The darkest day

 

 

Dale Smith lifted his head of his pillow, as soon as he moved; it felt like his head had been split in two. He groaned and lied back down, closing his eyes and drifting back to the wonderful land of sleep.

  5 Minutes later the alarm filled the room, with its annoying beep. He rolled over and slammed his hand down on the off button, the movement caused his stomach to churn, and he jumped out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. He was never going to drink again, he told himself…

 

 

*~*~*

 

“Tony and Cass, you’re in the area car,” Monroe told them, during the briefing, “Dale, Nick you’re in the panda… where’s Smiffy?”

 

The officers, looked around at each other, no one had seen him.

 

“Anyone?” Monroe asked.

 

“Maybe he’s running late?” Nick suggested, shrugging.

 

“Well, he was in a bit of a state last night,” Cass laughed.

 

“That’s not helping, Cass…” The inspector rolled his eyes.

 

“Right, sir…” Cass forced herself to stop laughing, “sorry..”

Just then the door crashed open and Smiffy ran in, “sorry, I’m late, sir…”

 

“Ah Smiffy, your ears must be burning,” Monroe said sarcastically.

 

“Huh?” Smiffy frowned, as he tucked in his shirt and clipped his tie on.

 

“Never mind, you’re with Nick today…” Monroe told him.

 

“Right, sir…”

 

“And don’t be late again!” He warned.

 

“Sir…” Smiffy nodded causing more pain to stab through his brain.

 

 

“Feeling a bit ruff?” Nick grinned at him as they walked out.

 

“Get lost!” He glared at the other PC.

 

“You’re not going to be like this the whole shift, are you?” Nick sighed.

 

“Like what?!”

 

“Like a bear with a soar head?” He told him.

 

“He is a bear with a soar head, aren’t ya, Smiffy…” Tony said coming up behind them. Smiffy wanted to reply something that was smart and witty but it was too early to come up with anything.

 

“See, told you, you couldn’t hold ya drink…” Cass added.

 

“I’m going to get a coffee. I‘ll meet you in the yard.” Smiffy glared at them and then stormed off.

 

“Oh great!” Nick threw his hands up in the air, “just brilliant!”

 

“What?” Tony asked him.

 

“You two just put him a worse mood!”

 

“Come on, we were only messing around,” Cass grinned.

 

“Yeah, but you’re not the one who has to work with him!” He told them.

 

“Ah well… love to help you out, Nick…” Tony said, patting him on the back, as they both head for the door,  “but duty calls.”

 

“Oh great, just brilliant,” He muttered again and went to wait in the yard.

 

 

Nick watched Smiffy walking down the ramp carefully, with his cup of coffee in one hand and a box of tablets in the other. His face looked like thunder and it looked like it was going to stay like that.

   Nick tried to hide a smile when the other PC winced in pain, as he slammed the door shut.

 

“What!?” Smiffy looked over at him.

 

“Nothing…” Nick replied, starting up the car, “didn’t get me a coffee then…”

 

“You never asked…” Smiffy said, struggling with the packet of aspirin.

 

“You never offered…”

 

“Well, if you’re that bothered stop of somewhere…” Smiffy told him, swallowing two tablets with a mouthful of coffee.

 

“No, no.. Its fine..”

 

Smiffy carried on drinking his drink, he had finished after about three mouthfuls, “why is the coffee so terrible at Sun Hill?” 

 

“Well, that machine is about 20 years old…” Nick predicted, “probably there when Jim Carver was a probationer….”

“Well then isn’t it about time we got a new one?” He muttered, “actually there’s no way… Brownlow wouldn’t fork out on something like that… the tight little…”

 

“We should raised the money ourselves,” Nick suggested, cutting him off in mid sentence.

 

Smiffy gave him, his best ‘what a stupid idea’ look and then turned back to the window.

 

“Oh come on, it could be laugh,” Nick told him but then continued when Smiffy refused to look at him, “we could do a footie competition or something…”

 

“Football?” Smiffy repeated, looking at him, “don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna see Tony Stamp or Reg Hollis in shorts!”

