by GS Rhodes
“We’re at the William Webb Ellis Pub in Twickenham,” Asim said. “We were having a drink. I know you said to be careful but we’re all together and Bill said it would be fine. Bill is a fucking idiot. I don’t know what he was thinking.”
“Asim, focus,” Kidd said, hurrying over to his desk and writing down “WILLIAM WEBB ELLIS.” He had a sneaking suspicion they were going to need to make their way there pretty soon.
“Sorry. God, I’m sorry, I’m so stupid,” he slurred. “I just came out because he said so and then he showed up.”
“Bill?”
“No, not Bill,” Asim said. “Robin.”
Kidd stopped pacing, staring blankly ahead as he took in the information. Robin was at the William Webb Ellis with the last three surviving lads and he was their prime suspect.
Shit, shit, shit, he thought.
“Robin Paige?” Kidd needed that confirmation. Zoe’s eyes widened as he said it.
“Where?” she mouthed. Kidd showed her the post-it. She took it from him and headed over to the rest of the team, talking rapid-fire at them and getting them ready to go.
“Yes, Robin Paige,” Asim said. “He just showed up and he knows we’re here. What do we do? I…I went away from the table. What do I do?”
“Stay where you are,” Kidd barked. “He’s not going to do anything there, I’m sure he won’t.” He said it with certainty but his heart was pounding in his chest. “We’ll be there as soon as we can, but stay put, don’t let him chase you. I’m going to call you back when we’re on our way. Can you do that for me, Asim?”
“I don’t know, DI Kidd, I’m scared, what if he—?”
“You need to trust me,” Kidd said. “Stay there, keep your phone on.”
Kidd hung up the phone and started over to the rest of the team. “We’ve got a sighting on Robin Paige, he’s in close proximity to the three remaining lads at a pub in Twickenham. Get yourselves ready to go, stab vests, batons, the lot, treat him as armed and dangerous.” Kidd carried on towards the door.
“Where are you going?” Zoe asked.
“To tell Weaver we’re going to need all the backup we can get,” Kidd said as he rushed out into the corridor, pushing by his colleagues as he made his way to Weaver’s office. He didn’t bother knocking, bursting into the room to see Weaver on the phone at his desk.
“Yes, sir, absolutely sir,” he said, his head in his hands. He looked up to Kidd, apparently not surprised to have him bursting into his office unannounced. Or maybe he was too exhausted to care. “As soon as anything—” The person on the other end of the phone interrupted him. “Yes, as soon as there is anything to report I’ll—” Another interruption. “He’s actually here just now—” Another interruption.
Kidd didn’t have time for this. He walked forward and pressed the switch hook on the phone, terminating the call with who he assumed with Superintendent Charles. Weaver’s face dropped. Immediately he rose from his seat, ready to give Kidd the full Patrick Weaver eruption.
“Let me stop you right there,” Kidd said before he could start. “We’ve got a lock on Robin Paige, but we need to go now. Get me some officers down there, preferably armed, he could be dangerous.”
Weaver seemed confused, not sure whether to yell at Kidd or congratulate him. As much as Kidd was enjoying it, he knew that it needed to wait until later. They had a job to do.
“William Webb Ellis in Twickenham,” he said on his way out the door. He grabbed his phone again and dialled Asim back, he picked up on the first ring. “You still there, Asim?”
Nothing came back to him.
“Asim?”
“I’m sorry, Kidd…” he said.
“What happened?”
“We had to go, we couldn’t stay there, what if he—?”
“Asim, go back into the pub,” Kidd barked as he started out of the police station, Zoe and the rest of the team in tow. “Get back in there and—”
“We can’t, we just can’t.”
Kidd turned to Zoe.
“What’s happened?” she asked.
“We need to get there, and we need to get there now,” he said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“Where are you going?” Kidd said down the phone, sitting in the passenger seat next to DS Sanchez who was flooring it all the way to Twickenham. He held on for dear life, in the back seat Simon and Owen were doing the same. He didn’t have time to complain about her driving but he might have to throw up once they reached their destination.
