sentence, Debbie pulled a little too hard at a loose pipe and a low rumbling sounded from above her as a trickle of dust poured through the now larger gap she has created. Eve leapt to her feet and ran at Debbie, pushing her hard against the wall and pinning her there as an avalanche of debris rushed past them accompanied by a huge cloud of dust. Drainpipes, tiles, broken glass, plaster and bricks, which came to rest in a pile of, at least four feet high … right where Debbie had been standing. What used to be the stairwell was no longer there; the stairs had collapsed and the whole exit was solidly blocked.

Slowly, Eve looked around to make sure things had come to a standstill before stepping away from Debbie and the wall, breathing heavily. Debbie didn’t move and remained flat against the wall; her eyes were still wide open in shock and she wasn’t sure she had breathed for the last thirty seconds, which certainly hadn’t helped the nagging ache in her chest. As the dust cleared, she coughed briefly in an attempt to bring herself back to reality and calm down. Kerry, who had leapt to her feet as soon as the rumble had started, breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed back into the chair.

"Are you ok?" Eve asked faintly.

Debbie nodded briefly, knowing full well that her attempt to maintain a calm and collected demeanour was beginning to slip. She coughed again, unable to clear her throat properly.

"Yeah," she uttered, letting go of the wall at last, "Thanks for that … are you alright?"

"I’m fine." Eve’s voice trembled slightly. "That was, uh, a bit close."

"Sarge …?" Kerry asked tentatively, "Maybe…"

"Drop the ‘Sarge’, yeah?"

"All right. Debbie. Maybe we should give this passage a go. I think it’s our only chance." Eve nodded encouragingly.

Debbie was about to protest; all of her common sense told her to take the more obvious way out, but something deep inside her told her that Eve was right. This is crazy, she thought, how can I trust a twelve year old girl I’ve known for all of twenty minutes more than my own judgement?

"Well, you’ve been right so far," she conceded. "Ok, ok, let’s take a look. Can we just take a rest first though; I don’t think my nerves can take much more of this. Ideally in that room; nothing’s collapsed in there yet."

~

The streetlights outside began to come on, one by one around the square. The Sun Hill officers were still there, grouped around the two vans watching firefighters go in and out of the building, carrying various pieces of equipment, but with no apparent results.

Meadows was doing his best to set a good example, thinking positive and trying not to pace around too much, even though inside he was becoming despondent. He zipped up his jacket and turned to the others as a chilly breeze blew around them.

"The shift’s over," he nodded matter-of-factly. "You can head off if you want to; we only need the one van here now."

Nobody moved.

"Anyone?"

"It’s ok Sir," Cass smiled apologetically. "I think we’d rather stay if that’s alright with you."

There were nods of agreement around the huddle. Meadows nodded silently, and was about to get back into the van for a rest, when there was a sudden crash from inside the building. A fireman came running out, and shouted something to a group of others who were taking a break. Meadows walked quickly over to the doors, followed by Skase, as the fire team made their way back in.

"What’s happening now?" Meadows asked a passing fireman.

"There’s been another collapse," the young man panted, his hair grey with dust. "Don’t know what caused it but it looks like half the stairwell’s caved in. We thought we heard something for a minute but it’s all gone quiet again. Sorry, I gotta go!"

"Where the hell are they?" Skase snapped. "They can’t have been far behind us; there’s only so many places they could be!"

"It takes time, Rod. They have to go slowly, you know that. It won’t be long now; they’ll find them."

"Course they will," Rod nodded, trying desperately to believe it. "You know our Sergeant McAllister; she won’t let something like a collapsed basement stop her from doing her job. Neither will Kerry; they’ll be back in the office first thing Monday morning, annoying the hell out of me as usual, you’ll see." He stood for a moment, then shook his head and trudged back to the van.

~

"Are you sure you’re ok?" Eve asked, as Debbie coughed again and tried to brush some of the dust off her clothes.

"For the last time, yes!" Debbie insisted, then regretted her abruptness. "It’s probably just the dust," she added, with a brief smile. She then helped Kerry up and the three of them stepped back over the debris into the office room.

"Damn, no chairs …" Debbie muttered. "Shall I …?"

"Nah, it’s ok," Kerry shrugged. "The floor’ll do."

The three of them sat around quietly for a while, as comfortably as they could manage; Debbie on one side leaning up against the wall and Kerry on the other, beside Eve who sat upright with her head resting on her knees; her eyes closed. Eventually, in an attempt to distract them from their predicament, Kerry cleared her throat and looked enquiringly at Eve. "I didn’t ask," she began, cautiously, "How do you know about the secret passage at all?"

Eve didn’t reply, and for a moment, it seemed as if she was asleep, but then she sat up slowly and took a deep breath. "I guess it’s time to tell you the truth." She paused for a moment. "I was about to say, back there, but it’s hard …"

"I told you I used to come down here with someone I knew," she began nervously, "But that isn’t … that’s not really how it was." She stopped and breathed deeply for a moment.

"Take your time," said Kerry gently. "You can trust us, you won’t be in trouble."

"I said that a friend of the family worked here and that’s true, he did. Sometimes when my mum was working late he’d pick me up from school and I’d go back to his house, or here for a while; the boss was quite lenient, then he’d take me home …"

Debbie sat up slightly as the child’s voice began to tremble.

"He’d play games with me and get me presents sometimes. I liked him, I thought he was my friend, but then he started doing something I didn’t like."

Kerry glanced at Debbie, who was beginning to look worried. "It’s ok, Eve," Kerry smiled encouragingly. "You’re not going to get into any trouble, I promise."

Eve nodded and blinked back tears. "He … he made me take my clothes off … and then he’d … touch me … and do things I didn’t want him to do ..." Her voice wavered, but she seemed determined not to cry. Kerry moved closer and put an arm around her, closing her eyes as what she had feared was confirmed.

"I should have told someone before it was too late," she continued, almost apologetically. "But he said nobody would believe me, my parents would be cross and everyone would call me a liar, and ... and …"

Almost oblivious to their situation now, Kerry watched the little girl fight back her tears, hardly able to believe how brave she was being. Half of her wanted to ask Eve more questions in the hope that she could name him, but the other half was afraid to say anything in case it upset her even more. After a moment though, the child carried on without needing prompting.

"Then one day I decided I had to say something … it had been going on for ages and by now I knew it was wrong and he shouldn’t ... do … what he was doing and I thought maybe if I asked him to stop he would…I told him I didn’t like it and I didn’t want him to do it any more …"

Kerry did her best to gather herself before Eve could see how horrified she was. She shuddered, unable to stop the thoughts of what the poor child must have been through, but silently told herself that this was one pervert she would see put away, no matter what.

"Eve," she said quietly, "Who is the man? Do you know where he is now?"

The girl wiped her eyes on the back of her hand and smiled weakly. "His name was Graham. And I know where he is. Don’t worry; he can’t hurt me any more."

Kerry and Debbie exchanged glances, then looked back to Eve.

"He died," she murmured. "He died of cancer a while ago. I don’t know all the details; all I know is that he’s dead and he can never do that to me again. It was a bit strange at first because he used to be my friend, and I felt a bit guilty that I’m not sad he died."

"Oh love, don’t feel guilty," Kerry brushed a lock of hair out of the child’s pale face. "That man wasn’t your friend. He had no right to do what he did, and people like him … well, I know they make it seem like they’re your friend, but really they’re very bad people and mustn’t be allowed to do things like that."

"I know that now," Eve looked at the floor. "I just wish I’d realised that before … before it got too late."

"Have you told your parents about this?" Debbie asked.

Eve shook her head awkwardly. "I couldn’t. He said they wouldn’t believe me and until I realised that wasn’t true … it’s complicated. Don’t worry though, my mum’ll find out before long." She sat up and sniffed, then smiled sadly. "I’m glad I told you. I just had to find the right people to tell, and at the right time."

"I’m glad you told us," Debbie nodded reassuringly, only just managing to contain the anger and disgust building inside her. "You don’t have to worry about anything now; we’re going to get this all sorted once we’re out of here."

"Speaking of which …" Kerry raised an eyebrow and looked up at the ceiling. "I don’t think the rescue party’s having much luck. I reckon we ought to get moving."

Debbie nodded resignedly and stood up. Something inside still hurt, but she quickly busied herself, inspecting the screws that held the shelving unit firmly to the wall and finally shook her head.

"These are solid as a rock. We’d need a good screwdriver to have any chance of shifting them."

"There was a tool box just outside the door," said Eve, quickly. "I’ll get it."

"Be careful!" Debbie called after her.

Kerry leaned up against the wall and shook her head, smiling. "We need more like her in the job! I can’t believe how calm she is, considering!"

"That’s the thing sometimes with kids I suppose," Debbie mused. "Though you wouldn’t think she was a kid, talking to her. Not many twelve year-olds these days read Sherlock Holmes!"

"It’s probably considered ‘un-cool’ these days," Kerry raised an eyebrow. "Kids who like stuff like that get so much hassle from the others … been there, done that. And she’s such a sweet kid, it’s a shame it’s not cool to be vaguely intelligent nowadays!"

Within seconds, Eve emerged back through the door and brandished two large screwdrivers as she stepped gingerly over the rubble. "I forgot to check what sort of screws they are, so I got one of each. This one’s a crosshead, and this one’s the flat sort. Which do we need?"

Debbie inspected the bookcase. "These up here need the cross-head", she reported, balancing precariously on the first shelf. "Yeah, I think they all do. " She stepped down and knelt down to look at the screws lower down.

"These are the same. I’ll need something to stand on … I don’t like the look of that table," she began, but Eve had wasted no time in dragging a chair in from the main corridor.

"I think this one’s safe," Eve said, testing the chair by sitting heavily on it a few times. "I’ll have a go at the lower ones with the other screwdriver."

"Thanks." Luckily, Debbie found that there were only three screws in the top of the bookcase, compared to five on each of the lower shelves. Brushing away a spider’s web, she managed the first two without any problem, and the third, although a little more tightly screwed, didn’t put up much more of a fight.

"There!"

"Me too, Eve grinned up at Debbie from the floor, where she had just finished on the bottom shelf. Easy."

"So…that’s it?" Debbie looked the bookcase up and down. "We’d better have a go at moving it, then." She stepped down off the chair, but as she did, her chest tightened and a huge wave of dizziness swept over her. She gasped and dropped to the floor beside Kerry, suddenly having difficulty taking the deep breath she needed.

"Debbie!? What happened? Are you ok? Say something!"

Trying to remain calm, Debbie nodded, but could not seem to gather enough breath to speak. Each breath was a struggle; it felt like a heavy weight was crushing her and panic was beginning to set in.