 

“Alright, then not football…” Nick wished he never said anything, “what about Pool or snooker or something…”

 

Smiffy rolled his eyes and let out a huge sigh. Nick decided that he should leave it and talk to the others at Refs. Smiffy was in too much of a bad mood to have a sensible conversation with.

 

“833 from Sierra Oscar,” Polly Page’s voice drifted out of the PR.

 

“Go ahead, Polly,” Smiffy spoke into the PR.

 

“What’s your location?”

 

“We’re just heading down Rudkin Road…” He told her.

 

“Can you go over to Hoxton Road, an assault is taking place…”

 

“All received…” Smiffy sighed.

 

“Come on, Smiffy.. Cheer up, a good fight will do you good,” Nick told him, as he swung the car around and head towards Hoxton Road, “get the blood pumping.”

 

“Just shut up and drive…” Smiffy snapped, massaging his throbbing head.

 

 

*~*~*

 

“Don? You found Thomson, yet?” Jack Meadows asked as he entered the CID office. Gary Thomson was the leader of an armed gang that robbed a bank, Don Beech had managed to catch the rest of the gang, but Thomson has disappeared.

 

“Not yet, Guv…” Don informed him, “but I was going to talk to you about that….”

 

“Oh yeah, why don’t I like the feeling of this?” Jack asked.

 

“No, Guv… hear me out…” Don pleaded, “Thomson is bound to go back to his flat, to get clothes, money, whatever…”

 

“Yeah, that’s possible…”

 

“Let me set an obbo up?” Don asked.

 

“I don’t think so…” Jack told him.

 

“Come on, Guv…”

“Don, I don’t think you realise the situation I have at the moment, with lack of staff…” Meadows sighed, “Geoff’s in court all week, Duncan and Danny are working on that OD case, Claire’s on leave and John’s called in sick….”

 

“John’s sick?” Don repeated.

 

“Yeah, he said he had flu or something…”

 

Claire was on leave at the same time as John was ill..

 

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Doin said a little to loudly.

 

“What?” Jack frowned.

 

“Ermm… nothing…” Don said, and then changed the conversation quickly, “give me a couple of hours, just me and Mickey….”

 

“Alright, you got 2 hours unless something else comes up…” Jack finally agreed.

 

“Cheers, Guv…” Don smiled.

 

 

*~*~*

 

Nick limped behind Smiffy into the canteen, Smiffy headed straight to get a drink while Nick headed over to where the others were sat.

 

“What happened to you?” Cass asked, noticing his limp and black eye.

 

“There was a fight on Hoxton Road…” Nick dropped into one of the chairs.

 

“Yeah and?” Sam prompted.

 

“A bloke and a women having a barmy over 5 quid…” Nick started, “She kicked him, he punched me and they both legged it!”

 

“Aww, no… poor you…” Cass just about managed to say without laughing, like the others were.

 

“Yeah, yeah… very funny…” Nick sulked.

 

“Didn’t Smiffy help you?” Tony asked.

 

“Nah, Action Man was still busy nursing his hangover…”

 

“He let you take a beating, while he just stood there?” Polly frowned, looking over a Smiffy, who was turning green at the sight of ‘The meal of the day.’

 

“I wouldn’t call it a beating…” Nick defended him.

 

“Still, he should have helped you…”

 

“It wasn’t that serious…”

 

“Shut up, he’s coming…” Sam hissed.

 

Smiffy joined them, looking around the table curiously, wondering why the conversation had stopped suddenly.

 

“Everything alright?” He asked.

 

“Yeah, fine…” Cass told him, “Nick was just telling us about his little disagreement with that couple.”

 

“Right…” Smiffy shuttered and then plonked a cup in front of Nick, “here’s that coffee you was going on about this morning…”

 

“Ah right…” Nick was slightly taken back by the gesture, “umm thanks…”

 

“Well if it’s stops your moaning…” He muttered, sitting next to Sam.

