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Paul Brooks had been seconds away from raping a woman. His past history and his disgusting selection of pornographic material indicated that it had been in his mind for a while and had only been a matter of time.
Nathan Yates had been trying to find an inroad to working with children, and despite his marriage and its dubious connotations, there had been a hunger within him that he’d been trying to satisfy.
Ian Perkins had claimed that none of them had changed from when they were teens, and Kim had to wonder if he was right. Every one of them, except Leyton, had continued on the path they’d started as teens. If the success rate for rehabilitation was a paltry one in six, the system needed a serious overhaul. But ultimately, whether he was right or not, that hadn’t been Ian’s motivation for killing his former friends. He’d formed a family and they had disappointed him. It was no more complicated than that. So, although she struggled to mourn the loss of Eric, Paul and Nathan, she knew that Teresa Fox and Katie Yates would be affected by Ian’s actions for the rest of their lives.
Curtis Jones would never believe that the Psycho Six hadn’t been responsible for the death of his father, but having read the report in full, Kim was in no doubt that it had been a tragic accident. She hoped that over time Rufus would help ease him of the bitter burden he carried. At one point, when she’d seen the two of them driving off for lunch, she’d briefly wondered if they’d been in this thing together.
Rufus Fox had bonded with Curtis, had known of his terrible loss and had taken on that fatherly role in his life. He’d been desperate to welcome the man into his family as a son-in-law and had maintained that relationship even after the romance with his daughter had ended. She would imagine he’d now be pulling at his daughter’s every heartstring to reunite with the man so he could have the family he wanted.
The irony of her own struggles with Stacey this week weren’t lost on her. Was she guilty of doing the same thing as Ian with her team? Maybe. Would she kill them if they disappointed her? No. She’d just shout at them and not acknowledge their existence for a week.
Heat warmed her face. Looking back, she wasn’t proud of the way she’d treated Stacey upon finding out her secret. Yes, she’d been angry. Yes, she’d been hurt. And yes, she’d eventually realised that Stacey had suffered greatly and had been a victim of a very disturbed individual. She should just have realised that fact sooner.
Ultimately, family had been at the heart of everything this past week. The focus had been on the families you make.
Mrs Danks had risked everything to spend time with her daughter again. She’d had experience of the cruel disease she suffered from, and she knew what was coming. She knew she was in the early stages where the good days outnumbered the bad. Every day that passed, that balance might tip against her, and she’d be unable to do anything about it. Of course, it was only suspicion on Kim’s part that the woman had been out driving her small light-blue car on the night of Terence Birch’s accident. Anything more would have obligated her to make a call to Vik. As far as Kim was concerned, Mrs Danks had already missed out on years with her daughter, so any suspicion would remain purely in her head.
But that same suspicion and her own actions had led her to question her own beliefs in vigilantism. Prior to this case, she had been resolutely against any form of members of the public exacting their own justice. But how much more were the Danks family supposed to take? They’d been placed in a horrific situation where, tied by the hands of the law, police officers had been unable to help. And wasn’t she herself somewhat guilty of taking matters into her own hands this last week?
Without doubt, she should have told Vik everything she knew about Stacey’s involvement with Birch. She’d done her utmost throughout her career to never enter the grey area of policing, but when it had come to protecting one of her own, she’d withheld information, illegally gained entry to a dead man’s home and lied to her boss. The voice that shouted loudest in her head still said that no one had the right to take the law into their own hands and that punishment was decided by the justice system. That voice just wasn’t as loud as it had once been. That fact and the grey area into which she’d slipped would all be sealed in one of the many boxes in a dark corner of her mind.
She pulled herself back to the present as the Astra Estate entered the car park. Her colleague and friend, Bryant. Even his moral compass had malfunctioned briefly this week. Somehow, they’d formed a silent agreement. He wouldn’t ask her about the Danks family, and she wouldn’t ask him about the disappearing shrine at Birch’s house. He’d faced his own family issues this week. He’d been forced to accept that his was about to grow and that it would never be just the three of them again. He would eventually come to see that having Josh in the family would be a blessing not a curse.
Next to arrive were Penn, Lynne and Jasper. They stepped out of the car, and Kim was pleased to see Jasper carrying a sizeable Tupperware box. None of them were going hungry today.
Penn and Lynne had reached a milestone in their own little family this week. There was no question the two of them were in love, and it was clear that Lynne had a special place in her heart for Jasper. She accepted everything about Penn: his weirdness, his social awkwardness and his lifelong commitment to Jasper. They both had demanding jobs, and Kim just hoped their feelings could outlast the challenges ahead.
Last to arrive was the small blue car that had caused her to lose sleep for much of the week.
Devon and Stacey got out and moved towards the small group that was forming. A smile tugged at her lips as Kim saw something that gave her hope they could weather their current mistrust and rebuild their relationship. The distance from their car to the rest of the group was thirty feet, but their hands reached for each other and held for the time it took to cross the short space.
She felt sure that their small family would survive.
‘And we’re okay, aren’t we, boy?’ she asked, giving Barney’s head a ruffle.
For some reason, the image of Leanne came to her mind. She had no idea why except for the fact that she too existed alone, committed to a job that demanded it. No colleagues, no friends, just people who needed her protection.
She pushed the image away. It was unlikely the two of them would ever meet again.
Kim unclipped Barney’s seat belt and attached his lead. She opened the car door, and Barney followed her out.
They all turned her way and smiled widely. Barney instantly started pulling her towards Bryant.
‘Here, take him,’ Kim said as her gaze rested somewhere else.
Bryant took the lead from her hand and produced an apple from his pocket.
‘Devon, got a sec?’ she asked, moving away from the group. Devon followed.
Kim took a breath. ‘Listen, about the other day—’
‘You know, it was really a shit week, wasn’t it?’ Devon said, cutting her off.
‘Oh, yeah,’ Kim agreed. ‘But that didn’t give me the right to—’
‘Of course it did,’ Devon protested. ‘Given the evidence, how could you not question me? I’m not proud of my actions. I shouldn’t have hit him, but I’m not sorry he’s dead.’
Kim didn’t disagree.
