by GS Rhodes
“It’s probably for the best that she doesn’t,” Kidd said. “Is Tilly down there as well? Tilly Spencer the girl—”
“She is,” Anna said, her voice small. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for what she did, I didn’t know at first, but then when she started giving me money to keep the place open, to keep everyone safe, I…” she trailed off, tears choking her. “I never wanted this to happen. My aim with this house was always to keep these girls safe, but times have been hard and… she went too far.”
Kidd had half a mind to take her down for this too. He knew that he probably could if it came down to it. She’d been part of it as much as Tally had. Tally had masterminded it and used the house as a hideout for the children. What she’d planned on doing with the two children in the car, remained to be seen, but Louise had all but told him he would find Tally here if he was quick enough.
“The back exit would probably be best,” he said quietly. Kidd’s heart was in his throat as he watched Anna start going to the doors, start talking to the girls, start ushering them out of the house. He made his way to the stairs, starting down them as quietly as he could until he reached a door. He opened it and stepped inside, the creaking of the door announcing his arrival. Any movement inside halted immediately.
“Who is it?” The voice that rang out was unmistakably Tally’s, but it was stronger somehow, more assured. “Anna, I told you not to come down here. I warned you.”
Kidd didn’t respond, he just started down the stairs, heading further and further into the darkness. The smell was disgusting, it seemed to coat him as he got closer to where Tally’s voice was coming from.
“Louise?” She sounded unsure now, unsteady. That was how Kidd wanted her. He caught sight of her as he reached the bottom of the stairs, a small amount of light coming in through a window. It was enough to give the space some dimension, enough that he could see Tally Hill standing in the middle of the room. “You!”
“Morning,” Kidd said, his eyes quickly moving away from Tally and finding Tilly strapped to a chair. She appeared to be asleep, her eyes and mouth covered, her wrists and ankles bound to the chair. It took every bit of Kidd’s inner strength not to leap across the gap between them and take her back by force.
“What are you—?” There was noise above, the sound of the girls going down the stairs at what had to be great speed. Tally’s face dropped, her breath suddenly coming in a lot quicker. She moved to the window, looking out onto what had to be the back of the house. There were people walking away, a couple with bags slung over their shoulders, one or two with rolling suitcases. It hardly made for a quick getaway, but no one should bother them. They were waiting for Kidd’s signal to come back inside.
“You figured it out, then?” she said, turning back to him. She seemed defiant still, her lips pursed, her look cutting. “Took you long enough.”
“I agree,” Kidd replied. “You and Louise really sent us on a ride.”
“Louise?”
“Yes,” Kidd said. “Louise. So maybe don’t try anything. We’ve already managed to get her. She was on her way to goodness knows where when we caught up to her. Had two children in the back of her car, imagine that.”
Tally seemed shaken. “Yes, imagine that.”
He turned his attention to his niece. “Is she okay?”
Tally pursed her lips, defiant even in the face of everything she’d built crumbling around her. But even she seemed to know that her time was up, that the game playing was over. “She’s fine. Knocked out.”
Kidd held onto his nerve. “I would hardly say that means she’s fine, but alright,” he said. He looked around the basement, there were a couple of other chairs there. The place absolutely stank, he didn’t know how Tally could stand being down here. The stench of it was suffocating.
“Is this it?” she said. “You’ve come down here, you’ve figured me out, and I’m just supposed to come quietly?”
Kidd smirked. “Something like that.”
“What makes you think I’m going to do that?”
“I’ve got the whole place surrounded,” he said. “There are officers outside just waiting for you, waiting to come in here and swab this entire place within an inch of its life.”
She smirked. “I gave your lot the option to do that a couple of days ago,” she said. “You didn’t seem all that keen on taking me up on it.”
“It must have given you the fright of your life when we showed up here this morning,” Kidd said, thinking back to just a short time ago when, as Louise had put it, he was literally right on top of the children. “Why did you do it?” Kidd asked. “How long has it been going on?”
“Are these not questions you should be asking me after you caution me?” she said. “That’s how they do it in all the programmes.”
“Well, this is how I’m doing it,” he said. “Tell me.”
Tally hesitated, eyeing Kidd carefully. She looked at the young girl she had tied to a chair and seemed to soften, her shoulders losing their tension. She knew she had been caught.
“Like I said to your colleagues,” she said. “I had done it in the past, I had extorted men to keep their secrets safe. I knew it was wrong, I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do but…but it wasn’t enough. Anna couldn’t keep this place open with the money that was coming in, and she wanted so badly to protect us from anyone who could hurt us. So I took matters into my own hands. She owns this place now, she can run it for the rest of her days so long as she can keep the lights on.”
It was, arguably, a good thing that she had done, at least for Anna and the rest of the people who lived or worked in this house. But Kidd couldn’t imagine that the parents who’d had their lives decimated would agree.
“But you made a mistake,” Kidd said. “When it came to Brody and Eric, I mean.”
She sighed. It seemed to take over her entire body. Kidd knew he was right, he didn’t need her to confirm it.
