No Child of Mine (5 page)

As Laura’s fury erupted again, so viciously that it seemed to stain the very air, the arresting officers tightened their grip and bundled her roughly out to the waiting car.

These sorts of scenes were always made more difficult by regular CID who, unlike their child protection colleagues, had scant interest in whatever child was being taken into care. They were only concerned with the parents, who in this case had apparently been behind the armed robbery of an amusement arcade in the centre of town a few days ago. Knowing there was a possibility the boy would be in
the house when they came to arrest the mother, someone had thought to contact social services to tip them off, so Alex, accompanied by her colleague Ben, had hotfooted it over here. Ben was still outside in the car, no doubt starting to feel faint at the sight of a gathering crowd. Everyone dreaded coming into the Temple Fields estate, though Alex kept reminding herself that no social workers had ever actually been harmed here, in spite of the threats and abuse that were so often hurled their way.

As the foul-smelling room emptied of officers, Alex’s attention remained fixed on Daniel. He was a slight boy with oily hair that straggled into his eyes, and such a bony frame that it was no wonder his clothes appeared far too big for him. He was doing his best to look pissed off, mean, ready to carve up whoever took him on. His defences were bristling so fiercely that Alex knew already how unlikely it was she’d get through them to make him understand that she meant him no harm.

He should know it, given that this was far from their first encounter, but mistrust of authority was inbred in him.

For several minutes they listened to the ruckus going on outside as neighbours came to taunt the police and Laura swore unholy vengeance on the arseholes who’d never learned to wipe shit from their hands. This last, Alex knew, was a repulsively racist jibe directed at Sanjid, the uniformed officer who was the driver of one of the marked cars. He might well be used to such abuse from this estate, nevertheless it still made Alex cringe to hear it.

Her eyes remained on Daniel. What was he really thinking? Deep down in there somewhere he surely had to be scared, or at least confused, worried, floundering about out of his depth in a world that would terrify most other kids. A sense of deprivation and violence was all-pervasive on this estate, dragging the residents into bitter feuds that regularly erupted between the criminal families. Being born into the infamous Crowe clan, this poor lad had never stood a chance.

Knowing there was no point trying to treat him like most kids his age, Alex said, ‘Lucky you’re not any older, or they’d have arrested you for the little stunt you just pulled.’

‘Fuck off,’ he snorted, and wiped the back of his hand over his mouth in a gesture that seemed way beyond his years. Who had he picked that up from? His stepfather, currently remanded in custody for the robbery? His psycho uncle, two years into a life sentence for clubbing a pizza-delivery boy to death? Perhaps it was the older kids around the estate who clustered about street corners in menacing gangs, rarely going to school, or work, or anywhere that might in some way improve their lot.

In a tone borrowed from some kind of gangster movie, Daniel said, ‘If you think you’re taking me anywhere ...’

Alex cut him off. ‘You can’t stay here alone, you know very well the law doesn’t allow it.’

‘I can take care of myself.’

‘I know you think so, and I’m not arguing, I’m just telling you what has to happen.’

His shifty green eyes flicked briefly to hers. He was hunched inside a shabby blue T-shirt, making her think of a small bird caught in a trapper’s bag.

‘Come on,’ she said, trying to sound friendly, ‘we’ve been here before, so you know the ropes.’

His thin lips curled with contempt. ‘I’m not going with that sicko again,’ he snarled. ‘He’s a paedo, a bumfucker ... My dad’s going to kill him when he finds him.’

Alex sank inside. She didn’t doubt for a minute that Frankie Crowe would do his worst were he ever to get hold of Daniel’s last foster carer. God, what a screw-up that had been, but who knew until it was too late that Ralph Tanner and his church-going wife had registered as foster parents with only one purpose in mind? The question still unanswered was how the hell they had managed to get clearance when the vetting process was supposed to be so stringent. It was everywhere else, but Dean Valley County Council did not have an outstanding track record where carers were concerned, which inevitably meant that the children who came under its protection didn’t do so well either. Indeed, if Daniel hadn’t spoken up when he had – and tragically so few found the courage to when they were being abused – the Tanners might still be accepting more already disturbed kids into their care.

‘Where are they taking my mum?’ he growled menacingly. ‘When’s she coming back?’

Alex shrugged, because she knew how to be cool with kids like Daniel. ‘I don’t know. It’ll depend on whether she’s remanded in custody, or let go on police bail.’

