Chapter 1

"What have you got for a us Sian?"

"A nice easy one for you John. Help you break in your new partner."

John looked over at a fresh-faced kid, straight out of the academy. The kid eagerly returned the gaze. John looked back to Sian.

"Don't remind me."

Sian slid over a single sheet of paper.

"Missing girl. School raised the alarm. Unable to contact the parents, the usual."

"The school?"

Sian pointed to the single sheet.

"Its all in there."

John smiled in apology.

"Sorry."

"After all these years you still doubt me?" She smiled in good-natured retort.

"At my age you're allowed to become cynical."

"At your age you should be issued with a Zimmer frame and slippers."

"Steady!"

"Go. Shoo. Your cluttering up my desk space." Sian waved him away with a genuine smile

"What is it? What have we pulled?" The kid eagerly asked

John handed over the sheet of paper. "Missing persons. Better go to the armoury and sign out some hardware."

"REALY!" The kid looked at him excitedly.

John treated him to a flat level stare "No."

Embarrassed the kid looked away. When they had been given their new partners, with whom they'd learn policing. Real policing. The academy NIBs (New in Blue) had got together to discuss their new 'mentors'. He had been given equal amounts of pity and envy. John was widely renowned as one of the best officers in the force. Also as one of the most difficult to work with. John had earned the respect of fellow officers - and a long leash from management- by sheer dint of dependability and commitment to work. That and not so much as policing his 'patch' as terrorizing it, but in a friendly way.

Using his not inconsiderable reputation, as well as pulling a few favours and indulging in some minor bribery, John drove an unmarked police cruiser. Much to the envy and annoyance of other officers. In reality it was a pointless exercise, as those on the other side of the law knew perfectly well who drove it. Some said he did it purely to flout his power. The reality was more mundane.

John had done it purely to get a radio. Squad cars were not fitted with radios. Detracts from police work was the official line. John liked his music.

On the way to the school John pointed out well-known perps and their haunts. Pointed out women of leisure. Some, on noticing the car, hastily departed, others waved. John waved back. The school was like many in the area. Run down, under funded and understaffed. John parked the car on the double yellow lines outside the main gate.

"Come on kid. Time to heckled and abused."

The kid followed warily in his footsteps.

Without pausing, slowing down or even checking that his partner was still with him, John breezed through the main doors. The kid noticed that he seemed to know where he was going. Speeding his pace up he came alongside.

"Been here before?"

"Oh yes. Arrested quite a few here." He stopped to look at the kid. "Even some of the pupils." John turned back and carried on, leaving the kid wondering if he had heard right, to hastily catch up.

John knocked on the head teacher's door and politely waited to be called in.

"Ah John. Haven't seen you for a while. How long has it been? A week?"

John sat down without waiting to be invited. The kid aware that there were no more chairs, stood uncomfortably behind John, never having expected to be stood in the presence of head teacher again.

"My partner" John jerked his head in the direction of the kid. The kid felt a burst of pride.

"And how long will he last?" The headmistress looked him over briefly then dismissed him. The kid's bubble burst.

"About the kid?" John prompted.

"Not much really, one of the pupils brought up her absence. Been missing for a couple of months apparently. Can't get in touch with the parents. Probably moved."

"Got a picture? An address?"

"Yes to both" She scrawled an address on the back of a photograph and slid it over the table to John.

"I'll ask her classmates some questions, if you don't mind?"

She looked at John and laughed, "Good luck."

John ignored the comment, "If we find out anything we'll let you know."

"No hurry, good day"

They left the office in silence. John resisting the urge, as usual, to slam the door. Some day he wouldn't.

As expected, the kids of the missing girls class were unhelpful. Those that spoke only did so to abuse them in front of their friends.

As they left, a rubber pinged off the back of the kid's head. John smiled. The kid started to protest but John merely shook his head.

In the car John looked at the picture. Turned it over and read the address committing it memory. He passed it over to the kid.

"Christ! She looks ill. What now?"

"Try and speak to her classmates, alone. They won't feel as pressured by their friends. They might be more amenable. Give us a bit more information."

"Bloody hell!"

"What?"

"Look at the size of that dog"

John looked up and over at the two girls leaving the school grounds. A German shepherd, half the size of the girls trotted alongside. He started the ignition and pulled alongside them.

"Work experience for you. Ask them some questions"

The kid looked at John dubiously, but rolled down his window anyway.

John slowed the car alongside the two girls. The kid leaned out the window.

"High..." The German shepherd went ballistic. It jumped against the side of the car, its jaws wide open and slavering as it thrust its head through the open window.

The kid's vision was suddenly filled with teeth and a tongue. "FUCK!" He threw himself back and against John. For a minute, the kid had a vision of his throat disappearing between the beast's jaws. The Dog retreated back out the window.