Kerry looked around in confusion. Nothing had fallen on her, she hadn’t slipped on the chair …

"What does it feel like?" Eve asked, urgently. "Are you asthmatic or something?"

"No," Debbie gasped. "I don’t … don’t know …it’ll be ok in a minute … it feels really … really sharp, and … it hurts to breathe …"

"Breathe as slowly as you can," Eve urged. "Don’t panic, it’ll only make it worse." She turned to Kerry.

"Did something happen earlier?" she asked. "I don’t think it was getting off the chair that caused this. Hold on, she said she got hit by a piece of wood – could that be it?"

"I … I thought … it was ok," Debbie wheezed, doing her best to stay calm. "It’s the ... same place. I’m sure it’ll go … go away in a minute."

Kerry looked at Eve who shook her head gravely. "I don’t think it will," she whispered. "My mum was a nurse and I read quite a few of her medical books when I was bored. To be honest, I think she’s got a collapsed lung; once it gets like this it doesn’t usually improve … what’s her pulse like?

Kerry lifted Debbie’s arm and felt her wrist for her pulse. Counting silently, she waited for a few moments before turning to Eve. "119 … oh God, I think she’s in trouble."

"I’m … not deaf, you know!" Debbie did her best to sound annoyed. "Ohhh … it’s getting worse; I can’t breathe!"

"We’ve got to get you out of here now," Kerry struggled to stand, leaning against the wall for support, and hopped awkwardly to the shelving unit, nudging the chair aside. Gripping the side of the shelving unit, she pulled roughly, and its right side edged slightly away from the wall.

"Don’t move," Eve ordered Debbie, who was growing paler by the second. She joined Kerry, and together they pulled and pushed the unit away from the wall, revealing an ancient but not particularly sturdy looking door. Eve stepped forward and looked suspiciously at it, before suddenly aiming a violent kick directly in the centre. It wobbled but didn’t give.

"Nice try," Kerry commented, rather taken aback. "Maybe …"

Before she could say another word, Eve took a deep breath and let out a little war cry as she kicked out again, much harder and nearer the lock. It swung open and crashed against the back wall, sending a small cloud of dust into the air. She gave a small, satisfied nod as Kerry paused for a moment, rather startled.

"So ..." she began. "You’re sure …?"

"Yes." Eve smiled reassuringly. "Totally sure. Down there and up the ladder to the manhole. Take the screwdriver and this spanner; you might need them."

Debbie tried to take a deep breath, with only partial success, and started to cough again, as a trickle of dust began to trickle through a crack in the ceiling and something gave a low creak. "You … have to go," she choked, "I don’t think …"

"Save your breath," Kerry said gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We’re all getting out of here. I’m going to go and get help, I’ll be as quick as I can, but I really think that moving you now could do more damage than good."

"How … how can you climb a ladder?" Debbie gasped. "You … can hardly walk!"

Kerry gritted her teeth. "I’ll manage, don’t worry about that, you just keep calm."

"It’s ok, Debbie," Eve knelt down beside her. "I’m staying with you, it’s going to be all right, I promise. Let’s get you lying down; sitting like that will only restrict your breathing more."

Debbie started up as the ceiling creaked slightly. "No! You have … you have to go, Kerry, you have to take her with you …" She wheezed again, tears forming in her eyes as she struggled for breath. Kerry looked back and forth between them, unsure of what to do, but Eve finally made her mind up for her.

"I don’t care what you say, I’m staying here," she said, somewhat fiercely. This place could collapse, I know that, but if she stops breathing and she’s alone, she won’t stand a chance. If I stay here with her, I can do my best to keep her alive until help comes. I have to stay with her, Kerry, you know I do."

Kerry looked to Debbie who was shaking her head frantically, but knew that arguing with the brave little girl would be futile. She ushered her to one side, out of Debbie’s hearing.

"It’s your choice, Eve," she conceded. "I can’t make you come with me. You know how to do CPR just in case?" For a moment, she wondered if Eve even knew what CPR was.

"Yes," Eve said simply. "She’ll be alright." Then, more quietly, she added, "I’m not trying to be difficult, really … I just can’t go and leave her here alone …"

Seeing rebellious tears forming in the child’s eyes, Kerry brushed the hair out of her face and hugged her. "I know, love, I know. And I’ve never met a braver twelve year old … most of my colleagues wouldn’t risk their lives for her, I can tell you!"

Eve gave a weak smile and turned back to Debbie, then paused. She reached around her neck and undid a necklace that Kerry had not even noticed she’d been wearing so far, and held it out for Kerry to see. It was half of a silver heart that was obviously one of a pair which would slot into each other to make a whole when brought together.

"Look after it for me?" Eve asked earnestly. "Just in case … in case anything goes wrong, give it to my mum – she’s got the other half."

"Oh … Eve, no, really, I’m sure …"

"Just in case. Please, it would make me feel better. But only you must give it to her, either of you. Don’t give it to anyone else, yeah? It’s important."

In the long silence that followed, Eve slowly handed the necklace to Kerry who tentatively took it, a single tear leaking out of the corner of her eye. She hurriedly wiped it away, and placed the necklace in her jacket pocket, fastening the button carefully.

"Right," she said suddenly, standing up determinedly. "Time to get going."

Eve knelt down beside Debbie who was clearly getting weaker. Her breaths were coming in short gasps and her face was now a deathly white tinged with blue. Kerry stood by the open door for a moment, peering cautiously inside. Finally she turned back to them and nodded to Eve.

"I’ll be as quick as I can. Hang on in there, Debbie; it’s going to be all right."

Kerry steeled herself and took a few short steps into the dark passage, gripping the door frame and then the crumbly wall to steady herself. Even with the torch, the further she got from the door, the harder it was to see virtually anything. She edged along, and was annoyed to find that the passage was slightly too wide to hold onto both sides, which would have made things a lot easier. Instead, she had to hold onto the wall with one hand and balance herself with the other, trying not to jar her leg too much.

"You … you should have gone with her," Debbie murmured weakly. "It’s not too late … you can still …"

"Shhh," Eve whispered gently, stroking Debbie’s hair. "I’m not leaving you, that’s a promise."

Debbie was too weak to argue. Her vision was becoming hazy; she felt incredibly tired, and the pain was beginning to subside. In her mind, her thoughts all merged into one. Every now and again she’d realise she had to stay awake; that her life was in danger if she didn’t, but then reality would be eclipsed by the strong and overpowering urge to close her eyes and sleep. It was so much easier, didn’t require any strength or effort …

"Keep your eyes open, Debbie," Eve’s voice jolted her back to a higher level of consciousness, and along with it came the fear and sharp, persistent ache every time she tried to breathe in. She knew that she was not getting nearly enough oxygen to keep her alive for long; she knew that all too well, and although she knew she would never admit it, she was scared.

"I know it’s scary," Eve said gently, as if reading her thoughts, "I’ve been there and I know what it’s like, but whatever happens, you mustn’t give up. It won’t be long now; Kerry will be nearly there and before you know it, they’ll get you out. You are going to get out of here, trust me." She looked fearfully up at the ceiling as the trickle of dust started to get faster and another small gap opened up further along. It was not going to hold for much longer.

~

Kerry kept going, on and on, for what seemed like hours. The passage smelled damp and stale, and by the sound of it had no proper floor; just earth. She glanced behind her to see how far she had come, but hadn’t realized there had been a very subtle bend in the passage and she could no longer see the entrance. She wanted to rest; she wanted to wake up from the nightmare, but something inside made her continue on, inch by inch. Her hand brushed against a spider’s web, sending a shiver down her spine, but as she swung the torch upwards instinctively, she saw a flash of light on metal, no more than fifteen feet away. It was the ladder.

Relief flooded through her, overwhelming her so much that she almost burst into tears on the spot. In a sudden burst of adrenaline, she let go of the wall and broke into what vaguely resembled a run towards the ladder, the way out, salvation…

For the first few steps, she managed to keep it up, but then reality made itself all too abundant as her ankle gave way and she fell against the wall, flinching as another firebolt of pain shot up her leg. There was a sudden crackling sound, and without any further warning, an avalanche of earth rained down out of an increasingly large hole in the wall, right beside her.

As the dust cleared, Kerry heaved herself slowly up, breathing heavily and reached over the mound of earth and debris for the torch, which she had dropped. As she did so, her hand fell upon something in the darkness that had clearly fallen out of the wall along with everything else, something round and solid but with holes here and there. She picked up the torch and turned it around to focus on what she was holding; something that made all the hairs on the back of her neck stand up in frightened disbelief.

It was a skull. A human skull.

~

Darkness was closing in. Debbie could no longer think clearly and drifted in and out of consciousness as the minutes went by. Every now and then, she would find herself fighting to stay awake and she had tried, she had tried so hard, but the strength she needed to survive was all but gone. Even the fear had left her now; she was no longer afraid of dying it didn’t seem to matter. On the contrary, despite scarcely being able to breathe at all, she felt incredibly floaty and peaceful, as if she was lying on the beach on a beautiful, hot summer’s day and falling asleep in the sun without a care in the world.

~

Kerry dropped the skull with a gasp. It landed back on the mound of earth, rolled down the side and came to rest. For a moment, she could not take her eyes off it: its smooth, yellowish surface, the eerily empty eye sockets, which almost seemed to be looking at her. As she apprehensively shone the torch a little further forwards, her fears were confirmed; it wasn’t just a skull but a seemingly whole skeleton. It had broken up when it fell, presumably, since the various bones were scattered in disarray, but there was no mistaking what it was: a human skeleton.

If she needed any more convincing that this was a place of gloom and death, this was it. It took her several minutes for the shock to wear off; she really didn’t need this, but eventually she pulled herself together enough to concentrate on getting out. She stepped awkwardly over her gruesome discovery and tried to shut it out of her mind as she edged towards the ladder. It was old but not rusty, and did not look as if it was another disaster area. Kerry pulled it hard several times to check its stability, and was relieved to find it did not budge at all. She shone her torch upwards and found that sure enough, it did look like a manhole cover, though there were several tightly fitted screws and latches, suggesting that it could not be opened from above without considerable force.

Making sure that the screwdriver and spanner were securely wedged in her pocket, she carefully positioned the torch on the ground, facing upwards. She was going to need both hands free for this. She gripped the sides of the ladder and, taking her full weight on her arms, hopped one step up. It was surprisingly easier than she had expected, and managed the next few rungs without much difficulty. Nearing the top, she balanced precariously on one leg while she hooked her right arm around the ladder for safety; another fall didn’t really bear thinking about. The torchlight illuminated a couple of screws towards the right-hand edge, so she slowly drew the screwdriver out of her pocket, silently ordering herself not to drop it. Taking it in her hand, she reached upwards and painstakingly inserted it, then revolved it around and around. It made a hollow scraping sound that reminded her of fingernails on a blackboard. Every now and then, it would slip out of the indent in the screw and she would have to start again, but eventually it went loose and with one more turn it dropped out and fell to the ground.

