Chapter 40
Forty
It was almost seven when Kim pulled up at the social services office in Dudley.
She had called the number Penn gave her to be told that Gloria Lincoln wasn’t going home any time soon and that it was fine for her to stop by.
The woman herself was waiting to let her in the building.
From the looks of her, Kim was guessing that their days had been equally as long.
Much as she ached to go and collect Barney, she had promised Daniel she’d check on Ava, and that’s what she was here to do.
She knew Ava’s well-being was not their responsibility, which was why she’d waited until after hours to check on her. Her team was exhausted from twelve-hour days and, despite the second victim, they were no good to her dead on their feet.
But there were other reasons Kim couldn’t walk away.
Ava was the daughter of a murder victim, and Kim had always felt they worked for the victim.
Keats listened to their last words, and she and her team acted upon them.
The least they could do for Ashley was try to keep her daughter safe, and allowing the child to go to Hollytree was like surrendering her to a completely different future.
‘How is she?’ Kim asked, following the woman along a dimly lit corridor to a bright room right at the end.
‘Scared, tired, confused.’
‘Grieving,’ Kim added, looking around a large, open space littered with desks.
‘Of course.’
‘And where is she?’ Kim asked, spying Ava’s suitcase beside one of the desks.
‘In the break room with one of my colleagues. There’s a TV and comfy chairs,’ Gloria said, as though that might decrease the little girl’s fears.
‘He didn’t do it,’ Kim said, sitting down.
‘You may be right, but I can’t take your word for it without conducting an investigation. You know that.’
Kim did understand. This was a woman who couldn’t afford to operate on gut instinct or complacency. Such traits in child services had led to cases of torture, neglect and death. But rarely had Kim been surer of someone’s innocence.
‘Where will she go?’ Kim asked, hoping she could at least assure Daniel that Ava was in the care of an experienced, loving foster family.
‘I’m waiting on a call from Lebworth.’
Kim’s heart filled with horror. Lebworth was a children’s home in Edgbaston that housed girls from the age of twelve upwards.
It was a hotbed of bullying and intimidation, where troubled teens were housed alongside kids removed from unstable families.
In desperate situations, they took younger girls just for the night.
Even that was too long for a child like Ava.
‘Not there, they’ll eat her alive,’ she protested. If the kid was scared now, she’d be totally terrified after a spell there.
‘I’m out of options, Inspector. There’s just no space.’
Kim had to give it one last try.
‘The school saw no signs of abuse. They know the signs. They know what they’re looking for, and not one teacher—’
‘You’re telling me that no child falls through the cracks?’ Gloria asked. ‘That every case of abuse or neglect is caught in the classroom?’
‘But they all say Ava is a confident, well-adjusted child with good grades and a strong social circle. You know she doesn’t present as an abused child.’
‘I don’t disagree,’ Gloria said, trying to keep the frustration from her voice. ‘I’ve spent a few hours with her now, and my intuition tells me that the complaint is groundless. I can’t make snap decisions based on that, but even if I could, that’s not the whole problem.’
Kim knew what was coming and waited in silence.
‘Daniel is not the child’s father. He is no relation to her at all. Despite the bond they may have formed, he is now only a man who was once married to her mother, and her mother is no longer here.’
‘But if you could just see the two of—’ Kim stopped speaking as Gloria’s phone rang.
The woman answered. She listened, nodding at the same time. ‘Okay, Lou, thanks for trying. Appreciate it.’
The woman listened to more apologies before ending the call.
If that was a ‘no go’ on Lebworth, Kim offered a silent prayer of thanks.
‘I’m out of options,’ Gloria said, opening her hands. ‘I have to send her to her uncle.’
‘You’ve got to be joking,’ Kim cried. ‘They barely take care of their own children, let alone a child with challenges.’
‘Do you think that’s what I want to do?’ Gloria exploded. ‘There ain’t no room at the inn. Any inn. I’ve got blood relatives willing to take her, and I’m out of options. I know it’s not ideal, but right now ideal is not even on my bingo card.’
‘She doesn’t know them. She’s met her uncle twice and she’s terrified of him.’
‘Inspector, what the hell do you want me to do?’ Gloria cried.
‘Release her to me,’ Kim said, surprising herself as much as Gloria.