Blood Sport (6 page)

S
eventeen

He’d barely said a word in the car. She’d driven to the office and grabbed some files to take home and work on and then headed straight into town. Kat felt her heart squeeze in her chest as she glanced over at him. He had been through so much. The physical injuries would heal, she knew, but the psychological scars undoubtedly ran deep and those were the ones that were worrying her right now. Apart from sleeping by the side of her bed, he seemed to be coping well. Too well. So much pain needed an outlet. Thankfully, his first session with the therapist was scheduled for that evening. It was going to take a lot of time and love to get him through this and she had every intention of making sure he got whatever he needed.

Finding a parking spot outside the town hall
, they made their way inside. The building was on the main street through Brecon Point and was only a few doors down from the police station. With Daniel holding her hand, she spoke to the clerk who confirmed that Finn had contacted them and authorized them to let her take some of the property records home. She’d had to sign her life away, in triplicate, to do so but it meant that she didn’t have to make Daniel sit there for hours with her while she went through them. Thankfully, the box wasn’t that large and, with a bit of effort and with Daniel opening the doors, she was able to get it into the trunk of her car without too much difficulty.

“
Okay then, young man. How about that trip to the coffee shop I promised you?” she asked after the car was all locked up again. It was only a few hundred yards down the street and there was no point moving the car so they walked hand in hand, with Kat introducing him to the town as they went.

Eighteen

He’d hoped the boy would be found dead in the woods. He’d suffered quite a beating at the last match and he’d hoped that that, combined with the fact that he was very weak anyway
, would have assured that he didn’t make it. But he’d just been told that not only was he still alive but he’d been found and taken to the police. He was furious. Nothing like this had ever happened before and now, because of a stupid mistake by one of his men, the whole operation was in jeopardy.

“What has he told them
?” he demanded of the person on the other end of the phone. His hand gripped the phone tightly; his next move depended on the answer to his question.

“N
othing. I mean, obviously he’s told them about the operation but he hasn’t told them anything that could lead them to you. He doesn’t know anything to tell them, does he?”

“No.”
He wracked his brain to try and think if there was anything at all he could tell them that would lead them back to him but he couldn’t think of anything.

“
Okay, keep me updated.” He disconnected the call, dropping the phone on the kitchen table in disgust. He could lose everything and it all depended on whether the boy knew anything or not. Who knew what he could have overheard that could give them just the clue they needed to get back to him? That thought made him angrier than he ever thought possible.

Looking around
, he took in the kitchen which had barely changed in sixty years. Even the cabinets were the same ones that had been there throughout his childhood. This farm had been in his family for decades and now he could lose it all.

There was only one thing
to do. The boy. He couldn’t leave him out there. Although he didn’t think he knew anything, he wasn’t absolutely sure. No, he was a loose end that needed to be dealt with, and soon.

Nineteen

They were s
itting in the coffee shop, enjoying the milkshake she’d promised him, when her phone rang. Smiling at Daniel, she checked the screen and saw that it was Finn. Hoping for news, she answered quickly.

“Hey
, Kat, are you still in town or are you back home already?”

“We’re across the road having a milkshake.”

She listened as he explained about what he had discovered so far and about the pictures he wanted Daniel to have a look through.

“I’m not sure
, Finn.” She looked at where Daniel was concentrating hard on his drink and lowered her voice. “I’m not sure how he’ll take it.”

She heard him sigh on the other end of the phone. “I know
, Kat, and believe me, if I didn’t have to I wouldn’t even ask. I hate the idea of putting him through any more but it could help and at this point we need all the help we can get.”

She knew he was right but it tore at her heart to have to put him through any more distress. But they had no choice
; they needed to find out as much as they could about the monster who had done this. Agreeing to meet him at the station after they’d finished up, she put the phone away and turned her attention back to Daniel.

“Are you enjoying that?”
She smiled, taking in the milky moustache that he now sported on his top lip. He just nodded and concentrated on scooping the foam from the bottom of the glass with a long handled spoon. “I’m just gonna go to the bathroom, okay?” She pointed to the door on the other side of the shop. “It’s just over there”. Daniel had to twist in his chair and look behind him to see where she was pointing. “Is that okay?”

“Ye
ah.”

Sliding out of the booth
, Kat headed for the bathroom, turning as she got near to check on him over her shoulder. She needn’t have worried; the milkshake had his complete attention.

“Watch where you’re going
, will ya!” she heard as she walked into a man coming out of the bathroom, the collision nearly knocking her off her feet. He was huge, over six feet tall and nearly as wide by the looks of it. He was scowling at her angrily.

Kat held up her hands. “I’m so sorry
. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“No kidding.” He sneered before walking away and out of the front door.

It was an accident, dumbass,
Kat thought as she watched him leave before heading into the bathroom.

