Hard Girls

  ‘Which girls were there at the same time as you?’

  Miriam was staring again. Eventually she said dismissively, ‘To the best of my recollection they were Janie Moore and Danielle Crosby. You must understand, Kate, these girls must be allowed their privacy. They were there because they were not long out of the care system or, in some cases, they had just left prison. You also need to remember that they were all basically transients. No one wanted them, you see, and if you read the files on some of them, you can see why.’

  Kate was puzzled. Miriam was normally the champion of these poor girls, why would she say something like that now?

  ‘What was in their files, Miriam?’

  Miriam shrugged again, a slight smirk on her face. ‘What do you think would be in there?’

  Kate was unsure where this was going, and she said quietly, ‘I don’t know, that’s why I am asking you. After all, you read them. I didn’t.’

  Miriam sighed heavily, ‘Listen to me, Kate. These girls are all damaged somehow, they were all the product of unwanted pregnancies or were born to people who quite frankly should not have been allowed a dog, let alone a child. It’s always amazed me that, at one time, you had to have a licence before you could purchase a puppy, but anyone could have a child. Still can. These girls are all capable of anything if they think it will get them what they want. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to Hayley. She really is an innocent victim.’

  As she bustled away, Kate watched her warily. They had most of the files from Brookway House, Margaret had accessed almost all of them. They were now awaiting the personnel files on the people who had worked there. She now felt that there was something more to Miriam’s time at Brookway House. Alec Salter had been a social worker there and she wondered if his files might be worth looking at. She looked down at her notebook and saw David Floyd’s name. She wondered just what he was doing now. Well, she would soon find out.

  ‘Lionel is naked and drunk out of his head, Kate. He’s locked in a room at a local house and with him is a terrified young girl. So could you please call me when you get this message?’

  Simone was fuming, she was also very frightened. Lionel was unhinged, he was really out of control. She knew that he had snapped for some reason. He had always been a very uptight man, she knew all the signs. He was a verbal bully, but a coward at heart. But the ruckus he was causing would soon bring the police and if the neighbours heard any of his raging they would wonder what the fuck was happening. They would call the police, as any good citizen would do. This was publicity they could well do without, especially with Terrence O’Leary in Ireland and Patrick Kelly on the premises.

  As she poured them all a coffee she saw Peter Bates come in through the back entrance and, rolling her eyes to the ceiling, she thought that this was all they needed. Another bloody man to add to the mix.

  ‘Come out, Lionel, or we’ll kick the door in.’ Patrick banged on the door.

  ‘Fuck off to hell, Kelly, and take that fucking whore Burrows with you.’

  The words were followed by another crash and the terrified screaming of the young girl locked in the room with him.

  Danny shook his head in consternation. ‘The door’s solid wood, we’ll need a battering ram to get through it. How about the window? We can get up there with a ladder.’

  Patrick nodded. ‘Let me try and calm him down first. All we need is that mad bastard throwing a table at us, or the poor girl, come to that.’

  Lionel was bashing at the door again, demanding their attention. ‘She was always out to get me, your fucking Kate, she was a fucking leech. I wanted her out but they overruled me. They let her stay on as a fucking consultant. Her, a consultant, her. Living with the biggest villain since Al Capone!’

  Patrick sighed in annoyance, his face was screwed up with anger and hatred for what Dart was saying about him and his Kate.

  Danny put his hands on Patrick’s shoulders and said in a whisper, ‘Don’t retaliate, Pat, that’s what he wants. Listen to him. He is unhinged. He’s also drunk as a skunk.

  ‘Look, Lionel, this is Danny Foster. Remember me from the casino? I used to deliver your envelope of money every week, remember? I’m asking you nicely, let the girl go. Just let her leave the room. Let’s face it, you are in enough trouble as it is. And if you don’t stop all this now, we’ll have no option but to call the police, and none of us want that, do we? Least of all you.’