 

Nick was about to asked when he had been moaning but decided it was best not to.

 

“Hey, how do you guys feel about a competition or something to raise money for a new coffee machine?” Nick asked, breaking the tense silence.

 

“Coffee machine?” Jim repeated, “we can’t get rid of it, it’s been here years!”

 

“I know!” Nick stated, “that’s why we need a new one.”

 

“Yeah, Nick’s right…” Cass agreed, “that coffee tastes like muck…”

 

“We can do a football match!” Dave suggested.

Nick looked over at Smiffy, who had a eyebrow raised and then looked at Jim, Tony and Reg. Nick nearly choked on his coffee, as he remember what the other PC was saying earlier.

 

“What?” Dave looked at him.

 

“Nothing… I was thinking more of a snooker or pool tournament…” Nick said.

 

“Yeah, that will be good,” Polly agreed, “then everyone can enter.”

 

“We’ll need someone to organise it properly…make sure all the money is paid and sort out who playing, who…” Reg added, “I don’t mind doing it.”

 

There was a chorus of coughs and shouts of ‘No’ around the table.

 

“Maybe, Nick should do it, as it was his idea…” Cass suggested.  

 

“Yeah, well… sure…” Reg said, “Nick?”

 

“Ermm.. Okay…” Nick agreed. “I’ll talk to Monroe later…”

 

“Right, that’s that sorted…” Dave grinned.

 

“What we going to call it?” Jim asked. They all turned around and looked at him.

 

“You what?” Smiffy asked.

 

“Well, we gotta name it…” He told them but then changed his mind when he saw their faces, “haven’t we?”

 

“If you like Jim-Bo…” Nick said, taking a mouthful of coffee.

 

“We can call it Tellooda     …” Ben suggested.

 

“Tellooda?!” Smiffy repeated, as the other collapsed into laughter at the Probationer’s idea. “Where did you get a name like that!?”

 

“It was my Nan’s name…” Ben stared at them.

 

They all stopped laughing and looked at each other.

 

“Tellooda is a nice name…” Dave said.

 

“Yeah, very ermm…” Cass started and paused to think, “interesting.”

 

“Umm… we could do…” Nick said slowly, “but I think we should just stick to idea about raising the money.”

“Yeah, well done, Nick…” Tony said quickly trying to stir the conversation away from names.

 

June Ackland walked into the canteen, “come on, you lot… Refs. Is over..”

 

They all finished their drinks and their food, June look curiously at Nick.

 

“What happened to you?” She asked him.

 

“Oh I was assaulted when we attended a fight on Hoxton Road….” He told her.

 

“You alright to work?” She queried, “do you need to see the FME?”

 

“No, its not that bad…” Nick grinned at her.

 

“What were doing, while this was taking place?” She turned to face Smiffy.

 

“I was… ermm..” Smiffy shuttered, tying to come up with something.

 

“He was talking to a witness…” Nick cut in.

 

“Yeah, yeah.. I was talking to the witness…” Smiffy added.

 

“Right….” June gave them a look, telling she didn’t believe a word they were saying, “did you know who it was?”

“No, Sarge… they ran off…” Nick told her.

 

“Get a description?”

 

“Yeah, but I don’t think it will do any good…” Nick sighed.

 

“Alright, okay,” June nodded, “go on then, off you go..”

 

 

*~*~*

 

Mickey Webb sat next to Don, playing ‘Snakes’ on his mobile and the beeping was getting on Don’s nerves

 

“Mickey, if you don‘t stop that then it‘s going out the window and you‘ll be following!”

 

“Sarge…” Mickey muttered, putting the phone down. 

 

Don leant back against the headrest and looked at his watch, they had half an hour left for the obbo and there was no sign of their man.

 

“You think he’ll show?” Mickey asked.

 

“He’d better or Meadows is going to go mad…” Don muttered.

 

*~*~*

 

Nick looked over at Smiffy and wondered if he was asleep. He didn’t want to say anything to him, just in case he was and he woke him up or he wasn’t and started moaning at him again. Nick was glad for the silence; it gave him chance to think about what he had let himself into by accepting the challenge of sorting at the new coffee machine.

