Page 173 of Restitution

The dogs would have sat on the porch while I read, and Kade would have been building a tree house and attaching a swing for the kids. He’d be chasing them across the grass as their dark hair flopped in the wind, their tiny legs barely able to carry them away from their loving father.

We were supposed to have it all.

Kade and I stare at each other, holding tightly to one another, and he grabs my face and kisses me – a bruising kiss I hope to feel forever – before he’s tackled away from me.

“No!” I scream, but it’s no use. I’m outnumbered by at least twenty and dragged out of the way by Ewan as they pile on top of Kade like ants. One tasers him, even though he isn’t fighting back, and I scream as I see the baton drop on his head.

I’m held back by three officers, as are Aria and Ewan. They’re hitting him with their batons, and I can see blood splashing on one of their faces. Ewan gets tasered too, then Aria and I end up pinned to the grass when we try to get to Kade.

“He isn’t resisting!” I scream, but they aren’t listening.

An officer kicks Kade in the side, and I can taste dirt as the woman restraining me pushes my face further into the grass.

Through the sea of bodies, I notice an officer shoving his knee into Kade’s back before handcuffing him and reading him his rights.

When Kade’s yanked to his feet, he struggles against the four officers holding him, managing to turn and see me. “Get off her!” he yells, his face bloodied. “Get your dirty fucking hands off her!”

“Little bitch,” the officer sneers in my ear as Kade vanishes from my vision.

I can’t do anything but stay pinned to the ground, wincing as she pulls my hands back and cuffs me too. “Stacey Rhodes,” she says, “you are under arrest for the kidnapping and murder of both Christopher Fields and Bernadette Sawyer. You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.”

50

KADE

The clock on the wall doesn’t work. I’ve been staring at it for what feels like hours, and the hands aren’t moving. There’s no ticking. What’s the fucking point in having it hanging right in front of me, making me feel insane?

I tilt my head, the slight shift of my body’s position making the cuffs chafe on my wrist. They’re far tighter than they need to be. But I guess when you’re being charged with multiple murders and kidnapping and whatever the fuck else they’re slapping me with, keeping my hands and ankles restrained is a smart move.

The belt around my waist connects a chain to my cuffs too.

They’ve brought me to this room every day for the last week. Questioning me on everything, asking me torepeat what I disclosed on the live stream while killing Archie Sawyer. They’ve put over one hundred pictures in front of me and asked if I’m responsible for the disappearances of the people they show.

I mean, I am, but I’m not going to tell them anything.

I’ve not been allowed my call – I’m wearing scrubs because they won’t give me the clothes I know for a fact my mother would’ve tried to hand in. Stacey has probably been at the front desk demanding information too, but as far as I’m aware, it’s just radio silence.

It fucking hurts me to think of not seeing Milo and Hopper again. Sure, everyone else will be able to visit me, and I’ll be able to talk on the phone to them, but seeing my dogs again? No chance.

The wanker who came to the manor with his boss to offer me the protection order months ago walks in. He’s been the lead officer this time, and he hates my guts. Maybe threatening him every time he talks to me has been a bad idea, but I’m past caring anymore. I just want to speak to my girl, make sure Luciella’s okay and that my dad hasn’t been caught.

I don’t care about myself.

“So,” the dick starts, dropping a folder between us on the metal table. “Stacey Rhodes.”

My spine straightens. “What about her?”

“Quite a while ago, she appeared at this station roughed up. She’d taken drugs and said her stepbrother had attacked her and killed someone. I so happen to be the big brother of his ex-girlfriend and knew her face. There was no evidence of this attack. He came to collect her, and I suggested therapy or to even section her.”

My teeth grind together as I wait for him to continue.

He rubs his hand down his face. “I didn’t know she was tellingthe truth. Three weeks ago, we discovered the remains of a man at the scene of where she said she was attacked. Forensics confirmed he died around the time she tried to report it.”

“Stacey came to you for help and you pushed her back into the arms of her abuser?”

“That is a mistake I will never forgive myself for. Stacey is a victim. There’s a video of her being sexually assaulted I’m sure you are well aware of. All her attackers are either dead or missing.”

My lip twitches. “Shame.”