‘She didn’t do nothing wrong,’ he shouted. ‘I was with her that night, so I know she wasn’t where they’re saying she was. Go and tell them that, bitch.’

Knowing he probably didn’t even know which night they were talking about, never mind where his mother had been for most of it, Alex said, ‘I’m sure you’ll get your chance to speak up when the time comes. Until then, it’s my job to get you somewhere safe ...’

‘I told you, I’m not going nowhere, especially not with those sado-wackos who tried ...’

‘You’re not going there,’ she assured him.

‘Look at me, sister,
I
is not going anywhere.’

‘The police already have a Protection Order, so I’m afraid you don’t have a choice.’

‘Fucking bastards,’ he retorted, but he seemed to be more intent now on what was going on outside.

‘Talking about Her Majesty’s police again?’ Paul Bennett sneered as he came back into the room. ‘Sorry,’ he said to Alex, ‘should never have left you alone with this little shit.’ He advanced on Daniel. ‘Have you got any more weapons tucked away there, dude?’ he demanded.

‘Get away from me, scumbag,’ Daniel hissed.

‘Charming, isn’t he?’ Bennett commented.

‘Who’s that out there?’ Daniel asked nervously.

Paul eyed him meanly. ‘What are you afraid of, Danny boy?’

‘I’m not scared of nothing.’

Bennett grinned. ‘It’s who you think it is, boy, so I’d say it was time to make your choice. Either go with Alex here, or stay and have a nice little chat with the lowlife who reckon your old dad’s been trying to dump one of theirs in the crap. Let me think, how was it they treated their last hostage? Oh yeah, that’s right, he doesn’t talk or walk so well any more, does he?’

‘Please,’ Alex cut in sharply. ‘There’s no need ...’

‘Step back into your sandals,’ Bennett warned through his teeth.

Alex moved forward and put her back to the detective. He might think he was in charge here, but the boy was now her responsibility. ‘Do you want some help packing?’ she said to Daniel.

‘I told you, I’m not going nowhere,’ he shot back.

‘Then I’ll have to pack for you,’ she sighed.

‘I’ll wait and make sure he doesn’t scarper,’ Bennett told her as she started out of the room. ‘Don’t reckon you’re in a hurry to be going out there though, are you, Danny boy? Not when the baddies might get you.’

‘They don’t scare me,’ Daniel snorted, though it was evident from the way his eyes kept darting to the door that they did.

In truth they were unnerving Alex too, since the grudges some of these families had against social services, never mind each other, went back a very long way, and not many of them would care that she personally might not have been involved in their issues.

She could think of at least three families right now who’d very much like to make her pay for removing their kids. It was the main reason she always hated coming on to this estate, it actually terrified the life out of her at times, but it was her own fault, no one had forced her to apply for a job in the North Kesterly hub. She could always have gone to the southern region, which didn’t have anything like as many poor housing developments, or the same kind of racial tensions – plus it was a lot closer to home – but she’d always known she’d come here. This was where she’d been born – admittedly in a house that no longer existed, and that had actually been a part of old Temple Fields – and consequently she felt as though she shared roots with these people (not that any of them knew it). The whole reason she’d become a social worker was to do what she could to help protect the children of this estate.

It was no surprise to her to find Daniel’s bedroom in such a sorry state, with a coarse blanket draped from the window acting as a curtain, bedding that looked as though it hadn’t been changed since new and a carpet with more
cigarette burns and stains than it appeared to have pile. The posters on the walls were mostly of bruising men in leather and black shades brandishing machine guns, or machetes, or seeming ready to inflict all manner of gruesome torture on the world at large. Touchingly though, there was one of an early Harry Potter movie. In a scorched saucer next to the bed she found an old needle with a candle and belt close by, evidence that someone – hopefully not Daniel – had been shooting up in here.

Leaving it for the police to discover, she shook the pillowcase free of the pillow and began filling it with clothes gathered from the floor and bed, along with a magazine about dinosaurs, an iPod and earphones, and a comb that was in such a dismal state that she decided to chuck it. She hesitated over the laptop and computer games since they had almost certainly been stolen, plus the computer might contain information useful to the police. Leaving it where it was, she braced herself for the bathroom to seek out a toothbrush and maybe a flannel. What she found was so grimy that she couldn’t even bear to pick it up, and deciding to buy Daniel replacements on their way to his temporary foster family, she started back down the stairs.