“The other families had money,” she said. “I thought Eric was the same. He was paying me, after all. When I found out about his wife, about his family, I thought he was just like the rest. He had a company car, his son went to school in a nice area, I had no idea he wouldn’t have that kind of money lying around to get his son back.”
“If Mrs Wade hadn’t shown us that note—”
“If she hadn’t shown you that note we wouldn’t be having this conversation and…” She shrugged. “Well, my little business venture would have continued, I suppose.”
“Yes, business venture,” Kidd repeated. “With Louise. How did that come about?”
“You really should be doing this under caution you know.”
“Tell me about Louise’s involvement,” Kidd barked. They’d get it all on tape, they’d get it all in a statement, but now was good too. Kidd needed to know.
Tally smirked at him. It made his blood boil.
“She was an all too willing participant,” Tally said. “At the beginning, sure, she was a little bit shaky, but she really had a knack for it. No one really suspected her. She could nip out of that office whenever she wanted, and no one batted an eye. She was basically invisible. And so sweet that no one really saw it coming.”
“How did it come about?”
“She needed the money,” Tally said. “Well, at first she was coming between Leigh, you met Leigh, and Daniel. Leigh asked me to step in and do something, so I distracted her a little, befriended her. Apparently, she was still frosty to Leigh but Louise trusted me.”
“Bad move on her part I’d say.”
Tally shrugged.
“She got paid,” she said. “She was struggling for money, and I helped her out. She helped herself, actually, but let’s not split hairs.”
“What about the families?” Kidd asked.
Tally’s lip curled. “I did what I had to do to get what I needed from them,” she said. “They don’t appreciate what they have. I’ve seen so many people have their lives torn apart by infidelity. Sometimes I’m part of it
, whether I know it or not. I’ve had wronged wives attack me, or attack my friends. I’ve seen the worst of people. And I wanted to make these men hurt. This made that possible. This was a way I could do it and help my friends, help my family.
“The line between good and bad isn’t a line,” Tally said. “It’s a blur. Bad people are capable of doing good things, good people are capable of doing bad things.” She looked down at his hand. “You’re supposed to be a good person, aren’t you, DI Kidd? I can’t imagine you got that injury to your hand by doing good things.”
Kidd shrugged. “Depends on your perspective.”
She smirked. “Yes, that’s the one, perspective. A funny old thing, isn’t it?”
“I’m not laughing,” Kidd said flatly. “I’m done,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. He dialled Zoe’s number and called it in. He heard the police come through the front door. Tally didn’t even flinch. She just waited to accept her fate, and as the officers took her out of the room, Kidd untied his niece from the chair and held her close. It was over. It was done. He finally felt like he could breathe.
CHAPTER FORTY
It took a little bit of time for Tilly to wake up. The ambulance checked her over and made sure everything was okay before they went on their way. Liz was so relieved that she couldn’t stop crying. She wouldn’t let go of her, holding her close, even when Tilly tried to wriggle away.
Greg was at her side too. He’d since cleaned up his face. His nose looked like it needed looking at by a doctor, not unlike Kidd’s hand that was really starting to hurt even worse, now that the adrenaline had worn off.
Maggie Walters had been returned to her parents, much to Rachel’s relief. Even Daniel’s, apparently, according to Campbell.
Kidd wondered if the affair with Leigh would continue. It was none of his business, but perhaps he would appreciate what he had now, and spend more time with Rachel after everything that had happened. Perhaps he wouldn’t.
Brody needed to be kept in hospital overnight. He was severely malnourished. He had been kept hydrated while he had been in the basement, but he hadn’t been fed properly. He was running out of energy when Louise had taken him in the car.
According to Louise, Tally had gotten nervous that the police were closing in and told her to get rid of the children, but Louise couldn’t bring herself to follow through in the end. She thought it would be better to get rid of herself and leave the kids to be found, than to find a way to dispose of them. It was something Kidd was glad of, and something that Tally was already vehemently denying. There was still a lot for them to unravel. Kidd didn’t know how long it would take, but they’d figure it out eventually. That was their job, after all.
“I’m just going to go and get some coffee,” Greg said, getting to his feet. He turned to Kidd. “Is that okay? Can we have coffee or tea or something? I’m parched.”
Kidd smiled, trying not to wince at the mess he’d made of Greg’s face. His hand seemed to throb in response.
“Sure,” Kidd said. “I can get it, don’t worry.”
“I’ll come with you,” Greg said. “Help you carry it.”
It was clearly Greg’s way of saying that he wanted a word with Ben without rousing suspicion in Liz. The two of them headed out of the room, Kidd walking him down the corridor to the staff canteen. It wasn’t the best coffee in the world, nor was it the best tea, but it would be enough to get by. It wasn’t really about that anyway.
“Thank you for bringing her back,” Greg said, a sob seeming to catch in his throat. “I…I don’t know what I would have done if…or what Liz would…” He couldn’t seem to finish his sentence, couldn’t bring himself to imagine a future where Tilly wasn’t there. “Just, thank you,” he eventually said.
Kidd filled the kettle and put it on its stand. It may have been a plot to get him alone, but Greg still needed a cup of tea. He imagined Liz would too.
