Broken Bones: A gripping serial killer thriller (Detective Kim Stone Crime Thriller Series Book 7)

by Angela Marsons

  ‘Okay, gather round,’ Kim shouted. A bunch of microphones appeared before her face and tape recorders were activated and thrust forward. God, she hated this.

  The appetite of the beast would not be sated but they had to offer something. It was only a matter of hours before their victim would be identified as a prostitute, sparking a whole series of media debates before the family had been given the opportunity to draw their breath. This lot were not going to wait for the press liaison officer before they got something in print or online.

  ‘Is she a prostitute?’ Frost shouted, quickly.

  Kim ignored her and started speaking.

  ‘The body of a young woman was found last night in the Brierley Hill area—’

  ‘Is she a prostitute?’ Frost shouted again.

  ‘She will be formally identified once her family has been informed and—’

  ‘Is she a prostitute?’ another reporter called out.

  Kim stared forward. ‘West Midlands Police will be doing everything to—’

  ‘Is there a reason you’re ignoring the question?’ Frost challenged.

  Kim met her expression squarely. ‘Is there a reason that’s the only question you’ve asked?’ she said, stepping away from the microphones.

  News reporters and journalists she could live with, and in some cases, even respect. Headline hunters made her sick.

  ‘So, you gonna throw the full weight of the law behind this one, Stone?’ Frost asked, sarcastically, once they were away from the baying crowd.

  Kim stopped dead causing Tracy to land two steps ahead before she realised.

  ‘Really, you of all people ask me that?’ Kim said with disgust. ‘If I championed only the public perception of worthy you’d be dead meat right now.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ Tracy conceded. ‘You gonna confirm later?’ she asked, still seeking a response to her only question.

  ‘Confirm what?’ Kim asked, innocently.

  ‘Jeez, Stone, you’re hard work,’ Frost said.

  ‘But so worth it in the end,’ Kim said, raising one eyebrow.

  Tracy chuckled. ‘Anyway, heard you had a young new recruit in there last night,’ she said, nodding towards the station.

  The smile disappeared from Kim’s face.

  ‘Don’t you dare even think about it,’ she warned. She did not want anything to do with that child splashed over the front page. Thank God the woman had waited until they were away from the rabble to throw that one at her.

  Frost shrugged and sauntered away.

  ‘Bryant,’ Kim said, across the roof of his car. ‘Remind me why the hell I bothered saving her life.’

  He followed her gaze to the swishing blonde hair and the five-inch heels. ‘Beats me,’ he said, getting in the car.

  She headed out of the car park, onto the ring road, and sighed.

  She was missing one family for a child and she was about to make another family’s day a whole lot worse.

  And there was something she still hadn’t told her team.

  EIGHT

  ‘You almost ready?’ Dawson asked, glancing towards Stacey. It had taken them less than half an hour to work through the few witness statements they had. ‘I mean, if you need more time…’

  ‘I ay left the building in the last two months, Kev,’ she said, tetchily. ‘You really gonna ask me if I need more time?’

  ‘Yeah, I know. Just trying to be the supportive colleague,’ he offered with a smile.

  ‘Well, stop it. You’re freaking me out.’

  He glanced back down at the desk. In that case it was a good job she didn’t know the whole truth. Stacey’s abduction seemed to have hit the rest of them harder than it had her. He knew she’d been in counselling since it happened. At first, she had moaned at him about the psychologist and had denied the need to speak to someone. Then she’d said it wasn’t all that bad, and now she was saying nothing at all. He suspected she was missing appointments.

  The boss had done what they had all wanted to do: protect her and keep her locked in the office. But now she was giving Stacey some freedom and she was entrusting Stacey to him. And he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

  ‘So, what are your thoughts?’ she asked, as they headed down the stairs.

  ‘On what?’

  ‘The baby,’ she said. ‘Where it came from, who left it, why the mother felt driven to panic and do such a terrible—’

  ‘Bloody hell, Stace. A few assumptions in there. How do you know it was the mother? Why do you already say it was a terrible thing to do and why a panic?’

  ‘Okay,’ she accepted. ‘Maybe not the mother but why would any parent choose to leave their child outside a police station?’

  ‘There are a hundred reasons. Young mothers are frightened, teenage mothers panic but this wasn’t a newborn. That boy was around three months old so we’re not looking for a teenager trying to hide the new arrival from her parents. The child has been somewhere since it was born.’

  ‘Well, doe that just make it all the weirder?’ Stacey asked.

  Yes, he silently agreed. It certainly did.

  NINE

  Ellie Greaves stepped off the bus and headed to the front of the station. The argument with her mother still rang in her ears, primarily because it was the same argument they had every time they were in the same room.

  Her mother had gone back on her word and Ellie felt betrayed.

  Discussions about college had surfaced a couple of months ago, a week before her sixteenth birthday, and it was a discussion Ellie had been dreading.

  Having been bullied for her entire school life because of a stutter, which had corrected itself in her second year of high school, Ellie had no wish to continue within the education system. A chart in her bedside cabinet had marked the days until she could escape the misery.