Twenty

He was still slightly nervous around Finn and held Kat’s hand tightly
, but he seemed to understand now that he wasn’t a threat. Sitting Daniel at his desk, Finn crouched down on his haunches in front of him, bringing himself down to his level.

“Daniel, you’ve been so brave so far and we’re all really proud of you. I’m afraid
, though, that I need to ask you to be brave for a bit longer. Do you think you can do that for me?”

He watched as he looked up at where Kat was standing just behind him with her hand on his shoulder as she nodded at him encouragingly.

“Yes,” he answered in a quiet voice.

“
Okay, I’ve got some pictures in a book that I want you to look at. All I want you to do is point if you recognize any of them, okay?”

Standing up
, he gently turned Daniel’s chair to face the desk and opened the book of photographs that was sitting in front of him.

The tension was palpable as the only sound in the room was of the pages of the book turning. After turning several pages
, Daniel silently pointed to a photo. Finn didn’t speak as he silently took a note of the number in the top right hand corner of the image, nodding encouragingly at him. It took several minutes for him to go through the book and by the time he had finished, he had pointed to seven images.

“
Thank you, Daniel.” He looked at where Kat was standing with one hand on Daniel’s shoulder and could see she was as shocked as he was by the number of pictures he’d pointed out. “Daniel, were all these boys there when you left?” he asked gently.

Daniel shook his head and opened the book again. Quickly flicking through
, he pointed to two photos. “Only them.”

“
Okay Daniel. You’ve been fantastic.” He could see that he was starting to get distressed now, though. “We’re all done here.”

He turned to Kat. “
Did you get those property records okay?”

She nodded. “Yep. They’re in the trunk of my car and I’ll start going through them as soon as I can. Is there anything in particular you want me to look for or am I just looking for anything unusual?”

He thought about that for a moment. “To be honest, I don’t know. Anything that stands out, trust your gut Kat. You know what you’re doing.”

“
Okay, well I’ll let you know if I find anything. For now, though, this little guy is worn out and it’s time I got back.” She gave Finn a small smile. “Let me know if there’s any news.”

Twenty
-One

It was early afternoon by the time they pulled up in front of the house. Jamie’s car was parked outside and Kat was pleased that she was home early for a change. Since taking over the family business, she was working hard, long hours to prove herself and Kat worried that she may overdo it. Today, though, she was pleased she was there because she needed to unload. It had been an emotionally exhausting day, for her and Daniel, and she needed to let off some steam.

Gently telling him to go and watch some TV
, she went looking for Jamie, finding her in the kitchen making some fresh coffee.

“Hey, you’re home early
,” she said, sliding onto a kitchen stool and resting her arms on the countertop.

“Yeah, I couldn’t seem to focus with everything that’s going and thought maybe you might need me here. Coffee?”

Kat nodded gratefully. “Please.”

Nothing more was said as Kat watched Jamie prepare the coffee, finding the simple actions comforting. She was so proud of her
; she had come such a long way since she had come back to them and looking at her now, you would never believe she had suffered so much.

Placing a mug in front of
Kat, Jamie hopped on to the stool next to her. “So tell me about today.”

So she did. From the moment they left this morning to when they got home, Kat told her everything. As she talked, she found some of the tension leaving her shoulders. It was good to get it out. “The hardest thing is not being able to do anything! All those poor kids out there somewhere and we don’t know where.”

“How did Daniel do?”

“He was amazing. He picked out the pictures of the boys he recogni
zed. The worrying thing is that some were there with him, but then they just disappeared and never came back.” She took a deep breath. “But he handled it really well. He seems to be coping, but its early days. It could be that it hasn’t all really hit him yet.”

“And how were things with Finn?”

Kat could see the concern on Jamie’s face. Not long after she’d told Finn her secret she’d also told Jamie, who had been incredibly supportive. She’d been scared that she would judge her for what she’d done but she hadn’t. Instead she’d encouraged her to talk about it and was always ready to listen. She shrugged now in answer to her question. “Strained I think is the best way to describe it.” She sighed. “I know I’ve no right to expect anything from him, but I’d hoped he might have been ready to talk about it by now.” The truth was, she’d hoped for more, maybe even a future together, but the fact that he was dating someone told her that that was never going to happen and it was something she was just going to have to learn to accept.

“Do you want me to talk to him?”

“God, no. No, this has to come from him.” And if it never did, that was something she was going to have to accept, too.

Jamie stood up. “
Okay. Well I’m sure you’re both hungry because I know I am so why don’t you go and spend a bit of time with that gorgeous boy in there and I’ll rustle us up some dinner.”

Kat checked her watch. “
Okay good idea. We need to eat early tonight because Daniel’s got his first appointment with his therapist today. We’ve got to be there at seven.”

“Couldn’t they have seen you during the day?”