John looked at the kid, white and trembling then sighed. Pulling on the handbrake, he slipped out the car and headed round the front of the bonnet to the two girls.

As he approached, the dog started snarling and straining at its leash. He calmly walked up to it. Crouching he slowly stretched out his hand. The dog slowly, cautiously sniffed it, growling, its hackles raised. John tickled it under its chin. The dog playfully snapped at him then licked his hand. He slowly stood ensuring that his movement was slow and sure.

"I would like to ask you some questions about a missing girl from your school"

The two girls looked at him blankly.

He turned to his still white and shaking partner.

"The photograph"

The kid gave him the photo with a still shaking hand.

Passing the picture over to the two girls he tried again.

"We need to know that she is safe and well. That's all. Her parents are worried. As yours would be, if it was either of you." Silence "Do you know of anyone that might know her whereabouts" Still silence "A boyfriend? She is a good looking girl, she must have had one." Still nothing.

He stroked the dog behind his ears.

"Come on, cut me some slack on this one"

The girl with the leash looked at her friend. The other girl looked nervously around.

John picked up on the trouble, "A name, an address, anything and we'll go. No one will know that you told us anything." The girl looked around again then finally spoke "She had a boyfriend"

"Can you give me a name?"

She gave him a name and an address

John gave the dog a final pat then headed back to the car.

Before he pulled back into the roadway, he looked out the passenger window at the two girls.

"Thank you"

They had travelled several streets before the kid finally spoke.

"I can't believe you did that."

"Did what?"

"The thing with the dog"

John glanced at the kid "Och, come on, it was only a puppy."

The kid looked at him incredulously "That, was only a puppy?"

"Yeah. I'll take you round to dog section. Show you some proper dogs."

"No thanks"

"It's a laugh. There is nothing like having a twelve stone Rottweiler hanging onto your arm, teeth sinking through the padding into the flesh beneath"

The kid paled further, and tried to change the subject.

"Are we not going back to the school to interview the boyfriend?"

"No point. He won't say anything in front of his mates. We'll go round to his house later on tonight and get him in front of his parents. That always works."

"Tonight?"

"You didn't expect this to be a nine till five job did you? Look I'll buy you dinner, Okay"

"Where are we going?"

"To check out the parents"

"That reminds me. Speaking to the two girls, how did you know the parents are worried if we've still to meet them?"

"Wouldn't yours be worried if you were missing?"

John made his way to the address given as the parents. Pausing at the foot of the tower block. He reminisced. When he was just starting out as a copper, no older than the kid sat next to him, he had looked at buying a flat here. It was the place to live in those days. He couldn't afford it then. Now he could buy the whole twenty-eight storeys.

He looked at a group of youths sat on a wall watching them. He turned on the radio, the sound of Classic FM softly emanated from the speakers. He looked at the kid.

"Stay here."

"I can look after myself you know"

John patiently looked at the kid and thought about the incident with the dog. "It's not you I'm worried about. It's the car. "He nodded over to the youths watching them. "I have never lost a car. I don't intend to start now."

Mollified, the kid apologised.

"If there is trouble, lock the doors. The switch for the blues and twos is here. Flick it on and I'll get you. Okay?"

"Okay"

"If you need me otherwise, get me on the radio."

"Okay"

John entered the tower block and went straight to the stairs. Only a fool, or a rookie, he smiled to himself, would expect the lifts to work.

The stair well was dark, the windows thickly covered with dirt. Used hypodermics crunched under his feet. This was no place to bring up children.

Embarrassed that he was slightly out of breath, he checked the number of the flat. He knocked on the door. It swung open.

"HELLO! ANYONE HOME?" There was no answer.

Cautiously he entered the threshold. The flat was deathly quiet. The air was strong with the smell of rubbish, faeces and other unidentifiable aromas. He looked in the first room that he came to. Empty. Tattered remnants of curtains billowed in the draughts. He made his way back into the hallway.

"HELLO! ANYONE HOME?" It did not pay to startle anyone that was high or deeply drug dependant. They were capable of doing anything.

Still silence. He removed the safety strap off his baton and ensured that it could be drawn swiftly. Leaving his baton still sheathed, as he did not want to appear threatening, he continued deeper into the flat.

John cautiously poked his head into the bathroom, noting the drugs paraphernalia. Cockroaches scuttled along the floor.

He checked the remaining bedrooms. Empty except for rubbish. He continued on into the living room. Empty.

There was noise from the kitchen, something moved. A human shadow was projected onto the floor of the doorway.

His hand hovered over the handle of his baton.

"HELLO! ANYONE HOME?" Still no answer.

Carefully watching both doorway and his footing he sidled round, ensuring as much distance between him and the doorway as possible. The kitchen slowly revealed itself to him.