  He heard a man yell out of women’s name, he looked across the other side of the road and noticed a women storming off and a man jumping into a car. Just as he settled back into his chair, he realised who they were, the couple from earlier.

    He started the engine and pulled away, after the car causing Smiffy to wake up.

 

“What’s going on?” He asked.

 

“That bloke from earlier…” Nick told him, “do a check on the car.”

“Come on, Nick…” Smiffy moaned, “just leave it…”

 

“I’m not letting him get away with it!” Nick told him. The car pulled up outside an abounded warehouse and they watched the man, walk in. 

 

“Come on..” Nick said, getting out the car.

 

“Nick! Just leave it!” Smiffy repeated, he really couldn’t be bothered to chasing some around an old warehouse.

 

“I’m not letting your hangover effect the way I do my job…” Nick told him, “stay here or come with me… it’s up to you.”

 

“I’m staying,” Smiffy sulked, crossing his arms across is chest, “do your own stupid work!”

 

 

*~*~*

 

“Don, you get anything?” Meadows asked, when Don and Mickey returned to the office.

 

“No, Guv..” Don admitted, “nothing…”

 

“Ah well, it was worth a shot…” Meadows said.

 

Mickey reached to turn his radio off when Nick Klein’s voice came over it, “Sierra Oscar from 140.. Can I have a check on a car… registration is Romeo, 4, 3, 5 Alpha, Mike, Charlie.”

 

“That’s Thomson’s car….” Mickey said, looking at his DS and DCI.

*~*~*

 

“Stand by, Nick…” The voice of Bob Cryer replied on the radio.

 

Nick wondered into the building, taking his touch out to see where he was going.

 

“HELLO?” He called out but there was no reply.

 

“140 from DCI Meadows…What is your location?”

 

“I’m in the warehouse on the back on Canley Street, I’m chasing a suspect which assaulted me earlier…”

 

“Can you give a description, please?” Jack asked.

 

“IC1, about 5.8, in black jeans and back jumper…. Short brown hair…” Nick froze when he felt something dig into the back of his neck.

 

“Drop the radio…” A voice told him.

 

“Alright, just calm down…” Nick said, slowly putting his PR on the floor and watched a foot stomp on it.

 

“What you doing here?”

 

“I followed you here,” Nick told him, turning around to face him; he began to shake slightly when he saw the gun. “You assaulted me earlier.”

 

“You shouldn’t have come!” He told him, “where’s all your mates?”

“There not here…look, it was only an assault, not even that… you don’t need a gun..” Nick told him.

 

“You don’t know who I am, do you?”

 

“No, I don’t…” Nick shrugged.

 

“I’m Gary Thomson…”

 

“The bank job?” Nick suddenly realised.

 

“That’s right…” Thomson snarled, “now you’re in big trouble.”

 

 

*~*~*

 

Jack snatched the PR off Mickey.

 

“140 from DCI Meadows…What is your location?” Jack spoke into the radio.

 

“I’m in the warehouse on the back on Canley Street, I’m chasing a suspect which assaulted me earlier…” Nick told him.

 

“Can you give a description, please?” Jack asked.

 

“IC1, about 5.8, in black jeans and back jumper…. Short brown hair…”

 

 The three detectives looked around at each other, when Nick was cut off.

“Nick?” Jack asked…. “140 from Meadows, can you hear me?”

 

Jack shook the radio, wondering if it was faulty.

 

“Sierra Oscar from Meadows?” He asked, testing the PR.

 

“Go ahead, Sir…” Bob replied.

 

Don and Mickey head for the door, knowing something was wrong, Jack followed them, while talking to CAD.

“Nick Klein might be in trouble…”

 

 

Outside in the panda car, Smiffy rolled his eyes, as the message came over the PR.

 

“.. We think that the suspected is Gary Thomson… he maybe armed.”