~

Jack Meadows pulled his coat tighter around himself as the night began to get colder. It had been four hours since the explosion with very little news, yet he and his officers remained there, waiting. Most had sought refuge from the cold in the vans and cars, occasionally attempting to make conversation, which inevitably fizzled away, but Meadows stayed out, leaning up against the van and occasionally gazing up at the night sky, silently wishing for a miracle. He knew that with every minute that went by, the chances of Debbie and Kerry’s survival grew slimmer and although he felt desperate for news, part of him really didn’t want to know, if it was bad. His mind drifted back to the moment not so long ago when he had tried to kiss Debbie in his office. She had laughed it off, he had apologized and dismissed it as a moment of madness, but inside he had been a broken man. He didn’t care what the rest of the station might think about her after the incident with Tom Chandler, or her general ‘ice queen’ attitude. No matter what she might appear to be on the outside, inside she was a betrayed, lost and vulnerable woman in need of love and security. Now he wished he had mustered the courage to tell her exactly how he felt … before it was too late.

Near the doors of the office, he suddenly spotted Chris Deakin talking to the chief fireman again. He was too far away to hear any words, but could tell from the frequent shakes of his head and uncertain shrugs that it certainly wasn’t good news. As Deakin walked solemnly towards him, Meadows braced himself for the worst.

"Sir." Deakin spoke briskly. "They haven’t found either of them yet. It looks like there have been several further collapses in the basement and they’re having to go very slowly in case they cause any more."

Meadows released the breath he hadn’t even realized he had been holding and nodded, towards the ground.

"It’s not good, Sir, you know that," Deakin added, tentatively.

There followed a brief silence.

"He, erm, the fire chief, he said that in all honesty …"

Meadows finished his sentence for him. "They’re not holding out much hope of finding them alive."

"Something like that," Deakin muttered, rubbing the back of his neck.

Meadows felt an unusual prickling sensation at the back of his eyes that he had not felt for a long time and was not prepared for, even now. "Thanks, Chris," he nodded, avoiding Deakin’s gaze. "Keep me posted, won’t you?"

~

Eleven screws. How many more could there be?

Kerry was incredibly tired and her strength was beginning to diminish. She had been balancing at the top of the ladder for nearly fifteen minutes now; her arm was sore from hanging on and she was getting dizzy from having to keep looking upwards. She peered down at the small scattering of screws on the ground below and took a few deep breaths before focusing on the manhole cover again. Think logically, she told herself, there must be a pattern. The screws are probably symmetrical which means there’s probably an even number.

Carefully, she followed the pattern of the holes where the screws had been. Four in a cross shape around the middle, then seven more, evenly spaced around the edge … there it was. "Got you, you little sod," she muttered to herself as she braced herself against the ladder once more. This screw was quite tight and as she gave it an extra violent turn, it suddenly went loose. The screwdriver flew out of her hand and clattered to the ground.

In a sudden burst of frustration and fury, Kerry pulled the spanner from her pocket and hit it with as much strength as she could muster against the metal cover.

CLANG!!!

It was much louder than she expected, and she almost fell off the ladder as the deafening metallic sound reverberated through the passage. Having rather surprised herself at her extreme reaction, she glanced upwards again, dreading the idea of having to climb back down the ladder, and realized that the screw was probably loose enough to remove by hand. Sure enough, with a couple more turns it slid out and joined the others on the ground.

~

Jack Meadows’ thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a noise behind him that was neither loud nor soft, a noise that reminded him of next door’s cat knocking his dustbins over, only slightly muffled. He turned around expecting to see some rubbish being collected across the road or some drunks having a fight, but there was nothing to see at all. Puzzled, he looked around to see if anyone else had heard it, then dismissed it with a shake of his head, deciding that his mind must be playing tricks on him.

~

There were definitely no more screws. Kerry had checked all the way around several times and was now totally sure she had not missed any. Uncertainly, she gave the lid a firm push with one hand, but was not altogether surprised that it still didn’t move. Sighing, she closed her eyes and rested her head on her hand, longing for the whole afternoon to have been nothing but a terrible nightmare. Then a thought struck her. She thought for a moment, then, in a last ditch effort, reached up with the spanner again and struck it again hard, deliberately, several times.

~

Meadows spun around. This time he was certain he wasn’t just imagining things and by the look of it, several of the others thought the same, but he could not for the life of him think where it was coming from. Not the building, not any of the vehicles … what else was there?

Cass walked around the side of the van to Meadows, looking around confusedly.

"Sir, did you hear that?"

"I did, yes," Meadows nodded, surveying the area and racking his brain.

"I thought I heard it a minute ago but I couldn’ see anythin’ and thought I must be just gettin’ tired," Cass admitted. "But then it was there again. Where’s it comin’ from?"

~

Using a spot of violence seemed to have given Kerry an extra boost of adrenaline, and it did not take her long to realize what she had forgotten about; the latches. They looked a little rusty but there were only two of them and it looked like they might be her last obstacle. She gave the lid three more strikes with the spanner for good measure, then slipped it back into her pocket.

~

There it was again. Three times.

"It looks like it’s coming from over there," Deakin shrugged, indicating the sealed-off roadway just behind the van."

"But there’s nothing there, Sir," Rod Skase contributed, attracting the disapproving glares of the small crowd around them. "Just … just a road!"

Meadows did not know why he or indeed everyone else was all of a sudden so concerned with what was probably a faulty drainpipe. They had much more pressing things to worry about after all; two officers missing and most likely dead, and it wasn’t as if there could be a connection, so far away…?

His gaze suddenly fell upon a manhole cover half way across the road, the only hard metal object he could see. For a moment he stood and looked at it questioningly, wondering if he was totally mad, then strode swiftly over to it, followed by one or two of the others.

~

CLANG!!!

The first latch snapped open, sending another dizzying metallic ring echoing down the passage. If this doesn’t keep Debbie awake, nothing will, Kerry thought, as she fastened her fingers around the second one. Her vision blurred for a moment, she thought for a terrible moment that she was going to faint but she couldn’t … she couldn’t …

~

"It’s definitely coming from here," Meadows declared, kneeling with his ear close to the ground next to the cover. "Someone go and tell the fire crew, it sounds like something’s trapped down there." He leaned forward until that his nose was almost touching the ground, and shouted as loudly as he possibly could.

"HELLO!?"

~

Kerry jumped. It was a voice, right above her, muffled but a voice nonetheless. Someone had heard. She reached up one more time and clawed at the last latch. She didn’t care how many fingernails she broke in the process; all that stood between her and freedom was one small piece of metal and it sure as hell wasn’t going to beat her.

SNAP!

It had opened. For a moment, she almost didn’t believe it, then stepped up one more rung and pushed upwards with every bit of strength left in her. It was incredibly heavy and despite her best efforts, it refused to move, though it was definitely unlocked.

"PULL!" she yelled desperately upwards. "PULL THE DAMN THING!"

Meadows had heard, and recognized the voice. "Duncan, Rod, Tom, get over here now!" he called over his shoulder as his heart seemed to turn a somersault. "We have to get this thing up now," he ordered, ignoring their puzzled expressions. "I think it’s unlocked, I can move it a bit. Ok, grab a bit … that’s it, now pull and for god’s sake don’t drop it!"

As the thick metal plate slid slowly upwards on its hinges, Kerry had to shield her eyes from the streetlamp’s glare above her for a moment, but then felt a rush of cool fresh air as the familiar faces came into view; faces she had thought she might never see again.

"Kerry!" Meadows gasped, as the manhole cover came to rest on its hinges. He leaned forwards and reached for her arm as he beckoned Duncan to do the same. Completely overwhelmed, Kerry managed to hop up one last rung as four strong arms lifted her out of the ground as if being plucked from a great abyss. She fell into Duncan’s arms, sprawled out across the tarmac and burst into hysterical tears as a fireman handed Duncan a blanket to put over her. What had started out as a normal day had turned into an unimaginable nightmare. She wondered if maybe this was a dream too and any moment, she would wake up back in the devastated basement. She cried harder than she had ever cried before into Duncan’s coat as he wrapped the blanket around her and gently stroked her head.

The others looked on in stunned amazement as the young woman caked in dust, clothes ripped in places, hair everywhere, had emerged from the hole in the middle of the road. The crowd of public onlookers, which surprisingly had remained more or less intact, tried to move closer for a better look and a pair of journalists tried to barge their way through, but were restrained and ushered back before they could get close enough.

Meadows and Deakin exchanged glances as they peered back down through the hole, their expressions rendering any words pointless. A group of firefighters was running towards them and it seemed that suddenly everyone knew what was going on.

Meadows, who was fast having his worst fears confirmed, moved over to Kerry who was still sobbing in Duncan’s arms and put a hand on her shoulder. "The paramedics are heading over now, Kerry. It’s all over."

"No it’s not!" she choked through her tears. "Debbie’s still there, I had to leave her, she’s hurt, she couldn’t breathe properly. Oh God, I took too long, didn’t I … she might be dead by now, I should have gone faster! And Eve, she’s there too…"

Meadows’ heart leapt into his throat. "It’s ok, Kerry," he said, trying to stay calm, "Where did you leave her? How do we get to her ... and who’s Eve?"

At that moment, two paramedics appeared and immediately busied themselves around her. "Out of the way, please," the woman said briskly, "Give her some air."

"Give me a moment, I …" Meadows began.

"You can have a moment when I say so," the paramedic said firmly. "which will most likely be at the hospital later on."

"No!" Kerry pleaded, levering herself upright on one arm. "They need to find Debbie; I’m the only one who knows how to get to her! I’ll live; she won’t unless they find her fast."

The paramedics exchanged glances, then reluctantly conceded. "Ok," the man nodded. "But we’re getting her into the ambulance first before she catches her death of cold. Do you think you can stand up, love?"

Kerry shrugged weakly; she had never felt so totally devoid of energy. Her whole body felt like a lead weight and all she wanted to do now was sleep; it didn’t matter that she was lying in the middle of the road in the town centre. With Duncan’s help, she managed to sit upright, but suddenly it was all too much and she blacked out, falling limply in his arms.

