Page 127 of Little Children

‘That’s not all he is, marm, but Red has more information on that. He now knows exactly what Roy Moss has been up to.’

‘And the rest of the team?’ the chief asked.

‘Nothing else untoward. With Roy out of the picture, I think Red has a great team.’

‘Did you uncover the source of the complaints?’

Kim shook her head. ‘Unfortunately not, and I don’t think we’ll ever know unless they choose to reveal it themselves.’

The chief nodded her understanding. ‘Well, on behalf of everyone here, I’d like to thank you and your team for helping to uncover a clever and dangerous man. We owe?—’

‘That’s not really why I’m here, marm. I’ve got a serious update on another matter.’

The knock at the door couldn’t have come at a better time, Kim thought as she stood to open it.

Red entered and offered a nod of greeting to his boss.

The chief frowned. ‘This all looks rather serious, Inspector.’

‘It is, marm,’ Kim replied. ‘Earlier this evening, DI Butler and I became aware of an illegal fighting ring that appears to be operating nationwide. Both Lewis Stevens and Noah Reid were abducted for the purpose of being forced to fight. We tried to brief you, but you obviously had your hands full already.’

The chief looked to them both In horror.

Kim kept her voice calm. They had her full attention, and they were nowhere near the good bit yet.

She continued. ‘We formed a joint operation and attended the venue of an illegal fight meeting. Through our efforts, and by means which will be detailed in the reports, we have secured two crime scenes and rescued thirteen missing boys.’

Red had texted confirmation of his team’s success in following the second van, minutes before she’d entered the station.

The chief’s mouth was still open. Now they were getting to the good bit.

‘Two people were apprehended at the site in Lancashire, one of whom was your sister.’

Kim paused to let that information sink in. Everything had fallen into place when the woman’s phone had illuminated with a call. The contact was saved as sister and the chief’s photo was attached. She had been certain someone in authority was involved. Her suspicion had initially fallen on Red, but the strings had been pulled from someone above his head. The chief had been the one blocking them.

Walker began to shake her head as Kim took the phones from her pocket.

‘There has to be some kind of?—’

‘There’s no mistake, marm, as you well know,’ Kim said. ‘In fact, the only surprise you have is that they’ve been caught.’

Walker’s face turned thunderous as she continued to protest.

‘I knew there had to be a link here somewhere,’ Kim said. ‘The families of both boys had been visited by Red’s team following a burglary. I did wonder who on the team was involved, but different officers attended each scene. Only someone more senior would have access to all the reports and be able to point the kidnappers to families with boys of the right age. You passed on the details of the boys to your cronies, and they did the rest. Lewis was an absolute godsend, wasn’t he? You already knew the kid could pack a punch. You knew how to target that family, what weaknesses to hit and what lies to tell. But you knew that wouldn’t work on the Reid family. I’m guessing your sister simply followed them until there was an opportunity to grab Noah.’

‘Detective Inspector, you are coming dangerously close to?—’

‘I hope I’m better than dangerously close. I mean, it’s big business,’ Kim said, interrupting the idle threat that was about to come. ‘Forty grand on one fight, I heard your sister say. Oh, by the way, he lost.’

Walker stood. ‘This is the most ridiculous thing?—’

‘Prove it,’ Kim said simply. ‘Take out the second phone you have and show us all the messages between you and your sister. That’s all you have to do.’ She pointed to Red. ‘Only us three know about this conversation, so if I’m wrong, you can send me back down to the Midlands with a serious disciplinary to face, and you and Red can go about your business. Simples.’

Walker reached into her drawer and took out a phone.

Kim’s heart stopped for a minute. If Walker handed her that phone, she’d called it wrong, and her career was over.

Walker hesitated before launching the phone across the room, where it hit the far wall.