“That’s great. Thanks, Jamie. Well, they’ve just given him the all clear to be taken home so do you think you could come and pick us up? I came in the ambulance last night and don’t have my car here.”
“No problem. I’ll leave right now.”
“Could you also go by the store and grab him some clothes? All his clothes were taken for evidence. Not that I’d want him to have to put them on again.”
“Not a problem. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
Kat disconnected the call and headed back to the boy’s room. She was looking forward to getting him out of there; a hospital was no place for a kid. Besides, if she had to be the one to break the news about his parents, she didn’t want to do it here. He hadn’t asked about them, but from what Finn had told her, he had been gone so long his memory of them may well have faded. Still, it was not a conversation she was looking forward to and she wanted him to be in a place he felt safe when she told him.
“Okay, young man.” she said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “My niece is on her way with some clothes for you to get changed into and then we can get out of this place. How does that sound?” The smile told her that that sounded very good to him.
“You’re going to come home with me for now. Is that okay with you?” He nodded, the smile still on his face, and Kat felt her heart clench. “While we’re waiting, why don’t you go and take a shower and clean up?” He was still covered in the dried blood and dirt that the nurses hadn’t been able to remove with a sponge and Kat wanted him to leave it all behind at the hospital along with the clothes he came in wearing. It was all part of his past; he needed to look to the future now.
“You won’t go?”
“No, I won’t go. I’ll sit right here on the bed and wait for you and I’ll be here when you’re done.”
He looked much better after he’d showered. It wasn’t long after that that there was a knock on the door and Jamie popped her head around.
“Come in, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” Kat waved her in. “Jamie, this is Daniel.”
“Hi, Daniel. I’m very pleased to meet you.”
Kat was pleased to see that he gave her a small smile.
“I’ve brought you some clothes.” She put a plastic bag on the bed.
“Thanks, Jamie.” Kat turned to Daniel. “Okay, we’ll give you some privacy to get changed, okay?” She stood up from the bed and, with Jamie, left the room, turning to pull the door closed behind her. As she did, she caught a glimpse of him as he removed his hospital issued gown and her breath caught in her throat. His back was a criss cross of scars. Some newly healed, some that had obviously been there for a long time. The sight made her stomach heave and her jaw clench. I’ll find who did this to you and then the bastard will pay, she promised him silently before closing the door.
Nine
He was surprised to find the full crime scene report sitting on his desk when he had arrived this morning. They usually had to wait much long for the lab to get back to them, but they’d obviously pulled out all the stops for this one. He’d finally gotten home from the hospital at two a.m. and it was now seven thirty a.m. He hadn’t managed to sleep, but had made himself lie on his bed with his eyes closed trying to rest. He’d only managed that for about an hour before the images of the kid in his mind and the thoughts of what might have happened to him became too much; he had to get up. He’d spent the rest of the night in his garage working on the classic car he was lovingly restoring, allowing his thoughts to roam. Pushing thoughts of the case aside, he allowed himself to think about his personal life. He liked Sally. They hadn’t been dating that long but she was smart, attractive and didn’t come with the history he shared with Kat.
But it was exactly because of that history with Kat that he didn’t seem to be able to shake the feeling that he should be with her, not Sally. The problem was that he didn’t know if he could get past all the things she’d done, as much as he might want to. Finally giving up on coming to an answer, he packed his tools away at about five a.m. and went for a run. After a shower and change, he’d headed in to work.
***
He hadn’t expected much but the report was still disappointing, revealing little. The rain that had fallen before they’d had chance to erect the shelter over the scene had washed away any trace evidence, if there had even been any. There were no footprints, no tire tracks, or anything else that could give them any kind of a lead. The boy himself had been examined as soon as the doctors had determined that his injuries were not life-threatening and the results of that examination were also included in the report.
Thankfully, this had yielded more. Scrapings had been taken from under his nails and his clothing had been examined for trace evidence. It made for confusing reading, though. According to the report, his dirty clothes were covered in the DNA of several other people in the form of blood, mainly, but also sweat and saliva. The scrapings had taken from under his nails had also revealed multiple DNA profiles. Did that mean there were multiple offenders?
The DNA profiles had been run through every database they had access to and they hadn’t had a single match, which surprised him. He would have expected at least one of them to be known to them already.
Looking around, it suddenly dawned on him how quiet it was. Theirs was a very small police department with a grand total of six patrol officers, including him, and the chief. They had no dedicated specialist departments, so when a big case hit it usually ended up on his desk as the longest serving and experienced officer, second to the chief himself.
It suited him. Kat had asked him once why he didn’t move to one of the big cities where promotion was more likely, but he had no desire to. Here, he was a patrol officer, a homicide detective, a narcotics detective and a lot more all rolled into one. But in all his years, he could count on one hand the number of times he’d arrived before the chief in the morning.