“We’ve just left the pub,” Asim said, a little bit breathless down the phone. “We’re just walking further into town. Past the Santander. Bill, where are we going?”
Kidd heard someone on the other end of the phone say something to Asim but he couldn’t quite make it out. Zoe was pulling onto Twickenham High Street, a sea of blue lights swimming behind them. They needed a location and they needed it fast.
“Asim, where are you?”
“We’re at the riverside, we’re—” He stopped suddenly. Kidd could still hear him breathing down the phone.
“Asim? Asim, what is it?”
“RUN!”
Kidd didn’t know where it had come from, somewhere away from Asim, but he suddenly heard Asim running, his feet pounding against pavement. But Kidd had no idea where they were going. He kept the phone pressed to his ear, trying to hear if Asim was trying to talk to him again but nothing was coming through.
Kidd was shaking in the passenger seat, no clue what was happening. Where they were supposed to be going.
“Where am I pulling in?” Zoe said as she drove down the high street.
“Pull in down here,” Kidd said. “He mentioned a Santander, it must be down here, down by the riverside.”
He still had the phone pressed to his ear when he heard a scream, a thud, another scream.
“Fuck.”
“What?” Zoe asked.
“Something’s happened, stop the car,” he shouted.
“I’m not stopping the car, you can’t run after them—”
“Zoe, please, we can’t lose another one,” he barked. She did as she was told and stopped the car, Kidd jumped out, Owen and Simon following suit, all three of them sprinting down towards the riverside while Zoe drove the rest of the way down and parked up. He heard noises coming from down a nearby road and he gave chase.
He knew it was stupid, he knew it was the opposite of what Weaver would have wanted him to do. But they were three bodies in and if all three of those men were out in the dark by themselves, who knew what could happen. Fucking Asim had been too drunk to do the right thing and now Kidd was racing against the clock, and a bloody psychopath, to keep them safe.
All in a day’s work, he thought.
He could hear noises as he got closer.
“HELP!”
Simon Powell took off past Kidd. He’d never seen the lad run before, never seen him in action, not even once, but he was out to prove himself tonight and he was off and running.
He heard a clatter of bodies into bodies, someone fell to the ground. There was a sound, a push, a shove, a grunt. Another scream. And footsteps running off into the distance.
Kidd’s chest hurt, his entire body ached as he kept going. These were not running shoes and he could barely keep his feet on solid ground.
He kept running until he saw a cluster of people silhouetted in the dark. He took out his torch, shining it on them and could make out Bill, Asim, a girl he didn’t recognise, Tom on the ground holding his arm, and…Kidd froze. Simon Powell was on the ground, Robin Paige standing over him.
He pulled out his baton and flicked it to its full length, stepping towards the group of them cautiously. He heard footsteps behind him, groups of people running towards them, their stab vests jostling against their bodies, any hope of stealth completely lost.
“Nobody move!” Kidd barked.
The faces stared at him, Tom looking like he was in a lot of pain, Simon wasn’t conscious, at least not from what Kidd cou
ld see. But even Robin didn’t look too great, now that Kidd thought about it. Tom had a slash on his face, another across his chest, and was bleeding. Robin was holding his head like someone had clattered him over it and also had a cut across his arm that was bleeding through his white shirt. Simon was…fuck, Simon was bleeding and definitely not conscious. What the bloody hell had happened here?
“Boss?” DS Sanchez appeared at Kidd’s side, Owen also appearing. “What do we do?” She must have caught sight of Simon because she gasped. “Jesus Christ.”
“I want Robin Paige arrested,” he barked. “Someone caution him, Owen call an ambulance, make it a couple, someone check on Simon. Can someone please bloody check on Simon? We’ve got to get Tom checked out. Robin too, I suppose.”
Bill tried to protest but Kidd quickly told him to shut the fuck up. He didn’t have time for it, he was trying to get his thoughts in order and struggling. The timeline of events had gone out of whack. When Asim ran, he’d lost any thread of what was supposed to be happening.
