Page 128 of Little Children
Red was quick to retrieve the phone. The disappointment in his face confirmed that all his questions had been answered.
He stood tall. ‘Marm, I apologise in advance, but I’m going to place you under arrest once Inspector Stone is done.’
Kim stood and stared her down. ‘I will wash my mouth out with soap for every time I called you chief. I am sickened by the level of respect I afforded you given your background and achievements. You are a foul, evil, disgraceful excuse for a police officer, who has used her authority and position to cultivate a network of illegal fights and cause untold suffering and death.’
Hatred shone from Walker’s eyes, but Kim wasn’t finished yet.
‘It all makes sense now. You knew that the top brass was going to insist that you get help, given the short time frame between the disappearance of Lewis and Noah. You got greedy, but you thought you could still control it. You pre-empted the instruction from above and called in the team that had just been made to look like national fools. You thought we would add nothing to the missing boys case and that your network would remain safe. You probably thought you could blame the failure to solve the case on our incompetence, leaving your own team untouched. You brought us here to fail. But what you did want was for us to find whoever had made the anonymous complaints, and the detail of those complaints, in case any of them led back to you. You kept pushing us in that direction. You made it a priority but not so you could protect the informant. If we’d offered you a name, I have no doubt that the person would have somehow met an untimely end.’
The rage deepened on the woman’s face, and Kim knew she was right.
‘Thing is, you arrogant, despicable excuse for an officer, you forgot one important point about the Jester case. Yes, he had us running round in circles chasing his clues around the Black Country. Yes, we were forced to dance to his tune, making us look inefficient and incompetent. But ultimately, through hard work and determination, we got him. We saved the lives of a gifted heart surgeon and an eight-year-old girl. We put the Jester behind bars for the rest of his life because we refused to give up. An important point it would have served you well to remember.’
Walker regarded her with pure hatred, which bothered Kim not one bit. Detective chief inspector or not, she was just another piece of shit who was going to be removed from the streets.
Kim sat back in her chair and let out a long, deep sigh.
Only one question now remained in her mind.
She turned towards Detective Inspector Butler. ‘Now, for the love of God, can I finally go home?’
Eighty-Four
Kim stared at the coffee on the other side of the table, dreading the conversation she was about to have.
After arriving back home in the early hours of Friday morning, she’d spent the day tying up loose ends from the mammoth events of the previous few days.
Her first visit had been to Woody to fill in the details of the text message she’d sent on the way back from Blackpool. His disbelief had given way to rage and disgust and eventually acceptance. He’d congratulated her on an excellent job, even though part of the result was his former friend behind bars.
Red Butler sure had some sorting out to do. His later text message to thank her and the whole team only confirmed her opinion that she’d been wrong about him in the first place.
Although he hadn’t gone into detail, he had confirmed that the evidence found on Walker’s phone had been damning and would likely result in a plea deal. He had taken no pleasure in arresting his boss. He’d held a great deal of respect for her and had been somewhat relieved when he’d been able to hand her over to the custody officers. News of her arrest hadn’t yet made the news, but it wouldn’t be long until both her name and reputation were ruined for good.
Kim had believed Red when he’d admitted he’d made a mistake with Jasmine. He had misread her gratitude for personal interest, and it wasn’t a mistake he was likely to make again.
Lewis and Noah had been returned to their families after making detailed statements. Although it couldn’t be proven at this point, they were all sure that the pills mentioned by both boys had been steroids. Whether they’d been meant to induce a higher level of aggression she wasn’t sure, but thankfully the short time they’d been subjected to the drugs wouldn’t cause any long-term health problems.
Once Lewis’s statement was complete, Kim had insisted on being the one to take him home. Dressed in clothes much too big for him, he’d sat in the back of Bryant’s car, Kim next to him with a reassuring hand on his arm. She’d felt his growing tension as they’d neared the house and understood it. However desperate he was to see his family, a small part of him knew that they had been complicit in his abduction. When he’d last been in this house, he’d been public enemy number one, a burden that no one wanted to carry. Even though she’d assured him that Bobby was gone, she’d still sensed the anxiety running through him. He was twelve years old, and he had a lot of big feelings to deal with.
‘They’ve missed you,’ she’d said, squeezing his arm.
She’d felt his hesitation as Bryant had pulled up, and yet once he’d seen Shirley throw open the front door, he’d fumbled the door handle in his haste to get out of the car.
Kim had watched them run towards each other and collide into a fierce embrace, both of them crying as Lewis buried his head deep into his mother’s shoulder. Kevin had stood in the doorway, holding back his younger siblings, all eager to greet their brother, and Kim’s earlier doubt as to whether home was the right place for the boy had evaporated. Despite what had happened, there was a lot of love in this family.
Though she’d enjoyed every second of the reunion, Kim hadn’t been able to stop herself thinking about Josh’s fate, and she just thanked God Lewis and Noah had been found in time.
‘Oi, come here, yer little shit,’ Kevin had called when Lewis came up for air.
Lewis had done as he was told, and his older brother had grabbed him hard, Shirley sobbing openly as she’d watched them.
Kim had stood beside her as Lewis bent down to hug the little ones.
‘He’s happy and relieved right now,’ Kim had advised. ‘But tomorrow or the next day he’s gonna be angry, hurt and disappointed. You’ve got to earn his trust back.’
Shirley had nodded. ‘I’ll do whatever it takes,’ she’d said, touching her arm. ‘I have him back thanks to you.’
‘Just look after him,’ Kim had replied. ‘And for God’s sake, get the kid some matches.’