The male paramedic moved forwards quickly and helped lie her down flat. "Michelle, we’re gonna need the board," he called over his shoulder, then smiled reassuringly to Duncan. "It’s ok, mate, she’s just fainted, I don’t think you need to worry. Poor girl’s been to hell and back by the looks of her."

Meadows closed his eyes and brushed both hands back over his head. Kerry was the only one who knew how to find Debbie. What now?

"Listen," he said urgently as Kerry was lifted into the back of the ambulance. I think you got the gist of that; we’re still missing one, and Kerry’s the only one who knows how far in she is and whether it’s safe. Obviously her welfare is priority, but without her, Debbie won’t stand a chance. If you could just …"

"Debbie …?" As they set the stretcher down, Kerry’s eyes flickered open.

"It’s ok, Kerry," Michelle the paramedic soothed. "You just fainted for a moment there, nothing to worry about. We’re going to get you to hospital now …"

"No!" Kerry gasped, suddenly sitting up. "They’ve got to find Debbie; I’m not leaving here until she’s out!"

"Now, love …"

"Don’t ‘now love’ me!" Kerry shouted, her eyes blazing. I need to talk to DCI Meadows here NOW and I’m not leaving here until my Sergeant is brought out of there, you hear me?"

Somewhat taken aback, Michelle and her colleague exchanged glances, then resignedly beckoned Meadows into the ambulance. "She’s got a lot of pluck," that one," the other remarked as he disembarked, winking at Meadows as Michelle glared at him. "Good on her, I say!"

Meadows perched on the squashy bench opposite Kerry, who propped herself upright with a couple of pillows. "I didn’t know you had it in you," he smiled approvingly, if somewhat startled. "Where did that come from?"

"God knows," Kerry admitted, her sudden rush of adrenaline beginning to wear off again. "Looks like that lie down did me some good. Now listen, and don’t let those two tell you I’m confused. I’m everything else, tired, aching, exhausted, but I know what I’m talking about."

The square had gone somewhat quiet again, the latest episode of excitement had fizzled out but now a team of firefighters stood around the manhole, preparing for the next. They had been instructed not to move until they had the clear picture, and although everyone knew it was just procedure, for safety, it did not stop them wishing they would just get on with it.

"Come on, come on …" Skase muttered, as he paced back and forth, kicking at the occasional pebble in frustration.

"It cannae be long now," Duncan tried to sound optimistic. "Kerry’ll be telling ‘em what to expect once they’re down there; she’ll guide ‘em right to Sergeant McAllister."

Suddenly the back doors of the ambulance burst open and Meadows jumped down, breaking into a run all the way up to the fire chief. "Ok, this is what we’ve got. Under here, there’s a tunnel; it’s completely dark so you’ll need lighting. It goes under the road, she’s not sure how long but it ends under the office so I’m estimating at least forty metres. At the end of that is a side room, which is where she left Debbie. According to Kerry, Debbie was hit by a beam in the initial explosion; seemed all right at first but then suddenly had major difficulty breathing and chest pain, sounds to me like a pneumothorax. There’s also a kid, a twelve year-old girl who stayed with her, though god knows where she came from … probably a runaway or something, but that doesn’t matter now. The main corridor is extremely unstable as I’m sure your people know already, and Kerry says when she left, the side room was beginning to go as well so for god’s sake be careful. However she says the passageway under the road seemed very sturdy for the time being."

The fire chief nodded shortly, then turned to his team. "Right, lads," he began, but Meadows quickly interrupted.

"One more thing … I don’t want to alarm you but Kerry says that just inside, by the ladder, there’s a … well, I know it sounds unlikely, but she says there’s a human skeleton. Obviously Debbie is my priority but …"

"Right. Yes, understood," the fire chief said as if this was a regular occurrence. "Ok, lads, listen up!"

Meadows turned back to his own officers. "They’re going in. About time too, eh? Duncan?"

"Gov?"

"Do us a favour and go sit with Kerry? She’s refusing to be taken to St Hugh’s until Debbie’s safe … she might have a long wait."

"Gov," Duncan nodded, and walked briskly over to the ambulance, whose doors had since been closed again. He was just about to knock when they opened, Michelle emerged and stepped down, looking frustrated. She half closed the doors, then eyed Duncan suspiciously.

"Are you Duncan?"

"That’s right, yeh. Is she ok?"

Michelle folded her arms. "More or less. Cuts and bruises, sprained ankle, nothing physical that won’t heal. I’ve patched her up for the time being. Other than that, she’s pretty exhausted, no surprise there, and she does seem to be in some degree of shock. And she refuses to let us take her in until the other one’s out."

"Can yeh really blame her?"

"Oh, I don’t know. Could be a while yet though. You can go in and sit with her if you like; a familiar face is probably a good idea. There’s another ambulance on the way for your other colleague."

~

"Hey," Duncan smiled as he slipped through the door of the ambulance and settled himself on the seat that Meadows had previously occupied. "How’re you doing?"

Kerry managed a half smile as Duncan entered; she knew he wouldn’t interrogate her or make her feel silly if she broke down again. "Hi," she murmured. "Hope I didn’t scare you too much out there."

"Well, t’be honest yeh did gi’ me a bit of a fright," Duncan replied with a twinkle in his eye. "Don’ you worry about that now though, it’s all under control."

Kerry looked away, appreciating Duncan’s tact but knowing that in reality it was by no means over. The windows were too high to see out of properly, the paramedics insisted on keeping the doors shut, and she had an awful sense of helplessness. She tried to sit up a bit further but could not find the strength. Fortunately, Duncan came to her rescue.

"Wan’ me to prop yeh up a wee bit more?" he asked, his gaze falling upon the overhead compartments. "There’s gotta be a couple more pillows an’ stuff in here somewhere…ah, there we go."

He whisked out two more pillows and gently slid them in behind Kerry, then set about rearranging the mess he had made of the blanket, finally draping it back over her and carefully tucking it in around the sides.

"There," he said finally, sitting back down. "That a bit comfier?"

Kerry could not help but smile, albeit weakly.

"Thanks." She lay back down and looked at him through half-closed eyes. "Have they gone in yet?"

Duncan nodded. "Jus’ now. Mr. Meadows told ‘em what you told him, they promised they’d be careful. Look, if yeh don’t want to talk about it now, that’s fine an’ I’ll understand, but I’m sure I overheard somethin’ about a skeleton…?"

Kerry raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly. "Yeah. It fell out of the wall, Indiana Jones style. Have to wait for the DNA tests and stuff to find out who it was, I guess. Brings a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘skeletons in the closet,’ eh?" She gave a short, morbid laugh.

"Aye." For a moment Duncan was relieved that Kerry had not lost her sense of humour, but then all at once there were tears in her eyes again.

"What if they’re dead, Duncan? What if I did the wrong thing by leaving them, what if …?"

Duncan reached out and took Kerry’s hand, squeezing it gently. "If you had’nae left ‘em, you’d still be down there and we wouldn’ know where yeh were. Yeh did the only practical thing, Kerry; don’ blame yerself."

"I should have made Eve come with me," she shook her head remorsefully. I tried but she wouldn’t leave Debbie, she flatly refused. I don’t know what else I could have done…"

"That was brave o’her," Duncan remarked. What was she doin’ down there anyway?"

"I don’t know," Kerry admitted, shaking her head. "She said a friend of the family worked there but it doesn’t explain what she was doing there at this time. It looks like he’s been abusing her though; she definitely wasn’t lying about that. She’s a sweet kid, very bright. We got on rather well, considering. And she seems to have some sort of sixth sense; twice she got us out the way, the ceiling collapsing and the stairwell. Oh god, after all that I can’t bear to think …"

"Jus’ relax," Duncan soothed. "No point worryin’, we’ve gotta think positive, eh?"

"Yeah well, believe me, if you’d been down there you wouldn’t be thinking all that positively," said Kerry bitterly. "Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you … you’re being great."

"Don’ apologise," said Duncan, smiling. "You just rest, yeah?"

Kerry lay back and let her eyes slowly close, for fear they would otherwise let more tears escape. I won’t go to sleep, I won’t go to sleep, she ordered herself over and over again. She was going to stay awake, however much her body needed rest until Debbie and Eve were brought out alive, however long it took.

~

Kerry’s eyes suddenly snapped open. She did not know what had woken her up, or even if she had been fully asleep, but something was going on outside. Duncan sat up suddenly too, having evidently been on the verge of sleep himself.

"Duncan," Kerry gasped, feeling her heart give a jolt.

"It’s ok," he said, trying to sound calm but not doing a terribly good job, "I’ll go see what’s goin’ on, you stay …"

Before he could say anything else, Kerry had pulled herself upright and flung back the blanket before doing her best to stand up and get to the door, but Duncan blocked her way. "No, Kerry, stop. Look, if you’re sure, I’ll do it. Jus’ sit back down, ok?"

She nodded wordlessly, on the brink of panic again as Duncan cautiously opened the back doors of the ambulance, peering outside in the hope that it would be good news. Kerry shuffled to the far edge of her bench, pushing his arm out of the way; she wanted to see what was going on. Good news or bad, anything was better than the waiting game…

In the darkness, and having few streetlights close to them, it was hard to see exactly what was happening for a moment, and they would probably have been kept in suspense even longer if Jack Meadows had not come jogging over to them, obviously in a bit of a state himself.

"They’ve got her out," he said breathlessly. "Apparently the room she was in was on the verge of collapse when they found her and caved in a minute or so after. Luckily, they were already back in the tunnel by then; they decided they had to get her out before attempting resuscitation…"

"She’d stopped breathing," Kerry choked. It was an acknowledgement rather than a question, but Meadows answered it anyway.

"They’ve got her back," Meadows said, wringing his hands. "She still had a pulse but they had to start on her as soon as she was up … oh …"

A trolley was heading swiftly towards them, surrounded by three paramedics, two of which must have come with the second ambulance, likewise a young doctor in a bright green jumpsuit, and four firemen. On the trolley, unconscious and surrounded by tubes, bags of fluid and various frightening looking devices lay Debbie. She was barely recognizable amid all the equipment and it didn’t help that she was almost totally white, with pale blue lips and eyelids. Kerry wanted to run to her and make sure she was all right but thankfully, although hurried, the team appeared to have stabilised her. Meadows had managed to get past Michelle, and walked alongside the trolley with Debbie, holding her hand and speaking softly to her, greatly relieved.

Kerry looked at Duncan who gave an encouraging smile and put an arm around her. "See? Told yeh she’d be ok!"

Kerry suddenly realized who was missing. Eve. "Hey!" she called to the chief fireman who was removing his hat and taking a gulp of water from a bottle. Kerry beckoned him over urgently.

"Did they get the little girl out?"

He looked blank.