 

The last comment caused Smiffy to jump out of the car and sprint towards the building. Hangover forgotten.

 

 

*~*~*

 

Nick was kneeling down on the floor; he had been handcuffed to a door. He watched Thomson carefully, wondering what he was going to do.

 

“Who knows you’re here?” He asked Nick.

 

“There’s one mate….” Nick said, thinking of Smiffy sat outside but decided not to tell him that.

 

“Where is he?”

“I dunno..” Nick shrugged.

 

“You’d better not by lying to me!” Thomson warned.

 

“Why would I lie to you?” Nick asked, “You’re the one with the gun.”

 

“Who was on the radio before?”

“Just my station…”

“And they know you’re here?”

 

“Yes…”

“So they can turn up any moment!?” Thomson being to panic. Nick knew that was a good thing.

 

“No, no…” He reassured him, “they know nothing about this..”

 

“That’s lucky for you…” He calmed down and began to think, “Right, what we’re going to do is this… I’m leaving you… they’ll coming looking for you eventually…”

 

“Okay…” Nick nodded, “just leave the gun here..”

“No, chance!”

 

“Come on, I can’t let you go out there with a gun!”

 

“Do you want me to shot you?” He asked.

 

Nick fell silent; it wasn’t a good idea to wind the suspect up. He’s head snapped when he heard Smiffy. Thomson began to panic again, he raised his gun and took aim, all Nick told do was close his eyes.

 

 

*~*~*

 

“NICK!!!” Smiffy yelled, once he was inside the building.  “NICK!!!!!”

 

He ran across the warehouse, his eyes darting around in the darkened building, trying to pick up any movement, but he couldn’t.

   Just as he reached for his touch, he heard a noise that stopped him dead. The sound of a single gunshot echoed and a scream of agony, like no scream he'd ever heard before. For a second, Smiffy was frozen. He knew then. He knew something so terrible had happened that it didn't bear thinking about. .

   He sprinted towards the sound calling at Nick’s name. He pushed open an old, broken door. The sound of someone crying quietly, greeted him. He looked around and saw Nick slumped in the corner of the room.

 

“Nick?” Smiffy ran towards him. He pulled his PR out, “Urgent message… Ambulance needed!”

 

“Smiffy? What’s going on?” Bob asked.

 

“It’s Nick…” he stuttered, “he’s been shot!” He turned it off, so he couldn’t hear what was said back to him, he didn’t want to know.

 

“Nick?” He said softly, “can you hear me?”

 

There was nothing, no reply, no movement, and no sign. He noticed that Nick’s body was slightly hanging from the door, where he was cuffed. He took out his own keys, fumbling with them as he tried to un-luck it. He caught his body, as he fell to the floor. Nick’s face was deathly pale, his eyes shut, his chest heaving as he struggled to suck in air. Smiffy hoped and prayed that any second he would be able to hear the wail of an ambulance and the rest of his colleagues coming to their rescue but there was only a painful silence.

  

“Nick? Open your eyes…” Smiffy plead with him, tears began to burn in his eyes. He looked down at Nick’s face. He looked so peaceful, as if he was asleep.  It didn’t bother him that Nick’s blood was soaking through his trousers, he didn’t even notice. He gripped his hand, slippery from blood. He jumped slightly when he felt Nick, squeeze back weakly.

 

“Nick?” He repeated.

 

“Smif…Smiffy..” Nick murmur, silently.

 

“Yeah, I’m hear, Mate…”

 

“I need some help…” Nick stated.

 

“I know…” Smiffy told him, “but you’re going to be okay..”

 

“No…” Nick whispered and then went silent.

 

“NICK!” Smiffy called out.

 

Nick’s eyes opened slowly and he looked at Smiffy, “I’m sorry…”

 

“What for?” Smiffy fought to swallow the lump in his throat and then placed his hand over the wound, where the bullet had driven in, Nick cried out in pain, “I should have came with you..”

 

“Not, your fault…” Nick whispered, “how’s the head?”

