EVIL GAMES

A GRIPPING, HEART-STOPPING THRILLER

ANGELA MARSONS

Published by Bookouture - an imprint of StoryFire Ltd.

23 Sussex Road, Ickenham, UB10 8PN, United Kingdom

www.bookouture.com

Copyright © Angela Marsons 2015

Angela Marsons has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

ISBN: 978-1-909490-95-6

Created with Vellum

This book is dedicated to my nan, Winifred Walford. My best friend and with whom no time would ever have been enough.

ONE

Black Country – March 2015

Three minutes to go.

Dawn raids didn’t come bigger than this. The case had taken months to build. And now Kim Stone and her team were ready. The social workers were positioned across the road and would be given a signal to enter. Two little girls would not be sleeping here tonight.

Two minutes to go.

She keyed the radio. ‘Everyone in position?’

‘Awaiting your command, Guv,’ replied Hawkins. His team, parked two streets away, was poised to secure the rear of the property.

‘Good to go, Guv,’ said Hammond from the car behind. He had possession of the ‘big key’ that would gain a fast and deafening entrance.

One minute to go.

Kim’s hand rested above the door handle. Her muscles tensed, an adrenaline rush borne of impending danger; her body making the choice between fight or flight. As if flight had ever been an option.

She turned to look at Bryant, her partner, who had the most important thing: the warrant.

‘Bryant, you ready?’

He nodded.

Kim watched the second hand hit twelve. ‘Go, go, go,’ she called over the radio.

Eight pairs of boots thundered on the pavement and converged at the front door. Kim got there first. She stood aside as Hammond swung the enforcer at the door. The cheap wooden frame collapsed against three tonnes of kinetic energy.

As per the briefing, Bryant and a constable ran straight up the stairs towards the master bedroom to serve the warrant.

‘Brown, Griff, take the lounge and kitchen. Strip the place bare if you need to. Dawson, Rudge, Hammond, you’re with me.’

Immediately the house was filled with the sound of cupboard doors being swung open and drawers crashing shut.

Floorboards above her creaked and a woman wailed hysterically. Kim ignored it and gave the signal for the two social workers to enter the property.

She stood before the cellar door. A padlock secured the handle.

‘Hammond, bolt cutters,’ she called.

The officer materialised beside her and expertly snapped the metal.

Dawson stepped ahead of her, feeling along the wall for a switch.

A funnel of light from the hallway lit the stone steps. Dawson carried on down and powered up his torch, lighting the walkway beneath her feet. The smell of stale smoke and damp permeated the air.

Hammond headed over to the corner which held a spotlamp. He switched it on. The beam was aimed at the square gym mat that dominated the middle of the room. A tripod stood just beyond.

In the opposite corner was a wardrobe. Kim opened it to find a number of outfits including a school uniform and bathing costumes. On the floor of the wardrobe were toys: a rubber ring, beach ball, dolls.

Kim fought back the nausea.

‘Rudge, take photos,’ she instructed.

Hammond knocked on each of the walls, checking for any secret spaces.

In the furthest corner, in an alcove, sat a desk with a computer. Above it were three shelves. The top one was filled with magazines. The thin spines offered no clue to their content but Kim knew what they were. The middle shelf held a selection of digital cameras, mini discs and cleaning equipment. On the lowest shelf, she counted seventeen DVDs.

Dawson took the first one labelled Daisy Goes Swimming and put it into the disc drive. The high-powered machine quickly sprang into life.

Daisy, the eight-year-old, appeared on the screen in a yellow bathing costume. The rubber ring encircled her tiny waist. Her thin arms hugged her upper body but did nothing to stop the trembling.

Emotion gripped Kim’s throat. She wanted to tear her eyes away, but couldn’t. She pretended to herself that she could prevent what was about to happen – but of course she couldn’t, because it already had.

‘Wh— what now, Daddy?’ Daisy’s tremulous voice asked.

All activity stopped. The cellar stood still. Not a sound came from four hardened officers paralysed by the little girl’s voice.

‘We’re just going to play a little game, sweetheart,’ Daddy said, coming into camera view.

Kim swallowed and broke the spell. ‘Turn it off, Dawson,’ she whispered. They all knew what happened next.

‘Bastard,’ Dawson said. His fingers shook as he replaced the disc.

Hammond stared into the corner and Rudge slowly cleaned his camera lens.

Kim pulled herself together. ‘Guys, we are gonna make this piece of shit pay for what he’s done. I promise you that.’

Dawson took out the paperwork to itemise every piece of evidence. He had a long night ahead.

Kim heard a commotion upstairs. A female screamed hysterically.

‘Guv, can you come up here?’ Griff called.

Kim took one last look around. ‘Rip the place apart, guys.’

She met the officer at the top of the cellar steps. ‘What?’

‘Wife is demanding some answers.’

Kim strode to the front door, where a woman in her mid-forties stood clutching a dressing gown to her gaunt frame. Social workers placed her two shivering daughters into a Fiat Panda.

Sensing Kim behind her, Wendy Dunn turned. Her eyes were red against a colourless face. ‘Where are they taking my children?’

Kim controlled the urge to knock her out. ‘Away from your sick, perverted husband.’

The wife clutched the garment at her throat. Her head shook from side to side. ‘I didn’t know, I swear I didn’t know. I want my children. I didn’t know.’

Kim tipped her head. ‘Really? The wife tends to disbelieve it until she’s shown proof. You haven’t seen any proof yet, have you, Mrs Dunn?’

Her eyes darted everywhere but back at Kim. ‘I swear to you, I didn’t know.’

Kim leaned forward, the image of Daisy fresh in her mind. ‘You’re a lying bitch. You knew. You’re their mother and you allowed them to be damaged forever. I hope you never know a moment’s peace for the rest of your miserable damn life.’

Bryant appeared beside her. ‘Guv … ’

Kim dragged her gaze away from the trembling woman and turned round.