  Lionel was laughing now, a loud, deep laugh. ‘I am the fucking police, remember? I am the Chief Superintendent of Grantley Police Station. Until next week, of course, and then I am fucking no one. And why is that? Because of that cunt, Kate Burrows. How the fuck is she still around? She was supposed to have fucking retired. After all this fucking time, she is still here and I am out. Out, finished, my career is over. She even had the gall to come to the hospital. My wife had an accident, a simple accident, and she even turned up there. Is nowhere safe from her? Is she going to go to fucking Iraq next and stick her beak in there as well?’

  They heard another crashing noise and the whimpering of the girl trapped in the room with him. Simone had come upstairs once more and she looked at Patrick and Danny helplessly.

  ‘Look, we need to get into that room. If he hurts that girl, I’ll swing for him.’

  ‘I’ll go up a ladder and try and bust in that way,’ Danny said.

  Simone nodded. ‘There’s a small en suite. The window is not that big, but you could probably get through it at a push.’

  Patrick laughed. ‘You’re right, we need to get in there and knock this ponce out.’ He pointed at Simone. ‘You get a ladder from somewhere and I have a baseball bat in me boot.’

  Danny walked down the stairs saying happily, ‘No need for that, Pat. I have a cosh in the car, it’s small and it’s lead, lethal in the wrong hands.’

  Simone shook her head in a gesture of angry bafflement. ‘There’s a ladder in the garage. I’ll sort it out. Fuck me, Pat, this is mental, he has to know that we won’t be able to keep this quiet. It’s like he’s out of control.’

  Pat laughed then and, rolling his eyes to the ceiling, he said seriously, ‘Well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Simone, but personally I think the banging, crashing and the shouting, along with holding that girl hostage, are all strong hints, so I think we can safely assume that he is out of control, Simone.’

  She was hurt at his words, and he felt bad immediately, but he was worried about the girl’s safety; Lionel was capable of hurting her, he had no doubt about that. He knew Simone was also worried about the girl, and he should have taken her feelings into consideration.

  ‘Look, love, he’s always been a strange cove, old Lionel, he’s always blamed other people if things didn’t go his way, or he fucked up. He only got as far as he did in the force because of people like me and Terry. We bought him, and now he’s been sussed out, he’s been exposed for what he really is. Without his job he is nothing. Unfortunately, he was nothing to most people, even when he had the job, and that must have finally occurred to him as well. So go and organise the ladders, and tell Peter that he can come up now.’

  Simone didn’t answer him, she just walked slowly down the stairs. Patrick scratched his head in bafflement, how the fuck were they supposed to sort this all out?

  Peter Bates came up the stairs and, opening his coat, he said quietly, ‘I’ve brought a sawn-off with me, Pat. I thought maybe we could blow the fucking door open?’

  Patrick looked at the gun, placed neatly in a specially designed long pocket inside Peter’s overcoat, and he knew then, without a shadow of a doubt, that it was finally time for him to retire.

  Annie and Kate were both looking over the files that Margaret Dole had managed to access. Margaret was busy looking for David Floyd and anything pertaining to him.

  ‘Is there any way we can get the relevant files about Brookway House, Kate? It’s critical we do, as all the girls were there at some point.’

  Kate shook her head and
lit a cigarette. The no-smoking ban was, as usual, ignored. They had locked themselves into the office and had all the windows wide open, consequently they had to wear their coats and Margaret had to wear gloves. The room was freezing, but they didn’t care. Kate had taken up smoking for England and Annie was following suit.

  Kate opened her handbag and took out her phone. ‘Oh shit. Do me a favour, Annie, plug that in for me. The charger is in the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet. I must have forgotten to put it on last night.’

  Annie took the phone from her and did as she was asked. It was this kind of little thing that irked her. She felt she shouldn’t have to do menial tasks, Kate could do these things herself. She swallowed down the annoyance. Kate was used to being in the driving seat, she knew that. But it still rankled.

