Page 1 of Little Children

Prologue

Kim tapped her phone screen as the minute hand of the clock took another step towards 6 a.m.

Four minutes until Steve Ashworth’s segment aired on Sunrise News.

After harassing her for weeks, the man had offered her the courtesy of letting her know when he was going live with his big story. She’d headed into the office early this morning to be sure not to miss it – she’d had to worry about this man trying to destroy her career for too long.

Three minutes to go.

‘Hey, guv,’ Bryant said, entering the squad room.

‘You shit the bed?’ she asked, taking a sip of her coffee. Briefing was always at seven.

He glanced at the time as he removed his overcoat. ‘Oh, you know, got a bit bored at home. Fancied an early one.’

Her colleague and friend obviously shared her anxiety about what they were about to hear.

Two minutes to go.

‘Hey, boss,’ Stacey said, breezing through the door.

Kim raised an eyebrow. ‘Another early bird after the worm?’

‘Filing,’ Stacey explained. ‘Urgent filing that I didn’t get to yesterday.’

‘And I suppose…’

‘Morning, folks,’ Penn said, sliding into his seat.

‘Did you fancy an early one or was it urgent filing for you too?’ Kim asked, hiding her smile.

No one on her team, including herself, had a clue what was about to come out of Steve Ashworth’s mouth or how it would affect them afterwards.

‘Nah, I just want to hear what that git has got to say about us,’ Penn said, making no effort to lie.

Kim felt a small knot in her stomach. She knew for a fact that Woody would also be watching, and she expected a summons to his office once the report had aired.

One minute to go.

Her whole team, including her boss, were aware that she’d encountered the reporter on their last major case and that he had become obsessed with exposing her as a corrupt copper.

They knew that he’d uncovered an old case of which she was less than proud.

But they also knew that a lot had happened in the last month.

The clock hit six, and she clicked on the link she’d been sent.

Kim took a deep breath as the face of Steve Ashworth filled the screen.

One

One Month Earlier

‘You asked to see me, sir?’ Kim said, taking a seat opposite her boss.

The chair she always tried to avoid had been pulled away from his desk by a metre or so – it was going to be that kind of meeting.

Over her years working for DCI Woodward, she had learned that meetings where she was required to take a seat rarely worked out well. They could be one out of two categories.