Kim sighed heavily and walked away. She’d bet her house that the Chances’ stash of weed had just travelled from one maisonette to the other.
‘Fuck,’ she cursed, getting into the car.
Bryant offered no response when she told him to head to Stacey’s.
She had wanted to see this family for herself. She had wanted to look for any evidence that they weren’t as bad as they all thought – that Ava could be happy. That the child would be cared for and comforted. She’d desperately searched for redeeming features, and she had found none.
She just prayed Stacey had found another relative by the time they got there.
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.’