"Eve, did they get her out," she asked, her voice rising. "For God’s sake, say something!"

He ran his fingers through his hair and refused to meet her eye. "I’m sorry," he said shortly, after clearing his throat. "We didn’t find her."

Kerry didn’t move. "What do you mean, didn’t find her? She was there, with Debbie, it was probably her who kept Debbie alive," she said quickly, running through what she knew to be the truth in her mind. "There was nowhere for her to go to!"

"Like I said," replied the fireman gently, giving an apologetic shrug, "I’m sorry, but we didn’t find her. We did call, but the main body of the basement … if she’d been in there, I dunno, gone back for something …" he shook his head sadly. "We will keep looking once it’s been made safe; they’ll be in from the top soon, but I’m afraid our heat-seeking cameras have confirmed that there are no further life signs left down there. I’m sorry."

Kerry turned to face Duncan, shaking her head in adamant disbelief. "They must be wrong! She wouldn’t have gone back, Duncan, she wouldn’t! She wasn’t stupid, I can’t believe she would have…" she trailed off, closing her eyes and leaning back against the wall. She did not want to believe it, she wanted to believe that any moment now the feisty little girl would come skipping towards her out of the crowd, but deep down she knew the fire chief was right; it wasn’t going to happen. Eve was dead.

Fighting back tears, Kerry made a weak attempt at distracting herself by watching as the various firefighters and medical staff prepared to load Debbie into the other ambulance. They had just lowered the handlebars when one of the paramedics stopped dead, then shouted, "She’s gone off!"

A machine started beeping, and suddenly there was chaos. The medical crew were milling around the trolley like a swarm of ants and were so tightly packed that Kerry could not see what was going on even from close by, and began to panic. A short distance away, Meadows was being firmly restrained by Deakin.

"What’s happening to her?" Kerry spluttered.

"I … I don’ know," Duncan said, his voice wavering. "Let’s just let them get on wi’ what they gotta do; they’re doing their best …"

Despite being completely exhausted and on an adrenaline high, she detected the note of despair in Duncan’s voice.

"Oh no, no, not her too …" Kerry briefly attempted to stand up but almost fell out of the ambulance and was shepherded back in a little way by Duncan and Michelle, who was apparently surplus to requirements for a moment.

"It’s ok, love, they’re doing all they can," Michelle said kindly but not entirely optimistically. "Just come back in and sit down, yeah, we’ll take care of her …"

"They’ve got to do something!" Kerry yelled desperately. "I know what that means; her heart’s stopped! Why aren’t they doing anything? She’s come this far!"

"It’s difficult," Michelle said quietly, trying to calm her down with little success. "She has a pneumothorax, that’s a collapsed lung, which means we can’t do normal heart massage; it would kill her." She gave an encouraging but awkward smile, then stepped back over to the others.

"Don’t let her die," Kerry sobbed pitifully, as the bleep of the machine continued, seemingly endlessly. The doctor and paramedics were obviously still working hard and continued to do so for several minutes, but then the doctor stepped back and shook his head.

"I don’t think we’re getting anywhere," he said, in what he obviously thought was a quiet voice. "This is pointless; there’s nothing more we can do. She’s gone. Everyone agreed?"

"NOOOOOOO!" Kerry screamed, her voice echoing around the square and reaching every ear. This could not be happening. Things like this only ever happened in films or in nightmares. Eve was dead. Debbie was dead. She wished she was dead as well. The scene in front of her began to fade, then she was engulfed in darkness as consciousness finally abandoned her.

~

The noise had stopped.

It was light; even with her eyes still closed she could tell that she was no longer in the ambulance. She had more of a sense of space and calmness and there was a faint smell of disinfectant. For a moment, she wondered if perhaps she was dreaming, and slowly let her eyes open. The room was a blur at first but gradually swam into focus; the white walls, silver lights on the ceiling, various pieces of machinery …

Hospital. There were several beds in the room, each with privacy curtains but there did not seem to be anyone around except a solitary nurse doing some paperwork, it seemed, at a desk on the other side. Kerry lifted her head slightly to get a better glimpse of her surroundings; still not sure it was real.

"Ah!" the nurse exclaimed, rising immediately. "Back with us!"

She walked briskly over to Kerry’s bedside and sat down. "How are you feeling," she asked, with a look of friendly sympathy. "You’ve been out for a while, I’m afraid; we had to sedate you." She nodded towards the drip protruding from the back of Kerry’s right hand that Kerry hadn’t even noticed yet.

"Sedate me …?"

"That’s right … oh, nothing to worry about, it’s not unusual," she added quickly. "Just overnight, it’s … uh … 10:15 in the morning now. They just felt you’d been through a lot and needed time to calm down."

Kerry lay back, her face turned to the wall as tears began to form in her eyes as the memories of the previous night began to flood back. Destruction. Death.

"Yeah, well," she said in a cracked voice. "I think you would too if you’d been there. I wasn’t quick enough. My sergeant died last night and it’s my fault; I could have saved her."

The nurse didn’t reply and looked confused for a moment. Then suddenly her eyes widened and her face broke into a smile. "No, Kerry," she smiled encouragingly, "Your sergeant, Miss McAllister? She’s not dead."

Kerry stared at the young nurse in disbelief. "No," she said, quickly running through the events in her head. "I heard the doctor say – I was right there - I heard him say, that she was …"

"What did he say?"

"He said … he said ‘This is pointless, there’s nothing we can do, she’s gone, everyone agreed…?’" She paused at the end of her sentence, a glimmer of hope dawning on her.

"Someone didn’t…?"

The nurse shook her head. "One of the paramedics, Michelle – she wouldn’t agree to call it a day so they kept going, all the way here. Once they were here we were better equipped and they eventually managed to resuscitate her."

For the first time in hours, Kerry allowed herself a smile as she gave a deep sigh of relief. Debbie was alive; it hadn’t all been for nothing … she hadn’t let her down.

"Is she going to be alright?"

"It certainly seems that way," the nurse nodded brightly. "She’s not quite out of the woods yet and it’ll be a slow recovery, but yes, it’s looking very hopeful. Very lucky, to be honest, I was there when they brought her in and it was touch and go for ages; not many make it back from that far gone. She must have had a guardian angel watching over her last night." She smiled and turned to leave.

"Wait," Kerry said suddenly. "I don’t suppose … the little girl …?"

"I’m afraid not," the nurse shook her head sadly. "We were told to be on standby in case they found her, but nothing yet. I’m sorry."

~

Kerry could not sleep, despite being encouraged to do so by the nurses. What little sleep she’d had was full of nightmares and twice she had woken up thinking for a panic-stricken moment that she was back in the basement. It was mid afternoon now and it seemed impossible that life was just carrying on as normal around her. She wondered how long it would be before they let her return to work, anything to take her mind off what had happened. She was not good at being bored at the best of times, and being here, alone with her thoughts was the complete opposite of what she needed, despite knowing deep down that she needed time to recover.

"Knock knock!" a broad Scottish accent intoned from behind the curtain. Kerry smiled as Duncan emerged into the cubicle, closely followed by Meadows, who, despite looking incredibly tired, seemed a lot calmer than the last time she had seen him. He perched on a chair beside the bed as Duncan brandished a large bunch of flowers.

"We had a whip-round at the station," he explained. "There’s some more on your desk, but I didn’ae think I’d better bring ‘em all here, didn’ wan’ teh give yeh hay fever!"

Kerry grinned, glad of some light relief. She sat up as Duncan placed them in her arms, narrowly avoiding poking some of the foliage up Meadows’ nose.

"Aw, thanks," Kerry said, amazed at how many different types of flower Duncan had managed to jam in. "So many!"

"Yeah, I wasn’ sure what sort yeh liked best so I got a couple of everythin’," he nodded wisely. There’s quite a few white roses in there though. I know yeh like them, bein’ from Yorkshire an’ all," he added, turning slightly pink.

"How are you bearing up?" Meadows asked, grateful for the opportunity to get a word in.

"Yeah," Kerry nodded. "I’m fine. I just want to get back to work."

"Steady on! You’re off for at least two weeks as of now."

"Oh, Gov, no! I need to get back; I want to take my mind off it all …"

"Kerry, you need time …"

"No I don’t! Really, I know you’re only thinking of me, but being stuck here or at home is going to drive me crazy! Please?"

Meadows thought for a moment, wishing that Kerry would stop staring at him with such pleading eyes.

"Alright, one week, then. But paperwork only for a while, ok? And that’s as long as I’m a hundred percent sure you’re up to the job."

Kerry smiled and nodded. "Ok. Thanks, Gov. How’s Debbie doing?"

"She’s going to be fine," Meadows smiled, obviously much more concerned than he was trying to let on. "She’s not woken up yet but they’ve said that’s normal, she should soon. They can’t say for sure how long she’ll need to stay here, but yeah, she’ll be all right."

There was a moment’s silence, then Meadows shuffled his chair a little closer to Kerry and looked a little awkward. "Kerry … I know this is going to be hard for you, but I have to ask you about the little girl … Eve. We need to try to find out who she was and contact her family."

Kerry took a deep breath, steeling herself for the inevitable. "They’ve found her body, then?"

"I’m afraid not," Meadows shook his head. "That could take a while yet, I’m afraid. Did she tell you her surname?"

Kerry shook her head wordlessly.

"Ok. It’s just that no children with that name have been reported missing within as much as the last two months, so it’s not as easy as we thought," he said apologetically. "Would you have any reason to think she might have given you a false name?"

"None that I can think of. But then if she was a runaway, having been sexually abused, I suppose we can’t rule anything out," she added, somewhat bitterly.

"No," Meadows nodded in agreement. We’re about to put an appeal out, I think it’s just about our only option left."

Just then, a nurse popped his head around the curtain. "Mr. Meadows? Miss McAllister has just woken up. Thought you’d like to know."

"Thank you," Meadows replied, a smile of relief spreading across his face. "I’ll be back soon." He left the cubicle hurriedly, leaving Duncan to settle in the chair.

"Can I see her later?" Kerry asked the nurse, as Meadows’ footsteps died away.

"Sure," the nurse smiled. "She asked the same about you, as it happens, but one visitor at a time, yeah?" He winked and left the cubicle. Kerry’s smile faded as she lay back down, half wishing that Meadows had not brought Eve up again, for now she was all she could think of.

Duncan looked at his watch. "Hey, Kerry, I’m gonna have teh be off, I’m only on a half-hour lunch break."

"That’s ok. Thanks for coming in. And for the flowers … I really appreciate it."