  ‘David Floyd is no longer in the employ of the social services. He’s working as an adviser for, of all things, the Youth Workers’ Association.’

  ‘Have you found anything pertaining to him and Brookway House, or anything that says he was ever accused of being a bit too friendly to the girls?’

  Margaret shook her head. ‘Nothing like that at all. In fact, he was only ever given glowing references. He seems all right, Kate. There is nothing I can find about him ever being nicked or questioned. Nothing.’ She held up her hand then as if to stop Kate answering her. ‘But you are not going to believe this, girls.’

  Annie and Kate were now both staring at Margaret expectantly.

  ‘Well, come on, Mags. Out with it.’

  Margaret looked at Kate in utter amazement. ‘I should not even be looking at this, right, so remember we can’t use it in any way. I don’t even know if it’s relevant.’

  Kate was losing her patience. ‘Go on. For fuck’s sake, Margaret, what is it?’

  ‘David Floyd made more than one complaint about Alec Salter. It seems he accused Alec of being overfamiliar with the girls.’

  Kate sat back in her chair, trying to understand.

  ‘So Miriam saying Floyd was the nonce is a lie? Is Miriam protecting her dead husband? Tell me, Mags, was Alec ever pulled up over any of this? Was he accused of anything by anyone else, not just by this Floyd, but by any of the girls for instance? By anyone at all?’

  Margaret smiled. ‘Not that I can find. David Floyd seems squeaky clean and there is nothing else about Alec, nothing that I can find anyway. But by the same token, Kate, me and you know that where government agencies are concerned, it wouldn’t be the first time stuff was erased, would it?’

  Kate nodded slightly in agreement. ‘You got a current address for this David Floyd?’

  ‘You won’t believe this, Kate, he lives in the next road to Miriam Salter.’

  ‘You’re joking?’

  ‘Not a bit of it. I flagged up all the girls, along with all the people concerned, just to see if there was a connection, and he came up in Maple Terrace. Number twelve, to be exact.’

  She was very pleased with herself and it showed. Annie watched Margaret as she practically preened at her own cleverness.

  ‘Do me a favour, Margaret. See how long he has lived there, and find out where he was living and working before. Also, see if you can find anything more at all about Alec Salter.’ She stood up then and motioned to Annie. ‘Looks like me and you are on our way to Maple Terrace.’

  Annie had just turned on Kate’s phone and the sound of her text message alert was loud and constant. ‘Seems like you have lots of messages.’

  Kate took the phone from her and dialled her voicemail. Five minutes later, she said in absolute disbelief, ‘It’s Dart. According to Patrick, the arsehole’s gone off his rocker at Simone’s house. We’d better get there and sooner rather than later, by the sounds of it. Pat’s been trying to get me for ages.’

  ‘Why not just ring here?’

  Kate looked at her as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing which, of course, she couldn’t. ‘Use your loaf, Annie. He wouldn’t say anything like that over a landline, let alone one in a police station.’

  Margaret laughed then. ‘Jesus, this is better than the fucking telly.’

  Annie looked at her and said primly, ‘Yeah, that’s as maybe but, unlike the telly, our victims really are dead.’

  Kate smiled grimly as she said, ‘We’ll sort Dart out first, see what the score is, then we’ll go and check out this Floyd. Now, can you two stop with your petty digs for the foreseeable future, only it’s starting to get on my tits.’ She looked at Margaret then and said harshly, ‘Keep digging and see what else you can find out. If my phone rings, take a message and then just ring it through to Annie’s phone. And remember, keep the door locked until all the smoke has dispersed. The last thing we need now is a fucking sergeant on our backs about the smoking rules. Like we haven’t got enough on our plates.’

  ‘If anyone asks where you are, what shall I tell them?’

  Kate unlocked the door and said heavily, ‘Tell them we’ve gone out for a fag.’

  She could hear Margaret’s booming laugh all the way to the car park.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  ‘Oh, Patrick, if what you say is true, how am I going to be of help? He loathes me, always has.’

