Page 75 of Little Children (Detective Kim Stone #22)

Seventy-Four

Followed by her team, Kim strode out of Blackpool police station right into the path of Steve Ashworth.

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake,’ she cursed. The man could not have worse timing.

‘Inspector, fancy seeing you again.’

‘Thrilling,’ Kim answered as her team shored up behind her. Bryant and Penn knew full well who he was, but Stacey had never met him.

‘Care to give me a comment before we find out the country’s opinions on your actions?’

‘The only opinions I care about are right here,’ she said, folding her arms.

He cast a glance over the three people standing behind her. ‘And they know all about Amber Rose?’

‘Why would they? We weren’t a team then.’

‘So, they don’t know you killed an innocent man?’ he asked.

To her team’s credit, not one of them reacted to his words.

‘Tell them then,’ she said, realising she’d been waiting for this moment, and she just hoped he’d make it quick. They had a long drive ahead.

‘You were a detective sergeant, weren’t you, when the call came in from fourteen-year-old Amber Rose?’

She said nothing, but he was correct.

‘She claimed that her foster dad had been abusing her. You had her taken into care and then proceeded to destroy that man. You badgered him, harassed him, followed him, pretty much stalked him to make him confess.’

Still, she said nothing because he wasn’t wrong.

‘He lost his job, his wife, his friends and his reputation because you wouldn’t let it go.’

‘Those are all statements. Do you have an actual question for me?’ she asked, pushing out her chin.

‘Just one. Was it before or after he took his own life that you found out Amber Rose was lying?’

‘After,’ she said simply and waited for his next shot.

He’d told no lies; he’d embellished nothing, and she had done exactly what he’d said.

It had been her darkest time in the force, and she had never stopped trying to atone for it.

She had believed every word that had come out of the mouth of the fourteen-year-old girl.

She had seen herself and her own time in foster care reflected in every sentence.

She had listened too closely to the words she’d uttered instead of using her skills to build a fuller picture.

If she had, she would have seen a girl who had made allegations against members of staff at every care facility she’d been housed in.

There were many things she should have done. And many lessons had been learned.

Again, her team offered no reaction to his words, but she was sure they were all eager for an answer.

‘You want the truth, I’ll give it to you – all of it,’ she said, and she didn’t just mean Ashworth.

‘I fucked up. I saw myself in that kid, and I believed every word that came out of her mouth. I believed that the man had gone to her room almost every night and forced her to do unspeakable things. I fell for the fear and terror I saw in her eyes. I recoiled in horror at the things she described and believed every tear that fell from her reddened eyes. I knew the only way to stop him from doing it to other kids was to get him to confess, so I made his life hell. I badgered him and I harassed him until he couldn’t take it any more.

And there’s nothing I wouldn’t give to go back and change what I did.

Not one day goes by that I don’t think about Amber Rose.

When her story began to change after his death, I knew I’d been deceived in the worst possible way and that I, not Amber, was responsible for that man’s death. ’

She paused. No one said a word, which was good because she wasn’t finished yet.

‘And because I can’t take it back and undo it, I remember it, I relive it.

I use it to question everything. I use it to make sure I’m the best copper I can be.

If you think I’ll ever forgive myself for my actions, you haven’t learned a damn thing about me.

If you go public with it, I’ll say exactly what I’ve just said.

I won’t hide and I won’t lie, but most likely I will be forced to resign.

So you should know that you’re not ridding the force of a bent copper, but removing someone who made a mistake once and who works doubly hard to make up for it now. ’

‘It’s true,’ Bryant offered.

‘She does,’ Penn said.

‘Bang on,’ Stacey added.

Ashworth looked over all four of them. He held up his hands. ‘Erm. I wasn’t expecting…’

‘Now, I’ve got a question for you, Steve,’ Kim continued. ‘You think you’re any good at this reporting shit?’

‘Of course. I just keep?—’

‘Only you’ve had two months, and this is the best you’ve got, which means you’re either a shit investigator or I’ve got nothing more to hide.

Which is it? Because both things can’t be true.

’ She paused. ‘Thing is, Steve, I’ve done my research too, and I don’t think you’re just a nuisance.

You’ve done some good stuff. You’ve done some shit stuff too, but I know you honestly felt I was a corrupt copper. ’

‘I did,’ he answered.

‘Then crack on, my man, cos you will find nothing else,’ she said and meant it. ‘If, however, you are actually interested in digging into a story that could save lives, feel free to follow us again right now, one more time. Your call on whether you want the opportunity to make a difference.’

She strode towards the car with no idea what the man was going to do.