Duncan hesitated for a moment, then leaned over and kissed Kerry on the forehead, his ears a brilliant shade of mauve. "Take care, yeah? I’ll … if yeh like, I’ll help try teh trace the wee girl’s parents. Y’know, to get it out the way, stop the worryin’, yeah?"

Kerry nodded gratefully. She knew she could trust Duncan to handle it sensitively, much better him than Rod Skase or John Boulton. "Thanks, Duncan. See you soon."

~

Thick black smoke was pouring through the ceiling, and she could hardly see anything in front of her. She was running, but in slow motion and kept tripping over things that she could never see in time. A low creaking sound seemed to be following her and finally, as daylight came into view at the end of the tunnel, the ceiling fell through directly above her. Still in slow motion, she looked upwards in terror as the debris hurtled towards her, knowing that death was but a few seconds away…

"Debbie?"

Debbie’s eyes snapped open and her whole body gave a sudden jolt. She gave a weak cry, her heart racing and looked around frantically, breathing in short gasps.

"It’s ok, it’s ok!"

Kerry was sitting on a chair beside Debbie’s bed, holding her hand. A bit on the pale side and looking rather tired, but that didn’t matter. It was just a dream; Kerry was there which meant they had survived. The nightmare still fresh in her mind, Debbie closed her eyes for a moment.

"Dream?"

"Yeah," Debbie murmured, feeling a bit silly. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a nightmare since she was a child, and she certainly wasn’t the sort of person to tell anyone when she did. Yet now it didn’t seem to matter so much. After all, Kerry had been through it all as well.

"Me too, earlier," said Kerry. "I didn’t tell anyone else though, I guess it’s hard to understand unless …" Her sentence did not require an ending.

"I see you’ve had flower therapy too," she commented, gesturing towards a large bunch of pink and white flowers on the table beside her.

"Yeah," Debbie said again, allowing herself a small smile as she remembered the shade of magenta that Meadows had turned when giving them to her. "At least it makes the place smell a bit less of floor cleaner."

There was a long silence, then Debbie looked to Kerry with tear-filled eyes. "Kerry? How did we survive? It just seems … I don’t know, like none of it was real."

"I’ve been thinking the same all day," Kerry sighed. "Specially when …" she paused. How much had Meadows told her?

"What did DCI Meadows tell you …? About what happened last night?"

Debbie knew what was coming. "About the kid, you mean? Yeah, he told me," she sniffed bitterly. "And I thought she was the one of us most likely to get out alive. I suppose she’s … she’s been found by now?"

"No," Kerry shook her head, looking at the floor. "Not yet."

Debbie turned away, covering her eyes with her hand as Kerry gave the other a gentle squeeze. "It’s all right. I went through this stage last night in the ambulance."

"You know," Debbie said finally, taking a long, shuddering breath. "I think she saved my life last night. And you of course. She did everything she could to keep me awake. Made me more comfy, talked … I’d swear she was singing at one point. I don’t remember anything after that. But I was definitely calmer than I would have been without her, that’s probably what kept me conscious for so long. It’s crazy, I mean a child behaving like that and staying so together? And after she’d been through so much herself!"

"Duncan said he’d help to try to trace her family," said Kerry, after a short silence. "By the look of it she wasn’t from this area, ‘cause there’s no missing children by that name around here. Either that or she hasn’t been reported missing yet … I guess it’s only a matter of time."

"They’ll be proud of her when they hear what she did," Debbie nodded, her voice wavering. "Not many adults are that brave."

A sudden thought struck her. "You’ve still got the necklace?"

Kerry had forgotten all about it until now and quickly reached up to her jacket pocket, only to realize that she was still wearing a hospital gown. "Oh my god," she gasped. "What would they have done with it?"

"Is there a cupboard beside your bed like this one?"

"I don’t know … oh, yes, yes there is … I’ll have to go check."

She looked around for a free nurse and eventually managed to attract the attention of a young man with spiky blonde hair. "Could you help me back to my ward, I need to check something."

"Sure," the nurse smiled, disappearing around a corner for a moment, then reappearing pushing an empty wheelchair. Kerry and Debbie exchanged glances.

"I know," Kerry muttered. "It’s bloody embarrassing but they won’t let me loose on crutches ‘til tomorrow. They probably think I’ll try to make a run for it."

The nurse laughed as he helped Kerry to stand up and manoeuvre herself into the chair. "I wouldn’t blame you if you did," he chuckled. "Two days of raspberry jelly and everyone’s desperate to escape!"

"I’ll be back later," said Kerry. "Take care, yeah?" They looked at each other for a moment, their eyes acknowledging a mutual understanding.

"You too," Debbie smiled vaguely as Kerry was wheeled out of sight.

As soon as they arrived back in her cubicle, Kerry had barely sat back on the bed when she asked the nurse him to look in the cupboard and check that her jacket was there.

"Expensive, was it?" he asked as he rummaged around.

"It’s not the jacket," Kerry said exasperatedly, "I don’t give a damn about the jacket, it’s something in the pocket I need."

The nurse found the jacket without much trouble and passed it to Kerry who felt the pocket without reaching inside. "It’s there," she sighed with relief. "Thanks."

"No probs," the nurse said cheerfully, reversing the wheelchair back out of the cubicle and around a corner, leaving Kerry alone.

She carefully unbuttoned the pocket and reached inside. Her fingers closed around the tiny, cold object and drew it out, releasing a breath she didn’t even realize she had been holding. The little semi-heart on its thin metal chain … she hadn’t been able to see it properly in the dim light of the basement but now she could make out the letters quite clearly. The half she held bore the letters ‘Som,’ and then ‘Spec’. The other half of the necklace would complete the words.

"Someone special," Kerry murmured, smiling sadly. "Yes, you most certainly were."

She clasped the necklace in both hands and lay back down on the bed, gazing at it fondly and feeling a little less guilty. Eve’s last wish was going to be fulfilled. She would see to that personally.

~

~

Kerry sat at her desk, finishing off a particularly tedious piece of paperwork about a burglary committed by two young men who were obviously not cut out to be villains, having forgotten to pick up their bag of stolen goods on their way out. Typing the last full stop on the report, she leaned back in her chair, stretched and gazed out of the window at the sky. Sipping her coffee, she was all too aware that it had been exactly one month since the incident but still found her thoughts often drifting back to the dark desolation of the basement, often at very inopportune moments. Debbie was still not back at work and would not be for some time yet, but was at least allowed to go home from hospital and Kerry stopped by several nights a week after work. All they had been through had brought them close enough to consider each other friends rather than colleagues and Debbie had promised not to wield too much power over Kerry once she was back at work and became her boss once more. They were able to talk about what had happened without getting too upset and had been a great source of comfort to each other, despite the fact that one mystery stayed unsolved: Eve’s body remained unfound.

The office block had been so badly damaged that it was decided to demolish its remains and start again. Naturally, the basement was cleared as well, and the secret passage was filled in as well, for safety, but in doing so, no body was found. This was little comfort, since there was little doubt Eve was dead, but perhaps in a way that was a good thing because there had been no luck in tracing her family at all and the case was all but closed. Nobody else seemed all that bothered about the whole thing now and sometimes it seemed that the little girl who had saved their lives would remain a mystery forever.

Kerry was just about to pack up and go home when Claire Stanton wandered across the room towards her and perched on the desk.

"You ok?"

Kerry nodded. "Just about to knock off, Sarge."

"You just looked a bit…I don’t know, upset? Thoughtful?"

"Nah, it’s fine," Kerry shrugged, getting up and reaching for her jacket. "Was just thinking about stuff, you know."

"If you’re sure," Claire smiled. "Oh, and I was going to mention it, thought you might be interested. They’ve finally identified that skeleton you came across. It was a kid who went missing back in the 60s, believe it or not. They’re about to launch an enquiry and someone will have to inform the parents tomorrow but I’ll keep that away from you, yeah? I think you’ve had more than your fair share along those lines already."

"Thanks, Sarge," Kerry said gratefully. "Just out of interest, could I see the report?"

"Sure," said Claire, retrieving a large brown envelope from her desk. "It’s all in there. Just pop it back on my desk when you’ve finished with it; I’ve got to get going."

"See you tomorrow," said Kerry, opening the envelope. Since she’d done the dirty work, literally, in discovering the damn thing, she told herself, she might as well know who it was who had given her so much trouble.

As she scanned the report, a photograph of the skull fell out of the middle, along with details of the dental records used to identify its owner. Paper clipped to it was another photo, in colour but obviously quite old and fading, of a little girl aged about ten with long black silky hair and bright green eyes. Eve Jordan.

Kerry froze. She flicked through the other papers looking for something else, anything to convince herself that she wasn’t going mad. She sat slowly back down and held the photograph in trembling hands, and staring at it for what seemed like hours until suddenly she got up, still holding it, and left the office.

Open file, missing persons, she thought as she sat down at a free computer. Search on Eve Jordan, within the last year. Nothing. Last five years … nothing. Last fifty years…?

Eve Jordan, age twelve, registered missing May 9^th 1963.

Still half wondering if she was dreaming, Kerry read the document and report Claire had given her word for word, several times over. It could not be right, she told herself, there has to have been a mistake, but the little girl’s dazzling green eyes seemed to bore into her even when she looked away. She even telephoned the pathologist to ask if there could possibly have been an error but it was quickly confirmed that no, everything was in order.

Kerry sat back in the chair, still holding the photograph, expecting to wake up at any moment. If it was true, as it had been confirmed that it was, then there could only be one explanation. But that was ridiculous, it didn’t bear thinking about.

Something made her look particularly closely at the photograph and her eyes widened as her gaze fell upon something the child was wearing. A necklace. A silver necklace that was one half of a heart. Kerry gasped out loud and pushed her chair away from the desk. This could not be happening. It dawned on her how ludicrous this would sound if she were to present her findings to a senior officer; she would probably be given sick leave and a direct order to seek psychiatric help. But maybe there was one person who would not think she was mad…

Kerry sorted the papers, quietly photocopied them and put the originals neatly back in the brown envelope before leaving them as requested on Claire Stanton’s desk. Her heart pounding, she managed to say a cheery "goodnight" to a couple of people left in the office before getting into her car and setting off to see the one person who could back up her story.

~

"Coming!" Debbie called as the doorbell rang for the second time. She opened the door and gave a sigh of relief as Kerry came into view. "Thought you might be a double glazing salesman," she smirked as she gestured for Kerry to come inside.

"Um, is this a bad time?" Kerry asked, noticing that Debbie was wearing only a silky green dressing gown and had rather damp hair. "Didn’t get you out the shower, did I?"

"Nah, it’s ok, came out about ten minutes ago," Debbie shrugged. "I was hoping you’d pop round, it’s getting really boring being stuck here. I’m not even supposed to drive for another week. Coffee?"

