Page 129 of Little Children
Shirley had smiled as Kim had taken one last look at them all before heading back towards the car.
Her hand had been on the door handle when she’d felt a tap on her back.
She’d turned as Lewis had thrust his arms around her waist and hugged her hard.
‘Thank you,’ he’d whispered against her shoulder.
Kim had swallowed down the emotion constricting her throat. ‘And thank you too,’ she’d said, kissing the top of his head.
She was pleased to learn that Kevin and his mum had already packed up all Bobby’s belongings. Their family looked different now, but she had no doubt that they’d manage somehow.
Bobby Stevens had already been arrested for obstruction, and Kim knew that Red was talking to CPS with a view to applying child trafficking charges to ensure a prison term. In addition, he was having his team look closer at the burglary which had brought the family to their attention in the first place. They all felt Bobby had arranged it, and Red was determined to make the man pay for his crimes. Red’s intention with regard to Shirley remained unclear and was between him and the Crown Prosecution Service, but Kim hoped they’d feel that she’d suffered enough. She knew the woman would spend the rest of her life making things right with Lewis.
Red had informed her that Noah’s mother had refused to let her son out of her embrace for a good twenty minutes.
The parents of the other four boys she’d rescued had been traced to other police territories, one as far away as Dumfries. All of the boys recovered were now safely back home, and a task force had been assembled to track down the rest of the operation.
It gnawed at her heart that there were still boys out there not yet discovered, but she trusted that every effort would be made to bring each one of them home safely.
By far her hardest conversation of the day had been with Josh’s mum, who had just collected her wife from the hospital.
No one had uttered a word as she’d explained what had happened to their son in the years since they’d lost him. She’d tried to keep the graphic details out of her account, but she couldn’t be responsible for the horrors their own imaginations would insert. They weren’t going to heal overnight, but the process could now begin.
And after she’d shared all the horrific details, the family had thanked her. They had fucking thanked her. She had left their home fighting a wave of emotion.
Her most recent update from Red had been to inform her that after obtaining a search warrant for Roderick Skidmore’s property, they’d broken into the basement the cleaner had told them about. They’d discovered a dedicated computer room where they’d found links to the website for the fighting league and more than forty thousand indecent images. Red also had a lead on the paedophile’s property in Thailand, and with luck it wouldn’t be too long before the man was back behind bars.
She was pleased to see that Red was proving himself to be one of the good guys. When they’d arrived in Blackpool at the beginning of the week, none of them had known what they were going to find with the home team. At different points, it had appeared that every one of them was corrupt. She’d even suspected her fellow detective inspector of murder and collusion, to find that in reality, he’d become complacent and lazy. His energy and motivation had now been reignited and was trickling down to his officers. They seemed to have been electrified into action as she’d bid them goodbye.
She felt that Red now knew he had to cultivate a deeper feeling of trust within his team. Adil had held valuable information on Roy but hadn’t trusted his boss enough to share it. Who knew what might have been prevented if he had? But she’d been pleased to hear Red addressing the young officer by his first name instead of his nickname as she’d headed out the door.
The sour taste had still not left her mouth at the thought of Miranda Walker. She had respected, even admired the woman who’d headed up the north-east part of the illegal fight network. She’d identified with the woman’s past: her childhood in and out of the care system; her struggle to survive and even excel in the police force; her determination to succeed despite the system’s unspoken bias. She had overcome it all, and for no other reason than to feather her own nest. Walker was hiding behind her solicitor, so there were no further details on how long she’d been a part of the fighting ring or how it had been established, but Kim hoped that both the criminal investigation and the internal review would eventually give them all the answers they needed.
She was sure this case would leave a mark on all of them, not least her friend Bryant.
She’d never tell him so, but she’d never met a more decent man in her life. He wasn’t unaware about corruption in the police force or naïve about life in general, and he hadn’t baulked at the task of befriending one of the most despicable and cruel men they’d ever had the misfortune to meet. She wasn’t sure anyone would ever understand the enormity of that achievement when all he’d wanted to do was beat the man to a pulp.
But Bryant was aware that without that pretence at friendship, without that time spent together, it was possible that they’d never have joined the dots between the photo on Moss’s phone and the photos taken by the forensic team. Bryant’s sacrifice would ensure the man remained behind bars for the rest of his life.
And for that Kim had granted him one last wish before they’d left Blackpool.
With her watching from the car, he’d knocked on Pippa Jacobs’s door and assured her that she no longer had anything to fear. The woman had all but collapsed with relief before thanking him profusely.
The look of satisfaction on Bryant’s face had accompanied him all the way home, and to a long weekend with Jenny.
Roy Moss’s continued silence while hiding behind his lawyer meant they might never know how or why he’d chosen Jasmine Swift as his second victim, but she hoped they’d receive an update from Red sometime in the future.
That left only her own unfinished business. This conversation was long overdue. It was a tough one, but she could avoid it no longer, she thought as the door to the café opened.
Frost offered a wide smile and a wave as she approached. Kim’s heart sank. Clearly her full memories hadn’t returned while Kim had been away.
‘Hey, buddy,’ Frost said, leaning in for a hug.
Hell no, Kim thought, turning sideways to indicate that a cuppa was awaiting her.
Frost sat and placed her handbag on the spare seat.
‘How’ve you been, pardner?’ Frost asked in an awful cowboy voice.