The vibrating of his cell in his pants pocket got his attention and, with a sigh, he saw that the caller was Sally. He’d been dating someone when Kat had re-appeared in town six months earlier, but he’d quickly realized he still had feelings for Kat. Even after her bombshell, he knew that he couldn’t keep pretending so he’d ended it with the woman he’d been seeing.
He hadn’t dated anyone since then until very recently. Sally had only arrived in town a few weeks ago and they’d met during a domestic violence case he’d been dealing with. The victim had refused to go to the hospital for her injuries but had agreed to be seen by a doctor at home. Calling the clinic, expecting to speak to old Doc James, he’d been surprised when he’d gotten her instead. She’d immediately agreed to come out to the old Jenkins farm and, despite the circumstances, they’d hit it off. As he’d walked her out to her car, he’d asked her out for dinner and she’d agreed. They’d been on a few dates since. He enjoyed her company, but he didn’t know if he wanted to take it to the next level.
He was tempted to allow the call to go to voicemail, but realizing it could be important he picked up.
“Hi, Sally.”
“Finn, where are you?”
The tone of her voice told him something was wrong. “I’m at the office. Why? What’s wrong?”
“Finn, I’m sorry. You need to get over here as soon as you can. I’m at the hospital.”
“Oh God, please don’t tell me anything’s happened to the kid.” Had he taken a turn for the worse? Did they miss something? Immediately his thoughts turned to how Kat would take it. So much so that he wasn’t prepared for what came next.
“No, Finn, Daniel is fine. It’s the chief. He had a major heart attack this morning. His wife called an ambulance and he was brought straight here. He arrived about an hour ago.”
He didn’t hear the end of the sentence, having already disconnected, and he was out of the door before she even realized he wasn’t listening any more.
***
He’d broken every speed limit on the way there and as he pushed through the door into the
hospital, his heart was beating almost out of his chest. This can’t be happening! The chief had been the one who had straightened him out when he was just a naive kid setting off down the wrong road. It was because of him that he’d joined up and he respected him more than any other person he knew.
Sally was waiting for him and quickly took him to the ICU. “How is he?” he asked as they rushed through the corridors.
“He’s been very lucky. We got to him fast,” Sally told him, struggling to keep up. “It looks like he’s going to be okay.”
Relief poured through his veins but he wanted to see for himself. Approaching the nurse at the station outside the chief’s room, he asked if he could go in. She looked like she was going to say no but at a nod from Sally changed her mind. “Okay, but only five minutes, and keep the noise down. His wife is in there with him.”
Gently pushing open the door he entered the room, immediately struck by how much older and weaker the chief looked. Going to his wife, he gave her a hug before taking a seat next to the bed. The chief was awake and he smiled weakly at him.
“You’ll do anything for a day off work, won’t you, boss?” he tried to joke.
“I think I’ll need more than a day off this time, kid.”
Finn tried not to show his concern. “You take as long as you need.”
“Bring me up to date on the case. Anything new since last night?”
“The full forensics report came in this morning. Nothing helpful, though.”
“You need to try and talk to the boy again, see if he can give us anything.”
“Agreed. Without something to go on we’re at a dead end. I’ll try and talk to him again today and I’ll let you know if he says anything helpful.”
“No, you won’t.” It was the chief’s wife who spoke this time, surprising them both. “He is under strict instructions to rest, Finn, and I intend to make sure that’s exactly what he does.”
Finn and the chief exchanged a look; they both knew better than to try and argue with her.
“Unfortunately, Finn, this does mean that you’re in charge for now. As of now, you’re acting chief.”
Finn had known it was coming, but he still grumbled “Okay, but only until you come back. You know I hate the idea of all that responsibility.” And he did. He liked to be able to just do his job without having to worry about budgets and politics.
“You’ll be fine, Finn. You’re a great cop. Just follow your instincts.”
“And you’re a great chief, so just make sure you rest and get better soon.” Saying his goodbyes, he left the room, closing the door before leaning back against it. The timing couldn’t have been any worse. This case had the potential to be an absolute nightmare and now, with the chief out of action, it was all on him. The important thing though was that the chief was going to be okay and he was right; he was a good cop and he had years of experience. Now it was time to put them into action.
Ten
Kat had sat in the back seat of the car with him on the way home. She could already see the change in him. Cleaned up and in new clothes, he didn’t look like the same boy she’d found by the side of the road.
“Kat, why don’t you show Daniel around, but just don’t go in Jake’s room. There’s something I want to do. I won’t be long,” Jamie said as soon as they walked through the front door.
Mystified, Kat watched as Jamie disappeared up the stairs. “Looks like it’s just you and me then.” She smiled at Daniel who was looking around the hall taking it all in.
“Is this all yours?”
“Actually, it’s Jamie’s. But this is where I was born and grew up. So, do you want to have a look around?” He nodded enthusiastically.
“Okay, let’s go!”
Kat was just showing him around the garden when Jamie called down to her.
“You can come up now!”
Climbing the stairs, they made their way to Jake’s room where Jamie was standing, looking pleased with herself.