“It’s okay,” Kidd said. “I’d do anything for those kids, you know that. I wasn’t about to let anything happen to them. Not if I could help it.” He took a moment. He couldn’t not bring it up. “And thank you for not dropping me in it with DCI Weaver,” he added. “He would have had my head if he knew that I’d…” He gestured to Greg’s face. It didn’t need to be said. He wasn’t sure how to say it without it sounding flippant.
“I deserved it,” Greg said. “I’m not about to thank you for it, or ask you to do it again, but I…I deserved it. How did you know?”
Kidd explained the intricacies of the case. How Tally had been abducting the children of cheating spouses. How she’d found out about Greg, Kidd didn’t know, perhaps the woman Greg had been seeing was one of Tally’s associates. That would likely be something he’d find out when they conducted their interviews.
“Fucking hell,” Greg said.
Kidd poured the tea, letting them steep for a moment. “You stop being so surprised by what people are capable of when you do this job,” Kidd said. “People can justify anything if they really put their minds to it.”
Greg eyed the detective carefully. It hadn’t meant to be such a loaded comment, but it definitely applied here. Greg leaned back against the counter. He ran his hand over his face, wincing as he brushed his nose. That was definitely going to leave a mark. Kidd felt a pang of guilt about it.
“I put two and two together, I didn’t know if it was going to come out at four or five, but there you were,” Kidd said. “And I saw red, I lost it and I…I really shouldn’t have. I’m sorry. But you’ve got to understand that I just want to protect Liz, protect your kids.”
“I get that,” he said, breathing a heavy sigh. “I’ve not been treating Liz right. I…it’s stupid really. I tried to do both. I tried to be the perfect husband and have…be with…” He sighed. “I tried to have my cake and eat it too, and I should’ve known it would come out eventually. Secrets have a habit of doing that.”
“Don’t I know it,” Kidd said.
“I know I’ve asked this of you before, but please don’t tell her,” he said. “I know that’s an awful lot to ask, and I know you put your faith in me before only for me to betray it, but I mean it this time. It’s over.”
Kidd headed to the fridge and got out the milk, pouring a splash into each cup. He wasn’t meaning to leave Greg hanging, but he didn’t know what to do this time around. Greg was right, he had put his faith in him before and he’d trodden all over that. But, on the other hand, Kidd sort of owed him one. If he’d decided to press charges, Kidd would almost certainly be out of a job. Maybe one more chance wouldn’t be so bad.
Kidd took a heavy breath and turned his attention back to Greg.
“Fine,” he said. “Not that it’s really my place to be dolling out chances to people or anything, but I won’t say anything.”
“Thank you, Ben, thank you so much.”
“But it’s only because I owe you one,” he said. “We’re even now, okay? No more fuck ups, no more of this. If you want to be with my sister, be with my sister, if you want to be with that woman from work…then you need to talk to Liz about it.”
“I know, I…I love her,” he said.
“Which one?”
“Liz,” Greg said, quickly. “I love Liz, always have, always will. It’s over, it’s done. I’ll break it off, I mean it this time.”
Kidd nodded. He didn’t know whether or not to believe him, but that wasn’t really his place. He would just have to have faith that Greg would do the right thing by Liz and the kids. If he wanted to stay with her, Ben would do his best to make it work.
“I…I can’t promise that it won’t get out,” Kidd said. “I promise that I won’t say anything, but if the press gets hold of it then there’s nothing that I can do to stop it. I’ll try not to let it get that far, try to keep everything spun to the positive, that the children have been found and returned to their parents safely.”
Greg seemed to go a little white at that.
Kidd nodded at the count
er.
“We should probably get these back to Liz, she’s probably dying for it,” he said. And with that they left the kitchen behind, heading back to the room where Liz was still cradling her daughter. Greg sat down and joined her, cuddling in close. With Tim in the pram next to them, it was almost a perfect family photo, the four of them together, albeit not under the best of circumstances.
It was a beautiful sight, and one that Kidd certainly envied in that moment. Much like Greg, he’d gotten very close to throwing away something that had become increasingly important to him over the last few months. He wondered if he would get another chance to resolve it. He could only hope that he would.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Kidd returned to the Incident Room where it was finally time to dive into their paperwork from the past two cases. He didn’t know quite how long it would be before something big came up, something that would take him away from all of this again, and they were very much behind. There were still interviews that needed to be conducted with Louise and with Tally, evidence that needed to be gathered from the brothel and submitted to get a charge together. They would be buried in this for the next couple of days at least.
The day wore on, coming to a close in the early evening. DC Campbell went first, followed by DC Ravel. When DS Sanchez got to her feet, Kidd had half a mind to leave with her but what would await him? He would be going home to his house where he would likely have to quiz Craig about all of the unanswered questions he had, and after the intensity of the day, he wasn’t sure that he had the energy for it.
He stayed in his chair, his focus firmly on his computer screen. Despite his tired eyes, he would push through. He’d stay here until it was late enough that maybe he wouldn’t have to see Craig, wouldn’t have to face that part of his life.
It was such a strange turnaround. A few days ago he would have done absolutely anything to see him again, but now that he was here, there were too many questions hanging in the air, too many things that suddenly made his home uncomfortable. He couldn’t have predicted that.
