Chapter 41
Forty-One
‘It’s been a day, hasn’t it?’ Kim asked as she carried Ava’s suitcase to the car.
It had taken some convincing to get Gloria to agree to release the child into her care, but after explaining what Penn had seen at the Chance house, Gloria had relented until she had assessed the living conditions for herself.
There had been many stipulations, but by far the most important was that Ava was not allowed to have contact with Daniel.
‘Can I go home now?’ Ava asked as Kim buckled her into the Golf.
‘Not yet, sweetie.’
‘I miss Daddy,’ she whispered, a sob escaping her small body.
‘I know, Ava, and I know he misses you too,’ Kim said. ‘Tell me some of the games you play while I drive.’
Kim had very little doubt about the sexual abuse allegation, but she’d been deceived before.
She was no child psychologist, but this kid wasn’t withdrawn, she wasn’t moody, she wasn’t frightened of Daniel or anxious in his presence.
Kim knew the reasons children didn’t talk about sexual abuse.
They thought it was their fault, or they’d been convinced that it was normal, or that it was a special secret between child and abuser.
Some children were bribed or threatened and told they wouldn’t be believed. Many children cared deeply for their abuser and didn’t want them getting into trouble.
Kim wanted to make sure she wasn’t making a terrible mistake.
‘We sometimes play Scrabble, but Daddy makes up words that aren’t real. He tries to convince us that they are real words, but they’re not. It makes Mummy laugh.’
Kim chuckled as they headed towards her destination.
‘What else do you play together?’
‘Hide-and-seek,’ Ava said. ‘At bedtime he gives me ten to hide.’
‘Ten what?’ Kim asked.
‘He counts to ten and then comes to find me, but I think he counts for longer so I can find a good spot.’
Clever way of getting her upstairs at bedtime. Turn it into a game.
‘What’s your best hiding place?’ Kim asked.
‘I used to be able to squeeze myself into the drawers under Mummy’s bed, but now I’m too big. If Daddy can’t find me, he stomps around calling my name in strange voices, and I have to try not to laugh to give myself away.’
If this guy was doing anything to this kid, she’d bloody well kill him herself.
‘Then what?’ Kim asked.
‘He takes off my arm and rubs it with cream, and then Mummy comes to read me a story.’
The kind of childhood that every kid deserved… except that now her mum was dead, and her dad had been accused of molesting her.
‘Sounds like you and your dad are best friends,’ Kim observed.
‘He can’t be my best friend!’ Ava chuckled. ‘He’s my dad.’
‘Dads can be best friends too, and lots of best friends have secrets. Do you and your dad have secrets?’
Ava shifted in the seat uncomfortably, and Kim felt her blood run cold.
‘I c-can’t tell anyone.’
Kim fought hard to steady her breathing as she saw this child’s future change shape before her very eyes.
‘Do you know that there’s a law with secrets?’ Kim asked, trying to keep her voice light.
Ava shook her head.
‘It’s true. The law says that if you tell a police officer a secret, they’re not allowed to repeat it, not to anyone.’
‘Really?’ Ava asked with wonder.
‘Honestly, it’s in our rulebook. Any secret you tell me, I have to keep to myself,’ Kim said, crossing her fingers on the steering wheel.
‘We have a secret, but Daddy told me not to tell anyone,’ Ava whispered. ‘It happened in the bedroom.’
Kim gripped the wheel hard.
‘Whose bedroom, sweetie?’
‘Mine.’
‘Go on,’ she urged her.
‘It was my fault. I dropped a whole glass of Ribena on my new carpet. I was scared to tell Mummy because it was only a day old, but Daddy put a rug over the stain to hide it and said it was our little secret.’
Kim almost laughed out loud at the innocence in Ava’s voice. Relief washed over her.
‘Do you think Mummy can see it now, from heaven?’ Ava asked, looking out of the car window.
‘Maybe, but she’d understand why you didn’t want to tell her, so I don’t think she’d be angry with you.’
‘Don’t tell Daddy I told you.’
‘I won’t, sweetie. I told you – I’m not allowed to tell anyone.’
The little girl relaxed into the seat, and Kim knew beyond a doubt there was no truth to the accusation.
A few minutes later, she parked the car and sounded the horn before turning to the girl.
‘Ava, I can’t take you back to your daddy tonight, but I’m going to leave you with some people that I trust completely. They’re going to take very good care of you, and I’ll be checking in all the time, okay?’
Ava nodded sadly, as though she knew she had no control over what was going on in her life right now.
If the Chances had been in front of her, Kim would have happily strangled them both with her bare hands for what they’d caused.
Two figures appeared at her window.
She wound it down.
‘Stace, I’m really gonna need your help.’