Tania Carver - Cage of Bones

Glass looked like he was about to explode. ‘You’re lying… ’

‘Yeah, that’s right, Brian. I’m lying. I’m making all of that up. I’ve plucked that information from thin air and flung it at you just to get a response. That’s what we psychologists do.’

Glass started to breathe heavily. He looked around as if trapped. ‘But I can still… still take the… the credit for this… I can… ’

He pointed the gun at the Gardener, then at Marina and Phil. His earlier composure had slipped away following Marina’s words.

‘Bastards, you bastards… ’

Hand shaking.

‘You’ve… you’ve ruined everything… ’

He moved closer to them. Stepped across the body of the Gardener, round the upended altar, right in front of them.

Phil was aware of some movement behind him. He couldn’t focus strongly enough to make out what it was.

‘Put the… put the gun down, Glass… ’ he said.

‘Shut up.’ Moving nearer.

‘Why not just run?’ said Marina. ‘Start now. We won’t try to stop you.’

‘Oh you won’t, will you? Well that’s good of you.’

Marina tried to move away from the cage, take Phil with her.

‘Stay where you are.’ The gun trained on her, finger tightening on the trigger.

‘Make your mind up,’ said Marina. ‘Move away from the cage, stay where you are… Honestly, Brian, what d’you mean? Which one is it?’

He didn’t answer.

‘Come on, Brian, be consistent. Man of action like you. Natural-born leader. Should be able to speak your mind and get people to do it.’

She moved once more. Nearer to him.

‘Is this right?’ she said. ‘Or should I move back again?’ She took a pace backwards. ‘You tell me, Brian, which is it?’

Phil watched her, puzzled. She seemed to be deliberately trying to provoke Glass. He didn’t know why. She couldn’t get the gun off him; she wasn’t physically strong enough to overpower him. And Phil couldn’t do anything. She was going to get herself killed.

He opened his mouth to say something, didn’t get the chance.

Glass was staring at Marina, trying to think what to do, angry at her interruptions. He didn’t see Finn creeping up behind him.

The boy had slipped out of the cage. That had been what Phil had heard behind him. Marina had seen Finn, known what he was doing. Let him.

Finn had picked up the blade Phil had dropped, crept round behind Glass. While the DCI was looking between the pair of them, while Marina’s words had been throwing him off balance, the boy had moved.

‘So what’s it to be, Brian? Come on, make a decision. Haven’t got all night.’

‘Shut up… shut up… ’

Finn slipped his arm round Glass’s body. Pushed the razor-sharp blade between his ribs, as far as it would go. Hard.

Glass’s eyes widened. Two white-rimmed bullseyes. He dropped his gun. Finn pulled the blade out, did it again. Glass jumped. And again.

And now Glass screamed as he realised what had happened to him. Screamed and kept screaming.

Marina looked at Finn. He had the blade raised once more, ready to stab him.

‘No more, Finn,’ she said, her voice calm, reasonable.

‘Him,’ whispered Finn, ‘him… he kept us in the Garden… he hurt Mother… he hurt me… ’

‘And he can’t hurt you any more. No more. Put the knife down, Finn.’

Finn did as he was told, let the blade drop at his feet.

‘Good. Come here.’

The boy went to her. She put her arm round him.

Glass fell to the floor.

Phil looked between them. Glass. The Gardener. Marina and the boy. He must have frowned.

‘It’s what mothers do,’ Marina said, ‘for their families to survive.’

Then Phil’s world went black.

‘And about time. What time d’you call this?’

Mickey smiled. ‘Well you’re feeling better.’

Anni Hepburn was sitting up in the hospital bed, back propped on pillows, arm and shoulder supported and bandaged. She was smiling and, apart from the occasional wince and grimace, looking relaxed. Mickey sat down on the chair beside her.

Anni put down the book she had been reading. David Nicholls. One Day .

It was almost a week since that night at Harwich. Since Mickey had confronted the extreme horror of what humans could do to other humans in the name of exploitation. He had seen some bad things before. Almost on a daily basis in his job. But that…

That night he hadn’t been able to sleep. Not without self-medicating himself into oblivion with a bottle of whisky. He had woken up with a raging hangover and the realisation that what he had witnessed had actually happened.

But he had resolved to change things.

‘I’ve been busy,’ he said.

‘I’ll bet. And here’s me stuck in this bed. Missing all the fun.’

Mickey opened his mouth to reply, came out with a different response. ‘There’ll be plenty left for you to do when you get up. Don’t worry about that.’

And there would be. With the deaths of the other Elders, Balchunas had been left to carry the blame. He had immediately started bargaining, but soon discovered he had very little to bargain with. He had been caught in his own warehouse with two containers of illegally trafficked young women. Also on the site was a prison made out of containers.

‘Ongoing inquiries?’ said Anni.

Mickey nodded. ‘The Elders, as they called themselves, left very detailed notes. Who their clients were, what kind of things they enjoyed, how much they paid, where and when… all of that. And their customers weren’t short of a bob or two, either.’

‘Which means they’ll be fighting all the way.’

‘Absolutely. We crack one of the biggest cases in ages, lawyers have a field day. Going to tie the courts up for years. And then there’s the Gardener. Whole country’s being torn apart looking for the remains of his victims. He’s going to be bigger than the Wests, Shipman, all of them put together.’ He looked at her. ‘So yeah, plenty of work for you to do. Hurry back.’

‘Yeah, great.’ Anni’s smile dropped. ‘Look, I… heard about your girlfriend. I’m sorry.’

‘She wasn’t my girlfriend.’ Said very quickly.

‘Right.’

‘She wasn’t. She was… she used me for information. I was in the way and I… ’ He shrugged. Couldn’t look at her. ‘That was it, really.’

‘She killed herself when she couldn’t take it any more.’ Anni’s voice quiet, light. Not wanting to disturb the surface tension of the room.

‘Seems that way.’ He sighed. ‘Maybe it was my fault. Maybe I rode her too hard in the interview room, made her face up to what she’d done. Maybe I could have… ’ He sighed again. ‘I don’t know.’

‘You couldn’t have done any more, Mickey,’ said Anni. ‘Like you said, she faced up to what she’d done. What she’d been a part of. And couldn’t live with herself. It wasn’t your fault. So don’t blame yourself.’

He nodded, tried to appear convinced by her words.

They lapsed into silence.

‘Jenny Swan didn’t make it,’ said Anni. ‘She tried, she was a fighter, but… ’

‘I heard,’ said Mickey. ‘Clemens, one of the SOCA guys, nearly lost his partner. But he’s pulled through.’

‘Well that’s something.’

‘They were all right, those two. In the end. Recommended Phil and me for promotion.’

Anni tried to sit up, fired by his words. ‘Really?’

‘Yeah. Phil to DCI, me to DI.’

‘Wow.’

‘But Phil doesn’t want it. So that means… ’

‘You’ll be staying where you are.’

He looked right at her. Eye to eye. ‘I’m staying where I am.’