Chapter 2
Chapter Two
The little boy couldn’t have been older than two, maybe three. He wore a dirty, grey vest, and his little grey underpants were filthy, from where he’d soiled himself.
Cautiously, I crouched down to be at his level. I was a father myself, so it was instinct to take the handkerchief from my face and smile kindly at him so I wouldn’t frighten him.
“Hey there,” I said in a low, calm voice. “You’re safe now, buddy. No one is going to hurt you. We’re here to look after you. Okay?”
I reached forward, but the little boy scurried into the corner of the closet to get away from me.
A waft of shit, piss, and the stale smell that showed he hadn’t been washed for weeks blew over me, but I didn’t react.
It wasn’t his fault, and as I looked at the slats on the closet door, I could tell this boy had seen everything that’d happened in this room, and my heart broke for him.
“Jesus,” Stamford gasped. “I had no idea.” Then after a beat he stated firmly, “We need to get him out of here. Now.”
Stamford pulled his radio out to request further assistance, and Jenkins grabbed a sheet off the bed and stood close to the cupboard, holding the sheet up to try and shield the boy from the scene behind us. But it was too little too late.
I couldn’t stand to see the poor lad shivering in the corner while three grown men, three strangers, stood in this room towering over him.
A room with a scene no one should ever witness, least of all a little boy.
I needed to get him out of this house, but I could see how truly terrified he was. I had to tread carefully.
He tucked his knees under his chin, and I could see the shine in his eyes from the tears he wasn’t crying. He started to rock on the mattress, staring straight ahead with eyes wide, but there was a deadness behind them.
“You’re going to be okay,” I reiterated, moving a little closer to him. I did it slowly. I didn’t want to add to his terror. “We’re here to help you.”
His chin quivered, but he didn’t react to me or what I was saying, he just continued to rock and stare ahead in a daze.
I noticed a broken toy train to the side of the mattress, and I picked it up.
“My little girl likes trains too. Is Thomas your favourite?”
He didn’t answer, but he did turn his head slightly to look at the train in my hand.
“My little girl likes James because he’s red. Red is her favourite colour.”
He stared at the train, and I was glad he was focusing on that. Hopefully I was getting through to him.
“Do you have a favourite colour?” I asked, and he shook his head to say no. “I like red too. I think that’s why Abi chose it for her favourite, because of me. Have you ever been on a real train?” He shook his head again. “Maybe I could take you one day...”
Stamford butted in, “Dan, just pick him up and get him out of here. We have protocols to follow. You know that.”
But I didn’t want to follow a manual. The boy was traumatised, and I wanted to do what I could to help.
Keeping my voice light and calm, I replied, “Cases like what? Because I don’t think I’ve ever been faced with this before, so let’s just go with our gut, yeah?”
He was too busy talking into his radio to respond, and I moved to sit on the mattress next to the little boy, holding my breath at the smell permeating the air. But I didn’t care. I was fighting the urge to pull this little lad into my lap and hold him tight.
“You look like a clever boy,” I said, and he nodded. “I knew it. I’m very good at guessing things like that. “Do you think you could do something really clever for me?”
He took a moment, then gave me a slight nod.
“I know this is tough for you, so I’m going to give you a few choices.
I need to get you out of here...” He started to panic, shuffling his feet to try to get away from me, even though he couldn’t go any further back, and he gave a little squeal that broke my fucking heart.
“It’s okay,” I said. “Don’t get upset. I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to.
If you’re not ready to leave this closet, that’s fine.
We can work up to that.” He was breathing heavily, but I think my words were getting through to him.
“Why don’t you turn and face this wall,” I said, tapping the back wall of the closet.
I wanted him to turn around so he couldn’t see the room in front of us.
Jenkins might’ve been holding up the sheet to hide it, but I didn’t want to take any chances.
He panted and whimpered, but then nodded and slowly shuffled himself to face the back wall.
I could see goosebumps on his skin as he continued to rock back and forth and shiver beside me, and on instinct, I took my jacket off and draped it over his shoulders.
I didn’t even think about how he’d react.
But that small act of kindness broke both of us.
The boy started to cry silent tears, and he crawled into my lap and rested his head on my chest. Such a small action, but it was huge.
It showed that he was starting to trust me.
Or he was so broken from what’d happened, he just needed someone to cling to.
Whatever it was, I wanted to be here for him.
I wrapped my arms around his tiny body that shook as he sobbed, and I cried too, kissing the top of his head as I said, “You’re safe. You’re okay,” over and over. I’d have done anything to make him feel protected in that moment.
God knows how long this poor boy had been in here, hiding, watching with eyes that should only ever see the world with wonder and awe, witnessing the most barbaric thing he’d ever see in his life.
A nightmare that he could never wake up from.
It felt like a fucking knife to my heart.
I wished I could take that away from him.
This boy wasn’t much older than my own daughter.
“Shhhh,” I hushed, as I held the boy tightly in my arms and rocked him. “You’re safe now. I won’t ever let anything or anyone hurt you.”
“Dan,” Stamford snapped in a hushed command.
I ignored him.
“One day,” I went on, closing my eyes as I rested my head on his. “We’ll go on a train. A real train, just like Thomas. Maybe it’ll take us to the seaside, and we can make sandcastles and—”
“For fuck’s sake, Dan. Enough,” Stamford seethed. “Watch what you’re saying.”
“Why?” I hissed back. “Because right now all I can think of doing is anything to make this better.” I glanced down at the boy in my arms.
“Nothing will make this better,” Stamford replied. “We need to get him out of here and to a hospital.”
Moments later, the forensic team walked in with their kit, along with Detective Harrigan. Harrigan bypassed everyone and came over to the closet, crouching on his haunches as he said gently, “Hey, buddy. My name’s Mick. I’m here to take you to a safe place.”
The little boy didn’t say a word, just clung to me a little tighter.
“Can’t I take him?” I asked, but Harrigan shook his head, and Stamford piped up, “I need you here. Mick can handle it.”
Handle it.
He spoke about the boy like he was a piece of evidence to be bagged and tagged.
“With all due respect,” I went on. “I think it’d be better if I stayed with him. The boy trusts me, and—”
“Are you going against the orders of your superior?” Stamford snapped.
I couldn’t give a flying fuck how superior he was. This was about so much more than fucking protocol.
What the hell was going on here?
Couldn’t he see I’d made a connection with this boy. It’d be better for me to take him. Everything about this felt wrong.
But as I went to argue, Mick reached forward and wrapped his arms around the boy, pulling him forcefully off my lap, as my jacket fell from his tiny body.
The boy started to wail, his hands grappling, arms outstretched, begging not to be separated from me.
“No!” the boy cried, but Mick already had him in his arms, and he stood up, walking to the door as the boy peered over his shoulder, his tear-stained face pleading with me to do something.
“I’ll come and find you, okay?” I called out. “I’ll follow on behind. I’ll be there.”
And I would be there. Even if I had to go in my own time after clocking off. I would go to that little boy and make sure he knew he wasn’t alone. I had to do something. I needed to make sure that he would get the help he was going to need to survive this.
“He’s gonna be okay.” Stamford spoke softly, a direct contrast to the way he’d spoken to me only moments ago. “Don’t worry, Dan. He probably won’t even remember this when he’s older.”