Disclaimer: I do not own Scott and Bailey or any of the characters. No copyright intended.

This is my first fan fiction I hope it isn't to bad.

Regrets

It had been two years. Two years since her brother had murdered Nick Savage. Two years he had been in prison and it was her fault. The first time it wasn't, he got in with a bad crowd. 4 years for armed robbery, the others got longer but he had cooperated with the police. But this time it was her fault.

'If only I hadn't got drunk, he would have never known about Nick let alone of killed him' Rachel thought. Rachel's train of thought was disrupted by her boss starting the briefing.

"The body is believed to be that of Harriet Taylor, 7 years of age. She was reported missing yesterday and fits the description. She was found in the woods by a dog walker, James Smith. Interviewing him is a priority, Rob"

Scribbling down a note "Sure" Rob answered.

"We will get the results of the post-mortem tomorrow morning but at first look it seems she was killed by a stab wound to the chest. So we are looking for a weapon, possibly a knife. We need to collect any CCTV in the surrounding area and carry out house to house of the houses facing the woods. Rob you will be coordinating that over the next couple of days."

"Have the family been informed?" Janet spoke solemnly.

"Not yet, I would like you and Rachel to get round there now" replied Gill. 'Oh, I hate it when its kids' Rachel thought to herself, not that she would complain, she loved her job. The job she had wanted to do since she was knee high.

"Mitch, I want you to look into the family any arguments, disputes if they owed any money. Anything which could mean that someone wanted revenge and why target the child?" Mitch nodded.

Rachel and Janet grabbed their bags and coats "Right, see you later". They went out to the car park and got into Rachel's car, stuffing their bags on the back seat.

"Have you seen your brother lately?" Janet breeched the sensitive subject. Rachel let out a sigh.

"I saw him last month; I still can't believe he was so stupid! But the problem is it is my fault" Rachel replied barely keeping it together, her eyes started to water, close to tears.

"It isn't your fault" she replied trying to comfort the brunette "He chose to kill Nick, you didn't force him to"

"But without me he would have had no reason to" Rachel sniffed.

"It wasn't your fault! Come on, we are almost there." Janet said whilst fishing a packet of tissues out of her bag and giving one to Rachel. They were silent for the rest of the journey. Rachel continued to think about Dom whereas Janet was thinking about Ade they were talking but only the bare minimum still.

They pulled up at the house and got out. Janet rang the bell then took a step back. The door opened and a man appeared. "Mr Taylor? Hello I am DC Janet Scott and this is DC Bailey. We are here about Harriet"

"Of course, come in" moving so they could pass. "My names Chris by the way" he led them through to the living room calling to his wife in the process "Amelia, the police are here" she came hurrying down the stairs.

"Sorry about the mess, would you like a cup of coffee or tea?" Amelia said before sitting down, looking nervous.

"No thank you. I'm sorry to have to tell you this but a body was found in the woods early this morning. We believe it to be Harriet. I'm sorry." Janet paused. "When you're ready we will need you to make a formal identification"

Even through this wasn't new to Rachel it still broke her heart when it was children, they hadn't done anything.

"Are you certain? It might not be her." Chris's voice wavered.

"Until she has been formally identified we can't be sure but the body does match Harriet's description" Janet informed him.

Amelia finally found the words to speak "What happened?"

"I'm afraid we don't know much at present but when we do we will let you know as soon as possible" Janet answered. "Just come down to the station when you're ready to identify the body" with that the detective duo stood up offering their condolences and left.

Driving back to the station the pair chatted about the case "Why the kid through?" Rachel said.

Janet thought for a moment before replying "I don't know"

They went back into the office and had the final briefing of the day. Nothing new had come up.

"Okay ladies and gents go home get some sleep. I want to see you all at 6.00 am. Including you Rachel" she had been late all that week "Alright, night night. See you tomorrow" finished Gill going back into her office; she wouldn't be leaving for a good few hours yet.

Rachel grabbed her belongings "See you Jan" she said walking towards the door.

"Bye kid" Janet replied as she also collected her things.

Rachel drove home, her thoughts returning to her brother. He was probably in his cell maybe thinking about what could have happened if he hadn't mucked up.

Rachel pulled up outside her house, grabbed her bag and pulled out her keys. She turned them in the lock and went inside.

Not seeing the person in the bushes watching her…