 

“Do you always have a smart comment ready?” Smiffy tried to smile.

 

“I try to…” Nick closed his eyes again. The pain was too much; he could feel himself growing weaker and weaker. All he wanted to do was sleep.

 

“Keep your eyes open!” Smiffy demanded, whipping away a signal tear that ran down his face.

 

“It’s alright to cry, you know…” Nick told him, his breathing was becoming faster and faster.

 

“What about my rep?” Smiffy grinned, “you won’t be able to call me Action Man, no more…”

 

“I will…” Nick insisted and then the smile faded, “Seriously though, stop putting on the act…”

“What act?” Smiffy asked.

 

“The act shutting people out…”

 

“Alright, I will.. But you gotta promise to get better…” Smiffy told him.

 

“I didn’t know you cared so much…” Nick muttered.

 

“I do, Nick…” he told him, “it might not seem like it but I do like you…”

“You have a strangle way of showing it sometimes…” Nick smiled.

 

“I know… but that’s going to change..” Smiffy promised, “it was only because… only because I was jealous…”

 

“WHAT?” Nick repeated in shock.

 

“You are so much better at this job then me…everyone likes you…” Smiffy admitted.

 

“Smiffy, you’re a great copper…” Nick told him.

 

“Yeah, well, we’ll talk about this later…” Smiffy told him.

 

“No… I don’t think we will…” Nick muttered.

 

“Nick, don’t think like that…” Smiffy told him, he could hear the sound of sirens outside, “everyone’s here now, just hold on…”

 

“No….” Nick said so quietly that Smiffy couldn’t really hear him.

 

“No, Nick, please…” Smiffy pleaded with him. He watched the other PC’s eyes slowly flutter shut and tears blurred his vision, “come on Nick… just hang on and then your better, we’ll go and see West Ham thrash Spurs…”

 

There was no response and he could feel Nick’s breathing getting shallower and shallower.

  Nick opened his mouth slightly, I wanted to keep talking, he wanted to open his eyes but it hurt too much.

 

“Smiffy… I’m scare….” he managed.

“I know… but you will be okay…” he reassured him, “you’ve gotta be… you gotta sort this coffee machine out…”

 

Smiffy could hear the sound of his colleagues approaching, someone called out their names but he was frozen.

   Nick allowed himself to relax in the warmth Smiffy’s arms. He’s heart was weak and his breathing was slow, he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs. He some shouts, a smile played on his lips, as he recognised the voice. Cass. She was his best mate; he could talk to her about anything and everything.

 

“I’m sorry…” Nick muttered, “to Cass too…”

 

“Cass?” Smiffy repeated.

 

There was no response; Smiffy felt a shudder run through Nick’s body. He listened to his mate’s breathing.

 

In, out, in, out, in…

 

“Nick?” Smiffy called out, once again, this time there was nothing. “Nick, you can do this!”

 

He shook Nick slightly, trying to get his to reply but it was no good.

 

“No, no, no…” Smiffy pleaded, “Please, I’ll do whatever… I’ll wear your Spurs shirt to the game next month…. I’ll wear it for a year… just please don’t go…”

 

But it was too late, he was already gone. Smiffy broke down and tears poured down his face, as he still clung on tightly to Nick’s body.

 

*~*~*

 

“NICK!!” Cass shouted, “SMIFFY!!”

 

“Where are they?” Tony asked.

 

“What’s Smiffy playing at?!” Cass demanded, as her, Tony, Dave and Jim wondered around the warehouse, being the only ones on the scene.

 

“595 from Sierra Oscar…Any news?” Bob Cryer’s voice asked Tony.

 

“No, sarge… We don’t know where they are…” Tony said sadly, “and the ambulance isn’t here yet…”

“It’s be held up, there’s been a RTA and they’re trying to get through, along with CID, Mr Brownlow, Mr Conway and Mr Monroe…” Bob explained.

 

“Okay, Sarge…” Tony sighed, “we’ll let you know anything, when he find them.”

 

“Received, Tony…” 

 

“NICK!!!” Cass called one more time.

