Page 97 of Savage Protector

“Hopefully, not long. In the meanwhile, hit me with ideas as to how we deal with Abid, tucked away in Barlinnie.”

“We’re going after him, then?” Jack asks.

“I think so. Apart from the fact that he’s a vicious bastard, he might still have Bilal and Sarah in his sights, and we can only protect them by taking him out. Agreed?”

Again, we all nod. Those kids are under our protection now, and we take that seriously. And anyway, Abid won’t be missed.

“If he’s such a big shot, he’ll be well protected. It’d be difficult to organise a hit by other prisoners,” Rome remarks,

“Difficult but not impossible. There’d be no shortage of volunteers. He’s generally hated inside.”

“Getting near him with a shiv might be a tall order, but he has to eat,” I suggest. “Do your contacts include anyone in the prison kitchen?”

“You’re thinking of poison?”

“Yeah. He was always a greedy git. Stick something lethal in a samosa and he’d guzzle it down.”

Ethan is thinking about it. Eventually, “I’ll give it some thought. There may be a way…”

“What about Bilal and Sarah,” Tony wonders. “What are we going to do with them?”

“Bilal’s seventeen, old enough to decide for himself. I gather he wants to go back to Birmingham and finish his college course.”

“Yes, and he wants to take Sarah with him. They’re family, he thinks it’s his responsibility.”

“It’s good that he thinks like that, but it’s a no-go. He might be able to look after himself, though I do think that’s something of a long shot, but not a ten-year-old girl.”

“I know,” Tony agrees. “I’ve told him that. I also told him there are perfectly good colleges here in Scotland. He could study mechanical engineering here and stay close to his sister. And we could keep an eye out for him as well.”

“Do you think he’ll agree?”

Tony shrugs. “Fingers crossed. But whatever he decides, the fact is, he can’t take Sarah back there, so what are we going to do with her?”

“We’ll need to find a foster placement. Something long-term, and safe.”

“You’re not thinking of putting her into care?” Rome blurts. “I had a dose of that myself as a kid, and it’s fucking awful. She’d never survive it, not after…everything else.”

“I agree,” Ethan assures him. “No, not the care system. We’ll sort it ourselves. She could come to Caraksay and move in with Faith.”

That sounds like a decent solution to me. I’m not sure just how Faith fits into the Savage family, but she tends to look after all the children one way or another, and some who don’t have parents on the island live with her. Ethan holds her in high regard. Sarah would be well cared for, and happy.

“That would work,” Tony agrees. “Or she could stay here.”

“Here?” Ethan’s eyebrow is raised “At Caernbro Ghyll?”

“For a while at least.”

“But who would take care of her? She can’t just fend for herself.”

“Me and Jenna,” Tony asserts. “We could foster her, like we do Robbie. He’s done okay.”

“True but…what does Jenna think? Have you discussed it?”

“Yes. She’s keen. We both think it could work.”

“Yours is only a two-bedroom apartment,” Ethan points out. “You don’t have the space.”

“We were thinking of moving out, into our own place.”

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