"Yeah, thanks," Kerry smiled restrainedly, following her into the kitchen. "Look, I need to talk to you about something, something I found out today."

"Oh yes?" Debbie murmured absent-mindedly as she filled the kettle.

"Better wait ‘til you’re sitting down, though."

Debbie looked up with a sly grin. "That good, huh? Well, I think you’ll find I’m pretty unshockable these days. Let me guess; Reg found growing weed in his greenhouse? Rod been caught wearing his grandmother’s underwear? Am I warm?"

Kerry couldn’t help laughing. "No, nothing like that! That wouldn’t surprise me too much really…but no, no, it’s a bit more, um … delicate than that."

As they made themselves comfortable on Debbie’s squashy sofa, Kerry started to feel scared. What if she had made a really obvious mistake and was about to make a fool of herself?

"Come on then, I’m sitting down and I promise not to drop my coffee," Debbie said slightly impatiently. "It can’t be that bad," she added, noticing that Kerry had turned rather pale.

"It’s … it’s about Eve," Kerry said slowly. "Something impossible has happened."

Debbie looked hopeful. "She’s been found alive?"

"No," Kerry shook her head, and Debbie could tell that whatever it was Kerry had to say was causing her great difficulty. "She’s definitely dead …"

"They found her body?" Debbie suggested in an attempt to help.

"No…well, yes, I suppose they have but not in the way we had in mind …"

"Sorry, Kerry, I have no idea what you’re trying to say," Debbie said, totally confused. "They’ve found her body but they haven’t … what do you mean?"

Kerry thrust the wad of paper into Debbie’s hand. "Read this," she said, her voice trembling. "Claire Stanton showed me earlier and I photocopied it. Just read it and tell me I’m not going mad."

Debbie took a sip of her coffee as she scanned the first sheet. "Don’t skip any; read every word," Kerry added.

For a while, Debbie read on, as she would any other document. After a minute or so, however, she started to look confused and put her coffee down on the table beside her. Then her eyes widened as she studied the photograph and she looked between the two pieces of paper in disbelief. Finally she looked up at Kerry, unable to speak but her expression rendered words unnecessary.

"The original is in colour," Kerry said quietly, gesturing towards the photograph. Her hair was black and her eyes were bright green."

"So … so … this means … no! No, Kerry, this is impossible!"

"I know. But it’s still true, isn’t it? Eve died forty years ago."

"NO! It CAN’T be! There must have been a mix-up, it’s the only explanation." Debbie put the papers down on the coffee table and folded her arms, refusing to take it in.

"I phoned the pathologist, Debbie. It’s for real."

Debbie took a few deep breaths to calm herself, then picked up the photograph again. She knew it was Eve, as did Kerry, but how could it be?

"It is her, isn’t it?" said Kerry gently. It was a statement, not a question.

Debbie was about to argue the point and try to come up with a plausible explanation but then paused and looked at Kerry who gave a weak but unyielding smile.

Debbie gave a weak nod, years of experience suddenly useless. "It’s her."

There followed a long silence, both women well aware that what they were both thinking was implausible and impossible. There was no solid evidence, nobody else had seen Eve, therefore it was just their word against scientific fact.

"You don’t think we were hallucinating?" Debbie said suddenly.

"Both of us? Hallucinate the same thing? "And she was solid," said Kerry. "She helped me walk … we both touched her!"

Debbie took another sip of coffee, only to find it had gone cold. "We couldn’t have saved her," she murmured, still trying to take it in. "Whatever happened she was never going to escape with us …"

"Because she was already dead." Kerry finished the sentence, though still not entirely trusting herself. "And that’s why she gave me the necklace." She picked up the pathologist’s report and scanned it again. ‘Cause of death will probably never be established for sure, but some trauma to the back of the head is likely to be of significance. Almost certainly not accidental.’ A man was brought in for questioning in connection with her disappearance, one Graham North, but was released without charge. That’s him. It would make sense."

"We need to go though this," Debbie said, sitting up and putting the papers back in the right order. "And things she said to us. We have to make sure everything is in order before we decide what to do next. We have to think of everything she said to us - the technicalities, the little things – we can’t overlook anything. Once we’ve got the whole picture it might make a little more sense."

"Right. Well, for a start, the passage. Why was it there and how on earth did her body end up hidden in the wall for forty years?"

"We’ll have to look that up tomorrow," Debbie nodded slowly, rising. "Someone will know. It’ll be in the architecture when and why it was built, though how Eve’s body got there is another matter; that’ll be harder. And remember she said this Graham bloke died some time ago so we can’t exactly bring him in for questioning. Another coffee?"

"Yeah, why not," Kerry smiled through a yawn. She had a feeling it was going to be a rather long night.

~

The day dawned bright and clear and it was still early when gentle rays of sunlight peeked through the curtains, finding two slumbering figures curled up on the sofa amid various papers, pens, notebooks and empty mugs. As the room brightened, there was a sudden but soft beeping noise coming from some distance, jerking them both out of sleep.

Kerry jumped, surprised to find herself in a foetal position at the end of a sofa that certainly wasn’t hers, using a small red cushion as a pillow and a few scattered sheets of paper in place of her duvet. She sat up as it dawned on her where she was, only to find Debbie in almost the exact same position at the other end of the sofa, not looking her usual preened self with a groggy expression and hair everywhere.

"That’s my alarm clock," she murmured, shuffling off the sofa and disappearing into her bedroom. Seconds later, the beeping stopped and she re-emerged.

"I didn’t mean to stay over," Kerry yawned, smiling sheepishly. "I don’t remember going to sleep, it just kind of happened…"

"Yeah," Debbie nodded, sitting back down. "Oh yeah … weren’t we contemplating the meaning of life at that point? I think we got a bit over-tired; we kept going off on tangents after about 2am."

Kerry rubbed her eyes. "That’s it. We paused for a moment of quiet reflection and …"

"And here we are," Debbie replied, flopping back into the sofa. "Quiet reflection isn’t good. Bad idea. Sleep inducing."

There was a moment’s pause.

"That stuff last night," she began again, suddenly a lot more awake, "Does it still make sense to you? Do you still think it’s worth following up or are we both round the bend?"

Kerry had a quick look through the crumpled sheets of paper bearing notes they had made last night. "It makes a lot of sense," she said finally. "We’re right and we know it – it wasn’t our imagination; this really happened."

"Good," Debbie nodded quickly. "Just checking. What time is it now?"

"Five past seven. Ok, how about I nip back to mine, have a shower and stuff, then come back, pick you up and we go from there. Oh, hold on, you’re not supposed to be back at work – what shall we …?"

"I’ll sweet talk the DCI," Debbie dismissed the problem with a wave of her hand as if this was something she did on a regular basis. "I’ll think of something, don’t worry. But," she hesitated, "I’m not sure we should tell anyone else about this, not the … you know."

Kerry shook her head reassuringly. "Let’s face it, nobody in their right mind would believe us. Everyone else has more or less forgotten her. Probably best it’s kept just between the two of us – or … or three, in a way, I suppose …?"

Debbie smiled. "Yes … yes, I think you’re probably right."

~

Two hours later, Debbie and Kerry had found themselves a room somewhere upstairs at the station with a free computer and telephone. Few people had arrived yet, so fortunately hardly anyone stopped Debbie to welcome her back or ask why she had returned early. Kerry had already slipped a note onto Claire Stanton’s desk requesting that nothing was done regarding ‘the skeleton’ until she had spoken to her and also mentioning that she was ‘following up a lead – very important’ so she would be late into work.

"Right, so we need to find out …" Debbie pulled a notebook out of her handbag, "When the passage was built, whether Graham North really did work in the building, and what it was back then, and how Eve’s body could possibly have been concealed down there without anyone else noticing."

"Well, it won’t be any good calling the office, seeing as it’s not there any more," Kerry raised an eyebrow while flicking through the telephone book. "Better try the council, I suppose."

Suddenly the door opened and they both spun around to see Jack Meadows standing in the doorway, his mouth open in surprise.

"Debbie!?"

"Hello, Gov."

"What are you doing back? You’ve got another two weeks of leave!" His voice was a strange mixture of concern and barely disguised happiness.

"I know," Debbie began slowly. "I’m not actually back yet, I’m just, uh … following up a lead that won’t wait ‘til I get back for real. Won’t take long," she added with a persuasive smile. "You won’t tell Mr. Brownlow, will you?"

Meadows gave her a disapproving look. "He’s not in today," he sighed. "Just as well, for your sake. I don’t suppose either of you want to tell me what this is about?" he narrowed his eyes and looked back and forth between them.

"Not really," Kerry muttered.

"It might be nothing, Gov," said Debbie, nonchalantly. "But if anything comes of it, you’ll be the first to know." She gave him a winning grin as he raised an eyebrow and closed the door behind him.

~

"So it all fits?" Debbie pushed her chair back from the desk and looked up at the ceiling. "Every bloody word."

Kerry switched the computer off, perched on the desk and nodded. "Yes. All true."

"So the tunnel was meant to be an extension?" Debbie pondered.

"Yep," Kerry nodded again, pushing the telephone away. "The guy said that according to the plans it was going to be additional space for the basement; storage or whatever, but when they got that far it was discovered that they didn’t have planning permission for the space they were hollowing out; it belonged to someone else. They’d just turned a corner when they were ordered to stop. It was left as it was in the hope that they’d get permission, but it never happened and it was just … left as it was.

"So the manhole …?"

"… was an emergency exit for the builders," Kerry continued. "It was never meant to be permanent but, like the tunnel, it seems to have just been forgotten about. Incredible, isn’t it. But then, there are no pipes, cables, anything…they’d have had no reason to dig up the road and find it, not in that exact spot, anyway."

"So the building was stopped as soon as permission was denied," Debbie said slowly, working her way through the details. "And the bit they’d just dug, around the corner, collapsed just after that because it wasn’t finished. Of course…if they were just going to leave it all there, that wouldn’t have been a big deal – and if something had been hidden in there, then buried, deliberately, I think we can assume, nobody would find it for years."

"Exactly. He even added that a few people who worked there up until last month didn’t like going down there because they claimed it was haunted. Laughed about it on the phone, of course, but…?"

"Oh God," Debbie sighed, putting a hand over her eyes.

"And since Graham North did work there, he’d have had the opportunity whenever the place was left overnight," Kerry added. "Would have been risky, but possible. Died of lung cancer in 1967. There must be some way to prove this, you know."

"How?" Debbie folded her arms. "Where’s our evidence? ‘Oh yes, Sir, we have it on very good authority from the ghost of the victim!"