  As a single parent who had never claimed a welfare benefit in her life, Ellie’s mother was passionate that she would gain a decent education. She wanted Ellie to see that college was the key to her future. That she would go on to university and secure a job that would ensure she was financially independent for the rest of her life.

  Except Ellie couldn’t see the stretch of her whole life. She could only see that day on the calendar, marked with gold stars, exclamation marks and glitter that signalled the end of the torture.

  During the last few months the arguments had become more frequent. Often they were about tidying her room or because she was playing her music too loud or she’d left the mayo out of the fridge.

  It didn’t matter what the surface arguments were about. The underlying battle was the same every time. A month before, Ellie had goaded her mother into an agreement. If she found a job with real prospects her mother would forego the college rule. Two weeks later Ellie had presented her mother with a written job offer as an apprentice mechanic to start as soon as she left school. Her mother had been incensed and had thrown the job offer in the bin, claiming it wasn’t a proper job and therefore didn’t count.

  Ellie had barely left her bedroom since discovering her mother’s deceit and the realisation that the deal had been on her terms only, in a career she deemed fit for her daughter.

  During those two weeks she had thanked God for Roxanne. Just before Christmas Ellie had stumbled onto a Facebook page entitled, ‘Teen Angst’. It was little more than a message board designed for venting. After reading the other posts Ellie had taken full advantage of the page and vented her heart out. Afterwards she had felt much better, even cleansed.

  That same night, she’d received a personal message from the page administrator thanking her for the valuable contribution and offering personal support should she need it. There had been something in the brief message that had spoken to her. Just a no pressure response from someone claiming to have been in the same situation ten years earlier.

  Messages back and forth had ensued, each one longer and filled with more detail. One thing that Ellie had warmed to was that while understanding her plight Roxan
ne had offered calm reassurance without once dissing her mother. In fact, Roxanne often offered an alternative view of their arguments and presented her mother’s opinion in a reasonable, measured way that always managed to calm her down.

  The previous night, after their worst row yet, Ellie had immediately taken to Facebook and told Roxanne she was considering running away.

  Roxanne’s response had been immediate, urging her to reconsider. Instead she had offered to meet with her for coffee and a chat. Some cooling off time. Ellie had felt special being singled out. And going for coffee felt really mature.

  She had considered leaving a note for her mother but at the last minute had decided it would do her mother good to wonder for a few hours.

  Two short bus rides had led her to the front entrance of Cradley Heath bus and train station.

  Roxanne had said she would be waiting but Ellie could see no woman standing around. Ellie took out her phone and scrolled down to the number Roxanne had sent her in case anything should go wrong. As she pressed the button to call she felt a presence loom up on either side of her. Her breath caught in her chest as the two guys startled her. Perhaps they had bumped into her accidentally.

  ‘Hey, sweetness, what you got there?’ the taller guy asked, snatching her phone.

  She instinctively reached for it but he was too quick for her.

  He laughed as he held it high above her head.

  Ellie felt her heart lurch inside her chest. She looked frantically around but there was no one.

  ‘P-please, give it—’

  ‘Nice phone,’ said the black guy appraising it and nodding.

  She tried to swallow the fear that had dried her mouth. Her tummy was turning but she had to try and get it back. If she lost her phone her mother would kill her.

  As she turned, the second guy grabbed for the small rucksack. She hunched her shoulders forward trying to keep it on her back but his strength was too much for her. He swung her against the wall so that her shoulder crashed against the brick.

  ‘Let go, bitch,’ he growled, as her weakened arms slid out of the straps.

  Although her heart was beating fast she made another grab for the phone.

  ‘Give me back—’

  The smaller one holding her rucksack slammed her against the wall of the building and thrust his hand between her legs. He squeezed, hard.

  She cried out.

  He threw back his head and laughed. His breath smelled of beer and stale smoke.

  She tried to control the trembling and the sudden swell of tears that rushed to her eyes. She just wanted them to take the phone and go, terrified of what they might do to her.

  ‘Be grateful this is all we’re after, gorgeous,’ he said, with another squeeze between her legs.

  Within seconds they had disappeared from view around the side of the building and across the railway tracks.

  Ellie was stunned and frightened. It had all happened so quickly. She looked around to see if anyone had seen anything. A woman was sprinting towards her. She was reed thin, wearing skinny jeans, inch high boots and a sweatshirt. Her long red hair was tied in a ponytail.

  A look of horror shaped her face.

  ‘Ellie?’ she asked.

  Ellie nodded dumbly, feeling the tears again sting her eyes.

  The woman took her hand. ‘I’m Roxanne. I just saw what happened as I got out of the car. Are you okay?’

  Ellie nodded not trusting herself to speak.

  Roxanne walked around the building but the thugs were long gone. The woman placed an arm around her shoulders, protectively, and began guiding her across the bus station to a car park on the other side

  ‘Come on, sweetie, let’s get you back to mine and sort out what we’re gonna do.’

  Ellie allowed herself to be guided and fought back the tears. Although only a few miles from home she suddenly felt much further away. She allowed Roxanne to place her into the small silver car and pull the seatbelt around her.