“Oh, Jamie!”
Jamie had obviously been hard at work while she was showing Daniel around and had turned Jake’s old room into a room perfect for a young boy. There were posters on the wall and teddies on the bed and the closets had all been cleared out to make room.
“Thank you!” she told her, hugging her close, the tears spilling over.
“No need to thank me.” Jamie replied. “He deserves it.”
She nodded. “Yes, he does.” She looked down to where Daniel was clutching her hand. “So, what do you think, Daniel? Do you like your new room?”
He just nodded, which was all that Kat expected. Though he had spoken to her so she knew that he could, he still didn’t seem comfortable enough to do it very often. It worried her that he may have questions that he just didn’t feel brave enough to ask yet. There was one question that he hadn’t asked, though, that she needed to answer for him anyway. Knowing that she couldn’t put it off, she took a deep breath and smiled at him. “I’ll tell you what, why don’t we go downstairs and get some milk and cookies?”
Leaving Jamie to take him to the living room, Kat went to the kitchen. She needed a minute to gather her thoughts and her strength. She’d delivered death notifications before and it never got any easier, but this was different. This was telling a small child who had already been through so much that he had lost his family, too. She didn’t want to; she wanted him to have a bit of happiness back in his life before she took it away from him again, but she had to. She couldn’t let him hope that they were coming for him and snatch it away from him again. Pouring milk into a glass and putting some cookies onto a plate, she took them through to the living room.
He’d finished eating and was now sitting on the couch in between the two of them. Turning slightly so that she was facing him, she took his hands in hers.
“Daniel, you’ve been such a brave boy, but I’m afraid I have to tell you some bad news. I’m so sorry.” She took a deep breath. “How much do you remember about your parents, honey?”
He hung his head. “They gave me away.” It came out as no more than a whisper.
Kat was shocked. What? “No! Sweetheart, they didn’t give you away!”
He nodded fiercely. “They did. The boss said they didn’t want me anymore.” Tears ran down his cheeks.
Kat felt her heart break. “Oh, honey, he lied. Your parents never gave you away. In fact, they never stopped looking for you.” She saw a flicker of hope in his eyes and could have kicked herself. “They never stopped, honey, but I’m so sorry. They had an accident a little while ago and there were both killed.” Kat held her breath as she waited for a reaction.
He didn’t say anything for a moment and then, “They were looking for me?”
She squeezed his hands. “Yes, sweetheart, until the day they died.”
His face crumpled then and the sobs came, deep wracking sobs that shook his little body, and he threw himself into her arms. She held him tightly, letting them come, her own tears wetting the hair on the top of his head. Looking over at Jamie who had sat and watched the exchange, she saw that she, too, was distraught and her face was wet with tears.
They sat like that for a while, Kat just holding him while Jamie looked on until, eventually, the sobs were replaced by sniffles and he stopped shaking. Taking his tear-stained face in her hands, she wiped away his tears with her thumbs.
“What about the others?” he whispered.
“The others?” She was confused. “You mean the people that hurt you?” she asked
He shook his head. “No, the other kids. He told us all that our parents didn’t want us anymore.”
An icy hand clamped itself around her heart. Others? “Sweetheart, what other kids do you mean?” She needed to be sure about what he was saying.
“The other kids that were with me. They’re still there.”
Her whole body felt cold now. “Go and get Finn on the phone. He needs to get over here. Now,” she told Jamie, trying to keep her voice calm.
Eleven
It felt strange standing at her front door. He’d deliberately avoided Kat for the last six months and now here he was seeking her out. He only just got back from the hospital and had turned around and rushed over as soon as he’d received the garbled call from Jamie. His mind had been elsewhere, worried about the chief, and it had taken a few seconds for what she was telling him to sink in.
He hoped to God they’d got it wrong, but it tied in with the strange DNA profiles found on his clothes. That there might be more kids like this one out there didn’t bear thinking about.
“Hi, Finn.” It was Jamie who opened the door, immediately enveloping him in a hug, one that he returned. Whatever issues he may have with Kat, they didn’t involve Jamie and since he’d helped with her dramatic rescue earlier in the year, they’d remained firm friends.
“Hi Jamie, how you doing? You look great.” And she did. When she’d first come home, she’d been scrawny and beaten and bruised from her pimp and a run in with a serial killer. She looked like a different woman now, standing in front of him. She looked healthy and strong, and she even stood straighter and appeared more confident than he’d ever seen her.
“Thanks! Things are going really well.”
She gestured at him to come in. “But come in. You really need to hear what the kid has to say.”
He could tell she was shaken as he followed her through the house to the living room. He just hoped Daniel reacted better to him this time or he wouldn’t get very far.
He was sitting on the couch next to Kat with his back to the door and he had to walk around so that he was standing in front of them. Grabbing one of the matching chairs, he pulled it closer to the couch, but not close enough to intimidate the kid.
The McKays Box Set - To Kill For, Blood Sport, Hard Time & Gang Land Page 17