The guilt washed over Kidd with such intensity it almost brought him to his knees. The only thing keeping him upright was the thought that they’d managed to catch Robin Paige. A young lad who had caused them no end of trouble over the past few days.
But as more officers arrived and ambulances turned up to take care of Tom and Simon, Kidd couldn’t help but notice how Robin wasn’t putting up much of a fight. As he was cuffed and put into the back of an ambulance with an officer in tow, it was almost as if he’d accepted his fate. Why go to all that trouble if you were just going to hand yourself in before you were finished?
It didn’t sit right with Kidd, it didn’t sit right at all. Something told him this wasn’t quite over yet. Something told him he had missed something huge.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“What the bloody hell happened?”
DCI Weaver had arrived at West Middlesex Hospital in an absolute state. The phone call from Kidd probably hadn’t helped him all that much. It was one thing to report that they’d managed to catch the guy they were looking for, but when one of his own had been hospitalised it put a different spin on it. It was a strange sort of comfort to see that Weaver still cared for his team like that.
“One minute you’re off to a pub to get this guy, the next I’m meeting you at a hospital because everyone seems to have ended up in the shit,” he growled. The nurse behind the reception desk gave Weaver a stern look. He returned it with gusto. “What?”
“It’s late, sir,” she said. “There are a lot of people here waiting to be seen, if you could keep your voice down—”
“Keep my voice down?!”
Kidd grabbed DCI Weaver’s arm and dragged him down a corridor and towards the rooms Tom, Asim, and Simon were in. They’d managed to get Robin here and get him fixed up and off in police custody. That was something for Kidd to deal with later. Right now, his focus was finding out exactly what had happened.
“Let go of me,” Weaver growled. “Explain.”
Kidd took a deep breath and explained to Weaver how everything had gone down, watching as his face twisted from confusion to anger to understanding and right back to anger again. It was his default setting, so Kidd could hardly blame him for being most comfortable there.
“Simon’s okay,” Kidd said, though he couldn’t keep his voice all that steady. It had been terrifying to see Simon like that. The klutz, the one who didn’t really do all that much. He’d bolted past Kidd and right into the action and he was wondering if he was responsible somehow. Had he made jokes that made him feel like he had to do that? Had he caused it? “He’s conscious but very groggy. He’s got a pretty busted up arm, partly from where he got slashed by…” Kidd hesitated. “By Robin, I guess, and partly from where he fell on it. He’ll need a cast.”
“Jesus Christ.” Weaver ran his hands over his quickly reddening face. “What did I tell you about doing things by the book?”
“We were doing things by the book, sir,” Kidd snapped. “The boys…they got spooked and they left the pub. We followed them to the riverside and when I heard a scream for help, I ran. Simon and Owen ran too.” He paused. “Simon is bloody fast, boss, did you know?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Went straight past me and Campbell,” Kidd said. “That’s how he ended up in the thick of it. That’s how he ended up unconscious. We’re going to have to talk to him about what happened. Wanted to give him a little bit of time to properly come to first.”
“Sure, sure,” Weaver growled. “That was dangerous, Kidd. No matter how many times I tell you, you just don’t bloody listen.”
“Boss—”
“No, you need to let me finish,” he said. “You’re going to get yourself into some really big trouble one of these days, Kidd. I’m hoping this is going to be some kind of wake-up call for you. You’re leading by example.” Kidd nodded, but Weaver wasn’t done. “Simon is young and impressionable, he looks up to you and is obviously learning from your bad habits. He bolted towards the action because he’s seen you do it so many times before, you understand?”
“Yes, boss.”
“And it almost got him killed,” Weaver said. He wavered a little. He didn’t really know what had happened to Simon, didn’t know the severity of it, but he was trying to make a point here. He steadied himself and carried on speaking. “Just like you on your last case.”
“Simon is smarter than me,” Kidd said. “It was calculated. He knew what he was doing. He was wearing protective gear, he had his baton, he just didn’t think to use it. Or they got to him first, I don’t know, I’ve not spoken to him yet.”
“Are you defending your decision making?” Weaver was ready to erupt.