  Patrick was getting more and more aggravated by the second, and he knew he had to keep a lid on his anger. ‘All I want is your opinion, Kate. You know the best way to deal with nutters. All we need is advice.’

  Kate felt his annoyance and, looking into his eyes, she said angrily, ‘My advice would be to phone the police.’

  ‘You are the police, Kate, that’s why I phoned you.’

  ‘Is the girl all right? Do you think she is in any danger?’

  As she spoke, Lionel started ranting and raving again, and Kate looked up at the ceiling as if that would tell her something she didn’t already know.

  ‘It’s like the exorcist, he screams, we listen. Danny went up a ladder, but Lionel was standing there, holding a chair above his head ready to sling it at him. As you can understand, Danny retreated as quickly as he could. But he saw enough to see that the girl is unhurt. Frightened, but unhurt. I think Dart is a weak and stupid man who won’t open the door, so I have arranged for Georgie Twofer to come and open it for him.’

  Kate nodded in agreement as Annie wondered who the hell Georgie Twofer was.

  ‘Good idea, Pat. But make sure he doesn’t go too far, you know what he can be like if he thinks it’s the Filth.’

  ‘All sorted. I’m paying him, and I’ve given him the hard word. He just gets us in, we sort out the rest.’

  As he spoke, a car pulled up in the drive and Simone answered the front door to reveal the biggest man Annie had ever laid eyes on. He was huge, over six foot seven, and he had a body that made Arnold Schwarzenegger look like a wimp. He was totally bald, and his face was not what could ever be called handsome, but his expression was one of affable kindness. That was until he spoke. ‘Where is the prick? I have to be in South London by ten.’

  He walked up the stairs with surprising speed for a man of his build, and everyone followed him. He was shown the bedroom where Dart was holding the girl hostage and he said quietly to Kate, ‘OK. Lovely strong wood, mortice lock, piece of piss. I’ve knocked down fucking metal doors in both Durham and Highpoint. Love a fucking locked door, me. Move back, darling, and let the dog see the rabbit.’

  He then took a few steps back and with a resounding shout kicked the door in with one heavy foot. The door was falling now, even the hinges were no match for this man’s physical strength. It was George’s incredible strength coupled with his expertise in breaking through any door he felt was offending his sense of freedom that was his talent. He had taken off a few cell doors in his time, and once he had even managed to break through a door on the punishment block in Parkhurst. Hence the name, Georgie Twofer. It took two doors to keep him locked away for any reasonable length of time, one for him to kick down and the second door so the officers concerned got a chance to run away from him and get the medic on
call to inject him with the strongest drug they could legally find.

  ‘Fucking hell. That was excellent.’ Danny’s voice was filled with awe and admiration.

  Georgie gave a mock bow. ‘All in a day’s work, my son.’

  Lionel was standing in the room half naked, he looked demented. Kate saw that he was in no fit state for anything. He looked for all the world like a cornered animal which, in some ways, was exactly what he was. A wife-beating, bullying animal who had finally been found out. The room was completely trashed, and the young girl he had trapped was already running towards Simone, her face covered in mascara from her tears and her body wrapped in a sheet. Patrick went in and, drawing back his arm, punched Lionel Dart with all his might. He went down like the proverbial sack of spuds.

  ‘What shall we do now, Kate?’

  Kate glanced at Simone and said archly, ‘Personally, I would remove the locks from any doors that the girls use for entertainment purposes, that will ensure this never happens again. As far as that little shit is concerned, you can do what you fucking like. I’ll ring the commissioner and fill him in on the latest developments. He’ll call you, Pat, and tell you what’s to be done. He knows the score so far and he’ll make sure this is kept as quiet as possible.’

  Kate looked at Annie and saw the amazement and shock on her face and said gently, ‘Come on, let’s get going.’

  ‘Thanks, Kate. I didn’t know who else to phone.’ Pat spoke quietly.