There was still some sort of commotion going on outside, insults being thrown, police trying to keep things calm. Alex guessed that her colleague, Ben, was probably ducked down behind the steering wheel by now and shaking in his fancy cowboy boots.

If anyone was in the wrong job, it was definitely Ben.

‘Have you finished up there?’ Bennett called out. ‘The rest of us have got a job to do.’

‘We’re ready to go,’ Alex told Daniel as she moved to the doorway.

‘You take me out there, they’re going to shoot me, man,’ Daniel declared.

Grim and violent though this estate was, shootings were actually rare, so Alex wasn’t particularly alarmed by the claim. However, she played along with it, saying, ‘With the police standing right there? I don’t think so.’

‘They ain’t scared of no police ...’

‘Daniel, if you’re that afraid of them then why on earth
would you want to stay here? Once the police go you’ll be on your own ...’

‘I told you, I can take care of myself.’

‘So you like to think, but even if you can, it isn’t an option, so come on. The car’s at the gate, I’ll be with you and Ben’s a really fast driver.’

‘He’s chicken,’ Bennett jeered as Daniel continued to hold back.

‘No way,’ the boy spat. ‘I just want to stay alive, all right? And those fuckers out there, they told me already what they’re going to do to me if they get their hands on me.’

‘But they won’t get near you,’ Alex insisted. ‘Now please, let’s go, or I’ll have to ask the police to carry you out.’

It was evident from his expression that he’d rather be shot than humiliated. ‘Where are you taking me?’ he demanded.

‘Way over the other side of town,’ Alex assured him. ‘Nowhere near here so you’ll be perfectly safe.’

‘For how long?’

‘Will you just get the fuck out to that car,’ Bennett interrupted fiercely. ‘This isn’t for negotiating, son. You’ve got to go with her, like it or not, and I want out of this dump as fast as I can before the stink suffocates me.’

Casting the detective a scathing look, Alex reached for the boy’s hand, and was quickly rebuffed. However, he walked past her out of the room, and once she joined him in the hall they stood together for a moment, steeling themselves to make a run for Ben’s car.

As Alex opened the door the hubbub died down for a moment, then someone from the crowd shouted, ‘You should be ashamed of yourself, bitch, coming round here breaking up decent people’s homes ...’

‘Why aren’t you out there saving the likes of Baby P?’ someone else shouted. ‘We don’t need you round here screwing with us.’

‘Get that kid somewhere safe,’ a male voice cautioned, ‘or Bill Prince’s lad’s going to have him.’

‘There’s nowhere safe for the little runt,’ another voice sang out. ‘Nor for you, Alex Lake.’

She didn’t look up because she already knew it was
Shane Prince, one of the nastiest pieces of work she’d ever come across, and she’d come across plenty. With his loud mouth, arrogant swagger and own impressive criminal record, he now considered himself head of the Prince clan while his father, brother, two uncles and older sister did time for a whole slew of crimes. Alex doubted his mother recognised his authority, but hey, what did she know about what went on inside that sorry family. What she did know was that they were the sworn enemies of the Crowes, and of social services, and that if she caught Shane’s eye now he’d make some sort of lewd gesture like raising his fist or rubbing his crotch.

‘Hey, Daniel, give your old man a message from me,’ Prince shouted, as Alex moved the boy swiftly down the path. ‘He try pinning anything on me then it’s you we’ll be going after. You tell him that, motherfucker, and you remember it good.’

Piling Daniel into the back of Ben’s car, Alex jumped in after him and even before the door was closed Ben was speeding out of the street, almost taking the corner on two wheels. She didn’t imagine anyone was coming after them, but it couldn’t be ruled out, so she was quite happy for Ben to keep his foot down. Daniel was obviously relieved to be out of Shane Prince’s firing line too. Would they really harm a child as small and defenceless as Daniel appeared? The answer was yes, they undoubtedly would. The poor kid had next to no chance now of ever escaping his background, or of going forward into the future as a healthy, optimistic, undamaged young man with a world of opportunities to choose from. As he sat there next to her, sunk into his puny frame, she could only feel the futility of her compassion, the overriding sadness of being unable to change things in the way she’d hoped when she’d taken the decision to follow this path.