  She realised that without her purse or mobile phone, she really had very little choice.

  TEN

  The home of Kelly Rowe’s mother was unremarkable. It was a red-brick terrace with no front garden. A step up led to the front door that was opened by the family liaison officer.

  She stood aside to allow them in and closed the door quietly behind them.

  She offered her hand. ‘Louise Nash.’

  Bryant took it and introduced the two of them.

  ‘Got here about two hours ago. She hasn’t yet stopped crying but I get the impression she doesn’t know about her daughter’s profession. Keeps mentioning the name of a club I’ve never heard of. And I’ve kept the television on the kiddie channels for Lindy.’

  A good ploy for keeping the woman away from the news.

  ‘Other family members?’ Kim asked.

  ‘Doesn’t seem to be a father in the picture. Audrey has said nothing about a husband or any brothers and sisters. I’m pretty sure Kelly was her only child.’

  Kim nodded and took a step towards the door to the other room.

  The space was darker than the front room with only a small window that looked out onto a six foot fence that separated it from the next property. The woman on the sofa had a head full of tight brown natural curls. Kim guessed her to be early fifties. She wore plain blue trousers and a buttoned-up cardigan.

  The red raw eyes turned to Kim as she entered. They held what Kim had seen a hundred times: hope that a mistake had been made and that her daughter was alive and well.

  ‘Hey, Lindy, want to help me make breakfast?’ Louise asked.

  The child turned from her position in front of the TV. She frowned but nodded and left the room.

  Bryant stepped forward and touched the woman’s shoulder gently.

  ‘Mrs Rowe, we are so sorry for your loss.’

  The hope in her face died and a fresh wave of tears rolled into her eyes.

  Kim and Bryant both sat on the two-seater sofa. Bryant sat closest.

  ‘Mrs Rowe, we understand how difficult this must be for you but we need to ask some questions.’

  Audrey dabbed at her eyes and nodded bravely. Some part of the poor woman thought that if she cooperated fully time could be rewound and the death could be undone.

  That her daughter had been brutally murdered was not bad enough. That the child who now pottered in the kitchen was going to grow up motherless was not sad enough. That this poor woman was going to have to bury her daughter. They were now also going to have to inform her that her child had lied and kept secrets. And that she’d slept with men for money. Not a vision any mother wanted but the headlines would scream that fact soon enough with remorseless brutality. It was best she heard it from them first.

  ‘Can you tell us about Kelly’s habits?’ Bryant asked.

  Audrey nodded. ‘She lost her job almost two years ago. It wasn’t a well-paid job but it was enough for her and Lindy to get by. She got a job cleaning offices, which she does a few mornings a week, and she works at a club Thursday, Friday and Sunday.’

  Kim said nothing at her use of the present tense. The past tense would come soon enough and would then stay with her for life.

  ‘And what did she do at the club?’ Bryant asked.

  Audrey shook her head. ‘Bartending, I think. She was always there late so I don’t know if she had to lock up afterwards.’

  Kim caught Bryant’s eye. Painful as it was he was going to have to tell her the truth.

  ‘Did Kelly talk about any trouble she was having with anyone? Did she mention any names of people she’d argued with?’ Bryant asked.

  Kim understood that her colleague was attempting to get information before breaking the news that would render her incomprehensible.

  Audrey’s grief temporarily made way for confusion.

  ‘You can’t think this is personal. That someone intended to hurt her?’

  ‘We can’t rule it out, Mrs Rowe.’

  Audrey shook her head. ‘But s
urely it was a random robbery?’

  Kim would have loved nothing more than to leave that picture in her mind. That her child had been leaving work and been in the wrong place at the wrong time and she had bravely fought her attacker. The real, lingering picture was going to be much harder to bear.

  ‘Have you not talked to the owner of the club or the other staff members?’ she asked.

  And the game was up. Audrey had forced Bryant into a position from which he could not escape.

  ‘Mrs Rowe, I need to tell you something that is going to come as a shock to you. I’m afraid your daughter was not working at a bar. She was involved in the sex trade.’

  Bryant’s phraseology allowed Audrey a few more seconds of ignorance before her own brain fitted the pieces together.

  Kim wished it was a fact that they didn’t have to reveal but she preferred the woman to hear it from them. The news headlines would scream her profession at every opportunity and Kim wanted her to be ready.

  The tissue fell from Audrey’s hand.

  ‘Are you trying to tell me she was a…’ She shook her head in disbelief. ‘You think she was a prostitute?’

  Bryant said nothing but held her gaze.

  Audrey started shaking her head from side to side.

  ‘No, no, no… you have it wrong. Kelly doesn’t do that. She works at a bar. She makes good tips. She would never…’

  ‘Audrey, we need to give you the whole picture before you read it in the newspapers. Your daughter was stabbed multiple times and we don’t feel that robbery was the motive.’

  Audrey rose and paced the small room looking for somewhere to hide where the truth wouldn’t find her.

  ‘It’s just not possible, officer.’

  Kim knew what was coming next and she was ready for it. Denial of part of the truth allowed the woman to deny the whole truth.