 

“Shhh…” Dave told her, “what’s that noise…”

 

“What noise?” Jim asked.

 

“Shh..” Dave said again and they all listened.

 

“It’s Smiffy…” Cass exclaimed and head to the area where the noise was coming from. 

 

Dave was the first to reach them; he stood dead, when he saw the scene. Smiffy cradling Nick’s body.

 

“Smiffy?” Dave asked softly.

 

The PC didn’t reply, he just held on to Nick, muttering, “Please, no, please, no…”

 

Dave knew that they were to late, he couldn’t move, he just stared at Nick’s face. So relaxed and peaceful.

 

“NICK!!” Cass screamed, Dave stopped her from running him. “No, Nick….”

 

“Come, Cass…” Dave tried to pull her out of the site of their colleague.

 

“He can’t be dead…” Cass cried, “not Nick…”

 

“Cass… we’ll wait outside…” Dave said and Cass let her guide her out, while lent against him, tears running down her face.

 

Jim and Tony gave them a confused look, as they passed them on the way out. Dave simply shook his head. Tony frowned and then realised what he meant, he and Jim headed to where they had just came from.

    Jim’s hand shot to cover his mouth, when he saw the tragic scene. Tony edge forwards, towards Smiffy.

 

“Come on, Mate…” He said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. He didn’t say or do anything; he just sat there, Nick in his arms. “Smiffy…”

 

He finally looked up at Tony, “it’s my fault…”

 

“No, no it isn’t….” Tony told him, crouching down next to him.

 

“I wasn’t here…”

 

“It doesn’t matter….” Tony said, “you couldn’t have done anything.”

 

“Come on, Smiffy, let’s get out of here…” Jim said.

 

Smiffy looked back down to Nick and then to Tony, he didn’t know what to do. Tony slowly, prised Nick’s body away from him and put him gently on the floor. He held a hand out to the other PC.

 

“Come on…”

 

Smiffy grabbed his hand and pulled himself up, the three of them, walked slowly out.  Smiffy looked back at Nick, when he reached the door.

 

“Sweet dreams…”

 

 

*~*~*

 

The sun blinded Smiffy as he walked out of the warehouse. He looked around the scene; Dave and Cass were sat alone in a panda car. Sam, Di, Ben, Roz, Matt, Reg all jumping out of various cars, as they just arrived.

  Brownlow, Conway and Monroe speeding towards them, with the CID pool car close behind and the distant sound of an Ambulance approaching.

   He’s head began to throb again and he was covered in Nick’s bloody, but he didn’t care.

 

“Dale?” Monroe called over as they all head towards them.

 

“Where’s Thomson?” Don Beech asked.

 

“What?” Smiffy glared at him.

 

“Don’t tell me, you let him go!” Don said.

 

Smiffy grab hold of his shirt and slammed him up against a wall, Jim and Tony grabbed hold of him and pulled him away. Tony pushed him towards were Dave and Cass was.

 

“What’s he’s problem?!” Don asked, straightening his tie.

 

“He’s problem?” Jim repeated, “he’s problem his that he just had one of his mate’s die in his arms! That’s he problem.”

 

Don hung his head slightly, he hadn’t realised. Everyone walked off and left him.

 

 

“It’s going to be alright…” Tony told Smiffy.

 

He wanted to run away from everyone, he didn’t want to be with anyone. He felt like hitting someone so hard that they suffered like Nick had done but he couldn’t.

 

“Smiffy?” Cass said quietly.

 

He looked up at her; her eyes were puffy from crying.

 

“Nick said to tell you, sorry…” he muttered.

 

“What for?” Cass asked.

 

“I dunno…”

 

Cass let out a small cry; she couldn’t believe he was dead. He couldn’t just be gone; he was so lively at Refs. Now he’s dead, that wasn’t right.

 

‘Don’t shut people out…’ Nick voice echoed in Smiffy’s head. He reached out and pulled Cass into a hug.

 

“I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry…” He cried.