Kerry managed a weak smile at the absurdity of the whole thing. "Good point."

"I mean, it will be investigated," said Debbie. "We are looking at a murder, after all, but we have no solid evidence whatsoever. We know it’s true," she added, "but we could never prove it."

"And it’s not as if he could be charged," Kerry sighed. "He died in … yes, 1967, only a few years afterwards. Maybe they will find some evidence now they’ve found the body, after all he was only questioned, never arrested or anything."

There was a noise outside the door, followed by a knock and Claire Stanton appeared.

"Ah, here you are – DCI Meadows said I might find you here. Said you’ve been in here for ages; what’s …? Oh, welcome back, Debbie."

"Thanks," Debbie smiled.

"Anyway, I got your note," Claire said to Kerry. "No problem. We’ve found the mother of the missing girl; she still lives locally so someone will have to pop round and tell her. It’s ten to two now…"

"We’ll do it," said Kerry instantly, looking quickly at Debbie who nodded in agreement.

"Are you sure?" Claire asked, obviously taken aback. I wasn’t going to ask either of you, in light of … well, you know. I was about to do it myself if nobody else is free."

"No," Debbie said. "Please, let us. We … well, Kerry found her technically, and we’d, uh, we’d like to see it through to the end if that’s all right."

Claire looked puzzled, but after a moment seemed to understand. "Ok, if you’re sure. There will be a full investigation of course, do warn her, ‘cause it’s likely to be dredged up again."

"Right," said Kerry, somewhat shakily. "We’ll … go and take care of that, then." Claire smiled uncertainly and left the room.

"Ready?"

Debbie stood slowly and pulled her jacket on. "As ready as I’ll ever be."

~

The door opened slowly, obviously on a security chain and opened a little way. An elderly woman peered cautiously at Debbie and Kerry though her spectacles.

The two women looked at each other quickly and both realized that the other was thinking the same; they had both pictured Eve’s mother as being in her late twenties or early thirties, though now, of course, she was more like sixty-five.

"Um … hello, are you Mrs. Jordan? Barbara Jordan?"

"Yes," said the woman, looking slightly wary. "Can I help you?"

"I’m DS McAllister and this is DC Holmes," said Debbie, producing her warrant card. "Could we please come in for a moment, we need to talk to you about something."

"Could I see that again, please, dear," Mrs. Jordan asked. "You can’t be too careful these days, can you?"

"That’s very sensible of you, Mrs. Jordan," Kerry said, then immediately hoped she hadn’t sounded too patronizing; something she knew she was often guilty of.

"Oh yes, that’s fine," the old woman smiled, handing the warrant card back to Debbie. "Do come in. Would you like a cup of tea?"

"I won’t, thanks," said Debbie, surprised how on edge she was already and did not want to delay the inevitable any longer. A glance towards Kerry told her she was feeling exactly the same.

"Mrs. Jordan … this is rather a sensitive matter," Debbie began slowly, "And I’d rather you were sitting down."

The old woman’s expression suddenly turned from cheerful and friendly to one of great fear.

"Not Steven? Not my son? Oh no, there’s been an accident?"

"No, no!" said Kerry, hurriedly. "Nothing like that." She suddenly realised that actually, yes it was something like that, though of course, not her son.

"Oh, thank goodness for that," Mrs. Jordan sighed, sitting down in her armchair. "I’m sorry, dears, I’ve always been a bit paranoid like that. He’s the only family I’ve got, you see, now my husband’s passed away. Though not for long; my first grandchild is due in the next couple of months," she added, smiling proudly.

Kerry perched on the settee opposite Mrs. Jordan, already able to feel her heart beating faster than usual. Debbie felt too restless to sit down but eventually did so anyway, for the old woman’s sake if not her own.

"That’s them, there," Mrs. Jordan pointed at a silver-framed photograph on the mantelpiece depicting a handsome young man in his late twenties with his arm around a slightly younger woman with flowing red hair who was visibly pregnant. Kerry and Debbie looked, smiling obligingly, but then Kerry’s eyes strayed to another photograph beside it, a much older one of a little girl …

She gasped, but quickly disguised it as a cough, noticing that Debbie was now gazing in that direction too, her eyes widening slightly.

"That was my daughter," the old woman said, smiling but with obvious sadness. "Was taken from me, sadly, a long time ago …"

"We know," Kerry blurted out, a little too suddenly.

"Actually, Mrs. Jordan, that’s why we’re here," Debbie said gently, but with a slight tremble in her voice. "It’s about Eve."

For a moment, there was silence. Debbie and Kerry were almost too on edge to move at all and stayed sitting but hardly daring to breathe. Mrs. Jordan sat up slightly in her chair, though still looking alarmingly calm.

"Eve …" she murmured. "Her body’s been found, hasn’t it?"

Again, there was silence, and neither Kerry nor Debbie dared even look at each other. Finally, fighting her building emotions back, Debbie nodded.

"Yes, it has." she said. "I’m sorry."

The old woman sat back in her chair, took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "I must say, I’m quite surprised," she said eventually. "After this long I didn’t expect that she would ever be found. I must admit, never knowing all this time has been … wearing."

"And not even knowing if she was alive," said Kerry, sympathetically.

"Oh, I always knew she was … wasn’t alive," replied Mrs. Jordan, matter-of-factly. When you have children you can sense that sort of thing. People kept telling me there was always hope that she’d be found alive, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. So," she said after a long sigh. "Where has she been all this time?"

"This is going to sound a little strange," Kerry began tentatively, "But you know the council offices in town, just off the high street?" She was about to continue when the old woman interrupted.

"You mean where that explosion happened a few weeks ago? I saw about that on the news … something about an underground tunnel that had been sealed off for nearly forty years. I presume that’s where …?"

"That’s right, yes," said Kerry regretfully, looking at the floor.

"Mmm, yes, I suppose that would make sense. Someone we thought might have been involved used to work there. It would be hard to prove now, though; he died a few years afterwards himself. I suppose there will be a murder enquiry now, assuming of course that it wasn’t just an accident …?"

"It, um, doesn’t look like it, no." Debbie bit her lip. "So yes, I’m afraid it’s likely that you’ll be asked some more questions by our colleagues."

"That place … that was where those two policewomen were trapped, wasn’t it?" Mrs. Jordan said suddenly. "Lucky escape, I hear. They were from your station too, I think; do you know them?"

There was an awkward pause. Kerry and Debbie looked at each other.

"Actually," Kerry said uncertainly after a moment, "that was us."

"Really?" Mrs. Jordan looked shocked. "I only asked because I wondered if it was them, or rather, you who found her. Are you both all right now?"

"We’re fine, thanks," Debbie smiled reassuringly. "Kerry’s back to normal and I’m back to work in a fortnight. But yes, it was us, well, Kerry who found the s… Eve."

"It’s all right," the old woman smiled sadly, fully aware of what Debbie had almost said. "After forty years there wouldn’t be anything else, would there? I hope it didn’t, you know, alarm you too much. She was just like that though; always making jokes, laughing… full of life. And bright as a button; she wanted to be in the police when she grew up. She would have, too, you know …" she faltered and closed her eyes for a moment.

"Shall I get you a glass of water?" Kerry asked quickly, making to rise.

"No, no thank you, dear," said Mrs. Jordan, quietly blowing her nose in a handkerchief. "I’ll be all right. Well, I’m very grateful to you for finding her, even though I dare say it wasn’t deliberate," she added with a small smile. "At last, I know what happened to my little girl. Both of us will be able to sleep soundly now. If there is anything up there," she mused, looking out of the window up at the sky, "She’ll be with her father. And in a few years we’ll all be together again."

Kerry swallowed hard, feeling her eyes prickle, then reached slowly into her pocket.

"There is one other thing," she said quietly. She drew out the necklace and, unable to think of anything to say, simply lay it out on her hand and leaned over to show Mrs. Jordan. The old woman adjusted her glasses to look closely at it and as she did so, her eyes grew wide and she put a hand over her mouth in surprise.

"My goodness," she whispered. "I’d forgotten all about this. It was a present for her tenth birthday, which of course would turn out to be … her last birthday. Wait a moment."

She stood slowly and walked across the room to a tiny set of drawers perched on the sideboard next to a vase of flowers. She opened the middle one, removed a small, yellowing envelope and gingerly tipped the contents into her hand. Then she returned to her chair where Kerry and Debbie were waiting, both unsure of what was coming next.

"Here," she said softly, opening her hand to show them. In her palm lay a necklace almost identical to the one Kerry held, except it was its mirror image and the letters read "one" and below it, "cial". With trembling fingers, Kerry gently laid her half beside it so that the heart was completed and the words read "Someone Special."

"She was, you know," the old woman smiled, as a tear meandered slowly down her wrinkled face. She really was."

~

It was already beginning to get dark as Debbie and Kerry walked slowly up the street towards the car. Although the winter sky was still relatively blue, a dark haze seemed to glow around everything and the moon was already shining way above them. They walked in silence for a while; too wrapped up in their thoughts to say anything out loud.

They reached the car at the top of the hill, where a small grassy area provided a beautiful view, which stretched right across the valley onto the town below. Kerry unlocked it and was about to open the door when she paused and instead leaned on the roof, looking across at Debbie, who was doing the same thing and was obviously in deep thought.

"Do you think it’s true?" she asked quietly. "That Eve couldn’t … ‘move on’ as such, until her family found out what had happened to her?"

Debbie shook her head, looking away. "I don’t know, Kerry. I don’t know what I believe any more." She moved around to the front of the car and perched on the bonnet, looking out over the valley. After a moment, Kerry joined her.

"This was bound to change us," she said gently. "I keep finding myself thinking about things I would have just dismissed as rubbish before. And you," she added, with a smile, "I finally find you’re human after all!"

Debbie looked up sharply, but with a sheepish grin. "Say that in the office and I’ll have you on paperwork for a month! But … you’re right. I never let things in, I never let things affect me. I suppose it’s always been my way of coping," she added, somewhat regretfully.

"We all have different ways, of coping," Kerry shrugged. "But maybe this whole thing will have done us some good. It sounds corny but I do feel like I’ve got to know myself a bit better lately. And at least now, we know that … that there is something more out there.

"It just took an explosion and a near-death experience to make us realize it," Debbie said with a hollow laugh. "And a kid who’d been dead for forty years."

Kerry looked up at the sky, which was now darker and scattered with countless stars. "I just hope she’s happy now, wherever she is," she smiled sadly.

As they gazed across the valley, a bright star in the distance suddenly streaked across the sky in front of them; a flash of light which lit up the tableau for a split second before vanishing behind the moon, disappearing forever into eternity.