“No, sir,” Kidd replied. “I’m defending his. You know me, boss, I’ve got a death wish.”
Weaver opened his mouth to speak but quickly closed it. He all but rolled his eyes at his DI. He was reluctant to admit it a lot of the time, but even though DI Kidd was a little bit unorthodox in the field, he got the job done. And he’d managed to get another job done. But it was someone else getting injured in the process that didn’t sit right with him.
“Superintendent Charles will be pleased that we’ve wrapped all this up, Kidd,” Weaver said. It was too late in the day to get into a fight with Kidd about his conduct. A conversation like that could wait until the morning. Though Weaver knew that by tomorrow morning there would likely be something else on their plate to deal with and Kidd would be off and running again. “Robin Paige is in custody, is that right?”
Kidd nodded. “Got him patched up and sent over to Kingston, boss,” he said. “Going to question him as soon as humanly possible, get all of this wrapped up. Got DC Ravel checking shoes.”
“Shoes?”
“And fingerprints,” Kidd said. “The shoe print from earlier in the case sir, we’ve got that on hand and got a shoe that we think is a match. Just need to make sure it’s his, I suppose.”
“A slam dunk then,” Weaver said.
Kidd nodded, though only half-heartedly. He didn’t have the heart to tell Weaver that they hadn’t managed to locate a weapon yet, and the fact that Robin hadn’t been threatening any of the guys when they’d arrived on the scene didn’t sit right with him. There were officers looking for the weapon now, all over the riverside, all over the area. There were a lot of bushes and gardens there, drains too, it could have been tossed anywhere. If it had even been with Robin in the first place.
Kidd shook his head. His brain felt like it was mush. He was going around in circles.
“You look knackered, Kidd,” Weaver said.
“You’re one to talk,” Kidd retorted, allowing a smirk to play at the corners of his mouth so Weaver would know that he was joking.
“Well,” Weaver said with a shrug. “I’ve got a lot going on. And I’m not as young as I used to be.”
“You want to talk about it?” Kidd asked.
“About my age?” Weaver replied. “Not re
ally much you can do about that one, Kidd. Time is still marching on whether we want it to or not.”
“Not about that, boss,” Kidd said. “About…other things. Not trying to pry, and I’ve not been talking to anyone, before you go and bite my head off again. But if you ever feel like you need to talk to somebody about something, you know where I am.”
Weaver looked like he was about to say something snotty, like he was about to brush Kidd off again. But he seemed to rethink it and his shoulders sagged. He smiled a little at Kidd.
“Thanks,” he said. “I may take you up on that at some point. Don’t count on it,” he quickly added. “But I might.” He took a breath and was about to say something else when he suddenly started patting his pockets. He pulled out his phone and gave Kidd a “one minute” finger before walking away, the phone pressed to his ear.
“Well, he seems to be in good spirits.” DS Sanchez appeared through a door behind him. “Everything alright?”
“Just Weaver stuff,” Kidd said. “You know what he’s like.”
Zoe nodded, she knew just what Weaver was like. “You ready to go in and chat to Asim and Tom?” she asked. “Probably best to get that done before we get back to the station and crack on with Robin, eh?”
“Yeah, definitely,” Kidd said. He was about to walk through the door, when Zoe placed a hand on his arm to stop him. “What?”
“Same question to you,” she said. “What’s going on?”
“I’m just…I’m not sure,” Kidd said.
“About what? About Robin?” Kidd nodded. “Why not?” she asked. “We caught him there, two victims, one of which was a police officer,” she continued. “It looks pretty cut and dry to me. Plus the shoe.”
“The bloody shoes,” Kidd said.
“What’s not sitting right with you?” Sanchez asked.
He tried to put it into words, tried to work out exactly what it was that was making him feel uncomfortable. But he couldn’t place it. It was feasible that Robin had attacked them and thrown away the weapon, that he was there because he’d been caught in the act, but…there was too much left unanswered. He thought back to Owen and Simon’s suggestion. Maybe there was an accomplice. Maybe Robin was caught there to throw them off the trail of whoever else was in it with him. He just couldn’t be sure.