He sighed, allowing his hand to slip from the handle of the baton. John wiped his palms against his trousers to remove the sweat. Straightening from the defensive crouch that he had unconsciously slipped into, he carefully made his way into the kitchen.

It was hard to tell if the bloated body on the floor was male or female, gnawed as badly as it was by the rats. Another cadaver sat at the table. The one at the table, which had cast its shadow across the doorway, was not in much better shape compared to the one on the floor. The one at the table still clutched a needle in what remained of its hand.

A rat scampered back to its interrupted feast. He kicked a can at it. The rat ignored him and continued to tug at the body.

John left the flat. He knocked on the other doors on the same floor. They did not answer. The same went for the floor above and below. That did not surprise him. Coppers were hated and distrusted at the best of times.

He carefully made his way down the stairs. Outside he took a deep breath of what passed for fresh air in the neighbour hood.

He was pleased to note that his car was still there. And in one piece. He rapped on the passenger window. The kid who had been fiddling with the controls of the radio -how he hated that, jumped up right.

"Got that photo of the girl, kid?"

The kid rolled down the window and handed him it "Were the parents home?"

"Not as such"

"Not as such?"

John was already on his way over to the group of boys, still lounging at the wall. If he heard his partner he gave no sign.

He held up the now slightly crumpled photograph, so that the group could see it.

"I'm after the whereabouts of this girl. Do any of you know where I can find her?"

"No"

"Cut the crap. You know as well as I do, that you know that I know that you know where she is"

The faces in front of him went blank as they tried to figure out what he had said. He kept up the pressure.

"How long have her parents been dead?"

There was no surprise or confusion on any of their faces at the second question. One looked down, suddenly nervous.

Inwardly, John rejoiced "Gotcha" he thought. He continued to stare at them for effect. He suddenly turned round and headed back to the car.

He looked at the kid.

"Get in the back"

"Wh."

"DO IT!"

John slid into the driver's side and started the engine as the kid got in the back. He slowly drove out of the courtyard, watching his rear view mirror. Sure enough the nervous kid slipped from the group. He smiled viciously.

"Easy bastard. Gets them every time."

"What was all that about? What's that about her parents being dead?"

He glanced in his rear view mirror. They were still in view of the boys. He flicked his gaze to the kid.

"There were two bodies in the address. Both to big to be a young girl. Both deceased looked to have over dosed, as to them being her parents, I wasn't sure. Those boys basically confirmed them as being the parents. Been dead a couple of weeks at least."

"Shouldn't we still be there? Cordon off the scene? Wait for forensics?"

"Why? They're dead. They're not going anywhere. After a few weeks, a few minutes won't harm them." Satisfied that he was far enough out of sight, he flicked on the blues and twos and floored the accelerator. The sudden burst off speed pushed the kid back into the seat.

"Get out the fucking way. Move over. Come on" He banged the steering wheel and swore at the other motorists.

The kid, heart in mouth closed his eyes as they crashed another red light, speeding over a cross roads, car horns blaring all round.

"Oh fuck!" The kid cringed low in his seat as they narrowly avoided being broadsided by a bus. "Your gonna fuckin kill us!"

"Relax kid. Do this all the time." He crossed the white line in the middle of the road, oncoming traffic frantically pulled over.

The car suddenly slowed down as John killed the blues and twos.

The kid looked up and suddenly realised that they were 180 degrees to where they had started. He was now looking at the same tower block from the other side.

John was muttering under his breath "Where are you, you little shit"

A familiar figure appeared on the horizon, head down, shoulders hunched. Obviously hoping that if he ignored the world, the world would ignore him.

John spotted him "Gotcha you little fuck"

As they got closer, he floored the accelerator again, mounted the kerb and drove straight into the youth.

"JESUS JOHN!"

The unfortunate juvenile rolled over the bonnet. Quick as a flash John was out the driver side. The dazed boy tried to struggle as he was picked up; John smashed his head against the bonnet. Bodily he dragged him round to the rear of the car. Opening the rear door he bundled him in next to the kid. He looked at the two white faced and terrified youths and hoped that he could pull this off.

He looked at his partner. Loudly, so as the two youths could hear him and the few bystanders that had accumulated, he coldly spoke.

"If he so much as moves a muscle. Shoot him." He slammed the door and got back in the front. He wondered if any one bought it, again he fervently hoped so. "Where are we going" The kids voice was still shaky

"A quiet place I know. I place where we won' t be disturbed" he added for effect.

The quiet place was an abandoned warehouse next to the old canal. He drove in far enough to avoid being interrupted from the street, and then turned off the ignition. He looked into the back.

"OUT"

The order was aimed at the youth, but the kid got out as well.

"Right then, lets try this again shall we. Where's the girl?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Wailed the terrified the youth.