Page 116 of Little Children

She swallowed her disgust as she joined Red at a narrow clearing along the west side of the building.

The lower half of the structure was formed of breeze blocks that were now covered in green moss. The upper half was made up of wooden panels, plank width, with half-inch gaps in between allowing thin lines of light out into the darkness. There was an inch-wide ledge where the wood sat on top of the blocks.

‘Okay, go on,’ Red said, lowering himself to his hands and knees so she could stand on him.

She now knew the only place that suit was going was in the bin.

She stepped up onto his back, and to his credit he didn’t even groan.

Even though she’d switched her phone to silent, she felt it vibrate the receipt of a text message.

Hell no, Frost, Kim seethed. Now really ain’t the fucking time.

She reached for the ledge to steady herself before putting one eye to a gap in the wood.

The scene that met her gaze was even worse than she’d imagined.

From her vantage point, she could see that the focal point was a make-do boxing ring formed of cheap metal fencing, the kind normally used to line the streets for crowd control. There were no niceties like referees or stools or judges, just two kids beating the shit out of each other in their underpants.

Kim had to hold in a cry as one of the fighters staggered backwards and fell to the ground.

His opponent danced around him, waiting for him to get up while the crowd jeered and booed. Kim waited for someone to approach him, to check on him, see if he was unconscious – or worse.

No one moved towards the boy lying on the ground.

After what seemed like hours, the boy staggered back to his feet. He swayed once before seeming to find a burst of energy. He swung and caught his opponent on the chin. The other boy took a second to refocus, and as he lifted his head, she saw that it was Lewis, the boy who had been missing for over ten days, the boy that had been in her head since Monday. Only this Lewis looked even younger than his twelve years, and he was a thinner, frailer version of the boy she’d seen on the CCTV. His blonde hair had been shaved crudely, and although it wasn’t on a par with Josh, his body was mottled with cuts and bruises.

She took a second to glance around the space beyond the four spotlights aimed at the ring.

Against the far wall sat another four boys with adults either side of them. Kim guessed they were the rest of the fighters for the night.

All of them stared at the ground. They looked defeated and scared already.

The rage was building within her.

Every one of these boys had been stolen from their lives and their families for the sick entertainment of monsters. She pulled her gaze away. Red couldn’t support her weight for much longer.

A brief head count told her there were fifty plus spectators to this horrific event.

She wanted to barge in there right now and close it down.

‘You ready?’ Red asked as she stepped down off his back.

She knew he intended to burst in there and make some arrests.

‘We can’t do it, Red,’ she said with a heavy heart. ‘If we just barge in there, we’ll never find the others. We’ll never find Noah.’

‘We can’t just let?—’

‘Give me a minute,’ she said, leaning against the wall.

Suddenly, a huge cheer erupted, and Kim guessed that was the end of fight one. She didn’t need to get on Red’s back again to know that the end of the fight probably meant one of the boys had been knocked unconscious.

‘Running out of time,’ Red urged.

Kim thought about the tools she had at her disposal.

‘Okay, Red, I’ve got an idea, but I’m gonna need your help.’