“Absolutely, but it would have meant waiting for at least two weeks for an appointment. This way, he can be seen right away. I don’t want to leave it any longer than I have to. He’s got so much to deal with.”

“Your right, it’s definitel
y best to get him seen right away.” Jamie started opening cupboard doors. “I’ll fix us some pasta, that’s quick. Now go sit down and relax. I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

Gratefully
, Kat did as she was told.

Twenty
-Two

Finn sat looking at the pictures that Daniel had picked out. He’d hoped that he would pick out one, maybe two. He’d never dreamed he would pick out seven. Out of the seven, only two had still been there when Daniel had escaped. The other four had all been there with him at some point, but not recently. There were also many, many other boys that had been there, and were there, but whose photos were not in the book. Still, it was somewhere to start.

Taking the two photos that he’d chosen out of the book
, he turned them over. Sam and Adam. By inputting their full details into the computer, he was able to view their missing person reports. Both boys had been reported missing within the last six years. One, Sam, had been reported missing just over two years ago. He’d been visiting the mall with his grandmother when she’d lost sight of him. He hadn’t been seen again since. The other boy, Adam, had been reported missing nearly four years ago. This time, he’d been in the park playing with a group of friends and their mothers and somehow he’d vanished. Apart from both vanishing within the last six years, they were both of roughly the same age. Sam had just turned seven and Adam vanished shortly before his seventh birthday. The similarities ended there, though. Geographically, they were over five hundred miles apart and both boys came from very different backgrounds.

In each case
, the families had been looked at closely but there had never been any indication that they’d been involved.

Making a note of the contact details for
the police departments handling each of the cases, he contacted them. He was in luck and managed got get hold of the original investigating officers in both cases and he explained why he was interested in their cases. Happy to help, both officers agreed to send a copy of their case files to him by overnight mail.

Finn wasn’t sure what he hoped to find but maybe now, knowing that they were in fact connected and not separate incidents, something might jump out at him.

Sandy, the department receptionist, office manager and general organizational guru popped her head around the door. “I’m off, Finn. See you in the morning.”

Surprised, Finn checked his watch an
d realized that it was after five. There was nothing more he could do tonight and he’d planned to cook for Sally that evening before this case had landed on his desk. He considered calling her and putting it off but decided not to. It would do him good to get away from the office for a bit and he enjoyed her company, so it might take his mind of things for a bit.

When he’d told Kat that he needed time to process the bombshell she’d dropped on him
, he’d meant it. He certainly hadn’t set out to meet someone and start dating.

Putting the book aside, he left the office. It felt good to think about something other than the case for a bit as he thought about what he was going to cook for dinner on the way home. He knew the contents of his fridge were limited and he hadn’t had time to go to the store in days
, so it would take a bit of creativity on his part. Checking his fridge when he arrived confirmed his fears. Steak and baked potatoes it would have to be.

The doorbell rang just as he was taking the potatoes out of the oven. “Perfect timing
,” he said as he let her in. “I’m afraid it’s nothing fancy.”

“Believe me, when you’ve just worked a shift like the one I’ve had you could feed me a bag of hay and I’d be happy.” She laughed. “Smells good
, whatever it is.”

The evening was dry and clear so they took their food out onto the deck to watch the sun go down as they ate.

“Much better than a bag of hay, thank you,” she said when she’d finished and pushed her plate aside.

“So, tell me about you and Kat McKay.”

Finn paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. “What do you mean?”

“Well
, at the hospital the other day, there was a definite vibe between you. History?”

He decided to be honest. “Well yes, but not in the way you think.” He put his fork down. “We dated in high school.”

“And she’s still not over it?”

“No, it’s not like that.”
She listened intently as he told her all about what had happened with Jamie and what had ultimately brought Kat back into his life. He drew short of telling her about Kat’s secret; that wasn’t his to tell and it would feel like a betrayal to share it with anyone else.

“So what made you pick this area of the country to work in?”
He turned the tables on her. Though they’d been on a few dates, she’d shared very little of her own life before arriving here.

“You mean besides the bright lights and non-stop city life?” she chuckled. “I don’t know
, really. It seemed like a good idea at the time and now,” she looked into his eyes, “it seems like an even better one.”

“So you don’t have family around here?”

She laughed. “Why, do you want to meet them already?”

He pulled a face in mock horror
. “Gosh no,” he chuckled. “It just seems a bit of an odd place to choose. Most people haven’t even heard of Brecon Point.”

“I get the best of both worlds here. I get to be the friendly town doctor some of the time, and the ER doctor the rest of the time
. What’s not to love?”

“It must be hard
, though, moving to a new town where you don’t know anyone,” he persisted.

“Like I said, best of both worlds.” She stood up. “So, are you going to show me this car of yours then?”

I guess that’s the end of that conversation,
Finn thought as he stood up to take her through to the garage.