Chapter 70
Seventy
It was almost three when Bryant pulled up outside Stacey’s flat. Devon met them at the bottom of the stairs on her way out to work.
‘You’ve come to get her, haven’t you?’
Kim nodded and saw pain fill the woman’s face. It had been less than forty-eight hours, but it was clear that Devon had taken Ava into both her home and her heart.
‘Is there nothing you can do?’ she asked.
‘I’m out of options. I wish I could change it, but…’
‘I know. She’s just such a special kid. Give her one last hug from me, eh?’
‘I will, and, Devon, thank you.’
Devon said nothing more, but Kim felt her despair.
The guilt she was already feeling increased as she saw the woman wipe furiously at her eyes before driving away.
‘Shit, guv, this ain’t right,’ Bryant said as they entered the building.
She offered no response. She knew better than anyone that blood relatives were not always the best people for a child to be with.
In her own case, the best three years of her life had been spent with foster parents who’d had no blood ties to her, but Keith and Erica could not have loved her more if she’d been born to them.
Stacey answered the door with a despondent look on her face, saving Kim from asking the question. There were no other relatives she could try.
‘How’s she doing?’ Kim asked.
‘She knows something is going on,’ Stacey said, nodding towards the sofa. ‘She strokes that toy when she’s feeling anxious.’
How quickly Stacey and Devon had learned to read her.
‘Anything on Lucinda?’ Kim asked, happy to delay the inevitable by even a few minutes.
‘Her phone is going straight to voicemail. I’ve left messages. No response yet, but I did turn up something else.’
‘Go on,’ Kim urged.
‘She’s known to us. Not us specifically, but Brierley Hill have dealt with her.’
‘For what?’
‘Stalking and criminal damage.’
‘Ex-boyfriend?’ Kim asked.
Stacey nodded. ‘Nine years ago. He broke it off, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Calls, texts, threats, turning up unannounced, sending things in the post,’ Stacey said, shuddering.
The constable had been through a similar experience herself not so long ago.
‘She slashed his tyres and was charged with criminal damage. Suspended sentence and a fine as it was her first offence, and nothing since. Looks like she learned her lesson.’
‘Or she met someone else.’
‘Maybe,’ Stacey agreed.
‘Track down the victim and find out what she’s capable of.’
She looked towards the little girl still stroking the soft toy. ‘Hey, Ava, how are you doing?’ she asked, approaching the sofa.
‘Are we leaving?’ she whispered.
Kim swallowed her own emotion. ‘Yes, sweetie, it’s time for us to go. Are you packed?’
Ava nodded before heading to the bedroom.
Stacey turned away as she came out dragging her little pink suitcase.
Even Kim wanted to bend down and hug the life out of her.
‘Good girl,’ Kim said.
Ava headed for the door, by which time Stacey had composed herself.
She leaned down to Ava’s level. ‘Well, thanks for coming and staying with us for a couple of days. I want you to take this,’ she said, handing her a piece of paper.
The forced cheer in her voice was to mask the tears that were threatening to spill over.
‘It’s my phone number. Wherever you are, if you need me, you call me.
If anyone is being mean to you or if you just want to talk, you call me, okay? ’
Ava nodded, throwing her arms around Stacey’s neck. That was too much for the constable, and the tears rolled openly over her cheeks.
‘Gonna miss you, sweetie,’ Stacey said as Kim touched Ava on the shoulder.
Ava straightened and took hold of her suitcase.
Kim turned to Bryant and held out her hand. ‘Give me your keys. No point all of us wasting our time. Get an Uber back to the station and start working on that phone number from Karen’s appointment book.’
Bryant swallowed down his sadness as he gratefully handed her the keys.
No one wanted to see Ava being handed over to a future that was not going to be kind to her.