No Way Home

In the course of his first case after returning to work, Pete and his team had uncovered a ring of paedophiles that extended from Cornwall north to the West Midlands and east to the Home Counties. Thirty-seven arrests had been made by seven different forces just the previous month, some of them of prominent men in local government and even the police itself.

‘Well done, mate. I know it reflects badly on the force, but we were glad to get rid of Markham. The bloke was a self-aggrandising arsehole. No more use as a copper than I’d be as a brain surgeon.’

Pete knew he was talking about Chief Superintendent Markham, who’d been in charge of the Plymouth station until his arrest last month in a coordinated series of operations that had closed down the whole ring in one morning’s work, organised by his own station chief, DCI Adam Silverstone.

‘Well, that’s what you get for letting politics into policing, eh?’

‘Yeah, along with empire-building, jobs-for-the-boys… Still, what can we do, eh?’

‘That’s right.’ Come on, Pete thought. Answer the bloody question.

‘Anyway. As far as the knife, facts are facts. He was carrying. But, the rest of it can go away if it needs to. If he’s a witness in a case like that... Happens all the time, doesn’t it?’

‘I don’t want him let off just because he’s my son,’ Pete said firmly. ‘If he’s got things to answer for, he’ll answer for them. But yes, we do need him as a witness.’

‘Firm but fair, eh? Only way to be, I reckon. Bit of discipline never hurt anyone. Well, it might have stung a bit at the time, but you know what I mean.’ He laughed.

‘Yes, so…’

‘Get your boss to send the paperwork through and we’ll transfer him to Exeter custody. Might be worth letting him stay put until morning. Just my opinion.’ Pete could almost see the custody sergeant shrug. ‘Teach him a bit of a lesson.’

‘Right. I’ll get onto my chief. Thanks, mate.’

‘No worries.’

Pete ended the call, looked up and saw both Annie and Louise standing in the doorway of the lounge, watching him, their expressions, one above the other, identical. He couldn’t help but smile.

‘So…?’ They said together.

Pete’s smile became a chuckle.

Although Annie’s temperament was much more like his than her mother’s, she got more like Louise every day, in all the good ways.

He shook his head. ‘God, I love the pair of you.’

‘But what about Tommy?’ Annie demanded.

‘Well, I love him too, of course.’

‘Answer the damn question, would you?’ Louise joined in. ‘What’s happening with Tommy?’

The smile stayed on Pete’s face. ‘He’s in Plymouth nick. I need to get hold of Colin, get him to arrange a transfer to Heavitree Road and we can go from there.’

‘So, he’ll be home soon?’ Annie demanded.

‘Well, it depends on your definition of soon, but potentially, yes.’

She squealed and ran to him, wrapping her slender arms around him and squeezing with all her might.

*

Louise was less easily pleased.

Looking over Annie’s head as she clung to him, Pete saw the doubt in her eyes.

‘Why do you need to arrange for a transfer? Has he been arrested or something?’

He tilted his head. ‘Yes. When he was spotted he did a runner, and when they caught him, he was carrying a knife.’

‘A knife?’

Annie picked up on this and stood back, staring up at him, big-eyed.

‘He was working on a fair. I expect he needed it. Tool of the trade, like a farmer or gardener. But when he fought them off, they cuffed him and found it.’

‘He fought them off? This gets worse by the second.’

‘He was in Plymouth, remember. We don’t know how long he’s been there. It could be he doesn’t know we’re not planning to charge him in the Rosie Whitlock case.’

‘Hmm.’ She seemed to relax at least a little. ‘So, you’ve got to get Colin to arrange things, to get him transferred?’

He shrugged. ‘I can’t do it, can I? I’m his dad. How would that look to anyone that didn’t know the history?’

‘OK. So, what are you waiting for?’ She nodded at the phone, which was still in his hand. ‘Get onto him.’

‘It’s nearly eleven. He’ll be in bed, I’d have thought.’

‘So? He’ll understand. He’s Tommy’s godfather, for Christ’s sake. Come on. Either ring him or give me the phone and I will.’

‘Give me a chance, woman.’ He lifted the phone, thumbed in the number from memory and held it to his ear.

It rang twice, then was picked up. ‘Hello?’ Colin sounded groggy. He had been asleep.

‘Colin, it’s Pete. Sorry to wake you, but I need a favour.’

*

Five minutes passed. Then ten. The phone was still silent. None of them was going to sleep until they heard.

‘Who wants a cup of tea?’ Pete suggested.

‘Yes, please,’ said a red-eyed Annie.

Louise nodded.

‘OK.’ Pete headed for the kitchen, put the kettle on and fetched out the mugs. He was pouring boiling water over the sugar and teabags when the phone finally rang. He put down the kettle and headed for the living room.

‘Colin?’ he heard Louise ask.